Of Epic Proportions

Blogazine 2008

It's done. The last blogazine for 2008 has arrived and
not a moment too soon. Already 2009 is shaping up as
a fulfilling year with so many of our members achieving
great things.

A few of our writers have banded together to release a

wonderful collection of stories based on a series, another
is enjoying success with her first published title and a few
others are reaching key stages of their development. Plus,
it's the first time we were able to use the official challenge
system and it turned out to be a success. Of course there
have been a few hits and misses too but all worth the
taking.

I've grown a soft spot for WMG and come to see it as

something for everyone and in every something a special
piece.

I hope you enjoy some of the pieces gathered here and

continue to share the journey with us.

xx

Ronnie
Group Host
In This Day by Melissa Park
 He sits there and I watch him look lovingly in her direction.
I’m jealous of this sleek, black lover of his; the one that sits un-
complainingly in the corner and awaits his ministrations. I too
wait, and want. But I am not so easily played, nor does the music
I make sound as sensuous as hers when he strokes her the way
she likes.
As I knew he would, he walks over and sits beside her, whis-
pering adorations as he reaches for her neck. I watch as his fin-
gers glide downward, grasping her gently as he lifts her to his
lap.
The rhythmic pulsing of their collaboration causes me to shud-
der as I think of how well each fits to the other. His hand moving
effortlessly, fingers delivering just enough pressure in order to
make her sing in a way I never can.
Tonight there is something in the air. I can feel it as he con-
tinues to concentrate on making her happy. How I long for his
touch on my skin, making me hit those same notes, my body
humming in pleasure while I moan a tune I know he likes to
hear.
But she refuses to release him. So I wait, hoping that she
doesn’t steal so much of his soul that not one drop is left for me
when the time comes.
This is the life I chose when I gave my heart to a musician,
knowing I would forever share him with another, knowing I
would always be waiting my turn.
A native San Franciscan currently residing as a Northern Nevadan, J.C.
Montgomery firmly believes that fulfillment doesn’t come with a dollar
sign, however it sometimes can be found downing a venti skinny vanilla
latte with an extra shot at her local coffee house. More information about
JC can be located within her Red Bubble portfolio link >
http://www.redbubble.com/people/jcmontgomery

http://www.redbubble.com/people/jcmontgomery 
 I don’t remember. But I know what you told others. Not me,
you didn’t tell me. I don’t remember and it’s probably best that
I don’t. My mind forgot while it was happening, that’s best for a
child. Children don’t remember things like that.
I remember the wall propped up against the side of the house
with a short plank wedging it upright. The wall was tall, or I was
short. But the plank of wood, well, that was just right. Perfect for
what I wanted, I don’t remember what. I remember you were
building.
You like to build. With all these children you don’t have a
choice really; there are so many to make room for. You’re bend-
ing over some tools and she’s getting the plank of wood. You’re
saying her name, quickly, urgently, and she looks at you. That’s
all she remembers.
I’m sitting on your knee in a taxi. No one ever calls a taxi. And
you’re holding me gently, not like you ever did before. I’m sud-
denly special among all those children and I’m disappointed to
arrive home. I don’t remember the leaving home.
You told the taxi driver the nail went into my chest and
missed the right heart ventricle by millimeters. Or do I just re-
member in millimeters and not somethingths-of-an-inch? I re-
member the hole. I can feel the scar. I don’t remember the pain,
but, like things like that, pain’s forgettable.
I remember the way you held me.
Now you read this, and I look at you expectantly, hoping you
rejoice in my inscription of the forgotten, the control of voice,
the espousal of infantile perception and adult retrospection, the

http://www.redbubble.com/people/kmfalcon 
poignant restraint. You look at me and say, “I don’t remember
this.”

The writer’s description of this story, “In thinking about remembering and the
different kinds of memory this character surfaced. So I played with person in
the hopes of illustrating which part of her held onto the memory.” Learn more
of KMFalcon via the Red Bubble portfolio link >
http://www.redbubble.com/people/kmfalcon

http://www.redbubble.com/people/kmfalcon 
 There was a feeling of restlessness deep in my soul
the inner heart
the inner soul
an ironic statement
‘lack of soul’
the inner eye
expressing irony
an epic journey
struggle
at the core of the soul
taking place over a long period of time and involving a lot of
difficulties
It’s showing that I really mean the opposite of what soul are
saying an inner voice
my mind was filled with morbid thoughts of death
I only feel this strongly about it some days
‘I might even die.’ ‘should I be so morbid?’
I watched with morbid curiosity
it’s kind of like myself is involved in a fight
a battle with myself
battle with my soul
the endless battle between man and nature
I kept it in checked with chains and massive locks

http://www.redbubble.com/people/ushna 
 fought against the fear
I had problems fighting the blaze in my soul
I gradually fought my way to the top
dell…
it seemed, my soul was a small valley with trees growing
around it
a spooky old house
a spooky atmosphere
I was just thinking about my life when I lost
a creepy life
a creepy coincidence
I sat on the edge with my legs dangling over the side
the hole where the heart is meant to be and the inner just
dangling there
I had a life challenges dangled in front of me
I remembered, at some point I have achieved a good result
and been successful
and the stage where all my efforts ended in failure
all the attempt was doomed to failure
I had a sense of impending doom
there was a fatal flaw in the plan
I was locked in mortal combat
to be in mortal danger
suffered a mortal blow
I learnt from experience, both successes and failures
a battle of wills
I held the moment, when each side is very determined to
win

http://www.redbubble.com/people/ushna 
 but my path always shone with a faint unsteady light
a mirror there I caught the glimmer of a smile in my eyes
the glimmering of an idea
a glimmer of hope
I portrayed the painting in good faith
an inner voice told me that what I was doing was wrong
my soul’s belief has restored my faith
faith is stronger than reason
belief showed me the right path
for some reason …

Ushna is an Independent filmmaker, novelist and script writer. Learn more

of Ushna via her portfolio link >
http://www.redbubble.com/people/ushna

http://www.redbubble.com/people/ushna 10
 My Jesus!
I love thee,
With all my heart & all my soul;

My Jesus!
I know thou art mine,
You can’t leave me ever lonely;

I know,
You gonna protect me;
And safe me,
In any danger;
And In any kind of pain,
My savior art thou;

I love thee,
Because thou has fist loved me;
There’s so many reason to keep you faith,
I love thee for wearing the thorn on thy brow;
You sacrifced for us,
Can’t forget that ever;
I love thee Juses,
Because thou has fist loved me;

http://www.redbubble.com/people/ushna 11
 Brandishing burnished Sword
Transparent in armour of Light
There stands the Warrior Maiden
Prepared for the darkest of night.

A curtain sliced through;

A way opened up;
Enters the Maiden
And drains the bloody cup.

Her life on the Altar

Long now has lain,
But up she has risen
Atonement to gain

For those who have hurt her

By whom she was slain.
She calls to the Judge,
“Forgive them my pain.”

Light pierces through;

The Earth opens up;

http://www.redbubble.com/people/susaneward 12
 Stands forth her Beloved,
“You have taken my Cup.”

The two who are one

All infirmities feeling
Now spread out their hands
In forgiveness and healing.

Because we are Earthlings, we are limited to express heavenly things in

earthly symbols. Beautiful pictures are like beautiful words. The artist can
show what the viewer may not see on his own.

