THE JAMES MASON COMMUNITY BOOK CLUB discussion

Jean wrote: "Just to let people know that my 12th C historical novel 'Song at Dawn' is free on Christmas promo if you use coupon FF49C at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...
It won the Global Ebooks Awa..."

I love the plot!!! looked it up on smashwords!! so free on the 25th?

As a retired Physical Education teacher, I have no dreams of becoming a best selling author. I simply write as a hobby with the goal of making people smile. My style is to pack as much humor into as short a space as possible. I am also well aware that we all do not have the same sense of humor. For those of you out there who share mine, I have just released Hemingway House, a new eBook for Kindle. My earlier ebooks, My Husband's On Facebook!, Thoughts at Three, Facebook Zombies,Rhymes and Ramblings of Cantankerous Creatures, Poetry in Motion and Funnybones are also available at Amazon. Thanks for the soap box..
http://www.amazon.com/Richard-Parise/...

Rick wrote: "Jean wrote: "Just to let people know that my 12th C historical novel 'Song at Dawn' is free on Christmas promo if you use coupon FF49C at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...
It won the Glob..."
Thanks, Rick. No, that promo finished on 24th dec BUT in 3 weeks it'll be kindle exclusive and have some free days so hang on - I'll keep you posted. I'm having trouble keeping up here so always feel free to message me if I miss a question. And Happy New Year to all of you - enjoy your writing and then it'll be a bonus when it sells not suicidal despair when it doesn't!

If the NHL lockout has you jonesing for hockey, get your fix with Heart On Ice, where magazine writer Freddie Dubois interviews hockey star Damon Erickson for an article, and sparks immediately fly. Freddie tries to resist, but Damon can be very persuasive.

If hockey isn't your thing, how about a quick trip to Vegas for just $3? In Nights at the Cuzco, acrobat Zia Jones finds herself in a world of trouble when she's accused of stealing a priceless necklace from a Saudi prince...and terribly attracted to the head of security. It's the first in an exciting romantic suspense trilogy, followed by Nights in Captivity and Nights on the Run

Checkout the Giveaway for my new book: The Practical Guide to Happiness: If You Don't Like How You're Feeling, Think Again. This is a 'How To' for learning how to be happy with Who You Are, Where You Are, and What You Have, NOW.

Kara wrote: "If the NHL lockout has you jonesing for hockey, get your fix with Heart On Ice, where magazine writer Freddie Dubois interviews hockey star Damon Erickson for an article, and sparks immediately fly..."

MAJOR HOCKEY FAN HERE!!! great link!!
sooooo happy lockout is over..go Panthers!!!

Go Wild!

"This could be the next Harry Potter." Reader review. "An amazing experience." "The next beloved Potter." Amy Lignor -Bookpleasures "Highly recommended!" GlendaBixlerReviews "The Harry Potter of today!" "If you're of the Harry Potter generation then you'll love this!" "I've read some great books recently but this one has to be right at the top of the list of the ones I've enjoyed most." www.seanjquirk.wix.com/grimspeak

Kara wrote: "Go Wild!"

haha "Go Wild for the Panthers!!"

Sean wrote: ""This could be the next Harry Potter." Reader review. "An amazing experience." "The next beloved Potter." Amy Lignor -Bookpleasures "Highly recommended!" GlendaBixlerReviews "The Harry Potter of to..."

congrats Sean!!!

Hi Folks, Free today is White jade (on Kindle), Book One in the Project thriller series. It's currently #2, so grab a download and help me make it #1. Here's the link: http://www.amazon.com/White-Jade-The-....

Thanks! White Jade

Alex wrote: "Hi Folks, Free today is White jade (on Kindle), Book One in the Project thriller series. It's currently #2, so grab a download and help me make it #1. Here's the link: http://www.amazon.com/White-J..."

I am now reading the 5th Project Thriller..The Telsa Secret
LOVE it!!! great job Alex..really enjoyed each book in this superb series!!

Hi all - I started my self-pubbed journey back in September. As a traditionally published author, I wasn't new to writing, but the self-pub thing, yeah, it was a learning curve. But it's been a wonderful experience so far. Love the freedom of creating and having control over my novel! My first book in the Going to the Dogs series, Leashed was out in September 2012 and the second book in the series, Groomed for Murder just released at the end of December. Leashed is on sale for .99.

I just revised the cover and sell copy for my Gothic horror, Finding Poe. I'd love it if those of you who are Poe and traditional Gothic novel fans here would check it out!

