Banned Book Week 2009 - Support it!

Banned Books Week - celebrating the freedom to read

September 26−October 3, 2009

Banned Books Week (BBW) is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read and the importance of the First Amendment. Held during the last week of September, Banned Books Week highlights the benefits of free and open access to information while drawing attention to the harms of censorship by spotlighting actual or attempted bannings of books across the United States . . .click here to read more.

Of all the information presented at the ALA site about banned books I found the information about challenged books most interesting as both Never Ceese and Forever Richard fall into this category for a certain group. Here's the definition of challenged books:

What's the difference between a challenge and a banning?

A challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict materials, based upon the objections of a person or group . . .

It has been my experience, and also the experience of many other authors I've talked to, that Larger Christian Bookstores restrict materials based on affiliation. If the book isn't published by a fee paying member of CBA (Christian Booksellers Association) or isn't heavily targeted for the audience CBA was set up to serve in 1950, the work won't be placed in larger Christian Bookstores not even if it is approved for distribution to the Christian market. Making all work produced by general market authors who write work that appeal to this audience, challenged.

Don't forget to keep that in mind when you're looking for fiction in your larger Christian bookstores. And by all means, support banned book Week! :)

Jon Guenther - Soul Runner

Let the Adventure Begin.

The year is 1988. As a former Hasidic Jew raised in the Bronx, Dr. Bram Aronsfeld is no stranger to trouble.

Now the secret organization known as ARK is sending him into Communist-controlled Romania to rescue the beautiful Ileana Tarus, a Christian Gypsy woman who possesses information vital to ARK's intelligence operations. Spearheading the subjugation of her people is the evil Drago Profis, a despot backed by the current regime.

When Bram realizes it's not just Ileana but her whole village that need rescuing, the two will embark on a perilous adventure from which only their foolhardy courage and Almighty God can save them all!

ISBN-10:	1-448-68670-9
ISBN/EAN-13:	978-1-44868-670-4
Pages:	252
Genre:	Fiction / Action-Adventure
Publication Date:	September 1, 2009

About Jon Guenther:

Born and raised in the Chicago area, Jon Guenther wrote as a hobby until enlisting in the U.S. Army right out of high school. After completing military service, he took a number of odd jobs before embarking on a career as a firefighter and paramedic. Jon spent eight years in the emergency medical services field but slowly burned out on the long hours, low pay and time spent away from social activities.

In 2000, he left EMS and took a job as a computer help desk technician while attending college for a Bachelors of Science in information technology. He has served in that profession ever since and held positions as a software tester, technical writer, chief information officer, Web programmer and systems administrator.

His latest book, Soul Runner: A Novel of High Adventure, was under contract with a publisher but became the victim of the economic downturn. Jon then announced his plans to go forward with self-publication on his blog. The book is slated for release in September 2009.

Jon Guenther's background research on the topics of military tactics and anti-terrorism, coupled with his expertise in firearms and martial arts, lends authenticity to his action thrillers. He makes his home on a high desert ranch outside of Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Follow up by Sue:

I've been asked on numerous occasions to cough up some authors of faith (for lack of a better label and excluding big names like John Grisham, Tolkien, etc . . .) who aren't affiliated with CBA or ECPA but appeal to this audience none-the-less. Honestly, I didn't expect them to fall out of the sky and hit me on the head but this one did. Go to Jon's website at www.guenfire.com and check out his credentials. On a most interesting note, his latest book Soul Runner actually drew interest from one of the founding publishers of CBA (Christian Booksellers Association,) Moody Press. The deal was nearly done when Moody suddenly backed out stating among other things that the story wasn't plausible. Of course this means it wasn't plausible for their very narrow and targeted market and so they backed out of the contract. Interestingly, Soul Runner shows up as being available through larger Christian bookstores because Moody had already started the promotional wheels a-turning. Rest assured, however, this non-affiliated and now self-published book will not be available through larger Christian Bookstores although I've heard that Mr. Guenther may have something going with Family Christian nationwide.

How cool would that be!

Family Christian however, seems to have been walking the affiliated line a little more carefully ever since Harper Collins picked up Zondervan. Zondervan used to own Family Christian stores and customers, after the takeover were concerned that Family Christian would carry Zondervan books now that Random House had bought them up (Zondervan stayed affiliated btw.) Would Family Christian carry books from a publisher owned by a company who also printed the Satanic Bible? At least some of the customers wanted to know and they raised a big stink about it. Yes life in the affiliated world can be tough I guess.

