Every Wednesday ALLi will tell the world about our members' latest book launches, news, awards, freebies, workshops and updates on the writing life and take a look at the projects and businesses of our partner members.
Debbie Young
Just in time for World Diabetes Day on Thursday 14 November, Debbie Young has published an e-book: Coming to Terms with Type 1 Diabetes – One Family's Story of Life After Diagnosis.
This account of how she and her family have come to terms this serious, incurable disease which affects both her husband and their daughter Laura, is sobering but not grim reading: the author uses humour and optimism to cope with the crisis, and even ends the book with a song!
All profits will be donated to JDRF, the leading charitable funder of research into better therapy and a cure for Type 1 Diabetes.
All those involved in the production of this book have generously given their services free of charge in order to maximise funds raised for the charity. Many thanks to fellow ALLi members who helped in this way!
Partner Member SilverWood Books provided the beautiful cover, showing Laura on her ninth birthday, five years after her diagnosis. Beta readers included Author Members Joanne Phillips and Dr Carol Cooper.
Carol, who is a GP, lecturer at Imperial College London and a medical journalist and broadcaster, describes it as: “A lovely uplifting little book, full of insight, wit, and practical know-how… Beautifully written, a little treasure as well as a ray of hope.”
Distinguished BBC journalist Justin Webb, who kindly wrote the Foreword, describes it as “a moving and personal testimony”.
The book will be officially launched during a live BBC Radio Gloucestershire interview on the morning of World Diabetes Day, but it's already available to order on Amazon.
Part of the text started life as posts on her personal blog, which have been edited and expanded to provide a coherent narrative.
Link for Amazon UK: Link for Amazon USA:
Vanessa Coleman
An Accidental Madam is the true story of Vanessa Coleman, one of the most successful Madams in the south of England.
Filled with anecdotes about her colourful private life and charting her many and varied business ventures and jet set lifestyle, it also tells with touching honesty the trials through which, aged sixty, she was imprisoned and unceremoniously stripped of all her assets.
“After joining the ‘Sex Industry' at the age of forty-eight, which was more by accident than design, I was so fascinated by the world I'd entered that I wanted to share my experiences by writing a book. “
Maggie Lynch
DIY Publishing – A step-by-step guide for print and eBook formatting and distribution
In this guide Maggie Lynch demystifies the technology with her easy-to-read explanations, as she helps you properly format your word processor document for conversion to all publish-ready file types. Each step contains illustrated examples and screen shots of the software.
Lynch also shares vital insights that are indispensable to writers of fiction and non-fiction alike about the changing state of publishing, the realities of discoverability, and the importance of metadata in our digital world. This book will provide you with everything you need to professionally design your final product and submit it to all major distributors in both print and eBook.
This book is available in both print and eBook from major vendors worldwide.
Dianne Greenlay
When something good happens you should always share the news with your friends, especially your author friends.
Martin Crosbie and Dianne Greenlay are proud to be part of an exciting box set of award winning and bestselling novels that includes four heroes (a pirate, a private investigator, a soldier, and a cowboy.) There's a hero here for everyone's taste!
We've put together a holiday set that we thought would make a great gift. Best of all, it's four books for less than four bucks.
We do so much of this stuff by ourselves that it's very cool to be part of a project with these other talented authors, Sable Hunter and Mike Faricy.
The set is live and available here.
Liza Perrat
In conjunction with the Triskele Books launch on November 16th , of three new books, I’m running a Goodreads giveaway of Wolfsangel from 6th – 24th November:
Amira Makansi
I'd like to announce (perhaps a little belatedly) that K. Makansi's debut book The Sowing went on sale in both paperback and e-book in October.
We have a blog tour scheduled with TLC Book Tours through November and December.
Remy Alexander was born into the elite meritocracy of the Okarian Sector. From an early age, she and her friends were programmed for intellectual and physical superiority through specialized dietary regimes administered by the Okarian Agricultural Consortium. But when her older sister Tai was murdered in a brutal classroom massacre, her parents began to suspect foul play.