Pictures have always danced in my head. Sometimes a dream will stick with
me evoking feelings, even messages, that cry out to be released through
my hands. I thrill at the breath of life a picture inhales as the layers build. It
is my hope that you hear the voice in my pictures.

I am the mother of 10 biological children, half of whom are adults. My hus-

band, children and I share our home with our beloved Rottweiler, Genev-
ieve, in rural Tennessee.

My Paradise

These baby cries and teenage sighs

And rowdy voices in between
Bespeak a fleeting paradise
God gave to Steve and me.

Learn more of Susan via her portfolio link >

http://www.redbubble.com/people/susaneward

http://www.redbubble.com/people/susaneward 13
 Like the sea, like the sky, like a million things,
Can my heart find the like to the way it sings?
Like the pale moon that glows, even out of view,
The hope and the light that I see in you.

This magical, most exquisite pain,

Like the stars shining right through the rain,
Phases and glimpses of this art we call love,
It can go on, but it’s never enough.

I rise and I rise, ‘til I can gain no more height,

And on my newfound wings, rise again and take flight
I look at sorrow and I lock her away,
Then I fly ‘til I find my brand new day.

In this day you’re the sun that dawns,

Giving light to me so I can out live the storm
I look and I see, though it’s far away,
That for which I have prayed, each single day

http://www.redbubble.com/people/lollly 14
 ‘Tis the cloud, lined with that most precious hue,
That lies beyond darkness I’m yet to pass through,
I know that I must, and so I do,
Then, I find that my silver lining is you.

I love to take photos whenever I can, I have a huge range here flowers,
landscapes, macros a little bit of ‘computer art’ . Learn more of Melissa
via her portfolio link > http://www.redbubble.com/people/lollly.

http://www.redbubble.com/people/lollly 15
 “Open your eyes Emma.”
Emma’s eyes fluttered open then wanted to close again when
daylight rushed in but after a few blinks she was able to see.
Turbulent breezes whipped her cheeks, stems of rye and bar-
ley scratched against her calves, lazy clouds scattered a blue sky;
the vacant landscape around her was beautiful. It depressed her.
No one to share this world with. Here I am standing on top of new
hill, golden rye moving as waves on a sea and I’m alone.
Heaviness gripped her heart, tears welled in her eyes which
she struggled to hold back. Her heart ached and felt so heavy she
had to press her clenched fists to her chest from toppling for-
ward.
Where is everyone? Why do I have to face beauty on my own? Why
do I have to open my eyes to the sky and the empty lands and not have
anyone around me?
Emma shook her thoughts away, breathed in the world
around her and slowly unclenched her fists. The weight of her
depression fell to the ground. She leapt into the air then landed
to the spongy earth – running against the breeze and rye, so fast,
her face burned, her chest struggled with breath.
There has to be people, she hoped. Got to be someone to share this
experience with. But, every where she looked the hills were barren
of people. It was just the same swaying rye under the bright sky.
No! she screamed and pushed her sprints harder. She entered
a valley, ignoring the stinging to her skin, and fought back her
tears and hopelessness.

http://www.redbubble.com/people/veronicapurcell 16
 Has to be someone! She breathed out and unleashed her de-
termination. It kept her running, searching and continuing to
hope. She ran faster until the world whizzed into a blue – gold
blur. She ran so fast, the world fell silent and the wind lost its
voice.
Emma gulped down her pain and held back the tears, re-
fusing to believe she was alone and lost in her own mind. She
crossed a hill, stumbled off the edge of a cliff and fell… down…
down… down into oblivion.
***
Emma felt this emotional disturbance every day she lived in
her coma. Depression, distress, desperation, the bareness of life,
beauty lacking fulfilment and the sense of your stand at the top
of the world that is only yours and will never exist for another.
Slowly seeing your hope and life dim until all that you recog-
nised and value is gone. Is there hope for a return, for life to
take on meaning and purpose again?
***
White daylight sliced into Emma’s room through papery
cream curtains and fell on her eye lids. Her eyes fluttered open;
they blinked back the light until the daylight was weaker and
easier to take. She breathed out a deep sigh, one that emptied
the foul breath from her lungs and looked around her.
How long have I been running?
Pain stabbed at her temples. Her body twitched with pins
and needles. Her eyes fell shut and were closed again, and
world went to black.
The pain eased into delicate caresses and soothing sighs.
Emma opened her eyes and smiled at the sight of the golden
rye covering the hillsides with its brilliance and glory. The
wind played with her hair.

http://www.redbubble.com/people/veronicapurcell 17
 “You don’t have to run any more Emma,” the wind whis-
pered. “Life is here.”
An understanding smile graced Emma’s face. She ran further
up and farther into her world.

I’m a writer and an artist at heart. My creative works are my driving force,
my hopes and my curses. I give all of my free energies to my stories and
image works. I have a fantasy series due out this end of January and work-
ing on its promotion.

Learn more of Veronica via link >

http://www.redbubble.com/people/veronicapurcell

http://www.redbubble.com/people/veronicapurcell 18
 In this world in one way or the other, we all work for the
public. There are cashiers, police officers, and technicians for
all different occupations. There are many people out there the
look down their noises at the local drugstore cashier because she
works for the public. Let me ask you one big question how many
professions can you think of that is not in some way deal with
the public?
It is my hope that after reading the following true stories you
will come away with two things, a smile on your face from all the
stories you have read, and a different feeling about that person
in the store that waits on you. I will break these stories down into
categories according to the profession.

Stories From Locksmiths

A Locksmith received a call one day to open a car. You would

think it would just be just another call right? The Locksmith
pulled up to the car that needed to be opened and his client was
setting on its hood. He asked the person if that was the car that
he needed to open and the person said, “Yes, my keys are in the
ignition and I am locked out.”
To the service member’s amazement, the car was a convert-
ible and the top was down! He proceeded to reach over the car’s
window and unlock the door, and then he asked for payment.
The customer replied, “I could have done that!” The Lock-
smith replied, ‘But you called me to show you how.”

http://www.redbubble.com/people/sheena2015 19
 A customer called a locksmith to make keys for his car be-
cause they had lost the keys. The Locksmith proceeds to ask the
normal questions, “What is the year and model of you car?”
“Where is your vehicle located?” To that question, the cus-
tomer answers, “In my driveway.”
The problem is the customer has not give the Locksmith
their address so the Locksmith asks, “Does your driveway have
an address?”

Stories from a hardware store

A customer calls and asks to speak to the paint department.

When the paint department comes on the line they ask, “What
color would look good in my bedroom?”
A customer calls and asks to speak to the paint department.
When the paint department comes on the line they ask, “Do I
need to drain my pool before I paint it?”
A customer walks up to a plumbing associate and says, “I
have several holes in my roof, can you help me?”
The plumbing associate tries to help the customer by direct-
ing them to the building materials aisles so they can get the
items they need to repair their roof. The customer looks at them
and says, “No, no you don’t understand I want enough pipe
and buckets to drain the water outside.”
A hardware employee was walking down an aisle with their
uniform on that plainly said they worked for the store and they
were stopped by a customer and asked, “Do you work here?”
Please do not get me wrong I am in no way trying to make
fun of these people. I know everyone has their moments when
what they say just does not come out right. I am merely trying
to show if we as a people would just stop and think about what
we say things would work out a whole lot easier. Keep in mind
I have not made up any of these stories they are all real.

http://www.redbubble.com/people/sheena2015 20
 A customer walks up to a cashier who is standing behind
her register with her light on and asks, “Are you open?
An employee at a hardware return counter has a customer
bring a light fixture to them for a refund. The employee asks,
“What is the reason for returning this. Is it broken?”
The customer answers, “No it works fine. It was bought to
replace a light fixture we thought was burnt out but no one
bothered to turn it on.”
A garden employee was watering her plants one day and
a customer walked up to her and said, “Why are you doing
that?”
A customer asked a garden employee how to do something
in their yard
The employee tried to explain to the customer that they
needed to dig a trench around their project. The customer
looked at the employee and said, “Can I buy that inside?”

