Introducing Yourself Showing 451-500 of 1,487

[Shawn]

Bridget wrote: "Welcome aboard, Shawn.

I like hitting things and cake too. Maybe you should try to hit things with cake?"

That would be awesome!

[Stephen]

My name is Steve Graff. My author name is Stephen Graff (because I can't quite decide if want Steve or Stephen). My novel RIVER DAWN is here on Goodreads as well as Amazon and B+N. Hope to contribute to as many discussions as possible.

River Dawn

[John]

My name is John Hoff III. I'm an independent film/book blogger. I interview independent filmmakers and authors. I sometimes review indpendent films and books. If you'd like to do an email interview or have me review your film or book, please contact me at the link below: http://johnhoff3.wordpress.com/contact/

Thanks for reading

John Hoff III

[Stormi (StormReads)]

Hi Everyone! My name is Stormi from Lightning Book Promotions and I am doing a twitterview with Indie author Jody Kihara and I would like to invite you all to join us and bring some questions! It will be today at 3pm, CST on twitter using #TFT and you can follow Jody @JodyKihara and me at @ladystorm33. Hope to see you there! :)

[J.]

Hello. My author name is J. SenGupta but I can be addressed as Birds.
I published a young adult fantasy adventure (Sapphire Hunting) on Amazon's Kindle just under 2 weeks ago.

Nice to meet you.

[Ruth]

I'm delighted to be part of this group. I write mysteries, and have published the first two novels in my Hunter Rayne highway mystery series. I came close to getting an agent in New York, but sending things out and waiting weeks for a reply isn't much fun.

[Shawn]

R.E. wrote: " I came close to getting an agent in New York, but sen..."
Preach it! I agree with you 100% on that!

[I.E.]

I'm an author of mystery/suspense - novels and short fiction.

Various bloggers have commented that this is a great time to be a writer, that the POD and ebook expansion is the biggest publishing revolution since the Gutenberg press, and I'm inclined to agree. There are massive new developments occurring almost weekly, it seems, a literary "big bang," and indie authors are as much a part of it as any other writer or publisher.

My first, 'The Delta Chain, is out in all ebook formats and paperback, I have another on the way, and I'm also planning to publish my previously magazine-published short mystery fiction.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Delta-Chain...

[Libbie Hawker]

Hi, guys! I'm Lavender Ironside. One novel self-published and more I'm working on, which I intend to be traditionally published if possible.

I keep a blog that chronicles my experiences with self-publishing (including why I decided to self-publish this book). It's my hope that the blog will assist other writers in deciding whether to self-publish all or just some of their books, and will give them a realistic idea of what it's actually like to do it, and to find success with it.

I hope folks out there find it interesting! http://lavenderironside.blogspot.com

Nice to be here and to meet so many other independent authors who are taking this whole thing seriously! :)

[Gwen]

Hi,
I'm Gwen and I've recently published a children's rhyming picture book. Thought the learning curve with Lightning Source was bad enough, but realise that marketing is going to be the toughest challenge. Look forward to swapping a few tips with other indie authors.

[Erik]

Hello! Just discovering indie book collective and good reads! Glad to be on board.

Wetwire: Part One- The Human Technology

[David]

Gwen wrote: "Hi,
I'm Gwen and I've recently published a children's rhyming picture book. Thought the learning curve with Lightning Source was bad enough, but realise that marketing is going to be the toughest c..."

Hi Gwen,
A few suggestions for marketing:
1) Do a virtual tour. Either find blogs or hire someone to find blogs for you that will either review your book, or where you can submit an article to, or have a contest on etc. There are a lot of blogs looking for content. Google virtual tours. I hired someone at $250/month and she did a great job.
2)Enter indie book contests - there are several. Entry fees are generally around $50.00 per category. Being "award winning" helps.
3)Do a contest here on Goodreads. I did, and it generated a lot of interest. It will cost you shipping from Lightning Source to the contest winner(s).
4)In general try to get yourself published elsewhere. For example I contribute periodically to an e-zine as a sort of travel writer...but in my by-line is the website address for my book.
5)My blog has generated interest in my style and resulted in a sale or two.
6)I have a Facebook account dedicated strictly to me as an author...it has also resulted in sales. It has also attracted the interest of a couple of local book clubs.
7)I have book specific business cards - which direct people to my book specific website. They've been handy at times. On my website is link directly to my book on Amazon.
8)Local papers love to do articles about local authors.
9)Approach local/indie bookstores. Two carry my book.
10) Don't be affraid to give your book away to the right people. I have a friend who is an avid reader and is approached by people and book clubs for suggestions. I have GIVEN her a copy of both of my books and I will give her a copy of my upcoming graphic novel.

