Congressmen accept bribes?http://ping.fm/2nqcW

My thriller: TARGETED selling strong on Kindle! http://ping.fm/iGOu5

Singles For Sale

No reason to be unpublished. Amazon now has singles, see it here: Kindle singles.  Get your short stories together and submit one or two!

Borders Rip Off

It's sad to see the giant book store chain, Borders, go under. I was a big Borders fan, particularly after I held my first book signing there and saw my books on their shelves. Their coffee shop was the site for many informative critique sessions that helped launch my novel writing career.

But as Borders goes about the business of liquidating their assets, they are ripping off their loyal customers. MSN Money has the details here: Borders Jacks Up Prices. It appears that even with marked down prices, readers can buy books cheaper on Amazon or at Wal-Mart. Nice try, Borders. It's easy to see why your business failed with that kind of model.

Worked most of the day on a technical manual, Yikes!

The End

What we all feared has materialized: Borders will close forever. This hits our own little critique group particularly hard. Hopefully, we can regroup and find a suitable location. Read the story here: Borders Closing.

Help For Writing

I'm flying home from Vegas today where I attended the Public Safety Writers Assoc Convention. My trip was fruitful, in that I delivered a well-received presentation on the subject of "Developing Undercover Characters for Your Mystery/Thriller." I also won seven various awards for writing; but the First Place award for fiction novel (TARGETED) is the one I most cherish.


I met a multi-talented man, C.Scott Wyatt, who has a doctorate from the Department of Writing Studies at the University of Minnesota. His doctoral work explored teaching writing using technology, focusing on students who have special needs. Scott graduated from the University of Southern California with degrees in English and journalism. He also earned a master’s degree in composition and rhetoric from California State University, Fresno. 


His website, Tameri Guide for Writers, is chock full of information. I recommend Scott's site as an additional resource for you, my fellow writers.

Book Recomendation

I just finished my review of Inmate 1577 by Alan Jacobson for the New York Journal of Books.  I was thoroughly intrigued by his level of research and character development. Read the review and decide for yourself if you want to read it. I highly recommend it, particularly for thriller/mystery writers.

A Catholic priest on the run from Chicago cops. Only $3.99 on Kindle! http://ping.fm/NiJrh

Cops murdered on the streets of Chicago: Targeted only $3.99 Kindle http://ping.fm/ovmIZ

Find my reviews here on the New York Journal of Books http://ping.fm/0xN1m

Planning Your Book

Writers are often asked about the process of writing their book(s). Questions regarding the plot, characters, length, and ending are always topics for discussion. And just as there are authors who write with different styles, so also are there varying ideas on how to organize or plan a book.

A successful writer, John Connolly, said this:  "Again, every writer is different. The two most extreme examples I've found are James Lee Burke, who doesn't even know what the book is going to be about when he starts writing, and Jeff Deaver, whose outline is nearly as long as the eventual book, even down to including paragraph breaks. The rest of us fall somewhere in between. I don't plan anything on paper, but I have a rough idea of the plot and I'm prepared to watch it change as I go along." 


As for me, I have an idea about the book I'm about to write and the main characters. I put that on paper, not in any outline form, but as generalized notes. As I get further along in the book, I expand on the story or sub-plot and create additional characters, ensuring I write them down for the sake of consistency. In my case I write thrillers/mysteries, so I ensure I note clues and pieces of evidence to ensure I've addressed all of them by the book's end.


The bottom line: don't worry so much about the process, sit down and start writing.

Digital Is Here To Stay

The recent Book Expo in New York confirmed what many have been thinking: digital books are dominating the publishing world.  Indy authors are in control, publishers are not. You can publish everything from a short story to a novel on Amazon--by yourself. And there's a new company, BookBaby that will convert your manuscript straight to ePub and mobi which are the formats that allow ebooks to publish on ereaders and mobile devices and sold on major ebook stores. So what are you waiting for, get published!

Now just $3.99: http://ping.fm/4yBgB

Make Money by Pricing Low

I've been following this whole eBook phenomena, particularly since I have four eBooks for sale. It seems to be a money making proposition and a viable option for anyone who wants people to read their work. Here's a link to an author who sells for .99 http://thewritersguidetoepublishing.com/welcome-to-the-wg2e-john-locke and makes his money by the sheer volume of sales. (Recall my past post in which I talked about eBook readers who shop by price).