Story From A Body Repair Shop

A customer came into a body shop with the front end of

their car smashed. The same customer had been in 6 months
earlier with the same damage. The employee asked the cus-
tomer if they were going to pay for the damage or if their insur-
ance was going to pay for it. The customer responded, “Neither
last time I was in hear you gave me a life time warranty on the
vehicle.”

Stories From a White Castle Employee

A Customer comes through the drive thru at White Castle

and says, “How many burgers are in a crave case?

http://www.redbubble.com/people/sheena2015 21
 A customer comes through the drive thru at White Castle
and orders a medium coke and a large sprite. When they get to
the window and the employee hand their drinks to them they
ask, “Which one is which?”
Well are you shaking your head in disbelief yet? As I stated
earlier all these stories are very true. I did not make any of
them up! Don’t go away yet I am not through I still have more
stories to relate but this time they are on a bit of a different note
but still you will be saying to yourself, “What were they think-
ing?”

Robbery Stories
I know what you are thinking robbery stories how can they
be funny. Just keep reading you will see.
A robber comes into a donut shop to rob it. Instead of taking
the money out of the register, they take the entire register and
run off down the street with it. Where do you think they went
with it? They ran to their house!
A robber takes a taxi to his crime scene. The victim is smart
enough to get the number off the taxi and the police call the
driver and tell him what is going on so they can find out were
the robber is going and be there waiting on him. It just so hap-
pened the robber told the driver to take him to his own home!
An employee of a donut shop decides to rob it while they
were on duty. They proceed to gather all the money together
and make it look like the place had been robbed. After they
thought they had made the scene, look good they went home
and they were still there with the money in hand when the po-
lice showed up to ask them what happened.
A man robbed a convenience store and he was in such a
hurry to leave as he ran out the door he did not notice the
sheriff’s car that was parked right in front of the door. He fell
spread eagle over the hood of the sheriff’s car his gun went one
way and the money went the other. The sheriff said, “It was the

http://www.redbubble.com/people/sheena2015 22
easiest bust I had ever had.”
A regular customer at a bar decides to rob it. The problem
was the customer lived just two doors down from the bar!
A man is standing in line at a convenience store and he
decides to rob it. What he did not realize was there was a fully
dressed police officer in line right behind him!
A team of officers goes to make a raid on a crooks house.
Once they break in to the house, they find that they have the
wrong house.
I know what you must be thinking she has to be making all
these stories up. I did not make any of these stories up, they are
all true. Please let me state again that I am not making fun of
these people. I am merely trying to point out that we all have
are moments when we say or do something that just does not
come out right. After all, we are all only human right.

I hope you have enjoyed reading my stories and I thank you

for taking the time to do so.

I like to take picture of my little dog Buddy or of nature. If you have ever
owned a little dog like mine you would understand why I say he gives me a
photo opportunity almost every time I turn around.
For me taking pictures is about preserving a piece of time. A piece that may
never come again. Why say to your grandchildren, “I remember when this
happened.” This leaves them to just imagine what you are talking about.
It would be so much better to be able to show them what you are talking
about.
Think of how valuable a picture of a dead loved one is to the one who
misses them most.
Pictures are a way for we as a people to record for future generations what
means the most to us today.
A hundred years from now when we are all long gone. How do you know
that future generations will even know what a flower is because they may all
be gone as well.
Just a little food for thought.

Learn more of Sheena2015 via link >

http://www.redbubble.com/people/sheena2015

http://www.redbubble.com/people/sheena2015 23
 Spotlight >>>

EPIC
Cover Art
Winner

Cathryn Swanson

http://www.redbubble.com/people/
chanel2
Out of all the stories you have
written which ones do you like the
most?

The cover for this issue was cre- Being here on Redbubble is what
ated by Cathryn and voted by a ma- unleashed my very first story The Big
jority of group members to represent Black Shiny Car, so for me, it’s a bit
our end of 2008 blogazine. special. It is still my most viewed
story to date and based on a true event
Cathryn has been a member of from my childhood.
Redbubble.com for over a year and My most favourite story though, is
has enlightened and entertained oth- Crack in the Chain. I had so much
ers with her stories and art works. fun writing that story and was nerv-
Here Cathryn tells us more of herself ous as to how it would be received.
and up coming projects. I would love to be able to write like
this some more, not specifically, but
humorously. So hopefully with my
What do you hope to achieve for new focus, some may come to hand.
2009? My portfolio doesn’t stick to one
particular genre. I am envious of peo-
My lighthearted poems are my fa- ple who know exactly what it is they
vourite and what ultimately led me to like to do, and where their talent lies.
Redbubble in the first place. I hope Still, I’ve never been one to say, ‘you
to continue with these and most im- belong there’ e.t.c. I like to do what I
portantly concentrate on writing in feel like doing when the feeling hits,
general. It’s not something I thought this could also be due to the fact that
I could do, so would like to dedicate I am still learning.
most of my time trying, and seeing In summary I’m just having a go
what comes from it. and have dipped my toes and the wa-
ter feels nice.

