Getting Ready For March 20th.

So what happens on March 20th?

After one month of building reviews and releasing book #4, RIP in the Teen Time Travel Mystery Series, CUL8R, I am finally ready to launch formal advertising of the book to the world.

To date it has received 17 reviews, almost all 5 stars and there are another dozen or so free copies floating around the planet still to weight in.  This blog is about the press release planned for that date.  I want to also thank the Stanley Hotel for their  support. It is a must see whenever you’re in Colorado.

     

Already a top 100 on Amazon Teen & YA time travel…and here’s the Press Release for the formal announcement of RIP’s release on March 20TH.  Here’s the press release as planned today.

Colorado’s Stanley Hotel hosts a new ghost story by Bob Kat titled RIP (Rest in Peace) to be released on February 25, 2014. “While The Stanley Hotel has been featured in TV, movies & books in the past, it is refreshing to see a new twist on the use of the hotel,” Jesse Freitas, Manager of The Stanley Hotel stated.

The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado was founded by F.O. Stanley, a wealthy businessman forced to move west for health reasons. The expansive property boasts amazing architecture, a magnificent setting and spectacular views, but it may forever be best known as the inspiration for Stephen King’s spine-tingling novel “The Shining” and the subject of Ghost Hunters, the American paranormal reality television series on several occasions.

“But now The Stanley Hotel is in the news again,” says Kathy Clark, a.k.a. Bob Kat, an American fiction author,https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathy_Clark_(American_author).

Jesse Feitas said, “We are excited that the CUL8R book series has chosen The Stanley Hotel as a destination for RIP, not only to tie in a connection with the paranormal stories but traveling back in time to the first couple of years in The Stanley Hotel’s history brings in a whole new fun element to the story.”

“My co-writer in this series, husband Bob Wernly of Austin, Texas and I chose to set the 4th book in the CUL8R Time Travel Mystery Series at the infamous hotel after several trips and many weeks of guest time over the years. We worked hard to describe the hotel as accurately as possible because it’s such a wonderful place and we wanted to do it justice. Several years ago I was lucky enough to go on a private ghost hunt with Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson of Ghost Hunters, crawling through the basement tunnels not open to the public in total darkness which really added to the authenticity of the story,” Kathy said.

RIP (Rest in Peace) is Kathy’s 31st novel and will be released formally on all the major on-line bookstores on February 25th and is available in both e-book and paperback. Kathy has sold over 3 million books globally and has appeared on the NY Times and USA Today bestsellers’ list for her romance novels where she cut her author teeth on her first 23 books.

“In 2012 we joined the crowd of authors who moved from the traditionally published to the self-published e-book marketplace. This is our eighth novel as Indie-Authors,” said Bob, “including four young adult novels in the CUL8R series, two romantic suspense novels in the DENVER AFTER DARK series and the first book BABY DADDY in the SCANDALS new adult series. All but the CUL8R series are written under Kathy Clark’s pen name.”

“Self-publishing allows writers the freedom to include content that traditional publishers would shy away from. And the publishing process is more than a year quicker, so we can continue to focus on the next book in the series instead of waiting for executive approval,” Kathy explained.

The CUL8R series is about four teens from Fort Myers Beach, Florida. “We had to make the time travel trips to the past in the novels really matter…life and death situations that force the teenagers to depend on their intelligence, ingenuity and friendship so they can change the past to save the future.” Bob explained. “I discovered an October 1920 issue of American Magazine with an article that Thomas Edison was developing an electrical device to speak with the dead. This later became known as his Telephone to the Dead. Since Edison spent much of his life in the Fort Myers area, what if our teenagers found that invention, tucked away in the garage of a distant relative who had worked for Edison? What if our personality survives our passing as Edison believed?”

“In RIP [Rest In Peace] you don’t have to believe in ghosts…until you meet one,” Kathy added.

The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado has a well-deserved reputation for being one of the most haunted places in the U.S. So, when Kelly, Scott, Austin and Zoey travel back to 1911 to try to save a young child who went missing from the busy lobby, they aren’t surprised when ghost children run up and down the halls.

There’s romance in the Rockies as they take jobs with the hotel so they can keep an eye on 4 year old Emma and her family. Kelly struggles with her attraction to Austin while Zoey tries to get over her broken heart. Along the way, they meet some colorful historical characters and experience life among the rich and famous just after the turn of the twentieth century. After three other successful time travel adventures, they assume it’s just a matter of being in the right place at the right time. That almost proves to be a fatal mistake.

Kathy concluded, “But can they save Emma? Or will they join her as permanent guests in the ghostly halls of The Stanley Hotel?”

