2nd Annual BIG Read for the Holidays & Beyond: The Great BIG Book Preview

Hi, readers and authors. Welcome to the 2nd Annual BIG Read for the Holidays & Beyond: The Great BIG Book Preview!

For those who don't know me, I'm Robert Stanek and I've been a professionally published author since 1995 and an indie published author since 2001. You may have seen me on CNN, heard me talk on NPR, or read about my books in industry publications like VOYA, BookWire, Children's Writer, Children's Bookshelf, Library Journal, School Library Journal, or Publisher’s Weekly.

I've been a strong supporter of my fellow authors ever since my first book was published in 1995. Back then, I supported writers through Writer's Gallery, Internet Daily News, and Internet Job Center (archives at http://www.tvpress.com/).

In 2007, I launched Go Indie to support independent authors, independent publishers, and independent bookstores. Go Indie has evolved into: Go Indie On Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/goindie/), Free Today on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/freetoday/), Read Indies on Blogspot (http://readindies.blogspot.com/), Read Indies on Goodreads (http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/88011-read-indies---discover-the-best-in-indie-publishing), and Novel Writers on Google+ (https://plus.google.com/communities/103231535941872424616?partnerid=gplp0). All of which I created and host.

This year for the second year in a row, I hosted the Holiday Read Indies Book event. Last year's event was a huge success and the event post has been read by over 3000 people since December 2012 (http://readindies.blogspot.ca/2012/12/great-big-book-preview-for-holidays.html).

This year’s event was such a success it can’t be contained in just one post, so I’ve organized the event posts into a series of posts, of which this is the first. Hope you find some great reads for the holidays and beyond!

Show your support for indie authors, indie books and this event by clicking this link and subscribing to this blog!

Thanks for reading,

Robert Stanek

PS

If you like fantasy novels or know someone who does, I hope you'll spread the word about my Ruin Mist books, including The Kingdoms and the Elves of the Reaches, In the Service of Dragons, Dragons of the Hundred Worlds, and Guardians of the Dragon Realms.

*Featured authors in this post include: Emily Asimov, Shannon Hale, Les Mac, Kimberly Golden Malmgren, John Cassian, Izzibella Beau, Cliff Ball, Sharon Miner, James C Wallace, Danielle Rose-West, Brenda Perlin, Ruth Doner O'neil, James Dibenedetto, Gladys Quintal, Nell Dixon, Amy Pointer, Mary Ann Bernal, Jackie Rehn Barreau, John Murray Mckay, and Ernie Laurence.

Emily Asimov

Emily Asimov grew up with books. Libraries raised her. When she was ten, Emily discovered the writings of her grandfather and started dreaming of being a writer one day. She read every fantasy and science fiction book she could find. Although she never stopped writing, somewhere along the way she lost the writer's dream and the very idea of being a writer one day faded away. At least until, Emily found her voice again and was encouraged by friends to share her writing for others to enjoy.

As a life-long fan of all things science fiction, Emily's goal is to write and publish sci-fi adventures for all ages. The characters in her Star Chasers books explore the vast reaches of the galactic empire controlled by the Order of Eight. One of the main characters in the Star Chasers books is Ty, an outcast and a rebel who is on the run from the Order. Ty has two fatal flaws: He truly cares about others and he's falling in love with a girl who may be his undoing.

Torn: Star Chasers #1 is Emily's debut novel.

"Torn": Star Chasers (Volume 1)

www.amazon.com

Shannon Hale

 I'm Shannon Hale, a mother of two beautiful boys and one baby girl, who are the lights of my life. After being laid off a few years ago from my job as a teacher, I decided to see if I could get my books for children published. It was a long search and hard work, I she was finally able to get several of my books published. I hope to be able to continue writing and get more of my books published. My books are:

• Dinosaurs: The Complete Guide for Beginners From Triassic to Jurassic (Wonderful Discoveries Series)

• Tell Me What You Love? A Children's Picture Book.

• Whales: The Complete Guide For Beginners & Early Learning (Wonderful Discoveries Series)

• My Baby Animal Book

• Tell Me What You See? A Children's Picture Book.

Les Mac

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00E6YQCNU
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00E6YQCNU
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00E6YQCNU

Hollywood's Unhappiest Endings: Legends Never Die Updated

www.amazon.com

Hollywood...where dreams can become reality and also be shattered just as quickly. Hollywood has so many stories to tell and, unfortunately, so many of them do not have happy endings. From Marilyn Monroe to posthumous Oscar winner Heath Ledger, this book lays bare some of the myths and gets to the heart of some of Hollywood's Unhappiest Endings.

