On this St. Patrick’s Day, celebrate the Irish with a self-published book that explores the culture and history of the Emerald Isle. Outskirts Press authors have you covered with scads of self-published gems from Irish history and fiction novels to books with large doses of fairy tales and folklore.
In alphabetical order, the Top 10 Irish-themed self-published books for St. Patrick’s Day are:
All of these books (and other Outskirts Press titles) are available from all major online retailers like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Powells, Books A Million, and others, plus conveniently from the Outskirts Press Direct bookstore at http://outskirtspress.com/bookstore for discounts ranging from 10% – 55%.
Are you ready to make your dream of self-publishing a reality?
Outskirts Press author Jan Dougherty is getting plenty of chances to sparkle these days. Her self-published book The Lost Art of House Cleaning has gotten the attention of frustrated home-bodies everywhere. Jan and her priceless tidy-up advice have been featured in Consumer Reports, Men’s Health and Family Circle magazines in recent months!
Jan, who owns a residential cleaning company, says she was inspired to write the book after fielding countless cleaning questions from friends, customers and even total strangers.
“I believe I may be the only survivor who knows how to clean and, therefore, I have a duty and responsibility to pass on my wisdom (and share the pain) before it’s too late,” she quips. “Most people don’t like cleaning their house because they simply don’t know how.”
The Lost Art of House Cleaning explains The PATH, Jan’s method of getting in, getting it clean and getting out of a room. More than a collection of hints, The Lost Art explains how to clean a home, and everything in it, in a way that’s entertaining to read. Even readers who never get around to cleaning will get a good laugh.
The process of creating and promoting the book has been as enriching for the author as it has for her readers.
“I had serious reservations when looking at self-publishing options, however, my experience with Outskirts Press was wonderful!” she says. “The experience was absolutely flawless and everything just flowed. I couldn’t be more delighted with Outskirts Press.”
Do you have an idea for a book but need help getting started? Let Outskirts Press help!
Outskirts Press was founded and grown upon the principle of helping creators realize their greatest writing ambitions.Self-publishing a book is a major undertaking, and we’re proud of the work our authors do to create amazing literature and see it through to publication. So, it’s with pride that we take a moment each week to recognize one of the many authors of whom we’re so very proud in our Self-Publishing Book Spotlight.
This week we shine our spotlight on self-published author Keith Elkins and his book, The Pony Principles: Lessons in Optimism Because of Adversity.
In The Pony Principles: Lessons in Optimism Because of Adversity, Outskirts Press author Keith Elkins takes the metaphor of the pony from the positive, childlike perspective of anticipating the gift of a pony for one’s birthday and expands that idea into four simple, innovative principles by which one can make things happen in one’s life despite the influence of negative people or negative circumstances.
No matter what is occurring around a person, author Elkins writes, there is always a path to one’s goals if one is committed and on purpose. What one focuses on, expands. His four pony principles help one achieve the focused optimism necessary to carry through to one’s goals. One has to see the pony, feed the pony, train the pony and, finally, one has to ride the pony.
“Seeing” the proverbial pony is the start of one’s journey and involves concentrating on one’s goals, clarifying one’s vision and purpose and thereby strengthening one’s belief. In this first step one must also overcome any limiting notions one might have about one’s talent or one’s potential.
Elkins’ second principle, feeding the pony, concentrates not simply on the nurturing of one’s mind, body and spirit, but on the robust nourishing of them with a new way of processing one’s life experiences through “lifetime learning” and through exposure to people, places and ideas that help a person grow.
“Training” the pony, step three, is the work, the discipline, the practice necessary to actually make a lifelong change. If one’s life is worth living, it is worth training for, the author says, and training is, simply put, work.
Finally, in step four, one “rides” the pony. One mounts the animal and gives it a little kick. Rather than merely sitting around, looking at and daydreaming about what one wants, one actually gets on the pony and follows through to one’s goals with action. One moves forward with commitment and passion.
One then succeeds.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Keith Elkins is an entrepreneur, a martial arts educator and a motivational speaker. He is the president of Keith Elkins Enterprises, Inc., a human potential consulting company that offers presentations on leadership, team building, embracing change and developing programs for at-risk youth. Keith and his family live near Washington, DC.
