Authorschizoitis!

I think I over do it sometimes.
I take that back. I know I do!

The world of a writer can be overwhelming. I've talked about this before. If my memory serves me correct, I think I said that writers are perfect candidates to be sent off to Crazyville. And if you're a writer, you know what I'm talking about, because you're probably half way there already. Today, however, I'd like to relax and take a minute to recharge my lit-thuim batteries...Get it? Lit as in literary and thium as in lithium, ah never mind! I've never been much of a humorist. Seriously. Ask anyone who knows me; I'm pretty dull, and I rarely get jokes. Guess that's why God made me a thriller/suspense writer. Anyway, I digress. But that's okay...because I'm relaxing...I'm chillin'.

That's right. I'm going to slow down for a couple of hours and stop thinking about books, and writing, and publishing, and cover art, and blog tours, and ISBN numbers, and wholesale discounts, and return policies, and blog posts (ehem), and Pixels Per Inch, and reading, and studying, and Garamond font, and setting up accounts, and web traffic, and, and, and! Whew! I really needed to throw all that junk on the table. Hope you don't mind me regurgitating my literary vomit in front of you. Sorry. I know - that's gross. But so is having a one track mind. And that's the point.

I can become pretty yucky when all I think about is writing. Ask any writer! I'm sure he or she has been there before. Writers are all too familiar with the tell-tell-signs of our friends and family going on with their lives, saddened, as we wander off into the writing abyss of MSs and all the other crap that we find ourselves wrapped up, twisted and drowning in. They have this look about them that screams "There he goes again... off into the stormy sea of words and busy work that means so little to us! Man over board! Dads lost it! Hurry! Get the life preserver. He's turning blue!"

Do you ever get that? Do you have a method to keep you in check? I don't and that's why I'm writing this post. Well I take that back. Now that I mention it, I do have this new rule that after 8:00 pm when I'm home - I'm done with all my writing stuff - everything, emails, twitter posts, facebook, etc. But other than that, I've got a bad case of authorschizoitis - as in I can't stop, 'cause I choose to embrace everything they tell us writers are supposed to do. I know. You're shaking your head. Poor, poor, Jeff.

Thank you for the sympathy. But there's no need for pity.

I'm going out on a limb here, but aren't writers supposed to embrace the more important things in life like family, balance, health and faith? Or should I ask - Can we embrace those things if we need meds for authorschizoitis?

Maybe you aren't here...yet...where I am. But when you get there, be sure to shoot off a flare, wave a white flag and RELAX. I am...for a time...and it feels good. BOOM!

Be sure to get your copy of The Red Church, by Scott Nicholson. It's the Thrill of the Week. Do you have a thriller worthy of next weeks thrill? Let me know and I'll post it FREE!

Book Trailers 101

I don't know about you, but sometimes the post-editorial aspects of publishing can be almost as fun as writing the book in the first place. Take for instance, the book cover. You all know how much fun I had designing and laying out that puppy! And then there was the contest (i.e. subliminal book promotion). How fun was that?  And now...as if you thought I was finished with the pre-pub excitement...I get to talk about book trailers. Oh yes, the HOT new method to promote your book.

They say the best way to get your message across today is through video. That's right, if you want anyone who's anyone to notice your precious little baby, you have to go VIRAL! Of course being the high tech wannabe that I am, I have to get in on the action. It cost me $5 to make a decent book promo. And I'm going to tell you how I do it!

It's easy really. I use Animoto.com. It's FREE if you only create a 30 second video. But that's not much time. I upgraded to the "Plus" account ($5 a month), so I can make a 60+ second trailer. When I'm done using the program, I end my subscription and pay only $5 for each month used.

Basically all you have to do is upload pictures, text or video into the slots provided. They offer several backgrounds to choose from and a pretty good sized library of music. And...you can pick any style of music to match the genre of your book. The pace of the video and the type of action displayed, is based on the genre and song choice. And you will never get the same results twice, because every time you make a change, Animoto recalculates the entire sequence.

In my opinion, the videos turn out very classy. Yet, there is more to the book trailer concept than flashy graphics and sweet tunes. You have to tell the story. And here are lots of companies that will do that for you. A book marketer can create a video with more text options, video and the mother of them all, the book trailer that actually plays out like a movie. And lets not forget the good old fashioned author interview!

