Friday, February 18, 2011

Pimp My Blog: Cheap Indie Author Spotlight







Hello Everyone!

My fifteen seconds of fame on my blog are over. Time to get back to the author spotlight, so I can focus on marketing and my next project for a few days. Next on the spotlight list is Stephen Brayton who has authored what looks to be a great thriller. Welcome Stephen!



1. Tell us about your book(s).

My eBook, Night Shadows, is about a Des Moines, Iowa homicide investigator teaming up with a FBI agent to solve the series of brutal murders. While dealing with personal problems, the unlikely duo find themselves battling malevolent creatures from anther dimension. The book will be released February 15, 2011, from Echelon Press. You can check out the details at www.stephenbrayton.com.


2. How did you go about getting your book published?

I met an editor, Mary Welk, at the 2009 Killer Nashville writers’ conference. She was actually interested in acquiring short stories for Echelon, but in our talk gave me permission to send in submissions for two novels. (By the way, the second novel, Beta, was also accepted for release in July, and recently four of my short stories were accepted.)

3. Tell us about your marketing strategies.

I met another author/editor at the 2010 conference and became part of her ‘posse’. Every week she seeks out various interesting blogs and websites and lets her posse members know about them. We then visit the sites, read the blogs and make comments. Social networking. Plus, I’m part of Facebook and Twitter (of course), and several mystery and author sites. I’ve also been interviewed for a paranormal radio show and have visited colleges for writers’ workshops. Plus, on my blog I do regular author interviews. Currently I’m interviewing Echelon authors, but will soon branch out to others.

4. What's the best advice you could give to new writers who want to get published?

Keep writing and don’t give up. Do your homework on publishing, especially small presses. Attend conferences for contacts. Edit, edit, and edit some more on your story. If you get accepted, promote fellow authors in that company.

5. What are you reading? (I added this question to give every author the opportunity to lend to support to other authors coming up in the ranks like we are. :)

I have hundreds of books in my library waiting to be read. I really like the old Shadow and Doc Savage series. Plus Queen, Stout, and Pelecanos are on my list of upcoming authors to read.

Thanks for the awesome post.

The next spotlight author is Kristina Meister!

10 comments:

  1. How fun is this site??? Stephen, thank you for plugging The Posse. So much has sprung from just a simple idea of sharing and caring.
    Kudos, Karla, for giving a place where indie authors have a voice.

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  2. Thanks for the interview. Learning the business is key in the success. I am a proud member of the posse and find this network an important part of the process. Good luck with your book, Stephen.

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  3. Hello Stephen, congratulations on your book release. I'm an aspiring writer, and your advice hit right where I live. Thanks for posting.

    Oh, and I was an avid Doc Savage fan in my early teen years. Loved those stories!

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  4. Where's the link to purchase the book?

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  5. Keep up the good work Stephen as well as being appreciated by all authors I am sure you will get your rewards in Heaven.

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  6. Good ideas here for helping promote fellow authors. I too like the idea of a posse. This books sounds good.

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  7. Good interview! Your book sounds interesting, and I'll have to look for it. I'm also a part of the posse, and I'm having a great time.

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  8. This was very informative. Thank you for the information.

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  9. Thank you Indie for posting this site. It is very informative and it keeps me from calling you all the time.... We spoke before and I am interested in having my book posted as a link to your blog.Also,have you ever heard of friesenpress? I have looked into lightening source, do I need to provide my book cover or would they assist me in this?

    My business name is sisters of survival, restoring the whole woman
    My email:sistersurvival40@gmail.com

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  10. Thanks for the information. A lot of good ideas here.

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