I've Just Joined the Self Publishers' Showcase Family!

I'm excited to report that I've just become a member of the Self Publishers' Showcase author family.

Starting tonight, they will be tweeting every other day for me to their database of 196,000. I look forward to the people who will be introduced to my book, In Fashion's Web, and whom I might meet.

Self Publishers' Showcase is a website that highlights indie fiction and nonfiction. They offer author bio pages and conduct author interviews.

The site is published by Dominion Editorial, a publishing, marketing and literary agency which handles ebook formatting, editing, proofreading and book marketing.

My author page (below) showcases my novel, website, blog, and social media links.

If you're interested in hearing more, go to selfpublishersshowcase.com or dominioneditorial.com.

I'm looking forward to the exposure this new venture will give my book!

Please check out my novel, In Fashion's Web on Amazon.

The Notebook: A Great Example of How to Use Flashbacks

Spoiler alert: If you haven't read The Notebook, by Nicholas Sparks, or you haven't seen the movie, I'm about to give away the story line, so if that bothers you, you may want to skip this post.

I recently (finally!) read The Notebook. I got tired of all the buzz about it being referred to as the best love story ever, or the quintessential love story. I wanted to know what all the buzz was about.

So I read it. And oh my God. What a book. It's not a very long book – about 240 pages. But it's long enough for the characters to be deep, and real, and raw, and for readers to fall in love with them.

What I like most about The Notebook though, is Sparks' use of a flashback. Next to A Woman of Substance by Barbara Taylor Bradford, The Notebook is the best use of the technique that I think I have ever read.

Page one starts with an old man shuffling around a nursing home. But the book quickly shifts to that same man at age 31. Then, for the bulk of the book, Noah is 31, and is remembering or flashing back to age 16 when he first met Allie, so it's actually a flashback within a flashback, because he goes from elderly to 31 to 16, then back to 31, then back to elderly, which is where the book ends.

The shifts in time and age are well choreographed, and the flashbacks are easy to follow. I highly recommend reading The Notebook first if you are considering putting a flashback in your book.

Or, if you're not writing a book, but you happen to love good romance stories, The Notebook is one of the best. Enjoy!

Please check out my novel, In Fashion's Web on Amazon.

Hand Out Business Cards for your Book

One of the first things I did after I self-published my novel, In Fashion's Web, on Amazon, is created business cards just for the book.

The card includes:
-a jpeg of the cover
-The name of the book
-The name of the author
-A link to the print version on Amazon
-A link to the Kindle version on Amazon
-A note that says you can also search Amazon by name
-And a note to 'like' the book on Facebook

There is no personal information of mine, such as my email or phone number. I left those off so that I could promote the book with people I meet on the street. Here's what it looks like:

I print these on my home printer, but you could easily have them made up at a place like Vistaprint online or a local retail printer in your home town.

When I meet a woman and I've had a few minutes to speak with her, I ask her, "Do you like to read?" and if she says yes, then I give her my card.

For example, yesterday morning, I was at my mechanic's get the oil changed in my car. There was another woman there also waiting for her car. We struck up a conversation and I asked my usual question. She said yes and I gave her a card.

I've given out cards in supermarkets, parking lots, Dunkin' Donuts, doctors' offices, to women in the hallway of the building I work in, etc. And some have bought the book as a result.

Whether you have a traditional publishing contract or not, you are still responsible for marketing your own work. This is one way to help, especially if you're traveling out of state or even out of the country.

Give out cards in the airport, on the beach, on vacation, on business trips. The farther you can distribute your cards, the better.

Now, I have to go print some cards!

Please check out my novel, In Fashion's Web on Amazon.