Words, Writers & West Seattle Presents Molly Ringle

(Reprinted from the West Seattle Herald)

A lifelong fan of folklore and mythology, Molly Ringle has been writing both contemporary fiction and paranormal fiction for over twenty-five years. She will present two novels about the Greek myths next Friday, Sept. 5th: ‘Persephone’s Orchard,’ (Central Avenue Publishing, 2013) the first in the series; and book 2, ‘Underworld’s Daughter’ (Central Publishing, 2014). Past titles include The Ghost Downstairs, Relatively Honest, What Scotland Taught Me, and Summer Term. A love story is always part of the plot, so some of the books are classified as romance too.

With her intense devotion to silly humor, Ringle was especially proud to win the grand prize in the 2010 Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest with one (intentionally) terrible sentence. Molly grew up in the Pacific Northwest, and has lived in West Seattle with her husband and children for almost ten years and other parts of Seattle for a few years before that. Her studies include a bachelor of arts in anthropology and a master of arts in linguistics. She was a Tri-Delta in college in an old sorority house that was supposedly haunted which inspired some of the central ideas for ‘The Ghost Downstairs.’ When not writing, she can often be found experimenting with fragrances, chocolate, and gardening.

The public is invited to this FREE series from 5 to 7PM at Barnes & Noble/Westwood Village. Other local authors will be featured in this free FIRST FRIDAY book talk series in coming months at Barnes & Noble in Westwood Village.

Additional information on future presentations can be obtained by calling Dora-Faye Hendricks, chair, “Words, Writers & West Seattle”, by phone at 206-280-9983, or by e-mail at: Dora-Faye@comcast.net

Iain S. Thomas in Vancouver BC

Monday, August 25, 2014 was a warm summer night full of stories, poetry, and questions.

Iain S. Thomas, co-creator of I Wrote This For You, and author of Intentional Dissonance was in Vancouver BC at Y’s Books.

Pam and David were gracious hosts and the best question of the night came from Iain, a citizen of South Africa, when he asked, “What is a Dairy Queen?”

Thank you to all the wonderful people who were there that night.

A Publisher’s Thoughts on Book Reviews

As a publisher and avid reader, I read SO many book reviews – both of our books and of others. Reviews that are done by average readers such as those on Goodreads or bookstores; reviews written for professional reviewing entities like Kirkus or Booklist; and reviews that bloggers write on their blogs.

Thankfully, the vast majority are well written and thought out – expounding on the reader’s thoughts about the book, the characters, the plot, the writing, etc. Intelligently discussing what they liked and didn’t like. In the end, they apply a number or star rating which is a usually a requisite of the site which they are posting to, like Goodreads or Amazon.

However, there are those reviews that are the opposite of this, written by people who love to hate. They seem to spend a lot of time thinking up fancy words to describe how bad the book is, what a horrible person the author must be, or how they can’t believe the hype around the book because it is simply the worst piece of literary torture they’ve subjected themselves to.

Then, and even worse than the aforementioned type, there are those who quickly whip up a very negative review of the book wherein they describe aspects of the book that weren’t even there: wrong character’s names; or ideas that are misrepresented; all wrapped up in a misspelled mess of a paragraph. It makes me think that perhaps they didn’t really read the book or read it so quickly that the essence of the book didn’t really seep in.

Personally speaking, I want to read the first type. But, I don’t want to read only positive reviews, I read the negative ones too, because it helps me decide if I should buy the book for myself and in the case of our own books, it helps me and the author make better books. I honestly like reading other people’s opinions, even if they don’t agree with my own. I find these reviews so terribly helpful in so many ways and I only wish everyone would do this. It helps make the book world a better place – truly.

The last two types of reviews do nothing to help authors, other readers or publishers. All they do is show that some people are capable of spewing forth such vitriol that it makes the rest of us wonder what those people are like off-line.