Kim Golden

Looking for a fun holiday love story with lots of snow? Then get to know Mia and Jake in Snowbound. https://www.smore.com/uhvv-start-the-holidays-with-snowbound

Start the holidays with Snowbound

www.smore.com

Meet Mia Wilkinson. Mia Wilkinson doesn't feel very thankful right now, despite it being Thanksgiving. She's just found out her married boyfriend has no intention of leaving his wife.

John Cassian

http://www.amazon.com/Bodies-Book-Staged-Fright-ebook/dp/B00DSOG0QS/

BODIES: Book #1: Staged Fright - A Mystery-Suspense Thriller

www.amazon.com

BODIES is a quirky new murder-mystery series that's equal parts HBO's "Big Love" and "NCIS."You've seen cop shows. Now imagine three members of the same investigative team get into a threesome and decide to keep it going as a long-term three-way relationship. Throw in a bioterror threat and a quirky family drama, and you've got BODIES.

Izzibella Beau

YA with five star reviews and over 500 pages of romance, humor, and drama all for $2.99. Broken: Book One of the Assumptions Series http://www.amazon.com/Broken-Book-One-Assumptions-Series-ebook/dp/B00FYSW04M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1384689053&sr=8-1&keywords=izzibella+beau

Broken: Book One in the Assumptions Series

www.amazon.com

Fate lands Ayma and Colton together in the senior year. Ayma is from a rich community, member of the geek squad, and an easy target for the popular kids at her school. Colton was and is the guy all the girls want and who the other guys in school want to be like. After spending two years in a juvenile prison, he is back at Bay Shore for his senior year.

Cliff Ball

This is the story of alternate timelines, partial political thriller, and time travel, where things go wrong as events do not play out as planned and numerous cases of unintended consequences result from the multiple attempts at fixing the timeline.

Borrow it for free if you're a Prime Member or buy it for $4.99 on Kindle.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009NVH76M

Beyond the New Frontier (New Frontier Series)

www.amazon.com

In this combination of the novels New Frontier and Final Frontier, this is the story of alternate timelines, partial political thriller, and time travel, where things go wrong as events do not play out as planned and numerous cases of unintended consequences result from the multiple attempts at fixing the timeline.

Sharon Miner

My new book, Pet Grooming 101, is now available.

http://www.amazon.com/Pet-Grooming-101-Healthy-Happy-ebook/dp/B00GNJ8BH6/

James C. Wallace II

Just in time for the upcoming holiday season comes the perfect gift of reading for any fan of the Wizard of Oz; the story of the Emerald Slippers of Oz.

Now available at Amazon, this story, complete with an introduction by Roger Baum, great grandson of L. Frank Baum; author of the Wonderful Wizard of Oz, will delight and enchant young and old alike and includes the stunning artwork of John R. Neill, legendary illustrator of L. Frank Baum's Land of Oz books.

When Dorothy asks Ugu the Shoemaker to make a pair of Emerald Slippers for Princess Ozma's birthday, more than a couple of former witches and wizards take note and do their best to steal them for their own Evil means. Can Pacifico, the bare foot cobbler's apprentice save the day in time for Her Majesty's grand birthday celebration? And will the Queen of the Field Mice come to the rescue? Only Dorothy Gale of Kansas knows for sure...

http://www.amazon.com/The-Emerald-Slippers-James-Wallace/dp/0578125110/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1383845601&sr=8-1&keywords=emerald+slippers+of+oz

Danielle Rose-West

I am thrilled to be a part of this event. A massive thank you to Robert Stanek for inviting me! I have just released the first in my new series, Haunted by the Past. The book is called Hidden in Shadows and is a romantic mystery suspense with a paranormal twist. It is available on Amazon in both kindle and print editions.

Book synopsis:

 When she buys an old Georgian house, Jenna Mansfield thinks it’s the answer to all her prayers. She can start afresh away from her over protective family and the tragedy that led her to a nervous breakdown several years before. Ignoring the house’s reputation for being haunted, Jenna moves to Cornwall with high hopes for her future. The sexy builder she hires to renovate her new home captures her interest, but when strange events start taking place around her and rumours reach her ears, she is left wondering if her builder is harbouring a secret.

 Kyle Tanner is furious when the house he wanted to buy and renovate to further his small building firm, slips through his fingers for the second time. He doesn’t expect the new owner to be interested in taking him on for the work, but she surprises him in more ways than one. Deeply attracted to his new employer, Kyle fights hard against the unwanted feelings she stirs in him and then the trouble begins.

 Kyle and Jenna find themselves swept up in the mystery that surrounds Millington House and its ghostly residents. The past won’t stay silent and someone with a deadly secret lurks in the shadows. As events unfold, Jenna finds herself the target of a crazed killer. Can they uncover the truth before time runs out or will the past be forever hidden in shadows?

