Category: Indie Authors

Transition.

wordynerdbirdLeave a comment

It’s the last day of March, which brings us to the end of Women’s History Month. In all honesty, I’m feeling a little sad about that.

Blogging about some of the less well known  heroines of ancient and medieval history has been a most enjoyable occupation. I had fun creating some historical memes to accompany the posts and promote them on my social media, too.

I also loved writing about some of the courageous women who willingly took on situations of conflict, oppression and segregation in the 19th and 20th centuries.


If you missed any of those posts, they are easily found by clicking on Women, Women’s History Month or Women’s History categories and tags in the sidebar. 

With those great stories told, I am feeling a little like I do when I have just finished a great book and I don’t really know what to do with myself.

Yet I know that tomorrow  I will feel differently because there are some great things happening in April: not only is it (Inter)National Poetry Month, but it’s also a month-long celebration of Indie books in the Read Self Published group on Facebook. 

The first half of the Pead Self Published month will feature a specific genre or set of genres each day, which readers are free to peruse. The second half of the month will be focused on helping each individual visual reader find what they want to read. There will also be some giveaways, which are always fun — especially for the winners! 

Everyone is welcome to join in those events, which is aimed at showing readers what they want to read without the “hard sell” that many find offputting. 

I know with all of that going on, I will have some great things to share.  I will be posting some of my favourite poems on this blog, and Book Squirrel will be sharing some great reads and book suggestions in various genres.

On a personal level, there will be continued rehearsals for the show I’m in, a very well-earned and much needed two week long term break, and a camping trip over Easter that I am really looking forward to.

So, away with my sadness. I shall welcome April with open arms and a great deal of anticipation.

How Do We Build and Maintain a Thriving Indie Author Community?

wordynerdbird3 Comments

It is easy for an Indie author to become discouraged by the challenges that come from various sources. It’s a tough gig sometimes, especially for someone who is new to the world of self-publishing. 

So how do we develop and maintain a thriving and motivated Indie author community that we all want to be part of? 

These are the key behaviours we need to adopt and make regular habits: 

  • Encourage each otherRead each other’s work
  • Give honest, constructive feedbackHelp each other achieve excellence 
  • Share each other’s work and social media posts 
  • Be professional about every phase of the writing, editing, publishing and marketing process.
  • Be free and liberal with sharing insights, experience and knowledge that will help those who are new to our community.

How do I know these things work? 

The more time you spend in the community, the clearer the divide between those who do them and those who don’t.

Those Indies who already do these things consistently demonstrate that they are are the most engaged, motivated and productive authors. They are positive and proactive. 

Most significantly, they express joy in doing these things. You can’t fake or manufacture that. 

Those who don’t support others are more likely to express jealousy and resentment in response to the success of others. They are more likely to be critical and competitive. 

And those who adopt the “success at any cost” will be far more likely to turn to less ethical avenues of advancement. It is from this small, murky pool that those willing to cheat the system will emerge. 

All in all, that doesn’t seem like much of a choice to me. I want my books to sell because they are good, not because I am pretending to be something I am not. 

Indie Authors: Don’t Let The Scammers Win

wordynerdbird4 Comments

There has been quite some consternation among Indie authors over past months in various ways that dishonourable people have found to scam the system and get quite rich selling books that are not what they should be, particularly on Amazon, or who steal others’ books and make them available on pirate websites, or plagiarise and “rebrand” them as their own work.. 

Understandably, those who put a lot of effort into writing and publishing excellent books find such situations discouraging. It’s hard to be upbeat about what we do when others seem to “win” with shortcuts that are plain wrong. 

As I commented in yesterday’s post on integrity and ethics, it seems as though the floodgates have opened to allow all sorts of deceitful behaviour.
It’s hard to know how to respond.

What honest writers must not do, however, is quit. 

It’s up to us to keep on creating fantastic stories and poetry for the readers out there who crave excellent books. 

