Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Marketing Blog






 
       Paranormal Author Merges

          Mystery with Travel Bugs
 
Top-selling author Elizabeth Eagan-Cox incorporates Internet Geocaching with mystery plots.
 
"I’ve combined my enjoyment of Geocaching with my Shannon Delaney paranormal mystery novels," reports author Elizabeth Eagan-Cox. This past week, Eagan-Cox planted five "Travel Bugs" at Geocache sites throughout Southern California. Each Travel Bug is a trackable device through the Geocaching web site.
 
Eagan-Cox explains, "For the past several years my husband and I have played the Internet hide-and-seek game of Geocaching. It’s a wonderful pastime for all ages and is do-able on our schedules. All that it requires is a GPS device and creating a free account on the official Geocaching Internet site. It’s rather like a scavenger hunt that can be played at any time, on any day, world-wide. We ‘Geocache’ locations nearby our home and when we travel. Previously, I’ve logged in my ‘Finds’ (when a cache is found) only through my husband’s account. This week I launched my own account and created trackable Travel Bugs to go with it."
 
The Travel Bugs roam from one Geocache site to another as they are found, picked up and relocated. The mission for each Travel Bug is to re-visit locations mentioned in the Shannon Delaney novels. And while the Shannon Delaney novels are centered in California, many additional locations within, and outside of, the USA, figure into the plot of each novel. 
 



It is not necessary to have read the Shannon Delaney novels to hunt for the Travel Bugs. Listed on the Geocaching web site and on Eagan-Cox’s web site, each Travel Bug has a brief summary about locations it needs to travel to in order to complete its mission. Eagan-Cox invites readers of the Shannon Delaney novels to contact her if they have suggestions for additional Travel Bug locations. She explains, "I have not listed all locations relative to the novels for the Travel Bugs to visit, so I would love for readers to let me know of additional locations, and I will add those locations to my web site and to my Geocaching site." Eagan-Cox can be reached via her web site: www.ElizabethEaganCox.net



Friday, April 26, 2013

Catching UP!


Rae Ann had hopes for a nice, normal life until she
saw Skip barrel out from behind that little country
store in Paradox in the wake of an armed robbery.

Catching UP!

Books that went to press, or back to press in the last two weeks.

PARADOX, by Terry L. White

A DESIRE PATH, by Jan Shapin

THE VOLUNTEER, by Tom Ward






Galleys that went out, or went out again this week:


BURIED TRUTH, by Gunter Kaesdorf
    Young Attorney Brooke Wheeler searches for a truth buried under the surface and suppressed by long held secrets.


 WITHOUT MOM, by David Ravenswood
     Ever since his mother died, David Sinclair, a tenth grader,
can’t seem to finish anything he starts
    







Work began or continued on the following:

WIFE, LOST AND FOUND, by Ludima Gus Burton
   How do you find a missing wife?

FREE FALL by Ann Nolder Heinz
    Anne Galloway leads the perfect life—until it inexplicably begins to fall apart.

WILDFLOWERS FOR THE SENATOR, by Lynette Hall Hampton
   Because of his past experience with them, all of Jude Winslow's friends know he won't have anything to do with politicians or preachers.


A SNUG LIFE SOMEWHERE, by Jan Shapin

   Anna Mae is back in this prequel to A DESIRE PATH.

SOLID OIL by Russell Hunter
   Intrigue and Lithium mining go hand in hand in this Australian thriller.

STRANGER FACES, by Kathryn Flatt
   Tracy Wiley never expected or wanted more adventure.  Then old friend Kevin Fox, the C.I.A. agent once assigned to protect her, arrives at her door.

EXTREME INFLUENCE, by Ann Nolder Heinz
   Can divorced civil engineer Hannah McPherson is making a new life for herself in a small Illinois town?

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Enjoy this great book!

A “no man” policy doesn’t count when someone’s trying to kill you.

Sorry for my absence for the past few days.  My dear hubby is ill again so we've been  seeing doctors and I'm not getting much work done here in the home office. I WILL catch up as soon as I can.

