Jade Varden - HBS Author's Spotlight

Today our blog puts the Spotlight on Crime and Horror Author Jade Varden. She is the creator of the Deck of Lies book series.

Author Genre: Young Adult, Mystery & Thrillers, Romance

Author's Blog: The official blog for Jade Varden, author of the Deck of Lies series.
Twitter: @JadeVarden
E-Mail: jadevarden@gmail.com
Facebook: Check Out Facebook
Pinterest: Check Out Pinterest


Author Description: Jade Varden is a teller of tales from Louisville, Kentucky. After she completes the Deck of Lies series, she will start working on a new book series that will take readers into a shadowy underworld that exists beneath the thin veneer of wealth and privilege.

The Deck of Lies series is the first in several young adult series and stand-alone novels Jade will publish in 2012 and 2013.

Also, Jade does Indie book reviews and has a blog that provides writing help (Writing 101) and self-publishing tips and more to indie authors.

SPOTLIGHT Questions and Answers with the Author
Do you have a new book coming in your series, Deck of Lies? If so tells us when it will be released and give our readers a brief teaser about the book.
Yes, I do! The final book in the series, Judgment, will be released in November. Check out the blurb to get a taste for how the series will end:

Cashing Out

Do I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?

How can I, when the truth will destroy us all? Now that I’ve started telling lies, I can’t stop. Not until all this is over, and I’m free of the family that never felt like mine. Maybe it’s wrong. Maybe I’m a bad person.

But it’s definitely the only way I’m ever going to escape them. I have to take the opportunity, no matter how terrible it is…don’t I?

You have written a very popular series of YA mystery books, Deck of Lies. How do you manage your plots, characters, timelines, etc. to keep your stories going? Do you use software to keep track of these things?
I use every trick in the book to keep it all straight. I have a huge cast list with everyone’s full name and description, and a massive timeline that shows important dates and events across all four books. For book 4, I had to pull out all the stops and come up with extra documents and calendars just to keep everything straight. I don’t use any special software, but I do use blank templates to help me keep the information organized.

You have a large twitter audience (almost 13K followers). How much does social media fit into your book marketing? Do you have time to do the traditional marketing things like book signings and personal appearances?
Social media definitely plays the biggest role in my marketing efforts. At this time, I don’t do personal appearances but it’s definitely something I would consider.

Between your book writing, blogging, marketing, family and all the other things that can get in your way, how do you handle time management? Do you have a soft schedule with goals? (Like you might write two hours a day and blog one hour a day.)
I think I could manage my time a little better, because sometimes I’m really short on sleep, but no I don’t set goals on a time limit. I make up a list of tasks that I need to complete and I try to get them done in a timely fashion. Some days I’m faster than others, but I think that’s the same for everyone. I don’t like to tell myself I’m going to write for x amount of hours, because sometimes the words just won’t come and then I’m staring at a blank screen needlessly and wasting time.

You can be found in all the normal author hideouts like social media and Goodreads, are there any other writers groups you are involved with?
I did attempt to get involved with some local writing groups where I live, but I’m not much of a social butterfly. I work best when I’m alone and everything’s quiet. I like forums because I can interact with people there on my own time, even at 2 in the morning.

Your blog Writing 101 is very good. Do you enjoy helping other authors with your knowledge? Does it give you a break from storytelling?
I love doing the blog, yes, but sometimes I think it prevents me from getting work done on my current book project (whatever it may be at the time). I started doing the Writing 101 posts because I was noticing mistakes that I was making, and I thought maybe I could help other writers not make them.

I liked the blog about book trailers. It is valuable information for any author. Have you developed book trailers for your books? If you have, what software program did you use?
Yes, I have, though I must admit I’m not much of a visual artist. I got pictures and video clips for my trailers at Creative Commons, because that material is all Fair Use. I put it all together using Windows Live Movie Maker, a free program that comes with the newer Windows packages.


