Blogging Authors: PUBLISHING

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Monday, September 17, 2018

A Very Crooked, Rocky Path to Publication by Brenda B. Taylor

A Very Crooked, Rocky Path to Publication

By Brenda B. Taylor

For most of my life I dreamed of becoming a writer of wonderful novels about the extraordinary lives of ordinary people. While studying history in school, I imagined the many ups and downs, the twists and turns in the lives of the characters we studied. Sometimes stories and even conversations between the characters ran around in my head. My teachers called my thoughts, daydreaming, and I suppose they were a daydream of sorts. At times when I finished my school work, I found a clean sheet of paper and began a story. The first one I completed was about a horse similar to Black Beauty. The plot had a happy ending and my parents enjoyed reading the two-page story. Their smiles made my day.

After that first attempt at being an author, I wrote short stories for my family’s enjoyment, but never shared with others outside the family circle. I felt too embarrassed about my attempts at writing and my ambitions to be an author. After finishing high school, a college degree became my goal and ambition. In the meantime, I married and had children, but finished a degree in elementary education. Life became hurried and hectic with a husband, children, and teaching career. Writing was pushed to the background, but as I stood over a stove cooking one of many meals, stories popped into my head. I engaged in daydreaming again, while watching the beans boil or waiting for bread to bake. I wrote many stories in my mind, but never on paper.

After retirement my husband and I bought a recreation vehicle, traveling most of the United States and Canada. During that time, I began putting thoughts on paper and making copious notes. Several of our trips were made to the home sites of my ancestors, especially those who resided in Missouri. The Wades of Crawford County series came from those RV journeys to Virginia, Tennessee, and Missouri.

Through genealogy research I discovered my Scottish roots and heritage. My ancestor, Duncan Munro, immigrated from Scotland to North Carolina in the early 1800’s. He married, then moved his family to Alabama. After the Civil War, his son immigrated to Louisiana where his daughter met and married my great-grandfather. I traveled to Scotland three times in search of my Scots family and found them in the Highlands. While in Scotland, I toured the seat of Clan Munro, Foulis Castle, and the land of Ferindonald or “the land of Donald. Donald, ancestor of the Munros, ventured to Scotland from Ireland as a mercenary soldier to assist King Malcolm in fighting Viking invaders. After visiting Scotland, the Highland Treasures series was born.

My efforts in traditional publishing were fruitless, and self-publishing loomed as a viable means of getting a manuscript out to readers. I joined several author organizations and attended conferences. After studying the self-publishing process, I decided to form a company and publish my own books. Also, I came to the conclusion that I don’t have enough life left to go the traditional publishing route.

I view my writing and publishing as a fulfillment of a long-time dream, and I encourage other writers to go ahead and jump in there. Don’t give up, write those fantastic, amazing stories. Someone is waiting to read them.

About the Author

The desire to write historical fiction has long been a passion with Brenda B. Taylor. Since elementary school, she has written stories in her spare time. Brenda earned three degrees: a BSE from Henderson State University, Arkadelphia, Arkansas; a MEd from Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, Texas; and an EdD from Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas; then worked as a teacher and administrator in the Texas Public School system. Only after retirement could she fulfill the dream of publication.

Brenda and her husband make their home in beautiful East Texas where they enjoy spending time with family and friends, traveling, and working in Bethabara Faith Ministry, Inc. She crafts stories about the extraordinary lives of ordinary people in her favorite place overlooking bird feeders, bird houses, and a variety of blooming trees and flowers. She sincerely thanks all who purchase and read her books. Her desire is that the message in each book will touch the heart of the reader as it did hers in the writing.

Her latest book is the Scottish Historical Romance A Highland Emerald.

Author Contact Information:

Historical Heartbeats

http://www.brendabtaylor.com

Facebook

http://www.facebook.com/authorbrendabtaylor

Twitter

http://www.twitter.com/rayburnlady

Amazon Author's Page

http://amzn.to/2hSKCXt

BookBub Author Page

https://www.bookbub.com/authors/brenda-b-taylor

https://www.pinterest.com/rayburnlady/

Goodreads

http://www.goodreads.com/brendataylor

Tumblr

http://www.tumblr.com/rayburnlady

Google +

About the Book:

Title: A HIGHLAND EMERALD
Author: Brenda Taylor
Publisher: Bethabara Press
Pages: 268
Genre: Scottish Historical Romance

BOOK BLURB:

Aine MacLean is forced into an arranged marriage with Sir William, Chief of Clan Munro, yet her heart belongs to a handsome young warrior in her father’s guard. She must leave Durant Castle, the home of her birth on the Isle of Mull, and travel across Scotland in a perilous journey to her husband’s home on Cromarty Firth. William agrees to a year and day of handfasting, giving Aine an opportunity to accept him and his clan. He promises her the protection of Clan Munro, however, Aine experiences kidnapping, pirates, and almost loses her life in the River Moriston. She doubts the sincerity of William’s promises and decides to return to Durant Castle when the handfasting ends. William determines to win Aine’s heart. Will the brave knight triumph in his fight for the bonnie lass?

A Highland Emerald is the third book in the award-winning Highland Treasures series. The novel tells the story of Aine MacLean and William Munro and is the prequel to A Highland Pearl.

