Samuel, Seer

Since October, I've been busy revising and republishing books. So far, we've re-published Scott's Tanella's Flight, Natalie's A Gigolo for Christmas, and The Mom's Place, and my Clues to Food. We've also republished our anthology, Bits and Bites.

Additionally, as an Editor with the Electric Scroll, I've been working with four other authors, and their books are in various stages of publication.

Today, I want to talk about the newest book out, Samuel, Seer. It's the fictionalized autobiography of the Old Testament prophet, Samuel, and it's...hmm...what's a better word than Awesome? Well, it's better than Awesome!

Also, today, and until the 9th, the Kindle ebook version is free! (Get it here.)

A M Jenner

Stop Five: An Unexpected Day at Home

Something must have gone wrong today. I have no idea what or why or how. Although I do know who, I have no way to get hold of the lady who had agreed to be my blog tour host other than the internet; and she doesn't seem to be able to get online today.

 

I was supposed to have been in Indiana today, but since it seems that this is not going to happen, I'll run with plan B. Yes, I have a plan B. I (almost) always have a plan B. In this case, plan B is that I will host myself for this installment of my blog tour. Mostly because I really want this post to be seen.

 

 

How Ebooks Have Changed Writing

 

I've had a lot of people ask me what I think about this recent craze over ebooks. They want to know how ebooks have changed the face of writing. I tell them writing has not changed. Publishing has changed a lot, and so has technology, but the art of crafting a story and presenting it in a permanent form has not changed in several hundred years.

No matter what the genre is, or the length of the story, all fiction writing has a few things in common. There must be a hero. The hero must have a goal. There must be obstacles between the hero and the goal. Some people may be surprised I don’t specify there must be a villain. There are many types of conflict and obstacles, not all of which absolutely require a villain; however, most heroes do have a flesh and blood nemesis throwing obstacles in their path.

Now, a little about publishing.

Some 700 years ago, Johannes Gutenberg put together several new technologies to create a new type of type of printing press. Before this time, all books were either written by hand or printed after a piece of wood had been carved for each page.

Somewhere around 150 years ago, Samuel Clemens is credited with being the first author to turn a manuscript in to his editor which had been written on a typewriter. Before that, all manuscripts were written out by hand. In fact, the very word manuscript means hand-written.

Some five years ago, ebooks became very popular with the invention of the Kindle. Ebooks had been around before that, but people like to carry their books around with them, and not have to sit at their desk to read them. The Kindle made the carrying-around part easy. Suddenly readers had the ability to go on vacation and take all of their favorite books with them. They would never run out of things to read.

However, because mainstream publishers were slow to make their books available in electronic format, readers became frustrated. At the same time, writers who for one reason or another were unable or unwilling to publish via mainstream companies were frustrated at the inability to get their books in front of willing readers. Self-publishing a book at that time cost a small fortune. By making ebook publishing affordable and available to all, readers and authors both found a cure for their frustration. Authors could afford to self-publish. Readers had more novels to choose from. Self-published ebooks made everyone happy except for the main-stream publishing companies who didn’t dare try the new technology.

Various inventions have changed the face of publishing over the years. The art and science of novel-writing has changed very little, however. An author still needs a hero, his goal, and a bunch of obstacles standing between the two. A good story is a good story, no matter how it’s produced, and it will continue to delight readers for many years to come. The method of its delivery to a reader’s eager eyes and hands is largely irrelevant to the writing process.

Instead of stories being written and revised and copied out by hand on voluminous amounts of paper, an ebook can be produced entirely with a computer and use no paper at all, yet still be totally engrossing to the reader. Thanks to my e-reader, I have just discovered a “new” favorite author...H. G. Wells.

Over the thirteen years I worked on Tanella’s Flight, I used a lot of paper. Many of the chapters were written in longhand, then typed into the computer. The manuscript was printed out, double spaced, at nearly a ream of paper per copy, for each revision. Ten copies were printed and sent to beta-readers. By contrast, The Siege of Kwennjurat was never on paper at all until the proof copy was printed. No paper! If you buy an e-copy, then between us we have used no trees in the production of an excellent novel. If you want a print copy, then the tree-consumption is still kept at a minimum, because only copies that are ordered get printed. There is no pile of paper books sitting in a warehouse someplace gathering dust.

The publishing process of both books was different, but the writing followed roughly the same path. I have a hero...and a goal...and a whole pile of obstacles standing in his path.