I hope that helps. Good luck!

[Hilary]

I'm Hilary Thomson, author of A Will To Murder, a comic murder mystery available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. I'm also the author of a couple of Lord of The Rings parodies that have been kicking around the internet. If you're curious to look at them, the parodies are posted on my author page here: Diary of Saruman and here: Pippin's Diary

The latter short story is older and has accumulated a respectable amount of readers over the years. The first is just a of couple months old. Judging from the reactions I've gotten, people seem to like them. I've recently decided to make the plunge and put more of my work out there for people to read.

[Jim]

Greetings, Collective,

My name is Jim Wills, and I'm an Indie author with four titles out. Soon to be a fifth. On the fiction side, I write Irish historical novels, set both in Ireland and North America, from 1916 to about 2020 during the series. The first is shown in the thmbnail below. On the nonfiction side, I've written a book on baking artisan breads in a wood-fired oven. Some combination; go figure. All have been independently edited by a freelancer; all have jackets designed by a professional.

I live in rural Ontario, to the north and east of Toronto, though I've travelled to and lived in many parts of the world, particularly Ireland and England, though Italy is my favourite.

Maybe have a look at my author's page here on Goodreads. I'm a new member, so bear with me, although I did begin a blog and a Q&A. Lots of other stuff to do on this great site.

I started the Indie journey via SmashWords/Amazon in 2009. Three of the historical novels are on Amazon as paperbacks, plus Kindle. They're also up on Smashwords at: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/vie.... On Amazon, you'll find reader reviews. On Smashwords, you can download samples.

The fourth title in the fiction series, This Hard Gemlike Flame, will be released in early 2012, once I quit fiddling with it and approve the designer's cover.

The bread baking title is listed on Amazon as well, but no Kindle, no Smashwords, due to the large file size caused by numerous photographs. Note to Indie printers: change this.

I'm a professional writer in many fields, and I've also been a freelance trade editor for more than twenty years. Even so, finding an agent/publisher proved an expensive, frustrating, time-wasting exercise in hair pulling. Hence the Indie move.


I guess we're all in the same boat. Reviews and promotion, promotion and reviews. Dang, I worked in advertising, too, but it still ain't easy.

[Sherry]

Sherry Roberts here. I am on the Indie Book Collective staff, working on Bestseller For a Day. I write contemporary fiction: BOOK OF MERCY and MAUD'S HOUSE. I blog at http://www.sherry-roberts.com about writing and other moments on the journey of life. I'm currently writing a mystery with a yoga teacher as the female sleuth.
Book of Mercy

[Untreed]

Indie authors and the readers who love them-- we're Untreed Reads, an independent digital publishing house from San Francisco. We launched two years ago and have slowly built a catalog of genre-defying standalone shorts and novels.

As a small digital press we believe in keeping eBook prices low, hate DRM and publish titles in a variety of formats to best connect our authors with readers.

Whenever we have a new book coming out we'll post a quick blurb here. If you have any questions about our authors, how we operate or the world of digital publishing we hope to be able to help. Please check out our website and stop by our new Goodreads Group to learn a little more about us.

[Rebecca]

Hi,

I've just launched my YA comic novel, What If the Hokey Pokey Really Is What It's All About?

http://www.amazon.com/Hokey-Pokey-Rea...

It joins a gritty realistic novel and a humorous contemporary YA novel, so like Jonathan above, I'm all over the place in terms of genre. My next book is going to be a travel memoir, so it's easy to see I'm doing all I can to squash any growing ranks of young fans!

[Jack]

Hi, My name is Jack Sakalauskas. I.ve just launched my first YA novel "Jewel of Marrakesh." http://amzn.to/sOB7VW
I live in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. If someone could be so kind and take the time to explain to me about tagging and likes, I would appreciate it.

Follow Me On TWITTER http://twitter.com/#!/PensionersRant
FACEBOOK http://on.fb.me/pwLYJ6
ABOUT ME http://pensionersrants.blogspot.com/

[Bridget]

Hey there everyone!

So many new faces it's great to see the community continue to grow.

