Indie Spotlight: Indie Book Blowout

If there was ever a time for giving... Christmas time is it! And the Indie Book Collective are certainly feeling the Christmas Spirit this holiday season.... 


In this Indie Event Spotlight, Amber Scott, Paranormal Romance author and Co-Founder of the IBC (along with authors Rachel Thompson and Carolyn McCray), explains how and why the 12 Days of Christmas Indie Book Blowout came to be, and why you should totally take advantage of it:

One year ago, three authors joined forces and co-founded the Indie Book Collective, a group that focuses on helping authors, indie and traditional alike, take charge of their careers through innovative programs, monthly classes and reader-centric events.

This December 12-24^th marks another Indie Book Collective event, the “12 Days of Christmas” where over 200 indie titles are discounted to just 99 cents on Amazon Kindle. It will be an Indie Book Blowout to remember.

Last Labor Day weekend was the premier run of the Indie Book Blowout sales event and much like Amazon’s summer Sunshine Deals, gathered authors across the genres, listing the titles in one convenient site for browsing then directs them to the Kindle page for purchase.

Readers found a way to discover new authors, score ebooks at a great price and support the authors they already love. With the new Amazon Kindle reading device line-up plus the free Kindle applications for devices like Adroid phones and iPad, every day ebooks increase in popularity.

So, why this and why now?

The Indie Book Collective is taking the traditional model and applies it to indie authors.

As a platform, Amazon’s Kindle Digital Publishing offers authors flexibility otherwise unavailable. Things like updating product descriptions in order to reflect a sales event combined with price control allow authors to participate in and create sale events on their own. The Indie Book Collective has taken the individual ability to put a book on sale to a group effort to create a sale just like you’d see in any retail store. Focusing on the reader experience, they like to keep it fun. They’ll give a Kindle reading device away to a lucky newsletter subscriber plus gift cards through out the year plus have their site organized with how a reader shops in mind. Each day of the 12 Days of Christmas will be organized with popular genres, titles, award-winners, etc. in mind.

At 99 cents a pop, how affordable does taking a chance on a new author become? How great will it be to fill up the Kindle many of us are asking Santa for or gifting to others? Another really cool feature of the Kindle ebook is the digital copy lives on any registered Kindle device the customer owns. You can read your ebook on your iPhone free app. during the day and then switch it to your Kindle Fire e-reader at night because titles live in a virtual library or ‘cloud.’ Plus, with sites like Kindlegraph.com and applications like Authography, those ebooks can be personalized in a flash.

Award winners, Bestsellers. All genres. All ebooks. All priced to just 99 cents. Readers driving…indies thriving. Ho, Ho, Ho and Merry Christmas!

In between naptimes and dishes, Amber Scott escapes into her characters’ fates, loves and complications. A native Nevadan, she now makes her home in Arizona with her husband and two children. She is addicted to chocolate, often burns dinner and is a sucker for happily ever after.

You can find her website here, follow her on Twitter, and like her on Facebook. 

Indie Spotlight: Stephen Baker | Donkey Show

 

Welcome to our Indie Spotlight series, in which TNBBC gives small press authors the floor to shed some light on their writing process, publishing experiences, or whatever else they'd like to share with you, the readers!

Today we are shining the spotlight on Stephen Baker

The Origin of Donkey Show: 

Take a real story and play with the pieces

 

I was working a while back as a general assignment reporter at the (now defunct) El Paso Herald-Post when a freelance photographer returned from a harrowing experience across the border, in Ciudad Juarez. A reputed drug lord, Gilberto Ontiveros, and his henchmen had beaten and mock-executed the photographer, Al Gutierrez, apparently mistaking him for a DEA agent. Gutierrez brought back a death threat from Ontiveros for our lead drug reporter, Terrence Poppa.

 

The newspaper, naturally, ran with this as a series of front-page stories, nothing less than a crusade. It was accompanied by editorials accusing the Mexican government of sheltering the drug lord. This pressure eventually led to Ontiveros’ arrest. Our editors viewed it as a journalistic triumph.

 

Poppa was an excellent, hard-working reporter, who later was nominated for a Pulitzer for his investigative work. In his Herald-Post series, he reported that Ontiveros traveled around Juarez in a Mercedes limousine with a carload of "pistoleros" in front or back. The drug lord’s trademark, he wrote, was a briefcase with the words "The Boss" spelled out in diamonds.