Stop Three: Canterbury, England

Help! My characters have just taken over my book!
Stop three on my international blog tour.

http://sophiesthoughtsandfunmbles.blogspot.com/2012/10/when-characters-take-over-guest-post-by.html

Kwennjurat, Part II

My new book, The Siege of Kwennjurat, is officially published, and I feel like celebrating. Today, I’m giving away a signed copy of my new book. Here’s how to enter:

Making a comment on the blog gets you one entry. If you’re a blog follower, say so for a second entry. Tweeting and sharing to Facebook or Google+ are worth one entry each (post a link to where you shared in your comment). First thing tomorrow morning, I will put all the entries in a hat and draw a winner. I’ll announce the winner, then they can email me their real name and address, and their signed book will be on the way!

Some people have been waiting three and a half years since the publication of Tanella’s Flight to find out “the rest of the story”. In your comments today, tell me about the longest wait you had to endure. Thanks for playing. See you tomorrow with today’s winner, and happy reading!

Princess Holly Gets Crowned!

Random.org picked Holly as the winner of Tanella's Flight! Holly, email me with your address and how you'd like it inscribed, and I'll get it right out to you!

~Marie

Kwennjurat, Part I

My new book, The Siege of Kwennjurat, is scheduled for release tomorrow days from now, and I feel like celebrating. Tomorrow, I am giving away one signed book each day. Here’s how to enter:

Making a comment on the blog gets you one entry. If you’re a blog follower, say so for a second entry. Tweeting and sharing to Facebook or Google+ are worth one entry each (post a link to where you shared in your comment). First thing tomorrow morning, I will put all the entries in a hat and draw a winner. I’ll announce the winner, and then they can email me their real name and address, and their signed book will be on the way!

Today I’m giving away Tanella’s Flight. This fantasy is the first half of the Kwennjurat Chronicles. You’ll want to read this before the sequel, The Siege of Kwennjurat comes out tomorrow. The heroine of this book is a princess. In your comments today, tell me when in your life you most felt like royalty. See you tomorrow with a new giveaway and the announcement of today’s winner.

King vs. king

Nouns come in two basic varieties. Proper nouns are the names of people or places. All the rest of the nouns are called common nouns. Proper nouns are always capitalized. Common nouns are not capitalized.

The rule is easy enough with words that are always one way or the other. No one would forget to capitalize a person's name, such as John Smith, Sarah, or Jane. Likewise, no one would forget place names, such as Canada, Kentucky, or Topeka, Kansas.

It's also easy to know not to capitalize common nouns like dog, train, or camel.

The complications arise when there is a word that is sometimes capitalized and sometimes not, like river, king, or princess. Here's how to remember when a sometimes word gets the royal treatment. It all depends on usage.

If you are referring to that river over there, or any river, a river is a pretty common thing. It's a common noun and it gets no capital. If you are talking about a particular river, and the word river is part of the name of the river, then you use the capital letter. For example, you would write the river flowed past the campground, when it could be any river and any campground. In referencing a specific river, you would write In places, the Mississippi River is more than a mile wide. In this context, the word river is part of the name of the Mississippi River, and it gets its proper capital letter, because it is a proper noun.

The same rule-of-thumb applies to royalty and other titled personages. The princess crept quietly through the woods. However, Princess Tanella stopped for lunch. Likewise, a king can sit on his throne, but only King Fergasse can pass judgment on the people of Jurat.

~Marie

Exciting New Video!

More exciting news related to the October 24 release of The Siege of Kwennjurat. I wanted to share the video trailer with you, so you can see a little more what the book is about. Remember, The Siege of Kwennjurat is the sequel to Tanella's Flight. If you haven't read Tanella's Flight yet, there's still time to get it so that you’ll be caught up with the story when it comes out.

Marie

Resolution Update

My goals for this year began as:

• Graduate from college. (Accomplished)
• Write a new manuscript, something I haven't had time to do since I started college. (Accomplished)
• Take a vacation someplace out of Arizona. (Accomplished)
• Hug my daughter every day. (In Progress)
• Learn how to make book trailers and post them to YouTube. (Accomplished!)

As I continue through the year, my evolving list of goals reads:

• Hug my daughter every day.
• Support my daughter as she takes her turn at college. (Accomplished)
• Finish editing The Siege of Kwennjurat and get it published.
• Reformat all ebooks so they look better. (Accomplished)

The hugs continue at an accelerated rate, which is good for both of us.