http://www.redbubble.com/people/
 Interview >>>

Redbubble.com
Groups

The Art of Books

Hosted
by
Gayla Drummond

http://www.redbubble.com/groups/the-art-of-books

Book cover mock ups, from members

who wish to show their skills or offer
a certain work as a possible cover de-
sign are also welcomed now.
We don’t accept artwork from art
There are a lot of illustration and books, however. The submissions
photographic groups within Redbub- must be for or based on a written
ble that inspire written works. The Art work.
of Books is the only group dedicated
to book covers and illustrations spe- What are you latest challenges
cifically created for stories. Here, and/or group projects?
Gayla Drummond talks more about
the group. At the moment, I don’t think we’ve
any challenges or competitions cur-
rently running in either of the two
Hi Gayla, could you please ex- groups I co-host ( Writers’ Workshop
plain what this group is all about? and Blood Red), and I know we don’t
have any running in the three groups
The Art of Books is solely for art / I’ve started, which are A Novel Idea,
imagery that illustrates written works. The Art of Books and Full Moon Ris-
The written work its based on doesn’t ing.
have to be published and the length This is due to the fact myself and
doesn’t matter. several of my co-hosts all participated
What we’re accepting are book cov- in the NaNoWriMo challenge, which
er designs, scene or character illustra- kept us very busy throughout Novem-
tions, comic or graphic novel panels. ber.
 Damian has suggested a competi- the group but for writing it’s a man-
tion between Blood Red and Full Moon ual process. If Redbubble were to
Rising, but we haven’t really discussed automate the challenges (like what
it just yet beyond the suggestion, so they have done with image challeng-
keep an eye out for that in the future es) how would you like this system to
if you’re a member of either of those work?
groups!
RedBubble’s Challenge system is
It’s actually a little difficult to come
up with challenge ideas for A Novel something I’ve not yet had any experi-
Idea, since it’s for novel- ence with, since it isn’t of
ists. My other two groups use to writing groups yet,
are pretty recent arrivals, and we haven’t done any
but I think they’ll be much image based challenges in
easier to create challenges the groups I’ve started.
for. I would imagine just be-
ing able to use it for writing
How do you envi- challenges would be a huge
sion your group say in 6 benefit, since it would make
months times? finding challenge submis-
sions and voting very easy
In six months’ time, for members. Plus, it would
the most obvious thing cut down on all the group
I’d love to see for all three emails hosts have to send
groups would be a growth out to remind members
in membership numbers. I am busy about writing challenges!
making some plans to provide mem- I’ve seriously never belonged to an-
bers with useful information and group other creative community where the
promotion outside of the Bubble, with members have been so consistently
the help of my co-hosts. I’d especially supportive of one another. I know that
like to see journal entries from group support and encouragement has pushed
members talking about their success in me to new heights in my own writing
getting something published or being efforts, so I feel very lucky to have
asked to design a book cover or illus- joined such a great site. I hope that my
trate a story; I hope that some of those own efforts to support other members
plans we have for The Art of Books bear as much fruit for them as their ef-
and A Novel Idea bring some of those forts have for me.
about.

Hosting challenges can be great

fun for members and an opportunity
to bring out some real gems within

http://www.redbubble.com/groups/the-art-of-books
 Interview >>>

Redbubble.com
Groups

Twisted Tales
Hosted
by

MickyMC * Zolton * Miri

Flic Manning

http://www.redbubble.com/twisted-

We’ve also run monthly Themes

for longer works, and run various oth-
er competitions throughout the year,
often in conjunction with other writ-
Twisted Tales has quite a few hosts ing groups.
running the group. Miri tells us what
Twisted Tales is all about. Other than your weekly chal-
lenges, are there any other projects
or challenges the group is working
There are many writing groups toward?
within Redbubble, what would
a member expect from Twisted We have a wonderful core group of
Tales? writers who are always game to have
a go at the writing challenges and we
The place on Red Bubble for short would love more people to take part.
stories of no more than 1500 words, We’ve introduced various chal-
with a definite twist in the tail. Any lenges to encourage this, Special Star
genre welcome, all we ask is the writ- Twisters, Themes with very few ‘rules’
ing constitutes a story and surprises us but are always looking for ways to get
with a twist, good or bad! people joining in and having a go.
We run a weekly challenge, Star It’s a great way to get in that 30
Twisters, for works of less than 350 minutes of writing each day! So come
words based on a prompt and the win- & get twisted with us!
ners go into a monthly Grand Final to We’re also looking at ways to
win a prize. make the group self funding ie rais-
ing money for prizes eg calendars, T- The advantages of using ‘Challenge
Shirts, Artwork… very much in the software’ are that votes would no long-
‘ideas’ stage at the moment. er need to be counted by a host. Hosts
always operate with best intentions but
How do you envision your group, it would be good if the whole process
say, in six months’ time? was independent and objective, and it
should take less of the host’s time too!
We’d like to continue growing, and
would love to see more writers explor- We would also like some way to limit
ing their twisted side, having a go at the who can vote when, for example in Star
challenges, and supporting other writ- Twisters you can only vote if you enter
ers. Us hosts really enjoy reading new a story, whereas all group members can
work, discovering new twisters and vote in the monthly Grand Final.
seeing everyone joining in and having
fun.
We’d also liked to have cracked self Thank you Miri & Twisted Tales.
sufficiency, though some of that may
depend on RedBubble functionality to Thanks very much for featuring us
sell writing. WMG! We appreciate it & look for-
ward to reading many more Twisted
Hosting challenges can be great Tales!
fun for members and an opportunity
to bring out some real gems within
the group but for writing it’s a man-
ual process. If Redbubble were to
automate the challenges (like what
they have done with image challeng-
es) how would you like this system to
work?

At the moment all our challenges

are run in the forums, and any voting
is bmailed to a host. It works pretty
smoothly most of the time!

http://www.redbubble.com/twisted-tales
 Interview >>>

Redbubble.com
Groups

The Blue Room

Hosted
By
Little Helen

http://www.redbubble.com/blue-room

graphic erotic story or poem.

I find a written piece of erotica has
that slight edge over an erotic pho-
tograph or painting. Mystery comes
to mind. The unknown. You never
quite know if what you are reading
is an encounter the author has had or
What’s an erotic adventure with- a fantasy they want. I’m always in-
out a blue room? Little Helen takes trigued. As of writing this interview,
us for a tour. there are 683 written pieces of eroti-
ca in the Blue Room… that’s a lot of
hotness. I applaud our writers. :)

You host The Blue Room, could I decided before starting the
you please explain what this group group, that if I was going to include
is all about? art and photography I was going to
moderate it according to my tastes
Initially I envisioned the group and standards. Erotica is not por-
to be for ‘Writers’ only. People who nography but it is not a visit to the
aren’t afraid to take their sexual ex- Sistine Chapel either. It is sex and
periences and thoughts and put them lust and desire and a lot of luscious
on paper and then post them on the thoughts. It is admiring the human
internet. That is not always an easy body in a purely sexual way… with-
thing to do when there are so many out the need to leer, ogle or make
oddities on the web. You leave your- fun of. There is no better feeling for
self wide open by posting a picture me than promoting or featuring the
of yourself fully clothed let alone a work of the artists in my group. That
is why I started the wordpress Blue
Room, to generate off site interest in
the artists, photographers and writ-
ers work. You just never know who
may stumble upon a site like that and
hopefully buy, publish or hire one of
my members. I intend reopening the
site in the New Year with the prom-
ise of a lot of traffic generated to-
wards their redbubble sites.
What are you latest challenges,
group projects…?
Group projects? Hmmm I have
an idea for a book. It’s scooting
around in my head right now… but
what I would like to do is begin an
erotic story and pass it on to inter-
ested group members (writers or art-
ists) to add their own words to. You
would only be able to add a certain
amount of words and there would be
other rules of course… but yeah… I
have ideas :D
it’s a manual process. If Redbub-
ble were to automate the challeng-
es (like what they have done with
image challenges) how would you
like this system to work?
To be honest, I have no idea.
Should I have done my homework
on the subject of Challenges? I
know very little about them, how
they are run or what they entail. So...
I’ll make a challenge for myself…
to learn more about challenges and
maybe start one for the group :)
As for writing challenges Ron-
nie…I would leave those ideas up to
the experts such as yourself and the
redbubble team. I am sure you guys
will come up with something special
and we will be looking forward to
it.

