Cover Reveal For Continuous Drips

Welcome to the cover reveal for Continuous Drips, the collected works of three amazing writers! These talented authors are called Da’Kharta Rising, Synful Desire, and Queen of Spades. This collection falls under the Short Story Anthology genre and Multi-Genre Anthology. The word count runs at 28,990. If you’re a reader who is always searching for great indie talent, this is one collection you’ll want to have on your book shelf or on your Kindle.

 

Different colors of ink collide in this short story anthology Continuous Drips:

Take a trip into darkness with Da’Kharta Rising with “Unrest”, “Omitted” and “The Kutters”.

Love, loss, and erotic heat hypnotically swirl in the mind of Synful Desire when reading “Derailed Endurance”, “Final Prep to Happiness” and “FAN-tasy Island”.

Episodes of human interaction displacement are given in doses when Queen of Spades presents “Misfortune”, “Afro Shock”, and “Útil.”

Amazon Pre-Order

The official launch date for Continuous Drips is November 12th but pre-order is available:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OTQVO9C

Want to learn more about these amazing authors? Follow the links:

Da’Kharta Rising

• Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/dakhartarising)
• Amazon Author Page (https://amazon.com/author/dakhartarising)

• Blog: Thoughts of a Slightly Social Anti-Socialite (https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8183620.Da_Kharta_Rising/blog)

• Koobug: (http://www.koobug.com/dakhartarising)

 

Synful Desire

• Facebook Author Page (https://www.facebook.com/synfuldesireauthor)
• Amazon Author Page (https://amazon.com/author/synfuldesire)
• Blog: Synful Interludes (https://www.synfuldesire.blogspot.com)
• Twitter @synful_desire (https://twitter.com/synful_desire)

Queen of Spades

• Facebook Author Page (https://www.facebook.com/authorqueenofspades)
• Amazon Author Page (https://amazon.com/author/queenspades)
• Blog: A Queen’s Ramblings (https://www.aqueensramblings.blogspot.com)
• Website (http://www.authorqueenofspades.com)
• Twitter @authorqspades (https://twitter.com/authorqspades)

Excerpts and graphics From Continuous Drips:

Da’Kharta Rising

    

Synful Desire

     

Queen of Spades

    

Title: Continuous Drips

Authors: The Collective (composed of Da’Kharta Rising, Synful Desire, and Queen of Spades)

Genre(s): Short Story Anthology, Multi-Genre Anthology

Word Count: 28,990

Be sure to pre-order your copy today!

 

 

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Introducing Slivers Of Life!

Hello, everybody! I am excited to announce the release of my second book. It is a collection of twenty short stories entitled Slivers of Life.

The Blurb:

These twenty short stories are a peek into individual lives caught up in spectacular moments in time. Children, teens, mothers, and the elderly each have stories to share. Readers witness tragedy and fulfillment, love and hate, loss and renewal. Historical events become backdrops in the lives of ordinary people, those souls forgotten with the passage of time. Beem Weeks tackles diverse issues running the gamut from Alzheimer’s disease to civil rights, abandonment to abuse, from young love to the death of a child. Long-hidden secrets and notions of revenge unfold at the promptings of rich and realistic characters; plot lines often lead readers into strange and dark corners. Within Slivers of Life, Weeks proves that everybody has a story to tell—and no two are ever exactly alike.

Where To Order:

Slivers of Life is available in paperback, Kindle, and Nook. It can be purchased at:

Amazon: http://www.tinyurl.com/q5xmlqm

Barnes&Noble: http://www.tinyurl.com/mbezgtc

Feeling Dissed By Mainstream Reviewers?

Should indie authors seek reviews from traditional mainstream sources? If we, as writers, opt for the self-published path, should we still consider sending copies of our work to The New York Times or Publishers Weekly?

Roger Sutton, the editor-in-chief of Horn Book magazine, a mainstream book review publication, recently published an open letter to “the indie author feeling dissed.”

In his open letter, Mr. Sutton does make some valid points. He says there are just too many self-published books flooding the market. Some estimates put the number at around 300,000 indie releases per year. To attempt to review even a portion of these works would prove daunting. Imagine being tasked with the responsibility of combing through that many books in search of just a handful of gems or potential gems?

Many self-published works are just plain awful, Mr. Sutton claims. This statement, unfortunately, holds some manner of truth. While he specifically points to children’s books, Mr. Sutton certainly isn’t out of line in stating this as fact. Though I’ve not read many children’s books in recent years, I have come across my fair share of poorly written books in need of serious editorial repair. Some I would even say should never have been written. I won’t post a review—good or bad—of those rare, truly-awful stories.

Sutton also points to the fact that many self-published authors have no sense of audience. Again, I’ve experienced this first hand. I get offers to review books every day. “I’ll send you a free copy in exchange for a review.” I find these requests in my DM box on Twitter, my message box on Goodreads, and in my email accounts pretty much every day. I’ve accepted some, usually those that grab my attention with the blurb. Most, though, are genres I don’t read: Sci Fi, romance, vampire/werewolf/witch stories. A quick perusal of the books/genres a reviewer has read will let an author know if this person might be interested in reading your book. I wrote a historical fiction novel that I would never think to send to a reviewer that specifically targets the science fiction market. This is just a simple common sense move.

Finally, Sutton claims self-published authors don’t know the market. This is true. But does anybody really know the current, ever-changing market that is the publishing world? Many of the articles I’m reading tell of a shrinking market, of book stores closing, and mainstream publishers struggling to maintain the vast kingdoms they spent the past century building. Every one of us that has published a book understands the biggest obstacle we face is in marketing our work to the world. We don’t have a ready-made audience we can tap into with best-seller results. Most of us lack the big budget needed to get our work before the eyes of hundreds of thousands—if not millions—of readers. I can’t afford to advertise my novel in Writers Digest or Publishers Weekly. I can’t even afford to advertise in my local newspaper on a regular basis.

The point is mainstream reviewers don’t care to review indie books. The Washington Post receives about 150 books a day, says Ron Charles, editor of the Post’s Book World. These books have agents and mainstream publishers backing them. They’ve also been professionally edited and marketed. The Washington Post and other mainstreamers won’t even look at an indie book. I learned this the hard way when I wasted money and time in sending over fifty copies of my novel to some of the biggest newspapers and publications in the United States. That was over two years ago. To this date, I have not heard a single word from any of those publications.

My advice in searching for reviews for your work: Be genre specific. Seek out those reviewers that prefer to read the genre in which you write. Forget mainstream reviewers; most are still snobbish when it comes to judging indie books. If you’ve chosen to go the indie route for publishing, follow that same path when marketing your work. There are many amazing indie review sites that have built solid reputations for offering fair and honest opinions of self-published books. As the indie publishing industry grows stronger, so too will indie marketing and reviews. All of us want that mainstream recognition; just don’t lose your sense of worth if it doesn’t come. Write on and have fun!