Outskirts Press offers high-quality, full-service self-publishing and book marketing services for writers and professionals who are seeking a cost-effective, fast, and flexible way to publish and distribute their books worldwide while retaining 100% of their rights, 100% of their profits, and 100% of the creative control.http://www.outskirtspress.com.
Are you self publishing a book and looking to receive marketing support and services like this?
Outskirts Press enjoys helping self-published authors realize their greatest creative ambitions. After all, publishing a book is a huge accomplishment, so you’ll pardon us if we take a moment to sing the praises of our independent authors in our weekly Self-Publishing Book Spotlight.
This week we’re proud to feature another of our self-published authors, Lonnie Beerman and his book, Tears of the Phoenix.
Lonnie Beerman’s novel, Tears of the Phoenix, published by Outskirts Press, is the carefully told tale of three boys moving toward manhood, while sorting out their relationships with their fathers and with the sometimes harsh adult world they are wondering how best to enter.
Each of the three young heroes of Beerman’s debut novel has found himself an outcast among his peers, isolated by playground taunts and by being the butt of every ill-tempered joke at school. One day a violent playground assault by bullying boys suddenly brings the three of them together and — no longer isolated — they find they now each have someone they can call a friend.
The compressed world of isolation they have been living in opens up for them that summer as their new friendships with each other blossom and they bond happily in the shared adventures of warm vacation days.
Soon old prejudices and bigotries of their small town return, however, and the boys struggle to cope with a once again dark world, despite their new solidarity together. Then one hateful remark reveals a secret that threatens to destroy one of the boy’s worlds, and the others must grapple with new questions they find difficult to sort out.
The boys’ families have also begun to draw closer together and while personal tragedies change their lives, all draw closer together and all find new shoulders to lean on during these heartbreaks. The boys’ mothers, in particular, discover new friendships of their own and begin to discover more about themselves as they watch their sons grow.
Beerman shows how at that age boys are forced to ponder their relationships with their fathers, or the lack of a relationship with one, and the new novelist engages readers well in the tragedies and family secrets that prompt these three boys to wonder what it means to be a man and what it will mean to them eventually to be fathers.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Lonnie Beerman is a new author. He is married and the father of a daughter and a son. Lonnie is a dog lover and an avid car enthusiast. In his first book, Tears of the Phoenix, Lonnie delves into the complexities of family relationships and social bigotries, offering insight into the importance of love, friendship and acceptance.
Outskirts Press offers high-quality, full-service self-publishing and book marketing services for writers and professionals who are seeking a cost-effective, fast, and flexible way to publish and distribute their books worldwide while retaining 100% of their rights, 100% of their profits, and 100% of the creative control.http://www.outskirtspress.com.
Are you self publishing a book and looking to receive marketing support and services like this?
It’s early February, and many of you may be well on your way toward meeting those resolutions for the new year. Others of you may be finding yourself struggling to make progress toward those lofty goals — and maybe losing the desire to try.
Don’t scrap those dreams just yet! There are simple techniques and tools you can employ to get those derailed resolutions back on track. Here are five ways to salvage your 2013 resolutions:
1.) App it. Sometimes all we need is a fun gadget or tool to reinvigorate us. They don’t have to be expensive. These days most of us are equipped with an Apple, Android or BlackBerry device, any of which gives you access to thousands of productivity apps. Most can be had for anywhere from 99 cents to $15 or less, and many of them are free.
2.) Track it. If you’re finding yourself flagging on the year’s resolutions in February, it may be a simple matter of needing to see progress. Five or so weeks into the new year is long enough to get bored, but so far shy of December that many people just can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel — and this causes us to give up on our goals. If you need proof that your work is bearing fruit, keep track of it. Buy yourself a work tracking app, dry erase board, notebook — whatever tool you’ll use — and keep track of the work you do toward your goals and the benchmarks you meet along the way. You may find you’re doing better than you thought.
3.) Reward it. There’s no shame in patting yourself on the back! Rather than berate yourself for failing to work toward your resolutions, set up mini goals related to those resolutions and then reward yourself for these achievements. If weight loss is one of your resolutions, we don’t recommend treating yourself to unhealthy splurges. Instead, reward yourself with a spa day or one of those nifty gadgets you’ve always wanted.
4.) Talk about it. Find a buddy with whom you feel comfortable sharing your resolutions. Tell them your goals for 2013 and how you intend to reach them. Talking about your dreams for the year will not only motivate you and make these goals feel achievable, it will also give you a sense of community with others and motivate you to make them proud.
