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April 2014

When Romance Is
Interrupted
Delivering Erotica
Jen McLaughlins
Military Affairs
On Writing Well
94 New Titles
Full Reviews of
21 New Books
The Lure of
Romance
P U B L I S H E R S WE E K LY A P R I L 2 1 , 2 0 1 4 28
Series Interrupted For romance writers, getting dropped midseries is no longer the end of the world
By Trisha Telep
Amanda Bonillas Shaede Assas-
sins series lasted three books at
NAL.
W
hen Avon dropped
romance wri ter
Christina Skyes
early paranormal
haunted-house se-
ries Draycott Abbey in 1999 after seven
books and two novellas, she turned to the
only men she could for consolationthe
Navy SEALs.
Although she had at least another four
books planned for the paranormal series,
she didnt think she had any choice but
to move on once the publisher had called
it a day.
So she wrote some romantic suspense
featuring the dashing men of the U.S.
Navys principal special operations force.
In the meantime, readers at bookstore
signings continued to ask about the se-
riesbut she put Draycott Abbeys rest-
less spirits on the back burner, always
hoping she might be able to come back
to them someday.
Eight years later, she finally got her
chance. Harlequin was interested in re-
printing some of the Draycott Abbey
backlist that had gone out of print. Start-
ing in 2007, they reissued one backlist
title a year, even commissioning two new
books. But then Harlequin nixed the se-
ries, and she was back where she started.
It was over, she says. It was emo-
tional, but at least I knew I could write
something else. Its your family. You in-
vest in the characters and know how
much the readers have committed to
these books. I knew how much they
wanted another one.
Stories like Skyes used to be common.
Carol Stacy, publisher at RT Book Re-
views, the bible of the romance publish-
ing industry, remembers the bad old days
all too well: When I started in this busi-
ness, the authors had no say in anything.
I mean absolutely zero. They were to-
tally dependent on the publishers, and if
a publisher said no to their
manuscript, they went away
crying. They had no place
else to go. Today, being re-
jected by a publisher is not as
traumatic as it used to be.
Writer Amanda Bonilla
lives hours away from the city
in the mountains of the Pa-
cific Northwest. A high-
speed Internet connection
allows her to make her home
in this beautiful, rural loca-
tion and still stay totally con-
nected:
I really like social media, especially
living where I do, because theres not the
opportunity to interact as much. Im su-
per active on Twitter and Facebook and
try to reach out to readers all the time.
As a romance writer with contracts for
two new series at commercial publishers,
a well-respected New York literary
agent, and a social-media savvy reader-
ship, Bonillas now on the cusp of an ex-
citing experiment. One year after New
American Library dropped her first-per-
son Shaede Assassins series after three
books, shes self-publishing book 4
Against the Dawnon May 20.
Right from the start, we knew that
urban fantasy was on the decline and
sales werent great, she says. Even as far
back as 2010, when book 1, Shaedes of
Gray made its debut, there was trouble
brewing. The first book did all right,
and we thought that it would take off,
but sales just kind of declined with the
second and third books. I had a decent
readership, but not enough for NAL to
justify continuing on with the series.
They felt like contemporary was where
the shift was going, so they just let me
go.
While getting dropped was definitely
a bummer, she understands that it was
a busi ness deci si on.
When she made the an-
nouncement that her
publisher wasnt going
to continue with her series, readers as
well as other authors reached out to her.
When readers first open a book, Bo-
nilla says, they dont look to see who the
publisher is. Thats so secondary. A writ-
er does, of course, but a reader doesnt
care. They just want to read a good sto-
ry.
Shes quick to point to her agent, Na-
tanya Wheeler at Nancy Yost Literary,
for the decision to keep going with the
series. The agency has been managing all
aspects of self-publishing for its clients
since early 2011, when it started digitiz-
ing its massive backlist, which includes
prolific, well-loved romance writers like
Loretta Chase and Beverly Jenkins.
I love the Shaede series, says Wheel-
er. We just couldnt let it go. Since I
handle digital rights at Nancy Yost Lit-
erary, we thought, What the heck. Lets
do it. Because she still has fans.
Self-publishing is simply a new way
the agency can facilitate its authors
wishes. Clients are charged the standard
15% agency fee, and costs are kept down
because many things are done in house,
including cover design and formatting.
Do I wish publishers would buy all of
our books and continue every series for-
ever? Yeah. But I understand that they
have their bottom lines, she says. And
S E R I A L R O MA N C E
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S E R I A L R O MA N C E
the authors and the agencies have a dif-
ferent kind of bottom line.
Author and web developer Shawn-
telle Madison, dropped in 2013 by Bal-
lantine after two books in her Coveted
paranormal romance series, calls it the
spaghetti on the wall technique. Se-
ries can be lucrative for publishers.
Theyll toss out some book by an au-
thor, and if that author sticks, then
theyll continue to publish them. If not,
they wont.
At the moment, the St. Louis native
is getting ready for the self-published
release of the third and final book in the
series, Compelled, which comes out on
May 5. Shes also waiting on word from
her agent, Jim McCarthy, on interest for
another title from one of the big five.
Before Ballantine dropped her series,
she had already been exploring self-pub-
lishing. In September 2012, two months
before the publisher released book 2,
Madison had uploaded a short story
called Collected, set in the Coveted
universe. Knowing book 3 was totally in
her hands, however, was scary.
I do miss giving some of the respon-
sibility to another party, she says. At
this point, Im the publisher, so I have to
make sure that I check out the final copy
and make sure that everything, right
down to the cover blurb and the back
cover matter, is in good condition. The
publisher would help take care of that
before. Its a lot more stressful.
But since getting dropped, her fan
base has grown. One of her fans helped
her form a street team, and shes also
started accounts on social media plat-
forms like Pinterest, Tumblr, and Insta-
gram. When her Facebook page received
a verified status last year, her discover-
ability shot up. At the end of 2012, after
book 2 was released, I had about 600
likes on Facebook, she says. Its now a
year and three
months later
and I have a
little over 2,700 likes. I average about
100 new likes per month when Im not
heavily promoting a release. For me, at
this point in my career, that is a great
increase and shows readers are still tak-
ing a chance on my work and they are
listening in to see what I come up with
next. On average, each post gets around
500 to 1,000 folks who see it and en-
gage.
Cheryl Wurtele at Joseph-Beth book-
sellers in Kentucky goes so far as to call
romance readers a different breed.
They have more loyalty to their authors
than you get in other genres, she says.
A romance reader is more apt to write
to an author and hear back from them.
Even the big romance authors seem to
connect with their readers.
And its these fans that allow ro-
mance writers to pick themselves
up, dust themselves off, and carry
on when a series is dropped. In
2009, Ace offered former fan-fiction
writer Dianne Sylvan three contracts
for a total of five books in her Shadow
World vampire series, intended for
eight books. The first book, Queen of
Shadows, was published at the end of
August 2010. When her editor left
Ace in early 2013, she was orphaned
and dropped not long after because of
low sales. Ace will publish book 5, Shad-
owbound, on March 25.
I figured that much of the Shadow
Worlds audience would be willing to
follow me, wrote Sylvan in an email
from her home in Austin, Tex., since if
they stuck with me for five books, theyre
likely invested enough to see it through
even if Im going about it in a different
way.
Former Kensington acquisitions edi-
tor Megan Records thinks that finishing
your series and satisfying your possibly
too-small-for-New-York fan base might
be one of the best uses of self-publishing.
If a series isnt profitable, publishers
arent going to keep publishing it just to
make readers happy, says Records.
Thats just a business reality. Publishing
is a business. And thats what people have
to remember. You may not be
making enough traditional
sales for a publisher, but youre
probably going to earn enough
from your existing audience to
at least make it worth your
while.
Paranormal romance writer
Angie Fox, who is presenting a
panel at RWA National in San
Antonio, Tex., this July called
How to Quietly Make 6 Figures
in Self-Publishing, agrees. New
For romance writers, getting dropped midseries is no longer the end of the world
Harlequin dropped Laurie
Londons Sweetbloods series
after four books.
Shawntelle Madisons Coveted
series was published by Ballan-
tine. Book three in the series will
be self-published on May 5.
P U B L I S H E R S WE E K LY A P R I L 2 1 , 2 0 1 4 30
S E R I A L R O MA N C E
York can declare a genre
not profitable because
they have to sell a lot
more books in a short period of time to
make it profitable for them. But authors
can keep going and do well, says hybrid
author Fox, who also publishes a paranor-
mal series with St. Martins Press. Fox
cites these loyal, voracious, and author-
focused romance fans as one of the main
reasons that writers are able to self-pub-
lish when their series goes belly up. Ive
had readers email and say, You know, I
just blew through your entire series in a
week. Thats very flattering, but Im
thinking How many years did it take me
to write that? she laughs.
Beverly Hills Demon Slayer, the sixth
book in her successful Accidental Demon
Slayer series about a preschool teacher
who finds out she isnt what she thought
she was, will be self-published in May.
Originally bought by Dorchester in
2007, the series first three books were
published to much acclaim and grabbed
spots on the New York Times bestseller
list. Her books were in Walmart, at air-
ports, in grocery stores, Barnes & Noble.
It was all going so well before financial
trouble hit the publisher in early 2010.
Book 4, The Last of the Demon Slayers,
was due to come out in 2011, but with
the future of Dorchester in doubt, Fox
took the rights back, hired an editor and
a cover artist, and released the self-pub-
lished book earlier, in October 2010. It
was a scary thing at the time. Self-pub-
lishing wasnt really what you did when
you were a New York writer. She wor-
ried about bewildering her readers who
were used to picking her books up easily
in a bookstore. I announced on my Face-
book, I announced on my blog, I an-
nounced everywhereLook, this is how
you have to get it. And readers would
still send me emails, she says. Id feel
so bad. Theyd say, I just went to the
Barnes & Noble and I couldnt find your
book. And Id say, No, no, no! Im so
sorry. What you have to do is this: theyll
order it in for you but you have to ask.
So there was confusion, but there was also
a lot of enthusiasm.
When Dorchester went under, she re-
ceived the rights back for the first three
books. Things have gone so well shes
extended the series to nine books from
her original plan of five. I wouldnt be
doing this well, I dont think, with my
indie books if I didnt have that New
York background, Fox says.
All the data shows that, for the most
part, the most successful self-published
authors are hybrid, says Deb Werksman,
publisher at Sourcebooks. Theyve come
from a commercial publishing back-
ground. Theyve been through the pro-
cess. They know what to do. In fact, in
many cases, theyre hiring the same free-
lance editors, theyre hiring the same
cover designers, theyre hiring the same
resources as their publishing house.
Fox has done exactly that. Ive been
able to hire my old cover artist for my
covers. I hire editors that work for New
York [publishers] to do all my editing.
Really, my readers are getting the same
product. And bookstores are more ame-
nable to stocking a hybrid au-
thors self-published print-on-
demand books because the qual-
ity is similar to that of a tradi-
tionally published book and the
author already has an audience.
An author who continues to
self-publish a dropped series will
also find herself sharing the se-
ries with the former publisher as it
continues to publish frontlist.
Many authors consider it a win-
win. If the series takes off, both the au-
thor and the publisher can benefit.
Some writers choose to continue their
series where they left off, others opt to
start fresh, says Fox. Author Laurie Lon-
don wanted a clean slate. When Harle-
quin dropped her Sweetblood series after
four books because of low digital sales,
she decided to self-publish book 5 as
book 1 in the Sweetblood World series.
Its set in the same world and will have
the same characters, but if someone is
finding me now for the first time, they
wont feel they have to start with all four
Harlequin books before they can read
book 5. Controlling the first book in a
series is so important. You can be nimble
with pricing to drive sales to the other
books. If I dont have control over the
first book, I cant employ this strategy.
When an author decides to continue to
self-publish a dropped series, it can work
in everyones favor, says Werksman.
Theres no reason for publishers to feel
threatened. Sourcebooks often coordi-
nates marketing efforts with authors who
choose to self-publish and makes sure
that readers have unfettered access to a
writers backlist as the series continues.
I think its fantastic for authors to have
the options that they have, she says. Its
forcing publishers to be clearer and more
communicative about what we do and
what we have to offer, and in Source-
books case that is distribution and sales,
marketing and promotion.
Bookseller Wurtele remembers long
ago when readers just had to live with the
heartbreak that a romance series that
theyd read and loved had faded into
nothingness when a contract was termi-
nated. Barring a bit of confusion, shes
happy that misery if now a thing of the
past for her customers.
Publishers are in a very tough posi-
