Tag Archives: blogfest

Indie author resources blog fest!

20 January 2014 Jordan 4 Comments

Today is the day! Link up here!

When you publish your own works, everything comes down to you. You have to find and hire the editors, proofreaders, cover designer, interior designer, e-book formatter . . . it can be daunting to line up all those other professionals to make your book come to life at last.

I read many great blogs on self-publishing, and I’m not looking to change the overall focus of my blog. However, I do really want to acknowledge the amazing support staff I’ve worked with in producing my books. So I’m putting together the . . . Indie Author Resources Blog Fest!

Today, Monday, January 20, if you’re an indie author—or if you just happen to know of an editor, cover designer or other publishing professional who does quality work—post about them on your blog, and come back here to link up below!

How to participate

1. The theme is Indie author resources. It’s all about showing some love for all those people who helped make your book great. So who do you put in your post?

Editors—content, copy, line, and proof
Designers—cover, interior, e-book, and other promotional graphics
Formatters—e-book, print
Printers—print-on-demand, short run, long run, promotional materials
Any other professionals who helped make your book the best it could be!

Be sure to include links to their websites!

2. If you’re not (yet?) an indie author, but you know exactly who you’d hire, please join in!

3. If you wouldn’t recommend their work, don’t include the person in your post.

4. Post your resources on your blog January 20, 2014, and add it to the Mr. Linky here. Link your post back to the blogfest on here so your readers can read other entries, too. (The best link is http://JordanMcCollum.com/indie-resources/ )

5. Read, enjoy, and comment on other entries!

6. The index! After the blog fest, I’ll be compiling a list of the recommended professionals for ease of use. I’ll link back to all posts, of course!

So, in short: on January 20, write a blog post about an e-book professional, link back here in your post, and sign up on the linky.

Join in now!

Thank you to everyone who signed up in advance (you can find that list here). Please be sure to link up today with the link DIRECTLY TO YOUR POST, i.e. http://yourblog.blogspot.com/2014/01/indie-author-resources.html.

Again, DO NOT PUT IN YOUR PLAIN BLOG URL (http://yourblog.blogspot.com). If someone comes back to click on your link in a month, they won’t be able to find your post and they will leave your blog frustrated and disappointed!!

FULL URLs, PLEASE!!!

(Sorry for the difficulty; the linky’s host crashed. It’s back now, but if we’ve lost your link, please re-enter!

Spread the word

Tell your friends! To share the badge, copy this code and paste it in the HTML of a blog post or your sidebar:

Want it bigger or smaller? Change the number at width="300" to adjust the size.

Original Yellow Pages photo by Phossil via Flickr/CC

News & Contests

Indie resources blog fest & other news!

14 January 2014 Jordan 8 Comments

indie resources blog fest

On Monday, January 20, if you’re an indie author—or if you just happen to know of an editor, cover designer or other publishing professional who does quality work—post about them on your blog, and come back here to link up!

Spread the word

Tell your friends! Copy this and paste it in the HTML of a blog post or your sidebar:

Want it bigger or smaller? Change the number at width="300" to adjust the size.

How to participate

Indie author resources blog fest 1. The theme is Indie author resources. It’s all about showing some love for all those people who helped make your book great. So who do you put in your post?

Editors—content, copy, line, and proof
Designers—cover, interior, e-book, and other promotional graphics
Formatters—e-book, print
Printers—print-on-demand, short run, long run, promotional materials
Any other professionals who helped make your book the best it could be!

Be sure to include links to their websites!

2. If you’re not (yet?) an indie author, but you know exactly who you’d hire, please join in!

3. If you wouldn’t recommend their work, don’t include the person in your post.

4. Post your resources on your blog January 20, 2014, and add it to the Mr. Linky here. Link your post back to the blogfest on here so your readers can read other entries, too. (The link will be http://JordanMcCollum.com/indie-resources/ )

5. Read, enjoy, and comment on other entries!

6. The index! After the blog fest, I’ll be compiling a list of the recommended professionals for ease of use. I’ll link back to all posts, of course!

So, in short: on January 20, write a blog post about an e-book professional, link back here in your post, and sign up on the linkie.

Sign up in advance!

Original Yellow Pages photo by Phossil via Flickr/CC

News & Contests

I Spy a Secret blogfest!

