Month: March 2015

Which “Just Desserts” Flash Fiction Story Gets Your Vote?

Vote5It’s that time again…time to choose your favorite flash fiction story of the week! The judges have made their choices – their picks for the top entries are included below. Confused? Check out our rule change for 2015. The judges have whittled down the entries to a select few, and now it’s your turn: time for the public to have the final say. It’s super easy – we’ve even labeled the finalists to make them easier to spot. Now you just have to choose your favorite and cast your vote below for this week’s Flash Fiction champion.

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 "Just Desserts" story should win this week?

  • Steven M. Stucko (37%, 11 Votes)
  • L. A. Williams (30%, 9 Votes)
  • Mark Chapman (17%, 5 Votes)
  • A. L. Kaplan (17%, 5 Votes)
  • D L Brown (0%, 0 Votes)

Total Voters: 30

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NOTE: Entrants whose submissions are not relevant to the prompts and/or 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.

My Experience with PublishAmerica

Predatory Publisher Month at Indies UnlimitedGuest Post
by Daniel Peyton

I have always enjoyed writing. I started at an early age: the fourth grade. Jump ahead to 2006, when I was encouraged by my mother to try writing a fantasy novel of my own. I had always written fiction set in the Star Trek universe, so I was scared about trying something new. Finally, I wrote The Jalan Chronicles, and was so pleased with myself I submitted it to DAW Books (a division of Penguin) right out of the gate. They turned it down flat. I sent out submissions here and there and continued to be rejected. Then I found a publisher that seemed promising. I submitted and was accepted quickly. Continue reading “My Experience with PublishAmerica”

Pinterest Fest!

pinterestGet your Pinterest boards some love – post your link in today’s Pinterest fest!

This is how it works: you don’t have to be an author, publisher, publicist, literary agent, book reviewer, librarian, (or especially a book-lover) – you just have to want to meet other Pinners. In the comments below, paste in the link for your Pinterest Page. Make sure you show some love to the links in the comments above yours, and check back throughout the day to catch up.

If you’re not sure what link to post, just find your profile or bulletin board, then copy and paste the URL. It should look something like this: http://pinterest.com/IndiesUnlimited/ 

This should be fun and should generate a lot of exposure for everyone who plays. Don’t forget to follow ours. Let’s get things moving!

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

My Bad Experience with PublishAmerica/America Star Books

Predatory Publisher Month at Indies UnlimitedSome of you may be familiar with PublishAmerica, who some time ago changed their name to America Star Books. I did a post on the change last year and touched on my own story then, but I want to go into a bit more detail about their racket and how I extricated myself.

My run-in with them started in the 90s. I had had five books published already, two by a New York house and three by small presses, when I stumbled across their site. Their mantra at the time was, “We don’t want your money — we want your book!” Continue reading “My Bad Experience with PublishAmerica/America Star Books”