Month: October 2015

Flash Fiction Challenge: Hell-o-Ween

jackolantern 2003 flash fiction writing prompt copyright KS BROOKS
Photo copyright K. S. Brooks. Do not use without attribution.

The last thing Braxton remembered, he was being strapped to the gurney, awaiting the lethal injection.

With no idea how he got here, Braxton moved slowly up the uneven stone stairs. At every third or fourth step, there was another Jack-o-Lantern. The first seemed rather normal – just a couple of bats.

As he climbed further along, he began to recognize scenes from his life carved into the pumpkins…

Welcome to the Indies Unlimited Flash Fiction Challenge. In 250 words or less, write a story incorporating the elements in the picture and the written prompt above. Do not include the prompt in your entry. The 250 word limit will be strictly enforced.

Please keep language and subject matter to a PG-13 level.

Use the comment section below to submit your entry. Entries will be accepted until Tuesday at 5:00 PM Pacific Time. No political or religious entries, please. Need help getting started? Read this article on how to write flash fiction.

On Tuesday night, judges will select the strongest entries, and on Wednesday afternoon, we will open voting to the public with an online poll so they may choose the winner. Voting will be open until 5:00 PM Thursday.

On Saturday morning, the winner will be recognized as we post the winning entry along with the picture as a feature. Then, at year end, the winners will be featured in an anthology like this one. Best of luck to you all in your writing!

Entries only in the comment section. Other comments will be deleted. See HERE for additional information and terms. Please note the rule changes for 2015.

Thomas Diehl Wins Flash Fiction Challenge

Thomas Diehl is the readers’ choice in this week’s Indies Unlimited Flash Fiction Challenge.

The winning entry is rewarded with a special feature here today and a place in our collection of winners which will be published as an e-book at year end.

Without further ado, here’s the winning entry:

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Continue reading “Thomas Diehl Wins Flash Fiction Challenge”

My Brilliant Book Marketing Scheme

skittles an authors book marketing schemeWallowing in obscurity can be frustrating. Well, not so much the obscurity part, but the poverty part that goes with it. I don’t have a big enough following to get Kindle Scout’s attention like Martin Crosbie did. I don’t have the energy or the time to put out a zillion books a year like Lynne Cantwell or Melissa Pearl. But what I do have is a defective, devious brain that can calculate and scheme and come up with an out-of-the-box marketing plan. Yes, I know RJ Crayton recently warned against these kinds of longshots. But really – this one will work – I just know it. Continue reading “My Brilliant Book Marketing Scheme”

Project Gutenberg for Indies

Project Gutenberg SPPYou may have heard of Project Gutenberg, the effort by the World Public Library Association to provide public-domain books online for free. What you may not know is that Project Gutenberg has a separate program for indie publishing.

It’s called the Project Gutenberg Self-Publishing Press. Since its inception in July 2012, the project has grown to include some 3,500 titles, all available for free viewing on their site. As a site member (which supposedly costs $8.95 a year, but I joined without hitting a paywall, so I’m not sure about that – maybe they’ll email me an invoice), you can save a title to your bookshelf or a reading list, save a copy to Google Drive or Dropbox, or email the file to yourself for reading offline. Continue reading “Project Gutenberg for Indies”