# IndieAuthorRockstar.com is Going Down in a Blaze of Glory!!!



## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

We're also on Twitter and Facebook. The first six contestants.

Hi, everyone! I'm excited about a new project I'm creating to support the indie author community.

I'm going to be creating a website/community at www.IndieAuthorRockstar.com that will select one indie author to highlight and promote every month. During each author's 'winning' month, the community will do all it can to turn that author into an indie rockstar. It goes a little something like this ...

Any author can choose just one of his or her self-published fictional works (excluding erotica) to participate with. There is no limit on the number of authors who can participate, but each author can only submit one book at a time. Books can and will be rejected at the discretion of the admins for the site, especially books with covers that aren't up to a relatively professional standard.

On July 1st, six of these books will be chosen at random. Everyone in the community will have one month to read or sample those six books. Over the last five days of the month, the community members (meaning, only authors who have submitted a book to the site) will vote (one vote per author) to select the featured author--the rockstar--for the following month. I'm still deciding whether the voting will be public or private--what do you think? Doing it publicly will make it easier for me to tally the votes and would be more dramatic (plus, everyone would know that the votes were counted correctly), but that might also hurt some feelings.

Then starting in August, the community will do all it can to turn the chosen author into a rockstar. Each member might choose to do things like: buy the book, recommend the book, blog about the book, interview the author, tweet about it, share on Facebook, write (HONEST!) reviews for the book, etc. So, one author gets the royal treatment every month.

This entire project will only work if the community does its part to support that month's rockstar. Everyone should want to support each month's rockstar, not only because it's a nice thing to do (and of course we're all nice people), but also because that's how you'll want to be treated if you're ever the rockstar.

On the 1st of the next month (August, in this case), five more books will be selected at random. These five will join the _2nd-place_ book from the previous month. Rinse, repeat. Over the last five days of the month, the community will vote again to choose the following month's rockstar. The community then gives that book the royal treatment for one month, and we continue doing this, month after month, year after year (knock on wood).

Once a book becomes one of the randomly chosen books for any given month, that author cannot be chosen again for the three months following his or her selection--unless, of course, that book is the previous month's 2nd-place winner. The 2nd-place winner each month always survives and stays among the six for the following month.

I've already bought the domain name, but I haven't set up the site yet. I'll be working on that and I'll have something up by July 1st when I'll announce the first six books chosen at random.

If anyone would like to volunteer to help with the website/blog, please let me know. I have decent skills in this area, but I'm sure I'll be able to benefit from some help.

Of course, when the site is up, everyone's welcome to blog about IndieAuthorRockstar and help us get the word out. I want this to be a fun, positive community that supports deserving indie authors. Also, please tell your author friends about this thread.

To join the community _and agree to participate in it by helping to promote each month's selected rockstar_ (you won't be held to any specific obligation, but please don't join us unless you're willing to do your humble part), submit your book--only one book, a work of fiction--to this thread by posting a link to its page on Amazon. And please stay tuned to this thread for future announcements.

May the true rockstars find their audiences!


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## Alex Owens (Mar 24, 2011)

I think that's a really inspired idea! I'll gladly do my part to support it


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## NoahMullette-Gillman (Jul 29, 2010)

I think this is a great idea. I'd be happy to do what I can to help promote each month.

I'd also like to humbly submit my own book, Luminous and Ominous: http://www.amazon.com/Luminous-and-Ominous-ebook/dp/B004D4ZOYG/ref=pd_cp_kinc_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2


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## Daniel Arenson (Apr 11, 2010)

Interesting idea. I'd be happy to help. I'd also like to suggest my book _Blood of Requiem_.


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## Laura Lond (Nov 6, 2010)

Sounds great! I would suggest My Sparkling Misfortune, but I'm not sure about the cover - from the feedback I get, some readers love it and for others it just doesn't work.

My second choice would be Side Effect, everyone seems to agree that the cover for that one turned out great.


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Just a friendly reminder. Please include a link to your book's Amazon page (one book only) with your comment if you'd like to be included.


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## Guest (Jun 16, 2011)

I'd be happy to take a crack at checking some people's books out and participating, and so I'd be happy to lend a hand to somebody rather than submit my own books.


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## Revital-sh (May 22, 2011)

I would like to submit my book "Daughters of Iraq". Please let me know.

Best, Revital


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## athanos (Apr 7, 2011)

Let me know what I can do to help. Email me @: [email protected]

And my submission is * Mad Gods - Redux @: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004QOA768 *


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## DDScott (Aug 13, 2010)

Count me in, Moses!

And I'll also submit the book that started it all for me...BOOTSCOOTIN' BLAHNIKS...the link is in my siggy line as well as right here:

http://www.amazon.com/Bootscootin-Blahniks-Books-ebook/dp/B003ZDO30W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1308265855&sr=1-1

Cheers, Y'All! I just luuuvvv this idea!!!


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## SuzanneTyrpak (Aug 10, 2010)

Sounds good, Moses. Count me in. And I'd like to nominate my novel, *Vestal Virgin--suspense in ancient Rome.*
http://www.amazon.com/Vestal-Virgin-Suspense-Ancient-ebook/dp/B004G093HQ


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## kcmay (Jul 14, 2010)

Verrrry interesting. I'd like to participate and submit my book The Venom of Vipers: http://www.amazon.com/The-Venom-of-Vipers-ebook/dp/B004EBT3HW


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

foreverjuly said:


> I'd be happy to take a crack at checking some people's books out and participating, and so I'd be happy to lend a hand to somebody rather than submit my own books.


Thanks, Jason. As it's currently set up, the only people who get to vote every month are the people who have submitted a book to the site. So you're more than welcome to participate as much as you'd like, but to vote you'd have to submit one of your own. Unless ...

We could create a category of authors who submit a book (because that's sort of like your proof of citizenship), but agree to bow out if they're ever randomly chosen as one of the six. But I hope everyone will participate. The idea is to find the most deserving indie books out there, not to find underrated books.


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## xtine (Feb 17, 2011)

Great!

I'd like to throw this in the ring.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004QWZBMK

I like that the finalists are selected at random (very fair), and I like that we can pick the best of them after reading (meaning we will promote a good book). I think this is probably the best author-helping-author idea I have heard yet. Actually, the more I think about it the more I like it.


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## Tara Shuler (Apr 24, 2011)

I'd love to be included:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004Y0X66M


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## Kelvin (Oct 17, 2010)

Lovely idea, Moses. I'd like to help in setting up the site if you still need any help. Also, I'm offering my new paranormal romance, LS: The Beginning to the cause.

Thanks


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## 41419 (Apr 4, 2011)

Great idea Moses,

I won't play until my novel is out later in the summer but I'll cheer from the sidelines and boo the winners (joke).


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## Laura Lond (Nov 6, 2010)

Mine are in my siggy but I will provide the links as well:

My Sparkling Misfortune (The Lakeland Knight)

Side Effect


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Laura Lond said:


> Mine are in my siggy but I will provide the links as well:
> 
> My Sparkling Misfortune (The Lakeland Knight)
> 
> Side Effect


One book only, please.


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## ToniD (May 3, 2011)

Wonderful idea Moses.

Yes please, I'd like to be included.

link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005466WQ6


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## J.L. McPherson (Mar 20, 2011)

Cool idea, Moses. Thanks !

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004SIQOAA


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## M.S. Verish (Feb 26, 2010)

What a great idea, Moses. We would love to participate. Thank you. 

The Forging (Book 1 of the Raven's Heart Trilogy)


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## Will Write for Gruel (Oct 16, 2010)

Are you excluding books with explicit sex scenes, or just erotica?


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## RebeccaKnight (May 1, 2011)

I love, love, LOVE this idea!  What a great way to support one another.

I'd like to participate with my fantasy novel, Legacy of the Empress: http://www.amazon.com/Legacy-of-the-Empress-ebook/dp/B00538YPR8

I can't wait for this project to start up!


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Asher MacDonald said:


> Are you excluding books with explicit sex scenes, or just erotica?


Erotica. A book can otherwise have a sex scene or sex scenes, though. I know this is a difficult line to draw, but the general idea is that I don't want to have books featured that a good chunk of the audience wouldn't be willing to promote--because then we're not really helping those authors. I think "erotica" falls in that category.


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

tkkenyon said:


> Heck, I'm in.
> 
> I'm impressed with your organization and ideas.
> 
> TK Kenyon


Thanks. Do you want to submit _Nag_?


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## kyrin (Dec 28, 2009)

Count me in with The Gift of Fury. The link is in my sig.

I'm in the process of getting the book edited again and a brand new cover.

I already have an author spotlight and book of the week feature on my blog that no one ever signs up for (hint, hint).


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## C. M. Barrett (Apr 9, 2011)

MosesSiregarIII said:


> Hi, everyone! I'm excited about a new project I'm creating to support the indie author community.
> 
> May the true rockstars find their audience!


A wonderful idea. I'd love to participate. My book is Big Dragons Don't Cry at 
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004MYFND4

Connie (C. M. Barrett)


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## nownewstrue (May 4, 2011)

Sounds cool! If I don't have a book (yet hehe), but I do reviews and Tweet/FB Indie Authors and giveaways and such, can I still participate?


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

nownewstrue said:


> Sounds cool! If I don't have a book (yet hehe), but I do reviews and Tweet/FB Indie Authors and giveaways and such, can I still participate?


Of course! Thanks. The only thing you won't be able to do without a book submitted is vote for the monthly rockstar. But we'd LOVE to have you participate in every other way.


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## Edward C. Patterson (Mar 28, 2009)

Hi Moses:

Great idea.
Here's my book submission: *Look Away Silence*

Thanks for thinking of this,

Edward C. Patterson


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## Will Write for Gruel (Oct 16, 2010)

Is there a minimum length? 

Also, of the six books randomly chosen each month, how would we get copies to read? And that's a lot of books to read, also. Would we just go on the samples we could download?


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## TLH (Jan 20, 2011)

Count me in.

Chop Suey
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004YKZP0M/


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## robertduperre (Jun 13, 2010)

Awe hell, why not.  Silas


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## Monique (Jul 31, 2010)

Hip-checks everyone out the way.

Here's mine! Out of Time


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## LizzyFord (Jan 4, 2011)

I'll participate!

I'm submitting Katie's Hellion, http://www.amazon.com/Katies-Hellion-Rhyn-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B005347RCW/ The cover on this one is fantastic (but not in my signature block yet.) lol ...


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Asher MacDonald said:


> Is there a minimum length?
> 
> Also, of the six books randomly chosen each month, how would we get copies to read? And that's a lot of books to read, also. Would we just go on the samples we could download?


No minimum length. Just fiction, excluding erotica.

It's up to you if you want to buy and read any or all of the five new books each month (the sixth book would've been there the previous month). You'd have to buy the books to read them; I'm going to ask that the six potential winners *not* offer free copies to the members because the idea is to support those authors, not to make them feel they need to give away hundreds of free copies.

But you could definitely do the samples. You could maybe sample them all, and then read any of the books that you might want to vote for? It's up to each person, I guess. For example, I might sample all of the books and then buy and read the two I liked the most. I'm a slow reader, though .


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## J.M Pierce (May 13, 2010)

Count me in, Moses. Here's the link for Failing Test.

http://www.amazon.com/Failing-Test-Shadow-ebook/dp/B003LSSRDA]


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## SandraMiller (May 10, 2011)

This sounds like an _awesome_ idea, and I'm so in. Happy to participate in any way I can.

My book: Concerto


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Thanks everyone!

Here's

__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/81511995815378944, in case you're in the mood for a RT.


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## G. Henkel (Jan 12, 2010)

May I, Moses?

TERRORLORD


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## jackblaine (May 22, 2011)

This sounds like it could be a great way to build community!

I'd love to submit HELPER12:

http://www.amazon.com/HELPER12-ebook/dp/B0053YHV00/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_1


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## alan nayes (Jan 11, 2011)

Barbary Point http://amzn.to/jwaVbN
thanks.


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## RebeccaKnight (May 1, 2011)

MosesSiregarIII said:


> Thanks everyone!
> 
> Here's
> 
> __ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/81511995815378944, in case you're in the mood for a RT.


Thanks, Moses! RT'd .


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## Alex Owens (Mar 24, 2011)

I'd rather not submit until I can get BLOOD CHORD finished and published, but I do want to participate. If I offer up SKIN, could I have the option opting out of being featured?  I know it sounds odd, but I think the newest book will be better than what I currently have up...

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0051VG7VE/


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## Debra Lee (Sep 6, 2010)

Great idea! I'd like very much to participate. I also would like to add my book _*A Dangerous Woman.*_

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004N62OP6/ref=cm_cd_asin_lnk

Thanks,
Debra


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## Sandra Edwards (May 10, 2010)

Ooh, me. I want to play. lol

How about Staked

Sandy


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## Michael Kingswood (Feb 18, 2011)

Interesting notion.  

No offense, Moses, but it seems a bit like rigging the game, though.  What if I, as a participant, hate the book the others vote as the rockstar of the month.  I don't particularly want to promote something that I hate, but it almost seems like I'd be obliged to.  Does anyone else out there think this seems a little unethical?


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Michael Kingswood said:


> What if I, as a participant, hate the book the others vote as the rockstar of the month. I don't particularly want to promote something that I hate, but it almost seems like I'd be obliged to.


In that case, you wouldn't have to do anything to support it. There's no obligation to do any particular thing, but the overall idea is that you'll help out wherever you feel you can.


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## Maria Hooley (Jul 21, 2009)

I'd love to help out. I'd also like to submit October Breezes. Here's the link: http://www.amazon.com/October-Breezes-ebook/dp/B002GYWR04/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1308272290&sr=8-2


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## CKWebb (Jun 15, 2011)

This is such a wonderful idea. We have two blogs we could use to help on this one!!!
I would love to submit our debut thriller Cruelty To Innocents.


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Kpfowler said:


> I'd rather not submit until I can get BLOOD CHORD finished and published, but I do want to participate. If I offer up SKIN, could I have the option opting out of being featured?  I know it sounds odd, but I think the newest book will be better than what I currently have up...
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0051VG7VE/


Well, okay. But just for you


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## Laura Lond (Nov 6, 2010)

MosesSiregarIII said:


> One book only, please.


