Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Childrens
& YA Books
Your Guide to
Self-Publishing
Marketing Indie
Kids Books
Hugh Howey on
Hard Work
57 New Titles Listed
Reviews Roundup
Young readers and fans interact with models of the characters from Sharyn Shieldss book The Wisdom
of Dr. Soles, at a promotional event at the Serenbe Farmers Market outside Atlanta.
20 P U B L I S H E R S W E E K L Y J U L Y 2 7 , 2 0 1 5
Fan Involvement
Kevin Christofora
marketed his Hometown
All Stars series to youth
sports leagues.
Distribution Challenges
21
Laura Barta made her My China Travel Journal part of a full set of interactive educational toys.
22 P U B L I S H E R S W E E K L Y J U L Y 2 7 , 2 0 1 5
analytics on Facebook, allows you to target your audience very effectively. Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram have all
been very helpful. However, Facebook
offers the best campaign targeting.
Childrens titles also lend themselves
to merchandise and giveawaysand
authors should consider
offering bookmarks, posters, or other items featuring
the books characters as
sales incentives. Laura Barta
took this approach even
further with her 2011 selfpublished book, My China
Travel Journal, which follows a pair of American
children as they visit China
and learn about its culture
and cuisine. Barta founded
Whole World Wide Toys,
a toy company, to include
the book as a learning tool
in its World Village Playset
China. The set also includes
color story cards for reading
comprehension, a fabric
play mat, and standup puzzle pieces.
I created World Village
Playsets to add an element
of creative play to the reading experience. The play mat features
several artistic details that are culturally
accurate and featured prominently in
the story line to help children become
more familiar with China, Barta says. I
believe that kids can learn in many different ways, and they can have fun while
they learn.
78%%
READ BY ADULTS
WHO ARE YOUR MOST
VALUABLE CONSUMERS?
Find Out September 16
at t h e
9.16.2015
N YC
CONVENE 32 OLD SLIP
R E G I S T E R T O D AY !
www.nielsen.com/kidsbooks
INDIE SUCCESS
fter 42 traditionally
published novels with
companies like Harlequin and NAL, Canadian
author Elle Kennedy has
found new successNew York Times
bestseller successwith her self-published romance series Off-Campus. Initially I wanted to publish it traditionally, Kennedy says of The Deal, the first
book in the series. But I kept hearing
how the new adult market was slowing
down, and how traditional pubs werent
doing enough with the genre, and that
only a select few authors were finding
success with new adult.
So, Kennedy made the decision to selfpublish, and the novel went on to hit the
USA Today bestseller list and was a top100 Kindle bestseller. The second book,
The Mistake, hit the New York Times digital bestseller list at #8 in May, as well as
the bestseller lists of the Wall Street Journal
and USA Today.
Before she began writing full-time,
Kennedy earned a degree in English literature from York University and then
worked as an English tutor and for a film
distribution company, driving to different movie theaters around Toronto,
where she lives, and making sure that
they were playing the right trailers
before the features.
I sold my first book to Silhouette
Romantic Suspense (now Harlequin
Romantic Suspense) in 2008, Kennedy
says. And at the same time also sold a
book to Harlequin Blaze and a novella to
Samhain Publishing. But this publishing hat trick didnt come without a struggle: I have stacks of rejection letters from
agents and editors, she says. Kennedy
says she enjoyed the freedom that traditional publishing offerednot having to
worry about the production process or the
24 P U B L I S H E R S W E E K L Y J U L Y 2 7 , 2 0 1 5
or 1,000 copies.
The Myth of
The Lazy Writer
Its all hard workwhether you do it yourself or with a publishers help
BY HUGH HOWEY
swingingher way.
Hugh Howey is the New York Times bestselling author of Wool, Sand, and The Shell Collector. He is
currently building a boat to sail around the world.
W W W . P U B L I S H E R S W E E K LY. C O M
25
New Titles
from Self-Publishers
Booksellers, publishers, librarians, and agents are encouraged to look at the
57 self-published titles listed below, with descriptions provided by their authors.
Some of these writers are waiting to be discovered; others have a track record and
a following and are doing it on their own. If you are a self-published author interested in listing titles in this section, please visit publishersweekly.com/pw-select
for more information.
FICTION
Cold Havana Tomb
Mark A. Dean. Aspy Press. $9.95 paper
(256p), ISBN 978-151430411-2;
$3.95 e-book,
ASIN B00Z85CEH4
Amazon
Burying Uncle
Manolos ashes in Havana
was not supposed to end in
a searing examination of
Martha Warrens life choices. But staring
down into his tomb, she learns a terrifying truth.