tion, says Stacy from RT Book Reviews.
You cant fault them for wanting to try
different things, she says. But the au-
thors dont have to give up now. Thats
the key difference.
Trisha Telep is an editor specializing in ro-
mance.
Dianne Sylvan was dropped
after five books in the Shadow
World series.
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Scratch That Itch
Readers want erotica, and indie authors deliver By Allison Schiff
When Red Phoenix first decided she wanted to
try her hand at self-publishing erotic fiction,
her husband had his concerns. So did Red.
B
asically, we were afraid that the stories would
attract creepy old men, says Phoenix, a Den-
ver wife, mother, and former elementary
school teacher whose pen name refers to the
color of her hair and her self-described ability
to rise from the ashes.
What Red Phoenix and her husband soon discovered, how-
ever, was not an audience of anonymous men on the hunt for
digital titillation, but a loyal readership of mostly women look-
ing for stories that were not only hot but also meaningful.
Its an avid and voracious fan base that Red Phoenix, author
of more than 30 erotic e-books, says she wouldnt be able to
properly serve without access to self-publishing platforms like
Amazons Kindle Direct Publishing and Smashwords. Often-
times her readers consume her workand demand more
faster than she can write it, as was the case with Brie, her best-
selling nine-part series of BDSM-themed novellas charting the
sexual awakening tale of a young submissive in training. The
stories were later combined into a single novel-length collec-
tion.
One novella might take about a month to write, get edited,
and publish, and my readers get through it in three hours,
Phoenix says. Brie is 452 pages and I have fans who read it in
two days.
Habits like those need to be gratified by a constant stream of
new work, often in serial formwhich wouldnt jibe with the
traditional publishing cycle. The freedom of self-publishing
also allows erotica authors to sway with whats popular. If a
particular piece is doing well, theres nothing to stop them from
running with it. Phoenixs Brie series started out as a one-off
short story. Following its unexpected popularity, Phoenix was
able to pivot and give her readers more of what they wanted
and fast.
And what readers want isnt necessarily a happy ending or a
sweet romance. Women dont just want to read about being
swept into the arms of a hunky heroI certainly dont. Some-
times they want to be slammed against the wall or tied up... or
fisted, says Dalia Daudelin, a self-published author of numer-
ous erotica storiesincluding Booty Call of Cthulhu, originally
published under Daudelins previous pseudonym, Roxie
Feurouge, and an advice book for aspiring writers entitled How
to Really Self-Publish Erotica: The Truth About Kinks, Covers, Ad-
vertising and More!
Erotica readers arent shy in their tastes, and indie writers are
more than willing to provide the product. While some subcat-
egories in the overall erotic fiction genre might seem niche
paranormal, people in uniform, adult fairy tales, erotic science
fiction, pseudo incest (sex between family members with no
blood relation)self-publishing creates an aggregate world-
wide audience for them, says Smashwords founder Mark Coker.
Whatever turns you on, whatever you want to fantasize about,
theres something for you, he says. We tend to be extremely
permissive in what we allow on our platform, although we have
zero tolerance for anything underage; were always on the look-
out for that.
While self-publishing has inarguably given erotica authors
the freedom to express themselves and, if theyre successful, to
make a good livingprolific indie erotica author Selena Kitt
can bring in more than $10,000 a monthits not without its
struggles. Recent crackdowns have seen the wide-scale removal,
and in some cases reinstatement, of thousands of erotica titles
from digital shelves across the Web. Amazon, Barnes & Noble,
and e-book retailer Kobo have all removed many erotica titles
from their sites.
In one high-profile case back in October 2013following
reportage by the Mail on Sunday that claimed to find what it
called vile pornography on the websites of major retailers in
partnership with e-book platformsUK bookstore WHSmith,
in what Coker calls a major overreaction, responded to the
scandal by removing all self-published content from its website
and from its storeseverything from hardcore erotica to the
sweet romances.
It caused a lot of bad feeling and animosity in the indie com-
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P U B L I S H E R S WE E K LY A P R I L 2 1 , 2 0 1 4 32
E R O T I C F I C T I O N
munity, Coker says. Now Kobo has imple-
mented a tougher standard. Although I suppose
they never allowed erotica officially, it was al-
ways therebut a bright light was shone on them and it turned
everyones complexion several shades of red. The damage of that
whole experience is that retailers are now more conservative; no
retailers want to be dragged through the coals.
Amazon, Kobo, and Apples iBook platform have all essen-
tially banned incest, pseudo incest, bestiality, and rape fantasy.
But while those topics are ostensibly verbotenas Kitt put it,
Incest is off the tablethat doesnt mean the audience isnt
there. Kitt, for example, has sold more than one million books
shes topped both the New York Times and USA Today bestseller
listsand she never shies away from taboo subject matter. Her
storiesamong them the fan favorite Baumgartner series that
catalogues the sexcapades and conquests of multiple generations
of the insatiable Baumgartner familytend more toward sexu-
al awakening rather than typical happily ever after.
And according to Kitt, thats what her readers, between 70%
and 80% of whom she estimates to be female, are looking for
although the adult filter on Amazons site, which flags certain
types of erotic content and segregates it from common keyword
searches, sometimes makes even very popular or bestselling
erotica a bit hard to find.
Basically, theyre hiding our books on their site and its be-
coming harder and harder to find our audience, says Kitt,
whose incest-themed books were banned from Amazon. She has
since released revised Amazon-only versions to avoid the filter,
including Back to the Garden, a collection of four short
stories centered on incestuous encounters. The origi-
nal uncut book is available for sale on other sites, in-
cluding Barnes & Noble and IndieBound.
The problem is that Amazon isnt listening to the
throng of readers who want this material, says Kitt,
who also laments Amazons notoriously vague content
guidelines. Theyre not the vocal ones, but they vote
with their dollars.
But despite last years backlash and the erotica indie
author communitys continuing struggle to interpret
what will and wont fly for Kindle, theres no doubt
that self-publishing is scratching an itch that needed
to be scratched. The advent of self-publishing has
exposed erotica as an underserved market in the book
industryunderserved by traditional publishers and
by bookstores, Coker says. But the move to digital
has democratized the space completely.
Democratized it for readers and indie writers alike.
Even with the crackdown, Im still able to write for
women in a kinky way, Daudelin says. Self-publishing gives
me so much freedom, and not just in what I write about.
Daudelin is able to make enough money with self-published
erotica to support herself and her fianc while he finishes college.
She plans to have children, and when she does, she says shell
continue to write so as to be able to home-school them without
having to worry about losing a second source of income.
And a good story is just a good story, says Daudelin, who
claims she doesnt have to do much in the way of marketing to
keep her e-books selling. All I have to do is make a good cover,
a good title, and include good keywords, and the people who
are voracious for the kind of porn I write will find it, she says.
While it cant be denied that the wild success of Fifty Shades
of Grey put erotica as a genre firmly into the mainstream, its the
self-publishing realm that keeps it thriving. Theres no more
brown paper bag; the shame of that is gone, Coker says. You
dont have to look across the cash register at a snotty bookseller
whos judging you, real or imagined, for whatever youre buy-
ingyou can browse, download, and read with total freedom
and anonymity.
While neither Red Phoenix, Daudelin, nor Kitt has any seri-
ous interest in traditional publishingas Kitt notes, Unless
Amazon cuts its royalties [indie authors get 70%], Im not sure
a traditional publishing deal would be lucrative enough for
methe traditional market does keep tabs on the self-publish-
ing world.
Elloras Cave is one such publisher. Founded in 2000, its
currently one of the largest digital and print publishers of erot-
ic romance in the world.
Our editors do keep an eye on whats being self-published,
says Elloras Cave publisher Raelene Gorlinsky. They read some
of that stuff to see if they can find anything that looks good and
if they might want to approach an author to submit it.
Although Gorlinsky asserts that self-publishing
hasnt influenced what Elloras Cave publishes
Weve always been very willing to try anything, she
saysits made its impact felt in other ways. We keep
saying that the biggest competitor now in erotica and
romance is not, in many cases, other publishers, Gor-
linsky says. The biggest competition is the self-pub-
lished authors themselvesthat percentage of the
erotica writing population who isnt even going to
submit to or approach a traditional publisher. Its a
population of writers who have already carved out ca-
reers for themselves in the self-publishing world where
they can write the kind of stories that, as Red Phoenix
puts it, make you feel as hot as you hope your readers
will be. Erotica has to make you feel something
erotic, says Phoenix. If I write a story and it doesnt
give you that juicy feeling, I feel like Ive failed.
Its also a population that enjoys experimentation
and shrugs its collective shoulders at the backlash. I
write erotica for a living, says Kitt unapologetically.
Its a genre with a huge audience, and Im not ashamed of what
I writeand I dont think readers should be made to feel
ashamed of what theyre reading, either.
Allison Schiff is a writer (and reader) living in New York City.
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Shot to the Heart
Self-published author hits the mark with military romance
By Jennifer McCartney
Jen McLaughlin knew something special was
happening with her book the first week after
its publication.
I
m very slow to get excited about things. Once I hit
[the New York Times bestseller] list, I had to sit down
for a minute, says the indie author. McLaughlins first
self-published romance novel, Out of Line (Jan. 2014),
went on to sell over 150,000 copies and hit #9 on the
Times e-book bestseller list, #16 on the Times combined e-book
and print bestseller list, #28 on the USA Today bestseller list,
and #1 in Amazons Contemporary Romance category. Its the
kind of success that indie authors dream aboutbut it didnt
happen without a lot of hard work.
While McLaughlin has had previous success publishing with
e-publisher Entangled under the name Diane Alberts, she want-
ed to try her hand at writing a new adult military romance and
just had a feeling that self-publishing was the way to go.
Publishing both with a traditional digital publisher and as an
indie author, she considers herself a hybrid. I think its good to
have your name in different places, she says.
Once shed decided to go the indie route, she took the pub-
lishing process seriously and hired an editor, a cover designer,
and a publicist. It paid off, McLaughlin says. I wasnt going
to put out a book that was mediocre.
Finding an Audience
McLaughlins Out of Line series, which now includes Out of Line,
Out of Time (Dec. 2013), and Out of Mind (Apr. 2014), began
with her belief that there was a gap between the kinds of ro-
mance books that were being published and the kind she herself
would want to read, a gap she thought she could help to fill.
The married mother of four had been writing contemporary
romance for two years as Diane Alberts and had published 18
books since the release of her first, Kill Me Tomorrow, in October
of 2011.
But in 2013, the author, who lives in Pennsylvania, wanted
to try something new, and she decided to try writing under her
own name in a quickly growing category that straddles the line
between young adult and adult fiction and usually features
characters in their late teens or early 20s.
She decided to focus on the burgeoning niche of military
romance. Over two million American soldiers have served the
United States in both Iraq and Afghanistan, so McLaughlin
believed there was a large audience of younger womenfirst
and foremost the wives and girlfriends of veteranswho would
want to read about what it was like to date, fall in love, or be
married to someone who had served overseas.
As a result of the younger age group she was trying to reach,
she says, I was nervous of how steamy to make it. But you dont
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have to dumb it down. [The readers] like
steamy. She wrote the first book with the same
level of sex and romance that she includes in her
adult titles, although she does post a warning to potential read-
ers that the series contains adult content and advises readers that
they should be over 17 to read her books.
The first book in the Out of Line series, the book that cata-
pulted McLaughlin onto the bestseller lists, features Carrie, a
U.S. senators daughter, who is off to college in California and
just wants to be a normal girl living her life without a body-
guard. Unbeknownst to Carrie, her father enlists U.S. Marine
(and avid surfer) Finn Coram to watch out for herand they fall
in love. When she finds out hes been hired to protect her, all
hell breaks loose, says McLaughlin.
It was a new and novel idea, and she had a feeling it might
do well. But first, McLaughlin needed to make sure she went
about self-publishing the book in a professional manner. Once
the manuscript for Out of Line was completed she plotted her
next steps.
Preparing to Launch
While theres no guaranteed formula for creating a bestseller,
McLaughlin says her indie-publishing success required the fol-
lowing components: Good writing, good editing, followed by
a pretty cover, followed by publicity.