 You can view the trailer for this book at: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTngwYptOTU 

 Or visit my blog at: http://daniellerosewest.blogspot.co.uk/

Brenda Perlin

Book two in The Brooklyn and Bo Chronicles the drama continues…Oh and this book is bargain priced at 99¢ for it's recent release!

"Bo and Brooklyn’s relationship is tested while Bo’s soon-to-be-ex wife continues to try to hold on for dear life. Will she be able to break them up. Will Bo’s ongoing divorce battle ever come to an end? Will Brooklyn and Bo survive, or will all be lost to a bitter woman?"

http://bit.ly/160cx7w

Brenda Perlin

I have two books available in my Brooklyn and Bo Chronicles which is a trilogy. The first book Home Wrecker I is a coming of age story that is sure to knock your socks off… http://bit.ly/17O4XQY

Robert Stanek

Like this event? Hope you'll add this Go Indie logo to your website or blog and a link to http://readindies.blogspot.com/. 

Ruth Doner O'Neil

Karin is a woman with a past. About the time she thinks no one will ever know, it comes back to haunt her in full force. The deeper she tries to push it away the more prominently it returns. Forgiveness is a word that isn’t in her vocabulary as far as the people from her past are concerned. She thinks she's fine until someone from her past shows up unexpectedly forcing her to think about what happened. With the help of her family and other people around her she realizes that she must learn to forgive, even if forgiveness wasn't asked of her. http://www.amazon.com/Come-Eat-My-Table-ebook/dp/B00BUUPW5M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1366635822&sr=8-1&keywords=come+eat+at+my+table

Come Eat at My Table

www.amazon.com

Karin Miller has a need to feed everyone. One ofher twin daughters always teases her about it, whilethe other daughter, Faith, realizes there’s more to itthan meets the eye. Faith’s suspicions are confirmed when she is assigned a project in school that forces Karin to talk about her past.

James DiBenedetto

My Dream Series (not to be confused with Gladys Quintal's Dream Series!) has five books and a short story out so far, with another book in the works right now.

 My series follows Sara Barnes, a seemingly ordinary college student, only concerned with final exams, applying to medical school, buying Christmas gifts for her friends and family, and figuring out what do do about the freshman in the next dorm over who's got a crush on her.

 And then the dreams start. It's not long before Sara realizes that they're not just dreams, and they aren't even hers...

http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00BW3FPF4/  

 As the books continue, Sara goes from college student to med student to full-fledged doctor; and she has to deal with the hunt for a serial killer; a murder mystery among her med school teachers; a corrupt politician and a mobster, and much more...

Dream Student (Dreams, book 1)

www.amazon.com

Gladys Quintal

I have 3 books out in The Dream Series at the moment (the fourth one will be released on Dec 1st). They are in the Paranormal Romance genre, about a vigilante vampire that kills rapists and child molesters. They do contain some unsettling and horror scenes. I also have 2 non-fiction books out. One is titled "Life After Hell: Surviving Sexual Abuse and is my autobiography and the other is called "Why Won't Someone Help Me? and is about finding a diagnosis and treatment for invisible illnesses.

http://www.amazon.com/Gladys-Quintal/e/B0066YIE52

Nell Dixon

‘A sweet and emotional tale about two damaged hearts who are able to find solace in each other. Strongly recommended! ‘ 5* review A modern day Beauty and the Beast seasonal romance.

Christmas Ever After

www.amazon.com

Lady Charlotte ‘Lottie’ Bellhavan is dubbed the runaway bride after calling off her wedding on the eve of her marriage just a week before Christmas. Her best friend, Sophie has the perfect hideout for the beleaguered society belle, her childhood home, Tything Manor.

http://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Ever-After-ebook/dp/B00F8LZSJO/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1379598774&sr=1-1&keywords=Christmas+Ever+After

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Christmas-Ever-After-ebook/dp/B00F8LZSJO/ref=sr_1_26?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1379460478&sr=1-26&keywords=nell+Dixon

Now also available as paperback!

Amy Pointer

Love urban fantasy? Or perhaps you're looking for a less conventional take on 'forbidden romance'? Action, suspense, romance, the supernatural - The Forsaken Ones has everything you're looking for to sate your appetite for fantasy; and its at a bargain price too...Find out why it has multiple five star reviews!

The Forsaken Ones

www.amazon.com

The Forsaken are the ones that Heaven has swept under the carpet. Those who fail to chose a side, and those who chose the wrong one. Nathaniel is Forsaken, he has been for a very long time, and frankly, he is bored. So when he hears of another battle approaching, he decides it's time to choose.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00FG57GS8

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FG57GS8

Follow me on twitter @Pointer_AG where I ramble about things like books and pretty much anything.