They fled the Sector, taking their surviving daughter underground to join the nascent Resistance movement. But now, three years later, Remy’s former schoolgirl crush,Valerian Orleán, is put in charge of hunting and destroying the Resistance.
In this science-fiction dystopia, the mother-daughter writing team of Kristina, Amira, and Elena Makansi immerses readers in the post-apocalyptic world of the Okarian Sector where romance, friendship, adventure, and betrayal will decide the fate of a budding nation.
Tom Evans
eCourse – Manage Your Time with Mindfulness
This new ecourse from ALLi member Tom Evans uses mindfulness techniques to help authors and creatives get into the zone so they can get more done in less time. Find out how to get both sides of your brain working in harmony.
It even includes guidance and visualisation on how to tune into your future self who ‘knows' the words you have yet to write.
It's available via DailyOM here.
By far the best feature is that you are completely free to choose how much you want to pay for the course – and, if you like it, you can give the gift of giving more time to others.
Note there is no ALLi discount as people can just pay what they like for the course (and even gift it to others)
Amy Shojai
This is a Webinar, an on-demand presentation and all attendees get the recorded event at the end to watch/listen at their leisure.
It's set up this way specifically for writers around the world to be able to participate (in their pyjamas if they want). Details at the blog link, and I've also provided the copy, below, and attached the picture:
Where: WANA Virtual Classroom
November 16, 2013, 2:00-4:00 PM EST
USE THE DREAM-BIG CODE FOR $30 OFF THE PRICE AT CHECK-OUT!
go here to register.
Niche Writing is designed for beginning to intermediate writers who wish to leverage special interest(s) to build author brand, generate content for blogs, articles, columns and books, (or use blogs for book content!) and more.
This fun PowerPoint two-part workshop (with SQUEE! cute pet pictures!) is structured in 2-hour lectures with time included for questions and answers, as well as brain-storming to figure out your individual writer-ly map for success. Students learn why niche writing is more important today than ever before. This workshop teaches writers how to create credibility as the go-to “expert” in their field.
Seeley James
Hugh Howey talks about how he writes in an interview to be posted on seeleyjames.com at 8AM PST / 2PM GMT. Part of the Great Writers on Writing weekly series.
Deborah Prum
Deborah M. Prum has just launched First Kiss and Other Cautionary Tales, an audiobook collection of humorous essays which first aired on NPR-member stations. In First Kiss, you will:
- Learn about: spring-loaded toilet seats in the Pisa Airport (a creation of the Devil).
- Find out why Googling “How to Pick Up a Chick” is not the best strategy for determining a good way to scoop up live poultry.
- Discover the ancient secret of an Italian grandmother’s deadly chicken soup recipe. (Hint: it’s all in the feet.)
LM Fields
Exciting news Dark Seeds fans… feed your need again! New readers, taste what you've been missing. Start getting your own Dark Seeds today. The 4rth book, Edge of Abaddon, was just released!
So come and get it the SciFi-Horror series seasoned with just enough Steampunk that'll keep you coming back for more!
Year of our Lord 2031; The Grand Order Illuminati's of the New World Order has it all worked out until their False Prophet bows before the real Lord of Darkness and finds a new place by his Master's side without his consent.
Satan's hordes of Abaddon prepare for the last supper while the storm gathers strength like a cancer blotting out the sun. With a little help from the archangel Raphael, a long awaited plan is finally set in motion but could it be too little too late?
Even still, hope is not surrendered and a secret brotherhood, sworn to fight the forces of evil, push on, protecting four unlikely characters who must face their fears and insurmountable odds, in this race against time to save the soul of humanity.
Anne Allen
I've recently published my second novel, Finding Mother.
Prepare to be swept away by a heart-warming tale of family relationships and love
Three women. Three generations. Sacrifices for love…
Who is she really? Nicole is about to find out as she searches for her real mother; the woman who gave her away at birth. With her marriage in tatters, she sets out from England: travelling to Spain, Jersey and Guernsey before the extraordinary story of her real family is finally revealed.