Amazon – http://www.amazon.com/Peace-CUL8R-Travel-Mystery-Romance-ebook/dp/B00IKIML6U/
iBookstore – https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id826260582
Smashwords – https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/410880
Barnes & Noble – http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/rip-kathy-clark-aka-bob-kat/1118721095?ean=2940148194996&itm=1&usri=2940148194996
Kobo – SCHEDULED FOR MARCH 17, 2014
Sony Reader Store – SCHEDULED FOR MARCH 24, 2014
GoodReads – https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20879728-rip-rest-in-peace?bf=1000&from_search=true
All Romance – https://www.omnilit.com/product-riprestinpeaceacul8rtimetravelmysteryromance-1428505-152.html
GOOGLE Play / Books –https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Bob_Kat_RIP_Rest_In_Peace_a_CUL8R_Time_Travel_Myst?id=is7kAgAAQBAJ&hl=en
Diesel – SCHEDULED FOR MARCH 24, 2014

FOR PAPER BACK CREATE SPACE – http://www.amazon.com/RIP-Rest-Peace-CUL8R-4/dp/1496145968/

WIKIPEDIA: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathy_Clark_(American_author)

AUTHOR SITE:   http://www.nightwriter93.com

BLOG:  https://kathyclarkauthor.wordpress.com/

FACEBOOK:   https://www.facebook.com/kelly.welch.cul8r

TWITTER:   @93nightwriter

PINTEREST:   http://www.pinterest.com/BobKat1993/

JOIN KATHY’S EMAIL LIST FOR ANNOUNCEMENTS, PRE-RELEASE BOOKS AND BARGAIN / FREE BOOKS: http://eepurl.com/N4osT   via MAIL CHIMP

Readers! Amazing people and a great source of inspiration

Readers are those people that pay for my books or maybe because they are signed up a an ARC reader and on my email list they get one earlier than the release date.  But more importantly they are the ones that share their personal feelings about what they read with the public in the form of reviews about what they thought of the book that I wrote.

When I read the initial reviews of a new release I am very nervous because it is the first real feelings people have about what I, and in two of the three series, my husband and I, spent many hundreds of hours putting pixels on the screen about.

The early reviews of RIP (Rest In Peace), A CUL8R Time Travel Mystery/Romance are beginning to show up on Amazon, Goodreads, Barnes & Noble and other places.  It occurred to me after reading them today that many of my readers who posted their reviews are in fact amazing writers in their own right.  Both Bob and I were so impressed we wanted to share some of the thoughts and words others expressed about this book.

These excerpts are in no particular order but they all say something about what we tried to accomplish with the series, this book and how well these talented people thought we captured and expressed it.

The novel perfectly captures teenage angst–about looks, about one’s place in the teenage social order, about romance, whether attraction is mutual. The book sparkles with the humor and high spirits of these teenagers, who sometimes clash but are deeply caring.

This is a wonderful series that celebrates the energy, resourcefulness, high spirits, and compassion of teenagers who yet have strong personalities and real conflicts. They face terrifying dangers in their time travels, and real life struggles in their relationships with their contemporaries as well as the adults in their lives.

Bob Kat does an exceptional job at crafting a suspenseful, gripping read that keeps the readers undivided attention right up until the very end. I loved the dynamics portrayed within this circle of friends! Kelly, Austin, Scott and Zoey are entwined flawlessly, each with their own depth of character and personality. Although I thrive on the paranormal mystery aspect of the story— the characters have to be realistic …and each must have dynamic characteristics in their own way to capture my interest and keep it peaked. This group of friends quickly sucked me into their adventures and I have enjoyed every moment of the experience right alongside them!

I want to point out foremost that the book has got a solid purpose and meaning. The team that has made this book happen was driven by the idea of providing young readers with a story that both stirs the imagination but also calls into question the motives of the main characters. Why do seek to rescue Emma? Because that’s the kind of people that we should be – always seeking to help the lost and weary, no matter the stakes. Putting aside the purpose and the meaning, I think that this is a fun and well-written book. It is clean and I would encourage young readers to pick up a copy.

“CUL8R” is a stellar YA series, and “RIP” is no exception. What makes it stand out is that the mystery/danger elements of the book are so well blended with the teen personalities—there’s suspense and realism, making the reader care not only about whether or not the mystery is solved and the day is saved, but also about the individual characters.

There are so many great examples of what was stated so eloquently but a blog about the reviews must be far shorter than the book itself.  Thank you everyone and I know this series is starting to catch on and it is because in large part because you folks took the time to write a thoughtful review of the book and series.

