Brian Marggraf's Blog: Indie Hero , page 4
March 7, 2015
Kurt Vonnegut: Creative Writing 101
“Kurt Vonnegut created some of the most outrageously memorable novels of our time, such as Cat���s Cradle, Breakfast Of Champions, and Slaughterhouse Five. His work is a mesh of contradictions: both science fiction and literary, dark and funny, classic and counter-culture, warm-blooded and very cool. And it���s all completely unique.”
With his customary wisdom and wit, Vonnegut put forth 8 basics of what he calls Creative Writing 101:
Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.
Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.
Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.
Every sentence must do one of two things���reveal character or advance the action.
Start as close to the end as possible.
Be a sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them���in order that the reader may see what they are made of.
Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.
Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To heck with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages.
March 1, 2015
Indie Author Spotlight – Ekta Garg
Author:��Ekta Garg
Book:��Two For The Heart
A brief bio:��
Since the start of her publishing career in 2005 Ekta has edited and written about everything from health care to home improvement to Hindi films. She has worked for: The Portland Physician Scribe, Portland, Oregon’s premier medical newspaper; show magazines for home tours organized by the Portland Home Builders Association; ABCDlady.com; The Bollywood Ticket; The International Indian; and the annual anthologies published by the Avondale Inkslingers, based in Avondale, Arizona.
In 2011 Ekta stepped off the ledge and became a freelancer. She edits short stories and novels for other writers, contributing to their writing dreams. She is also a part-time editor for aois21, and she reviews books for her own book review blog as well as NetGalley, TypeReel, and Bookpleasures.com.
Prairie Sky Publishing serves as the publishing arm of Ekta’s professional writing blog, The Write Edge (thewriteedge.wordpress.com). When she’s not writing, Ekta is a domestic engineer–known in the vernacular as “a housewife.” She’s married, has two energetic daughters who keep her running, and she divides her time between keeping house and fulfilling her writing dreams.
Book purchase links:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/510256
Two for the Heart (Stories in Pairs Book 1)
February 24, 2015
Indie Author Spotlight – open for submissions
The next Indie Author Spotlight will be posted within a week,
in the meantime, keep those submissions comin’…
Originally posted on Indie Hero:
At least once a��month, Indie Hero will feature an Indie Author. If interested, please submit the following:
��� Author name / book title
��� a brief bio
��� book purchase links
��� social media links: twitter, facebook, etc.
��� Responses to the following questions:
Why did you decide to go indie and self-publish? What was the process like for you?
How do you market/promote/advertise? What���s been successful and what hasn���t?
What advice would you give to an author who���s trying to decide between traditional publishing and independent?
When/how did you realize that you wanted to be a writer?
Most indie authors have day jobs. How has your current or previous employment informed your writing?
Do you have any favorite authors and do they influence your writing?
Anything else readers should know about you?
Please send (just the info listed above) to indieheroblog at gmail dot com
subject: Indie���
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February 17, 2015
Healthy Living with Kristen
Just wanted to take a moment and help support and promote someone who has done the same for me.
Right now, she’s hosting a Facebook event with free product giveaways and raffles. Click here.
Check out her sites:
You can also find her on Twitter by clicking here.
January 8, 2015
Goodreads Giveaway – Enter to win a free paperback.
Ten paperbacks are available.
“Meth, memories, and monsters.”
San Francisco, California. Fifty hills surrounded by the cold waters of the ocean and the bay. City of rebellion and revolution. Smothered by fog daily.
This is the place where Jacob Gavel grew up, the place he ran away from at twenty, and the place he never thought he���d come back to.
The city���s in the middle of its second financial renaissance. A century and a half earlier, gold nuggets. In the year 2000, silicon microchips. The dot-com boom created hundreds of new companies, swollen with capital and potential, profitable only in theory, run by young professionals with a lot of disposable income.
After Jacob, a fledgling sculptor, leaves a failed marriage and flees New York City, he returns home, welcomed by his mentally ill mother, subordinate father, and successful sister. As he settles in, he discovers a family secret. He had a twin brother who died in the womb right next to him. When the shock wears off, his reality becomes clear. He���s alone, broke, and unemployed. In an attempt to rebuild his life, he takes a low-paying job as a mental health case manager, but with all the tech money flooding the city, his childhood friend, Paul, has a better idea.
His fresh start spoils. Events trigger his dreams, and his dreams resurrect childhood memories, propelling him forward on a sleep-deprived, speed-fueled mission to find recognition, love, and revenge.
December 31, 2014
ONE DAY LEFT! New Year’s Sale – Dream Brother: A Novel – $0.99 (90% off list price) – Kindle Ebook
The Amazon Kindle version of Dream Brother is $0.99 (90% off list price) until midnight, January 2nd, 2015.
Here are the links:
Please help spread the word by doing any or all of the following:
like it, re-blog it, tweet it, pin it, share it on Facebook, Google plus it,
email it, Digg it, share it on Reddit or Tumblr, stumble it,
or just simply tell someone about it.
Thanks and Happy New Year!
San Francisco, California. Fifty hills surrounded by the cold waters of the ocean and the bay. City of rebellion and revolution. Smothered by fog daily.
This is the place where Jacob Gavel grew up, the place he ran away from at twenty, and the place he never thought he’d come back to.
The city’s in the middle of its second financial renaissance. A century and a half earlier, gold nuggets. In the year 2000, silicon microchips. The dot-com boom created hundreds of new companies, swollen with capital and potential, profitable only in theory, run by young professionals with a lot of disposable income.
After Jacob, a fledgling sculptor, leaves a failed marriage and flees New York City, he returns home, welcomed by his mentally ill mother, subordinate father, and successful sister. As he settles in, he discovers a family secret. He had a twin brother who died in the womb right next to him. When the shock wears off, his reality becomes clear. He’s alone, broke, and unemployed. In an attempt to rebuild his life, he takes a low-paying job as a mental health case manager, but with all the tech money flooding the city, his childhood friend, Paul, has a better idea.
