eBookGuru.org

Most of the authors reading this blog have their book published in ebook format prior to getting into print and don’t even consider getting out there into the real world to promo. It is very important to get some face time with your readers and/or potential readers. So you need to get up, get out and talk, talk, talk.

You must get out there face to face and hand to hand to meet people. It is the real life person that is going to buy your book. Just like you aren’t the boogie man behind the computer that wrote that book, they are not the nameless face behind the credit card that brings you your royalty checks. I’m not sure about you, but I would be more likely to buy a book from someone I have met than from someone I have not.

Imagine this….You are a writer from Georgia, your book isn’t due out for several months, but there is a book fair or conference coming up in about 83 days. All you have to do is email a chairperson on some committee and you can have fifteen minutes of fame. Fifteen whole minutes to read a piece from your book. Guess what? Hundreds of people, who are now fans, have just heard your book and want more. Do you have business cards? Maybe some post cards with information about your old books on them? You web address? Anything? Come on, now’s the time!

Stop by your local library, let them know that you are a local writer and you would be interested in donating a copy of your book to their local authors collection. And while you’re there, would they mind if you did a book signing in the near future? You can do the same thing with local book stores. They enjoy having local authors in and showing that even people from your home town can make it. Now let’s say that your book has a scene in it that is set in a hair salon, would your local salon be interested in holding a book signing for you? Use the resources that are at hand. You never know what possible networking contacts you may come up with while you are at one of these face to face events. Until you are out there and are ready to catch the bug (possibly in the literal fashion, sniff sniff, can you pass me a tissue?) you may never know the extent to what you have passed by.

Local radio and TV stations love to do pieces on local artists. You could contact stations and see if they have a community section that would be interested in spotlighting a local writer. BUT BE PREPARED, most of these spots are taped EARLY in the morning. Trust me I have tried. And be prepared with every answer you could possibly think of to answer, because they will ask one that you are not prepared for. If possible, ask them for a list of questions ahead of time to prepare yourself mentally for the interview. The interview I did was over the phone and I was a wreck. I stuttered and stammered and couldn’t get the answer right to save my life, but it was a very early segment and I am sure only several thousand people heard me anyway. Nothing like listening to a blubbering idiot on your commute to work.

Remember the most important piece of information that I can possibly give you. The worse thing that someone can say to you is, “No.” You will not be out anything if they do, but you will have gained more confidence by getting out there and exposed yourself to one more line of questioning. You will have one more no behind your back and are one more no closer to a yes. When you receive your nos they may actually be accompanied by a “but”….and a compromise. So don’t give up, and keep plugging. Your writing deserves to be put out there and given just as much work that you put into the writing! Now Remember, Tomorrow Never Comes! So come back next week and see what you can do about it.

PS…..have to leave you with a few that my friend Kissa told me about as she was reading this for me before posting. When she is traveling, she leaves business cards with her tips. She leaves them in book stores on the shelves. (I think I personally would put them at the register, but that’s just me!) When she sends promo items to her readers she sends extras and asks them to pass them along to their friends. Thanks so much Kissa for sending those ideas along to share with my great readers!

Here’s another great eBook from best selling author Michael Webb. If you follow our site you will likely remember our review of his other eBook 1000 Question for Couples (a book that came highly recommended by us). Today I am reviewing another relationship book. It’s titled Getting Her Back, and as the title suggests it is a book for those who have a relationship in trouble. Specifically Getting Her Back is a book for the men in those relationships; and like the last book we reviewed by this author this one is also highly recommended.

Michael Webb is a relationship expert who has appeared on talk shows such as Oprah and Men are From Mars, and as an author he is beginning to build a huge name for himself in the world of relationship ebooks. Our feeling is that he’ll continue to build his name with his latest book, Getting Her Back.

The book itself comes as part of a download package that includes three eBooks:

• Getting Her Back - The main eBook that teaches you how to win your lover/wife/girlfriend back.
• Keep Your Marriage - A more general eBook in which Michael teaches some ideas on why a marriage goes astray and how to save it.
• 101 Romantic Ideas – An eBook that gives some unique ideas on romance. There are 101 different ideas, and most of them have a very unique spin to the regular romantic-ideas book.

The whole package costs $47, and like most of Michael Webb’s eBooks it comes with an 8 week money-back guarantee. Also like most of his books, this one isn’t available in bookstores and can only be purchased as the download package.

Getting Her Back – Synopsis

As you would expect from a book that teaches you how to fix a relationship, Getting Her Back walks through the steps and ideas needed to correct things where they’ve gone wrong. Where this book differs slightly though is in the way the material is presented.