In an era when we are so exposed to everyone’s thoughts, we are subjected to so much negativity and hate. It drags us all down. I am in no way suggesting that we all live in one happy bubble where everyone and everything is GREAT. Like most regular folk, I am suggesting that we remember that our online presence is just as important as how we act offline. That the words we use and the way we use them affect people – deeply. Sure, I tell our authors to grow a thick skin and just deal with the bad reviews. But personal attacks on a writer are just so unnecessary, and poorly written, hateful reviews affect writers just as much as if you had walked up to them in real life and told them that they suck.

I think it’s easy to pick on people that we perceive as untouchable: actors, artists, singers, writers, politicians, etc. All these people are doing their jobs and in most cases, trying their best. Sure, we know that doing this job means we open ourselves up to public criticism, but unless we have done something truly heinous, we are looking for praise and constructive criticism. Just like people who are doing jobs that are seemingly more mundane like working in a bank, writing marketing campaigns or building roads.

Today, I read a great Facebook post from author, Molly Ringle which actually inspired this blog post. In it she declares today to be Good Karma on Goodreads Day. Here’s the text from her post:

I’m declaring it Good Karma on Goodreads day! (Or Amazon, if you don’t have a Goodreads account.) What you must do: go to Goodreads/Amazon and click “like” on a few POSITIVE, decently written reviews. They don’t have to be for my books–though of course that’d be awesome. They can be for any books that interest you or that you’ve enjoyed.

The more “likes” a review has on Goodreads and Amazon, the higher it gets placed, so more people see it. So please, let’s boost the nice and useful things that are said out there, to counter the mean snark!

Feel free to share this post if you think your friends might like to do this too. Maybe we can make it a weekly thing. The internet needs more nice.

 

I would suggest that you like the reviews that you truly do like – and don’t be disingenuous (not that Molly is suggesting that either). Do what feels right and good and help spread good feelings. Because we all know what karma does when it comes around.

Cheers…

Digital Piracy: A Few Thoughts

I regularly get emails from authors reporting that they’ve found their books on various piracy sites. The reaction to finding out you’re being pirated is different for everyone. It’s normal to feel cheated, used and irritated that someone would steal your hard work and share it around so easily.

In all honesty, this used to be my views of digital piracy, but after being in this business for several years — and being an avid user of digital entertainment for longer than that — my views now are very different. I don’t abide by or condone piracy, however, it is something that we have very little control over. The piracy sites I run across are often poorly run, offer inferior products and temporary. There are hundreds if not thousands of sites that are offering our books as free downloads. A lot of these sites just come to their own end after a while anyway. Only to be replaced by another one.

That said, the piracy of books has been around long before ebooks were invented and we all have done it. The license under which one buys a paper book means that you bought it for your own use, and it was not to be sold or transferred to anyone else. But who hasn’t borrowed a book from a friend, or sold/bought a book at a used bookstore? If you did, you were technically illegally obtaining or selling that book. Digital piracy is just so obvious because it is so easy to reach a multitude of people with just a simple upload. But it’s essentially the same thing.

Personally speaking, I feel that for a small press and relatively unknown authors that piracy is a good thing. If your book is being pirated, it means that people think enough about it to share it. If it’s being downloaded — which is something you can usually see on the site — then others are reading it. If they enjoy it, they’ll tell their friends about it. Isn’t that a good thing? No, you say?

Well, I suppose it’s not a good thing if the people they tell ONLY read pirated books. But most people are honest. Most people prefer the ease of their Kindle or nook. So they head over to Amazon or B&N and see that our books are fairly priced — less than that of a fancy coffee.

For myself, when I hear about a book that I want to read, I check out the price on my Kindle. If it’s overly priced (my personal threshold is about $7-$9), then I head to the library and get it sent to my Kindle or iPad from there. But you know what? The author and publisher still get paid for that borrow. If it’s below my threshold, then I click the little BUY button and I instantly have my book – and it’s well formatted and easy.

