2014 A to Z Blogging Challenge and Assembling Your Publishing Team

A to Z Official Announcement: Please read and follow the sign-up instructions outlined below so you sign onto the list correctly! 

 

The brainchild of Arlee Bird, at Tossing it Out, the A to Z Challenge is posting every day in April except Sundays (we get those off for good behavior.) And since there are 26 days, that matches the 26 letters of the alphabet. On April 1, blog about something that begins with the letter “A.” April 2 is “B,” April 3 is “C,” and so on.

 

You can use a theme for the month or go random – just as long as it matches the letter of the alphabet for the day. We recommend short posts, turn off Word Verification, and visit five blogs (or more) a day beginning with the one after yours on the list.

 


To streamline legitimate blogs from advertisement blogs, the Co-Hosts will be visiting each blog on this list throughout the Challenge. Blogs on the list showing no activity once the Challenge starts will be removed.

 

There are categories for those looking for like-minded blogs. Select ONE category code and enter it after your blog’s title/name. The code applies to your blog, not your theme for the Challenge and is purely optional. However, if your blog has adult content, you MUST mark it (AC) or it will be removed from the list. Codes are as follows:

 

1. WRITING : (WR)

2. BOOKS: (BO)

3. FILM : (FM)

4. PHOTOGRAPHY: (PH)

5. GARDENING: (GR)

6. CRAFT: (CR)

7. ART: (AR)

 8. MUSIC: (MU)

9. CULINARY: (CU)

10. LIFESTYLE: (LI )

11. FASHION: (FA)

12. PERSONAL: (PR)

13. SOCIAL MEDIA: (SO)

14. GAMING: (GA)

15. EDUCATION : (ED)

 16. POLITICS: (PO)

17. HISTORY: (HI)

18. SCIENCE: (SC)

19. HUMOR: (HU)

20. TRAVEL: (TR)

21. MISCELLANEOUS: (MI)

22. ADULT CONTENT: (AC)

 

 Be sure to grab the badge and display it in your sidebar so we know you are participating and link to the A to Z Blog.

 

For more information we recommend you follow the A to Z Challenge Blog and the hosts:

 

 Arlee Bird @ Tossing it Out: http://tossingitout.blogspot.com

Alex J. Cavanaugh: http://alexjcavanaugh.blogspot.com

Author Stephen Tremp: http://authorstephentremp.blogspot.com

Tina @ Life is Good: http://kmdlifeisgood.blogspot.com

Damyanti@Amlokiblogs: http://amloki.blogspot.com

Jeremy @ Being Retro: http://www.beingretro.com

Nicole Ayers - The Madlab Post: www.madlabpost.com

M. J. Joachim's Writing Tips: http://mjjoachim.blogspot.com

Heather M. Gardner: http://hmgardner.blogspot.com

AJ @ Naturally Sweet: http://frodofrog.blogspot.com

Pam @ An Unconventional Librarian: http://unconventionallibrarian.com

 

We also have a Facebook Page. The email address is infoatoz2014@gmail.com


The Twitter hashtag is #AtoZChallenge.

 

As an A to Z Co-host, I’m looking for a few good men and women (minions) to help with the particulars of being a co-host. This includes, but is not limited to, tracking the usage of wormholes, stealing and storing nuclear material to open said wormholes, lying to Congress regarding said nuclear material, and helping me visit and leave comments to my allotted portion of A to Z participants during the challenge.

 



Captain Minion

If interested, please sign the disclaimer below and email me at Stephen.tremp@yahoo.com or leave me a note in the Comments. We'll have some really cool unique badges too. Your help is much appreciated. Captain Minion thanks you!

 

Be the first one on your block to sign up for the 2014 A to Z Challenge below!
 
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And Now A Word From Nutschell: Assembling Your Publishing Team: Indie authors have many roles to play: author, editor, designer/artist, formatter, distributor, sales/marketing representative, and accountant/project manager. I listed The Many Roles of an Indie Author in my January 4th post.