If you’ve read many of these types of books, there is one area where most of them fail, and that is looking at both sides of the equation. Most fix-the-relationship books focus on things you can do to fix it now, and they forget to talk about the issues that need to be taken care of to keep the relationship together afterwards. In Getting Her Back, Michael Webb looks at both.

The book teaches you how to win her back, but it also covers many real issues that caused the relationship problems in the first place. It looks at your part in ruining the relationship, and talks about what needs to be done to correct it. All in all this is likely the best book that I’ve read on this particular topic, and from the few of Michael’s books that I have read I am beginning to see this as the norm for his work.

Getting Her Back – Excerpt

You’re not gonna like this one. But that doesn’t make it any less true. There’s a cynical saying among the brokenhearted of both genders: men are stupid, women are evil. Both sides of that proposition can be easily ascribed to when you’re in the middle of a relationship meltdown. And despite the socially unacceptable obviousness of why this can’t or shouldn’t be taken too seriously, or at least too literally, there is an interpretation based in truth: as a rule, men don’t inherently understand – or, Lord knows, observe – the physics of a successful relationship, while women sometimes resort to what must be acknowledged as manipulative ploys to keep things afloat, and – here’s the cynical part – get what they want. If that’s “evil,” so be it, because of the 50 percent of marriages that actually endure, and of the half of those that actually work, the vast majority of the credit goes to the women who are able to show their men how it works.

Ask yourself this question: of all the relationships in the field of vision of your life that have hit the rocks in one way or another, how many of those issues can, at the end of the day, be blamed on the woman? Which partner, at the core of everything, was really the weak link, the causal diminishing factor, in that relationship?

There you go. It’s about 10 to 1 men as the schmucks. Because it’s the behavior and lack of character of men that kill off the hope in their women.

Quick link – Get Your Copy of Getting Her Back by Clicking Here

Today I am reviewing a book by Ashley Ryan. The book is titled Mis-Behavior to Great Behavior – 20 Days to a New Child, and it is likely one of the best parenting books I have ever read (and I read a lot for those of you who don’t know me well). The book is the main element in the complete down-loadable package sold on the Mis-Behavior to Great Behavior site.

The entire package includes many bonus eBooks: 7 Alternatives to Punishment eBook, How to Raise a Happy Cooperative Child Videos, The Formula Solving Behavior Problems videos, etc. As a package the book with the bonuses is well worth the money, but it’s the book itself that I want to talk about today.

Misbehavior to Great Behavior by Ashley Ryan

Given that Ashley Ryan is a professional parenting coach, I did expect this book to be a good one right from the start. I must say that I wasn’t at all disappointed. The book is great.

In Mis-Behavior to Great Behavior you will learn ideas like:

• How to reduce tantrums and make outings more fun
• How to get your child to co-operate without punishment
• How to reduce the amount of times you have to say no and still have your child follow the rules
• How to stop behavioral problems like child aggression
• Much more..

The book doesn’t stop with ideas related to children though. It also walks you through becoming a confident, loving parent, and teaches you how to be in control without the need to yell or punish your child all the time. It’s really the book that will teach you how to be a better parent, and how to bring love back into your home and keep the anger and aggression out of the equation (on both the child and parents part).

Ashley Ryan’s book is easy to read, includes some great bonus material, and is coming highly recommended from me. The book comes with an 8-week money-back guarantee, so in this case you don’t even need to take my word for it. Buy the book and see for yourself.

Get Misbehavior to Great Behavior by Ashley Ryan by Clicking Here

Be sure to subscribe to our RSS feed, we have more great eBooks to come throughout the month of April. You can subscribe in an RSS reader using the link provide, or by email at the top of this site (to get site updates right in your inbox).

Here’s a book that those who read horror won’t want to miss. The book is called Thirst of Youth, it’s written by Preston J. Sexton, and it will be available from Rogue Pheonix Press on April 01st, 2009. I am recommending this one to anyone who enjoys this genre.

Thirst of Youth is a vampire novel, but with a very unique twist – the vampires aren’t actually vampires at all (if you want to understand you’ll have to read the book). The book tells the story of Justin Browser, a young man trying to escape the mundane life of central Oregon. Upon moving out to L.A. he is presented with a whole new, quite horrific, world where he is forced to fight against a new evil he discovers.

The whole book is an excellent keep-you-on-the-edge-of-your-seat novel, and I am recommending it to anyone who enjoys a good horror book. It’s is an action packed thrill-ride that will keep you reading and wanting more.

