About a month ago the NYC Occupy Wall Street library - over 5k books - were thrown in the trash by the NYPD about a month ago.

This attempt to demoralize the occupyers is sad. Who throws away books?!

Protest can be a rather boring affair (I know from experience). These folks are standing up for what they believe. Whether you agree with them or not - they are exercising a great right that many people around the world don't have the luxury of.

I'm an indie/self-published author. I don't have the big 6 behind me. I'm not the 1% of "industry approved" "market drive" authors you'll see in a book store from the big publishers (read more about anti-big 6 by @johnzunski).

I believe self-published authors like me should give away free copies of our books to protesters.

Now, many self-published authors have only ebooks. I imagine many protesters are without e-readers (but perhaps many have smart phones w/ e-reader apps!). Secondly, I don't know how to get the books to the people. But I do know that the "man" can't throw away digital files as easily as they can a physical book.

I will happily give away digital copies of my book, Discontents (on Amazon) to any and all supporter of the #OccupyWallst movement. I encourage other self-published authors to as well.

If you are a supporter and want a copy of the book, contact: jameswallacebirch@gmail.com

If you've ideas on how we can get books to these folks, please contact me and let me know.

image source: Make Magazine @ http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2011/09/make-magazine-available-at-occupy-wa...

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Buy Now: Cemeter Street

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Shangri-La Trailer Park

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Social Media:

Facebook: Cemetery Street

Facebook: Shangri-La Trailer Park

Cemetery Street Blurb:
In a world where dreams are possible and nightmares come true, can you romance a memory? James Morrison thinks so. Laugh, cry and blush with James as he recounts a late 20th century American life.

Shangri-La Trailer Park Blurb:
If an Indian falls in the woods, can you hear him scream? Dora Shear did, and her life was about to get interesting. After Maistoinna Standing Bear tackles a tree, Dog Shear Dora - as she’s known in the trailer park - is left to pick up the pieces. Only she’s up to no good.
Uncover the secrets of a Jewish love triangle, why the IGA checkout lady trashes a car, why a trip over the coffee table is better than Novocain, and more importantly, the difference between a Canadian Passport and a Kentucky Waterfall. Hop on board with Maistoinna for a crazy forty-eight hour ride through the world’s most dysfunctional trailer park.

WARNING! Don’t read if your are: A) easily offended B) politically correct C) like everything nice or D) believe in the Easter Bunny!

Interview with John Zunksi author of both Cemetery Street and Shangri-La Trailer Park

JWB: Welcome John! I'd like to preface this interview with saying I just finished Cemetery Street and, on this cloudy day, am feeling rather moved by this book. I can't remember being emotionally affected by a book in this way in a long time. So, let me first congratulate you on a truly wonderful read! Having finished it, I'm so excited for this interview.

Cemetery Street, deals with the issue of death and loss. Why is this theme so paramount in your first major work?

John: Isn’t life about loss? Doesn’t how we deal with loss determine how we function? I believe the answer to both questions is a resounding yes. We all deal with life bloodying our noses. Cemetery Street was my first attempt at understanding routes people choose. Each character chose their unique path. Like life, some were successful and others failed miserably.

JWB: I agree wholeheartedly. We are what we lose (in life). I haven't read "Trailer Park" yet you describe it as a book that comes across as totally different than Cemetery Street. Why the shift?

John: Will you accept more than one answer? There are a few:  1) Cemetery Street wore me out. It was emotionally taxing to write. 2) I set out to write something more lighthearted, a story in which a character didn’t die. Saying that, Shangri-La Trailer Park’s protagonist – Maistoinna Standing Bear – is dealing with not acting to prevent the death of a nephew. What emerged is dark comedy where heavy themes lurk within the shadows of comical situations.  3) I wanted to expand my craft – being pigeonholed to a particular genre isn’t for me.

JWB: Interesting. Although I am sad the other work avaiable at this time isn't of the bread of Cemetery Street, I'm excited to get my hands on your next work. How do you develop your characters?

JohN: Inside my callused exterior lies a very empathetic heart, which allows me to slip in and out of another's moccasins. I parlay this to my characters. I imagine life from their perspective and engineer their being – flaws and all -  through the filter of their personality traits. How do I come up with traits? I look around, life is full of interesting characters. It’s my responsibility as a voyeur extraordinaire to take those gifts and apply them to the page.