Sorry about that, I just wanted to provide an option if you don't find my first choice's cover good enough. Here's the one I'd like to participate with:

My Sparkling Misfortune (The Lakeland Knight)


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## Jack Wallen (Feb 9, 2011)

Moses,

Thank you for this! We need all the help we can get and this is inspired. My book, I Zombie I, can be found here:

http://www.amazon.com/I-Zombie-ebook/dp/B004LGTRX0

Again, Thank you.

Jack


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## Will Write for Gruel (Oct 16, 2010)

Michael Kingswood said:


> Interesting notion.
> 
> No offense, Moses, but it seems a bit like rigging the game, though. What if I, as a participant, hate the book the others vote as the rockstar of the month. I don't particularly want to promote something that I hate, but it almost seems like I'd be obliged to. Does anyone else out there think this seems a little unethical?


This occurred to me also. Basically, you'd be shilling if you promote something you don't like. That's hard to do. I don't read romance. How could I tweet a romance book or plug it on Facebook or blog about it? Plus, I really wouldn't want to buy a romance book. The concept works if it's a book I have some enthusiasm for, but if I don't have that enthusiasm I don't want to plug it or buy it. Yeah, I'm the Book Grinch.

The other thing that occurred to me is how will readers react? They already think we swap reviews, engage in tagging exchanges, etc.

Edit: Just saw Moses reply to this question. Opting out is acceptable. That's cool. I do wonder about savvy readers picking up on what's going on, however.


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## Guest (Jun 17, 2011)

CKWebb said:


> This is such a wonderful idea. We have two blogs we could use to help on this one!!!
> I would love to submit our debut thriller Cruelty To Innocents.


Ooo, welcome to Kindleboards, CK! You'll find it's a lot different than the twitter crowd. Hopefully you find it informative and enjoyable!


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Asher MacDonald said:


> This occurred to me also. Basically, you'd be shilling if you promote something you don't like. That's hard to do. I don't read romance. How could I tweet a romance book or plug it on Facebook or blog about it? Plus, I really wouldn't want to buy a romance book. The concept works if it's a book I have some enthusiasm for, but if I don't have that enthusiasm I don't want to plug it or buy it. Yeah, I'm the Book Grinch.
> 
> The other thing that occurred to me is how will readers react? They already think we swap reviews, engage in tagging exchanges, etc.


No need to promote a book you really don't want to promote. But you should do something to promote the books you feel you can promote.

How will readers react? I don't know, but I'd hope they'd see it as a way to find a good book now and then. Maybe some readers will chime in and tell us what they think.

The setup is like this.

Six books are chosen at random. The indie authors vote (one vote per author) to pick the one they feel the group should collectively promote for one month. The authors in the community would do various things to support the author, such as blog about the book, recommend the book, tweet about it, share it on Facebook, buy and read the book, or maybe review the book with utter honesty. This isn't mainly about reviews, but no one should ever write a review that's anything less than 1000% honest.


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## jackblaine (May 22, 2011)

Asher MacDonald said:


> This occurred to me also. Basically, you'd be shilling if you promote something you don't like. That's hard to do. I don't read romance. How could I tweet a romance book or plug it on Facebook or blog about it? Plus, I really wouldn't want to buy a romance book. The concept works if it's a book I have some enthusiasm for, but if I don't have that enthusiasm I don't want to plug it or buy it. Yeah, I'm the Book Grinch.
> 
> The other thing that occurred to me is how will readers react? They already think we swap reviews, engage in tagging exchanges, etc.
> 
> Edit: Just saw Moses reply to this question. Opting out is acceptable. That's cool. I do wonder about savvy readers picking up on what's going on, however.


I don't read romance either, but I would have no problem tweeting "Love Romance? Check out XXX" Wouldn't feel like I was shilling at all, just raising awareness of a choice available to readers.

I definitely would not tweet a rave about a book I hadn't read, but I would have no issue raising awareness of the title, as long as it didn't appear to me to be offensive. I looked at this more that way, as a way for us to harness more marketing power, since we don't have publishing companies taking out ads for us, not as something where I would be required to lie about books. Readers know publishing company ads are not placed by people who have read and loved the books they are about--they are placed by marketers who are trying to raise awareness. This is the way it's meant, right Moses?


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## kcmay (Jul 14, 2010)

Hopefully people will vote for a book they think is entertaining and worthy of a tweet or two, even if it's outside your normal genre. Say I don't read men's adventure fiction, but I read the sample and I felt it was the best of the six books. I might tweet something like

The Dude Ranch by Joe Schmoe just won the monthly Indie Rock Star vote. I thought the sample was pretty good. Check it out.

Nothing wrong with that.


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

jackblaine said:


> I don't read romance either, but I would have no problem tweeting "Love Romance? Check out XXX" Wouldn't feel like I was shilling at all, just raising awareness of a choice available to readers.
> 
> I definitely would not tweet a rave about a book I hadn't read, but I would have no issue raising awareness of the title, as long as it didn't appear to me to be offensive. I looked at this more that way, as a way for us to harness more marketing power, since we don't have publishing companies taking out ads for us, not as something where I would be required to lie about books. Readers know publishing company ads are not placed by people who have read and loved the books they are about--they are placed by marketers who are trying to raise awareness. This is the way it's meant, right Moses?


Definitely. Again, it's a community that's designed to highlight deserving books. So if a romance book wins, you could tweet or share on FB about the winning book and say that:

'John Loves Mary' is the IndieAuthorRockstar.com book of the month. Check it out if you read romance!

p.s. Agree with K.C. She and I wrote the same sort of thing at the same time


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## Coral Moore (Nov 29, 2009)

Asher MacDonald said:


> I do wonder about savvy readers picking up on what's going on, however.


I don't think the intention is to hide or try to hide anything at all. It seems like a directed promotion effort, of which there are thousands.

I don't have anything out yet to submit, but I'd love to take part however I can until November or whenever I get my tail in gear.


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## BrandG (Jan 25, 2011)

I'm really excited about this idea, and I'd love to help promote the winner on my blog, Twitter, FB, whatever.

And, obviously, I'd love it if you guys could add "The Hidden Institute" to the list of contestants.


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

kcmay said:


> The Dude Ranch by Joe Schmoe just won the monthly Indie Rock Star vote. I thought the sample was pretty good. Check it out.


K.C.'s example tweet is even better.

And we can get creative, too. Maybe someone wants to offer the winning author a bit of advice about their cover, their description, their marketing, or their social media presence. You can like the person's FB page, follow his or her tweets, add the author to your blogroll, become friends at GoodReads. Other people will come up with great ideas for how to help the rockstars out, I'm sure.

The idea is for the community to focus on one deserving author at a time and really help that author however the community can--of course in ways that are nothing less than honest, ethical, genuine, and pure.


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## Will Write for Gruel (Oct 16, 2010)

jackblaine said:


> I don't read romance either, but I would have no problem tweeting "Love Romance? Check out XXX" Wouldn't feel like I was shilling at all, just raising awareness of a choice available to readers.


That's cool, I agree -- somewhat. However, isn't the time of your followers, readers, Facebook friends valuable? Why do you want to urge them to take time to check out something you can't really recommend?

I like crime stories. If you urge me to check out a crime story, I might. Maybe I'll one-click buy it because my trusted source Jack Blaine urged me to check it out so that means he thinks it's good, at least in my mind. What if it's crap? How will I feel about my trusted source? It will be hey dude, why in the heck did you recommend this piece of crap?

It's a fine line, I guess. If I followed someone and he tweeted periodically about books he hadn't read, I'd start to wonder if he was worth following. I don't want to follow someone to be advertised to, or read his blog to have him urge me to check out books he himself hasn't checked out.

I want the people I follow and read to be trusted sources, not advertisers.


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Asher, I was just going to say that mass spamming isn't exactly the goal. Whatever you do should with social media in particular should be genuine. If you enjoy being a part of this particular community, then you can talk about it in ways that are authentic.

People ask about how readers are going to be able to find good books when everyone and their brother is self-publishing a book. This site would be one way that authors can get together and try to support some deserving books.

And if it takes off, then hopefully we'll have a lot of readers following us, too.


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## jackblaine (May 22, 2011)

Asher MacDonald said:


> That's cool, I agree -- somewhat. However, isn't the time of your followers, readers, Facebook friends valuable? Why do you want to urge them to take time to check out something you can't really recommend?
> 
> I like crime stories. If you urge me to check out a crime story, I might. Maybe I'll one-click buy it because my trusted source Jack Blaine urged me to check it out so that means he thinks it's good, at least in my mind. What if it's crap? How will I feel about my trusted source? It will be hey dude, why in the heck did you recommend this piece of crap?
> 
> ...


Wow. I guess I don't think of myself as that important to my followers, that they are making their decisions based on my word.  Also, as I said, I wouldn't be recommending, or advertising, anything. I'd just be saying--here's a romance to check if you like them. And then my next tweet would be about my dinner, or the sunshine, or whatever I tweet about that day. Like tweets are.


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## Imogen Rose (Mar 22, 2010)

Great idea! Good luck with it.


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## Will Write for Gruel (Oct 16, 2010)

MosesSiregarIII said:


> Asher, I was just going to say that mass spamming isn't exactly the goal. Whatever you do should with social media in particular should be genuine. If you enjoy being a part of this particular community, then you can talk about it in ways that are authentic.
> 
> People ask about how readers are going to be able to find good books when everyone and their brother is self-publishing a book. This site would be one way that authors can get together and try to support some deserving books.
> 
> And if it takes off, then hopefully we'll have a lot of readers following us, too.


I do like this community. It's a great resource and I love reading and posting here.

I guess I'm just being curmudgeonly. I'd have trouble posting a link via social media to a book I had no interest in reading. It seems like shilling.


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## Alex Owens (Mar 24, 2011)

MosesSiregarIII said:


> Well, okay. But just for you


  Thanks, I'm content to "pay it forward" right now. On a side note, you/we/someone should design a little web badge that the winners can display on their websites. It would cross promote the site, and give deserving authors something to show that their book was voted on by peers and won!


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

Looks like you've got enough books to last three years now. Wow.

Just for clarity, if I submit my book and it's in the first few that we vote on but isn't chosen, how long do I have to wait until it gets voted on again? What if it looses again? Or a third time? Do I have to wait five years for my rock star turn? (And if other books keep beating mine, do I never get a turn?)

And since we're not required to read the books we vote on, doesn't this become a popularity contest?

Are these authors going to be still posting and supporting people three, four, or seven years down the line? When does an author get their book taken out of the "pool" if they're no longer "around" KB or participating in stuff?

(Love you Moses, just playing devil's advocate. NOT meaning this to be snippy at ALL, just thinking logically about all these things.)

Vicki


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Kpfowler said:


> Thanks, I'm content to "pay it forward" right now. On a side note, you/we/someone should design a little web badge that the winners can display on their websites. It would cross promote the site, and give deserving authors something to show that their book was voted on by peers and won!


Great idea. Thanks!


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## Will Write for Gruel (Oct 16, 2010)

It's three years now, Victorine, but in six months the number of books might be enough for seven years. That's only 84 books, after all. 

I've done web-based stuff where there's tons of enthusiasm at the start, but unless there's some kind of financial remuneration after a point, enthusiasm begins to fade. It's human nature. Enthusiasm becomes work and work needs to be compensated.


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## nownewstrue (May 4, 2011)

Heh, did my first RT and I'll be looking for the website when it's up.


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Victorine said:


> Looks like you've got enough books to last three years now. Wow.


I'd like to get hundreds of authors involved. I hope we'll get a lot more authors participating next month after they see how cool the idea is . Best case scenario, being selected as the rockstar will end up being a very big deal and will really help those authors. But whether that's true or not will depend on how many people get involved and how much everyone puts into it. I'll put the rest of your comments in bold.

*Just for clarity, if I submit my book and it's in the first few that we vote on but isn't chosen, how long do I have to wait until it gets voted on again? *

Good questions, btw. Here's the answer to the first question (this is in the OP, but no worries--that sucker is long): "Once a book becomes one of the randomly chosen books for any given month, that author cannot be chosen again for the three months following his or her selection--unless, of course, that book is the previous month's 2nd-place winner. The 2nd-place winner each month always survives and stays among the six for the following month."

*What if it loses again? Or a third time? Do I have to wait five years for my rock star turn? (And if other books keep beating mine, do I never get a turn?)*

If other books were to keep beating yours, then it's true you would never get a turn as the rockstar. I think that's good, though, because we want the rockstar selection to mean something. You have to win the vote to be the rockstar. We don't want not so good books to be selected. This isn't a situation where everyone wins a ribbon for participation, though just being one of the six every month will get some eyeballs on your book.

What I might do is only allow any given book to be eliminated twice (not counting the 2nd-place finishes). After that, the author would have to submit a new book. So if you lost in July and then lost again in January 2012, you'd have to submit a new book if you want to continue to participate. In this example, you'd have to wait until May 2012 (since you'd be ineligible for the three months after January 2012).

*And since we're not required to read the books we vote on, doesn't this become a popularity contest?*

I hope each of us will at least read the samples of each book, check the book description and book cover for a quality product, etc. Ideally you'd at least read any book before you vote for it (even better, two or more of the books), so you'd feel good about it and would feel good about helping the author if that book ends up 'winning.' But there's no way to control what people will do. It's in the community's interest to pick a good book (because then being chosen will mean something, plus we're supposed to promote the rockstars), so hopefully everyone will vote for the book s/he thinks is most deserving. Popularity will play some role in it (that's life), but hopefully not too much.

*Are these authors going to be still posting and supporting people three, four, or seven years down the line?*

I hope so. If someone wins, he or she can also submit another book. We'll just make the rockstars wait three months before reentering the pool. If nothing else does it, the chance to win again should give some motivation to continue.

*When does an author get their book taken out of the "pool" if they're no longer "around" KB or participating in stuff?*

It's a good question that I've thought about a little bit without coming up with a definitive answer. It's something we'll have to figure out down the road. If people aren't really contributing then they'll probably get dropped eventually. There may end up being some guidelines, like needing to show that you've done something at least once every few months to support a rockstar. But I'm not sure how that will work yet.


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Asher MacDonald said:


> It's three years now, Victorine, but in six months the number of books might be enough for seven years. That's only 84 books, after all.
> 
> I've done web-based stuff where there's tons of enthusiasm at the start, but unless there's some kind of financial remuneration after a point, enthusiasm begins to fade. It's human nature. Enthusiasm becomes work and work needs to be compensated.


The site will also be a blog, so hopefully it'll become a community that authors and readers will want to hang around. I hope the fun of selecting a new book every month will keep people coming back, too. If all goes well, the people who drop out will be replaced by fresh recruits and the community will keep growing.