Central Avenue & Everheart books are priced low on purpose — to avoid piracy, and to encourage the purchase of taking a risk on a new author. Offering free content is likely one of the best things an unknown author can do for publicity. Some of the most successful authors are ones who actually offered their stuff for free, in some format or another. Famous authors like Neil Gaiman and Paulo Coelho are pro-piracy; simply to encourage word of mouth about their work.

Remember that if your books are being downloaded for free – they are not lost sales. The people who pirate books were never going to buy them in the first place. But they likely know people who do buy books. And they might post their thoughts of your book on Goodreads or their blog.

So for that reason, I do very little about piracy sites. I’d rather spend my time creating new books rather than limiting old ones. But as an author, if you still feel bad about your book being available on a particular site, by all means please file a complaint with them, there’s usually a link where you can do so. But if it were me, I’d leave them up there and count every download as a potential link to new fans.

New Release: Match Point by Chelsea Dorsette

As the holidays kick off, it is our pleasure to present the third book by erotica author, Chelsea Dorsette. Chelsea’s work is full of all the kinds of things one looks for in erotica, hot scenes coupled with intense emotion and drama. You might also notice a new look to all of Chelsea’s books – both Escape and Longing have gotten make-overs which we feel capture the sensual nature of her books.

In Match Point, we follow the adventures of Kelly and Patrick. After losing her mother to cancer, Kelly musters up the courage to move to South Carolina to pursue her dream of becoming a mystery writer. In those wildest dreams she never imagined she would meet – let alone fall in love with – Patrick, her sexy tennis instructor. What starts as innocent flirting quickly becomes the most erotic sexual relationship she has ever had. When things start heating up, two jealous tennis club employees hatch a plot to break them apart. When Patrick thinks there’s no hope of ever getting Kelly back, an unexpected conversation gives him the information he needs to exact revenge. But will it be enough to get Kelly back into his life and his bed again?

We are also running a giveaway! Click here to win a copy of all her books and an iTunes Gift Card!

31 Pieces of Advice for Writers

I’m no author. I’ve never written a single thing – well, maybe in high school for an English class, I might have composed a short story or two.

However, I have published almost 100 books and along the way, I have had the pleasure of working with lots of great authors. I am an editor, proofreader, cover designer, bookkeeper, marketer, ebook coder, typesetter and publicist. I love some of those aspects of my job and loathe others. One of the things I have to do that I really dislike is being a cheerleader. The reason I dislike it is not because I don’t like encouraging people, but because the people I encourage often feel they need it – and without reason.

I believe that the authors I work with are all talented, they possess a gift that I lack – and I respect them greatly. So it bothers me when I hear them get down on themselves, their work or their sales. I suppose it is a curse of being creatively gifted. Don’t get me wrong, there are times that I doubt myself and what I’m doing, but I plug away and keep looking ahead and then gently remind myself of the things I’ve done right. When I remember what I’ve done wrong, I tell myself I won’t make the same mistake again.

At any rate, because I write a lot of cheerleading emails, I thought I would post some of the points here that perhaps some other authors could use. Some years back, I read The War of Art by Steven Pressfield – I strongly recommend it. Some of the things I tell authors come from him – and I thus credit his wisdom.

As NaNoWriMo gets started, perhaps the timing of this blog post is good. So here goes, the things I would tell any person who is compelled to write.