Or, if you have a good digital video producing program, you can do it yourself!

In order to be the helpful guy that I am, I looked up a few companies that offer this service. There's a whole lot more of them, but this'll get you started. I'm pasting the links further down the page.

THE REAL QUESTION is...are book trailers worth the expense? Do they pay for themselves in book sales? I think they can. I think they have the ability to generate excitement. But do they bring the right reader to the point of sale? That's the million dollar question. I could've upgraded to $39 a month and had a link button at the end that'll take the reader directly to the point of sale...but I didn't...not yet anyway.

What do you think? Have you had any luck with book trailers or live author interviews? Let me know. BOOM!

Book Video Creation - Their videos looked pretty decent and cost anywhere from $99-$299 for more advanced videos.

Book Videos.tv - This producer makes really good trailers. They made the video for the best seller "Huck"

Ghost Writer's Extraordinaire - They're more affordable, although quality is a bit lower. Prices start around $79.

Again, I am not an affiliate! I do not get paid for posting these links.

CreateSpace or Lightning Source???

Are you an indie author preparing to publish your latest and greatest work of art? Your masterpiece? Your baby? If so I want to applaud you and congratulate you for accomplishing one of life’s greatest feats. Lots of people talk about writing a book...you are one of the few who actually did it!

But wait!

Before you ship your precious baby off to LuLu or CreateSpace, did you get your little darling professionally edited? I hope so! Is the cover art up to snuff? It better be! What about the interior? Is your PDF perfect? Are your ebook paragraph indentions and chapter headings in the right place? I sure hope so.

Have you thought about using Lightning Source as your printer? Huh? Who? Lightning Source, L-i-g-h-t….oh, never mind! Lightning-Source is one the biggest and best printers for small and independent publishers…and if your an indie author, that means you! After much debate and research I’ve decided that there is no better choice.


DISCLAIMER:

If you're interested in selling digital books only and paperback books via Amazon & B&N, than Create-Space or LuLu is probably the best place to go for your print copies. They’re quick, cheap, easy and come with a FREE ISBN. But if you want to sell books to brick-n-mortar stores or have a book signing at your local B&N or Books-a-Million, you better go with Lightning Source. 


Don't let CS or LULU fool you into thinking advanced distribution means you can sell in stores...You can't!       


Here's a few things you need to know that CS & LuLu won't tell you.

•      Lulu and CS, do not offer the industry standard wholesale discount of 40-55% to retailers. They offer more like 25%, which is not high enough to get into stores. I tried having a book signing 10 miles from my house with a B-a-M and they flat refused, because my book did not offer a 40% discount through Baker & Taylor. I had no idea! I thought I had paid for full distribution. WRONG!

•      Another major stopper is the issue of “Returns”. If you want to get your book into stores, you have to offer returns (be willing to pay the bookstore back the wholesale price of the book if they don’t sell). Some local stores and B & N’s might let you place a book on consignment…but maybe not. Most stores demand that your book be returnable, especially if they want to buy it through their distributor.

•      Lightning Source, allows you to do both. You can choose the wholesale discount and the method of taking returns. You can pick a 25, 40, or 50% wholesale margain! And, you don’t have to feel embarrassed when you tell your local bookstore manager that your book is non-returnable.

•      At lightning Source, you are the publisher, no longer giving Create-Space 60% of your wholesale margin. You do, however, have to provide a print ready cover (front-back-spline) and interior PDF’s. But fear not, if you can’t learn to do this yourself, there are many affordable folks out there who will format your interior for $99 and create a polished cover for around $300 or less (I paid $40 to have an artist add the back cover to my front cover that I designed. That’s extra, but a great incentive to learn how to make a good cover! If you were planning to sell in stores, it could be worth the expense. Besides, $300 is cheaper than the going rate for many self-publishing companies who offer custom covers.

•             Lightning Source will also upload your book to Amazon and B&N and other sources for you. Best of all, you get ALL the publisher's profit! You have to do a little more work, but it’s worth it.

