Showing posts with label free. Show all posts
Showing posts with label free. Show all posts

Gary S. Roen Book Critic Welcomes Books to Review


  Gary S. Roen, Nationally Syndicated Book Critic Welcomes Books to Review

Roen is a book reviewer with 47 years of experience in the publishing world. He began by working for a family-owned publishing company. He is an author of several books, including Cats Cats and More CatsJourneySlotski’s World, The Forgotten Father Coping with Grief, and Look at Me World. He writes short stories of science fiction that are receiving very positive feedback. He is always working on some new writing pieces and having fun with them. He has spoken at author and science fiction groups and conventions. He teaches authors as a consultant.

Be Professional Always: Roen’s General Advice for Working with Publishers and Reviewers

What is essential for authors to know when corresponding with publishers and reviewers?

How should a press person, an agent, bookseller, or anyone else you contact your book, no matter what genre, be approached? Roen states that often the writer does not treat this as a business and is too casual in email. He says several blunders can have an author’s email tossed into delete. Let’s say this is an article, book, or book review you are pitching to an editor, so use their name and their title. Then proceed with the body of your message. It amazes him that people do not take a second or two more to do this carefully. Writing is a profession that warrants that it be treated as such.

Each book shared with the press should also have press a release included. Contact information or a letter from someone representing the title introducing the media to someone affiliated with the sent material is required.

Self-published Books Should Appear Professional

Roen has witnessed many well-done self-published titles that were hard to tell if they were professional or not. Unfortunately, recently, others submitted to him he has deemed not worthy of his time because of their poor presentation.

Let’s begin with the cover. It has to grab your attention front, side and back. One book had a title almost the same color as the background, making it difficult to read. The side binding had no identification and was just black and, on the back, a confusing picture. It is annoying for any press person to have to figure out the price of the book if one is not displayed.

On the copyright page, the year of the work should be listed. Sometimes a book has no about the author page. There may be no contact information. People forget the press person has to have some way to let the person know there has been attention for the work in question. Be sure to include front and back matter pages if self-publishing.

What to Do When Asking Gary Roen for a Book Review (Please follow directions)

Roen does welcome authors to connect and submit books for his free reviews. He accepts all genres from publishers, authors, and PR firms. Meeting authors at events like Fandom Kissimmee, Oasis, and Necronomicon Science Fiction conventions, or library events to promote reading and authors are a few of the things he enjoys. He prefers not to review romance or religious books. He reviews most but not all of the books he receives. There may be a time lag, so be patient, and also realize he writes for newspapers and magazines. He does not review books on Amazon due to their continually changing rules.

Please do not go to Roen’s house and hand him a book. That gets an instant rejection. Surprisingly people have done so. Contact him and ask where to send a book for review. 

One particular thing to know if contacting Roen for a book review is that he loves the smell of a new book. Only hardcopies, meaning paperback or hardcover books, will do. He does not read on e-readers, so no PDFs or eBooks at all. They do not pass the new book “sniff” test! 

Where Are Some of Your Book Reviews Published?

“My reviews have been running for a long time in different publications throughout the nation, that includes Midwestbookreview.com, bUnike Magazine, Lake Legal NewsHernando StarVeterans Voice and Bivouac Magazine to name a few.”

Why Do You Review Books?


“I love reading and fell into it many years ago when I was on WPRK in Winter Park, Florida. I did the show with Patty Flanigan of WDBO. To expand the listenership, we branched out to include print as a way to promote the show. Later we dissolved everything, but I kept doing print reviews that have continued to this day.”

He may be contacted through Twitter at @bearbeatle or LinkedIn accounts or

www.legacypublishing.com 

Gary Roen’s books may be found at:

 Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Thank you for reading, and we hope you find many reviewers for your books!

Carolyn Wilhelm, Wise Owl Factory

Gary S. Roen, Nationally Syndicated Book Critic Welcomes Books to Review

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26 Reasons a Writer Should Blog - Part 2



Do you really need to blog?


We're looking at 26 reasons why the answer to that question is a resounding

Yes!

There's nothing worse than facing a blank screen with a deadline. 


"The post is due up in one hour's time and I have no idea what to write about!" 


Ever been there? I have. Often. 

Hopefully, never again. I've learned to plan in advance. Let's move on to our next four reasons for writers to blog so you can learn this too. 