1. You were put on this world to write. To not do so would be cheating all of us.
2. Very few authors are overnight successes. Most write for their whole lives to achieve only a small degree of financial success.
3. Define your vision of success. Is it to be the next Rowling, or to simply write down the words inside you on a piece of paper? Or is it something in between? Be specific.
4. Write the stories inside you. Don’t write to the current trends – if you do, it will always come out disingenuous and poorly done.
5. When you are in active writing mode, work every day on your writing. You might not write words, but think about your story, research or make notes.
6. Connect with other like-minded authors and share ideas – either creative or business. I stress the word “like-minded”.
7. If you consider yourself a professional published author, then treat your books like a small business. Be active in all aspects of the business and don’t expect instant fame and fortune. Remember that small businesses take a few years to get off the ground.
8. Strive for organic, slow growth. To come out of the gates and sell a 100,000 copies would be great, but for most authors, it’s akin to winning the lottery. Write a book, publish it and market it. Then write another one and do the same. Then write another one. The best thing you can do is to keep writing and to have a bunch of books in your portfolio.
9. Put yourself out there. Not just in marketing sense, but apply for grants or awards or attend writer’s festivals.
10. Share your gift – for free: do a reading at your local library, share your stories on a blog or give away a few copies your books to a shelter.
11. Tell others you write books but don’t force your books on your friends. If they want to know more or support you, they’ll let you know.
12. Don’t rely on family and friends to support you in this part of your life, the support will come from other places.
13. Acknowledge your gift to yourself and be thankful for it. Whether you think it’s one or not – it is a gift that not all of us possess.
14. Be supportive of other authors. Offer advice, encourage writing in young people who show interest, and connect in the ways that are meaningful to you.
15. Research what other authors do. How do they conduct their writing business? Find out what their website looks like? How do the conduct themselves online? Choose the ones you respect and mimic aspects of what they do. Learn from the mistakes of others.
16. Never publicly respond to a review – good or bad.
17. Don’t compare yourself to any other writer. To do so is to invite jealousy, insecurity or a false sense of superiority.
18. Read reviews, digest the opinion, apply what’s relevant and important to you and then discard it. Don’t hold on to, quote or spend any more time thinking about them.
19. Write. A lot. Publish it any way you want to. Get it out there into the world. Offer some things for free and sell others.
20. Don’t be afraid of pirating. There’s very little you can do to stop it and to spend your energy on trying to thwart pirates will take it away from where it should be: creating. And often, good books that are highly pirated end up selling more anyway.
21. Creativity can foster wallowing. Keep all this in perspective. While you are a writer, you are also many other things. Remember that writing is just one aspect of you.
22. Did anyone buy your books? Then you are a professional author. The amount you made is irrelevant.
23. I define a great book as having great writing, great characters and a great plot. Take the time to learn about how to make each of those three things happen. Writing is also about research and learning not just getting the book onto paper/computer.
24. Not all your works will be good. Some might be kind of bad. That’s okay. Learn from them.
25. Believe in yourself. I know it’s cliche, but if you don’t – then why would anyone else?
26. Do your best to avoid feeling too high and too low. When something great happens, take it in stride. Do the same when something bad happens.
27. There will always be haters.
28. Disregard them.
29. I am proud of you.
30. So are many others.
31. Now go and write me a story.

❤

Matt McCoy Toronto Book Tour

Matt McCoy, author of the popular and well-received hockey tale, THE KID WHO MISSED THE BUS, will be on a Southern Ontario book tour at the end of September. Meeting with schools, local hockey clubs and appearing on radio, he’ll complement all of that with in-store appearances at Toronto area Chapters and Indigo stores.

If you’re in that area, we hope you’ll be able to come down and say hello.

• Friday, Sep 20 at 5-9pm: Chapters Square One, Mississauga
• Saturday, Sep 21 at 9:30am-12:30pm:  Chapters Oakville Town Centre
• Saturday, Sep 21 at 1:30-5:00pm  Chapters Brampton:
• Sunday, Sep 22 at 10:30am-2:30pm  Indigo Milton

Darlene Foster at Black Bond Books

On Sunday, September 15, come and see Darlene Foster at 1pm at Black Bond Books in Ladner, BC and learn all about her AMANDA series for young readers. Darlene will be reading from and signing all three of her books.

Black Bond Book is a local, independent chain of bookstores and we love that they support local authors.

Win a Dean Mayes Prize Pack!

In celebration of summer reading, we’re offering giveaway copies of both Dean Mayes’ books: Gifts of the Peramangk and The Hambledown Dream. We’re offering paperback copies to US residents only and ebook copies if you’re international.