Author's Book List
Death (Deck of Lies, #3)
All In I never wanted to get in this deep, but I did go looking for the truth before I was prepared to handle it. But how do you close the lid on Pandora's box? You can't unlearn something, or forget a dark secret once it's been revealed. I have no choice but to do my part to bury the truth again -- this time, someplace no one will ever be able to find it. But that's the problem with lies. Once you start pulling threads, everything unravels. No one is who they seem to be...not even me.
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Book Trailer: Death (Deck of Lies, #3)
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Amazon Buy Page -- Barnes and Noble Buy Page -- Smashwords Buy Page
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The Tower (Deck of Lies, #2)
A Tower of Deception... Death brings some families closer, but it's ripped mine apart. I wanted to convince the police that they had the wrong suspect...but I never expected them to start suspecting me. Now, I have no choice but to keep searching for the truth, even if all my relationships fall to pieces around me. Someone is trying to make me look guilty. I never thought my mission to prove my own innocence would lead me to more family secrets. I thought I had already discovered the truth about myself. But every answer raises more questions, and everything I think I know is about to change...again. I have to find the truth, no matter how much it hurts -- before I get charged with murder.
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Book Trailer: The Tower (Deck of Lies, #2)
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Amazon Buy Page -- Barnes and Noble Buy Page -- Smashwords Buy Page
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Justice (Deck of Lies, #1)
A House of Cards... When you build an entire life on a foundation of lies, it only takes one truth for the whole thing to come crashing down. I never invited the truth in. I never went searching for it. I never had any reason to suspect that the two people I loved most were dishonest with me every second of every day. I made one bad decision, and in a single day my entire world changed. If I'm ever going to discover the truth about myself and my parents, I have to trace all the lies back to their source. I have to try to find the truth that they're hiding. The more I discover about myself, and my past, the more I realize that lies really are better than the truth. But now that I know the lies are all around me, I can't stop until I've discovered them all. I'll pull each lie away, one by one, and examine it to see what's underneath...until this house of cards crumbles into dust at my feet. I just hope I can survive the crash.
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Book Trailer: Justice (Deck of Lies, #1)
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Amazon Buy Page -- Barnes and Noble Buy Page -- Smashwords Buy Page
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Author Recommended by: HBSystems Publications
Publisher of ebooks, writing industry blogger and the sponsor of the HBS Author's Spotlight plus the blog: eBook Author's Corner

Otis G. Sanders - HBS Author's Spotlight

Today our blog puts the Spotlight on Author Otis G. Sanders. He is a non-Fiction author and a professional photographer specializing in personal stories.

Author Genre:

Author's Blog: The Image Gallery
Website: Always & Forever, Love Success Stories of Marriages 20+ Years Strong
Twitter: @alwaysn4everlov
E-Mail: otisg@seventhson.org
LinkedIn: Check Out LinkedIn
Facebook: Check Out Facebook


Author Description: Otis G. Sanders has been a professional photographer for more than 20 years. His love for photography started at the age of 12. Reading has always been a favorite past time for Otis. His fascination for the written word coupled with his expertise in photographing people lead to the production his first table top book, 'Always & Forever, Love' subtitled: Success Stories of Marriages 20+ Years Strong.

This book demonstrates through 50 couples of different ethnic backgrounds how God/Spirituality, Love, Respect, Trust, Communication, Commitment, Togetherness, Forgiveness, Patience & Honesty, are the ingredients that help build strong, lasting marriages.

SPOTLIGHT Questions and Answers with the Author
When we first communicated I explained that so far the focus of the Author’s Spotlight had been on fiction writers. Your blog adds a different perspective to my audience.

Are you formatting the pictures for the ebook yourself or are you getting outside help? You can give credit if you outsourced this phase of your book.
Since this ebook was my first I was not familiar with how the conversion worked so I used BookBaby.com to format the book. I paid extra since I had 50 images, but at the time it was the best way I knew of.

I also had to have the book redesigned as a vertical. The printed book is laid out horizontal (with multiple columns on each page that had text) and I learned that ebooks were (at the time) limited to a vertical format.

Your first project was a human interest story. Have you been approached by any other type of group to put together an ebook with your art? For example, travel groups and business organizations are starting to see the advantage in digital formatted literature.
I have not been approached by any other companies, but I'm working with a retired NFL player friend of mine on his upcoming book. It will be the same format as mine. I'll do the photography for the book, help with interviews, writing, publishing and printing of the book.

Since he speaks also, I will accompany him on some of his book signings and speaking engagements and help with selling the book at the events.

As I get further into the process of marketing my book I will approach other companies and businesses as you mentioned to sell them the idea instead of waiting until they discover the need for such a publication.

The future of ebooks will be in the use of color and HD pictures to enhance the reading experience. What kinds of writing projects do you have in the works? Are they different in nature? Can we shout out to your readers that something is coming in the near future?
As a professional photographer it's hard for me to think about doing books without photographs, so until I get to be a great writer, my writing projects will have photographs in them to help tell the story and create visual interest. I've started on the second edition of "Always & Forever, Love", I hope to be finished with that in about a year or so since I will profile couples from 15 different states, so as you could imagine the travel will take some time.

I'm also in the process of producing a book encompassing the last 20 or so years of my portrait photography. That will be produce as an ebook first. I also have a project that I've been writing about on my website http://seventhson.org/Archives/George/george1.htm. It's a story about a homeless chair, "George The Chair". I write about its attempt to find a new home. This will also be produced as an ebook first.

Professional photography and ebook pictures and art, especially in the formatting part of it, is a new skill set. Do you have any plans to tackle other business opportunities with ebooks in general like back covers and in-book pictures?
I've learned from having outside help with formatting my current ebook that it's best if I knew how that process works. As I continue with this type of publishing I plan to learn the process myself so I can keep the price down and have control of the time line of having a finished project ready for publishing. (With Bookbaby it took about 2 months or more before we had a file ready to upload for sale).