My daughter has decided that, despite the support, an academic education is not what is right for her, and has left school. We are all happy for her mature decision. While college can be quite useful, it is not for everyone. We're happy that she has realized this, and chosen not to waste any more money, time, and extreme frustration trying to live up to cultural expectations. She is getting a lot of love and support now as she forges her own path in life.

The Siege of Kwennjurat is completely finished, and will be released on October 24th. There's going to be a lot of blog activity this month, with book giveaways and other pre- and post-release activity. I'm so happy to finally have finished this exciting two-volume tale after some sixteen years of combined work on the two books.

Last month I reported success with creating my first-ever video trailer, for Tanella's Flight:

This month, I have doubled my trailers, by adding a new one for The Siege of Kwennjurat. Although they are companion books, the feel of the two trailers is really very different. I think they each fit their book, though.

I finally finished the pair of socks last night. Due to my increasing arthritis in my hands, this will very likely be the last hand-knitting I will ever do. I also finished the quilt. I laid it on the couch to take the picture of it as promised.

I only finished a dozen books this month, but my page total is 5756. They were thicker books than last month.

~Marie

Goodreads Giveaway

My new book, The Siege of Kwennjurat, is coming out October 24. I got the proof copy in yesterday's mail. Here's the front cover, isn't it gorgeous?

For some reason, I'm more excited about The Siege of Kwennjurat being launched than the last several books. Maybe it's because I've been working on it for about 3 1/2 years. Maybe it's just that I'm excited that the rest of the story is finally available to everyone who enjoyed Tanella's Flight so much. Maybe it's just all the work I put into the front cover.

At any rate, keep your eyes on this blog because exciting things are going to be happening over the next month, and all of them will be announced here.

I'm giving away five copies of The Siege of Kwennjurat through Goodreads, so if you have a membership there, sign up for your chance to win an autographed copy. You can either sign up at Goodreads, or you can use the widget in the right-hand column of the blog.

I will be showing off the trailer for the new book in just a few days. During the next month, I also plan to host a hangout at Google+, give away signed books on this blog, and going on what I hope will be an international blog tour. The details for that aren't all quite arranged yet.

~Marie

Update on Goals

My goals for this year began as: 

• Graduate from college. (Accomplished)
• Write a new manuscript, something I haven't had time to do since I started college.
• Take a vacation someplace out of Arizona. (Accomplished)
• Hug my daughter every day.
• Learn how to make book trailers and post them to YouTube. (Accomplished!)

As I continue through the year, my evolving list of goals reads:

• Write a new manuscript, something I haven't had time to so since I started college.
• Hug my daughter every day.
• Support my daughter as she takes her turn at college.
• Finish editing The Siege of Kwennjurat and get it published.

My new manuscript, Crown of Tears was finished on August 25, a personal speed-writing record for me.

Our hugs have increased to multiple hugs per day, and let me tell you, my daughter gives really good hugs. On the school front, I check with her every day about her homework, asking about her assignments and following up to make sure she is turning them in on time.

I've finished the major rewrites on The Siege of Kwennjurat, and it is now being copy edited. I'm pleased to announce that it will be released on October 24th.

I learned new things about ebook formatting from my friend Green Tortuga, and am now in the processing of reformatting my ebooks to make them look better. Now that I've learned how to put pictures into ebooks, expect to find maps in the fantasy books after the reformatting is complete.

I also learned something from my new friend Paul Carroll, author of Balor Reborn. He taught me how to make video trailers for my books, and I started in with a trailer for Tanella's Flight. Earlier this year I had decided I wasn't going to be able to get to that this year, but things worked out otherwise. This shows me that what "they" say about goals is true. If you write it down and read it often, a way will be opened up for it to become accomplished, even when you don't know how it is going to happen. The trailer for Tanella's Flight can be seen here. You cal also view it below.

I'm still 3/4 of the way through knitting the same pair of socks. I haven't knit more than a couple of rows all month. However, I did begin work on another project that got put off because of school. Some two years ago I was involved in a quilt block swap with 11 online friends. We each made twelve blocks, sent them to a central location to be sorted, and received back twelve unique blocks, one from each friend. During August I embroidered each friend's name on her quilt block, and over this weekend I designed a reversible quilt, cut and sewed the back of the quilt, and have machine-quilted half the blocks. I also sewed two pillow cases from extra material that matched the back of the quilt. I expect to finish up the project in the next two or three days, and I promise to post pictures when I'm done.