Step One: Hire an Editor


To help edit the book, she enlisted a content editor at Coat of
Polish Edits, who helped her to shape the narrative and fine-tune
the plot. Next, she hired copy editor Hollie Westring, who
specializes in helping authors ensure the spelling and grammar
in their manuscripts is up to professional publishing standards.
Readers who review on Amazon, Goodreads, or their own blogs,
expect to have a clean reading experience when they purchase
an e-book and finding too many typos or grammatical errors can
earn an author a bad review, whether or not the reader enjoyed
the plot and characters.
If youre going to [be an indie author] make sure that you
hire editors, McLaughlin says.

Step Two: Hire a Designer


Once the editorial process was complete, she concentrated on
the design of the interior and cover. E.M. Tippets Book Design
typeset the manuscript with a professional looking font and
lots of white space. Finally, cover artist Sarah Hansen at Okay
Creations, which works primarily with self-published authors
and which specializes in cover designs and author branding,
designed an eye-catching cover in keeping with the romance
genre. The final design features a bold title treatment in
crimson with a photograph of a reclining long-haired woman
and a young, clean-cut man locked in an embrace.

Step Three: Hire a Publicist


The last step in McLaughlins plan was to hire the publicity
firm InkSlinger, which specializes in helping authors pro-
mote their books. To help McLaughlin attract media attention
for Out of Line, InkSlinger offered such services as press re-
leases, blog tours, and book signings. Jessica Estep (a former
publicist with Entangled Publishing) of InkSlinger began
by setting up a Goodreads contest a few weeks before the Sep-
tember 2013 publication date. More than 1,000 readers added
the book to their to-read shelf in the lead-up to publication,
and seven months after publication Out of Line has close to
4,000 ratings on Goodreads. McLaughlin and Estep also set up
a publicity blitz, rallying readers to sign up on the authors
website and win a bonus scene from the book by participat-
ing in a social media campaign. Estep also planned a blog tour
that would commence as soon as the book published.
McLaughlin secured a blurb from New York Times bestselling
author Monica Murphy for the cover. We had a huge cover
reveal, recalls McLaughlin. There was a lot of interest in it
immediately. All told, McLaughlin estimates she invested
about $1,200 of her own money to publish and publicize her
book. She admits it was a team effort. I dont really consider
myself self-published, McLaughlin says. I have so many peo-
ple helping me.
After conferring with her agent, Louise Fury of the Bent
Agency, McLaughlin decided to release the book across all e-
book platforms at once rather than opting for Amazons KDP
Select program in order to increase discoverability. They also
decided to price the book at 99 for the first week before rais-
ing it to the current price of $2.99. McLaughlin figured the
downside to a low price point was minimal. What do I have to
lose? It came out very strong, she says. She spent the first few
days watching the Amazon ranking climb toward #1 in its
After You Finish Writing Your Book
Simple solutions for every
independent author.
PW Select programs are designed to assist
and inform you through all phases of
preparing, publishing and promoting your
book, so you stay one step ahead of the self-
published book industry. PW Select and its
enrollment benefits give you the latest
developments, trends, news and insider
information, all within a community of like-
minded writers, authors, editors, agents,
publishers and others who know the book world.
Subscribe
today for free
m
onthly updates
and tips about
self-publishing
authors
Join the community and open up doors of opportunity with these PW Select partners:
Discover More at PublishersWeekly.com/PWSelect
Where
You Start
SELECT_HALF_Layout 1 8/27/13 12:46 PM Page 1
A U T H O R P R O F I L E
category. I would text my agent the
numbers. She said I was going to hit
the [New York Times bestseller] list.
It was her first book as a new adult
author and after its immediate suc-
cess she quickly published the second
book in the series to keep the mo-
mentum going.
Capitalizing on the
Success of an Indie
E-book
Unlike traditional publishing where an author must often wait
more than a year to see her book published, McLaughlin was
able to keep control of the publishing schedule and release the
next book in the series just months after Out of Line. Out of Time
was released in December 2013 and Out of Mind, the third title,
publishes in April 2014. McLaughlin is following the same
editing, design, and publicity plan as for her first two titles.
The third book explores the challenges that many couples face
in attempting to have a normal, healthy relationship when one
partner is a veteran
who s uf f er s f r om
post-traumatic stress
disorder. My goal all along was to
show how Marines change over
time, McLaughlin explains. They
go over there, and they come home
and have to deal with what theyve
seen and blend in when they get
home. With an estimated one in five
veterans returning from war suffer-
ing from some form of PTSD, its a
message McLaughlin hopes will reso-
nate with her existing readers and one that might attract a new
audience.
At the end of March, McLaughlins agent concluded a deal
with Italian publisher Newton Compton for print and digital
rights to all three books in the Out Of Line series. McLaughlin
acknowledges that foreign rights deals for indie authors are rare
and is thrilled with the development. Weve kept our options
open for print, she says. If it was the right offer [from a tra-
ditional publisher], then absolutely.
Jennifer McCartney is an author and editor.
After You Finish Writing Your Book
Simple solutions for every
independent author.
PW Select programs are designed to assist
and inform you through all phases of
preparing, publishing and promoting your
book, so you stay one step ahead of the self-
published book industry. PW Select and its
enrollment benefits give you the latest
developments, trends, news and insider
information, all within a community of like-
minded writers, authors, editors, agents,
publishers and others who know the book world.
Subscribe
today for free
m
onthly updates
and tips about
self-publishing
authors
Join the community and open up doors of opportunity with these PW Select partners:
Discover More at PublishersWeekly.com/PWSelect
Where
You Start
SELECT_HALF_Layout 1 8/27/13 12:46 PM Page 1
P U B L I S H E R S WE E K LY A P R I L 2 1 , 2 0 1 4 36
Three Books on Writing Well
For Indie Authors
A regular column from BookWorks
By Betty Kelly Sargent
When it comes to writing well, some things
never changeat least not all that much.
T
ake the revised edition of
The Elements of Style by
William Strunk Jr. and
E.B. White, for example.
In 1918, Strunk, a Cor-
nell University English professor, wrote
a 43-page style guide and called it The
Elements of Style. He published it himself,
for use in his classroom. His main point
was that writers should make every
word tell; or, as he put it in his 13th
elementary principle of composition: Omit needless words.
Fast forward to 1957, when one of his students, White, decided
to do an article on Strunk and his passion for lucid prose in the
New Yorker. White called Strunks little book a 43 page sum-
mation of the case for cleanliness, accuracy, and brevity in the
use of English.
Not long after that, some savvy editor at Macmillan com-
missioned White to update the little book (Strunk had died
in 1946), and when it came out in 1959, it sold two million
copies right out of the gate. Today it is often affectionately
referred to as Strunk & White and has sold more than 10
million copies in three editions. Why? Because it is smart,
sound, succinct, and feels as fresh and modern now as it did
the day it was written 96 years ago. If you need to brush up
on the elementary rules of usage and composition or figure out
which pesky words you are most likely to misspell, this little
classic is a must-have.
On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction by
William Zinsser is another brilliant book that I think should
be on every writers shelf. First published in 1976, it too has
sold over a million copies. The Elements of Style is a book about
pointers and admonitions, says Zinsser, whereas his book is
about how to write about people and places, science and tech-
nology, history and medicine, business and education, sports
and the arts and everything else under the sun thats worth
writing about.
Some of Bill Zinssers most helpful writing tips are:

The secret of good writing is to strip every sentence to its cleanest


components.

Clear thinking becomes clear writing: one cant exist without the
other.

If the reader is lost it is usually because the writer hasnt been


careful enough.

You are writing for yourself... if you go about it with enjoyment you
will also entertain the readers who are worth writing for.

The most important sentence in any article is the first one.