Here’s the places on line where you can find RIP at this time:

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Amazon –  http://www.amazon.com/Peace-CUL8R-Travel-Mystery-Romance-ebook/dp/B00IKIML6U/

iBookstore – SCHEDULED FOR MARCH 24, 2014

Smashwords –  https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/410880

Barnes & Noble – http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/rip-kathy-clark-aka-bob-kat/1118721095?ean=2940148194996&itm=1&usri=2940148194996

Kobo – SCHEDULED FOR MARCH 17, 2014

Sony Reader Store – SCHEDULED FOR MARCH 24, 2014

GoodReads – https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20879728-rip-rest-in-peace?bf=1000&from_search=true

All Romance  – https://www.omnilit.com/product-riprestinpeaceacul8rtimetravelmysteryromance-1428505-152.html

GOOGLE Play / Books –  https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Bob_Kat_RIP_Rest_In_Peace_a_CUL8R_Time_Travel_Myst?id=is7kAgAAQBAJ&hl=en

Diesel – SCHEDULED FOR MARCH 24, 2014

FOR PAPER BACK CREATE SPACE – SCHEDULED FOR MARCH 24, 2014

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

WIKIPEDIA: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathy_Clark_(American_author)

AUTHOR SITE:   http://www.nightwriter93.com

BLOG:  https://kathyclarkauthor.wordpress.com/

FACEBOOK:   https://www.facebook.com/kelly.welch.cul8r

TWITTER:   @93nightwriter

PINTEREST:   http://www.pinterest.com/BobKat1993/

JOIN KATHY’S EMAIL LIST FOR ANNOUNCEMENTS, PRE-RELEASE BOOKS AND BARGAIN / FREE BOOKS: http://eepurl.com/N4osT   via MAIL CHIMP

WRITING SUSPENSE. FROM BOOKS TO FILM AND BACK AGAIN.

When I stopped writing romance novels and began writing screenplays more than the format on the page changed for me many years ago.  I moved from a best selling romance and women’s fiction author to suspense and mystery and I changed from writing novels to writing screenplays all at once.  Screenplays taught me something about writing suspense.  When you write a screenplay the internal, not external, is where suspense builds and books are where you learn to write the internal.  Confused?  I was but writing suspense within the format and constraints of a screenplay taught me how to do it better. Years later, when I switched back to novels, I was ready to go.

Confused? Here’s what I think.

Suspense is internal.  A lot of writers mistake suspense for action.  But suspense is what you build in the quiet moments between the action.  When a reader picks up a suspense novel, they have certain expectations…to be entertained and to be surprised.  But it has to properly executed (pun intended).

Alfred Hitchcock, the undisputed master of suspense, always said it’s not about the boom.  It’s about the anticipation of the boom.  My analogy is that when you go to It’s a Small World in Disney World, you expect light and fluffy.  You’re riding along hearing that annoying song over and over and over and the little dolls are dancing and singing and suddenly you see a little Dutch boy with a knife in his chest, bleeding all over the tulips.

That’s a boom.  Shocking.  Disturbing.  But without a set-up, suspects, anticipation of the murder, red herrings…not suspense.

However, if you chose to go on The Haunted Mansion ride, you went in with anticipation that increased with every step.  It started outside with a spooky looking house, a graveyard, spider webs, eerie music.  That made promises of what was inside.  Just like a book cover.

Then you are herded very tightly into a small room.  Nothing weird yet, but just the fact that you’re crowded is unsettling.  Then the floor appears to drop, elongating the paintings so that what seemed normal became bizarre.  The doors slam open with a bang and you’re loaded into a car with spooky sounds and a creepy voice piped in through the speakers.

Then the car moves down a track and we see doors swell toward us and doorknobs turn.  We continue along and see a talking head, then the car turns and we see ghosts dancing in a ballroom, then a crystal ball.  Gradually, they increase the level of creepiness and frights with ghosts jumping up from headstones in a graveyard and screams startling you…all of which increases your heart rate because you don’t know what’s going to jump out at you next.

It’s not a constant barrage.  There are slow, almost quiet moments between the booms, so you have time to catch your breath and build your anticipation for the next scary creature to pop out.  Finally, the ride roars to a stop and you exit feeling like you survived a dangerous adventure.  All of your senses have been stimulated.  Everyone walks away smiling and laughing nervously.

That’s just like a suspense novel.  When a reader picks it up, they have an expectation of being entertained, surprised, stimulated, teased, fooled, challenged and, ultimately, satisfied.  Our job, as writers, is to pace our stories so that the ride is worth it.

Here’s my suspense and mystery books published recently:

And released this month was book #4 in the YA Mystery Time Travel Mystery series, CUL8R.

WIKIPEDIA: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathy_Clark_(American_author)

AUTHOR SITE:   http://www.nightwriter93.com

BLOG:  https://kathyclarkauthor.wordpress.com/

FACEBOOK:   https://www.facebook.com/kelly.welch.cul8r

TWITTER:   @93nightwriter

PINTEREST:   http://www.pinterest.com/BobKat1993/

 JOIN MY EMAIL LIST FOR ANNOUNCEMENTS, PRE-RELEASE BOOKS AND BARGAIN / FREE BOOKS: http://eepurl.com/N4osT   via MAIL CHIMP

Marie Force’s Market Survey & My thoughts.