 

For my novel, Donkey Show, I started with that same story, but changed it in crucial ways. What would happen, I wondered, if everything in the story had been wrong--if the original reporting had been flawed, and if the death threat had come not from the drug lord, but by underlings who wanted to see him thrown in jail? In such a case, the newspaper would be running its crusade based on misunderstandings. And the reporter--a lazy one, in my story--would have to put the pieces together.

 

That’s the essence of Donkey Show. I placed the story in 1993, just as the United States and Mexico (and Canada) were finalizing a continental free trade agreement (NAFTA). This gives the fictional newspaper more leverage in its campaign. It’s still a time when regional newspapers carry weight. The digitalization of media is still in the future. Cell phones, huge with antennas, are luxury items for the rich. In short, information is scarcer, and the resulting ignorance drives the plot on both sides of the border.

 

My 2014 novel, The Boost, also takes place along the border, though in the future, not the past. In fact, the protagonist of The Boost, a coder named Ralf, is the great grandson of Tom Harley, the lazy death-threatened reporter of Donkey Show.

 

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Stephen Baker has worked as a journalist and writer in many cities, including Paris, Mexico City, Caracas, Quito, Madrid, New York, and El Paso. His non-fiction books, including The Numerati and Final Jeopardy: Man vs. Machine and the Quest to Know Everything, explore the effects of technology on society.

 His first novel, The Boost (Tor Books, 2014) is a near-future tale that, like Donkey Show, takes place along the U.S.-Mexico border. Kirkus Reviews called the book “a true delight of a techno-thriller that has deep, dark roots in the present.” Before moving to the New York area, Baker was a Paris-based European technology correspondent for BusinessWeek, where he headed up the magazine’s coverage of wireless technology and the mobile Internet. 

 He is a graduate of Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism and earned his B.A. at the University of Wisconsin. He lives with his wife in Montclair, NJ. They have three sons.

 

Author website: https://stephenbakerbooks.com/ 

Twitter: @stevebaker

Instagram: @TheNumerati

Indie Spotlight: Itoro Bassey’s Faith

 Welcome to our Indie Spotlight series. In which TNBBC gives small press authors the floor to shed some light on their writing process, publishing experiences, or whatever else they'd like to share with you, the readers!

Today, we are shining the spotlight on 

Itoro Bassey’s, Faith

 

Itoro speaks in-depth about her debut novel, Faith, a work of fiction following the protagonist Arit Essien, a withdrawn kid from New England trying to fit into her lily-white landscape. It’s a poignant conversation between several generations of women grappling with expectation, fragmentation, and a desire for independence.

 

The book is out on January 15th. Order your copy here.  Read an excerpt here.

 

 

Why Faith? Of all things to write…

 

I wasn’t expecting to write this particular novel. But I think it’s important that this is the first book that was birthed. I was hoping that this book would have a more clear narrative structure, and would be more linear, easier to digest, and instead, I wrote a book where the characters are not so clear cut, there’s not a clear line, and there are so many jumps in time. There are even conversations between the living and the dead…so…to answer your question, I wrote this book because I needed to write it. It’s the book that popped out over years of putting stories together and trying to find a way to talk about identity, relationships, migration, and spirituality within an African context. So I wrote Faith, simply because I felt it needed to be out in the world, and that it had merit, and I’m hoping that someone, somewhere will relate to the book. I think people will…the structure and content in the book actually sums up so many experiences of immigrants, mothers and daughters, and those who have navigated broken relationships and systems.

 

Is Faith based on your life?

 

Yes and no. It’s a work of fiction for sure, but I think real life is such a great playground for writing, especially writing this kind of story. I gave the story the bones of my real life. It’s a fact I grew up in New England and have traveled to different places. I also have a similar narrative to many Nigerian-Americans and children of immigrants trying to navigate their parents’ expectations while defining their own. I also know that so many of us navigate complicated family dynamics, where we love our families but have a lot of tension existing inside them. I actually think this is one of the most defining attributes of our generation, the first-gens and immigrants coming to a new country, and so on…that idea that one can leave, must leave, to find a life. 

 

And why did you choose this title?

 

Well…I’m not the best with titles…in general. But when I really sat down and thought, What’s at the heart of this book, I mean, what’s it about…it’s about faith. Finding your faith, going against the faith (talking in a religious sense) you’ve inherited, and learning how to trust yourself, how to trust that the life you’ve been given can become what you make it.