Mary Ann Bernal

In addition to The Briton and the Dane trilogy, I have also published The Briton and the Dane: Concordia, one of the characters from the series who demanded her own book. Kindly check out my webpage www.maryannbernal.com. Thank you and Happy Holidays.

http://www.amazon.com/Briton-Dane-Mary-Ann-Bernal-ebook/dp/B00AVQDKIC/

Jackie Rehn Barreau

My first book is a collection of poems and quotes on #childloss #stillbirth #inspiring #grief #loss my author page is: www.facebook.com/lovehopeandcourage available in print and ebook via Amazon at: http://amzn.to/148faYi

Author John Murray McKay

https://www.facebook.com/NDaysSeries?ref=hl

Simply put, the most unique book you will read this year.

The N Days

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GVECIKO

Ernie Laurence

The world shattered more than 1600 years ago in the great cataclysm known as ‘the Sundering’. Only a remnant of civilization survives, eking out a living on fragments of land orbiting the local star. Three disparate groups of heroes must now stave off monsters, demons, political and magical forces that all want to finish the destruction of Loar.

In his authorial debut, Ernie Laurence, Jr. presents the first in a four book series called “The Islands of Loar”.

Check out my author page for purchase details:

https://www.facebook.com/Herosguild/info

Hero's Guild Publications

http://www.amazon.com/Islands-Loar-Sundered-Ernie-Laurence-ebook/dp/B007HO1SSA/

Robert Stanek

Thank you everyone for your support of the 2nd Annual BIG Read for the Holidays & Beyond: The Great BIG Book Preview! Hope you'll tweet, share, blog about the event and the authors featured here. Show your support for indie authors, indie books and this event by subscribing to this blog!

Now Appearing... Or Alternatively Places Books Have Been

As a writer getting referenced in a magazine, newspaper or book can be pretty cool. I thought it was pretty cool the first time I saw Donald Trump talking about my books in his business books. But my books also have been in newspapers:

The News Tribune

The Olympian

 etc.

Magazines:

The Journal of Electronic Defense
(June 2007)

The Publisher's Weekly Cover Story
(April 2009)

The Parenting Magazine
(November 2005)

 VOYA, Children's Writer, Children's Bookshelf, Library Journal, School Library Journal, etc.

Printed reference books:

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Elves and Fairies
(June 2005)

The Ancient Art of Faery Magick
(Sept 2005)

Popular Series Fiction for Middle School and Teen Readers: A Reading and Selection Guide
(Jan 2005)

Popular Series Fiction for Middle School and Teen Readers: A Reading and Selection Guide
(Dec 2008)

 etc.

On radio:

12-city radio tour starting in Boston
(Mar-Apr 05)

NPR (Apr 05, May 09, Aug 10, Sep 11)

On TV:

 CNN (June 98)

So how about you? If you're a writer where's the coolest place your books have been and how did it help your writing career? Blog about it, comment here, whatever.

The biggest boost I ever got from such a feature was after CNN. I walked into a Border's store and found several of my books stacked floor to chest high (of course they were 1,000 page books so that was maybe 50 books but still very very cool).

Thanks for reading,

Robert Stanek

Are You Using Twitter Effectively?

I’m a tech journalist and writer in my day job. I’ve been a twitter user for many years. I tweet all sorts of things of interest to my readers and others from information about my books to career milestones, causes I support, and more. For my day-to-day twitter needs, I use Tweet Deck, a powerful, handy app that Twitter bought for a cool $47 million in cash and stock some time ago.

One of the things I notice from people and tweet streams I follow is how often people who position themselves as social media elite decry others for using twitter incorrectly while they themselves do things that I consider just as bad. But does it really matter anyway? Does anyone really think that a tweet sent once is read by all their followers? Because that's not how twitter works. By its very nature, twitter isn't something most people log into and watch 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. At any given time, on any given day, odds are only a tiny percentage of anyone’s twitter followers are even following their twitter timelines.

In reality, anything anyone in the public spotlight (author, actor, singer) does on social media is self-promotion. Your tweets don't have to be the me-me-me kind, but whether you are talking about what you ate for breakfast, sharing details about your latest release, or having a conversation with your friends, you are promoting you. You are self-promoting. You are on social media to be noticed, to be followed. If you didn’t want to be noticed or followed, you’d have private conversations beyond the social media spotlight.

If you can’t admit to yourself that you’re a self-promoter, if being thought of as a self-promoter bothers you, maybe social media isn’t the place for you. Otherwise, if you’re going to be honest and admit that it’s all self-promotion, a question you need to ask yourself is whether you are using twitter effectively.