Do go check out Jon Guenther's site and while you're there you might glance over and read his blog . . . hmmmm . . . .

Humble Beginnings.

Humble Beginnings.

Raquel!

I did not know you'd posted this. Nobody tells me anything. :) *Sue shakes head back and forth* So here's the link to the article:


The article:

Humble Beginnings


The link to the interview:

Interview with a vampire writer

Thanks so much Raquel!

$2.00 shipping.

I have to apologize. Any book you purchase from my links that say free shipping will actually add $2.00. For my excuse, I'll default to Dr. Leonard McCoy's standard response, (with a few of my own words added,) "I'm an author not a paypal guru."

I will try to get that fixed today. Sorry for any inconvenience. :)

Exposé on the Christian Publishing Industry

Addendum: You will have to scroll waaaaaay down once you click on the link to find my article but it is there. :) Other good stuff too so don't forget to check it out.

I can't believe I haven't posted to this sooner. I was approached by Kelly Mortimer of the newly formed Christian Media Association to write an article for her first newsletter (at least I think it was her first newsletter) and I happily took her up on her offer. If you don't know who Kelly is and you're an author or publisher, you should definitely get to know her. You can read this entire newsletter to learn more. Here's a teaser to how my article starts and then you can click on the passage to go to the newsletter to read more. It's everything I've learned so far but do keep in mind, I'm still learning. :)

Exposé on the Christian Publishing Industry – Everything You Wanted to Know, But Were Afraid to Ask.

By Sue Dent


. . . With CBA and ECPA defining the Christian Publishing Industry, and meeting no resistance, it is no surprise that absolutely everything in Christian publishing, called “Christian,” is associated with these two fee-requiring affiliations. . .

Keep in mind, with the way publishing is here in the US, the so called Christian publishing industry isn't necessarily about looking down on smaller published, self-published or unknown authors, it's more of a discriminatory nature. If you read my article, upon scrolling down a bit, you'll see this. So on top of the usual battle of getting noticed because you're a new author, if you find your work appealing to this audience, you also have the unwinnable battle of never being able to get to this industry's readers unless you have a fee-paying affiliated publisher with strict requirements regarding how you should write to appeal to their audience -- even if you're already appealing to them. Yeah. I think I said that right.

Christian Manifesto?

*****Nuther UPDATE*****
Mr. Jake Chism did the work for me and found the links. How's that for cool!

Part 1

Part 2

Jake rocks!


****UPDATE*****UPDATE****
See comment from C.E. Moore to this post for "importante informacion!" The mysterious disappearance of my interview at The Christian Manifesto isn't that at all. It seems they simply moved. I just didn't get the change of address notice. LOL I'm off to get it now and will repost the link to my interview if it was moved as well. Of course it was moved. Why would they not include my interview in the move. *Sue looks around paranoid starts gnawing on fingernails* They wouldn't not move my interview, would they?


Earlier this year I did a wonderful two part interview with the Christian Manifesto. I even linked to it of course so others could learn more about my books etc . . . Don't know what happened, but the blog is gone!!! Poof! Vanished into thin are. Maybe they just moved the interview and renamed the blog. I'll see if I can find out. That was a really good interview too. Oh well, se la vi.

Werner Lind's review of Never Ceese

This review from Werner Lind is absolutely one of my favorites. After you read it, go check out his vampire novel, Life Blood, also non-offensive to those of faith and yet not targeted either. I enjoyed it very much and think you will too. Do ask Werner how to get a copy. So without further delay, here's the link.

Werner Lind's review of Never Ceese

A few snippets from here and there!

Little gems I find from surfing the net. Enjoy.

"We LOVE the book "Never Ceese"! 11yo [daughter] just finished it in the last couple of days, and is not too happy that I don't have "Forever Richard" . . . She would be soooooooo thrilled to get both of these books! :) Obviously, this is one of our favorite fantasty stories . . ."

"I had the first in this series and so was able to read both of them in quick succession. I have read Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Saga, and I prefer Sue Dent’s vampire series, (by a LOOONNNGG shot!) It’s not strictly romance, but it does have a bit of that flavor in the mix! Trust me, you’ll want to check this series out!"