ORDER YOUR COPY:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble

# PUBLISHING

Monday, June 18, 2018

Should You Or Shouldn't You Self-Publish? l Lydia & Santina Casablanca @TDawsons #vbt #fantasy #romance #puyb

thewriterslife 12:00 AM 0 Comments

SHOULD YOU OR SHOULDN’T YOU SELF-PUBLISH?

Every writer that has a dream to be published think about what they’re going to do and how they’re going to go about it, when their manuscript is complete. They think about how they want to publish and who they want to publish with. Now we thought about it for years, wondering how it would happen and what would happen once it was done. We somehow always knew that we were going to need money to fulfil our dreams, even before we decided to sign up with a self-publishing company. We wanted to work with a mainstreaming publisher. Of course we did, but we always had concerns when it came to giving the rights to our work to a publisher. We were worried that they would change everything, like the name of the book, the characters names, their features, personalities, the places they went to, the powers they possessed. We were worried that so much would be changed and we refused to let that happen. It wasn’t an option because we loved everything just the way it was.

Finally, when the manuscript for The Dawsons was almost complete and we were thinking about which option we would go with, either it be the mainstreaming route or the self-publishing one, our best friend tagged us in a post on Facebook where Xlibris Publishing was advertising their company and what they offer. We took it as a sign that self-publishing was the way to go. We filled out a form on Xlibris’s website and the next day we got a call. Of course we were really excited, and new nothing when it came to the publishing industry. We spoke to them for hours, sussing them out and finding out what was involved. At the end of the conversation we told them that we would think about it. Our story is precious to us and we wanted to make sure that it was in safe hands so we did our research. We did see some bad reviews about the company but we decided not to think much of them at the time because we were impatient, we really wanted to publish our book and we saw it as every company has bad reviews. Other than the reviews everything seemed good. Xlibris gave us a call the next day and we decided to go ahead with them. Xlibris was also offering discounted prices with publishing packages and we didn’t want to miss out on the opportunity, so the pressure was on. Self-publishing companies offer you deals and marketing options at a high price when you can find the same options somewhere else that are a lot cheaper. You can even do some of the stuff yourself for nothing. Unfortunately we didn’t know this at the time.

Since then we have spent over $27.000 on The Dawsons and continue to do so today because the success of our book means so much to us. But that is how these companies suck you in. They know how badly you want it. From word go Xlibris has continued to ask us for money. We think that they even added an error in the final draft of our manuscript just so we would pay more money to get it fixed. We didn’t. We are still signed up with Xlibris but refuse to give them any more money. This has been our mistake.

We were told recently by an award winning author that if you publish with a mainstreaming publisher they are unlikely to make many changes. They just make suggestions to improve your work and make it make sense. If we had been told this earlier we probably would have gone down another route. We were in the dark when we decided to self-publish. We have since then learnt so much. Every dream is hard and takes great dedication. With self-publishing you need to make all the decisions and do all the hard work. So much more than if you were to publish with a mainstreaming publisher. The only hard part would be getting awareness for our book. But it’s hard enough getting the attention of people when you self-publish, definitely so much more expensive. If we went the other way and got picked up by a mainstreaming publisher we would have spent hardly anything, if anything at all.

We are sending cover letters to mainstreaming publishers anyway, hoping to catch a break. Save yourself a lot of time and just get an agent who will only get paid when you do. Keep sending cover letters to mainstreaming publishers and if you’re manuscript is good and you’ve worked hard for it you’re bound to be noticed and get signed. Don’t waste your time and money on self-publishing. They are all scam artists. Do it the old fashioned way. It’s got to be worth it in the end.

If you self-publish your work you get to keep all the rights but you spend a hell of a lot of money and time on the marketing of your book. You barely get time to write which is what you really want to be doing. If you go with a mainstreaming publisher they might change a few things but it will still be your story, your work. And the great part is they do mostly everything for you. You get better marketing and you don’t have to pay for anything. So, should you or shouldn’t you self-publish? We wouldn’t, if we had known what we know now. If you don’t want any surprises learn the game before you enter into it. You want to know what you’re getting involved in. If you do know everything that is involved and you decide to self-publish we admire you tremendously. It is a lot, and I mean a lot of hard work and time. We’ll let you know if it’s worth it in the end. If it is your dream to be a successfully published author then never give up. We know we won’t, not even after all this hard work. Thank you for reading! We hope it helps. God bless. Love from Lydia and Santina Casablanca. The authors of The Dawsons.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Lydia and Santina Casablanca are twin sisters who were born in Brisbane, Queensland Australia. They grew up mostly in New South Wales, moving around all the time and never staying in one place for more than three years. Growing up, Lydia and Santina were left at home a lot with nothing to do while their mother worked to provide for them. The twins had wild imaginations and would often play make believe where they lived in this world where only the supernatural inhabited it. They made up all kinds of characters and story lines, and in doing so they did not realize that they were creating magic.

When Lydia and Santina were 14 years old they noticed they were starting to forget the stories, the characters and the families they had made up and they didn’t want to forget, they wanted to always remember the adventures they went on when they played, pretending they were witches who lived in a magical place. The twins decided to put down all their adventures they had had, all the characters and the families they had made up on paper so they would always remember them.
While writing their book they were suddenly aware that they had a passion for it, and realized they didn’t want their stories to be hidden, to just be shared between themselves. They wanted to share the families they had created, the adventures, the characters with the world. The twins wanted to share their love of writing, their magic and write for a living.

