Killer Excerpts and Killer Prices

by Tracy Weber

I'm so excited I can barely see straight!  A Killer Retreat, the second book in my Downward Dog Mystery Series, was a BookBub featured deal on Saturday!  It's still on sale for only $1.99 (Regularly $10.99) on Kindle, Nook, and Kobo!

Sale ends April 23, so don't wait!

Below are a few excerpts (and some photos that inspired them)  to whet your appetite.

Excerpt 1:

Bella didn’t share my initial dumpy-digs disappointment. She charged gleefully through the door and explored her new surroundings, completely ignoring the “Please Keep Dogs Off Furniture” signs. First she ran into the kitchen and placed her paws on the counter, hoping to find pot roast, I assumed. Then she jumped on the couch and furiously dug, as if searching for buried treasure. Finding nothing of interest there, she leaped onto the room’s only guest chair, sat, and regally stared across the room at Michael and me. A German shepherd queen commanding her subjects.

 

Excerpt 2:

The night was completely black, almost obsidian; its darkness, impenetrable. A carpet of moldy leaves and fragrant pine needles crunched under my shoes. Bella and I passed several empty campgrounds, a few fallen trees, and a pair of beady red eyes that didn’t belong to a German shepherd. I played the flashlight in front of me, grateful for its tepid illumination. With it, I could see the broken branches that were strewn haphazardly across the path. Without it, I’d be blind.
 

 

A sharp sound cracked behind me. Bella stopped, sniffed the air and looked over her shoulder. The hair on the back of my arms tingled.

 

“Hello, is anyone there?”

Excerpt 3:

I stood near the bluff’s jagged rock outcroppings, entranced by the view. Greenish-blue water extended for miles and birthed powerful waves that crashed over fifty feet below. The smooth, crescendoing sound was both calming and awe-inspiring at the same time. I moved closer to the edge, as if hypnotized.

“Kate, what are you doing? Get away from there.” Michael pointed to a sign several feet behind me.

“Danger. Cliffs are unstable. Walking prohibited less than three feet from edge.”

As if on cue, a rock broke free and clattered over the edge. I took several large steps back. “Suicide Bluff” suddenly felt more like a warning than a quip. The steep, dark cliffs dared me to come closer. Goaded me. Urged me to jump. An inexplicable chill burned the back of my neck. I couldn’t explain it, but the cliffs felt malevolent—evil somehow. Like they hungered for human sacrifice.

I looped Bella’s leash handle around my wrist and pulled her in closer. Gorgeous view or not, I wouldn’t come back here again. I didn’t trust this place.

Excerpt 4:

The terrier sniffed the air. His brown eyes glinted with interest.

My pretend authority morphed into all-too-real terror. I vigorously gesticulated at the phone-engrossed woman. “Hey!” I yelled, pointing at Bella. “This one doesn’t like other dogs!” The oblivious owner looked up from her phone, frowned, and turned away.

The pup took one last glance at Bella, then made his decision.

Target acquired.

This was not going to end well.


Thanks for reading!  Remember, you can purchase A Killer Retreat at a Killer Price at the links below, but only until Saturday!

• Amazon http://tinyurl.com/gmkqj3j
• B&N Nook http://tinyurl.com/jf5oewg
• Apple iBooks http://tinyurl.com/zlry2ea
• Google http://tinyurl.com/hmhy4jd
• Kobo http://tinyurl.com/jkfjeeo

Many, many thanks to Eileen Rendahl for trading blog dates with me.  I was too excited to wait until the 4^th Monday, and by then the deal would have been over anyway! 

Renaissance Woman

By Jennifer Harlow

Work grounds me. It centers me, at least when it's not the cause of all the hell in my life. This month said hell is at the courtesy of moving so amid being on hold for over an hours (Really Comcast?!?), packing, spending more on getting my shit down to ATL than my entire car is worth, setting up utilities, researching new car and health insurance, and a trillion other little things, I needed a day to find shelter from my self-imposed shit storm.

So I taught myself how to make an e-book.

We're talking writing, editing, formatting, converting, even the fraking cover. I went mental.