5.) Get over it. So your efforts went off the rails before Valentine’s Day — get over it and move on. The best thing you can do is forgive yourself and start fresh the next day. Don’t scrap the whole year over one lapse! There’s still time to do so much you never thought possible. If necessary, reassess whether your goals were realistic to begin with, then “reset” your year today.
It’s your turn to chime in. What are your resolutions for 2013? How are you facilitating them? What roadblocks have you encountered, and what have you done to overcome them? Let us know!
When a character, a setting or a storyline really works, it’s publishing gold. When it works over the course of several books — books that readers are eager to snatch up before they’ve even hit the presses — it’s publishing platinum.
Book series have always been the Holy Grail for authors and publishers, a phenomenon that’s only grown in recent years. Readers who’ve become attached to your title characters want more of those characters they’ve come to love. It’s far less of a leap of faith to commit to buying a second book that’s stacked with all the things they appreciated about the first book.
But how do you develop a setting, a protagonist and multiple stories that can sustain readers’ interest from one book to the next? Keep a few things in mind in the development process to keep those ideas “evergreen” and compelling through two, three or more books.
Write what you know. When you’re writing about characters with whom you have things in common, and events you can relate to, you and your characters grow together. It becomes much more natural for you to create content that is compelling on a personal level for you as a writer, and for readers.
Let the characters and story evolve. Characters remain most interesting when we are able to “grow up” with them in some way. This doesn’t mean your young characters need to get gray hairs or your senior-citizen protagonist is destined to die of old age — although many readers may connect with characters who undergo similar changes in life — but personal evolution is compelling. Let the hero learn and grow and adapt like we all do.
Build-in an environment that create drama. Characters who live in a world that’s conducive to adventure and drama will always find adventure and drama, and it will come to them (and you) naturally. For example, Harry Potter couldn’t get into nearly as much danger without supernatural surroundings, in a traditional English school. And Bella Swan’s life wouldn’t be so interesting if she weren’t surrounded by vampires and werewolves. Setting matters.
Shake it up. So your hero’s a beat cop in your first two books. Perhaps he gets a promotion and launches into homicide investigation in the third. A well-placed curveball keeps your characters compelling and moving toward greater or different chapters.
Plotting an entire series of books may not be realistic, but it may be helpful to think about some of the potential directions your character and story can take as you’re planning your first novel. From there, the possibilities are endless!
We all have fond memories of books we devoured hungrily in a matter of days, only to be left longing to acquire the next installment … like, yesterday. (Nancy Drew, anyone?) When a character, a setting or a storyline really works, it’s publishing gold.
Publishers Marketplace reports that book series were most popular in certain genres: Romance, mystery/crime, young adult, middle grade, science fiction, thrillers, and paranormal topped the list of genres with the highest numbers of multi-book deals.
Book series have always been the Holy Grail for authors and publishers, and the phenomenon has been especially pronounced in recent years with the ascension of Harry Potter, Twilight, The Hunger Games, 50 Shades of Grey and other popular serial stories. The four books that make up the Twilight series are estimated to have sold more than 100 million copies! Now that’s publishing clout.
And why not? The advantage of serial books is that readers who’ve become attached to your title characters will much more easily warm up to a new book that features the characters they’ve come to love. They will have already discovered they like the genre, the pace, the writing style and other elements that drew them to the first book. From there, is far less of a leap of faith for readers to commit to buying your latest book.
Of course, not every storyline and character is ideally suited for a series. As an author who’s deeply attached to your character and story, how do you know? How do you develop a setting, a protagonist and multiple stories that can sustain readers’ interest from one book to the next?
In a blog yesterday, we discussed how legalities are something you may have to be aware of if you self-publish. This is something something authors who publish through traditional publishing houses tend not to think about. Publishing houses employ or retain their own legal counsel, meaning historically, authors haven’t had to bother fretting over legal issues.
While most legal issues arise out of the use of copyrighted materials — images, likenesses, ideas, names, brands, and other intellectual property, etc. — many authors overlook the importance of copyrighting their own works.
Legally speaking, you already own the copyright to your book the moment you start typing. However, we highly recommend taking the additional step of registering your book with the United States Copyright Office. This gives you as an author additional legal protections in the event that large portions of your work are pirated. The USCO’s fees are very reasonable and you can now file copyright claims electronically if you submit in the proper USCO formats.
