Belle Whittington

Howdy, Peeps & Peepettes! WOW! It’s a busy week around here! There’s a THIRD giveaway to enter if you wanna win some swag or a copy of “Cicada”!

Pop on over to Serendipity Reviews and enter Marcy’s 30th Birthday Bash! Yee Haw!!!!

http://www.serendipity-reviews.com/marcys-30th-birthday-bash-giveaway

Belle Whittington is not only lovely but she is also hilarious, so I am delighted to be able to feature her this week on Once Upon A Time as I love her to bits! She is the author of the book Cicada, for which you can see my review here and also enter the giveaway to win a copy. Without further ado, I have you over to Belle. Enjoy!

Please tell us a little bit about yourself.

First of all, I’d like to thank the lovely Hannah so much for having me over to her wonderful blog for a nice cup of tea and a really fun chat! Hannah is such a terrific person to get to know, and we’ve definitely exchanged some fun emails over the past few weeks! I’m really excited to be able to get to know your readers and to share a little about my little YA novel, Cicada, and me!

I have been daydreaming stories for as long as I can remember. My first recollection of wanting to be a writer was when I was in the second grade, and my teacher, Mrs. Rambin, would have us lay our heads on our desks after lunch while she read us stories full of magic and imagination.

Click here to read the rest of the interview and see the unofficial playlist…

Click here to enter the giveaway and read the review…

Post by Hannah <3

Summertime had always been carefree and fun for Blair Reynolds and her friends—until they came upon something that was not human. As the group of friends band together in a fight for their lives, Blair’s true love becomes something more than human…something unnatural. And their existence relies on their ability to keep a secret.

Cicada is a really fun and fast read that is making me miss summertime… a lot. It follows a group of friends for the summer, with the focus on the main protagonist Blair, in a small town in Texas. I loved the closeness of this group of friends, how when faced with the scary reality of a certain situation (don’t want to give too much away) they stick together and look out for one another at all costs. That was probably my favorite part of the book. Blair’s older brother, Andrew, was especially protective of his sister and showcases such an intense bond with his younger sister that makes me wish I had an older brother to tag along with! Then there was also Everett, bug boy, who captured a soft spot in my heart being the science nerd that I am!

Read the rest here…

Post by Kristan

Thank you Belle once again for taking the time to be a part of this interview! I truly appreciate your request for my review of your debut novel, Cicada. It’s quite an accomplishment and I know you must be overjoyed!

It’s my pleasure! I’m so happy to have the opportunity to visit your blog and share a little bit of myself and Cicada with your readers!  It took about a year to write Cicada, and I was truly glad when it was finished…not because I was tired of writing it, but because I could move on to the next stage with the characters and what they will become.

Many authors find the writing process to be such a roller coaster ride of joy and frustration. What was the process of writing Cicada like for you?

Writing Cicada was actually an easy ride. I don’t recall any frustration while writing, because the story just lent itself to me, and the characters led the way. I merely recorded on paper what I saw play out in my imagination. Now, the editing process…well there’s a story of headaches and frustration…

I’m going to be completely honest with you, cicadas creep me out! (Any bug does for that matter!) Why did you choose these creeptastic creatures for your book?

First off, let me just say that I love the word “creeptastic”! May I borrow that from you for future use? (Hahaha sure thing!)

Actually, in East Texas, cicadas are called locusts…even though they aren’t locusts at all. I guess I’ve always been enamored by those little bugs. Their buzzing sounds take me back to summer vacation, when school let out and we played outside all day long in the woods. They remind me of happy, carefree times when the worlds seemed full of endless possibilities and life seemed simple.

As to why I chose the analogy of the cicada for my book…hmmm…how do I say this without giving away spoilers? Let’s just say that there aren’t really any “bug” cicadas in Cicada. There is, however, an underlying parallel of sorts.

Go here to read the rest of the interview…

Post by Kristan

Congratulations to Kara-Karina, the winner of the international giveaway of a copy of Cicada!

And many thanks to Jodie at Books for Company for hosting the giveaway and to all those who stopped by to enter the giveaway! :-)

Go here to for my interview on Rachel’s book review blog! :-)

There is something happening in the publishing industry right now. Something seismic. Regular men and women – children even! – are beginning to self-publish. The internet has given them the keys to a once gated empire – and the gatekeepers are not happy. There is a system in place for writers, a proven process that filters “the talentless hacks” from the Stephen Kings, JK Rowlings, and Stephanie Meyers of the world. And by sidestepping it, so-called ‘vanity’ authors are essentially flooding the market with a deluge of sub par fiction and nonfiction alike. This attitude has created an enormous tide of hostility towards would be authors, but like all anger, it is rooted in fear, a fear which has absolutely no basis in merit whatsoever.