Meanwhile, the Judas bush is blooming, the robins are building a nest in the honeysuckle, and the eagle hatchlings at the refuge are growing:

http://www.friendsofblackwater.org/camhtm2.html

So SOME things are still right with the world.

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Breakfast Cake - recipe







Music Mystery Series, Vol. 1

by C. M. Albrecht

Detective Steve Music is a disillusioned cop with problems. Shelly Lambert is a woman who lost her son to a predator eight years ago. Together they work to solve another child-related mystery.


Blueberry Breakfast Cake
  • 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup butter, melted
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    Topping:
     
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup white sugar
  • 3 tablespoons butter, melted
  • 1 (21 ounce) can blueberry pie filling
  • 1/4 teaspoon lemon extract
  • 1/4 cup fresh blueberries

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x9-inch baking pan.
  2. Mix 1 1/4 cups flour, 1/2 cup white sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a bowl using a fork. Stir 1/2 cup butter, milk, egg, and vanilla extract into flour mixture until evenly combined. Pour batter into prepared pan.
  3. Combine 1/2 cup flour, 1/4 cup white sugar, and 3 tablespoons butter in a bowl using a fork until mixture resembles crumbs; sprinkle half the crumb mixture over the batter.
  4. Stir blueberry pie filling and lemon extract together in a bowl; spread over crumb topping. Sprinkle blueberries over pie filling; top with remaining crumb topping.
  5. Bake in the preheated oven until cake is golden brown, about 1 hour.























Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Question from Elizabeth Eagan-Cox






                                                           by Elizabeth Eagan-Cox

                                                          Shannon Delaney Series, Vol. 4

In book 4, Shannon Delaney gets caught up in a web of deception, intrigue and a ghostly haunting as she delves into a cold-case mystery from Hollywood’s glamorous decade of the 1920s: Good grief, it was as if the sound was immediately behind me. I turned and was shocked to see that what was making the odd noise was all too apparent and far too close for comfort. And it was looking down at me.

Question from author Elizabeth Eagan-Cox: 


As a traditional author who resides in a tiny mountain village (less that 1000 residents) I am often approached by aspiring writers with questions about how to "break in." Other than politely declining their offers that I review their work, or refer them to my publisher (you), I do take the time to warn the aspiring author about vanity publishing. On today’s walk, I was approached with a question I do not know the answer to…maybe you do.  
 
Is the Bowkers Manuscript Submission Service legitimate? 
 
I told the wannabe author that I did not think any manuscript submission service could be legitimate, or take the place of a well-written proposal. However, I did say I would ask you.
 
In my former life, as a school librarian, I was very familiar with Bowkers, and of course the company is legitimate, at least in their library services, they are. I had never heard of Bowkers offering a manuscript submission service. I went to their web site…and they do. The fee for their service begins at $99.00.
 
Answer: 
 
Yes Elizabeth, they do, indeed, offer this service. That began sometime after they went to on-line registration for their primary service: Books In Print.
 
Bowker issues all ISBNs for the United States, so they have, or should have, a record of every book published in the USA.  Most people know this, but few realize that the numbers are issued to anyone who buys them and the buyer of an ISBN is automatically registered as the publisher. The numbers cannot be transferred from one person or company to another.  In fact, the same number cannot be used for paper and electronic editions of the same work.
 
Everyone who ever  registers an ISBN with Bowker is issued a Standard Address Number and anyone, anywhere, who inquires to buy a book with that number is referred, by Bowker, to that registered address in order to contact the seller.
 
Recently unpublished authors have been advised by many groups to register an ISBN (Cost $125) for their unpublished book and told that it will protect their interests. Yet if they find a legitimate publisher, a second number must be assigned the title and both listings will appear in Books in Print, leading to confusion on where exactly to order, unless the author goes and marks his earlier ISBN as "out of print."
 
