Tag: independent authors

New Year + New Friends = New Opportunities

~ Jonna Hawker Turek ~ Leave a comment
This month I have the honor of being the Spotlight Author on the fun website “FolksTalesThings”,  a joyous, eclectic site run by my author friend, Barbara Martin. A visit to the site is like wandering among the merchandise in a great old country store and bumping into friends, old and new. I’m excited to have a featured spot in such a charming atmosphere and to have the opportunity to make new friends for Bunny and the quirky bunch of pastors’ wives in the First Ladies Club.
     As you might suspect from the characters in my books, I’ve spent much of my life in small town churches, many of those years as the pastor’s wife. My characters tend to be compilations of people I’ve actually known. Like those real people, they have struggles with their faith in good times and bad. The bad may not have been as bad as the troubles I give my fictional characters, but the strength of faith they use to surmount them is as real as real can be.
     I hope you will explore the worlds I’ve created and enjoy the thrills and chills along with the humor and warm fuzzies I provide to help balance the scary bits…and as you read, please don’t be too hard on my characters when they stumble. Many of us in the real world have scars and bruises from similar slip-ups, as well.
     To learn more about me and my books, please drop by my website http://jbhawker.com/, anytime.  And have a joyous, blessed New Year!

Christmas in Bannoch

~ Jonna Hawker Turek ~ 3 Comments

creche

Christmas is next week, so today we are checking in on our friends in Bannoch, Oregon to see how they are planning to spend this Christmas. It should be interesting because for Bunny and her friends in the First Ladies Club Christmas is a highlight of the year.

Bunny (Bunny Elder Adventures series) is packing today for her trip to Boise, Idaho, where she will spend a white Christmas with her sister, Linda and family.  She smiles as she tucks a small nativity set made of seashells and driftwood into  her bag to add to Linda’s collection. It is sure to bring back memories, fond, not-so-fond and hilarious, from the sisters’ trip to Italy to acquire a special Neapolitan crèche.  (You can read about their adventures in Vain Pursuits.)

Across town, in the Bannoch Community Fellowship parsonage, Bunny’s good friend Naidenne Davidson (The First Ladies Club) is happily baking gingerbread men with her small daughter, Talitha Joy, while husband and father,  Scott, with the help of his brother-in-law, Len Spurgeon, wrestles the family Christmas tree into place in the high-ceilinged, old-fashioned dining room .

“We’ll miss you and Rosie this Christmas, Len,” Scott says, standing back to check the tree. “I think it could be just a hair straighter, but it’s a real beauty!”

“It should be, after lugging it half a mile down the hillside,” Len replies. “but you’re right. When it’s decorated, it will be a stunner. Rosie says you absolutely must take dozens of photos of the tree, the Christmas Eve service, Christmas morning and all…and she wants you to post them on Facebook, so we can see them right away.”

“Are you sure you two want to travel all the way to Southern California for Christmas?” Scott asks. “My sister has never had a Christmas away from home, you know.”

“Oh, I know, but this is Rosie’s idea. Ever since she was a youngster she’s dreamed of Christmas at Disneyland. My brother’s family live in the area, too, so we will get to fulfill her dream and catch up with my family at the same time.”

“Oh, Mommy! Come look at the tree! It’s so big…it didn’t look so big when we picked it out,” Talitha cries, running into the room and flinging her flour-covered arms around her father’s legs.

Scott sweeps his daughter into his arms with a laugh.

“As soon as we are through with the baking…and get washed up…we can decorate the tree,” Naidenne says, walking into the room wiping her hands on her apron. “Will you need help bringing the decorations down from the attic, Scott?”

“Can I help, Daddy?” Talitha asks, patting him on the cheek.

“I thought you wanted to finish the cookies, first,” Scott says.

“It takes too long. Mommy can do it. Right, Mommy?”

“Sure. You have been a big help with the baking, but now it’s Daddy’s turn to have a helper,” Naidenne grins at her husband as she speaks.

The happy family continues with their holiday preparations just as many of their Bannoch neighbors are doing.

Few of the town’s ministers and their families will be traveling during this special Holy season. Their lives will center around their church, congregation and the special services of celebration. There is no need to remind any of them of the true reason for the season.

Rev. Merrill Bishop (A Body in the Belfry) and her nephew, Ryan, are in the grand First Baptist Church sanctuary where Merrill is helping the ladies decorate the pews and altar rail, while Ryan and his friend and church musician, Peri, practice the special music for the Christmas Eve communion service.

In the midst of this happy work, a woman staggers in from the foyer, backwards. She’s pulling something. Dressed like a gypsy with a many-layered full skirt and flowing shawls, she tugs a large wicker basket up the aisle.

“Judy! What have you got there?” Merrill cries to her friend, Judy Falls, wife of the Presbyterian church pastor (read Judy’s story in A Corpse in the Chapel coming in 2016).

