Over the last year, we received over 1,000 submissions, wrote 52 reviews and selected 11 Top Picks to vie for Novel of the Year. Each of these 11 books were vetted by a moderator, then read by a reviewer and at least two judges before the final decision was made. Selecting the Editor’s Choice award was extremely difficult – with excellent books of all genres competing on the same level, it’s hard to choose a favorite. Obviously, all 11 novels were well executed, but the final winner goes to a Young Adult novel that is so full of imagination and character that it was impossible to put down.
There’s always a ravenous appetite for undead tales, but zombies are notoriously difficult to keep fresh. In Germination, Jamie Thornton lands us at a familiar ground zero through a new pair of eyes. Our protagonist, Mary, is a tough and cynical runaway, with no loyalties but to her friends, and a lifetime of street survival her only weapon. But is she tough enough to save her friends from the outbreak of a mysterious and horrifying new disease?
“I want to read this.” With those five words, readers begin a potential love affair. What makes us pick up a book and slap it on the checkout counter (or click “Buy”)? That’s what publishers have been trying to figure out since there were publishers.
The third novel in the Entanglement Series is a go, and the cover reveal happened just last week—so now I can share the cover with my Underground people!
A media kit (also called a press kit), is a marketing tool for authors use when reaching out to the media—including book bloggers—retailers, and more. The important thing to remember about a media kit is that its audience is not your readership, but rather members of the larger book marketing industry. Because I publish my novels with a small press, putting together a media kit is a task that would fall to me. Since I’ve never done this before, and I’m betting many of you have never done this before either, I thought I’d narrate this process in a column so we could all learn together from my mistakes.
A cunning killer trusted his secret was safe, an innocent woman holds the key to his destruction, and an intelligence officer must keep her alive before the madman can strike the fatal blow.
