Here’s the blurb and a link to Camosun – Publish Your Own E-book to register.

Thinking about publishing your writing but struck out with traditional publishers? Don’t fancy the headache of self-publishing in print? Then it’s time to join the latest publishing sensation.

You can publish your magnum opus (or cookbook, or romance, or…) in an electronic book format, sell it through major online booksellers and receive above average royalties as easy as a,b,c…well, almost.

This course will introduce you to all things e-book including set-up and formatting, online bookselling sites, e-reader choices, cover image basics and marketing possibilities.

And it’s only $75.00 (plus the dreaded HST). Always a full house; love to see you there!

Here’s the blurb and a link to Camosun – Publish Your Own E-book to register.

Thinking about publishing your writing but struck out with traditional publishers? Don’t fancy the headache of self-publishing in print? Then it’s time to join the latest publishing sensation.

You can publish your magnum opus (or cookbook, or romance, or…) in an electronic book format, sell it through major online booksellers and receive above average royalties as easy as a,b,c…well, almost.

This course will introduce you to all things e-book including set-up and formatting, online bookselling sites, e-reader choices, cover image basics and marketing possibilities.

And it’s only $75.00 (plus the dreaded HST). Always a full house; love to see you there!

• ponder an historical series,
• try out a new biz concept,
• get dirty in the jardin,
• spin along our rural bike trails and…
• indulge in fudge, bien sur!

Enjoy your summer. You can still check out my previous posts, especially if you’re interested in:

• how to write a mystery novel
• my garden
• podcast interviews with published authors
• self-publishing your ebook
• my novels.

Cheers!

My ebooks will now be distributed to major app marketplaces…for free. How can you beat that?

Here’s a teaser from Smashwords:

Smashwords announced a distribution agreement with ScrollMotion today that will make Smashwords Premium Catalog ebooks available for sale as single-book apps in the major app marketplaces including Apple, Android, Windows Phone 7 and HP’s WebOS.

Full details may be found at Smashwords.com.

Thanks to the great folks at Smashwords, ebook sales just keep gettin’ stronger!

cover image for Youdunit Whodunit!

J. Rosemary Moss kindly gave it three stars, saying:

A brisk, informative read for new-comers to the mystery genre.

Short and sweet…thanks, Ms. Moss, for buying my little ebook and for taking the time to applaud it on Goodreads.com.

Her first post was about self-publishing.

I’m going to forgo my usual mystery writing column this week to offer her an opp for another post, in time for the publication of her latest knitting mystery, The Sweater Curse.

The Sweater Curse by Leanne Dyck

Congrats to Leanne and thank you for your honesty regarding the writer’s lot.

Writing and Submitting by Leanne Dyck

Knowledge gleaned from a writers’ magazine: a writer’s job is to write and submit. Sounds simple. Until you consider: Write what? Submit where?

In my teens I was seduced by two passions: knitting and writing.
Writing about knitting intrigued me. In 2005, I began writing knitting-related short stories, flash fiction and poems. Here’s an example called Rebellion:

A small group of mothers gather in a kitchen to drink coffee and chat.
Cindy starts, “He stays out all night. Who knows where he goes.”
Linda shares, “She listens to that rap music garbage. Loud. It breaks my eardrums and I’m downstairs.”
Michelle joins in, “He is disrespectful. He calls me an ‘old cow’ and worse. His teachers all tell me he doesn’t listen, but what can I do?”
Ann adds, “First she got her ears pierced, then her nose. Now she has piercings and tattoos all over the bloody place. She even shaved her head. When I say anything she says, ‘It’s my body.’ I have no say. No say.”
Then it’s Rebecca’s turn. “My daughter knits.”
Silence.
Then the room explodes with laughter.
“Yeah, I thought the same thing. I thought ‘a mother’s joy a knitter’. I thought we would sail through the teenage years. No problem at all. Then I started noticing what she was knitting. Let’s just say no yarn manufacturer was getting rich off her. “I told her she was sending the wrong message. I told her that guys would think she was slut, but what does Mom know?”
She is answered by a chorus of “Nothing.”
“Guess what I’m knitting? Come on guess.” She pulls a baby pink something out of her purse. “A baby blanket. Aren’t you going to congratulate me? I’m going to be a Grandma.”

To attract surfers to my knitwear designer web site, www.oknitting.com, I added a blog to my homepage. On the blog I shared news, views, tips. Occasionally, I also posted one of my stories or poems. Wow, was I surprised when I realized these pieces received the most hits.

Inspired, I wrote more and soon had enough to fill an 80-minute audio book. I self-published Novelty Yarn in August 2006.

Here’s a review:

“Novelty Yarn contains a collection of small, tasty morsels that will continue to surprise you right up until the last bite…Ranging from childhood memories about 4-H knitting and lessons from Grandma to night dreams about wild women knitting in the forest, each segment evokes a different mood. Many of the stories made me laugh out loud, while others made me pause…to meditate for a few minutes. The stories are separated by brief interludes of acoustic guitar music…The guitar intervals are just long enough to let your mind rest between the stories. The sensation is like cleansing your palette after sampling each vintage at a wine tasting. The total experience was delicious.” (Donna Druchunas The Knitted Rug, Artic Lace)

I did receive a negative review. The main complaint was that the stories weren’t long enough.

Interestingly, I had begun writing what promised to be a longer piece: The Sweater Curse. Emboldened I rolled up my sleeves and invested more time crafting it. As I wrote, I read the work of other knitting-inspired authors. I found cute stories about nice knitters.