[Greta]

Hello everyone,
I have been on Goodreads for a while and have read comments from this group and decided it was about time to join. I am an Indie author with 3 books published and another planned for next year.
I am looking forward to interacting with everyone here.
Greta Burroughs
Gerald and the Wee People
Heartaches and Miracles
Patchwork Dog and Calico Cat

[Lee]

My name is Lee Holz and I'm a GR author. I write thrillers and literary fiction. I also like to search out the books of new (to me) Indie author/publishers that are in genres that interest me: literary fiction, mysteries (particularly police procedurals), thrillers (realistic cerebral type), some historical fiction, some Sci-Fi.

I like to write and post reviews of Indie books I like. I don't accept free books (except via the GR giveaway program). I buy any book that catches my fancy.

[Greta]

Hello Lee and welcome from another newbie.

[Jack]

Hi Lee from another newbie.

[Lee]

Greta wrote: "Hello Lee and welcome from another newbie."

Thanks.

[Bridget]

Welcome, Greta and Lee. So glad you could join the group.

[Greta]

Thanks Bridget!!

[Lee]

Bridget wrote: "Welcome, Greta and Lee. So glad you could join the group."

Thanks, Bridget. Happy to be here.

[Megan]

Hello everyone! My name is Megan Hansen. I just starting a small press named Good Mourning Publishing and the main objective is to encourage and support independent authors and artists. We're having an open call for "Accessible Love Stories." This is to be an anthology of short romantic fiction in which one of the love interests is in a wheelchair permanently.

Authors will retain the copyright to their work, receive $0.002 per word, and receive a free paperback copy of the book upon publication. The submission deadline is December 31, 2011.

General Submissions are always open.

Check out the site and please pass it along to anyone who might be interested! Thanks!
http://www.goodmourningpublishing.com/

[Jodi]

I'm Jodi Langston, I write romantic suspense and mystery. My novels are Always and Nature of the Beast. If you like a love triangle there usually is one in my novels.
My blog site is called Written on the Wind. You will find novel excerpts, WIPS, photos, recipes and poetry, writing advice. I just started interviewing authors as well!
I hope you enjoy. http://jodilangston.blogspot.com/

[Greta]

Hello Jodi, welcome aboard!!

[Jack]

Hi Jodi.

[Jodi]

Hello, better late than never I guess.lol

[R.E.]

Hello everyone! Glad to be part of the indie crowd. I'm a YA/MG author with two books coming out Dec. 15th. I'm pretty excited about it. I'm looking forward to talking to more people who decided to go the indie route.

[Cameron]

Hi everyone!

I'm Cameron Chapman, and I write speculative fiction, including urban fantasy, steampunk, and sci-fi. I've also dabbled a bit in women's fiction. I currently have three indie ebooks published (Aboard the Unstoppable Aerostat Fenris and The Great Healion Race, both of which are part of The Steam and Steel Chronicles, and Hold My Hand, which is women's fiction).

I'm getting ready to release the third and fourth books in The Steam and Steel Chronicles in the next few months, and will then be moving on to more urban fantasy and more steampunk books.

[R.E.]

Thanks for the welcome! I'll take an amaretto sour instead. :D

[Jim]

Hello everyone, my name is Jim Maher, Canada boy extraordinaire. I have written 3 novels, and have released two of them on Amazon. I write for middle grade readers, and would love to connect with other authors of similar books, as well as all authors out there.
I have 3 amazing sons, a fantastic wife, and would love for my writing career to afford me more time with my young family.
Look forward to connecting with everyone!

[Chrysoula]

Hi there!

I'm Chrysoula Tzavelas. I write speculative fiction; I have an urban fantasy novel coming out with a micropress in February (it just went up for a giveaway here on Goodreads) and I'm also self-publishing a series of paranormal YA novellas on Amazon and Smashwords and my blog (http://www.dreamfarmer.net/) I have one son and am expecting another in a couple of months. I also have a supportive husband and another housemate, who both work at a small video game company. Indie all-around here!

Looking forwarding to reading the conversation here!

[Jim]

Hey Chrysoula. I'm new, too. Nice to meet you, congratulations on the babies. I have three sons of my own. Looking forward to checking out your work!

Jim
Hemingway Man

[Greta]

Hello Chrysoula,welcome to the group. Best of luck with your books and growing family!!

