Kim Iverson Headlee's Blog: Book Musings from the Maze of Twisty Passages, page 3

Beat the winter blues with a #giveaway from author @KimHeadlee! #MFRWOrg #ASMSG

January 2013, Wytheville, VA.
Photo (c) by Kim Headlee

What better way to beat the winter blues than to curl up in your favorite chair with your favorite book in one hand and favorite book in the other?

And if you're looking for your next favorite read, especially if you like thrilling, poignant, well-written fiction, I know you'll love these titles:
The Color of Vengeance
~ Kindle ~ Nook ~ Kobo ~ iBooks ~ Google Play ~Raging Sea: Reckonings
~ Kindle ~ Nook ~ Kobo ~ iBooks ~ Google Play ~
These great books are free today as my gift to you.

For a chance to snag a copy of how this epic saga began,
I invite you to enter this giveaway for a copy of Dawnflight :

https://giveaway.amazon.com/p/77e89aa4137bb1a3

Enjoy, and good luck!

***
All this month, you are invited to…

— Follow Kim on Twitter
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— Subscribe to Kim's YouTube channel
— Leave a comment on any page of The Maze, especially if you have done the Twitter, Pinterest, and/or YouTube follow

… and each action this month is good for one chance to win a copy of any of Kim's e-books.
Please enter often, and good luck!

January jingling from The Dawnflier of @KimHeadlee (Jan. 2016) with #giveaway

"Christmas Eve and New Year's at Midnight" (c)2012 by Konstanttin.
Depositphotos ID 13928596.
Happy New Year! I hope you are recovering from last night's celebrations. :)
I have a lot of exciting book-related events planned for 2017, including:

A BookBub promotion for Dawnflight on January 7th. Officially the sale will be advertised only to my international fans, but I will be discounting it to 99 cents worldwide, January 6-10.Workshop presentations and panel discussions as a guest author at MarsCon, January 13-15. See my page of appearances for more details about this and other events.More giveaways and blog tours. Scroll down for details about my current giveaway!Finishing Raging Sea. Part 1 ( Raging Sea: Reckonings ) and part 2 ( Raging Sea: Enemies and Allies ) are now on sale.
Take care, and don't let those resolutions get out of hand! 
*** Special announcement: I need your help! ***
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Visit the Twitter website reporting page (https://support.twitter.com/forms/spam).Select the button that reads "I can't tweet a link because Twitter thinks it's spam."Specify https://kimiversonheadlee.blogspot.com/ as the "Problematic link."Fill out the rest of the pertinent details and click "Submit." (Optional but greatly appreciated) Tweet this blog post but in the link replace ".com" with ".ca", ".co.uk",".ie", or any other Blogspot mirror site so that Twitter won't block your tweet from being posted.
Thank you so very much and have a blessed day.
***

I'm running a giveaway for an e-copy of my latest novel, Raging Sea: Enemies and Allies !
To enter, click HERE.

MailChimp subscribers to The Dawnflier receive exclusive giveaway opportunities.
Subscribe today so you don't miss out!
***
All this month, you are invited to…

— Follow Kim on Twitter
— Follow Kim on Pinterest
— Subscribe to Kim's YouTube channel
— Leave a comment on any page of The Maze, especially if you have done the Twitter, Pinterest, and/or YouTube follow

… and each action this month is good for one chance to win a copy of any of Kim's e-books.
Please enter often, and good luck!

Your Christmas gifts from author @KimHeadlee!

Christmas (c)2010 by Subbotina, Depositphotos ID 10605705.
I hope this holiday season fills you with joy, wonder, and blessings today and throughout the coming year.

If you like thrilling, poignant, well-written fiction, I know you'll love these titles:
The Color of Vengeance
~ Kindle ~ Nook ~ Kobo ~ iBooks ~ Google Play ~
Raging Sea: Reckonings
~ Kindle ~ Nook ~ Kobo ~ iBooks ~ Google Play ~
The Challenge, episode 1 : Dilemmas and Deliberation (graphic novel; Kindle only ~ free worldwide 12/25/2016 and always free with your Kindle Select or Amazon Prime membership)
These great books are free today as my gift to you. Enjoy!

