Published! ALL FOR ONE by Sophia Beaumont

We could not be more pleased to announce that the 2017 ShoreIndie Runner Up's book has been released into the world! All For One by Sophia Beaumont went live on Amazon this month, and Sophia took time out of her busy launch schedule to do a brief interview with us about her book and her experience with the ShoreIndie Contest. Read on to learn about this gender-bent retelling of The Three Musketeers, what Sophia got out of the ShoreIndie Contest, and what advice this self-publishing author has for those who are considering the path.

SI: Congratulations on the publication of your novel All For One! What inspired this book? 
SB: I love reading classic literature, and one of my all time favorites is The Three Musketeers. I love the comedy and the setting and the characters, and I just wanted to do something with that. But so many classics are rife with sexism, racism—every form of bigotry imaginable. If I was going to work with an old story, I wanted give it new life through a more modern lens.

My mom also happens to be from Montreal, so when I was playing around one day, brainstorming, combining the two just seemed natural. Adding elements of the American Civil War, steampunk, women’s rights, immigration issues—it all just came together very naturally.

Writescast E29: Self-publishing Part One

So you have a book, and you've decided to self-publish. Now what?

This question will be the focus of the ShoreIndie community for all of 2018. This year we're excited to bring you content and Twitter chats designed to help you prepare to self-publish your book. And who knows? Maybe there will be a giveaway or two. ;*)

So what do you do once you've decided to self-publish? One place to start is this Writescast podcast episode, hot off the presses today, featuring ShoreIndie editor Sione Aeschliman.

"Sione Aeschliman walks us through the early steps of the self-publishing journey. In this episode, we talk what you need to have done before looking to publish, the platforms through which one can self-publish, cover design and cover art resources, and best case practices for each of these critical phases."

 Self-Publishing Part One: a How-To Featuring Sione Aeschliman

Writescast is a writing and publishing podcast created by author and freelance editor R.R. Campbell, whose debut novel, a romantic suspense titled Accounting for it All, is slated for release in November 2018 from Nine Star Press.

Jan. 26, 2018 UPDATE: Part Two is now available!

And now we'd love to hear from YOU: What questions do you have about self-publishing? What topics would you like the ShoreIndie community to address this year to help you on your journey? Leave a comment below or email us at shoreindiecontest(at)gmail(dot)com

Published!: WHAT WE KNOW NOW by Mo Parisian

We are positively thrilled to welcome another ShoreIndie Round 1 winner's book into the world! What We Know Now by Mo Parisian went live on Amazon on November 17th, 2017, and Mo was kind enough to do a brief interview with us about her book and her experience with the ShoreIndie Contest. Read on to learn why Mo decided to self-publish What We Know Now, what it took to get it publish-ready, and Mo's advice to emerging indies.

SI: Congratulations on the publication of your novel, What We Know Now! What inspired this book?

MJP: Thank you! I am so excited to finally be able to share this book with everyone. The idea for What We Know Now started in Frankfort, a small beach town in northern Michigan. We were vacationing over Labor Day weekend and checking out some of the lighthouses. There is a row of beautiful beach homes located on the beach in Frankfort, and one in particular caught my eye. I knew immediately this was the setting for my book, and it was just a matter of figuring out who lived in that house and what the conflict would be! Obviously, it isn’t that easy, but the setting never changed for me. I can still see it so clearly.

SI: Tell us a little about why you decided to self-publish this novel.

Published!: MALFUNCTION by J.E. Purazzi

Today on the ShoreIndie blog we're celebrating the publication of one of the books that was a 2017 Round 1 Winner, Malfunction (The Malfunction Trilogy, Book 1) by J.E. Purazzi, which went live on Amazon on Sunday, October 8th. J.E. was kind enough to take time out of her busy schedule to do a brief interview with us about her book and her experience with the ShoreIndie Contest. Read on to learn about the inspirations for Malfunction, what it took to get it publish-ready, J.E.'s advice to emerging indies, and more.

ShoreIndie (SI): Congratulations on the publication of your novel Malfunction! Will you tell us a little about the inspiration for the trilogy?

J.E. Purazzi (JEP): Sure! The original idea was just going to be a short story for Wattpad, something to try to gain an audience for my fantasy project before I really knew good marketing practices. My first glimmer of the idea was focused on the virtual reality and was about a kid (a blend of Menrva and Cowl back then) in a subterranean city, escaping through Virtual Reality only to find out that the game they were playing was real. As I worked on the concept, hammering out the plot holes and applying existing science, I ended up sticking with the one image of the climax in the second book and wrote the first draft of Malfunction in about a month.

One of the ideas that carried through all the drafts was that of human beings being reduced to objects in order to provide safety and pleasure to others, a concept that I think is really relevant to the issues of modern-day slavery and human trafficking.