Twitter can be an exceptionally effective tool for helping people get to know you, for spreading the word about your work, for showing support for causes and ideas you believe in, and more. One of the things I’ve done to help understand Twitter better is to use Twitter Web Analytics.

Twitter Web Analytics is a platform for gauging the amount of traffic twitter sends to your website or specific locations (URLs). Using the platform, you can graph and analyze many important statistics, including the number of tweets for a specific website, such as www.robert-stanek.com, and the number of clicks on those tweets. For me, the platform was most useful to analyze specific tweets that included links, such as a link to my Facebook page or my blog, and views of pictures added to tweets. I could then graph the number of tweets, views, and clicks over time. These tweets, views, and clicks were one way of understanding how effectively I was engaging with readers.

Twitter Advertising is another service you can use. Twitter Advertising allows you to promote your account and tweets. As Twitter Advertising provides web analytics, it can be an easy alternative to setting up the official Twitter Web Analytics and determining the effectiveness of your tweets. I learned much from analyzing the effectiveness of various tweets. One of the most important things I learned was that a retweet (RT) was only one aspect of engagement. Knowing this, I started focusing on total engagement.

Total engagement is reflected in:

• The number of follows
• The number of clicks (on links, pictures)
  
• The number of replies
  
• The number of RTs
• The number of favorites

If you want to build total engagement on Twitter, you need to think about each of these factors and decide which of these factors are most important to you. For me, I became more interested in having people engage with my tweets by clicking on them to follow links or view pictures than in having replies or retweets. Using the web analytics provided by Twitter, I’ve been able to increasingly build traction in this area. While my most typical tweets get only a relative few retweets and replies, most of my tweets get dozens of engagement clicks and views. My more successful tweets have garnered hundreds--and a rare few, thousands. For me, that is Twitter success.

How you measure your Twitter success may be different, but you can use the engagement factors I listed previously to help you determine your level of success. Regardless of how you use twitter, I hope this post has given you something to think about.

Thanks for reading,

Robert Stanek

Authors, We’re All Mountain Climbers and Marathoners

Whether you’re a newbie dreaming of success, a workaday writer dreaming of paying the bills, somewhere in between or somewhere beyond, you’re a mountain climber or marathoner even if no one has ever told you as much. Mountain climbers are the lucky few. They’re off to Nepal in preparation for the trek that will take them up Everest almost as soon as their big book is published. Weather permitting, they’ll fly over the Himalayas to meet their Sherpa guides. They’ll hike the trail to Namche Bazaar and catch a first glimpse of Everest as their big book lands on a bestseller list. Then they’ll set out on the trail along the Bhote Kosi and the Nangpa La and their big book will keep climbing up the bestsellers lists as they make their way to Everest Base Camp.

It’s a two-week journey from Kathmandu to Everest Base Camp. After the ascent, the climbers must retrace their steps and hike down a steep trail. Then it’ll be a long, if leisurely, trek back to Lukla and Phakding. If the weather holds, they’ll be able to fly back to Kathmandu without delay, where they can explore the city until they depart the following day for home. A week will pass on the return journey. When they get home, they can rest well knowing they made the climb. But for continued success they’ll eventually need to prepare to climb Everest all over again.

Marathoners aren’t as fortunate as climbers. Their trip to the Boston Marathon begins on quiet country back roads, busy city streets, and quaint city parks. These would-be marathoners may practice sprinting, publishing many works in a short time. They may walk to build endurance, publishing a few works over a long time. Or they may jog at a steady pace, publishing works steadily as they go. Although the books of these sprinters, walkers and joggers may never land atop bestseller lists, these sprinters, walkers and joggers are all working toward the same goal. They all want to enter the marathon and cross the finish line in Boston, having walked, run or crawled for 26 miles and 385 yards to do it.

It’s a grueling 4 hours and 39 minutes on average to complete a marathon at a steady pace of about 10:34 per mile. For those who walk, it’s about 8 hours on average to complete a marathon. Whether you run or walk, crossing the finish line is exhilarating. But crossing the finish line isn’t the end of the ordeal. The second you cross the finish line you must resist the temptation to plop down on the ground. You must walk around. You must hydrate and eat. You must begin recovery. How you take care of yourself will determine how quickly you’ll recover. How quickly you can marathon again.

What no one tells the mountain climber is this: Your next attempt to climb Everest may not be a successful one. If so, there’s nothing wrong with attempting to climb Everest and failing. Lots of climbers have attempted Everest and failed. Perhaps you simply have to shake off the failure and prepare your ascent again. Or perhaps your next mountain isn’t Everest at all. Perhaps it’s Mount Fuji. Or perhaps you may find that success requires a marathon after all.