More to come.

. . .'cause you gotta have sales[friends!]

Just a quick note to state the obvious. :) Lots of venues selling both Never Ceese the paperback and Forever Richard. Don't forget, authors published by smaller presses have to work twice as hard to get their books noticed and we don't have the revenue to keep at it for long so it is up to you.

Also keep in mind, that while I should have the added benefit of being able to show up in bookstores, on-line and otherwise, where my CBA Christian readers shop, since both of my books are distributed through Spring Arbor, this won't happen.

Larger Christian bookstores nor their larger on-line counterparts carry non-affiliated work. They are and always have been primarily exclusive to work put out by fee-paying affiliated publishers. Most smaller Christian bookstores don't operate like this but neither do they make a big difference in sales. BTW, that's just here in the US too. I've had absolutely no trouble getting into Christian bookstores outside the US. They simply saw the book was distributed through Spring Arbor and listed it. :)

Buy those books!

Vampire Film Festival latest Information.

Here are two links that have up to date information on the Vampire Film Festival to be held in New Orleans, Louisiana. This includes a list of events and pricing. ;)

This link has the festival schedule.

This link has the ticket information.

Would like to do book tour at Lifeway Stores.

It's no secret to anyone that it's a challenge at best for a new author to get sales through bookstores when larger bookstores typically only shelve books from established authors/publishers. But what some may not know is that larger Christian Bookstores have only ever carried fiction by affiliated authors. Only recently have they begun to allow in books by non-affiliated Christian authors but usually only if the work is highly targeted to their original target market, that being visitors to Christian Bookstores (which used to be The Baptist Bookstore.)

Well, I'm excited to say that many of my readers here in the US actually come from the market CBA serves meaning this group is ready for a different kind of fiction but I can't get to these readers where they shop. Lifeway sends non-affiliated books through a book buyer who determines what's best for Lifeway stores, usually in spite of a book already being deemed socially acceptable to the Christian Market. Yes. I know. How odd is that?

Unless things have changed, the name of that book buyer at Lifeway is Michael Robbins. Apparently Michael has already made a determination on my work and at this time won't allow Lifeway stores to carry it. This is what he told my local Lifeway manager who told me initially all I had to do was to have distribution through Spring Arbor. They will let a customer order my book, but will make the customer pay shipping and then they ship the book to the customer's house. Even more strange.

Nevertheless, I'd love to tour Lifeway Stores so my many CBA fans can have a chance to get their hands on my work. It seems though that it doesn't matter what I want. So if you'd like to see this happen you'll have to contact Michael Robbins yourself and tell him you'd like to see this series in Lifeway Stores. Maybe enough of you can change his mind. :)

Press Release 9-19-9

You may find my recent press release here.

How it really works.

It might surprise you to know how it really works for us authors published by smaller publishers. But just in case you thought I was making any kind of money I'd thought I'd clarify. :)

I've no real idea just how much I've made. I can tell you that I can't earn a living off the proceeds from my debut novel as my publisher went belly up and sold all of her books to a liquidator. I was able to republish my paperback through Lightning Source (and subsequently had Never Ceese deemed socially acceptable to the Christian market) but Lightning Source is a POD and as far as bookstores go, my traditionally published, Bram Stoker Short-listed, ACFW book club choice for the month of April 2997 falls back into POD status meaning Bookstores won't shelve it unless you ask them to--maybe.

Forever Richard is certainly selling better, or so I've heard, but booksellers don't have to pay for books that sell until like six months after they ordered them AND if the books they bought didn't sell and they don't want them anymore because they're damaged and unsellable, they can send them back to the publisher who has to pay for return postage etc. . .

To date, I received my advance, the standard and enough to live off of for half of a month, and nothing else. But not because my publisher isn't operating the way all small publishers operate, that's simply the way it is. Small publishers don't get paid for books that sell for quite some time and when they do get their money any profits will probably be eaten up by returns from bookstores who decided they over bought or the let the books get wet and want new ones or whatever. The only way for a small author to survive these unrealistic circumstances is for readers to buy books and a lot of them.

Just wanted to share in case you thought writing was doing it for me. It isn't and it probably won't for some time. This is why so many small authors stop before they even get started good. This is why they put so much time and effort into promoting. At some point the balance tips and they can't do it anymore.