I'd like to see the site to become a popular blog that focuses on indie publishing. Whether that happens will depend on whether people get behind it. I think it could be a really fun site, though, aimed at helping indie authors.


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## Steven R. Drennon (Mar 12, 2011)

What an amazingly _novel_ idea! I'd like to participate with my newest: Three for Avadar.

http://www.amazon.com/Three-for-Avadar-ebook/dp/B0054EQACY/

I wanted to add a personal comment regarding the observations about the possibility that you don't like the winner. On my site, I do a couple of book plugs each week as well as a couple of author interviews each week. In almost all of these cases, I've never even read the book, and there are some I might never even consider reading. However, some of my site visitors have gone out and bought some of these books just because they found it on my site. I don't have a problem offering the winner a book plug and an author interview, whether I voted for them as the winner or not. I'm still being consistent with the intention of my site and not doing anything unethical.


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## traceya (Apr 26, 2010)

If you've still got room I'd love to be involved - I'd submit all the Witchcraft Wars series if that was ok.  Let me know if you need anything else from me or what you'd like me to do.
Cheers,
Trace


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## wildwitchof (Sep 2, 2010)

Thanks, Moses, it sounds like a fun idea. Here's my candidate:

Love Handles (A Romantic Comedy)


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## 39179 (Mar 16, 2011)

Great idea, Moses - thanks for your innovation, and I'll definitely participate. Here's The End of the World:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004RZ26E2

...as we know it.


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## Guest (Jun 17, 2011)

This is a simply awesome idea. Thanks Moses for the opportunity. I'd like to submit my new novel, "A Highly Technickel Memoir."
You can find it at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004V55MO4.

Summary: Magic exists. How many people know about its existence? Mostly people who fall under the category of Authorized Personnel. Well, la-de-da. Corey Russell doesn't care much for secrecy. In fact, as she's finding out at her new job, in the cutthroat business of magic, it pays to be nosy.


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## jackblaine (May 22, 2011)

Moses, were you talking about us giving reviews?  Or just mentioning a title as available?  One I am up for, the other, not, unless I have read the book.  May be there is confusion for others, too?


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## C. S. Hand (May 27, 2011)

This will be very interesting experiment to follow.

My entry:

Splatterism


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

jackblaine said:


> Moses, were you talking about us giving reviews? Or just mentioning a title as available? One I am up for, the other, not, unless I have read the book. May be there is confusion for others, too?


No prob. Here are the places where I've mentioned reviews:



> Then starting in August, the community will do all it can to turn the chosen author into a rockstar. Each member might choose to do things like: buy the book, recommend the book, blog about the book, interview the author, tweet about it, share on Facebook, write (HONEST!) reviews for the book, etc. So, one author gets the royal treatment every month.





> Six books are chosen at random. The indie authors vote (one vote per author) to pick the one they feel the group should collectively promote for one month. The authors in the community would do various things to support the author, such as blog about the book, recommend the book, tweet about it, share it on Facebook, buy and read the book, or maybe review the book with utter honesty. This isn't mainly about reviews, but no one should ever write a review that's anything less than 1000% honest.


This really isn't about reviews, and _hell no_, it's not about reviewing books you haven't read (I know you just want clarification on that point--I'm just making it clear). People who want to write honest reviews can--there's no pressure or agreement to do so--and there's no quid pro quo involved. There's no guarantee your book will ever be one of the monthly selections. Even if it's one of the six randomly chosen books in any given month, the community votes on the monthly rockstar.

After the group votes on a book each month, everyone who's willing to support the author can do that however he or she would like to do it. This goes without saying, but I'll say it again. No one should ever do anything inauthentic or dishonest. This is about helping other indie authors get their worked noticed. This is going to be a public website, and hopefully it will be noticed by a lot of people, so no one should do anything that he wouldn't want his momma to see him doing.


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## Carol (was Dara) (Feb 19, 2011)

Sounds like a fun idea. Good luck with it.


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## traceya (Apr 26, 2010)

Here's the link to Erich's Plea - http://www.amazon.com/Erichs-Plea-Witchcraft-Wars-ebook/dp/B003HS4V4S/ref=ntt_at_ep_edition_2_3?ie=UTF8&m=A24IB90LPZJ0BS

Thanks again Moses,
Trace


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## Wayne Gerard Trotman (Jun 17, 2011)

Interesting idea, Moses!

I'd like to include my speculative science epic, 'Veterans of the Psychic Wars':

http://www.amazon.com/Veterans-Psychic-Wars-ebook/dp/B004GNFUIY/

Very best wishes,

WGT


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## Shaun Jeffrey (Jun 17, 2010)

I'd like to participate.


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## Philip Chen (Aug 8, 2010)

Great idea, I'm in. Let's see which of my novels should I submit. _Falling Star_ or _Falling Star_? I got it! _Falling Star_, that is my logical (and only) pick. 

http://amzn.to/Falling-Star


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## harpwriter (Sep 28, 2010)

I'd love to be included.

http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Bells-Scotland-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B002T460DG/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&qid=1308307867&sr=1-1


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## Marcin Wrona (Apr 28, 2011)

Sure, sounds like fun. I'd love to toss Pale Queen's Courtyard into the ring.

Pale Queen's Courtyard.


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## Lexi Revellian (May 31, 2010)

I'd like to give it a go with _Replica_: http://www.amazon.com/Replica-ebook/dp/B004VS6XFI/ref=pd_sim_kinc_1?ie=UTF8&m=A7B2F8DUJ88VZ.

Thanks, and good luck to us all...

Lexi


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## R. M. Reed (Nov 11, 2009)

I should never sleep, I miss stuff when I do, like the first four pages of this thread.

I would like to participate with MAMA at

http://www.amazon.com/Mama-ebook/dp/B004ZG85SO/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1304689956&sr=1-16

I can also write stuff for the site, or do cartoony illustrations.


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## CKWebb (Jun 15, 2011)

foreverjuly said:


> Ooo, welcome to Kindleboards, CK! You'll find it's a lot different than the twitter crowd. Hopefully you find it informative and enjoyable!


Hello Jason. It is a bit different and I have searched around and gotten involved yet, but I am heading that way now. Was really good to see you on here.


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## SheaMacLeod (Apr 13, 2011)

What a great idea.  I'd love to partipate, but don't have a link for my book yet as it's not out until the end of the month.


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## Charliegirl (Apr 23, 2011)

What a cool idea! I took my book down off of amazon so I could concentrate on marketing the free version on smashwords.
But I'd be glad to participate in the reading and choosing a rockstar, and hopefully my full novel will be done in July and I'll add it to the august rockstar contest!  

I am really amazed at some of the ideas we come up with to help each other. Truth be told, if we keep sticking together like this and finding creative ways to market each other, Trad publishing doesn't stand a chance. 

Not that I believe that is our end goal (to destroy trad publishing because it isn't my end goal) but seriously, if we keep being so nice to each other we can't be defeated.


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## George Everyman (Feb 11, 2011)

Great idea, I agree and submit:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004EPZ1EC


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## jackblaine (May 22, 2011)

Thanks Moses,for clarifying.  I think you have a good idea here.  As I did at the start


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## bjm (Mar 9, 2011)

Sounds fun. _Huckleberry Milton_ would like to be in

http://www.amazon.com/Huckleberry-Milton-ebook/dp/B0052TAMDY/


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## Guest (Jun 17, 2011)

I need clarification.

1. Authors submit their books to be included.  Five get selected at random.
2. In order to vote, you must have submitted a book to the program.
3. In order to vote, you must buy the five featured books (I realize this is on the "honor system" but that IS the point, correct?")
4. Then the participants promote the winning book.

Guys, how is this NOT a glorified purchase and review exchange?    

Actually, it is worse, because we have resorted to giving ourselves awards, and the people trying to win the award are the ones voting on it.  

Am I the only one who sees this as a potential train wreck?  This is like me running my writing contest and submitting my own stories to it.  There is a reason why any contest with a modicum of credibility has restrictions against the people voting submitting.  

May I offer a couple of suggestions to take the icky out of this?

Get a board of  volunteers to vet submissions.    Volunteers cannot submit, but get some sort of recognition on the site.
Authors have to submit copies to the volunteers for review.  
Volunteers select five books each month.
A generous excerpt of each story is posted for review, along with a reason why it was selected from the volunteer.
Public votes.  
This is clean.  This is transparent.  This doesn't have the taste of self-congratulations and back-patting.  
But if I am understanding how this is set up now, it is self-congratulatory and a glorified purchase exchange.


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## SheaMacLeod (Apr 13, 2011)

Julie - He said "or sample".


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## Guest (Jun 17, 2011)

CKWebb said:


> Hello Jason. It is a bit different and I have searched around and gotten involved yet, but I am heading that way now. Was really good to see you on here.


I'm here pretty much all the time. I swear twitter is the limbo of publishing, where people really seem to be stuck in stasis forever, but here there are constantly people coming up with ideas like Moses's one in this thread, publishing new books, and finding ways to claw up the charts. Success stories, ups and downs, but at the very least people are making real, consistent progress. That's my take on it at least. I would not be doing 1/100th of how well I am without these boards and the great people I've come into contact with here.


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## Mel Comley (Oct 13, 2010)

Great idea Moses. Can I put Impeding Justice forward please?

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0045UA6F0


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## Coral Moore (Nov 29, 2009)

Bards and Sages (Julie) said:


> I need clarification.
> 
> 1. Authors submit their books to be included. Five get selected at random.
> 2. In order to vote, you must have submitted a book to the program.
> ...


He did say that you didn't have to buy and you didn't have to review. If you see something on the list that interests you, you can buy and/or review. It's not a review exchange in my eyes, because you don't know that a specific author on the list will ever be chosen. The point is really to get visibility for one person a month.

I agree that we have to make sure somehow that whatever is chosen is a quality product because none of us wants to offer links to something bad. I do like the idea of volunteers who aren't involved in the process currently to pick through the potentials each month, and I think Moses did imply that there would be a panel of some sort. I volunteer to help out in that way, or any other, for a couple of months since I don't have anything out yet.


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## kcmay (Jul 14, 2010)

Bards and Sages (Julie) said:


> I need clarification.
> 
> 1. Authors submit their books to be included. Five get selected at random.
> 2. In order to vote, you must have submitted a book to the program.
> ...


For the skimmers among us (of which I am one, I humbly admit), some highlights from Moses's original post:

On July 1st, six of these books will be chosen at random. Everyone in the community will have one month to read *or sample *those six books.

Each member *might choose to do things like*: buy the book, recommend the book, blog about the book, interview the author, tweet about it, share on Facebook, write (HONEST!) reviews for the book, etc.

That list is a suggestion of things one can choose to do to help promote the winning book. If you didn't read it or like it, just a tweet to mention it was the winner counts as helping to support and promote. How is this in any way a purchase and review exchange?


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Yeah, it's not a review exchange. No quid pro quo. No swapping of anything. No requirement to buy or review (though buying and reading the books would be nice). No guarantee you'll ever win or get anything other than the chance to participate in this community and help some deserving books to get more attention. This is about being generous toward other indie writers in ethical ways.

It could be set up with volunteers who'd do the work to select certain books, but that would be a lot of work and I'd rather keep this clean and simple. Six books a month, all them chosen at random. The community votes on the one they want to promote. Chances are, there will be at least one good book out of those six, and the community should select the best book because that's the one we're going to promote. I'm also rejecting books that don't have attractive covers, so that should help cut down on some of the less than polished books entering the system. In the future, we can always revisit and revise the policies if the current system needs improvement.

I'm going to be unavailable most of the day, so I'll have to let others respond to questions that come up in the thread. In the meantime, feel free to get the word out. I'd love to have at least 100 books in the system by the time we select our first six 'contestants' on July 1st.

Also, here's

__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/81750725784387584 if anyone wants to RT it.


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## Margo Lerwill (Jun 13, 2011)

dgaughran said:


> Great idea Moses,
> 
> I won't play until my novel is out later in the summer but I'll cheer from the sidelines and boo the winners (joke).


I'm with Dave. My novel isn't ready yet, but I love the idea and will be happy to promote the idea and provide support from the cheering section.


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## Margo Lerwill (Jun 13, 2011)

SheaMacLeod said:


> ...


Oh, Shea, I'd be really interested in seeing you get yours into the mix. I've been lurking around your blog checking out excerpts and drooling over the cover. Can never have too much good urban fantasy out there.


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## JCPhelps (Jul 1, 2010)

I'd love to get in on this. I hope I can qualify.  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003L202M0


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## M.S. Verish (Feb 26, 2010)

We're stoked for this, Moses. Thanks again. Can't wait to check out the new site when you get it running.


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## Guest (Jun 17, 2011)

Sweet! Thanks for doing this, Moses!

My book link:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0053H8XKO/


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## SheaMacLeod (Apr 13, 2011)

Margo Lerwill said:


> Oh, Shea, I'd be really interested in seeing you get yours into the mix. I've been lurking around your blog checking out excerpts and drooling over the cover. Can never have too much good urban fantasy out there.


Thanks, Margo! Wow! I just bought Dis today. Haven't had a chance to read it, but the cover is amazing! And you're right, you can never have too many good urban fantasies! lol


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## Guest (Jun 17, 2011)

kcmay said:


> For the skimmers among us (of which I am one, I humbly admit), some highlights from Moses's original post:
> 
> Everyone in the community will have one month to read *or sample *those six books.


By "community" he said:



> Over the last five days of the month, the community members (meaning, only authors who have submitted a book to the site)


So *ONLY* people who have submitted a book, and therefore have a vested interest in the results, can vote. THIS IS A PROBLEM. This isn't an objective contest. It is a group of authors getting together picking favorites, hoping for their turn. The only obvious quality control is Moses is going to rule out bad covers. Otherwise it is a huge cheerleading squad of self-congratulation. "Deserving books?" You mean most popular author on KB that month.


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## JM Gellene (Mar 30, 2011)

I'm in.

http://www.amazon.com/Convergence-The-Ordinals-ebook/dp/B004TMCRPG/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1308329938&sr=8-3


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## Daniel Pyle (Aug 13, 2010)

I'm late to the party as usual, but it sounds like a great idea to me.

I'll throw _Freeze_ into the hat: http://www.amazon.com/Freeze-ebook/dp/B004YX8RBS.


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## Ripley (Oct 29, 2008)

I don't have a book to submit yet, but I will gladly participate by reading and blogging about the site/books.


