AUTHORS Popping Above the Noise
WRITERS-If you plan to go down the independent road to publication that some call self publishing and some call indie publishing OR if you plan to find a small press publisher OR set your sights on traditional publishing, unless you’re a big name, you’re going to have to do it all yourself. Sure, you can hire a team to help but you will be the writer, director, producer, and marketer of your product -you and your book.
It’s up to you. That’s why I’m adding a new section to MarlaMiller.com, AUTHORS Popping Books Above the NOISE. It’s not enough to publish your book. Frankly, anyone can do that. Your story needs to be really good to get attention. And you need to be really good at finding ways to get real time and/or cyber cameras on you and that really good book you wrote.
AUTHORS Popping Books Above the Noise will profile authors doing just that-getting their book the attention needed to pop above all this chatter. Visiting this section of MarlaMiller.com will inspire you and overwhelm you at the same time. That’s good. You should be overwhelmed. Popping above the noise has always been a challenge for writers. Though we have more portals to pop out of now, we also have more competition now that everybody and their mothers are writers hawking books.
But cream rises to the top. Always has, always will.
AUTHORS Popping Books Above the Noise
Meet entrepreneurial author, Genese Davis:
She attended my MarkingtheMuse workshop at the 2012 Southern California Writers Conference and read the first few pages of her work in progress. The Holder’s Dominion is a thriller that spotlights ‘gaming,’ a cyber sport young people-mostly-play. When she read the opening, we knew we were hearing a ‘fresh’ story. We wanted more. Why? Not just because it was ‘fresh’ but because it was written so well. Good story telling of a ‘fresh’ topic? Those two ingredients combined spell success. After the workshop, I chatted with Genese and her husband. That’s when I learned that in addition to being a gifted young writer, she and her hubby are from the I.T. world.
Information technology skills + compelling prose =s Popping Above the Noise.
We stayed in touch and last week I received great news from her. With her permission, I am using her ‘press kit’ information to show you how this entrepreneurial author is popping above the noise. It all begins by writing compelling prose.
PRESS KIT INGREDIENTS
Contact information: Genese Davis www.genesedavis.com @genesedavis (also include telephone #).
BOOK Blurb:
THE HOLDER’S DOMINION : After her father’s death on a mountain rescue mission, Kaylie Ames watched her family shatter. She fled Tacoma for college in faraway Austin, figuring that even the worst campus drama would be a relief. But when her old friend Elliott turns up on his knees in the grocery store aisle, raving about something called a morphis, Kaylie feels compelled to enter Elliott’s unfamiliar world.
Guided by Elliott and his friends, Kaylie signs on to the massively popular online game Edannair. There she discovers a world of beautiful vistas and magical creatures, where people from all over the globe step into the roles of warriors on fantastical quests. But a real-world evil threatens the players: the mysterious Holder, leader of the elite team known as Sarkmarr, is coercing his followers into traumatic offline dares known as “morphis assignments.” To save her friends, Kaylie must infiltrate Sarkmarr and survive the Holder’s tests.
Will she find the courage there to hold her real-world family together?
BLOG:
Wonder why building a blog presence is so important? Here’s why.
Genese’s blog post about the Y/A vs adult fiction dilemma attracted Publisher’s Weekly. Publishers Weekly | Genese Davis | Overcoming the YA Obsession: A debut author sticks to her new adult guns
BOOK TRAILER:
Genese kept it short -my recommendation-& made sure it telegraphed the novel’s drama.
The Holder’s Dominion | Live-Action Teaser Trailer
ENDORSEMENTS:
Why is networking so important? Here’s why.