I'm standing in the middle at this point.

I've no control over what happens next.

Maybe you can help. :)

Laughing at old Press Release.

Yes. One of older press releases came up on a google search and I absolutely had to laugh out loud. Of course these sites have affiliate advertising from google etc . . . and this advertising apparently honed in on the word Christian. The two sites advertised in the space available was Tate Publishing, earning itself a spot in Writers Beware top 20 of the worst stealth vanity publishers out there and CBD or ChristianBook.com who doesn't even carry my books because I'm not affiliated with CBA and have no other connection to the targeted market of Christians they serve. Well, aside from both books being deemed socially acceptable to the Christian market by Spring Arbor.

Gotta love it!!!

Oh and here's the link if the ads don't change.

Full Preview: Upcoming Press Release.

Sue Dent's Thirsting for Blood Series: the first werewolf/vampire series to overwhelming appeal to CBA market readers as well as to its intended audience of general market readers.

Never Ceese and Forever Richard, Sue Dent's first two installments in her Thirsting for Blood Series, do well with a market she never expected to appeal to. Recent responses from a Christian blog tour show this appeal is only getting stronger.

{tentative release date 09-19-09}

In spite of books being deemed socially acceptable for distribution to the Christian market by Spring Arbor, the perceived Christian publishing industry here in the U.S. refuses to acknowledge the success of any work from a non-affiliated Christian publisher with few exceptions.

Larger Christian bookstore outlets such as Lifeway and Mardels as well as large on-line venues such as CBD only carry affiliated work or non-affiliated work that is heavily targeted toward their conservative evangelical readers. Writings about vampires and werewolves and other such paranormal content are completely unacceptable fodder with the exception being that the work can vaguely allude.

"I was never more surprised when affiliated authors and readers from the CBA and ECPA market started leaving wonderful reviews and comments on my first book."

Eric Wilson of affiliated Thomas Nelson wrote in his review of Dent's first book that Dent was "circling the camp, howling for someone to take notice." The industry itself hasn't taken notice but many of their readers certainly have. Snippets from recent reviews generated from a Christian blog tour show what some of what these readers think about Ms. Dent's general market work:

"Aaaah! Finally! I have waited for this book to release since the day I set down "Never Ceese" after finishing it in record time." ~ Janna R. Ryan

"I'm blaming Sue Dent for my current lack of sleep -- once I got around to reading Forever Richard, I couldn't put it down!" ~ Caitlynn Lowe

"I couldn't wait to sink my teeth into the follow up book to Never Ceese. I didn't know how the story could get any better, but it did." ~ Raquel Soto

There are also numerous reviews from Sue's general market readers Christian and otherwise. Perhaps the biggest feather in Sue's cap to date is the review done by Maryann Boo of the British Fantasy Society.

"Because I'm relatively new and have a small publisher, I'm always having to work harder to get those reviews that really make a difference. I was ecstatic when Craig Lockley of the British Fantasy Society contacted me to make sure they'd get their opportunity to review Forever Richard. And then to read the review--it was quite motivating."

You may read the review here in full at: http://tinyurl.com/ma23e3

What does Sue say about appealing to a market she never expected to appeal to?

"Well I honestly thought it would be a good thing or at least a better thing than what it's turned out to be. Sure I have a lot of readers who favor CBA and ECPA targeted fiction yet no non-affiliated Christian publisher can advertise on affiliated sites and non-affiliated Christian books aren't allowed in affiliated stores or rather your larger Christian Bookstores. It doesn't even matter if your work has been officially approved for the Christian market by Spring Arbor. At least that's true here in the US. Affiliated awards programs and writers conferences and book shows are also closed to non-affiliated Christian publishers for the most part. It's really disheartening and things don't look like they'll be changing anytime soon. Good thing I don't depend on this industry to keep me afloat."

The month of October is shaping up to be a big month for Ms. Dent. On October 25th she will be moderating a paranormal literary panel at the Vampire Film Festival in New Orleans, Louisiana put on by Reel Entertainment. You may visit www.vampirefilmfestival.com to get more information.

