Month: May 2015

Five Flash Fiction Elements

flash fiction lightningAs I hope you all know, here at Indies Unlimited, we have a weekly flash fiction contest. The prompt goes up on Saturday, and the submission period closes on Tuesday. The word limit for our contest is 250 words. But there’s more to flash fiction than just our challenge.

As a general rule, flash fiction is considered to be less than 1,000 words long. And believe it or not, you can study how to write it. I did a web search for “how to write a flash fiction story” and got five million hits, including some for courses that would take way longer to complete than would simply writing a bunch of flash pieces until you get the hang of it.

Flash is a recognized format for fiction, with elements that each story ought to include. As usual with these sorts of things, the list of elements varies, depending on who’s writing it. I’ve seen lists of three, four, five, seven, or ten elements, or do’s and don’ts, or what-have-you. I like the number five, so for this article I’m going to stick with five things your flash fiction story should include. Continue reading “Five Flash Fiction Elements”

Thrifty Thursday: Sweet eBook Deals

sweet ebook deals cakeHere at Indies Unlimited, each Thursday we make it super easy for you to find hot free and 99 cent eBook deals. So jump for joy and then tell your friends to come on over to Thrifty Thursday and check ’em out!

Readers: look in the comment section below. If you see one you like, click over and buy it. How easy is that? (If you don’t see the book covers, adjust your browser’s adblock settings.)

Authors: if you have a book priced at 99¢ or less (that’s right, post your free eBooks here, too!), follow the instructions below and post it right in the comment section. Got more than one bargain book? Go ahead and post them all if you like, but only one book and ONE link per comment please!

We will convert your link to a clickable book cover. Do not attempt to insert an image in comments on your own. Just put the following information in the comment section:

1. Book title
2. Author name
3. A one sentence blurb (~140 characters – longer descriptions will be deleted)
4. ONE link to download the book (only secure retail sites – Amazon, Smashwords, B&N, Kobo, or Apple/iStore)
5. Whether your book is free or 99 cents (and for how long/what dates)

Then let your friends and fans know your book is available here today. Use the share buttons below, or copy the link in the address bar above and share the news on your favorite social media platforms. The more, the merrier, right?

So let’s give it a try, shall we? Please make sure to follow the RULES above. Now, go ahead and tell the world about your cheap read. IU is a safe-for-work site. PLEASE do not post links to erotica, religious, or political titles.

[Note: if the book cover images below do not display properly, please check your AdBlock settings.]

Which “Stood Up?” 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 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 – 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 – we’ve even labeled the finalists to make them easier to spot. 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 "Stood Up" Story Is Your Favorite This Week?

  • Ed Drury (29%, 10 Votes)
  • Leland Dirks (23%, 8 Votes)
  • Joseph Hesch (14%, 5 Votes)
  • PJ LaRue (14%, 5 Votes)
  • Kathleen Sullivan (14%, 5 Votes)
  • John Christian Hager (6%, 2 Votes)

Total Voters: 35

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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.

Blog Book Tours from a Blogger’s Perspective

Lackawanna book blogger Tour
Photo by Billy Hathorn of English Wikipedia

Last month Karen Wojcik Berner shared a post on blog tours here at IU. As I was reading, it occurred to me that a discussion of blog tours from the perspective of a blogger might be of interest and potentially of value for authors, whether they’re doing the hard work of putting a tour together on their own or hiring one of the many blog tour operators to coordinate the effort.

Personally I have a love/hate relationship with blog tours because they have plenty of positives for a blogger, but depending on the blogger’s perspective, a non-trivial list of negatives as well. I’ll start with the good. Continue reading “Blog Book Tours from a Blogger’s Perspective”