Thirst of Youth will be available on April 01, from the Rogue Pheonix Press site. You can bookmark their site, or just subscribe to our RSS feed – I will be announcing the official release of this particular eBook.

An Excerpt from Thirst of Youth:

Sarah and the kids flinched at the first sound of gunfire. They moved quickly toward the end of the building. Sarah scanned the open space for a pay phone.

The Uzi’s rattled off round after round with little pause between them. Metal shards sliced the night air anticipating the collision with the angry vamptilians flesh. All three women caught the searing pressure at once. Camille took one shot off her left shin, another spread a hole in the flesh of her right hand. She was livid.

Now that his strengths were like theirs, it would be more difficult to attack through the rapid succession of bullets. Camille jumped from the van, leaving her cousins to be shredded. She disappeared into the dark sky, wounded, and plotting her revenge. Ming and Nicki were heavy with molten shrapnel. The 9mm cartridges rained from the ejection port. Ming’s arms and face looked like ground beef. Thick blood streamed down her cheek. Her right eye had exploded in its socket. The dying beast gave one last gargling hiss–fell to her knees and then her belly.

Nicki cried out like a wounded animal. Fingers were missing from both her hands. Chucks of muscle tore from her arms, thighs, and abdomen.

Justin kicked his right leg over the motorcycle as he continued unleashing bullets from the guns. Once free from the bike, he walked closer to the helpless vamptilians. He turned both pistols on Nicki. The violent barrage of ammunition tore into her skull. Fragments of brain matter and bone splashed onto the cement and the van behind her. She remained on her feet, although the glaze in her dark eyes was completely devoid of life. By the time Justin had calmed his tensed index fingers, the entire upper crust of Nicki’s skull was gone. She fell to the earth.

Update September 27th 2009: After reviewing the newest guide to alternative energy Green Power Easy, I am now recommending that as the #1 guide to alternative energy. You can read my Green Power Easy Review, or You can read John O’Ryans Green Power Easy Review to confirm that it is the new top guide to alternative energy.

Today I am reviewing an eBook that I think anyone interested in a greener world should read. The book is called Earth 4 Energy, and it isn’t just an eBook it is a package that teaches you how to take your home off the grid. That is, it walks you step-by-step through converting your home to power generated by the sun or by the wind. This one was written and designed by Michael Harvey, and I am recommending to anyone who is interested in going green.

The whole package includes an eBook, a video learning series that takes you step-by-step through building windmills and solar panels, and diagrams to help you put it all together. Buying this one will set you back about $49.97, but in my opinion it’s well worth its cost.

The book and videos basically teach you how to build your own windmill, and how to build solar panels for your home. It walks you through all of the steps needed to convert your home to off-grid power, and it teaches you how to do it for a fraction of the cost that it would to get the same work done professionally.

This is actually one topic that I am quite knowledgeable about, and I think the world needs this book/video series.

There is one main reason that most people never consider switching their homes to alternative power, and that reason is price. To have a professional come out and install solar panels, or to buy a commercial windmill the costs can be astronomical ($10,000 to $50,000 the last time I looked into it). With the Earth 4 Energy program cost becomes less of a factor.

Michael Harvey makes the focus of this package on converting your home cheaply. He teaches you how to build solar panels and windmills out of parts that are mostly available in your local hardware store. He gives you ways to get deep cycle batteries to store energy for free. He even walks you through how to create portable solar panels that you can take with you camping or anywhere else. If you follow this guide you will be able to switch your power-consumption over to a greener alternative and you won’t have to spend $10,000 to do it!

I’m personally big on going green, and I am highly recommending this e-book/video series to anyone else who feels the same.

Quick link: Buy your copy from the Earth 4 Energy Site

Update March 12: After reviewing this one I began getting some traffic for people looking for Energy 4 Green. I have also requested and reviewed that eBook Package here: Energy 4 Green Review

After an extended holiday over the Christmas season I just wanted to take a moment to update you of things to come. I have personally reviewed some books from big name marketers over the past few months but it seems I have some great stuff to come as well. I just wanted to take a moment to update everyone who keeps coming back for my take on things.

You may remember my reviews on the latest edition of Blogging to the Bank, the Money Making Kindle Program (which oddly enough is no longer by the same author as it was when I reviewed it). Possibly you come seeking more of the relationship books like Save the Marriage, or The Magic of Making Up. If it is those types of information products you come to our site seeking, you won’t be disappointed. Just take a look at what’s to come:

The Rick Jerk Review

The Rich Jerk – From the looks of this one initially, it is an affiliate marketing program but one with a difference. It looks like one that really works. My initial thoughts are that this will be an excellent review, but I must say this guy has the weirdest marketing program I’ve ever seen. Who would have thought that a sales page that states “I’m a jerk, and I’m better than you” could make it into the top ten products in the Click Bank marketplace.

