Day: June 12, 2012

Shirley You Jest Book Awards

Shirley You Jest Book Awards

Shirley You Jest Book Awards is now accepting submissions of parody, satire, farce, dark comedy & novels with strong comedic and/or humorous elements in the following fiction genres: romance (No erotica), mystery, thriller/suspense, horror, fantasy, sci-fi, paranormal and YA. Print and eBook titles published or self-published in 2011 and 2012 are eligible.

The submissions deadline is August 1, 2012. The entry fee is $50 per title, limit of two titles per entrant. The prizes are promo packages detailed here.

For more information, please visit their website.

*      *      *      *      *

Indies Unlimited is pleased to provide this contest information for the convenience of our readers. We do not, however, endorse this or any contest/competition. Entrants should always research a competition prior to entering.

Muse and the Marketplace – by Jen Smith

Richard Nash

I recently attended the Muse and the Marketplace literary conference in Boston. My hope was to learn more about the publishing industry, rub shoulders with some agents, and meet more fellow authors. The event was beyond my expectations and I learned a ton. The agents however, were a bit beyond reach. People actually paid $140 for an agent to read the first 40 pages of their manuscript and give them feedback. That blew my mind along with the agents’ attitude that they were still the gatekeepers of publishing. We Indie authors know different. But this article isn’t about agents; it’s about Richard Nash, the main speaker at the conference.

Richard Nash is a leader and forward thinker in the fast changing world of publishing. He ran Soft Skull Publishing for several years than sold it to start Red Lemonade and is currently working on a new project called Small Demons. Despite his business suit and professional demeanor he was still quite quirky, which I liked. I just don’t relate to anything that resembles normalcy.

First he started with a look back in history at a time when there were no publishers and anyone who could write was guaranteed a good living as a scribe. A contrast to today’s world where there are so many struggling authors. The number of books has increased significantly over the last few years due to self publishing but the number of readers has not. Simple economics will tell you that when the supply goes up and the demand remains the same the price will come down, hence the free and 99 cent eBook. Continue reading “Muse and the Marketplace – by Jen Smith”

Best of Mader: Jealousy

[Our man JD Mader is either sick or avoiding his bookie. I’m a little fuzzy on the details. Anyway, to keep folks from going into Mader withdrawal, here is one of his early articles for Indies Unlimited. If you haven’t read it, it’s new to you. If you have read it, go ahead and brush up. There may be a test later. – Hise]

Jealousy is a terrible thing.  And I was guilty of it for a long, long time.  Of course, I still have my moments, but not like before.  I have never been jealous with women.  I have never wanted someone else’s car, motorcycle, or fishing rod.  My problem was being jealous of other people’s successes.  I’m not proud to admit it.  I’ve had friends get raises, and I really wanted to be happy for them.  I’ve watched bands I played with become international superstars…I really, really wanted to just feel glad.  Too often, I didn’t.  I could care less if someone drives a better car than I do, but when someone succeeds in a professional/creative field I take pride in…man, that ugly green-eyed bastard just shows up.  I used to open my New Yorker with trepidation because I knew if anyone I knew got published, I would have to kill myself.  The green bastard was in control.  Or he used to be.  I changed things up on him.

Continue reading “Best of Mader: Jealousy”

Meet the Author: Shevi Arnold

Author Shevi Arnold

Shevi Arnold loves writing, illustrating, and making people laugh—and she’s been doing all three since 1987 when she started working as an editorial cartoonist for a newsweekly. She’s also worked as a comics magazine editor, an arts-and-entertainment writer specializing in comedy and children’s entertainment, and a consumer columnist. Nowadays, though, she enjoys writing (and sometimes illustrating) humorous fiction, fantasy and science fiction, mostly for children and young adults.

Her novels to date include the children’s book, Dan Quixote: Boy of Nuevo Jersey — a modern, American retelling of Don Quixote set in a middle-school — and Toren the Teller’s Tale — a YA fantasy about the magic of storytelling and about one teenage girl’s struggle to accept that magic within herself. Her latest novel, Ride of Your Life, a romantic YA ghost story, won third place in SmartWriter’s Write It Now contest in the YA category, which was judged by Alex Flinn, the author of such novels as Beastly and Cloaked. Two humorous YAs — Why My Love Life Sucks: The Legend of Gilbert the Fixer (book one) and The Secret Life of Mira Levy, Rabbi’s Daughter —  are scheduled for release in 2012. Continue reading “Meet the Author: Shevi Arnold”