Month: January 2012

Special Announcement on Week #3 IU Writing Exercise Voting

If you look at the poll data, you will see that Garrett Hise (my oldest son, a blogger and writer in his own right) won by a very large margin. However, I reviewed the actual voting records to determine whether there were any irregularities. Unfortunately, there were. The predominate amount of his votes came from the same IP address (someone voting by Verizon Wireless) just a few minutes apart.

Neither he nor I know who this might have been, and I hesitate to call it malicious. It may be that whoever was doing this was simply applying American Idol voting rules. Either way, I realize I may have been remiss in expressly pointing out that only one vote per person is allowed.

By virtue of the adjustment, David Antrobus is this week’s winner. I have contacted both David and Garrett to let them know what happened. David’s OFFICIAL recognition will occur tomorrow as per usual.

In the mean time, I have made adjustments to the vote capturing elements of the software program so this does not happen again. We will also clearly post that only one vote per person is allowed. This ain’t Chicago.

I apologize for any confusion caused by this.

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Rejection is Your Friend!

Rejection is a bitch, and it can come in many forms. Most writers probably feel the bitter sting of rejection for the first time when they decide to share something they wrote and get a lukewarm reaction. What? Your genius is not appreciated? Mom didn’t immediately call the local paper?

Then there is a new level of rejection once you start submitting work. When you start getting those tiny slips of paper in the mail and you think, “they couldn’t even use a whole sheet of paper? They rejected eight writers with one piece!” The self addressed stamped envelope (SASE) is a tough one, too. You get the letter. It weighs nothing so you know it’s a rejection and, to add insult to injury, the letter was addressed by your own hand. Continue reading “Rejection is Your Friend!”

Marketing in the Middle of Nowhere by K. Rowe

Author K. Rose
Author K. Rowe

Admittedly, I live in the middle of nowhere. It’s 18 miles to the nearest town; and the county, (which boasts a population of 13,000) has only ONE traffic light, and it’s in the center of town. My closest neighbors are 200 yards away. The nearest “city” of 30,000 people is a 40 minute drive. If we need to go to the “Big City,” that’s an hour and forty minute drive. Yet, I’m an author and I sell books.

No, it’s not easy either. I also juggle a 100 acre farm, 2 dogs, 2 cats, and 3 horses; so my time is divided up amongst everything. As difficult as it is, I find the time to write, edit, blog, and promote my books. Sometimes I’m up late, other times, I’m up early. To make some sort of success, you have to make sacrifices. Am I successful? I would say for only being published just over 2 years, mildly.

For most authors, the word “market” is akin to a 4 letter word. We all hate it—me included. But we’re not part of a Big 6 publishing juggernaut that will tell the whole world about our books. No, it’s most of the time just us. So how can you market without spending a fortune? If the internet isn’t your friend, it darn well better be! Take advantage of every opportunity to put your face and your books out there. There are many platforms to use such as Goodreads, Google +, Librarything, and many more. Here’s my most-used list of FREE ways to advertise and make sales: Continue reading “Marketing in the Middle of Nowhere by K. Rowe”

Announcing Freebie Friday Frenzy!

There must be something in the water. An increasing number of otherwise thoroughly respectable indie authors are engaging in e-book giveaways. We at Indies Unlimited are willing to step up and do our part to spread the bounty.

This is the way it will work:

Each Thursday, we will put up a post like this one, calling for anyone who has a book to give away for FREE to put the book title, author name, a one sentence blurb, and link to download the book in the comment section. The book must be free to anyone who clicks over to the link – not just Price Club members or whatever. Continue reading “Announcing Freebie Friday Frenzy!”