I've read 33 books containing 3340 pages for pleasure reading this month. No, I'm not just reading short, 100-word books; some of the Mark Twain "books" on my nook are only a very few pages, but since they have a separate title page and a separate entry in the table of contents, I count them as a "book", even though they are sometimes only two pages long. I've also been reading 300-400 page novels, in fact, I re-read The Hobbit and all three of The Lord of The Rings during August.

~Marie

Book Giveaway!

My writing friend Janette Rallison has a new book, Erasing Time, coming out in 11 days. To celebrate this, she is giving away a book a day on each of her blogs. (She has one blog for each pen name. She writes YA as Janette Rallison and SF as C. J. Hill.)

Today, she is giving away signed print copies of my books Tanella's Flight and Assignment to Earth. Head to her blogs for Janette Rallison and C. J. Hill if you'd like a chance to win one of my books, along with her wonderful book, My Unfair Godmother.

~Marie

New Book Trailer

I'm so excited! I have finally learned how to do something I've been wanting to do for more than a year. I have made my very first ever book trailer, and posted it to YouTube.

First, I have to thank Paul Carroll, author of Balor Reborn. Last week I agreed to host him on his blog tour. His next stop after my blog involved a tutorial on how to make book trailers. Without his help, I would not have any book trailers until next year or longer.

Second, I need to thank Shen Hart of Literary+, because without her efforts to help authors get together and help each other with marketing, I never would have met Paul Carroll.

Third, I need to thank my friend Dzrt Bxr for performing the music on my trailer and allowing me to use it.

And fourth, I bet by now you're all wanting to actually see the trailer, right? Well, here you go, I hope you all like it!

~Marie



Tanella's New Look

The book has been in print only two years, and just over a year for the ebook; why does it need a new cover? It's more than just a face lift.

My first covers were made using CreateSpace's wonderful cover creator tool, which made some really great covers for our books. They looked very nice, and I liked them a lot.

When I was ready to release the novels as ebooks, I discovered that because I had used their template and just plugged in my own information and photos, CreateSpace held the copyright on the cover, while I held the copyright on the interior only. In other words, I couldn't use the cover from my print book as the cover of the ebook. I quickly made some rather bad covers for my ebooks and released them, but I was never really happy with them.

A year later, I decided to do something about it. I bought a photo editing program that would do what I needed it to do, and spent time learning how to use it. I know I'll get better with more practice, but I already like my new covers better than the old ones. The best part is that because I am now making my covers from scratch, I own all the rights to them. My ebooks and print books can now have the same cover - which will help people who have seen one version find the other one at the store.

This also means everyone who bought Tanella's Flight in print now has a collector's item, an autographed first edition with the original cover, which is now out of print. The book is still in print, with the new cover, but the original black cover is no longer available, ever.

Within the next month, I will be replacing the cover on Fabric of the World, so if you want to get the original cover before it's gone forever, I recommend you purchase it before August 1, when I plan to take it off the market to work on the new files.

~Marie

Progress Report

Publishing a book is a game of hurry up and wait. With Deadly Gamble, the first draft was written in 27 days in November of 2006, then put on the back burner in favor of other projects. In 2009 we pulled it out for evaluation. A timeline was created, and a frenzy of work ensued to make the book fit the timeline. It was sent out to test readers in January 2011. A second rewrite was completed based on the recommendations of the readers. By mid-June, it's formatting time.

First, I format the page size and interior layout for the print book. When I know how many pages the book contains, I create the cover for the print book. I upload the print files to our distributor and have to wait while they check the files.

Now that I have the cover, I can use the front for the ebook. I have to make separate size images for each of the three ebook distributors I work with. I format the interior files one way and leave it as a word document for one distributor, and turn the entire thing into an HTML file for the other two.

I get an email from the print place that the files are ready for printing, and I order a proof copy; the first time the manuscript will see paper.

I upload the files to two of the distributors. Smashwords has it up for sale in minutes. Amazon has to review the files first. Barnes & Noble has put a hold on my account. (I mentioned this in the last post; they still haven't called me back.) I check my mailbox, and my proof copy from CreateSpace isn't here yet. I don't expect it until the 8th, but I keep hoping.

I go into the Independence Day weekend with dismal thoughts about it being Tuesday before I can really do anything more on my book.