“Do you need help?” Merrill asks.

Giving a last mighty tug and losing her grip, Judy plops down on her backside with a laugh before responding.

“I’ve been trimming the wild holly bushes for the hanging of the greens and seem to have gotten carried away. We have all we can use at my church, so I’m toting the bounty around to see who else can use it. It would be criminal to snatch these beautiful branches from their home in the woods and then just throw them away.”

“You’ve come at just the right time. Look ladies! More greenery, just what we needed,” Merrill calls to the other women.

Joyful scenes like these are taking place in all the churches and parsonages in town as these friends from the First Ladies Club share the special happiness each experiences in her own way while celebrating the birth of their common Savior.

May I join them in wishing you all a Blessed Christmas and a spirit-filled New Year!

If you want to keep up-to-date on all the happenings in the lives of these women and their friends, please sign-up for my periodic email newsletter.

It’s a poor writer who blames her tools…

~ Jonna Hawker Turek ~ Leave a comment

This has been an interesting week. I’ve spent a lot of time watching webinars on improving my skills and craft, and keeping up on world news.

My activities intersected when I read this quote from Carly Fiorina (posted on Townhall.com, 11/20/15, from a speech following the Paris terrorist attacks)

This Is a War We Must Wage and Win

…ISIS is becoming increasingly technologically sophisticated. They are utilizing encrypted communications that allow their recruits to disappear. They have established a 24-hour help desk to help fighters evade law enforcement.

How does this quote relate to my time spent learning the tools I need to become a better writer? It shows how important it is to keep current on technologies as they become available to us.  We can be more successful, whether for good or evil, by utilizing new skills and processes.

tools1One of the tools I had been dragging my feet about is the writers’ software, Scrivener. I continued to struggle with all the complicated formatting issues of Word because I was afraid of Scrivener’s learning curve, even though fellow writers raved about it.

When I asked my son, here on a visit from Italy, to help with a problem I was having formatting a Word file, he suggested I use Scrivener. He uses it in his translating work.

I finally bit the bullet and downloaded the free trial. It looked just as complicated as I’d feared and seemed to dry up my creative juices as soon as I opened the program. However, after walking through the help files, followed by watching a webinar, I’m flying through the outline and first draft of my current work in progress, A Corpse in the Chapel.

My latest book, A Body in the Belfry, releasing in all formats 12/1/15, is the last I will produce the old way. I’ve become a confirmed Scrivener fan.

This year, my list of things to be thankful for, as we sit down to Thanksgiving Dinner, will include the Scrivener program and all the wonderful training videos out there.

Wishing you a blessed Thanksgiving.

 

BUNNY ELDER SERIES COVERS REDESIGNED

~ Jonna Hawker Turek ~ Leave a comment

4 NEW COVERS SNIP

An independent author, especially one just starting out, must become a Jack, or Jill of all trades, writer, promoter, and designer. To that end, I have been learning to use the free image manipulation software products Gimp and Paint.net. The results are above.

I haven’t become an expert, by any means, but I was able to give my Bunny Elder Series covers a more cohesive look, and that’s a start.

I tried to find an affordable cover designer, but most wanted me to select the images and do the creative designing for them to manipulate into cover images, when what I really wanted was someone to design and produce the covers. One day I hope to be able to pay the costs of truly professional cover design, because I know how important that is, but for now, I’ve managed to get one step closer.

Fifty Shades of Earl Grey

~ Jonna Hawker Turek ~ Leave a comment

I belong to a support group of independent authors whose writing, whether  romance, mystery or thriller, falls roughly in the general category of Cozy. We eschew foul language or gratuitous sex and violence.

Currently there is a lively discussion about the book and movie, “Fifty Shades of Gray.” Naturally enough, the comments are pretty scathing regarding the subject matter, but I was surprised, since I did not read the book, at the criticisms of the author’s writing ability. It seems that in spite of poor editing, syntax and plot development, the salacious nature of this book made it such a success it has now been made into a near-pornographic movie glorifying the sexual abuse of women.

This is so frustrating for those of us struggling to improve our craft (which we love) and learning the daunting skills of marketing our work (which we hate) in order to raise our sales ranking  and someday make a modest living as full-time writers.

It is tempting to think all we need to do is write books filled with dangerous bondage S&M practices and other graphically violent sex acts set in a pseudo-sophisticated upper class milieu in order to become best-selling successful authors.

However, as several in my group implied, even thinking of slithering through that slimy world makes us feel in need of the mental equivalent of a hot shower to cleanse our minds.

One of the tenets of becoming a successful writer is knowing one’s target audience and writing for each of them.

I thank God that my readers are much more interested in reading about an afternoon sipping Earl Grey tea than dipping into Fifty Shades of depravity.

 

 

Nook Hardback Self-Publishing

~ Jonna Hawker Turek ~ Leave a comment

I got an email last week announcing Barnes & Noble’s new hardback self-publishing feature. You can now have your books printed in hard cover and even with a dust jacket.

