OUTER BANKS PUBLISHING GROUP

New Author Speaks About Power of The CONDUIT

The Creation of a Hero

By Stacey Rourke

From the time I announced the impending release of The Conduit the most common question I’ve been asked is “when’s it coming out” (Answer: it’s out! Go buy it!) is “where did you get the idea for it?” To that I say it all started because of Mommy brain.

As any woman that has been blessed with title of Mommy can tell you, your whole outlook on life changes when you become a Mom. Case in point–when I was big, huge pregnant with my first child there was a reality show on that had a bunch of scantily clad young women vying for a chance to be the next Pussycat Doll.

At the time I remember turning green with envy at the mere sight of them because none of them looked like they had unhinged their jaw and swallowed a Thanksgiving turkey whole. And that was the look I was rockin’ right then.

Then my daughter was born. I watched another episode of that same show with her nestled in my arms, looked down at her sweet face and muttered, “If I ever catch you doing any of the things those girls are doing I will ground you for life. I don’t care how old you are.” Yes, it’s a double standard, but it goes with the territory of being a mother to a little girl.

After that I saw TV shows, movies and books completely different. Before, the tales of the damsel in distress getting saved by the knight in shining armor were romantic and even swoon worthy. As a Mom, I find that archaic notion-which is still very prevalent in our entertainment mediums–infuriating. I don’t want my girls to sit around waiting for some big strong man to rescue them! If they find themselves in a hard place I want them to know that they can dig down deep to the inner strength their faith and upbringing has bestowed on them and fight their way out of it.

But what role models does the entertainment industry offer up? Sure, there was Buffy the Vampire Slayer. But even the Buffster has grown up, gotten married, and taken her place in TV syndication history. It was time for a strong new heroine. It was with that in mind, along with one incredibly vivid dream, that spawned the creation of The Gryphon series.

In book one of the series, The Conduit, we meet our main character, Celeste. She’s awkward, not the prettiest of girls, and goes through life often being overlooked. Yet it is because of the inner strength that she possesses that she is chosen to uphold an ancient Celtic pact made by her ancestor. What Celeste thinks is going to be a chillaxed summer before college turns into a chaotic frenzy of shapeshifting people, demons, feathered women, and a boy drama. Is a normal life possible for a girl that’s now anything but normal?

As The Gryphon series continues with the upcoming Embrace, we see Celeste growing into her role as the chosen one. Almost to a fault. But startling new abilities, coming face to face with one of her biggest fears, and humiliating herself in front of an insanely hot guy remind Celeste of who she is—kind of a dork who just happens to be able to bench press a car.

As tween and teen girls read my series it is my sincere hope that they can see something of themselves in Celeste. Be it her sarcasm, awkwardness, annoyance at her siblings, average looks, or heck even her love of art. Their ability to relate to her will help in achieving the goal I have for this series, which is to show them that just like Celeste they too can rise to the challenge in the face of adversity and become the hero of their own story. My Mommy brain spawned this series, to create books tweens and teens will love and other Mommies will approve of.

Stacey is currently writing the sequel to The Conduit. Visit Stacey’s website to read more at http://www.staceyrourke.com

Look for The Conduit on the Amazon Kindle and from Smashwords.com in other ebook formats. Or buy a copy at the Outer Banks Publishing Group Bookstore on Facebook and get a discount just for clicking on the “Like” button.

The Conduit will soon be in the Nook, iBooks, Sony eReader and Kobo ebook stores.

Author revives 60-year-old Murder Mystery in his Newest Novel

It may be Frankfort’s oldest unsolved murder. Few remember it, but author Ron Rhody does.

Rhody, a Frankfort native and 1950 graduate of Frankfort High School, remembers it so vividly that he focuses his latest work of fiction on the story to be released at the Kentucky Book Fair, Saturday, Nov. 12.

Rhody’s latest work is a prequel to “Theo’s Story,” a Frankfort-based novel of political intrigue and murder written in 2009.

“Theo and the Mouthful of Ashes” examines the protagonist’s younger days as a reporter at The State Journal when it was on West Main Street.

The book sets it sights on a murder in Frankfort more than 60 years ago. A woman was discovered at the bottom of a flight of stairs, her head bashed in and her throat stuffed with ashes.

