Phantom Fugitive Book Review

Phantom Fugitive book review

I am sorry but I could not finish this self-published book(It still counts at #1)
I never wish to be negative but in this case I have to be. This book, The Phantom Fugitive, moved way to fast and never describes anything. I do not even know what the main characters look or behave like. I need back story I need information. The writing was not bad but it needs detail to make the story not only come alive but easier to follow.
So this is my suggestion I think all stories are worth telling so Janet please get back to work on this novel. Bring the story to life tell me who these cats are who you are etc… I want to know everything about this house how it looks and its history. Do this and I will read it again.
Do not give up just continue to work.

Phantom Fugitive

In 2003 PI Russell Williams and a small group of adult paranormal students find out that invoking the spirits can be dangerous; especially when their paths intertwine with George Hanson, a demented spirit who still grieves over the death of his only son during the Civil War.

My Pledge

Today I start a quest!
To read at least 50 self published books on my Kindle in one year.
As a self published author link I understand what it is to get people to take Self-Publishing serious. So instead of being part of the problem I will be part of the solution.
So send me your requests and I will read them. I prefer fiction, fantasy, history, crime pretty much anything exciting or different. Once I choose your book I will announce it on goodreads and create posts while I read.
Self-Publishing is the future and no one should be ashamed about it and I will help push our medium forward. That being said I will still be honest with my reviews.
remember SELF-PUBLISHED ONLY!!!!! Send me your requests lets find my first read.

A low day in the life of a self published author

Well today has been good and bad. One of my first book reviews came back. It basically stated my story was good, imaginative and interesting. What it lacked is the heavy hand of an editor. This in a way is the worst because their little I can do about it by myself. The fact that my story is interesting means my concept worked, my character development and the world I created worked. If the review said my story sucked, my world made no sense..etc than I could say well I failed that would be easy.

I have hired editors out of my own pocket and have hoped that would be all I need, I apparently have been mislead. I have been writing and editing this book for nearly 10 years. And today is a low day. I feel overwhelmed with the prospects of finding and paying for another editor that I do not have the money for and who might not do a good enough job again.

Being a self-published author is not easy. Your support group is yourself, your team of people helping you make this dream come true is yourself. How it is a struggle not to quit every day. I imagine many self-published authors have a very similar story to me. We get constant lows and many disappointments and hope for just a few ups or maybe even a good string of luck which has yet to come.

I am not quitting yet but to all you self-published authors out there on Tumblr let me hear your story and maybe together we can support each other.

How I Sold My Book by Giving It Away

by Seth Harwood

Today we’re featuring a piece by Seth Harwood, an innovative crime fiction writer who has used the tools of Web 2.0 to launch his writing career. Below, he gives you an inside look at how he went from podcasting his books to landing a book deal with Random House. If you want to learn more about how writers will increasingly build their careers, be sure to give this a read. Take it away Seth…

Before it ever hit print, my debut novel JACK WAKES UP was a free serialized audiobook.  And giving my crime fiction away for free turned out to be the key to becoming a published author—that last piece of the puzzle that eludes so many aspiring writers. 

How did it work? Well, I got my MFA from a prestigious writers’ workshop.  I got a dozen stories placed in literary journals.  In short, I was doing all the things “they” (the literary establishment) tell you you have to do in order to become a successful author.  And it wasn’t working.  Agents were saying nice things about my crime fiction, but weren’t willing to take me on as a client.  Eventually I started looking for another way to drive my own career and put my work in front of people. Having had a little success with a published story online—my friends could read it and I was hearing from strangers who liked it, two things that had never happened with the dozen stories I’d slaved to publish in literary journals—I could see that the web was the way to do this. But I couldn’t imagine anyone reading a novel online, or even on his or her computer. I did have an iPod though, and didn’t I listen to it all the time in the car and at the gym? Wasn’t I taking out books on CD from my local library for my drive to work? Sure I was. So when a friend showed me how he’d been using his iPod and a thing called podcasting to get free audiobooks from an unknown author named Scott Sigler, I knew I had to figure out how this was done.

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Caldera: The Book of Ixkin; see it on Amazon

Virtual Book Tour: 7 Reasons to Market Your Book in Bunny Slippers

A virtual book tour is a good book promotion option, says publicity expert Sandra Beckwith.

She told me that she sometimes asks authors what they’re doing to promote their books.

“Oh, I have a book signing coming up in a couple of weeks,” is sometimes the answer.

There’s nothing wrong with a well-organized book signing. But life is too short to hang your book promotion on one or a few book signings — or even an entire book tour.

In this week’s Marketing Savvy podcast, I talked at length to Sandy about a virtual book tour, which is sometimes called a book blog tour. A virtual book tour allows a writer to reach a book’s specific target market at the author’s own pace and schedule.

Here are seven reasons to use a virtual book tour to promote your book:

1. A Virtual Book Tour Saves Your Time

Face it. Book promotion is going to take a time investment to promote your book, if you want to sell more than a few copies. But a blog book tour will save you time.

With a book signing, the worst case is sitting around for a couple of hours while people avoid you and the bookstore staff ignore you. The best case is being involved in a well-organized reading with a good crowd, who all go home at the end of the night, maybe a few of them having bought a book. The best case is very good and can be a valuable part of your marketing plan.

But with a virtual book tour, your time investment comes in researching sites where your target market gathers, preparing content, and then distributing it. You can do these tasks in your own time, at your own schedule, in scattered time blocks, with no commute and no sitting around in a strange place waiting for someone else to show up.

You could be writing your next book.

Book Editor Recommendations

by Jan Bear

Finding the right book editor is as hard as it is necessary, whether you’re a self-published author or trying to crack the Bigs. There are a lot of scams out there and people who think they’re editors but know nothing about story structure or even basic English grammar.

The book editors above are people that I either know or have solid references for. I can’t say which, if any, is for you, but I can vouch that they’re competent and reliable. Check out their websites. If you like what you see, send them an email and see if you can work something out.

Editors: If you would like to be on this list, contact me. I’ll ask around and check references, and if I believe in you, I’ll add you to the list.

Self-published authors find e-success

By Deirdre Donahue, USA TODAY

In 2009, Michael Prescott’s dream died, or so he thought.

After graduating from college in 1980, Prescott had labored for almost three decades to become a best-selling novelist, writing more than 20 books under various names. He enjoyed critical praise and some successes.

But when 25 publishers passed on buying his thriller Riptide, Prescott thought the gig was up. Then, on a whim, he decided to self-publish it as an e-book.

Today, the soft-spoken Prescott, 51, is living his dream. He is one of 15 self-published authors whose e-books, often selling for just 99 cents, have cracked the top 150 on USA TODAY’s Best-Selling Books list this year, threatening to change the face of publishing.

For Prescott and a handful of others, the numbers add up. Prescott says he has earned more than $300,000 before taxes this year by selling more than 800,000 copies of his self-published e-books.

Five of Prescott’s thrillers have logged a total of 42 weeks on USA TODAY’s best-seller list.

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