You may also read an interview done by author/promoter Catherine Karp here:
http://suburbanvampire.blogspot.com/2009/09/sue-dent-interview-vampire-film.html

Ms. Dent's Thirsting for Blood series will also be spotlighted at The Open Book Society with Never Ceese being their book club choice for the month. That web address is www.openbooksociety.com.

Another fan will be spotlighting vampire fiction on his blog in October including Ms. Dent's series. You can follow Ms. Dent's blog to read more about this when details become available. Sue blogs at www.suedent.blogspot.com.

A final thought from Ms. Dent.

"Do keep up with what your non-affiliated Christian author's are doing in the general market and support them. Otherwise you're going to miss out on some good story-telling which isn't targeted to any particular group of Christians but rather the broader market."

**Not included in press release. Simply information designed to be helpful.

Affiliated publishers often name their parent company as the publisher in place of the imprint name which would help identify their market. I'm not sure why this is done but it would seem naming the specific imprint would be more helpful since the work is targeted for a specific market of readers. For instance Zondervan will often list their parent company Random House as their publisher. Just know this will make it much more difficult to find work from general market authors writing non-offensive Christian work.

Venue for Vamp Fest.

TBA shortly, if not already. :) It was told to me that the venue is Zeitgeist Multi-disciplinary Arts Center. You may visit this link to learn more. Scroll down to find Vamp Fest mentioned. Hope to see you there.

Sue Dent week at Cathi's Chatter! :)

Yes. It's Sue Dent week at Cathi's Chatter. Another FIRST Blogger, and very dear friend, who didn't post Sept. 11th but instead dedicated a entire week to Forever Richard. If you'd like another opportunity to win a copy of Forever Richard and Never Ceese, do check out her blog. Also because she writes good stuff! :)

Click here to see what I mean.

Interview up with Sue Dent at VFF 2009

My interview with promoters of Vampire Film Festival just went live. If you care to check it out you may click on the link to the lift and then click on my head. :) or you may simply click here! If you choose to click on my head please be gentle. Oh HA! Just go check it out and show UP!!!! Why wouldn't you? ;)

Christian Blog Tours: A blessing and a curse.

For those of us general market authors who are new and just starting out, it would almost seem a blessing to appeal to readers from an audience you never intended to draw readers from. This couldn't be truer when it comes to Christian publishing here in the US. Christian publishing is quite different everywhere else. Authors who are Christian simply write for the general market. You might have small groups of different denominations branch off and write fiction to appeal specifically to their followers but you don't have one group claim to represent all that Christian readers want to read like you do here in the US.

Enter CBA (formed in 1950 by a group of Christian/Baptist bookstores) and ECPA (created in the 1970's, an association of affiliated publishers.) CBA called upon publishers in 1950 to provide very targeted, very biblical (according to their beliefs) and generally very watered down fiction for bookstore visitors to enjoy. Publishers who wanted to participate, because doing so guaranteed their authors would show up in every Christian/Baptist bookstore, paid a fee and followed the rules and conventions. Throwing caution to the wind, they ditched what general market publishers felt worked to create their own style of fiction. As a result there is now an entire generation of readers who simply aren't used to reading general market work.

Christian blog tours here in the US, and there are quite a few, are made up of these readers. General market Christian authors who accidentally appeal to this audience often want to try their luck at touring to hopefully garnish a few additional reviews and to of course get their book out there.

Watch out! Be Careful!

Make sure you have some solid general market reviews that can hopefully thwart some of the misguided reviews you'll get from readers who've no idea what works for general market readers Christian or otherwise.

I'd love to say I dodged that bullet but that bullet is BIG and is very tricky to dodge. My series does have solid general market appeal and my publisher felt is was worth the challenge. I'm glad they felt this way because I did garnish some absolutely fantastic reviews which are coming in now!!! Those reviewers who don't care for general market work and want their fiction more targeted and subsequently less literary, were even nice though their comments often negated what general market reviewers are saying.

Just keep in mind, if you write for the general market and want to take your chance touring one of the Christian blog tours, it definitely is a blessing and in other ways, a curse. :) Fortunately a few general market Christian readers are joining these blog tours for the free books. Hopefully one day they will dominate!

FIRST blog tour reviews coming in!

