Blog Archives
Book Review on Masquerade Crew (Day 12 – Kill Me Blog Tour)
Posted by Karen, Quirky Gurl Media
It’s day eleven of the blog tour and today over on Masquerade Crew is a review of Kill Me! So hop on over there and check out what Mark has to say about the debut of the Blood Chord Series!
4 Star Review: “The biggest thing for me that brought it down to a 4 from a 5 was the amount of sexual material.”
Source: The Masquerade Crew (http://s.tt/1aQfd)
(Blushes… what can I say? I like my vamps with a little bit of heat
)
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You can also check out the tour calendar over on the press page of the Blood Chord Series Site or Kill Me on Amazon if you’d like!
And don’t forget to enter to one one of the Fab prizes for the Kill Me end-of-tour Giveaway!!
Posted in books, Indie authors, publishing, Reading and writing, Uncategorized
Tags: Alex Owens, Blood Chord, book review, ebooks, indie books, indie publishing, KILL ME, paranormal, published, vampires, witch
Book Review on Lindsey Gray’s Blog (Day 8 – Kill Me Blog Tour)
Posted by Karen, Quirky Gurl Media
It’s day eight of the blog tour and today over on Lindsey Gray’s blog is a review of Kill Me! So hop on over there and check out what she has to say about the debut of the Blood Chord Series!
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You can also check out the tour calendar over on the press page of the Blood Chord Series Site or Kill Me on Amazon if you’d like!
Posted in books, Indie authors, publishing, Reading and writing, Uncategorized
Tags: Alex Owens, Blood Chord, book review, ebooks, indie books, indie publishing, KILL ME, paranormal, published, vampires, witch
Author Interview on You Gotta Read (Day 7 – Kill Me Blog Tour)
Posted by Karen, Quirky Gurl Media
It’s day seven of the Kill Me blog tour and today I’m over on You Gotta Read with an insightful author interview. Aside from peeking into my twisted inner-mind, you’ll see why I adore Jodi Picoult (even after her atrocious comments on Indie publishing) and how I feel about gratuitous sex and violence in books.
So, without further ado… take a gander at the Interview on You Gotta Read!
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You can also check out the tour calendar over on the press page of the Blood Chord Series Site or Kill Me on Amazon if you’d like!
Posted in books, Indie authors, publishing, Reading and writing, Uncategorized
Tags: Alex Owens, Blood Chord, ebooks, indie books, indie publishing, Jodi Picoult, KILL ME, paranormal, published, vampires, witch
Excerpt on Bookshelf Confessions & Interview on Wringing Out Words (Day 6 -Kill Me Blog Tour)
Posted by Karen, Quirky Gurl Media
Alrighty! It’s day six of the blog tour and I’ve got something special lined up today over on Bookshelf Confessions– an excerpt featuring Claire and the dastardly Clive, from my new novel Kill Me.
So hop to it and check out the post, why dontcha!
Also, Wringing Out Words has an interview up today as well. From the everlasting boxers vs. breifs question to my favorite scene in the novel, we covered a lot of ground!
Posted in authors, givaways, Indie authors, Reading and writing
Tags: Alex Owens, author interview, Blood Chord, ebook, giveaway, indie publishing, KILL ME, paranormal, vampires
Kill Me Featured on Guerrilla Wordfare (Day 5 -Kill Me Blog Tour)
Posted by Karen, Quirky Gurl Media
It’s finally Friday everyone! Since I’ve been fighting a toothache the last few days, so I for one am very glad to see the weekend come.
For today’s Kill Me tour stop, the book is featured over on the fantastical website Guerrilla Wordfare. It’s the brainchild of author Lizzy Ford, author of numerous novels including Katie’s Hellion. I adore this cover, don’t you?
Check out the feature of Kill Me on Guerrilla Wordfare if you get a chance, and while you’re there check out Lizzy’s books as well!
Related articles
- Author Interview on Independent Paranormal (Day 4 -Kill Me Blog Tour) (quirkygurl.com)
- Paperback Proof of Kill Me (Day 3 – Kill Me Blog Tour) (quirkygurl.com)
Author Interview on Independent Paranormal (Day 4 -Kill Me Blog Tour)
Posted by Karen, Quirky Gurl Media
Whoo-hoo! It’s day four of the blog tour. (Hey, that rhymed!)
Today I’m over on Independent Paranormal with an Author Interview. I love this site, and Jennifer is the coolest raised-by-wolves girl I know. Plus, she asks some pretty quirky questions, and you know how much I love that!
So what are you still here for… Go on now. Get on over to Independent Paranormal!
Posted in authors, Indie authors, Reading and writing
Tags: Alex Owens, author interview, Blood Chord, ebook, indie publishing, KILL ME, paranormal, vampires
Now Booking for the ‘Kill Me’ Blog Tour :-)
Posted by Karen, Quirky Gurl Media
I meant to post this sooner, but you know how life gets in the way sometimes
If you have a chance, check out the Press page on the Blood Chord Series website — it has all the details, open dates and such for the Kill Me blog tour.