The Dark Side of Glory
Richard McMahon. Telemachus Press.
$14 paper (360p), ISBN 978-1-94074574-9; $2.99 e-book,
ISBN 978-1-93992746-0
Amazon, BN.com,
Ingram, Smashwords
The biographer of a
respected Army general
discovers a concealed murder, a secret
mistress, a baffling mystery, and a tragic
love in a world of surprises where nothing
is as it seems.
Forgotten Soldiers
Warren Martin. Little Elephant
Publishing. $16.99 paper (360p),
ISBN 978-0-9854727-0-2; $2.99
e-book, ISBN 978-0-9854727-1-9
Amazon
A cold war POW/MIA
mystery surrounding an
Air Force captain shot
down in Vietnam and the
untold story of why he
never returned home.
Hiatus
Belangela G. Tarazona. CreateSpace. $10
paper (188p), ISBN 978-87-93239-12-8;
$2.50 e-book, ASIN
B00WWUQXA2
Amazon, BN.com
A moving tale of
repression, regret, and
redemption.
Hot Box in the Pizza District
Thomas Keech. Real Nice Books. $24.95
hardcover (272p), ISBN 978-0-98369902-6; $2.99 e-book, ISBN 978-09836990-7-1
Amazon, Apple iBooks,
BN.com, Kobo
Tim and his two
20-year-old housemates
search for sex and love and
meaningful work, but their
search is distorted by the aftereffects of
wrenching betrayals, past and present.
Men Against Women
Laura McKinny. Stones Throw Press.
$19.95 paper (349p), ISBN 978-0-
26 P U B L I S H E R S W E E K L Y J U L Y 2 7 , 2 0 1 5
9962351-0-5
Amazon
The year 1984: Morgan,
a cop and single mom,
transfers to Los Angeless
77th District, where she
finds animosity on the
force due to a secret club called Men
Against Women.
Tub of Spiders
Jennifer Patterson and David Rowell
Workman. Lemon Press Publishing.
$15.99 paper (246p), ISBN 978-1936617-26-5
Amazon, BN.com,
Powells
Sara has become the
object of Russs obsession
after a horrible event, one
more that contributes to
the psychopathic behavior that makes
him into the killer he is.
Waiting and Other Stories
Joseph Richardson. CreateSpace. $9.95
paper (190p), ISBN 978-1-5121-9609-2;
$2.99 e-book, ASIN B00XZ6M08Q
Amazon, BN.com, BooksA-Million
A collection of short stories that range from the life
of a young inner-city boy to
stories from the early
1930s, when the writer
MYSTERY/THRILLER
Cathedral of Salt
Anthony LaRose. CreateSpace.
$7.99 paper (197p),
ISBN 978-1-5120-7684-4;
99 e-book,
ASIN B00XIFFDOM
Amazon, BN.com
Hungover and fresh
from the floor of a
Colombian jail, an FBI forensic pathologist must invoke all of his expertise to
help solve a mysterious murder in the
Cathedral of Salt.
Double Identity
Jaye C. Blakemore. Outskirts Press.
$29.95 hardcover (360p), ISBN 978-14787-5393-3; $21.95
paper (502p), ISBN 978-14787-5380-3; $3.99
e-book
Amazon, Apple iBooks,
BN.com, Flipkart, Kobo,
Oyster, Scribd,
Smashwords, Txtr
Identical twins and secret lives...
Romance, deceit, murder, and revenge...
After bizarre twists of circumstances, the
twins finally experience dual lives come
together as one.
Here After
Sean Costello. Red Tower Publications.
99 e-book, ASIN B00QBA31V8
Amazon, Apple iBooks,
BN.com, Kobo, Page
Foundry, Scribd
Following the death of
his 10-year-old son, physician Peter Croft embarks
on a search for a missing
child, pitting himself against an adversary whose own obsession defies all
reason.