“We’re not all nice!” I screamed. Did you hear me? My main character Gwen Bjarnson did and she agreed.

All writers work at their own pace and in their own way. It was during this time that I discovered what worked for me. What I like to do is write and complete shorter pieces while I tackle something longer. That’s what I did while I wrote The Sweater Curse. Among other projects, I wrote articles for knitting magazines. I gained validation when I received my first cheque for writing one these articles.

Month after month, year after year, I returned to The Sweater Curse. Until, one fateful day, I dotted the last ‘i’ and crossed the last ‘t’. Now what?

I contacted the editor I’d worked with on Maynely A Mystery. I was confident that she would tell me if The Sweater Curse sucked. She liked it and agreed to proof it in preparation for submission.

I’d answered the question: what to write? Now, I needed to address: where to submit?

Unlike Maynely A Mystery that was developed for a small audience, I felt The Sweater Curse would have a wider appeal.

In my search, I left no rock unturned. I contacted literary agents and book publishers. My desire to network with other writers, led me to the Romance Angel chat group. It was here that I found the new epublisher Decadent Publishing.

I visited www.decadentpublishing.com and carefully read their submission guidelines. I spent days polishing my synopsis. I sought the help of fellow authors; they were generous with their helpful feedback. Finally, I took a breath, crossed my fingers and hit send.

Shortly after, waiting in my inbox, was an email from Decadent Publishing. I was apprehensive. I was certain it was another rejection. I braced myself and opened the email. I skimmed the contents looking for the familiar wording. Instead I found ‘will contract’. I re-read it. I asked my husband to read it aloud.

Acceptance, sweet, acceptance, they wanted my story.

I can’t say enough positive things about Decadent. They are a new author incubator. Wrapped in a cocoon of positive energy, I have greatly benefited from my involvement with them.

My journey as a writer has just begun. My dream is to continue to write and submit.

Congrats and thanks, Leanne. You may join her virtual launch party on January 10th to celebrate the publication of The Sweater Curse.

Welcome to The Novel Experience®, the podcast dedicated to the craft and art of fiction writing. Listen, enjoy and improve your chances of getting published!

The Novel Experience Podcast

Episode 10: From Screen to Page Part 2

I’m pleased to announce the release of the second episode of my three-part conversation with award-winning Canadian screenwriter and children’s author, Don Truckey (click link above or below).

Don, whose credits include the television series, Street Legal and Urban Angel, and the movies, Net Worth and Chicks with Sticks, discusses the differences in the crafts of writing prose and penning a screenplay. He’s also the author of the children’s series, The Adventures of Caraway Kim.

Don and I worked together on some TV pitches and scripts; he’s funny, talented, quick thinking and very professional. Plus, he wrote a movie about women’s hockey!

If you’ve ever thought of writing a screenplay or adapting a novel to the screen, you’re gonna want to listen to this episode as Don offers practical tips to help you write that blockbuster and provides nifty insights into the screenwriting world.

He’ll also answer a couple of fascinating questions: Which creative mind would he prefer to collaborate with: a novelist or a playwright? And, what do the instructions for a light airplane have to do with penning a script? (duration ~20 minutes)

The Novel Experience Podcast Ep. 10 – Don Truckey

This episode’s showcase song by Glynne Turner is a rockin’ tune, aptly titledInspiration.

Click below to discover more about The Adventures of Caraway Kim by Don Truckey:

Seems gals are buying romance e-books with abandon.

Warrior Women

Anyone surprised? Not moi.

Just think of some of the benefits to romance readers:

• quick (and often less expensive) access to new titles
• pleasure of reading romance in public without hearing snickers or receiving disapproving stares
• first time opportunity to buy back lists of their favourite authors
• chance to read ‘racier’ romances with no one being the wiser.

Throw Darts at a Cheesecake

• terrific new market growing in leaps and bounds
• re-sales of out of print books
• new electronic publishers seeking authors
• higher royalties.

Wolf in Tiger Stripes

Originally pitched to Harlequin for their Bombshell line but the new line bombed before my kick-ass heroine, Erin, had a chance.

Hmm…

(Oh and thanks to Amazon.com for the three covers, each depicting a terrific romance e-book written by a good friend.)

Trying to keep up with electronic publishing is like herding a pride of feral cats who are chasing a flock of chickens who are fleeing a randy Rhode Island Red rooster.

In other words, nie impossible.

I’m trying though…and today have just learned that Google’s E-book store launches today.

As my Publisher’s Lunch Daily email advises: Google declares they have “the largest ebooks collection in the world with more than 3 million titles,” including “hundreds of thousands of books for sale from publishers” as well as “millions” of public domain titles, with the latter provided for free.

Amazing numbers PLUS the e-books are supposed to be readable on multiple platforms, like the iPad, Barnes and Noble’s Nook and Sony’s Reader.

Take a deep breath and dive in. E-booking is really rockin’ now!

With a little advice from Mark and Bill and their fab free Style Guide at Smashwords.com, I updated my e-books and resubmitted them in the Spring…to a resounding silence.

A Hemorrhaging of Souls

But when the fall rolled around and my other titles, which I had also updated, popped up on B&N, I emailed Smashwords again for an explanation.

And this time, Bill was able to get my e-books re-activated though there’s still no information on why the pair was deactivated in the first place.

Teed Off!

Oh, well. You may now buy Teed Off and A Hemorrhaging of Souls through Barnes & Noble.

Only $2.99 US…perhaps a Christmas present for your favourite mystery buff?