The impetus for the story comes from Rhody’s recollection of Frankfort as a young man. Read the rest of the story here.>

Photo by  Tricia Spaulding

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THEO & The Mouthful of Ashes is available at special pre-launch discount until Nov. 12 at the Outer Banks Publishing Group Bookstore.

Order yours now at this special pre-launch discount price.

Publication Date: January 2012

ISBN: 978-0-9829-9316-3
ISBN EL: 978-1-4524-0970-2

Binding Type: US Trade Paper
Language: English

Interview with Heidi Efteckhar Silver, a real life character, reveals strong character of the author

“I was completely surprized…especially to know only now how this quiet person had gone against all odds, exposed himself to so much danger and took the risk to do something that he believed in and acted upon to bring resolve. I must say that with all that he was going through, he did not show it.” – Heidi Efteckhar Silver, a character in the novel, The Man Who Fooled SAVAK.

Doug Roberts exciting novel, The Man Who Fooled SAVAK, came into being with the help of his long-time friend and co-worker, Heidi Efteckhar Silver, who helped him remember a lot of the details of his daring escape from Iran forty years ago.  Mrs. Silver, one of the major characters in the book, played an integral part in helping Doug smuggle his then fiance and her mother out of Iran when the secret police, SAVAK, would not allow them to leave.  SAVAK watched the family closely because they wanted the family to lead them to the husband and father, who was a human rights activist and lawyer who had escaped a decade earlier. Here is Mrs. Silver’s thoughts on The Man Who Fooled SAVAK.

Q.  Not many novels use the names of real people but Doug Roberts in his book The Man Who Fooled SAVAK, portrays you as being a friend and co-worker in the Administrative Services office in the U.S. military advisory unit to Iran, ARMISH/MAAG. I find that rather remarkable.

A.  Since Doug’s story is based on a real life experience, it’s great that he has used people’s real names in his story.  Most things mentioned in his book did happen. Technology, such as Facebook, also played a big role in Doug being able to find some of the people he had worked with in ARMISH/MAAG, such as myself, and hear more stories from them that made his book more authentic and I am glad I was part of it.

Q.  Did you know why Doug was sent to Administrative Services before leaving Iran?

A.  I had absolutely no idea.  I must say that Captain Seaman and Del, with whom I worked closely had great respect for Doug and kept his ordeal, which was extremely serious, strictly confidential.

Q.  What was it like working with Doug.

A. I found him to be a pleasant fellow, who was very easy to work and get along with.  I was completely surprised when I read “The Man Who Fooled Savak,” especially to know only now how this quiet person had gone against all odds, exposed himself to so much danger and took the risk to do something that he believed in and acted upon to bring resolve. I must say that with all that he was going through, he did not show it. He exercised great care in keeping the situation under wrap.  This also speaks of Doug’s strong and determined character which is well played out in the book.

Q.  What did you think of the book.

A.  I thought the book was amazing.  When I was reading the book, events played out in front of my eyes.  His description of the culture, food, the Iranian way of life and their hospitality is so authentic that it also took my life for a review during those years in Iran.  The amazing thing about this book is that Doug, as an American GI, who was stationed in Iran for a brief period of time witnessed the signs of the revolution which came about only a few years later.

Q.  Would you recommend this book to your friends.

A.  Absolutely.  Especially young adults.  My own children, who are now young adults, were very small at the time and knew nothing when we had the Iranian Revolution in 1979.  This book is not only intriguing and entertaining, but also has a great historical value.  During the 2009 uprising, I found myself explaining to my boys, their friends and even some of my friends how all this had come about.  Doug has done a great justice in describing what was going on in Iran during the Shah’s reign which lasted nearly 37 years before he was overthrown during the 1979 Revolution.  I think those who read this book today will not only be intrigued by the story, but will also learn about Iran and gain great respect for this ancient country, with rich culture and history whose people are kind, friendly and hospitable, but have suffered much in the hands of politics.

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The Man Who Fooled SAVAK, a suspenseful romance, is available on the Kindle, the NOOK and in other ebook formats from Smashwords.com.

Electronic Edition
eIBSN 978-1-4524-4281-5
435 Pages
Published June 2011

Am I Crazy or What? Or how social media and YOU can bring a book to life

By Mary L. Tabor

So you wanna get published, right? So you think only a big house can get you anywhere worth getting, right? So, you think you need an agent first thing, right? I thought all these things and have the credentials to prove that I’ve been on a literary journey: English major, Phi Beta Kappa, teacher, professor, MFA degree, literary journal editor, literary prize winner. But no big house and no agent.

