Author: Lynne Cantwell

Lynne Cantwell grew up on the shores of Lake Michigan. She worked as a broadcast journalist for many years; she has written for CNN, the late lamented Mutual/NBC Radio News, and a bunch of radio and TV news outlets you have probably never heard of, including a defunct wire service called Zapnews. But she began as a fantasy writer (in the second grade), and is back at it today. She currently lives near Washington, DC. Learn more about Lynne at her blog and at her Amazon author page.

New Facebook Call-to-Action Button Options

facebook logoEvery now and then, Facebook rolls out something new for business pages (author pages and book pages fall under the “business page” umbrella). Most recently, Facebook has added more options to their call-to-action button.

If your page doesn’t yet have a call-to-action button, it’s easy to set up. I wrote about how to do it awhile ago. At the time, I picked the “Shop Now” button as my call-to-action button, and pointed it to my Amazon Author page.

But to be honest, the button hasn’t gotten me a lot of action. Maybe people visiting my page have been puzzled by the idea of a “Shop Now” button for an author; maybe they think of “Shop Now” as more appropriate for designer handbags or jewelry. I dunno. But just in case, I’m going to change my call-to-action button to one of Facebook’s new options. Continue reading “New Facebook Call-to-Action Button Options”

Fanfiction or Plagiarism? Better Make Sure.

publishing lawsuit gavelA few weeks back, we had a guest post by Kat Cantwell about the ins and outs of writing fanfiction. Now we have word of a cautionary tale that fanfiction writers – in fact, all sorts of writers – might do well to heed.

Trad-pubbed urban fantasy author Sherrilyn Kenyon has filed suit in U.S. District Court in Tennessee against fellow author Cassandra Clare. Kenyon’s complaint alleges Clare’s “Shadowhunter” series infringes on the copyrights and trademarks associated with Kenyon’s “Dark-Hunter” series. Kenyon says she learned of the infringement from her fans, and that when she spoke to Clare about it, Clare promised to change her work so that there would be no infringement. What Clare did was to change the term for her demon-fighting warriors from “darkhunter” to “shadowhunter” – and then proceeded to use the new term extensively in promoting her series. Continue reading “Fanfiction or Plagiarism? Better Make Sure.”

LynneQuisition: A Vine Voice Reviewer

Interviews by Lynne CantwellYou may have seen the “Vine Voice” tag on reviews around Amazon’s website, and wondered what it meant. Here to help us figure it out is Mystery Reviewer, who participates in the Vine Voice program. He has agreed to take a seat in the comfy chair while I ask him a few questions. (He thinks he’s safe because he doesn’t review many books, but just in case, he wishes to remain anonymous…)

Mystery Reviewer (MR), how does the Vine program work, and how did you get into it? Continue reading “LynneQuisition: A Vine Voice Reviewer”

KDP Error Messages: The Sky Is Not Falling

dont panic kdp warnings shield-114440_960_720You have probably already heard about the latest sky-is-falling report involving KDP. An online publication (which shall remain nameless, as it’s well-known for publishing unsubstantiated clickbait, but whose initials are Good Ereader) struck fear into the hearts of many indie authors last week, when it announced that starting February 3rd, Amazon would begin pulling from sale any eBooks reported to have typos or formatting issues. Continue reading “KDP Error Messages: The Sky Is Not Falling”