***

All this month, you are invited to…

— Follow Kim on Twitter
— Follow Kim on Pinterest
— Subscribe to Kim's YouTube channel
— Leave a comment on any page of The Maze, especially if you have done the Twitter, Pinterest, and/or YouTube follow

… and each action this month is good for one chance to win a copy of any of Kim's e-books.
Please enter often, and good luck!

#NewRelease Keri's Christmas Wish by Pamela Thibodeaux (@psthib) with giveaways

Church of Stabroek, Belgium (c)2015 by Jorisvo
bigstock ID 94868195 Editorial license.
Please welcome longtime Maze contributor Pamela Thibodeaux and her latest Christian romance, Keri's Christmas Wish ! In Pamela's words:

A committed Christian, I firmly believe in God and His promises. God is very real to me. I believe that people today need and want to hear more of His truths wherever they can glean them and I do my best to encourage readers to develop a personal relationship with Him. The deepest desire of my heart is to glorify God and to get His message of faith, trust, and forgiveness to a hurting world. My hope is that all of my stories will touch the lives of everyone who reads them and - in some way - bring them a truer knowledge of God and urge them into a closer walk with Him.

Keri's Christmas Wish
by Pamela Thibodeaux
Genre: Christian romance

Can Keri get past her angst over Christ’s birth and enjoy the Christmas season?
For as long as she can remember, Keri Jackson has despised the hype and commercialism around Christmas so much she seldom enjoys the holiday. Will she get her wish and be free of the angst to truly enjoy Christmas this year?

A devout Christian at heart, Jeremy Hinton, a Psychotherapist, Life Coach, Spiritual Mentor and Energy Medicine Practitioner has studied all of the world’s religions and homeopathic healing modalities. But when a rare bacterial infection threatens the life of the woman he loves, will all of his faith and training be for naught?

Find out in Keri’s Christmas Wish


Excerpt:

Later that evening, Keri sat in her apartment bewildered and confused. Her search around the apartment complex after work had uncovered not a single string of wind chimes. Not one. She’d found nothing to explain the music she’d heard while drifting off after her evening prayer the night before.

Goose bumps rose on her flesh in response to the shiver that shook her soul. Could it be God used the music to acknowledge her prayer? Would this be the year she finally let go of all the angst she felt around Christmas and just enjoyed one of the holiest seasons? Would her Christmas wish finally be granted?


Buy link: Kindle US |


About the Author:
Award-winning author Pamela S. Thibodeaux is the Co-Founder and a lifetime member of Bayou Writers Group in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Multi-published in romantic fiction as well as creative non-fiction, her writing has been tagged as, “Inspirational with an Edge!”™ and reviewed as “steamier and grittier than the typical Christian novel without decreasing the message.”

Follow Pamela via:
Website |  Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Amazon | BookBub |

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Thank you so very much and have a blessed day.
***

I'm running a giveaway for an e-copy of my latest novel, Raging Sea: Enemies and Allies !
To enter, click HERE.

MailChimp subscribers to The Dawnflier receive exclusive giveaway opportunities.
Subscribe today so you don't miss out!
***
All this month, you are invited to…

— Follow Kim on Twitter
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— Subscribe to Kim's YouTube channel
— Leave a comment on any page of The Maze, especially if you have done the Twitter, Pinterest, and/or YouTube follow

… and each action this month is good for one chance to win a copy of any of Kim's e-books.
Please enter often, and good luck!

#HolidayRecipe and #99cents sale on Marketing Exec’s Widow by @AuthorTinaGayle

Today I'm proud to present a yummy holiday recipe for peach cobbler by longtime Maze contributor Tina Gayle, who is also sponsoring a sale on her romance Marketing Exec's Widow !

Quick Peach Cobbler
1 large can of peaches
3/4 c. sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 box of vanilla wafers
1/4 cup of butter

Preheat the oven to 350.  Pour peaches, sugar, and cinnamon in a casserole dish large enough to hold everything; I use the 2-quart size. After stirring these items together, then add most of the box of vanilla wafers; set enough aside to put on top.  Once you have the wafers arranged on top, slice the butter in to small pieces and set one pat on top of each wafer.  Bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

Serve with ice cream or whipping cream.


Marketing Exec's Widow
by Tina Gayle
Genre: Contemporary romance

Synopsis:
Letting go and rebuilding a life comes at a price.

