Watt, Watt? Wattpad.

Have you heard of Wattpad? If so, you're likely to associate it with teen readers and fanfiction writers, but if you haven't checked out the mystery/thriller section, you should! It's a great place to find new and emerging, and even a few established authors for FREE!

Authors write their novels, get a cover and upload them onto Wattpad where readers download them to read, make comments, and vote for their favorites. Yearly, the most loved novels win Watty awards.

Since Wattpad is a community of writers who do it for the love of writing, some novels might not be edited to the standard you find in the bookstore, but many are, and if you're able to put a few grammar blips aside, you can find many a gem!

If you're an author looking to build your fanbase or newsletter list, this is a great way to find new readers. They might not turn into buyers, but if you're looking for word of mouth, Wattpad and other sites like it have been known to house rabid fans of favorite authors.

It's free for readers or authors, so why not give it a try?

Do you have any reading or publishing experience on Wattpad? Tell us what you think in the comments!

~Jamie Blair
Deadly Dog Days (available for pre-order!)

Win Mind Over Monsters by Jennifer Harlow

Tricks & Treats: What is your favorite Halloween costume? Answer by FRIDAY for a chance to win MIND OVER MONSTERS by Jennifer Harlow!

Comment on Midnight Ink's twitter feed (@midnightinkbook) and you could win a copy of Mind Over Monsters!!

Praise:

“Jennifer Harlow’s debut novel had me laughing and gasping from start to finish!”—VICTORIA LAURIE, New York Times bestselling author of the Ghost Hunter Mystery series and the Psychic Eye Mystery series

“Wonderful! A gritty, dramatic police-procedural with a compelling heroine and a fascinating group of sidekicks. Looking forward to the sequel!”—KAREN CHANCE, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Cassandra Palmer series

"The most engaging detectives to face the walking dead since Scully and Mulder. Part urban fantasy, part police procedural, and entirely marvelous, monstrous fun."
—LIBRARY JOURNAL

"If Donald Westlake had ever gotten around to writing a paranormal mystery, it would have sounded like this. Harlow's genre debut is funny, creepy and refreshingly brash."
—KIRKUS REVIEWS

"Mind Over Monsters is funny, scary, and creepy—and ridiculous amounts of fun!"
—KAT RICHARDSON, AUTHOR OF THE GREYWALKER NOVELS

"Mind Over Monsters is a non-stop rollercoaster ride that fans of urban fantasy will love! Fast-paced, fun, and wildly entertaining, Jennifer Harlow has given the paranormal police procedural a fresh spin with her loveable machete-wielding heroine. A quirky cast of characters and sharp writing make Mind Over Monsters a wholly wonderful debut. I can't wait to read more!"
—JEANNIE HOLMES, AUTHOR OF BLOOD LAW AND BLOOD SECRETS

Free Download - Mama Does Time by Deb Sharp

Free Download!!

Don't miss out on your chance for a free download of Mama Does Time by Deb Sharp on both Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble. This is the first book in the Mace Bauer series. And after you've read her book, you will most likely want to check out the others in the Mace Bauer series.

The free download will only be available thru the end of September. 

Free Download - Lye in Wait by Cricket McRae

Free Download!!!

Don't miss out on your chance for a free download of Lye in Wait by Cricket McRae.  This is the first book in the home crafting series.  And after you've read her book, you will most likely be inspired by all her crafting skills - so check out her blog, Hearth Cricket, to for all kinds of great stuff.

The free download will only be available thru the end of August.  It is available on most ebook platforms.

