It Never Gets Old

Almost 11 years ago, we started Echelon Press. It was a huge endeavor and there were times I honestly thought it would die a horrible death, but thanks to the support of many wonderful authors, we have continued to grow. When the company began, we had no authors and nothing to publish. So we did what any desperate small publisher would do–we published our own stuff.

The first book published by Echelon Press back then was my novel, Lost and Found. It was a fun novel to write and over the years I’ve never tired of reading it again myself. It’s one of my favorites. Well, the original cover (my own fault for demanding that design) was not so good and I’m pretty sure that’s why the sales were abysmal. So I left it in eBook format and took the print version down.

All these years later, I decided it was just too good to not have out there for all the world to read. So after many rounds of editing…I hate being edited…it was reissued in an updated eBook format. Several months later, and more rounds of editing…does that shit never end?…I have finally received copies of the new print version of Lost and Found.

Now, you can go and buy the eBook at all kinds of online retailers, and you can go and buy it at Amazon in print.

But wait! There is another option. You can get your very own personally signed copy directly from me. That’s right. Send $15.00 via Paypal to echelonpress@gmail.com with your mailing address and I’ll sign and send you a copy. How damn cool is that?

They make great gifts for the romance novel reader in your life and Valentine’s Day is just around the corner.

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The Wrong Guy (Guest Blog: Claudia Whitsitt)

On a sunny afternoon about four years ago, I plopped myself on a sandy beach in La Jolla, California and played what if. What if I wrote a book about a turning point? What if I added mystery and suspense? What if I connected it to an event in my own life that I could access in the blink of an eye?

Many years ago, I attended Eastern Michigan University on the heels of the arrest of John Norman Collins, the chief suspect of The Michigan Murders. He was accused of murdering seven college co-eds at my university. Life was scary enough for a college freshman then—the Detroit Riots had shocked my neighborhood two years previous, the Vietnam War loomed in the background, and I was a frightened, naïve Catholic girl. Though the memories of these events, and the creative joy of fiction, The Wrong Guy was born.

The main character, Katie Hayes, is a lot like me, except prettier, and taller. She heads off to school armed with her rosary and her Nancy Drew mysteries. Her best friend, Janie, is the carbon copy of my college roommate—wild and crazy. Enter crisis and mystery. One girl is assaulted, another kidnapped. Even though the cops have the likely suspect behind bars, no one can help but wonder if they haven’t apprehended The Wrong Guy.

I had a ton of fun writing this coming of age mystery. I hope you have a ton of fun reading it.

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Claudia Whitsitt, a seasoned special education teacher and the mother of five grown children, is a Michigan native and lover of both reading and writing. As a young girl, she was inspired by Nancy Drew mysteries. Her passion for mystery spurred the penning of her own mystery, The Wrong Guy, loosely based on her college years and the Michigan Murders. Claudia began her writing career five years ago. During that time, she has written two additional novels, Identity Issues, and Two of Me. Claudia was honored to have won the 2010 Hummingbird Review/Southern California Writer’s Conference contest with her essay, One Last Pearl. The essay appeared in the Summer/Fall edition of the Hummingbird Review. Claudia can be reached through her website, www.claudiawhitsitt.com.

Connie Hullander – Author of Snowstorm

My début novel, Snowstorm, has recently been released as an e-book by Echelon Press. Although it has taken a few years to arrive at this point, I still haven’t quite gotten used to calling myself an author.

During the last couple of weeks I couldn’t help thinking about attending a writers’ conference a few years ago. I’d already written a first draft of the book, but then I seem to always do things the hard way. (I really wish I’d stop that.) In the conference workshops, I heard authors, editors, and agents characterize writers in various ways. Someone said writers are artists who just want to close themselves up in a room and create in solitude. Another facilitator commented that people who write for a living secretly want to change the world. In a third workshop, a book editor stated the first book often reflects the author’s passions.

Snowstorm is indeed the result of one of my passions: teenagers. I have been a teacher in both high school and college, and what I love about teaching is the students themselves. Then, there’s the fact my husband is a psychologist who worked with teens for nearly twenty years. Combine my interest in adolescents with an understanding of how perfectly good children turn into angry teens and I developed, as the editor put it, a passion for troubled kids. But I know my limitations. I could not do the kind of work my husband did, so instead, I wrote a book about one of those prickly teenageers.

The story follows the struggle of a sixteen year-old girl named Carly, who is dealing with challenges common to lots of kids today. The reader get a view into Carly’s inner thoughts as she makes tough decisions about who she will be.

So how close were the characteristics described by the workshop leaders? I’ll give them the passion part – I did go there to craft my tale. As to the “artist” description, I can’t say I think of myself that way, but working in a basement room alone is certainly true. Finally, I don’t want to change the world. Nope, but I wouldn’t mind doing some good for just one kid, and maybe that’s good enough.

Connie Hullander was born and raised in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Through teaching in both high school and college, she gained an understanding of young adults and the challenges faced by so many of them. Currently she lives with her husband in South Carolina and is employed as an instructor at a technical college. Previously published works have included short stories for the annual anthology of the South Carolina Writers Workshop. Snowstorm is her first novel.

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Reviews? Really?

Okay, another hot button for readers. I keep hearing how important reviews are when deciding what books to buy. How true is this?

As an author, I can tell you readers how difficult it is to get anyone to review a book or short story unless you have been published by one of the big 6 publishers in NY or have made it onto a best seller list.

