Exciting things are happening with Letters from David
Current mood: adventurous
Category: Writing and Poetry

First of all, thank you to Stealing Wishes author Shannon Yarbrough, for his amazing review and also for posting it to Lulu.com! Shannon Yarbrough, a Southerner, writes gay fiction that is currently Number 1 on Amazon.com's Kindle as of Aug. 31. Congratulations, Shannon! He's "currently seeking an agent or traditional publisher for two more books."

Taking a cue from Shannon, whose digital works are priced at 49 cents on Amazon.com, I'm experimenting with his business model. After offering my e-book, Letters from David, free for the month of August, I have now changed the price to a smoking-competitive 50 cents to test the market for 50-cent e-books. I also have a great publisher interested; I am very excited and am awaiting a response. I should know by Nov. 30. It seems like a long, long time, but patience is part of the game and I chose this publisher with care.

If I get a negative response, instead of sending it around to anyone else, I will sink some $$$ into the promotion, including a book trailer for Youtube.com and a splashy dot com web site.

On my day job front, I am really enjoying my job as editor of scholarly works. The seriousness of my day job is a wonderful complement to my nights and weekends as a fiction author.

Please check out this new company, Way Out Sortie, that does very good $200 book trailers:

http://www.youtube.com/user/WayOutSortie

I'm impressed. Are you?

Also, last but not least, please check out J. J. Hebert's book, Unconventional. He also has an interesting blog and we often talk back and forth in e-mail about important stuff!

Please don't miss reading my romance novel, Letters from David. I hope you enjoy it!

Blurbs wanted! I'm collecting blurbs and won't be able to make a book trailer until I have lots more. Please, please?

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$313,000 for one outfit!

Lifestyles of the filthy rich:

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gI9Ht91lF_RgXRDxKD6HKcH2lx8wD930G6GO0

Discuss!

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Authors: How to Promote Yourself Online
Current mood: adventurous
Category: Writing and Poetry

I've gotten quite a few e-mails in the last few days on a topic that I haven't had time to expand upon in a blog. However, I DID find this very cool free e-book about the topic:

http://us.penguingroup.com/static/pdf/misc/penguin_authors_guide_to_online_marketing_summer_2008.pdf

I do have to say though, that I never had any luck with Google AdSense. It's a pain and I never made any money from it, even at high traffic sites.

Let me know what you think of the e-book!

I am so swamped this week with work. I apologize for not replying to the hundreds of e-mails and messages. I'll try to catch up this weekend.

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How this all started...
Current mood: blessed

What is the impetus for creating a nonfiction work?

Two things usually drive a writer to create a nonfiction work:

• the absence of any work that exactly fits a concept that is interesting (to the writer!)
• the desire to create a work that will fill a perceived need for that specific information

When my husband was a young software author, he came home from a computer game developers' conference and showed me a spiral-bound book that was a directory of every notable person or business in that industry, which at that time, consisted of less than 200 people in the United States. That conference book became the bible of what was then considered a niche industry, with names, addresses, and phone numbers of companies and their principals, what types of computer games they developed and for which platforms, related graphic artists and musicians, and so on. My husband has always had an intuition for what makes a good product idea and is successful in his own right. The Romance Writer's Pink Pages (his suggested title) was one of his best product ideas, ever.

I was a hopeful fiction writer at the time and was on the cusp of finding an agent. The internet did not exist as we know it today. Computer bulletin boards such as Genie were emerging, geek forums that depended on text-only e-mail. Go way back in time with me for a moment. Imagine that there was no Google, no Yahoo, no centralized method of gathering information, except for going to the library and doing research from books and periodicals. At the time, romance novel authoring was on my mind. I was knee-deep in magazine clippings and other paper notes, trying to assemble a reference for myself, and maybe a few friends who wanted an industry reference. I took my husband's idea and I ran with it. I wrote the book, got an AAR agent, Evan Fogelman (who even wrote a chapter for the book), and he received a book contract for me within 60 days.