Bouchercon Schedules

Bouchercon, the world's largest mystery convention is just around the corner!  B'con is incredible and hard to describe.  This four day event is packed full with opportunities to meet your favorite authors, here them discuss the craft and how they work, get books signed and photos taken.  If you lucky, you might find yourself standing at the bar next to Sophie Littlefield.  Or John Connolly.  Or William Kent Krueger.  Or SJ Rozan.  Or, gasp! you could be standing next to me!  :)


Check out the Guests of Honor:


American: Robert Crais & Charlaine Harris
International: Colin Cotterill & Val McDermid
Life Time Achievement: Sara Paretsky
Fan Guests of Honor: Kate Stine and Brian Skupin
Special guests (local living legends): Robert Randisi and John Lutz
all brought together by...
Toastmaster: Ridley Pearson


And if meeting Charlaine Harris or Sara Paretsky (both of them wonderfully generous and gracious women) isn't enough for you, check out the complete author list here.  As for our Inkers, we are going to have a pretty good showing!  Thanks to our very organized Publicity Director, Steven Pomije, here is a list of our events:

In-booth AUTHOR SIGNINGS:
Friday, Sept 16
 11:00 am—12:00 pm: Alan Orloff, DEADLY CAMPAIGN (Advance Reader’s Copy)
Saturday, Sept 17
 11:00 am—12:00 pm: Lois Winston, DEATH BY KILLER MOP DOLL (Advance Reader’s Copy)


In-booth MEET THE AUTHOR events:
Friday, Sept 16
 9:30—10:30 am: Joanna Campbell Slan, Make Take Murder
 4:00—5:00 pm: Sebastian Stuart; Dead by Any Other Name
Saturday, Sept 17
 9:30—10:30 am: Darrell James; Nazareth Child
 12:00—1:00 pm: Jess Lourey; October Fest
 1:00—2:00 pm: Jessie Chandler; Bingo Barge Murder
 2:00—3:00 pm: Alan Orloff; Killer Routine
 3:00—4:00 pm: G. M. Malliet; Death at the Alma Mater
 4:00—5:00 pm: Kathleen Ernst; The Heirloom Murders
Sunday, Sept 18
 10:00—11:00 am: Lois Winston; Death by Killer Mop Doll, Assault with a Deadly Glue Gun


Author PANELS:

 Thur, Sept 15 o 8:30 am, Alan Orloff, Laughter of the Clowns: Comedy in crime fiction; Landmark 5,6,7
o 8:30 am, Jessie Chandler, Hitting the Ground: New writers talk about their first book; Landmark 4
o 2:30 pm, Jess Lourey, To Love is To Bury: Finding new ways to get rid of the body, Landmark 1,2,3
 Fri, Sept 16
o 8:30 am, G. M. Malliet, Bad Blood: Celebrating Agatha Christie; Majestic D
o 8:30 am, Darrell James, Fresh Blood: New writers talk about their first book; Majestic A, B, C
o 10 am, Kathleen Ernst, The Darkness of Light: Developing diversity in our characters; Landmark 1,2,3
o 11:30 am, Joanna Campbell Slan, Death By Good Intention: Doing away with characters; Landmark 5,6,7
 Sat, Sept 17
o 8:30 am, G. M. Malliet, Nocebo: Playing fair with your readers; Landmark 1,2,3
o 4 pm, Lois Winston, Time to Murder and Create: Listening to the voices in your head; Landmark 4
o 4 pm, Sebastian Stuart, Time to Murder and Create: Listening to the voices in your head; Landmark 4  

Charity Bowling Tourney: The Midnight Inkers
 Midnight Ink authors and staff (the Midnight Inkers) take on 12 other Bouchercon teams to raise money for the St. Louis Public Library system.
 Fri, Sept 16th at 12:30 PM at the Flamingo Bowl, 1117 Washington Ave, downtown St. Louis

So come check out our booth in the book room, or drop in on one of our author panels.  We'll be glad to meet your acquaintance.  I can't wait to see you in St. Louis!

Title Give-Aways in our booth: 
 Mind Over Monsters; Baited in Blood

In-booth Drawings:
 1st prize: The full 2011 Midnight Ink collection
 2nd prize: A limited edition Midnight Inkers Bowling Tee from the Bouchercon Charity Bowl
 3rd prize: The Agatha Award winning St. Just mystery series by G. M. Malliet

In-booth Coupon for Online Order Only:
 Get 20% off all Midnight Ink titles; Visit MidnightInkBooks.com and use promo code BOUCHERCON2011. Offer expires 12/31/11. Standard shipping fees apply.