July 4, 3:30 AM. I wake up, and know I won't be getting any more sleep tonight. Out of habit more than anything else, I check my author dashboards at all my sites. Even though it's a holiday weekend, the computers never sleep. The Kindle copies have gone live. (They're available here.) I update my website to provide a link to my book's page at Amazon. Smashwords still doesn't have any ISBN's, but expect to have them available on Thursday. The hold is inexplicably gone from the Barnes & Noble account, and I upload Deadly Gamble. Now I get to wait again while the files are inspected, before they go live. Links will continue to be provided on my website, and announcements made as each format becomes available, but most of my attention will turn to Tanella's Flight on Tuesday as I add a map of the Ten Kingdoms and redesign the cover.

Anatomy Lesson

Part of understanding the language of fantasy comes from familiarity with the technology of the time period. Marsha Ward, a writer of westerns who read Tanella's Flight for us, taught us a lot about horses. This includes horses that are ridden and those who pull vehicles. We also learned much about the parts of those vehicles.

At the same time, she was amazed at our well-written description of clothing. We knew the names for the various items of clothing, how they fastened, and how to put them on. My familiarity with Elizabethan dress developed while I danced in a renaissance group. When you sew it and wear it, describing it becomes easy.

For those not familiar with coaches, I found a labeled photo for your education and amusement. This is an American Old West Stagecoach, but the technology didn't change significantly between the 1400's and 1800's.

~Marie

Looking for Readers Again!

School is out, I got straight A's, and am halfway to graduation. It's time to work feverishly on writing until I fall back into academia in mid-August.

What have I done so far? I've learned how to format a manuscript for a successful conversion to e-book; learned enough about photoshop to make decent book covers; cleaned up all the files on my external hard drive, including a badly needed reorganization of my writing files; engaged in a seriously painful battle with a sinus infection; and began coding an update on my website.

My goals are to publish Deadly Gamble by the end of June in print and e-book, re-do the covers and e-book formatting for Tanella's Flight and Fabric of the World, and do as much as possible to get the next two novels ready to publish in October and April.

The October novel has been read, and is entirely in my hands now. I am looking for readers for the April novel. This one is called The Mom's Place. It is a romance, but it is a clean romance. It has a contemporary setting.

I'm looking for people who have MS Word to read and edit the manuscript. I would like to send it out to 5-6 people on Monday, and you will have three weeks to read, edit, and return it. As always, I'm looking for people who are willing to help out, and not people who just want a sneak peek at the manuscript. Instructions on how to edit will come with the manuscript. If you're interested in reading, please email me at marie@am-jenner.com.

Thanks,

~Marie

Winding Down...or Ramping Up?

Two weeks. Four more "Instructional Sessions" in each of my classes. And Finals. then I'm out for the "summer". I'm worn out and looking forward to the break.

As soon as I'm free of schoolwork, I'll return to my very neglected writing. Anne has been working over Deadly Gamble, and should pass it to me soon.

I will be diving into learning photoshop, with the idea of making our own cover this time instead of using a CreateSpace template. It's not that we don't love their templates, but if we use their template, they own the copyright on the cover, and I can't use the same cover for the ebook. If I make the cover, I can use the same one for the ebook, and I like that.

I'll also be learning better ways to format the ebooks so they look better internally.

I'll go over Deadly Gamble, and then it can be formatted for print and ebooks, and the cool cover put on it, and sent out into the wide world.

There will be website updates as well, something I've been neglecting. Does anyone know how hard it is to make a shopping cart for your website? I was going to take a class on that this fall, but they've decided not to teach it (now that I've completed the prerequisites!)

As soon as I've finished that, I'll be making new covers for Tanella's Flight, Fabric of the World, and Clues to Food, and uploading those for print; then I'll be reformatting the ebook versions and republishing with the new covers and better internal formatting.

If it's still not time for school to start, I'll get working on final edits for The Siege of Kwennjurat, which is the sequal to Tanella's Flight.

The fall semester will be challenging mentally, but not as challenging physically, because most of my classes are online, and those that are on campus are lined up in neat, compact blocks on Tuesday and Thursday, so I'll have a lot less travelling and wasted time than I have with the swiss-cheese schedule I have now.

~Marie

Problem Solved!

First, I want to thank Okie Dog, one of my letterboxing friends, for discovering the problem and pointing it out to me.

When I go into my account at Createspace, I see a much different page than the people trying to find my books see, Which is why when Createspace recently made some changes, I was totally unaware that it is nearly impossible to search for a book, or an author, from their main page. This makes it very difficult for anyone who wants to purchase a book to find it if I only have given them a link to Createspace's main page.

