Reviews for the Literary Inclined discussion

Great to see you here, Eri.

Hello, Monica, Robb, Jessica, Vicki and many others - oh dear, I'm not going to remember all the names, so forgive me if I forgot to mention you :)

Monica wrote: "Hi, Ashley and Jessica :)Lovely websites, both of you.
Ruby,love the last cover, very elegant.
Vered, I was waiting for you to join the support group :)"

Bahaha! Yup, I sure need support getting over this addiction...

Junying wrote: "Great to see you here, Eri.

Hello, Monica, Robb, Jessica, Vicki and many others - oh dear, I'm not going to remember all the names, so forgive me if I forgot to mention you :)"

Don't worry about the names until October 1. That' when the first name test will be, followed by the favorite genres of each member! LOL

Eri wrote: "Hello Everyone,

I was just skimming the above and am wowed on the authors as well as the entire group's support. Even noticed a few names and smiling faces. I am honored to be among you all.

Here..."

I checked out your website, cool. I like the "Wheres Eri" page. :o)

Question: I don't really care for erotica (I've read ONE that was 36 pages long but stopped on page 6...too vulgar for my taste). You said you write some erotica. If the books that are considered erotica are "hard core" I won't enjoy them; however, I'd love to read them if they are not completely vulgar. I can email you privately later and tell you more specifically what I am referring to and you can let me know which of your books I might enjoy.

Well hello! Thank you to Vicki for inviting me to join the group and I imagine this thread will become very busy...!

I'm Kaye Vincent, an author based in the UK and my first novel is The Treeman, with the sequel due out around the end of the year. The Treeman is a romantic novel set in the fictional village of Hanningdon, about a beautiful and gifted young man who lives in a tree. Yep. that's right, he lives in a tree. Much to the annoyance of the girl who's just moved into the converted barn next to tree. My website gives more info for anyone who's interested at http://bit.ly/T66MlL and I'm about to launch a new blog soon.

Greetings to everyone here, glad to be part of the gang.

Kaye x

Oooh, how lovely to get a response so quickly. Thank you so much Sarajayne. I'm still trying to make sense of how to raise awareness and where to place my work. I started with Kindle and Lulu (for POD paperback), have recently moved into Smashwords for other formats and have joined a wide span of networking platforms like twitter, facebook and of course the wonderful Goodreads! Huge learning curve, but slowly getting there. Lovely to have a thread which openly welcomes authors to make an introduction. Many thanks to Jessi too for getting this group off the ground. :)

Hi, Kaye :) Love the idea of your book. Going to check your website.

Hey Kaye, I am SO glad you accepted my invite! I think you'll like it in this group. The people are amazingly supportive, and you'll (assuming) meet other authors who can give you ideas how to advance your book. :o)

I'm very excited for you!

Welcome to group! :o)

Thank you both Monica and Vicki. The encouragement means a lot - there are some real ups and downs with this indie-author passion, but I have to say the welcome here has most definitely been an up..! :o)))) that's lots of smiles there, not double chins!!!

Kaye wrote: "Thank you both Monica and Vicki. The encouragement means a lot - there are some real ups and downs with this indie-author passion, but I have to say the welcome here has most definitely been an up...."

Hahahaha, Kaye! :o)

Vicki wrote: "Hey Kaye, I am SO glad you accepted my invite! I think you'll like it in this group. The people are amazingly supportive, and you'll (assuming) meet other authors who can give you ideas how to adva..."

LOL...and you're so right on so many levels, both about the "pull your hair out" Indie life, and this group :). Glad you've joined us!

@Eri, I've been editing the last few days, head down, so I missed your post. So glad you accepted my invite, and glad you could join! :)

Kristen wrote: "@Eri, I've been editing the last few days, head down, so I missed your post. So glad you accepted my invite, and glad you could join! :)"

Hi Kristen, I was wondering if you might be adding your book to Barnes and Noble any time soon.

I'm in-process with Smashwords and I expected it to port over already, but they seem to be slow about it. It's currently available in the ePub format (Nook's format) through the Smashwords site (http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/... this will definitely work on the Nook, but I know some people prefer the direct d/l, which I understand. If you prefer that, too, I can let you know as soon as it goes live on B&N. I'm anticipating "any day", but they've been saying that for two weeks.