My Poetry book is on sale for Valentines Day all week long I am making it available for the low price of $.99 as a e-book on Kindle at http://www.amazon.com/dp/b009d767bm
$.99 on Nook at
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/love-...
$.99 on Kobo at
http://www.kobobooks.com/search/searc...

Save $ 5.00 when you buy my beautiful 148 page poetry book on my website using promo code KPT24XBV
https://www.createspace.com/3932036

Buy your loved one my poetry books 3hr audio book for $6.08 a saving of $.87 at
http://www.amazon.com/Love-Poems-More...

You can even get my poetry 3 hr audio book "Love Poems and More From the Heart and Soul of Man" free with a 30 day trial membership of audible.com at http://www.audible.com/offers/30free?...

audio book also available on iTunes.
MAY YOU ALL HAVE A HAPPY VALENTINES DAY

These websites listed are for the U.S. but numerous other countries also have huge savings so please check your countries websites for Amazon, Kindle, Nook, Kobo, Audiable.com, and iTunes.

Please help me pass the word about my book and these savings. As and Indie Author I can use all the help I can get to help people find my books. Thank you so much for all your help, encouragement and support.
Hugz CJ

Heartbroken Here.

I was very excited that my new non-fiction book Giveaway yielded 769 entries. I shipped out the books to 25 winners on Monday. Today, there are 12 books listed for sale on Amazon; 9 as new and 3 as barely used! There are no reviews posted here.

I was really looking forward to getting some reviews on Goodreads and I am devasted that there are some people who are entering Giveaways to get books to sell on Amazon. It is 12.99, there are books listed for as much as $50!

If there is anyone here who is willing to actually read and review my book, please let me know. I would be happy to send you a copy.

The book is entitled: The Practical Guide to Happiness: If You Don't Like How You're Feeling, Think Again
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17...

So sorry to hear that, Margaret. However, I will not volunteer to read and review your book - it's not the kind of book I'm ever likely to need, being content with my lot right now!

Margaret wrote: "Heartbroken Here.

I was very excited that my new non-fiction book Giveaway yielded 769 entries. I shipped out the books to 25 winners on Monday. Today, there are 12 books listed for sale on Amaz..."

Give it time. You have a huge list of folks who are going to read it. I understand the frustration, but you've got to have patience. In a month or so, I'll lay money your efforts will start bearing fruit. Patience is the key word. Hang in there and don't get discouraged. :)

Frank wrote: "So sorry to hear that, Margaret. However, I will not volunteer to read and review your book - it's not the kind of book I'm ever likely to need, being content with my lot right now!"

LOL, I wasn't seeking reviews just giving information.

I'm curious to see what would happen if I got a bunch of people to add the same book to their Want to Read list all at the same time and then posed something along the lines of "Just added this book to my TBR pile. Looks interesting" on their facebook wall. Curious to see if that will impact other adds and generate sales. Anyone interested in joining the experiment? I posted about it earlier in another discussion group I'm in, but I figure the more the merrier. If it works, maybe we could slowly work our way through everyone here and there so everyone would get an opportunity to be in the limelight. Thoughts?

So I went ahead and started my experiment if you' care to join in. I've added Descended and here's my facebook post:
Just added Descended to my TBR list. Oddly intrigued by this book.

http://www.amazon.com/Descended-Falle...

I'm very grateful for the handful of dedicated readers who have enjoyed my work, but there are not nearly enough of them to pay the bills.

For those of you looking to add to your TBR pile, I would like to suggest:

World-Mart (traditional dystopia)

and

Finding Poe (traditional Gothic horror)

I have more books, but these two are the best received.

For anyone interested in following my FB page, it's https://www.facebook.com/AuthorLeighM...

My thanks for your support!

I'm up to 448 likes on facebook. Anyone willing to help get me to 450. Thanks everyone! Next stop after that, 500!

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Scott-...

Scott, I've a fan Facepage not a normal one so I can't surf & do likes, etc, just respond, but I wish you well & can only say hang in there.

As I'm making an audio of my newest Epic Fable & the Intro is very weird & stands alone, I put it on Youtube where it got about 6 hits.

Then I got an international review & now it has well over 1300 hits, not a huge number given the bigger scheme, but still, more than 6, so your idea is good.

Here's my links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DquZOs...

http://www.facebook.com/HowardLoring?...

Here is a guest post from yours truly. I hope you enjoy it.
http://www.freebookdude.com/2013/02/g...