There is not much to be said about the period except that most
writers dont reach it soon enough.
Of course there are dozens of fine books on writing well, but
here is one more that particularly appeals to us.
Wired for Story: The Writers Guide to Using Brain Science to Hook
Readers from the Very First Sentence by Lisa Cron explains that our
brains are hardwired for story, and good storytellers know clev-
er ways to take advantage of this. We think in story, which
allows us to envision the future, she says.
And what are some of the secrets of a good story? From the
very first sentence, the reader must want to know what happens
next. Cron says, The plot is not what the story is about. The
story is about how the plot affects the protagonist.
Cron also suggests that if writers cant see something they
have written, they should go back and rewrite until they can.
She believes that this is the only way to get the reader to feel
the story, and if the reader isnt feeling it you can be sure she
wont be reading it for very long.
Whether you are writing fiction or nonfiction, describing
Jeters home run in last nights Yankee game or how your pro-
tagonist felt when she flubbed her lines in the first audition
shed had in two years, these books on writing well can give
you the equipment, the insights, and the courage you need to
make your book the best it can be.
WR I T I N G T I P S
Betty Kelly Sargent is the founder and CEO of BookWorks.com
WWW. P U B L I S H E R S WE E K LY. C O M 37
BIOGRAPHY &
AUTOBIOGRAPHY
NOCNon-Official Cover: British
Secret Operations
Nicholas Anderson. Miura! $19 paper
(383p), ISBN 9781492978473; $4.99
e-book ISBN 9781450018724
Ingram; Amazon; bn.com
A documentary thriller.
Due to censorship restric-
tions, a veteran of Britains
MI6 intelligence service
tells a fictionalized version
of his covert action experi-
ences. First of a trilogy.
From South Boston to Cambridge: The
Making of One Philadelphia Lawyer
Otis L. Lee Jr. FitzGerald Co. Press. $35.95
paper (465p), ISBN 9781624070761;
$9.99 e-book ISBN 9781626208087
otislee.com
Lee tells of growing up
in the Jim Crow South
and his experiences as a
lawyer, and traces the his-
tory of the Lee family, one
of Charlottesville, Va.s
notable black families.
Burning Shield: The Jason Schechterle
Story
Landon J. Napol eon. Avery Press.
S E L F - P U B L I S H E D L I S T I N G S
Booksellers, publishers, and agents are encouraged
to take a look at the following listings of self-published books from authors either
waiting to be discovered or with a track record and a following who are doing it on
their own.
New Titles
from Self-Publishers
The 94 titles submitted for our 20th PW Select
$19.95 paper (390p),
ISBN 9780988651944;
$9. 95 e - book I SBN
9780988651951
Amazon; bn.com
When a raging inferno
consumed police officer
Jason Schechterles patrol car, the flames
should have killed him. This is his inspir-
ing true story of triumph.
Forgotten Memories and Other Stories
Jimmy Peress. CreateSpace. $12.95 paper
(220p), ISBN 9781491035269; $3.99
e-book ASIN B00G8S6N86
(718) 454-0625
From growing up in
three countries before he
was a teenager to serv-
ing in the Israeli army to
being an incognito adviser
in Iran, Peress tells his
lifes journey from Iraq to Queens, N.Y.
Four Funerals and a Wedding: Resil-
ience in a Time of Grief
Jill Smolowe. She Writes
Press. $16.95 paper (258p),
ISBN 9781938314728;
$9. 95 e - bo o k I S BN
9781938314735
Amazon; bn.com
When journalist Jill
Smolowe lost four family members in
less than two years, she turned to modern
bereavement research for answersand
made some surprising discoveries.
Loveyoubye: Holding Fast, Letting Go,
and Then Theres the Dog
Rossandra White. She
Wri tes Press. $16. 95
pa pe r ( 204p) , I SBN
9 7 8 1 9 3 8 3 1 4 5 0 6 ;
$9. 95 e - book I SBN
9781938314513
Amazon; bn.com
A soul-searching memoir detailing the
disintegration of a 25-year marriage.
BODY, MIND & SPIRIT
Loving You Enlightens Me: A Tantric
Journey
Margo Landry. CreateSpace. $12.43 paper
(182p), ISBN 9781492967958; $6.95
e-book ASIN B00HCYTXS2; BN ID
2940148970682
Amazon; bn.com
Landry discovered a tantric ritual that
turned her 42-year mar-
riage around at its mid-
point. She is still reach-
ing new levels daily. She
shares her secrets with
couples of all ages who
want more from life.
P U B L I S H E R S WE E K LY A P R I L 2 1 , 2 0 1 4 38
Magikal Molly Day
Amy Lloyd. Amy Lloyd. $5.78 paper
(114p), ISBN 9781490545240; $5.49
e-book ASIN B00GN10Q36
Amazon
At the corner of magi-
cal realism and spiritual-
ity lies the city known as
Elushaneea. What began
as a letter dropped into a
wishing well grows into
the life-changing friend-
ship between an ordinary woman and an
extraordinary light worker.
COMICS &
GRAPHIC NOVELS
CSA Confederate States of America,
Volume 1: Southern Cross: Annuit
Coeptis
Dorvall, illus. by Philip Renne. Sekwana
Comics. $22.95 hardcover (64p), ISBN
9780989606301
www.sekwanacomics.
com
What if the South
had won the Civil War?
This graphic novel, first
in a series, attempts to
answer this provocative
question.
FAMILY &
RELATIONSHIPS
Raising Autism: Sur-
viving the Early Years
Ki mb e r l e e Ru t a n
McCafferty. CreateSpace.
$13.99 paper (279p),
ISBN 9781484912614;
$3. 99 e- book ASI N
B00GLDXYYO
Amazon; bn.com
A heartfelt and humorous memoir about
the joys and challenges of parenting two
children on the autism spectrum.
Hair of the Corn Dog
A.K. Turner. Fever Streak Press. $12 paper
(220p), ISBN 9780991375929; $3.99
e-book ISBN 9780991375936
(208) 949-4683
In her latest laugh-
out-loud confessional,
Turner relates family
adventures and mishaps
with equal parts wit and
heart.
FICTION
Tree of Liberty
Lawrence L. Allen. Lawrence L. Allen. $21
paper (418p), ISBN 9780615961743;
$9.99 e-book ASIN B00IGD9NLA
Amazon; bn.com; bookstores
A 30-year sweeping
epic. Who will lead
Americas second revo-
lution against tyranny?
After decades in Asia,
can Curtiss Bradley fire
the shot heard round
the world in 2020 and
rescue America from its post-constitu-
tional dystopia?
Overdose
Gl en Apsel of f . Gl en
Apseloff. $2.99 e-book
ISBN 9780989846189
Amazon; bn.com
When a controversial
clinical drug trial turns
deadly, a framed research
doctor goes on the run to track down her
would-be killer.
Reaching Rocky Mountain Jim: A
Novel Based on the True Life Stories of
James Nugent and Isabella Bird
Kari August. Mountain Track Publishing.
$5.99 e-book ISBN 9780991546619
Amazon
In 1873, Col orado
trapper Rocky Mountain
Jim is attracted to Eng-
lish author Isabella Bird
while defending his home
in Estes Park from the
greedy interests of Lord
Dunraven.
The Good Lawyer
Thomas Benigno. Landview Books. $12.95
paper (338p), ISBN 9781463604813;
$2. 99 e- book ASI N
B007OWO0YE
Amazon; bn.com
Inspi red by a true
story. A young legal aid
lawyer looking to shed
his familys Mafia ties
and do some good in the
South Bronx of 1982 gets in over his head
in the defense of the worst of criminals.
Calves in the Mud Room
Jerome O Brown. Tetonwolf. $7.49 paper
(96p), ISBN 9780615967509; $4.49
e-book ISBN 9780991551507
Amazon; bn.com; iTunes
An eagerly antici-
pated date. His first
school dance. Cows calv-
ing early in a blizzard.
Missing his grandfather
and battling with his
parents. Its going to be
pivotal night for Wade
Summers.
The Ambitious Madame Bonaparte
Ruth Hull Chatlien. Amika Press. $17.95
paper (484p), ISBN 9781937484163;
$3.99 e-book
amikapress.com
Betsy Patterson of
Baltimore, Md., mar-
ried Jrme Bonaparte
out of passionate love
and driving ambition,
only to have Jrmes
brother Napoleon with-
hold recognition of their
marriage. A historical novel.
Ghost at the Loom
T. Zachary Cotler. MP Publishing. $14.95
paper (224p), ISBN 9781849822459;
$9. 99 e - book I SBN
9781849822930
Amazon; bn.com
A young poet retrieves
memories of wild acts of
imagination that once
bound him and his sister
together.
S E L F - P U B L I S H E D L I S T I N G S
WWW. P U B L I S H E R S WE E K LY. C O M 39
Prodigy
Abigail Easton. Cre-
a t e S p a c e . $ 1 2 . 9 9
paper ( 242p) , I SBN
9781496105363; $2.99
e-book ASIN B00IQR-
WNB8
Amazon; bn.com
A musical prodigy is caught in a down-
ward spiral when a dysfunctional relation-
ship leads to drug addiction. Fleeing to
the Australian rain forest, she meets a man
sifting through the remains of his own
dark pastand who threatens to redefine
everything she knows about hope, love, and
music.
The Blue-Eyed Girl
William Goodson. Red
Square Press. $15.95
paper ( 376p) , I SBN
9 7 8 0 9 7 6 0 3 9 8 2 2 ;
$4. 99 e- book I SBN
9780976039846
Amazon; bn.com
A 1960s coed suffers date rape and keeps
quiet. A novel about the aftermathfor
assailant and victimthis is a story of con-
sequences and recovery.
Crosses to Bear
M. W. Gordon. Swi f t
Creeks Press. $14.95
paper ( 336p) , I SBN
9 7 8 0 9 8 4 8 7 2 3 2 9 ;
$2. 99 e- book ASI N
B00DPX3WPY; BN ID
2940148229919
Amazon; bn.com
An international law professor enters the
witness protection program and becomes
fly fishing guide Macduff Brooks in Mon-
tana. When a murdered woman is nailed to
a cross tied to his boat trailer, Brooks must
find the killer while dodging the criminals
who want to discover his new identity.
Boon Juster or The Reason for Every-
thing
Garth Hallberg. The Reason for Every-
thi ng. $15. 95 paper ( 488p) , ISBN
9780991377039; $3.99 e-book ISBN
9780991377008
Amazon
Where did America go wrong? Did it
start with faking the moon landings? As
executor of the will of
astronaut Boon Juster, a
once-successful ad man
must find out if his high
school hero really did
swat the juiciest hang-
ing curveball in the uni-
verse. A darkly comic
tale of Americas exceptionalism and fac-
ing down the tyranny of youthful dreams.
Smoke and Mirrors: The Suspicious
Deaths of the Bioweaponeers
C.R. Harris. Lennox Books Limited. $19.99
paper (380p), ISBN 9780992649739;
$4. 99 e- book I SBN
9780992649708
authl.it/u3; Amazon;
bn.com
A conspiracy thriller
about international jour-
nalist Chloe Moreau, who
is drawn into a terrorist
plot while investigating the mysterious
deaths of the bioweaponeers.
Murder in the Lab
Leonid Heifets. Dor-
rance Publishing. $13
paper ( 132p) , ISBN
9 7 8 1 4 8 0 9 0 9 3 9 7 ;
$ 8 e - b o o k I S B N
9781480908017
dorrance.stores.yahoo.
net
The FBI must decide whether two mur-
ders in a genetics lab are the result of petty
employee jealousy or international espio-
nage.
Chords, Words and Some News from
Times Long Past
Barry Hgstrm. Cre-
a t e S p a c e . $ 1 1 . 9 8
paper ( 346p) , I SBN
9 7 8 1 4 9 4 9 7 3 7 0 4 ;
$3. 99 e- book I SBN
9781467595742
Amazon
This story spans 50
years in a changing world.
Good people do bad things,
bad things happen to good people, and
history always catches up.
The Jasmine Tree: Love in the Time of
Revolutions
Maha Khalid. Maha Khalid. $12.99
paper (246p), ISBN 9781495491634;
$5. 99 e-book ASIN
B00I7RIQQS
Amazon; bn.com
In a time of turmoil
and change, two strang-
ers meet in the ancient
city of Cairo, an Ara-
bian girl of noble ori-
gins with complicated
past and a dashingly handsome and daring
American journalist. They fall in love but
nothing seems to be easy.
The Flies of August
P.J. Lee. Saltwater Publishing. $9.49 paper
(287p), ISBN 9780989458801; $2.99
e-book ASIN B00BMWE8F8; BN ID
2940016263533
Amazon; bn.com
A prominent executive is gutted with
a garden tool amid
his rhododendrons,
and rookie detective
Donna Bradley blun-
ders in her search for a
teenage runaway. But
as the towns startling
secrets are uncovered,
Donnas search for a killer becomes a search
for herself.
The Vinyl Enigma
Robert Love. eBookIt. $2.99 e-book ISBN
9781456621315
