IKAB is a site which not only supports but encourages an open exchange of divergent ideas on all substantive issues concerning Indie Authors and the publishing of their works.
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A Necessary Evil
Individual Chapters will be available as a free read for a period of three weeks beginning 1/18/12
Click for Chapter 16 (available until 5-23-12)
Click for Chapter 17 (available until 5-30-12)
Click for Chapter 18 (available until 6-6-12)
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Visit Fine Art by Kim
IKAB Indie Art
April 6, 2012
Statistics—Make of Them What You Will
Not certain who might be interested but we found the following to be surprising and perhaps somewhat contradictory.
March 20, 2012
The Puzzles in Writing a Novel
Writing a novel requires the Indie Author to solve many puzzles and does not make a difference if it is a mystery or romance or suspense thriller or…
March 15, 2012
Fact and Fiction
The creative writing process for Indie Authors is typically a combination of fact and fiction.
The characters we feature and the story line backgrounds and details incorporated into our works should come from both real life and our imagination.
March 8, 2012
Not looking to discourage any indie Authors, but…Consider
Return on effort–
How long does it take to edit, write and prepare a 75,000 word novel for publication? click to read entire article
Came across a site that is Mesmerizing.
Take a look @ SolarIMG
March 1, 2012
The following is a newsletter article we originally posted on 8/3/11. Considering the ongoing frustrations and struggles Indie Authors continue to battle, we thought it might be a good time to reprise it.
Don’t Make It Personal
Any artist who puts their work out there for the world to see…is opening themselves up for possible criticism.
Painter, author, sculptor, etc…it does not make a difference. Show your work and get ready for the good, the bad and possible ugly. Some artists create what they want and worry little about the ‘market’. They do it to satisfy their creative passion and have the attitude that if someone likes their work…fine. If others do not like it…so what.
They do it because creating is life to them. May the heavens bless those independent souls who gain satisfaction from producing their work, and do not live or die on the opinion of others. They are a rare breed. Most artists, however, are in fact…looking for approval from others.
An Indie Author too often lives for the review which has brilliant, compelling, etc in it…and dies with the review that questions the storyline, characters, style, etc.
Given all the divergent tastes and preferences of the masses, it is simply impossible to please everyone. The fact is, as indie authors, we should never have the dream of being widely accepted.
If it happens— great, but realistically the odds are against it. Consider the ‘10 everyday people in a room’ hypothesis. Give the ten the same item to review and critique, and expect that two will love it, two will hate it and the remaining six might be somewhat indifferent about it and offer no substantive comment. So it’s 2 yes 2 no and 6 uninspired or not particularly fond of that genre or writing style.
Unfortunately for many authors it may take only one negative review to dominate a dozen great reviews they may have already received. Criticism has to be valued on its constructive merits (if done by a professional reviewer). If an indie author is smart and confident enough to cherish the good review and accept that it is impossible to please everyone, he/she could say ‘thanks to the good guy’ and politely present the middle finger salute to the naysayer.
And remember…no matter what—don’t take it personal (because it isn’t)…and never let the bastards see you sweat.
February 26, 2012
Indie Authors—a Fill in the Blanks Exercise (using multiple words is okay)
Being an Indie Author……
requires______
means ______
demands _______
is a _______
fulfills my _______
is the ________ decision I have ever made.
gives me a sense of ________
enables me to_______
or being a ________
satisfies my _______
is ______ difficult than I thought.
has developed my _______
has taught me _______
There is no pass or fail…only a sense of WHY or What was I thinking.
February 9, 2012—some interesting happenings on this day
1994 Israeli minister Shimon Perez signs accord with PLO’s Arafat
1987 New York Stock Exchange installs ladies restroom in the Exchange Luncheon Club
1971 Apollo 14 returns to Earth
1966 Dow-Jones Index hits record 995 points
1964 1st appearance of Beatles on “Ed Sullivan Show” (73.7 million viewers)
1963 1st flight of Boeing 727 jet
1955 U.S. federations of trade unions merge into AFL/CIO
1943 Franklin D. Roosevelt orders minimal 48 hour work week in war industry
1943 Japanese evacuate Guadalcanal, ends epic battle
1942 Daylight Savings War Time goes into effect in U.S.
1923 Soviet Aeroflot airlines forms
1885 1st Japanese arrive in Hawaii
Thanks to brainyhistory.com
January 27, 2012—The Frustrations of being an Indie Author
Being an Indie Author is at a lonely job which most times brings little acknowledgement or reward.
Despite the existence of various writing groups or organizations, there is no real support structure available to the indie writer. Unless an aspiring author finds a mentor, he/she must go it basically alone. The truth is many ‘Indies’ have neither the time nor the desire to be supportive. Understandably they are concerned about their own results.
Taking months and at times years to produce a solid novel, Indie Authors then must face an even greater frustration—the overwhelming task of gaining recognition in a highly competitive and segmented market.
Being successful as an Indie Author requires more than writing talent. One must be focused, aggressive, arrogant, a shameless self promoter and possess an unrelenting will…and lastly great luck—the type of good fortune akin to hitting the lottery.
So why do so many do it? Why do intelligent individual set themselves up for such frustration?
There is no simple answer, but…
People love challenges especially when they have something to say.
Lotteries draw in hundreds of millions of dollars every day—someone has to eventually win the pot of gold.