Instead, I did what some may think is crazy. I went with a product development company that dabbled in publishing. But my book got out. And I went to work. I have an active public Facebook page that is linked to my Twitter account, a website always under revision as new stuff happens and I write a blog where I try to post at least once a week.

Today’s post that you are reading would have been this essay. But this site begged for it and it’s theirs. But later you may see this post on my blog. Go check out this: How to buy a dress and end up with a book party.

I don’t tweet about my memoir (Re)Making Love: a sex after sixty story much, though some. I don’t blog about my book much, but some: actually, I blogged the book while I lived it—that’s the first crazy-some-say thing I did before the product development company found me—and that accounts for the banner of a blog that deals not with erotica but with literary thought, interviews and essays on writing and books.

Now you’d think a book with this sordid, unconventional history wouldn’t be doing very well, right? And, indeed, I’m not getting rich. But is that what we artists are really about? Okay, a girl could hope but that’s never been the goal: The work will out.

But get this: The small print in the visual of my book  on Amazon says, #7 top rated in the Kindle store for Non-Fiction, Biographies & Memoirs, Arts &literature, Authors. The week before it was #5 behind The Diary of Anne Frank and Steven King’s On Writing.

And guess what: The book party at Upstairs on 7^th (aka: “How to buy a dress and get a book party”) resulted in the promise of another book party by one of the women who came. Then I went to dinner with a banker-friend I know and told him what happened. He called his wife and is planning another book party in another dress shop and he’ll be providing the wine.

Is there a moral? Ain’t no good here at morals. But I will say this: If you put your heart and soul into your book and you’ve edited it like crazy with a cool eye, had others eyeball it and critique it, then find a reputable publisher and work—yes that means you—to sell one book at a time. Because like the memoir I wrote, it’s all personal.

PS: Another piece of good news: A new and much more experienced indie publisher has taken my memoir. Be sure to check out the second edition (more edits and a prologue) now from Outer Banks Publishing Group.

(Re)MAKING LOVE: a sex after sixty story, second edition, is available on Amazon, the Kindle, Barnes & Noble, the Nook, iBook, Sony ereader, the Outer Banks Publishing Group Bookstore and in other electronic formats from Smashwords.com.

An Excerpt from The Man Who Fooled SAVAK by Doug Roberts

I happened to look in my rear view mirror to see a black Mercedes sedan zoom up behind me then pass. It shot around me at an extremely high rate of speed and was soon out of sight. “Wow, where’s the fire?” I though. A few minutes later as I was about to make my final right turn off the main highway, the same black Mercedes shot out of the intersection I was about to turn into. It turned left and roared past me, heading west toward Tehran.

I took my foot off the accelerator, my stomach feeling queasy with deep apprehension. I had caught a glimpse of the driver’s face with dark glasses and thick mustache. It seemed vaguely and ominously familiar. I slowed the car and idled toward the vacant lot where I was to meet Junior, afraid of what I might find. I could see Junior’s old Peykan in the distance, the driver’s door open. I was sure I saw him move and at first I thought he was about to get out of the car, but as I got closer I could see Junior’s body suddenly fall forward against the steering wheel, sounding the car’s horn.

“Oh no! Please God! Oh no! This can’t be!” I said over and over. “Oh Jesus, no!”

I pulled my car alongside his. My knees were shaking as I got out of the car, and walked toward Junior. As I approached, I could see the back of his head was covered with blood. He had been shot, execution style. I pulled his torso off of the steering wheel to stop the horn from sounding, and then I lifted his left arm to feel his wrist. I thought I detected a faint pulse, but then a few seconds later, it stopped.

The only pulse I could feel now was my pounding heart, ready to burst through my chest. Flooded with a mixture of fear and sadness, I tried to ponder what to do next.

“We’ll need to notify his wife,” I remember thinking. I started searching his pants for a wallet with an ID, but I found nothing. The only thing I found was a large roll of bills in the left pocket of the old tweed jacket that Junior always wore. My hands were shaking.

“My god, this is a lot of money! His wife is going to need this,” I thought as I crammed it into the pocket of my fatigue jacket. I looked across the vacant lot to see an old man who was walking with a shuffled gate toward me from one of the distant houses. I waited for him as he approached. When he came up to the car, he was shaking his head.

