Last summer, Clown William's unique title character, William - an 1870's gunslinger with Tourette's and a quick draw - took home the Silver Medal for Best First Book at the 22nd Annual IPPY Awards in New York City. Now William's back at it, bringing home the Bronze Medal for Best Fiction Series in the 2019 IPPY Awards, which honored books one and two in the series: Clown William & Clown William and the Lincoln County War. Author Robin Elno should be very proud of his efforts -- the quality of this year's entries was truly outstanding, which means the competition was extremely tough. You can see all this year's winner's on the website of the Independent Publisher Book Awards. The author, Robin Elno, is a retired army colonel, semiretired psychiatrist, and full-time author. He lives in San Antonio, Texas, and is an active member of the San Antonio Writers’ Guild. Robin drew inspiration for William from a series of books and articles on the impact of neurological conditions on physical abilities. In his research, the author learned people with Tourette Syndrome can target point five times faster than average. "The inspiration for Clown William came from an Oliver Sacks article (author of "Awakenings"). The speed and accuracy of those who have this condition inspired the creation of the character William and his subsequent adventures," says the author Robin Elno. "What might appear a handicap can also be an advantage. Nature puts things in balance. Our comic book heroes have strengths that rise out of a difference from ordinary people. So does William. I hope readers feel empowered by how William learns to accept the good and the bad."
0 Comments
Once your book is published, it's critical to build your audience. This doesn't happen overnight, but rather one night (or day) at a time. We've highlighted several components of building an author brand in past blog posts: Building meta data into everything you do on your author platforms is a way to promote your book with every search; Taking one step at a time to build your author brand; Digging into the mechanics of creating an author website; Pumping up the volume on your social sites; and Strategies for marketing yourself as an author. A big part of continuing to build your author brand is to find new ways to connect with readers. Creating new content, like articles and short pieces, based on your book or variations on your books theme is a great way to do just that. Everything you write has the potential to generate book sales. This could be as simple as a book review on Goodreads, a blog on your website, or converting your book (or pieces of your book) into short fiction or article-length pieces to pitch to magazines or online periodicals. You can create these pieces and offer them for free to newspapers and websites in your specific area of expertise or that cover topics highlighted in your book. For example, a novel about an exotic location could be perfect for an article or excerpt in a travel magazine or blog. Newspapers, online sites, bloggers, and magazines are always looking for strong content - and you are a published author! So put that street cred to work for you. In the bio included after your piece, you have an opportunity to mention your book and your website, which may lead to new relationships online (and down the road, new buyers for your book). This type of content marketing is sneaky - it helps you build relationships and promote your brand as a contributor and author, all while giving you the opportunity to mention who you are as an author and send readers to your social platforms to follow you and learn more. So write for free . . . and watch it pay off in sales (and great new relationships to boot)! Here's a SmartBlogger article about writing for online publications, but there are others, just search on Google and start submitting! Author Vince Bailey was welcomed warmly by readers and fans at a recent author event, held at Barnes & Noble Arrowhead in his hometown of Peoria, Arizona. Vince met with readers and passers by and signed copies of his paranormal historical fiction novel, Path of the Half Moon. Path was recently named an official SEMI-FINALIST for the PARANORMAL Book Awards for Supernatural Fiction, a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (CIBAs) and is the previous winner of the Arizona Authors' Association Literary Award. Vince Bailey’s award-winning Path of the Half Moon is a paranormal historical fiction tale set in a remote detention facility for wayward boys in the early sixties. Curtis is an African American youth whose character and physical endurance are tested by a murderous inmate and a century-old Apache curse. Vince Bailey grew up in Central Arizona and his experiences there contribute significantly to the nostalgic aspect of his fiction writing. Path of the Half Moon is his debut novel, and Vince also pens a column for a nationally distributed trade periodical. Mr. Bailey currently resides in Peoria, Arizona with his wife, Rita. He's currently working on the next book in the Path of the Half Moon series. Connect with Vince Bailey at: www.vincebaileyauthor.com www.facebook.com/vincebaileyazauthor www.twitter.com/vincebailey20 Read more about Path of the Half Moon and shop Path merchandise. IngramElliott and Vince send many thanks to Barnes and Noble Arrowhead for supporting local authors in their store! #indiepublishing #barnesandnoble #localauthors #pathofthehalfmoon #ingramelliottpublishing
Learn more about the Mystery Muffin & Soda Pop Slooth Series!
We're excited to announce that Vince Bailey’s debut paranormal historical fiction novel, Path of the Half Moon, has been named an official SEMI-FINALIST for the PARANORMAL Book Awards for Supernatural Fiction, a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (CIBAs). The Paranormal Book Awards recognize emerging talent and outstanding works in the genre of Paranormal and Supernatural Fiction. The Paranormal Book Awards is a genre division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The #CIBAs). Path of the Half Moon, also winner of the Arizona Authors' Association Literary Awards, is a paranormal historical fiction tale set in a remote detention facility for wayward boys in the early sixties. Curtis is an African American youth whose character and physical endurance are tested by a murderous inmate and a century-old Apache curse. It's available in print and e-book wherever books are sold.