AND BOWLING!!!

Free Book Winner!!

I am feeling good today so I picked two winners for the Wined and Died contest.  And the winners are:

Shannon

and

Susan



Sales rep Katie Kane picking the winners!  :)

Shannon and Susan - email me your mailing addresses!  submissions @ midnightinkbooks.com

(remove the spaces!)

Have a great day and talk to y'all tomorrow!

Mondays - UGH! and a FREE BOOK giveaway

It's Monday for sure...  I had a few days off last week, so today has been catching up on five days worth of emails.  UGH.  I also have to create a PCS - that is a Project Cover Sheet.  This is the information I gather to take a manuscript to the acquisitions committee.  On Thursday I will present the info and hopefully shortly after that, I can make an offer to the author and/or agent.

Besides the email and PCS, tomorrow we will launch 2 books.  In the launch meeting we settle on a title, tag line and cover design.  Sometimes these are very short meetings.  Sometimes... well...  sometimes we walk away and reschedule for a week later.  Yikes.

On the horizon looms our sales conference.  At the sales conference, myself and the other acquiring editors will present the Winter 2012 books to the company.  This is one of the most fun but most stressful parts of my job.  Besides presenting the titles, the folks in sales and marketing often ask me a lot of questions so I try to prepare to answer any question that comes up whether it's about the author, the book or the market.  Whew!

Of course, today and every day I am trying to find manuscripts to acquire...  I'm gonna need a lot of coffee for the month of July. 

or maybe...  I should have some wine... yeah, that sounds good.  Actually, I mean Wined and Died, the new home crafting mystery by Cricket McRae.  All you have to do is comment about your favorite coffee or wine and you will be entered in the drawing.  I will draw a winner next Monday!

Also check out Cricket's blog for most contests!

Free e-book download??

Yep, we are doing it again!

There may not be such a thing as a free lunch, but there is such a thing as a free book about a lunch box.

Continuing with their Summer e-book give-away program, Midnight Ink has put another novel on the Kindle Freebie Block.  For the month of July, MI is highlighting Sue Ann Jaffarian.

For a limited time you can download a free copy of THE CURSE OF THE HOLY PAIL, the second book in the Odelia Grey series, featuring everyone’s favorite sassy, plus size paralegal. 

The collectible Chappy Wheeler lunch box is just a *&#% lunch box, or so Odelia thinks until people start dying because of it.

Don’t have Kindle. No problem.  You can download a free Kindle app to your smart phone, Nook, iPad or computer.

And while you’re downloading The Curse of the Holy Pail, check out all the other great Midnight Ink series available in both e-book and print.

Summer ebook promotions - free ebook downloads

Free on Kindle, Nook, Kobo and Sony ereaders for the month of June!

June Bug by Jess Lourey

This summer we are also planning free giveaways with Sue Ann Jaffarian, Cricket McRae and Deborah Sharp.  If the program goes as well as planned, we will probably continue into the fall.  :)  Each of these promotions will last for one month.

Discounted Price on Kindle

Death of a Cozy Writer by G.M Malliet   $1.99

Murder on the Rocks by Karen MacInerney  $1.99

Paper Scissors Death by Joanna Campbell Slan  $.99

This Kindle promotion only runs for two weeks

Happy reading everyone!  Keep checking back for more promotions and giveaways!!

E-xcited? by Jess Lourey

I never owned a security blanket as a child, but a book serves the same purpose for me as an adult. I love the feel, smell, and potential of a book in my hands. Would holding an ebook give me that same sense of comfort and safety? Maybe. It’s possible I’ll never know, though, because I am an o-reader: old-fashioned.

