My Next Book "Weepy the Dragon" Due Out in June

I have some very exciting news to share: Weepy the Dragon, my first children's book, will be released next month! My debut book, Unconventional, was published back in July 2009 -- and I've been busy running MindStir Media ever since -- so Weepy will be my first release in nearly three years... I didn't plan on having such a large gap between "J. J. Hebert" book releases, but MindStir has kept me busy helping other authors publish their books. And it's a lot of fun, of course! :)

Here's the description for Weepy the Dragon:

Weepy is a dragon, sure, but the dragons nearby would agree that he doesn’t act like a dragon at all. He’s not angry, scary, and mean. He only eats vegetables with his sharp teeth. He uses his fire-breath as a nightlight because he’s afraid of the dark. Worst of all, he tends to cry, something the other dragons – especially his powerful father – would never do! Weepy wants to be more “dragony,” but he soon finds that being different has its advantages.

MindStir Media Introduces BookReviewService.com

It can be a real struggle for indie authors to get their books reviewed, but now it's easier than ever. MindStir Media just launched a book review website that lets authors get their books reviewed for free...

If you're an author, simply follow the Submission Guidelines. If your book meets the guidelines, go ahead and submit it for review (we're able to review about 50 - 65% of the books submitted through the free service). There's also a Promoted Book Review option that gives authors a guaranteed review as well as some extra exposure via advertising.

The site is also accepting new reviewers...

See you there!

Raise Funds for Your Self-Publishing Project

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you might have noticed my post about Kickstarter back in January 2011. Authors have been using sites like Kickstarter for quite a while to fund their self-publishing projects. I've seen plenty of authors raise thousands of dollars through this "crowdfunding" model. Well, Rich Burlew recently raised a million bucks through Kickstarter for his webcomic book. You read that right: One million dollars! Here's the story: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/feb/22/author-raises-1m-self-publish-webcomic.

Kickstarter's not the only player in town, either. There's a bunch of crowdfunding sites out there. Go ahead and Google "crowdfunding websites" and you'll find a nice list of options.

Why not give it a try?

(Screenshot from Kickstarter.com)

Shipping Your Own Books

In addition to relying on Amazon.com, BN.com and other online retailers, most authors sell printed copies of their book(s) via their own website. This means they're responsible for accepting orders and ultimately shipping copies to the end customer. It's a time consuming process, but the author usually makes more profit per copy this way...

If you're one of those authors, I suggest you invest in some quality mailers. Flimsy mailers look unprofessional and don't really prevent your book(s) from being damaged. Have you ever ordered a book from Amazon.com? Take a look at their mailer. It's hard cardboard, very sturdy. That's the kind of mailer you need. And now you can buy them through ULINE. I'm not affiliated with ULINE in any way ... Just thought this tip might be beneficial to you and your readers. Have fun!

Legendary Author Anne McCaffrey Passes Away

Anne McCaffrey, one of science fiction's most popular authors, passed away yesterday from a stroke, her publisher reported today. She was 85. McCaffrey, who often referred to herself as "Annie," was widely known for her Hugo award-winning, bestselling DragonRiders of Pern series. She authored nearly 100 published books since 1967.

Severe health issues surfaced on her blog back in August where Annie's son Todd McCaffrey alerted her readers that she would have to cancel her appearance at Dragon*con. "What seemed to be indigestion last week has now turned out to be something more serious – some incident with her heart, the full details of which are still to be determined by tests," Todd reported.

Her final blog entry, "A Letter from Rick," accurately represents the overall positive effect she had on her loyal readers worldwide. Annie inspired countless writers and generously offered advice throughout her long and successful career. She will be sorely missed!

Rest in peace, Anne McCaffrey. You were one of a kind.

Writers: Kill the Self-Entitlement Monster

Lately I've seen a sense of self-entitlement among aspiring authors (in online forums, etc.). Some of these would-be writers actually believe that writing a book is enough and readers should automatically flock to the book and consider it a privilege to read the material. This couldn't be further from the truth! I know plenty of you know this already, but it doesn't hurt to reiterate and share: Authors are not owed customers/readers. Even if you've written an amazing book, you can't expect thousands or millions of readers to find the book on their own. You have to work for the readership. This means you need to take part in book marketing, publicity, advertising...not passively waiting for readers to stumble across your masterpiece. Effective marketing, publicity, and advertising will create a buzz around your book and word of mouth should result in lots of sales--but expect to work thousands of hours for those results! 