FIRST blog tour reviews coming in and the relevant ones I'm starting to add to my Media Room page. Some good stuff here. Be sure and check it out at Sue's Media Room. Other reviews reminded me of the kind of reviews self-published William Young received when The Shack was allowed inside of Christian bookstores where affiliated readers could get it. All of a sudden the overwhelmingly excellent reviews sort of dwindled into a mire of confusion as niche market Christian readers tried to make sense out of a book written for general market Christians.

Do check out the reviews linked to. It will be worth your while. :)

FaceBook discussion on vampire creation.

FaceBook discussion on vampire creation. Do come join in! I started a fan page and have sorely neglected it. Then I learn someone had a question for me there. Needless to say I'm about to Pimp-this-page. LOL

Check out the discussion here!

Wow! Someone is paying attention. LOL

From Amish to vampires, Christian fiction expands

From Amish to vampires, Christian fiction expands

I found an news article labeled as such floating around the Internet (google it if you want to read it yourself) and thought I'd chime in since the actual wording makes it seem as though nothing like this has been done with Christian fiction before. I suppose the first thing to note here is that the label Christian fiction, in this instance, is referring to work produced by CBA affiliated Christian publishers not general market work. It's meant for a very narrowly targeted market of Christians and the writing conventions are tailored so that no writing offends their conservative evangelical audience.

I've not read the Amish fiction affiliated publishers such as Steeple Hill put out but one reviewers response pretty much nailed the genre. When offered a chance at a free book they wrote that they did like the work of this particular author but they preferred to read Amish Fiction about the Amish. Meaning that CBA affiliated publishers' Amish fiction is Amish from a conservative Evangelicals world view. Certainly makes sense since that's who their audience is.

As far a vampires goes, also from a conservative Evangelicals world view. The book being talked about on this news release is from Zondervan, a CBA(ECPA) affiliated imprint of Random House. I contacted Zondervan after an affiliated author told me I should, (when my book was appealing to readers who favored CBA work.) I was told that no affiliated publisher would ever allow their authors to write about vampires much less call them that. As I understand it, this affiliated version from Zondervan isn't even allowed to have fangs.

CBA affiliated Thomas Nelson pretty much held true to what the Zondervan editor told me and wouldn't take my work which was later deemed socially acceptable for distribution to the Christian Market. Interestingly, not long after Thomas Nelson decided not to humor me, they released two books that both authors claimed were about vampires.

The author of this Christian vampire book from Zondervan is a fan of mine (I think.) She did e-mail me once because she was excited that Zondervan was going to allow her to write about vampires. I had to say I was a bit frustrated by this until I realized they didn't let her do this at all. They're sticking to their guns. They don't want to distance the reader's that have made them what they are.

As far as affiliated publishers being allowed to write more "general market" like material--well, if they knew how to and succeeded they wouldn't be a niche market anymore would they. The Christian Booksellers Association was set up in 1950 by a group of Christian Bookstores, then called the Baptist Bookstore to provide very different and very targeted fiction to their visitors. It grew into a huge market and they're not about to offend that market.

Not anytime soon anyway.

Do keep in mind, this kind of confusion over what is Christian and what isn't in the publishing world, at least here in the US, is further complicated by one group taking the all encompassing label Christian and applying it to the very targeted work they put out. I suppose that's two groups if you consider that the ECPA is a group of CBA affiliated publishers whose restrictions are even more strict if you can believe that!

*CBA - Christian Booksellers Association

*ECPA - Evangelical Christian Publishers Association

Dear {Litarary Agent}:

Dear {Literary Agent}:

I'm sorry to inform you that I just don't think you're right for me at this time. Though I've several MS's that should do as well as my current series, (Bram Stoker short-listed, appealing to general market readers as well as to CBA niche market readers, wowing reviews from the British Fantasy Society and other industry professionals) I simply don't think you can help me at all. You should really solicit authors who don't work as hard as I do. :)

And to save you literary agents who provide potential stories to affiliated houses such as Zondervan, Thomas Nelson, Hatchette Books, Bethany House, Realms, etc . . . CBA Christian houses don't take work written for general market readers. Duh!

So yes, I feel it would be better if you looked someplace else. I'm sure you'll do fine!

Sue Dent

Jane Austin, Chai Tea and Me.

Jane Austin, Chai Tea and Me. An absolutely perfect review of Forever Richard. :) Short and sweeeeet! One of many I've enjoyed reading today. Be sure and check this one out at Jane Austin, Chai Tea and Me.