Part of uploading the book information for Books in Print is to upload a copy of the entire manuscript for "indexing." As a publisher I am leery of uploading the entire manuscript anywhere but at a sales site who is contracted to pay me so I can pay my authros. But perhaps that's just my own cynicism. I was, once, a newspaper reporter and they are a cynical breed.
 
If an author who has bought an ISBN for his or her manuscript, or one who has been recruited to do so by other authors in writing groups believing they have given good advice, does upload the entire ms text, he or she will be offered the opportunity to pay $99 more to have their manuscript looked at by "hundreds of publishers" who are out there just looking for books to publish.
 
Now it's true that if you seek just the service, they will accommodate you, but also advise that without an ISBN they cannot guarantee protection of the information.  
 
If you pay the $99 ($204 with the ISBN) they will then post your entire manuscript on line where publishers can go and view it while they are looking for books to publish.   
 
As an ex-reporter that leaves me with questions:
 
1. Who are the hundreds of "publishers" who may review your work (read your book) for free?  
 
     Anyone with a Standard Address number.
 
2. What kind of publisher would go to such a site looking for manuscripts to publish? 
 
       Vanity publishers who are looking for someone to pay them to publish a book.

3. As a publisher, would I ever go on a talent search by reading  through hundreds and thousands of whole manuscripts by unknown and unpublished writers? Do I know any other professional publishers, or Big 6 paper publishers --the kind who hand out big advances, who would do that???
 
     NO. And No!
 
BUT I will read a query letter from anyone! Just send the query to: arline@mail.com
 
The first paragraph should tell me what kind of book your book is and how long it is. If it's more than 80,000 words, chances are I can't help you. If it's a children's picture book, I can't help you, much as I would like to, I do not have the skills to prepare illustrated books for e-publication.
 
The second paragraph should tell me what the story is about and why it will attract readers. Writing is an art. PUBLISHING is a business. However lovely or lyrical your literary short stories are, however much of a cry from the heart your artistically woven prose is, they have to be a product that someone will want to read, to enjoy, and to tell their friends about.
 
I was a writer long before I became a publisher by accident. I felt just as certain as anyone that my prose was deathless and beautifully-crafted and my books would be treasured by thousands of readers IF ONLY, I could find a publisher, any publisher. 
 
I sent out query after query to publisher after publisher and then a fellow author mentioned someone on line, who had accepted his work. I queried her by e-mail ( a new phenomenon in that day), and instead of the usual 6 month wait received a "Yes," the next day. She loved my work and thought it was the "best book she'd seen all year."
 
I would wish that same kind of experience for every writer, everywhere. But lest my ego become inflated, let me also share that as a test I made that very same book a free download at several web sites between Thanksgiving and Christmas last year. I wanted to see how effective using free books was in helping to generate sales of my other titles. I privately suspected it wouldn't be very effective as people mostly expect to get what they pay for. 
 
I posted the information on Facebook and on my blog and on Linked-in and everywhere else I could think of.  I asked my friends and authors with whom I do business to share the info. The book remained a free download for 6 weeks and we gave away exactly:
 
Seven copies! 
 
But at least the original owner of Ebooksonthe.net liked it, and published it, and when she asked me to take her place after she became too ill to continue, I did.  I knew absolutely nothing about publishing at the time, but had a friend who did and figured she could teach me. 
 
Admittedly, after 10 years at it, I am still learning. 
 
So I suppose it is entirely possible that if one registered with that,  or any other,  ms. service, someone, somewhere, Might read your book. I can't say it couldn't happen.
  
 

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Cajun Shrimp- recipe






Canadian doctor and amateur genealogist Anne McPhail finds a murdered woman on the floor of the library in Culver's Mill's. Jennifer Smith, the dead librarian, was a gifted genealogical researcher who had been collecting information about her clients, and using it to blackmail them.


A Quick Shrimp Recipe for Genealogists who got lost in Research.