 

To end this chat, when you’re not writing epic novels, what do you do for fun!?

 

I like to eat. I like to eat a lot.

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Itoro Bassey is a Nigerian-American writer, journalist, and storyteller. She was born in Houston, Texas, and raised in New England. She has received writing fellowships at the Vermont Studio Center, the San Francisco Writers Grotto, and The Edward Albee Foundation, among others. Her short story, To the Children Growing Up in the Aftermath of Their Parents’ War, won third place in the Glimmer Train Short Fiction Award. Some of her popular pieces of writing are Running, Anti-Blackness and the African Immigrant, and A Visitor in My Homelands. Currently, she works as a correspondent and producer at Arise TV.

Indie Spotlight: Kaitlyn Bankson

 

Welcome to our Indie Spotlight series, in which TNBBC gives small press authors the floor to shed some light on their writing process, publishing experiences, or whatever else they'd like to share with you, the readers!

Today's spotlight shines on Kaitlyn Bankson who just released her novel Nest on July 6th. 

Why I Wrote Nest: The Quiet Psychology of Motherhood

When most people imagine pregnancy, they picture joy: baby showers, tiny clothes, decorating a nursery, a growing family.

What interested me was everything happening beneath those moments.

I wanted to write about the invisible work of becoming a mother—the endless calculations, the quiet fears, and the desire to make the world safe for someone who has not even arrived yet.

That desire has a name. We call it nesting.

On the surface, nesting looks simple enough: painting walls, folding tiny clothes, organizing drawers. But I began wondering whether those rituals are really about furniture and blankets at all. What if they're an attempt to create order when life suddenly feels unpredictable? What if preparing a nursery is, in some small way, preparing yourself?

Those questions became the heart of Nest.

My protagonist, Winnie Amato, desperately wants to become a mother. Alongside that hope comes what she simply calls "the Fear"—an anxiety that follows her through every decision, every doctor's appointment, every ordinary day. Her husband, Thomas, wants the same future, but each of them experiences uncertainty differently.

I wasn't interested in writing a thriller where danger comes from outside the home. I was interested in the quieter tension that many people recognize: the way our own minds can magnify uncertainty until it becomes difficult to distinguish genuine caution from imagined catastrophe.

Literary fiction gives us room to linger in those interior landscapes. It allows ordinary moments to carry extraordinary emotional weight. A nursery can become a symbol of hope. A routine conversation can reveal the distance between two people who love each other deeply. A single choice can echo for months.

Anxiety is rarely defeated by one inspirational speech or one dramatic breakthrough. More often, it is navigated through thousands of ordinary moments—moments of noticing, choosing, trusting, and continuing forward despite uncertainty.

Perhaps that is what nesting really is.

Not simply preparing a room but preparing yourself to love someone enough that every ordinary object suddenly feels important.

If Nest encourages readers to look more closely at the emotional landscape of pregnancy, motherhood, and the quiet courage required to embrace an uncertain future, then it has accomplished exactly what I hoped it would.

 

“I, Winnie Amato, have had sex today with my husband, Thomas Amato.”

 

Winnie and Thomas Amato have decided to have their first baby together. Although the excitement levels are high, Winnie, especially, is also full of dread. Already prone to being an anxious person, the fluctuating hormones and nauseous waves aggravate her fears. In fact, she calls it “the Fear” because sometimes it becomes so loud that there is nothing else.

 

After Winnie becomes fed up with her suffering and feelings of madness, she finds that her new desire to nest runs deep into the very marrow of her bones. She cleans and preps and spends countless hours preparing a nursery for their baby. And somewhere within the frantic nesting, Winnie finds moments to breathe and discover peace.

 

But can these minor moments of noticing and slowing down really stop “the Fear” from reappearing? Can Winnie make it through her pregnancy without losing the baby? Will Thomas and Winnie remain together as man and wife? Nine months turn into eons for a woman who is holding a growing baby inside her body for that long. Every day brings unfamiliar sensations and new ways of exploring the world, as if both soon-to-be parents were only babies themselves.

Kaitlyn Bankson is an American literary novelist who writes psychological literary fiction for the individualist. Influenced by Objectivism and the tradition of Romantic Realism, her novels explore the individual mind under pressure. She is the author of five novels—The Paper Pusher, The Dormant Age, A Man of Silence, A Man of Action, and Nest. She lives in Dubuque, Iowa, with her husband and daughter.