•      Lightning Source offers great service! You get to talk with a real person. So if you have questions, you just dial a number and POW! there’s a live person BAM! on the line SMACK! waiting to help. (How'd you like the Batman reference?)

•     Lightning Source is cheap. A $75 set up fee and a $12 a year renewable print fee. That may sound like more than the $0 for Lulu and CreateSpace' $39 Advanced Distribution Channel. You'll have to buy your own ISBN, which can cost up to $125, or as little as $1, depends on how many you buy, but you will be the publisher. Period.

Listen, if you want to go indie, and go all the way, you have to think like a publisher...become a publisher and LEARN everything that goes with it. 

• You have do what they do. 
• Get Arc’s (advance reading copies) and send them out to reviewers. 
• You have to take your time and plan a blog tour, contests, giveaways! 

Publishing isn’t just about writing a book and having it magically appear on Amazon. There’s a reason the process takes 2 years in the Pub industry. Even if you publish an eBook, you should still take your time, get it edited, polish your cover and publicize and get reviews first.

If you think of self-publishing is a business, indie authors will always have a much leaner structure. You only have to report to yourself and your readers; you owe them that much. Anyway, you can get that book out their quickly, professionally, and with the same quality and wholesale policies as the big boys, but ONLY through Lightning Source.

I used Lightning Source with REUNION and it's only cost me about $100 to get my cover assembled. 


I used CS to get an initial proof of the interior and Cover art. They did a great job, but in the end, I’m going to publish more books (Act of Vengeance in October 2011), and I’d like to be professional and match publishers pricing, discounts and returnability. 


We indies have a stigma of poor quality to overcome. It’s time we take the bull by the horns, create our own destiny and do this right! 

The Mistakefree Zone!

"This is your life...Are you who you want to be?".

Ahhh... words beautifuly sung by Switchfoot. Followed by..."This is your life...is it everything you dreamed that it would be...?" I think I've struggled with those questions more than any other over the course of my adulthood. For the longest time I was constantly pushing..pushing for what I thought life was meant to be...what I thought I was supposed to get from life, work, relationships, only to find that I had not met my own expectations. Asking questions like the ones above may put your selfesteem at risk, if you (like me) have had such big expectations that you unknowingly have set yourself up for disappointment.

But, hold on a minute! Why be disappointed? What can possibly be disappointing about learning from our mistakes or having opportunities to grow? I've made some ginormous mistakes in my life. There are consequences, yes, but did I learn some ultramegalifelessons? You bet! I think the best we can do is to learn from our mistakes, work hard at changing the things that are broke in us and enjoy every experience as they come especially with our family and friends.

In fact, if I hadn't made said mistakes in my life; if I hadn't sunk to the deepest, darkest holes in Hell, I might not have started to write, to meditate with words, to escape into another world, where its just me and the story - a very mistake free zone.

How about you? How do you deal with screw ups? Does writing help? Is writing or reading your mistake-free zone?  Please comment vigorously. BOOM!

Mistakes I've made in Publishing

Like many indie authors, I've made mistakes... and I've payed for them, dearly.

I learned a lot about the book biz after publishing my first novel, Killing the Giants, with Outskirts Press in 2008-2009. Of course, I didn't really have a choice in the matter - I didn't know diddly squat to begin with. All in all, I payed about $1500 to get that gem of mine in print... and my left eye still shakes and jerks every time I think about it. Yeah, big mistakes have a way of creating new bodily ticks!

But why has that experience damaged my optical nervous system, you ask? Simple. I hadn't heard much about going indie and I didn't know anything about the Kindle at that point, and after a long, disappointing run with agents and publishers, I finally gave in to my impatientness. Besides, I wanted that book darn it! And I just knew the rest of the world did too!

So what did I learn about the "self-publishing" world that is so disappointing? Here's a list of some of the things I know now.

• Don't get in a hurry. This seems to be the second biggest mistake authors make, and self-publishing companies rush you through the process, because they want to publish as many books as possible. I rushed the whole process, even to the point of neglecting to get a professional edit. If you want your book to succeed, you have to take the time to get it edited, and plan for a longer pre-release schedule (more on that to come). Slow down and do this right.