Ingredients
  • 1 lb. unccoked shrimp (remove shells, tails and veins)
  • 1 Tbsp cajun seasoning (less if you don't like it too warm)
  • 2 Tbsp. butter
  • 1/4 c. red pepper, chopped
  • 1 tsp. minced garlic
  • 1 c. heavy whipping cream
  • 1/2 c. grated parmesan cheese
  • 1/2 tsp. basil
  • 1/8 tsp. pepper
  • 8 oz. linguine, cooked al dente
Instructions
  • Stir together and coat the shrimp in cajun seasoning. In a large fry pan over medium heat, melt the butter and add the seasoned shrimp and sauté until shrimp begins to turn pink. Add the red pepper and minced garlic and sauté another minute or two.
  • Reduce heat to medium-low and add the cream, parmesan cheese, basil, and pepper and simmer for about 10 minutes (I like to cook the pasta while this is simmering).
  • Toss in the cooked pasta and stir to coat.


Monday, April 15, 2013





All of her computerized data had been seared. In a few short minutes Nicola Bosco went from being a respected special agent to an embezzler of pension funds.

Grandma Bosco's Spaghetti and Meatballs

Ingredients


Meatballs: (10-15 meatballs per lb.)
1 lb. hamburg
2 eggs
1 heaping cup bread crumbs
1 tsp. salt
¼ tsp. pepper
1 bead fresh garlic
¼ cup grated Romano cheese
¼ cup fresh chopped parsley
1 cup water (to work mixture)

Sauce: (for each 12 oz. can of tomato paste)
2 beads garlic, chopped
1 small onion, chopped

olive oil



¼ cup sugar

Salt and pepper

Directions

Meatballs: mix all ingredients except water. Add that last. Use about 1 cup per pound. (try 1/2 cup to make meatballs that don’t fall apart) Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Watch them.

Sauce: Saute onion and garlic with enough olive oil to cover bottom of pan. Add in tomato paste and dilute 3 to 1. 3 cans of water to 1 can of paste. Add 1/4 cup sugar and simmer all day.

Serve over cooked pasta.

Friday, April 12, 2013

Catching UP!






All the checks went out on Thursday, Paypal payments were
completed on Monday. If anyone needs their sales report,
Please, e-mail arline@mail.com. Now I can really get back to work!
 
Books that went to press, or back to press this week:

KNIGHT & DAY, by Kathryn J. Bain
   A “no man” policy doesn’t count when someone’s trying to kill you.






Galleys that went out, or went out again this week:


BURIED TRUTH, by Gunter Kaesdorf
    Young Attorney Brooke Wheeler searches for a truth buried under the surface and suppressed by long held secrets.

PARADOX, by Terry L. White
   Her mother says Rae Ann will never amount to anything, but can she hold on to her dream to earn a degree, and make a better life for herself?

THE VOLUNTEER, by Tom Ward.



    A volunteer firefighter and EMT battles PTSD along with the blazes.

 WITHOUT MOM, by David Ravenswood
     Ever since his mother died, David Sinclair, a tenth grader,
can’t seem to finish anything he starts
    







Work began or continued on the following:

EXTREME INFLUENCE, by Ann Nolder Heinz
   Can divorced civil engineer Hannah McPherson is making a new life for herself in a small Illinois town?

WIFE, LOST AND FOUND, by Ludima Burton
   How do you find a missing wife?

FREE FALL by Ann Nolder Heinz
    Anne Galloway leads the perfect life—until it inexplicably begins to fall apart.







Books waiting for information from the authors:
 
A DESIRE PATH, by Jan Shapin.
   What makes women fall for men who are tied to political causes?

TIME: A Seasonal Short Story Collection by Gianni DeVincenti Hayes

SNIPER ON THE ROOF, by Warren Graffeo



Thanks for all the help, Everyone! 
 
 PS: Roger's saw two bunnies and a snake who were also celebrating spring! 
The Bradford Pear is in bloom.

Thursday, April 11, 2013

A bag of rare blue diamonds, stolen from Greek Jews during the Holocaust, holds the key to bringing down a modern day Miami crime lord, as Zach Taylor goes into action!