I really like this interview. If you feel like passing the link on to others, I would be very appreciative. Thanks!
http://blog.orangeberrypromo.com/2013...

On 03/06/2012, my gift to you: ALL THREE WILL BE FREE!
http://www.amazon.com/Apart-From-Love...
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AUZ3LGU
http://www.amazon.com/Home-ebook/dp/B...

I'm 3 for 3 (or maybe 2-1/2). My first book, "Tarnished Brass Curtain: A Novel of Vietnam" concerns the conflict between conscience and duty as a navy helicopter pilot (son of an admiral) goes underground rather than return to his unit in the Mekong Delta. It is still a valid issue today. It won the 2011 National Indie Excellence Award in the military fiction category. My third book, "Did You Ever Try Melt a Lemon Drop? and Other Tales Seen Through Rose-Colored Glasses won first prize in the MANA (Managing New Authors) fiction caatergory and will be published by them in June of this year. My second book, "Vietnam Through Rose-Colored Glasses" just won Honorable Mention in the Wild Card Category (mixed genre)in the 2012-2013 Los Angeles Book Festival contest. (That might be the 1/2 of the 2-1/2 of 3.) I recommend book contests if you can afford the entry fee.

New corrected eBook editions of the Time Traveling Elastic Limit Epic Fables are now on Smashwords.

The 1st, ‘Beyond the Elastic Limit’ is a FREE download & the 2nd, ‘Piercing the Elastic Limit’ is now $2.99.

The phrase ‘Elastic Limit’ is jargon, terminology dealing with Time Travel as described in the books, but it’s also a metaphor for the human imagination & as such, its limits are boundless, defined only by the readers’ personal parameters.

Both books are Epic Fables, simply told stories that deal with universal, unchanging human concepts & how these play out when good people, through no fault of their own, find themselves in situations beyond their control.

Each Epic Fable is a redemptive tale, dealing with basic philosophical concepts such as truth and justice, good and evil and “might makes right vs. right makes might.”

As in any Epic, flawed characters evolve as a result of their quests, gleaning insight into these universal human ideals. All must grapple with difficult personal choices. Hard decisions, forced by dire circumstances yield unforeseen consequences, challenges that must be met and overcome.

As in any Fable, the narrative style is simplistic, yet the action is layered with fast-paced sequences often presented through flashbacks and proceeding from different points of view. In the end, each major character develops a personal morality.

In Beyond the Elastic Limit: An Epic Fable, a time-viewing machine used by an advanced civilization malfunctions and time explodes, creating havoc. Actions employed to rectify the situation force characters to explore larger issues. This novel probes human values, multiple gods, social development and civil ethos.

Piercing the Elastic Limit: An Epic Fable, takes a mysterious “Old Man” through time using the machine. He meets such historic figures as Julius Caesar, Christopher Marlow, Robert Schumann and others, in order to defeat foes that are deliberately distorting the flow of time. This novel incorporates the theme of business and technology run amok, and how each can be misused for devious ends.

Beyond the Elastic Limit: An Epic Fable is technically a myth, a story dealing with ancient gods who hold dominion over human activities.

Piercing the Elastic Limit: An Epic Fable is properly folklore, fiction based on real characters as opposed to legend, traditionally considered stylized portrayals of actual historic events.

Here’s the Smashwords link:

https://www.smashwords.com/books/sear...

‘Piercing’ has gotten some good reviews, but ‘Beyond’ is yet to be reviewed, as those listed were for the original 2010 edition & I’ve rewritten it to take into account concerns listed at that time.

Both books are stand-alone Time Travel stories but they are connected & this connection will be explored in further Elastic Limit Epic Fables.

Hope everyone will download.

Thanks

Hi everyone! I'm a new Indie author. My newest release FINDING HOPE just debuted this week! If you like steamy romance, adventure, and greek mythology you just might enjoy it! You can visit me at www.krystalshannan.com
Open House
Finding Hope

My author team is also having a huge giveaway with a Kindle Fire, starting on Monday, so be sure to hop over to www.theromancetroupe.blogspot.com to find out the details!

Hugs,
Krystal Shannan

Here's an indie (sort of) author I'm happy to support: Roger Smith. His first two novels were published with a major publisher in the US, but he's published his most recent work online on his own. Check out CAPTURE.

http://www.amazon.com/Capture-ebook/d...

And then there's DUST DEVILS, which was stunning.

http://www.amazon.com/Dust-Devils-ebo...