It’s up to us to hold our heads high, proclaim “I write every word of my books!” and then show the world what we’ve got. 

In short, it’s up to us to show the cheaters and scammers how it should be done. 

Nobody but honest and hard-working authors can restore the faith of readers in Indoe and self publishing. The only way to do that is to maintain a premium of quality in the books on the shelves in stores, libraries and homes all over the world. 

We may have to work harder, smarter and cleaner than ever before. Still, we’ve had to do that in order to give traditional publishing a good shake, and we’ve certainly achieved that. 

We Indies have so much to offer. We have each other for support and an entire future that is yet to be shaped ahead of each of us.

I refuse to quit. I refuse to let the scammers win. Who’s with me? 

Women in Horror Month: The End.

wordynerdbirdLeave a comment

February is almost done, which means that Women In Horror Month is also drawing to a close.

At the beginning of the month, I introduced twelve Women in Horror who would be featured on this blog. I was happy to be able to add a few more to the list, and to “borrow” some posts from other WiHM bloggers, featuring authors who were new to me, too!

As a result, I’ve added a few great books to my already monstrous To Be Read pile, which has in itself been the subject of one of my horror drabbles.*

I trust you have enjoyed the featured author spotlights, and I hope some of you have discovered a great new read or two as a result. 

Don’t forget that you can follow what I am reading via my Book Squirrel book blog. I’d love to see you over there, too!

Book Squirrel is also on Facebook.

*A drabble is a short story told in just 100 words. Don’t be deceived: they are tricky to write, as one must be quite disciplined in crafting a story and condensing meaning in such a tight form.

Women in Horror: Mary Bradford.

wordynerdbirdLeave a comment

Mary Bradford is an accomplished author of horror among other genres.

Mary’s ‘Women In Horror’ author spotlight comes to Wordynerdbird via Fiona Cooke’s Unusual Fiction blog.

Unusual Fiction

It’s our last week of Women in Horror Month 2019 and what a month it’s been. I’ve been exceedingly lucky to have so many talented writers grace Unusual Fiction with their presence. Today, I am delighted to welcome author of horror fiction and romance, Mary Bradford.

Mary Bradford is an Irish published author of two novels, My Husband’s Sin and Don’t Call Me Mum, with digital publishers Tirgearr, both part of the Lacey Taylor Story. At present, Mary is writing her third novel, Cregane Court. She has also written in adult romance (One Night in Barcelona, digital publishers, Tirgearr) and western genres, (Destiny, and The Runaway, self-published).

As a mother
whose family are raised, her writing reflects family relationships, not only
the good but also the difficulties and hardships that families endure. In a
world where the family unit is forever changing, there is…

View original post 328 more words

Women in Horror: Tracy Fahey

wordynerdbirdLeave a comment

Today’s featured Woman in Horror is author Tracy Fahey.

This author spotlight comes to you via Colleen Anderson’s blog, which I follow and always enjoy.

Colleen Anderson

WiHMX-horizontal-WhiteThe Past is Always Present: New Music for Old Rituals

This is a story of folk horror and of its roots in much older tales. It’s a story of how these old, cautionary tales still cast long shadows in contemporary culture. And of course, it’s part of the story why I wrote my second collection, the nineteen tales of folk-horror that make up my second collection, New Music for Old Rituals (Black Shuck Books 2018).

fahey New Music For Old RitualsNew Music For Old Rituals (Black Shuck Books 2018)

This collection grew organically from my own upbringing as a child in rural Ireland, where the very landscape was infused with myth and folklore. I grew up on the site of the great Irish saga of the Táin Bó Cúailnge halfway between two towns, Dundalk, where the Táin hero, Cuchulainn was born and Ardee, where he slew his best friend Ferdia at a pivotal battle−even my…

View original post 1,288 more words

Women in Horror: Sue Rovens

wordynerdbirdLeave a comment

Today’s Women In Horror featured author is Sue Rovens.