As a side note, for Cemetery Street I kept a notebook in which I listed each character, their traits, quirks, positive and negative qualities, then I studied the lists, learning the characters inside and out.

JWB: The C.S. plan is a great idea. I tried to do something similar with Discontents but got worn out and lazy :) . What are 3 things you'd want someone to know about you as a writer?

JohN: a)  I don’t pull punches – often going to dark places for the integrity of the story. I don’t visit dark places vicariously, nor do I  touch on topics that may make a reader uncomfortable for kicks. Heck, I feel uncomfortable writing some topics. An example, In Cemetery Street, Russell’s backstory: It is racism at its worst.
b) That my characters are memorable.

c)  That I don’t take storytelling lightly.
d) a reader may find him/herself laughing, crying, feeling revulsion and joy within a chapter.   

Oops, that’s four. I need to go back to math class.

JWB: Haha. Ok :) What's the writing process like for you?

Writing is like going to the dentist at two in the morning.  There’s a fear of the unknown, where is tonight’s journey leading? Is there going to be pain, or will it bring relief? More times the not, it’s the latter, but there are times when the process hurts. When it does, I know I’m onto to something good. The one thing I do know, is if I don’t write, ideas build and build and if they’re not relieved I become very, very cranky. The writing process is analogous to a high colonic.

JWB: If you were asked to compare your work to one other author, who would it be and why?

I used to be caught up in comparisons, nowadays I don’t think about it. Maybe that’s because I’ve forged my voice. That being said, you asked and my answer is: I don’t have a clue. I know my influences are John Irving, Stephen King and Carl Hiaasen. John Irving was the first author that bonked me over the head with the depth of his characters. Stephen King because in my mind, he is all about the story. Carl Hiaasen makes the absurd seem plausible. But you asked which one author.  Stephen Carl Irving.

JWB: Comparisons can be dangerous. Let's try this: What are your favorite authors or books? Why?

 Whatever author I’m reading. When I pick up a book, I’m rooting for it to be the best book I’ve ever read. I’m wanting the author to knock my socks off. To me authors are engineers and their books are rollercoasters, they’re all different, but they all lead us up, drop us down and throw us through twists and turns. Due to design, some just do a better job raising our heartbeats.   

JWB: Many of our readers are other writers. What is the #1 tip you would give to an author trying to promote their work online?

Train for a marathon. Too many new authors are sprinters. In the short time I’ve been lurking around online author’s groups, I’ve seen numerous people release a title, think everyone should drop what their doing and acknowledge their greatness.  When this doesn’t happen, I’ve witnessed disillusionment set in and see the names slip away.

But, what do I know? I haven’t exactly set the world on fire. But, what I do know is that slowly but surely I'm building a base.

 Another thing, to the best of one’s ability, ignore checking sales, instead focus that energy on creating a franchise. Imagine McDonalds selling burgers without a building. I occupy myself laying the bricks and installing deep fryers.

JWB: That's a great point! I know for me, it has been so time consuming there have been weeks here and there I've fallen off. It really is a marathon. I like the franchise idea - it makes me think I need to get writing again :)

John: James, you’ve read Cemetery Street, tell me, what character do you relate best to and why?

I'd have to say James (not me, the character from the book). You can sense his desperate love for Shannie and his infatuation with her. I think the relationship between James and Shannie reminds all of us of our younger relationships. When I was growing up I made a lot of mistakes in relationships, and I see that in James/Shannie. But more than anything, you did a craftman's job at articulating the depth of infatuation a teen can have for a girl, how her beauty can just light up your life, and the blindness and pain of that infatuation - particularly when you sense the feelings are not being sent back. I hope that makese sense :)

Well John, thanks so much for stopping in. I really wish I could articulate how much I loved Cemetery Street. I strongly encourage readers to check it out and to check out your other work. Read reviews of John's works on Goodreads!

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I've been doing a lot of interviews lately and am very glad! I love learning about authors, their process, and their advice. I hope you do too! Up next is my good friend Coral - author of all things scary!