thevinylenigma.com
An alien artifact that
generates music through
advanced nanotechnol-
ogy has been found in
London, with profound
implications for human
history and the role of
music.
S E L F - P U B L I S H E D L I S T I N G S
P U B L I S H E R S WE E K LY A P R I L 2 1 , 2 0 1 4 40
Gludmans Proof
Mat t hew Mar ul l o. Cr e-
ateSpace. $12.95 paper (306p), ISBN
9781484150412; $4.95 e-book ASIN
B00F69IDDG
Amazon; bn.com
A great mathema-
ticians cryptic poem
leads an investigative
reporter to the most
astounding proof in his-
tory: the existence of
heaven. And thats just the beginning.
This Is Where It Gets
Interesting: Stories
John H. Matthews. Six
Slug Books. $13. 99
paper (202p), ISBN
9 7 8 0 6 1 5 6 4 4 7 5 2 ;
$7. 99 e-book ISBN
9780615880662
www.sixslug.com
Psychics working at the DMV, a retire-
ment community run like a dictatorship, a
summer fest featuring chili that summons
the deadall figure in 28 darkly comic
stories.
The Risk of Returning
Shirley and Rudy Nelson. Nelson Fam-
ily Partnership. $18 paper (364p), ISBN
9781614681380
www.tbmbooks.com;
Amazon
Ted Peterson, age 40,
returning to Guatemala
to uncover the reason
for his fathers disap-
pearance, finds himself
caught in a culture of
violence and fear.
Trinity Stones: The Angelorum Twelve
Chronicles
L. G. O Connor. She
Writes Press. $18.95
paper ( 366p) , ISBN
9 7 8 1 9 3 8 3 1 4 8 4 1 ;
$4. 95 e-book ISBN
9781938314858
Amazon; bn.com
On her 27th birthday,
New York investment banker Cara Col-
lins learns that she is one of 12 chosen ones
prophesied to lead a final battle between
the forces of good and evil.
Orange Groves
Paul Phillip Peters. CreateSpace. $12.69
paper (p), ISBN 9781479175857; $2.99
e-book ASIN B00997K244
www.paulphillippeters.com
Outside the sleepy
and tight-lipped town
of Bedlam, Fla. , the
bells of rural Orange
Groves High School
sing of murder, lies, and
secrets.
New Market
John S. Powell. Hawfields Press. $18.95
paper (300p), ISBN 9780962989902;
$8.99 e-book ASIN B00JD17Q7M
Amazon; bn.com
A c omi ng- of - a ge
Ci vi l War novel i n
whi ch 258 unt r i ed
teenage cadets seek to
prove themselves on
the bloody battlefield of
New Market, Va.
Soul Pebbles: Let The Wildflowers
Bloom, Book 1
Luann Reynolds. Skinny
Leopard Media. $16
paper ( 360p) , ISBN
9 7 8 0 9 8 5 8 9 6 1 2 6 ;
$3. 99 e-book ISBN
9780985896102
Amazon; bn.com
Sarahs life changes drastically from the
affluent politeness of Southern family cul-
ture to the shocking crudeness of death,
destruction, and mayhem of 1862 Savan-
nah, Ga.
The Awareness
Ge ne S t o ne & J o n
Doyle. The Stone Press.
$14.95 paper (221p),
ISBN 9780988879577;
$9. 99 e- book ASI N
B00J7VEXGA
Amazon
The story of four animalsa dog, a bear,
a pig, and an elephanton the day that all
mammals gain consciousness and go to war
against humans.
Belated and Other Stories
Elisabeth Russell Tay-
lor. Kimblewood Press.
$14.99 paper (266p),
ISBN 9781491285312;
$6. 99 e-book ASIN
B00IKX3K7E
Amazon; bn.com
In 16 stories, veteran
author Russell Taylor
examines the unspoken deals brokered in
every marriage, the inherent menace of
daily exchanges, and the secret lives of the
unattached. Includes a retelling of Eugene
Onegin.
Castle Lake
Thomas A. Ryerson.
The Isis Press. $16.95
paper ( 288p) , ISBN
9 78- 09 80037708;
$5. 97 e-book ISBN
9780981378169
Amazon; Kobo; bn.com
An old-fashioned ghost story but also a
stirring tale of revenge at any costeven
ones soul.
Killer Miracle
Laura F. Sanchez. ABQ Press. $15.95 paper
(264p), ISBN 9780988539594
Amazon; abqpress.com; Ingram; bn.com
A plague of miracu-
lous images thrusts a
New Mexico mountain
village into the media
spotlight, but the car-
nival turns dark when
the towns most beloved
artisan is murdered.
Priests and Warriors
Wal t er Jos eph Schenck Jr. i Uni -
verse. $52.95 hardcover (828p), ISBN
9781491713112; $4.99 e-book ISBN
981491713105
Amazon; bn.com
S E L F - P U B L I S H E D L I S T I N G S
WWW. P U B L I S H E R S WE E K LY. C O M 41
Thi s s t or y of t he
founding of the eternal
nation of Israel offers an
unprecedented render-
ing of biblical events.
The novel expl or es
vi ol ence, s exual i t y,
betrayal, and religious
conflicts.
A Sheepish Man
Maurice Segal. AuthorHouse. $9.92 paper
(132p), ISBN 9781456789497; $4 e-book
ISBN 9781456789503
Amazon; bn.com
In Cairo, a widowed
ace pilot plans to return
to Cape Town as soon as
WWII ends. He falls
in love with a much
y o unge r Ca na di a n
nurse, but when her first
love, a plastic surgeon whos been caring for
badly burned aircrew, arrives, a difficult
choice must be made. Based on the authors
experiences in WWII.
Moon Over the Western Bridge
Harry Sharp. Outskirts Press. $12.95 paper
(186p), ISBN 9781478723295; $9.99
e-book ASIN B00GY7996O
Amazon; bn.com
A sharp young Chi-
cago ad man is sent on
an unlikely journey to
find the composer of a
song written over 50
years ago.
Crystal Ships
Richard Sharp. CreateSpace. $12.95 paper
(374p), ISBN 9781492722922; $4.99
e-book ASIN B00H2JHT1A
(704) 362-1415
A sweeping saga of
American idealism and
disillusionment traces
the lives of seven friends
through two decades
of violence, hope, and
social revolution in the
60s and 70s.
Caroline Starts Over
Randi M. Sherman. FriesenPress. $20.99
paper (244p), ISBN 9781460231760;
$3.99 e-book ISBN 9781460231771
randimshermanbooks.com
Starting over isnt as easy as Caroline
Matthews had hoped it
would be. She is deter-
mined to recapture the
exciting uninhibited life
she had 20 years earlier
in San Francisco. Caro-
line has two decades of
catching up to do.
Lanethros
Richard Sills. Dorrance Publishing. $16
hardcover (176p), ISBN 9781480905559;
$11 e - bo o k I S BN
9781480905498
dorrance.stores.yahoo.
net
Lanethros is a cosmic
comedy that explores
the worst of humanity
through a prism of love
and understanding.
Seal of the King
Ra l ph Smi t h. Cr e-
a t e S p a c e . $ 1 9 . 9 9
paper ( 513p) , ISBN
9 7 8 1 4 9 1 0 8 9 5 0 7 ;
$2. 99 e-book ASIN
B00E52VRBA
Amazon; bn.com
The battle between dark and light rages,
and the world is on the cusp of a tipping
point. Will an age of darkness befall man-
kind or will the light prevail?
Second Hand Stops
Katie St. Claire. CreateSpace. $12.99
paper (346p), ISBN
9781494996697;
$3.99 e-book ISBN
9781495246791
Amazon
Julia Malone has
a destiny she never
imagined. Forced to
drink an unknown substance, her gifts
begin morphing into something extraor-
dinary. A mysterious benefac-
tor whisks her and five other
orphans to New York City, and life as they
know it will never be the same.
Out There
S a r a h S t a r k . L e a f
Storm Press. $17.95
paper ( 238p) , ISBN
9 7 8 0 9 9 1 4 1 0 5 0 7 ;
$9. 95 e-book ISBN
9780991410514
Amazon
A young army veteran travels to Mexico
by motorcycle to find the author of the clas-
sic novel that he believes saved his life in
Iraq.
To Love a Cat
Bi l l i Ti ne r. Ti n-
e r bo o ks . $10. 50
paper (254p), ISBN
9781495475009;
$2.99 e-book ASIN
B00IA7BNU6
Amazon
Catherine Jamess orderly life is turned
upside down when she becomes a foster
parent. Things really turn chaotic when
Detective Mitch Holt enters the picture.
Hes handsome, charming, and not what
Cat needsor so she thinks.
The Tunnel: 7th Sam Casey Mystery
S.D. Tooley. Full Moon Publishing. $26
hardcover (272p), ISBN 9780988868335;
$4.99 e-book ISBN 9780988868359
Amazon; bn.com
A tunnel in an aban-
doned building leads
street-savvy six-year-old
Nemo, a member of the
Concrete Community,
into a nightmarish scene.
Sam Casey, a part Native
American investigator, is on the case. A
blend of mystery and the paranormal.
A Perfect Armenian
Keri Topouzi an. Hyevan Publ i sh-
ing. $25.95 hardcover (336p), ISBN
9780985412401; $9.99 e-book ISBN
9780985412418
S E L F - P U B L I S H E D L I S T I N G S
P U B L I S H E R S WE E K LY A P R I L 2 1 , 2 0 1 4 42
Baker & Taylor; Amazon;
bn.com
A young Armeni an
master of disguises, Tavid
Kaloustian, avenges his
family and his people as he
deals in the dark, deadly
world of the opium trade.
Sleeping Dogs
Tony Vanderwarker. AuthorsPress. $16.95
paper (344p), ISBN 9781940857039;
$9.99 e-book ISBN 9781629143187
Amazon; bn.com; bookstores
Eleven unrecovered
nuke s l i e s c a t t e r e d
around the U.S. An old
B-52 pilot leads the hero,
whistleblower Howie
Collyer, to one of them
with an al-Qaeda sleeper
cell and the Pentagon on their tail. Wholl
get to the bomb first?
Line of Succession: The Price of Power
Michael Vandor. CreateSpace. $10.70
paper (294p), ISBN 9781495918384;
$3.99 e-book ASIN B00HFHKK1K
Amazon
Charismatic senator
Kathleen Canfield has
made history through her
election as vice president.
But as events propel her
to the presidency dur-
ing a crisis, elements in
the government plan to ensure she never
reaches the Oval Office.
The Rooms Are Filled
Jessica Null Vealitzek. She Writes
Press. $16. 95 paper ( 236p) , ISBN
9781938314582; $9.95 e-book ISBN
9781938314599
Amazon; bn.com
The coming-of-age story of two out-
casts brought together
by circumstancea nine-
year-old boy who just lost
his father, and a closeted
young woman starting
over.
Im Still Here
P o t t e r Wi c k wa r e .
Rolling Circle Press.
$14.99 paper (382p),
ISBN 9781494975067;
$4. 99 e - book ASI N
B00GQIPQG8; BN ID
2940148874447
(415) 497-8573; (415) 380-8978
A refugee from civil war in Central
America becomes leader of a gang in Los
Angeles. An American girl falls in love
with him and follows him back to El Sal-
vador after hes deported.
Eternal Redemption
Paul A. Wunderlich. Paul A. Wunderlich.
$1.75 e-book ASIN B00I5DZRIO
Amazon
An immortal king
must trespass into Hell
to revoke his deal with
the devil. He must find
redemption and the
true love he gave up.
Murder by Masquerade
Camden Wyatt. Dorrance Publishing. $27
paper (332p), ISBN 9781480909069; $22
e-book ISBN 9781480907683
dorrance.stores.yahoo.net
Lust, betrayal, revenge,
and murder. Its Hol-
lywood, where lying is
expected and nothing
is what it seemseven
when a leading man falls
to his death in front of
hundreds of witnesses.
Man from the Sky
Danny Wynn. Bacon Press Books. $6.99
paper (140p), ISBN 9780988877993;
$2. 99 e - book I SBN
9780991344307
Amazon; bn.com
When a stranger lands
in his backyard, high up
in the Mallorcan moun-
tains, 73-year-old Jaimes
life suddenly turns from
dull to dangerous.
The Belief in Angels
J. Dylan Yates. She Writes Press. $16.95
paper (322p), ISBN 9781938314643;
$9.95 e-book ISBN 9781938314650
Amazon; bn.com
From the Majdanek
death camp to a volatile
hippie household on the
East Coast, this narrative
of tragedy, survival, and
hope spans more than 50
years, from the 1920s to
the late 1970s.
Broken Allegiance (A Tom Kagan
Novel)
Mark Young. Mark Young Books.
$13.55 paper (346p),
ISBN 9780983266389;
$3. 99 e - book I SBN
9780983266306
Amazon; bn.com
A series of killings
cracks open police detec-
tive Tom Kagans past
as he strives to capture the killer before
another loved one is murdered.
HEALTH & FITNESS
Beating Arthritis: Alternative Cooking
Baker Dan. Baker Dan. $25 paper (130p),
ISBN 9780989438018; $7 e-book ISBN
9780989438025
www.bakerdan.com
This book presents
a method for prevent-
i ng a nd r e duc i ng
the inflammation of
chronic diseases such
as rheumatoid arthri-
tis and celiac disease by self-study and diet
change. Contains recipes that are gluten
free, dairy free, and with no added sugar
or fat.
Stick It in Your Ear: Get Yourself or
a Loved One Unstuck
from a Hearing Problem
De a no Ki ns e y. Cr e -
a t e S p a c e . $ 9 . 4 9
p a p e r ( 9 6 p ) , I S BN
9780615656953; $4.29
e-book ASIN B00AP-
S E L F - P U B L I S H E D L I S T I N G S
WWW. P U B L I S H E R S WE E K LY. C O M 43