Lydia and Santina worked on their first novel (The Dawsons) for ten years, adding to the story, maturing and professionalizing it, editing it and trying their best to make it as perfect as a manuscript can be before they approached the self-publishing company Xlibris in October 2016. The twins knew that self-publishing a book is not cheap so they saved up for years, working at Gloss Cosmetics, Coles, etc. to earn the money that would help them to publish their first novel.

Lydia and Santina’s book The Dawsons was finally self-published with Xlibris Publishing in April 2017. The twins went through a crazy, exhilarating ride making their book a reality, and haven’t regretted taking all the nerve-racking risks in the hopes of being successful. They have been trying to get as many people as possible to know about their book, contacting radio and television stations, bookstores, newspapers and social media in the hopes that their dreams will come true.
The twins are now 24 years old and are living on the Central Coast, New South Wales. Lydia is currently working on the second installment to The Dawsons. She is also working on the first novel by contacting anyone she can to popularize their book. Santina helps Lydia with the marketing of The Dawsons whenever she can.

WEBSITE & SOCIAL LINKS:

WEBSITE | TWITTER | FACEBOOK

About the Book:

Title: THE DAWSONS
Author: Lydia and Santina Casablanca
Publisher: Xlibris
Pages: 432
Genre: Fantasy/Romance

BOOK BLURB:

Witnessing the horrific demise of everyone he knew and loved has made Derrick Dawson strong, but it has also made him cold and broken. Tormented by his past and fears for the future, Derrick drowns himself in alcohol and drugs to dull the pain he can’t seem to escape. When Rose, the granddaughter of his sworn enemy, suddenly appears in his life, his world turns upside down. The wall he has built to protect his heart is crumbling. Will Derrick ignore what he feels or will he let the wall fall?

Francesco has felt alone and miserable all his life. The loss of his family and the harshness he receives from his constantly intoxicated older brother has left a void inside him that he thought he would never fill. Until a young princess named Rosa stumbles into him and changes his life forever. There’s only one thing that stands in his way—King Antonio has forbidden Rosa to have anything to do with a Dawson.

ORDER YOUR COPY:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble

# PUBLISHING

Tuesday, June 5, 2018

My Publishing Journey l Karen Arnpriester @karenarnprieste #writing #publishing

thewriterslife 12:00 AM 1 Comments

My Publishing Journey

Writing is a treasure I never expected to find. I was a story-teller for my children and grandchildren, and they loved my attempts. I also must admit that I was a good liar when I thought I had to be. Very believable. Even with these reinforcements, I never considered writing a book, let alone seven. It was a fluke really that got the whole thing started.

My women’s group at church was putting together a fund-raising book and asked us to submit testimonials for consideration. I had experienced incredible miracles in my life and decided to share. All of my submittals were accepted for content. After the book was completed and printed, multiple people asked me if I was a writer. I was flattered but said no. They said I should be. It’s interesting how encouraging comments can inspire someone. These brief comments planted a seed that truly began to grow.

I asked myself what I would even write about and came up with a beginning and an end, nothing in between. So often, people complain about their lives, their family, and their trials. I’ve always wondered how we could react if we found out at the end, that we had known, that we had agreed, seeing the bigger picture. This was my beginning and end.

I just started writing, whatever came to me. I wasn’t taking it seriously, so I picked it up and set it down many times. I do have a spiritual element to my writing, since it’s part of who I am, and I truly felt led in certain parts of the story. As if a scene was downloaded. I have to admit, I struggled with self-doubt, who did I think I was, writing a novel? Luckily, I had dear friends that pressed me for the next chapter. They had to know what happened next. Within six months, I had a finished book, not the final version, but the story was complete.

I didn’t know what to do next. Everything I read about agents was discouraging. Many publishers wanted a huge amount of money to print my book and supposedly market it for me. I did my research and decided that was not within my budget or a direction I wanted to go. The sales needed to recapture four thousand dollars through royalties would be incredibly difficult to accomplish. I figured I’d run off a few copies and share with friends and family. My daughter, Jenn, called one day asking me if I had heard about Amazon’s self-publishing plan through CreateSpace. I hadn’t and checked in to it. It was perfect for me. My book would get on Amazon and I could purchase reasonably priced copies of my book to give away or sell at events.

With the help of brutally honest test readers and assistance from an editor, the book was finished. I remember crying when I received the first proof copy in the mail. I worked hard at marketing and acquiring reviews for my book, Anessia’s Quest. I am so proud to have received sixty reviews at a 4.4 star rating.

I cried as I read the reviews as they came in. Lives were profoundly touched in ways I hadn’t even considered. I received calls, emails and conversations that confirmed my destiny as an author. I encourage you to write that book that lurks in your brain, or whatever else your creative mind teases you with. You never know who’s life you will touch and how it will enrich your own.