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## Joel Arnold (May 3, 2010)

I'd like to throw my hat into the ring:

http://www.amazon.com/Northwoods-Deep-ebook/dp/B003UHVXCE


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## SEAN H. ROBERTSON (Mar 14, 2011)

Great idea, Moses. Congrats on your indie Author success. I'll submit my book series for this as well. The Cries of Vampira. Thank you!

http://www.amazon.com/Cries-Vampira-Horror-Werewolf-ebook/dp/B004CRTF1M


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Bards and Sages (Julie) said:


> By "community" he said:
> 
> So *ONLY* people who have submitted a book, and therefore have a vested interest in the results, can vote. THIS IS A PROBLEM. This isn't an objective contest. It is a group of authors getting together picking favorites, hoping for their turn. The only obvious quality control is Moses is going to rule out bad covers. Otherwise it is a huge cheerleading squad of self-congratulation. "Deserving books?" You mean most popular author on KB that month.


I give people a lot more credit than that. The point is to pick the most deserving book. I would hope people will vote for the books they feel are most deserving, because the community is going to be promoting those books. Why choose a naked emperor? Plus, this site is open to everyone who self-publishes fiction and I'd like to see it grow into a large event every month. I'd hope that with enough authors participating the voting will be fair. This isn't just a KB thing.

It's a democratic system, one vote per person. Democracy has its issues, but it works and it's fair (forget about 'objective,' that's impossible). The community should discourage politics and popularity votes (it would be extremely hard to rig this system, anyway, because there will be no sock puppets), but in the end it's a system where the members vote and choose the books they want to promote. I don't see anything wrong with that. It's a democratic author collective designed to support one author each month. The idea is to help other authors, and there's no guarantee your turn will ever come. People shouldn't join it for selfish reasons. They should join it because they want to be a part of a community that supports indie authors.

Think about how many member organizations vote democratically to give awards. It's not a problem when the members of SWFA vote on the Nebula award winners. Yes, their selection process is different, but they trust their members to vote democratically, knowing that democracy has its flaws. The Oscars are voted on by members of the AMPAS. I'd rather have other authors vote because then being selected means that your work is respected by your peers. If the voting were different and the public could vote, then a popular author could tell all of his or her fans to vote.

That gives me an idea about an award we could give out. We should also have a yearly award. At the end of the year, the previous twelve winners would all be on the ballot for the yearly award and the members would vote on the rockstar of the year.

And now I'm out for most of the day. Talk to you all later, and hopefully other people can answer any questions that might come up.


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## Guest (Jun 17, 2011)

MosesSiregarIII said:


> I give people a lot more credit than that.


INTENT is not the issue. We just took Craig to task the other day even though nobody questioned his intent was sincere. Outsiders looking in are going to see a bunch of self-publishers creating their own award to give to each other.



> Think about how many member organizations vote democratically to give awards. It's not a problem when the members of SWFA vote on the Nebula award winners. Yes, their selection process is different


Yes, like they actually HAVE ONE. They have judges who are not also contestants that are involved in the selection. I've been involved in judging indie books. One of the rules was always I couldn't also be a contestant! Go LOOK at the Nebula requirements. SFWA members can nominate works, but:



> 9.Works may not be nominated by their authors, editors, publishers, or agents, by spouses or domestic partners of their authors, or by any other party with a monetary interest in the work.


EVERY respected contest has a clause like that! Read the guidelines to win a Hugo. Read the guidelines for the Stoker. They go to great pains to avoid the semblance of a conflict of interest.

I've said all I can say on the matter.


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## Jason Kristopher (Jun 1, 2011)

Oh hell yes I'm in. This is a fantastic idea. More than a few of my friends have dubbed me "Rockstar" already (something I've had zero success in dissuading them about), so at least this way it would be official - for a month, anyway, and only assuming mine got chosen. 

The Dying of the Light: End


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## Monique (Jul 31, 2010)

Hodor!


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Bards and Sages (Julie) said:


> Outsiders looking in are going to see a bunch of self-publishers creating their own award to give to each other.


But this isn't a monthly "award." It's a transparent author collective that uses a process combining random luck and democratic voting to choose one author that will be highlighted and supported each month. Nothing is hidden (unless we use secret ballots, but those can be verified by a neutral party) and everything is in the open.

I do like the idea of one yearly award, however (mentioned in my last post), but again the members of the organization would vote to choose that winner. Considering that one author per year will win that out of hopefully hundreds of authors who participate in the site, I think that's more than fair and essentially no different than letting the entire membership of SFWA vote for multiple Nebula Award winners each year.

*Yes, like they actually HAVE ONE. They have judges who are not also contestants that are involved in the selection. *

First, we don't need judges to select the nominees because the selection process is literally random. It's much trickier to have judges select the nominees than it is to let random.org select the monthly nominees. They still have to trust humans to select the nominees. We use dice.

A Nebula Award is a completely different ballgame anyway. It's actually an award, like "Best Novel of the Year," as voted on by the members of SFWA. That's why the nomination process has to be done so carefully.

*They go to great pains to avoid the semblance of a conflict of interest.*

There is no conflict of interest here at all. None. For one, the monthly nominations are chosen at random--it's impossible to rig that. Secondly, every author gets one vote. Regardless of how many members are in the group, if each of the nominated authors votes for himself or herself, then here's how the voting would look after each of them has voted for himself or herself.

Author 1: 1 vote
Author 2: 1 vote
Author 3: 1 vote
Author 4: 1 vote
Author 5: 1 vote
Author 6: 1 vote

Or you could say a nominated author can't vote for himself. Or you could force each nominated author to vote for someone else. Any of these options are fine and none of them create a problematic conflict of interest.

Btw, I will not submit my own book(s) to the site, because I'm running it. The only person who could have a conflict of interest is me, but that won't happen with my books left out of the contest.


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## FCruz (Jun 18, 2011)

I'd like to join in on this. My novel is Rushing the Row: http://www.amazon.com/Rushing-Row-Felix-Cruz/dp/1442106875/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_1

Thanks, 
Felix


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Btw, I'm going to ask Joe Konrath if he'd be willing to let us feature our first rockstar (in August) with some kind of guest post on his blog. That would be amazing, both to support that author and to help get the word out about our site.


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## J.G. McKenney (Apr 16, 2011)

Great idea! _Eon's Door_ is in!

http://www.amazon.com/Eons-Door-ebook/dp/B00520EJDC/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1308408498&sr=1-1

J.G. McKenney


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## tallulahgrace (Jun 9, 2011)

I love the idea! Please add Fate to the list.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0054QZNRA

Thanks~
Tallulah


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## Lori Devoti (Oct 26, 2010)

I think it's a fun idea! I'll participate. 
For my book...
Demon High http://www.amazon.com/Demon-High-ebook/dp/B004IE9WLM
This will work well with some things I've recently started at my own blog. 
Lori


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## AnnaM (Jul 15, 2009)

Moses, this is a great idea, and thanks for taking the initiative. I like the concept of getting behind an indie author every month, buying their book and recommending it to friends. Word of mouth is the best marketing push.

My westerns sell well, but TAKEDOWN is in a new genre (for me), and it could use some attention:

http://www.amazon.com/TAKEDOWN-ebook/dp/B004TNIYYS/

Thanks!

Anna


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## AnnaM (Jul 15, 2009)

Bards and Sages (Julie) said:


> By "community" he said:
> 
> So *ONLY* people who have submitted a book, and therefore have a vested interest in the results, can vote. THIS IS A PROBLEM. This isn't an objective contest. It is a group of authors getting together picking favorites, hoping for their turn. The only obvious quality control is Moses is going to rule out bad covers. Otherwise it is a huge cheerleading squad of self-congratulation. "Deserving books?" You mean most popular author on KB that month.


.
It is no different from RWA's Golden Heart contest. Authors (in the same genre) review and rate the books submitted by members.

There's actually a huge motivation to select bona fide good books (not just a popularity contest) because we all have a vested interest in elevating the integrity of this award and system.

I'd love to see this become a highly regarded award, a place where readers can go to get ideas for good indie reads. Would I like my book to be one of them? Sure, but more important is having a venue to elevate ALL indie work. We show the world we are serious about our craft and we actively encourage the highest quality in indie writing. I think Moses is on to something with this.

I think we are all professionals here. We'll be thoughtful about our voting on these selections. This won't be a junior high popularity contest. I think we all want to showcase good indie writing, because that's good for all of us.


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Thanks, Anna.


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## N. Gemini Sasson (Jul 5, 2010)

Isabeau, A Novel of Queen Isabella and Sir Roger Mortimer

http://www.amazon.com/Isabeau-Novel-Isabella-Mortimer-ebook/dp/B003ZYFBMU/


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## Wren Emerson (Jan 15, 2011)

What a very cool idea. I'd love to participate in any capacity. I love lending support to the indie community.

My book, I Wish... can be found here: http://www.amazon.com/I-Wish-Witches-Desire-ebook/dp/B0050X8UJA/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_1


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## Katherine Pine (Apr 18, 2011)

I LOVE this idea, but I also think Julie has some good points. Right now it sounds like Moses is the only person who is making sure the covers look good, etc... which I think is going to end up being a lot of work for him. It might be a good idea to recruit a few more volunteers to help him out. Maybe the Rockstar of the previous month could help? Or the authors who were featured the previous month? I also really like the idea of having an excerpt (preferably the prologue/first chapter) of each featured book of the month up on the site (with maybe the "buy it from Amazon/Smashwords/etc" links after).

I don't think it's such a bad thing to let the membership vote, but it might be nice to let indie authors who have joined the site (but haven't submitted a book) vote too. I know the RWA's Golden Heart awards let people enter their own books, and they also let contestants judge the contest--they just don't let contestants judge the category their entered in, and they let members who haven't entered the contest judge entries as well. (I'm not 100% sure, but I think the RITA award is structured the same way, and I'm pretty sure they're also only judged by other published authors). So maybe we just don't let authors vote when their book is up? As far as shilling goes, I don't think there's anything wrong with tweeting "This author is the Indie Rockstar of the month," or "friending" them on facebook, if you weren't a fan of the book.

Anyways, I'd love to join! Here's my book link: http://www.amazon.com/After-Eden-Fallen-Angels-ebook/dp/B004WX1BNG/ref=pd_sim_kinc_70?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2


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## P.A. Woodburn (May 22, 2010)

I would love 'Cries in the Dark" to be included http://www.amazon.com/Cries-in-the-Dark-ebook/dp/B003TXS6GA/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1308438532&sr=1-1
I am not at all techie, but I could look at covers and do some tweeting and facebooking etc.
Ann


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## Jerri Kay Lincoln (Jun 18, 2011)

Great idea, Moses! Please include Unicorn Whisperer. 
http://www.amazon.com/The-Unicorn-Whisperer-ebook/dp/B004I1KZWU
Thank you!
Jerri


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## Steven R. Drennon (Mar 12, 2011)

I was just reading through some of the comments, and Julie made a number of good points. I think some have been addressed to a certain extent, and I'm not going to belabor any of them. I would however, like to make a couple of observations.

First of all, I think we need to remind everyone that this is NOT an award contest, although the annual "winner" might be the exception. Since there is an actual award being handed out for the monthly "winners", I'm not sure I would view this as truly an award.

Second, I believe this IS seriously leaning towards being a popularity contest. There are several names I've seen here who are well known on KB, and most of them are rather popular. If they end up going up against relative unknowns, then I believe they have a clear advantage. I don't mean to imply that any of us would vote just because we like someone or feel they need it, but there is still that possibility. 

Lastly, I don't believe anyone whose book is randomly selected for monthly consideration should be allowed to lobby or petition for votes. Doing this WOULD turn it into a popularity contest, and frankly, I don't have the time or desire to try to drum up votes.


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## Will Write for Gruel (Oct 16, 2010)

Why not just randomly select the winner each month? What if more people who are participating are romance writers? If there are a couple of romance novels among the six selected for the vote, would they have a natural edge?


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Steven R. Drennon said:


> Second, I believe this IS seriously leaning towards being a popularity contest. There are several names I've seen here who are well known on KB, and most of them are rather popular. If they end up going up against relative unknowns, then I believe they have a clear advantage. I don't mean to imply that any of us would vote just because we like someone or feel they need it, but there is still that possibility.
> 
> Lastly, I don't believe anyone whose book is randomly selected for monthly consideration should be allowed to lobby or petition for votes. Doing this WOULD turn it into a popularity contest, and frankly, I don't have the time or desire to try to drum up votes.


I've been thinking about this, and I was thinking the same thing. No one should be allowed to lobby or petition for votes. We'll make that clear when the selections are made and before long everyone will know the drill. I'm considering giving each monthly contestant the chance for a little pitch after his or her selection, maybe 150 words, or something like that, on the blog. If we do something like that, it would be the extent of the lobbying I'd like to see. Nothing's set in stone, though. We can experiment and adjust the rules as we go until we find the best guidelines.

As for the popularity contest, everyone should vote for the best book because that's the book we're going to be highlighting and promoting. It would reflect badly on everyone any time a lesser book were to win. Popularity is a fact of life, though, especially in any situation decided by a democratic vote. We're not trying to achieve a perfect system (it's impossible--we're human after all) and any selection method will have its pros and cons, but this should work pretty well. One vote per author. Democratic selection doesn't always pick the best candidate, but overall it's simple and fair, and it works pretty well. It has its warts, but life goes on.

Thanks for your thoughts, btw. I want to keep this simple, but I'm open to ideas.


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Asher MacDonald said:


> Why not just randomly select the winner each month? What if more people who are participating are romance writers? If there are a couple of romance novels among the six selected for the vote, would they have a natural edge?


Some of that might happen, but hopefully people will vote for the best books, in their subjective opinions, and be careful not to give certain genres preferential treatment (or punishment). Some people will vote based on less than perfect reasons, but hopefully the fair-minded 'centrists' among us will decide each selection and swing things in favor of the best books.

And if every once in a while a deserving book gets left out, at least that decision will have come down to a democratic process. Maybe that deserving book will pick up some big supporters and still benefit from having been selected. There's nothing that says you can't recommend or support a book that doesn't end up as the monthly selection. One of the neat things about this system is that even if you're book doesn't end up as the rockstar, you should still benefit from the exposure of being one of the monthly candidates. In that way, everyone wins.

We're not picking a president. As Zoe Winters would say, no one's going to lose a kidney over this.


