I’m thrilled and proud to announce that Talion has been listed on Awesome Indies. Established and administered by Australian author Tahlia Newland, the site accepts only independently published books vetted by a reliable reviewer or industry professional. Newland began Awesome Indies out of frustration with the wildly uneven quality of Indie books. As she frankly puts it, “Some are fantastic, and some are crap.” She notes that reviewers on sites like Amazon often cannot recognize good writing and so their opinions cannot be trusted. She lays out in detail the criteria for inclusion on the site. Her standards are high but not unreasonable: she expects competence and looks for excellence.
I love the democracy of Indie publishing. Anyone with a computer and a few bucks can bring his or her book to market. The downside is that quite a few people publish awful books and critics of self-publishing point to them as examples of the shoddiness of Indie books in general.
Whatever the faults of traditional publishers, they act as gatekeepers. They publish plenty of mediocre books, but even the worst are edited. You can count on traditionally published books to be at least coherent (well, most of the time). You might encounter a few typos—but not dozens. You won’t see the frequent clumsy sentences, misspelled and misused words, and grammatical errors too often found in Indie books. Sites like Awesome Indies give readers a way to discover worthy books that might otherwise be lost in the ocean of dreck.
Please check out the great reads at Awesome Indies and take a moment to click the Like button on their Facebook page.
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Talion gets a great review from writer Letitia Moffitt at Paper Darts. Two other noteworthy novels, Lania Knight’s Three Cubic Feet and Jeff Kohmstedt’s The Fifth Kraut are also featured.
Beautifully put, Mary. I’ll share this link.
Thank you for stopping by, Tahlia, and for sharing the link.
Dear Maddox-Sensei,
…Most foreigners travel to Japan to work as language teachers.
Very few go to live and work at a 16th century Buddhist temple.
Englishman Ben Stevens has been at ‘Daionji’ (the name of the temple in Nagasaki City) for over three years. In his revealing new book, he details his life there, set against a rich tapestry of Japanese history, culture and tradition.
Exactly what is Buddha’s Breakfast? Who is the mysterious Old Man of the Mountain – and why is he being sought by the police? What do Buddhist priests and monks get up to in their ‘down-time’? What takes place at the temple, when the hours of darkness and light are equally balanced? And are there really any benefits to building your own coffin, and praying to it while you are still alive?
‘Buddha’s Breakfast: Life at a Japanese Temple’ is a ‘must-read’ for anyone interested in the Land of the Rising Sun.
…Please forgive the unsolicited email, but we would like to offer you a complimentary Kindle copy of ‘Buddha’s Breakfast: Life at a Japanese Temple’ by Ben Stevens.
‘Buddha’s Breakfast…’ is available as a free promotional Kindle download: 16/17 February.
‘…When you’ve finished reading the book you will feel like you have just returned from an extensive stay of your own, fresh with wonderful memories. I can see the temple and the people in my own mind as though I had actually been there…’ 5-star Amazon review by Lloyd Tackitt (Bestselling author of ‘A DISTANT EDEN’)
Best Wishes,
Jimmy Chan and Team at Nanbanjin Publishing / Big Sound
Well said, Mary. I’m glad to know about Awsome Indies. Having some way to vet indie books is critical to our long term success. Congratulations to you for Talion making the list.
Thanks Carol. You should check out their submissions page. http://awesomeindies.net/submissions/
The book mentioned there, Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, is a tremendous help. A traditionally published author of literary fiction recommended it to me.