• Only spend money on the essentials. No one should pay to publish when you can epublish for free. That sounds so simple, but it's true. The publishing world is changing so fast it just about makes my head spin, and so why would you want to invest your $$$ in publishing a print copy of your book, when technology in 2011 allows you to go online for free with Kindle/Smashwords publishing and/or Createspace/Lightening Source? You don't have to. All of these sites have excellent tutorials and customer forums that will help you format your interior and or provide you with names of people who will do it for you for next to nothing ($35-99). Good formatting is vital, but you don't have to sell off your body parts to get it done.

• ePublishing makes great training. If you are working on your first book, and have tried the agent/publisher routine, you should definitely take advantage of these low cost publishing options. Then as you grow your audience and your platform, you can spend more on cover, design etc.

• Cover art is massively over priced ($299-$599). Although the first step to getting someone to buy your book is through good cover art, I've learned to make pretty decent covers by using picnik.com and it has cost me $0. I've seen some book covers professionally designed and wanted to puke! I felt so bad that someone payed for junk. I did - it came with my "package". But now, all you need is a picture that fits with your book and lots of practice. Picnik.com has an array of cool tools that will make a good cover. You can always spend more later on your next masterpiece.

• Do pay for the most important things. If you are no good at cover design or formatting, you should pay for those things, including editing (the number one thing authors fail to do). They are that important.

• Don't pay for Amazon add-ons. I payed extra to get my book in the Kindle edition and to get the "Look inside" option. Duh! It is all FREE. I was too scared to investigate and figure out how to format my book, so I payed about $299 for those "services". Nuf, said. That was stupid. Lesson learned.

• Don't pay for reviews or a blog tour. I've sent out about 45 review/blog tour requests and to my surprise, the blogger/reviewers are graciously accepting to review my book AND do an interview/guest blog spot. This cost me zero, but would have cost at least $299 if had someone else arrange it. 

• Allow time for Reviews and a blog tour, because no amount of local media and local book signings will give you near as much exposure as a blog tour. The fact is, a good book signing will net maybe 5-10 book sales. You should do book signings and book release parties, but they are only good for building local hype, and will not help near as much as a blog tour where book buyers are waiting to hear specifically about your genre. Again, don't get in a hurry to publish...take your time and plan to get reviews before you publish. You can even use some of the review blurbs on the back cover! Here's a link to a long list of reviewers.

• Plan a release date. This is the number one way to get a major jolt in intial book sales. After all the reviews and guest blogging and Q & A sessions, you'll have a gazillion readers standing in line to buy your books. So why not have an online book signing/release party the day you release your book? You'll get a much better initial rating with a sudden leap in book sales, which will in turn, create more visibility through the ranking systems. The authors of Machine of Death accomplished this with great success. Of course the authors already had a following, but if you utilize a blog/review tour, you can do it too. Also you can use the same Press release site the self-publishing sites use to post a press release. They don't pay anything, why should you?

• Get Social Media. Get involved in Facebook and Twitter and blogging. Don't always talk about your book. Share other valuable information dealing with the content of your book or writing or reading, but get people to listen to you and just be yourself. People like buying from writers they know and trust.

Mainly, I've come to the conclusion that I can do almost everything I payed for, with more passion, greater attention to detail, and at or near zero cost (with the exception of time).  There are other things I've learned, but I think I've demonstrated enough of my stupididy for one day. My pride can only take so much abuse, you know.

But what about you? What have you learned that could help the unsuspecting  author ready to cash in his life savings to publish his or her latest and greatest masterpiece? Got any more ideas? Share them and comment vigorously! BOOM!

Sample Scene from REUNION

In honor of Twitter's #SampleSunday author promotion hash-tag thingy, I'm posting one of my favorite scenes from REUNION. I have already posted a link to the first two chapters in the previous post, so I wanted to add something different. Thanks for reading my #SampleSunday excerpt from REUNION.   

An Excerpt from REUNION. 
By me, Jeff Bennington, the dork in the profile pic!