During my research for your blog, it appeared you are doing all of the traditional author marketing activities like book signings, speaking and carrying copies with you. (I know several authors that have made the mistake leaving their copies at home.) How does social media fit into your marketing plans? Do you have a collection of your fine art online so your readers can get a peak, like Pinterest?
I have my foot in the door of social media in the areas of a Facebook account, a Facebook fan page, LinkedIn, Twitter, my book website, my blog site, and I market the book on both my photography websites. I get lots of hits on those sites, but thus far they have not been successful in causing viewers to purchase the book.

On my site: http://seventhson.org in the "Image Gallery" I've been uploading and writing about my images over the last ten years. There is a variety of photography there, but I don't have any fine art photography in a place like Pinterest. (I don't have an Pinterest accont)

I'm finding it difficult to stay on top of all the social media I have going now and be able to work, photograph and interview couples for the next book, write and work with others on their projects.

At the end of the day, word of mouth and being in front of my niche group is what has been working best for selling this book.

Otis, the beauty of what you do is that Art with a story reaches across all groups of people like your book. With that said what support groups are you involved with that help you tackle these new and big projects?
Unfortunately James, I'm a one man, one pony show. One of my initial interests and motivators for getting into publishing is that I wanted to continue to stay relevant in the photography profession. Since photography has changed a bit here in the last 5 years or more I thought writing along with photography would give me the opportunity to keep shooting while producing a different kind of product that could be sold to the general public.

Those products would then allow me to speak about the process of photography, writing, and the photography techniques used in the publications I produce. So, to answer your question, I'm going at it alone until I find the support groups and others that express a desire to be a part these upcoming projects.


Author's Book List
Always & Forever, Love: Success Stories of Marriages 20 + Years Strong
This is a book project titled: "Always & ForEver, Love" Subtitled: "Success Stories of marriages 20+ Years Strong"

This book is a celebration of the institution of traditional marriage. With approx. 50% of all marriages in America ending in divorce there is a desperate need to bring to light the other 50% of marriages that survive where the couples are happy and in love after 20 years or more of marriage.

This book, "Always&ForEver, Love" consists of approx. 50 married couples of different Ethnic groups that have been married not less than 20 years. Each couple was interviewed and photographed to produce this book. Each couple has the highlights of what they have done to make their marriage work, and a full page photograph of the couple.

Different Ethnic groups are used to demonstrate that there is no difference between the races when it comes to the institution of marriage. What makes a marriage work for an African American couple is the same for an Anglo, Hispanic, Interracial, or Asian couple.

What is that thing or set of circumstances that keep married couples together for 20 years or more, and how are they able to remain in love after being together for so long going through the ups and downs of life and marriage?? What does it take? Why are some couples successful and others are not?? What is the common thread, or glue that has kept these couples together?

Each couple reveals insights on what it's taken for them to remain happy and in love as they keep their marriages strong and lasting through the years.

As I shot the photographs of the couples featured in the book I attempted to show the love and connection they've built and maintained over the years, both with their comfort, closeness and familiarization with each other.
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Amazon Buy Page -- Barnes and Noble Buy Page
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James Owens



James Owens was a running back with the San Francisco 49ers from 1979 to 1981 and with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1982 –1984. Otis plans on touring with him as they create a picture book and ebook.








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Ray & Cindy Reding

Ray & Cindy Reding of Redondo Beach, Ca. Married 22 years. Ray & Cindy are both professional photographers, they operated a commercial photography studio together for 18 years.

This is some of Otis's fine work from his book. This blog highlights one of the problems ebook authors face as they to introduce color and pictures into their books especially trying to adapt landscape pictures to a portrait format.



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Author Recommended by: HBSystems Publications
Publisher of ebooks, writing industry blogger and the sponsor of the HBS Author's Spotlight plus the blog: eBook Author's Corner

Maree Ward-Russell - HBS Author's Spotlight

Today our blog puts the Spotlight on Author Maree Ward Russell. She is a YA Mystery & Thriller Author. Also she has the first in a new series being released soon called: The Transient - The Castle Trilogy.

Author Genre: Young Adult, Mystery & Thrillers, Teen Fiction & Fantasy

Author's Blog: M.W. Russell Author
Website: M.W. Russell Author
Twitter: @mibbymw
E-Mail: maree@belleza.co.nz
LinkedIn: Check Out LinkedIn
Facebook: Check Out Facebook
Pinterest: Check Out Pinterest


Author Description: Maree Ward-Russell was born in New Plymouth, New Zealand in 1965. She currently resides in Auckland, in a home with a sea view across Auckland Harbour. She has two crazy cats, four fussy budgies and an army of teenagers to feed. By day she has been known to pick daffodils in the rain and by night she can be found stalking graveyards for creepy photos.