 

So how do you go about assembling your publishing team?

 

First: figure out what roles you truly need to delegate. For Story Sprouts, co-editor Alana and I determined that what we needed most was a book cover designer, an editor, and a formatter.

 

Second: search for a professional through personal connections, word of mouth, research, or various freelance sites. Our research gave us an idea of how much we would need to spend, so we chose one that fit the lower end of our budget. 

 

Alana’s sister is a graphic designer. Keela Jacks of Garrigues Graphics did a wonderful job creating the cover art for Story Sprouts. She listened to our suggestions and patiently worked on the color and design to our satisfaction.

 

Our book was formatted by the amazing Rachel Morgan of Morgan Media. Rachel is a bloggy friend highly recommended by many authors and bloggers. Rachel is a whiz at formatting and also creates book covers and other promotional materials.

 

We didn’t know any developmental editors/copy editors so we took to the net. Alana posted a job offer on elance.com, and we chose an editor from several freelancers who responded.

 

Erin Elizabeth Long of Biblio Tech Books is a YA author who has a decade of experience in editing. She did a beautiful job, working in a timely, efficient manner and taking a logical, sensible approach to organizing the book’s content.

 

If you do decide to self-publish, remember your most important job is to write. All other tasks should be delegated if they interfere with your role as an author. Although it may cost money, assembling your own publishing team saves you tons of time, and in the long run may also save your sanity.

 

STORY SPROUTS: CBW-LA WRITING DAY EXERCISES & ANTHOLOGY 2013 BLURB: What happens when linguistic lovers and tale tellers workshop together? Inspiration. Wonder. Discovery. Growth. Magic.

 

KINDLE & PRINT COPIES AVAILABLE THROUGH AMAZON

 

LINKS: Learn more about Story Sprouts at HERE Join the Children’s Book Writers of Los Angeles at HERE Find Nutschell at:

Blog

Twitter

Linked-In

Pinterest

 

And don't forget to sign up for the 2014 A to Z Challenge below!

Online Marketing Symposium, Cherie Reich Cover Reveal, Anansi And Company, Carrie Butler Strikes Again, and 2014 Wormfest

Online Marketing Symposium: Brought to you by Arlee Bird, Yolanda Renee, Jeremy Hawkins, and Alex J. Cavanaugh. 

 

It’s all about networking and social media for self-published and Indie writers. In past blogs I had a theme: I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends. This is the best advice I can give.

 

I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends 

Case in point: I read Carolyn Howard Johnson's book The Frugal Book Promoter. I liked it so much that I featured her as the Author Of The Week. She reciprcotated by asking me to submit a Blog Tip of the Month for her newsletter complete with a link to my favorite post. Very cool. Just one more way two people can help one another reach larger audience. Free. 

 

You can visit Carolyn Howard-Johnson HERE. There is lots of great stuff for writers, and you can sign up for her semi-monthly Sharing with Writers newsletter. You can see my review at AMAZON AND GOODREADS.

 

Cherie Reich Cover Reveal: To save a kingdom, a prophetess must challenge Fate. Reborn, book one of The Fate Challenges, by Cherie Reich will be released on May 23, 2014. For more information about Cherie Reich and her work, please visit her website or blog.

 

The cover art is created by Laura Sava. To add on Goodreads, click here. If you’d like to be notified when Reborn releases, please sign up for her newsletter here.

 

W4WS: We will resume Writers4Writers in February.

 

Weekend Follies: They’re Back! For better or worse, the Weekend Follies are back. Just in time to give you a chuckle after a long week.

 

Virtual Blog Tour: If you would like to help with the release of Escalation set for release Monday, March 10th please take a few moments and fill out the following form.

 

The Theme: Bringing Awareness of Science and Science Fiction to our Youth. More on this in an upcoming post.

 

But Wait, That's Not All: You also get this fancy schmancy badge to post on your blog. It doesn't slice. It doesn't dice. But it's a really cool badge created by the talented Carrie Butler!