Kristen wrote: "I'm in-process with Smashwords and I expected it to port over already, but they seem to be slow about it. It's currently available in the ePub format (Nook's format) through the Smashwords site (ht..."

Thanks, I went to that website and I got the book. :o) Hopefully it'll work fine.

Thank you! It should, but please message me if you have issues.

Wow, I take a few days off Goodreads and look what I've missed!! Wow. First some replies then about me.

Monica, I'm so pleased to see you here - I had no idea you were in this group, too. I keep saying this, despite Goodreads being 10 million members strong, this is such a small small world :)

Ruby, I love the new cover designs. You know I voted for a different New Author one than the one you settled on but I just loved that minimalist design you rejected. The other book redesigns look amazing! Congratulations on getting new covers. I hope it really boosts your sales. Covers make a big difference!

ROBB!! That is soooo kewel. Evolved is spreading their wings :) So glad you hung in there for this long! :) Having read those early drafts of Carry Me Away back in 2008/2009, I'd love to sign up to be one of your early reviewers...if you're planning to do ARC requests for Carrie :) I'd like to see how the story *ahem* evolved :D I couldn't resist the pun.

Vered I've never seen all your covers in one place, not having visited your profile in a while ((hangs head in shame)) I like the one for Lethal Takeout a lot. Did that just come out?

Okay about me now. This is the first time/place I'm actually connecting BOTH of my writing personas. I try to keep them separate for marketing purposes but to be honest, it's incredibly time-consuming to keep the two "me's" apart and I'm just getting too busy and too tired to keep doing it.

I am absolutely open to review requests and will comp a copy of the book to someone who wants to post reviews around the book sites (Goodreads, Smashwords, LibraryThing, Amazon/Shelfari). I just joined the Early Reviewers at LibraryThing and am really going to try to start reviewing books regularly again so anyone who wants to request it, I'll post a review to sites listed above but not on a blog. I'm not going to try to maintain a review blog too! yikes. Here's why I say that:

Me, #1:
Marjorie F. Baldwin is a pen name; in fact it's the pseudonym of the title character in Robert A. Heinlein's 1986 novel Friday and yes, I go by the name "Friday" online. I write Science Fiction, deeply influenced by Heinlein and also by Huxley's Brave New World, the original Dystopian SciFi. My debut novel, Conditioned Response just came out this spring and then this summer, I released a short story/novella in The Phoenician Series to hold people over--everyone wants the prequel story that comes before CR but I haven't written it yet *eep*

I wrote 4 books in The Phoenician Series in the 1980s and have been editing them to re-release now. They're set in the far future so it's not a matter of time placement but I moved the setting from Earth to an alien planet and the world-building obviously impacts the plot delivery :) My stories are character-centered though so the basic stories of this series aren't changing (much).

Friday on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/fridaybaldwin
The Phoenician Series on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/phoenicianseries
Friday on Twitter @phoenicianbooks
Friday's Amazon Author Page: http://amzn.to/marjoriefbaldwin
More links on my http://About.Me/FridayBaldwin page (it's free, get one of your own!)


I joined Rob S. Guthrie's kewel little thing, RABMAD (Read a Book, Make a Difference) and my page there is http://bit.ly/fridayRABMAD - I've just made my first donation to Team X-TREME and it felt soooo kewel even though it wasn't much $$$!


Since we're discussing cover design, Sessha Batto collaborated with me to design the template and setup the first cover (CR) and we made sure I'd be able to modify it and create the other handful of covers for the series myself. I did WMC in minutes thanks to Sessha's great job setting up the original Photoshop file for easy future use. I highly recommend Sessha for collaborative designs.


