Smashwords

I don't believe Smashwords is a household name like Amazon or Barnes and Noble but it should be. They give buyers an opportunity to download to Kindle, nook, Sony, Diesel, Apple, and Kobo devices. You can even buy the book once and download it to several different devices.

Smashwords logo

Smashwords has awesome deals especially during the month of July and one week in March. Authors can sell their books for a discount or totally free while availing themselves of monetary sales from other vendors. 

If you are an author and have heard horror stories like it's hard to get on board. That can be true. It is difficult but not impossible, you just have to play by their rules. Once you do, your book is available for multiple devices.

If you're a reader, I highly recommend you go there for the awesome deals on multiple genres. Now is a great time to go there because there are so many FREE books.

In case you are wondering, yes Call Sign: Wrecking Crew (Storm Warning) and Many Is the Dream are both on there. Coming soon will be Call Sign: Wrecking Crew (Wings of Eagles) which picks up where Storm Warning left off. Hint, hint, if you've wanted to get Storm Warning now is the time and the price. You'll definitely need to read it before Wings of Eagles.

Another great thing about Smashwords is they support Operation eBook Drop for our troops overseas. We are participating members of that wonderful organization as well. 

Hope I've helped make your day a little better. Have a great one!

Lynn Hallbrooks

co-author to David McKoy

co-owners of Call Sign Wrecking Crew, LLC

Breaking free

I'm coming out of my cocoon. I've been wrapped up inside my book cocoon working my way out by type -retype - think - rethink and run through it all over again.  I finally broke through late last night. Right now Call Sign: Wrecking Crew (Wings Of Eagles) is being beta - tested. 

Many thanks to Jennifer Lockstedt and Justin Woods for all their hard work on our cover art.  David feels it is a great representation of what's inside the book. 

Cover Art 

Now that you've gotten a preview of the cover, I'll share the synopsis with you.

Short version

Will the warnings be heeded, so the fearless Eagles can triumph over Evil? Or will Evil win this round?

Longer version

Recognizing that evil knows no bounds, Eagle Protective Service Incorporated, an elite company, employs and trains members to protect or destroy. They do whatever is necessary to get the job done. Call Sign: Wrecking Crew is an integral part of this company. They put their unique talents to excellent use. When put to the test, will their best efforts be enough? Or will Pandemonium reign supreme?

With the first book, I lived alone and did the best with what I knew then. I've learned so much over the last couple years from fellow authors and many different blogs. 

But now that I live with a very active family, I  understand why so many authors go to a remote location when writing. When you have real life going on all around you it is hard to concrete and put forth your best effort. Even putting myself on a social media hiatus didn't stop daily living from interfering. 

I also understand why famous authors hire publicists to run their social media. If they didn't we might not ever see another book come from them. 

The next step of the book process is to take what the beta reader sends me and incorporate as much as possible. We want this book to be as high of quality as we can make it. As it is, I think I've vastly improved from the first book.  However, I'll let you be the judge of that when it comes available. 

For now I'll try to catch up on social media in between doing my daily chores. 

Have a great one,

Lynn Hallbrooks

co-author to David McKoy

co-owners of Call Sign Wrecking Crew, LLC

I Love Indie Authors

I really do love independent authors because I never know what to expect. I'm serious there is a lot of talent and imagination out there. Don't get me wrong I also love reading my favorite authors who are traditionally published as well. It's just that in the last couple of years I've read more indie than non indie authors. 

This may stem from the fact that I'm a poor, but thankfully not starving, indie author myself. I freely admit that I do get free books whenever possible.  I do fully intend to write reviews on all that I have read and will read as soon as I possibly can. That being said, whenever I get a gift card now, instead of going for the more expensive traditionally published authors, I prefer to support my fellow indie authors. 

I've read books by indie authors that have made me laugh, cry, mad, and/or sad in all the right places. There have even been  books where I stayed up almost all night reading. In the process I've learned that there is no really wrong way to tell a story. On the other hand, formatting issues including multiple typos or incorrect word use etc. are very distracting to me as a reader. I'm sure it is true for other readers as well.  So if you, the indie author, discover that you have formatting issues then be kind, fix the issues, and then update it on Smashwords or Amazon.  

Let me tell you what I know about updating on Amazon from experience both as an author and a reader. As an author, when I've updated our book, I make sure to let them know. They send me an e-mail saying that they will review the update. If they deem it major changes, they'll push out updates to all customers who bought the problematic one. Now as a reader, I'll get an e-mail, (maybe) to tell me about the updates. E-mail or not, all I have to do is go to Manage My Kindle and follow the simple instructions for Updates. If you don't know already you can access Manage My Kindle by going to Your Account (under your name) on the upper right hand side when signed into Amazon. 

One more thing I've recently discovered, the Kindle version of our book does have the Tweet that you've read... and Rate... this book. That makes me think that Amazon does that with all the books processed by them. What I don't know is if it goes in their data banks or only on twitter. Many moons ago when I discovered that other books had this option, I began to use it. It serves a three-fold purpose, one to let the author know that I've read their works and how I felt about it. Two, I let others know about a book they may not have known about. Three, I can access it to remember when I finished the books. You know some review places like to know that information. 

Did I mention I love indie authors! Because of this I love to help them too. Hope I've been of help to someone today.

Have a great one!

Lynn Hallbrooks
author of the Short Story, Many Is The Dream
co-author of the Call Sign: Wrecking Crew series with David McKoy
co-owner of Call Sign Wrecking Crew LLC