“The Holder’s Dominion is a heartfelt, fast-paced thrill ride that will appeal to gamers and non-gamers alike.”—Micky Neilson, New York Times-bestselling author
“Genese Davis is astonishingly deft at creating believable characters with a few sentences. You fall at once into Kaylie’s world, thinking you’re in for one story, and Davis sneakily takes you on another ride altogether. It will keep you turning the pages.” —Christie Golden, New York Times bestselling author of Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi—Ascension and World of Warcraft: Arthas—Rise of the Lich King
“The Holder’s Dominion is a must-read for gamers. . . . My secret hope is that her strong heroine’s experiences in such a rich video game world inspires more women to enter the game industry and make a game that can be this immersive and life-changing.”—Billy Cain, vice-chairman, International Game Developers Association – Austin
“Davis creates both an everyday world and a world of adventure, then she laces them together and pulls tightly. If anyone implemented Edannair, I’d certainly want to play it!”—Richard A. Bartle, PhD, Professor of Game Design, University of Essex
“A complex and inventive tale, The Holder’s Dominion reveals the world of online gaming through revolutionary characters. Gaming has never looked more intriguing . . . or inviting.”—Kristian Nairn, actor
“Genese Davis is an author to watch.”—James Waugh, senior developer and entertainment executive
“An imaginative outing. Davis gives a post-modern take on a classic fantasy journey as a young woman steps away from a broken family and faces a larger world.”—Alan Kistler, author and host of Crazy Sexy Geeks Podcast
“The Holder’s Dominion was a very good read. . . . The intensity and intricacies in the dynamics of a family struggling to cope with loss were expressed very well. . . . very eye opening.”—Timothy Mitchell, highly ranked World of Warcraft player
“A captivating adventure, a struggle through personal pain paralleled by the challenge to take on a mysterious leader, entirely real and curiously mystical . . . human emotions and relatable characters enhanced by a vivid fantasy realm.”—Jacob Horning, musician and video game expert
“With its climatic chapters, I can’t remember the last time a book kept me in such suspense like The Holder’s Dominion.”—Sarah Cypher, CEO, The Threepenny Editor
AUTHOR suggested TOPICS suitable for Interviews,Workshops, Blog posts, etc
(Notice how easy she makes it for editors/bloggers who may want to write about her)
- Women in the World of Video Games
- Publisher’s Young Adult Obsession Vs. The New Adult Rebellion (as featured in Publishers Weekly)
- Using Project Management Tools to Complete Writing and other Artistic Projects
- How to Complete Your First Book
- Online Gaming
- Why MMOs Benefit Our Lives Today
- How to Build a Book Launch Campaign
BOOK LAUNCH PARTIES
- Friday March 1st, 2013, from 6:00pm – 9:00pm at Howie’s Game Shack
Located in the Kaleidoscope Mall—Mission Viejo, CA
27741 Crown Valley PKWY Suite 223, Mission Viejo, CA 92691
- Saturday March 2nd, 2013, from 12:00pm – 2:00pm at Alakazam Comics
Located in the University Town Center at the University of California—Irvine, CA
4237 Campus Drive, Suit B162, Irvine, CA, 92612
949-854-3744 | www.alakazamcomics.com
- Sunday March 3rd, 2013, from 1:00pm – 3:00pm at Game Master
Located at the Laguna Hills Mall—Laguna Hills, CA
24155 Laguna Hills Mall, Laguna Hills, CA 92653
BOOK JACKET IMAGE:
AUTHOR IMAGE:
Contact information: Genese Davis www.genesedavis.com @genesedavis (plus phone #)
REMEMBER AUTHORS, make it as simple for editors, reviewers, bloggers, et al, to review your work and contact you.
Hi,
Thank you for the very helpful information. Although I don’t plan t self publish, I see the need for the requirements listed here because they are required by the traditional publishing world also. I already have my blogs and I am in the process of building up the popularity of my blogs, but reading this article has also made me think about a blog especially for my first book. I need to think it through and start it before my book comes out.
I enjoyed reading your article and will also subscribe to it.
Ciao,
Patricia
Hi Patricia,
Thanks for your comment…but remember what I wrote in the Intro—whether you plan to Indie publish or not, you must have a press kit that entices….and if you plan to go through traditional publishing, it better entice big time so YES, get that blog going……more important? Get subscribers/readers to it-Why? To show the industry that this topic has ‘game’…Translation? It will make them money if they sign you and the evidence are the readers already attracted to your blog–KEY!
Thanks again.
Marla
Thanks, Marla, for the tips and introducing
Genese Davis!