I am experimenting myself, by having my publisher reduce the cost of my new fiction release, Targeted, to just $3.99, and my non-fiction release next week, Lessons From The Street, for .99 (comes only in eBook). I'll keep you posted.

Get Free Books or Books at Reduced Prices for Kindle!

Here's a great site that allows those of you who have Kindles or Kindle apps for your iPhone, iPad, or computer (all Kindle apps are free). Follow this link: http://www.ereaderiq.com/ to choose from hundreds of titles, or use the site to follow price drops. This is an excellent tool for those of you on a tight budget and/or those who just love to read.

Hippocampus Magazine

I had a short story accepted by this new online magazine that debuts next month (May). Hippocampus Magazine is creative non-fiction site that also seeks submissions for memoirs, interviews, personal essays, etc. According to their website, "Hippocampus Magazine is an exclusively online publication set out to entertain, educate and engage writers and readers of creative non-fiction. Each monthly issue features memoir excerpts, personal essays, reviews, interviews and craft articles." 

If you are interested in submitting work for publication, check out Hippocampus submissions. It looks to have a bright future.

Monthly meeting of the Riverside Writers today at Salem Church Library.

It's Now Mainstream

Electronic publishing, e-books, e-readers, are things we used to think were anomalies--something only a very few utilized. All that has changed and writers and readers are drifting toward electronic everything. How many rejection letters to agents or publishers does it take before one throws up their hands? That will vary with each individual, but even those who have been published in the traditional manner, i.e., printed books sold through brick and mortar stores, are gravitating toward e-publishing.

Here's a link to an excellent blog post that makes the case for this non-traditional route. E-publishing gets your work in to the readers' hands while also making you money at little or no cost. And for most of us, self published e-books mean more money than traditional royalties offer.  Here's the link: The Writers Guide to Epublishing.

Free Book on Kindle

Award-winning author and friend, Dan Walsh, just told me his historical/romantic/Christian novel, The Homecoming, will be free for Kindle owners the entire month of April! It's a fantastic read, check it out here: http://www.amazon.com/Homecoming-The-A-Novel-ebook/dp/B003EQ4KXA/ref=sr_1_2_title_1_ke?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1301680513&sr=1-2

International Thriller Writers

ITW is a great organization to belong to if you are a fan of thrillers or like to write them. I've been a member for several years and the membership has enabled me to meet other writers who write in the same genre. This month features a very nice piece on my latest novel and my writing. Here's the link: http://www.thebigthrill.org/2011/03/targeted-by-john-m-wills/

The Chicago Sun Times newspaper picks up on my book

Thankful to have appeared in my hometown newspaper. Here's the link: Ex-Chicago Cop faithful in fiction.

Make Money Writing

Want to do some freelance work? AssociatedContent.com, pays contributors from $3 - $30 (including $1.50 for every 1,000 page views) for articles that cover everything from gardening to tech innovations. You can also browse their library for more than 2 million articles, videos, and images published by contributors.  Check it out.

Straight From Hel: Book Review: Targeted

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Book Review: Targeted

 Targeted, a Christian thriller by John M. Wills, is the third in the Chicago Warrior Thriller series. It weaves together two different threads. Here is the cover blurb:

A sniper is targeting and killing cops in Chicago, leaving no clues or witnesses. Detectives Marilyn Benson and Pete Shannon are on the task force charged with capturing this serial killer. These random police executions rock The Windy City and impact the investigators on the job and in their personal lives.

Father Ed Matthews, a Catholic priest, is arrested for child molestation. Freed on bond, he flees Chicago embarking on a journey that will cause him to question his faith and his future with the Church.

John M. Wills has written about a subject he knows well. He’s spent 35 years in law enforcement, receiving two of the highest awards given for valor by the Chicago Police Department. He’s also been an FBI agent.

With all his experience, he gives the reader an insider’s look into the police force and the lives of those who work there. Shannon and Benson are portrayed as real people, with their own lives and problems, foibles and blessings. And even in the toughest of situations, they have their faith.