Ever since Justice I've been haunting the Kindleboards forum to learn the ins and outs of the e-book world. There people like Hugh Howey bestow their considerable knowledge to us plebeians. Everything's there from the best editors, writers helping others with blurbs, the best practices, all of it. I cannot recommend this place more, even if you're a traditional author vs. hybrid like me (a foot in both traditional and indie publishing as Kindleboards told me). However, as much as I love it, the boards can be a bit soul crushing. Not from the people, they're all lovely, but what some of them advise to make any money. Namely if you want to become a full time writer you need a ton of luck, only write romance/Erotica/New Adult, and publish a new book or novella once a month. Yeah, you read that right. A NEW BOOK A MONTH. This year I'll have FOUR full length books out, two traditional and two indie. I was so proud of myself. No one besides those with ghostwriters (Patterson/Evanovitch) accomplish that in the traditional world. But in the indie world, I'm a slacker. And if I haven't disillusioned y'all enough, it cost about $1000 to get Justice made and marketed. I've made about 20% of that back. The lovely, successful indies mantra is "It's not a sprint, it's a marathon." Fair, but what if your shoes are falling apart and you're out of shape? What do you do then?

Anything you can.

On their advice, I'd been toying with releasing a "short," meaning a short story just to keep up The Galilee Falls visibility up because once a book has been released for 3 months, it falls off a "cliff" where it is basically banished to Siberia to make way for newer titles. And damned if when 3 months hit I went from about 60,000 (not terrible but not great, if my superheroes were into BDSM it'd probably be at a thousand, but there's always the next one) to currently 267,000 in the Kindle store. (Cue crying jag). Okay, I'm back from the land of self-pity where I am basically their queen.  Anyway, I needed to produce new material and apparently most of my FREAKS and Midnight Magic readers aren't into superheroes as the release of Death Takes a Holiday last month did nothing to raise sales. (Not a swipe at y'all, I swear. To each his own.) So something had to be done and that couldn't cost a thousand dollars. 

Enter the Kindleboards brigade, especially Joe Konrath's 8-hour challenge. Joe Konrath, for those who don't know, used to write the Jack Daniels mystery series, then went indie before it was cool and made a million dollars self-publishing his own stuff. He's a member of the "10 new things a year club" along with Lilianna Hart, Elle Casey, and Bella Andre. One night when Joe was drunk he decided to try and get something up on Amazon in under an hour. That included the content, formatting, and cover. That magnificent bastard succeeded. And he was surprised to find it sold a few copies in the first day even though he didn't publish it under his own name. So on his BLOG (another indie must read) he put out the challenge for us all to try it, but gave us 8 hours to do it all. I was in the throws of house crap so I didn't hear about this until after the contest was done (My timing always sucks!!!) but when I got crazed and needed an escape I decided to give it a try anyway. I sort of had the content in mind. A few blog posts I'd written for the blog tour, I could include the playlists, the first chapter of the next Galilee book, and a short story I'd written a million years ago then called "When Justin Met Joanna" (now entitled "Origins.") So, on content I was good. It was everything else where I was screwed.

But I had no fucking clue where to begin when it came to formatting and covers. I'd hired someone for those with Justice but couldn't in this case. So I had to learn these things, me who barely knows how to turn on a computer. Once again, hurrah for Kindleboards. People there led me to a program called Scrivener, which was not only a word processor a la Word but would also convert your stuff into EPUB and MOBI. I bought the sucker. Then spent my allotted eight hours screaming, crying, and smashing my computer in frustration when the converted files looked a hot mess. Formatting was either non-existent or cluttered. Whole portions were missing. But I am not a quitter. I am stubborn to a fault, I admit it, but in this case it paid off. I played around until finally it looked professional. Clean. I could now add "Knows how to format an e-book" to my list of not-that-useful skills for the real world. But I'd done it. And hopefully in the future I can repeat the process and save $200. Well see when I get around to Galilee Rising.

So, content? Check. Manuscript? Check. Now came the cover. Enter Photoshop. My mom wanted to make Memes last year so for Christmas Dad bought her the program. She was kind enough to let me install it on my computer and I began to learn it as well. Another 8 hours later (no this wasn't the same day, it was between all the moving bullshit) I had a basic understanding of filters, text, effects, etc. Then I started an account at Shutterstock. This is a site where you can get photos/illustrations/vectors (whatever those are) to use for your covers. There are literally millions to chose from. I found mine after a few more hours of searching, Photoshopped the hell out of it (another few hours) and added it to my MOBI file (another hour of trial and error), and up it went. 

Ta da! I give you...

So if you need a Galilee Falls fix, this should keep you until December. Only $.99. But in the end, this experiment may save me hundreds. I still might pay for covers but I can do the formatting myself. Now if I could only write ten books a year...