.....David and his ramshackle vehicle were parked in the back of the school parking lot at 9:22 a.m. He stepped out of his car, walked toward the rear of the vehicle and carefully opened the dilapidated trunk. He lifted his duffle bag with a grunt and set it on the ground. After slamming the hatchback shut, he reached inside the car and pulled out his manifesto. Careful not to bend or disfigure the critical document, he painstakingly inserted the proclamation into a plastic zip-lock bag. With the paper securely in place, he fastened the bag to his shirt with four baby pins to protect the document from the spray and splatter of the massacre. He posted it on his chest to ensure that those who’d find him read the document.

Satisfied with his preparations, he pulled his black jacket over the holstered guns, threw the duffle bag strap over his shoulder and began to walk toward his destiny. Aware that he would be hated forever, he ignored the consequences. He looked straight ahead, took one last drag from his cigarette and flicked it to the ground.

As David walked across the pavement, a young mother led her son away from the school.

“Hurry up! We’re going to be late for the orthodontist,” she said as she pulled at his jacket.

The boy and the mother stared as David came closer. David sensed her distrust. That’s right, lady. Don’t trust the boy in black, he thought. He stared back at the woman and grinned a villainous smile.

As the mother and son approached him, David recalled a time when Sheila had taken him out of school for a court appearance when he was six. She had pulled and tugged at him too. The memory reminded him of how she grew desperate for stability and financial security, and eventually shacked up with John Ray. They married and he gave his name to David to serve as a reminder of his affection. Four years later, they divorced and Sheila pressed charges against John.

“Come on David! Hurry up!” Sheila had scolded her 6-year-old son, as she pulled him along.

“But I don’t wanna go. I hate him! I don’t ever want to see him again!”

“Listen baby; you gotta go. The court said you gotta be there and you gotta say what he done to you.”

“No!” he fired back. David pulled away from Sheila and ran into the playground. Sheila chased after him. She caught up with him at the jungle gym, grabbed his arm and yelled, “David! Stop it! Now listen to me. I done everything I could to take care of you. I done my best to find you a daddy and a father figure. I ain’t perfect! Ain’t no one perfect. But you gotta tell the judge everything, if you want John Ray to leave us alone. You gotta tell the judge where he touched you and what he done to you, and everything! I can’t do that for you, Baby!” Sheila wept and wiped her tears as she cried out, “I can’t help you this time! You gotta do it, boy.”

“But I’m scared, Mama.” David started to cry. “I’m scared he’s gonna get me again. I’m scared he’s gonna make me do those bad things or hurt you! What if they let him go, Mama? What if he kills me like he said he would? What if he comes back into my dreams again? What if—?” David collapsed into Sheila’s arms, crying as she held him tight. He trusted her. She kissed his little head.

Moments later, she pulled away, looking him square in the eye. David remembered her promise. “Listen, Davey. I love you more than anything in the whole world! You know that. And I ain’t ever gonna let anyone hurt you or me again, you hear me? You hear me, boy?” David nodded his head. “Ain’t nobody ever gonna do that to you again. If they try, they’re gonna have to kill me first, cause life just wouldn’t be worth livin’ knowin’ that someone touched you or hurt you again. Do you hear me, Davey?”

David heard her loud and clear. He told the whole truth and nothing but the truth that day in court. The jury convicted John Ray of several counts of child molestation, neglect and battery. Sadly, Sheila didn’t keep her promise to her son.

Returning to the moment, David stood in the parking lot, absent of all emotion, while the mother glared at him suspiciously. David looked at her and shrugged. “Better get the hell out of here, lady,” he said. “You and your boy.” 

She grabbed the boy’s hand and took off running toward her car. She don’t know shit, he mused. Probably thinks I’m gonna start a fight or something. He laughed and picked up his pace. He looked at his watch and thought, right on schedule. It was 9:28 a.m. He heard the woman’s car tear out of the parking lot, but kept looking straight ahead. By the time David stood in front of the glass entryway into the cafeteria, which also served as the school auditorium, he could hear sirens screaming in the distance. He grinned, growled and reached for the door.

REUNION By J. Benningto

Thanks for reading. REUNION will be available on May 1, 2011
            You can dowload it to your eReader on April 1st!   

             As always, I'd love to hear your comments! BOOM!

Final Cover design for REUNION.

Well, what do you think?

After all the votes came in, Cover #3 was the clear winner. I did, however, get lots of input, and made some changes. Here were some of your thoughts.