Before I go any further, allow me to first redefine the ’self-published’ author. She is a person who has invested time, energy, and hard work into cultivating a product that should ultimately generate a sustainable income. She is, in effect, what I call an enterprise author. When I wrote my book, I didn’t do it on a whim. I decided to take a massive financial risk because I believe that I can run a successful business writing books. If a child selling lemonade is not representative of all businessman, let’s not confuse someone publishing his unedited manuscript with genuine entrepreneurs.

Read the rest here…

Article by Mark

Note from Jane: I don’t usually run posts that feature or promote a single service or solution. Authors need to find partners who not only fit with them, but also fit with their work and their audience. In Scott Sigler‘s case, I think he’s found an excellent partner that helps empower his long-term author career. Read this as a case study in what a successful fit looks like, rather than as THE solution for every author. Now, without further ado …

Today’s guest blogger is entrepreneur Tay Nguyen. Tay is a co-founder or BackMyBook, a company that offers services and technology platforms necessary to guide authors through the rapidly changing world of publishing. Previously, Tay was a co-founder at DivX, an Internet video company he took to a $535 million valuation. He and his partner, GK Parish-Philp, formerly of mp3.com, are now applying their collective Internet experience to the publishing world.

Read the rest here…

Indie (aka self) publishing is hardly a new phenomena. And contrary to some, it is not code word for “not good enough.” Want proof? Take a look at the nine titles featured in our slideshow. From modern blockbusters like “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” and “Eragon” to acclaimed masterpieces from authors including Walt Whitman and Leo Tolstoy, indie is just another way to get your work in front of readers.

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Article by Amy Edelman

I attended Publishers Launch: E-books for Everyone Else (presented by Publishers Launch Conferences and The Center for Publishing at New York University’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies) in the hopes of getting some answers to the questions I posed in my previous article, Migrating to Digital Publishing? The Six Key Questions to Ask. When I mentioned this to an industry friend at the event, his response “You have answers? I thought no one had any” was quite telling.

In addition to attending this event, I listened to a Digital Book World webcast on the same topic and spoke to several industry people who have first-hand experience on migrating content to digital.

And the truth is, there are very few “answers” everyone agrees to:

Read the rest here…

Article by Karina Mikhli

My lovely blog was featured on a little thing called Blogger Lift. It is hosted by Jude at In Between Writing and Reading. We’re very good friends and I was just waiting for my blogger life date to come. Go check out all my fabulous answers HERE!

Post by Sky

Follow Follow Follow This Blog! :-)

The young adult market these days is a bit like a nephew you haven’t seen in years: transformed from a little darling into a hulking almost-grownup who is maybe, even, a little scary. Teen titles dominate publishers’ fall lists, and those books overwhelmingly feature menacing creatures, forbidden romances, and apocalyptic versions of this and future Earth. “Blood” is a common word in titles, as is “dark,” “death,” “deadly,” and even “darker still.”

Wait, that is an actual title. Darker Still by Leanna Renee Hieber (Sourcebooks, Nov.)

Illustration via Wordle.com.“I don’t think the readership is tired of these types of stories,” says Rosemary Stimola, the agent who represents Suzanne Collins and The Hunger Games. “This is a population of young people who don’t remember a time when the country was not at war. It makes perfect sense that their literature would allow them a way to exercise their thoughts about the nature of good and evil, and that it might reflect violence and great loss.”

YA continues to shine in an industry clouded by uncertainty. A decade and a half after Harry Potter kick-started a fantasy boom, hardcover fiction remains the star category,

“There are no more taboos; YA covers every category,” says Alessandra Balzer, v-p and copublisher at HarperCollins imprint Balzer + Bray. “Retailers have caught on to the enormous potential. People are paying more attention. The teen market operates now a lot more like the adult book market, including that there’s a lot more money to be made.”

Read the rest here…

By Sue Corbett

Knowing how to effectively market your e-book can be a challenge if you don’t have any formal education or professional experience in sales and marketing. Plus, these days, the default strategy seems to be “I’ll use social media.” But that’s not a strategy, it’s a tool.

When I teach the basics of marketing communication to e-media majors, we start by discussing the marketing mix, also known as the 4 Ps. Some say this model is outdated, but it’s still a useful way to begin a discussion about marketing a product.

Read the rest here…

Cover Crazy is a meme created by Tawni @ The Bookworms to share book covers that you are thrilled about.  This week it’s Cicada by Belle Whittington! There’s just something awesome about this simplistic cover with this girl with her head thrown back, seemingly floating.  And the title Cicada.  I don’t know.  Just the combination works wonderfully well.  Really excited for this. Looks really good. 

Guess what ladies and gentlemen? It’s that time of the year again. For those of you who are already well-aware of Haunted Halloween, you know what crazy things are about to happen. If you are new to the event just click here to see what we did last year. 

This is the 2nd year of Haunted Halloween: True Tales of the Paranormal and Lisa (from A Life Bound By Books) and I have been working tirelessly to try to make this year’s event even better!

Read the rest here…

Confessions of a Bookaholic