Having come to terms with losing her husband, Jennifer is ready to move on, but she faces opposition from her friends, in-laws, and brother-in-la. He see himself as her future husband. None of them know of Jen’s marital problems and she is afraid of their reaction when they learn she has a date for Friday night?

Hagan Chaney is not anything like Craig. He tempts Jen into the future but is she willing to give love another chance after the heartache she faced the 1st time around?


Excerpt:

“Thank you.” Jen tilted her head and narrowed her gaze. His tall, lean form topped hers even with three-inch heels on, a welcome rarity from the men she usually met. In addition, he had strawberry-blond hair, a known weakness of hers. The reddish-gold locks danced along the collar of his black shirt, teasing her with the idea of running her hands through the thick mass. Her fingers twitched. She dropped her gaze. Tight jeans covered a round, squeezable butt. Hot awareness suddenly sizzled, stunning Jen with its power. She knotted her hands into fists and fought the unwelcome attraction.

No way, I’m his real estate agent, not his date for the evening. And it’s only been four months since...

“Elkhorn’s main street isn’t large, but the Little League baseball field and the restaurants should attract people to the area.” Hagan’s dark brown…no, hazel, his eyes were hazel she realized abruptly when his gaze met hers. He cocked a brow. A sexy smile teased the corner of his lips. Oh, darn, the man had nailed her ogling his backside.

Heat burned her cheeks. The air between them sizzled. Goose bumps popped out on her arms. Her internal timer ticked off each day she’d gone without sex—well over a year.

His smile grew wider and visions of his mouth melting onto hers slammed home the impossibility of the situation.

Give it up, girl. It’s not happening.

She swallowed and searched the room for a distraction, some way to gain control of her raging hormones and maintain the professional image she’d strived so hard to develop the last five years. “I agree. It is in a great location.”

Buy links: Kindle US | All Romance Ebooks | B&N | Kobo | Apple | Smashwords |


About the Author:
An author with over 30 books, Tina Gayle writes in a number of different genres: Romantic contemporary (as Tina Gayle) and Erotic Romance. Her books range from contemporary, paranormal to mystery and suspense As an indie author, she has worked hard to have a social presence and reach her readers. You can visit her website and read the 1st chapter of any of her books. Or you can download a free ebook and join her newsletter group.
Sign up for Tina's newsletter.


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Thank you so very much and have a blessed day.
***

I'm running a giveaway for an e-copy of my latest novel, Raging Sea: Enemies and Allies !
To enter, click HERE.

MailChimp subscribers to The Dawnflier receive exclusive giveaway opportunities.
Subscribe today so you don't miss out!
***
All this month, you are invited to…

— Follow Kim on Twitter
— Follow Kim on Pinterest
— Subscribe to Kim's YouTube channel
— Leave a comment on any page of The Maze, especially if you have done the Twitter, Pinterest, and/or YouTube follow

… and each action this month is good for one chance to win a copy of any of Kim's e-books.
Please enter often, and good luck!

December doodling from The Dawnflier of @KimHeadlee #ASMSG #MFRWOrg

Christmas (c)2010 by Subbotina, Depositphotos ID 10605705.
I had a handful of download credits at Depositphotos.com that were burning a hole in my virtual pocket, so I splurged and selected several images that I plan to share with you here on The Maze during the coming months. I just love the sense of wonder and magic in this image, don't you? I'll bet she's smiling because her gift box contains the book she's been waiting for!

Speaking of books, I am excited to share two new releases with you today:

The Business of Writing: Practical Insights for Independent, Hybrid, and Traditionally Published Authors released in e-book format November 14, and its print edition is now available for sale too.Raging Sea: Enemies and Allies, book 3 part 2 of The Dragon's Dove Chronicles, is now available for Kindle, Kobo, iBooks, and other e-tailers! I will be cutting back on social media involvement in the coming weeks in order to make a concerted effort to finish Angusel's story. The final installment will be subtitled Crucible of Combat. Subscribers to The Dawnflier newsletter received notice of its exclusive Amazon giveaway -- sign up today so you don't miss out on the next one!
In other news:
Liberty has received a cover makeover. Scroll down on this post a bit to see this gorgeous new design.In preparation for 2017 BookBub promos, I have reactivated my books on Google Play. To date, these titles include Dawnflight , The Color of Vengeance , Morning's Journey , The Challenge , Liberty , King Arthur's Sister in Washington's Court , and Snow in July . I plan to upload my other books, starting with parts 1 and 2 of Raging Sea, as I am able.
My next personal appearance will be as an author-guest at the 2017 MarsCon science fiction/fantasy convention, January 13-15. I am slated to give my Business of Writing workshop and a new presentation, "Dragons and Griffins and Bears, Oh My!" which is an introduction to the ancient carved stones of Scotland.