How do you envision your

group say in 6 months times?
Much the same. 6 months will
come around so quickly we’ll bare-
ly notice it creep up. I do envision
1000 members though, which I
don’t see as being a problem the rate
it is climbing now. A group Book or
the ability to have our own Calender Cheers x
would be nice ;)

Hosting challenges can be great

fun for members and an opportu-
nity to bring out some real gems
within the group but for writing

http://www.redbubble.com/blue-room

Men are a mystery to Blaise, es-
pecially the dark gloomy specimen
who interrupts her recon of a con-
servatory facility. It’s even more of
a mystery why she bothers saving
his skin when he reports her pres-
ence to his ex-colleagues. He does
come in handy though when Blaise
has to step up her mission.
The Official Excerpt
The male of the species was a
closed book to Blaise.
A book in another language,
eight-point type, an overly fancy
font, and with minimal punctuation.
Sure, she could guess at a word here
. . . or there . . . maybe, but it was
http://www.mysticmoonpress.com/authorpages/katesmith.html
Spotlight>>>
eBook
Incognition
By
Kate Smith
pretty much Homo sapiens incogni-
to. So when she was confronted with
one of the XY types . . .
Blaise removed her sunglasses
slowly, buying time to think of
something, anything, to say while
the specimen before her shifted im-
patiently. He loomed, blocking out
the sunlight seeping slow as honey
through the glass dome. Against that
golden haze she can’t make out his
details except for strong solidity.
The dark chocolaty growl that
emanated from him suited perfectly.
Blaise squinted myopically and
frantically tried to tune in to that
gravel accented voice.
He seemed to catch her bewilder-
ment and eased back a pace as he re-
peated himself slowly, exaggerating
the lip moves and raising his voice
as though she were seventy-two not
thirty-two.
The mild irritation broke her un-
characteristic daze. Then Blaise re-
membered she was seventy-two this
afternoon. A very spry seventy-two,
yes, despite the senior citizen fash-
ion.
His move back allowed the sun-
shine to highlight his scowl and the
efforts he put into concealing it.
Blaise jolted, increasing the distance
between them. Her camera bumped
her wrist.
Camera!
Blaise fumbled the sleek silver
cube up to her face. Then swallowed,
hoping the motion would unpeel her
tongue from the roof of her mouth.
She hunched a little and tipped her
head up to show the crêpey neck and
the wrinkles around her eyes.
“Sweetie, may I have your photo
to show the ladies back at the home?”
Yes, yesss! The creaky reedy voice
came naturally. Blaise made a show
of scrabbling over the buttons of the
digital camera, squinting at it from
a distance of five centimeters. She
pasted on a hopeful expression and
glanced at him.
His stance relaxed a fraction.
“We’re closing very soon, ma’am.”
“One photo? A treat for the la-
dies?” He deserved that for the
ma’am, even if it was appropriate
given her appearance. Oh, how she
enjoyed the reddening along his
cheekbones!
“Anything for the ladies.” He
peeked at his watch and the rapidly
emptying room.
Humouring her, and nicely too.
Blaise rewarded him with a smile
that felt bigger than usual thanks to
the carefully sloppy application of
lipstick. She never wore it normally
but whenever she did, her lips felt
plump and lush and not altogether
hers.
His own smile was somewhat
forced, she felt. It heightened rather
http://www.mysticmoonpress.com/authorpages/katesmith.html
than softened the harsh planes of
his face. Then she remembered to
take the photo. Fingers cold, Blaise
fumbled the camera into her pocket.
Done.
A warm hand the size of a cym-
bal wrapped round her elbow, brand-
ing her flesh beneath the layers of
coat and cardigan. “Are you well,
ma’am?”
Argh! Had he spotted anything?
Had she slipped out of character?
Blaise craned her head round
in one of the birdlike mannerisms
she’d adopted for this role. He had
sharp eyes, she noticed. Hazel eyes,
with little flecks of gold, like sun-
light through green tea.
She forced herself to inhale,
forced a rueful smile. “Just old and
there’s only one cure for that.”
“Not for a long time yet, I hope.”
He walked her to the door.
“Hmmm, yes.”
Want more?
eBook available now!
www.mysticmoonpress.com
Length: Teaser (8046 word
count)
Genres: Fantasy, Crime

As a child Brad watched his lit-
tle brother disappear beneath the
murky waters of Boobera Lagoon.
Years later his past tangles with the
present, as yet another child vanish-
es and Brad travels to his childhood
hometown to investigate the lagoon
that is shrouded in Aboriginal warn-
ings.
The Official Excerpt
“Alright, go!”
From the bank of Boobera La-
goon, a stick flew out across the
water. An excited blue cattle dog
crashed into the water behind it,
paddling madly in pursuit. The dull
http://www.mysticmoonpress.com/authorpages/damianherde.html
Spotlight>>>
eBook
WMG Challenge Winner
2007
The Bunyip Of
Boobera
By
Damian Herde
http://www.redbubble.com/people/damian
brown water splashed into a shining
kaleidoscope of colour, transiently
beautiful around the graceless ani-
mal.
Watching from the waters edge, a
trio of bare-chested boys jumped up
and down cheering, voices merging
into an anthem of, “Yeah Buster! Go
boy, go!”
Their grins were plastered wide
across their faces; they were as hap-
py as any boy with a game involv-
ing water, sticks and dogs. Buster
grabbed the stick and turned back,
and their excitement doubled.
Brad, the eldest, began the next
round of cheering. “C’mon boy,
come . . .”
His words failed as Buster disap-
peared under the water.
Brad looked down at his brothers,
his mouth still open. He had never
seen a dog do that before, and he
wracked his brain for a reason. Why
would Buster swim underwater?
It felt wrong and they needed
to do something, so he confidently
waded out along the nearby fallen
river gum. His well tanned skin,
sun-bleached hair and athletic body
created the illusion of a life spent on
the coast rather than the bush. His
brothers, Marty and Nick, looked at
each other, and then followed him
out along the submerged trunk. They
all knew the bottom dropped away
sharply, and none of them wanted to
try and grab the dog while treading
water. They knew from experience
that a panicked dog was a continu-
ous whirl of legs and claws.
“He went under over there, didn’t
he?” Brad asked over his shoulder.
The other two shrugged and kept
edging out along the large trunk,
now standing chest-high in the wa-
ter. Like most of the chocolate-
brown waterways, the top layer of
water absorbed the heat of the day,
while the turbid depths remained icy
cold.
“I’ll swim across here,” Brad
said, pointing to where Buster had
vanished. “You two swim further in,
and if you feel him, yell. Okay?”
Marty and Nick nodded and
pushed out into the water; Brad
watched them go, and then did the
same seconds later.
Brad submerged briefly as he
moved over deeper water, his ears
assaulted with the chirping and chit-
tering sounds from the lagoon’s in-
sect inhabitants. He swam with an
improvised breaststroke, stopping to
submerge and wave his arms under-
neath him periodically, feeling for
the lost Buster. His searching arm
brushed into one slender length of
cold, slimy muscle, then another.
http://www.mysticmoonpress.com/authorpages/damianherde.html
He screamed and recoiled while still
underwater, losing all of his air and
surging to the surface coughing.
“Snake! Out of the water!” he
managed between gasps, swimming
for the bank. He was no stranger to
seeing snakes take to the water, and
knew they could stay submerged for
some time. He had never actually
ran into one before, let alone two.
He wasn’t sure they could bite under
water, but didn’t want to find out.
Home was a long walk away, and
the hospital even further.
Brad did not see the swirl of sur-
face water behind him, as if some-
thing large had descended power-
fully from just beneath the surface.
Marty and Nick had turned for
the bank, and Brad could see them
swimming strongly. He wondered
whether a snake might be a possi-
ble explanation for Buster’s disap-
pearance, but wanted to know what
his dad thought. They had all loved
Buster, and dad prized him as one of
the better working dogs. It was not
going to be fun trying to explain this
when they got home.
Nick had nearly reached the shal-
low water, and Marty, the youngest,
was only metres behind him. Marty
gasped, and disappeared under the
water in mid-stroke. Brad smiled
at the trick. The timing was pretty
bad though, considering they were
meant to be trying to avoid annoyed
snakes and rescue Buster. Brad kept
swimming in, keeping his head out
of the water and waiting for Marty
to either pop up again or try to poke
him from underwater. Neither had
happened by the time he reached the
bank, and he felt a twinge of worry.
Nick was already standing on the
bank, looking confused.
“Where’s Marty?” Nick said,
hands on hips.
“He ducked under the water and I
haven’t seen him come up.”
“What, like Buster?”
The similarity had already struck
Brad, and he turned back to the wa-
ter.