I ran across the survey by Marie Force that was conducted from June 1-30, 2013, via Survey Monkey, and as many as 2,951 people replied to most of the 44 questions formulated by myself and more than a dozen other authors.  She and several other authors did the survey and I found this interesting and useful.

Findings

• Readers prefer e-books to paperbacks (77 to 52 percent). However, the question allowed readers to choose all formats that apply, and there appears to be crossover between the two most popular formats, indicating some readers buy books in multiple formats when the paperback is available. I think it’s extremely interesting to note that more than half are still looking for their books in paperback. That will be a number to watch in future surveys. Will it go down or remain steady at about half?
• Nearly 80 percent buy their books from Amazon, with Barnes & Noble scoring a distant second at 23 percent and iBookstore/Apple coming in third at nearly 13 percent. I’ll be interested to see how this result changes or shifts over the next year. I believe first place will remain around the same percentage while the distance between second and third place will continue to narrow.
• Nearly 58 percent of those surveyed have not visited a brick and mortar bookstore in the last year or have done so twice in the last year. Twenty-five percent visit a bookstore once a month and twenty percent are there twice a month or more.
• A whopping 81 percent of those surveyed listed romance as their favorite genre with mystery coming in a very distant second at almost 5 percent. According to the Romance Writers of America, romance was the top-performing category on the major bestseller lists in 2012 and accounted for $1.438 billion in sales in 2012, so it’s not surprising that most of those surveyed chose romance as their primary genre of interest.
• For those who chose romance as their favorite genre, nearly 28 percent chose contemporary romance as their favorite subgenre with historical scoring second place with 23 percent. I found it interesting that only 2.6 percent chose New Adult as their favorite romance genre. That leads me to wonder if readers are aware of the “New Adult” name the industry has given to romances about women in college/early 20s, or if the genre isn’t really as popular as it seems, or yet again if New Adult was lumped in with contemporary by some respondents.
• Sixty-four percent of those surveyed say they pay “no attention” to who publishes a book and/or “it doesn’t matter” to them. Thirty three percent pay “some attention” to who the publisher is whereas 4 percent say the publisher’s seal of approval “matters” to them.
• Ninety-five percent of readers are “more likely” to buy a self-published book from an author who is known to them versus 68 percent who are “less likely” to buy a self-published book from an author who is unknown to them.
•  The results for the primary source of information about books were all over the place with the top vote getter being Facebook at 18 percent, followed by retail sites at 17 percent, Goodreads at 13 percent and author websites at 10 percent. Lots of interesting data in the “Other” field for this question.
• Facebook (62 percent) and Author Websites (63 percent) were virtually tied for first when readers were asked where they get their information about their favorite authors. (This was a “choose all that apply” question.) Author newsletters were a distant second at 36 percent. Goodreads scored 27 percent and Twitter 19 percent. Retail sites were next at 18 percent. It’s probably safe to conclude from these results that if you have limited time, it’s best spent on Facebook and keeping up your website.
• Fifty-three percent of readers are “somewhat” swayed by reviews. Twenty-nine percent fall into the “not very much” or “not at all” categories and 18 percent say they are “very much” influenced by reviews.
• When asked which reviews are most important to them, 50 percent chose the reviews posted to retail sites. Goodreads was a distant second at 16 percent, followed by blog reviews at 13 percent and publication reviews (RT Book Reviews, Publisher’s Weekly, Kirkus, etc.) at 10 percent. An additional 10 percent of the respondents listed “Other” sources than those provided by the survey.
• We asked readers to tell us which review publications they subscribe to and offered the following choices: RT Book Reviews, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, Booklist, NYT Sunday Edition, USA Today, None and Other. Eighty-one percent chose “None” with RT Book Reviews at a distant second at 12 percent.
• With the same list of publications, we asked readers to indicate which of the publications had influenced their decision to buy a book or try a new author. Seventy-six percent replied “Not applicable,” with RT Book Reviews coming in a distant second at 13 percent.
• We asked how important “star ratings” are to their purchasing decisions, and discovered that 43 percent will wait to purchase a book if they see “low” star ratings. Thirty-eight percent say they will still try a book if they like the cover and sample, even if it has “low” star reviews. Eleven percent responded that star reviews are not at all important to them and 9 percent rely heavily on star reviews and will only purchase a book that meets their star-rating criteria.
• Thirty-five percent have been introduced to new authors via free books more than 20 times. Twenty-one percent have found new authors through free books more than 10 times. If they liked what they read in the free book, 85 percent were extremely likely to buy another book from that author.
• We discovered that readers are interested in stories with outstanding characters, setting, storytelling and writing, with 75 percent choosing “all of the above” to encompass each of those elements.
• Thirty-three percent said typos don’t bother them at all while only 8 percent said bad editing will cost an author a reader for life. Twenty-seven percent said they’d give an author another chance if the editing in the first book isn’t good whereas 24 percent said “typos drive me mad.”
• We asked if seeing the words “New York Times Bestselling Author” on the cover of a book is more likely to spur a reader to try a new author. Seventy-two percent said no, and 28 percent said yes. In addition, 60 percent of those surveyed “never” peruse the New York Times bestseller list looking for new authors. Four percent of those surveyed review the list every week in search of new authors.
• Sixty-eight percent of those surveyed never review the USA Today bestseller list to find new authors and 2 percent do so weekly.
• Seventy-five percent of those surveyed never review the Publishers Weekly bestseller list to find new authors and 2 percent do so weekly.
• Eight-four percent of those surveyed subscribe to the newsletters of their favorite authors, and 55 percent subscribe to the blogs of their favorite authors.
•  Just about half of those surveyed subscribe to BookBub to find out about free and reduced-price books and 31 percent subscribe to Kindle Fire Department. A wide variety of other outlets were listed in the open-ended replies for this question.
•  In one of the more interesting results, 60 percent of those surveyed do not follow their favorite authors on Twitter whereas 87 percent of those surveyed do follow their favorite authors on Facebook. Find more than 2,000 replies to the open-ended question about what readers are looking for from authors on Facebook in the link to the full results at the end of this post. In another interesting finding, 85 percent of those surveyed do not follow their favorite authors on Pinterest, and 86 percent do not look for authors on any other social media platform besides those already listed in the survey. Goodreads was one of the most frequently mentioned sites in the open-ended portion of the question.
• Fifty-two percent said that if they want a book badly enough, they don’t care what it costs. Twenty-two percent said they will not pay more than $4.99 for a book.
• Sixty-eight percent are looking for novellas (in the 25,000-word) range to fall in the $0.99 to $1.99 price range. But 21 percent said they would pay $2.99 for a novella of this length.
• When asked what they expect to pay for a full-length (80,000 words or more) novel, 26 percent said $4.99, 19 percent said $5.99, 14 percent said $3.99, 13 percent said $7.99 and 12 percent said $6.99. I found it interesting that only 6.5 percent said $2.99, which has been considered somewhat of a “sweet spot” in indie pricing.
• Twenty-six percent would be willing to pay for “bonus” material, such as a short story unrelated to the current novel, but 34 percent were unwilling to pay for any kind of bonus material.
• We had a true 60-40 split on whether an endorsement from a well-known author is more or less likely to make you buy a book, with 60 percent saying author blurbs or endorsements do not influence purchasing decisions.
• When asked where they buy audio books, 70 percent replied that they have never bought one. A distant second was Audible at 15 percent, then Amazon at 11 percent and iTunes at 7 percent. When asked how many audio books readers purchased in the last year, 74 percent said they don’t purchase them. Among those who do, 18 percent bought between one and 10 audio books. Only 4 percent bought more than 20 audio books in the last year.
• Fifty-four percent of those surveyed have never watched a book trailer, and 8 percent have bought a book because of a trailer.
• Fifty-three percent are most concerned with a professional presentation when it comes to book covers, and 32 percent are rarely influenced by covers.
• Fifty percent don’t care whose point of view is presented in the book, but 45 percent enjoy multiple points of view whereas only 3 percent prefer first-person point of view.