2017 ShoreIndie Contest Winners

A HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to our 2017 Grand Prize Winner, Jacy Sutton, and our Runner Up, Sophia Beaumont! We're incredibly proud of these authors and can't wait to help them celebrate when they self-publish their books. Read on to see what our judges had to say about the winning entries.

2017 GRAND PRIZE WINNER

JUST ONE YOU by Jacy Sutton (@authorjacy)

Edited by Rebecca Heyman (@RFaithEditorial)

"This entry drew me in from the very beginning. The language was beautiful and lush, and from the very first lines, the characters felt like real people: complex, flawed, & fascinating. Artful storytelling!” - Ember Casey

"This novel grabbed hold of me from page one. The writing is beautiful, the characters rich and intriguing, & the slow boil narrative utterly riveting. It did the thing I love best in a book, which was to leave me pondering it even when I had to set it down, and eager to get back to it as quickly as possible. The ending presented a satisfying blend of 'Ah ha!' 'Oh my god!' and 'Of course!' all at once This book is a genuine and thought-provoking pleasure." - Bill Cameron

"A depth of character combines with an almost lyrical nature to the language used to create an equally satisfying and engaging story primed with romance, tension, and growth.” - Elise Kova

2017 RUNNER UP

ALL FOR ONE by Sophia Beaumont (@KnotMagic)

Edited by Jeni Chappelle (@jenichappelle)

"I loved this entry! The premise was so fun and original, the worldbuilding was vivid and colorful, and I loved how the book kicked off the action from the very first chapter! An enjoyable adventure!" - Ember Casey

"As I read this novel, I kept thinking that the author must have really enjoyed writing it because every page is infused with an infectious joy. The concept is fun to begin with, and the author’s handling of it was simply delightful. It made me wish I lived on the timeline where Marie Antoinette formed a monarchy in Quebec though I wouldn’t want to find myself at the tip of Louise’s blade." - Bill Cameron

"The story hooks you from the first line and doesn't let go, pulling you along with action and a rich sense of world-building that leaves you excited for more.” - Elise Kova

Your Novel's Structure

by Sione Aeschliman

What is structure?
When we talk about the structure of a novel, we're describing the order of the major plot points, the work that needs to be done by the major plot points and between those plot points, and the timing of the major plot points, with the goals of ensuring that the story 1) hooks the reader, 2) sets up accurate expectations in the first fifty pages about what the story's about, 3) maintains forward momentum, and 4) delivers an appropriately intense emotional payoff.

My approach to narrative structure is influenced primarily by the three-act structure as explained to me by my friend Diane Gilman, who wrote screenplays for many years, and by Viki King's description of the nine plot points in her book How to Write a Movie in 21 Days. Influenced being the operative word; what I offer here is not a simple mash-up of those two approaches but rather my own interpretation of them with modifications to fit commercial and upmarket fiction for today's readers.

Act I: The Beginning
This is The Beginning of your story, starting on on Page 1. It introduces the novel's setting, tone, characters, and theme(s) and includes two inciting incidents: the one that happens within the first five or six pages, and the one that heralds the end of Act I, around page 50.

Yes, that's right: Act I is only 50 pages long, if that. Here's a post that discusses Act I in detail.

2017 Round 1 & Blurb Critique Winners

In case you missed it on Twitter...

Round 1: Author-Editor Pairs
Editor Rebecca Heyman will work with author Jacy Sutton on the adult commercial fiction JUST ONE YOU

Editor Carly Hayward will work with author Jenny Lambert on the YA dystopian THE MEMORY VISIT

Editor Jeni Chappelle will work with author Sophia Beaumont on the YA adventure ALL FOR ONE

Editor Katie McCoach will work with author Mo Parisian on the women's fiction A MOTHER'S GUIDE TO LIVING

Editor Cynthia Luna will work with author Erica Sumner on the NA mystery CHRONICLES OF A WINEAUX

Editor Julia A. Weber will work with author Sandra Budiansky on the YA contemporary TAKING UP SPACE

Editor Sione Aeschliman will work with author J.E. Purazzi on the adult dystopian biopunk MALFUNCTION

Editor Kisa Whipkey will work with author Lora Couch on the adult paranormal thriller ABANDON

Editor Kyra Nelson will work with author Timothy Collins on the YA thriller EXSANGUINATION: DYING IS THE EASY PART

Editor Elizabeth Buege will work with author Nicole Ochoa on the NA inspirational romance UNDER WESTERN SKIES

Blurb Critique Winners
Brian Decker
Kip Rabidou
Colleen Akin
Shelley O'Rourke
M Greenhill
Darin TaDream
Charles A Malosh
N.M. Brott
Travis Peck
Russ Trautwig