By: Marcia King-Gamble
www.lovemarcia.com
In honor of the 4th of July, Independence Day, I am saluting all the talented
Indies out there. Authors like Sophia Knightly- http://www.sophiaknightly.net/ , my co-author Bettye
Griffin - http://www.bettyegriffin.com/
Traci Hall http://www.tracihall.com/ and our wonderful Blog Queens, Judith Ashley and Sarah
Raplee of Windtree Press . http://windtreepress.com/.
At Windtree Press you can visit authors like
Patty Jager, Diana McCollum, Linda Lovely and Courtney Pierce. Indie authors like fellow Generista, and
Florida Romance Writer, Kristin Wallace can be found @ http://kristinwallaceauthor.com/
While I hate to sound like a negative Nelly, the reality is that times
are tough for writers. Not that they’ve not been tough before. Publishing
houses are closing, and/or merging and new or aspiring authors, (even we oldies),
need every platform we can get. Even well-established authors are jumping on the Indie bandwagon. There's something about being in control of your life and knowing what your monthly income is that's downright appealing.
For those trying to get published, and those looking for a new publishing home, don't dismiss the
power of the contest. Contests are a great opportunity to showcase your talent. So where do you find contests? The local chapter of your American Romance
Writers is a good place to start. The feedback you get is invaluable and the finalists get their work read by a published author, or editor at a traditional publishing house.
A few years back, I judged of one of these contests and discovered
a voice that was truly unique. From
the author’s opening sentence she had me hooked. While she did not win the contest, I knew
that voice would be heard over and over again.
That unique voice was that of author, Sasha Summers who sent
me a lovely thank you note. Her words were sincere and heartfelt. About a year and a half later, (make that two), her first book was being published, and I gave her a quote. This is what I
wrote:
Talent like Sasha’s needed to be recognized. You can find out about Sasha Summers and her books right here: http://sashasummers.com/
Another author with a heart stopping voice is Simona Taylor
aka Roslyn Carrington. Just hearing her
name, makes me want to curl up in an armchair and devour her books. Simona
aka Roslyn hails from the beautiful Caribbean island of Trinidad.
I first met her when she attended the annual Romance Writers
of America conference in Anaheim, California.
Her agent at the time was Deidre Knight. Who knew that years later I
would be represented by the Knight Agency.
One of Roslyn’s most memorable books is the literary
masterpiece, A Thirst for Rain. That book was meant to be made into a movie.
It’s the kind of book you read over and over again. Each sentence holds such vivid
imagery.
Roslyn still resides in Trinidad and owns The Scribble Pad.
In addition to writing romance novels, she’s written a comic and coloring book. She's also developed an interactive board game. You can find information
about Simona Taylor and her books here: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/t/simona-taylor/
A shout out goes to the talented members of my South
Florida Romance Writers group. Information about the group can be found here: http://www.frwriters.org/. New members are always welcomed.
Since summer is now officially on, I am counting on readers to
support your Indie authors. Please check out our bundle at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Pick up the bundled copy of the Holiday Sparkle series here:
Get yourself an awesome beach read!
Romantically Yours.
About Marcia King-Gamble:
Marcia hails from a sunny Caribbean island where the sky and ocean are the same mesmerizing shade of blue.
She is a former travel industry executive. A National Bestselling author, Marcia has penned 34 books and 8 novellas. Her free time is spent at the gym, traveling, and with her animal family.
6 comments:
Thanks for the 'shout out' Marcia! And thanks for highlighting more new-to-me authors. My list has blossomed or made exploded would fit in better with your fireworks image!
Always my pleasure. I love being introduced to new authors and reading new voices!
Thank you so much Marcia!! You are so awesome 👏
Traci talent like yours deserves to be recognized!
You are always a great source of author recommendations, Marcia! Thank you for mentioning me and Judith and Windtree Press.
I love authors with unique voices, so I'm adding these to my to-be-read Pinterest board, "Books I Might Read".
Nice column, Marcia! Thanks for mentioning me. I will always be grateful to Roslyn/Simona for introducing me to Dragon voice recognition...my wrists are still thanking her!
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