Amador Lockdown by Coral Russell

"You always save the best lies for yourself." - Amador Lockdown

“It was very hard to put down once I started, Amador Lockdown, the suspense of "what's gonna happen next?" and feeling some of the fear that the characters felt really pulled me in. The twist at the end though, that was unexpected and I love books that do that, it left me wanting more." -
Kel, reader at Goodreads

Amador Lockdown Synopsis:

Buy on Amazon! Ebook - 99 Cents!

Something has moved into the Amador Hotel. Hector, Marcos, Bev, and Tony of the Paranormal Posse are called in to either debunk the haunting or get rid of whatever is causing the problems. With the surprise arrival of Hector's son, he tries to keep his professional and personal lives separate, but whatever is haunting the Amador Hotel has other plans.

Author Bio:

Coral Russell runs the blog alchemyofscrawl.wordpress.com
Stop by for the latest in book reviews, news, and resources.

Ms. Russell won the 2003 McCaleb Peace Initiative which produced the non-fiction articles Peace on the Peninsula. You can also find various articles written by her on Technorati and BlogCritics.

Want more Hector and Marcos ghost hunter stories? Check out Playing with Fire Anthology of Horror for Devil of a Ghost Tour and Key to a Haunting. Also available The DIY Guide to Social Media Marketing and eBook Publishing.

Look for Cube in the Twelve Worlds Anthology for Charity which benefits Reading is Fundamental.

Interview with Coral Russell

I'm so excited to interview my friend Coral Russell. I've had the pleasure and good fortune of being interviewed by her on her blog talk radio show Alchemy of Scrawl. It is my chance to ask the questions now! So sit back and enjoy an interview with a great, and well known author in the indie community.

JWB:  What are 3 things you'd want someone to know about you as a writer?

1) I decided early on that I'm not a writer or an author, I'm a scrawler.
2) I knew when I started that I was going to be an independent. Write about what I wanted to and let the chips fall where they may.
3) I decided that I had no idea what the outcome would be in my writing, so I would love the process, that way I was happy no matter what the outcome.

JWB: I like that "scrawler" - I've never put it that way. I know Selby, Jr. was called a 'typer' and not a 'writer'.  So what inspired you to write Amador Lockdown?

I went on an actual Lockdown at the Amador Hotel in Las Cruces, NM. Although it was an interesting night, with some interesting phenomenon, of course, I had to fictionalize it. 

JWB: A lockdown!? Sounds freaky!  Some people - like me - are afraid of horror, ghosts, and anything scary. What is it about "scary stories" that makes them so fun for you as an author?

I can't tell you how I got started but horror ended up being my favorite genre when I was a teenager. Most girls were reading romance and then I would show up with the latest tome by Stephen King, Frank Herbert, Peter Straub, John Saul. hmmm all male writers... I actually had a profound experience reading Shadowland (or was it Ghost Story) and have never re-read the book for fear of losing that feeling.

JWB: Cool! Do you scare easily?

No. I intensely dislike insects and mice which just means I'll kill em if I see em. hehe I don't like being grossed out but I love a good psychological horror/thriller story.

JWB: I'm the same way :)  Characters for scary stories seem unique from any other genre - How do you develop characters that work well in your genre?

The best advice I read that helped me with my 'shadow man' in Amador Lockdown is that you probably won't be able to convince the reader to be scared of any kind of monster. So you have to make your characters afraid of the monster and make it very convincing and communicate that fear to the reader (Fire in Fiction by Maas). Reading that passage reminded me of a movie I saw a long time ago. It was a B movie at best and in this scene the camera panned over a bunch of obviously fake body parts. I was on the verge of laughing when the camera panned back to the lead actor and he 'reacted' as if they were real. That made me question whether I'd seen the same thing he had. That's good acting and it's also the kind of reaction your characters need to have.

JWB: If you were asked to compare your work to one other author, who would it be and why?

I. don't. know. I really don't because my stories are very Hispanicentric with all the main characters being Hispanic/Mexican and it's in El Paso which is 70-80% Hispanic. I don't know of anyone else who's writing those kind of stories that aren't dealing with some cultural aspect of Hispanics. Like Milagro Beanfield War or Like Water for Chocolate. I didn't want to write a story that had this pseudo-mystical approach to Hispanics. I just wanted to treat them as normal everyday people in extraordinary circumstances. The culture is there, but it is the backdrop, not the main event.