When not writing and looking after family she dreams of Dragons and Demons in the dark. She has been a Registered Nurse for twenty-six years and has an Advanced Diploma in Novel Writing from the New Zealand Business Institute.

SPOTLIGHT Questions and Answers with the Author
I have seen two of your covers and they are great. In Roses At Dusk you gave credit to Kathy LaVergne (Editor) and Patti Roberts (Illustrator). I like the idea giving credit a lot. To many author miss that opportunity. You will have two more books in your trilogy. When will we get to see those covers?
At this point in time, my illustrations will be done by Patti Roberts from Paradox Book Cover Designs http:// paradoxbooktrailerproductions.blogspot.com.au Patti has a good understanding of my vision and my needs as well as a high sense of professionalism, delivering a quality product every time. She has currently got covers in the pipeline for the follow up books in the Castle series and Snowdrops Wilt at Dawn (sequel to Roses at Dusk) also has its front cover completed.

I like your blog especially the interview with Carlie Cullen. I want to ask you the same question you asked Carlie: What are your thoughts on book trailers?
I love them. I think if done well, they are yet another avenue for attracting readers – especially as the visual medium is always so effective. I'm a very visual person, so I can see the benefits. Patti and I are also currently looking at book trailers for both my existing series.

You have a large twitter following (over 12K) and it increasing over 10% a month. How much does social media fit into your marketing plans? Do you make a conscious effort to expand the numbers? How do you keep up with all the tweets that must come your way?
Social media is all of my marketing plan. Living in New Zealand has its geographical limitations – especially when your target market is on the opposite side of the world. Twitter and Facebook have become vital for me to reach the masses, without them I would be lost. To some degree I do make a conscious effort to target. At least once a month, I actively seek to follow people who I believe would enjoy what I do, but following is not enough – you must be prepared to engage with your followers.

A reciprocal relationship is the key. And at 12k plus – this does have its challenges. Twice I day I sit down and devote my time to answering specific tweets and Facebook messages directly, but I have had to build a system that works. Due to the numbers, I no longer respond to direct messages on twitter – but rather just those tjat come through interactive tweets. Otherwise, I would have no time to write!

I have had several Spotlight blogs with authors from outside the US. Can you tell how much your audience is split between New Zealand and the US? Do you have a different marketing approach to the readers in your area vs. in other countries? How do you get exposure in the US? Do you do any traditional marketing like book signing, conferences, etc.?
I would say at least 75% of my readers would be from the US. The remainder would be mostly the UK, with a small amount situated in Australia and NZ. Kiwis, by in large are still coming to grips, with the concept of e-books or buying your paperback on line; so find the idea of not walking into the bookstore to get their copy, a little strange.

It is also a pretty parochial market here, with our most successful authors that sell well within our country, writing mostly about NZ things. Therefore, for those of us in the realm of other genres, especially paranormal – the market is elsewhere, with the US taking the biggest slice.

That does pose some problems with marketing. With book signings etc, that does present obvious difficulties on exactly where to start. Something I am still trying to solve. I think as the popularity of the work increases, then opportunities may well present themselves in the US, with invitations coming to do signings. It is still early. That means for the US and UK markets, my marketing is mostly social media based, whereas here – mostly Facebook and word of mouth. I am currently researching one or two ideas that are outside the square!

Do you belong to any author groups besides Goodreads? Support groups can be fun to belong too. Do you have any that help in the marketing?
Yes – I belong to at least another five author groups – all set up by authors, with support, advice and some self-promotion in mind. My biggest enemy to the cause, in these areas is time. With a large family, a day job and endless amounts of self-marketing to do, I feel at times I don't get as much benefit from these groups, or participate as much as I should. However, when I do – they are invaluable and I have met many wonderful people along the way.

I am conscious however of oversaturation of my work through social media marketing, so I try to make an effort not to do too many group promotional activities, so as to not bombard my audience and drive them away. Spamming annoys everybody.

Going along with your great covers, have you considered taking your storylines and mixing graphics with color and creating an ebook for young readers like a teaser for their later years?
Actually, until very recently, I hadn't. That was until just weeks ago, I saw one done quite expertly. Our rugby All Black's captain – Richie McCaw has just released a biography for adults and at the same time, the publishing company has released a version for small kids – right in their language and graphics. It has been well done and a clever marketing ploy in this case, as to most NZ kids, Richie is somewhat of a hero, and no doubt as these young ones get older, they will progress to buy the older version.

Whether that would work in the case of my darker paranormal reads – I don't know. That is, in a way, why I have written the Castle series (Including the Transient, The Soul Keeper, The Darkest Angel). These stories are really a younger prequel to the Demonic Series (Roses at Dusk and Snowdrops Wilt at Dawn.) The Castle series tells a far more innocent story, involving the afterlife and throughout, as things progress, the evil characters slowly emerge. They then come into their own in The Demonic series in a much older, darker way.