You can find her on:

 X   |   Instagram   |   Goodreads   |   Facebook   |    LinkedIn   |   Substack   |  Patreon   |   YouTube   |   Spotify

 

Indie Spotlight: Kevin R. Andrade

 

Welcome to our Indie Spotlight series, in which TNBBC gives small press authors the floor to shed some light on their writing process, publishing experiences, or whatever else they'd like to share with you, the readers!

Today's spotlight shines on Kevin R. Andrade, who released In For a Dime on August 5th. 

Origin Story

The origin story behind In for a Dime and the first book of the series, Ten to the 405, was a bad beat in the first game of the 2011 college football season between USC and Utah. A blocked field goal and a returned touchdown overturned by an erroneous penalty call caused millions of millions of dollars to switch hands. From that game, began the origins of Jake Hansen. Out of that moment of frustration emerged the idea of a man whose whole life had become a bad beat- someone who had once possessed talent, ambition and promise but had squandered it. Jake devolved into a disgraced former journalist, a man damaged by his sins, vices and proclivities and found himself searching for redemption.

 

The world of Jake was created in Ten to the 405, the first book of the series. Many of the short stories that occur in the South Bronx were inspired by real stories and my own experiences as a journalist, although some poetic license was used to reshape and serve the novel. That mixture of truth and invention is central to the way I write. I begin with something real - a person, a neighborhood, an anecdote I might tell in a bar and then I ask how a similar experience might affect the characters inhabiting the world of In for a Dime and Ten to the 405.

 

By the time I began writing In for a Dime, Jake, as well as Pete, Lamar, Sophie, Danny and a few of the ancillary characters had developed their own histories, flaws, loyalties and voices. I have a relationship with these characters and it’s not simply to move the plot forward. I wish to convey what each of them wants, what they fear, what they regret and what lines they will, or will not, cross. I believe the most revealing moments occur not during the violence or mystery, but in the quieter conversations between people who have survived together and have found salvation in each other.

 

Loyalty is paramount in these books. Jake and the people around him are imperfect, reckless and compromised. But when someone they love is threatened, they are there. Their loyalty is what saves them and it is also what puts them in dangerous situations and forces them to make choices that challenge their morality.

 

Above all, In for a Dime, is a love letter to Los Angeles. It’s not a postcard version but a missive to the sprawling, divided, beautiful, unforgiving city beneath it. Its bars, streets, freeways, neighborhoods and people, shape every decision. Los Angeles is more than the setting for the Jake Hansen series. It is one of its most important characters.

Former journalist turned reluctant PI, Jake Hansen, alongside Pete Mills and Lamar Wagner, is hired to track a missing accountant and $2 million in stolen funds. But when their investigation leads to a dangerous web of corruption and a sex trafficking ring tied to the city’s elite, the case becomes personal.

When Sophie, their bartender and closest ally, is targeted by a predator from her past, the stakes escalate. With bodies dropping and the law closing in, Jake and his crew must uncover the truth before everything they care about is destroyed.

In for a Dime delivers a dark, cinematic look at loyalty, corruption and the cost of digging too deep.

Kevin R. Andrade is the author of the Jake Hansen Mystery series, including Ten to the 405 and In For a Dime.

A Mexican American raised in Ohio, Kevin earned degrees in English and Political Science from Bowling Green State University before building a career as a speechwriter, music journalist, travel writer, and novelist. He has lived in Los Angeles, Mexico City, Boston, and New York City, experiences that continue to influence the authentic settings, dialogue, and characters throughout his fiction.

Before writing novels, Kevin crafted speeches for politicians, interviewed music legends, and explored destinations around the world as a travel writer. Those experiences taught him that every person has a story worth telling, a philosophy that continues to shape the characters and investigations at the heart of the Jake Hansen Mystery series.

Indie Spotlight: MG Press

It's not often that I stumble across a brand new publisher BEFORE their first book releases. And what a great looking first book it is! World, I'd like to introduce you to MG Press, the micro-press extension of Midwestern Gothic - a quarterly print journal that calls Ann Arbor, Michigan its home. 

MG Press is poised to release their debut short story collection This Jealous Earth in January 2013. Though currently closed for submissions, their goal is a valiant one: to spotlight Midwestern literature, highlighting local authors and the region's mythology and culture.