About the Author

Karen Slimick Arnpriester (October 1953) was born in Alton, Illinois and moved to California when she was eight. Karen has owned her own graphic art business for thirty years. Anessia’s Quest is her first book. Her second book is titled Raider’s Vendetta. Slimy and Miraculous Relationship are non-fiction books that share Karen's years as a bullied child and real-life miracles. The first two books of the Dream Realm trilogy, her newest endeavor, are now available. Awakening: Dream Realm One and Deception: Dream Realm Two are available as paperback and e-books through Amazon.

http://www.facebook.com/karen.slimickarnpriester
https://twitter.com/KarenArnpriester

Title: AWAKENING: DREAMERS’ REALM ONE
Author: Karen Arnpriester
Publisher: Createspace
Pages: 344
Genre: Christian Fantasy

BOOK BLURB:

The horror of her sister's abduction and Lucinda’s guilt manifest into years of acute insomnia. She appears to be miraculously healed when she participates in a test program that provides restful sleep but awakens a new dream realm … an alternative existence where Lucinda can create and manipulate any fantasy inspired by her imagination. Lucinda’s new realm is shattered by a dark evil that lurks there. Evil that is not confined to nightmares, but a sinister foe that also hunts for victims in the real world. Lucinda's discarded spiritual beliefs resurface and prompt her to begin a perilous journey against this very real threat; a heartless creature that destroys innocent lives. The dream realm, spiritual domain and Lucinda’s physical reality integrate and twist together as Lucinda rediscovers her faith and confronts the monster that threatens her very life and those she loves.

ORDER YOUR COPY:

Amazon

# PUBLISHING # WRITING

Thursday, November 2, 2017

How I Got a Publishing Deal and What's Next / Michael Okon @IAmMichaelOkon #monsterland

thewriterslife 12:00 AM 0 Comments

How I Got a Publishing Deal and What’s Next

By Michael Okon

It’s a pretty incredible story that I have a hard time believing. I wrote Monsterland and self-published it in 2015. My mom is my publicity manager and she blitzed the bloggers with my book. That fall I was reading a book called Selling a Screenplay by Syd Field. In the book, there was an entertainment attorney named Susan Grode who seemed very knowledgeable about the publishing and film industry. I told myself, when I receive my first contract, I’m going to reach out to her to see if she could help me. About two months later, I received a post on Facebook from an agent in London who asked to represent me. I said sure and asked him to send me a contract. I emailed Susan and introduced myself and mentioned that I had someone who wanted to rep me and I was hoping she could read this contract. She told me before I sign with this London agent, why don’t I meet her friend in Brooklyn, an agent named Nick Mullendore with Vertical Ink Literary Agency. I met Nick for lunch and he signed me that day as his client. That evening, Susan brought me on as her client as well.

Nick began trying to sell my book Monsterland to the big publishers and, as expected, it was rejected. Throughout his attempts of selling, he had a call with a film agent and he was pitching her a romance novel. She said she wasn’t really into romance and was looking for something with monsters. He sent her my book Monsterland, she read it over a weekend, and we had a call that Monday. She told Nick and me if we get the book published, she will get it into a producer’s hands to make into a film. Nick found a publisher called WordFire Press owned by Kevin J. Anderson, who has written all the Star Wars and Dune canon books. WordFire signed me to a two-book deal for Monsterland 1 & 2. After the deal was signed, my film agent did what she promised and got my book into the hands of a billion-dollar grossing producer who is now shopping my book to certain studios.

In two years, I went from a self-published author, to a published author with a literary agent, an entertainment attorney, a film agent, a two-book publishing deal, a publicist, and a producer who is interested in turning my book to a film. It’s been one wild ride, to say the least.

Now, what’s next? Well, one may just sit back and relax, and do nothing. Not I. I’ve already completed Monsterland 2 which comes out May 26, 2018. I’m knee-deep in Monsterland 3. I’ve already started beating out the stories for Monsterland 4 and 5. It seems that the next five years are going to be extremely busy with creating stories centered on monsters. What could be wrong with that?

About the Author

Michael Okon is an award-winning and best-selling author of multiple genres including paranormal, thriller, horror, action/adventure and self-help. He graduated from Long Island University with a degree in English, and then later received his MBA in business and finance. Coming from a family of writers, he has storytelling is his DNA. Michael has been writing from as far back as he can remember, his inspiration being his love for films and their impact on his life. From the time he saw The Goonies, he was hooked on the idea of entertaining people through unforgettable characters.

Michael is a lifelong movie buff, a music playlist aficionado, and a sucker for self-help books. He lives on the North Shore of Long Island with his wife and children.

His latest book is Monsterland.

WEBSITE & SOCIAL LINKS:

WEBSITE | TWITTER | FACEBOOK

About the Book:

Welcome to Monsterland—the scariest place on Earth.

The last couple years of high school have not been fun for Wyatt Baldwin. His parents divorce, then his dad mysteriously dies. He’s not exactly comfortable with his new stepfather, Carter White, either. An on-going debate with his best friends Howard Drucker and Melvin over which monster is superior has gotten stale. He’d much rather spend his days with beautiful and popular Jade. However, she’s dating the brash high-school quarterback Nolan, and Wyatt thinks he doesn’t stand a chance.

But everything changes when Wyatt and his friends are invited to attend the grand opening of Monsterland, a groundbreaking theme park where guests can rock out with vampires at Vampire Village, be chased by actual werewolves on the Werewolf River Run, and walk among the dead in Zombieville.

With real werewolves, vampires and zombies as the main attractions, what could possibly go wrong?

ORDER YOUR COPY:

Amazon

# PUBLISHING

Thursday, July 20, 2017

Kimberly Fisk Talks About Her Path to Publication

thewriterslife 12:00 AM 0 Comments

Hello!! Thank you for having me here today. I love connecting with other writers and readers so this is a true treat!!