How is a new author supposed to get the ball rolling when they hear the same thing every time they ask for a review. “We don’t review every book that is submitted.” What that really means is, “We have never heard of you so we aren’t going to waste our time.”

As a publisher, I have submitted hundreds of books to reviewers that have gone ignored. This is a HUGE expense to us as a business. I have queried so many Bloggers and reviewers and most of the time I get rejected. I have even offered FREE downloads to anyone who would read them, those have also been rejected.

So, whose reviews are most valuable? Whose opinion is the right one? What makes a good reviewer? Why don’t more readers post reveiws if they find them so important in their selection process?

I’ve got a new novella out and would love to get some reviews. Anyone want to review it? You can get more info at OmniLit.com

Jaded Visions by T.L. Jones

Ran across a book that looks interesting. I will have to seek it out and see if it is as good as it looks. Maybe you should buy it and in a while we can meet back here and discuss it? Who’s in for a Publisher Book Club??

JADED VISIONS

Seeing is Believing, Believing is Knowing!

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In the new explosive thriller by T. L. Jones, Jade Hamilton is barely staying one step ahead of a ruthless killer. Paranormal visions have been a part of her life since she was ten, this time her visions put her in the middle of a murder. Jade has to keep six year old Emmie Linderhoff safe from this killer, as well as, keeping herself out of jail for kidnapping.

Jade runs with the child after the girl’s parents are murdered and along the way she meets St. Joseph’s most eligible bachelor, Detective Ryan Douglas. Ryan, along with his partner, try to help Jade solve this case before another murder occurs. As they become more involved in the case, they begin to realize that their feelings for each other are growing as quickly as the fear that they won’t find the killer in time!

In this exciting, on the edge of your seat thriller, join Jade Hamilton, Emmie Linderhoff, and Ryan Douglas in a run-for-your-life mystery filled with lots of twists and turns.

Why I do this!

There are days when I can’t help but wonder why I do this. Don’t get me wrong, but I love publishing. I love everything about books. I have for as long as I have actual memories. As a child I didn’t care about toys or clothes, I craved books. Still do, in any form I can get them in.

But then there are days like today. I am trying to learn how to format our titles for ePub, you know, the new “standard” eBook format. This is no easy task. There are so many details that I have to watch for and then after an hour or three of tweaking, I load it up to view it and there is one stinking line that just isn’t right. But I can’t just leave it because this is a business and I have to give the best possible product, so I spend another 45 minutes making that one stinking line right.

Anyways, then there are the phone calls from authors who want me to do something for them. Then there are the stores calling to ask if they can get a bigger discount because they are trying to stay in business and things are tough…uh, yeah…running a business myself.

So just when I am about to call it a day and crawl into a big hole of self-pity. I get this e-mail…sorry for breaking privacy rules here, but you have to see it…

Hi Karen,

The books arrived and there was much screaming going on as Katie and her sister helped to surprise Kier. Unfortunately Brynna is sick but she wanted to be screaming. Thought you might enjoy a few pics. 

The colors look fine to me.  Everyone agrees with your push for the bold title color.  YOU ROCK!

Mara

This is the mom of one of my Quake authors, Kieryn Nicolas–who just happens to be 15 years old. I met Kieryn at a writers conference and I have to tell you this kid is something else. The photos are the reaction, Kieryn’s and her support system’s. Kieryn received her first batch of books today, the nearly 300 copies they have pre-sold over the last month. These folks are on fire!

Their enthusiasm and zest for this business is inspiring and it reminds me why I do this. They are not the only authors who work hard and sell lots of books, but I am reminded that Kieryn is just 15 years old, still in school, living her life as a teenager, and still managing to begin her career as an author.

I hope that every author out there who has forgotten or has doubts about why they got into this business will look at this post and these photos and remember the thrill of that first book and how tremendous it feels to be a part of something that offers so much to so many.

And to all you readers out there, we love what we do and we do it for you.

You can order RAIN by Kieryn Nicolas at Kindle or you can e-mail Kieryn kieryn.nicolas@gmail.com and order autographed copies. I happen to know she has some about.

At Witt’s End

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Things are really bustling at the Witt’s End resort in Northern Minnesota. Clients are vying for one of the few remaining rentals, except Cabin 14—thing is—no one gets out of Cabin 14 alive. 

Sadie isn’t your typical sixty-four year old senior citizen. She has things she wants to do and shouldn’t be expected to solve a murder while trying to prevent an unscrupulous sheriff’s deputy from shutting down the lakeside resort she owns with her straight arrow sister. But that’s exactly what Sadie Witt must do. 

When five guests with hidden agendas arrive at Cabin 14, they’re stunned to learn that the flamboyant Sadie is their conduit to the hereafter. Clad in the latest fashion trends–fads typically reserved for those without sagging body parts–and sporting hairdos that make bystanders want to look away but can’t, Sadie realizes one of the guests has been murdered and must work against the clock to untangle the web and prevent further mayhem.

Who the heck is Beth Solheim?

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Like the main character in her Sadie Witt mystery series, Beth Solheim was born with a healthy dose of imagination and a hankering to solve a puzzle. She learned her reverence for reading from her mother, who was never without a book in her hand. 

By day, Beth works in Human Resources. By night she morphs into a writer who frequents lake resorts and mortuaries and hosts a ghost or two in her humorous paranormal mysteries. 

Raised and still living in Northern Minnesota, she resides in lake country with her husband and a menagerie of wildlife critters. She and her husband are blessed with two grown children and two grandsons.