The press's co-founding editor Robert James Russell is guest posting today to tell you all about Midwestern Gothics new literary adventure:

Indie Spotlight: MG Press

First things first: Where is the Midwest? Well, that varies slightly depending on who you ask. Traditionally—at least by U.S. Census standards—the “Midwest” extends from Michigan over to North Dakota, down to Missouri, and rounding back up to Ohio (including everything in between). Some people include Pennsylvania, Oklahoma and a few others, but really, if you’ve been here at all, you’ll know there are very particular states that have this unique and somewhat-shared history, mythology and culture. Of course, there are micro-cultures if you zoom in further, but in general, the people of these states are considered “Midwesterners” and very much of the same ilk.

Now that the geography lesson is out of the way, why the Midwest? MG Press, which is an offshoot of the literary journal Midwestern Gothic—formed in late 2010 with Jeff Pfaller—has a simple enough aim: to showcase talent from this region that we feel is vastly undervalued as a hotbed of artistic wonder. I mean, think about it: With the exception of maybe Chicago, you don’t necessarily think of the Midwest and think of authors, poets, artists, a lively food and music culture. Instead—let’s say, thanks to the media—you tend to think of cornfields and blue-collar workers and factories and, negative stereotypes about fat people. And that, to us, is a shame, because honestly, there is such a distinct history and culture to this place that assuming no talent lives here, or that no great work is inspired by the region, is a big mistake. Thus, Midwestern Gothic was born, a quarterly literary journal devoted to highlighting these very people, giving them a venue to show the world, “Hey, this is our home, and we’re proud of it. Very good things come from here!”

Regionalism has been a part of literature—especially in the U.S.—since, really, the dawn of literature. We have such distinct “areas” that it’s impossible not to notice how they affect the writers and their works. What we’ve seen, though, is while there have been and continue to be fantastic Midwestern authors who do find the spotlight, there’s never been a national push like there has been for, let’s say, Southern literature. Or even West Coast literature. The Midwest is as unique as those places, so why has it been overlooked?

That’s a loaded question, to be sure, one that deserves many devoted essays to be written about it, but if it’s possible to simplify any sort of response, I think it would because we don’t have the glam these other regions do. We don’t necessarily have a unique cuisine, or Hollywood or the likes of a New York City. We do have farms and factories and livelihoods that sprang up from these. We have hardworking, proud and—above all—cheerful men and women like you can’t find anywhere else. And while that created Midwest culture as we know it, it can easily be overshadowed by these other, more dazzling bits of Americana.

But ultimately, it doesn’t mean we don’t have stories to tell. And we were lucky to find that niche. Of course there are some fantastic Midwest-based journals out there, both print and online, but we didn’t see any whose sole mission it was to educate about the Midwest, to try to shine a spotlight to the region. So we took it upon ourselves to create one, a home for Midwesterners—or, even, anyone just inspired by the region—a place to showcase their work. Jeff and I were both born here and still live here, and the beauty we see in this place…well, it’s the reason we do what we do. We want the world to see this place as we do—a wonderland of talent. Simple as that.

And MG Press is an extension our original goal. We want to go further and really hype up this region, show the talent that's here and publish a small number of titles each year. Of course this is no easy task. Creating a press of any size isn’t. But we feel sticking to our original credo is a good start. (And designing pretty-looking books doesn’t hurt either.) We don’t listen to anyone who says print is dead—people who aren’t in the business say that. Because anyone who is, anyone who spends time talking with writers and understanding us—and readers too—knows it isn’t dead. Not really. Has focus shifted to eBooks? Absolutely. And there’s nothing wrong with that. But print is still here, and creating a press isn’t the most unheard of thing these days. It all comes down to the market, to having a niche, and again, we believe we do. What we’ve seen with the success of Midwestern Gothic is that people understand our vision, what we’re trying to accomplish. Our biggest fear early on was that people would shun us, push us aside as just another gimmick, but it’s been quite the opposite, and we’re hoping to keep that momentum with MG Press.

So, what’s ahead? We’re thrilled about our first release, This Jealous Earth, a collection of stories by the extremely talented Scott Dominick Carpenter—to be released January 2013. We’re busy marketing that and sending advance review copies out now, trying to get Scott and his wonderful book much-deserved attention, and as well to introduce MG Press to the world.