Readers spend parts of the book with Father Matthews who is on the run and creating a new life outside of the church. They also are with Benson and Shannon as they try to track down the virtually invisible cop killer who strikes silently with immediate and deadly force. Wills does a good job of bringing the two seemingly disparate threads together in the unexpected climax.

Targeted
Amazon
Barnes & Noble

I give Targeted by John M. Wills a rating of Hel-O! since Wills is a new-to-me author.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

FTC Disclaimer: Targeted was sent to me by the author, John M. Wills. This did not influence my review. I believe this was the first Christian thriller sent to me. The deeply religious convictions of the two protagonists stand out in Targeted. And before you think I consider this was a negative, I don't. Every book has a “thread” that ties it together. It might be horrifically graphic murders or a search for true love or the loner who becomes the toast of the town. In this case, a big part of the story was how faith carried the characters through hard times. Sometimes, it’s informative for both readers and writers to read a book and ask, what is this about? Sure, it’s about the story, but what is the unifying theme? Ask yourself as you read or as you write, under the love story or the murderer on a spree or the search for a missing child or whatever, what ties it all together?

http://straightfromhel.blogspot.com/

On The Radio Again

Tune in on your laptop this Thursday night @ 10pm. I'll be joined on The Cop Doc Show by two other authors who are former law enforcement. Here's the link: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/the-cop-doc/2011/03/25/thecopdoc-cops-turned-authors

The Trend Continues

I've blogged in the past about the surge in ebook sales. Now, according to Publishers Weekly, the trend continues as they report ebook sales jumped 115%. Read more . . .

Why not grab this wave and get your work out there?

Are You A Writer?

How do you define yourself, is being a writer part of, or the sum of who you are? Do you have a clear understanding of what the term, writer, means? I explore that topic as a guest on Mark Young's blog today. Please click on the link and check it out: http://hookembookem.blogspot.com/

Finished writing a review for New Journal of Books, now on to an article for OdotCom.

The Future? eBooks!

In my opinion there is nothing more rewarding for a writer than opening that box delivered by UPS and seeing your first or latest novel. To actually hold your work in your hand, see the cover and read the text, is gratifying beyond belief. Fast forward to 2011--that tangible representation of your work may not be practical or even  profitable.

Big brick and mortar book stores, e.g., Borders, are having a difficult time selling books. There are myriad reasons why bankruptcy may become a virus that strikes more stores, but the bottom line is in this economy books are expensive, and publishers are not getting the same bang for their buck that they did in the past. The advent of eBooks has sent the industry spinning out of control, it's purported to be the future of the industry. And ironically, this new trend may strengthen the many indie book stores while weakening the giants.

Why? Price. A writer has virtually no cost involved to sell his eBook, and on Amazon he reaps a 70% profit on each one sold.(Most traditional book deals pay the author 30%)  The author prices the book himself, the best selling eBooks are priced between $3 and $7 because this low price attracts more buyers. More books sold equals more money made.

My book sales are equally split between eBooks and conventional books (Kindle and Nook), but the trend is for more eBooks to sell than traditional. For a more in depth look at this phenomenon and a story about a young woman who has been making great money on her nine self-published eBooks, follow this link: http://tiny.cc/zv64y

Lend eBooks

Amazon has made it possible for Kindle users to borrow eBooks. If you would like to share a book with a friend, you may now do that. Find the details here: Lending eBooks.

Looking To Enter A Contest?

Below you will find a listing of writing contests that are open to all writers. Hopefully one will grab your attention; good luck: Original posting courtesy of Daily Writing Tips.