Cornhusker Academy! Say what?

It might be in your best interest to go check out this review from one of my FIRST bloggers. :) Check out the drawing for a free book(s)! BUT ABOVE ALL check out the review. *Doing my best Calypso impersonation from Pirates of the Carribean* "Her is a big fan!" If you could hear me you'd know that I can sound just like Calypso. LOL ROFL

Oh the link. :)

Cornhusker Academy!

FIRST Blog Tour Underway! Some thoughts.

Well the FIRST Christian Blog Tour is underway and so far so good. :) With bloggers ranging from those who favor narrowly targeted fiction, and most of the time fiction not meeting general market standards (why would it. It's targeted,) the results were bound to be . . . interesting. :)

The more positive comments almost always fall under the category of "you don't find this kind of work categorized under Christian fiction usually," to "I couldn't follow the disjointed nature of the story."

To the first comment I'd like to emphasize that 99% of these bloggers are only used to seeing Christian fiction that comes from CBA affiliated publishers who claim their narrowly targeted audience doesn't want to read about vampires and werewolves that is why you don't see paranormal or vampire and werewolf or zombie type stories making the rounds. I'm just an author and my publisher is just a publisher who recognizes that CBA does not have a hold on the label Christian. Therefore there is a LOT of paranormal and vampire and werewolf and zombie fiction out there that is written by believers and therefore non-offensive to most Christians (I say most because you can't please everyone.) Just not coming from CBA houses. Anything they market as horror or paranormal will follow their very narrowly targeted conventions. :)

As far as the story being disjointed to some, this comment seems to only come from my die hard CBA market readers. No surprise to me. The writing styles between general market work and CBA Christian fiction is so dramatically different . . . I'd make some comparisons but it might offend some.

So in conclusion, I'm very, very pleased with the reviews so far especially considering most of these bloggers are not used to reading general market horror. ;)

I'll post links later to keep anyone from having to google them should they even be inclined. Oh, one more thing, the ending still brings readers to violent reactions but I swear, it's not really a cliffhanger. *Sue snickers into her hand.* One reviewer who otherwise LOVED the book was quite disgruntled or rather "annoyed" because of the ending. Believe it or not--this makes me happy! All the major issues are resolved and I had to leave something to make you want to go on to read the next in the series. It has something to do with selling books and eating and surviving and this being a series . . . so yeah, I'll probably end the next book the same way, maybe not. I'll have to ask the characters what they think. :)

VFF - Sue Dent moderator for Literary Panel.

VFF stands for Vampire Film Fest and it is official now that I will be the official moderator for the literary panel being conducted October 25th at 2 P.M. Venues are still be worked out so I'm not real sure where yet but it will be in New Orleans. LOL

So come on down if you're close and take part. If you're one of my fans that favor work put out by affiliated publishers, please note this is not an event that caters to that following. Neither is it secular? :) It will be a grand gathering of those who enjoy vampire, werewolf and paranormal myth and lore. And just in time for Halloween!!!

FIRST Wild Card Blog Tour 9/11 I'm "askeered!"

FIRST Wild Card Blog Tour is coming up Friday and I'm shaking in my boots. For those of you unfamiliar with what a blog tour is, I'll try to explain. For the most part it is Christian/CBA market specific. No publisher or author or blogger makes as big a deal of blog tours as those in the Christian/CBA Market. I suppose it started because affiliated authors wanted a way to bring attention to their work. Blog tours have become "the thing" in the Christian market.

FIRST is the one of the few Christian blog tours that accepts work from general market and other markets with the only requirement being that it is non-offensive to believers. To understand my fear however, you have to understand that a lot of the bloggers only read affiliated fiction. *YIKES!* And the tendency for any reviewer is to compare what you've read to what you know. My hope is that the reviewers will be as kind and helpful as they were the first time I toured. My fear is . . . hopefully unfounded. LOL

I can't say I'm real keen on the date but perhaps some of the reviews will be a bright spot to someone else. :)

What should Sue Dent get a job doing?

What should Sue Dent get a job doing? Sadly it always seems to come down to that and kills most authors starting out. It's either survive or write. Ah, but I'm such the celebrity I should be able to find something right off. *Yeah, right.* Starts looking on-line. This could take a while. Hmmmmm . . . Oh and as far as suggestions, should any come in . . . be nice! :P

Christian Vampires again?

