Here are a list of top websites that authors can use
to help build their careers. There’s no specific theme behind them, and it
includes advertising websites, review websites, services, and anything else
that I’ve found beneficial since hitting that publish button on KDP.
10 – BookBub – The king of email advertising.
Bookbub has been around for a long time and only takes the best of the best
books with a lot of reviews, and even then only if it matches the current
tastes of their readers. It can boost your book sales unlike no other program
out there, and if you’ve submitted before and been denied don’t worry: everyone
has. Just keep trying.
9 – Online Book Club – A website where you can
submit for a free editorial review. They have a lot of promotional options as
well, and if you’re willing to put in the time and effort to join the community
it can really help you out.
8 – CLC – Literary Classics comes with reviews and a
contest. It isn’t necessarily cheap to enter, but they put a lot of work into
their annual book awards and there are some amazing people who work here. If
your book is a good fit for YA or children, then this company can help
immensely in building up your career and helping you expand. When they like a
book, they will champion it.
7 – Reader’s Favorite – This website can help
immensely for anyone interested in getting a free review or entering a contest
for their works. The submission process is easy and the company has a lot of
different systems in place to help indie authors to build their careers.
6 – IBPA – A very professional organization that has
discounts and benefits for its members. A lot of their services are powerful
and expensive, so this is something that can be hugely beneficial as an
author’s career expands. The discounts alone can pay for the yearly fee.
5 – Wattpad – An online forum for authors and
readers to look at works in progress and offer feedback and critiques. It’s a
difficult community to work into and the site feels somewhat fractured, but it
can be immensely useful.
4 – WriteOn – Similar to Wattpad, but the site is a
little easier to navigate. This forum is filled with more authors and less
readers, so occasionally it can feel like shouting into the abyss to get
attention for your book. That being said, people can be very helpful.
3 – RRBC – An online community of authors and
readers that are full of information and support for your career. When you
join, you’ll find an engaged and professional group of people who are always
willing to help. The more you put in, the more you’ll get. Has an annual fee,
but it isn’t a lot.
2 – BookFunnel – A hosting service for eBooks you’re
planning to give away, BookFunnel can help you distribute watermarked copies of
your book to readers. Great for giveaways and being able to track how many
copies you give a month, or for newsletter signups to track the number of
people who take advantage of free offers. They have a really cheap entry level
option for authors who aren’t making a lot of money, and they deliver the
preferred format directly to your readers.
1 – KBoards – If you want to put your finger on the
pulse of amazon’s publishing network, this is where it is. Anything that is
happening in the world of self-publishing can be found here, and usually as soon
as it comes into existence. The people are friendly and supportive and browsing
will teach you more about writing and publishing than you ever would have
expected.
There you have it: those are just a few of the
websites I’ve discovered as an indie author that can help build a career. A lot
of them I only found out about recently and wished I knew about sooner.
My best advice for authors is to just have fun with
it. Experiment and don’t be afraid to make mistakes. If you’re having fun with
your books, then other people will too.
Raven’s Peak
World on Fire
Book 1
Lincoln Cole
Genre: Horror/Paranormal Thriller
Date of Publication: 7/4/16
ISBN: 9780997225976
Number of pages: 280
Word Count: 76,000
Cover Artist: MN Arzu
Book Description:
A quiet little mountain town is hiding a big problem. When the townsfolk of Raven's Peak start acting crazy, Abigail Dressler is called upon to find out what is happening. She uncovers a demonic threat unlike any she's ever faced and finds herself in a fight just to stay alive.
She rescues Haatim Arison from a terrifying fate and discovers that he has a family legacy in the supernatural that he knows nothing about. Now she's forced to protect him, which is easy, and also trust him if she wants to save the townsfolk of Raven's Peak. Trust, however, is considerably more difficult for someone who grew up living on the knife's edge of danger.
Can they discover the cause of the town's insanity and put a stop to it before it is too late?
Excerpt:
“Reverend,
you have a visitor.”
He
couldn’t remember when he fell in love with the pain. When agony first turned
to pleasure, and then to joy. Of course, it hadn’t always been like this. He
remembered screaming all those years ago when first they put him in this cell;
those memories were vague, though, like reflections in a dusty mirror.
“Open
D4.”
A
buzz as the door slid open, inconsequential. The aching need was what drove him in this moment, and nothing else mattered.
It was a primal desire: a longing for the tingly rush of adrenaline each time
the lash licked his flesh. The blood dripping down his parched skin fulfilled
him like biting into a juicy strawberry on a warm summer’s day.