25 Writing Competitions You Should Enter Have you completed one or more short stories, poems, or nonfiction pieces? Perhaps you’d like some motivation — or to take the next step with them. This post lists writing competitions for 2011 that feature cash prizes of $1,000 or more and, often, publication deals for the winner (plus, for many contests, additional prizes for winners and other contestants). Note, however, that such competitions often require an entry fee (generally $15-$20 per entry), and some require the submitted material to be previously unpublished. Go to the contest Web site for information about costs and other details. Poetry 1. The Pinch Journal Poetry Contest Deadline: March 1 Type of submission: online or offline Length of submission: 1-3 poems Prizes: $1,000 and publication 2. Normal Prize in Poetry Deadline: March 4 Type of submission: online Length of submission: 5 pages or 5 poems Prizes: $1,000 and publication 3. Boston Review Fourteenth Annual Poetry Contest Deadline: June 1 Type of submission: offline Length of submission: up to 10 pages Prize: $1,500 and publication 4. Bellevue Literary Review’s Marica and Jan Vilcek Prize in Poetry Deadline: July 1 Type of submission: online Length of submission: up to 3 poems (maximum 5 pages) Prizes: $1,000 and publication 5. Lulu Poetry Contest Deadline: continuous entry Type of submission: online Length of submission: not specified Prizes: annual $5,000; monthly $250; daily $25 Short Fiction 6. The Pinch Journal Fiction Contest Deadline: March 1 Type of submission: offline Length of submission: up to 5,000 words Prizes: $1,500 and publication 7. Sycamore Review’s Wabash Prize for Fiction Deadline: March 1 Type of submission: offline Length of submission: up to 10,000 words Prize: $1,000 and publication for winner 8. Potomac Review Annual Contest Deadline: March 1 Type of submission: online or offline Length of submission: 2 stories of up to 2,000 words Prize: $1,000 and publication for winner 9. Normal Prize in Fiction Deadline: March 4 Type of submission: online Length of submission: up to 10,000 words Prizes: $1,000 and publication for winner 10. Colorado Review’s Nelligan Prize Deadline: postmarked March 11 Type of submission: online or offline Length of submission: under 50 pages Prizes: $1,500 and publication for winner 11. New Rivers Press American Fiction Prize Deadline: May 1 Type of submission: online or offline Length of submission: up to 7,500 words Prizes: $1,000, $500, $250; publication for winners 12. Drue Heinz Literature Prize Deadline: postmarked May 1-June 30 Type of submission: offline Length of submission: not specified Prize: $15,000 and publication 13. Carve Magazine’s Raymond Carver Short Story Contest Deadline: May 15-June 30 Type of submission: offline Length of submission: up 6,000 words Prizes: $1,000, $750, $500, $250; considered by literary agencies 14. Howard Frank Mosher Short Fiction Prize Deadline: postmarked June 30 Type of submission: online or offline Length of submission: up to 10,000 words Prizes: $1,000 and publication, $100 15. Bellevue Literary Review’s Goldenberg Prize in Fiction Deadline: July 1 Type of submission: online Length of submission: up to 5,000 words Prizes: $1,000 and publication Nonfiction 16. Michael Steinberg Essay Prize Deadline: February 28 Type of submission: offline Length of submission: up to 6,000 words Prizes: $1,000 and publication; publication consideration for runner-up 17. Normal Prize in Nonfiction Deadline: March 4 Type of submission: online Length of submission: up to 10,000 words Prizes: $1,000 and publication 18. Creative Nonfiction Anger & Revenge Contest Deadline: March 16 Type of submission: offline Length of submission: up to 4,000 words Prizes: $1,000, $500 19. Writers @ Work Writing Competition Deadline: March 20 Type of submission: offline Length of submission: up to 7,500 words Prizes: $1,000, $350, $100; publication consideration for each winner 20. Bellevue Literary Review’s Burns Archive Prize in Nonfiction Deadline: July 1 Type of submission: online Length of submission: up to 5,000 words Prizes: $1,000 and publication Multiple Awards 21. Glimmer Train’s Very Short Fiction Award Deadline: January 1-31, July 1-31 Type of submission: offline Length of submission: up to 3,000 words Prizes: $1,200, publication, and 20 copies; $500; $300 22. Glimmer Train’s Fiction Open Deadline: March 1-31, June 1-30, August 1-30, December 1-31 Type of submission: offline Length of submission: 2,000-20,000 words Prizes: $2,000, publication, and 20 copies; $1,000; $600 23. Glimmer Train’s Short-Story Award for New Writers Deadline: postmarked March 31, postmarked September 30 Type of submission: offline Length of submission: 3,000-12,000 words Prizes: $1,200, publication, and 20 copies; $500; $300 24. Glimmer Train’s Family Matters Deadline: April 1-30, October 1-31 Type of submission: offline Length of submission: 3,000-12,000 words Prizes: $1,200, publication, and 20 copies; $500; $300 Miscellaneous And, of course, no self-respecting list of writing competitions would be complete without this one: 25. Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest Deadline: April 15 Type of submission: online or offline Length of submission: up to about 50-60 words Prize: “a pittance” This whimsical contest is devoted to parodying the purple prose of Edward George “It Was a Dark and Stormy Night” Bulwer-Lytton and his ilk by crafting, as it were, the most absurdly inept opening line from a (fortunately) nonexistent novel. For more information, go to the slightly disheveled Web site and search for “The rules to the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest.” Original Post: 25 Writing Competitions You Should Enter Your eBook: Click here to download the Basic English Grammar ebook.