Me, #2:
I write Romantic Suspense under my real name pen name (Sarah R. Yoffa) and have a series (The Banbha Series) planned for that but have been juggling too many projects to get those books out. I have 80% of Book 2 done but don't want to run into the problem I did on the SciFi side (LOL) so I'm trying to write Book 1 first. What a novel idea! Since I'm not going to be done (writing never mind editing!) before Christmas, I'm reconsidering focusing on finishing up edits of another one of the SciFi books just to have something new out by Christmas. Time to market, time to market! I've gotten 3 different cover artist recommendations all of whom do affordable covers but I think I'll probably go with the one Regan Black recommended/used for her Shadows series of Paranormal Romantic Suspense books. I did my own RomCom cover--and I'm NOT done yet ;)


I have one book out under my Sarah R. Yoffa pen name: Coming Home (Dicky's Story) for which I'd looooooove to get some more reviews. It's a Jewish Inspirational / Romantic Comedy and a pretty quick, easy and light/fun read. In honor of the Jewish High Holy days (which started last night), I'm marking the book down to 99c at Smashwords (which has all formats, Nook, Kindle, iPad, etc. available for one low price--buy once, read everywhere). Just use coupon code GF94E (valid until 9/26) at checkout to get the sale price. I'm also a member of RABMAD as Sarah R. Yoffa and will donate 10% of the proceeds from Dicky's Story to Abolish Child Trafficking (A.C.T.) Get it here: http://bit.ly/DickyStory

Me, #3:
I'm also producing some non-fiction (mostly marketing advice for Indie Authors) and selling my Webbiegrrl Writer blog via KindleBlogs. My first marketing book is 95% done on the editing and formatting for CreateSpace. I should have The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing (for Indie Authors) on sale by the end of this month.


Sorry to be so long-winded, gotta make up for not being here for nearly a week! I'll try to stop back more often than once a week, promise! Been kinda chaotic lately with all the marketing, promotion, triple-headed writing and I am DYING to finish redesigning the cover for Dicky's Story. I cartooned him myself (took 13 months!) but really gotta color him in and do SOMETHING else with that cover LOL. I'll get there. Eventually.

-sry
Twitter: @webbiegrrl
Blog: http://webbiegrrl.blogspot.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/webbiegrrlwriter
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/webbiegrrlwr...
LibraryThing: http://www.librarything.com/home/webb...
Amazon Author Page: http://amzn.to/sarahryoffa

OMG - talk about multiple personalities! I love the cover for Collide. And Lethal Takeout came out recently (ish), as did Dragon's Mind.

Hi, Marjorie :)You're the perfect example of 'I plural person!'

hee hee ((from all of us))

Junying wrote: "Great to see you here, Eri.

Hello, Monica, Robb, Jessica, Vicki and many others - oh dear, I'm not going to remember all the names, so forgive me if I forgot to mention you :)"

{hugs} Junying, always wonderful to see you anywhere :)

Vicki wrote: "Eri wrote: "Hello Everyone,

I was just skimming the above and am wowed on the authors as well as the entire group's support. Even noticed a few names and smiling faces. I am honored to be among yo..."

I am so glad you like the site Vicki, I have been updating it like crazy lately. Since I am pulling away from mainstream venues such as Amazon.com I have been working hard to make the site accessible. If you get a chance you should check it our again. Made a few changes.

Sure send me a email and I will hook you up with the the first of DHC or my milder series Isabella (Izzy) Tulley and Aiden Black Series. I verge on the erotic but mine are not erotica. They are dark primal paranormal fantasies (is how I like to refer to them). My writing style is not for everyone for my approach to sentence structure and wordage is made to twist and turn your tongue. However, if you like a challenge in reading, I am your girl (lol)

Kristen wrote: "@Eri, I've been editing the last few days, head down, so I missed your post. So glad you accepted my invite, and glad you could join! :)"

Ahh the dreaded edit, I fully understand. So glad to be here. :)

Junying wrote: "Hi, Vered, and everyone in this fab new group of readers and authors :)
[...]
Here is my blog for you to check me out: http://www.junyingkirk.com/ "

Hi Junying, nice to meet you. I must say, your "Hilarious English Signs Around the World really ought to come with a spew warning! :) Thank you. I needed to laugh that hard just now. Heck, I need to laugh that hard every day!

-Friday
@phoenicianbooks

BAHAHA - Junying, I just read your post. OMG - too funny!

Marjorie, lovely to meet you here too and glad to make you laugh :)

Vered, thanks for visiting and sharing a laugh with me. Anyone needs a little cheering up, head to my blog now - a laugh is promised but with a warning: Don't eat or drink when you are reading it :)

Marjorie/Sarah -- Wow, hi! Long time. I didn't connect 'marjorie' with you. Glad you connected the dots. 'Carry Me Away' is about to go through a major rewrite/revision, and is tentatively scheduled to come out in May 2013 if all goes well. Good to run into you again.