Christian Vampires? Recently, a larger CBA affiliated publisher, (meaning one of those narrowly targeted Christian publishers owned and operating under the umbrella of a larger general market house (not secular as there's no such thing) such as Random House etc . . .) announced the release of a Christian thriller vampire type story thingy. Honestly, it was about that messed up the way they tried to work the word vampire in there (because as we all know, that's what you have to write about now to get a reader's attention ever since Twilight made such a ginormous splash.)

*See, I get to slide by because my series actually came out BEFORE all the Twilight hoopla and fanfare (well-deserved fanfare and hoopla I might add. :)*

So this book, (not the first for CBA as affiliated publishers have put out at least two other novels that fall under the very sketchy description above,) is supposed to appeal to the general market the way Twilight did or Dracula or Buffy or every other vampire novel in existence?

Why would you think that? Do you not read my blogs?

No it isn't for general market readers. It is my understanding that affiliated editors even edited out the vampire like thingy having fangs. Sorry but I've a difficult time picturing my vampire without fangs!! *perish the thought* Wouldn't that be like a fish without fins? Other than that, this is from one of the very CBA houses (and one of the many) who told me that no affiliated publisher would ever produce fiction about vampires (of lore of course since it's clear you can call anything you want a vampire and get away with it until you're found out.) You might wonder why an affiliated publisher might offer this information to me since I don't write for an affiliated house. Because I sought to be published by an affiliated house when my work began to be enjoyed by their readers and before I understood they had writing conventions and rules to protect their narrow market readers. Rules and conventions that prevent general market readers from enjoying the work for the most part. :)

I'd mention the book's name so you can go check it out for yourself but neither one of my books are ever listed when similar titles are shown with this books advertisement. So there ya go. Of course, I'm not affiliated and only affiliated books are talked about in conjunction with each other. As one best-selling affiliated author told me once, we can't all talk about you, Sue. Fair enough. :)

What Rodney might look like?

Okay. I've been searching with a fan of mine to try to find images that we think look like Rodney. She's sent me two ideas on Facebook and I thought I'd post mine here. Just a basic look with some facial piercings of course. But I think this is a pretty good resemblance . . . in my mind's eye anyway. What say you LindaMD (and anyone else who cares to comment? :)

Always looking for that agent-NOT.

I suppose I'm always looking for that agent. And if I'm not, my friends are looking for me. Honestly, after all my Thirsting for Blood series has done, it seemed to me that finding an agent might actually be a little easier. Pardon me while I laugh myself senseless. An author friend sent me an e-mail the other day. They now have an agent. They think I should contact them and let them know I might be interested. Sure. Why not? So I did. I get an automated response that says the agent is away until September 1st, 2009. They will be sparadoically checking e-mail. Yesterday I get a response.

Dear Sue,
Sorry but I am not the right agent for your work.
Best of luck,

Please stop telling me agents are interested. LOL I stopped going to them because they're never interested. Ah, but what a nice reminder of what automated rejection feels like. :)

Sue Dent at the ACFW conference-sort of?

Sue Dent at the ACFW conferenc-sort of? I've been talking with affiliated author Loree Lough and she got me to thinking that maybe I can come to meet some of my wonderful fans who might attend. I tentatively have a room booked and wondered if I held a workshop there (since the ACFW doesn't see a need I guess to cater to Christians authors who write like I do and therefore ask them to speak)on how to write paranormal/horror/fiction for the general market (yes general market Christians included) that also appeals to that very targeted evangelical market CBA and ECPA have built up such a readership for.

Would it be worth your time to attend?

Would it be worth say ten-dollars?

You can comment here to let me know so I can decide whether it's worth booking a flight. :) I'd also share my publishing journey which so many seem to glean valuable information from. Some do get bored and throw popcorn before I'm done though. Yes. We could have popcorn.

Okay, so let me know.

No response and I'm audi! Actually there ain't no "Audi" about it. I just won't show up. :)

*Sue looks around* Hey, who's cheering? That's just rude. :P

Josh from My Thirsting for Blood Series?

Every now and then I find an image that makes me think of one of the characters in my books. This one sort of looks like how I think Josh might look. What do you think?