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## John Y. Jones (Feb 19, 2011)

What a wonderful idea. And thank you for putting so much effort into making it work. I'd like to submit my debut, Sakura Blue.


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## stacyjuba (Jul 12, 2010)

I'd love to participate. I'd like to Submit my book Sink or Swim.
http://www.amazon.com/Sink-or-Swim-ebook/dp/B004GHN6CW/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1308484640&sr=1-1


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## jackblaine (May 22, 2011)

Moses, what about if you had everyone participate as you have t planned right up to the part where they have selected "finalists" and then use a randomizer to pick the winner of the group of finalists?  That way, your concern about quality is answered, because you have had the entries vetted to some extent, and voted upon, but popularity can't really be THE selector of the "winner" because it will be a random pick of the five oir six finalists.  

Just a thought--I also echo Steven when he says this is not an award thing.  It is just a way to raise awareness of both the indie author in general and of particular titles each month.  Could be just good fun--I would hope so anyway.


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## Will Write for Gruel (Oct 16, 2010)

jackblaine said:


> Moses, what about if you had everyone participate as you have t planned right up to the part where they have selected "finalists" and then use a randomizer to pick the winner of the group of finalists? That way, your concern about quality is answered, because you have had the entries vetted to some extent, and voted upon, but popularity can't really be THE selector of the "winner" because it will be a random pick of the five oir six finalists.
> 
> Just a thought--I also echo Steven when he says this is not an award thing. It is just a way to raise awareness of both the indie author in general and of particular titles each month. Could be just good fun--I would hope so anyway.


He's saying the six finalists will be selected randomly. They are not really vetted beyond something Moses said about covers looking good enough. No votes are cast until the six finalists are up for judging.

One thing I'd add is that if a book will be rejected for the six finalists due to cover, perhaps it should be initially rejected and kicked back to the writer. It would sting less than being picked for one of the six and then told your book was getting removed -- and you'd have to tell the writer that or else they would never know to work on the cover. This adds work on the administrative side, of course.

There are some messy loose ends with all of this. If the six finalists are selected randomly and then a finalist is voted on, I don't see why cover quality should come into play. The assumption would be that if the cover was that bad then the book wouldn't receive enough votes anyway to be the winner.


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## jackblaine (May 22, 2011)

Asher MacDonald said:


> He's saying the six finalists will be selected randomly. They are not really vetted beyond something Moses said about covers looking good enough. No votes are cast until the six finalists are up for judging.


Ah--yep, you're right. Hmm. Well, maybe it should just be totally random? And each month there could be five random selections from the entries, which people could choose from to promote/tweet/blog about if they wanted? That way, no popularity contest, no people feeling like they "had" to promote something they weren't comfortable promoting, no hard feelings.


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

If you're worried it's going to be a popularity contest, you don't have to join. Folks, in a sense democracy _is _a popularity contest. That's the point; the books that people like the most (the most "popular") should be the ones that win. But I will state clearly when the books are announced that voters should check out the actual books (at least read the samples, and read however many books you feel you can) and vote for the most deserving book, not for the person you like the most. Beyond that, we'll let adults be adults. It's in the best interest of the group to choose the best books, not the naked emperors. Every selection process is imperfect. This one should work well.

We're not electing a President. We're not deciding the fate of the universe. We're not choosing who's going to live and who's going to die. We're letting authors vote for what they think is the best book each month (out of the six titles), so that we can highlight and support one book each month. That's the game, and it's fair and simple. If you don't like it, you don't have to play.

I think it's going to be a lot of fun. 

Asher, I'm rejecting some books based on their covers before they get to the stage of being chosen as one of the six monthly books. I haven't had time to go through and check the covers on the books submitted to this thread yet, but I will when I get the chance.


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## Paul Jones (Jun 11, 2011)

Excellent idea and sounds like a lot of fun.

Here's my submission: sci-fi Towards Yesterday http://www.amazon.com/Towards-Yesterday-ebook/dp/B004Z9A0SE/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top


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## lovethyauthor (Jun 18, 2011)

Hi, this is a really great idea, but what about opening it up to readers as well? I think it could easily go viral if the general public had a chance to vote on their favorite books. From what I've been reading on the Amazon Discussion boards, people are really keen to support talented indie authors. Maybe you could put up a one page site so that people can go and register and start creating a buzz, even before you launch!
-Lianne
http://www.lovethyauthor.com


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

lovethyauthor said:


> Hi, this is a really great idea, but what about opening it up to readers as well? I think it could easily go viral if the general public had a chance to vote on their favorite books. From what I've been reading on the Amazon Discussion boards, people are really keen to support talented indie authors. Maybe you could put up a one page site so that people can go and register and start creating a buzz, even before you launch!
> -Lianne
> http://www.lovethyauthor.com


Hey, thanks very much! I really want to get readers involved in the site. But opening up the vote to everyone creates new problems. Authors with big fan bases can tell their fans to vote for them. And eliminating sock puppet voting/ballot box stuffing becomes much harder to do when you open the voting up to everyone. So we don't conduct the voting that way, but I hope that readers will want to follow what we're doing, participate in the blog, talk about the site and our authors, support the monthly rockstars, and more.

It's going to be a blog, too, so hopefully the topics will interest readers. For example, one of the topics we'll have in July will be about everyone's favorite indie book(s). I'd like the site to be a place where readers can help other readers find good books.

Who knows, maybe down the road we can think about expanding and doing some different things, but we'll need to see if this idea takes off first. Thanks again, and I hope you'll join us!


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## jackblaine (May 22, 2011)

I'm not really worried, Moses--as I said, I think it's a great idea and a fun way to raise awareness of our titles.   I was just trying to find ways to answer some of the points raised.


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## Doug Lance (Sep 20, 2010)

What's your plan for attracting readers to the site?


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Doug Lance said:


> What's your plan for attracting readers to the site?


I have just a sec before running out the door, but with enough promotion of the site by its members word should get out quickly. Other ideas include ...

Trying to get books featured at popular sites that feature indie books (such as the places everyone advertises). Guest blogs at large publishing-related blogs. Also posting at reader haunts, like Amazon forums and KB. Networking with bloggers. Twitter and FB accounts for the site. Blogging about things of general interest to readers on our site.

In general, if people find out about what we're doing, I think a good number will probably find it interesting and want to follow along.


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Suzanne Adair said:


> Thanks for proposing this interesting experiment, Moses. I'm throwing Paper Woman into the kettle.
> 
> What's the procedure if a participant wants to switch titles? A number of us release at least one title per year. It would be great to always have the latest release up for consideration.


Yep, that would be no problem. You can have one title in the system at a time, so you can swap your titles out whenever you'd like to.


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## Guest (Jun 22, 2011)

I think such a site is a great way to increase exposure. Count me in!

Wolf Hunt


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

By the end of this weekend, I should be able to go through all of the submissions and notify everyone (through PMs at KB) if your book wasn't accepted. I'll mainly be looking at covers to decide. 

There's still time to join before we select our first six authors on July 1st.


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## JohnHindmarsh (Jun 3, 2011)

Moses,

Interesting concept and I am happy to participate/assist.

I would like to submit my book, on Amazon. See - Broken Glass (Glass Complex) | http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0052UYC70

Cheers,

John
http://www.JohnHindmarsh.com


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## JohnHindmarsh (Jun 3, 2011)

Now with profile and other items set up... This is an interesting learning curve!

Cheers,

John


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## Derek J. Canyon (Sep 1, 2010)

Moses, that's a very cool idea.

Let me know when the site is up and I'll post about it on my blog. Or, if you prefer, you can do a guest post on my blog.

Oh, I'd like to submit my novel: The Elemental Odyssey


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Derek J. Canyon said:


> Let me know when the site is up and I'll post about it on my blog. Or, if you prefer, you can do a guest post on my blog.


Excellent, thanks!


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## Staceywb (Jun 27, 2010)

Great idea! I'd like to submit Glimpse. http://www.amazon.com/Glimpse-Zellie-Wells-Book-ebook/dp/B003IKMOTE/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1308951387&sr=1-1


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## SteveKarmazenuk (Apr 17, 2011)

Count me in!


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## Robert Bidinotto (Mar 3, 2011)

What a wonderful concept, Moses. Thanks for the opportunity.

Let me submit my just-published novel, _HUNTER: A Thriller._

Amazon product page: http://amzn.to/lTVLOm


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## ChoctawJac (Mar 18, 2011)

I am new here, but really like your idea of promoting and helping indie authors get noticed. I would like to submit my book, Wilderness Heart, [URL=http://www.amazon]http://www.amazon.com/Wilderness-Heart-ebook/dp/B004MYGV3U[/url], a contemporary romance set in 1970s Idaho wilderness.

Thank you for this opportunity.


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## TWGallier (Apr 21, 2011)

Wow.  Great idea.


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## theaatkinson (Sep 22, 2010)

what a great idea!

I'd love to do my part. let me know what I can do to help. Meantime, I'd like to submit Anomaly

http://www.amazon.com/Anomaly-novel-resilience-self-acceptance/dp/B004C0542S/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1303589113&sr=1-3

you might want to email me at [email protected] if you need some help in case I can't find this thread again. grin


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## liafairchild (Apr 2, 2011)

Thanks for the opportunity, Moses. Would love for my novel "In Search of Lucy" to be considered. http://amzn.to/i1uX06

Best,
Lia


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## MSTHRILLER (Jan 20, 2011)

I would like to submit Burn Out. http://tinyurl.com/3l72bes

Thanks for the opportunity!!!


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## Abigail (Apr 27, 2010)

Moses, i'd love to help if I can, please accept http://www.amazon.com/Invisible-Tears-ebook/dp/B003IPCEU8


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## bellaandre (Dec 10, 2010)

I'd love to see how this works. Here's my book.

http://www.amazon.com/Look-Love-Chase-Chloe-ebook/dp/B0055UZO9M/


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

I didn't get the chance to go through the thread this weekend to check all the covers and such, but I think I should be able to do it tomorrow.


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## DJWeaver (Jun 27, 2011)

I would love to be a part of this although I think my co-writer may have already submitted our book, CRUELTY TO INNOCENTS!
Count us in!

http://www.amazon.com/Cruelty-Innocents-911-Abduction-ebook/dp/B0052TMF02/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1306439718&sr=8-2

DJ Weaver
Co-author of Cruelty To Innocents
The first novel in the 911 Abduction Series
Book Reviewer For WebbWeaver Reviews
Reviewer for Suspense Magazine


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## SaraDagan (May 25, 2011)

great idea! I am in 

My book on Amazon


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

We have a Twitter account! Please follow and RT one of our posts to help spread the word.

I'm also going to create a Facebook page, and then I'll start contacting our authors with some more info about the site.


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

And now we have a Facebook page, ripe for the liking.


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## Laura Lond (Nov 6, 2010)

The link didn't work for me for some reason...


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## DonnaBurgess (Jan 1, 2011)

This sounds cool. Please add my book to the list if it's not too late.

Darklands: A Vampire's Tale
http://www.amazon.com/Darklands-Vampires-Tale-ebook/dp/B004GNFTQC%3FSubscriptionId%3DAKIAJBDF5XQBATGDX4VQ%26tag%3Dspea06-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3DB004GNFTQC

Best of luck with this--it's a very original idea for ebook promo.


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## DonnaBurgess (Jan 1, 2011)

Try this one--https://www.facebook.com/pages/IndieAuthorRockstarcom/242462449112583?sk=wall#!/pages/IndieAuthorRockstarcom/242462449112583


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Thanks, Donna. I also fixed the link to the FB page above.


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## willentrekin (Dec 6, 2010)

This sounds really, really cool. I like the rotating aspect of it, that it's going to be ongoing. I'll be interested in seeing the implementation and execution.

And I'd love for my book to be included: http://www.amazon.com/Meets-Girl-ebook/dp/B004DI7NUA

Of course, funnily enough, I'll have a new one, The Prodigal Hour, out on July 1. But maybe I'll hold that a month.

Nice work!


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## writerkristenjames (Jan 17, 2011)

Sounds like fun and I bet readers and author alike will get into it! So we'll sign up on the website when it opens in July? It'll be hard to choose on title to enter, and I see quite a few great looking books on this page.


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## hrgwriterwoman (Jun 28, 2011)

I've been waiting for something like this! Bravo @IndieRockstar!

Here's the link to my book: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/144015645X

Would love to help out in any way!

Hannah
hannahrgoodman.com


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

writerkristenjames said:


> Sounds like fun and I bet readers and author alike will get into it! So we'll sign up on the website when it opens in July? It'll be hard to choose on title to enter, and I see quite a few great looking books on this page.


Thanks!

You're welcome to enter now. In fact, if you don't enter soon you'll have to wait until August to be in the running. Just reply to this thread with the link to the book you'd like to enter the site with.


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

hrgwriterwoman said:


> I've been waiting for something like this! Bravo @IndieRockstar!


Thanks! Btw, our Twitter handle is @AuthorRockstars.


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## wmsimon (Mar 30, 2011)

http://www.amazon.com/STREET-HEAT-ebook/dp/B004ZZQ30M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=books&qid=1305154214&sr=8-1

'I like Chace as much as I like Elvis Cole!' - Kerry Kilburn (See full review below)

A former detective in San Francisco confronts the serial killer who got away.... and the woman who broke his heart.


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## MelissaD (Jun 17, 2011)

Here is my submission! 

http://www.amazon.com/The-RaieChaelia-ebook/dp/B00534QD18/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1309307713&sr=8-1


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## tonyaplank (Jun 14, 2010)

Excellent idea, Moses - thank you! I'd like to submit Swallow: http://www.amazon.com/Swallow-ebook/dp/B0032FNZZC/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2

Thank you again for thinking of this


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## Robert Eaton (Jun 29, 2011)

I'm in. We all just wanna be big rockstars.

I submit my fantasy book _*The Hero Always Wins*_.

http://www.amazon.com/Hero-Always-Wins-Robert-Eaton/dp/1449969259/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1309061222&sr=8-1


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Man, this is a little grueling. So far I've gone through 67 entries. 57 have been accepted and 10 have been rejected. The rejection part is really hard. Ugh.

I haven't sent all of the notices out yet, though. I'm about halfway through page 6. Once I get to the end, I'll say so in this thread. If you haven't gotten a PM from me at that point (once I finish), then that means I couldn't accept your book based on your cover (just based on one person's flawed opinion--mine). I'm so incredibly sorry to have to say no to some people, but I need to make sure everything we present looks good. If you weren't accepted, you could always submit again in the future if you have a new cover or new book. Thanks for your understanding. This part isn't fun for me.