He looked at me, quizzically. “SAVAK?” he asked.

I nodded. “Bali Agah. SAVAK.”

The old man started shaking his head again. “Shah very bad. Very bad man.”

I nodded. The old man and I stood together in silence appraising the ghastly scene.

“You want me call police?” he asked.

“Yes, you call the police. Don’t tell them I was here,” I said in my best Farsi.

“I no tell. We see nothing.”

At that moment we heard a siren somewhere in the distance growing louder.

“I need to leave now,” I said.

“You go! Boro! Boro! Zud bash!” (Go! Go! Hurry!) exclaimed the old man waving me away vigorously with his hands.

I stepped away from the old man and got into my car, knees and hands still shaking. I turned the key in the ignition and headed out to the main highway by first going around the block. I waited until I heard the siren stop and then proceeded. As I drove, I kept checking the rear view mirror, side streets, and intersections for any sign of a black Mercedes. But it had done its dirty work and was long gone. When I got back to the Teamhouse, I unloaded my car and took the goods up to my room. The boxes seemed incredibly heavy and my shaking knees complained at the load as I came up the stairs the last time. When I had finished, I collapsed into my bed and started sobbing again. “Junior, I am so sorry man,” kept repeating as though he could hear me.

I looked at the huge roll of cash, and was suddenly struck with an irrational fear that Lou might think I was trying to cheat him. I counted out what I felt Junior would have paid him that day and put it in an envelope, then slipped it my desk drawer. I took out a sheet of paper, and scrawled simply, “Lou, bad news. Junior’s dead. SAVAK shot him.” I placed the note on the desk where he could find it then walked downstairs to my car.

I dreaded having to tell Fari what happened, but forced myself to the car. When I walked into the house minutes later, Fari emerged from her room to meet me and immediately stepped back. “Oh my god, Doug! What happened? Your eyes are all red!”

“Fari, Junior’s dead. SAVAK shot him in the…in the…back of the head,” I said with my voice breaking.

Fari put her arms around me and held my while I continued to weep. “Doug, this is awful.”

I put my face down onto Fari’s shoulder. “Junior was a good person,” I said through my tears. “He didn’t deserve to die.”

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The Man Who Fooled SAVAK, a suspenseful romance, is available on the Kindle, the NOOK and in other ebook formats from Smashwords.com.

Electronic Edition
eIBSN 978-1-4524-4281-5
435 Pages
Published June 2011

The Man Who Fooled SAVAK is about love and never giving up

When Doug Roberts approached us with his manuscript, The Man Who Fooled SAVAK, it was one of those stories that completely engrossed you where you couldn’t put it down until it was finished.

Inspired by true events in the early 1970s, The Man Who Fooled SAVAK captures what it is like to live in a dictatorship with secret police monitoring your every move – an atmosphere of fear that still pervades today in many countries in the Middle East.

What makes Doug’s book so appealing is that what he wrote today about events 40 years ago is still going on today in many parts of the Middle East. And all of these events are carefully woven into a love story that will make you fall in love all over again.

Q. The release of your book coincides rather well with Arab Spring.   When did you start writing it?

A. In the summer of 2008. A woman I’d met on line named Erica Murray was interested in Iran so I started writing to her about it.   I started doing some very preliminary research into the history and politics of Iran in 1971 in order to refresh my memory of things I had experienced when I was in Iran during that time.   The book was completely finished several months before the uprising in Tunisia.

Q. Even though that was 40 years ago, there are many common elements with what is happening across the Arab world.

A. Yes, especially the fear people experience when living under an autocratic regime is something I hope I have captured, and as the book proceeds, the breaking out of that fear.  Perhaps it will give people hope.  Just like in my book, the methods used by various dictatorial regimes to maintain control seem to be taken from a common playbook:  trample a free and independent press, keep the people fooled, use an iron fist to silence dissent, eliminate fair trials, use torture to extract confessions – the list goes on and on.

Q. But when you wrote the book, you weren’t thinking about that.

A. (laughs) True! I don’t have a crystal ball and the Arab Spring was as big a surprise to me as the rest of the world.

Q. Can I ask you about one of the characters in your book?  Was there really a Junior?

A. Yes there was.  I think Junior made the story possible to write.  We really did sell our liquor and cigarette rations to him.   I recently learned from a fellow who served in ARMISH/MAAG just before I arrived that Junior mostly dealt with the domestic workers, the Iranian nationals who worked at the bachelor quarters where we lived.

