Month: November 2014

Which “Fog of Memory” Flash Fiction Story Gets Your Vote?

Vote5It’s Wednesday – that means we need your help – only you can tell us which of these stories should win the honor of Flash Fiction Champion. It’s super easy – choose your favorite and cast your vote below.

Remember, the winning entries will all be included in the next edition of the IU Flash Fiction Anthology.

Check out this week’s entries here. Make your decision, then use those share buttons at the bottom of the post to spread the word.

Voting polls close Thursday at 5 PM Pacific time.

Which "Fog of Memory" story should be this week's winner?

  • Kevin D. Montgomery (43%, 49 Votes)
  • Sara Stark (14%, 16 Votes)
  • Howard Johnson (12%, 14 Votes)
  • Candi Runyon (8%, 9 Votes)
  • Joan Childs (4%, 5 Votes)
  • Angela Luo (4%, 5 Votes)
  • Vickie Johnstone (4%, 4 Votes)
  • A. L. Kaplan (3%, 3 Votes)
  • Jon Jefferson (3%, 3 Votes)
  • Sharon King (1%, 1 Votes)
  • Tom Kepler (1%, 1 Votes)
  • D L Brown (1%, 1 Votes)
  • Nathan Rokus (1%, 1 Votes)
  • Avinash Shivakumar (1%, 1 Votes)
  • Nancy DeCilio Gauthier (1%, 1 Votes)
  • Randy L. Austin (0%, 0 Votes)
  • A. K. (0%, 0 Votes)

Total Voters: 114

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NOTE: Entrants whose submissions exceed the 250 word limit are eliminated from the poll. ONE VOTE PER PERSON, please. Duplicate votes will be deleted. The results displayed above are unofficial until verified by administration.

New from Indies Unlimited – Last Book Standing

last book standing logoWell good day, everyone. Here at Indies Unlimited Laboratories, we are always looking for new and better ways to help you. That’s right, it’s all about you. And your books. So, we’re introducing a chance for you to win a free IU Featured Book Basic ad, and get some input on your book at the same time! See? Everyone’s a winner! (Except for Brooks, of course, since she’ll be doing most of the work.)

LAST BOOK STANDING is like a cross between Last Comic Standing and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. Not really. Just kidding. Mostly.

Here’s how it works: Authors will post an Amazon link to ONE of their books in the comments section. (One book per author, please! Multiple entries will be deleted.) We will turn that link into a pretty book cover. Then, books will fight to the death. Kidding.

Next, the books will begin elimination rounds. They will be distributed to the IU Vetting Committee and judged per our vetting process as follows:

  • Round 1 – covers.
  • Round 2 – amazon author pages.
  • Round 3 – categories.
  • Round 4 – book descriptions.
  • Round 5 – look inside – formatting/too much front matter.
  • Round 6 – look inside WRITING.

Any author whose book does not make it to the Final Round will receive a private email telling them at which round their book was eliminated, why, and because we are so swell, we will include a link to an IU post that will help them fix the problem.

Final Round – throw down steel cage match – audience voting. Books that make it through all six rounds will be featured in a post where the Indies Unlimited audience will vote for which book they think should win a free Featured Book Basic ad on Indies Unlimited.

EVERYONE IS A WINNER in the Last Book Standing. So spiffy up your covers and your book descriptions – make sure your book’s categories are correct and all the other particulars are in order. Come December, your book could be a star!

Fine print: Indies Unlimited is not responsible for any injury incurred by anyone at any time and especially not for getting overly excited by this awesome opportunity! Minions and their families, offspring, spawn, or other relations are not eligible. Books that have already been advertised or featured on Indies Unlimited during 2014 are not eligible. Those books already know how awesome they are. This offer is void where prohibited. Don’t forget, Indies Unlimited does not feature books that are primarily religious, political, or erotic in nature. Books of those themes will be removed from the competition if they are entered. Vetting does not have to be completed by any date in particular because, you know, we have the right to be capricious, but we will attempt to respond to all entries as quickly as possible. Please do not get butthurt if your book doesn’t go as far as you were hoping it would. We are just trying to help. The old adage goes, “Don’t ask a question if you don’t want the answer,” so if you don’t think you can handle constructive input, do not enter this contest. This contest may cause itching and other types of dermatitis, and has been known to increase mental capacities. The prize of one Featured Book Basic has a value of $15 USD and cannot be traded for food stamps, coupons, or farm animals. And we thank you.

November Twitter Fest

hashtag tweeterHere at IU, we are always trying to make things better. I know, we’re already so awesome – how is that possible, you ask! We’ve just migrated to a newer, more bionic hosting provider so that you can enjoy lightning fast responses from the IU site. Unfortunately, some complications arose during our site migration, and we had to close comments on last week’s follow-fest. Things were hopping, so here is a re-run for you. Thank you for your patience!

Have you been feeling lonely on Twitter lately? Well, our Jim Devitt wrote a couple of posts which might help you get more eyes on your tweets. Check that out, then come back here and have some fun with the November Twitter Fest.

This is how it works: If you are an author, publisher, publicist, literary agent, book reviewer, (or especially a book-lover), etc., in the comments below, paste in the link for your Twitter Handle. Tweet the link to this post, inviting all your followers to do the same. Make sure you show some love to the handles in the comments above yours, and check back throughout the day to catch up. (Remember: If you right-click the link, you can open it in a new tab so you don’t have to constantly page back and forth.)

This should be fun and should generate a lot of follows for everyone who plays. We’ll kick things off with ours. Let’s get the party started! http://www.twitter.com/IndiesUnlimited.

PLEASE be sure to reciprocate by following those who follow you. This is give and take. If everyone plays by the golden rule, we all benefit.

The Writer’s Mind: Laser vs. Soup

Soup - the mind of an authorI would guess most non-writers think that the minds of writers pretty much operate all the same way: you get an idea, you write it down, expanding as you go. Years ago, I might have thought that myself, but my last few books over the last couple of years have completely disabused me of that notion. Every project has illustrated to me in ever-greater detail that my mind can work in vastly different ways when doing this singular yet very complex thing – writing. Continue reading “The Writer’s Mind: Laser vs. Soup”