My contemporary romance novel, A Forever Kind of Guy, came out this month and in preparation for its release I started thinking about a lot of things. Marketing, first of all, which I don’t begin to understand and its importance is something I balk at. Not to insult all the…
I said I was going to contact the author (see my blog from 10/5/11) about the lemonade issue that was making me crazy and I did. Below is my e-mail to her and her reply to me. She asked that I not use the name of her book or her…
I am reading an historical novel by an author I’ve never read before for which I paid 99¢ and downloaded to my Kindle. I don’t read a lot of historical fiction, but I’ve read a fair amount. The story takes place in 1868, after the U.S. Civil War but before…
A recent meeting with a marketing expert goes something like this: HER: What do you feel is most important when it comes to content on your web site? Me: (Mental response) I don’t know. Me: (Verbal response) Whatever will draw more readers to it and encourage them to buy my…
There has been a bit of a furor lately about John Locke’s book on how he became a bestseller offering ninety-nine-cent eBooks while also admitting he isn’t that good of a writer. I have not read his how-to book. From what I’ve read about it, it appears he takes a…
Today I am starting a new blog interview series featuring avid fiction readers. Danielle agreed to be my guinea pig and aid my research in finding an answer to the question “What do readers want?” Tell me what immediately comes to mind when I ask what is your favorite book…
Last week I began a grand experiment. I self-published my book, Not Quite Heaven in digital format, offering it for sale on Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com and in the iBookstore. After years of pooh-poohing self-publishing, suddenly it seemed like a very appealing idea. Why? Because I kept hearing from other authors that by…
Cover artist Katerina Vamvasaki designed the cover for my book, Not Quite Heaven. I found the process fascinating. Maybe you will, too. Barb: Tell us a little about your background and education. What qualifies you to design book covers? KV: I’ve been working professionally as a graphic designer and illustrator for years. More…
For my birthday almost two years ago I received a Kindle. I hardly ever use it. For one thing, I’m not good with technology of any sort. For another thing, being a poor, struggling author myself, I don’t like to spend a lot of money on books. But occasionally, I…
There is no way to explain to someone who’s never written a book, never edited it for (let’s call it what it is) self-publishing, how incredibly tedious and time-consuming the process is. Just when you think it’s perfect and you’ve found and corrected every small mistake in your manuscript, a…