• Loose the tagline - I did.
• Try a different font - I did.
• Add some color - I did.
• Loose the "A Paranormal Thriller By..." - I did.
• Many of you liked the school building - I kept it, but added my own non-royalty paying picture that I took of a school in Kokomo, IN.
• Many of you liked a character that told you something about the story - I added one - my first born son. He modeled for me. He's not a killer. He's a very smart and creative young man and writes excellent fiction.
• Many of you liked the light emiting from the school - I kept it.
• Some of you told me to make sure the title and author name were clearly visible in a small thumbnail - I changed the font, put a space between each letter and got rid of the "The", which allowed more space for "R E U N I O N". I did the same with my name.

I listened to all of your input and came up with what I believe is a very good cover ( I know some people will not like it, but I can't please everybody). All I did was take a picture, upload it to picnik.com and started playing around with the different toys they have there. Unfortunately, I do not know the "recipe" that I used. I had to make way too many adjustments to repeat the process. After I was satisfied with the general concept and all the votes were in, I upgraded ($19.95) to the premium account and used a few more available tools, including the font. I probably spent about 30+ hours crafting concepts and nailing down the final.

Here's the final draft, followed by a few of the concepts that led up to it. Thank you all so, so much for your input and advice and compliments. I really don't think I'd come up with this without your help.

Here were a few of the preliminaries... And as promised, here is the Link to the first 2 chapters of REUNION (available on May 1st). And if you missed the post where I gave the synopsis and reason for writing it, I'll give a quick tagline to sum it up...

"Troubled teen kills eight and summuns the survivors for a reunion twenty years later - at the school."

Synopsis:
David Ray killed eight students and then turned the gun on himself. He thought the shooting and suicide would heal his pain. Instead, he changed Tanner Khan and the survivors forever. Twenty years later, Tanner and his fellow classmates agree to hold a class reunion. Although they all suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, they agree to reunite. When they get inside, they discover that Hell has come to collect a debt… and someone has to pay! 

Whoooo Are You?

Who are you? Really?

I know many of you would say that you are a writer if I asked what you are. And I would tell you the same if you were to ask me. At the core of my being, I am a right brained, creative type, who loves writing more than I could have ever imagined. Unfortunately, most writers, myself included, have a day job. We wake up, shower the night stink off our flesh and brush the bacteria out of our teeth like every other working stiff. We go to work, obey the man, gulp down a 5 hour energy drink or cup of Joe just to lubricate our brain, and then diligently slave away until our literary dreams have come true.

And yet...we somehow find the time, motivation, and the creative energy to write our story - maybe many stories depending on our circumstance, shuffling family, life and American Idol (can't wait to see Steve Tyler) into our shrinking schedules. Why I ask? Why do we do it? Shouldn't we be content with the work we have already chosen? Are our lives so pathetic that we write each new chapter just to cope, or as a means of escape? Maybe. Sometimes, I think my writing is somewhat fantisorical, although as frightenening as my prose can be, I'm not sure I could handle everything I throw at my little darlings. Afterall, they're not real - I am. And I don't like to get too dirty and I scare easily! (Uh, nevermind that last comment)

What really interests me though, is the face behind the authors mask. I mean, didn't everyone want to know who the Lone Ranger really was? What about Zoro? Didn't all of Me-heco want to know who the brave swordsman was hiding behing the black cloak? I did! And I still feel that way. I am still drawn to the story behind the author. I want to know what makes them tick, what their life is/was like, where they came from and where they got all their material. Admittedly, I am a sucker for a true story, and I love hearing that Mr. Poetwritesalot really works for the trash company, or that up and coming Author-X, is really a legal secretary finishing up her third courtroom thriller!

Although I'm at the risk of losing all credibility, I'll admit to having a long and dirty career working as a maintenance man, pipefitter and HVAC installer. I've worked on an assembly line, and ate transmission fluid on a daily basis just to get a paycheck. And through it all, my wife and I have been raising 4 kids, which as it turns out, is the hardest job of them all. Having said that, I can look back on my life and history and experiences and know that I can add something to my writing that no one else can. For example: in my political thriller Killing the Giants, I basically blow up a couple buildings using buried natural gas lines by adding a tiny bit of injected oxygen - a very dangerous, yet real weapon known mostly to men and women in the pipefitting trade. See? That is my experience. And it makes for a very dramatic ending if I do say so myself.