 

If you do wish to participate, and I hope you do, please email me at stephen.tremp@yahoo.com or leave a comment in addition to filling out the form below. This way I have backup in the event this spreadsheet does not record your input. Thanks in advance!

 

Author Of The Week: Bish Denham and her recent release Anansi And Company. Check it out by clicking the image at the top of my right scroll bar.

 

2014 Wormfest: If you haven’t signed up for the 2014 Second Annual National Wormhole day, or 2014 Wormfest hosted by Alex Cavanaugh, L. Diane Wolfe, and myself, simply sign up on the Linky List below. And CLICK HERE for a synopsis of the Blogfest. It will be out of this world!

A Tribute To The Professor, Mr. Kincaid, And The Return Of The Weekend Follies

The Professor

I have to take a moment and give tribute to Russell Johnson, aka The Professor from Gilligan's Island who just passed away at the age of 89.

 

His dry humor was the perfect ying to the mad cap slapstick yang of the other characters.

 

That leaves Mary Ann, Ginger, and Gilligan. I noted on Facebook how it's funny we don't call them by their real names.



Mr. Kincaid

Wow! As I'm writing this at the last minute, another actor from my childhood just passed. Dave Madden, or Mr. Kincaid from the Partridge Family has also left he. He was 82.

I remember the first episode where The Partridge Family needed a manager and Ruben Kincaid declined numerous attempts from Danny to take them on.

Then, Danny followed Mr. Kincaid into a restroom and to the stall next to him. He slid a tape recorder with a demo song under the stall wall and hit PLAY. Kincaid loved the song and signed them.

Sometimes, you have to do what you have to do to get recognized.

RIP, gentlemen. You will be missed.
 

Okay, on to something on a lighter note. I'm not much of a zombie guy, but I did like the movie Zombieland. Here is a quick clip from a appearance from Bill Murray. Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

2014 Breakthrough Prizes, Terraforming, A Garden On The Moon, And Honesty



Nerds Just Want To Have Fun



Okay, getting back to my roots. The following are three topics will help form the platform of my blog this year, along with other Science and Sci-Fi stuff:

 

What To Watch: Science Channel has been named the official broadcast partner of the inaugural 2014 BREAKTHROUGH PRIZES, a one-of-a-kind global event which rewards and recognizes some of the greatest minds in the science world. Hosted by actor Kevin Spacey, and celebrities like Conan O'Brien and Mark Zuckerberg, the world’s greatest thinkers as they pay tribute to the brilliance, hard work and leadership of world-renowned scientists.

 

The world premiere special 2014 BREAKTHOUGH PRIZES will premiere on Science Channel on Monday, January 27 at 9 PM ET/PT.

 

The 2014 Breakthrough Prizes are awarded to those who make major breakthroughs (I love that word) and contributions that represent significant advances in our fundamental knowledge of the world. At the ceremony, seven prizes (six for life sciences and one for psychics) of $3 million each will be awarded for a total of $21 million.

Fun Fact: NASA Hopes To Put A Garden On The Moon. Neil Armstrong may have made a giant leap forward for mankind when he landed on the moon more than 40 years ago, but scientists at NASA's Ames Research Center in California are looking out for plantkind. The Lunar Plant Growth Habitat project is hoping to put some basil, flowers and turnips on the moon in late 2015.

 

In addition to the goal of an ever-so-slightly greener moon, NASA is also looking to make this an educational opportunity. The agency also has plans to send replica habitats to schools across the country so that the experiment can be repeated in the classroom. READ STORY HERE

 

Did You Know: Terraforming is the process of transforming a hostile environment into one suitable for human life. Once just the subject of science fiction novels, it is now becoming a viable research area. The famed astronomer and Pulitzer prize winner, Carl Sagan, says that there is enormous promise in the search for ancient life on Mars. If life was once sustainable on Mars, it is important to know what caused Mars to evolve into the cold and lifeless planet it is today. With this knowledge, we can possibly in a few decades terraform Mars by reversing the process. REFERNCE

 

Did You Know Part Deux: Could we terraform our moon? No. The moon is too small and therefore does not have enough gravity to hold an atmosphere necessary to terraform it.

