Krista Tibbs Joins the Staff of Indies Unlimited

Author Photo - Krista Tibbs
Author Krista Tibbs

Going down the checklist of my burgeoning army of evil minion special skills the other day, I noticed a few boxes remained unchecked. Among those skills still required were neuroscience and swing dancing. I know, you’re thinking neuroscience and swing dancing? Let me assure you that even something as seemingly ordinary as neuroscience can be useful under the right circumstances to an evil mastermind.

Along comes Krista Tibbs, and without boring you with the details of who slipped what into whose drink, I am pleased to announce we have added Krista to the team here at Indies Unlimited.

Krista Tibbs was on her way to a writing career when she published her first story about somersaults then landed a weekly newspaper article, “Junior Hi-Lites”. She was derailed by studying neuroscience at MIT and spiraled into a decade of clinical research and a swing dance habit. After rehabilitation through business school, her writing hit a fever pitch with such critically acclaimed projects as “Performance and Management Assessments” for the Federal Budget and “Return on Investment Report”.

Krista kept her fiction stories secret for years until publishing her first novel, The Neurology of Angels, which earned an honorable mention in the DIY Book Festival. She is currently finishing a collaboration on an illustrated book of animals stories for grown-ups. You can read more from Krista on her blog, shadesofwhitematter.com, where there might be math and science, but there will also be kittens.

Please give Krista a warm Indies Unlimited welcome.

Amazon.com: Author Central Pages

Whether you think Amazon.com is too big for its own good, or not, doesn’t matter. As Indie authors, we’re all on it, and we all need it. One thing Amazon does do well is providing authors with tools to get the word out about their work(s). You’ve got to give them that.

But not all authors are taking advantage of the free tools offered by Amazon.com. Today, we’re going to start with Amazon Author Central pages – because this is the FIRST thing an author should do.

One way Amazon makes Author Central pages convenient is that you don’t need to set up a special author account. You can use your existing customer account log-in (if you’re already a customer). If you’re not, you can set up an account. This account is NOT linked to your Kindle Direct or Createspace accounts, if you have those. This is completely separate.

Before I show you how to claim and set up your author page, you’d probably like to know why you need one. #1 – they’re free. It’s like having your own multi-media website from which people can also buy your books. #2 – you can post your biography, video trailers and even rss feeds from your blog(s) and twitter there. #3 – you can post upcoming events, signings, appearances, etc. #4 – potential readers can post questions directly to you in the “discussions” forum. And lastly #5 – All your books will be linked to one page where people can see everything: how many books, how many reviews, and the cost. Here’s a screen shot of my Amazon.com Author Central page to give you an idea (click on it to enlarge): Continue reading “Amazon.com: Author Central Pages”

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

A local author had asked me to participate in an event sponsored by the Woodstock (New York) Library Forum called, “Four Funny Writers.”

Now, I have this love/hate relationship with public events. A natural introvert, my first instinct is to cringe, lock the doors, and hunker down in front of the television, eating junk food and watching episode after episode of The Big Bang Theory. Continue reading “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum”

Show us your stuff!

Would you like to submit a guest post, sneak peek or book video trailer to appear on Indies Unlimited? Check out our Submissions guidelines and query us through the contact page. Or you can call our assistant Jenny at 867-5309. I don’t recommend that though. Evidently she’s been getting a lot of crank calls and it has made her a little edgy.

As far as guest posts go, we are particularly interested in well-written content for our features Story Time, Airing of Grievances, Rhyme or Reason, and Getting it Right. This is a chance for you to show off your writing chops to a vast new audience.