I think the question I’m asked most often is how did I get published. Or, what was my path to publication. How I wish I could tell you I was handed the secret map and by following it step by step, it led me straight to where I wanted to be. Alas, no. Sorry. But through my pursuit of that ever seemingly elusive goal of receiving “The Call,” I did pick up a few tidbits of wisdom that were of

great benefit. I hope they will help you, too!

· Write. Sounds so obvious, right? But while many of us dream of being a published author we fail to do the one thing we must: write. It’s not pretty or glamorous for the most part; it’s a lot of hours sitting in front of your computer or laptop or notepad mining for the right words. It’s a lot of hours spent crafting a story that might never sell. Scary stuff there! But here’s the rub: if you don’t write it, the publisher can’t come. (Terrible spin on the Field of Dreams quote but I’m sure you get the idea.) And if your book never sells? You will still have accomplished two incredible things: YOU WROTE A BOOK! How awesome is that?! And two, by writing that book, you learned so much about the writing process.

· Read. Again, sounds obvious. But reading is a key element to writing. Reading keeps your pulse on what is selling; it also helps teach you the art of writing. What the author did right…what didn’t work as well for you. Character development. Pacing. And the list goes on and on. And don’t just read in the genre you aspire to publish in. Read voracious. Read everything. Read fiction blockbusters, the how-to write books. The classics. Before I sold, I read every current debut I could get my hands on. Gobbled them up as fast as I could. Those debut books grabbed an agent and/or editor and sold for a reason. I wanted to know why.

· Invest in your dream. Invest not only your time (which is extremely valuable) but also invest your hard earned dollars. I know this bit of advice is difficult for a lot of us moms to wrap our heads around—spend money on ourselves even if we don’t see an immediate return—but it wasn’t until I started doing just that that I started to see positive progress. By my taking my dream seriously enough to spend money on it, my family began to realize just how important it was. My writing wasn’t just a fun hobby—but a serious pursuit of a dream. Another benefit of plunking down those dollars for a workshop or conference or how-to book? I was going to get the biggest bang for my buck. The notes I took were college worthy if I do say so myself and the connections I made with other writers just like me has been invaluable throughout the years. Also, don’t forget that there are a lot of ways to obtain these resources for discounted rates. Many times you can volunteer at a conference that will reduce your fees or you can buy the workshop tapes from the conference and save the cost of travel and other costs.

· Another important step in this path to publication is to learn the value of feedback and revisions. For this step we need to develop a thicker skin. It’s very easy to get attached to our “baby” and not want to hear that anything is wrong with it, but we all know the truth: almost everything can be made better through revisions/re-envisioning/rethinking. But (and this is a big but) chose your beta readers/critique partners well. I count myself extremely fortunate that I landed with three amazing writers early in my writing days. They were (and are) instrumental to my success.

· So now that you’ve written and revised a book, honed your craft through reading books and attending workshops and conferences, you are itching to send it out to the world. Or at least a publishing professional who can get your dream in front of readers. Even among my group of writer friends there is an ongoing debate as to whether you should get an agent or not. My advice—GET AN AGENT. But like with all the steps along the way, research, research, research to find that perfect match for you.

While this is in no means a complete list, I hope it helps you fulfill your dream of becoming a published author just as it did for me. And if you have tips you’d like to share, please don’t hesitate to drop me a note through my website (www.KimberlyFisk.net) or FB (https://www.facebook.com/kimberlyfiskauthor/). Connecting with other writers and readers is one of the best gifts this career has given me.

About the Author

A past recipient of Romance Writers of America’s prestigious Golden Heart Award, Kimberly Fisk is the bestselling author of Lake Magic. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband, three children, and too many four-legged critters to count.

Her latest book is the contemporary romance, Boardwalk Summer.

WEBSITE & SOCIAL LINKS:

WEBSITE | FACEBOOK

# PUBLISHING

Monday, March 27, 2017

Resources for Latino authors: Charting Your Path to Publication by Liza Trevino

thewriterslife 6:20 PM 0 Comments

New to publishing? Me, too. After completing my Latina-focused novel, I expected I would have an easy time locating an outlet for this kind of story. Wrong.

A quick (and more in-depth) Google search with words like “Latino,” “Hispanic,” “Writing” and “Fiction” quickly reveals a serious infrastructure gap for Latino writers, particularly when it comes to popular genres. However, if you are a Latino author or want to write genre-driven material featuring Latino heroines, there are opportunities and resources out there.

This post focuses on publishers and book groups specializing in Latino content. Here are some resources I’ve collected to bring:

Publishers

Publishers come in many sizes. Most likely, you know the big publishing houses like Simon & Schuster. However, there are a few publishers dedicated specifically for Latino writers and content that are listed below.

· La Casita Grande, (http://www.lcgeditores.com/), a newly launched publication press that specializes in Latino/Caribbean literature.

· Café con Leche (http://cafeconlechebooks.com/), an imprint of Koehler Books, specializes in fiction by and about Latinos.

· Floricanto Press (http://www.floricantopress.com/), focuses on Latino peoples and trends.

· Cinco Punto Press (http://www.cincopuntos.com), focuses on U.S. /Mexico border region and Southwest and Mexico areas and publish children’s books, graphic novels, history and fiction.

Also take a look at publishers that specialize in the genre of your work as they can have niche subdivisions within their publishing house that focuses on an ethnic audience.