Q. I’d like to ask you about another character, Mihan Jazani.  She is a historical figure, the wife of the Bijan Jazani who founded one of Iran’s guerilla movements.   It appears that she’s a friend of yours on Facebook.

A. (Blushes)  Um, well yes…so it would appear.   (laughs)  Actually, Mihan Jazani doesn’t like Facebook and never uses it.  The Facebook account was set up for Mihan by her granddaughter, Aida.  Aida and I exchange messages occasionally.

Q. How were you able to remember so much about what happened then?  It was 40 years ago after all.

A. I was assisted in several ways.   I had some writings I had done about Iran when I was in journalism school at Kent State in 1972.  I had a large number of slides that I’d taken when I was there.  Those were crucial in reviving old memories.  A huge help was finding a 1977 map of Tehran on the (now defunct) Tehran American School website.  I was able to use the exact names of places, even street names.  The fellow I’d mentioned earlier who told me about Junior had sent me a copy of the ARMISH/MAAG directory, which was very useful.  Finally, talking to people I worked with at that time was extremely important, namely Heidi Eftekhar and Barry Silver, who are characters in the story.  I obviously couldn’t remember all events specifically, but I found I could generate them as needed by being very specific in my language.  I would take seeds of ideas and extrapolate and grow them into full blown events.   For example, a certain lecherous officer really did say to Heidi, “I think you’re a woman who needs a lot of loving.”   I took that and ran with it.  Last, but also important, the Internet was a valuable tool in researching the historical incidents in the book.

Q. So, where does the novel part come in?

A. Some of the human rights related events are novelized, but they’re very accurate in their portrayal of the times.  I’ll leave historians to figure all that out.   They will have their work cut out for them because I’ve spent a lot of effort weaving the story line into the history of those days.

Q. How close is your character Doug Roberts to the way you actually are?

A. That’s a really good question. (laughs) I had originally intended that Doug the character would be an extreme version of myself.   But after having read my book now over and over, I’ve come to see that what’s extreme are the circumstances he’s in.   Doug the character is a lot like I was back then: ok in the smarts department, and a little too cocky sometimes.  He’s not very romantic or knowledgeable about women, but does all right in spite of himself. (laughs)  There’s an element of male fantasy in the book I suppose. In the story, I have two charming female lunch companions in addition to Fari my Iranian girlfriend/fiancée.

Q. But you really were friends with Heidi Eftekhar your co-worker in the story.

A. I still am.  Heidi and I communicate regularly by email and her input on the book was immensely helpful.  Miss Farou is the fantasy.  She actually didn’t like me all that much. (laughs).

Q. I get the impression you had a lot of fun writing your book.

A. It was pretty trippy for me at times.  I would totally submerse myself in it.  For example, I had written the scene describing how I spent New Year’s Eve in Iran just a couple of weeks after New Year’s Eve in real life.  When someone asked me about how I’d spent my New Years, it shocked me as to how much effort I had to put into pulling up what I’d actually done versus what I’d just written.  That was a little scary.

Q. What do you think people will get out of your book?

A. I’m sure everyone will get a little something different, but what I’d like for people to take from it is that, like in the story, life may present you with some extreme circumstances.  When that happens, keep a level head and your wits about you.  Try to see beyond what appears to be happening on the surface.  There will always be some good things happening at any given moment. Try to focus on that.  To get through your ordeal it’s a good idea to engage all your friends to help you and your faith if you have that.  Most important of all:  never give up.

The Man Who Fooled SAVAK is available as an ebook on Amazon Kindle and in various ereader formats from Smashwords.com

Another Author Sells 1 Million Kindle Books

The LA Times reported on May 11 that Novelist Charlaine Harris is now the fourth author to sell 1 million ebooks on the Kindle. Harris is best known for her urban fantasy Sookie Stackhouse series and her books are the basis of the HBO television show “True Blood.”

Steig Larsson crossed the 1-million Kindle ebook mark first, followed by James Patterson, Nora Roberts and now Harris, Amazon announced Wednesday.

This article also shows the genres that are the top sellers in the ebook market.

Just another harbinger of things to come in the publishing industry. Read the rest of the story here.