Meet Author Vince Bailey Saturday March 2, 2019 at 11 a.m. Barnes & Noble Arrowhead 7685 West Bell Road Peoria, AZ 85382 #CAC19 #SeriousAuthors #PARANORMALBookAwards #CIBAs
We discussed earlier this year how important building your brand as an author is. Strategy, content, and social media all come into play when building your own brand. Here, we will break down some practical ways to begin building your brand and give you a step-by-step guide for getting started! 1. Who Are You? To begin, you have to figure out who you are as an author. Ask yourself, “Who am I?” When you’re answering this question, consider what you bring to the table as an author. Why are you different? Why is your book special? Why are people going to choose to support you as an author? 2. Who Are You Marketing To? After you’ve figured out who you are as an author, you can figure out whom you are marketing to as an author. In other words, who is your target audience? Is it children? Young adults? Women? Men? When you figure out your target audience, you will be able to build a brand that markets directly to that audience. 3. Set Up Your Platform When you’ve answered the questions of who you are as an author and who your target audience is, you can start to set up your actual author platform. First and foremost, you will need to set up your author website. For further instruction on how to best build your website, you can revisit our blog post on it. 4. Don’t Shy Away From Email If you think of your email list as just another way to connect with your readers, like Twitter or Facebook, it becomes much less intimidating. If you can make a great first impression with your readers and create an easy form for them to use to subscribe to your email list, building your email list is completely doable. The important thing to remember when building your email list is that you shouldn’t wait to start. Begin building the list and develop it as you go, even if your website or book aren’t quite ready. 5. Get Active on Social Media As we’ve mentioned in posts previously, social media is crucial to your brand. The beauty of social media is that you have the creative liberty to tailor it to exactly the way you want it. Keep in mind the Rule of Thirds that we mentioned in an earlier blog post and remember to use your social media as a way to connect with your audience. If you use it solely as a promotional tool for your book or even for yourself, your audience will not be drawn in as effectively. Keep in mind what your readers connect with about you, and use that often in your social media. Remember to have patience with yourself as you build your brand and that, even using these practical steps, it will probably take some time. It’s okay to not get everything in order right away, as long as you are making progress! When it comes to marketing yourself an author, you don’t have to wait until your book is finished and published to begin. The earlier you connect and begin to build familiarity and relationships with your readers, the better. This becomes possible when you realize that you are marketing yourself more than you are marketing your book. At the end of the day, your name is a more important brand than your book’s title. The key is to build your own personal brand through which you can promote your books. We're launching a new blog series in 2019, dedicated to helping authors build their platforms and their brand. Here's a few things to get you started . . . maybe one or two will make it to your New Year's Resolution list!
If you've already started your online social media presence through Goodreads or other online social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, connect with your followers, like some of their posts, follow celebrities, groups, or other authors that you admire. Just start making online connections, one follow at a time. For authors with books already published, we strongly suggest creating and keeping fresh your Goodreads Profile and Amazon.com Author Central profiles. Be sure to keep them fresh with weekly posts or link them to your existing blog. Read more about Goodreads setup here. It's a powerful tool with a great return on investment of your time and energy. We'll talk more in upcoming posts about creating a compelling social media presence but for now just make a start. Create a profile and bring the new YOU to the New Year!
Meet Megan Wong, author of YA novel Island Whispers Saturday August 4 at 2 pm at B&N Arboretum7/23/2018 Author Event at The Arboretum Saturday August 4 2:00 pm Eastern Time Barnes and Noble Arboretum 3327 Pineville-Matthews Road Charlotte, NC 28226 Island Whispers Megan Wong will be signing copies of her debut YA novel, Island Whispers. You can also sign up to win a gift basket of Island Whispers merchandise! Megan Wong was always a writer. Beginning in elementary school, she wrote stories and loved reading. As a freshman in high school, she began writing what would become her debut novel, Island Whispers. She loves creating worlds filled with magic and sharing stories that need to be told. She is currently an undergraduate student majoring in psychology with a minor in creative writing at North Carolina State University. Connect with the author on Facebook @islandwhispersmw and follow her blog. Read more about Island Whispers and shop merchandise! The Independent Publisher Book Awards hosted the winners of the 22nd Annual, 2018 "IPPY" Awards on May 29th in New York City, celebrating their incredible work with 300 medalists and guests. Click here to view more pictures from the Copacabana ceremony. The IE team was there to represent our winning author, Robin Elno, and his unique Western novel, Clown William. Clown William won a silver IPPY for Best First Novel and is being well-received around the globe! We're excited to announce that the second book in the Clown William series is coming soon! Clown William and the Lincoln County War follows William, the reluctant gunslinger with Tourette's, as he escorts the lady Emily over the mountains and into Lincoln, New Mexico. There, he finds her brother John in a battle for survival in the infamous Lincoln county War. The sheriff and his posse of hired killers, secure under the protection of the courts and the governor, have a stranglehold on the town. Eastern newspapers called Lincoln "the most dangerous street in America." And that was before William arrived.
Clown William, Silver Winner in the 2018 IPPY Awards for Best First Book (Fiction) will be featured in a special IPPY Winners section at the 2018 BookExpo New Title Showcase in New York during this week's BookExpo event at the Javits Center. New Title Showcase is located in booth 1675 and will have a prominent banner above the booth reading NEW TITLE SHOWCASE so it's easy for attendees to find. Clown William will be displayed along with other IPPY Award Winning titles at the 2018 BookExpo - the #1 book and author event in the industry. IngramElliott will also be attending the IPPY Awards ceremony, held on May 29th at the legendary Copacabana Nightclub in Times Square for the 2018 Independent Publisher Book Awards Ceremony, celebrating our winning title! #TheBookCon
#BookExpo @IPPYmag @IPAwards |
Archives
March 2024
Categories
All
|