The human spirit desires to soar like an eagle.
Writers must write. If they didn’t, the frustration they would feel would be greater than anything they might face being an Indie Author. Damned if you do…and damned if you don’t.
And finally…It is a dirty job, but someone has to do it.
Events on January 24th in History
1994 Dow Jones closes above 3,900 for 1st time (3,914.48)
1984 Apple Computer unveils its Macintosh personal computer
1962 Brian Epstein signs management contract with the Beatles
1962 Jackie Robinson is 1st Black elected to Baseball Hall of Fame
1936 Benny Goodman & orchestra record “Stompin’ at the Savoy” on Victor Records
1935 1st canned beer, “Krueger Cream Ale,” is sold by Kruger Brewing Co
1901 1st games played in baseball’s American League
1679 King Charles II disbands English parliament
January 12, 2012
A Necessary Evil
Beginning Wednesday, January 18, IKAB will be posting as a free read—one chapter per week from the suspense thriller A Necessary Evil. Chapters will remain available for a period of two weeks.
A Necessary Evil summary—
Vince Romano, a wealthy and mysterious New York City businessman, becomes convinced that a close friend’s brutal murder was more than a random act of violence. A former field intelligence operative and assassin for the highly surreptitious Counter Terrorist Agency (CTA), Romano finds himself at the center of a diabolical plot.
Unencumbered by rules of engagement or a conscience, he uncovers duplicitous actions and betrayals, not only by terrorists but also by his former employer.
Primarily supported by his oldest and closest friend—a powerful New York City wiseguy, Romano discovers that an al Qaeda cell intends to detonate two tactical nuclear weapons in New York City. Utilizing an approach which leaves a trail of broken and dead bodies in his wake, Romano is able to strike at the heart of evil…with more evil than the terrorists could have ever imagined.
January 4, 2012—Hope
Hope is a word used to express optimism. A desire that today will be better than yesterday. That our efforts will be recognized, and life will be a positive experience.
We frequently say to people…‘hope things work out for you’ or ‘I hope you feel better’.
According to the Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary, the origin of hope is Middle English, and its first known use was before the12th century.For approximately1000 years, man has expressed good intentions by using the word ‘hope’.
We will repeat IKAB’s holiday best wishes to all Indie Authors for 2012.
We hope that—Your fingers are nimble and precise on your keyboards…Your ideas are woven into a great storyline…Your next work is your best work…Your efforts are well recognized and well rewarded…
We also hope that all Indie Artists, whatever their discipline, continue to create brilliant works and find their paths to great success.
And finally we hope that 2012 is a better year for everyone, and politicians finally accept that their principle responsibility is to the People.
December 23, 2011
Greatness—Is it….
What are the unique qualities that convince us something or someone has achieved greatness?
Do we immediately recognize it, or is it something which upon reflection (or the opinions of others) is brought to light for us?
How often is greatness affected by external circumstances, and does it too often have an ephemeral quality?
We have posted on this blog the ‘Greatest’ novels, authors, etc.
What has made them great?
Are they especially memorable…special…unique…brilliant…the best ever…?
Is there truly a way to measure greatness?
Can we somehow honestly quantify a level which clearly is separate and above the norm?
Is there a certain ‘intangible’ quality that the ‘Greatest’ possess?
There are instances when a quantitative approach can be taken to help us form an opinion…but that is more the exception than the rule.
Do we at times allow emotions to push logic off to the side when we judge something?
Does our ‘like’ or ‘dislike’ help determine our opinions?
Since each of us may define what makes something ‘great’ differently, then ‘greatness’ may simply be a subjective conclusion.
Did all those who have achieved ‘greatness’…set out to be great?
Should Indie…writers, painters, musicians and all of the indie creative geniuses in the world set greatness as a goal?
In our humble opinion…if we don’t strive to be the best…how can we ever be great…or conversely if we don’t strive to be great—how can we ever be the best?
December 13, 2011
An article published on 12/9/11 by Ashley Portero is a must read.
The headline is…
30 Major U.S. Corporations Paid More to Lobby Congress Than Income Taxes, 2008-2010
If you wonder what is going on and are concerned about the ‘Goings On’ please read Ms.Portero’s article at… http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/264481/20111209/30-major-u-s-corporations-paid-lobby.htm
Talk about loopholes, unbalanced playing fields, etc, etc…wow.
December 11, 2011–Aspiring Indie Authors
We offer a few thoughts for your consideration.
Fully develop your storyline before you begin writing. That is not to say that you cannot revise your plot line or add/delete characters as you go along.
Try not to edit too much while you are writing. Leave your copy alone for a day or even possibly wait until you finish the book. By approaching the editing separately, it will not slow down your creative thought process and permit your words to flow more freely. Allowing some time before editing will also enable you to view things with a ‘fresh’ eye. In addition any changes which may come to the storyline later in the book can be checked for consistency.
Discipline and Focus are absolute musts when writing a novel.
Not only write every day but try and write the same time each day. Repetition is critical for maximum efficiency.
Do not overuse the thesaurus.
Keep the dialogue consistent to the characters’ backgrounds.
Take care of the ‘writing’ nuts and bolts. You don’t need to be a literary professor to be a good Wordsmith.
And when you are convinced that you have edited your work to the maximum…think about doing it one more time.
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