I’ve added a few of the booked tour stops and forthcoming reviews so far, but there’s still plenty of room left. (I was never very good at subtle hints!)
Check, check, check it out!
Posted in books, Indie authors, publishing, Writing
Tags: blood chord series, book release party, book tour, E-book, indie books, indie publishing, paranormal, published, vampires, witch
Working on the Book Blurb for Kill Me
Posted by Karen, Quirky Gurl Media
With release day for Kill Me quickly ticking away, I’ve been hard at work getting everything ready, and that (sadly) includes the blurb for the book. If you’ve never tried to write one of these, consider yourself lucky. It’s like trying to boil down seventy-thousand words into under fifty words, while trying to be coherent, eye-catching and the most important criteria– accurate.
I don’t know how many times I came up with something catchy only to realize it didn’t fit the darn book. And the ones the were true to the story were big old snooze-fests. After hours at this (more like days really) I finally think I’ve gotten to a good place. I may still tweak the blurb a little more before the official release of Kill Me, but for now it gives me something to query book reviewers with
So, what do you think?
Looking back, it was the stupid violin’s fault. It called to me from down the aisle, brought me to Bette’s rare instrument collection and set everything in motion. Before that, I was normal—I cooked, cleaned and brought home every bit of the bacon. Sure, I was stressed over bills (while my unemployed husband worried-not) but I was good at my job and hopeful that it would pay off soon. I thought I had life figured out, but I had everything so completely wrong that it’s almost comical. Well, for me it wasn’t very funny, but I could see how someone else would be amused at my misguided, naïve outlook on life. I know better now, that’s for sure. Now the husband is a non-issue, my freakish talents are not of the domestic variety, and being a good mother just became a whole lot tougher. Being kind of undead has a way of mucking things up like that.
Kill Me, the debut novel from author Alex Owens, is a quirky paranormal fantasy complete with music, magic, fangs and freaks. Be forewarned, this is not your daughter’s paranormal.
Claire, a thirty-something marketing Rep, attends a music conference with the hopes that her hard work will gain her a badly needed raise. Her plans are derailed when she meets a stunning Italian woman, Bette and the blood red violin that can only be played by the supernaturally gifted. And Bette thinks that Claire is just the woman to play it. But before she can even begin to process her unusual attraction to Bette or her own newly-materialized talents, Claire is pulled into a hidden world of seduction, secrets and things best left in folklore. Tied to darkness by blood and power, Claire must harness her abilities and take control of her life, before others take the control for themselves.
Posted in Indie authors, publishing, Uncategorized, Writing
Tags: Alex Owens, blood chord series, Blurb, book blurb, book marketing, indie publishing
Kill Me Sent to the Formatter!
Posted by Karen, Quirky Gurl Media
Kill Me Sent to the Formatter!.
I’ve updated the status of the soon-to-be-released novel Kill Me over on the Blood Chord series site! Only a couple of weeks left! Check it out!
Posted in books, Indie authors, publishing
Tags: Alex Owens, Blood Chord, indie publishing, paranormal, vampires, witch
Update on Kill Me – Paperback Cover Mock-up
Posted by Karen, Quirky Gurl Media
Whew! The last few days have been a whirlwind of things to accomplish. Some totally unrelated to writing, which has left little time for making progress on Kill Me.
Late last night I finally started working on the paperback cover for Kill Me. It’s by no means finished, but I’m digging the way it’s shaping up so far. What do you think?
Also, I’ve made it about 90% through the edits that have come back from the latest Beta reader for Kill Me. A second beta has the made it a few chapters into the novel as well, so the process is nearing completion.
Speaking of nearing the end… I ran a LibraryThing giveaway, which ended yesterday. This week I’ll notify the winners and let them know their advance copies (ARC’s) will be sent out in the next few weeks. If I time it just right, I’ll hopefully have some reviews live within a few days of the launch (crossing fingers!)
The window for pre-ordering ebook copies of KILL ME is also coming to a close. There are only 11 days left in the campaign, so don’t hesitate– get your copy and some yummy swag today!
That’s all I’ve got for today. Edits are calling my name yet again! Hope everyone had a great weekend!
Posted in books, Indie authors, publishing, Reading and writing, Uncategorized
Tags: Advance copy, Alex Owens, ARC, Book cover, indie publishing, KILL ME, LibraryThing, Paperback, preorder novel
Supporting Indie Authors & Books
Posted by Karen, Quirky Gurl Media
When a traditionally published book launches, it has the advertising budget of a powerhouse behind it and it gets prominent placement in bookstores. It’s packaged by professionals, so even if the actual story isn’t that great, the book will sell.
Now, when an Indie book launches, there is no team of people behind it. Marketing budgets are almost non-existent. Great covers are expensive, so not all Indie books will have that perfect cover. And prominent shelf space (either virtual or physical)– is very hard to come by.
