Tag: young adult fantasy fiction

Books

I self-published 3 books to Amazon Kindle recently. The last book is my favorite and is a collection of children’s stories based on the true childhood adventures of my own kids. This book is called Summertime Adventures and is a short read, about 60 pages long on the Kindle. The writing reminds me of cartoons like Caillou or maybe Max and Ruby.

There are three children in the book called Jake, Lucy, and Danny. The children go on numerous adventures outside in nature, fishing with Grandpa, visiting an old Apple Cider Mill, picking raspberries in the sun, flying kites, and tubing at the lake. These adventures are definitely family-friendly and would make good bedtime stories. Check it out here. The eBook is $2.99 or you can view it via Kindle Unlimited.

Here also are the other 3 books available from J. Speer. Moment of Magic is a poetry collection and is $2.99 for Kindle eBook. Age level for this book, I would say is adult.

The Curse of the Sapphire Jewel & Other Short Stories is also $2.99 as an eBook on Amazon. This book is age level adult as well. There are 5 short stories in the book, each very unique in their storytelling.

The last book is published via Archway and is the most popular one. It is a North American action adventure quest and mythology story. It is very fast-paced and can be intense at moments with scary villains the heroes combat. This one has a 4.6 star rating on Amazon and some great reviews. I would recommend this one for 15 years old or adult age level. This one got a very positive review from Diane Donovan of Midwest Book Review in their December 2019 issue. It is available as paperback or eBook and sold on numerous sites online: Amazon, Archway, Barnes and Noble, Google Books, Waterstones, Foyles, Wal-mart, Ebay, etc. etc.

Here, below are the links to the collection of books and each one features a book preview section on Amazon you can read. Thanks for your interest and have a great day!

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Book Reviews

Searching for Fire is my first book I wrote. Sometimes I feel like quite the rookie trying to navigate all the ins and outs of the publishing world. There are a few things I learned that I wished I knew before starting the process.

One thing to consider is the importance of professional reviews. You must have professional reviews to even be considered for most physical bookstores or libraries. In addition, I was not aware until this week that several professional review companies require you to submit your manuscript prior to publication for a review. Dang….missed that. The good news is that there are other professional review opportunities and I’ll list them briefly here:

Clarion and BlueInk offer a 2-for-1 review package at $695.

Kirkus offers a review as well at $425.

Midwest Book Review will set you up with a reviewer. You email Midwest Book Review and they send you the reviewer name. You send 2 copies of the book to the reviewer and the fee is about $50.

The Washington Post says that they do book reviews as well. Just mail them a copy of the book with a cover letter.

Bookreporter.com also does book reviews and requires a copy of the book and a cover letter as well.

I also spoke to my sister who works at a library and she recommended The Library Journal but you must submit your manuscript for this one prior to publication unless your book falls into a short list of book types such as a graphic novel.

One other unique area to consider submitting a book for review………..this one was suggested to me again by my sister at the library………….send a letter and book copy to O magazine or even Reese Witherspoon’s new book club, Hello Sunshine. These websites are hugely successful and a good recommendation from either one would be a major boost to any author’s aspirations.