Anyway back to moving. Hope this post was helpful to all you newbies.

A Tale of Two Sherlocks

by Jennifer Harlow

Full disclosure: I am not a big Sherlock Holmes fan. I liked Hound of the Baskervilles but just could never get into the short stories. I kind of felt that Sherlock had no personality, he was just a smart dude who did drugs and was observant. I couldn't really identify with him. The cases were interesting and kept me on my toes but I'd never re-read them. But for whatever reason like everyone else now I cannot seem to get enough of the sleuth, at least on TV.

Started with House. When it first came out I adored this show. At first I thought I had a crush on Hugh Laurie but then realized I didn't want to shag him, I wanted to be like him. Brilliant, doesn't care what people think about him, can get away with almost anything because he's so damn good at what he does. As the seasons continued that desire waned as the world fell around his ears and the show got too formulaic. But really that was my first into to the power of "Sherlock."

Then came BBC and La Cumberbatch.

When I was in Toronto for the film festival, one night I was in my hotel room and turned on the TV. The first thing I noticed was Tim from The Office, now Bilbo Baggins, who I liked so I decided to watch. By the end of the episode I swear my jaw was on the floor. I loved how they kept the intriquite case, a spin on the first Holmes story "A Study in Scarlet" but updated it for our time. Sherlock using the internet, modern forensic techniques yet still keeping the mystery hard enough those tools weren't enough. I also loved, as it seems every fangirl in the world did, the intensity and depth he brought to the detective. (Killer cheekbones and bright eyes didn't hurt either.) And let's not neglect Martin Freeman's Watson. Playing a straight man is hard, yet he brings humor and warmth to it. The two of them together have wonderful chemistry. You believe the friendship and love between them. I was Sherlocked.

So when I heard about CBS doing the exact same concept, like most I was a little miffed. The BBC show is still running. It's like doing a remake of Gone With the Wind while the original is still in theaters. Then, gasp!, word came that Watson would be a woman! I gave it two episodes before Watson and Holmes were making goo-goo eyes at one another. We have Bones and Castle (neither of which I watch) already. But I like Lucy Lu and Jonny Lee Miller, and I wanted to be proved right, so I watched the first episode. And you know what? It was pretty damn good. Not as good as the BBC version by any means, but by American network standards it was leaps and bounds better than say Castle (sorry Nathan. I still adore you) And thank God the producers came right out and said Watson and Holmes will not be getting jiggy with one another. Ever. Like the BBC version the friendship chemistry is there between the two stars. They play well off each other. And if the cases aren't as dynamic as the BBC version I can only blame the 22 episode format. Some cases of the week are better than others but it takes me far longer to figure out who the baddie is than on flipping Castle. And now Irene Adler and Moriarty have been introduced things will only get better.

So until Series 3 comes out at the end of the year, Jonny and Lucy will keep us Sherlockians warm until Smaug and Bilbo carry the torch to glory.

What about all of you? Who among you is a fellow Cumberbi**h? Do you like Elementary? When were you first introduced to Mr. Holmes?

And just FYI on February 8th, Friday of this week, MIND OVER MONSTERS will be one of the Kindle Daily deals. For that one day the e-book will be reduced to $1.99. Spread the word. :)

INKSPOT NEWS- October 20, 2012

Time to get your F.R.E.A.K.S. on just in time for Halloween! From October 25-31st the critically acclaimed paranormal mystery Mind Over Monsters: A F.R.E.A.K.S. Squad Investigation #1 will be available on Kindle, Nook, all e-reader formats for the reduced price of $1.99. Whether it be zombies, werewolves, vampires, whatever creepy creature you're in the mood for, join Special Agent Beatrice Alexander in facing them all (with a little romance, humor, and a machete named Bette thrown in for good measure.) Don't miss out on this spooktakular deal!

INKSPOT NEWS - August 18, 2012

Sale! Sale! Sale! Great news! Amazon has put the Kindle version of many Midnight Ink mystery books on sale from August 11 - 23 as part of its "August Big Deal" promotion. Move fast to take advantage of this special promotion, and please spread the word to all of your mystery reading friends!