4.      D is for Decision

  • Decide on a theme for a series of blog posts. Decide how often you will post. This allows you to plan ahead. This also teaches you to look forward to what comes next in your writing journey. 
  • Decide on ways to make your posts multitaskUse your posts in other ways. For example, are you a devotional writer? I am responsible for the Friday Devotional slot on the International Christian Fiction Writers (ICFW). I also send out a devotional email, Closer Walk with God, to all who sign up for a weekly message of encouragement. After writing the series of 26 posts for the Out of Africa Blogging Challenge, I was able to produce 20 devotional messages from the contents of the blog posts in record time. These are already scheduled for both the above markets. Are you writing a novel? Decide how you can make your blog "work for you" as you explore your locations* or get to know your characters. 
  • Decide on whether you can first explore a topic via a blog. Perhaps you want to write a book or an article on the topic. By first writing a series of blog posts, you will see how much material you have, how well your ideas work out, and what potential the material has for further use.   

5.      E is for Enthusiasm

  • Remember when writing was fun? It can be fun again. I’ll be honest, my blog have been sorely neglected. There is always something more urgent demanding my attention. Do I hear an Amen? Once you have a clear goal in mind and you've decided what you're going to write about, you will find yourself growing in enthusiasm.
      
  • Let your mind play with ideas. While working on the A to Z theme for of Out of Africa, I found myself constantly thinking over what I could say for the different letters. Should O be about the Ostrich or the Okavango? (Ostrich won!) P? Should that be Penguin or Port Elizabeth? (Port Elizabeth it was.) When you allow your mind to play, your regular posting will rekindle your enthusiasm for writing for the sheer joy of being able to express yourself in words.
  • Let your fingers do the talking! Forget about editing. Ignore grammar rules. Don't worry about spelling. Just get those words down. Be enthusiastic about what you want to say. After you've finished, time to call in the grammar police and the rest of the gang. Edit your work and make it fit for human consumption. 


6.     F is for Free

  • It costs you nothing to blog apart from your time. Various sites offer you free blogging facilities. Writers on the Move is hosted on Blogger.com which is totally free and offers bloggers a wide variety of resources. Not only is blogging free for the writer, it is also free for the reader. 
  • You are free to choose your topic. Thinking of writing a book? Try it out by drafting some chapter summaries, one per post. How about adding some personal anecdotes? Are you planning to start a new novel? How about blogging about your characters? for example, Marion Ueckermann's character, Adam Carter from Helsinki Sunrise, is interviewed by another author, Heidi McCahan on her blog. This offered free promotion to the book to Heidi McCahan's readers*, as well as a link to Marion's own blog. 
  • Readers are free to share their thoughts. End each post with a question that encourages them to respond to what you have written. If you're planning on using the material in some other way, their input may prove invaluable. This also helps them to identify with your material.


7.     G is for Google 

  • Google search engines start to find you when you blog regularly. They will share your material with the world. Your ranking will go up and more people will come and visit. As a writer, your name will become better known, as will your books.
  • Visitors will be drawn into other topics on your blog or website. My blog is built in such a way that every post I publish is also filed under whichever categories I want it to appear. Where blog posts tend to disappear into the archives, mine are always available to readers who look under the relevant topic. If you don't have this facility, you can add links down the side of your blog (see this site as an example).   
  • It’s easy to attract visitors to other articles on your blog through linking to articles in your archives. Use sub-headers and optimization to attract Google. (More on these topics later.) The more readers come across your name, the more interested they will become in you and your work. 

Can you think of ways you can use your blog material in other ways? Share them in a comment below. 

MORE ON THIS TOPIC: 

26 Reasons to blog - part 1: A - C
* Read the interview of Adam Carter, hero of Marion Ueckermann's Helsinki Sunrise
* Explore Finland, location of Marion Ueckermann's Helsinki Sunrise, in this blog post written for a blogging challenge.
Write More Often - Blog Faster

SHIRLEY CORDER lives on the coast in South Africa with her husband, Rob. Her book, Strength Renewed: Meditations for your Journey through Breast Cancer, has brought encouragement and inspiration to a multitude of friends and contacts across the world.

Visit Shirley through ShirleyCorder.com/?blog where she encourages writers, or at RiseAndSoar.com where she encourages those in the cancer valley. You can also meet with her on Twitter or Facebook.


Sign up to receive a short devotional message from Shirley in your inbox once a week. 

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