Caribbean Conch Fritters:

2 teaspoons canola or vegetable oil
1/4 cup finely chopped white onions
2 tablespoons finely chopped red bell peppers
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 cups steamed or par-boiled and finely diced conch meat (about 1 pound)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg, beaten
1 cup whole milk
Dash hot red pepper sauce
1 tablespoon chopped parsley leaves
Vegetable oil, for frying

In a saute pan or large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions, bell peppers, garlic, peppers, and Essence and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the conch and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool.

Into a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the egg, milk, and pepper sauce and mix to make a thick batter. Stir in the parsley and the cooled conch mixture.

In a large deep saute pan or cast iron skillet, heat enough oil to come 2 to 3 inches up the sides of the pan to 350 degrees F.

Drop the batter, a heaping tablespoon at a time, into the oil and cook, turning once, until golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Sprinkle with salt and serve hot.

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Payment Question from the e-mail -



What was happening on the Ponderosa during the Civil War? You'll be surprised when you find out!

Payment Question

Question from the e-mail:  Just got my Paypal payment and my sales report, thank you! But I'm wondering why there are different amounts of payments listed on the report, sometimes I got two different prices for the same book??? A friend says her publisher always pays the same amount no matter where it sells from and thinks maybe I should ask...?

Answer: Well the sales venues usually pay a percentage of the book's price. But that's a percentage of what they collect, not a percentage of the retail price we set. That is true for every venue. And by the way we are looking for more sales venues.

AND the PERCENTAGE always stays the same, though the amount of money will change if the book's price is discounted. This very month one of my own books sold on one site to a book club member at a discount. Another copy sold from the same vendor, at full price.  I was paid $1.14 for the book club sale  (a ploy to keep regular customers coming back by giving them a discount on books in a certain genre) and more than twice that much for the regular priced book -- both sold from the same place, both customers received the very same file! And though you didn't say what title provoked your original question, I am almost sure the same thing happened to you.

I am also sure that your friend believes what she is saying.  And in a way she IS right! But I also think she does not fully understand the system's math.  Here's how it works. Let's take Amazon.com sales as an example.

Amazon.com's  TOP rate of pay for ANYone, publisher-published and self-published alike, is a 70 % royalty. That rate doesn't change, and is indeed "the same rate for everybody, no matter what!"  But the amount of money delivered per book depends on the PRICE they collect, not on the percentage rate.

Using Amazon.com's rate, a Book priced at $1.00  earns 70 cents for the author on each sale.

But a Book priced at $10.00 earns $7.00 for the author.

Both are PAID at the SAMDE 70% rate. But NO ONE can convince most of us that seventy cents and $7 are both the same amount of pay for a copy of your book, even though the percentage rate IS the same!

The difference is in the retail price. When a seller discounts your price, everybody takes a cut in pay. But the RATE of payment, 70%,  does NOT change. That does remain the same.

For self-published authors Amazon's POD printing company Create Space works as a vanity press. They also act as a printer and will print files for publishers, who prepare the files for publication themselves and pay CS to make the print copies. If you are one of our authors, we will prepare the files, YOU will give your final approval, and when you have, we will pay Create Space to print your books for us.

Most self-published authors are encouraged to choose lower prices. Publishers try to choose a retail price that will be low enough to still attract customers, but high enough to sustain their business's operating costs. 

As a customer, I know that a book sold for  $2.99 is not likely to be the very best I've ever read. I've bought some books at that price. Some of them were even pretty good. But almost all of them were badly edited.  One author's "series" book had even given different names to his same characters in Book 2.  Imagine that the book above, Monette Bebow-Reinhart's (fully licensed by the copyright holder BTW) Bonanza book, MYSTIC FIRE was about Pa Arkwright and his sons Boss, Saddam, and Little Crow. How many happy readers would she have?

Now Monette would never make such a mistake. But if someone else did, we like to think we would at least notice. No book is perfect, of course. But having a publisher does sometimes have its advantages.
 

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Elk Stew - recipe





A new book is one you haven't yet read!