[Scott]

Hello,

I'm Scott Marlowe, author of two fantasy novels and hopefully soon a third. My web site is out at scottmarlowe.com and I'm on Twitter.

Currently, I'm working on the second book in a series that started with The Five Elements. I'm an outliner, so that's where my focus has been for a while now.

Glad to be part of the group and wish I'd found it sooner!

[Greta]

Hey Scott, I'm a seat of the pants writer. I do not have the self-discipline to plan it all out in advance. Most of the time, my books take different directions than originally planned. Do you stray from your outline as you write?

[Lee]

Greta wrote: "Hey Scott, I'm a seat of the pants writer. I do not have the self-discipline to plan it all out in advance. Most of the time, my books take different directions than originally planned. Do you stra..."

I don't make an outline as such, Greta. I get an idea for a book that evolves into a beginning and ending before I start writing. Depending on complexity, I may make a timeline shortly after I start writing. I make a chapter list and a list of characters as I write. I find that the book evolves and becomes more planned as I go. Revision after revision reshapes the book until it's tightly plotted and may look like the result of a detailed plot plan, but that's not the way it began life.

[Scott]

Greta wrote: "Do you stray from your outline as you write?"

Definitely. But I like to have the plot details and general course of things laid out. I imagine writing the novel as I'm writing the outline, even going so far as to write out dialog in some cases. In many cases, the outline itself goes in new directions as it's being written, similar to how the novel will. It's a big time-saver when I decide to change something at the end of the outline that in turn affects something that happened way back in the beginning. Updating the outline is a lot easier than re-writing pages of the novel.

The outline I'm working on now is at 44 pages and (coincidentally) 44 chapters. I expect the chapter count to go down as I go over it some more.

[Greta]

Lee and Scott,
Scott,
You must have the patience of a saint and I admire you for the prewriting work you do.

Lee,
Same with me,the book evolves as it goes. In "Gerald and the Wee People", I only wrote when I had a few spare minutes so sometimes it was weeks between starting a chapter and finishing it. I had no idea where the story was going until I sat down to write and it sort of wrote itself.

[Jacquie]

I'm Jacquie Rogers, the author of small press, indie-published, and self-published books. My latest books are indie-published through Melange Publishing. It's great because I have 100% creative control, but I plan to continue self-publishing, especially for the non-fiction books.

Goodreads has not lured me--too many other things to do. I'm embarrassed to even say how old the invitation to this group was, but I'm going to try to make a concerted effort to be more active on Goodreads.

My Twitter handle is @JacquieRogers and I'm also on Facebook, but have reached my friends limit so I hope you'll join my author page. I'll be happy to return the favor.

IBC is such a cool group! I'm happy to be included in the Indie Book Blowout Extravaganza. :) It's really gonna rock. !

Jacquie

[Lee]

Jacquie wrote: "I'm Jacquie Rogers, the author of small press, indie-published, and self-published books. My latest books are indie-published through Melange Publishing. It's great because I have ..."

I gave your author page a like. Mine is https://www.facebook.com/Lee.Holz.Far...

[Riley]

My name is Justin Dennis and I'm the author of the Young Adult Fantasy novel, Through the Portal. Glad to meet all the others indies here :)

[Cege]

Hello everyone! My name is Cege Smith and I published a paranormal romance, Edge of Shadows in November. I am releasing a sci-fi novella, The Soul Garden right before Christmas, and have another fantasy romance coming in early 2012. I credit The Artist's Way for helping me break through my artistic blocks and putting me on the path of my indie journey.

I'm excited to connect with everyone here! I've also recently added a review aspect to my blog for anyone who is looking to have their novels reviewed. (My review policy is here: http://www.cegesmith.com/?page_id=47). Glad to meet you!

[Jacquie]

Lee wrote: "I gave your author page a like. Mine is https://www.facebook.com/Lee.Holz.FarmRo... ..."

Lee, thanks! and I went to Farm Road Publishing and Liked your pages, too.

[Greta]

Hello Jacquie, Justin and Cege,
Glad to meet all of you.
Cege, you are already familiar with AAI but I'd like to invite all other readers and authors to check out Adopt an Indie (www.adoptanindie.com). The first event was in Nov and the next is coming up in Feb. It's basically a month long event where readers can look over books written by indie authors, get a free copy of a book that catches your interest, read it, and interact with the author. Lots of fun. AAI is organized by Donna Brown and she is accepting books/authors right now in preparation for February.