May your days be merry and bright!
***
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Thank you so very much and have a blessed day.

***
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— Follow Kim on Twitter
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… and each action this month is good for one chance to win a copy of any of Kim's e-books.
Please enter often, and good luck!

#ASMSG #MFRWOrg #ThankfulAuthor 2016: @KimHeadlee is thankful to be...

… alive.

It may sound a bit maudlin for this time of year, but it's the unvarnished truth.

Of course, I'm thankful for family and friends and readers of my books, and for my health, but I wouldn't be here to gush about any of those things if I had not escaped a near-fatal car accident—an end-over-end flip, landing on the roof—in 2003. The first thing I said when paramedics pulled me from the wreckage: "Cool! This means I have more books to publish!" The second thing I said was, "Oh, my neck!"

Two surgeries and a second death-brush later, I found myself with permanent pins in my neck… and a publishing contract in my hand from HQN Books, an imprint of Harlequin, for my female-gladiator novel Liberty .

Today, ten years almost to the day from the release of Liberty , I am proud to present my latest title:
 

The Business of Writing:
Practical Insights for Independent, Hybrid, and Traditionally Published Authors
by Kim Iverson Headlee

Nonfiction: Business/Advertising,
Language Arts/Publishing

Release date:
14 November 2016

Book description:

Have you written a book but don’t know how to go about getting it published?

Have you published a book but need advice distributing it to more sales channels?

Are you hunting for more ways to improve your bottom line?

The Business of Writing: Practical Insights for Independent, Hybrid, and Traditionally Published Authors is the go-to guide for everyone wishing to start—or jump-start—their writing careers.

Whether you write fiction or nonfiction, discover the answers to such questions as:
Do I really need to incorporate, what “flavor” of company should I set up, and how do I take the plunge?How do I manage my writing expenses and taxes?What is an ISBN, where do I get one, and how many will I need?What is an imprint and how do I establish one for my books?What decisions must I face in the prepublication phase?Do I need to register my book’s copyright and how do I accomplish it? What about using other copyrighted materials?How on earth do I condense my 100K-word book to a 300-word description, let alone a 20-word tagline?How do I select the best keywords for my book?What makes for a great cover and how can I get one?What do I need to know about book formatting—print as well as digital?How can I turn my book into an audiobook?How do I develop and refine my author brand?How can I land invitations to speak at conferences and conventions?I use several pseudonymns. How do I manage them all?What’s an ARC? A media kit? A book trailer? A blog tour?Do I really need to start a blog? Send out a newsletter? Dive into social media? Give away my books?How do I price my book? Should I pick one price or vary it? Where are the best places to advertise my sale events?How much is all of this going to cost me??If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the publication and promotion process, let award-winning, critically acclaimed author Kim Iverson Headlee give you the practical wisdom you need to stay on task and perhaps even come out ahead.


Buy links:~ Kindle ~ iBooks ~ Kobo ~ 24 Symbols ~ Smashwords ~

Best of luck with all your writing—and publishing—endeavors.

Author bio:
KIM HEADLEE LIVES on a farm in the mountains of southwestern Virginia with her family, cats, fish, goats, Great Pyrenees goat guards, and assorted wildlife. People and creatures come and go, but the cave and the 250-year-old house ruins—the latter having been occupied as recently as the midtwentieth century—seem to be sticking around for a while yet. She has been a published novelist since 1999 ( Dawnflight , Simon & Schuster) and a student of Arthurian lore and literature for nigh on half a century.