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## Stuart Land (Apr 9, 2011)

Just saw this, Moses. Great idea. Happy to pass it along. Here's my entry.

ORIGINAL BLOOD, a unique vampire tale that spans two hundred years. 


Thanks,

Stuart Land


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## 25803 (Oct 24, 2010)

Hi Moses: I would love to be included in this if possible.

Here's my submission: http://www.amazon.com/Angel-Be-Good-ebook/dp/B002YK45IW

Thanks so much for all of the work you're doing on this. I'm off to like the new FB page


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## Judi Coltman (Aug 23, 2010)

I love this idea!  I won't "join" until my latest book is out later this summer but I have already started retweeting about it.  I believe in paying it forward and this idea is brilliant!  Cheers!


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## Colin Taber (Apr 4, 2011)

It's a great idea to increase exposure. I'm in!

My coming of age fantasy:

http://www.amazon.com/Fall-Ossard-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B0045OUDSQ/ref=pd_sim_kinc_1?ie=UTF8&m=A24IB90LPZJ0BS


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

I'm all caught up now. So far I've approved 80 books and had to turn down 14 books (based on the covers). This means if you submitted a book and haven't gotten a private confirmation message from me through Kindleboards, I wasn't able to approve your book for this go-round. You're welcome to submit again when you have a new cover or book. If your book wasn't accepted, remember that I'm just one flawed person--and probably wrong. And I hated having to say no because I respect everyone here. If you can forgive me, thanks for understanding.


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## 25803 (Oct 24, 2010)

Moses: Thank you so much for all of your hard work on this!


----------



## Chicki (Jul 1, 2010)

Hope I'm not too late. This is such a cool idea.

Here's my submission: http://amzn.to/dWZSxA

Thanks!

*Chicki Brown*
New blog: http://bit.ly/mUQfQi 
Web site: http://www.chicki663.webs.com 
Amazon Author Page: http://amzn.to/l2kjXQ


----------



## Edward C. Patterson (Mar 28, 2009)

Well, didn't get a PM, but luckily I have 17 books and 17 book covers. One of them should meet the standards. 

Let me submit another book instead of Look Away Silence.

Turning Idolater http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001FWZ92Q

Thanks
Edward C. Patterson


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## Debra Lee (Sep 6, 2010)

I didn't receive a PM either so I'd like to submit another book, _*Taken.*_

http://www.amazon.com/Taken-ebook/dp/B0040SXVYA/ref=pd_sim_kinc_81?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2


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## ZombieACRES (Jun 30, 2011)

Here is the link to my very first Kindle ebook. Great idea, BTW!

The Interview: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0058KSD88/ref=r_soa_s_i


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

I'm going to close off new submissions for this month. For now, you can still submit a book to this thread, but if you're a new author submitting a new book, then your book won't be eligible when we select our first six books on Friday.

Unless we add one or two, we've got 81 books for this time around.


----------



## Meb Bryant (Jun 27, 2011)

Thank you for the innovative opportunity. Please accept Harbinger of Evil, a mystery thriller. Thank you. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004XMQKSW


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

The first six selections are in! (the link goes to our first blog post with video)

_Broken Glass_ by John Hindmarsh
_Blue Bells of Scotland_ by Laura Vosika
_Burn Out_ by Traci Hohenstein
_Impeding Justice_ by Mel Comley
_I Wish_ by Wren Emerson
_Takedown_ by Anna Murray

Ladies and gentlemen, start your sampling!


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## 25803 (Oct 24, 2010)

Woohoo! I just d/l'd the samples for each


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## xtine (Feb 17, 2011)

all right! perfect time for my NEW kindle!


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## ToniD (May 3, 2011)

loading up!


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Here's the post on our site with links to the first six books. If you can help us spread the word (share the link, etc.), that would be outstanding.

The First Six Contestants


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## Paul Clayton (Sep 12, 2009)

Moses,  I'm interested.  Please consider White Seed: The Untold Story of the Lost Colony of Roanoke as a candidate.  Link below.  Thanks!


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## Wren Emerson (Jan 15, 2011)

I just watched the video and I have two things to say.

First, I'm geeking out over here in a serious way. I'm so happy to have been picked. Yay!

Secondly, your voice is amazing. You don't sound a bit like I would have guessed. You sound like a totally mellow DJ or something. 

Now off to buy me some books!


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Wren Emerson said:


> I just watched the video and I have two things to say.
> 
> First, I'm geeking out over here in a serious way. I'm so happy to have been picked. Yay!
> 
> ...


LOL! I don't think I want to know what you were expecting to hear then 

Just kidding. Thank you.


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## AnnaM (Jul 15, 2009)

What a nice surprise!  I've pulled the other samples. 

Thanks, Moses.


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## Wren Emerson (Jan 15, 2011)

MosesSiregarIII said:


> LOL! I don't think I want to know what you were expecting to hear then
> 
> Just kidding. Thank you.


I imagined that you had an accent for some reason. I was thinking you weren't from the US, but sitting here, I can't think of a single time I can remember actually reading that about you.


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Wren Emerson said:


> I imagined that you had an accent for some reason. I was thinking you weren't from the US, but sitting here, I can't think of a single time I can remember actually reading that about you.


Ah, no worries. As long as it was a damn sexy accent.


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## Wren Emerson (Jan 15, 2011)

MosesSiregarIII said:


> Ah, no worries. As long as it was a d*mn sexy accent.


Is there any other kind? Seriously, for me an accent is a total panty dropper straight out of the gate. Who cares what you have to say, baby, when you say it like that?


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

It's getting hot in here LOL.


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## Jason Kristopher (Jun 1, 2011)

Wren Emerson said:


> Is there any other kind? Seriously, for me an accent is a total panty dropper straight out of the gate. Who cares what you have to say, baby, when you say it like that?


I can speak with a Scottish accent good enough to fool an actual Scotsman.

Just sayin'.


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## Paul Hardy (Mar 11, 2011)

Jason Kristopher said:


> I can speak with a Scottish accent good enough to fool an actual Scotsman.


I can speak with an English accent good enough to fool an actual Englishman.
Oh, wait. I _am_ English. That's me fooled, then 

My submission, for the happy day when it's all open again:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00520977U

Thanks!


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## JohnHindmarsh (Jun 3, 2011)

Moses,

Wow! I am just catching up. And waking up - I am in Bangkok [arrived Monday] and it is 6.30 am. An excellent morning wake up call!!

I am heading off to Amazon to do some downloading and then I have lots of reading to do. That will fill my Kindle.

Everyone - this will be a tremendous marketing experiment and we owe Moses a major vote of thanks for such an innovative - and shared - approach.

Cheers,

John


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## CKWebb (Jun 15, 2011)

I hope you will all stop by my blog and check out "The Bookshelf"
I have listed all six of this month's books along with the synopsis and a buy link!!! Paying it forward in every way possible!!! Best of luck to 'the six'!! 
[/url] http://twistedwebb.blogspot.com


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## harpwriter (Sep 28, 2010)

CKWebb said:


> I hope you will all stop by my blog and check out "The Bookshelf"
> I have listed all six of this month's books along with the synopsis and a buy link!!! Paying it forward in every way possible!!! Best of luck to 'the six'!!
> [/url] http://twistedwebb.blogspot.com


Thank you!


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## Philip Chen (Aug 8, 2010)

Congratulations to the first six contestants! I have now downloaded (bought or sampled) all six books, retweeted several tweets, joined Facebook and Twitter groups, and heard Moses' voice (sounds biblical).


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## JohnHindmarsh (Jun 3, 2011)

Blog added - see - http://www.johnhindmarsh.com/blog/2011/07/02/indie-author-rock-star/


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## shel (May 14, 2011)

I'm not sure if I'm supposed to be doing this as I have no book in the game, but this is a great idea.  Just tweeted and will FB something later this month.  Good luck to all the contestants!


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## Colin Taber (Apr 4, 2011)

A great selection, I'll be checking them out!


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## xtine (Feb 17, 2011)

Great selections!
It's tough but I already know which one I want to vote for.
Whendowevote whendowevote?


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

xtine said:


> Great selections!
> It's tough but I already know which one I want to vote for.
> Whendowevote whendowevote?


I'll let you all know. It'll be near the end of the month, though.

I'm still going through my samples and deciding which ones I want to read. I've read a couple samples so far and I've found one I think is really good so far. Mum's the word .


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## A.R. Williams (Jan 9, 2011)

I've made Rockstar Banners!

http://a-r-williams.livejournal.com/107115.html

Here's a sample of one, but there are a total of nine.










The image the guitar player is licensed for free at Morguefile.com. License


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

A.R. Williams said:


> I've made Rockstar Banners!
> 
> http://a-r-williams.livejournal.com/107115.html
> 
> ...


LOL! Those are great. Thanks so much. We could talk about it privately, but I might to play with some other fonts on these. Thanks again. This brought a huge smile to my face .


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## A.R. Williams (Jan 9, 2011)

Cool, I'm glad you like it. Just shoot me a PM when ever you're ready.


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## theaatkinson (Sep 22, 2010)

doggone it. i went away on vacation and missed out. but you've picked some great books by the look of it.


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## Lori Devoti (Oct 26, 2010)

Posted my blog! I decided to make it contest too. If people tell me which book I should vote for, I'll enter them to win a free book. 
http://loridevoti.com/blog/2011/07/05/new-fun-indie-author-promotion-a-contest-for-you/
Lori


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

theaatkinson said:


> doggone it. i went away on vacation and missed out. but you've picked some great books by the look of it.


Your book was among the 80 that we chose from. You're welcome to check out the current selections and help us talk 'em up .


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Lori Devoti said:


> Posted my blog! I decided to make it contest too. If people tell me which book I should vote for, I'll enter them to win a free book.
> http://loridevoti.com/blog/2011/07/05/new-fun-indie-author-promotion-a-contest-for-you/
> Lori


That's a nifty idea! The only thing I'd say is to keep in mind that if you vote for a book you're also saying that you think it's the most deserving book of the bunch, but there's nothing wrong with getting suggestions from your readers. But maybe they could help you narrow it down and then you could look at the final two or three books to decide? Just a suggestion. Of course it's your decision.


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## theaatkinson (Sep 22, 2010)

Moses:

will do.


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## Alex Owens (Mar 24, 2011)

theaatkinson said:


> doggone it. i went away on vacation and missed out. but you've picked some great books by the look of it.


Me too! shoot! I'm pretty sure that means I can't vote this time? I'll still blog, tweet etc. though!


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Kpfowler said:


> Me too! shoot! I'm pretty sure that means I can't vote this time? I'll still blog, tweet etc. though!


Nope, you can vote at the end of the month. All 80 of the submissions can vote. Now that I finally got some good writing done this week, I'll be working on some new content for the blog.


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

I'm going to be sending out an email on Thursday with information on voting. This will go out to all of the authors who were accepted for participation on the site last month. If you haven't gotten my email by Friday, please get in touch with me via PM at KB.


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Kpfowler said:


> Thanks, I'm content to "pay it forward" right now. On a side note, you/we/someone should design a little web badge that the winners can display on their websites. It would cross promote the site, and give deserving authors something to show that their book was voted on by peers and won!


Btw, would anyone be up for making a badge like this? My first thought would be to have a guitar in it. The text could say: Indie Author Rockstar of the Month.


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## Mel Comley (Oct 13, 2010)

_Btw, would anyone be up for making a badge like this? My first thought would be to have a guitar in it. The text could say: Indie Author Rockstar of the Month._

Sounds like a fab idea, Moses.


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## AmandaBixby (Jun 21, 2011)

Excellent idea. I'd like to be included. The Duke's Ulterior Motives


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## DDScott (Aug 13, 2010)

I'm sooo over the moon to have been accepted!!!

I just sent back your email, Moses, per your request!!!

Just let me know what all to do and when!!!

Gosh darn I'm just beyond Happy Dancin' over this!!!  Oh crap, I just about fell over my dog's bed...okay...back to Happy Dancin' now!!!

Welcome to my Bootscootin' and Cozy Cash Mystery Worlds!!!

Cheers to all you Rockstars, and I'm looking forward to getting to know you and your books too!!!


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Here's the email I just sent out to our first 81 authors.

Hello indie author rockstars! Thank you for reading this full email.

If you haven't seen our six July contestants, here they are in all their glory. Next week, look forward to some entertaining guest posts from our six authors. I'm going to give each of them 500 words to say ANYTHING they want to say (their guest posts must be submitted to me by 9 pm Pacific time, 7/1. I can't wait to see what each author comes up with. None of them will know what the others have said before they submit their guest blog posts, so this should be fun!

Be sure to check out all six books before you vote. If for any reason you aren't able to take a good look at the July Six, don't feel you have to vote. Of course, I'd love to have everyone vote if possible.

As for voting, I'll accept votes up until 12 pm (Noon), US Pacific time, on July 31st. Once you're ready to vote, just send an email to me at [info removed]

Only our initial 81 authors (and I) can vote this month.

If you can do anything at all to support our six authors this month, that would be great. You can also blog, tweet, and FB about IndieAuthorRockstar.com.

We'll announce our first rockstar on August 1st and pick our next five books on the same day. The 2nd-place book from July will again be a contestant in August. If you need to change your submitted book to a different one, just let me know.

Here are our contestants. It's up to you to choose the rockstar.

BROKEN GLASS by John Hindmarsh
BLUE BELLS OF SCOTLAND by Laura Vosika
BURN OUT by Traci Hohenstein
IMPEDING JUSTICE by Mel Comley
I WISH by Wren Emerson
TAKEDOWN by Anna Murray

Rock on, 
Moses

(If you didn't get this email, and your book *was* accepted for our site, please let me know privately.)


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

To generate a little more publicity for us (something I plan to do a lot in the coming months), I got the chance to talk about IndieAuthorRockstar.com for the first ten minutes of our Adventures In SciFi Publishing podcast.


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Today, we have our first guest posts from our authors, starting with Traci Hohenstein and Mel Comley.

On Wednesday, we'll have guest posts by Laura Vosika and John Hindmarsh. On Thursday, Anna Murray and Wren Emerson.


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## DDScott (Aug 13, 2010)

MosesSiregarIII said:


> Today, we have our first guest posts from our authors, starting with Traci Hohenstein and Mel Comley.
> 
> On Wednesday, we'll have guest posts by Laura Vosika and John Hindmarsh. On Thursday, Anna Murray and Wren Emerson.


