2.26.2012

A few Thrills, A Bag of Chills & A Cool New Indie Author

Today I’m talking with Ashley Fontainne, author of Accountable to None and Zero Balance. Ashley hangs out online at her blog (http://ramblingsofamadsouthernwoman.blogspot.com/), on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Accountable-to-None/199466916762750) and on Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/AshleyFontainne).


Hi there Ashley Fontainne, please tell me a bit about yourself.

Thank you for hosting, Robert!  I am a first time author, self-published through Amazon for Kindle and CreateSpace for trade paperback.  Accountable to None, the first in my “Eviscerating the Snake” series, is a suspense/thriller set inside a large, fictional accounting firm in Phoenix, Arizona.

The premise of the first novel is strictly revenge.  One woman’s five-year struggle to seek vengeance against not only her rapist but also the others in power that quietly looked the other way. 

In Zero Balance, I explore the side rarely seen in a typical revenge genre: the reciprocal cycle of revenge.  For once started, where does it end?
Zero Balance was published by World Castle Publishing, which I recently signed with.










Where can people get your books?
Accountable to None is exclusively available for Kindle users here and the trade paperback is available here.

For Kindle, Zero Balance is available here.

What motivated you to publish now? 
Although the story in Accountable to None is raw and visceral, the core of the story strikes home with many readers, tapping in to the darker, animalistic side that each of us posses.  When living through the heroine’s experiences, you find yourself wondering, “what would I do?”

In the book, who is your favourite character?
The heroine, Audra Tanner.  Bent, but not broken, she is like a delicate willow that remains strong while the hurricane raging around her tries to tear her apart.

Straight to the point answers, I like that... I'm thinking you've done interviews before... :-)

What’s your favorite indie book that you’ve read in the past 12 months?

The Mission: Remnants of the Past by Bill Talcott.  Normally, I never read sci-fi, but I absolutely loved the premise of this book, the flow of the story, and the depth of the characters. 

You and Bill got this thing going. should I be jealous... Okay, seriously though, what’s your favorite book of all time?

Hands down, The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas: it is what inspired me to pen Accountable to None.

Any advice for new writers?

Do not give up!  I am 44 years old and just starting out!  Learn to take the criticism and instead of skulking off and licking the wounds inflicted, smile and use it to your advantage!  And remember, you won’t appreciate the five star reviews near as much unless you have some one stars!

I like that advice--I've lived it. What’s next for you?

I'm working on telling the world about Accountable to None and  Zero Balance for now. Then who knows? I'm doing blog talk radio and others things.
And another book, of course?

[Smiles] Absolutely.
Anything else you’d like to tell us?

I would like to thank you, Robert, for your time and graciousness spent with this newbie!

Thank you, Ashley, it's been great speaking with you--and readers don't miss my follow up post, where I take a closer look at Ashley's books. It'll be live at Around the Town Books later this week.

2.15.2012

Digital Book Creation Tools -- Tools for Publishing Your Books & Digital Media

I've discovered many terrific creator tools for authoring books and apps for digital media and included links below. Hope you find it helpful.

(Instead of reposting the contents to your blog, group, etc. please link to this post. Thanks!)

--Robert Stanek

Amazon ~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Kindle Format 8 is here officially (though it was released with Kindle Fire to the big publishers). KF8 supports HTML5 and CSS3 which means you can do amazing things that you never could before.

Read about it here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=amb_link_359605322_1?ie=UTF8&docId=1000729511

Get the graphic previewer here: http://amzn.to/xq9iG1

Get the command-line tool here: http://amzn.to/zxJrSJ

Get the Adobe In-Design plug-in here: http://amzn.to/ztd3x8

Apple ~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

iBooks Author (http://www.apple.com/?ibooks-author/) allows you to author ebooks for iPad with interactive elements, video, audio, and more. Only available for Mac. It's a free app, but the license is restrictive (read carefully).

A clause in the license agreement states:

If you charge a fee for any book or other work you generate using this software (a “Work”), you may only sell or distribute such Work through Apple (e.g., through the iBookstore) and such distribution will be subject to a separate agreement with Apple.

What it means:

If your book isn't free, you must sell it in iBookstore.

A clause in the license agreement states:

“Apple will not be responsible for any costs, expenses, damages, losses (including without limitation lost business opportunities or lost profits) or other liabilities you may incur as a result of your use of this Apple Software, including without limitation the fact that your Work may not be selected for distribution by Apple.”

What it means:

Apple has the right to reject your app and not sell it. You have no recourse.

Android ~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Create books and apps for Android Smart Phones

http://developer.android.com/index.html

Barnes & Noble ~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Create books and apps for Barnes & Noble devices.

http://developer.bn.com/

Others  ~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

More creation tools for you to try. Many are for creating apps for digital media.

Appmakr http://www.appmakr.com/

Blurb Mobile http://www.blurb.com/mobile

Demibooks Composer http://demibooks.com/composer/

Genwi http://genwi.com/

Hype http://tumultco.com/hype/

Red Jumper's Book Creator http://www.redjumper.net/bookcreator/

Interactive Touch Books http://www.interactivetouchbooks.com/

Leanpub http://leanpub.com/

Moglue http://www.moglue.com/

My App Builder http://myappbuilder.com/

Pandamian http://www.pandamian.com/

Polyvore Editor http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/app

PressBooks http://pressbooks.com/wp-signup.php

Red Foundry http://www.redfoundry.com/

Storify http://storify.com/

Toontastic http://launchpadtoys.com/toontastic/

Webdoc http://www.webdoc.com/