Follow Kim via: |  BookBub |  Facebook |  Google+ | Pinterest |  Twitter |  YouTube | 
For monthly updates about Kim's books, appearances, exclusive subscriber giveaways, and other events, please sign up for The Dawnflier newsletter

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Thank you so very much and have a blessed day.

***
All this month, you are invited to…

— Follow Kim on Twitter
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… and each action this month is good for one chance to win a copy of any of Kim's e-books.
Please enter often, and good luck!

The Business of Writing by @KimHeadlee: Who Let THAT Dog Out? #ASMSG #MFRWOrg

A comment I heard often in 1997 after landing my first New York publishing contract was “Congratulations; you’re running with the big dogs now!” It was a good thing that occurred before Baha Men released their hit single or I might have driven my first fans crazy serenading them with the famous refrain… and I would have lost major points for professionalism. 

Although the concept of the “lonely writer’s garret” still carries a certain romantic flair, once a writer has transitioned into preparing to make money off his or her words, he or she becomes a professional writer.

But what does that mean, exactly?

Writers being creative beings, this can mean a number of different things in terms of personal appearance, behavior, and habits. For the writer who wishes to be perceived as a professional, these aspects center upon various demonstrations of common courtesy… the exercise of which seems to be eroding in this day and age of Internet anonymity.

Opportunities for an author’s professionalism to shine include correspondence, deadlines, and personal appearances.


Correspondence
As a professional writer, you should always remain mindful of how you are perceived by your audience, not only in the content of your books or articles but in everyday correspondence tasks. This applies to email, text, chatting, and “earthmail” interactions with:
Literary agents, editors, cover and interior-layout designers, promotional companies, accountants, and other service personnel. This includes all individuals and companies, whether prospective or contracted.Booksellers and other event organizers, both before the event and in giving thanks afterward. Expressing appreciation can be the fastest way to earn a return invitation.Book bloggers and other reviewers, when asking for reviews as well as in optionally expressing thanks for a helpful review.

Never engage a reviewer if you are in any way dissatisfied with the review. I unpack that advice in this blog post, but it cannot be emphasized enough.Your fans—and this goes double for anything written online, even in so-called private messages. Any site can be hacked or monitored, so the best policy is to presume that nothing is private and structure your interactions accordingly.Anyone with whom you need to send follow-up correspondence for any reason.

Deadlines
Ah, the dreaded d-word. For journalists, deadlines are most often perceived as just a means of structuring one’s workday. For everyone else, especially those of us who write book-length fiction or nonfiction, adhering to content delivery deadlines that are established by another party such as a publisher can be problematical at best. And yet delivering a completed manuscript on time will set you apart from the madding crowd of authors who play fast and loose with their time and with their editor’s or publisher’s patience.


Personal Appearances
There exist countless opportunities to present yourself as a professional writer in public.
Online. I have already covered fan interactions; here I refer to things such as the random tweets, retweets, pictures, videos, and status updates that you choose to share to your sundry social media platforms. As you decide upon your online persona, make sure that it jives with what you write, for that persona will become a part of your author brand. And then tweet/retweet/share accordingly. For example, if you write Christian fiction, I would advise against saying anything in a tweet that you wouldn’t say in church. Book vending and signings at bookstores and conferences. Your in-person persona should also jive (or at least not conflict) with what you write. On the other hand, if you write about serial killers, you might wish to think twice about acting like one in public. You can get a lot of mileage from being courteous, respectful, and appreciative of customers, noncustomers, and event hosts, regardless of what type of books you write. Keep in mind that you are competing for readers, some of whom may be offended and turned off from your books if you act rude, superior, or condescending in person.

When in doubt, recall the mantra spouted by the Penguins of Madagascar: “Just smile and wave, boys, smile and wave.” Writers’ conferences. If you’re a member of the Romance Writers of America, I don’t need to tell you how to present yourself as a professional in this type of venue. You know already—or you should. Although I haven’t attended an RWA national conference in several years, I can pretty much imagine what the most recent one looked like: out of two thousand attendees, 1,942 were power-suited women (whether publishers, editors, literary agents, or authors), fifty-five were similarly attired men, and the remaining three were newbie women authors who didn’t receive the dress code memo, showed up in blue jeans and an “I [heart] My Book Boyfriend” T-shirt, and missed the entire first day of panels shopping for an emergency power suit and accessories. Okay, I jest… but barely.