 Conclusions

We’ve felt the ground shifting beneath us in recent years, but some of these results confirm things we already suspected, including:

• Most of the readers surveyed don’t care who publishes a book or pay very little attention to who the publisher is. Judging by these results, it’s probably safe to assume the author name is selling more books these days than the publisher name.
• Retail reviews, such as those found on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other retail sites, are the most important reviews in today’s environment.
• If an author only has time for one social media platform, choose Facebook. It’s where the readers are and it’s where they’re looking for their favorite authors. They are not looking for their favorite authors on Twitter, which didn’t surprise me all that much. I’ve long suspected that Twitter was more about “preaching to the choir” whereas Facebook is about connecting with actual readers. That doesn’t mean there are NO readers on Twitter. To the contrary. However, there are more of them looking for authors on Facebook.
• Author endorsements don’t matter as much as industry insiders think they do. Most readers don’t care about them.
• Most e-book readers are buying from Amazon, which of course we knew, but now we have data to confirm it.
• More than half don’t care how much a book costs if they want it badly enough. Most expect to pay $4.99 for a full-length novel (80,000 words or more) and between $0.99 and $1.99 for a 25,000-word novella.
•  Readers are still somewhat leery about buying self-published books from unknown authors, whereas they are more than willing to buy books from self-published authors who are known to them.
• More than half the readers are still looking for their books in paperback format. Hear that?More than half. That’s a lot of readers… To those who think traditional publishing is dead, remember this: More than half the readers are looking for a format that traditional publishing is still best equipped to provide. If you want to reach that half, you may have to remain in business with traditional publishers. I am. That’s why.
• Audio books are not very popular—yet. Give them time. I believe we will see this number increase over the next few years.
•  Readers pay very little attention to book trailers.
•  Readers are not big fans of first-person points of view.
• New Adult romance isn’t as popular as we thought it was. Or… It could be readers aren’t aware that the books they love to read about young women in college or right after college are considered “New Adult” romance. I believe it’s possible this result is misleading. Judging from the books on the bestseller lists, New Adult is as popular as we think it is.

PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE

Marie Force has done a great service by taking the time to collect and tp present this information.  Thanks!  Very professionally done.

What’s in a blurb?

ANSWER?  Everything.

It’s the reader’s second look into your book after the cover.  It is as important as the first sentence of the book.

At the consul of several successful authors we became more blurb friendly as Amazon would view it by rewriting our blurbs for the CUL8R Time Travel Mystery/Romance Series .  The new and improved blurbs have:

• A minimum of 500 words
• Contain keywords that match the tags and categories for the book itself
• Reflect the contents of the book itself
• Interests the reader enough to want to know more without giving away the book itself

I also added a collection to the first three books so that readers can acquire the first three books at a much lower price.

OMG [Oh My God], Book #1 of the CUL8R Time Travel Mystery/Romance series.  Change the past, Save the future.

Three high school friends are able to do two things no one else on the planet can do . . . talk with dead people and time travel to the past. 

For Kelly, it’s a major adjustment to move from the only life she has ever known in Texas to live with her aunt in Ft. Myers Beach, Florida.  She quickly makes friends with her quirky next door neighbor, Scott and his best friend, Austin.  In her aunt’s garage, they find a long-lost invention of Thomas Edison called “The Telephone to the Dead”.  Edison had abandoned the project and given it to Kelly’s great-great-grandfather. 

Scott tinkers with it until they can hear sounds coming from it.  But instead of broadcasting music . . . it picks up conversations from the dead.  As they slowly turn the dial they hear hundreds of sad, lonely voices of souls that have passed but apparently never moved on, pleading for help.

A teenager’s voice separates from the rest and begs for their help to clear her reputation.  They are shocked to find out that she had gone to their own high school . . . 47 years ago.  They research the girl’s story and discover that her name was Wendy and she had been a popular cheerleader who had apparently committed suicide. 

The teens are touched by Wendy’s cries and pleas, but they have no way to go back in time to help her.  That is, until Scott reveals an invention of his own . . . a time travel app.  Kelly and Austin are very skeptical.  Even Scott isn’t sure it will work, so they try it out on his sister’s pet turtle.  Amazingly, the turtle disappears.  But did it travel to the past or just wander off? 

Finally, they decide to humor Scott and go along with his claims of time travel.  They meet on the beach after everyone else has gone home.  They stand in the formation Scott insists will create the perfect vortex for time travel.  At the last moment, a fourth person runs forward and is pulled into their adventure back to 1966. 

They figure out a way to get close to Wendy without her asking too many questions that they can’t answer.  But as they discover the secret to her death, they find it’s not as clear-cut as it would seem.  A romance gone wrong, an over-attentive teacher and a young girl’s dreams for the future are all twisted into a mystery that causes the teens to take greater risks than they could have imagined.  It all becomes very real when their own lives are in danger and they realize they may never make it back to the present.

OMG – Winner of the Best Indie Book of 2013 for Young Adults and Finalist in the 2013 Beverly Hills Book Awards.

Well plotted and fast paced.  Martha Bryce

The best time travel novel I’ve read yet, and I hope there’s more to come. A big thumbs up!  C

WOW! I’ve been thinking about that book for a week now since I finished reading it. It kept me engrossed with intelligent writing, depth of characters and a fast pace. Overall, a very satisfying novel. Jasmine

BRB [Be Right Back], Book #2 of the CUL8R Time Travel Mystery/Romance series.  Change the past, Save the future.

Four high school friends are able to do two things no one else on the planet can do . . . talk with dead people and time travel to the past.  It’s early summer and boredom is setting in.  They have just returned from an adventure where they travelled through time back to 1966 to solve a mystery and save a popular high school girl’s life.

Kelly, Scott, Austin and Zoey gather in Scott’s lab, listening to the old radio that Thomas Edison had invented and called “The Telephone to the Dead”.  As they slowly turn the dial they hear hundreds of sad, lonely voices of souls that have passed but apparently never moved on, pleading for help.  When they first discovered the radio in Kelly’s aunt’s garage, they had been touched by the cries and pleas coming from its speakers, but they had no way to go back in time to help them.  That is, until Scott reveals an invention of his own . . . a time travel app.  They’ve tested it only once, but that first trip had been successful . . . if you ignore the fact that Zoey and Kelly had almost gotten killed by a serial killer.  Even though they returned with a few scrapes and bruises, they are eager to go on a new adventure and help solve another mystery.