We’re going to open submissions up eventually for MG Press, but we’re not sure when—not exactly, anyway. This is all new to us, the book press aspect, and while it shares some similarities to the journal and how we produce and market that, there are enough differences that we feel we want to stumble through this first, figure out what works and what doesn’t before we start reading again. But we’re excited for the future, for what this will mean not only for us, but for the region. We just hope what we’re doing makes a difference—even a small one—on the mindset of those who consider us just “flyover” states. Because the truth is, we’re much more than that. Wait and see.

For more information on MG Press and This Jealous Earth, click here.

To submit your work for Midwestern Gothic, click here.

Robert James Russell is the co-founding editor of Midwestern Gothic. His work has appeared in Joyland, The Collagist, Thunderclap! Magazine, LITSNACK, Greatest Lakes Review, and The Legendary, among others. His first novel, Sea of Trees, was released in May 2012 by Winter Goose Publishing.  Robert lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Find him online at www.robertjamesrussell.com

Indie Spotlight: ML Kennedy

In today's spotlight, we're hanging out with ML Kennedy as he gnaws on the definition of "indie" and then lists out eight questions and answers about his latest book Things You Leave Behind...

I’m not sure if I really qualify as Indie. I mean, sure, my first publisher put my books together on his kitchen table with Gorilla glue. And yeah, on this last book I might have done all the writing, editing, formatting, and marketing by myself. And sure, I even booked the space, made the cookies, and set up the chairs for my launch party, but does that really make me Indie?

. . . I suppose I do run a writing group in Chicago called “Indie City Writers.” But aren’t we beyond labels?

8 Questions about Things You Leave Behind

What is it?

Things You Leave Behind is a novel about a young woman named Angela. She’s out of college and waiting for her life to really begin. She’s stuck in a rut and just wants to move forward. Unfortunately for her, she does and she wakes up ten years in the future.

Can Angela survive this crazy future world of 2014?

Why does it look like that?

Things You Leave Behind is an odd little book that is almost precisely the size of a VHS tape. It’s a gimmick, to be certain, but thematically it’s appropriate. The novel is about pop culture, memories, nostalgia, and a few other things that might spoil some surprises in store for future readers.

What genre is it?

The genre of this book is life. To quote professional lunatic Alan Moore, “Life isn’t divided into genres. It’s a horrifying, romantic, tragic, comical, science-fiction cowboy detective novel. You know, with a bit of pornography if you are lucky.”

My local bookstore just put it in sci-fi. I guess that works too.

So, does this book teach us the meaning of life?

Anyone who says that they have the meaning of life is some either an idiot, a liar, or is trying to sell you something.

 In my own way, I am all those things.

So, yes. Yes, it does.

Why does she wake up ten years in the future?

You have to read the book to find that out.

Who is the ideal reader for this book?

The ideal reader for this book was born between 1975 and 1985, grew up middle class, and has a passing knowledge of “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,” a general familiarity of the works of Dave Foley, a mild obsession with the songs of Townes Van Zandt, and vague fondness for the cartoon “Ducktales.”

So, It’s pretty much for everybody.

What makes you a writer?

Like all writers, I am a self-loathing narcissist.

Where can I buy your books?

If you are in Chicago, I keep a stock at a few local bookstores. 57^th street books in Hyde Park is my home base. Everything is available on Amazon of course. You can also just message me on twitter (@wbxylo ) and I can send you a signed copy of the book for 20 bucks.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ML Kennedy has worked for The DVD Lounge, Popcorn Junkies, Beyond the Threshold, Moodspins, and Diehard GameFAN reviewing DVDs, movies, video games, wrestling shows, supernatural claims, and running an advice column. He is also one of leaders of the Indie City Writers group that meets weekly on the South side of Chicago. 

Despite his cheery disposition, ML Kennedy is not always perceived as a positive person. In fact, a film director once tried to get him fired after reading his completely fair review of her movie. Luckily she proved her own incompetence by reading the review off of an illegal copy website and complaining to the editor of yet a third website.

He lives in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago with his awesome wife and precocious daughter and used to maintains a blog dedicated to the culinary arts at letsmakesomefood.blogspot.com.

Indie Spotlight: Chris Dietzel

Chris Dietzel has a new book coming out.

And as is our habit here at TNBBC, we love to help our previous posters celebrate!