And one more: Josh Stallings.

Try BEAUTIFUL, NAKED, AND DEAD

http://www.amazon.com/Beautiful-Naked...

It seems that a lot of our support comes from other authors. That's great! But we all need help breaking out into a larger market. So, I guess if each of us reads an INdie author and we like what we see, then perhaps we need to let everybody we know hear about it. The mantra has always been that the best, quickest success for a book has been word of mouth. Maybe our new mantra should be "Tell a friend."

Hi everyone,

Great thread! Here is a give away for The China Twist. The book so far has been featured on NPR's Morning Edition, Knowledge at Wharton, and a variety of other publications. Hope to give and get more support from Indie authors as self publishing is still new learning experience for me.

Thanks!
Wen-Szu

Terry Pratchett is an unusual writer of unusual books. Superficially they seem to be weird books about a weird world, the discworld. However all is not as it seems. Madness is actually sanity and weird is normal.
As well as being hilariously funny they have a very serious message lurking beneath the surface. In Ankh Morpork, a large and rumbustuous city the police force is 'manned by a dwarf who is well over six feet tall, a weir wolf who gets embarrassed when she 'changes' and a host of trolls, gagoyles, vampires, dwarves, and goblins, as well as a few humans.
In one story there is a jester who becomes king and his betrothed was an apprentice witch who is more like a sixties hippy. They have a certain innocence and naivety about them and there are certain things which married coupls do that is a mystery to them. He sends for a book to enlighten him and gets instead a book on 'Martial Arts'. They had difficulty with spelling too. (I will leave to to you to work that out, shouldn't be difficult)
The wife of the chief of police is a titled lady who keeps and breeds dragons. The University has an oran-utan as a librarian and the professors, in another story make up a succesful soccer team. Cameral are powered by demons and oxen power moves the paddles of river boats on a River called 'Old Treacherous'.
Then on a really big paddle ship a little old lady cleans out the professional gamblers. They did not know that the dear old lady was a powerful witch.

This is a very interesting subject. I have read Stuart Jaffe's The Way of the Black Beast, Timothy Wood's Grant me Timely Grace, and Rebecca Scarberry's Messages from Henry. As an indie author though, I spend most of my waking time at my day job, or writing. Time for reading is very limited for me.

On the subject of promotion, it is clear that there is little desire by some authors to promote their fellow author's works. Why? It is not clear. There are few well developed and affective advertising outlets for indie authors, and the personal cost in time and/or money to market one's works is prohibitive in many cases. Having said that, my readership continues to grow - slowly. As Sonia states, visibility is the crucial key to financial success for an indie author. How do we achieve that? There are some suggestions out there, a few books, but it all boils down to money and time; a luxury that most indie authors struggle with. I sure struggle with it.

If you like sword and sorcery fantasy, or historical fiction, check out my works here on Goodread, Amazon Books, Smashwords, or my web site www.boarerpitchford.com. I write action and adventure stories that drive the imagination and titillate the senses.

Regards,
Lawrence BoarerPitchford, Author
Thadius (historical fiction)
Sawbones (historical fiction)
In the World of Hyboria (barbarian sword and sorcery)
The Lantern of Dern Blackhammer (sword and sorcery)
Tales of Mad Cows and Brothels (sword and sorcery)

Having read all the posts here..just proves my point that so much of the best and cutting edge writing is coming from Indies!!

Hi, I wanted to make the group aware that we are currently celebrating the two year birthday of my debut novel, Seahawk's Sanctuary... And I was just notified that Amazon posted the reduced prices a day early, so let the party begin!

It's hard for me to believe, but the Two Year Anniversary of Seahawk's release on Amazon is April 1st! (I know, I know, April Fool's Day...but the release date DID appeal to my rather, let's say, unique sense of humor.) Anyway, to celebrate, starting Sunday, only at Amazon, both of my novels, in the eBook format, will be specially priced. That's right, for one week, from March 24 - 31, Seahawk's Sanctuary will be $2.99 and Lion's Lair only $3.99! http://www.amazon.com/Lynne-Marie/e/B...

So, if you have my novels on your 'to read shelf' this will be a GREAT opportunity to purchase one or both of them. And please help me by forwarding this information along to anyone you believe might enjoy reading my novels.

Remember, these special prices will be in effect for ONLY ONE WEEK - MARCH 24-31, 2013 - and ONLY at AMAZON...

My thanks to everyone and happy reading...