Robb wrote: "Marjorie/Sarah -- Wow, hi! Long time. I didn't connect 'marjorie' with you. Glad you connected the dots. 'Carry Me Away' is about to go through a major rewrite/revision, and is tentatively schedule..."

Yeah, I kind of suspected back on Facebook when you friended me that you had no clue who I was. I had/have both profiles on Authonomy, where we met, but I know you haven't been there in longer than I haven't been there ;) I use Autho to post free excerpts of published works FWITW.

Regarding Carry, and especially if you're doing a major rewrite, do you plan to solicit (a) First Readers and/or (b) Early Reviewers? As noted elsethread, I've recently joined the LibraryThing Early Reviewers (LTER) program to read and review books from traditional publishers and post reviews that feed through to the library cataloging system. I'll be using the webbiegrrl name for that though and that was the name under which we had our disagreement some time back IIRC. Don't know if you'd want "webbiegrrl" reviewing your book. I did enjoy the characterizations, though, as I recall, and I really hope you don't lose their sympathetic richness in the various rewrites.

And you can just call me "Friday" :)

Marjorie wrote: "And you can just call me "Friday""

Sorry, I'm busy Friday. I'll have to call you Saturday. ha!

On 'Carry' revisions, I've got two editors assigned to me by my publisher that I'll be working with, so no, no beta readers or early reviewers during the rewrite/revision process.

Robb wrote: "Marjorie wrote: "And you can just call me "Friday""

Sorry, I'm busy Friday. I'll have to call you Saturday. ha!"

:-)

"On 'Carry' revisions, I've got two editors assigned to me by my publisher that I'll be working with, so no, no beta readers or early reviewers during the rewrite/revision process. "

Well, an early reviewer is NOT someone who reads DURING the revision process (like "beta readers" are) but rather, after you're done revising and looking to do the final galley proofing/formatting, etc. After the content's done and you want quotes for the front matter, etc. This is one of those weird quirks in book publishing you never had to cope with in newspaperworld, right?

Anyway, I'd love to be one of your early reviewers (as webbiegrrl where I'm an official early reviewer through LTER)

-whoaminow? I have no recollection anymore...gotta post this to find out (haha)

FREE EBOOK - A Kindle Promotion



Hi, I'm David Nova (pen name) and my novel "Season of the Serpent: Book One" will be FREE for Amazon Kindle, Thursday, Sept. 20 - Monday, Sept. 24.

The Garden of Eden story is retold in this smart and satirical, contemporary fantasy ... a hybrid of Harry Potter and The X-Files ... The Wizard of Oz meets The Matrix ... a historical, metaphysical thriller where Synchronicity provides the clues.

AMAZON:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0080RDHVO

GOODREADS EVENT:
http://www.goodreads.com/event/show/6...

Looks interesting. I'll definitely check it out tomorrow.

Me too! Sounds an interesting idea.

Looks like a good one, David but I don't have a Kindle; I have a NOOK.

I'll check it out when it comes out on NOOK.

Hi, David, your book sounds interesting. I'll download a copy tomorrow. Do you need tweets?

Hi everyone!

I'm an author who writes both paranormal romance and teen fantasy. Please check out some of my work! Here are two short blurbs to give you an idea:

Echoes of Time:
Kiley Bryn wants what every girl wants. True love and a happily ever after. Too bad for her, that'll never happen. She's met "the one", it didn't last, and unlike with mortals, Werewolves mate for life. No exceptions. That is until she meets the very human Bryson Cormac. But when her ex decides he wants her back, can she manage to keep Bryce alive long enough to figure out her own heart?

With a newly turned werewolf as her partner, an overly possessive pack leader, and an ex that wants to destroy everything she's ever cared for, life just seems to be tumbling deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole. The past won't take no for an answer, and neither will the present. All she's got to do is decide which one she wants for her future, and that's only made harder by the most important fact of all: both guys are playing for keeps.

