Shelf Unbound Competition for Best Independently Published Book

Shelf Unbound book review magazine is looking for submission to their Shelf Unbound Writing Competition for Best Independently Published Book. All genres eligible, as long as they are independently published.

 

Prizes: Top five books receive editorial coverage in Shelf Unbound. Best book receives a year’s worth of full-page ads in the magazine.

Entry Fee: $40 per book

Deadline: October 1, 2014

For more information, visit their website.

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

Facebook Pages Unveils a New Look

facebookThe new Facebook layout is finally here.

Most of us now have the new Facebook “Look” on our Pages. As with any change, it’s time to do a little housekeeping and update a few things so you can get the most out of your Page. With these tips, you’ll have your Facebook Page in tip top shape in no time at all. Continue reading “Facebook Pages Unveils a New Look”

Featured Book: Mortom

MortomMortom
by Erik Therme
Genres: mystery, thriller, suspense
Available at Amazon.

After his estranged cousin dies, Andy travels to Mortom to survey the estate. When he finds a dead rat with a key in its mouth, he thinks it’s some sort of joke. Then he discovers the letter left by his cousin . . . detailing the rules of “the game.”

Excerpt:

His hand froze mid-air as Ricky’s truck crept around the curve and shuddered to a stop. The grill grinned at him with tiny cavities of rust. Ricky sat motionless inside.

“Go around,” Andy said under his breath.

The old man dogged the gas pedal, taunting him.

“Go,” he said, raising his voice. His heart accelerated from a fast run into a gallop. “You’ve got plenty of room.”

The engine revved. Andy forced himself to stand his ground. It wouldn’t matter if he moved an inch or a mile; this had nothing to do with the road. The old man was a bully—plain and simple—and it was going to end here and now.

“I’m not budging,” he said loudly. “I can—”

It was all he got out before the truck lurched forward on squealing tires.

What others are saying:

“This book had me from the first page…a unique plot, great characters and an unexpected ending.” – Diane W

NewsBites: The Turmoil Continues

NewsBitesDeep in the dank, dark, steamy recesses of the internet, somewhere between stories about the latest celebrity antics and pictures of cute kittens, is the stuff that matters – the stuff we call news.

News started out as an acronym for Not Especially Well Scrutinized, and we hold fast to that proud tradition here at Indies Unlimited, bringing you the very finest news we could scrounge up on short notice.

Remember, there may be a test later, so here is some stuff you might want to know:

A lot of people are excited at the news that Writer’s Digest and Author Solutions have parted ways. Though what happens behind the corporate veil stays behind the corporate veil, I am less sanguine than some that this means Writer’s Digest suddenly saw the light. The reputation of Author Solutions was there to see (for anyone who cared to look) long before this unholy union took place. That did not deter WD or Random Penguin from partnership with them.

Random Penguin Solutions may have other problems, though. Big Ink, whose motto is We’re not dead yet, posted pretty flat book sales figures with declines in a number of key areas. Looks like textbooks are propping up the crumbling walls of the ink empire. What’s going to happen when the academic world goes digital?

In the meantime, the standoff between Amazon and Hachette continues, with Hachette continuing to argue from the morally superior position that Amazon should just pay them whatever Hachette says and never mind the profit margins. Here is a play in five parts that nicely sums up the conflict between Amazon and Big Ink publishing. You don’t want to miss that one.

Other people suspect Bezos is the villain in the whole affair, going so far as to speculate Amazon is going to chop the 70% royalty rate it currently pays. Even if that were true, the 35% royalty rate is still twice what most trad publishers pay. Whether Amazon pulls the trigger on that idea or not, supporting dinosaur publishers hardly seems the correct play.

That’s it for this edition of NewsBites. Join us next time, when we answer the question: Are the penguins really as random as they seem, or is there a pattern?