Author's Book List

Snowdrops Wilt at Dawn




Coming in 2013







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Roses At Dusk (The Demonic Series)
What do you do when the one you trust can no longer be trusted? Where do you turn when the one you gave your heart to, your body, your blood, the murky depths of your soul, defies mortality's rules? What do you do...YOU RUN!

Hannah Malcolm has been through more in her short lifetime than any young woman should have to bear. So after the well publicised death of her family, Hannah decides to leave the bustling streets of Chicago and seek refuge, in the sleepy seaside town of Bar Harbor, in Maine. A new job, new friends and a quaint cottage on the cliff overlooking the sparkling waters of Frenchman Bay give her just the opportunity she needs.

But complications have always been a speciality of Hannah's and Bar Harbor is to be no exception. The town is reeling after an unexplained murder and several random assaults, which have small degrees of separation from her. One disaster after the next begin to swirl at Hannah's feet and to add to her worries her new found man is starting to appear not quite as he seems.

Bone chilling and a lesson in trust Roses at Dusk is a psychological thriller with a paranormal twist that will have you questioning your judgement with everyone you meet.
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Amazon Buy Page -- Barnes and Noble Buy Page
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The Transient - The Castle Trilogy (Book 1)
Coming Soon - November 2012 Release
Book One - The Transient. Melodie Gibson never had many friends in her life — that is, not until she moved from Australia to New York. Now, they fill her every waking moment. Fresh off the plane from the other side of the world, Melodie and her widowed father have moved into Heartworth Castle, an imposing manor-turned-Bed & Breakfast in upstate New York that he inherited from a distant aunt. But it’s no ordinary castle. Full of hidden secrets and layers of history, Heartworth has its ghosts—literally.

Dripping with atmosphere, adventure and epic romance, THE TRANSIENT is the first instalment in the completed “Castle Trilogy” which creates an original mythology with roots in classical and biblical literature, where the afterlife is as complicated as the present, and the rules are just as hard to follow.

It centres around Melodie, a socially awkward teenager, and Joseph, a “Transient ghost” that can take human form and who was murdered by a spurned love in the latter stages of the Civil War. No one is supposed to be able to see Joseph—but Melodie Gibson does. This unexplained contact sparks a passionate romance between the two. As Mel settles into her new American home and begins making mortal friends, she falls for Joseph, but not before the Governance and some old enemies of Joseph’s begin to materialize against them. Apparently, not everyone is happy about their new found love.

THE TRANSIENT is only the first instalment; the final two novels are THE SOUL KEEPER and THE DARKEST ANGEL
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Author Recommended by: HBSystems Publications
Publisher of ebooks, writing industry blogger and the sponsor of the HBS Author's Spotlight plus the blog: eBook Author's Corner

Emily Tippetts - HBS Author's Spotlight

Today our blog puts the Spotlight on Author Emily Tippetts. She is a YA Romance Author. Also she writes Science Fiction and Fantasy as Emily Mah.

Author Genre: YA Romance - Science Fiction/Fantasy as Emily Mah

Author's Blog: Emily Mah
Website: E. M. Tippetts
Twitter: @EMTippetts
E-Mail: emilymtippetts@gmail.com
Facebook: Check Out Facebook
Pinterest: Check Out Pinterest



Author Description: Emily Mah Tippetts writes romance as E.M. Tippetts and science fiction and fantasy as Emily Mah. She is a former attorney with degrees in philosophy, politics and economics from Oxford University and business law from UCLA.

Originally from New Mexico, she now lives in London with her family. She is a devoted member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and thus often includes LDS (Mormon) characters in her work. When she isn't chasing her small children or writing, she designs jewelry.

SPOTLIGHT Questions and Answers with the Author
Your work is pleasant to read. Switching back and forth between genres, is one more relaxing to write than the other? Do you ever work on both types of books at the same time?
I work on both kinds of works at the same time, but never do I tackle two books at once. I'll write a science fiction short story while writing a romance novel, for example, and I find that one becomes more relaxing after I've done a long spell of the other.

When I'm writing science fiction and fantasy, what will eventually grate on me is that I've got to work so hard on the world building. So I'll switch to romance in which I just use the world around me and that feels so much easier, until my characters start acting out and I don't have a ray gun to aim at them or a unicorn to lead them where I want them to go. Then I'll return to science fiction and fantasy and get enthusiastic about world building all over again. I am always somewhere on this spectrum, moving one direction or the other. I suppose my answer, then, is that writing both of them is more relaxing than just writing one exclusively.

You commented that you write to avoid housework. How do you manage your time with family, writing, jewelry business and social media to handle? Do you go my a schedule or is everything on a need to do basis?
I shut down my jewelry business when my indie publishing began to take off and so now my writing is the only small business I run, with one small exception. I started designing jewelry for my friend, Stephanie Burgis's Unladylike Adventures of Kat Stephenson books (out from Atheneum), and I've finished off the jewelry set in the meantime.