Photo:  Charlaine Harris at the premiere of the third season of “True Blood’ at  the Arclight Theater in Hollywood on June 8, 2010. Credit: Michael  Buckner / Getty Images

New Trend Emerging as Traditional Publishers go Digital

Congrats to Amanda Hocking for using a traditional publisher to further her writing career.  She did the right thing seeking out a traditional publisher and the reason is clear – she wants to be a writer – not a book marketer, editor, designer and distributor.

This is not a new trend – it has been happening for years.

The caveat here is her content.  She has the content that sells – when she writes, it sells.  She can afford to give away a large piece of her royalties so she can spend more time writing.

So should every self-published author seek out traditional publishers for their work.  Maybe, yes and maybe, no.  Some authors like JA Konrath took the reverse course – he went from traditional publishers to self-publishing because he could get a bigger piece of the publishing pie, especially on his traditionally-published books that went out of print. Even luminary Stephen King experimented with self-publishing a few years back.

A new trend is emerging as traditional publishers go digital.  Currently, a self-published author could get their work in front of more people as an eBook than a printed book.  This is still true, but as more and more traditional publishers go digital, they can offer both – significant eBook exposure as well as print book distribution.  They will take a larger piece of the pie, but if your work is selling well, it is worth going with a traditional publisher.

Here’s the Amanda Hocking story from The New York Times.

A Successful Self-Publishing Author Decides to Try the Traditional Route

By JULIE BOSMAN

Published: March 24, 2011

Amanda Hocking, who has self-published nine books.

In the past year Ms. Hocking, a 26-year-old from Minnesota, became an indie heroine in the literary world for publishing nine books that sold a total of more than one million copies, nearly all of them in e-book form, earning almost $2 million for her efforts.

But for Ms. Hocking, self-publishing has had its limits. On Thursday she announced that she had sold a four-book series to St. Martin’s Press, ending a frenzied weeklong auction that involved nearly every major publisher in the business, including Random House, Simon & Schuster and HarperCollins.

St. Martin’s, part of Macmillan, paid more than $2 million for the world English rights to the “Watersong” series, Ms. Hocking’s latest books in the young-adult paranormal genre. >more

A New Trend in Publishing is Emerging

As more and more authors turn to self-publishing, a new trend is emerging that may benefit publishers as well as authors.

Successful crime novelist Joe Konrath is probably the author who started this new trend and is the poster child of successful authors moving into the self-publishing realm.

According to an article in The Star-Telegram online written by Alex Pham of The Los Angeles Times,

“Joe Konrath can’t wait for his books to go out of print.


When that happens, the 40-year-old crime novelist plans to reclaim the copyrights from his publisher, Hyperion Books, and self-publish them on Amazon.com, Apple’s iBooks and other online outlets. That way he’ll be able to collect 70 percent of the sale price, compared with the 6 to 18 percent he receives from Hyperion.


As for future novels, Konrath plans to self-publish all of them in digital form without having to leave his house in Schaumburg, Ill.


‘I doubt I’ll ever have another traditional print deal,’ said the author of Whiskey Sour, Bloody Mary and other titles. ‘I can earn more money on my own.’”

Mr. Pham goes on to write, “It’s difficult to gauge just how many authors are dumping their publishing houses to self-publish online, though for now, the overall share remains small. But hardly a month goes by without a well-known writer taking the leap or declaring an intention to do so.”

However, Mr. Konrath is one of the exceptions to successful self-publishing because his fan base was primarily created by the marketing and distribution efforts of traditional publishing houses.

Does that mean an author needs to be published by a traditional publishing house to be successful later in self-publishing?

Not at all.

Mr. Konrath just stood up on his surf board and is about to catch one of  the largest new waves in publishing. He knows where his readers are and how to read them – online where most hang out.

As an aspiring or first-book author who is relatively unknown, you need to market your work to where people seek, read, recommend and review books – in social media: Facebook, Twitter, NING, Linkedin, Foursquare, Goodreads, and all the other social networking sites out there.

There is only one problem. By the time you learn how to effectively market your work on all the social media, you may be in an old-age home especially if you are not so computer savvy. Besides, when would you have time to write another book?

Most authors just want to write. They don’t want to wear six or seven hats and be the marketing guru, the sales superstar or the promotional genius.

This is where publishers can get their own surf board and ride the same wave as Mr. Konrath.  But some are just standing up on their boards, others are knelling and most don’t even see the social media wave.