I no longer use paper to pay my bills, do most of my clothes shopping over a computer, and as a college professor, I teach 80% of my classes online. However, I prefer my eating, sleeping, and my reading to be tangible.

But as an author, I’m not blind to the future. On May 19, Amazon.com announced that their ebooks are now outselling print. According to this article, ebooks may not be ecologically sound, but they are convenient and appeal to the tool-loving monkey in most of us. Soon, photos with and personal messages from your favorite author will become part and parcel with your e-version of their book—consider it Author Signature 2.0. This writer even sees a future for professional editors to make the jump to ebook publishing with little or no start-up costs. Writing organizations are paying attention as well. On June 1, the Mystery Writers of America approved ebooks as valid for active status membership and is now examining the possibility of incorporating ebooks into the prestigious Edgar awards.

Anyone who tells you what the future of books looks like is guessing and hoping, but we know it’s changing. That is why I’m grateful to have a publisher who continues to position themselves in the future. I recently found out that June Bug is going to be a free Nook download and free Kindle download for the month of June! To those of you who have taken the technological leap to ebooks, cheers. If you have not yet checked out the series, now is a safe time to start. Please spread the word, and have a happy June.

*UPDATE: The Kindle version of June Bug should be available free within the next few hours; there seems to be a glitch in processing the update. The free Nook download of June Bug has jumped in sales rank from 360,801 to 1,571 in the last 24 hours! Turns out you can give this stuff away. :)

FREE BOOK GIVEAWAY, Memorial Day, BEA and other ramblings

Hi everyone!  I hope you all have recovered from the last week or so.

For those of us who didn't attend BEA, there are many BEA reports, but my favorite is this one by agent Josh Getzler http://heydeadguy.typepad.com/heydeadguy/  Josh talks about the status of epublishers at BEA as well as the dance between epublishers and traditional publishers.

Another sweet blog to check out is Inkspot.  This weekend Jessie Chandler had a great post about Memorial Day - http://midnightwriters.blogspot.com/  I also would like to add my thanks to all of those who have served past and present in our armed forces. 

And while you are on Inkspot, Lois Winston's grammar rant is awesome!

Besides the pure joy of the NCIS marathon yesterday, spring seems to arrived in Minnesota.  Complete with thunderstorms and tornados.  But also with sunshine.  Yesterday the boys and I went swimming.  It was awesome.  This is my favorite time of year, when it's not too hot and the nights cool down.  :)  Soon summer will be here in full force - humidity, mosquitos and sunburns.  But for now, I am thankful with what we have.

Ok, ok.  I know the real reason you are reading.  Did I say FREE BOOK GIVEAWAY?!?  Oh yes, I certainly did.  We at Midnight Ink really do love to make our fans and readers happy.  And what is better than free books?  Seriously?!  Through my blog, we are giving away one set of signed first editions of THE GRAIL CONSPIRACY and THE LAST SECRET by Lynn Sholes and Joe Moore.  The contest runs through June 8th (which happens to be the release date of the new Sholes and Moore book, The Phoenix Apostles.)  And just how do you enter to win??  In the comments sections, please give me some feedback about suspense/thrillers...  such as...

Who is your favorite thriller writer and why?

What type of thriller would like to see MI publish?

What is your favorite Sholes and Moore book?

Is there anything lacking in the thriller genre, like a female assassin as the main character?

One person will be randomly selected from the folks who leave comments.

Please make sure to follow Midnight Ink on all the social media fronts as we'll be doing a lot of giveaways and contests this summer.

http://www.Facebook.com/MidnightInkBooks
http://www.Twitter.com/MidnightInkBook
http://www.goodreads.com/midnightinkbooks

And last but certainly not least, happy birthday to my little sister Tiffy.  Tiff, there is no way I could love you any more than I do.  Thank you for keeping me sane.  :)



Tiff and me in Vegas :)



Winners!!!

And, the winners are...