I'm not much of a fixed scheduler, I'm a flex scheduler, so in my mind, I always have it planned out what I'll do in the next five minutes, hour, three hours and so on, but what those things change throughout the day. I'll plan half an hour of writing which will get cut down to fifteen minutes when a kid needs some help, but it might grow to an hour later on when they decide to play by themselves. I need to feel like I've got a plan, even if I don't end up sticking to the plan.

My joke about avoiding housework is partially the truth - I live in a very small apartment. I think people would be surprised to see how tiny my living space is, but this works well for me because my home is never more than an hour away from being spotless. We don't get a lot of clutter because there's no place to put the clutter. I live in a small place like this because my husband and I both choose not to have time to clean or maintain a bigger place.

You have a large twitter following (over 16K) and increasing over 1000 a month. How much does social media fit into your marketing strategy? Do you do any traditional marketing like book signing, conferences, etc.?
I've got two twitter accounts. @EMTippetts is the one with 16k followers, and I suppose it's for marketing purposes. My strategy is just to get out and get to know people and the more people I talk to the more likely it is that I've talked to a reader in the few days that I've been out socializing.

I don't believe that broadcasting my books are for sale on Twitter does much. I'll announce a new book, or a discounted price or something because people who are readers might like to know, but you'll never see auto-tweets from me about the fact that I write books.

I suspect most people don't care, and they don't need to in order for me to make a living. My goal is to find my readers, not go pester people and try to make them become my readers. Most of the time I just talk to people about silly pictures that they've posted or funny quotes. If they like me they can find out I'm a writer from my bio, and if that interests them, it's easy for them to get onto my site. But I'm only concerned about attracting people to my site who have that spark of interest. People who prefer to just talk to me, I'm most happy to talk to them anytime.

I also have @EmilyMah as another twitter handle, and that's for my science fiction. I'm not out socializing on that account, just broadcasting when I've got new stories out and that sort of thing and for my science fiction. I do go to conventions and will participate in signings. I bisected my career this way just to see which techniques work for me and @EMTippetts makes quite a bit more money. I wouldn't have known that if I hadn't experimented, though.

I have had several Spotlight blogs with authors from the UK. Can you tell how much your audience is split between Europe and the US? Do you have a different marketing approach to the readers by location? How do you get exposure in the US?
I'm an American and given the wonders of modern technology, I have most of my reader fan base in the US. I can print books and publish stories from here that can be ordered through any US bookstore and all the major online outlets.

The UK market is much more of a mystery to me. My sales here are substantially lower. I think that Americans read what I write because I write about Americans living in America. The one novel I have set in the UK is told from the POV of an American who comes over here to visit her aunt, who is also American, but who married an Englishman. So I've never told a story from a British point of view, as I suspect I'd be very bad at it. I've lived in the UK for eight years in total, long enough to have some clue of the volumes of information I do not know about what it's like to be British.

I finished high school and did college here, and now I'm living here again while my husband (also American) does his PhD. If you saw me and spoke to me, though, you'd see an American with an American accent. Americans and Brits alike are surprised to find out where I live.

You have released a book in German. Are you planning on releasing other titles in different languages?
The only actual deal I have, signed and executed is for the German, so right now that's all I can talk about with certainty. I've talked to other people about other language rights, but those deals are still up in the air. When I did the German deal, I did it very differently than how it is normally done in publishing. I contracted independently with a translator who is making a business for himself translating indie books. I helped him set up his pricing model and hashed out the details of the first contracts.

To my knowledge, he's one of a very small group of people trying out a new business model specifically for the indie author who wants to break into a new language market. It's all very experimental, but the book is selling well enough that I hope, in a few months, we can call it an unreserved success, and if it is, we may very well have achieved a first in publishing and proven a whole new business model, which would be very, very cool.