Lynne Marie

Lynne wrote: "Hi, I wanted to make the group aware that we are currently celebrating the two year birthday of my debut novel, Seahawk's Sanctuary... And I was just notified that Amazon posted the reduced prices ..."

congrats to the birthday book!!!

Let me give you the dearest gift that I can
Do not refuse me, for my story began
With passion at heart, guilt down at the gut
And sentences that I weave, then turn and cut
Now I give it to you, and this is my plea
Hold my book in your hand, it is yours, it is free!




All three ebooks will be FREE!!!
When?
Saturday, March 30, 2013
What?
Home
A Favorite Son
Apart From Love

Awesome Me! A Book of Affirmations for Little Stars is free until 3/31/2013. Downloads and reviews are very much appreciated. Thank you for your support! http://amzn.com/B00BC7OZL0

Hello everybody, we just joined this group. Check out our novella, The Canarsie Flash, it comes in kindle e-book too, available at amazon. Add us as a pal if you like, we are always looking to expand our presence with other readers and creative writing enthusiasts of all walks. Best wishes.

THE THREE KITTIES THAT SAVED MY LIFE just went live on Amazon for both the Kindle and in paperback. This was a very emotional book for me to write. I have been working on it for a long time. It is the true story of my journey from grieving widower to the happily-married man I am today. I hope that you will check it out and also help me get the word out. I feel that my true story might touch others and might even help them through their own journey through life.
http://www.amazon.com/Three-Kitties-T...

Hey everyone, I'm so excited. Unlikely Lovers was released as an eBook by Rebel Ink Press in February. Now it has been released in paperback!!!!!!!!!!
http://www.amazon.com/Unlikely-Lovers...

You want to WIN a ** $50 Amazon Gift Card** and a copy of my upcoming novel **Shame the Devil!!** and many other fabulous prizes. All you have to do is enter your name https://www.facebook.com/JoelMarkHarr...

I love this thread! So many truly superb posts and links. So so important to support Indie Writers!

It's awesome. I agree. Thanks again for recommending it.

My mixed media (essays, poems, short stories,humor) book published in December, 2012, "Vietnam Through Rose-Colored Glasses," which recently won Honorable Mention in the 2012-2013 Los Angeles Book Fair, has just won the Bronze medal in the 2013 IPPY Awards, Current Events, Military category. Vietnam is hardly current, but the underlying issues (conscience vs. Duty; should we be there?) are similar to Aghanistan and still relevant. After over 60 years of writing, I'm finally getting some recognition. It's available on Amazon and Kindle.

The clock is now ticking, time to set the alarm
Be super careful and you'll come to no harm
Head over to Amazon at the stroke of midnight
To find my book free! Oh what a delight...
Get Apart From Love, A Favorite Son
Get Home, and let the yarn be spun...

Check out the details here: All three will be FREE

Hi, everybody! Wow...we have a lot of indie authors here. I barely even mention my books anymore, but they still have an audience. Most of my promotion time is spent helping my friend, Becca. She's a long story, but we were friends in grade school then got back in contact a year ago (after thirty-six years). She's an incredible singer-songwriter who's finally been recording and releasing her stuff. She's good. I help her out any way I can. Besides singing, she's a very sweet friend. We missed each other for a long time.

Anyway, here's my stuff.

This was my debut book. It's a memoir about my years in cold war Germany as security for Pershing II nuclear missiles. It sat in my head for twenty years before I figured out how to organize it. It's been quite popular with a wide audience. It's unusual in military memoirs. One surprise to me was how popular it's been in Germany. My German sales approach my US sales. I have a lot of fans over there. It kind of captured an era. I'm proud of it.


This was my followup. It's another memoir about my recall to active duty in support of Operation Desert Storm.


I read mostly indie authors these days. Since releasing my books, I've made a lot of friends in the indie world. Just about everything I've read has been great. The only tradionally published books I still read are history. I just finished a great Jesse James book, but I can't remember the exact title right now.

Several of my friends are on this thread, actually. My singer friend is named Becca Lee Roberts in case you want to check her out. She's a country singer. You can find her fan page on Facebook or hear her on Amazon, Reverbnation, or Youtube. She's fabulous.

Had to get a plug in for Bec.
:-)

Doug wrote: "Hi, everybody! Wow...we have a lot of indie authors here. I barely even mention my books anymore, but they still have an audience. Most of my promotion time is spent helping my friend, Becca. She's..."

great post Doug!..love this thread..so many top notch books!