On a wagon-train to California, Danielle
Alexander's world turns suddenly upside down!

Elk Stew
A taste of  Western Romance for you and yours.

Native Ingredients:

1 pound elk* meat (the “jerky” cut works best, although roast is fine) cut into small cubes or slices
1 chopped green bell pepper
1 chopped bunch scallions or green onions and 1-2 inches of green stems
5 cups cooked pinto beans (beans prepared in a crock pot are best; if you use canned beans, rinse well)
1/2 cup diced sweet potato
1 cup cooked hominy (optional)

*3 cups game broth, or low sodium chicken broth or water (broth is tastier)
Salt and pepper to taste

Add Old World Ingredients for more flavor:
*One clove garlic
*One bunch chopped celery with leaves (leaves are key!)
*Carrot or parnips add depth of flavor because of their sweetness
1 tsp. curry powder

Heat 3 Tbs. oil over medium heat. When hot (6-8 minutes) add vegetables and elk to pan. Season with pepper (and salt if you like).

Sautee elk, bell pepper, onions, spices with three tablespoons of vegetable oil.


** Venison, buffalo haunch, or even beef can be substituted.

After meat is browned and vegetables are soft, place in crock pot with beans and chicken broth.

Slow cook on high for eight hours. Longer is better. Check every few hours to see if you need to add more liquid.

Then switch to low cook for at least two hours.

You can prepare this stew in the morning and it will be ready for dinner. It tastes best after 10 hours of cooking.

Monday, April 8, 2013




Can St Louis private eye Nick Schavers clear a client who has already been convicted of the crime?

St Louis Pork Steaks

Original recipe makes 5 steaks Change Servings
  • 5 pork shoulder steaks 
  • 1 pinch seasoned salt to taste 
  • 1/8 teaspoon seasoned pepper to taste 
  • 2 cups apple cider vinegar 
  • 1 1/2 cups water 

Directions

  1. Preheat grill to medium-low heat.
  2. Season the pork steaks on both sides with seasoned salt and seasoned pepper. In a large bowl, stir together the vinegar and water, and season with seasoned salt and seasoned pepper to taste.
  3. Lightly oil the grill grate. Place pork steaks on the grill. Baste steaks with the vinegar mixture on both sides during the first 15 minutes of grilling. Continue to cook steaks to desired doneness, 10 to 15 more minutes. Discard remaining vinegar mixture.

Friday, April 5, 2013

Catching UP!



It is Payroll time again, so most of this week has been spent on data entry for that...

Books that went to press or went back to press this week:

EDUCATION CAN BE MURDER, by A. G. Case
   Murder in the School System, Oh MY!

THE CHANGELING KILL, by Kathryn Flatt
   PI Jack Watson is back and we've got him!

TRAPPED BY TERROR, by Anita Dumont
   Action galore as wild animals flee from a forest fire.



Galleys that went out, or went out again, this week:

KNIGHT & DAY, by Kathryn Bain
   A “no man” policy doesn’t count when someone’s trying to kill you.

Work began or continued on the following:
 (Although not too much was accomplished this week.)





Work began or continued on the following this week:


PARADOX, by Terry L. White
   Her mother says Lainey Cook will never amount to anything, but can she hold on to her dream to earn a degree, and to make a better life for herself?

WIFE, LOST AND FOUND, by Ludima Burton
   How do you find a missing wife?

A DESIRE PATH, by Jan Shapin.
   What makes women fall for men who are tied to political causes?


EXTREME INFLUENCE, by Ann Nolder Heinz
   Can divorced civil engineer Hannah McPherson is making a new life for herself in a small Illinois town?

FREE FALL by Ann Nolder Heinz
    Anne Galloway leads the perfect life—until it inexplicably begins to fall apart.





Books waiting for information from the authors:

TIME: A Seasonal Short Story Collection by Gianni DeVincenti Hayes

SNIPER ON THE ROOF, by Warren Graffeo



Thanks for all the help, Everyone!
 PS:Roger's robin found another and they are doing a mating dance!