New Release! Perfectly Ernest by E.J. Wesley

I'm happy-dancing today because one of my favorite writer friends, E.J. Wesley, released his first full-length novel. Way to go, E.J.!!! :D

From the very first Moonsongs serial, I fell in love with E.J.'s writing, and I've been reading everything he writes ever since. His clever descriptions make you feel like you're there. His characters are interesting, flawed, and loveable. And his sense of humor is a perfect balance for the darker and heartrending parts of his stories.  

If you've never read anything of E.J.'s, you're missing out. :)

From a distance, Ernie’s life seems perfect—he’s a star college baseball player adored by the student body and coveted by professional teams. Up close, he is a disaster. Since the death of his mother, he’s been trapped by a promise he made and forced to live her dream instead of his own. He reaches his breaking point in the biggest game of his young career and sets off a chain of events that will either define or destroy the rest of his life.

Ernie grudgingly joins a quirky campus counseling group that empowers him to heal himself and right his wrongs. By testing old friendships, forging unlikely new ones, and exploring an exciting romance, he begins to unravel the jumbled knot his tangled inner-psyche has become. But old rivals, mental illness, and the risk of a forbidden relationship soon threaten his progress. Will Ernie's new direction and friends be his salvation, or confirmation that he is forever doomed by his imperfections?

Perfectly Ernest is a New Adult contemporary novel with romantic elements by author E.J. Wesley. Ernest offers a smart, funny, sweet, sexy, uplifting, and oftentimes poignant perspective of one person's difficult transition into adulthood. It is a story about overcoming the demons of mental illness and struggling with the profound burden of expectations—both real and imagined. But it’s mostly a tale of friendship, hope, and love.

You can find E.J. at his blog or website, 

and you can find Perfectly Ernest here:

Amazon  ~  Kindle  ~  B&N/Nook

There's even a...

To enter, click here

Don't forget to add it to your Goodreads. :)

What a loss

We've lost a friend in the writing world. 

Yesterday evening, Tina Downey succumbed to complications while battling chronic health problems.

I hadn't known Tina long, but I liked her from the beginning. She was funny, kind, talented, generous, and encouraging of others, despite the many challenges she faced in her personal life. 

Tina was roughly my age, and that has made her death an even more sober reminder. Hug the people you love and spend time with them. None of us knows how long we have.

How NOT to get scadalized on Amazon

I've been running into the topic of discerning story content a lot lately, from blog posts about it to complaint-filled reviews. I decided to sound off on the issue, in hopes people will pass the information on. 

Because books don't have a rating system like movies, readers have difficulty gauging content. This is a problem for people who like 'clean' books and unknowingly get one that has explicit content. It can also be a problem for people who prefer explicit content or don't like a heavy religious theme, but I'm going to focus on the former for this post.

Let me pause to say, I'm not labeling specific content as good or bad, and I'm not promoting one genre or category over another. I'm simply educating folks so they can be better informed consumers.

Let's assume the reader wants 'clean' books with zero-to-minimal language, violence, and sex. How do they find books that suit?

The best way is to stick with Christian Fiction. 

(For the record, I do not write Christian Fiction.) 

There are two main groups out there, governing fiction--the ABA (American Booksellers' Association) and the CBA (Christian Booksellers' Association). My understanding is--although each publisher has his own philosophy and submission guidelines that allow for minor variations--the content of Christian Fiction is largely controlled by the CBA. 

If you purchase books marketed as Christian Fiction, you can relax and be fairly sure you won't come across anything that will make you cringe, faint, or blush. 

So, how do I know if a book is Christian Fiction? 

A good way is to look for the name of the publisher. If the book is published by a Christian publisher or imprint (ex: Zondervan, Bethany House), you're safe. That brings us to our first tip.

• Acquaint yourself with the various Christian Fiction publishers, then check the name of the publisher before purchasing a book.

What if the book is self-published or there's no publisher listed?