 

Carrie Butler: Carrie has revealed the cover art for HONESTY. And she redesigned her blog look. She also created the badge for Wormfest 2014. Carrie is seriously talented!

 

Finally: If you haven’t already, take a moment to check out Monday’s post regarding my release date for Escalation and sign up for Second Annual 2014 National Wormhole Day Blogfest.

Release Date For Escalation and 2014 Wormfest

It’s Time! And I don’t use that term loosely as time is a very important element in my latest book Escalation, the final installment to the Breakthrough trilogy.

 

Okay, let’s get right down to business. The release date for Escalation is Monday, March 10th. I wanted to release it before the holidays. But the timing just wasn’t there and I recognized that. No sense fighting it.

 

I then set my sights for Albert Einstein’s birthday which is March 14th. But that is on a Friday, and Monday is the best day for a book release. So Monday, March 10th it is!

Another Awesome Badge By Carrie Butler!

 

And that same week we’re holding the 2014 Second Annual National Wormhole Week Blogfest, hosted by Captain Ninja Alex Cavanaugh, L. Diane Wolfe and myself. We’ll call if 2014 Wormfest for short.

 

2014 National Wormhole Week Blogfest: Name one thing where science advances mankind, and one where technology with unforeseen consequences will go too far and set mankind back. Example: De-Extinction, or bringing back extinction species through back breeding, genetic engineering, and cloning.

 

Science Running Amok

Feel free to reference movies and books too. Speaking of de-extinction, the book and movie Jurassic Park comes to mind where science takes a huge leap forward, but also backfires.

 

With all the breakthrough discoveries mankind is on the cusp of, are we playing God?

 

Escalation ARCs: I’m looking for about ten people who want to read an Advanced Review Copy (ARC) of Escalation: The Adventures of Chase Manhattan. This will be an e-version you can download and will be the equivalent of 320 – 350 pages, depending on the font size I use. I’d like to have reviews up on Amazon and Kindle before the book is released. My editor is doing a final once over edit and I’ll have it back by the end of January. Then I’ll email you a code to download the e-copy. If interested, please email me at Stephen.tremp@yahoo.com or leave a comment.

 

Escalation Synopsis: “I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones” - Albert Einstein I

Flashback: 2013 Badge

 

In Escalation, the final installment to Stephen Tremp’s Breakthrough Trilogy, a seemingly innocent discovery in Einstein-Rosen Bridges, or wormholes, becomes a Pandora’s Box—opening doors to other unexpected and unpredictable realities such as parallel universes, time/space travel, and an evil hitchhiker from another dimension.

 

Chase Manhattan has survived attempts on his life from numerous sources in his effort to destroy the technology. But he is far from safe. Now Chase and his comrades must not only break world renowned physicist Professor Nicholas Fischer out of prison a second time, but also smuggle him across hostile borders in Europe and the Middle East to prevent events threatening to spiral into World War III.

 

At Stake: an end to Western civilization as we know it. The result: an epic clash where science and the supernatural take center stage, vying for mankind’s destiny. The setting is global as the world divides into an East vs. West climactic battle. The action is swift, adrenaline-charged, and non-stop. Unending twists and turns will keep the reader turning pages and wanting more.

 

Together, Breakthrough, Opening, and Escalation follow the lives of the unlikely participants from innocence to a coming of age through sacrifice, betrayal, passion, lust, unconditional love, and hope. Escalation will appeal to fans of modern-day science fiction, action, young adult, horror and a little romance.

 

Looking Ahead: I’ll also have a Virtual Blog Tour following the 2014 Wormfest. More on that in a near future post. There will be a theme that goes above and beyond promoting my book, and will focus on helping the youth of today. I’m very excited about this!