Kindle Continues To Lead The Way

For any of you on the fence about buying an eReader, the following may be just the nudge you need to send you to the electronics store. According to eBookNewser, "Kindle owners like cheap eBooks. According to Amazon’s Top 100 Paid list, 7 of the Top 10 titles cost $5 or less.

The No. 1 title, Alone by Lisa Gardner is $.99, the No. 3 title is $.99 Switched (Trylle Trilogy, Book 1) by Amanda Hocking, and the No. 4 title is The Hangman’s Daughter by Oliver Pötzsch which costs $3.99, The No. 10 title is a $.99 Kindle game from Oak Systems Leisure Software called Word Search.

The most expensive books on the list include Laura Hillenbrand’s Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and… the No. 2 title, which costs $9.99; The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, Stieg Larsson $9,99 eBook, which is ranked at No. 5; and James Patterson’s Tick Tock, which costs $12.99 and is ranked at No. 8.

Three titles cost $5. This includes Stieg Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo at No. 6 and The Girl Who Played with Fire at No. 7, as well as Water for Elephants."

Pretty cheap when you compare eBooks to the prices of actual books, and there are thousands of titles that are absolutely FREE. The cheapest Kindle is $139.00--that's about four new hardcover books. How can you go wrong?

Pitch Your Book

Positioning your book is critical. Where does your book fit in? Whose books are similar to yours? Once you've determined the proper genre and sub-genre,consider contacting one of the authors whose work is similar to yours and ask them for a blurb. (Blurbs benefit both parties.) Where would the book be shelved at the book store? What kind of cover might best signal your position? What kind of cover copy?

The best way to broadcast what your book is about is by providing a description as concisely as possible, using the best words possible. It can be identical to the query letter and your spiel at book signings, and should include:genre, protagonist, story line, why your book is different than others, and why you are the person uniquely qualified to write it. Do all of this in one or two sentences.

When pitching your book, don't tell the story. Use ideas and current events to make it attractive, even compare it to highly successful authors' books. You only have a limited window to grab the readers' interest. Use it wisely. Remember, you have to be entertaining--it's all about getting your work into the hands of others. The work of selling you book begins when you get the idea to write it and then continues well past publication.

As a way of giving back to my community, I recently donated a case of books to my local police department. I met with Chaplain Paul Peterson of the Fredericksburg PD in Virginia, who accepted the daily devotionals on behalf of the men and women of the FPD. Cops On The Street, is a unique devotional in that each day features a story written by men and women in law enforcement. Grant Wolf, a police chaplain himself, compiled the wonderful stories and put them in book form, and he included a related Bible verse for each story. The book is suitable for the general public as well. Check it out here: http://copsonthestreet.com/

Spice Up Your Writing

Interjections help the writer convey many moods. For example: ha-ha, connotes mirth or laughter, while ahem, is used to grab attention. These small but powerful interjections add spice and life to your prose and are sometimes, poof, magical. Here's a link, courtesy of DailyWritingTips, to 100 little gems that should help you express your characters' moods and feelings: Daily Writing Tips.