19 July 2013 Jordan 3 Comments

If you had trouble seeing the linky before, it has been fixed! (I hope!)

Could you keep a secret from someone you loved? A big one? In my book I, Spy, Talia keeps a pretty big secret from her boyfriend Danny: the fact that she’s actually a CIA operative.

While it’s obviously not fun to live, it was a lot of fun to write someone keeping that kind of secret. So I thought we could share the fun! That’s right, it’s a BLOGFEST with FABULOUS PRIZES—TODAY!

How to participate (and rules)
I Spy a Secret blogfest 1. The theme is I Spy . . . a secret. It’s all about keeping a secret from someone you love. So what do you put in your post?

Write a scene with one character keeping a secret from someone s/he loves
Post a scene from one of your books (WIP, published, draft, whatever) with one character keeping a secret from someone s/he loves
Tell about a time in real life where you kept a secret from someone you love(d)

2. You may share a story from your life, OR write a new scene on the topic, OR you may post a scene from your WIP. [This doesn’t preclude completed works. Because, after all, no work of art is ever finished, only abandoned.]

3. Please keep all scenes clean , without sex, or gratuitous violence or foul language. (Like PG, PG-13 here, ‘kay?)

4. Post your scene TODAY, July 19, 2013, and add it to the Mr. Linky. Link your post back to the blogfest on here so your readers can read other entries, too.

5. Read, enjoy, and comment on other entries!

6. Fabulous prizes! I’ll be giving away Amazon gift cards (number of prizes based on the number of entries winners drawn at random from entries received on the linkie by midnight MDT 19 July 2013 and announced here on JordanMcCollum.com Monday, 22 July 2013. YOU SHOULD CHECK BACK BECAUSE YOU MUST EMAIL ME TO CLAIM YOUR PRIZE), plus a freebie for anybody who participates (even if you’re only reading!).

So, again: write a blog post about one of those things, link back here in your post, and sign up on the linkie.

Tell your friends! Copy this and paste it in the HTML of a blog post or your sidebar:

Want it bigger or smaller? Change the number at width="300" to adjust the size.

Sign up here & visit the other participants!

THANK YOU SO MUCH TO ALL THOSE WHO SIGNED UP IN ADVANCE! Your links are still on the signup post, but please be sure to share your actual POST for the blogfest (not just a link to your main blog address) below.

Share your blog post here! Use your name (or your name@your blog’s name, or your blog’s name), and the complete permalink to your post—i.e. http://yourblog.blogspot.com/2013/07/this-goes-to-my-post.html, NOT JUST http://yourblog.blogspot.com!

This blogfest is closed.

Please visit, read, link & comment!

The freebie!

(All participants are welcome to share this in their blog posts as well!)

Just for reading a blog fest post, you can get a free e-copy of the novella Mr. Nice Spy, a prequel to I, Spy! Use the coupon code SECRET on my site store here! (Coupon code good through July 26, 2013.)

Blogfest badge photo by Catherine

Works, News & Contests

I SPY . . . a Secret!

19 July 2013 Jordan 2 Comments

Today’s the I SPY a Secret blogfest! Please join in: check out this post for more details.

In this scene, Talia is a CIA operative in Canada, but her job is so TOP SECRET, she can’t tell her boyfriend Danny what she does for a living—even though that demanding job is pulling her away from him repeatedly this week. (She’s promised him to set aside Friday night, but as soon as she made that promise, work double books her evening.)

“Talia?” Danny’s voice draws me out of my thoughts. I’m with him right now, and that’s all that matters. For personal time, a spy has to live in the present.

In this present, Danny is looking at me like I’m too good to be true, like he can’t believe I’m really here. “You know you’re beautiful, right?”

I laugh the compliment off and turn away, trying to silence my mental whisper. It doesn’t work, and the No, you’re not. Don’t buy it echoes too long. He wouldn’t lie to me, but somehow when he says that, I can’t quite push myself to believe him.

He slides off the counter, wraps me in his arms, and continues. “Know what I love about you?”

“Um, no. After this week? I honestly don’t.” I silently pray it’s not my terrible sense of direction or my forgetfulness or any other part of “me” that’s a lie.