For several years in a row, I researched and wrote three editions of the book for Prima Publishing (now Random House). Two editions were No. 1 bestsellers for Writer's Digest Book Club, two years in a row. Prima even sent me on an author tour. It was most exciting achievement of my professional life and became the basis for nearly every career path that I took as I reinvented myself and refined my skills as a multimedia author, publisher, and now, as an editor of scholarly works at an unnamed, but beloved workplace.

From that surprising beginning, I have gone on to embark on many related adventures, such as e-book publisher; software publisher; graphics publisher; writer and/or copy editor of magazine and newspaper articles; software content creator; website designer; outdoor photographer; digital artist; video script writer; judge for national writers' contests; and now, associate editor of scholarly works.

My years of experience in such diverse media definitely give me insight into the refinement of important manuscripts that are entrusted to my care. As an editor, I hope to polish an author's work into the best presentation possible. The final manuscript is like a jewel to me, -- believe me, I examine it from every facet.

At this point in time, this is not a commercial for my suite of editing skills. It is merely a look into the way-back machine to let you know where I was born, and where I'm going, as an author, publisher, and editor.

If you aren't my mom, I especially thank you for reading this whole blog. Words are my world and I welcome you into it!

Until August 31, as my celebration of Romance Awareness Month, you may download my novel, Letters from David, for free! Go here: http://www.lulu.com/content/2514839

-- Eve Paludan

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Educational Materials Published by a Good Friend!
Current mood: creative

My good friend Tootsie Bear has a degree in early childhood education. She also runs a fantasic day care center where she is a real teacher, not a babysitter! She publishes amazing learning materials for kids. Please, please, if you run a day care or if you just have young kids or grandkids, go take a look at the unique educational materials in her online shop:

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5497697

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Celebrate Romance Awareness Month with a FREE e-novel!
Current mood: accomplished
Category: Writing and Poetry

To celebrate Romance Awareness Month, author Eve Paludan is offering a free .pdf download of her debut novel, Letters from David. Free offer is until August 31, 2008.

Thousands of romance authors are promoting their books in different ways for Romance Awareness month. Paludan's idea is to get as many readers as possible to download her book, FREE!

It's so easy! Go here:

http://www.lulu.com/content/2514839

Click on the BLUE BUTTON that says DOWNLOAD NOW.

(No personal information is required to download this free ebook!)

Start enjoying Romance Awareness Month, right now, with Letters from David by Eve Paludan!

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Former Bestselling Nonfiction Author Shines in Debut Romance E-Novel
Category: Writing and Poetry

In a review published by Shannon Yarbrough (lulubookreview.wordpress.com), author Eve Paludan's ebook, "Letters from David" was described as "a "whirlwind of a story that I totally was not expecting...Paludan has written a magnificent tale of love and loss which anyone can enjoy. So, grab a box of tissues and your high school yearbooks, because this book will take you down a path off memory lane where you never expected to go!"

In another review, Maura (CoffeeTimeRomance.com) says: "This book has several good stories in it. The author writes very good characters and excellent descriptions of places...I loved Claire's character...The setting of a little seaside town is very well written and I almost felt like I was there."

Eve Paludan is the author of a series of nonfiction books entitled "The Romance Writer's Pink Pages: The Insider's Guide to Getting Your Romance Novel Published" -- Published by Prima (now Random House), this was twice a 1 bestseller for Writer's Digest Book Club in the 1990s. Since then, she worked as a software author and software publisher, multimedia editor, commercial web developer, and outdoor photographer.  She also put in an eighteen-month stint at a newspaper, which convinced her to go back to writing, but this time, she's creating fiction.

Paludan says, "After being in the technology industry for ten years, and getting a little burned out, working at a newspaper got my creative juices going again. I knew I wanted to get back to writing. I reinvented myself as a storyteller. I'm 51 years old, and I still have a long 'bucket list', but novelist is at the top of that list. "Letters from David" is the debut novel of my heart and I'm working on more romances."

