Indie Author Showcase February 27, 2012

Twice a year #LitChat features authors who have taken their career into their own hands by publishing outside of traditional means. Digital and print on demand publishing is making it easier for authors to cut out the middleman—in this case, publishers, distributors, and bookstores—and going straight to the reading public with their work. This week we have Marjoire Gibson McCarthy, Jenny Gardiner and Dawn DeAnna Wilson joining us to share the reasons why they chose the route of self-publishing.

On Monday,February 27, Jenny Gardiner, whose first publishing success came when she won the American Title III competition with her sassy novel, Sleeping With Ward Cleaver. Gardiner followed that women’s fiction debut with a pet memoir, Winging It: A Memoir of Caring for a Vengeful Parrot. More fiction followed with Slim To None, Anywhere But Here,  Where the Heart Is, and writing as Erin Delaney, Accidentally on Purpose, and Compromising Positions. In her most recent novel writing as Jenny Gardiner, Where the Heart Is, Reese Larkin has given up on ever going home again, until she realizes that home is the only place she’ll ever be able to reclaim what’s most important to her. After a call from a long-lost friend, she decides to embark on a road trip to revisit her past and along the way comes to realize that home really is where the heart is.

Follow Jenny Gardiner on Twitter: @JennyGardiner.

Wednesday, February 29 features guest host J.H. Bográn. Born and raised in Honduras, Bográn is the son of a journalist, though he ironically prefers to write fiction rather than fact. Bográn’s genre of choice is thrillers, but he likes to throw in a twist of romance into the mix. His works include novels in both English and Spanish, along with short stories. A contributor to The Big Thrill magazine, Bográn  is also a screenwriter for Honduras domestic television and movie reviewer for La Prensa. He’s a member of the International Thriller Writers and of writer’s online community Backspace. Bográn’s latest novel, Treasure Hunt, features Alexander Beck, a for-hire thief who can be contracted through the web by posting ads with his handle: The Falcon. Back in 1978, Bill Porter hijacked a plane; the proceedings of that caper were securely hidden inside a cave in a Central America country. Falcon is hired to retrieve it in a risky race against Jack Davis, a former cellmate of Bill, who is also after the money. Jack will stop at nothing until he gets a hold of the money; kidnapping Bill’s daughter Jamie is only the first step.

Follow J.H. Bográn  on Twitter: @JHBogran.

Dawn DeAnna Wilson guest hosts on Friday, March 2. A former newspaper reporter with a MFA, Wilson’s first two novels were traditionally published by small presses. When the rights to these novels reverted back to her, Wilson went digital with her own publishing brand, Carraway Bay Press, and hasn’t looked back. Among available titles are St. Jude, Leaving the Comfort Cafe and Ten Thousand New Year’s Eves. She has also published a collection of short stories entitled, Welcome to Shangri-La, North Carolina. Her sassy women’s fiction title, Leaving the Comfort Cafe, recently spiked in Amazon, driving her near the top of its category. In this satisfying story, you’ll meet saucy Blythe Shelley, who got a 1600 on her SAT and a full scholarship to Cornell University, but never went. Instead, she took a job as a waitress at the Comfort Cafe in Conyers, North Carolina. Austin Parker wanted to follow his college crush to New York City, but a slumping economy prompted him to take a job as town manager of Conyers, NC, where his master’s degree was no match for the well-oiled machine of “good ol’ boy” Southern politics. When Austin goes to the Comfort Cafe to sample its famous raspberry pie, he gets much more than dessert—he gets a dose of Blythe, who brings a splash of color into his gray-flannel world.

Follow Dawn DeAnna Wilson on Twitter: @CarrawayBay.

If you’re interested in following the path of these three entrepreneurial authors, be sure to read Wilson’s Digital Publishing 4-1-1.