You can enter the giveaway here:

Dean Mayes has established himself as an author of great passion and literary style since releasing his first novel “The Hambledown Dream” in 2010. When not writing, Dean practices Intensive Care Nursing in Pediatrics. He lives in Adelaide, Australia with his partner Emily and his children Xavier and Lucy.

The Hambledown Dream

Australian Denny Banister had it all; a successful career, a passion for the guitar, and Sonya – the love of his life. Tragically, Denny is struck down with inoperable cancer. Andy DeVries has almost nothing; alienated from his family, moving through a dangerous Chicago underworld dealing in drugs, battling addiction while keeping a wavering hold on the only thing that matters to him: a place at a prestigious conservatory for classical guitar in Chicago. As Andy recovers from a near fatal overdose, he is plagued by dreams – memories of a love he has never felt, and a life he’s never lived. Driven by the need for redemption and by the love for a woman he’s never met, he begins a quest to find her, knowing her only by the memories of a stranger and the dreams of a place called Hambledown…

Gifts of the Peramangk

In 1950s Australia, during the height of the divisive White Australia Policy, Virginia, a young Aboriginal girl is taken from her home and put to work on an isolated and harsh outback station. Her only solace: the violin, taught to her secretly by the kind-hearted wife of the abusive station owner. However, Virginia’s prodigious musical gift cannot save her from years of hardship and racism.

Decades later, her eight year old granddaughter Ruby, plays the violin with the passion Virginia once possessed. Amidst poverty, domestic violence and social dysfunction, Ruby escapes her circumstance through her practice with her grandmother’s frail, guiding hand. Ruby’s zeal attracts the attention of an enigmatic music professor and with his help, she embarks on an incredible journey of musical discovery that will culminate in a rare opportunity. But with two cultural worlds colliding, her gift and her ambition will be threatened by deeply ingrained distrust, family jealousies and tragic secrets that will define her very identity.

A Knight on Horseback: Award Finalist

We are very pleased and proud to announce that a title by Ellen L. Ekstrom has placed in the OKRWA International Digital Awards for Contemporary Romance Novel.

On June 30, the OKRWA announced the winners and finalists in their well-respected awards and we were very proud to see A KNIGHT ON HORSEBACK place in this category among scores of entries. It’s a well deserved recognition for this veteran writer of enthralling stories of not only romance, but fantasy and historical fiction. Her characters are always multi-dimensional and she brings a realism to her tales that make them relatable to readers. So please join me in congratulating Ellen for this fantastic acknowledgement of her hard work.

Ekstrom’s book tells the story of Violet Ellison,  a woman who seemingly has it all: three adorable kids, a handsome – but distant – husband and a home in a good neighborhood. But her life is falling apart: she’s burning the candle at both ends to look after her family, finish a history degree and working a full-time job to keep the bill collectors at bay. The morning she finds a chess piece on the sidewalk, a knight on horseback, things start to change. While not one for fairy tales, Violet’s life takes a Cinderella turn and in finding the perfect dress for a society event, she runs into the perfect man: a rock star she’s had a crush on since her teens. A family friend who reminds her of everything she’s been trying to forget suddenly returns, and Violet has some difficult decisions before her. When it all comes crashing down, she realizes that she really didn’t need a knight in shining armor – just some time and space to figure things out, and maybe some sleep.

Ellen L. Ekstrom has been intrigued by all things medieval since seeing Disney’s “Sleeping Beauty” as a five-year old—when it was first run in theaters. Now that she is in her own middle ages, her passion for all things medieval is still strong. She is a member of the clergy in the Episcopal Church and serves as the parish deacon in a local church in Berkeley, California. To support her family and frenetic lifestyle, she works as a legal secretary. Once in a while, she sleeps.

Ellen is also the author of Armor of Light; Tallis’ Third Tune; Scarborough; and The Legacy