“No, don’t go back in,” Nick said

and grabbed his arm.

“We have to get him out quick,”

Brad replied and tore his arm free.
“We can’t just leave him stuck in the
water.”

“But what if you get stuck? Like

Buster and Marty.” The first tears
started running down Nick’s face,
“And I don’t think they’re stuck.
There’s nothing there to get stuck
on. I don’t think we should go in the
water.”

Want more?
eBook available now!
www.mysticmoonpress.com
Length: Teaser (4367 word count)
Genres: Horror, Suspense

http://www.mysticmoonpress.com/authorpages/damianherde.html
 Spotlight>>>

eBook Serial

Seriphyn Knight
Chronicles
By
Veronica Purcell
http://seriphynknight.com

The story will be released January

28th, 2009!

It has magic gone wrong, schem-

ing masters, slavery, worship, and
constant tests of character, will
and loyalty.
Welcome to the Realm of Leinard.
The year is the 167th reign of the
Great Emperor Leinard. You have
stepped into a realm where magic
dwells and anything is possible, at
the heart of it all is a young girl
named Neven.

It hasn’t been easy for Neven. She

almost drowned, was sold into slav-
ery and now she must help four men
locate magical doors known only as
Tsazcuths; fabled objects rumoured
to grant the one who unlocks them
ultimate power, wealth, pain or The Author’s Journey of this
death. It’s getting ugly. Want to see Story
how she goes? Begin the journey to
find out. I began writing the Seriphyn

http://www.mysticmoonpress.com/authorpages/vbpurcell.html
Knight Chronicles as a daily blog at
blogger.com to keep me amused at
work when I was bored and lonely.
The idea was to post a “day in the
life” of a teenage girl in a fantasy
world. I already had the background
created and thought why not make
use of it.
I didn’t take this story or my
writing seriously until I received
an encouraging review from Mat-
thew Terry (another blogger pass-
ing by) and, in the following days,
from bloggers named Ian Mackean
and James. I realised there and then
I had to develop my writing skills.
Along the way I pasted the story’s
link on Louise Cooper’s message
boards and got the shook of my life,
a very encouraging comment from
the great author to go for it.
ery where she is taken to an under-
ground mining city known as The
Zone. The city is a place full of
shimmering crystal caverns and glo-
rious marble structures under a sky
of magical clear quartz. It is here she
discovers an inkling of who she is
and a purpose, which could possible
change the fate of the world.
More?
Go to www.mysticmoonpress.com
12 episodes to savour.
Genre: Fantasy

The Story So Far

A young girl survives a near-

death and loses memory of her true
name and identity. A old man helps
her recover then sells her into slav-

http://www.mysticmoonpress.com/authorpages/vbpurcell.html
 Spotlight>>>

Print-Mainstream

I Hate Cinderella
By
Amanda Cole
http://www.ihatecinderella.com

“I fell asleep on a plane and

dreamt about hope and life after
a break up,” says author Amanda
Cole. It was a really powerful dream
that was so intense and so clear in
my mind after I woke up, I just felt
I should write it down and share it
Forget the fairytale. Make with my friends. I retold the story to
your own! my housemate, who loved it as well,
so I went straight out to buy a note-
pad and wrote like a girl with pur-
I hate Cinderella is the debut nov- pose!”
el of award-winning photog-
rapher Amanda Cole. Based The Story: Lucy
on a dream she had on a plane Summers is a girl
shortly after a relationship with a busy job,
break up, it’s an inspirational good family, fabu-
fairytale-style story for grown lous friends and man
ups. With plenty of empathy trouble. Her boy-
and imagination I hate Cin- friend of two years
derella is for anyone who has breaks up with her,
ever had a broken heart, cried for goes off travelling around the world
days and been unable to eat, sleep or leaving Lucy behind. Lucy suffers
concentrate. through the first three weeks of the

http://www.ihatecinderella.com
breakup with flashbacks of how the processes of healing. It is a book
wonderful the relationship was at about abundance, relationships, and
the beginning and how brutal it was learning to live your dreams.
at the end. Judith Kennedy, author of best-
As she travels interstate for work selling books such as ‘Rescue me’,
Lucy’s plane crashes into the ocean. says, “I hate Cinderella” is a breath-
She is rescued by a young mermaid taking break up book that provides
called Obelia. Together they recov- the tools to help with a speedy re-
er Lucy’s sense of self by stepping covery!”
through the stages of grief and learn-
ing to let go.
Under the water they tum-
ble through memories, the loss of I hate Cinderella is available from
dreams and the growth of new hope. December through leading book
Lucy learns to see the relationship stores and online at www.ihatecin-
for what it really was and sees her- derella.com, RRP $24.95.
self and her world with positive eyes
with the help of her new friend.
With original illustrations by
Brazilian illustrator Jovan De Melo
and page-turning chapters, I hate
Cinderella captures the emotion and

http://www.ihatecinderella.com

There is more than one author? Bril-
liant! Guaranteed to whet all appe-
tites, Katarr Kanticles is a unique
series combining action, fantasy, ro-
mance and bitter-sweet humor. It’s
a series not to miss.
There are many stories available for
purchase as an ebook at very eco-
nomical prices! If you’re up for a
tease, they also have some stories
available for free at their site.
From the Website.
I had a story (Tria’s Tale) that I’d
been working on for a while, and
began posting the second draft to a
writers’ group I belonged to.
I wasn’t expecting the reactions
of certain bad influences to it, lol.
In the comments for the first part
of Chapter Four, Kate started the
ball rolling with the question “Does
http://katarrkanticlespress.com/bookstore/
Spotlight>>>
Collaborative eBook
Series
Katarr Kanticles
http://katarrkanticlespress.com
Mrir smell like cinnamon?”
Lisa popped in and asked
“Hmm…I wonder if catnip works
on him? :)”
My response was “LOL…I can
just see a 6 and half foot tall cat man
doing the face in the bag of catnip,
rolling around on the floor looking
stoned thing my cat used to do!”
To which JC replied: “In re-
sponse to your comment to LT….if
anyone could write a scene like that
one…YOU COULD!
In fact, we should have a con-
test…you, LT, me – whomever…
and write one for the Blue Room
or something…ROFLMAO, would
Helen bust a gut or what?! OMG”
And thus, the gauntlet was thrown
to the sands, and mayhem did en-
sue.
Then there arose a new instigator
in our furry adventures: Damian ,
with his question “But, who’s doing
the seduction of the female Katarr?
Seems only fair, hmmm?”
Whereupon another gauntlet was
thrown at his feet, as we informed
him, “Looks like that’s up to you!”
Invitation / challenge was accept-
ed, and into the Katarr sandbox he
mightily strode.
Next thing you know, Katarr
Kanticles Press was born.
 3rd Party Events>>>