The dress code memos will of course vary by genre. At a typical World Fantasy Convention you’ll see no shortage of suits, but very few of those will be draped over authors, who sport pretty much whatever tickles their fancy, short of character costumes. Although I haven’t attended a WFC since the debut of the first edition of Dawnflight in 1999, I have it on excellent authority that a few steampunk outfits show up here and there, so if that’s your chosen genre, then by all means go for it. The grocery store. The what? Yes, there is always the possibility that you could be recognized in a chance public encounter, so your appearance and behavior choices matter there too.

As I always advised my kids as they were growing up, no one will ever fault you for being polite, gracious, appreciative, respectful, and kind. The people you impress with your professionalism may remember those choices and become extra supportive of you and your work.
 

Preorder The Business of Writing today!

*** I need your help! ***
Twitter has unjustly blacklisted this blog as a "spam or malicious" website. As you can see by its content, it is neither spam nor malicious. If you enjoy this site, please consider performing the following steps:
Visit the Twitter website reporting page (https://support.twitter.com/forms/spam).Select the button that reads "I can't tweet a link because Twitter thinks it's spam."Specify https://kimiversonheadlee.blogspot.com/ as the "Problematic link."Fill out the rest of the pertinent details and click "Submit." (Optional but greatly appreciated) Tweet this blog post but in the link replace ".com" with ".ca", ".co.uk",".ie", or any other Blogspot mirror site so that Twitter won't block your tweet from being posted.
Thank you very much and have a blessed day.
***

I'm running a giveaway for an e-copy of Kings!
To enter, click HERE.

MailChimp subscribers to The Dawnflier receive exclusive giveaway opportunities.
Subscribe today so you don't miss out!
***
All this month, you are invited to…

— Follow Kim on Twitter
— Follow Kim on Pinterest
— Subscribe to Kim's YouTube channel
— Leave a comment on any page of The Maze, especially if you have done the Twitter, Pinterest, and/or YouTube follow

… and each action this month is good for one chance to win a copy of any of Kim's e-books.
Please enter often, and good luck!

The Business of Writing by @KimHeadlee: Professional Editing #ASMSG #MFRWOrg

Madeline McDowell Breckinridge ca 1920,
US public domain via Wikimedia Commons. You can slap together a collection of words, dash off a DIY cover, upload it all to Amazon, and call yourself a writer. You might even make some money doing so, and good for you if that happens to be the case. 

Being a professional writer, however, entails ever so much more than the technical definition of earning money for one's efforts implies. 

One of the biggest complaints I hear—and see—with books written by independent authors is the sheer volume of grammar, punctuation, and spelling mistakes. In fact I would go as far as to say that poor editing is a leading contributor toward the subpar reputation of independently published books as a whole.

Mistakes will catapult a reader out of a story faster than you can&helip; think. And if you believe your readers won't notice or care about poor editing, then I respectfully suggest that you are underestimating —and alienating—a large sector of your audience.

That's not a risk that I'm willing to take with my own fiction, and I hope you agree.

To be fair, books churned out by the Big Six (or Five, or whatever the ever-collapsing count du jour) publishers often contain glaring errors too. The first edition of my novel Liberty , published by HQN Books in 2006, had sections of missing and repeated pages in three different combinations (!!), which proved to be a nightmare for me when trying assemble good copies for personal appearances. That wasn't an editing issue, of course, but it's a graphic illustration of my point that mistakes do happen at even the highest levels of the publishing business.

The bottom line is that authors who are contracted by large publishing houses already enjoy a level of respectability that's built in to the system. The rest of us must do our level best to achieve respectability on our own, and the first step toward that goal is to hire a good quality professional editor, and perhaps even two: one for content editing and one for copy editing.

My primary editor is Deb Taber, and I simply cannot say enough good things about her work. She is the consummate professional, she knows the English language inside and out (and, with regard to my projects, sideways :D), and she offers encouragement along with suggestions for improvement. I get nothing for mentioning her here other than the satisfaction of knowing that you will receive the highest quality feedback if you choose to hire her to edit your work.

