Day: August 12, 2013

Aesthetica Creative Writing Competition

Aesthetica magazine is accepting submissions of poetry and short fiction for their Creative Writing Competition. Open to all writers, regardless of theme and experience.

Prizes: £500 for winner (one for poetry, one for short fiction), plus publication.

Reading fee: £10 gets you two submissions into any one category.

Deadline is August 31, 2013. 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.

More Social Media Spec Sheets – YouTube, LinkedIn and Pinterest

Let’s continue with our cheat sheets for social media profiles. Last week focused on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+. Today, we’ll give you the specs for YouTube, LinkedIn, and Pinterest.

As writers, we know how to convey emotion and drama through our words, but media is stealing the show on the social media sites. Photos and videos are where it’s at when trying to get noticed.

I hope that these charts will come in handy. Just remember, as soon as you get this down, they may be obsolete as the sites continue to change to mimic and outdo each other.

 

 

Featured Collection: Books by Ralph Angelo

Ralph L. Angelo Jr. has written fantasy, sword & sorcery, and adventure novels. His books include The Cagliostro Chronicles, best-selling Redemption of the Sorcerer, the Crystalon Saga, Book One and Torahg the Warrior: Sword of Vengeance

The Cagliostro Chronicles
Available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords.

Mark Johnson, a brilliant scientist and engineer, will lead a handpicked crew of adventurers into the unknown. There they will discover the truth about the secrets of the much larger universe and the myriad dangers it holds.

In a race against time, if the crew of the Cagliostro cannot unravel the depths of the mystery, conspiracy and danger that surround the earth like a closing claw of evil, mankind itself will not survive.

Join with us for the inaugural voyage of the star cruiser Cagliostro as its crew begins to unravel a conspiracy that will take it beyond the furthest star and into the very heart of adventure!

Redemption of the Sorcerer, The Crystalon Saga, Book One
Available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords.

Crystalon is a sorcerer of unprecedented power. He is the ruler of his world and universe. But Crystalon is still a man, and not a God. What happens when that man, after centuries of immortal life and power loses his way, giving in to human temptations until he is finally seduced by the power he wields? What follows is an epic adventure that spans two universes, while the man caught in the midst of it all seeks redemption from his past sins. But will he see the error of his ways in time to save both universes from an evil, nigh unstoppable enemy, and utter annihilation? Or will an incalculable amount of innocent souls be damned to an eternity of enslavement and doom? ‘Redemption of the Sorcerer’ is an epic fantasy novel that will have you on the edge of your seat to the very last page!

Torahg the Warrior: Sword of Vengeance
Available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords.

From Pulp Fantasy Author Ralph L. Angelo, Jr. comes the first novel of a New Pulp character with classic roots. Fight alongside this battle scarred, blood hungry Warrior as he tackles evil in all its forms across the kingdom he once called home. A man without a land and with only one purpose: to avenge the wrongs done against him and the world. In the tradition of Robert E. Howard, Angelo breathes a savage, raw life into SWORD OF VENGEANCE, bringing Pulp Fantasy back to life with a barbaric results!

The Amazon Petition

Glenda Wallace of Gautier, MS has posted a petition on change.org. The subject of the petition is Amazon’s refund policy, which allows people to return eBooks within seven days for a full refund, whether they have read the book or not.

Glenda frames the argument so:

“Customers know within a certain number of pages whether or not they wish to continue reading the book. Seven days is excessive. There are too many people admitting that they abuse the policy simply because Amazon allows it.”

I understand people getting rankled about that, especially if they’ve had a lot of books returned and suspect people may be abusing Amazon’s position on returns. I want to point out yet once again, that I am no Amazon fan-boy. I am deeply worried about their domination of the marketplace. But there are a couple of problems with this petition.

First, my spidey-senses tell me that the number of people currently abusing the system just to read free books is probably pretty small. At least, it’s probably small now. Once this issue picks up some publicity and more people realize they can return the books they’ve read without suffering any consequences, do you think that number will increase or decrease? I suspect it will increase. I fear that drawing attention to the issue will actually worsen the problem of abuse (stipulating it actually exists).

Second, returns have always been a problem for publishers. That’s just the way this crazy business works. Those lovely brick-and-mortar stores accept boxes of books from Random Penguin Solutions, et al, with the understanding they can return any unsold copies.

As independent authors, we are also the publishers of our books. I don’t think Amazon is screwing us over in this deal. I think they’re treating us like grown-up publishers. Maybe we should act like it. That’s my two cents. The petition is HERE if you feel differently and want to sign up.