To give you an idea of how this guy chose to sell his product, just look at his ad banner:

Here’s another:

Really, if that isn’t the oddest sales program I’ve ever come across, then I don’t know what is. Apparently it works though because this one is in the top 1% of all of the 10,000 products sold through Click Bank!

The Master Cleanse Weight Loss and Detox System

Another review you won’t want to miss is my review of the Master Cleanse Weight Loss system. This is another top seller within the Click Bank marketplace, and I’m personally quite excited about being given the chance to review this one (I’ll likely use the advice that is given). My initial thoughts (without having looked at more than the first few pages) are that this one will also be a product that you won’t want to miss.

Even More

I’ve got some new products to review as well. Some of these are money-making eBooks that you won’t want to miss. I’ll keep these ones a secret until the reviews are posted. Trevas has also asked me to re-review the Runner’s Yoga System. With his initial review, it sounds well worth it’s cost, but I’ll be glad to add my own perspective. Be sure to subscribe to our RSS feed so that you don’t miss the upcoming review from my side of the world of eBooks.

Wishing You All the Best,

Clarice

If you follow our site, then you likely remember my article on e-Publishing. After writing that article, which featured Champagne Books, I decided to grab some books from Champagne’s store for future review on our site.Two of the books that I wanted to read are by Ciara Gold, and are part of the Dragon Series. Today I am reviewing the first of that series, Celestial Dragon.

Celestial Dragon is a cross-genre eBook. In the champagne store it is listed under Sci-Fi, but personally I would consider it Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Romance.

Before I get to my thoughts on the book, let me first say that this particular eBook is an excellent reminder of the reason that I love eBooks in the first place.

Traditional publishers tend to shy away from cross-genre work unless it is from author’s with a well established fan base. With the recent struggles within that industry, they’ve further isolated themselves by generally only taking on books from big-name authors. They’re busy looking for that sure-thing. While those traditional publishers have been struggling to restructure, and find re-define their own market, eBooks are taking a serious foothold in the world of literature.

It’s books like Celestial Dragon that clearly show why!

Print publishers are busy twiddling their thumbs waiting for the sure-thing, while smaller e-Publishers are turning out excellent books like Celestial Dragon.This book is a prime example of why I love eBooks, and also a prime example of why eBooks will continue to chip away at the print marketplace.

I’ve read and reviewed some books from big name authors in the past couple months. If you read through my reviews, I’ve posted my thoughts on books from the likes of Terry Brooks, George R.R. Martin, and Mercedes Lackey. Here’s the thing though – Ciara Gold’s Celestial Dragon blows all of them away as far as reading enjoyment is concerned.

From the second page on I was hooked. I was drawn into the story, and not only was I prompted to read the book through in one sitting (as an avid read I do often do that if I find a good book), I also bought the next book in the series the next day. Really, the only thing that disappointed me is that there isn’t yet a third and fourth book in the series!

In this case I’m not going to give away the storyline. If you use the link to Champagne below, it describes the book and gives an excerpt. What I will say though – if you enjoy a good fantasy, sci-fi, or romance book – you won’t want to miss this book. The book includes elements of all three and I believe it would appeal to anyone who reads any of those genres. Personally, I will mark this one down as one of the best sci-fi/fantasy books I’ve ever read, period!

Quicklinks

Get the Celestial Dragon in multiple eBook formats from Champagne’s Store

Get Celestial Dragon in Kindle Format for your Kindle

Buy Celestial Dragon in Paperback

If your new to our site, be sure to subscribe to our RSS feed. At this very moment, I’ve got 7 great eBooks on my Blackberry that I will read and review here this month. One of them is the follow up to this book (with the next one I might even review the book instead of ranting about the publishing industry).

For anyone who enjoys the horror genre, they won’t want to miss Joan De La Haye’s latest eBook. Shadows is the latest from Rebel Publishers, and is currently available from the MobiPocket store.

Shadows tells Sarah’s story. The main character is struggling with her father’s recent suicide, dealing with a cheating boyfriend, and at the same time wondering if she is losing here mind. After eventually stabbing her boyfriend and falling into a catatonic state, Sarah is admitted to a mental hospital where must face her demons.

The book contains elements of the supernatural, and deals with many appropriately horrific issues (rape, suicide, incest), and is a genuinely good read. The characters are all well rounded, and many of them are characters you will love to hate. As you make your way through Joan’s book you can expect to be drawn right in, and you’ll find yourself constantly looking for what happens next.