T1JMO
Amazon; bn.com
A guidebook for anyone who lives with
someone who has trouble hearing. How to
improve your life and that of everyone else
in the home.
HISTORY
Finding Octave: The Untold Story of
Two Creole Families and Slavery in
Louisiana
Ni c k Do ugl a s . Cr e -
ateSpace. $26 paper (315p),
ISBN 9781493522088;
$16. 99 e- book ASI N
B00GMY4NVK
Amazon; bn.com
A family history that follows two Creole
families through a version of American his-
tory where whites, blacks, creoles, slaves,
and Native Americans cooperate, clash,
and coexist to form a unique society.
JUVENILE FICTION
The Casquette Girls
Alys Arden. FortheARTofit. $14.99 paper
(502p), ISBN 9780989757713; $3.99
e-book ISBN 9780989757720
Ingram; Amazon; bn.com
When Adele LeMoyne
and her father return to
New Orleans after the
mandatory evacuation,
the hurricane aftermath
quickly becomes muddled
with mayhem, murder, and
magic. Ages 12 and up.
The Secret of Alpine Valley
Paul Crehan. Paul Crehan. $6.99 e-book
ISBN 9780615920573
www.anovelsite.com
A struggling mill town concocts a secret
plan to attract tourists. The plan succeeds
beyond all expectations,
the town grows by leaps
and boundsuntil the
mayors son and daughter
discover theres a secret
behind the secret of Alpine
Valley. But should it be
revealed? Ages 913.
Serge Backwards
Rob Gruen. CreateSpace.
$9. 95 pa pe r ( 112p) ,
ISBN 9781494483906;
$9. 95 e - bo o k AS I N
B00IOE8AC4
(917) 951-1524
A singing mailbox, electric dental
flossmiddle-schooler Serge Everetts
inventions went nowhere. But when Serge
invents a way to send drops from a drippy
faucet back up the spout, he gets reversed
through time as the rest of the world
moves forward. Can Serge ever turn himself
around? Ages 812.
A Healing Heart
Melissa A. Hanson. Melissa A. Han-
s on. $9. 95 pa pe r ( 270p) , I SBN
9780615600741; $4.99 e-book ASIN
B0070UAMU6; BN ID 2940013673113
Amazon; bn.com
Bai l eys f ami l y was
killed in a traffic accident,
and shes still plagued
by nightmares. Then she
meets Collin, a senior at
her high school, who has
his own painful past. As
their romance grows, Baileys heart begins
to heal, but shes afraid she could lose
everything she loves again. But love and
healing come in unexpected forms.. Ages
11 and up.
Broken Covenant
Teresa Williams Irvin.
He a r t Chi l d. $16. 95
pa pe r ( 303p) , I SBN
9780979939556
Amazon
Desperate to flee her
mothers control, Rebecca devises a plan
that will allow her to keep a closely held
secret, even if it means placing herself in
mortal danger. Set during the American
revolution. Ages 12 and up.
Auvreria
Viktoriya Molchanova. CreateSpace. $11.11
paper (146p), ISBN 9781494942342;
$2.99 e-book ASIN B00HUJ8RJA
Amazon; bn.com
Nicole is just your aver-
age teenuntil extraordinary
events start happening. Her adventures
take her to the center
of the universe and the
outer limits of her own
potential. A dizzying ride
through space, time, and
fantastic realms, and a
story of two sisters who
save the universe by looking out for each
other. Ages 12 and up.
The Forgotten Fairytales
Angela Parkhurst. CreateSpace. $15.99
paper (360p), ISBN 9781494942977;
$2.99 e-book ASIN B00I7995T8; BN ID
2940148172536
Amazon; bn.com
Sent to a boardi ng
school, Norah cannot
believe her classmates are
the reincarnations of fai-
rytale charactersor that
shes fallen for the Big Bad Wolf. Ages 12
and up.
Freaking Green
Laura F. Sanchez. ABQ Press. $11.95 paper
(288p), ISBN 9781482714005; $3.99
e-book ASIN B00FFBDY2U
Amazon; bn.com; Ingram
Teen drama queen Jas-
mine pursues her high
school dreams while her
family tries to cut their
carbon footprint by 80
percent in order to get $5
million. Ages 12 and up.
The Tale of Dottie: A Wumperdump
Land Book
Richard Sills. Dorrance Publishing. $22
hardcover (36p), ISBN 9781480905542;
$ 1 7 e - b o o k I S BN
9781480905481
dorrance.stores.yahoo.net
Taking inspiration
from classic childrens
tales, this is a story about
a dolls quest to become a
real girl. Ages 37.
S E L F - P U B L I S H E D L I S T I N G S
P U B L I S H E R S WE E K LY A P R I L 2 1 , 2 0 1 4 44
Astral and the Higgles
Colleen Wenn. Colleen Wenn.
$3.99 e-book ISBN 9780980627503
Amazon
Astral the alien feels at home in Spook-
leville because no one is afraid of him.
But tiny creatures called
Higgles stow away on his
spaceship and escape into
Spooklevilles forest. Astral
must catch them before they
destroy the forest. Ages 48.
JUVENILE
NONFICTION
C Is for Chicago
Maria Kernahan, illus. by Michael Schaf-
buch. Dry Climate Studios. $19.95 hard-
cover (56p), ISBN 9780985642938
www.dryclimatestudios.com
A charming AZ tour
through the Windy City.
Bold graphics and playful
rhymes offer a fresh look at
the icons, sights, and tastes
of this world-class city.
Ages 37
Anatomy & Physiology: Bones, Mus-
cles, and the Stuff That Connects Bones
and Muscles
April Chloe Terrazas.
Crazy Brainz. $19.99
hardcover (50p), ISBN
9780991147243
www. Apri l Chl oeTer-
r azas . com; Amazon;
bn.com
A colorfully illustrated, easy-to-under-
stand guide for all ages. Explore the skel-
eton, examine bone anatomy up close, and
get a detailed look at the three types of
muscle, closing with the neuromuscular
junction. Fifth in the Super Smart Science
Series. Ages 6 and up.
LAW
Law School Follies
Frederic White. PatCarol Publications.
$10 paper (145p), ISBN 9781494809867;
$2.99 e-book ASIN B00HZ34IWQ
Amazon; bn.com
White lays bare the wacky truth sur-
rounding lawyers and
legal education, including
prickly profs, unpredict-
able students, overbearing
parents, conniving admin-
istrators, false alarms, and
surprise visitors.
NONFICTION
Mama, Did They Drop the Bomb?
Redway Havens. Redway Media. $15
paper (256p), ISBN 9780988676213
Amazon; bn.com
A Nor t h Texas man
struggles to find himself
and his connection to the
world amid the hostile
chaos of post-9/11 America.
From the Ground Up: Overcome the
Past and Rebuild Your Confidence
Tammy Jo. Tammy Jo. $12.97 paper
(216p), ISBN 9780615976402; $9.99
e-book ASIN B00IMNQLBY
Amazon; bn.com
The author was bullied,
abused, and suffered emo-
tionally. In her attempt
to commit suicide at age
12, she committed mur-
der instead. Her victim:
her mother. This is her story of how she
overcame.
The Tortured Pastry
Chef: Declaration of
Injured Persons Rights
Dean Kropp. Wheatmark.
$17. 95 paper (234p),
ISBN 9781604940473;
$9. 99 e - book ASI N
B00JAN6048; BN ID 2940149224203
www.wheatmark.com
A pastry chef who was injured in car
accidents discovered a faulty no-fault sys-
tem in New York.
Were Crazy! A Memoir About U.S.
Values
Bert McLachlan. CreateSpace. $17.50
paper (489p), ISBN 9781493664672;
$9.99 e-book ISBN 9781311723413
Amazon; bn.com
A guidebook for our
children, to make sure they
understand the mess the
seniors are leaving them,
and what values they will
need to deal with it.
The Corruption of Innocence: A Jour-
ney for Justice
Lori St. John. Creative Production Ser-
vices. $29.99 hardcover (493p), ISBN
9780989040129; $10.99 e-book ISBN
9780989040143
Amazon; bn.com
Looki ng to remake
her life, the author vol-
unteers to review cases
of wrongful conviction.
She champions the case of
an innocent man on death row, making it
an international cause, with the pope and
Mother Teresa in her corner.
Tales of a Jailhouse Librarian: Challeng-
ing the Juvenile Justice System One
Book at a Time
Ma r y be t h Ze ma n. Vi ne ga r Hi l l
Press. $15. 99 paper ( 347p) , ISBN
9780615953878
Amazon; bn.com
In jail, books and educa-
tion can be more powerful
than bars. Faced with the
boys unremitting boredom
and a thirst for reading, the
book lady gives them the opportunity to
share hope in a system that crushes dreams.
PERFORMING ARTS
The Trial of Phillis Wheatley
Ronald B. Wheatley. CreateSpace. $14.99
paper (190p), ISBN 9780615645315;
$5.99 e-book ASIN B00I0D381C
thetrialofphilliswheatley.net
A theatrical depiction of a unique moment
in American history. In 1772, 18-year-
old Phillis Wheatley, a
household slave, appeared
before 18 of Bostons most
prominent men to defend
the premise that she was
the author of a collection
of poems.
S E L F - P U B L I S H E D L I S T I N G S
WWW. P U B L I S H E R S WE E K LY. C O M 45
POETRY
The Memory of the Dustwhistler: And
Other Poems
Nishth Singh. Nishth Singh. $5.38 paper
(66p), ISBN 9780615953045; 99 e-book
ASIN B00HS8Z9CQ
Amazon; bn.com
Fifty-three poems. A
poem relentlessly plows
our glaciers of solitude
and love, our seas of loss
and nostalgia. There is a
poem for the frozen city in your heart, one
for the easy prairies, and one for the lands
where the Gypsies roll in.
POLITICAL SCIENCE
The Gadfly Report
R.C. Whittaker. Dorrance Publishing. $17
paper (186p), ISBN 9781480902091; $12
e-book ISBN 9781480904798
dorrance.stores.yahoo.net
An impassioned plea
from the author for those
who respect traditional
values, the Constitution,
and capitalism to be aware
of the danger threatening
America.
PSYCHOLOGY
Obscene Thoughts: A Pornographers
Perspective on Sex, Love, and Dating
Dave Pounder. CreateSpace. $19.95 paper
(342p), ISBN 9781479203062; $19.95
e-book ISBN 9781630036942
Amazon; bn.com
A pornographer exam-
ines progressive, intellec-
tual, and academic con-
structs regarding mate
selection, sexual behavior,
and the reasons why people
cheat.
RELIGION
Success Is Your Birth-
right: Gods Success
R. S t a n t o n Tu c k e r.
Christelle, Stanton, & Lil-
lie Publishing. $14.99
pa pe r ( 242p) , I SBN
9780989567510
www.christellestantonlillie.com
The book takes the reader on an inspi-
rational journey to bounce back from lifes
difficult moments using the biblical story
of Joseph as its basis.
The Book of Extremely Common Prayer
Nathaniel Whitten. Vitally Impor-
t a nt . $8. 95 pa pe r ( 128p) , I SBN
9780977480753; $2.99 e-book ASIN
B00I8Z4OTM
Amazon
Avoiding stilted lan-
guage and dated pleas,
Whitten offers prayers and
petitions that treat such
aspects of modern life as
automatic outdoor light sensors and mus-
tard, as well as life-or-death situations.
SELF-HELP
Play It Away: A Workaholics Cure for
Anxiety
Charlie Hoehn. Hoehn
Zone. $14.99 paper (168p),
ISBN 9780615918174;
$2. 99 e - bo o k AS I N
B00IACZECE
Amazon; bn.com
One mans journey: what caused his anx-
iety, the aha moment that led to his cure,
and how he got his life back.
Entrepreneurship: The Best Way to
Prosperity
Eric Levels. Outskirts Press. $14.95 paper
(92p), ISBN 9781478721796; $12.79
e-book ASIN B00IJZQ1FQ
Amazon; bn.com
This book is about going
above and beyond the ordi-
nary to the extraordinary.
Levels intends to inspire,
motivate, and encourage
readers to pursue their
destiny in life.
TRAVEL
How Do We Love?
Danielle Landis. Gypsy
House. $1.99 e-book ISBN
9780615774756
www.papasitaly.com
The true adventures of
Danielle and her grandfather,
Papa, as they time-travel across Italy
and New York, discovering truth and the
meaning of life and unconditional love.
Searching for Pekpek: Cassowaries and
Conservation in the New Guinea Rain-
forest
Andrew L. Mack. Cas-
s o w a r y C o n s e r v a -
ti on and Publ i shi ng.
$19. 95 paper (235p),
ISBN 9780989390309;
$9. 99 e - book ASI N
B00J0EL8KS; BN ID 2940149162994
www.cassowaryconservation.com
A 20-year saga of exploration and travel
in Papua New Guinea to study the elusive
cassowary, and the authors evolution from
researcher to conservationist. An insiders
view of why conservation is failing.
Lost & Found in Egypt: A Most Unlikely
Journey Through the Shifting Sands of
Love and Loss
Ky l a Me r wi n. KMC
Media Co. $12.95 (126p),
ISBN 9780991068906;
$2. 99 e - bo o k I S BN
9780991068913
kmc-media.com/books
With more dumb guts
than preparation, a middle-aged woman