Now please, I beg of you; Please, oh please comment and tell me what you do. I know you're a writer or maybe a reader, but please tell me what your day job is, even if you are a 100% full-time writer or a janitor who works nights. Share your story and what your life brings to your writing and how it makes your work unique.

And while I'm on the subject of careers, I'd like to bring your attention to the upper right corner of your screen. Do you see the Thrill of the Week? This week, it is The Butcher's Boy, a career that, by the looks of the cover, can be quite deadly! What's the thrill of the week, you ask? It is a free book highlight that I am offering on a weekly/bi-weekly basis to writers (indie or published) who write in and around the thriller genre (And yes, I'm flexable). Why? Because we all need to cross promote and I want to set an example. Email me via my web page jeffbennington.com with a link and a jpeg and I'll get you on the schedule. BOOM!

P.S. Thank you for all the wonderful and encouraging comments on my forthcoming book cover for The Reunion. Cover #3 won by a long shot. I will tweak the final according to your input. I appreciate all of your votes!

Book Cover Selection

Cover #1

I am so excited to announce that I have a few book cover ideas for my soon to be released paranormal thriller, The Reunion. But I need your help in deciding which cover to go with. I took two covers that made it into my family's personal favorites, and then jazzed them up a bit. So if you would be so kind, please make your vote in the comment section below. To assist you, I have written a short blurb about The Reunion, and explain why I wrote it. With your input, I'm hoping to have the best possible cover.


Here's what you get...
If you vote, I will send you a free preview of The Reunion to help you get excited about the book and to start spreading the word about it via, twitter, facebook, and your blog. And perhaps, if you are willing, the cover and preview will excite you enough to write a blog review or even have me as a guest blogger at the time of its release!?!

Cover #2

The Reunion (Synopsis):
David Ray killed eight students and then turned the gun on himself. After years of abuse and peer ridicule, his inner demons had provoked him to fix his world. He thought the shooting and suicide would heal his pain – he was wrong. In a flash, he changed Tanner Khan and the other survivors forever.


Twenty years later, Tanner and his fellow classmates agree to hold a class reunion at the old school, and discover that their alma mater has a new ghost in its closet. Although they suffer from emotional numbness, panic attacks and flashbacks, the survivors all reluctantly agree to the reunion, and to revisiting their past. They are unaware, however, that the police are investigating a rash of paranormal activity surrounding the school.

Cover #3

After a welcome home reception hosted by the locals, Tanner and his classmates enter the haunted school to courageously face their fears. Within minutes, the doors lock and they find that David’s spirit is caught in a horrifying limbo between life and death. A strange turn of events ends David’s hell on earth when his demons take matters into their own hands. Hell has come to collect a debt… will Tanner and his friends survive? 

Why would I write such a bone chilling novel?
Have you ever wondered what will become of the students who have been traumatized by a school shooter? Have you ever wondered what the long-term effects of that trauma will have on the victims? How will their lives change? What are the consequences? Who will make the most of their journey? Who will not? Who will lose faith? Who will find it? 

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Will they ever be willing to face their demons and return to the place where they watched their friends and classmates suffer and die at the hand of a crazed and troubled teen? And finally, will the dead still be there, watching, waiting to finish what was started? These are the questions that swirled through my mind every time I’d hear of another school shooting. To the innocent lives that have been tragically snuffed out, long before their time, I offer this work of fiction in their honor. May you find peace in this broken world.

Thanks for visiting and voting. Please follow and comment rigorously. If you have any additional input or criticism, I am open to your ideas! BOOM! 

A Readers advice to Writers.

My guest blogger, Molly Campbell is going to share some great advice in just a second!


First a note of gratitude. I want to thank all my new and old followers for your support. I have been overwhelmed with your encouraging comments and Tweets about my blog here.  In fact, I was given the Stylish Blogger Award by author and poet, Jemima Valentino. If you are new, please "Follow" and "Share" The Writing Bomb with your family, friends and internet peeps. Thank you.