Cute posts! I've got a comment for ya, awaiting moderation!

Cheers!!!


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## Tonya (Feb 21, 2011)

Super cool, Moses!! Can't wait to participate!!


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## JohnHindmarsh (Jun 3, 2011)

Moses - Interesting stuff. Glad to be involved.

Cheers,

John


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Thanks very much, DD, Tonya, John.

Today we bring you guest posts by Laura Vosika and John Hindmarsh. Tomorrow we'll have Anna Murray and Wren Emerson. Enjoy!


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

As promised, we now bring you guest posts by Anna Murray and Wren Emerson.

Now you know a little more about our six July contestants. Remember to vote before the end of the month. I've already emailed our eligible voters (that's everyone who has a book accepted for the site) directions on voting.

Thanks for your participation and your help in spreading the word.


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## EGranfors (Mar 18, 2011)

Definitely willing to help and would love to see my book getting some help from the indie community!

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1461109493/?tag=kbpst-20 (stairs of sand)


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## KateEllison (Jul 9, 2011)

This is a GREAT idea! I'm hoping to participate in the future!


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Who will wear this badge, come August 1st


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

I just looked over the early voting. With three days left, it's a close one. Don't forget to vote!


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## jhsoeder (Jul 27, 2011)

I would be happy to help. As I am also a professional graphic artist, I would be happy to work with you on any designs you may need. It would be pro bono as course as it is fo the cause!

In either event, here are my books
"Haddie's in Our Closet!" J.H. Soeder
"Fingers in the Light" J.H. Soeder

Thanks,

Jon


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## Jason Kristopher (Jun 1, 2011)

MosesSiregarIII said:


> I just looked over the early voting. With three days left, it's a close one. Don't forget to vote!


HOW?

I can't find anything about it. Maybe I'll just email you.


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Jason Kristopher said:


> HOW?
> 
> I can't find anything about it. Maybe I'll just email you.


Hi, Jason. Have you been getting emails from me? Maybe you just haven't gotten them. I've sent out emails with details on how to vote, but I noticed that I have one less email address than we have participants, so maybe that's you!


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## Jason Kristopher (Jun 1, 2011)

MosesSiregarIII said:


> Hi, Jason. Have you been getting emails from me? Maybe you just haven't gotten them. I've sent out emails with details on how to vote, but I noticed that I have one less email address than we have participants, so maybe that's you!


Maybe so! I sent you an email at MosesMerlin and tweeted you with a DM, just in case. 

Send emails to jason AT jasonkristopher DOT com or jason AT greygeckopress DOT com. Either works.


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Only 24 hours left to vote!


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

The polls close in 40 minutes!


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## JohnHindmarsh (Jun 3, 2011)

What happened?

Cheers,

John


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

JohnHindmarsh said:


> What happened?
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> John


Hey, John. I'm still here. I'm getting the IAR news out late today. Sorry about that. I'm still recovering from launching my book today. I bit off more than I could chew for one day LOL.


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Our first Rockstar Author was announced here on KB and on our blog.

PLEASE check out our thread about August's Rockstar and help us support this very deserving author.

The next contestants will be announced tomorrow (sorry for the delay).


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

The August 2011 selections are in!

Come on over to the blog and help us share the news.


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## JohnHindmarsh (Jun 3, 2011)

MosesSiregarIII said:


> Hey, John. I'm still here. I'm getting the IAR news out late today. Sorry about that. I'm still recovering from launching my book today. I bit off more than I could chew for one day LOL.


I suspected as much. Congratulations to the winning book - I wish. Dangerous stuff!!

CHEERS,

JOHN


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## Selina Fenech (Jul 20, 2011)

This is such a great concept. When I saw the winner announced on twitter this morning I sent her a congratulations and bought her book which I'll read and review. 
And then tonight... my book is up for selection and I'm completely excited by that, thank you!


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

sibelhodge said:


> Moses, is it too late to submit to the blog? If I can, I'd love to submit Be Careful What You Wish For http://www.amazon.com/Careful-What-Amber-Mystery-ebook/dp/B004VGWJYE/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1312275535&sr=8-3
> 
> Heading over to the blog to take a look at the community


Thanks, Sibel. It's not too late to play, but your book will be in the new batch that comes in next month. We've already received a handful of new submissions this morning, so it looks like we're going to grow again. We grew by about 25% from July to August. Cool.


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## JohnHindmarsh (Jun 3, 2011)

Moses -

Firstly, I am waiting on a download of your epic novel from Amazon...

Secondly, the Indie Author Rockstar block seems to be slightly banjaxed - six books listed for August, four for July?

Just saying...

<G>

Cheers,

John

PS - As unofficial and temporary author's agent, I would like to nominate the Black Gods War for the next round of books to be submitted...


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

JohnHindmarsh said:


> Moses -
> 
> Firstly, I am waiting on a download of your epic novel from Amazon...
> 
> ...


Thanks, John! I appreciate it, although I've already said that my books will never be eligible for participation on this website. I'm thrilled that you're checking it out, though.

I'm not sure what you mean about six books in August and four books in July. We had six books in July, too.


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## harpwriter (Sep 28, 2010)

I now have Kindle for PC and have a copy of_ I Wish...._  Looking forward to it!


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## Guest (Aug 5, 2011)

Moses, I sent you an email but maybe I should post here, too.

I'd like to submit Cadman's Gambit (or have I missed the party?)

Thanks!

http://www.amazon.com/Cadmans-Gambit-SHADER-ebook/dp/B005FHY1BW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1312569419&sr=8-1


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## R. M. Reed (Nov 11, 2009)

Have you chosen five new candidates for August? I suppose I could look at the website to find out. Also, I don't have to submit again each month, do I?


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Laura, that's awesome.

Derek, no problem. Your book will be in the running next month.

Robin, we did choose the new candidates for August on the blog. Thanks for asking. You don't need to submit again, unless you want to exchange one submission for another.


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## R. M. Reed (Nov 11, 2009)

Ok, I have all the new samples.


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## MartinGibbs (Jun 20, 2011)

New arrival here; hoping that you will have something for September?


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

MartinGibbs said:


> New arrival here; hoping that you will have something for September?


Certainly. Check out our website for details.


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## R. M. Reed (Nov 11, 2009)

Did we make Wren a rockstar? I haven't heard anything about her sales or ranking.

I don't see anything new for September on the site yet.


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Hi Robin, once I get home (I'm flying back tomorrow), I'll update this thread.


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

So Where's the September Rockstar?


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

I just sent an email to the current 102 authors with books accepted for our site. This doesn't include anyone who submitted to us in August or September. If you think you should've received this email and you didn't get it, please let me know.


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## Selina Fenech (Jul 20, 2011)

There are some great books in the current selection, so I'm not holding out for a win   So it's kind of nice remaining listed for another month one way or another!


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Selina Fenech said:


> There are some great books in the current selection, so I'm not holding out for a win  So it's kind of nice remaining listed for another month one way or another!


I've looked at the votes that have already come in and the voters have complained about how hard it is to choose the rockstar this time around!


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## theaatkinson (Sep 22, 2010)

I know. it's a toughie. I voted but hesitated before I clicked send.

good luck to us all.


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## AnnetteL (Jul 14, 2010)

I think I saw this thread a few months ago and then totally forgot about it. On my way to check out the site!


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## Debbie Bennett (Mar 25, 2011)

Can I play next time around please?

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004PLNLWY

Thanks


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## R. M. Reed (Nov 11, 2009)

Did we make Wren a rockstar? I haven't heard how her book has been doing.


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

R. M. Reed said:


> Did we make Wren a rockstar? I haven't heard how her book has been doing.


I don't think we quite made her a rockstar, but we are new at this. 

It looks like she's picked up either 2 or 3 new Amazon reviews from authors who participate in IAR, and I remember that she was invited to do some things (I remember Simon Royle reaching out to her).

But there's still time. She's still the reigning Rockstar until October 1st.


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## KateEllison (Jul 9, 2011)

Selina Fenech said:


> There are some great books in the current selection, so I'm not holding out for a win  So it's kind of nice remaining listed for another month one way or another!


I voted for you AND bought your book because it looked awesome. (Am I allowed to say that?)


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

KateEllison said:


> I voted for you AND bought your book because it looked awesome. (Am I allowed to say that?)


Totally cool, and yes you can say that.


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## Selina Fenech (Jul 20, 2011)

Thank you, Kate! Every sale means something to me at the moment 

Wren mentioned something in her guest blog about not being totally satisfied with her current cover, so I offered to do a free cover re-design if she was interested when I found out she was rock-star for a second month (didn't have time in the first month). Our emailing kind of petered out though. I might try again.


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## theaatkinson (Sep 22, 2010)

I loved Wren's blog post last month. I'm looking forward to reading the next bunch of them. When do the blog posts start again, Moses?


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## Mel Comley (Oct 13, 2010)

Hi Moses, I've just sent my blog post over for this month!


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

theaatkinson said:


> I loved Wren's blog post last month. I'm looking forward to reading the next bunch of them. When do the blog posts start again, Moses?


Hi, Thea. We'll have two new ones on Tuesday. Then two on Wednesday, and two more on Thursday, assuming everyone turns in a blog post.

I'm really looking forward to them, too. I thought they were really good last time.


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## theaatkinson (Sep 22, 2010)

I've sent mine, but am really looking forward to reading the others.


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## Caddy (Sep 13, 2011)

Hi Everyone!

I agree to be involved in this, and would love to have my novel considered:

http://www.amazon.com/Gastien-Part-Cost-Dream-ebook/dp/B005FI62BS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1316357566&sr=8-1

What do I do next in order to be an asset to this group?

Thanks


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## Selina Fenech (Jul 20, 2011)

I also sent in my guest blog, hope you got it. I have stage fright now...


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Selena, got it. 

Today, we have guest posts from Wayne Gerard Trotman and Selina Fenech. Please come by and check them out.

On Wednesday, we'll have guest posts from Mel Comley and John Y. Jones. On Thursday, Ty Hutchinson and Thea Atkinson.

Thank you to everyone who has helped us spread the word about the site!


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## Selina Fenech (Jul 20, 2011)

Yay! I hope my guest post is ok. I wanted to do something other than just write about my book


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## AzureHorizon (Aug 18, 2011)

Would love to join in the fun.

http://www.amazon.com/Dream-Metropolis-Paean-Dreams-ebook/dp/B005HK8XQ6/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1313572741&sr=1-3


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Today's guest posts will be going up a bit later tonight.


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## daveconifer (Oct 20, 2009)

Selina Fenech said:


> Yay! I hope my guest post is ok. I wanted to do something other than just write about my book


Very strong post and good reminder, Selina. I think most of us have caught ourselves making that mistake, which I think is one of the underrated rookie gaffes in writing...


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## John Y. Jones (Feb 19, 2011)

First two guest posts were terrific.  Makes me afraid mine won't measure up. 

Thanks for doing this, Moses!


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

I'm still going to get these posts up, but it'll be later tonight. I just participated in a twitter chat (#sffwrtcht) where I was the featured author dude, and now I have to record for our podcast. But we'll have two new ones tonight and then two more tomorrow.


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

New blog posts are up from John Y. Jones and Ty Hutchinson. Both are great, but trust me, you'll want to read both of them.

We had to change the order a little bit, so we'll have Mel Comley and Thea Atkinson tomorrow.


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

And our final two guest posts for this month come from Mel Comley and Thea Atkinson.

We got some fantastic posts this time, so do yourself a favor and check them out.


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## ToniD (May 3, 2011)

Doing so. Thanks Moses.


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

I'm hoping to schedule the post announcing the new rockstar for 6 am Eastern. That'll be before I'm awake, so check the blog for the big news ... with a twist this month. 

The next selections will also be announced.


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## Caddy (Sep 13, 2011)

I am excited for the authors who were selected for October consideration.  Congratulations to each of you!


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## theaatkinson (Sep 22, 2010)

wow. i'm a runner up? how exciting. maybe i shouldn'ta voted for Mel! LOL


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

theaatkinson said:


> wow. i'm a runner up? how exciting. maybe i shouldn'ta voted for Mel! LOL


Heh. 

Btw, the October 2011 selections are in! Five luscious new books to go along with our two returning books by Mel Comley and Thea Atkinson.

There's a new KB writer's cafe thread to celebrate our new co-rockstars.

There's going to be a special opportunity for everyone who votes for a book this month, but I won't reveal what it is until November 1st. So make sure to check out the new books and vote this month!!!


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## Caddy (Sep 13, 2011)

Ty Hutchinson, one of the two reigning October Indie AuthorRockstars, has a guest post on my blog today. Please view it at http://caddyrowlandblog.blogspot.com. Then, please tweet it and facebook it, to give him maximum exposure. Thank you, Ty!

Selina and I are in the process of doing an interview. I will post when it is on my blog.


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Caddy said:


> Ty Hutchinson, one of the two reigning October Indie AuthorRockstars, has a guest post on my blog today. Please view it at http://caddyrowlandblog.blogspot.com. Then, please tweet it and facebook it, to give him maximum exposure. Thank you, Ty!
> 
> Selina and I are in the process of doing an interview. I will post when it is on my blog.


Very nice. And done.


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## VikRubenfeld (Oct 6, 2011)

Very exciting! Way to go!


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

New guest post from Selina Fenech: Baby or Book First?


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## Caddy (Sep 13, 2011)

I have posted both Chop Suey and Memory's Wake on https://www.facebook.com/search.php?q=tela&init=quick&tas=0.7866457035364716&ajaxpipe_token=AXirCwb4EqEK7LWh#!/telawallenfiction

I am just waiting for a couple of things from Selena and will have her interview up on my blog, hopefully next week.

Is anyone else doing anything for these rockstars or is this dying out already? I was really excited about this concept...


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## David M. Brown (Jun 7, 2011)

I've just heard about this so I've been tweeting and FB sharing.  Now I know about it I'll definitely muck in.

Dave


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## Gary Ponzo (Jun 14, 2010)

Great post.  I spend a great deal of time supporting Indie's on my blog www.strongscenes.com 
I'll be glad to keep an eye on this and look to support some deserving authors.


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## Selina Fenech (Jul 20, 2011)

Thanks for everything you're doing, Caddy. 

