Fire in the Blogosphere: CassaFire Release

An interesting phenomenon took place yesterday. I went to my Google Reader to do some blog reading and the first blog that pulled up was spotlighting Alex J. Cavanaugh's CassaFire release. My first thought was, Whoops! I guess I forgot to write a post about that, myself...

Then, as the next blog I pulled up was also spotlighting CassaFire, and the next, and the next . And about forty more. I'm not kidding. The blogosphere was on fire. I was in awe of the incredible support that Alex had through his blogging friends. Not surprised, but in awe. It was beautiful.

Alex has done what we should all aspire to do. I'm not talking about great marketing, that's the side benefit. Alex has built real, honest friendships through consistent blogging, response to comments, and visiting and commenting on other blogs. This is not the reason that we blog, but this is what agents and publishers are looking for when they are interested in a writer's platform. Take some notes, folks. Reread my interview with Alex about how he built up such a great support system.

And congrats, Alex. It's a day late, but here's CassaFire!

CassaFire
by Alex J. Cavanaugh

CassaStar was just the beginning…

The Vindicarn War is a distant memory and Byron’s days of piloting Cosbolt fighters are over. He has kept the promise he made to his fallen mentor and friend - to probe space on an exploration vessel. Shuttle work is dull, but it’s a free and solitary existence. The senior officer is content with his life aboard the Rennather.

The detection of alien ruins sends the exploration ship to the distant planet of Tgren. If their scientists can decipher the language, they can unlock the secrets of this device. Is it a key to the Tgren’s civilization or a weapon of unimaginable power? Tensions mount as their new allies are suspicious of the Cassan’s technology and strange mental abilities.

To complicate matters, the Tgrens are showing signs of mental powers themselves; the strongest of which belongs to a pilot named Athee, a woman whose skills rival Byron’s unique abilities. Forced to train her mind and further develop her flying aptitude, he finds his patience strained. Add a reluctant friendship with a young scientist, and he feels invaded on every level. All Byron wanted was his privacy…

Available now!

Science fiction - space opera/adventure
Print ISBN 978-0-9827139-4-5, $15.95, 6x9 Trade paperback, 240 pages
EBook ISBN 978-0-9827139-6-9, $4.99, available in all formats
CassaFire is the sequel to Cavanaugh’s first book, CassaStar, an Amazon Top Ten Best Seller:

“…calls to mind the youthful focus of Robert Heinlein’s early military sf, as well as the excitement of space opera epitomized by the many Star Wars novels. Fast-paced military action and a youthful protagonist make this a good choice for both young adult and adult fans of space wars.” - Library Journal

Book trailer available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qa6VINRGtyE.

Barnes and Noble - http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/cassafire-alex-j-cavanaugh/1034742568

Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/CassaFire-Alex-J-Cavanaugh/dp/0982713940/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1329417150&sr=1-1

Amazon Kindle - http://www.amazon.com/CassaFire-ebook/dp/B007A2TSNG/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1329663355&sr=1-1

Blog Critique: On the Write Track

In this series I give constructive feedback about the look and function of an author blog from a marketing perspective. As always, I rely on help from graphic designers Tom Barnes (my hubby) and Joe LaRue. To review the blog elements we look at or to submit your own blog for critique, go here.

How does Monday come about so quickly? Not that I'm complaining. Mondays are like my Fridays with my work schedule. Tuesday's my day off!!

But I'm sure there are a few of you with traditional work schedules that may be complaining a bit. Let's see if we can brighten the mood with a blog critique, shall we?  Then scoot on over to Donna Martin's On the Write Track and we can get on with it.

Ooo, Donna's a martial arts girl. (My oldest daughter just got her high red belt this last Saturday. Can we say proud?) She's also got a baby blog. She's only been at it since December 6th. 

Great job for a newbie, Donna. You've got a lot of posts under your (black) belt for such a short time period.  That's awesome.  Now, this isn't the first time I've been to your blog. But trying to look at it with fresh eyes, I immediately see things I love and things I maybe don't love so much. Let's discuss:

• Love your title.
• This isn't the first time I've said it and probably not the last: I think that specific pictures in the background should relate to what your blog is about. What do mountains have to do with your blog? If you don't have an answer other than "I like mountains" I would suggest changing it.
• I like the definite differentiation between your posts and sidebars.
• I'm not a fan of two column sidebars unless you really need all the space. Alex Cavenaugh has a lot of really relevant info on both columns so I don't mind his. (By the way, Alex's new book comes out Tuesday!) But I can see that yours could easily be consolidated. Also, your blog is just really dark with both sidebars. Specifically I would:
• Lose your welcome message.  It's not necessary. You could consolidate relevant info from it in your profile.
• Fish are cool, but are unnecessary (and unrelated to your blog).
• Your blog awards could be consolidated and even moved to a page of their own.
• Your blog archive could be moved to the other sidebar.
• I love that your profile is in a prominent position!
• I'm not sure that I would put your black belt info as your leading line, though. Not that I think its not important, but I want your first sentence to tell me about your blogging or writing. This is where you can consolidate your welcome info with your profile.
• I also love that you have your email available.
• I like that you use pictures in your posts. It really attracts.
• But you could lessen the amount of pics without losing anything. It will also make it easier to read on a mobile phone.
• It also wouldn't hurt to trim your posts a little. (I know, this coming from someone who has long posts.) But short is best for holding followers. 
• Actually, if you lost a sidebar and some pics from each of your posts, the length would probably seem a lot shorter.
• Personally, I'd only keep five posts on a page. I don't know why. It looks cleaner.
• I like your colors. Blue and orange are good contrasting colors. I would prefer a less bold font though. It can be hard to look at such a strong font for long.
• I love that you post consistently. And if you love doing it every day, then keep it up. But, just FYI, it can be difficult for many followers to get to your blog that often so just realize that some of your posts might go unread.