JWB: That is a tough one!  How about this: what are your favorite authors or books? Why?

War and Peace because when I finished that long a$$ story, I would have kept right on reading. The story could have continued forever and that really impressed me. The River Sutra because it is one of the most enlightening books I've ever read. I've only been able to read it once, even though I've bought multiple copies because I keep giving it away before I get too far into it and someone asks me about it and I end up giving them my copy. I read another Indie book called Zor that is right up there along with Verland the Transformation. Discontents has been added to my favorites too.

JWB: I'm ashamed to admit it - but I haven't read War and Peace! Changing topics now, many of our readers are other writers. What is the #1 tip you would give to an author trying to promote their work online?

Persistence and tenaciousness will take you a long way. Someone described Indie authors as being a 'one-man band' and that's not far from the truth. Love the process and you'll be happy as you're plugging along. Always think about what you can 'give' and not what you can 'get'. I generally don't ask for anything unless I'm willing to give something first.

JWB: Great advice! I know I get worn out some times. But I like your perspective. Sometimes I have to remind myself 'one day at a time' :) Ok do you have any additional comments or thoughts you'd like to share?

Along the lines with the 'love the process' because I think that attitude is so important, I also want to say that meeting people like you and all the others that I've run into have really made this experience worthwhile. The generosity of my crit partners, scrawler friends, writing groups, and the like has been overwhelming and I appreciate every moment of their time they've given me.

JWB: :)!! Thanks Coral! I can't express how helpful your friendship has been to me and so many others in the writing community. I was so surprised to find such cool and supportive people online. In a way, you may be a "one-man band" but there are so many great people playing along nearby that it feels like a parade!  :)

Coral is going to be in the Blog Tour de Troops November 11-14 and a comment of gratitude will get you a free copy of Amador Lockdown on alchemyofscrawl.wordpress.com! So move while you can!

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Home Street Home: The Virginia Beach Chronicles

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Synopsis

  At 60, Ella Migliore, a gentle soul from a middle class background, finds her security wiped out by the 2008 market crash.  Long estranged from her nuclear family, she is thrown into the brutal world of homelessness - a shadowy hell that swallows people bit by bit, even in the well-manicured streets of the Virginia Beach Oceanfront.
 
      Bravely trying to make the best of a bad situation, she downplays the dangers until she learns firsthand just how vicious street life can be.  Menaced by ex-cons at a free dining hall, bedding down on drenched church steps  after a Tidewater tornado-watch storm, and terrified by lawless men in a homeless camp, she digs deep to find strength to carry on.
  
      Her terrors are compounded when Ella is physically attacked by much younger campers while onlookers refuse to get involved.  Her fear of being beaten to death drives her into the arms of a predator who takes control of her camp and her life.  When he asks the unthinkable, she escapes, only to battle the worst threat of all - the thirst for revenge that twists her soul as she plans violent reprisals against those who've bullied her. 

Interview With Georgia

JWB: Hey Georgia! Welcome to DTTLA. We met on BookBlogs.ning if my memory serves me. I found your book and, just having finished Orwell's "Down and out in Paris and London," I was immediately drawn to it. Can you tell us a little more about it?
 
Georgia: Home Street Home was born out of my three years of homelessness.  I discovered I could stand the deprivations, the constant crowding in with too many human beings in various stages of unraveling, if I focused on trying to write descriptions of the conditions I was seeing.  When I decided to turn it into a novel, I invented characters that embodied the personality types I witnessed and sometimes interacted with.
      My work belongs to the literary fiction genre, though it has some elements of urban fiction.  I think it is best described as being in the tradition of socially conscious literary works such as Oliver Twist and Grapes of Wrath.  While it is fictional, it describes conditions all too real; a life of desperation that most middle class people don’t even imagine exists within a civilized country.
 
JWB: Wow. I can't imagine what you must have gone through. Exploring that topic some more, what are 3 things you'd want someone to know about you as a writer?