In that case, you just have to take your chances. 
That said, there are clues.

• If the cover image contains partially disrobed persons or a couple in the midst of a heated kiss or passionate embrace, it's probably not Christian Fiction.

• If the story is described as 'hot' or 'sexy' or some other similar term, it's probably not Christian Fiction.

• Get to know specific authors and their writing. Some authors who don't write CF, or not exclusively, still hold their content in check. (Ex: Debbie Macomber).

• If you don't want to chance buying a book and being disappointed, go to the author's website and ask them. (We love to hear from readers.) 

What else can you do?

• Read the reviews. It's not foolproof, but, if there are several, usually at least one will mention content. 

• Ask for recommendations from friends.

• Look at the categories/tags of the book in question. If you see 'Christian' or 'Inspirational,' you're safe. 

• 'Sweet,' however, is dubious. Many people (myself included, for a time) use the word sweet, not realizing it is a term used to categorize clean romances. They might just mean the characters are sweet.

• Check the book's listing for a content warning. Be sure to read everything. Sometimes these warnings are hidden at the bottom of the truncated story description.

For example, my book's description goes from this...

to this:

• Consider books aimed at younger readers. Books marketed as Children's, MG, and YA are safe... usually (YA can be iffy).

• Consider subscribing to book sites, such as The Fussy Librarian, that allow readers to customize recommendations according to content preferences.

I want to pause here and vent a bit. I've come across several one-star reviews in which the reader expressed outrage that a book was not Christian Fiction, even though the book was not marketed as such.

Many of these readers thought, just because the book showed up in a search or was recommended to them by the retailer, that it was CF. They didn't take the time to make sure before purchasing. You may not agree with me, but I feel it's wrong for them to blame the author.

Reviewers should be free to say what they did and did not like about a book--absolutely! But berating it for not being something it was never marketed as crosses the line. 

• A book suggestion made by a retailer as something you might like is not a guarantee of content. Don't assume. 

• If you've ever purchased mainstream (non-CBA) fiction from Amazon, they will likely market more of the same to you.

• Christian Fiction readers don't all buy only Christian Fiction. Therefore--even on Inspirational books' pages--the 'customers who bought this also bought this' book suggestions may not be CF.

• Just because a book is of a certain sub-genre (ex: western historical romance) doesn't mean it's automatically 'clean' or Christian Fiction. Though western historical romances often express traditional values, they run the gamut of inspirational-to-erotica, just like any other.

• The review section on a retailer book page is for reviews of the book in question, meaning your opinion of its readability, its enjoyability, and its content. It is not the proper venue to complain about shipping problems (contact the seller privately) or to vent disagreements you have with the retailer and/or their marketing practices (contact them privately).

The moral is: Buyer Beware.

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Promo Friday - August

It's time for the first Promo Friday. Yea!!!

I'd hoped to have more content for PF's maiden voyage, but you guys are being shy. Don't be shy!

The next deadline for content submission is Wednesday, September 10th for the Sept. 12th post. C'mon. Send me your stuff. :)

David Powers King recently revealed the cover of his and Michael Jensen's book, Woven. It's a YA fantasy set to be released by Scholastic Press in late January. Congratulations, guys!

Charlie Holmberg's book, The Paper Magician, was chosen for Kindle First. Only four books per month get this honor. It's been hanging out at the top of the list in the whole Kindle store! Congratulations, Charlie!!! :D 

The Paper Magician is $1.99 for a limited time. You can find it here. 








Upcoming debut release!
Demetria Foster Gray's debut novel, Sifting Through Mud, is set to be released in a mere ten days. Woot! Congratulations, Demetria!!!

The death of Nyla's husband comes as a shock to everyone except Nyla. What’s shocking to Nyla is her inability to grieve his death like a typical loving wife should grieve. But Nyla isn't a typical loving wife. She's a woman in desperate need to breathe. The oxygen in her life has long gone, and the astonishing thing she feels from her husband's death is relief, not grief. 