Think of it as a “receipt” of sorts. If your work is stolen or portions of it are copied without your approval, registration with the Copyright Office serves as your proof that you originated the idea. Without registration, all you may be able to prove is that you were first to publish it — and that may not be sufficient to protect you if someone else profits from your ideas.
Please note that copyrighting and trademarking are different. Book names are not copyrightable, but you can choose to trademark-protect certain content to protect yourself from pirating related to related merchandise, such as T-shirts, action figures or other book memorabilia. That’s an entirely different ball of wax, and a matter for which you’d be well advise to contact a trademark attorney.
If you’re new to self-publishing, you can get some beginner guidance from Outskirts Press CEO Brent Sampson in his book, Publishing Gems: Insider Information for the Self-Publishing Writer. The book touches upon some of the issues discussed here, and is a good general primer for first-time writers, or experienced writers who want a smoother publishing process.
Of course, there’s no way to adequately cover legal issues on this forum. However, if you ever have doubts about the legality of your material, consult an attorney. For minor issues, your Personal Marketing Assistant may be able to point you in the right direction.
Outskirts Press author Danny Lopriore may well have a hit book and a hit show under his belt if his novel Seasons in Sanctuary gets picked up.
While doing a career day at Eastchester High School in New York, Lopriore met a television producer/writer for “Crossing Jordan,” “Third Watch,” and now “NCIS-LA,” and gave him a copy of of the novel. By the spring of 2008 the writer and a friend had written a screenplay, called “Coach Vig” based on the book.
With Seasons in Sanctuary Lopriore tells a story of a mobster’s struggle to choose between walking the straight and narrow or accepting the spiritual consequences of evil. Set in a gritty, working-class New York in the 1970s, it’s a vivid book about strife, struggle and hope for redemption.
“The screenplay has been pitched to several studios and networks, most recently USA Network,” Lopriore said.
No stranger to writing, Lopriore is a veteran newspaper reporter, editor and columnist who has covered high school sports and news for several daily and weekly newspapers in New York and New Jersey since 1989. He lives in Westchester County, New York, with his wife Dianne and three of their five children. Seasons in Sanctuary, published by Outskirts Press in 2007, is his first book.
Although Lopriore’s ongoing inroads to Hollywood are due in part to chance — with a bit of gumption mixed in — authors with an eye on the Big Screen can improve their odds of getting their books notices by the right people. Outskirts Press offers three packages geared toward turning your book into a TV or movie screenplay and getting that script into the right hands. Visit the Outskirts Press Marketing Solutions page to learn more about the Hollywood Action Plan, Hollywood Book-to-Movie Treatment or the Complete Hollywood Screenplay packages.
Do you have a book you think has the makings of the next Hollywood blockbuster? Learn more about adapting your book the the Silver Screen!
Many Outskirts Press self-published authors dream about moving from published author to the Silver Screen. For author Darlene Cozart, that dream is coming to fruition.
Cozart, author of five self-published books with Outskirts Press, includingMiracle Angle Stories, In the Realm of Angels and An Angel’s Love, is working with filmmakers to bring her life story to live action in 2013. While there are more direct ways to make inroads to Hollywood through Outskirts Press, for Cozart the big break came somewhat by chance.
“I started taking my Angel Treasure Stories to the children who are fighting cancer. I knew that those precious babies need a good laugh and that my Mafia cookbook, Yo you Capeesh It’s a Cookbook would bring loads of laughs,” Cozart recalls. “So when I started doing this, a producer sent me a message asking me if I would be interested in doing my biography and what charity would I like to help. I told her that I wanted to help give a portion of the money raised with this movie to the Ronald McDonald House. They help so many families with their children, and when I called them they were so exited.”
Cozart was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, and grew up for a time in Tieton, Wash. She’s known for her work in music, live television and voice over work, and was up for a BCMA Music Award for Entertainer of the Year in 1991.
Cozart met with the filmmakers in late October for initial filming and is set to begin more intensive filming in January. There’s no solid release date for the movie, but when we get details about the release, we’ll keep you posted.
Do you have a book you think has the makings of the next Hollywood blockbuster? Learn more about adapting your book the the Silver Screen!