      I guess the first is that I have lived and/or witnessed the things I write about in this novel and the accompanying two volumes of the Home Street Home Trilogy.  If the story carries passion, it is a passion born of real suffering.  The second is that I’ve always been in love with the classics, so I am more interested in writing good literature than in turning out a best seller.  At the risk of sounding like a “snob”, I’ll say there is a big difference between the two.  What makes writing sell in the popular market isn’t necessarily what makes for good literature.  (I see certain prolific authors on the bestseller list, whose novels are little more than hack formula stories.  Popular taste is not exactly living its proudest moment.  Therefore I cannot accept the bestseller list as my gauge for successful writing.)  What I’ve learned about writing has come from reading the best, the top shelf literature, and immersing myself in that standard of quality.  Whether I have succeeded in rendering a fit candidate for literature or not is a judgment only readers and critics can make.  But I worked on this manuscript until I felt satisfied with it, and can truly say, “I am that”.  Third: As they say, a true writer has to write.  I write every day, even if it is just jotting my thoughts down in a journal.  Writing has become as much a necessity for me as my morning cup of coffee.

JWB: That makes me smile - that writing has become a necessity. What exactly inspired you to write this book?
      I was inspired by the little elderly Asian woman who sleeps sitting up on the benches on the boardwalk, all her possessions in a couple of paper shopping bags.  Year after year she is out seen in the streets, someone’s grandmother walking with halting steps, and always toting big shopping bags.  One night as she slept, her few valuables were stolen from her.  I was inspired by the middle-aged man whose face is a spider web of scars from a baseball bat beating; and who, after hearing a reading of my opening scenes, told me with an emotional knot in his voice that I was writing his story. And by the young man just out on parole – one condition of which was that he stay in the shelter, but who could not get into the shelter because of overcrowding.  I gave this young man refuge in my car so he would not have to spend every night evading the police.  Had he been found sleeping, he would not have simply had a ticket for sleeping in public like the rest of us – he would have been taken back to jail.   I was inspired, too, by the multitude of homeless women who stay with men who ill-use them because it’s better than being out in the streets alone, facing rape.
      So many stories of people falling through the cracks, so overmuch sorrow, that when lined up end to end in a non-fictional account, the telling numbs the brain with the endless litany of suffering.  Many are the non-fictional accounts of homelessness available.  This is, to my knowledge, the first attempt to depict this vicious parallel universe as the subject of fiction.  With all the newly homeless coming from the middle class, I felt the topic to be very timely.  Fiction can draw the reader into a character, creating a virtual experience of all that the imaginary ego goes through, in a way that non-fiction cannot. 

JWB: Your book deals with the homelessness in our time as a result of the economic recession - what about this issue would you most want our readers to know?
 
      I don’t think enough has been said about the personality change that the homeless person goes through, a spiraling down into a new identity that is a shadow of the former self.  The most civilized, mild-mannered people, the most talented and educated citizens; all go through this change if they are treated like refuse long enough.  When you see a homeless person who doesn’t seem to know how to act right anymore, it is likely because of this dehumanizing process we go through that is multifaceted but results in one and the same thing – the loss of a normal sense of self-worth, and therefore, the sense of the worth of others.  Few are the spiritual giants who live in this crucible with human kindness still flowing.
 