His fresh start spoils. Events trigger his dreams, and his dreams resurrect childhood memories, propelling him forward on a sleep-deprived, speed-fueled mission to find recognition, love, and revenge.
December 21, 2014
Christmas/New Year’s Sale – Dream Brother: A Novel – $0.99 (90% off list price) – Kindle Ebook
The Amazon Kindle version of Dream Brother is $0.99 (90% off list price) until midnight, January 2nd, 2015.
Here are the links:
Please help spread the word by doing any or all of the following:
like it, re-blog it, tweet it, pin it, share it on Facebook, Google plus it,
email it, Digg it, share it on Reddit or Tumblr, stumble it,
or just simply tell someone about it.
Thanks and Happy Holidays!
San Francisco, California. Fifty hills surrounded by the cold waters of the ocean and the bay. City of rebellion and revolution. Smothered by fog daily.
This is the place where Jacob Gavel grew up, the place he ran away from at twenty, and the place he never thought he’d come back to.
The city’s in the middle of its second financial renaissance. A century and a half earlier, gold nuggets. In the year 2000, silicon microchips. The dot-com boom created hundreds of new companies, swollen with capital and potential, profitable only in theory, run by young professionals with a lot of disposable income.
After Jacob, a fledgling sculptor, leaves a failed marriage and flees New York City, he returns home, welcomed by his mentally ill mother, subordinate father, and successful sister. As he settles in, he discovers a family secret. He had a twin brother who died in the womb right next to him. When the shock wears off, his reality becomes clear. He’s alone, broke, and unemployed. In an attempt to rebuild his life, he takes a low-paying job as a mental health case manager, but with all the tech money flooding the city, his childhood friend, Paul, has a better idea.
His fresh start spoils. Events trigger his dreams, and his dreams resurrect childhood memories, propelling him forward on a sleep-deprived, speed-fueled mission to find recognition, love, and revenge.
October 26, 2014
Indie Author Spotlight – Richard Fulco
Author: Richard Fulco
Book: There Is No End to This Slope
A brief bio: Richard received an MFA in Playwriting from Brooklyn College. His plays have been either presented or developed at The New York International Fringe Festival, The Playwrights’ Center, The Flea, Here Arts Center, Chicago Dramatists and the Dramatists Guild. His stories, reviews and interviews have appeared in The Brooklyn Rail, Failbetter, Front Porch, Bound Off, The Rusty Toque, Full of Crow, Nth Position, theDaily Vault and American He is the founder of the online music magazine Riffraf. There Is No End to This Slope is his first novel.
Book purchase link: Amazon
Facebook: www.facebook.com/richard.fulco
Twitter: twitter.com/RichardFulco
Blog: www.riffraf.net
1. Why did you decide to go indie and self-publish? What was the process like for you?
I’ve always been an indie guy. In the late 80s to mid 90s, I was the singer of several indie bands. From the late 90s to mid 2000s, I was an indie playwright. When I completed There Is No End to This Slope I asked Mark Doyon at Wampus Multimedia (an indie press and record label) if he’d be interested in taking a look at it. I only want to work with somebody who trusts me and my writing and since Mark and I had such similar tastes in music I had an inkling that he would be that guy. Mark has been a great champion of my novel. Not only is Mr. Doyon my publisher, but he has also been an incredible editor and collaborator.
2. How do you market/promote/advertise? What’s been successful and what hasn’t?
I’ve been doing readings and book clubs. I’ve been tweeting and posting on Facebook. I’ve been blogging on my website, www.richardfulco.com. I’ve been blogging on my music site, www.riffraf.net. I’ve been blogging on Goodreads. But I think the most effective way of promoting my work has been by making genuine relationships with writers, editors and readers.
3. What advice would you give to an author who’s trying to decide between traditional publishing and independent?
I’m not one for advice, but I would tell friends of mine who have a completed manuscript to put aside any notion of fame, fortune and glory. You’re a writer not a pop star.
4. When/how did you realize that you wanted to be a writer?
I have always written. That’s what I do. Sometimes I write good stories. Occasionally, I don’t.
5. Most indie authors have day jobs. How has your current or previous employment informed your writing?
Presently, my day job is taking care of my three-year-old twins. Since I do the bulk of my writing when they fall asleep, I’ve had to adhere to more stringent time constrictions, a half hour here, an hour there.
6. Do you have any favorite authors and do they influence your writing?
I think writers should be avid readers. We should read everything too and delve into genres that we might not be comfortable reading. Cormac McCarthy, particularly his approach to dialogue, was a substantial influence on There Is No End to This Slope, whereas JD Salinger’s style had an impact on John Lenza’s voice.
***Authors, I’m always accepting submissions for the indie author spotlight. If interested, click here for more information.***
October 25, 2014
Indie Bookseller Deathmatch: Singulus Books vs. The Strand
Obviously, I’m going to lose.
I just hope to pick off a few (like 100) of their customers.
Singulus Books is open today, 10/25, from 9:30am to 6:00pm.
Location: A sidewalk near The Strand Book Store in Union Square
828 Broadway, New York, NY 10003
October 12, 2014
Singulus Books – open today, 10am-6pm, 80th and B’way, NYC
Singulus Books has popped up on the Upper West Side. Today only, 10am to 6pm.
Near the world famous Zabar’s,
and a block away from this place,
and here’s the neighborhood.
If you’re in the area, please visit. Perhaps buy my book, chat, etc.
Maybe offer to cover my table for a few minutes so I can take a bathroom break.
It’s the least you can do.
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