Jessica and Molly Swoboda

and because I love you all so much, I am also going to send 3 books to garfan1

Please email me (submissions@midnightinkbooks.com) and provide me with you full name

and mailing address!!

And, I am hitting the road again.  This time I heading to Houston for a writer's conference.  And considering my turbulance filled flights lately, I give you this sweet lolcat:

Pictures from Malice Domestic 2011

I uploaded pics from Malice to my facebook page.  Feel free to friend me if you would like to take a look.  Here is a group shot from the banquet:



Front row left to right: Lois Winston, Deborah Sharp, Jessie Chandler, Alice Loweecey, Jess Lourey
Back row: Vicki Doudera, Terri Bischoff, Kathleen Ernst, Alan Orloff, Beth Groundwater



Home Again / Last Chance to Enter for Free Books!

Well, I am back home in Minnesota!  The flights to and from DC were a bit bumpy and left me feeling green, but that didn't stop me from having a fabulous time at Malice Domestic.  These are a few photos from my phone, which are not the best quality.  I took a ton of photos with my camera and will get those up soon.

Jess Lourey (second from right) next to
Sue Grafton (second from left)



Alan Orloff - Agatha finalist
for Best First Novel



Deborah Sharp (L) and Jessie Chandler (R)





Midnight Ink had a great showing at Malice.  Attending authors were:

Jess Lourey

Jessie Chandler

Deborah Sharp

Alan Orloff

Alice Loweecey

Kathleen Ernst

Joanna Campbell Slan

Vicki Doudera

Beth Groundwater

Lois Winston

and Maggie Sefton

If you are a fan of cozies and soft-boiled mysteries, you have to attend Malice Domestic.  It is always a well-run convention and you never know who you might run into... Such as Sue Grafton, this years lifetime achievement honoree.

FREE BOOKS!!!



Today is your last day to sign up to follow my blog and be in the drawing for free books!  Don't delay!!  The cut off is at 2pm CST.  Then I will print up the names, put them in my stylish throwback Milwaukee Brewers hat and pick some winners!



Inkspot News - April 16, 2011

Today, Saturday, April 16th, Beth Groundwater will be discussing and signing copies of her new release, Deadly Currents, from 1 to 3 PM at Beth Anne’s Book Corner, 1532 North Circle Drive, Colorado Springs, CO 80909. Beth Anne's chocolate fountain will be flowing, so stop by for a yummy treat!

Tomorrow, Sunday, April 17th, Beth Groundwater will participate in Englewood Library's 12th annual "Meet the Faces Behind the Books" multi-author extravaganza from 1 to 3 PM. The library is located at 1000 Englewood Parkway, Englewood, CO 80110.

Thursday, April 21st, from 4:30 to 7 PM, Beth Groundwater will conduct a 1 hour signing of her book, Deadly Currents, followed by open-to-the-public book club discussion of Deadly Currents at The Book Haven bookstore, 128 F Street, Salida, CO 81201.

Midnight Ink acquisition editor Terri Bischoff has just started her own blog, Under Cover At Midnight, and she's running a free books contest for those who sign up as followers. Go check it out HERE and sign up!

FREE BOOKS!!!

Free books?!  Are those the two best words in the English language?  Ok, don't answer that.  Really.

Maybe not the best words, but still pretty awesome, right?

Here is the deal.  I want more followers.  It's an ego thing and  I can freely admit it.  And, as you may have noticed in my earlier post, I like bribes.  I have three boys which explains a lot.  Bribes and I, we are tight.  ;)

I am giving you, dear readers, the chance to win free books, just by signing up to follow my blog.  On Tuesday, May 3rd, a random follower will be chosen to receive a selection of Midnight Ink books.  The winner can choose any five books we've published in 2011.  If my number of followers is over... 50...  I will choose two winners.  75 followers... three winners.  You get the idea, right?  So, invite your friends, share this on facebook, help me build my ego.  :)

Feel free to head over to our website http://www.midnightinkbooks.com/ to check out our selection of titles.

Go get those followers!