Molly Campbell

Now, back to business. I want to introduce you to a blogging friend of mine, Molly Campbell. She is the author of the blog, Life with the Campbells and is also a guest on Moms who need wine. Molly is a writer and an avid reader and has some great advide for writers. So if you want to test your writing skills against a checklist of reader requirements, this post is a must read. If you're a writer, comment and leave a link to your book. If you're a reader, please affirm Molly's thoughts and/or add your own thoughts as well.


Welcome, Molly (deafening applause fills the room)!


What advice can you give writers?


I am most certainly not a famous writer, but a writer I am. As a result of blogging, I have begun to get a few questions about writers and and writing that I do feel qualified to answer. So here goes: advice to writers from a writer who is not famous, not published, not represented by a literary agent, and probably not destined for greatness. But in the “you can learn something from just about anybody” school of life, here are my writing tips for aspiring authors:

• WRITE WHAT YOU KNOW. I know my husband better than anybody else. I can finish his sentences for him, and often do. I have spent forty years plumbing the depths of his wondrous mind, and I have discovered a writer’s gold mine there. I could no more write a treatise on the economy than win a Nobel prize, but I have found enough fodder in my husband to fuel blogs aplenty.

• KEEP IT SHORT. The best writers get an idea, and then say it. Period. A few great ones can throw in adjectives and adverbs that make their writing sing, but the rest of us hang ourselves by adding too many modifiers. It truly is the thought that counts, not how uniquely you can say it.

• MAKE IT COHESIVE. Get one good idea. Build a piece around IT. Too many ideas expressed in one place are confusing, confounding, and just plain muddy. Outlines are the greatest things since sliced bread! Figuring out what you want to say before you write makes writing flow. Or, as my small daughter said once, “I didn’t like that story. It didn’t have a skeleton.”

• GET GRAMMAR. Man, oh man, if I had a dollar for every punctuation error, misplaced modifier, or misused apostrophe I see, I would have my own butler. Good writers are understandable. Grammar is what makes the written word understandable. James Joyce and a few others could ignore it, but I think that grammar is a writer’s best friend!

• THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX. If it is a beautiful day out there, you can be sure that there are hundreds of would-be writers writing about the breeze, the rays hitting the daffodils, or the beauty of their children as they tumble in the park. On beautiful days, I see all the dog poop in the yard, my husband coming at me with a power washer, and an opportunity to acquire four new pairs of Capri pants. Don’t write about the obvious.

• PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE. All good writers write a lot. I pride myself on a grocery list well done. It doesn’t matter whether it is a note to the teacher, a letter to the editor, or an email to a friend. If you are going to write something, do it as well as you can. Then do it over. Writers write. It doesn’t matter, really, what you write, as long as you are practicing.

• EXPERIENCE MAKES THE WRITER. The layers of one’s life are what make a person interesting. Are you an adventurer? You are fortunate; you will have a lot to draw on as a writer. Are you housebound? No excuse; it didn’t stop Emily Dickinson. Are you just a kid? Well that is a whole world you can explore. I do feel that I have found my voice just recently as an older woman, but for me, life got in the way of my writing. Don’t let that happen to you.

• LEARN AS MUCH AS YOU CAN FROM PEOPLE. My husband is a man of a million questions. If you have a story, he will drag it out of you. Over the years, he has become friends with waitresses, plumbers, every neighbor in a five mile radius, and much to my chagrin, the people in the rows in front of and behind us at every movie we have attended. But what he uncovers are human truths. And those truths are worth writing about.

My fifteen minutes of fame may never come, or I might just get five minutes. But I am a writer. I love words. I make myself laugh. I just keep on typing. And my advice to all of you out there who want to be writers? Write something. Wait. Revise it. Wait. Revise it once again. Think about your life. Then repeat the process.  - Molly Campbell
   

Thanks Molly! Great Advice!          

****** If you are a writer or reader and would like to contribute to The Writing Bombarooskie, please email me at  j_bennington@hotmail.com or DM me at Twitter and tell me your topic idea (must have something to do with books, publishing, writing or reading. I am specifically interested in hearing from writers of suspense, thrillers, and the supernatural. BOOM!

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