Even more astonishing is the rare and unexpected friendship which develops between Nyla and her dead husband's mistress. However, Nyla isn’t aware her new best friend is a former mistress. And as their friendship deepens into an unshakable bond, Nyla is forced to face secrets her husband took with him to his grave. This means she has to sift through mud to unravel the truth. A truth that’s better off dead. 

Yet through it all, the one thing which makes Nyla violently breathless, is the exact same thing that causes her to finally breathe.

Genre: Women's Contemporary Fiction

Release Date: August 18, 2014

And last but not least, Peggy Ann Craig discovered a MS she'd thought was lost. She plans to release The Color Of Ivy soon.

Here's the blurb...
He was bringing her back dead or alive.  And if bounty hunter SAM MICHALSKI had anything to do with it, most definitely alive.  He wanted to ensure cold-blooded murderer, IVY MACGREGOR, had her day in the gallows.

Though she might not look anything like a cold-blooded killer with her pale complexion and soft eyes, Sam wasn’t so easily fooled.  Hadn’t his own mother taught him that lesson?  Right before she covered his five year-old face with a pillow?  He survived that attack only to learn a valuable lesson.  The darkest of souls could be disguised in the purest of creatures.

Is that chilling or what!

Peggy's new to the social media scene and needs some cyber friends. 
Consider following her on her blog and Facebook.

Thanks for visiting. :)

Remember: the next Promo Friday is scheduled for Sept. 12th. 

Deadline for submitting content is Wednesday, Sept. 10th.  


(Promo Friday is a monthly service I provide to my followers.)

 

IWSG - August

This is my Insecure Writers Support Group post for August.
For more information about the group, see the bottom of this post.

Alex's awesome co-hosts for August are:
Sarah Foster, Joylene Nowell Butler,  
Lily Eva, and Rhonda Albom!
Please stop by their blogs and say thank you.

I wasn't sure what to write about this time. The way things are going for me right now, I could give some rousing encouragement AND I could list a host of worries. So... why not do both?

Worries first.

I just announced a decision I made to reduce my time on social media. I worry I might have offended some of my friends. I hope not. But (there's always a but) I'm an author. If I don't make time to write, what's the point?

Sales of my book have finally dwindled. This really is a marathon and not a sprint. Joining KDP Select has helped, but what if the figures don't ever recover? What if readers don't like the next book? What if? What if? (The 'what if's' are endless.) 

I think we need some encouragement.

I'm here to tell you: an indie author CAN be successful. Just focus on learning the craft and putting a professional product out there. Don't give up! It works!

Richard Bach says so. 

A professional writer is an amateur who didn't quit.

"But," you say.

(There's always a but.)

But nothing.

Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we 

 oft might win, by fearing to attempt.   

- William Shakespeare

We can't banish all doubt (an we shouldn't), but we can keep it on a short leash and use it to our advantage.

I'll dust off my favorite quote.

You doubt because you care. 

And that can only lead to great things.

-Author unknown

Two announcements...

To my regular blog followers, 
Today is the deadline for getting your August 'Promo Friday'  
stuff to me. Don't be shy.

To everyone,
I'm planning another Follow Fest this year. 
(Participating will be simpler this time.) 
Tentative dates are Sept. 22nd - 26th. 
Twitter hashtag is #FollowFest14. 
Mark your calendars and tell your friends! 

Questions? 
Email me or use my contact form. 

Thanks for visiting. :)

IWSG is the brainchild of Alex J. Cavanaugh. It's a monthly bloghop that offers a safe haven for writers to express their feelings and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. It's also a venue for offering support, both in the form of comments and positive posts. Writers of all kinds are welcome. 

We 'meet' the first Wednesday of every month. If you're interested in learning more, click on the link above. And don't be intimidated by the size of the group. We're not expected to visit everyone on the list.