Thursday, January 3, 2013

HBS Author’s Spotlight – Class of December 2012

This is our fourth month of highlighting authors. The response has been overwhelming to say the least. I try to pick authors who are interesting studies and I try to ask them unique questions for our Q/A section.

Authors, we have a eleven outstanding authors this time around. This month we have an interesting variety of writers with worlds of expertise.

January is starting right where we left off in December. Here is a summary of our December authors.

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Michelle Muto
Author Genre: YA Fantasy, Horror, Science Fiction

Author's Blog: Blogger Spotlight
Website: Michelle Muto Paranormal Writer
Twitter: @MichWritesBooks
E-Mail: michelle.muto@gmail.com
LinkedIn: Check Out LinkedIn
Facebook: Check Out Facebook


New Book: The Haunting Season

Author Blog: I blogged for a short time before I decided to jump into indie publishing.

Social Media: I’d say that Twitter and whatever activity I have on FB accounts for over 90% of my marketing push.

Support Groups: ...Paranormal Plumes, Indie Chicks, and the Indelibles.

Indie Chicks: The Indie Chicks is made up of an incredible group of women. We first came together to not only support each other…


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For the rest of the story...View Michelle Muto - HBS Author's Spotlight
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Donna Fasano
Author Genre: Sweet Romance

Author's Blog: Awesome Romance Novels
Website: Author Donna Fasano, In All Directions
Twitter: @DonnaFaz
LinkedIn: Check Out LinkedIn
Facebook: Check Out Facebook


New books: The Single Daddy Club…entire series is available NOW.

Indie Publishing: The most difficult adjustment I have found is not having enough time to do all the the necessary jobs involved in being an Indie Author.

Social Media: The social media learning curve was steep... I do enjoy socializing.

Author Blog: Offering other authors a helping hand makes me feel good. I'm a big advocate of helping others.

Indie Chicks: I am so lucky to a part this group of talented women.

Indie world: In a perfect world, I think I would have done things differently. I would have taken the time to build my social network and introduce myself to book reviewers and bloggers before publishing my first Indie book.

eBooks: 98% of my sales come from my ebooks.

Free books: I believe it gives readers a 'taste' of my work. I think it's good business to offer samples…


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For the rest of the story...View Donna Fasano - HBS Author's Spotlight
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Cheryl Shireman
Author Genre: Fiction Novels, Non-Fiction and Children's Books

Author's Blog: Cooper Moon - The Series
Website: Cheryl Shireman
Twitter: @cherylshireman
E-Mail: Contact Form on her Site
LinkedIn: Check Out LinkedIn
Facebook: Check Out Facebook


New Book: I am currently in the middle of the Cooper Moon series…the final two books in the series will be published in 2013.

Social Media: The best thing about social media is that my readers can easily find me…and the connections I have made with other writers.

Book Trailers: I think a trailer, if well done, can be a great tool to sell a novel…

Indie Chicks founder: I came up with a list of my “dream team” of women writers and started contacting them…they are an extraordinary group of writers.

2012 Holiday Blog Hop: created by Cheryl Bradshaw @cherylbradshaw...Over sixty writers did contests and giveaways on their blogs...Readers “hop” around from blog to blog and enter the contests.

Free Books: I just did a giveaway of the first book in the Cooper Moon series - Cooper Moon: The Calling. Almost 1500 readers grabbed a free copy.


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For the rest of the story...View Cheryl Shireman - HBS Author's Spotlight
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Rayne Hall
Author Genre: Fantasy and Horror Fiction

Website: Rayne Hall
Twitter: @RayneHall
E-Mail: rayne[underscore]hall[underscore]author[at]yahoo[dot]com
LinkedIn: Check Out LinkedIn
Facebook: Check Out Facebook


New Book: I'm preparing Undead: Ten Tales of Zombies for publication.

Social Media: My social network of choice is Twitter @raynehall which I use not just as a marketing tool but for engaging with my peers (other writers) and my readers.

UK Author: Ebook publishing is international, and many readers who have previously been only exposed to their country's form of English are startled to see different words and spellings.

Short Story Projects: Working with multiple authors is exciting…It's thrilling to see how differently the authors interpret the theme.

Short Stories Collections: Single stories don't do so well, but the anthologies (books with stories by several authors) and the single-author sixpack collections are popular.

Author Workshops: My workshops are for writers who have mastered the basics and want to learn new skills and take their writing craft to the next level.


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For the rest of the story...View Rayne Hall - HBS Author's Spotlight
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Cynthia Woolf
Author Genre: Romance, Science Fiction & Fantasy

Author's Blog: Cynthia Woolf blog
Website: Cynthia Woolf - from Cowboys to Space Captains
Twitter: @CynthiaWoolf
E-Mail: cindy@cynthiawoolf.com
LinkedIn: Check Out LinkedIn
Facebook: Check Out Facebook


New Book: I'm currently working on the second in the Matchmaker & Co. series. It's called Heiress Bride to be released in March 2013.

Social Media: I wouldn't be as successful at all if it wasn't for Twitter and Facebook. That is where I do 90% of my promo.