“Some
woman. Says she needs to speak with you immediately. She says her name is
Frieda.”
A
pause, the lash hovering in the air like a poised snake. The Reverend
remembered that name, found it dancing in the recesses of his mind. He tried to
pull himself back from the ritual, back to reality, but it was an uphill slog
through knee-deep mud to reclaim those
memories.
It
was always difficult to focus when he was in the midst of his cleansing. All he
managed to cling to was the name. Frieda.
It was the name of an angel, he knew. . . or perhaps a devil.
One
and the same when all was said and done.
She
belonged to a past life, only the whispers of which he could recall. The ritual
reclaimed him, embraced him with its fiery need. His memories were nothing
compared to the whip in his hand, its nine tails gracing his flesh.
The
lash struck down on his left shoulder blade, scattering droplets of blood
against the wall behind him. Those droplets would stain the granite for months,
he knew, before finally fading away. He clenched his teeth in a feral grin as
the whip landed with a sickening, wet slapping
sound.
“Jesus,”
a new voice whispered from the doorway. “Does he always do that?”
“Every
morning.”
“You’ll
cuff him?”
“Why?
Are you scared?”
The
Reverend raised the lash into the air, poised for another strike.
“Just…man,
you said he was crazy…but this…”
The
lash came down, lapping at his back and the tender muscles hidden there. He let
out a groan of mixed agony and pleasure.
These
men were meaningless, their voices only echoes amid the rest, an endless drone.
He wanted them to leave him alone with his ritual. They weren’t worth his time.
“I
think we can spare the handcuffs this time; the last guy who tried spent a
month in the hospital.”
“Regulation
says we have to.”
“Then
you do it.”
The
guards fell silent. The cat-o’-nine-tails, his friend, his love, became the
only sound in the roughhewn cell, echoing off the granite walls. He took a
rasping breath, blew it out, and cracked the lash again. More blood. More
agony. More pleasure.
“I
don’t think we need to cuff him,” the second guard decided.
“Good
idea. Besides, the Reverend isn’t going to cause us any trouble. He only hurts
himself. Right, Reverend?”
The
air tasted of copper, sickly sweet. He wished he could see his back and the
scars, but there were no mirrors in his cell. They removed the only one he had
when he broke shards off to slice into his arms and legs. They were afraid he
would kill himself.
How
ironic was that?
“Right,
Reverend?”
Mirrors
were dangerous things, he remembered from that past life. They called the other
side, the darker side. An imperfect reflection stared back, threatening to
steal pieces of the soul away forever.
“Reverend?
Can you hear me?”
The
guard reached out to tap the Reverend on the shoulder. Just a tap, no danger at
all, but his hand never even came close. Honed reflexes reacted before anyone
could possibly understand what was happening.
Suddenly
the Reverend was standing. He hovered above the guard who was down on his
knees. The man let out a sharp cry, his left shoulder twisted up at an
uncomfortable angle by the Reverend’s iron grip.
The
lash hung in the air, ready to strike at
its new prey.
The
Reverend looked curiously at the man, seeing him for the first time. He
recognized him as one of the first guardsmen
he’d ever spoken with when placed in this cell. A nice European chap with a
wife and two young children. A little overweight and balding, but
well-intentioned.
Most
of him didn’t want to hurt this man, but there was a part—a hungry, needful
part—that did. That part wanted to hurt this man in ways neither of them could
even imagine. One twist would snap his arm. Two would shatter the bone; the
sound as it snapped would be . . .
A
symphony rivaling Tchaikovsky.
The
second guard—the younger one that smelled of fear—stumbled back, struggling to
draw his gun.
“No!
No, don’t!”
That
from the first, on his knees as if
praying. The Reverend wondered if he prayed at night with his family before
heading to bed. Doubtless, he prayed that he would make it home safely from
work and that one of the inmates wouldn’t rip his throat out or gouge out his
eyes. Right now, he was waving his free hand at his partner to get his
attention, to stop him.
The
younger guard finally worked the gun free and pointed it at the Reverend. His
hands were shaking as he said, “Let him go!”
“Don’t
shoot, Ed!”
“Let
him go!”
The
older guard, pleading this time: “Don’t piss him off!”
About the Author:
Lincoln Cole is a Columbus-based author who enjoys traveling and has visited many different parts of the world, including Australia and Cambodia, but always returns home to his pugamonster and wife. His love for writing was kindled at an early age through the works of Isaac Asimov and Stephen King and he enjoys telling stories to anyone who will listen.
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