Bestsellers’ Sandbox – Traditional or Indie?

Posted on Sep 19, 2012 in Giveaways, On Writing | 3 comments

Books have always been an important part of my life.  As a child, my parents read to me every night.  From the children’s books of Fuji Yamakawi to the original Pinocchio, they always encouraged a love of reading.  My parents divorced when I was still quite young and as I got older it was more and more difficult for my father and I to cross the years and states that separated us.  The solution?  Books.

I read The Lord of the Ring series before I was 10 and began my love of horror/thrillers by reading Tommy Knockers at 12.  My Dad and I would sit on the phone for hours, once a week, and talk books.  We were our own little book club and while I didn’t always understand the stories we read, I was taught to discuss them and analyze them critically.  I was always be thankful to my father for that.

As an adult, my love of books has spread into writing them and working with authors.  My shelves are filled with an eclectic selection, from classics, to cannon, to erotica to indie.  I love books in all shapes and sizes.

It’s an exciting time to be a bibliophile.  Right now books are more affordable, more accessible and more varied than ever before.  Thanks to the invent of eBooks and Print on Demand systems the opportunities for authors are only limited by your imagination.  But what makes a good book.  It’s the question that has been plaguing storytellers since the very first oral history was told.  A good book, one that captures the imagination and heart of the reader is the goal of all authors, Indie and Traditional alike.

This week, I’ve been working with two bestselling authors: Terri Giuliano Long and Ann Pearlman.  Their path to publishing couldn’t be more different, but both have written stories that have that indefinable quality that makes a bestseller.

Ann’s current book A Gift For My Sister is the follow-up to her international bestseller The Christmas Cookie Club.  Ann’s accomplishments include the non-fiction book Tales from the Crips as well as the Pulitzer prize nominated Infidelity.  She’s not constrained by the assertion that you have to write in one genre.  Instead, Ann’s work transcends that and she brings her talent for engaging story telling to everything she works on.

So what’s the lesson here?  It’s the same as what anyone would see if they looked at my bookshelf.  Side by side, Terri and Ann are bestsellers who have followed their inner voice.  Whether an author goes with a traditional publishing path or the indie route, professionalism, quality work and beautiful story telling will breed success.  There’s more than enough room in the sandbox for everyone.

Check out the Bestsellers’ Sandbox!  Join us for these exciting events!

• September 20th a roundtable discussion with Terri and Ann on Novel Publicity
• September 20th at 2PM EST – Blog Talk Radio show with Ann and Terri
• September 21st – Blog Swaps
  • Ann Pearlman will visit The Art & Craft of Writing Creatively to discuss her new title ‘A Gift for My Sister’
  • Terri Giuliano Long will visit Ann Pearlman’s blog to discuss her bestselling literary fiction novel ‘In Leah’s Wake’
• September 21st – Twitter View at 4PM EST using hashtag #AuthorSandbox

And don’t forget to enter the rafflecopter giveaway for a chance to win a Kindle Fire or a print copy of either In Leah’s Wake or A Gift For My Sister.

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