What no one tells the marathoner is this: You may not be able to complete the marathon. If so, perhaps you are a half marathoner instead of a marathoner or perhaps you were running in the wrong race after all. There’s nothing wrong with being a half marathoner instead of a marathoner. There’s nothing wrong with learning you’ve been running in the wrong race. At the end of all your marathons, you may even find that you were a mountain climber after all.

Authors Who Are Trolls

When a group of unethical competitors worked to destroy my good name and reputation online, it wasn’t difficult to trace the nonsense back to source in each instance. My day job is as a computer expert and technology writer. In my spare time, I write children’s fiction. As one of the world’s foremost Internet/computer experts and a former intelligence analyst for the National Security Agency while serving in the military, digital forensics and analysis is something I know absolutely.

These competitors were largely unsuccessful when they started this nonsense and very frustrated with their failure, as evidenced by many of their posts during this period of time. They in fact spent much of their free time in forums and discussion boards, as evidenced by their posts by the hundreds in various message forums over many years.

These competitors had not a clue about the changing state of publishing. They were simply disillusioned, disgruntled, and angry. They needed an outlet for their frustrations, and somehow I became that outlet. That scapegoat for their bottled up rage and resentment.

As I’ve written about in Authors Who Trash Competitors, the nonsense began with fake one- and two-star reviews being posted to my books. The third review ever on Amazon for Keeper Martin’s Tale began: “I’ve been had. This is nowhere near a 5 star book like all these reviews claim.” A flood of fake reviews was followed by an article from David Langford in Ansible, where in typical fashion these competitors tried to turn something they’d done to me into something I supposedly had done to them. The claim was that I was writing fake 1- and 2-star reviews of other authors’ books when in actuality these were the people behind the 1- and 2-star reviews being dumped on my books.

The lies of these competitors led to all sorts of additional nonsense. Suddenly, I was being trashed everywhere these competitors could think of online: Terry Goodkind's forums, SffWorld, and beyond. Soon after I was being trashed on several author bashing sites as well with fun names like cr*p authors and dog sh*t—sites set up by certain authors and their friends to bash authors they disliked and/or wanted to ruin for whatever reasons.

The nonsense morphed into how I was supposedly writing fake favorable reviews of my books. How supposedly if it wasn’t me it surely had to be my family and friends writing the favorable reviews.

Soon the nonsense became about how supposedly anyone who liked my books and was talking about them anywhere online had to be me. How supposedly if it wasn’t me it surely had to be my family and friends talking about my books.

When The Kingdoms & The Elves of the Reaches was Audible.com’s #1 bestseller for 12 consecutive weeks, the attacks became about how supposedly none of my books had ever been a bestseller anywhere. How I was never a bestselling author—and on and on. (This was in 2005, btw. A time when I had 100 published books to my credit, translations in over 20 countries and over 5 million books sold.)

When The Kingdoms & The Elves of the Reaches was recommended and reviewed by the library staff at VOYA magazine—the leading magazine for YA librarians—and written about in several printed books, including The Complete Idiots Guide to Elves & Fairies and The Ancient Art of Faery Magick, the attacks became about how supposedly none of my books had ever been reviewed in magazines or recommended in print sources. How any mention I made that print sources had were lies. How my books weren’t even available in libraries—and on and on.

Starting to see a pattern here? Because I certainly did. It was Disinformation 101 and it worked because they spread the nonsense everywhere they could online.

Knowing their pattern of twisting the truth around, turning something they did into something I  supposedly did, I began to trace back to source exactly who was talking about these competitors online, who was writing these competitors reviews and commentary. I suspected the answer would likely be that these competitors were writing their own reviews and commentary or that they knew the persons who were—and my suspicions were proven true.

I found a wealth of single-use / throwaway accounts. I found many accounts used just long enough to work these competitors names and books into discussions, then faded out. I found accounts that traced back directly to friends and family. I found accounts that traced back directly to these competitors.

A wealth of single-use / throwaway accounts also were used to trash me online. Accounts used just long enough to work my name into discussions to trash me then faded out also were used. I found attack accounts that traced back directly to friends and family of these competitors. I found attack accounts that traced back directly to these competitors themselves.

For over a decade these competitors have used these and other unethical tactics to tarnish my good name and reputation while trying to position themselves within the industry. They’ve hired promoters to spread falsities while spreading praise for themselves, set up fake websites to do the same, compelled others to disparage. They’ve used intimidation and harassment to prevent readers from talking about my books in public forums. They’ve coerced distributors into dropping listings, hired lawyers to send notices—and much more. They did this because they thought I was an easy target. They did this because they thought they could get away with it.

Isn't that right? David Langford, Stephen Leigh, Jim C. Hines, Victoria Strauss, Maureen Johnson, David Louis Edelman, Patrick Rothfuss, Melissa Foster, Tim Spalding, Carolyn Arnold, et al.

