Kindle Authors: Google+ Events . . . A Great Tool For Authors

Firstly a big thanks to the folks who voted in round one of Genre Wars. The voting currently stands at Vampires 13 Zombies 6. Last week we considered the marketing power behind the rationale of grouping authors from a specific genre in one place and creating a buzz. There is also a phenomenon known as 'feeding frenzy' in the natural world. It always makes me think of piranhas devouring a hapless victim in a boiling mass of bloody water or army ants on the march consuming any creature unfortunate enough to stray into their path. But the fact is once folks get their wallets out they are likely to spend on more than one item or book, particularly when the Kindle makes it so easy for people to store a vast library of digital books. A much more palatable feeding frenzy.

If you have been following this blog you will know by now I am a massive fan of Google+. When I first thought of creating Genre Wars as a means of promoting independent authors and their books I decided to investigate how Google+ can help. Google+ Event's feature is really impressive. There are a large selection of professional templates to choose from, information like venue and start dates are easy to organise and present and the whole thing is simple, attractive and uncluttered. Also you can choose who to invite thanks to Google+ Circles. You can take a look at the EVENT advertising the latest round of Genre Wars HERE.

I must confess to being pretty clueless when it comes to Romantic fiction so I turned to 'The Romance Reader' and Jean Mason's top 10 picks.Here they are and I am not going to argue even if 'Gone With The Wind' only made number 81.

1. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
Dream Man by Linda Howard
It Had to Be You by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
4. McKenzie’s Mountain by Linda Howard
5. Knight in Shining Armor by Jude Devereaux
6. Flowers from the Storm by Laura Kinsale
7. The Bride by Julie Garwood
8. Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase
Nobody’s Baby But Mine by Susan Elizabeth Phillips 10. Morning Glory by LaVyrle Spencer

Historical fiction is much more up my street. I became hooked as a child when I began reading the wonderful Resemary Sutcliffe. 'Sword At Sunset' was a particular favourite. It's a genre I absolutely love. Guess who I am going to be voting for!
Here are the top ten historical novels of all time according to SmashingLists.

1, War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
2. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
3. Romola by George Eliot
4. The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa
5. Brooklyn by Colm Toibin
6. Pure by Andrew Miller
7. The Blue Flower by Penelope Fitzgerald
8. I Claudius by Robert Graves
9. Property by Valerie Martin
10. The Regeneration Trilogy

It's time for you to vote for your preferred genre Romantic or Historical.

Who's Won Your Heart? Cast Your Vote NOW . . .

Here are some of very talented Indie authors who are mutual Twitter Followers. I couldn't include them all on this blog so I chose those who are most active on Twitter. Click on their pictures to visit their blog or book.

Here are some of our talented Romance and Historical Indie Authors








		Please Use Your Vote Support Indie Authors by visiting their blog. Click on their image to access some great reads.

One thing I did discover during this round of Genre Wars and that was just how popular a genre romance is. There are numerous sub genres like Historical Romance, Erotic Romance, Western Romance, Paranormal Romance, Suspense Romance, Fantasy Romance, Sci Fi Romance and so on. I realised they merited a place of their own within Genre Wars so in the future watch out for Historical Romance v Erotic Romance among others.

Next Week we consider why it is vital for authors 'to their own self be true'. I interview Ceri Shaw a fellow countryman (Welshman) now living in Oregon who followed this principle and created a unique online community called AmeriCymru which was good news for Welsh authors or anyone writing about Wales. Interestingly one of the featured authors Roseanne E Lortz has written an historical novel about the Black Prince called 'I Serve' (see below). The Black Prince adopted the three feathers as his personal crest after the Battle of Crecy, underneath which was written, in German, the words "Ich Dien", "I Serve". To this day it endures as the crest of the Welsh Rugby Union.