Book Groups

Book groups provide an excellent resource for developing communities around a specific type of audience or content. The groups listed here focus on Latino authors and wish to make visible the need and audience for stories that feature diversity. Some groups include Las Comadres, LatinX Publishers, Diverse Books, Bustle/Diverse Books, Latina Book Club, Books. Many of these groups can be joined through social media like Facebook and Twitter.

This is by no means a comprehensive list. Rather, it’s the beginning. Are there additional resources you want to share? Please send my way! The goal? Let’s get the word out. Literally. Latino authors have LOTS of different types of stories to tell. This list, hopefully, will be the beginning of your path to publication.

Liza Treviño hails from Texas, spending many of her formative years on the I-35 corridor of San Antonio, Austin and Dallas. In pursuit of adventure and a Ph.D., Liza moved to Los Angeles where she compiled a collection of short-term, low-level Hollywood jobs like script girl, producer assistant and production assistant. Her time as a Hollywood Jane-of-all-trades gave her an insider's view to a world most only see from the outside, providing the inspiration for creating a new breed of Latina heroine.

Click to Buy on Amazon: All That Glitters

# PUBLISHING

Friday, November 11, 2016

Writing is Hard but Publishing is a Nightmare by Robert Wideman

thewriterslife 6:33 AM 0 Comments

This story begins in 1973. I had just come back from spending six years as a Prisoner of War in Vietnam. The U. S. Navy had sent my wife and me to Monterey, California, so I could go to the Naval Postgraduate School. One of the professors introduced me to a local journalist and freelance writer. He wanted to write my story. We sat down and he interviewed me for over thirty hours. When we finished, we had fifty audiotapes. Next, he wrote a two hundred and fifty two page manuscript about my experience as a POW in North Vietnam. The Navy required me to send the manuscript to the Naval Investigative Service for clearance because I was on active duty. The Navy returned the manuscript four months later and told me not to publish it. At the Same time, the Navy permitted other POWs to publish their book, because those books supported the opinions of senior American POWs and the U.S. government. Not only that, the Navy Investigative Service sent my book to senior American POWs and some of my roommates for their comment and approval. The Naval Investigative Service never sent other POW books to me for my comment and approval. I am thinking there was a huge double standard in those days.

Six years ago, I decided to write another book on my experience as a POW. I did this, because I wanted my story on paper for my two sons and six grandchildren. Four years later, in 2014, I had only written one hundred pages. At that rate, I began to think that I would die before I finished my book. I contacted Mark Graham at Graham Communications in Denver, Colorado. He introduced me to Cara Lopez Lee. I took the thirty hours of audiotapes that I did in 1973 and transcribed them into seven hundred pages of transcripts. I gave those seven hundred pages of transcripts, along with the one hundred pages that took me four years to write, to Cara. She finished my book two years later and did a great job.

I then went to Colin Graham at Graham Publication Group in Denver. He designed the front and back covers as well as the interior of my book. He also designed the kindle version. We sent those to Ingramspark. This is where it gets weird. When I received my first sales invoice I only received $.74 profit on each book sold through amazon. Amazon took 55% off the top of the retail price of $15.95. That is the industry standard. Next the printer took $6.44 per book. I thought that was outrageous, because the whole idea of self-publishing was to beat the 10% profit traditional publishers give you. Mark Graham told me that I could print my book for $5.00 and sell it for $15.00. That is true if you order the books yourself and sell them out of the trunk of your car like John Gresham did on his first book. If you sell online through IngramSpark and amazon, however, you only get $.74 a book unless it is a kindle. If it is a kindle, you receive 60% profit on a every kindle sold, which is pretty good.

Colin Graham replaced Ingramspark with Createspace. The return on each book is much better. Now I get $4.25 for each book sold through amazon. That is pretty good too. However, Createspace only deals with amazon. For all other retail outlets I only receive $.74 per book. You can reduce the 55% Amazon gets off the top to 30%, but then other retail bookstores will not carry your book. You are caught between a rock and a hard place!

What does this all mean? It means that the publishing industry set itself up for the benefit of book publishers, book printers, and book distributors. The publishing industry did not set itself up for the benefit of authors. You know, one of the great things about growing old is that you learn something every day. I am seventy-three and I did not have a clue as to how the publishing industry actually operates.

Despite this, it has still been worth for to me to write this book for my sons and grandchildren. I have met some great people during the course of this journey, and that makes it worth it too. Finally, our government and the senior American POWs have presented a story to the world about the treatment of American POWs. That story is incomplete and full of omissions! I have attempted to present a more complete story by telling you what was not said about the POW experience in North Vietnam.

The title of my book is Unexpected Prisoner.

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Title: UNEXPECTED PRISONER: Memoir of a Vietnam Prisoner of War

Genre: Memoir

Author: Robert Wideman

Website: www.robertwideman.com

Publisher: Graham Publishing Group

Find on Amazon

About the Book:

When Unexpected Prisoner opens, it’s May 6, 1967 and 23-year-old Lieutenant Robert Wideman is flying a Navy A-4 Skyhawk over Vietnam. At 23, Wideman had already served three and a half years in the Navy—and was only 27 combat days away from heading home to America. But on that cloudless day in May, on a routine bombing run, Wideman’s plane crashed and he fell into enemy hands. Captured and held for six years as a Prisoner of War in Vietnam, Wideman endured the kind of pain that makes people question humanity. Physical torture, however, was not the biggest challenge he was forced to withstand. In his candid memoir, Unexpected Prisoner, Wideman details the raw, unvarnished tale of how he came to understand the truth behind Jean-Paul Sartre’s words: “Hell is other people.”