Illusion of Splendor
J.D. Easley. Waterton Publishing. $17
paper (350p), ISBN 978-0-615-68604-2;
$5.99 e-book, ASIN B00L2LLKUK
Amazon, BN.com, Ingram
Paradise Undercover:
The Adventures of the Caribbeans
Top Private Investigator
Fernando Fernandez, PI Covert
Intelligence. $15.95 paper (348p),
ISBN 978-0-9861059-0-6
Amazon, BN.com
Dressing up as a priest,
chasing a phantom airplane across the Caribbean,
tracking down the family
of a mysterious foreigner
its all in a days work for
W W W . P U B L I S H E R S W E E K LY. C O M
27
SF/FANTASY/HORROR
Artificial Absolutes:
A Jane Colt Novel
Mary Fan. Red Adept
Publishing. $16.99
paper (376p), ISBN 978-1940215-03-7; $5.99 e-book,
ASIN B00BJBW5B6
Amazon, Apple iBooks, BN.com, Kobo
Cornwall, England,
1193. A woman defends
the manor during Prince
Johns rebellion and discovers she is rumored to be
the heir to King Arthurs
sword, Caliburn.
A Light Within
Dana Alexander. Dana Alexander. $11.95
paper (228p), ISBN 978-0-692-20512-9;
$3.99 e-book, ASIN B00O2N43N6
Amazon, Apple iBooks, BN.com, Kobo,
Page Foundry, Scribd
Loyalty beyond life
itself... Desire that whispers to defy an oath... At
risk is all theyve ever
shared and a future they
hope to keep.
Lux et Tenebrae:
The Three Siblings, Vol. 1
Jesse Wolfe. CreateSpace. $13.95 paper
(192p), ISBN 978-1-5087-2009-6;
$4.99 e-book, ASIN B00UB7IFO0
Theurbanwriter3.com,
Amazon
A supernatural thriller
about three siblings, their
ties to one another, those
they meet, and their supernatural heritage.
February 29th
Frank McCaughey. CreateSpace. $10.49
paper (278p), ISBN 978-1-5087-2856-6;
$3.99 e-book, ASIN B00U00DE8K
Amazon
A quirky and chaotic
tale of twin brothers Frank
and Jimmy, whose simple
lives start to unravel when
Franks big mouth gets
them in trouble with a
mysterious shopkeeper.
Gwendolyns Sword
E.A. Haltom. E.A. Haltom. $13.99 paper
(354p), ISBN 978-0-9963073-0-7;
$3.99 e-book, ASIN B00KBAK6H6
Amazon, BN.com, BookBaby, Ingram
28 P U B L I S H E R S W E E K L Y J U L Y 2 7 , 2 0 1 5
ROMANCE/EROTICA
Candidate:
A Love Story
Tracy Ewens. Tracy Ewens.
$11.05 paper (276p),
ISBN 978-0-99085713-6; $2.99 e-book,
ASIN B00XTJGGPW
Amazon, BN.com,
NONFICTION
NetGalley
The Ambitious Woman:
Kate is doing public relations for
What It Takes and Why
Gradys father, a U.S. senator. Tensions
You Want to Be One
between Kate and Grady grow until there
Esther Spina. Next
is no denying they are falling in love
Century Publishing.
behind the facade they both need to keep
$21.95 hardcover (222p),
BOOKWORKS_HALF_H_0715_Layout
1 7/24/15 10:12 AM
1
in place.
ISBNPage
978-1-62903-
JOIN NOW!
bookworks.com
W W W . P U B L I S H E R S W E E K LY. C O M
29
CHILDRENS/YA FICTION
The Adventures of Daniel:
Introduction
Rene Ghazarian, illus. by
Sebastian Schug.
AuthorHouse. $19.99 paper
(30p), ISBN 978-1-50490895-5
Amazon, AuthorHouse,
BN.com
Would you like to make a new friend?
His name is Daniel. Daniel has a cute dog
named Sparky. Lets meet Daniel, Sparky,
and Daniels family. First in a series of five
books.
Alex and the Messy Monster
Vanessa Newman, illus. by Sarah Masse.
Blurb. $29.95 paper (32p), ISBN 978-1320-66226-0
Blurb
Five-year-old
Alex does not think
that messes amount
to anything. Yet he
must meet, negotiate, and tame a monster
to have peace and happiness.
Ascendant
(Book One of the Ascendant Trilogy)
Rebecca Taylor. Ophelia House. $11.99
paper (452p), ISBN 978-0-9797353-1-8;
$2.99 e-book, ASIN
B00VFDC0QS
Amazon, Apple iBooks,
BN.com, Books-AMillion, Kobo, Powells,
Tattered Cover
Winner of the 2014
Colorado Book Award (for young adult
literature). Charlotte must try to solve a
stone puzzle boxa clue to her familys
strange past and her mothers disappearance.
The Battle for Darracia
Michael Phillip Cash. Chelshire.
