Thanks

Normally I post on Wednesday, but this is a bit of an off week with that hilarious blogfest on Monday--Blood, Boobs, and Carnage. I had no idea there were so many bad movies out there! Thanks again to Alex and Heather for hosting that. And speaking of thanks, I'd like to give a shout out to Konstanz Silverbow at No thought too Small for featuring my first book, The Newstead Project, on her blog today. You can find it here . Just one more thanks on my list for today: Kat Writer. If you don't know Kat, she has a lovely blog at: http://wwwkatloveswriting.blogspot.com 

The reason for my thanks is this: Normally, I have no idea what to post on this mid-month week. And Kat's response for my Indie Life post has given me inspiration.  If you missed that one, I wrote about Vanity Presses and that they need to be avoided like the plagues they are. I also wrote that I had a list of reputable editors, cover designers, etc. and Kat asked for me to share that list.

I personally use: Emily White as my editor, Alex Moran (His website is under construction right now, when it's up again, I'll post it) as my copy editor, Alan Waite as my illustrator (He has no web site. But, he's an amazing artist. If you'd like contact info, please let me know and I'll forward his cell number). He also assists with my cover designs, which you'll be seeing in a few weeks. We've redone all the covers of my Newstead books after a wonderful publicist pointed out that while he loved the covers, there was nothing that tied them together as a series. I get my photos from fotolia.com, an amazing royalty free photo site.  I purchased Creative Cloud and do the formatting myself. I use my local Small Business Development Center for marketing. They're an amazing free resource. I'm sure there is one near you. Just search for Small Business Development Center and your area and it will come up. It's a free program provided by the government to help small business flourish. They provide information on business plans, funding, kickstarter, and like I said above, marketing, which would normally cost thousands. It's been a great resource.

That's my list. The one I give to others includes that and the ones listed in Susan Kaye Quinn's Indie Author Survival Guide. I highly recommend picking it up. It has a huge list of online resources like the ones I named above, not to mention it's extremely helpful with the process as a whole. Hope that helps!