A very young girl speaking in Spanish cries out to them, saying her whole family has been murdered on an island just off the east coast of Florida.  Kelly understands a little Spanish, so she is able to communicate with the girl, but not able to get some very important details.  It’s difficult to investigate a crime that hasn’t happened yet.

The teens look the island up on Google Maps and see that it is completely deserted which contradicts the story they’re getting from the Spirit Radio.  But it’s a beautiful island called Crystal Key with a stretch of beach that, unlike Ft. Myers Beach, is not crowded with tourists and kids.  The teens decide to pop in, spend a nice day on the beach, check out the island to see if there is any truth to the girl’s story, then pop right back.  It sounds like a great plan.

From the very beginning, things go wrong when Scott miscalculates their landing and they end up splashing into the Atlantic Ocean.  After swimming for their lives, they collapse on the beach that is, indeed, beautiful.  But it isn’t deserted.  They find the little girl, her family and a half dozen more people living in a sprawling Florida-style home owned by a menacing man named Manuel.  He gives them no opportunity to escape and insists that they stay in the house.  What they discover during their visit is enough to almost get them all killed.

As they struggle to survive, Kelly tries to ignore her attraction to Austin, who clearly isn’t interested in a romance.  Besides, just days before she went on her very first date . . . with Scott.  How could she have such strong feelings for two boys?  And then there is Zoey who is hot for Austin, but flirting shamelessly with Scott.  Then people start dying and all they can think about is saving the families and themselves.  Are they destined to be a madman’s latest victims?  Their time travel adventure to a tropical paradise may turn out to be their last.

BRB – Finalist in the 2013 Reader’s Favorite Awards.

BION [Believe It Or Not], Book #3 of the CUL8R Time Travel Mystery/Romance series.  Change the past, Save the future.

Four high school friends are able to do two things no one else on the planet can do . . . talk with dead people and time travel to the past.  However, Kelly, who lost her phone during their last adventure, is temporarily grounded.  She worries that her new friends will time travel without her, leaving her all alone in her new home in Ft. Myers Beach, Florida.

But they surprise her on her birthday and soon they are back in Scott’s lab, listening to the old radio that Thomas Edison had invented and called “The Telephone to the Dead”.  As they slowly turn the dial Kelly, Scott, Austin and Zoey hear hundreds of sad, lonely voices of souls that have passed but apparently never moved on, pleading for help.  When they first discovered the radio in Kelly’s aunt’s garage, they had been touched by the cries and pleas coming from its speakers, but they had no way to go back in time to help them.  That is, until Scott reveals an invention of his own . . . a time travel app.  They’ve already tested it twice, with both trips being very successful, but not without danger.  Even though they returned with a few scrapes and bruises, and even a gunshot wound, they are eager to go on a new adventure and help solve a mystery.

A young woman’s voice comes through and asks them to find her twin brother, Jesse, who had run away to the circus in 1927, then disappeared and was never heard from again.  Going back and living with a circus sounds like fun.  Plus an old book written by his sister provides a glimpse into the past . . . as well as a photo of Jesse.

They land in a cornfield in Wichita Falls, Texas as the circus is setting up.  It doesn’t take them long to discover that circus life is not all glamour and fun; it’s a lot of hard work.  As usual, they jump in and quickly find jobs, places to sleep and new friends.  But most importantly, they find Jesse.  Now all they have to do is keep him alive.

For Zoey and Jesse, it’s love at first sight.  It’s a first romance for both of them and their love blossoms as they travel from city to city.  Zoey knows she’s too young to settle down and that Jesse is from a different time and culture, but her feelings for him are strong.  Her and her friends’ time travel mission has taken on a new dimension.  Should they be successful and save his life, will Zoey be able to let him go?  Is it possible for him to come to 2013 with her?  Is it possible for her to stay in 1927 with him?  Ultimately, can she give up everything she has in the present for true love in the past?

Jesse’s talent working with the big cats catches the attention of the Martin Maxwell, the owner of the circus.  Maxwell promotes him to the center ring as a replacement for their current lion tamer who is planning on moving up to the Ringling and Barnum & Bailey Circus.  Unfortunately, not everyone shares Zoey’s love for Jesse and wants him to disappear forever.  Kelly, Scott, Austin and Zoey must figure out who wants Jesse dead and stop him or her before Jesse’s fate is sealed.

And here is how the revised blurb on the first collection came out.

CUL8R [See You Later] Time Travel Mystery/Romance Series Collection #1     Change the past, Save the future.

3 complete, unabridged novels are included in this collection about four high school friends who are able to do two things no one else on the planet can do…talk with dead people and time travel to the past.

OMG [Oh My God], Book #1 of the CUL8R Time Travel Mystery/Romance series. Winner of the Best Indie Book of 2013 for Young Adults and Finalist in the 2013 Beverly Hills Book Awards.