$19.99 paper (542p),
ISBN 978-1-5118-3154-3
Amazon
Struggling with his identity, 19-year-old Prince
Vsair must harness the
30 P U B L I S H E R S W E E K L Y J U L Y 2 7 , 2 0 1 5
CHILDRENS/YA NONFICTION
Saving Annies Mountain
Children of Wind Dance Farm, illus. by
ORyan. Cold Run Books. $18.99 hardcover (38p), ISBN 978-0-9790808-1-4
Amazon
A protest in West
Virginia coal
country takes on
new meaning when
four children meet a feisty old woman
who witnessed the original battle for
miners rights in 1921.
Space Creatures
Barbara Weisberg, illus. by Kate Arnold.
31
Reviews Roundup
This month, we reviewed 25 self-published titles submitted via BookLife,
Publishers Weeklys website dedicated to indie authors. Among the latest highlights are Ruth Kaufmans Follow Your Heart, KaraLynne Mackrorys Haunting
Mr. Darcy, and Chip Wagars The Carpathlan Assignment.
Fiction
The 228 Legacy
Jennifer J. Chow. Martin Sisters, $16.95 trade paper (322p)
ISBN 978-1-62553-039-4
Aundy
Shanna Hatfield. Shanna Hatfield, $2.99 e-book (3,304p)
ASIN B00D1FYKUM
32
P U B L I S H E R S W E E K LY J U LY 2 7 , 2 0 1 5
The Flip
Michael Phillip Cash. CreateSpace, $12 trade paper (200p)
ASIN B00KDOZY6I
Middle Waters
John Clarke. Wet Street, $12.95 trade paper (374p)
ISBN 978-0-9863749-1-3
Neverending Beginnings
Mary Chris Escobar. CreateSpace, $10.99 trade paper (100p)
ISBN 978-1-5119-0220-5
reviews roundup
Nonfiction
Dare to Be Your Own Boss:
Follow Your Passion, Create a Niche
Maya Sullivan. Synergy, $22.99 trade paper (344p)
ISBN 978-0-9907-5420-6
Ohana
Theia Mey. Theia Mey, $3.99 e-book (224p) ASIN B00O85KY2M
Uprise:
Back Pain Liberation, by Tuning Your Body Guitar
Get one.
INDIE AUTHORS
from Publishers Weekly
n Professional
tips,insights
insightsand
and
Profesional tips,
strategies for creating
creating and
and
marketing your book
n Connect
Connect and
and share
share with
with other
other
indie authors
authors
indie
in Publishers Weekly
A Year Unplugged:
A Familys Life Without Technology
Sharael Kolberg. Sharael Kolberg, $15.99 trade paper (390p)
ISBN 978-0-9889610-4-3
Childrens/YA
Into a Million Pieces
Angela V. Cook. Red Adept, $11.99 paper (202p)
ISBN 978-1-940215-38-9
Support for
INDIE AUTHORS
from Publishers Weekly
Simon
Michael Mullin. Gemiknight Press, $12.99 paper (254p)
ISBN 978-0-9851884-7-4
booklife.com
W W W . P U B L I S H E R S W E E K LY. C O M
33
Reviews
Fiction
The 228 Legacy
Jennifer J. Chow. Martin Sisters, $16.95 trade
paper (322p) ISBN 978-1-62553-039-4
Aundy
Shanna Hatfield. Shanna Hatfield, $2.99
e-book (3304p) ASIN B00D1FYKUM
The Automation
(The Circo Del Herrero Series,
Book 1)
G.B. Gabbler. SOB, $14.99 trade paper
(376p) ISBN 978-0-692-25971-9
33a P U B L I S H E R S W E E K L Y J U L Y 2 7 , 2 0 1 5
REVIEWS
to studying criminal behavior. Readers
looking for a different angle on a classic
will be rewarded.
The Flip
Michael Phillip Cash. CreateSpace, $12 trade
paper (200p) ASIN B00KDOZY6I
Middle Waters
John Clarke. Wet Street, $12.95 trade paper
(374p) ISBN 978-0-9863749-1-3
This SF thriller starts out well and displays some nice touches of humor, but the
resolution may disappoint genre readers.
Clarke, a veteran Navy diving scientist,
is especially effective in translating his
expertise into fiction in the gripping
opening chapter,
as an unusual
incident claims
the lives of two
divers off the
coast of Alabama.