      However, the ultimate message of my trilogy is redemptive.   Even the most hardened street person can be turned around and used by the Powers that Be to help others pull out of the hell of Home Street Home.
How do you develop your characters?
      My characters are composites of personality types I’ve known or observed.  I tried to represent all the distinct types in the homeless community.  In fact,( in anticipation of the next question) making a list of the character types that make up the population was one of my first preparations for making decisions about what characters to include, which to bring forward to main character status, and which to use as background ambience.
      I finally settled on a middle-aged-going-on-elderly woman who is new to the streets as the main character of volume I because I found so many of this category who were especially impacted due to their unfamiliarity with the street, their advanced age that kept their employment opportunities minimal and chances to escape homelessness through latching on to a well-heeled man quite nonexistent.  It is a particularly vulnerable segment of the population, and one most hit on by the many predators in the street, especially if the woman is receiving some kind of pension or disability check.
      I tried to describe Ella obliquely by having her see herself in the shop windows of the beach as she walks up to the Oceanfront to bed down on the steps of the church.  I’ve been told since at a writing workshop that this is something of a cliché, but my readers seem to enjoy it.
      I gave Ella a voice called “unreliable narrator”, which simply means that the way Ella thinks about things and explains them is not always the way they obviously (to the reader) “really are”.  I find that an excellent way to clarify a character without resorting to explaining her personality.  I’d rather think the reader is engaged enough to pick up Ella’s quirks by the slant her thinking puts on what goes on around her.
      Blondie, a woman with two years under her belt, is brought forward as the main character in Volume II.  She is crazy about her knight-in-tarnished-armor boyfriend, Gabriel – a long time hustler who’s been on the streets off and on much of his adult life.   I let Blondie’s unreliable narrative about her life with Gabriel do some of the work of revealing her personality.  Blondie sees her relationship with Gabriel as something ordained by her Protective Power, so she talks herself into turning a blind eye to the infidelities that everyone else seems to be sure Gabe is involved in.  Her fretting about leaving Ella out in a tornado-watch storm while she shelters in her van, waiting for the rain to subside so she can run into her hotel, also shows her flaws rather than telling about them.  We also see her from Ella’s viewpoint and through the eyes of her rival, Cutie Doll, to give a more rounded picture of who Blondie really is.
      In Volume III, Cutie Doll tells us her story in first person street style, mincing no words to explain her part in the Gabriel rumors and her bad girl past in Las Vegas and on the Oceanfront: running through boyfriends, drinking and drugging, and sleeping under the pier with her friends.  Even the format of the third novel is adjusted from that of the other volumes to reveal Cutie Doll better.  I used a double-spaced, extra white space layout to enhance the “pull no punches” quality of Cutie Doll’s speaking style.  She’s been on the streets over a decade and has a rep as a “Queen Bee”, a personality type found in abundance among the more hardened long-time street women of the Oceanfront.  She is first described in Volume I chapter 3 as she sits boozing by herself in a cheap hotel room after a day of turning tricks.  In chapter 7   Ella describes Cutie Doll through her eyes as she recounts the rumors about Cutie Doll.  But it is Cutie Doll’s part in various dialogues that reveal the nuances of her personality most succinctly.
JWB: These are such important stories to tell. And they are so contemporary. I really admire you for your work to shed light onto such a difficult topic. Switching topics now. What's the writing process like for you?
      In the Home Street Home Trilogy, I started with a detailed list of what types needed to be included.  Then I chose my main characters.  Each main character had to have a journey, and I made the journeys intertwine.  I think all writers start out with some scenes in their heads they envisioned when the idea for the novel struck them.  Here is where I may be different in my process than other authors.  I wrote those scenes first, even though I didn’t know exactly where and how they were going to fit into the story.  After I had my “inspirational” scenes written, I went back and created the structure of journeys that would display them best. (I think of a diamond needing a setting)

JWB: If you were asked to compare your work to one other author, who would it be and why?
      In my promotions, I often compare my novels to Dickens’ Oliver Twist and Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath.  I’m sure that sounds pretentious as hell, but let me explain myself a bit.  Within the literary fiction genre, I see novels that take up social issues of the day as having a niche of their own.  I would like to attain the high craft of a Dickens or Steinbeck, and would much prefer that achievement to being on the bestsellers list, if a choice had to be made.  But even realizing how short I fall of such a lofty goal, I do classify my work in the same niche of socially conscious novels as these greats of literature.

JWB: I really think you should get into Orwell - particularly "Down and Out". On this topic, what are your favorite authors or books? Why?
      Dickens, Steinbeck, Twain, London, Jane Austen, Somerset Maughan, Edith Whorton, Hemingway, Faulkner, Tolstoy, Chekov, Dostoyevsky, Balzac, Cervantes and many more.  These authors helped to raise the standard for literary expression.

JWB: Many of our readers are other writers. What is the #1 tip you would give to an author trying to promote their work online?
      I would caution any author seeking to promote a novel online to develop relationships with other writers and with readers within social media first.  There is a tendency after finally publishing a work one is very excited about to expect everyone else to share that excitement.  But one must realize that the other writers are more excited about their own works, and many readers have books they would like to tell about to a good listener.  It reminds me of that homily about the people in hell who were sitting around a table full of food, starving, because they all had spoons with handles too long to reach their own mouths.  The people in heaven were in the same situation, but had learned to feed each other.
      I believe the secret is there – reaching out to help other authors promote their books and discussing books with readers who may not yet be your fans.  Building a community of fellow writers and avid readers is where you want to go.