Silence is Never the Answer When It Comes to Bullies and Trolls

By now you’ve probably heard of #twittersilence—a day of silence to protest abusive trolling on twitter. After reading the Daily Beast article about it on Aug 2 and seeing #twittersilence trending on Aug 3, I participated in the tweets but was soon astonished to see author Maureen Johnson participating. Not only was Maureen Johnson a twitter troll, having participated in several online attacks against me, Maureen Johnson was someone who egged on my stalkers and thought it was hilarious that they were sending me threats, as did her author friend, Victoria Strauss. Apparently, author Maureen Johnson also blogged recently about how she wished “all stalking would end.” Odd as she and her friends goaded on my stalkers with their words and actions time and again.

Participating in the #twittersilence wasn’t about Maureen Johnson, however. It was about raising your voice or taking a silent stand. Hundreds raised their voices and spoke out against bullies and trolls. Hundreds took a silent stand and did the same.

Personally, I was glad to see twitter take a decisive stand so quickly. Amazon had allowed my readers to be harassed and attacked on its site for years and had never done anything about it, except to punish readers who dared to report the problem while often allowing the harassers to continue without consequence. Why? Because Amazon chose to ignore the problems and pretend such problems don’t exist. Hello, Amazon, when you allow discussions and comments on your site, such problems will and do exist.

Perhaps Amazon will learn a few lessons from Goodreads.com, a company Amazon recently acquired. When faced with similar problems, Goodreads.com didn’t ignore the problems or pretend they didn’t exist. Goodreads.com took action.

In 2012, Goodreads.com added privacy controls to profiles to control who can see member profiles. Members also were then able to control who could follow their reviews, who could send them private messages, who their email address could be shared with, who their reviews could be shared with, and who could see their birthdate and age.

In late 2012, Goodreads.com banned sexual role-play in its discussion forums. Although sexual role-play was a large part of its daily traffic, Goodreads.com took this step to help ensure the safety of children at its site. Why such a site ever allowed sexual role-play is another matter altogether, but at least thousands of children who participate in Goodreads.com are safer now.

In early 2013, Goodreads.com took action again to prevent harassment and intimidation by adding an option to ensure only friends of a member could comment on a member’s reviews and profile.

All these things together make Goodreads.com a better, safer site. Your turn, Amazon. You willing to make your site a harassment/troll-free zone?

Speaking Out About Haters

I’m William Robert Stanek and I’ve been a professionally published author since 1995. Over my long, distinguished career, my books have been translated into many languages and read by millions around the world. All my life I’ve been a writer—well most of my life anyway, as I really got my start in the 4^th grade when I wrote two regular columns for the school newspaper.

I’m a successful writer by any standard and yet bigger success has been derailed time and again by despicable competitors—competitors who I call the architects of hate. For years they’ve been at work trying to destroy my good name and reputation in the industry. I’m rather sick and tired of it. I’m also sick and tired of running into people almost daily who seek to harass and intimidate me regarding these matters. So here goes, the Wall of Shame by name:

David Langford

Stephen Leigh

Jim C. Hines

Victoria Strauss

David Louis Edelman
Maureen Johnson
Melissa Foster

Patrick Rothfuss
Tim Spalding
Carolyn Arnold

This isn’t by any means a complete list. It is, however, a list of the most egregious offenders (along with the blogger friends of these persons who I've talked about previously like Adam Whitehead and Patrick St. Dennis). These are the ones who got the mobs riled up intentionally. Primarily, these also are professionally published competitors who have been at this nonsense for years. Some since at least 2002. Some who continue the nonsense to this day.

These persons are primarily authors of science fiction and fantasy, and as such, direct competitors. How all this nonsense began is with ignorance and arrogance. These competitors blindly believed  that they were the gatekeepers who determined whose books could be talked about and whose couldn’t. They were largely unsuccessful at the time and very frustrated with their failure, as evidenced by many of their posts during this period of time. They spent much of their free time in forums and discussion boards, as evidenced by their posts by the hundreds in various message forums over many years. Some working their hustles and making connections; others setting up places where they could show their teeth and attack others under the guise of trying to be the Internet police.

They had not a clue about the changing state of publishing then or how independent authors were about to take center stage. They were simply bitter and angry and hateful and frustrated. Disillusioned, disgruntled, maybe they watched books like Harry Potter take off into the stratosphere and careers of unknowns like teen author named Christopher Paolini blast off on rocket ships while they were left behind to hustle on the message boards only to become increasingly bitter.