Hmm. I think that's all. Great job at your baby blog! You've grown quickly. Good luck and keep up the good work!

Do you all have any advice for Donna?

Where I've Been

A while ago I posted about a semi-blogging hiatus and mentioned writerly things afoot.  I also said that when I returned I hoped to have news.  Well, I don't really have the news I wanted to have (yet!) but I have some things I'd like to share.  Wanna hear?

Okay, so here's where I've been.  Some of it's been writerly, some has not.  But all of it has kept me very busy:

1. My MBA class was a bit more demanding than I would like.  I have one more week though (and just one more paper!) before I am done with it and have my MBA with a marketing emphasis. W00T!!! It's been a long time coming, I'm telling you.
2. Lent began last Wednesday.  I work in a Catholic Church (one of my many jobs) and Easter is the busiest time of year - worse than Christmas.  Lent is the time that musicians prepare for Easter.  There's only a handful of days in the next 40 days, in fact, that I am not at some type of music rehearsal. As the music director of eight choirs for Easter, I had to be totally prepared for Lent.  Organizing music, ordering it, making sure I had the right binders for everyone, etc. really took a chunk of time this year.  But now rehearsals have started and I am getting into the routine of it all. I only mention these first two things because they impact how difficult it was to deal with the next items:
3. Now here's what you want to know: On February 1st, I received a request to revise from a MAJOR AGENT.  I mean, like, DREAM AGENT.  I was floored.  And the revision notes totally resonated with me.  I immediately embraced them and saw how much better my story would be with those changes.  I started working on them right away. But then...
4. The very next day, I got an offer from a small press for a 3 book deal.  I was floored.  I hadn't even submitted to them originally.  They requested my manuscript via an online contest I had entered.  And then, really??  A 3 book deal???  WOWSERS!!!  

All of this put me in a crazy position.  I still had four fulls out with agents and I really connected with MAJOR AGENT's notes.  By the time I got the 3 book deal, I no longer liked my book as it was.  But here I was stuck between a sure thing and a not-so-sure but potentially better thing.  The small press is new, but it has had some buzz and one of the agents with my full said she believed it is real up and coming. (That same agent offered me an R&R as well, by the way.)  And after my revisions were completed, I knew that MAJOR AGENT might not take me.  But she has sent me quite a few emails in the last few weeks and has always been very open and honest and wonderful and how could I not want to work with her????

So I did the hardest thing I've ever done in my writer life.  I turned down the publishing contract.  And I have spent the last few weeks pounding out the revisions.  If MAJOR AGENT doesn't sign me on, I still have the other R&R.  And I only started querying in January.  I feel confident I made the right choice and my story is only stronger for it.  

Now my revisions are done and I am returning to you, my bloggey buddies.  I've missed being part of the blogger world and am so glad to be back. 

What's been going on with you?

Blog Critique: No Water River

In this series I give constructive feedback about the look and function of an author blog from a marketing perspective. As always, I rely on help from graphic designers Tom Barnes (my hubby) and Joe LaRue. To review the blog elements we look at or to submit your own blog for critique, go here.

I've lost my voice. Seriously. I've had a sinus infection and bronchitis and am now voiceless. Being without a voice should have little impact on a blog post, but somehow it makes me just want to sit comatose in front of Facebook. I'm going to jump right into this critique so I can do just that. We're checking out No Water River then discussing below.

Um, brilliant.

That is all.

No, I'm kidding, but not really.  Because this is a very nice blog. Right away we get the feel that this is a picture book writer. Don't you? It's clean, easy to read. I love the Picture Book Library and Poetry Video Library. I adore the style of the little "Follow" icons. I'm not concerned that Renee's name is not in the title because the name of the site and everything related to the site is No Water River. 

I guess if I'm going to get picky, I'm going to have to pick on the "About" page.  I want the info about No Water River to come ahead of Renee's info. It could even be too separate pages on the navigation: "About NWR" and "About Renee".  That is one question I had right away when I visited. I wanted to know exactly what No Water River was and I had to look for it. The good thing was that I could really tell even without the explanation, but it is buried.

Another nitpicky thing: The About page says that One-word Wednesday is coming on January 11th. Well, that day's past. So that should be updated.

The "category" tool is so nifty to find the things that might interest visitors. I would move that higher. Maybe just above the email subscribe. For a resource site such as this people need to be able to find the resources right away.

Okay, one more thing on that last note. Perhaps the tag of  "the picture book and poetry place" should say "the picture book and poetry resource place". Or something like that. It took me awhile to even realize some of the things that were available and it would have been cool to know right away.

All right, I'm truly done. Great website! Any other thoughts for Renee from you awesome critiquers out there?

Saturday Savvy Sensation: the Presidents

Today's Saturday Savvy Sensation is not one person, but a bunch. In honor of President's Day Weekend, I thought I'd share this (somewhat old) blog article about Presidents who were writers. It's an interesting read if you are a history buff at all.

I have always been a fan of Lincoln's speeches. Are any of you Presidential Writer fans?