 

Author Of The Week: Lydia Kang and Control. Click the badge at the top of the right scroll bar for more info!

 

2014 Wormfest: This will be fun Bloghop. This is a passionate topic and I’m looking forward to all the amazing responses everyone will have. Sign up with the Linky List below.

And feel free to copy and use the code and help spread the good word, or click that Tweet button below. Thanks!!!

IWSG And A Very Long Punch List

IWSG: brought to you by Alex Cavanaugh and his supporting cast of co-hosts.

 

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

 

I am a thankful person by nature. I’m thankful to be alive, in good health, and surrounded by family and friends. This helps take the edge of stress and being anxious and places the emphasis of my thoughts in proper alignment.

But I have to admit, I’ve been a bit anxious as I will announce the release date of Escalation, the third installment of the Breakthrough trilogy this Monday, January 13th. There is so much that goes into the writing, editing, and promoting of a book. And I finished about ninety percent of what I need to do over my three week hiatus over the holidays.

 

Punch List: Yet I’m still anxious as I have a large Punch List. To finish. A Punch List is a construction term referring to “a list of unfinished matters that require attention.” If you’ve ever watched a show on TV about flipping houses, such as Flipping Vegas, after a house is purchased and fixed up, there is a Punch List of a whole lot of miscellaneous and never ending little details that have to be addressed before the open house.

 

So that’s where I’m at. Finish one item and three more emerge. That’s okay. I’ll be ready for my Open House. I hope you you’ll join me. 

 

And the good news as it’s not just about me. I believe together we can make at least a small dent in the world’s problem.

So tune in this Monday for more info!

Welcome 2014!!!

He everyone. Hope you all had a great holiday season! It’s great to be back and I feel refreshed and ready to go.

 

Vision For 2014: I feel I was all over the place last year with the topics I blogged about. For 2014 I’m going to focus mainly on science and science fiction, along with a few smatterings of what I’m doing with marketing and promotions. I’ll share with you what’s working for me and what isn’t. 2014 is a new year full of promise.

 

2013 in Review: What a crazy year. I basically had to start my blog over from scratch last spring. Right at the beginning of the Blogging From A To Z Challenge while I was out of state for three weeks with no real means to do anything about it.

 

But not all was lost. In retrospect, I have to say the Hookers and Hangers Blogfest was the most helpful to me. I went back through my MS for Escalation and took a good look at how my chapters began and ended. I put end some really cool hookers and hangers that added a lot of the WOW factor to the story. I'm a much better writer because of this Bloghop.

 

And I’m thankful for Captain Alex’s "I Rock award". Receiving that helped take the sting off having to rebuild. Thanks Alex! I really needed that boost.

 

Blog Hops: I’m only going to host one this year (more on that in an upcoming post). Oh, I’ll also be co-hosting the amazing 2014 A to Z Blogfest in April. But other than that, I’m not going to host any as I want to focus on other things including a couple stand alone novellas. But I'll be happy to co-host. So if you have a blogfest theme you think I can help with, just let me know.

 

Good Bye Kibbles and Bits

Kibbles And Bits: I think I need to retire this one. I used it as a theme when I posted a hodge podge of miscellaneous non-related stuff. Again, I need to be more focused on science and science fiction themes.

Good by Kibble and Bits. I'll miss you. Especially mixed with milk for breakfast.

 

Escalation: The MS is finished. I just need to go over the final last time edit with my editor and I’ll be good to go. I’ll be announcing the release date Monday January 13th. I have lots of really cool stuff planned and I’ll share more of my vision for 2014. I hope you’ll join me. That’s next Monday.

Author Of The Week: Carolyn Howard-Johnson and The Frugal Book Promoter. I've heard so many good things about this book. I just downloaded and will begin reading tonight. Click on the image at the top right side bar for more info.

 

Question: So what’s your vision for 2014?