Script Writing Challenge

April 2009

Script Frenzy
http://www.scriptfrenzy.org/

are expected, making it the largest

scriptwriting contest in the world.
As a participant, you have vari-
ous resources at your disposal and
the opportunity to form networks
with novice writers or those part of
the industry.
Similar to Nanowrimo, there is no
If you’re keen to learn how to fee to enter. No valuable prizes are
write a script for a play or film, a awarded or best scripts singled out.
seasoned script writer wanting to re- In order to “win” at Script Frenzy,
fresh with a national challenge then you need only sign up and complete
Script Frenzy may be for you. the goal of writing 100 pages in 30
Run by the same people from the days. In return for their efforts, Script
National November Writing Chal- Frenzy winners are granted a Script
lenge (Nanowrimo) which saw thou- Frenzy Winner’s Certificate, web
sands of enthusiastic writers com- icon, and eternal bragging rights.
plete a fifty thousand manuscript of To learn more please visit the
either absolute rubbish, a real dia- official website www.scriptfrenzy.
mond in the rough or an official title org.
in progress. The situation for Script
Frenzy is pretty much the same: If you need a good script writing
program, why not try Celtx (http://
Complete a 100 Page script in celtx.com/)? It’s FREE to download
thirty days. and use. The developers at Celtx
have ensured the templates are of
This is the second year of the industry standard. There are ver-
Script Frenzy challenge and it hopes sions for windows, macs and linux
to attract a frenzy as bigger and available for download. More infor-
better as the year before. Last year mation at their site.
over 8,000 participants took part in
the challenge, and this year 10,000
http://www.scriptfrenzy.org/

One of the quickest ways to put
your book out for sale and in front
of a reading audience is by self-pub-
lishing.
Self-publishing has received
some negative press, and for good
reasons. One of the top reasons
would be the number of writers who
toss their work out without making
any efforts to polish it and present it
as professionally as possible. Anoth-
er reason is the dreaded ‘traditional
publishers won’t look at your work
if you’ve self-published’.
If you decide to self-publish, the
first thing you must do is make a
commitment to yourself to present
your book as professionally as pos-
sible. You don’t have to spend a lot
http://feralintensity.com/
Resource>>>
Thinking About
Self-Publishing?
of money to do so, but two of the
ways to accomplish a professional
presentation are to find someone to
edit your work and pay to have a re-
ally good cover created for it, if you
aren’t inclined to create your own.
It’s a given that you’ll make some
mistakes. Even the books purchased
from traditional publishers by well-
known authors tend to have the oc-
casional error (I’m still amused over
the use of ‘gate’ in place of ‘gait’ in
one trade paperback I purchased!).
It’s important to accept that will
happen, and just be that more vigi-
lant the next time around.
The point is: TRY to present a
polished piece of work that is just as
good as what someone would pur-
chase from a traditional publisher. It
makes you look professional, helps
your book to be better received by
readers and also removes a bit of the
negative press that self-publishing
has received, which helps everyone
in the long run that chooses the self-
publishing route.
Now, your next step is to decide
on how you want to self-publish
that finished novel of yours. There
are two options for physical copies:
vanity presses and print on demand
publishing.
With a vanity press, you basically
pay a fee to have a limited number
of books printed. You can choose
to pay more for special services,
like cover design, editing and for-
matting. Some also offer marketing
services, with promises of getting
your book on the shelves of retailers
like Barnes & Noble.
Choosing to go the vanity press
route is great if you’re made of mon-
ey, because the fees usually start high
and add up quickly as you select ex-
tra services. Frankly, considering
the number of vanity presses that
people have reported problems with,
I’d skip that venue completely.
Your other option is print on de-
mand publishers like Lulu.com or
CreateSpace, both of which I have
used. You have no upfront costs
with Lulu.com, unless you choose
to purchase any of the pre-publish-
ing services they offer. Those in-
clude editing, formatting and cover
design.
CreateSpace suggests using
BookSurge for any pre-publishing
services you may require. The only
upfront fee required is the purchase
of a proof copy before they release
your book to the wild. You can
choose to upgrade to their Pro plan,
which is $39 per title and gives you
a lower cost per book, plus a higher
author profit per copy sold. Cre-
ateSpace does offer extra marketing
services as well, with plans begin-
http://feralintensity.com/
ning at $89.
One of the problems with POD
publishing is the cost per book; de-
pending on the length of yours, you
might have to charge a pretty outra-
geous price in order to make a profit
from any sales. Set too high of a
price, you’re not going to sell any
copies. Set your creator revenue too
low, you’re not going to see much of
a profit for your labor.
Having used both of these sites
to publish soft cover novels through,
though I haven’t had any problems
with either, I’ve discovered Cre-
ateSpace is the better POD publish-
er when it comes to actually seeing
sales.
Most useful of all, CreateSpace
will market your book on Amazon.
com, if you select that option, at no
extra cost. You don’t have to upgrade
to receive that option. Their printing
process results in a good quality soft
cover book as the finished project,
with full color covers that is just as
good as any paperback you purchase
from a real world book store.
Now you’ve also got the option,
thanks to the worldwide web, of
choosing to self-publish electroni-
cally. Your book becomes an e-
book; there are several venues to sell
it from and the purchaser receives
instant gratification because they
can download your book immedi-
ately and begin reading.
Other benefits to self-publishing
e-books are:
1. You are in control of your content from
start to finish.
 2. Little to no expense is involved. out there, the more likely you are to
3. It’s an easy learning curve to create see regular sales anywhere you pro-
e-books mote your e-books.
4. You probably already have the soft-
ware to begin right away. Successful self-publishing is a
quantity over time prospect that re-
5. You receive almost all of the profit
from each sale. quires a steady effort from you. And
remember, if you write it, they will
The downside? You usually have come. It’s only a matter of time, so
to handle all the promotional and don’t give up.
marketing aspects yourself, except
in the case of Amazon.com and sell-
ing your e-books as Kindle editions
for their electronic reading device,
the Kindle. Just a side note: Ama- Gayla Drummond
zon.com has been my most success- Dec. 9, 2008
ful selling venue.

