Author: Stephen Hise

Stephen Hise is the Evil Mastermind and founder of Indies Unlimited. Hise is an independent author and an avid supporter of the indie author movement. Learn more about Stephen at his website or his Amazon author page.

Robot Sleep Mask

Robot Sleep MaskAdvertisement

Sure, we all love having robots, but how hard is it to sleep with those glowing red eyes glaring at you from the dark? What if the solution was as simple as slipping our patented Robot Sleep Mask over your robot’s head?

That takes care of the glaring eyes, but you also wonder whether your robot’s wireless interface is being hijacked by your enemies. What if they send your robot instructions to wake you up late and you miss an important meeting? What if they program the robot to strangle you while you sleep?

You can sleep safe and sound, knowing the Robot Sleep Mask is coated with Cybershield, a break-though coating that prevents your robot from receiving malicious outside instructions and spam.

Why go through the hassle of powering down your robot every night when the solution is as easy as just slipping on a one-size-fits-most ROBOT SLEEP MASK? Now available in a wide variety of colors, including Charcoal (shown), Ecrue, Spring Mint, Autumn Russett, Quicksilver, Sunset Peach, Vivid Vermillion, and Brown.

Choosing a Book Excerpt

Book ExcerptAuthors have a lot of blind spots when it comes to their own books. Writing the book turns out to be the easiest part of all the other stuff you have to do. A lot of authors have trouble selecting a passage to feature as a book excerpt. I believe there are two major reasons for this. The first (and probably the biggest contributing factor) is that the author knows the context of every scene in the book and is therefore unable to understand why someone reading the passage without context might not get it. The second reason is an almost paranoid impulse to prevent “spoilers.” A number of sites showcase book excerpts as either a stand-alone feature, or in combination with author interviews. A lot of authors also provide book excerpts on their own websites. It’s a good opportunity to get a sample of your writing out there in front of some readers (hopefully future fans) who may not yet be acquainted with your work. Of course if the sample falls flat the reverse effect is achieved. It’s worth putting a little thought into choosing the right excerpt. Here are a couple of considerations that may help you: Continue reading “Choosing a Book Excerpt”

Holiday Bleg

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Yes, this really is a fruit. It’s called Buddha’s hand citron. What, you think we make this stuff up?

As we near the end of another year we find ourselves in the throes of the holiday season. Of course, everyone has a lot to do to prepare. After all, dear old Aunt Trudy couldn’t possibly find one of those precious porcelain pigs with her dubious internet skills.

Soon you’ll be either traveling or preparing to receive guests. That means moving all the boxes of stuff you meant to take to Goodwill someday from the guest room to the garage. Or it could mean buying new luggage because your old luggage is somewhere behind a mountain of boxes of stuff you meant to take to Goodwill someday.

And what about those holiday recipes you’ve been meaning to try out? Yes, you’ll need some kind of butter they don’t sell at a regular grocery store and several fruits with unpronounceable names that look like  parasites that might fall off an alien.

This all happens in company with your regular work and household chores. You still have to fill your space in the cubicle farm as well as milk the chickens and slop the kids.

It can all be overwhelming. We understand everyone is a little preoccupied right now. It’s easy to forget about your good old buddies here at Indies Unlimited. You know, the site you go to for FREE helpful tips, publishing and marketing insights, nifty tutorials, honing your flash-fiction chops, and to post your free or discount books for others to see?

If you have found our site useful – if we’ve brought you a laugh or an idea or a useful tidbit – we’d appreciate it if you’d think about chucking a couple of bucks in the old PayPal tip jar over in the right sidebar. Easy-peasy. No browsing through pages of content to find the one porcelain pig we don’t have. No cleaning out the guest room.

Thanks in advance. We now return you to your regular programming. Happy holidays to everyone.

Choosing a Book Excerpt

Book ExcerptAuthors have a lot of blind spots when it comes to their own books. Writing the book turns out to be the easiest part of all the other stuff you have to do. A lot of authors have trouble selecting a passage to feature as a book excerpt. I believe there are two major reasons for this. The first (and probably the biggest contributing factor) is that the author knows the context of every scene in the book and is therefore unable to understand why someone reading the passage without context might not get it. The second reason is an almost paranoid impulse to prevent “spoilers.” A number of sites showcase book excerpts as either a stand-alone feature, or in combination with author interviews. A lot of authors also provide book excerpts on their own websites. It’s a good opportunity to get a sample of your writing out there in front of some readers (hopefully future fans) who may not yet be acquainted with your work. Of course if the sample falls flat the reverse effect is achieved. It’s worth putting a little thought into choosing the right excerpt. Here are a couple of considerations that may help you: Continue reading “Choosing a Book Excerpt”