Kill the "Self-Entitlement Monster" now if it exists within you. If we're really honest with ourselves here, the Monster probably lives somewhere within all of us. Kill it now. Seriously. Allowing it to live will only ruin your writing career and make you look like a fool in the end. 

You are owed nothing.

(Image via De kleine rode kater @ Flickr)

20 Valuable Writing Resources

I recently compiled a list of writing resources, including books, videos, and articles. The books, each one available at Amazon.com, provide info on writing from bestselling authors. The articles come from popular writing/publishing blogs, while the free videos--advice from Stephen King, Anne Rice, Nicholas Sparks, Michael Connelly, and John Irving--are all available via YouTube. Now...onto the list...


Books: 

• On Writing  by Stephen King 
• Plot & Structure (Techniques And Exercises For Crafting A Plot That Grips Readers From Start To Finish) by James Scott Bell
• On Writing Well by William Zinsser
• Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within by Natalie Goldberg
• Sometimes the Magic Works: Lessons from a Writing Life by Terry Brooks
• Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott

Videos:

• Advice from Stephen King
• Michael Connelly: Tips for Young Writers
• Nicholas Sparks Shares Tips for Aspiring Writers
• John Irving: The Thrill of the Blank Page
• To Write or Rewrite – Anne Rice
• Taking Risks – Anne Rice
• Developing Plot – Anne Rice

Articles:

• Top 5 Writing Lessons from J.K. Rowling
• 40+ Tips to Improve your Grammar and Punctuation
• 31 Ways to Find Inspiration for Your Writing
• 20 Creative Ways to Overcome Writer’s Block
• 11 Types of Bad Writing Advice
• 10 Rules for Writing Fiction
• 10 Things You Can Do to Help Your Writing Career Before You’re Published

Want more resources? Click here for the full list of over 30 writing resources!
(Image via JimK1 @ Flickr)

Self-Published Books on the Oprah Winfrey Network

If you've written a book, you could pay a professional publicist around $9,000 for a 3-month or 6-month national campaign that might help gain television exposure for your self-published book... or you could spend $4,999 for a national television ad campaign that will reach approximately 500,000 viewers combined on networks such as the Oprah Winfrey Network, A&E, TLC, Fox News Channel, History Channel, Biography Channel, and more (over 30 networks available). I'd choose the latter any day!

As the president of MindStir Media, I'm constantly thinking of ways to help my authors sell more books--e.g. providing a list of free book marketing tools and personally mentoring MindStir authors. I preach about online visibility for authors and actively engaging in social media. Basically using the Internet to build and keep an eager fan base. And while the Internet does offer endless book marketing and advertising possibilities, TV advertising is still one of the most effective ways to present and sell your product to the masses. Up until recently, national TV advertising wasn't a viable option for an indie author unless you had at least $20,000 to drop on a campaign. You'd have to pay an expert to produce a high quality 60-second ad, hope that the networks approve the ad, and then you'd have just enough money remaining to buy some local TV spots--maybe. At the very end of September 2011, MindStir Media changed everything by launching a TV advertising service that for $4,999 includes a professional 60-second TV ad for your book as well as spots on national TV networks totaling around 500,000 viewers. News spread quickly and a couple competitors even tried to mimic the service, although for $4,999 their service reaches less viewers and it's unclear on which networks their ads appear. MindStir's service also includes a male or female on-camera host, background music, a producer, all necessary studio time and equipment, and on-screen graphics.

Imagine hundreds of thousands of viewers nationwide seeing and learning about your book (paperback, ebook, and/or audiobook formats). Most traditionally published authors don't even experience that level of exposure! Welcome to the new Mind-Stirring world of publishing! It's a great time to be an indie author!

(Oprah image via Story Accents)