with a desk job takes a solo journey to the
Middle East on the get-there-and-wing-it
plan.
Paradise Imperfect: An American Fam-
ily Moves to the Costa Rican Mountains
Margot Page. Yellow House Press. $14.95
paper (278p), ISBN 9780615893648;
$9.99 e-book ASIN B00GYG986Q
Amazon; www.margot-page.com
Margot and Anthony are typical par-
entstwo jobs, three kids, and a little
chr oni c s t r es s about
money. Until one night
they make a decision that
will change their family.
Soon, theyre living in
Costa Rica, hours from the
nearest paved road.
S E L F - P U B L I S H E D L I S T I N G S
Belated and Other Stories
Elisabeth Russell Taylor. Kimblewood Press,
14.95 paper (266p) ISBN 978-1-4912-8531-2
The transforming power of love crip-
ples hearts and minds in this dark, enig-
matic collection from Taylor (Pillion Rid-
ers, Mother Country). In these 16 shorts,
the author
pierces the fa-
cade of every-
day life to re-
veal isolation
and helpless-
ness. Les
Amantes is a
farewell to fi-
delity and sa-
cred memory
after a lovers
death. In
Charlotte, a Jewish woman struggles
against ghosts of conscience, need, and
loyalty in post-World War II England.
The dark fable Take Carein which
guests overrun a homeis reminiscent of
the work of August Strindberg. A coun-
selors security is shattered by a patient in
Supporting Roles. What is not revealed
in these tales is as dramatic as what is,
with Taylor hinting at different and tan-
talizing narrative possibilities. These tales
of longing, jealousy, and loss reveal the
discomfiting effects of love on the mind,
soul, and body.
Ghosts at the Loom: A Novel
T. Zachary Cotler. MP Publishing, $14.95 pa-
per (224p) ISBN 978-1-84982-245-9
Colters lyrical novel is an evocative,
complex, and hallucinatory eulogy for re-
ality. Wandering poet Rider Sonnenreich
embarks on a surreal quest across Eu-
ropeand into the human mindstrug-
gling to explore borderlands between re-
ality and dream, memory and fantasy, as
he searches for his sister Leya. Elegant set-
tings are revealed as spiritual vacuums, as
P U B L I S H E R S WE E K LY A P R I L 2 1 , 2 0 1 4 46
Rider travels
Europe in the
footsteps of de-
parted poets.
As the nature
of existence
and perception
is ruthlessly
challenged, so
too is logic and
the readers ex-
pectations. The
result is both frustrating and heartbreak-
inga haunting novel that plumbs the
depths of the human psyche. Colter has
written a philosophically rich antinarra-
tive that refuses simplistic interpretation
and casts doubt on much that we hold
dear.
In the Shape of a Man
Paul Clayton. CreateSpace, $11.69 paper
(326p) ISBN 978-1-4904-0942-9
Claytons (Carl Melcher Goes to Vietnam)
latest provides a portrait of neighboring
families living in the San Francisco Bay
area in 1999. Enjoying the trappings of
the good life, Allen and Tina Collins find
their relationship tense as Tina displays
hostility toward Reynaldo, their seven-
year-old adopted son, and Allen prefers
ignoring the abuse to intervening. Twen-
ty-something
neighbors Rad
and Tawny,
meanwhile,
deal with mon-
ey woes, Rads
inability to
find a sponsor
as a skate-
boarder, his
hostile father,
and a former
roommates gi-
ant Burmese python, which is living in
their garage. Allens increasing unwill-
ingness to defend Reynaldo and his pa-
tronage of a raucous bar contrast with
Tawnys resolve to take control of her life.
At times, Claytons novel slams the reader
with its message about evil, choice, and
responsibility. Tawny and Rad achieve in-
sights about the importance and redemp-
tive prospects of love, while the erratic
Tina and the irresolute Allen show the
flip side of what the shape of a man can
conceal. The books contrived resolution,
however, seems trite and clumsy.
The Book of Extremely Common
Prayer
Nathaniel Whitten. Vitally Important Books,
$8.95 paper (128p) ISBN 978-0-9774807-5-3
Whitten adapts the ancient practice of
prayer to the everyday, anxiety-provoking
hassles of the modern age in his humorous
collection. Through his prayers, we see a
narrator grap-
pling with
contemporary
problems, from
job interviews
and finicky
Wi-Fi to diet-
ing and losing
faith. What
emerges is a
portrait of our
times that is
both irreverent
and tender. The narrator prays for simple
things (getting his lost wallet returned
and the wonders of an automatic outdoor
light sensor) and extravagant desires
(for my screenplay to be optioned by
Warner Brothers and to run into Scar-
lett Johansson and have her fall for me
big time) in his brutally honest and un-
mistakably human voice. Whitten blends
his astute observations of modern woes
with a search for meaning in the mundane
to create a funny, earnest, and poignant
collection of appeals.
The Demon of Stonewood: Book II
of the Stonewood Trilogy
Jeremy Hayes. Northlord Publishing, $13.99
paper (321p) ISBN 978-0-9918642-2-5
In Hayess (The Thieves of Stonewood) sec-
ond installment in the Stonewood Trilo-
gy, Harcourt, the civic-minded and hu-
mane leader of the Thieves Guild, squares
off with sinister Chief Magistrate Krom-
mel, who, as High Priest Sarvin, covertly
leads the traitorous Demon Cult. Krom-
Fiction
Reviews
WWW. P U B L I S H E R S WE E K LY. C O M 47
mel and sultry
assistant Devi-
Lynn plot to re-
store demon
Lord Lucivenus
to power, but
need certain
types of human
hearts to accom-
plish this. Odd
alliances, devi-
ous plots, and
colorful charac-
ters, such as court wizard Fezzdin and lus-
cious former pirate Evonne, keep the story
moving at a quick pace. And if Hayess
breathless plot lacks the brooding histori-
cal atmosphere or drawn-out conflict of
Tolkien, his picaresque heroes not only
oppose evil, but offer a rollicking good
time in so doing.
The Good Lawyer
Thomas Benigno. Landview Books, $11.66
paper (338p) ISBN 978-1-4636-0481-3
Benigno presents an engaging but dif-
fuse picture of legal skirmishing and
moral ambiguity in the saga of Nick
Mannino, a young attorney with the Le-
gal Aid Society of New York City. The
shocking suicide of Dina Rios, who leaps
to her death from the courthouse after
Mannino successfully defends her rapist,
introduces the conflict of a lawyers obli-
gation to his client versus the claims of
justice. This conflict colors Manninos
representation of 24-year-old Pedro Gue-
vara, accused of sexually abusing three
young boys.
While vigor-
ously defend-
ing Gue-
varaat a
time when the
Spiderman
rapist is ter-
rorizing New
YorkMan-
nino struggles
to define his
relationship
with wealthy girlfriend Eleanor Vernou.
The interesting glimpses of courtroom
procedure and a cast of eccentric charac-
ters will intrigue readers, but do not fully
offset the books somewhat unconvincing
plot.
The Many Loves of Mila
Inna Swinton. Matchgirl Press, $12.99 paper
(258p) ISBN 978-0-9899930-2-9
In Swintons first installment in her
Mila in America series, Mila Simon has a
stable but unfulfilling marriage to invest-
ment banker Cliff. She finds excitement
elsewhere, beginning an affair with the-
ater director Dominic. After Mila tells
Cliff about the affair but continues to
have contact with Dominic, her husband
leaves and she returns home to live with
her Russian Jewish parents in the New
Jersey suburbs. There, Mila slowly tries to
put her life back together, sees a therapist,
and returns to
the dating
scene in a ma-
jor way. While
Swinton deliv-
ers snappy di-
alogue and
ably captures
the night-
mares of the
singles scene,
her protago-
nist is under-
developedand the novel suffers for it.
Mila is, by turns, scattered, hysterical,
and unable to take advice, and she acts
without forethought, leaving readers frus-
trated with her character and confused
about her motivations and where the nar-
rative is going.
Myths of a Merciful God
Cynthia Celin. Little Feather Books, $16 pa-
per (268p) ISBN 978-0-9913329-1-5
Sarah Miranda is a single mother,
working hard for herself and daughter
Tessie. But, when Tessie dies in a freak
accident, Sarah decides to take a trip
across the country to get some emotional
distance from the tragedy. Along the
way, she meets many people, including
Jackson, a schoolteacher who becomes a
friend and confidant. Sarahs journey
forces her to confront her past, her feel-
ings, and her inability to come to terms
with Tessies death. Ceilan has crafted a
complex tale of love and forgiveness that
forces readers
to confront one
of lifes most
devastating oc-
currences: the
accidental
death of a
child. Readers
will identify
with Sarah
from the start.
And while the
narrative lacks dramatic conflict at
times, the relationship between Sarah
and Jackson is strongly developed and
believable.
Prodigy
Abigail Easton. CreateSpace, $14.99 paper
(242p) ISBN 978-1-4961-0536-3
Singer and guitarist Grace Taylor, a
musical prodigy, is a young woman in
trouble. First she is raped by Nicholas,
her boyfriend, and then abandoned by
her family when she reveals that she is
pregnant and wants to keep the baby.
Complications at childbirth lead to the
downward spiral of drug abuse and a re-
union with
Nicholasbut
also to an es-
cape to the
Australian
rainforest and a
search for
peace. Easton
puts her hero-
ine through
the ringer, but
at times the
story devolves
into clich. As Grace blunders from one
mistake to the next, readers will feel that
her problems have less to do with unre-
solved issues and coping mechanisms
and more to do with the author creating
elaborate trials and tribulations for her
characters. Additionally, many of the
supporting characters are too broadly
drawn, and the books resolution is un-
likely to satisfy readers.
R E V I E W S
P U B L I S H E R S WE E K LY A P R I L 2 1 , 2 0 1 4 48
The Rule of Ranging,
Book 2: Into the Valley
of Quietus
Timothy M. Kestrel. Timothy Kestrel Arts &
Media, $33.95 hardcover (332p) ISBN 978-0-
9886660-2-3
In Kestrels uneven sequel to Eclipse of
the Midnight Sun, the elderly Mr. Morton
continues telling journalist Henry Ray-
mond of his experiences as a wanderer
named Finn in
18th-century
America. As
the British and
French strug-
gle for influ-
ence with Na-
tive American
tribes and
fight each oth-
er, stalwart mi-
litia leader
Robert Rogers
contends with incompetent British offi-
cials and leads his rugged Rogers Rang-
ersof which Finn becomes a mem-
berin irregular warfare. Amid the tur-
moil, Finn enjoys the company of friends
Fronto, Gus, and Daniel, and mourns the
loss of his love, Rosie, while finding oc-
casional solace elsewhere. Much like the
previous volume, Kestrels novel is full
of adventure, battle, derring-do, and ex-
citement. However, underdeveloped
characters and poorly constructed dia-
loguealong with the occasional anach-
ronismwill take readers out of an oth-
erwise engaging story.
The Savant of Chelsea
Suzanne Jenkins. CreateSpace, $10.99 paper
(214p) ISBN 978-1-4923-8694-0
This gripping novel from Jenkins de-
livers complex
twists and
turns from start
to finish. Alex-
andra Donicka
is a talented
but unstable
brain surgeon
living in New
York City.
When her
mother dies,
Alexandra trav-
els to New Orleans to face the tragedies
and secrets of her youth. These include
childhood abuse and the birth of a child,
who was taken from Alexandra by her
mother more than two decades ago. As
Alexandra searches for her daughter, she
must grapple with long-hidden emotions
and discover her own humanity. Jenkins
creates fully realized, believable characters
and ably portrays mental illness in this
dark tale that provides nonstop thrills and
culminates in an explosive and unexpect-
ed finale.
Spell on Me
Serge Smith. Amazon Digital Services, $0.99
e-book (150p) ISBN 978-1-310-63196-2