Author's Book List
Castles on the Sand
Madison Lukas knows her place in the world. She's not pretty, not interesting, and therefore easy to forget. John Britton has been praying for fifteen years to find the sister he lost in his parents' divorce. She is beautiful, talented, and makes kindness a fine art. When John and Madison cross paths, he recognizes her at once, but Madison is certain that he's got it all wrong. Even if she is his long-lost sister, she can't possibly be the exceptional, amazing girl he thinks she is, can she?
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Paint Me True
Eliza Dunmar is about to turn thirty-one and fears her best days are behind her. Soon she'll be too old to attend church in a singles ward, her career as a painter is no longer considered cool, and she feels too old to use the excuse that she's "just starting out" to explain why she still can't pay the bills. The only man interested in her is a scruffy, video game addicted nerd who is the first to admit that they are all wrong for each other. When her beloved Aunt Nora calls from England and begs her to visit, Eliza leaps at the chance. Even better? Nora had the perfect romance with her late husband and is eager to share the tale. As Eliza sets out to immortalize this courtship in a series of paintings, she learns a lesson that will change her outlook on life and love forevermore
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Polar Shift
When Amber DeSoto sees northern lights on Ganymede, she knows something's wrong. No one will listen to an eighteen year old, though, even who's lived on Ganymede most of her life. But if anyone can survive the unexpected, it's Amber, and if the base commander won't listen to her, she might as well figure out how to save the base and its inhabitants on her own.
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Someone Else's Fairytale
Jason Vanderholt, Hollywood's hottest actor, falls head over heels for everygirl, Chloe Winters, who hasn't gotten around to watching most of his movies. She becomes the woman every other woman in America is dying to be, but it just isn't her fairytale.
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Time and Eternity
When Alice O'Donnell joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, she thought her life could only get better. She hoped to marry her boyfriend, Darren, who had baptized her, and live happily ever after. After all, her prayers had confirmed that a proposal was coming. But Alice's faith is tested when her plans are turned upside-down. Her father files for divorce, her company decides to relocate her to another state, and to top it off, Darren starts acting strangely and accuses her of being a "Molly Mormon"-whatever that is. When Spencer Sharp enters the scene, he seems like a good prospect. He's attractive, gainfully employed, a returned missionary, and seeking an eternal companion. But something is just . . . missing. Follow the chaotic but exciting life of Alice as she deals with being a new convert, learns to have faith in the Lord's plan for her, and comes to know who she wants to be with for time and eternity.
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Root
Beulah has the worst luck with computers. They lose her files, corrupt her data, and in her more sleep-deprived moments she feels they conspire against her. When she begins to see little fox-faced demons spring out of the CPU of one machine, she fears she must be losing her mind, but what if they aren't hallucinations after all?
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Author Recommended by: HBSystems Publications
Publisher of ebooks, writing industry blogger and the sponsor of the HBS Author's Spotlight plus the blog: eBook Author's Corner

John Marco - HBS Author's Spotlight

Today our blog puts the Spotlight on award-winning Author John Marco. He writes Science Fiction and Fantasy novels. He hails from New York City.

Author Genre: Science Fiction & Fantasy

Author's Blog: John Marco - The Happy Nerd
Website: The Happy Nerd
Twitter: @happynerdjohn
E-Mail: johnmarco@aol.com
Facebook: Check Out Facebook



Author Description: John Marco writes fantasy stories. He is a husband, a father, and a proud, admitted nerd.

He says,'I can't remember a time when I didn't want to be a writer. I have early memories of pounding the keys of my sister's typewriter, writing my first stories and dreaming of the day I'd be published. I managed to reach that goal back in 1999 with the publication of my first book, The Jackal of Nar. Since then I've had six additional books published, and more are on the way.'

He loves to blog and he spends a fair amount of time talking about ephemera. So if you like movies, comic books, and retro, you'll feel right at home reading about him.

SPOTLIGHT Questions and Answers with the Author
Getting your start in the traditional publishing world, how has ebooks affected the way you and your group approach marketing? Did ebooks change the way you write and organize your work?
So far all the books I’ve had published have been through the traditional route, though I fully expect that to change in the future. I’m a big believer in independent publishing and the way it’s empowered authors. But I think that the way authors market their work is pretty much the same no matter how they’re books are published.

I’ve been online for years and have always done all of my marketing online. I’ve only been to one convention as a guest and have never done a book signing. Those are great for authors who enjoy them, but online promotion has always suited me better.

Did moving from Lukien and Richius to the Skylords and a younger audience present any problems in preparation and writing? There appears to be a difference in the size of the Skylord book compared to the others you have written.
I made a real effort to change my writing style when I wrote the first Skylords book. I wanted it to be accessible for younger readers, obviously, but also easier to read in general. I started to train myself to make each word really “count,” and have carried that over into the books I’ve written since then.

It was really a matter of training myself to be more careful, to write scenes that contain a lot of information and cut out scenes that slow down the narrative. Maybe that kind of thing just comes with time; I’m not sure. I do believe that I’m a much better writer now, however.

In the last two months your twitter follower’s count has increased 25%. Are you making an effort to be more engaging with a younger audience? Do you get different types of tweets from the younger group than before?
The twitter account that I have now is actually my second one. The first one just petered out and died from neglect. But when I went back to twitter I found that I enjoyed it much more the second time around. I have to stop myself from going up there so often, because it can be real time-sink if you’re not careful.

And the followers I have really vary in age—I’m not shooting for a particular type of follower or demographic. If you like fantasy books and other nerdy things like comic books and video games, we’ll probably get along just fine.

You have great covers. Have you considered taking your storylines and mixing graphics with color and creating an ebook for real young readers like a teaser for their later years?
First, thanks for the comment about the book covers. I’ve been lucky to have some great artists work on them. I really love fantasy artwork and have all of my life, so for me the whole cover process is the most enjoyable part of watching the book come together.