An indie book is a completely different animal than its corporate-backed counterpart, and needs to be treated as such. It relies on direct support from readers, instead of the passive support a Trad. pub’d book gets.
The bad news is that an Indie book won’t survive without a little help from it’s friends. The good news is that it’s way easier than you would think to do your part.
I found this great post by Wren Emerson, author of I Wish. She offers some easy, painless ways that you can show Indie Authors some love. One of her suggestions, “Write a review- Reviews are like currency for indie writers.” is so important and most people don’t realize it.
Indies rely on reviews, in some cases more than trad books. Wren is right, for us reviews are like currency. But they are also validation– letting other readers know that a book is worth their time and money. For the most part, we can’t even get featured on the more popular book sites (with high traffic) without a certain level of reviews (both in quantity and average rating). Book sites need assurances that a book isn’t crap, so I get it. And most readers don’t have any idea how important their review is to us, even if brief.
But that’s not all you can do. There are many more, painless, almost effortless things that you can do. See the list by popping on over to Wren’s List.
Posted in authors, books, Indie authors, publishing, Reading and writing
Tags: Author, indie books, indie publishing, Review, supporting indie authors
Launching a Book- What I’m Doing for KILL ME
Posted by Karen, Quirky Gurl Media
Launching a novel is almost a full-time job. As an Indie Publisher, that equates to a lot of late nights and buckets of stress. But I wouldn’t have it any other way. It may be a complicated process, but at least it’s all mine.
The steps to launching a successful novel are, at least in my opinion, the following:
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Write the novel -check
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Rewrite the novel- check
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Get a Beta reader’s opinion- check
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Edit according to the above’s suggestions.- check
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Get another Beta reader’s opinion- in progress x 2
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Edit some more- in progress
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Repeat the last few steps until the novel is ready for final edits
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Send novel for edits
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Revise yet again
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Send novel for copy edits
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Decide when the book is clear of all grammatical, syntax and writer-brain errors, then proceed.
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Have the novel typeset or formatted. (I’ve picked out a super-duper formatter. I’ll not share her name yet. Can’t have her getting too busy before taking care of my novel!)
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Procure an awesome cover that whispers to readers, ”Come. Check me out. Buy me, you know you want to!” – check
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Set a launch date. - check, sort of. End of March for sure. Hopefully.
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Send out review copies and/or schedule free book giveaways on LibraryThing and Goodreads, so that the book hits the ground running with some reviews. -in progress. I’ve set up a Librarything giveaway, but I need to get cracking on the others.
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Consider marketing & promotions. Will you take out ads? Will you do blog tours, book signings, organize giveaways and swag drawings for readers? This alone is a huge task.
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Publish the book in whatever formats you want. Eventually, I’m angling towards Kindle (Amazon), Nook (B&N), Smashwords (distributing to Itunes, Kobo, etc) and Createspace. At first, KILL ME will be exclusive to Amazon so it can take advantage of the Select promo tools.
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Hit the publicity train doing blog tours, author interviews and generally selling your soul to anyone that will read/ mention/ or tweet about the book.
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Consider praying, casting a circle under a full moon while chanting in ancient tongues, sacrificing unworthy manuscripts, or anything else that may shine some favorable light on your spanking new baby book.
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Meanwhile, start writing a new novel.
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Rinse, repeat.
Sounds easy, doesn’t it? (I’ll try to keep my cackling down to a dull-roar.)
Pre-Publishing Update for My Novel KILL ME
Posted by Karen, Quirky Gurl Media
I posted this as an update for my Kickstarter campaign yesterday, but then it occured to me that I should share it here to, as it speaks to the many things that must be done before publishing a novel. (Not to say that shorts and novellas don’t need a second eye or two, but those are easier to come by. ) Here’s the post!
I’m excited to say that I’ve sent KILL ME out to two Beta readers. For those not in the biz, Beta’s are people that read and critique a novel or story. Some offer general feedback while others will get down to the nitty-gritty pointing out grammatical errors, illogical word choices or any other problems that can break the flow of a story.
My two Beta readers are proving themselves very helpful, though I did have one ask if the novel had been edited previously, because of the low amount of errors she was finding. The other commented that the draft was fairly clean and she was glad to see that, compared to what shape most novels are usually in.
On the flip side, I’m reading both beta’s novels as well. We are basically bartering services. I’m enjoying it. It’s fun to see someone else’s process and read a novel prior to publication. It can also be a great learning experience, but even if I don’t pick up anything new, the fact that I’ve helped another writer along the journey to publication is reward enough. It’s like Literary Karma– and I could use all the help I can get
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I’d love to hear from you guys if you’ve used Beta Readers in the past and if you have any suggestions on where to find them, how to structure the relationship or anything else that could be useful for other Indie Writers out there!