Some venues to sell your e-books

from include:

1. Your own website or blog

2. Your profiles at the sites you are a
member of (ex. RedBubble)
3. Amazon.com as a Kindle edition
4. Many POD sites also offer e-book sell-
ing
5. Payloadz.com
6. Kiqlo.com
7. ClickBank.com

Like any attempt to sell a product,

your time and effort will be required
on a continuing basis. You can’t just
stick your e-book up on Lulu.com
and viola! Instant sales begin pour-
ing in! That just doesn’t happen.
Don’t be discouraged by that;
keep at it, and your efforts will bear
fruit. Publish new works on a regular
basis that’s easy for you to maintain,
because the more content you have

http://feralintensity.com/

How to Promote
Yourself and Your Work
One of the hardest tasks before
you as a self-publishing author is
learning to effectively promote
yourself and your books, regardless
of their format. As I mentioned in
another article, you can’t just stick
your finished novel up somewhere
like Lulu.com and expect sales to
begin pouring in. You need to:
1. Create an online presence
2. Learn to price wisely
3. Realize it’s an ongoing process.
Creating an online presence is as
simple as joining sites such as Red-
Bubble, TalentDataBase.com, Writ-
ing.com, etc. A very important thing
to remember is to behave in a posi-
http://feralintensity.com/
Resource>>>
Tips to get you moving in
the right direction.
tive manner; any type of disagree-
ments with other people that are car-
ried out in public forums can result
in a negative impact on your sales.
Choosing a price for your books
depends on the format you decide
to publish in. If you’re using a POD
publishing service, you’ll have to
take in account the base cost of print-
ing and their split of the revenue. No
one’s going to buy a 100 page fic-
tion book for $35; though they might
pay that for a how-to book the same
length. Be reasonable and think like
a price conscious consumer: what
would you pay for the same book if
It was written by someone else?
When it comes to selling fic-
tion e-books, you have the luxury
of knowing you’re going to receive
most of your profits yourself from
each sale, regardless of what venue
you sell from (except in case of Am-
azon.com, but we’ll get there short-
ly). So don’t price your e-books sky
high. Would you rather sell five at
$10 each, or sell a hundred at $3.25
each? Quantity, my friends. Quan-
tity.
 What I did to set a price for my
e-books was to visit quite a few
small, online presses that sell fiction
e-books and compare their prices,
which are usually based on the word
count. After a couple of weeks, I set
my own prices based on the follow-
ing word counts:
• 2,000 – 4,000 words $1.29
• 4,001-6,000 words $1.75
• 6,001-9,999 words $2.00
• 10,000-15,000 words $3.25
• 15,001-30,000 words $4.75
• 30,001-45,000 words $5.25
• 45,001-70,000 words $5.75
• 70,001-100,000 words $ 5.95
• 100,000 or more words $7.99
I mentioned Amazon.com above:
if you choose to sell your e-books
as Kindle editions on Amazon.com,
you are agreeing not to price them
higher than you have them listed
elsewhere. Amazon takes 65% of
each sale; you receive 35%. You set
the price for each book, and even
if Amazon puts it on sale, you still
will receive 35% of the full price for
each sale. You’re basically paying
for having that giant customer base
available to you and for their promo-
tion of your books on their site. It’s
really not a bad deal at all.
Here’s where the ongoing proc-
ess comes in: you want to place your
books for sale on as many venues as
possible in order to generate pub-
licity and readers’ interest in your
work. Link to your books’ sales pag-
es from every site you’re a member
of. Join new sites that look viable for
http://feralintensity.com/
promoting them.
Don’t view other authors as ‘com-
petition’. For every writer, there’s
an audience out there. You may
share some of those readers with a
hundred other writers; do you re-
ally care as long as they’re also pur-
chasing and reading your books? So
don’t be shy about promoting your
fellow writers; most especially those
who will return the favor.
Trade links with other writers,
leave comments on their blogs with
your site’s link in the appropriate
place and if you don’t have your own
blog or website, start one! Set up af-
filiate programs to encourage other
people to help market your books;
Payloadz.com has a built in affiliate
system that’s easy to work with, and
there’s always ClickBank.com.
Put a link to your book’s sales
page in your email and forum sig-
natures. Create banner or button
graphics for visual promotion. Make
a video promoting each book and
place it up on YouTube. Give all
your Net savvy relatives puppy dog
eyes until they link to or otherwise
promote your books on their own
profiles and sites.
Social network! Make sites like
MySpace.com and Twitter.com
work for you. Search out new sites
to join, and don’t exclude writing
sites like Writing.com, etc, just be-
cause they have a huge number of
members. You never know just
which venue will be the most suc-
cessful when you’re starting out.
Put your books up on every pos-
sible sales platform available on-
line. This is really more for e-books books are for sale; for example, they
than physical copies. Below is a have an Amazon module that makes it
list of sites I suggest you try selling easy to link to your books’ Amazon sales
through. pages.

1. Amazon.com – Their DTP isn’t hard to You can discard unsuccessful

join, the learning curve to properly for- efforts as you go along to concen-
matting your e-book for proper conver- trate on those that show a nice return
sion to a Kindle edition isn’t high. for the time and effort you expend
on them. Remember to update with
2. Kiqlo.com – It’s free to list your con- new titles or prices and don’t be shy
tent here, and payment is done through about promoting any successes you
PayPal. have in the more traditional publish-
ing world if you’re also walking that
3. Payloadz.com – If you want to sell path. Toot your own horn a little, but
‘direct’ from your own website or blog, don’t go overboard.
Payloadz.com manages your digital con- Last but not least, work on writ-
tent delivery and payment is handled ing yourself a good bio blurb to use
through PayPal. Plus, you will also have on every site, or ask someone to do
a ‘storefront’ on their site that lists all it for you.
your available titles.

4. Lulu.com – They take a small percent-

age of each sale of your e-books and han- Gayla Drummond
dle digital delivery. Lulu also gives you a Dec. 9, 2008
personal storefront you can link to.

5. ClickBank.com – This is an affiliate

site. Upload your content and set your
affiliate split. Other people will market
your content for you on their own sites.

6. From a store on your own site – I’m

using Zen Cart on one of my sites, with
PayPal as the payment processor. Quite
a few of the small, online presses appear
to use Zen Cart.

7. Create a lens – Hop over to Squidoo.

com and create a lens for yourself and
each of your books. You can make those
into a nexus by listing all the places your

http://feralintensity.com/
 Regular>>>

Welcome New Members

JDNarts

cTru

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ejacent
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JASTOFFER What is more courageous than standing
http://www.redbubble.com/ in a cage full of hungry lions? Self pub-
people/jastoffer Wows lishing.
writing groups with car-
amel apples

Arletta [http://www.redbubble.com/people/ar-
letta] has a graphic novel titled Reggie The
Evil Milkshake available for sale at lulu.
com. http://www.lulu.com/content/3150361

It’s available as book an eBook and print

copy, and the price is very modest, start-
ing at a low $5.00.

About the book: Man versus milkshake

in an epic battle for love.

Recommend a squizz.
Genre: Comedy, romance and all that fun
stuff.

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Bubblesphere
Happenings around Redbubble.com

New York Red Bubble Artists Exhibit January 23rd

- January 30th!!!
http://www.redbubble.com/people/cameracrack/jour-
nal/2430598-new-york-red-bubble-artists-exhibit-january-
23rd-january-30th

Pay It Forward Monthly Artist Feature #1 -

January
http://www.redbubble.com/people/simonesphotos/jour-
nal/2434173-pay-it-forward-monthly-artist-feature-1-janu-
ary

Before the Fall

http://www.redbubble.com/people/empress/jour-
nal/2299664-before-the-fall

Hang onto those Amazon Vouchers

http://www.redbubble.com/people/mickymc/jour-
nal/2274084-hang-onto-those-amazon-vouchers

If you have news and/or journal posts you would like to include here for
the next issue. Please either bubble mail me the details or send them to
rbwmgg@gmail.com
http://www.redbubble.com/people/rbwmg

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