JWB: Great advice! Now it is time for the interviewee's choice: For this last question you can either answer: Is there anything else you would like to add? or come up with a question you wish I asked and provide an answer for it. :)
      I’d just like to add that I feel very lucky to be visited by the writing muse.  Literature is my first love among the fine arts.  I can’t imagine a better outcome for myself than to write quality novels.

JWB: Thanks Georgia! I thank you for being on the blog, for talking about a topic that sadly you know intimately, and for sharing this intimate look with DTTLA readers. I wish you all the success with this book. It is such an important topic to be tackled and I do hope that through your work you are able to bring it the attention it deserves. I also hope that you have success as a writer!

If you'd like to learn more about Georgia's work - visit her site here.

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Readers love to share their favorite books as well as seek out recommendations from their friends on what to read next. That's why readers love social networking sites.

While Goodreads is probably the most popular book-lover's network, a new (and free of course) site GenreBuds is quickly catching on.

GenreBuds.com focuses on - you guessed it, - book genres, allowing readers to more easily connect with each other by book genre of choice. I think this will give users a new angle that Goodreads doesn't seem to offer. Based on how a book is "genred" the site will be able to connect you with people who like what you like as well as books that are similar to the books you've read. Very cool!

As an author, a great feature is the ability to do giveaways or Freebies. The cool thing here is you decide what you're giving away, and how many copies. When genrebuds users have taken all your Freebies, the freebie goes away. For example, I'm giving away 10 copies of Discontents. So far 3 have been taken, so only 7 remain. This way, you're in control! The only downside, is right now EPUB and MOBI aren't supported. But I imagine that will change soon.

Other Cool Features with Real Potential

Another cool element of genrebuds is its ribbons feature. Readers can earn points that get them ribbons - a sort of display of a member's achievements (and status) in the community.  Social gamers love little rewards like this - think Foursquare. So far I've got 5 ribbons! I haven't figured out exactly how I earned those - but I'm still very new to the site.

Users can also give and receive virtual gifts. A gift economy could emerge here and I'm interested to see how people use it. For example, I can giveaway points to people who give me reviews of Discontents that I like. As I said, I wonder how people will take advantage of this feature and its impact on the culture on GenreBuds in the future.

Altogether - this is a very well built site that is visually appealing. I am still finding my way around it and there is a little bit of a learning curve. But with time, I think this site is going to have a lot of potential for both authors and readers to connect. I encourage indie/self-pub authors to sign up. And btw, you can find and connect with me on my GenreBuds profile. :)

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In my last post, I discussed the importance of monitoring your author brand. I discussed 2 of the 4 important tools for doing that. Specifically, I talked about Google Alerts and the caveats of Google Search.

Today I want to talk about 2 other critical tools that will aid you in brand monitoring. These are particularly good tools for staying current with the social media discussion around your book(s).

• SocialMention - Social mention is a web search that searches social media specifically. It is particularly focused on Twitter, but also searches blogs,social bookmarks (like Stumbleupon), video, audio, events, etc. It defalts to search all these categories so I generally just go with that. In this way, socialmention is better than just doing a Twitter search for your name, book title, etc. In fact, doing a search today I noticed a few people had tweeted about my book and someone had mentioned me on a blog post!  Note: If you create an account, you can create social media alerts that work like Google alerts.I haven't done this but am considering it. Why not?

• Addictomatic - Addictomatic's slogan is "inhale the web." And for good reason. This is a page that searches multiple sites, all of different classifications, with the click of a button. For example, Addictomatic searches Bing News, Twitter, Google Blogs, YouTube, Yahoo, Friendfeed, Wordpress, and more all at once. What could be easier? I just go to Addictomatic and easily stay on top of what is being said about me across different corners of the web.

So those are 4 tools I use to monitor my brand and have found a lot of success with them! I hope they help you stay on top of what people are saying about you and your books online!

Are there other tools you use to monitor your author brand? If so, please share them and your thoughts about their effectiveness in the comments section below!

photo: Some rights reserved by Boris SV

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Are you stalking yourself? If you're a self-pubbed author you should be. Although stalking sounds a bit weird - so let's call it what it is: monitoring your online brand. Every author should be doing this. It is a way to stay aware of the conversation happening about you online. What are people saying about your books? Where are they saying it?