For last month's winner, Wren (the first IAR) and for Ty, I tweet, facebook, and also buy a copy of their book (if I hadn't already bought it in the voting round). Even if the book isn't really my type of book, I figure it's only a couple of bucks and every sale counts to most indie authors. If after reading I feel inclined and able to write a positive review, I also review the book. I offered last month's winner a few extra promo things (guest blog, cover design help since she mentioned it being an issue for her, etc), but I think she was busy moving house around the time and things didn't follow through.

I stand by this being a great community idea, even if only a small handful of people are doing what they can it can make a difference, it's better than nothing, right? I know I'll continue to support next months IAR and all those that follow. 

Otherwise, I'm just focusing on blaming my current physical/emotional state for trying to read too much into the "deserving authors" comment.


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## Selina Fenech (Jul 20, 2011)

Oh, and PS. What I'm also doing this month (for promoting myself I guess!), is offering a free ebook of my upcoming novella to any Kindle Board members who are on the winning team for betting Book or Baby first, here- http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,87527.0.html


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## Robert Eaton (Jun 29, 2011)

I've tweeted for each of the rockstars so far (I'm far more active on Twitter than anywhere else online).  I've also tweeted for a handful of other contestants.  I’m @heroalwayswins on Twitter; stop by and say “hi” sometime.

I really hope this contest continues to gain momentum (and not just because my book was selected as a contestant this month *cough* read it *cough* vote for me *cough*).  We all know there are some amazing indie books out there, and if we stick together, we can help people find them.


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## theaatkinson (Sep 22, 2010)

I'm a tweeter. I tweet my support. Not sure if it helps or not, but I want to thank everyone who has sampled Anomaly from this lil contest. And those who have tweeted about it and sent some traffic its way. it's a great idea and just needs some traction, I think.

Moses, you're doing a great, selfless job at this.

t


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## HAGrant (Jul 17, 2011)

What a generous, practical idea to support indies.

I just went to the website and submitted my sci-fi novel, Lost Cargo http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005FDDFAE

I snagged a copy of Ty's The Perfect Plan during its free run and am laughing my way through it now.


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## TerryS (Mar 29, 2011)

Hey, I submitted my book. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005T81CMI
Tweeted and I'm willing to host the winner of the rockstar of the month every month on my blog, as well as get their book. Can contact me at [email protected]
Thank you.


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## theaatkinson (Sep 22, 2010)

hosting the winner every month. what a great idea. hmmm


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## Caddy (Sep 13, 2011)

I have a great interview with Selina Fenech, one of the two October Indie Authorockstars on my blog. Here it is:
http://caddyrowlandblog.blogspot.com

I also posted to twitter, facebook, Gastien's fanpage and Authors on the cheap, a few other pages on facebook.

Feel free to send the interview to other sites, tweet, etc.

Thanks, Selina!


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## vgill (Oct 15, 2011)

This sounds like a wonderful idea. I'm new and just found this thread, don't have a blog, but will try to support these deserving authors with purchase/review. All the books sound wonderful.

Now I will make so bold as to submit my book for next month's draw:

A Little Magic - YA Fantasy novel

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005OUHOXM


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## theaatkinson (Sep 22, 2010)

good luck vgill. Moses is wonderful to be doing all this. I'll keep looking each month and sampling. Looking forward to seeing yours up.


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Thank you to everyone who has been participating and sharing! I'm in the final days of my vacation, so if anyone hasn't heard back from me recently it's because I've been staring at the ocean. I'll be back soon.


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## Caddy (Sep 13, 2011)

Hope you had a great vacation, Moses!  I would love to be staring the ocean right now.  Have been reading the samples of the books that are up for voting regarding November.  How, when and where do we vote?


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## N. Gemini Sasson (Jul 5, 2010)

Caddy said:


> Hope you had a great vacation, Moses! I would love to be staring the ocean right now. Have been reading the samples of the books that are up for voting regarding November. How, when and where do we vote?


This month's candidates are here, Caddy: http://indieauthorrockstar.com/?p=223

And if you click on Here's How It Works, http://indieauthorrockstar.com/?page_id=30, it'll explain how to submit your own book and then be able to cast your vote.

P.S. Moses, Hawaii sounds _sooo_ lovely right now. We had frost here yesterday. Not that I'm jealous or anything.


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## Caddy (Sep 13, 2011)

Yes, I know which books are up for voting for November and my book is already in the mix for the future...I am just not sure how to vote or when. Was hoping someone could tell me rather than looking through pages of posts for it. Hopefully,Moses lets us know when it is time to vote?

By the way, Selina and Ty, I put your books up on Authors on the Cheap again today. She is trying to post books to at least one of her sites today and tonight. She owns several facebook pages/sites. Please see:

https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Authors-on-the-Cheap/202517513144047


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Hi Caddy, if your book has already been accepted for the site, you should've received an email from me with voting directions earlier this month, some time last week. I just forwarded you the email again, so let me know if you didn't get it.

I'm back from Hawaii and sloooowly getting back into the pace of life on the mainland.


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## Caddy (Sep 13, 2011)

Thanks, Moses.  I got your email today and voted.


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## Selina Fenech (Jul 20, 2011)

For anyone interested in reading my book that got voted in for this month at IAR, it's currently on sale for 99c since I'm celebrating a few things in my life at the moment (a blog about my celebration and the sale- http://memoryswake.com/99c-ebook-sale/ or direct kindle link in my sig).
Still no baby (official due date is the 31st) but it's feeling imminent (and heavy, oof)!


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

I'm back.

And I have blog posts for you.

(The schedule has been revised just a bit due to my only being home for a few days last month. More on this on the blog.)

Today, blog posts by Athanasios, Dan Holloway, and Thea Atkinson. Tomorrow, Mel Comley and N. Gemini Sasson. On the 3rd, Kate Avery Ellison and Robert Eaton.

We'll announce November's Rockstar and the new selections on November 4th (Friday).


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

New guest posts today from N. Gemini Sasson and Mel Comley. If you didn't check out yesterday's posts, there were some great ones.


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

And the latest posts from Kate Avery Ellison and Robert Eaton. I loved Kate's and also follow Robert's advice about Magic Missile (hilarious).

The polls are open until 10 pm tonight, and the new rockstar will be announced tomorrow.


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

The announcement of the newest rockstar(s) will have to wait until I get a good night's sleep, but in the meantime, I've posted a new slate of books to check out this month! I also announced some of the "goodies" that authors are receiving for actively participating in the monthly voting.

Here's the latest.


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## Caddy (Sep 13, 2011)

Congratulations to the November picks!  Time to start sampling.  Looks like some good reading.


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## theaatkinson (Sep 22, 2010)

OMG! some great looking books on there for Nov. Wow. how to pick?


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

The latest rockstars have been announced!


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## Caddy (Sep 13, 2011)

Congratulations Dan and Kate!  I would love to have each of you do a guest blog or author interview, your choice.


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## TerryS (Mar 29, 2011)

Been a little busy, but I submitted my book, never received a confirmation or how to vote. Did you get the submission?


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

TerryS said:


> Been a little busy, but I submitted my book, never received a confirmation or how to vote. Did you get the submission?


Hi Terry, I actually did miss yours (I blame Hawaii), so thanks for the reminder. I just added a new slew of books to the site, and yours is on there. I haven't sent out the welcome emails to the new books yet, but I hope to do that this weekend.


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## TerryS (Mar 29, 2011)

It's cool. And Hawaii is a wonderful place. When I went, I considered seeking a transfer from my job to one of their locations there. So I understand.


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## Mel Comley (Oct 13, 2010)

Congratulations, Dan and Kate. Tweeted the page.  

Good luck to this month's entrants.


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## N. Gemini Sasson (Jul 5, 2010)

Big congratulations to Dan and Kate! Good luck to November's entrants. Looking forward to checking them out.


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## LarryKahn (Aug 16, 2011)

I just picked up on this thread--what a great idea! I have submitted King of Paine and will take a look at The Curse Girl and The Company of Fellows and see what I can do to help promote.


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## KateEllison (Jul 9, 2011)

Caddy said:


> Congratulations Dan and Kate! I would love to have each of you do a guest blog or author interview, your choice.


Thanks, I PMed you!


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## KateEllison (Jul 9, 2011)

Thanks Moses and everybody else! I was thrilled to death when I opened up the email and saw I'd been voted co-rockstar along with Dan. It was an awesome surprise after a somewhat stressful weekend.


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## theaatkinson (Sep 22, 2010)

I'm happy to offer up my blog for guest posts to all the entrants if anyone is interested.

you can check out details here:

http://theaatkinson.wordpress.com/guest-me-some/


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## TerryS (Mar 29, 2011)

Hey Dan and Kate. Grats. I'm willing to interview both of you or have you guest blog. Here's my blog http://terrycsimpson.wordpress.com/ . I'll then do what I do. Tweet, facebook, Gplus, talk about your books on goodreads, mobilereads etc. Let me know which one you're interested in. My email is [email protected]


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## Caddy (Sep 13, 2011)

Has anyone heard from Dan?  Does he even know he is a rockstar this month?


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## Caddy (Sep 13, 2011)

Here is Kate's interivew on my blog: http://caddyrowlandblog.blogspot.com

I will be tweeting, facebooking, etc tomorrow morning before I go in for a outpatient surgery.

Dan, if you check in, I would be glad to interview you, too, or have you guest post.


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Caddy started up a rather awesome thread about IndieAuthorRockstar over yonder. I'll go comment over there.


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

And we're back. Lots of us ran behind schedule this month (including me), so here are your first three blog posts from this month's selections. Today we have Robert Eaton, Alex Owens, and Barry Crowther. We'll have three more guest blog posts in the morning, then a new rockstar announced later in the day.

And some big changes are coming to IAR. These changes will be announced in the coming week.


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

New posts from Robert Duperre, K.C. May, and Donna Burgess. I really enjoyed these. I'm sure you would, too.

The newest rockstar will be announced later today.


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## ToniD (May 3, 2011)

Some great posts.


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Two big announcements.

One, we have a new rockstar. I also announced this on a thread at KB.

Two, the big change: We're Going Down In a Blaze of Glory!


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## Paul Clayton (Sep 12, 2009)

Count me in, for White Seed, link below.  But I am a little discouraged about having the contestants vote for each other.  It's reminiscent of Autonomy and other sites like that, where the most popular writers who have the most friends rose to the top.

I'm sorry if anyone considers my observation to be a downer, but that's the way I see these things.  At any rate, count me in.


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Paul Clayton said:


> Count me in, for White Seed, link below. But I am a little discouraged about having the contestants vote for each other. It's reminiscent of Autonomy and other sites like that, where the most popular writers who have the most friends rose to the top.
> 
> I'm sorry if anyone considers my observation to be a downer, but that's the way I see these things. At any rate, count me in.


Paul, thanks very much, but we're not going to be accepting any more new books. But I'll add yours to the final 'contest,' a very new one announced here: We're Going Down In a Blaze of Glory!


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## Lynn McNamee (Jan 8, 2009)

Why are you taking down the site?


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## Caddy (Sep 13, 2011)

I am really disappointed that this is ending.  I have only been involved for about 2 months, but I enjoyed promoting the rockstars.  I also made some new friends.  Additionally, I had hoped that my book, too, would eventually be chosen for consideration and perhaps win, so that it could get more attention.

However, I bet it was a lot of work and I understand.  I bet you would rather write, Moses!    Thank you for doing it as long as you did.


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Lynn ODell said:


> Why are you taking down the site?


I was hoping no one would ask that. 

It's complicated. Mainly, two reasons:

1) It takes more of my time and energy than I thought it would, and I need to write my own books.
2) Although so many of our authors have been wonderful about participating, there hasn't been enough participation for me to put in the time I talked about in #1.

But we're going to go out with two final contests, one to choose our Rockstar of the Year, and another that every single book is eligible to win (details in the above link about going down in a blaze of glory).

And before we go, I also plan to highlight some of the authors who have been really wonderful about participating, so stay tuned for that too.


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Caddy said:


> I am really disappointed that this is ending. I have only been involved for about 2 months, but I enjoyed promoting the rockstars. I also made some new friends. Additionally, I had hoped that my book, too, would eventually be chosen for consideration and perhaps win, so that it could get more attention.
> 
> However, I bet it was a lot of work and I understand. I bet you would rather write, Moses!  Thank you for doing it as long as you did.


Caddy, I had a lot of fun with it. *Thank you* for being a part of this little community, and for understanding.

We've still got two more months to go, though. Barry Crowther just won, so he's our reigning rockstar. And in January, we'll have a whole new set of books to do our final promotions for. So I hope you'll stick it out with us. I'd really like to see us do some big things for the final rockstars.

I hope our encore will be our finest hour.


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## ToniD (May 3, 2011)

This makes me sad, Moses. But I understand.

You've put a lot of effort into this, and introduced me to some great new books. Thanks for the ride.


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

ToniD said:


> This makes me sad, Moses. But I understand.
> 
> You've put a lot of effort into this, and introduced me to some great new books. Thanks for the ride.


Definitely. I think it's been a really positive thing, all around. I'm glad to have read a bunch of books I probably wouldn't have checked out otherwise, and I've met a lot of cool people that I didn't know before.

We still have two contests going this month, and then our final push for the finalists in January.

(also see my comments to Caddy above)


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## Jason G. Anderson (Sep 29, 2010)

Moses - if you're interested in the site continuing (just not giving you a lot of work  ), I'd be willing and able to take the site over. Send me a PM if you're interested.


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## Caddy (Sep 13, 2011)

I would be glad to help you a little bit, Jason.  If Moses is good with it, let's talk.


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## MosesSiregarIII (Jul 15, 2010)

Jason and Caddy, I'm definitely open to that. Thanks for reaching out, because I'd love to see the site continue.


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## Jason G. Anderson (Sep 29, 2010)

Caddy - I would appreciate any help I could get 

Moses - cool, drop me a PM, and we can talk about how to do this.


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## Selina Fenech (Jul 20, 2011)

Sorry that this didn't pick up more, it was such a great concept! I hope someone can take over.
I've been AWOL for a while, but just did some twitter shout outs for the last couple of rockstars, and also for Caddy, who's been just as much of a rockstar as well!


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## Caddy (Sep 13, 2011)

Selina, awwww...you are too kind!  Thank you.

Jason, sounds good.  Once you talk with Moses, give me a PM and we can discuss what we will do.


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## R. M. Reed (Nov 11, 2009)

I didn't get around to voting in November, but I voted the first two months. I'm sorry it didn't work out.


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