Bundoran Press, the publisher for the Blood & Water anthology, has released a tentative cover.

J.E. Taylor is beginning to wind down her month long Blog tour.  You can find the rest of her tour here.  I’m happy to help her promote her latest offering here, and be sure to check out the rest of her tour.   You can see her previous Guest Blog posting here.  - Gerald

Gerald was kind enough to let me pirate his blog today for a stop in my Crystal Illusions blog tour. I’ve been a lot of places on the web this month and have had quite a fun time with all the folks that have swung in at each blog.

Did you know Gerald has a manuscript that, in my humble opinion, should be available for readers to enjoy? Well he does and I’ve had the pleasure to read and comment on this. I know he’s probably shushing me as we speak, but this is one of the reasons why I blazed my own trail and built my own publishing company (www.novelconceptpublishing.com).

Fantastic stories like his should not line a drawer or a hard drive. They should be available for readers to enjoy.

I know quite a few folks who are making a run for it in the traditional publishing realm and I can’t fault them, because for those lucky enough to garnish the top shelves in the traditional publishing echelon, they get the marketing clout of the big six. But most authors fall into the mid-list or below and they struggle in this scenario. While they may have a big name label – they still have to do the majority of the legwork to market their books.

Independent publishers offer a good compromise to the big six and some even offer those coveted advances, however, most can’t afford to pay an advance, or if they do, it is minimal. They do, however, offer a bigger cut of the royalties, which is appealing, especially when the contract includes cover art, editing and formatting. If you’re looking at small presses – just beware of the ones that charge for these services – they are just a guise for vanity publishing.

I believe you as the author shouldn’t have to pay for editing, formatting or cover art and the publishing house should at least do a cursory request for reviews. However, like mid-list traditional publishing authors, you will have to take an active role in marketing the book. Your job is not done once the book hits the proverbial shelves. It isn’t like Field Of Dreams where if you build it they will come – that’s a farce and to be a success at anything requires a great deal of work.

So now that you’ve read my ramblings on the publishing industry, where do you fall in the traditional versus indie game?

Thanks for checking in and if you’re in the market for a good mystery – take a look at my latest book, Crystal Illusions.

http://www.amazon.com/Crystal-Illusions-Steve-Williams-ebook/dp/B007JBWCIQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1331505187&sr=8-1

Assistant D.A. Carolyn Hastings has an uncanny knack for putting away criminals. With one of the best prosecution records in recent history, her future as Manhattan’s next District Attorney looks certain. But her sixth sense for winning cases threatens to work against her when she starts seeing a string of murders through the eyes of the killer.

With suspects piling up as fast as bodies, and the motives of those closest to her questionable, Carolyn doesn’t know who to trust. When the FBI assigns Special Agent Steve Williams to the case, Carolyn discloses her deepest fear – that the man she loves may be the one responsible for the city’s latest crime spree.

The only thing Steve knows for sure is Carolyn has an inexplicable psychic connection with the killer, and all the victims have one thing in common…a striking resemblance to Carolyn Hastings.

And he knows it’s only a matter of time before this psychopath knocks on her door.

Praise for CRYSTAL ILLUSIONS

“Taylor has a strong thriller where every single character has reasonable doubt flashing like a neon sign hanging over them, and right from the beginning you are trying to guess who the killer really is. Gripping, rich and magnificent – crime whodunnits don’t get any better than this!” Author Poppet / Gemma Rice – Author of Quislings, Blindsided, Djinn and Dusan

Until next time,

Ciao.

JET

We had to go to using reCaptcha to separate bots trying to be users from real users.  I know it’s a pain, but the bots were taking over.

Well, it’s been awhile since I posted anything here. The good news is that I’ve been busy. The bad news is I haven’t been busy writing.

Just to let you know what I’ve been working on, take a look at this: (This used to be a fully finished basement, until we got some water leaks)

We’re getting there…

You’ve done the research.  You’ve done the plotting.  You know your characters.  The outline is (mostly) complete.  Now it’s time to get your butt in the chair and do the real work.

And it’s so hard.

Every word on the page oozes a disgusting odor of pure and utter crap.  Each sentence is dull and uninspiring.  The paragraph sits like a blob on the paper, having no true form or substance or reason for its existence.

Yes, you took so long in research and outlining, that your skills have gotten rusty.  You no longer remember the difference between an adjective and an adverb.  You plod forward anyway, replacing every existence of ‘said’ with a more colorful word… ‘gasped’ would fit right there, or maybe ‘yelped’.  Thirty seconds later you remove it and place the hidden said right back where it belongs.  When did writing become so hard, you wonder?  When did the flow of words that moved from your mind, to your fingertips, to the keyboard, and finally to their deserved place on the screen, stop?  Who shut off the damn tap anyway?  Ah, yes.  It was the months spent on research instead of writing that did it.  Type something in on Google, hit Wikipedia.  Heck, go to the damn Library.  It’s easier than doing any real work.

Well, the time for that is over.  Sure, you might do a quick search here or there to fill in a detail.  Maybe Solitaire isn’t such a time sink after all.  But at the end of the day, you must have accomplished your writing goal, whether it’s a single page, 1000 words, or just 10.  Set the goal, meet it, and progress shall be made.  Before you know it, the rust will have disappeared, the tap will be turned back on, and the story will be written.

Then you can start revising.