An unnamed man takes a walk on the
beach and feels he grasps the essence of
eternity, only to be struck by how mean-
ingless his life has been, with its pursuit
of material successes. The man keeps a
diary of his ef-
forts to under-
stand this life-
altering experi-
ence and recon-
nect with his
previous sense
of content-
ment, as he
struggles to
cope with his
new worldview.
Smiths novel
probes issues such as the meaning of life
and the possibility of life after death
but doesnt come up with any new an-
swers. Readers will likely find themselves
reflecting on their own lives. But because
the authors everyman never becomes a
fully realized character with whom read-
ers can identify, they may ultimately find
Smiths novel uncompelling.
Tribulation: A Novel of the Near
Future
Thomas A. Lewis. CreateSpace, $9.95 paper
(250p) ISBN 978-1-4947-6845-4
Lewiss winning apocalyptic novel fol-
lows the lives of William Trent, a former
U.S. president, and his journalist son,
Brian. Over the years, Brian has accumu-
lated enough information to be certain
that climate change is irrevocably impact-
ing the environment, and that the U.S. is
careening to-
ward a certain
reckoning. De-
spite his fami-
lys doubts,
Brian builds a
sustainable
compound in
West Virgin-
iaand when
the reckoning
does come, Bri-
an and his family hunker down to ride
out the environmental and economic dev-
astation. At the same time, they must
confront the world they have lost and
work to rebuild a new society. Lewiss
novel reflects the realities and dangers of
climate change in a way that is deeply
disturbing. His narrativeand its apoca-
lyptic scenariois so deftly constructed
that readers will clearly understand the
real stakes of climate change and the myr-
iad skills necessary for survival. Thankful-
ly, Lewis is never didactic with his mes-
sage. Instead, he provides a quickly paced
story replete with compelling characters
that will stay with readers long after the
final page is turned.
Trinity Stones: The Angelorum
Twelve Chronicles
L.G. OConnor. She Writes Press, $18.95 pa-
per (366p) ISBN 978-1-938314-84-1
On her 27th birthday, investment
banker Cara Collins learns of a $50 mil-
lion inheritance from her grandmother.
The only condition of the bequest is that
Cara can tell no one about the windfall
doing so would put lives at risk. Cara,
who is struggling with her feelings for
two very different men, also learns that
she is a Soul
Seeker: a hu-
man with spe-
cial powers and
a key role to
play in the bat-
tle between
Good and Evil.
In this first
book in the
Angelorum
Twelve Chroni-
cles, OConnor tackles important world-
building, while also kicking off the story
R E V I E W S
WWW. P U B L I S H E R S WE E K LY. C O M 49
with bang. Readers will have to contend
with the books confusing plot, however.
While the idea of a modern war between
angels and demons is fascinatingpartic-
ularly as it plays out in urban areas
readers will have trouble digesting the
books many concepts and plot points.
Still, fans of the genre able to move past
their initial confusion will find this an
entertaining read.
Nonfiction
Four Funerals and a Wedding:
Resilience in a Time of Grief
Jill Smolowe. She Writes Press, $16.95 paper
(258p) ISBN 978-1-938314-72-8
In under a year and a half, Jill
Smolowe lost her husband, her mother-
in-law, her sister, and her mother. Here
she mostly focuses on husband Joes diag-
nosis of cancer, his progress through che-
motherapy and remission, and his even-
tual death. In the process of telling her
story of love and loss, she reflects on
griefour narratives about grief, our re-
sponses to it,
and how we re-
cover. Smolowe
cites the work
of psychologist
George Bonan-
no extensively,
and, in sharing
her story, offers
thoughtful and
compassionate
guidance for
people going
through the grieving process with loved
ones. Her story is heartbreaking and
heartwarming, incisively written and ex-
tremely clear. Readers will find them-
selves sympathetic and eager to hear how
Smolowe coped with her losses and how
she negotiated societal expectations of
grief with grace and dignity. This is an
absolute must-read for people struggling
with loss.
Hair of the Corn Dog
A.K. Turner. Fever Streak Press, $12 paper
(220p) ISBN 978-0-9913759-2-9
The third book in the Tales of Imper-
fection series from Turner (This Little Pig-
gy Went to the
Liquor Store,
Mommy Had a
Little Flask), a
mother of two
from Idaho,
provides anoth-
er hilarious ac-
count of par-
enthood. A
self-admitted
neat freak, the
author details the important distinctions
between paper towels and dishcloths, and
wishes she could conduct a class high-
lighting these differences and then create
a test with various scenarios. Also a lover
of travel, she signs up for HomeExchange.
coma house-swapping servicein
hopes of a family holiday to an exotic lo-
cale, while pondering the headline Ida-
ho: Just Like New York, Only Different.
With her characteristic good-spirited,
self-deprecating humor, Turner describes
taking her kids to a childrens art camp
on the Jersey Shore and surviving a back-
to-school night ice cream unsocial.
Well paced, entertaining, and full of en-
dearing stories on parenting, this new ad-
dition to Turners popular series will leave
readers looking forward to the next in-
stallment.
A Million Steps
Kurt Koontz. Kurt Koontz, $15.95 paper
(212p) ISBN 978-0-615-85292-8
In 2012, Koontz, a retired sales execu-
tive, set out to walk the 490 miles of the
much-traveled Camino de Santiago pil-
grimage route in Spain. He joins numer-
ous other authors in writing about his
steps along the
famous path
and attempt-
ing to extrapo-
late some life
lessons from
his journey.
But here,
Koontz pro-
vides more of a
set of personal
journal entries
than a revelatory and deep reflection on
life, chronicling in detail the various
hostels where he stayed, food that he ate,
and friendships he formed
along the way. Unfortunate-
ly, Koontzs prose is flat and
fails to draw readers into his story. Addi-
tionally, while on his trip, the author
worries about his relationship with girl-
friend Roberta, but fails to paint the sort
of vivid picture of their life together that
would result in reader investment. In the
end, Koontz simply observes, I had no
eureka moments on the Camino.... In-
stead, just like life, I experienced a series
of meaningful and small insights. I be-
lieve we all have an internal light, and
the Camino acts as a rheostat to greatly
increase the intensity.
Pathways to the King: Living a
Life of Spiritual Renewal and
Power
Rob Reimer. Carpenters Son Publishing,
$14.99 paper (208p) ISBN 978-0-9883962-0-3
In this forthright and sincere call to
revival, Reimer, the founder and lead
pastor of South Shore Community
Church in Bridgewater, Mass., details a
plan for Chris-
tians to expe-
rience and ex-
pand Gods
kingdom on
Earth. The
first step in
this process is
to personalize
ones identity
in Christ by
meditating on
scripture,
seeking God for revelation, and renew-
ing ones mind. Next, Reimer advises
individuals to pursue God, because, if
you understood who God was, and how
much you meant to Him, nothing
would keep you from pursuing Him
with all your heart. From there, Re-
imer suggests individuals continue
their spiritual renewal via purification,
praise, prayer, and persistence. Reimers
tendency to sermonize makes his prose
repetitive at times. And despite the au-
thors heartfelt passion and conviction,
his book is likely to be lost in the flood
of similar Christian titles.
R E V I E W S
P U B L I S H E R S WE E K LY A P R I L 2 1 , 2 0 1 4 50
Childrens
Books
Picture Books
Abayomi, the Brazilian Puma: The
True Story of an Orphaned Cub
Darcy Pattison, illus. by Kitty Harvill. Mims
House (www.mimshouse.com), $13.99 paper
(32p) ISBN 978-1-62944-001-9
Pattison and Harvill,
who collaborated on Wis-
dom, the Midway Albatross,
return with another real-
life animal survival story.
This one focuses on a puma
cub, born in Brazil in
2012, who was orphaned
after his mother was cap-
tured by a local chicken
farmer. Pattison briefly discusses the prob-
lems that human development poses for
Brazils pumas before moving on to the
cub, named Abayomi (happy meeting)
by his rescuers. The writing alternates be-
tween poetic moments (How does a
puma cub survive without his mother? He
must hunt) and reportorial passages, in-
cluding an account of how Abayomis
mother was captured, which bogs down
with extraneous detail (Suddenly, at 2:15
a.m., on November 27, she was caught in
the chicken coop trap). Tense changes
distract, and Abayomis story ends incon-
clusively, drawing murky parallels be-
tween the invisibility of wild
pumas to humans and scien-
tists need to remain out of
sight while caring for the
cub. Harvills muted, realis-
tic portraits of Brazilian fau-
na and flora give a strong
sense of the pumas threat-
ened natural habitat. End-
notes provide addition infor-
mation and resources. Ages 612.
Fiction
Orion Poe and the Lost Explorer
Will Summerhouse. Shake-A-Leg Press
(www.willsummerhouse.com), $8.99 paper
(288p) ISBN 978-0-9860614-0-0
Summerhouse draws on the real-life his-
torical mystery of Sir John Franklins lost
Arctic exploration to fuel this fast-paced
middle-grade adventure. After 11-year-old
Orion Poe helps a wounded stranger who
appears on the beach near his grandfathers
lighthouse, he winds up in possession of an
old dispatch box, in which he finds a mys-
terious map. After taking the map to Pro-
fessor Meriwether, an explorer, Orion is in-
vited to join an expedition to the Arctic, in
search of an uncharted island and Frank-
lins final fate.
The trip is
plagued by
troubles, and
Orion fights
for his life
against the
hostile envi-
ronment, a
traitor among
the crew, and
a hidden soci-
ety whose members are bent on maintain-
ing their secret existence at all costs. Sum-
merhouse delivers a rousing story filled
with action and tense moments, but Ori-
ons idiosyncratic voice lightens the overall
tone. As a protagonist, Orion is a bit too
good to be trueoverly resourceful and re-
silient, and subject to enough death-defy-
ing circumstances to lay low people twice
his agebut most young readers should
find it easy to suspend disbelief and enjoy
the ride. Ages 9up.
Comics
Nitro Battlers
Eric Kim. Inkskratch (inkskratch.storenvy.com),
99 e-book (22p) ISBN 978-0-9865747-1-9
Kim, the illustrator of Love as a Foreign
Language, tries his hand as a writer with an
entertaining, thinly veiled homage to the
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Its been
10 years since the Nitro Battlers arrived
on the crime-fighting scene, but only one,
Nitro Red, remains. After getting
trounced by a toothy monster that talks
like a stereo-
typical frat boy,
Nitro Red
hitches a ride
with a timid
barfly named
Ben and ex-
plains what led
the Nitro Bat-
tlers to dis-
band: the grue-
some death of
one of their
own (We were handed these powers and
told to go save the world. It never oc-
curred to us that we might die). Working
in black and white, Kim creates polished
scenes of melancholic angst, full-throttle
battle, and campy humor with equal skill.
Other 1980s and 90s influences pop up,
too: intrepid reporter Mary McMeal is a
ringer for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Tur-
tles April ONeil, and the (reunited) Ni-
tro Battlers vehicles combine to create a
mecha that owes a bit to Wheeljack from
Transformers. Its a thoroughly enjoyable,
nostalgic read with some emotional heft
behind it. A limited print edition is also
available. Ages 12up.
R E V I E W S
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