Here are the titles available for a measly $1.99 during August 11 - 23:

C.S. Challinor's Murder of the Bride
Beth Groundwater's Deadly Currents and Wicked Eddies
J. B. Stanley's Stiffs and Swine
Terri Thayer's Old Maid's Puzzle

Here are the titles available for $1.99 only on August 24th, as part of Amazon's "Kindle Happy Anniversary Deal" promotion:

Sue Ann Jaffarian's Ghost in the Polka Dot Bikini
Karen MacInerney's Dead and Berried
G. M. Malliet's Death and the Chick Lit
Lynn Sholes and Joe Moore's The Grail Conspiracy and The Phoenix Apostles

Also, on Saturday, August 25, 2012, from 9 AM – 4:30 PM, Midnight Ink author Beth Groundwater will present an “Engineering a Mystery and The Art of Dialogue Writing” Workshop at the Chaffee County Writers Exchange in the Meeting Room of the Sangre de Cristo Electric Association, 29780 US Highway 24, Buena Vista, CO 81211. There's still time to sign up to attend! Beth will sell and sign copies of her books after the workshop ends.

NEVER SAY NEVER

by Lois Winston

When I was younger, I saw life in black and white. Everything was either good or bad, right or wrong. With age came experience, and I learned that there are an endless number of shades of gray between the black and white. I learned never to say never. You just don’t know where life will take you.




Recently, I set out on a new journey in my writing career, something I never expected ever to do because of the stigma once associated with it -- I decided to indie publish.




I began my writing life as a romance writer. For ten years I toiled away at love stories. Most of these manuscripts never sold, although many collected numerous awards in contests for unpublished authors. Some almost sold, but at the last minute the deal would fall through because the editor who loved the book left the publishing house or the publisher folded the line for which the book was intended.




Eventually, I sold two of my romances, but then a certain glue gun wielding amateur sleuth hijacked my romance career, and I found myself writing the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries. Don’t get me wrong; I’m very happy telling Anastasia’s stories, and I hope to continue doing so for quite some time. 

However, the publishing world has gone through a dramatic change in the last few years. All around me I started seeing friends indie publishing not only their backlists but manuscripts that had never sold to New York. After hearing success story after success story, I began to think about all those manuscripts lolling around in my Dead Manuscripts File, those books that had won awards and almost sold but never did through no fault of either the writing or the stories. 



So after much mulling, I decided to create Emma Carlyle, my alter ego romance self, and begin indie publishing all those romances under her name. The first book launched on Kindle three and a half weeks ago. Hooking Mr. Right was my most successful, never published manuscript, a Romance Writers of America Golden Heart finalist and winner of a slew of awards. Editors loved it, but for various reasons (see above,) no contract was ever offered. 

A week later I launched Finding Hope. That book was also a Golden Heart finalist, but because it fell somewhere between romance and chick lit, it was never quite right for any traditional publisher's lines. And this past weekend, I launched Four Uncles and a Wedding, a chick lit book.

Now I’m off on a grand experiment, offering these books and more directly to readers for less than the price of a Starbucks cappuccino. Never say never is my new motto.



Hooking Mr. Right blurb:

After writing a doctoral thesis that exposed fraud in the pop-psychology genre, thirty-two year old professor Althea Chandler has to sacrifice her professional integrity to save her family from financial disaster. She secretly becomes bestselling romance guru Dr. Trulee Lovejoy, a self-proclaimed expert on how to catch a man, even though Thea’s a miserable failure when it comes to relationships -- especially those with the opposite sex.

Burned by a failed marriage, Luke Bennett finds himself pursued by Dr. Lovejoy toting women after a gossip columnist dubs him New York’s most eligible bachelor. When he at first mistakes Thea for one of the women out to snare him, sparks fly, but the two soon find themselves battling sparks of a less hostile nature, thanks in part to an alley cat named Cupid.

Hooking Mr. Right link: 

Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Hooking-Mr-Right-ebook/dp/B008E95NPG/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1340584627&sr=1-1&keywords=hooking+mr.+right

Finding Hope blurb:

Being offered a position at a prestigious architectural firm is a dream-come-true for thirty-four year old widow Hope Morgan. For twelve years she’s attended college while working full-time and fending off family efforts to find her a new husband. Hope’s long-exiled libido escapes confinement the moment she sets eyes on Ben Schaffer, her married boss. When Ben’s wife walks out on him and their young sons, Hope steps in as temporary nanny, a bad move, considering all those traitorous hormones.

Ben finds himself developing feelings for Hope, feelings he knows better than to act on, given the mistakes of his past. But Hope refuses to take no for an answer, and her three-year-old accomplices are a triple threat of determination when it comes to finding everyone a happy ending.