A gripping, first-person account that chronicles the six-year period Wideman spent in captivity as a POW, Unexpected Prisoner plunges readers deep into the heart of one of the most protracted, deadliest conflicts in American history: the Vietnam War. Wideman, along with acclaimed memoirist Cara Lopez Lee, has crafted a story that is exquisitely engaging, richly detailed, and wholly captivating. Unexpectedly candid and vibrantly vivid, this moving memoir chronicles a POW’s struggle with enemies and comrades, Vietnamese interrogators and American commanders, lost dreams, and ultimately, himself.

With its eye-opening look at a soldier’s life before, during and after captivity, Unexpected Prisoner presents a uniquely human perspective on war and on conflicts both external and internal. An exceptional story exceptionally well-told, Unexpected Prisoner is a powerful, poignant, often provocative tale about struggle, survival, hope, and redemption.

About the Author:

Robert Wideman was born in Montreal, grew up in East Aurora, New York, and has dual U.S./Canadian citizenship. During the Vietnam War, he flew 134 missions for the U.S. Navy and spent six years as a prisoner of war. Wideman earned a master’s degree in finance from the Naval Postgraduate School. After retiring from the Navy, he graduated from the University of Florida College of Law, practiced law in Florida and Mississippi, and became a flight instructor. Robert Wideman holds a commercial pilot’s license with an instrument rating, belongs to Veterans Plaza of Northern Colorado, and lives in Ft. Collins near his two sons and six grandchildren.

Connect with the author on the web: Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn

# PUBLISHING # WRITING

Tuesday, November 8, 2016

Finding a Publisher: The Right Fit by Gabriel Valjan

thewriterslife 2:50 PM 0 Comments

“…the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity.”

You know the sentence from Charles Dickens. What most people who quote that famous sentence forget is that someone has his head chopped off at the end of the story. You don’t want to be that guy when it comes to finding a publisher.

A quick aside – I was asked to judge fiction submissions for a literary contest. What do you think was the number one problem? It wasn’t the writing. Drum roll please while mounting the scaffold. The problem was as blatant as the glare from the guillotine’s blade. Most writers did not, could not, and would not follow simple directions. Seriously. The directions were in plain view. Your mom may have told you that you were gifted and special, but I hate to break the news: you are not a special snowflake, so, like it or not, here is the shiny, sparkly advice: follow directions.

The best way to find a publisher is not online or consulting a reference book. That is too easy. The best way is to get thee to a bookstore or a local library and be practical about the matter. Get your hands on a book, several books if you can, of your intended publisher. Do you like the font, the page layout, the way chapter breaks are done, the back cover blurb and the cover art? In a word, do you like their ‘shop’? None of these things is superficial because many an author finds out that that they have no say in the editing or cover art. Find a publisher whose colors you would want to wear. Write down the name of the publisher and play Sherlock behind the keyboard and found out what the house is looking for in a Call for Submissions.

Follow directions on font, margins, and spacing.

Once you have primed your eyes on a publisher, then ‘stalk’ authors in the publisher’s stable and see how they promote their books. While an author’s platform is an individual thing, you can learn a lot about a publisher from their authors. Are they supportive of each other? Most publishers do not have budgets for PR, but they do impart ‘guidelines’ to their authors. The ultimate question is: Would you want to be associated with these people?

Keep all your communication short, simple, and professional, whether it is a query or an urge to respond to a rejection. Risk sounding almost atonal because emails are subject to interpretation. Good manners never go out of style. Need to vent about a rejection? Write it all out and burn the piece of paper. Rejection sucks, I get it, but none of this is personal. Time is money and this is a business. Resist the urge to make snarky comments online about agents, editors, or other writers. Your story wants a forever home. Editors and agents love to read and they want to find the next great reading experience.

The publishing world is small and any malodorous comments to an editor will get aired somewhere. I can’t emphasize this enough. True story here: a writer flamed the sender of a rejection not knowing that the person who had sent the polite rejection was the owner of the publishing press. You guessed it: that snowflake was forever consigned to virtual hell. The point is people know each other. One person may not accept you but that person may direct you to someone who will.

Track your submissions, so there are no painful blunders. Careful research may reveal that the small label you thought was indie might be a small imprint of a larger firm. You don’t want to stumble in front of the same editor with the same story. Submittable is a great online tool for tracking your submissions.

Network. If you attend readings or conferences, you may hear or learn about new agents or editors in search of new authors. Editors are the gatekeepers. Be polite and strive to make a good impression. It is a job interview.

If you do not succeed, try again and, most importantly: keep writing.

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ABOUT THE BOOK

Title: Corporate Citizen: Roma Series Book Five

Genre: Mystery-Suspense/Thriller

Author: Gabriel Valjan

Website: www.gabrielvaljan.com

Publisher: Winter Goose Publishing

Purchase link: http://amzn.to/2b9E2qE

A call for help from an old friend lands Bianca and the crew back in Boston. On a timeout with Dante, due to revelations in the aftermath of the showdown in Naples, Bianca is drawn to a mysterious new ally who understands the traumas of her past, and has some very real trauma of his own. Murder, designer drugs, and a hacker named Magician challenge our team, and Bianca learns that leaving Rendition behind might be much harder than she thinks.