Someone, or something, ripped the
helmet off one of
the men; the other
died of the bends
after he saw some bizarre, bright orange
geometric figures who conveyed a
cryptic apology. The mystery of the
divers deaths, and a slew of other odditiesa patch of cold dark water that kills
everything in its path, an extraterrestrial
unidentified submerged objectengage
scientist Jason Parker. He begins to experience some anomalies himself, including
hearing voices advising him to stay alert.
There are some light moments; Jason
cant believe that a colleague is from
another planet, especially not a planet of
telepathic frogs. But the suspense of the
opening isnt sustained, and the ending
will divide readers along political lines.
Mythborn II:
Bane of the Warforged
Vijay Lakshman. Vijay Lakshman, $24.99
trade paper (625p) ISBN 978-0-9850620-2-6
REVIEWS
and the magical world of
Arcadia. Their goal is to save
Edyn from the machinations
of the demon Lilyth, archmage Valarius
Galadine, and a force known as Sovereign,
all of whom have plans for Arek and his
dark power. The plot is inventive, but the
world is filled in
mainly by a clich
pub scene and an
implausible semidemocratic system
surrounded by codmedieval monarchies. The characters change
motivations easily,
and the magical
entities, drawn from several different
mythologies, seem arbitrarily chosen and
carry no cultural background or context.
New readers will struggle with the storys
sheer complexity. This epic has a wellcrafted plot but lacks the deeper characterization and background details needed
for emotional investment.
Neverending Beginnings
Mary Chris Escobar. CreateSpace, $10.99
trade paper (100p) ISBN 978-1-5119-0220-5
33c P U B L I S H E R S W E E K L Y J U L Y 2 7 , 2 0 1 5
Stillwell:
A Haunting on Long Island
Michael Phillip Cash. CreateSpace, $12 trade
paper (192p) ASIN B00DGYLHQ8
REVIEWS
himself. His encounters are connected
somehow with Stillwell Manor, a home
he visited as a child. Desperate to make
some money after the time he lost
tending to Allison, Paul is determined to
sell the manor, despite the horrific images
he experiences. The paranormal plot
developments are more creepy than scary,
and one of the reveals is disappointing,
but the moving account of Pauls effort to
deal with the tragedy compensates.
Younger (Delirious) turns the smalltown horror story on its head in this
madcap zomedy set in Oak Falls, Calif.,
during a rare Cerulean Moon. Thats
when the bonds that bind the underworld
are at their slipperiest, allowing
Seth, an ancient
hellhound, to
sneak through.
Seth begins resurrecting the dead
as shock troops
while plotting to
open the cosmic
portal to the
underworld that the town is perched on.
Meanwhile, the oblivious townspeople go
about their usual shenanigans: Wizard
Kowalski, a stoner drug runner, is chased
by a Russian mobster angry about a bungled delivery, while Ava Elridge, the local
cafe owner, plays an unexpectedly important role in the unfolding cosmic comedy.
The novels plot zings along with Rube
Goldberg precision that becomes increasingly antic as the locals gradually wake
up to the weirdness. Though the tale goes
on a little too long, Younger finds great
comic grist in the stuff that screams are
made of.
W W W . P U B L I S H E R S W E E K L Y . C O M 33d
REVIEWS
Nonfiction
Dare to Be Your Own Boss:
Follow Your Passion, Create a Niche
Maya Sullivan. Synergy, $22.99 trade paper
(344p) ISBN 978-0-9907-5420-6
Ohana
Theia Mey. Theia Mey, $3.99 e-book (224p)
ISBN ASINB00O85KY2M
33e P U B L I S H E R S W E E K L Y J U L Y 2 7 , 2 0 1 5
REVIEWS
Uprise: Back Pain Liberation,
by Tuning Your Body Guitar
Sean Wheeler. Body Guitar, $24.95 (209p)
ISBN 978-0-692-29649-3
A Year Unplugged:
A Familys Life Without Technology
Sharael Kolberg. Sharael Kolberg, $15.99
trade paper (390p) ISBN 978-0-9889610-4-3
Childrens/YA
Into a Million Pieces
Angela V. Cook. Red Adept, $11.99 paper
(202p) ISBN 978-1-940215-38-9
Simon
Michael Mullin. Gemiknight Press, $12.99
paper (254p) ISBN 978-0-9851884-7-4
REVIEWS
clusion as a headline-grabbing mass murder should
hook readers from the start.
Ages 12up.
33g P U B L I S H E R S W E E K L Y J U L Y 2 7 , 2 0 1 5