While you may just want to know what people are saying for the sake of knowing how popular or unpopular your work is, there are some strategic advantages as well. For a PR perspective, if you don't like what people are saying about you or your writing, you can work to try and change that. How can you better meet your audience? If you notice a certain type of person is reading your work, you can target that audience more. You might want to join the discussion even.

Sometimes you'll be surprised at where people are talking. For example, I stumbled across a mention of my book Discontents on a discussion board on the Knot! (If you don't know the Knot, it is a popular wedding/marriage website)  Now I'm not going to join the discussion on the Knot, but it was great to know my work had made it into that space.

There are a number of tools you can use to monitor your author brand, but there are 4 I like and encourage you to use. Today I'll mention 2 and in the next post I'll mention the other 2.

• Google Alerts - most people use this one. If you don't, you need a Google account to do so. All you do then, is search "Google Alerts" and when you get to the page set up alerts for key terms. As an author, your key terms are probably the names of your book(s), your website's name, your author name, and maybe the name of some of your main characters - especially if you write series. In theory, everytime there is something new added to Google's search with your key terms, you'll get an email alert letting you know. It is a passive and very easy way to stay on top of your brand.

Problem is, I've noticed a lot of times Google misses new additions. So I've taken a more active role. This leads me to #'s 2, 3 and 4:

• Google Yourself - seems simple. But there are so many types of google searches (blogs, books, news, discussion, etc) that you actually need to check multiple goolge searches. I always check the standard google search and in addition to that I check blogs, news, and discussions.Discussions is great because it checks what people are saying in various discussion boards. That's how I found my work mentioned on the Knot. To find those search options, do a Google search for your name. In the results, look on the left hand side for search refiners like Blogs, News, and you may have to click More for Discussions. Also, check "past 24 hours" to see if there's any recent news posted in the last day.

Alright - so that's a start. The basics of what you need to start monitoring your brand. Next time I'll mention 2 others that take you beyond what Google offers and get you deeper into the social space.

top photo: Some rights reserved by bitzcelt

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Discontents is now featured on the 99-cent network! Currently, the book is on the front page of the site (see below)

And they had this awesome Tweet to share!

Did I mention there is a new author review of Discontents out? Here's a quick blurb from the review

"Discontents disproves the arguments that snobbish commercial publishers use to scoff at independent literature. The style is professional: simple, lucid prose."

Read the full review!

So grab your copy of Discontents today!

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I was recently tagged in a blog tagging game by author Scott Bury. I guess this thing is going around the #ebook community and I better jump on it while it is still hot!

This seems like a fun break from work and from the seriousness of writing, reading, and reviewing, and talking self publishing.

What I'm supposed to do is tell 7 random things about me and then pass it on to 4 other bloggers. I'll see what I can do about finding others who want to participate. For now, here are my answers.

1#. Where the heck have you been? You might have noticed this blog has gone dry. I apologize for that. Truth is, I haven't been around much because of work. If you've read Discontents, then you know I was "downsized" earlier this year. I'm glad to be working but my  new job has been so busy the last 2 weeks I've been working 14+ hour days. There's been no time to blog, and I've barely kept up with the self pub community. Sorry! Things will slow down here soon!

Ok, more about me

#2. My favorite show of all time was Seinfeld. If you grew up when I did, then you understand!

#3. I love music but I have no musical abilities myself.

#4. You'd be surprised to truly find out how much of Discontents is actually true.

#5. I can sing the entire Super Mario Brothers for the original Nintendo song  - and when I say sing, I sort of humm it. That's the first song I think I ever really "learned." I have no musical skills, but I can memorize the crap out of a song and do a talentless rendition of it.

#6. I got a tattoo in college. I thought all my friends were going to too. They didn't.

#7. i once saw Kurt Loader (spelling?) on a bus and I said, "hey you're Kurt Loader" as though it mattered. I shamefully admit I watched a lot of MTV between ages 12-16.

Ok - so now is where I tag people. So far we've got 2 people:

Joe Crubaugh - author of an awesome book Terminal Departure, which was spotlighted on DTTLA!

Coral Russell - One of my favorites in the Indie Author Community and a great writer of things that scare me.

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