About the Author:

Gabriel Valjan is the author of the Roma Series from Winter Goose Publishing as well as numerous short stories. He lives in Boston, Massachusetts, where he enjoys the local restaurants, and his two cats, Squeak and Squawk, keep him honest to the story on the screen.

Connect on the web:

Twitter: @GValjan

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gabriel-Valjan/291400997547203

# PUBLISHING

Friday, September 7, 2007

Five Ways to Publish Your Book by Yvonne Perry

thewriterslife 12:00 AM 1 Comments

Writing a book is the easy part. The hard part begins when you attempt to publish the book. I’ll share the five options I found as I considered publishing my book, MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE: True Stories about Death, Dying and Afterlife. I’ll also tell you about a new trend-setting publisher that is changing the way books get to market.

Option One: You may find a mainstream publisher who is willing to take a look at your book, but if you’ve ever tried to pitch a book you will realize that the rejections are extremely high and the possibility of having a publisher pick up the tab is not very likely. You must be able to market yourself and have a tough skin when it comes to rejection. Even if you do get lucky, you will still have to do a major portion of the marketing, so it helps to have some extra money to use for publicity. While mainstream commercial publishers and university presses have budgets for advertising and promotion, they tend to only use their resources to promote highly visible personalities whose books are easily sold by the power of that person's notoriety. These publishers will rarely risk a dime on the unknown author, and if they do, the window of time for the book to be deemed successful is roughly six weeks. If your book doesn't justify its costs in that time, it is back-listed and disappears from print. The author has little recourse, and can only wait out the time period until he can purchase back the rights to his book.

Option Two: is to use a “print/publish on demand” (POD) or vanity publisher. Most of these companies will accept ANY work from ANYONE, but you can expect to spend upwards of $1,000 and that will not get any copies in your hand for that price! That will cost you about $5-6 per book. You may do all the design work yourself or you may choose a la carte services or packages that include editing, designing the cover, formatting the page layout to their specifications, fulfilling orders and marketing the book. The POD will help you obtain an ISBN and list the book on Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble and other major chain bookstores, but remember whoever owns the ISBN, owns the copyright. You may think you are self-publishing, but unless you purchased the ISBN under your name, you may very well have given your publication rights to the vanity publisher. One good thing about POD is they do handle distribution and order fulfillment. When someone wants to purchase your book, they will print a copy, ship it, and pay you about 30% of the purchase price as a royalty. I checked into three companies: iuniverse.com, 1stbooks.com, lulu.com and booksurge.com. They each offered about the same thing for nearly the same price.

Option Three: I checked into printing the book by using a local commercial printing company. The best price I found was three cents per black & white page. A 195-page book would cost about $6.50 including the cover (which you design) and perfect binding. If you want the book in color, the price could easily make the book cost more than you can sell it for. The printer I used allowed me to print as many or as few as I wanted since they offer digital printing—the same digital technology Pods use.

It is most important to have someone proofread your text before submitting your file because the printer will print exactly what you send without making an edits or doing any revisions. If you print the book in this manner, you will still have to market the book, fill and ship orders.

Option Four: Publish it as an eBook. This is the least expensive way to publish, and people do actually buy eBooks. I had a graphic designer create my cover image to use for promotion of the book on my Web site. I set up a business account with Paypal and added my ISBN to my product list. They created an html code that I copied to my Web site. When someone makes a purchase, I receive an email notification. I respond to the email by attaching the PDF of my book and sending it to the customer. It would be better to have an auto responder email the eBook to the customer upon purchase but Godaddy, the company who sends my permission-based newsletter, does not offer an auto responder.

Option Five: Hire a publisher. I have found a medium-sized independent press called Nightengale Press that combines the best of both worlds. A contractual fee covers the costs of artwork design fees, graphic design of the book, an author's website and affiliate program, uploading of files to a print-on-demand and off-set mass production through Lightning Source, the first press release about the title, and all the associated costs of registering the book in the proper agencies for cataloging the title and tracking sales.

What makes this company so different from the old world view of publishing is clear. Not only do they take care of order fulfillment and distribution, offer industry connectivity to all online and bricks and mortar bookstores reporting sales back to Ingram and Baker & Taylor, they also pay 70% net royalties to the author and even repay the author’s contractual fees through the sales of the author's books whether in bookstores, on the internet, or directly through back of the room sales, or through any other marketing means. Furthermore, the authors retain the rights to their books, and can at anytime request release from the contract with a simple letter and thirty days notice.

Nightengale has criteria the book must meet before it is accepted into production. Therefore a short query letter is needed to introduce the book. You will still need to set aside some money for publicity, but this company offers some group rates to its authors who want to chip in and take a full-page ad in a major publication.

Good luck in publishing no matter what method you choose.

Yvonne Perry is a freelance writer and the owner of Write On! Creative Writing Services based in Nashville, Tennessee. She and her team of ghostwriters service clients all over the globe by offering quality writing at an affordable price. If you need a brochure, web text, business document, résumé, bio, article or book, visit http://www.yvonneperry.net/. Be sure to subscribe to the RSS podcast feed and the free monthly newsletter about writing, networking, publishing and marketing. Yvonne is the author of RIGHT TO RECOVER: Winning the Political and Religious Wars over Stem Cell Research in America. http://www.right2recover.com/

# PUBLISHING