But honestly, I’ve never even thought of doing the kind of book you describe. I love art, but I’m not an artist of any kind, and really wouldn’t know where to begin to do something like that. It would be pretty cool though!


Author's Book List
The Forever Knight: A Novel of the Bronze Knight
COMING SOON: April 2013

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Starfinder - A Skylords Novel
A thrilling young adult fantasy adventure Young, orphaned Moth is obsessed with the airships around his mountain home and dreams of taking to the air one day like his heroes, the Skyknights. With his best friend, Fiona, he will soon breach the magical boundary between their world and the world of the mysterious and powerful race known as the Skylords, who have jealously guarded their heavenly domain.
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The Sword of Angels - The Lukien Novel
Armed with a magic amulet which bestows eternal life on the wearer, a powerful knight protects the fortress of Grimhold, where the magical people of his world reside. But when his closest friend is pulled into the evil sway of the Devil's Armor, only the Sword of Angels can defeat it.
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The Devil's Armor - The Lukien Novel
This sequel to the critically-acclaimed The Eyes of God, from award-winning author John Marco, continues the epic tale of Arthurian elements, diverse magic, war, intrigue, romance, and deception.
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The Eyes of God - The Lukien Novel
Akeela, King of Liiria, was a young and idealistic scholar who was determined to bring peace to his kingdom—a land that had been plagued by war with the neighboring kingdom of Reec for decades. Lukien, the Bronze Knight of Liiria, had been taken in by the royal family when, at fourteen, he saved Akeela's life, but he'd never forgotten the brutal lessons of the streets he'd grown up on. A bond of loyalty stronger than blood linked these two men—but no two souls could be more different. And as Akeela and Lukien entered their enemy's stronghold on a mission of peace, neither man could forsee the turmoil this historic mission would wreak on their lives. For, to seal the peace, King Karis of Reec would bestow upon Akeela the hand of his charming, beautiful, and accomplished daughter Cassandra. But Cassandra hid a terrible secret. She was experiencing the first symptoms of a disease which would threaten her life and cause unimaginable strife for all who loved her. For Akeela and Lukien, the quest for Cassandra's salvation would overwhelm every bond of loyalty, every point of honor, every dream of peace. For only the magical amulets known as the Eyes of God could halt the progress of Cassandra's illness. But the Eyes of God would also open the way to a magical stronghold which could tear their world apart and redefine the very nature of their reality.
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The Saints of the Sword - Tyrants and Kings
John Marco presents the riveting conclusion to his sweeping fantasy saga — in which three unlikely allies stand united against a terrifying crisis that threatens to devastate a world. Biagio, Emperor of Nar, was once a madman and a tyrant. Now he wants peace. The irony is that no one believes him. Instead, the cruelest of his minions are amassing an army to usurp his throne, bringing a new scourge to a battle-scarred world. But the wily Biagio has one more desperate plan. Alazrian Leth, bastard son of Aramoor’s governor, is barely sixteen, but this young prince secretly possesses rare magical talents. Biagio sends Alazrian on a near-impossible mission: to convince outlawed priest Jahl Rob and his followers — the fearless Saints of the Sword — to search for the exiled ruler of Aramoor and the mysterious people called the Triin. If these ancient enemies can unite into one great army, a boy’s strange and wonderful magic may be the spark to heal a wounded world ... or set in motion an unimaginable betrayal.
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The Grand Design - Tyrants and Kings
From John Marco comes the epic sequel to his thrilling debut military fantasy, The Jackel of Nar. An infamous warrior is once again caught between two irrexixtible forces, and his choice may change the world... Prince Richius Vantran, the Jackal of Nar, has fled into exile. Meanwhile, Nar has exploded in civil war. The conflict is being waged between the religious fanatics of Bishop Herrith, who follow the Light of God, and the ruthless followers of Count Biagio and his Black Renaissance. As the terrifying slaughter mounts, fueled by the development of hideous new war machines, Vantran is offered a chance to ally with a third faction and take his revenge against his ancient enemy Biagio. But Biagio, a master of deception and intrigue, has a grand design to gain total power that involves luring Vantran's new allies into a deadly trap. As for Vantran, Biagio has a special punishment: to strike the warrior-prince's only weakness…Vantran's innocent daughter. And Vantran himself will unwittingly seal the young girl's fate.
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The Jackal of Nar - Tyrants and Kings
This powerful, multilayered saga features a complicated hero: brave yet sensitive General Richius Vantran. Ordered by the Emperor to halt a revolt by a religious faction, Vantran's success wins him both Imperial favor and a wife--though neither sits well with him. For in battle, he fell in love with a member of the very religious faction he put down. Torn between duty and passion, Vantran surprises himself by choosing to love the enemy--and march against his old companions.
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Author Recommended by: HBSystems Publications
Publisher of ebooks, writing industry blogger and the sponsor of the HBS Author's Spotlight plus the blog: eBook Author's Corner