Finding Hope links: 

Barnes & Noble:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/finding-hope-emma-carlyle/1111938500?ean=2940014654494

Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/FINDING-HOPE-ebook/dp/B008GN66JW/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1341369237&sr=8-3&keywords=emma+carlyle

Four Uncles and a Wedding blurb:

My Big Fat Greet Wedding  morphs into My Big Fat Multi-Ecumenical Wedding.

Back when thirty-one year old Polly Faith Harmony's feminist mother burned her bra, she wasn't thinking ahead to the day she'd want grandchildren. Behind Polly's back, her mother enlists the help of her four great-uncles -- the Catholic priest, the Episcopalian priest, the Jewish rabbi, and the gay Unitarian minister. The five relatives embark on an all out campaign to find Polly a mate in time to beat her biological clock. Like all loving relatives on a mission, they play dirty.

Four Uncles and a Wedding links:

Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=as_li_qf_sp_sr_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&index=aps&keywords=B008L2HRAK&linkCode=as2&tag=loiswins-20

Barnes & Noble:

Want to read more about Emma and her other books? Check out her website.

INKSPOT NEWS - June 16, 2012

Today Beth Groundwater will appear at the First in Boating on the Arkansas (FIBArk) whitewater festival in Salida, Colorado, the locale for her RM Outdoor Adventures mystery series. She will sign copies of the recently released second book in the series, Wicked Eddies, at The Book Haven, 128 F Street, from 10:30 - noon after the conclusion of the parade. In the afternoon, she'll sign copies at The Book Haven booth near the FIBArk festival grounds from 1:30 - 4 PM.

On Thursday, June 21st, from 5 - 8 PM, Beth Groundwater will sign copies of Wicked Eddies, the second book in her RM Outdoor Adventures mystery series, at the Covered Treasures Bookstore, 105 Second Street, Monument, CO 80132-1066 during the town's monthly Art Walk.

And the final BIG news about Midnight Ink author Beth Groundwater is that the Kindle ebook edition of her mystery, Deadly Currents, the first book in the RM Outdoor Adventures series, went on sale yesterday at Amazon for the amazingly cheap price of $1.99. The sale lasts two weeks, so hurry over to HERE to buy yours!


Today, Jennifer Harlow will appear at Supernatural Saturday: A Mysterious Adventure put on by MysteryBooksOnline.com. The program lasts from 11am-5pm with Buffet Lunch, Author signings, and panels. She will be on the Fun and Challenges of Writing Horror Fiction panel from 1-2pm with signings at 4pm at The Holly Inn, 31 South Baltimore Ave, Mount Holly Springs, PA 17065, (717) 486-3823. To register call 1-866- MY ALIBI. 

PAPER OR PLASTIC?

Last week I attended Malice Domestic in Bethesda, MD, then the Festival of Mystery in Oakmont, PA. Both events were fabulous. I met many readers, some of whom were very enthusiastic about my Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries and couldn’t wait for the next one in the series to come out. Others hadn’t read either but decided after hearing me speak at Malice or meeting me at the Festival, to give my books a try.

One of the most frequently asked questions I received at both events was, “Are your books available as e-books?” (Yes, they are.)

I’ve noticed in the short space of a year between the release of Assault With a Deadly Glue Gun, the first book in the series, and Death By Killer Mop Doll, the second book in the series, that ebook sales of my titles are far outpacing the trade paperbacks. More and more people are moving from physical books to e-readers.

There’s much to love about e-readers. You can carry around a lot of books with you at one time. If you finish a book while you’re traveling, you can easily read another, even if you’re in the middle of nowhere, miles and miles from a bookstore. I like that I can increase the font size of the words on the page, especially when I’m tired. The larger the print, the longer I can read without eye strain.

However, for those of us who love books, there’s something about holding a new book in our hands that an e-reader can’t satisfy. I wonder, what our homes will be like five, ten, or twenty years from now. Will we no longer have bookcases filled with volumes of our favorite titles? Will the Kindle and the Nook put bookcase manufacturers out of business? I love my bookcases filled with books. They take up space in just about every room of my house.

I stopped writing this for a few minutes and walked around my house, imagining each room without its bookcases. I’d certainly gain a lot of space if all those books resided in an e-reader instead of on physical shelves. I guess I’d have plenty of room to expand my teapot collection or start collecting something else. I just can’t imagine living without being surrounded by books.