Nicole becomes an unwitting catalyst for change in the family. Two women are forced to reveal long-buried secrets. One going back as far as the Second World War. Lives are transformed as choices have to be made and the past laid to rest…
M Ruth Myers
Don't Dare a Dame, the third book in the Maggie Sullivan mysteries by M. Ruth Myers, has just been published by Tuesday House.
It features a Depression-era private eye in a small Midwestern city and is my 13th published novel — my fourth as an independent. (Glad I jumped over the fence!)
Sarah Dale
Hit 50 yet? Sarah Dale is about to. This impending event set her wondering about successful ageing, what life looks like for women who have been there and done that, and what adventures are to be had on the other side of 50.
In this fascinating and celebratory book – Bolder and Wiser, Sarah talks to 20 inspiring women who have not only made it past 50, but are happy to be there.
These open and honest conversations, punctuated by Sarah’s observations about her own journey, reflect on friendship, work, health, creativity, marriage, motherhood, money – and whether you should stop dyeing your hair.
Sarah Dale is a chartered psychologist and accredited coach. She devised the Creating Focus programme and is the author of Keeping Your Spirits Up. She was born in 1964.
JJ Marsh
The Triskele Trail – A Pathway to Independent Publishing
Once upon a time, there were five writers.
They believed there was a third way of publishing, somewhere over the rainbow.
So they packed their books and set off to explore.
This is what happened on the journey.
The Triskele Trail is a true story.
About a writers' collective who made some mistakes and some smart decisions; who discovered opportunities, found friends and dodged predators in the independent publishing jungle.
Fourteen books later, here are the lessons we learned.
This is not a How-To book.
This is How-We-Did-It.
This is The Triskele Trail.
“This is the ultimate jungle guidebook written by people who have actually cut their own path through the undergrowth. They have weathered all the set-backs, fallen into all the traps and climbed back out again, emerging into the light, bruised but triumphant, with a thriving small business and a number of handsome books. The lessons they have to teach are priceless for anyone hoping to follow them.
Modern publishing is an industry filled with dreamers, fantasists and the plain deluded. This book is a clear, calm, factual guide from people who truly know what they are talking about.” –
Andrew Crofts is a ghost-writer and author who has published more than 80 books, a dozen of which were Sunday Times number one bestsellers.
Karen Inglis
Karen Inglis has just launched her first children’s book app for age 3-5 years – Ferdinand Fox’s Big Sleep – an interactive rhyming storybook for kids. Adapted from her picture book of the same name, available on Amazon, the tale is based on the true story of a fox that once slept in her garden.
Karen narrates for the ‘Read to Me’ option where occasional sound effects are woven in with the story text (church bell chiming, footsteps, man yawning). In addition, touch-activated word bubbles with matching voiceover encourage word and object recognition.
The app has received 4.5 Stars from BestAppsForKids.com – a respected reviewer of educational apps, who will only post reviews for apps worthy of 4 stars or more!
Karen produced, directed and did all of the recordings for the app – no mean feat for an indie author! She will be posting the first of two (or three!) blog articles about her experience this week on her blog.
http://youtu.be/Ivv6eWDGsdE
If you are a member of The Alliance of Independent Authors and you would like to showcase your work on our ALLi Showcase, please send it to [email protected] to reach me no later than the Friday preceding the Wednesday you would like it published.
Psiloritis what a wonderfull place, the taller mountain of Crete
Thank you so much for putting together these showcases, Karen! It’s always a pleasure to see what the Alliance members are doing out there in the world.
[…]    My new audiobook, FIRST KISS AND OTHER CAUTIONARY TALES, was showcased on the Alliance of Independent Authors site.  Scroll down to about the third page to see the […]
Wow, what an amazing and varied selection! (And I’m not just saying that because my book’s on the list!) If anyone’s ever wondering what to read next, checking out the ALLi Member Showcase on a Wednesday is always a great place to find your next good read – one of these is already on my bedside table (and I don’t mean mine!)