Along came another book from another author they’d never heard of, a book from an independent press and what seemed an easy target for all that bottled up anger, rage and resentment inside them. It was my bad timing to be in the wrong place when there was blood in the water, especially as these competitors saw people start to talk about my books when they and their works were rarely, if ever, mentioned except perhaps when they worked themselves into discussions, even after having spent endless hours trolling about the Internet.

Nobody ever deputized these persons to determine whose works could be talked about and whose works couldn’t, whose works could sell and whose works couldn’t, but that didn’t stop them from appointing themselves as judges, juries and executioners. So they and their friends went out to places where my books were being discussed and told people they knew in these places: this guy’s a fraud, no one but the author himself would be discussing this book, no one but the author himself would be writing reviews of this book and on and on. That was, of course, was likely their experience as they had largely failed after months and years of trying to get people to talk about them and their works and/or months and years of trying to break in to publishing in a meaningful way.

They never stopped to think for a moment and consider that thousands of people were buying and reading my books at the times they were shouting the loudest, that the books had debuted very successfully in e-format months earlier or that Reagent Press had given away numerous advanced reading copies before ever releasing the first printed books for purchase. Instead, these competitors stoked the flames of hate, filed bogus complaints and enlisted others to do the same. Not only did they get forum moderators to remove discussions of my work and ban users who were discussing my books, they then more often than not got others to start hateful discussions of my work and me personally, turning positive word of mouth into negative word of mouth. 

But it wasn’t just message forums they went to. They and their friends went to Amazon and other places where my books were available for purchase and began filing bogus complaints while enlisting others to do the same. In their complaints, they told these places this guy's a fraud, that any positive reviews or discussions about my books were written by me, etc, etc. They backed up their bogus claims with bogus statistics about how many reviews the customers had or hadn’t written, how many votes a review did or didn’t have, how positive reviews were supposedly being used to push negative reviews down the page, how a reviewer had or hadn't written reviews of several of my books, and it went on and on. They continued to complain and stomp their feet until the sites took action. They did this time and again.

As sites like Amazon evolved, so did the gorilla tactics used to damage my reputation and sales. If they and their friends deemed too many people had written Listmania lists or So You Like It guides with my books in them, they went to the message forums and ranted about fake lists, fraud and sock puppets, etc, etc until they stirred people up and got them angry enough to run rampant on Amazon, file bogus complaints, etc. They kept it up until the lists and guides were removed or they simply No voted the lists and guides into oblivion. If they saw a discussion about my books on Amazon, they went to the forums to whine about how that guy was using sock puppets to talk up his books, how that guy was a fraud, and more until they stirred people into action to file complaints, report posts, vote No on posts to make the posts disappear and more. If my books got positive reviews, they used similar tactics to get people to report the reviews, vote No on the reviews and/or to ensure negative reviews appeared at the top of book pages instead of positive ones. If they couldn’t cajole Amazon or other sites into removing positive reviews, they added hateful comments. Often they organized these “hate-ins” as I call them in public message forums, which is how I tracked these activities to their sources. They had no fear of getting caught as they blindly believed, and largely continue to believe, they had/have a right to do whatever they want without consequence whatsoever. Anyone who dared to question what they were doing? Well, they got the same treatment as anyone who dared to talk about my works.

So at times when my career should have taken off and soared, it instead was being derailed, like when my books were #1 on Audible and being bought and read by thousands of people every single day. Here, these competitors and their friends were out en masse at Amazon and other sites, getting the sites to block and/or remove any positive reviews, discussions or mentions of me and my work while simultaneously posting negative reviews, discussions and comments about my work and me personally and enlisting others to do the same. It was the changing nature of publishing that largely made this possible and the fact that willing participants worked at some of these sites.

Imagine how my readers felt, and I’ve heard from many of them over the years. These readers were fans of my work, yet they found that if they discussed my work that not only would sites remove the discussion posts, reviews or whatever regarding my work they’d written, the sites often would go in and remove and/or block their entire accounts. These fans were literally bullied into silence and made to feel they had done something wrong simply by discussing me and my works in the first place.

The net effect was these competitors, and the sites that participated, were ensuring I lost my most ardent fans as fast as I gained them. For anyone working in the entertainment industry, word of mouth is critical to success and sales. Equally important are ardent fans who are far and few between on the whole. My competitors absolutely knew this and that’s why they worked so hard to not only block any and all positive commentary regarding my works but to get positive commentary removed and replaced with negative commentary.

The architects of hate are still out there. Some still at it more than a decade after all this nonsense started. They've never had to answer to any one for what they've done, meanwhile I continue to get hate and anger thrown in my face almost every single day. Amazing world we live in when a guy who has dedicated his life to the written word, with over 150 published books to his credit, has to endure such nonsense daily because of unethical competitors.