Danny leans closer, his voice soft. Serious. Sincere. “You never give up. You fight for the things you care about, and you won’t let anything stand in your way.”

And those are all true.

“Thank you,” he says.

“For what?”

“For fighting for time with me Friday. For not canceling.”

I bump his leg with my hip. “It was nothing.”

“No.” He holds me closer, those warm, genuine eyes locked on mine. “It’s not ‘nothing.’ Not to me.” He trails a finger along my jaw to draw me closer for a kiss.

The second my lips touch his, I can sense there’s something more behind this kiss. An electric current flows into my heart and my lungs and my brain, until I’m so lost in this kiss that I can’t tell which way is up.

Something slams right behind me and I jump away from Danny, whirl around, ready to fight.

Nobody there. I look back at Danny, leaning on one hand on the counter. A hand he just slapped down to catch us.

Right.

I’m an idiot. “You scared me.”

“Sorry.” He wraps his arms around my waist again. I look into his warm brown eyes, and that same overwhelming feeling threatens me again.

I don’t know what he’s thinking or trying to say, but I definitely prefer being lost in his kiss to just being lost.

Danny presses his forehead to mine, placing us eye-to-eye. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” I kiss him this time and try to forget everything I’m afraid of, everything that could go wrong Friday.

I won’t let it.

Come join in the I SPY A SECRET blogfest to share your stories (real or fictional!).

News & Contests

Tomorrow–I Spy a Secret Blogfest!

18 July 2013 Jordan

Have you signed up for the I SPY A SECRET blogfest? Tomorrow we’re sharing stories of when we (or our characters) kept a secret from someone we loved. Come join in!

More details here!

News & Contests

Coming up: I Spy a Secret Blogfest!

4 July 2013 Jordan 5 Comments

SIGN UP HERE!

Happy Independence Day! Having fun with the INDIEpendence Day Blogfest? I know I am! So how about another?

Could you keep a secret from someone you loved? A big one? In my book I, Spy, Talia keeps a pretty big secret from her boyfriend Danny: the fact that she’s actually a CIA operative.

How to participate (and rules)
I Spy a Secret blogfest 1. The theme is I Spy . . . a secret. It’s all about keeping a secret from someone you love. So what do you put in your post?

Write a scene with one character keeping a secret from someone s/he loves
Post a scene from one of your books (WIP, published, draft, whatever) with one character keeping a secret from someone s/he loves
Tell about a time in real life where you kept a secret from someone you love

3. Please keep all scenes clean , without sex, gratuitous violence or foul language.

4. Post your scene on July 19, 2013, and add it to the Mr. Linky (on my post that day, though you’re free to sign up below, too). Link your post back to the blogfest on here so your readers can read other entries, too.

5. Read, enjoy, and comment on other entries!

6. Fabulous prizes! I’ll be giving away Amazon gift cards (number of prizes based on the number of entries), plus a freebie for anybody who participates (even if you’re only reading!)

Tell your friends! Copy this and paste it in the HTML of a blog post or your sidebar:

Want it bigger or smaller? Change the number at width="300" to adjust the size.

Thank you for signing up in advance!

Blogfest badge photo by Catherine

News & Contests

INDIEpendence Day!

28 June 2013 Jordan

I love to support independent publishers—self-published or small press—and my friends in the Indelibles, so you know I’ll be participating in the INDIEpendence Day Blogfest next week!

Want to join? Here’s how:

PICK A BOOK: Pick an indie (self-published or small press) book that you either HAVE READ AND LOVED or WANT TO READ.
WRITE A POST: On INDIEpendence day (July 2nd), write a post about that book. It can be a review, an interview with the author, or simply a post highlighting the book. In your post, be sure to include: 1) HOW you found out about the book and 2) WHY you liked it (or WHY you want to read it). Make it easy for people to sample your indie author by providing buy links as well.
DO A GIVEAWAY (optional): You can give away swag, or a copy of the indie book you’re highlighting, or don’t do a giveaway at all – it’s up to you!
IMPORTANT: you may NOT highlight your own novel or one of the Indelible’s novels (this is a Pay It Forward event!)
GO TO GOODREADS (optional): Add the Indie book or books you’re featuring to our ever-growing INDIEpendence Day List.

For extra incentive, the Indelibles will be giving away a $10 Kindle gift card (to be used on Indie books!) to a random host from the participating blogs!