All That We See or Seem:
Lily Bryg's just been sucked back into the realm where she was born. And where she died. Only problem is, that was well over three hundred years ago, and most of her memories of the place have disappeared. With an evil king out to make her his, and a prophecy looming over her head, can she and her friends find a way to stay alive and out of Ronan's clutches?

Dodging witches, demons, faeries, dragons, and much, much more, the Four are just beginning to realize that having power comes with a lot of responsibility. And sacrifice. But one question stands out among the rest, haunting Lily through out the nights and days. Should she fight Ronan and risk everything, or should she give up her freedom to the gorgeous, yet wicked, king in order to possibly save her friends?

http://www.tempestchani.blogspot.com

Hi Tempest, welcome to our awesome group!

Thanks! :)

Vicki, or anyone else who has a Nook and yearns to download Kindle books FREE, you can convert them FREE by using a program called Calibre, which you can get here:

http://calibre-ebook.com/

It's fairly easy to use. I might have to do a tutorial on basic Kindle to Nook conversions if there's interest. I have a couple of Calibre tutorials on my Webbiegrrl Writing blog already. Just go to http://webbiegrrl.blogspot.com and use the tag cloud or search the blog for "calibre" tags.

Sarah, The Webbiegrrl Writer wrote: "Vicki, or anyone else who has a Nook and yearns to download Kindle books FREE, you can convert them FREE by using a program called Calibre, which you can get here:

http://calibre-ebook.com/

It's ..."

Could you be a love and repost these in the Lendables folder under the Kindle & Nook threads...Please and thank you!!!

Monica wrote: "Hi, David, your book sounds interesting. I'll download a copy tomorrow. Do you need tweets?"

Sure. that would be great. Thanks

David,I tried to find your twitter handle under your pen name, but I couldn't. I did RT about your promo without your handle. In the meantime, thanks for the download :)

David wrote: "FREE EBOOK - A Kindle Promotion



Hi, I'm David Nova (pen name) and my novel "Season of the Serpent: Book One" will be FREE for Amazon Kindle, Thursday, ..."

Looks enticing David. :)

Monica wrote: "David,I tried to find your twitter handle under your pen name, but I couldn't. I did RT about your promo without your handle. In the meantime, thanks for the download :)"

website: http://www.davidnova.com/
twitter: https://twitter.com/DavidNovaAuthor
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/David-...

Thanks! Enjoy the book.

Hey guys I am an author of contemporary romance.
Check out my blog www.mokauthor.wordpress.com
check out my short stories by Mo.Kenyan erikamszabo.com/apps/forums/topics/sh... …
twitter @mok_author.Shades of Spring 1964: Letters to my daughter

Alexandar, love post-apocalyptic and I'll go check your links :)
David, I'll rt your promo again later with your handle.
M.O., heading to your blog :)

Sarah, The Webbiegrrl Writer wrote: "Vicki, or anyone else who has a Nook and yearns to download Kindle books FREE, you can convert them FREE by using a program called Calibre, which you can get here:

http://calibre-ebook.com/

It's ..."

Sarah, that is SO cool! Thank you so much for letting me know. My daughter is pretty savvy with technology/computer so I'll get with her and see if we can't figure out how to convert. MUCH appreciate the info!

M.O. wrote: "Hey guys I am an author of contemporary romance.
Check out my blog www.mokauthor.wordpress.com
check out my short stories by Mo.Kenyan erikamszabo.com/apps/forums/topics/sh......"

Welcome M.O. :)

David wrote: "FREE EBOOK - A Kindle Promotion



Hi, I'm David Nova (pen name) and my novel "Season of the Serpent: Book One" will be FREE for Amazon Kindle, Thursday, ..."

Currently the #1 Fantasy eBook on Amazon (free)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/...

Thanks for downloading it!

Hi to everyone!

My pen name is Jess Lawren, and I'm a new e-book author dabbling a bit in fantasy (high and contemporary) as well as science fiction. Still new to the whole thing, and I decided to sign up for various groups to get the hang of being an indie author.



Hope you guys enjoy reading as much as I enjoyed writing it (more of the series on the way)

P.S.
Can anyone recommend a good book cover designer for fantasy/SF themes - one that doesn't charge an arm and a leg for decent work? :3