Be sure to check out The Hauntings of Playing God! But first, check out this guest essay, where Chris shares some poignant "lessons" he's learned along the way.

Lessons Learned

The first guest blog I ever wrote was a piece for this very website about how publishing novels is more difficult than fighting mixed martial arts (MMA) in a cage. Almost two years have passed since that blog post and I’ve learned a heck of a lot about the world of indie publishing.

- When writers start out, they have a vision that some massively popular national book critic will review their novel and propel it to bestseller status. I know because I had that same fantasy. But that book critic doesn’t give a damn about your indie book or mine or anyone else’s. The indie book revolution was propelled by people who were willing to feature and review indie books, and those same people are the driving force behind each indie authors success. It’s places like Thenextbestbookblog that are critical for indie authors, not some renowned critic.

- I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen a good book discussion come to a screeching halt after an indie author jumped in to talk about his or her own book. I know why they do it—the desperate need to let people know about the book they’ve worked so hard on can certainly be enticing—but what I’ve found is that a good book, with a good cover, is what’s really important. Readers like to read good books.  That’s obvious. But readers also like to tell their friends about the good books they’ve read. It might take a while, but if your book is too good to put down, someone will read it and tell their friends to do the same. It’s a lot less likely that a reader will give your book a chance, though, if all you ever do is talk about yourself and your novels.

- Write the stories you want to write. Whether it’s kid magicians or zombies, there will always be a hot genre in books. But rather than trying to get in on the trend, write to what you actually care about. Readers are smart people; they can tell if you care about your characters and your story. Even if you’re writing about elderly werewolves while everyone else is writing about teenage vampires, if you’re passionate about what you’re writing, readers will pick up on it. I’m so glad I stuck with telling the types of stories I would like to read myself. My books aren’t for everyone, but if I wrote a story to make everyone else happy, I’d be pretty miserable myself.

The past two years have been incredible. And while I’m sure I’ll have even more lessons learned in another two years, I wouldn’t change a single thing. And thank you to Thenextbestbookblog for giving me a chance to share my thoughts.

Happy reading, everyone.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chris graduated from Western Maryland College (McDaniel College).  He currently lives outside Washington D.C.  His dream is to write the same kind of stories that have inspired him over the years. His short stories have appeared in Temenos, Foliate Oak, and Down in the Dirt. His first two books, THE MAN WHO WATCHED THE WORLD END and A DIFFERENT ALCHEMY, both became Amazon bestsellers. His third book, THE HAUNTINGS OF PLAYING GOD, comes out August 28^th.

More information about the author and his books, go to: http://www.watchtheworldend.com, https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7048334.Chris_Dietzel, 

http://www.amazon.com/Chris-Dietzel/e/B00CC1GU54/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1 and https://www.facebook.com/TheHauntingsOfPlayingGod

National Indie Excellence Book Award

Tis the season for Indie Book Awards! First, the Golden Goose Awards, now The National Indie Excellence Book Awards... can you handle all of this indie book love?

NIEA was recently brought to my attention by Marissa, Senior Publicist of JKSCommunications, a literary publicity firm founded in 2000 that offers services such as book trailer production, press kits, and media packages to their clients. Find out more here.

Since her company is involved in the awards, I thought I would let her give you all the juicy details....

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Hello Next Best Book blog readers!

I had the pleasure of hearing Lori's comments at the Book Blogger Convention earlier this year. She stood up and -- so passionately -- discussed Indie books and their importance. I couldn't have agreed with her more. So when the literary publicity firm I work for, JKSCommunications, got behind the National Indie Excellence Book Awards, I just had to write Lori again.

Like Lori, and like you guys, JKSCommunications is constantly on the search for Indie greatness. With more than 800,000 books published every year in the U.S., it's not that easy to do. JKS alone gets requests every day from authors or publishers wanting book promotion. But we read every book before we agree to publicize it. We want to be a true fan of the author's work. We want to really believe in the book like they do.

And that's exactly why we also believe so much in the Indie Excellence awards. The professionalism of the way its run, and the caliber of books chosen as winners, proves why it's been so successful at helping catapult independent and small publishers' books into the national spotlight since they started in 2007. The awards honor the best books in over 100 categories, giving multiple opportunities for a book to win.

