April 2010 Newsletter

Warm weather at last, Outdoor festivals begin


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ALLBOOKS REVIEW IS NOW ON iFOGO. Be sure and join the Albooks Review Author’s Group where we can share our success and our mistakes. Also join iFogo and get www.booksonfilm.com. Great promo for a great price, post audio, book trailers, contact with agents and producers and much more. Be sure and let them know Allbooks Review sent you and join our group.

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FEATURE

Podcasting Your Way to Success
By Sigrid MacDonald

About two years ago, one of my science-fiction clients started a podcast series. Every week he would put a new chapter of his book on audio, and upload it to iTunes and MySpace. He had a tremendous following and I really admired his form of promotion, but I thought it would be too difficult and expensive for me. Wrong! Podcasting is simple and affordable. And it can be an effective way to get the word out about your book because you are offering free content, which people love.

How do you make a podcast? Download free software from Audacity.com or splurge for the user-friendly package by RecordForAll. I went with the latter because it has an easy navigational system, and only costs $39.99. After listening to the tutorial, I was ready to record. I had long pauses in my sentences, but the software gave me the ability to edit. After recording, I took out the blank spaces, and the few times I coughed, or said, "Um" or "Ah." The end result was a polished product.

What can you talk about? Anything related to your book. My new book is called Be Your Own Editor. It's a crash course in grammar basics that deals with the most common errors people make when they're writing, as well as editing issues related to creative writing. So, I made ten different podcasts and broke them down as follows:

1. How to Avoid Writing Run-On Sentences
2. How to Use Apostrophes Properly
3. How to Establish Realistic Dialogue

I made each podcast brief since people have short attention spans online. If you have a nonfiction topic, podcasting is a breeze. Identify key points in your book and abbreviate them. This is a great teaser; it introduces people to you and draws them to your material. You won't be giving your whole book away - just pieces of it to whet a prospective reader's appetite.

Fiction is a little more complicated but you could read your book chapter by chapter on audio. If you choose this method, stop after two or three chapters. That way the reader is left hanging and needs to know the end of the story. Second, you could read excerpts from your book, and talk about yourself and what motivated you to write it. I hosted my podcasts on MySpace and searched the site using the terms writers, poets, editors, etc. Your search words would relate to your book.

You can also load your podcasts on iTunes. This requires software that has a feed such as FeedForAll and a website that will give you more space for hosting like Mevio, which is free.

We've come a long way, baby, since I started writing in my teens. Now that we have blogs, websites, video, web cams and podcasts, why not take advantage of them?
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Sigrid Macdonald is the author of three books, including Be Your Own Editor. Visit her at http://sigridmacdonald.blogspot.com or http://beyourowneditor.blogspot.com.

SUCCESS STORIES
We love to hear of your success stories, submit them to us at: allbookreviews@aol.com

Remember to post your book signing, guest speaker events on our Bookstore page. Simply send us an email with details of your events and we will be happy to post them. Just part of the Allbooks service to our authors.


Pink Slips and Parting Gifts was awarded Editor's Choice from the iUniverse recognition program this week.


Deb Hosey White

Pink Slips and Parting Gifts

CONGRATULATIONS DEB !


Shirley A. Roe is collaborating with screenwriter, director Randall Rutledge to bring her book Dreams and Nightmares to the big screen. All of us at Allbooks Review congratulate Shirley on this accomplishment.


Allbooks Reviews INTERVIEW:


Please state your name and location. (city and State or Province, Country)
Jonathan Maxwell. Taylorsville, Georgia.

Tell us the title and publisher of your book:
Murderous Intellectuals: German Elites and the Nazi SS. American Book Publishing, which is based in Salt Lake City.

Tell us about yourself:
I’ve been a writer and editor for about four years now. I hold a BA in English from Berry College in Rome, Ga., along with a psychology minor. I also possess a Paralegal Certificate. Since the publication of my first book- Murderous Intellectuals- I have written two additional books. I have also penned op/ed pieces for various newspapers, have contributed critical reviews to literary journals, and have written chapters for history textbooks. As an editor, I have worked for the publishing giants Harcourt and Pearson.

When was the book released?
November 2009.

Give us an overview of your book.
My book examines why so many well-educated professionals- such as doctors, lawyers, professors, scientists, and engineers- willingly joined the Nazi SS, the notorious group that spearheaded the Holocaust.

What inspired you to write this book?
My interest in the Holocaust- the Nazi war against Jews, Slavs, Gypsies, and other “undesirables”- began in high school. I read many excellent books about the subject through the years, but, eventually, I noticed a dearth of information in at least one crucial area. Popular culture tends to depict the Nazis as being brutes, but many Nazis did not fit this stereotype. Many Nazis, in fact, were superbly educated, graduating from the best universities in Europe. At times, books would briefly examine this contradiction, but no author that I knew of wrote a book about this phenomenon and what motivated these “murderous intellectuals.” I read book after book, but none dealt satisfactorily with the subject. Eventually, I got frustrated and decided to write the book myself.

How is your book different from other books in this genre?
Many books have been penned about the Final Solution (the Nazi term for the Holocaust), but comparatively few histories have examined the motivations of Nazi elites from psychological, sociological, political, and historical perspectives.

Where can people buy your book?
People can purchase a copy at www.amazon.com, www.barnesandnoble.com, and www.pdbookstore.com.

Are you working on another book? If so when do you expect it to be published?
My second book, Piltdown Man and Other Hoaxes, will be released in late 2010. It’s a far cry from my first one. The book is a lighthearted, fun examination of scientific frauds through history, such as the Missing Link Hoax and the Minnesota Iceman Hoax.

If published traditionally, tell us how you benefited:
Working with traditional publishers helps to ensure that you get a quality product. My publisher, for example, requires your assigned editor to edit your manuscript four times. Then, your copy editor edits it once, and, finally, the proofreader edits it at least once. The editorial stage, then, transpires for at least a year. In addition, your book designer spends about six months creating a suitable cover, selecting fonts, choosing colors, and so on. It’s a slow, painstaking process, but in the end, you appreciate the results. Everything looks sensational.

Can you share one of your marketing successes with us?
Take a multi-tiered approach to marketing your work. Do signings at the book stores and libraries. Submit press releases to local and regional newspapers. Send out galleys to reputable reviewers. Perform lectures at schools, colleges, service organizations, and elsewhere. Get radio interviews. Don’t try starting at the national level. If you’re a new author just starting out, USA Today and Book TV are not going to give you publicity. Start out locally and work your way up.

How did you find Allbooks Reviews and what are you hoping for in your relationship with us?
I stumbled upon Allbooks Reviews while searching for book reviewers on the Internet. I was impressed by the website and I sent out an e-mail asking for more information. The information I received impressed me further, so I decided the use the company’s services.

Was the low cost a surprise? What other things would you like Allbooks Reviews to offer writers?
Publicists are a requirement in the publishing industry, and Allbooks Reviews provides the most services at the most economical rates. To Allbooks Reviews, all I can say is: Keep up the good work!

Thank you for this interview and best of luck with your book.
Thank you!

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