Jade Varden Official Blog

  Today, Jade's blog has been taken over by author Diamante Lavendar. Read an excerpt from her new book "The Secrets of Yashire: Emerging from the Shadows."  The Secrets of Yashire: Emerging from the Shadows Amazon  Barnes & Noble  Kobo Opening her eyes, Brianna gazed into a clear blue sky illuminated by warm, hazy rays of sunlight. She slowly turned her head to look around. She was lying on a carpet of soft, green grass. All around her she heard the sweet, cheerful songs of birds as a playful breeze rumpled her long black hair. Where am I? She tried to raise her head but a hot, sharp pain shot through it. Ow! I have one heck of a headache! Gently, she lay her head back down. As she stretched into a more comfortable position, she noticed the clothes she was wearing; a white, ruffled blouse and a long, purple skirt. She was vaguely confused but couldn’t figure out why. Suddenly a strong urge to sleep overcame her. Closing her eyes, she listen...

Choosing a title can be one of the hardest parts of writing a book, and I should know. I had finished a book almost in entirety before I managed to figure out what the title was supposed to be. I struggle with it every time, but not all authors do. Today's guest author has found a creative way to avoid titling her own book, in fact: she's turned it into a promotional tool. Book Titles and You Guest author Roselyn Jewell is staging a unique contest to figure out her book's title. See my thoughts on writing book titles , and maybe you can help Roselyn come up with hers. Now here's Roselyn: Hi everyone, My name is Roselyn Jewell and I have recently made my first foray into the YA genre! Previously I’ve written almost entirely romance novels, but I came up with what I think is a great idea for a YA series and I’ve finished the first book in the series, which will be offered as an e-book in early March. In preparation for this, from now till March 1st, I’m ...

Today we're joined by author M.J. Austin for a guest post on using Wattpad for marketing. You have published your book and it is online, but you aren’t getting any sales. What’s wrong here? Most likely, it is simply because nobody knows your book is "out there." It can be extremely difficult to get your book out there, especially if you are being self-published. That’s not to say that when you have a traditional publisher that it is super easy. Many publishers today require you to do your own marketing.  There is a multitude of options when it comes to marketing your book. You could do a blog tour or focus on social media, but those aren’t the only options. What is Wattpad? Wattpad is a critiquing style platform that allows authors to upload either portions or the full copy of their books for others in the community to read and comment on. Amanda Hocking, a very successful YA author has used this platform to uploaded samples of her books for users to...

 Today, Jade's blog is pleased to welcome author U.L. Harper! To this day I get asked about my inspiration. Where do I get my ideas from? I think I’m inspired by what everybody is inspired by. Being Inspired For the longest time I thought I was inspired by Kurt Vonnegut. Damned proud of it too. Cat’s Cradle is a classic in my book, and Slaughterhouse Five opened my eyes to the world, even if I never read the first four (just kidding). It impressed me and still does. After reading Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club , I was sure that it was the prototype for every first-person present-tense novel. Violent, honest, sardonic, moving, and funny with a twist, not to mention short and at a third grade level. I figured I was influenced by Chuck, and proud of it. And then there was Clive Barker and his Weaveworld , Imajica , Great and Secret Show novels. Works to live by. I’m not even going to bring up Hellraiser because that’s opening a box I don’t have time to explore right...

Today I'm pleased to host Jac Wright, author of The Reckless Engineer . He's a little different than the other authors I feature on the blog: he's not self-published. I decided to pick his brain in a Q&A session, and learn how different he is from the indies I've known. Q&A with author Jac Wright JV: I see that the main character of The Reckless Engineer , Jeremy Stone, has an educational background similar to your own. How much of the character is modeled after you? Jac Wright: Great question.   A lot of Jeremy’s character is modeled after me and my good friend, but even more is modeled after what I should like to be.   Jeremy lives the ideal life I should like to live and I live it through him. JV: You’re an engineer, like your main character. If I don’t understand the first thing about engineering, will I still be able to enjoy and understand the book? Jac Wright: Of course you will.   You will understand and enjoy the books just lik...

by Leti Del Mar Everything I have ever come across in regard to self-publishing says I should get my work edited.  Even those who don't self-publish are still urged to have their manuscript edited before submitting it to agents or publishers.  It makes sense to have your work edited, but it can also be incredibly expensive. I asked around for someone to edit my 82,000 word manuscript and the price range was $500 to $1,500!  ...And that was people just getting started in the business, not those who come highly recommended. What if you're just starting out and uncomfortable with spending that much money on editing?  What is an aspiring writer to do?  Fortunately, I've got some cost-cutting suggestions! When it comes to editing for content, you absolutely need another pair of eyes looking over your work.  A free way to do this is to ask a beta reader to read your book.  A beta reader is someone who will read your work and t...