NIEA provides national media and industry exposure for all winners and finalists, and the Sponsor’s Choice Awards make NIEA even more special. JKSCommunications is one of the sponsors, offering a 7-stop Virtual Book Tour and electronic press kit development to one of the winners. We're beyond excited to work on this! There are so many other great prizes from NIEA's Sponsor's Choice Awards (selected from the winners and finalists in all contest categories), including:

*Planned Television Arts  customized media campaign
*Event Management Services print publicity campaign
*Radio TV Interview Report  3 free half-page ads
*Star Power Publicity System, choice of a 1-day live course or Webinar, two 15-minute Fast Start Group Consulting sessions, and the Jill Lublin Home Study System
*Alex Carroll copy of the deluxe Radio Publicity Millionaire Program
*Brilliant Mobile a Mobile Website and a QR2MOBI Code to promote your platform and more
*Dan Poynter’s Para Promotion Campaign book promotion package

Want to enter your superb Indie book? Wait no longer! NIEA is now accepting submissions for 2012. Entries must be postmarked by April 15, and the winners and finalists will be announced May 15. Please send one copy of your book per category entered. Books with publication dates of 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 are eligible. Books published anywhere in the world may be submitted, as long as they are in English and can be purchased on and offline in the United States. For more information, category listings and entry forms please check out the NIEA website: www.IndieExcellence.com.

Please feel free to write me at marissa@jkscommunications.com if you have any questions!

Thank you Lori for helping us spread the word about such a great opportunity for Indie authors!


Marissa DeCuir, senior publicist, joined JKSCommunications in 2008. She specializes in booking media appearances and tours for authors, as well as generating an online buzz for their books. A former newspaper reporter, DeCuir uses her knowledge and experience on that side of the communications field to successfully place clients’ publicity in print publications, virtual book tours and on radio shows and television news stations around the country.


She holds a bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication with an emphasis in Print Journalism from the Manship School of Mass Communication, Louisiana State University. DeCuir wrote stories and produced multimedia for local, regional and national newspapers before transferring her skills to public relations.

Indie Spotlight: Ryan W. Bradley

Author Ryan W. Bradley jokingly calls himself a "blue collar renaissance man". He's pumped gas, changed oil, worked in a mechanic's shop, painted houses, done construction in the Arctic Circle, and has just started a job as a shipping and receiving coordinator for a university bookstore. Oh yeah, and he runs the very impressive, very indie Artistically Declined Press, which was featured here on Indie Spotlight back in June.

Here's what he had to say on how these experiences have shaped him:

"I've learned to not take myself or the writing world too seriously. I've been writing since I had a string of injuries in high school that kept me away from my passion for sports. Originally I'm from Alaska, and my love for my home state plays a big role in my writing.

During my MFA I was encouraged to write about the people I worked with and it really opened up a lot for me in terms of my writing. So, most of my energy over the last couple years has been compiling an Alaska-themed story collection called GLACIERS & OTHER STORIES, which I've been shopping around. Some of my non-Alaska stories were collected recently in the aforementioned PRIZE WINNERS. "

Ryan has had mild success with poetry, specifically his chapbook called AQUARIUM which came out last summer from Thunderclap Press. He has another titled MILE ZERO coming out this fall from Maverick Duck Press and a mini chapbook called LOVE & ROD McKUEN coming at some point from Mondo Bummer.

"I have two full-length poetry collections that I've been shopping around as well. And if that weren't enough, next year my debut novel, CODE FOR FAILURE will arrive from Black Coffee Press. I also have three experimental novellas that just sit on my hard drive. Occasionally I find a place to try submitting one to, but for the most part I don't really know what to do with them.

Beyond all the writing, I do freelance book design. I work regularly with Thunderclap Press, and have done covers for a number of other small presses and writers. It's really something I'm always looking for opportunities with, because I feel like it's an area where I can provide a unique and complimentary vision for a writer's work. I guess all these roles in my life start to weave together at some point."

Working a full time job, writing poetry and novels, running a small independent press, AND creating cover designs... he truly is a renaissance man. To check out his artwork, visit his website Aesthetically Declined Design.

And now, Ryan and TNBBC have a little present for you:

Comment here for your chance to win a personalized signed copy

of his short story collection Prize Winners.

Tell us how you would like to book to be personalized.

Ryan can be as clean or saucy as you like. He's even agreed to draw a cartoon !

Contest ends Saturday July 16th.

And is open INTERNATIONALLY

Good luck!