What about the rest of you? Paper or plastic?

Lois Winston writes the critically acclaimed Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries series. The first book, Assault With A Deadly Glue Gun, was a January 2011 release and received starred reviews from both Publishers Weekly and Booklist and has been nominated for a Book of the Year Award by ForeWords Reviews. Death by Killer Mop Doll, the second book in the series, was released in January. Visit Lois at http://www.loiswinston.com and Anastasia at the Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers blog, http://anastasiapollack.blogspot.com.

A Wild Ride!

Last week on Friday, January 6th, the Kindle ebook version of Deadly Currents, the first book in my RM Outdoor Adventure mystery series, was the Amazon Kindle Daily Deal, on sale for 99 cents, a $9.00 discount from its normal Amazon price, for the short space of 24 hours. Man, was it a wild ride!

How did it happen? Publishers can submit books to Amazon for consideration for the Kindle Daily Deal in a three month period. Amazon selects which books they are going to feature on each day during that period and selects the price they are going to sell the books for: $.99, $1.99 or $2.99. My Midnight Ink editor asked me if I was willing to have Deadly Currents submitted to the program. My answer was, "Heck, yeah!"

After a few weeks wait, my editor notified me that Amazon had selected Deadly Currents for January 6th. We didn't know what price they would put on it, and wouldn't know until the actual day. So, I prepared myself to help promote the sale. Most of the promotion, of course, would be handled by Amazon, but I could help by alerting my personal contacts.

I sent out an email newsletter to my subscribers the day before, telling them about the sale. I spent a couple of hours on the morning of January 6th alerting my Facebook and Goodreads followers, other social networks, my yahoogroups, and my Goodreads and Facebook groups. I also notified my critique group and book club and personal friends, though many of them already had copies of the books. I asked everyone to help spread the word to their mystery-reading friends.


Then I sat back and watched the book soar through the ranks throughout the day. When I first logged on in the early morning, its rank was already in the low five digits. Soon the rank was down to four digits. When it dropped into the hundreds, I started to get really excited. But the wild ride was far from over!

By the time I went to bed that night, Deadly Currents had reached the rank of #3 in the Kindle Store, #1 in Amazon's Mystery, Thriller & Suspense list (ahead of The Girl With A Dragon Tattoo), and #1 in Amazon's Literature & Fiction list (ahead of The Help). What a sale!

At the end of the next day, Deadly Currents was still in the top ten of all three categories, and lingered there for awhile before starting a slow slide. Also, Google Alerts started popping up, showing all of the websites that had announced the sale. The exposure that the sale brought me was worth much more than the royalties I gave up, I'm sure.


All I can say is thank-you, Midnight Ink, for making such an astute move! Both my publisher and I hope that once readers read Deadly Currents, they'll develop an appetite for the RM Outdoor Adventure mystery series and line up to purchase copies of the second book, Wicked Eddies, when it is released in May.

Letting Madeline Speak for Herself

by Julia Buckley

This week when I posted my novel Madeline Mann on Kindle, I also began the sometimes weary process of promoting the book.

But then I remembered that, way back in 2007 when I initially sold Madeline Mann, Maddy had started her own blog. I unearthed this online diary and found that she had a lot to say. After all, Madeline is a reporter with an appropriately inquisitive mind.

One of her challenges, however, is being saddled with the nickname "Madman." This moniker was given to her by her brothers when they were all very young, and Madeline has been trying (unsuccessfully) to live it down ever since.

I'll let her tell you in her own words.

I'm thinking that Madeline might be better at telling her own story than I ever could be.

Do you let your characters tell their stories?

The 140-word Novel, by Jess Lourey

Sherman Alexie was recently on The Colbert Report to discuss his latest novel, War Dances, which he has refused to release on Kindle or in any other digital format. You can watch the interview below (and I recommend you do), but his main point is that once books are digital, we lose the celebration of the book as an art form and as a community-creator, not to mention the potential royalties lost as readers pirate books as easily as music listeners pirate songs.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Sherman Alexie
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Economy

Most authors lack the industry clout to refuse to sell the digital rights to their books, but even more than that, I think many of us don’t know what it means to have our books digitally available. The Google lawsuit seems to be muddying that water even more.

What are the pros and cons of Kindle, and other digital readers? I’m asking you as a reader and/or a writer. What do you see as the future of book delivery, and how will that affect writers and readers? The environment? Privacy?