Thanks again to the Unusual Fiction blog for this author interview.

Unusual Fiction

Welcome to our last Friday of Women in Horror Month 2019. It’s been a short, dark month but we’ve done our best to make your days that little bit brighter by showcasing the work of so many talented authors of dark fiction. Today, I’m delighted to be shining the spotlight on author of horror and suspense tales, Sue Rovens.

Sue Rovens is an indie suspense writer with two novels currently out in the world. Badfish, her first novel, was published in 2015. Track 9 was published in 2017. She also has two books of short horror stories, In a Corner, Darkly: Volume 1 and Volume 2. All her books are available on Amazon, in both paperback and Kindle formats.

Her third horror/suspense novel, Buried, is almost ready. It will be available for the public sometime in the first half of 2019.

Sue works at Illinois State University…

View original post 652 more words

Women in Horror: S P Oldham

wordynerdbirdLeave a comment

Introducing author of dark diction and horror, S.P. Oldham, via the Unusual Fiction blog.

Unusual Fiction

It’s a gloomy, dark Saturday and we have another wonderful day of hair-raising horror to cheer you up. Today, I am delighted to have as my guest, author of dark fiction and zombie apocalypse horror, S P Oldham.

S P Oldham lives in the beautiful Sirhowy Valley in South Wales. She has always enjoyed writing and has recently ventured into self-publishing, Although she writes mainly horror and dark fiction, she likes to dabble in other genres from time to time. She is also an avid reader.
S P Oldham currently has five horror fiction books available on Amazon. Three of these make up The Mindless Trilogy – The Zombie Apocalypse: Where a Little Knowledge is a Dangerous Thing.
The other two books are short story collections. Hag’s Breath: A Collection Witchcraft and Wickedness, and Wakeful Children: A Collection of Horror and Supernatural Tales. Wakeful Children is also available in paperback.

View original post 1,289 more words

Women in Horror: Kris Weeks

wordynerdbirdLeave a comment

Meet Kris Weeks, author of horror of the hot and steamy kind!

Intrigued? Read on!

Kris’ interview comes to this blog courtesy of Unusual Fiction.

Unusual Fiction

Another dark February day dawns and we continue our daily dose of hellish horror with author of dark fiction, Kris Weeks.

Kris Weeks has been writing since she was young with many of her stories published in Hustler Magazine. As well as writing together with her husband, horror writer TJ Weeks, she has published quite a few standalone horrors. She loves writing about crazy women who have the urge to kill yet live normal lives.

Question 1.

Which horror genre do you write in ?

Erotic Horror

Question 2.

Why do you write horror? Tell us about your horror journey?

I started writing erotica as a teenager and had numerous stories published in Hustler magazine. I quit writing for a long time until I met my husband. Once he realized I liked to write as he does, we began to write together and I began writing my own style of…

View original post 394 more words

Women in Horror: Caroline E Farrell

wordynerdbirdLeave a comment

Today’s Women in Horror Month spotlight is in author and filmmaker Caroline E Farrell.

Once again, this post comes to you courtesy of Unusual Fiction.

Unusual Fiction

It’s Day 15 of Women in Horror Month 2019 and the horror bus keeps on rolling. Today, I’m excited to welcome back Caroline E Farrell to Unusual Fiction. Caroline is a filmmaker and award winning author of dark fiction.

Caroline E Farrell is a writer, filmmaker and blogger from Dublin, Ireland. She once blogged a vampire novel online, which becameArkyne, Story of a Vampire. She has also written the award-winning novel, Lady Beth. Caroline is the writer of three short films, ADAM (2013), IN RIBBONS (2015) and FRAMED (2018) which she also directed. She has also written several published shorts stories and award-winning feature screenplays.

Question
1.

Which
horror genre do you write in?

At the moment, I am drawn to psychological horror.
With regard to genre though, I don’t really fit into any specific category,
which suits me as I can only write what truly captivates…

View original post 500 more words