Now a nonfiction editor by day, by night she writes steamy, heartfelt romance novels that are for sale as e-books on Lulu.com. 

When asked why e-books only, she said, "Releasing my novels exclusively as e-books is better for the environment and I can keep the sales price low -- At $2.49, it's affordable entertainment with instant delivery to book buyers' desktops. E-books aren't the wave of the future. They're what's real and practical now."

"Letters from David" by Eve Paludan is available for $2.49 as a .pdf download at:
http://www.lulu.com/content/2514839

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Letters from David - book review by Shannon Yarbrough
Current mood: fabulous
Category: Writing and Poetry

A fabulous book review of my e-novel makes my 51st year start out with a bang. (Just had my birthday on Friday!) Thanks to Shannon Yarbrough at: http://lulubookreview.wordpress.com/2008/07/06/review-20-letters-from-david-by-eve-paludan/

Excerpt of the long and lovely review:

Letters from David turned out to be a "whirl wind" of a story that I totally was not expecting. At first, based on the author's previous work, I predicted a much heavier romance and cliche collection of predictable love letters. Not so! The story continues to build with David, the son, writing to his half sister in Paris. Although their story is told completely in letters, reading it as if you were a person in another room over hearing a conversation is quite intriguing. Paludan has written a magnificent tale of love and loss which anyone can enjoy. So, grab a box of tissues and your high school yearbooks, because this book will take you down a path off memory lane where you never expected to go!

See more of this review at: http://lulubookreview.wordpress.com/2008/07/06/review-20-letters-from-david-by-eve-paludan/

p.s. I'm thrilled to bits! Thank you, Shannon, for taking the time to read and review my novel!

Buy a .pdf download of my e-novel for $2.49 at: http://www.lulu.com/content/2514839

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Call for Blurbs!
Current mood: blessed
Category: Writing and Poetry

This is an official call/plea/grovel for blurbs!

What is a blurb?

A blurb is shorter than a review. It's essentially a one-sentence recommendation of a book.

How do I give a blurb?

1. Message me through Myspace and ask me for a .pdf of my ebook, Letters from David.

2. I send a free .pdf to you by e-mail or provide a link to it, if you don't want to provide your e-mail address.

3. Read the e-book, then send me your one-sentence blurb (or even a review)!

4. I'll use the blurb, with your name (and the title of your book, if you wish), to promote my ebook.

Example of a blurb:

"I loved Claire's character...The setting of a little seaside town is very well written and I almost felt like I was there." -- Maura, Reviewer for Coffee Time Romance

p.s. See more of that review at Coffee Time Romance

THANKS!

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Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert (Spoilers here!)
Current mood: grateful

I read Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert, and loved it. I can sum it up for you. A broken-hearted woman tries to heal herself and decides to be celibate for a year. She goes to Italy and eats mass quantities of pasta and practices her Italian, goes to India to find spiritual enlightenment, and goes to Bali and finds a new lover and plenty of amazing friends.

It is nonfiction of the memoir sort, but with some artistic license, of course, because life doesn't just wrap up that nicely. I loved this book because I can identify with the need to heal oneself with some discipline and soul-searching. While Elizabeth Gilbert took way too long to get to the Love part of Eat, Pray, Love, I understand her wisdom and applaud her journey. May we all be so balanced and kind to others.

I'm going to read more of her books because I believe she is both wise and very much like me, a seeker. It is not often that I find a new author and want to make her books a reading priority. I can honestly say that reading her book made me realize that I need to find balance in certain areas of my life.

I also like Elizabeth Gilbert as a human being, just from reading her book. She's very humble and compassionate. She makes the world a better place, everywhere she goes. I'm not even thinking of going to an ashram, though, but I completely understand what she sought and I have a glimmer of what she found, though she articulates the search for God much better than I ever have. Everyone does this in his or her own way, at one point in their lives.

Women, please read this book! It will change something in your life for the good, I promise!

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