Publishers can offer social networking services, electronic distribution and all the perks of traditional publishing to authors in digital and electronic form. This is a wave that is coming whether publishers like it or not so the best strategy is to make sure to have a surf board and to look out over the horizon. This publisher is certainly standing on his surf board poised to ride the next giant wave.

Bestselling author John Grisham writes another thriller…for kids

From NPR by the NPR Staff – June 4, 2010

Bestselling author John Grisham has written another legal thriller — and this one is for kids.
Grisham has 24 books under his belt, many of which were turned into movies, including The Pelican Brief and A Time To Kill. But he says writing for a young audience created a special challenge, mostly because he didn’t want to underestimate their abilities.
“It’s not necessarily any easier than adult fiction,” Grisham tells NPR‘s Michele Norris. “It’s easier in that it’s shorter; the plot is not nearly as complicated.

“But the biggest challenge I found was the ability to try to tell the story without talking down to kids. Because I think that’s what a lot of writers do and they don’t like it. Kids don’t like it. They want you to treat them as your equal and tell them the story.” more>

PublishandSell.com Author Webinars for the Week of March 29th – April 2nd, 2010

Below is the schedule for P&S online author workshops for the week of March 29 through April 2, 2010.

Tomorrow’s and Wednesday’s one hour workshops are free, and the two hour ebook publishing and Createspace publishing workshops are $74.95 each. Remember, these are fully interactive workshops (you can call into a toll-free number) intended to help you make the most out of your publishing efforts.

For the 2 hour workshops you’ll also receive all of the materials used in the workshop, including the session video.

You can find out more about all of our author publishing & marketing workshops on my web website, PublishandSell.com.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010, 7-8 pm EDT:
Free Workshop: The Top 10 Things You Should Know About Self-Publishing Your Book In Today’s Environment (PS100)
Workshop Description
Register Now

Wednesday, March 31, 2010, 2-3 pm EDT:
Free Workshop:Getting Started With Author-Centric Networking (PS105)
Workshop Description
Register Now

Thursday, April 1, 2010, 1-3 pm EDT: Ebook Formatting and Publishing (PS 204)
Workshop Description
Register now

Thursday, April 1, 2010, 7-9 pm EDT: Using Createspace To Publish Your Book (PS206)
Workshop Description
Register Now

Of course, I’m still offering the one-on-one consultations for those that are interested, so don’t hesitate to email me or call (919-247-1832) if I can be of assistance.

Until next time–keep publishing!

Romance Writers of America announce finalists

Romance Writers of America® (RWA)  announced the finalists for the 2010 RITA Awards®.

The 2010 RITA honors romance fiction published in 2009. Over 1,000 novels and novellas were judged in 12 categories.

Winners of the awards will be announced July 31st at the RITA and Golden Heart Awards Ceremony to be held at RWA’s 30th Annual National Conference in Nashville, Tennessee.

New Author Workshops for the Week of March 22

Publish and Sell Enterprises is now adding more FREE and paid online courses for authors on self-publishing, book marketing and other topics relevant to writers and authors everywhere.

Here are some of the workshop offerings this week:

Wednesday, March 24, 2010, 1-3 pm EDT: Ebook Formatting and Publishing (PS 204)
Workshop Description
Register now

Thursday, March 25, 2010, 7-9 pm EDT: Using Createspace To Publish Your Book (PS206)
Workshop Description
Register Now

Other offerings include:

1. Creating A Successful Publishing and Marketing Plan (PS201)
2. Understanding Lulu & Createspace (PS202)
3. Ebook Formatting and Publishing (PS 204)
4. Using Lulu To Publish Your Book (PS205)
5. Using Createspace To Publish Your Book (PS206)
6. Optimizing Your Facebook Presence (PS207)

Check out the workshops page at http://www.publishandsell.com/author-workshops/ for more information.

Welcome to Outer Banks Publishing Group – Authors Wanted

Outer Banks Publishing Group is one of the first publishing houses to use the latest digital printing technologies, social networking, virtual marketing, and the Internet to publish, promote, and sell books in electronic formats as well as in print.

If you are serious about becoming a published author we invite you to submit a query for your book on the Author’s Query Page.

We are accepting most genres in nonfiction and fiction.

Outer Banks Publishing Group
183 Duck Road
Southern Shores, NC 27949
919 961-0198

Copyright 2009 Outer Banks Publishing Group