Support Groups: Colorado Romance Writers and Romance Writers of America…I wouldn't be published now if not for these two groups.

Author Blog: I like to have guests on my blog most of the time. I may only blog myself once or twice a month.

eBook Publishing: If it weren't for ebooks, I wouldn't be published. My books don't fit in the traditional publishers slots.

Book Tour: I did my first book tour with Tame A Wild Bride. It was wildly successful.

Free Books: I do giveaways with every blog hop I participate in and whenever I write a blog myself, I do a giveaway. (Cynthia did a giveaway with the original HBS Author's Spotlight post.


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For the rest of the story...View Cynthia Woolf - HBS Author's Spotlight
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Rachelle Ayala
Author Genre: Romance Historical

Author's Blog: When a Woman Wrongs a Man
Website: Rachelle Ayala, Writer
Twitter: @AyalaRachelle
LinkedIn: Check Out LinkedIn
Facebook: Check Out Facebook


New book: Hidden Under Her Heart is going the middle of next year.

Social media: My writing would be severely lacking if I had not joined CritiqueCircle.com, an online critique group.

Support groups: The World Literary Café group and Fostering Success[Melissa Foster @Melissa_Foster]…They are definitely a place to make connections and keep up to date with the current market conditions.

Blog Promo: My blog is heavily visited because of the Promo Site listing so it is a win-win situation for everyone who appears on my blog.

Free books: I've had great success with the first giveaway on Amazon of each of my first two novels


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For the rest of the story...View Rachelle Ayala - HBS Author's Spotlight
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Mohana Rajakumar
Author Genre: Essays & non-fiction projects with young adults

Author's Blog: YouTube Channel - Mohana Rajakumar
Website: Mohadoha
Twitter: @moha_doha
LinkedIn: Check Out LinkedIn
Facebook: Check Out Facebook


New Books: I’m very excited to have three books in the revision stage.

Support Groups: I am part of both the Independent Author Network and the World Literary Cafe

Book Tours: Blog tours are essential when you are starting out to get word out about your book… and get your work in front of new readers.

Young Authors: I love working with aspiring or new authors. The magic of writing comes back when you see how delighted someone is in a finished piece…

Editing is always the challenge.

Free Books: Free days on Amazon through the KDP program have been wonderful for me both because of the high rankings and therefore visibilty you gain.


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For the rest of the story...View Mohana Rajakumar - HBS Author's Spotlight
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David Rashleigh
Author Genre: Mystery, Horror, Ghosts

Author's Blog: Google+
Website: David Rashleigh
Twitter: @DavidRashleigh
E-Mail: david@davidrashleigh.com
Facebook: Check Out Facebook


Quote of month: I think that when you have to explain to your reading audience: “I want to reassure the people who live today near the old railway line that all events in Sciron, including the hauntings, are completely fictional!” you have met the primary goal of an author.

My next book is best described as a paranormal political thriller.

CreateSpace publishing: What was that experience like? Incredibly easy. I would recommend them to any aspiring author.


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For the rest of the story...View David Rashleigh - HBS Author's Spotlight
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Paul Western-Pittard
Author Genre: Thriller, Fantasy, Science Fiction

Author's Blog: That Thing I Said
Twitter: @Cerullean
E-Mail: paul@cerullean.net
LinkedIn: Check Out LinkedIn
Facebook: Check Out Facebook


New Books: The first, an Urban Fantasy...called The Transcendents to be release around the middle of next year. The second book, which I hope to released early 2014 is called Godless.

Social Media: I wasn’t very active…in truth I was quite skeptical of the whole thing. Like many authors though, I realized the need to build this ubiquitous so-called ‘platform’ and understood that social media would be key to that.

Book Trailers: ...book trailers shouldn’t try to be film trailers...they need to bring something different to the table.

Author Blog: I began interviewing authors and learned that talking to and about other people is far more interesting than the (slightly) solipsistic focus on me and my own work.


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For the rest of the story...View Paul Western-Pittard - HBS Author's Spotlight
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Patrick Hatt
Author Genre: Children's, Humor And Comedy, Science Fiction

Author's Blog: It's Rhyme Time
Website: Pat Hatt Books
Twitter: @PatHatt24
E-Mail: support@pathattbooks.com
LinkedIn: Check Out LinkedIn


Book Trailers: The children's book trailer has over 17,000 views already and it has only been up a short time. It has provided a great deal of success.

eBook Color: Oh without color the books wouldn't be seen anywhere near as much in ebook form. That color catches the readers eye and helps a ton with marketing and such.


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For the rest of the story...View Patrick Hatt - HBS Author's Spotlight
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Ermal Walden Williamson
Author Genre: American Western & Historical Fiction

Website: Ermal as JOHN WAYNE
E-Mail: duke@ermal.com


New Book: Beyond The Brazos to be released in February, 2013.

One-on-one selling: I CAN SELL MY BOOKS IN THE PERSONA OF “JOHN WAYNE” BEST.


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For the rest of the story...View Ermal Walden Williamson - HBS Author's Spotlight
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