(Also, if anybody wanted to highlight I, Spy, I wouldn’t say no. Just sayin’ 😉 .)

Are you down for INDIEpendence Day?

News & Contests

Gearing Up to Get an Agent Meet & Greet

3 September 2012 Jordan 17 Comments

Our regularly scheduled Marketing Monday will run on Wednesday.

Hello! For new friends, my name is Jordan McCollum and I blog about writing craft and marketing (usually on Mondays). For old friends, Deana Barnhart is hosting her annual Gearing Up to Get an Agent blogfest, and I’m so happy to join in! Once upon a time, Deana read one of my manuscripts, and I read hers. Little did I know I was the first person to read her writing! Now Deana is represented by Sarah Lapolla of Curtis Brown, Ltd., and I’m sure we’ll hear some good news about her book soon (different book, so I haven’t read it [I wish!], but it sounds great!).

Today is the opening event in her Gearing Up to Get an Agent blogfest, the meet & greet! So here are my interview questions:

Where do you write?
I have two main spots: the loveseat in the family room (where I am now) and the dining room table.

Quick. Go to your writing space, sit down and look to your left. What is the first thing you see?
A towel, a survey with envelope, a lid, a book, two kids’ t-shirts, a pony and a bottle of gun cleaner. The typical mess, usually things my kids bring me to keep me company…

Favorite time to write?
ALL THE TIMES! Usually the answer is night time, especially after 10 PM, but I think I might find a new favorite time since I’ll have two hours where all my children are in school or bed 🙂 .

Drink of choice while writing?
I usually don’t drink anything, and water is probably my most common choice, but caffeine free Dr Pepper is a fave.

When writing, do you listen to music or do you need complete silence?
Yes. Well, not silence, since that’s pretty hard to come by with three kids 6 & under running around (and a TV). If I’m using music, it will usually be a couple songs thematically related to my book, some fitting tracks from a movie soundtrack, and perennial favorites from Queen and Led Zeppelin. My last book was written to ’60s pop and ’70s rock. Iiinteresting.

What was your inspiration for your latest manuscript and where did you find it?
It was a ’60s pop song, actually. I’ve heard it dozens of times, but this particular time, I was standing in the Dollar Tree buying Valentines for my kids (the day before Valentine’s Day, naturally). And I thought “What if . . . ?”

What’s your most valuable writing tip?
Just one? Augh. I have so many I started this whole blog about writing tips 😉 . If I had to pick juuuuuust one, it’d be “Keep learning.” I have a book accepted by a publisher and I still take writing classes. Reading craft books recharges me. And number two would probably be “Challenge yourself.” I have to try something new with every manuscript to keep myself interested and growing and challenged. And number three would be check out my free writing guides for lots more tips 😉 !

In honor of GUGTAA, I’ve posted an excerpt of my WIP, I, Spy!

Nice to meet you! Hop on over to Deana’s blog to join in the Gearing Up to Get an Agent blogfest all this month!

Jordan McCollum

Tag Archives: blogfest

Indie author resources blog fest!

How to participate

Join in now!

Spread the word

Is your writing any good? Join my writers' email group to find out how you can get a free edit & skill assessment!

Indie resources blog fest & other news!

Spread the word

How to participate

Sign up in advance!

Is your writing any good? Join my writers' email group to find out how you can get a free edit & skill assessment!

I Spy a Secret blogfest!

Sign up here & visit the other participants!

The freebie!

Is your writing any good? Join my writers' email group to find out how you can get a free edit & skill assessment!

I SPY . . . a Secret!

Is your writing any good? Join my writers' email group to find out how you can get a free edit & skill assessment!

Tomorrow–I Spy a Secret Blogfest!

Is your writing any good? Join my writers' email group to find out how you can get a free edit & skill assessment!

Coming up: I Spy a Secret Blogfest!

Is your writing any good? Join my writers' email group to find out how you can get a free edit & skill assessment!

INDIEpendence Day!

Is your writing any good? Join my writers' email group to find out how you can get a free edit & skill assessment!

Gearing Up to Get an Agent Meet & Greet

Is your writing any good? Join my writers' email group to find out how you can get a free edit & skill assessment!

love, lies, secrets, spies | craft your fiction

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