2010 Words of the Year

This post comes courtesy of Erin Brenner's website, The Writing Resource:

Some people get excited when their team wins the playoffs. Others are ecstatic when their candidate wins the general election. With word geeks, it’s when a favorite word makes a Word of the Year list. This week we examine some of the most popular word lists (one is a banish word list, so I guess you’re glad if your word doesn’t make it). Did your favorite word make the cut? Could you, would you use any of them in your writing?

• App: application American Dialect Society 2010 Word of the Year
• Austerity: the act of severe or stern manner or behavior. Merriam-Webster 2010 Word of the Year
• Viral: describes how something other than a virus (such as a video) can spread like a virus. Lake Superior State University 2010 Banished Word of the Year
• Refudiate: a mashup of refute and repudiate. New Oxford American Dictionary 2010 Word of the Year
• Kinetic event: used by the Pentagon to describe violent attacks on American troops in Afghanistan. American Dialect Society 2010 Most Euphemistic Word of the Year

What Bestselling Authors Have in Common

Here are ten things that bestselling authors have in common. For a more detailed explanation of each point, click on this link: The Authors, Brian Hill and Dee Power.

1. Perseverance is key.
2. They write, and write, and write, and write . . .
3. They like to write, and write, and write.
4. Promotion is constant.
5. Marketing is an important factor.
6. Fans are an important asset.
7. The More Success, The More Pressure.
8. They faced a key turning point.
9. They're grateful.
10. There is no single profile for a bestselling author.

Who Reads Mysteries?

The Sisters in Crime-commissioned 47-page report on the book selection habits of the mystery book buyer can be found online here.

The study, titled “The Mystery Book Consumer in the Digital Age, is the first of its kind to provide an overview of the mystery/crime fiction book-buying landscape, with information on who buys mystery books, where they buy them, what they buy and why they make their mystery book purchases. The research is based on publishing industry data gathered and interpreted by the PubTrack book sales analysis division of Bowker – a unit that specializes in business intelligence for publishers, retailers and authors – with input from a Sisters in Crime survey team.

Among the findings of the study:

The majority of mystery/crime fiction buyers tend to be women over the age of 45. Overall, 68 percent of mysteries are purchased by women; more than half of mystery buyers are more than 45 years of age. Buyers 18 to 44 years of age purchase 31 percent of the mysteries sold.

Most of the mystery buyers – 48 percent – live in suburban areas, 27 percent reside in rural areas and 25 percent live in urban areas.

The majority of mysteries – 35 percent – are purchased by individuals who live in the South, 26 percent are purchased by people in the West, 20 percent by those in the Midwest and 19 percent by individuals in the Northeast.

Mysteries are obtained mostly through purchases from brick-and-mortar stores, followed by library borrowing and online purchasing. A total of 39 percent are obtained through in-store purchases, 19 percent are borrowed from libraries and 17 percent are purchased online. Online purchases in the mystery genre top those for other types of fiction.

The full survey provides a detailed look at these and other findings, including demographics, purchasing, factors that influence mystery buying, mystery reading behavior, ebooks and more.

Do I Need An Editor?

I know what your argument is: it costs money to hire an editor. Yes, it does, and why shouldn't it? Do you expect to get paid for your work when your book is published? Of course. The problem is if you don't present your best-looking manuscript to publishers, expect rejection letters as a consequence. I came across an excellent article about this very topic:

Why Fiction and Nonfiction Writers Need a Proofreader and Editor

Read more at Suite101: Why Fiction and Nonfiction Writers Need a Proofreader and Editor http://www.suite101.com/content/fiction-and-nonfiction-writers-need-a-proofreader-and-editor-a328633#ixzz1ATA3GE6L

Heading to a critique session on a snowy Saturday morning. Are all writers somewhat odd?

I will be speaking to a group of young writers today at Spotsylvania High School in Virginia.

For those who got Kindles for Christmas, read a Chicago thriller: http://ping.fm/ffpif

Ahttp://ping.fm/3Exdy thriller on the streets of Chicago: Gripped By Fear

Another List

Happy New Year! We are inundated with lists of every type at this time of year. Most of them are rather boring and meaningless, but here's a list of the best writing tips that you may find helpful as you work on your novel, short story, poem, or wherever your muse nudges you.

The Best of Daily Writing Tips in 2010.