The book includes all of the right elements to make it a great horror novel: suspense, great characters, disturbing issues, and even throws in a bit of the supernatural. If you’ve been looking for your next “scary” book, I am definitely recommending Shadows by Joan De La Haye. I will be watching for the next book from this great new eBook author.

A Short Excerpt from Shadows

She couldn’t help but wonder what her punishment would be now that her uncle was no longer there to punish her. Would it be eternal damnation? That had always been her mother’s punishment of choice. Or would it be a slow, bloody end? Keys rattled in the door interrupting her thoughts. She heard their voices as they came in the door. Then she realised what her punishment was.

It was Kevin. Kevin’s happiness, short lived though it would be, was her punishment. But her reward would be sweet, as sweet as revenge could be.

Quick link: Get Shadows from the MobiPocket Store

Not normally a reader of poetry, I was pleasantly surprised when I read David Barber’s latest eBook. The book is titled Where the Fenceline Runs, and includes a good number of poems by my now favorite poet.

The simple reality is that good poetry is rare. Sure you can find lots of decent poems related to love, loss, etc, but poetry related to all topics in life (that actually makes you stop and think) is hard to find.

In the eBook Where the Fenceline runs, good poetry is exactly what you’ll find. Dave doesn’t follow one style, or cover one topic, rather this collection of poems deals with many aspects of life, and almost all of them will move you and/or make you think. Poems like For some reason, Horizons, Kingdoms, and Keepers truly convey feeling, and they really make you stop and consider.

For anyone who enjoys a good poem, I am highly recommending this eBook. The book contains close to 100 poems, and at $6.39 for the Kindle book, it is a great investment in excellent reading material. The book is also available in paperback, and I have included links to both at the bottom of this review.

An Excerpt from Where the Fenceline Runs:

How Many Surfaces?

Now the drop has become one,

World’s larger -

Reflecting the surface only

A greater freedom in the new

Union or just the same.

Reflections are backwards

My face in the drop Is upside down

Distorted and stretched

Into a new place

Self sees the day

Ended in evaporation

Surface is gone – for now

Dried into the next time

I’m wondering about the next time.

Quicklinks -

Get David Barbers eBook in Kindle Format: Where The Fenceline Runs (Kindle Format – Will also work on MobiPocket software)

also available in paperback: Where The Fenceline Runs (Paperback)

Check out David Barber’s Fine Poetry Blog (finepoetry.wordpress.com)

It’s very likely that you’ve heard of the Law of Attraction. It’s a basic concept that says that you attract into your life whatever it is you think about. Moreover it says that by changing your viewpoint you can change your world. Personally I put some credence to the concept, but I haven’t made it a big part of my own life. After working the course “The 11 Forgotten Laws” by Bob Proctor though, I will definitely be giving into the concept a little more.

The 11 Forgotten Laws, doesn’t really teach the Law of Attraction by itself, as many success building programs do. Instead it goes through the other 11 laws that you will need to make that first law truth in your own life. Best of all with this particular eLearning course, it is written by someone who has built an empire out of teaching these concepts. Literally thousands of business people each year attend courses by Bob Proctor. Businesses hire him, conventions pay him huge sums of money to speak for thirty seconds, and in the world of business his knowledge is definitely sought after.

To get Bob Proctor to speak at your convention would likely cost you thousands. To get his entire eLearning package though won’t even cost you $100. At $97 this package is likely at the higher end of the price scale for products we review, but the course is huge.

The 11 Forgotten Laws Includes:

• 95 Audio Lessons
• Online E-Learning Course
• Working with the Law eBook
• Audio Transcripts (of all 95 tracks)
• The Prosperity Program (Audio Course
• Manifest Like a Millionaire eBook
• Centering Exercise Audio Track
• Membership to Finer Minds

In other words the course comes with more material than three of four of the eBook packages that we would regularly review. When you begin to get into the course, what you get is a whole new way of thinking. Using ideas like The Law of Receiving, The Law of Increase, and the Law of Non-Resistance, the program takes you through the steps you need to begin to build your own success.

The reality is that what often holds us back from getting what we want is our own minds, when you are finished this program you will no longer be a party to the “counter-success” mentality. You will learn what it takes to think like a winner, and in turn become one. I likely would have recommended this one just because of who taught the course, but after going through the material myself. I am recommending this program to anyone. It will help you on your road to success no matter what you do!

Quick link: Get the Entire Forgotten Laws Course by Clicking Here