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.

An Interview with Bad Book

Our special guest:
BAD BOOK

Carolyn Steele wrote an excellent post about character interviews. But what about the next level? I believe books have distinctive personalities. Each book not only contains characters but is a character in its own right. It has a voice, a cadence, distinctive quirks & tics, and it has something to say to the world. Like people, books need to both fit in and stand out.

While a book accomplishes this through the efforts of its author, it is also something other than a pale reflection of the author. In many ways, a book’s personality may be very different than that of its author. A book may be brash and bold and daring even if written by a timid, reclusive author.

So, if we were to interview a book, the results could be wildly different than an interview with the book’s author.

To demonstrate this personality theory, I have decided to conduct an interview with Bad Book. Continue reading “An Interview with Bad Book”

Golden Skunk Awards

This Book StinksEverybody knows that books with little gold stickers on the cover are favored by book consumers. That’s why they are there, and why awards cost so much.

But, even with the abundance of cheesy little awards nobody ever heard of, it can still be difficult to win.

Breakthrough research we are just about to conduct will show that even though book consumers prefer books with little gold seals on the cover, 90% of those consumers don’t even bother to read the writing on the seal to know what it says. Of the 10% who do read the sticker, 0.0003% know the significance of it. All they know is if it’s got a gold seal on the cover, it has to be good!

Or does it?

Just because a book isn’t good doesn’t mean it can’t be a bestseller. Just look at the bestseller list, for crying out loud. Oh, the humanity! What do those books have that yours don’t? A little gold sticker.

Now your book can have that same cachet and become an overnight success, skyrocketing your sales*. The Golden Skunk Award is not given on the basis of merit, we award them to whoever pays. Sure, you can gamble away hundreds of dollars on a chance at winning a little gold sticker for your book, or you can pay us $100 and get one for sure!

But, don’t take our word for it. Here is a look at the Golden Skunk in action:

Upgrade before and afterBe honest. Which book would you buy? Of course, you’d buy the one with the little gold seal on the cover. That’s what everyone does!

Order yours today!

*Your results may vary.

Real Writers Have Thick Skins

Walk it offYou don’t have to spend a lot of time on social media to see plenty of examples of jackassery. This is not especially true of authors, but authors are people, so it is just as true of authors. Seldom does a day go by that we are not exposed to some kind of little drama – petulance, whining, back-biting, or fervent appeals to action over some imagined injustice. What a buzzkill.

When ignorance (don’t know) combines with apathy (don’t care) and arrogance (I’m special), you really have the makings of mega-drama. One of two things is usually at the center when this vitriolic mixture bubbles up to the surface. Either some author did not like a review they just got, or somebody’s book or guest post got turned down. Continue reading “Real Writers Have Thick Skins”