Someone else whom I commend to your attention is Robin Allen of Griffin Editorial Services. I have known her for going on 15 years now, and all the copy editing work she has ever done for me has been absolutely top notch. Again, I get nothing for the mention other than knowing that you will be as delighted with her editing work as I have been.

You say you cannot afford to hire a good editor?

I say you cannot afford NOT to.

Budget for it, or set up a crowdfunding campaign if you must, but please do not be tempted by those who claim that you can successfully edit your own work. The fact is that the human brain is wired to see what it expects to see, thereby making it impossible to remain objective where the editorial process is concerned.

I implore you to help halt the downward spiral in perception of the quality of independent authors' works by hiring professional help to make your book be the absolute best product that it can be.


*** I need your help! ***
Twitter has unjustly blacklisted this blog as a "spam or malicious" website. As you can see by its content, it is neither spam nor malicious. If you enjoy this site, please consider performing the following steps:
Visit the Twitter website reporting page (https://support.twitter.com/forms/spam).Select the button that reads "I can't tweet a link because Twitter thinks it's spam."Specify https://kimiversonheadlee.blogspot.com/ or this blog post's URL as the "Problematic link."Fill out the rest of the pertinent details and click "Submit." (Optional but greatly appreciated) Tweet this blog post but in the link replace ".com" with ".ca", ".co.uk",".ie", or any other Blogspot mirror site so that Twitter won't block your tweet from being posted.
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***
All this month, you are invited to…

— Follow Kim on Twitter
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— Subscribe to Kim's YouTube channel
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… and each action this month is good for one chance to win a copy of any of Kim's e-books.
Please enter often, and good luck!

November noodling from The Dawnflier of @KimHeadlee #MFRWOrg #ASMSG

Although I have some exciting book news to report, I'm saddened today by the loss of my stepmother, who was instrumental in helping my dad heal from my mom's passing fifteen years ago. Phyllis was a wonderful woman, and I'm grateful for the impact she had on my dad's life.

On the left is a vintage photo of my late Uncle Fred that I'm running today in honor of Veterans Day. After an extremely full and fulfilling life, he passed away in September 2015.

Book news:
The Business of Writing: Practical Insights for Independent, Hybrid, and Traditionally Published Authors is available for preorder on Kindle and Smashwords. Other formats are in the process of being published, and I will announce those links after they go live. The book is scheduled for release on November 14. King Arthur's Sister in Washington's Court : Its blog tour is scheduled to begin on November 14. It has received another award, but I'm sworn to secrecy until December. Meantime, mark your calendars to enjoy the one-day 99-cent sale in honor of Mark Twain's birthday on November 30.Next on my docket: tackling the edits and e-book formatting for Raging Sea: Enemies and Allies.
My next personal appearance is as an author-guest at Chessiecon in Baltimore the weekend after Thanksgiving. I will presenting part one of my Business of Writing workshop on Black Friday (3:00), and part two is scheduled for 11:15 a.m. on Small Business Saturday. I will be involved in other panels and the group autograph session too. Please cross your fingers that I will have the print edition of The Business of Writing available by then!

I am thankful for your interest in and support of my work.


*** I need your help! ***
Twitter has unjustly blacklisted this blog as a "spam or malicious" website. As you can see by its content, it is neither spam nor malicious. If you enjoy this site, please consider performing the following steps:
Visit the Twitter website reporting page (https://support.twitter.com/forms/spam).Select the button that reads "I can't tweet a link because Twitter thinks it's spam."Specify https://kimiversonheadlee.blogspot.com/ as the "Problematic link."Fill out the rest of the pertinent details and click "Submit." (Optional but greatly appreciated) Tweet this blog post but in the link replace ".com" with ".ca", ".co.uk",".ie", or any other Blogspot mirror site so that Twitter won't block your tweet from being posted.
Thank you so very much and have a blessed day.
***

I'm running a giveaway for an e-copy of The Challenge !
To enter, click HERE.

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Subscribe today so you don't miss out!
***
All this month, you are invited to…

— Follow Kim on Twitter
— Follow Kim on Pinterest
— Subscribe to Kim's YouTube channel
— Leave a comment on any page of The Maze, especially if you have done the Twitter, Pinterest, and/or YouTube follow

… and each action this month is good for one chance to win a copy of any of Kim's e-books.
Please enter often, and good luck!