Kelly has just moved in with her aunt in Ft. Myers Beach, Florida. She quickly makes friends with her next door neighbors Scott and Austin. They find a long-lost invention of Thomas Edison called “The Telephone to the Dead” through which they can hear hundreds of sad, lonely voices of souls that have passed but apparently never moved on.

A teenage girl named Wendy begs for their help. They find out that she had gone to their own high school…47 years ago. She had been a popular cheerleader who had apparently committed suicide. They want to help, but they have no way to travel back in time. That is, until Scott reveals an invention of his own…a time travel app. Although they are skeptical, they meet on the beach. At the last moment, a fourth person runs forward and is pulled into their time travel adventure back to 1966 where they discover the secret to Wendy’s death is not as clear-cut as it would seem. A romance gone wrong, an overly-attentive teacher and a young girl’s dreams for the future are all twisted into a mystery that causes the teens to take greater risks than they could have imagined. Suddenly, their own lives are in danger and they realize they may never make it back to the present.

BRB [Be Right Back], Book #2 of the CUL8R Time Travel Mystery/Romance series. Finalist in the Reader’s Favorite Awards of 2013.

A very young girl speaking in Spanish cries out to them, saying her whole family has been murdered on an island just off the east coast of Florida. They look the island up on Google Maps and see that it is completely deserted. The teens decide to pop in, spend a nice day on the beach, check out the island to see if there is any truth to the girl’s story, then pop right back. It sounds like a great plan.

From the very beginning, things go wrong. After swimming for their lives, they collapse on the beach that is, indeed, beautiful. But it isn’t deserted. They find the little girl, her family and a half dozen more people living in a sprawling Florida-style home owned by a menacing man named Manuel. He gives them no opportunity to escape and insists that they stay in the house. What they discover during their visit is enough to almost get them all killed.

As they struggle to survive, Kelly tries to ignore her attraction to Austin, who clearly isn’t interested in a romance. How could she have such strong feelings for two boys? Then people start dying and all they can think about is saving the families and themselves. Are they destined to be a madman’s latest victims? Their time travel adventure to a tropical paradise may turn out to be their last.

BION [Believe It Or Not], Book #3 of the CUL8R Time Travel Mystery/Romance series.

A young woman’s voice comes through and asks them to find her twin brother, Jesse, who had run away to the circus in 1927, then disappeared and was never heard from again.

It doesn’t take them long to discover that circus life is not all glamour and fun; it’s a lot of hard work. They jump in and quickly find jobs. But most importantly, they find Jesse. Now all they have to do is keep him alive.

For Zoey and Jesse, it’s love at first sight. Should they be successful and save his life, will Zoey be able to let him go? Is it possible for him to come to 2013 with her? Is it possible for her to stay in 1927 with him? Ultimately, can she give up everything she has in the present for true love in the past?

So check out my website at http://www.nightwriter93.com and the time travel / romance site at http://www.cul8rseries.com

So Busy Writing It’s Good To Know About Exercise

Now this article really woke us up about exercise. The complete article is at this link but some highlights are-

1. People who exercise as little as 15 minutes a day have a 14 percent lower mortality risk than people who don’t exercise at all.

2. Exercisers can improve their performance by as much as 50 percent if they eat dark chocolate regularly. (Author’s note to self. Shop today)

3. Men who exercise vigorously are only one third as likely to experience erectile dysfunction as men who exercise very little or not at all. (I’d love to understand how they figured that stat…I mean do you walk around men’s locker room after the exercise?)

4. Depressed people can alleviate their symptoms by as much as 47 percent with regular aerobic exercise. (I have never heard of someone going postal at a 24 hour fitness joint)

5. Three times as many college graduates as high-school dropouts exercise regularly.

6. Exercisers can improve their performance by as much as 15 percent if they listen to music while working out. (No matter what the music? Really?)

7. Waiters and waitresses walk twice as much as lawyers and police officers do on an average working day. (Lawyers yes but cops?)

8. Six percent more men than women exercise regularly.

9. Workers increase their physical activity by 8 percent and burn 25 more calories on casual-clothing workdays than on workdays when they wear regular office attire.

10. People who want to quit smoking are twice as likely to succeed in quitting if they lift weights than if they don’t lift weights.

11. Avid swimmers have a 50 percent lower mortality rate than runners, walkers, and people who don’t exercise at all. (That clear the weight room out of those old people)

12. Astronauts lost 15 percent of muscle mass and 30 percent of muscle performance during six months at the International Space Station, despite their aerobics-focused exercise regimen.

13. Teens who exercise are 36 percent less likely to develop brain tumors than teens who don’t. (Are they sure its not the radiation from the video games?)

14. White Americans exercise 16 percent more than Hispanic Americans and 10 percent more than African-Americans. (To quote the politicians and press that’s just racist)

15. Runners who stretch before running burn 5 percent fewer calories than runners who don’t stretch.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/08/19/exercise-tips-15-unusual-ways-to-improve-your-workout.html

Time to go exercise!