Until I discover a better solution, I have changes the "buy my books here" link that's over in the right hand column. The link will now take you to my website, to the Book Shoppe page...where there are individual links to the print books at Createspace, the Kindle versions at Amazon, and the other ebook formats at Smashwords. No matter what format you prefer to read in, you can now "get there from here".

I do apologize for the frustration and difficulty in getting to the page to purchase the books. I am deeply grateful to Okie Dog for telling me about the problem. And even though it means an extra click, I have at least provided a work-around.

Anne

With a Little Help from my Friends

This world would be a lonely place without friends. They keep you company. They make fun things more fun. They make bad things bearable. They sit by your side on the darkest night of your life and hold your hand, and somehow you can feel their love and know that no matter what, everything will turn out all right. Friends also are a priceless resource. A group of friends, collectively, can know things that one person working alone simply can’t keep track of all at once. Friends share this information with you, exactly when you need to know it. Clear back in November when Fabric of the World was published, one friend asked me, “Will this be available on Kindle?” I believe my reply was something to the effect of, “What’s Kindle?” My friend gently explained to me about eBook readers in general and Kindles in particular, stressing his love for his device. I have heard of eBooks, and even have some, which I read on my computer. They are all free or public domain works. I very much enjoy reading them, though the hours spent hunched at the computer screen was not good for my back and certain other parts of my anatomy, which should remain nameless for the sake of propriety. I vaguely knew that some people, possessed of a far greater amount of money than myself, had “thingies” they could read the eBooks on. After listening to my friend’s explanation, I went to Amazon to check out this Kindle thing and look into the possibility of publishing my books that way. I was especially excited at the thought of publishing Fabric of the World electronically, because of its technological origins. Fabric was written, proofread, edited, and sent to the publisher without ever being printed on paper. When I received my first proof copy, it was the first time Fabric had actually been printed out. So the thought of a book that could be done entirely electronically, even down to the customer who bought the book, was a very exciting thought for me. Unfortunately, I found that at the time, there was no way I could economically afford to publish for the Kindle. The prices asked for the books were low enough to pull all my print customers away, and the royalties offered would not add up to enough, unless multiple thousands of copies were sold. I said as much to my friend, by way of explaining why I was absolutely not going to ever publish electronically. The funny thing about message boards is that words posted in passing remain in place and are read and replied to months later. Just recently, another friend posted a reply that informed me Amazon’s royalty setup had changed. They also accused me of trying to use my writing as a get-rich-quick method, and told me to stop whining about new technology that isn’t going to go away. The latter two comments made me mad, which got me moving. Instead of yelling back, which was my first reaction, I grabbed my computer and started doing research. First, let me say that I’m not against eBooks and audio books. They both are very good, and I can plainly see that eBooks in particular are the wave of the future. My concern was purely economic. I don’t believe I will ever “get rich” from writing, but I do work hard at it. Writing is my only job, and I spend six to eight hours daily working on writing, editing, or other publication related tasks. I have been doing this for three years straight, and have received less than a thousand dollars compensation for three years of difficult work. I create stories primarily because my characters demand to have their stories told. Even if I never sold my stories, I would still write them. When a story is sold, economics become a part of the equation. I strongly feel that the person who does most of the work should get most of the money. My self-published print books are that way, and I did not feel like giving Amazon most of the money from sale of my self-published eBooks...particularly when they demanded that I do all of the formatting as well, and the only thing they were doing was listing the book on their computer and collecting the money on my behalf. (Yes, I know, it's changed. Keep reading.) At about the same time, another friend posted a link to a blog of a man who was advocating self-publishing eBooks. I took the three posts as a call to action, and again dove into researching whether I should now publish my works as eBooks, and the how and where and all the details of doing so. Because of the pooled knowledge of friends, the challenge given and accepted, and hours of research, I am very pleased to announce the publication of both my novels, Tanella’s Flight and Fabric of the World as eBooks, available for a measly $5 each. Clues to Food is being offered for free...chiefly because I had to remove all the marvelous sig stamp images from it. I can’t see taking your eBook reader into the kitchen on a regular basis, but it would certainly make the book very easy to take along with you on vacation to Gramma’s house. The books are available now through links at my website, or my author page at Smashwords. They will be available soon at Barnes & Noble, Sony, Kobo, Amazon, and Apple; and have been translated into enough different formats that no matter which eBook reader you have, you can find it in a format you can read. And just to answer my first friend's question...yes, my books are available for the Kindle. Happy Reading! --Anne