April Video Trailer of the Month

movie lightDid you happen to catch the fine assortment of video trailers we showed during the Sunday matinees on Indies Unlimited this month? Get in on the action now, because whichever trailer wins trailer of the month could go on to winning trailer of the year, decade, or even millennium! Okay, so perhaps that’s a little overzealous. But we do have a selection of four great book trailers to choose from, so take a look and pick your favorite. No cash. No prizes. It’s all for the glory!

Check ’em out for yourself by clicking the links! The contestants this month are:

Gateway: Pioche

Unlikely

Scents and Sensuality

The Great Promise

Which video trailer do you think should win trailer of the month for April?

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How to Create an eMail List from Your Blog

Source: rgbstock.com

Last week we wrote about how you can stand out in a crowd with e-mail marketing. Is e-mail marketing just another time-suck to prevent you from doing your real work? You have to answer that for yourself. However, the latest research has shown that e-mails have twice as many conversions than search or social.

This is a great tool, but the first question most people have is, “How do I get an e-mail list?” Continue reading “How to Create an eMail List from Your Blog”

Flash Fiction Challenge: Morning on the Bay

Morning on the bay is like nowhere else. Manuel could hear the the cries of seabirds and smell the richness of life itself in the air.

The dinghies softly knocked against the wooden wharf with the gentle lap of the waves. Smaller and brightly colored boats were pulled up onto the beach and inverted, like sea turtles that had decided on a nap.

Manuel breathed deeply and let the promise of a new day wash over his body. In rare moments like this, there was peace–not just peace, but also a real sense of freedom. It was the freedom from worry and the burdens of daily life.

He wished it would last forever, but he had a body to dump in the ocean, and the shore patrol would be snooping around soon.

In 250 words or less, tell us a story incorporating the elements in the picture. The 250 word limit will be strictly enforced.

Please keep language and subject matter to a PG-13 level.

Use the comment section below to submit your entry. Entries will be accepted until 5:00 PM Pacific Time on Tuesday, April 30th, 2013.

On Wednesday morning, we will open voting to the public with an online poll for the best writing entry accompanying the photo. Voting will be open until 5:00 PM Thursday.

On Friday morning, the winner will be recognized as we post the winning entry along with the picture as a feature. Best of luck to you all in your writing!

Entries only in the comment section. Other comments will be deleted. See HERE for additional information and terms.

Building an Active Table of Contents

A discussion started here Tuesday on K.S. Brooks’ post about common formatting mistakes in print books about whether a novel needs a table of contents. I like a healthy discussion, but I like facts better. So I did a web search to try to find out whether Amazon requires a ToC in every Kindle book.

The answer is no.* The KDP Publishing Guide mentions ToCs in two places. It says here that an active ToC is recommended, and here it says that an active ToC is “highly recommended.” In neither spot does it say that a ToC is required. Even Amazon’s official Kindle Publishing Guidelines pdf (which gets very granular – CSS, anyone?) uses the word “recommended,” not “required,” when talking about ToCs. Continue reading “Building an Active Table of Contents”