When I read this I was so excited. How cool to have hardback copies of my works on my own bookshelves and available for readers to buy.  My first four books are currently on the shelves of my local library in paperback and I thought I might donate hard copies, once I have them all formatted, etc.

My enthusiasm dimmed when I read a post from a fellow independent author criticizing the quality of the hardback books and making me aware that any books I have printed through this service will not be available from resellers.

I double-checked this information on the B&N site and this is what they say when asked:

No. The NOOK Press print platform program is for you to print books for your personal use, and does not include selling those books through Barnes & Noble stores or BN.com. You may sell the books you print on your own, however.

So, my fellow author is correct. This facet of the Nook self-publishing service is merely a vanity press.

I may still print single hardbacks of my books for personal display and as gifts, but my enthusiasm has been replaced with disappointment.

This incident illustrates one of the many benefits of joining Internet groups of fellow Independent Authors.  It was a member of the Sweet Cozy Mystery Writers’ Support Group, a closed group on Facebook, who alerted me to the limitations of this Nook service.

While it may be overwhelming to see just how many other independent authors are writing in your own genre, the blessings of shared experience and the support we give each other more than outweigh possible feelings of competition or discouragement.

Kindle Unlimited: Friend or Foe?

~ Jonna Hawker Turek ~ Leave a comment

This week Amazon added their Kindle Unlimited subscription service. All KDP Select works are automatically included in the service, although authors are able to opt out, if they choose.

KDP Select has been good to me since I became an independent author. I’ve used the free promotional services and seen an increase in sales and reviews.

Since the roll-out of Kindle Unlimited I have seen articles suggesting this is not a good deal for independents and encouraging us to leave KDP Select and offer our books on a variety of sites, such as Smashwords, Kobo, iBooks, etc.

The main downside to leaving the exclusive KDP Select program would seem to be losing my access to Amazon’s Countdown Deals and free promotions.

I would love to hear from other independent authors on the pros and cons of our options in light of Kindle Unlimited.

For me, and for many others, I suspect,  marketing and promotion is the trickiest part of the adventure of being an independent author.

Ouch! That hurts, thank you.

~ Jonna Hawker Turek ~ Leave a comment

One thing both independent authors and traditionally published writers share is criticism. However a work gets published, once it is “out there” it is fair game.

The first time I hit the “Publish” button, I felt physically ill, for fear readers would hate my book. When I received my first print copy I could not even open it until my son read it and assured me it was all right.

I was fortunate that all my early reviews were positive and I even relaxed enough to joke about the fact that the only non-five star review came from my hard-to-please sister, who gave the book four stars.

Inevitably, a dreaded poor review was posted. I was so distressed I almost gave up on finishing the series I’d outlined.

Going back and re-reading the criticism, like probing a toothache, I suddenly realized what that two-star review meant. This reader had read the whole book and cared deeply enough about the characters to write and complain about the way some of them behaved. It wasn’t my writing that was objected to, after all.

That insight helped salve my hurt feelings (somebody doesn’t like me!) so I can now read my reviews with an eye to learning from them. It helps to find out what my readers expected, or wanted, to happen to my characters.

After four published books and many reviews, both positive and critical, I’ve also come to accept the fact that I can’t please everyone. The very same aspect of a story for which I receive praise from some readers can be the most strongly objected to by others.

Whenever a reader of one of my books cares enough to take the time and effort to post a review, pro or con, I am grateful.

Like the subtitle for that wonderful classic Peter Sellers movie, “Dr. Strangelove,” I have learned to stop worrying and love the critics.

 

Priorities of the Independent Author

~ Jonna Hawker Turek ~ Leave a comment

Like many (can I say most?) independent authors, I support myself by working a full-time job.

Since completing the Bunny Elder Adventure series, publishing a new book every six months, I had planned to use some of my precious writing time to promote my published works and set a more leisurely pace for my current project.

This is proving more difficult than I’d anticipated for a couple of reasons.

One, a common theme in a lot of the expert advice encourages regular, rapid output to establish a readership base.

When I read, “publish on a regular schedule, whether one book every six months, or a book each month,” I was stunned to think my two-books-a-year schedule was the outer limit, rather than the Herculean task I’d previously considered it to be. Heeding this advice would have me concentrating on rushing my next book to completion, leaving no time for promotion and marketing.

My second issue sjuggling timeurprised me even more: promotion takes a lot more of my creative energy than writing. Writing, although occasionally hard, slogging work, is still my joy and a natural creative outlet.  Self-promotion, even just learning the ways and means of marketing, runs counter to my personality, leaving me completely drained, in no shape to work on the new book.

This is probably not an issue for those authors who have the luxury of independent means or who have already started earning enough to quit their day jobs, but what is the answer for those of us still doing double-duty in the rat race?

I would love to hear any solutions or suggestions.