Win a Kindle Paperwhite at the Awesome Indies Grand Opening Party. Last day today.

Tomorrow, the wonderful books in the Awesome Indies Grand Opening sale go back to their usual price at $2 or $3 more than their present 99c. Visit today to grab a bargain, pick up some free bootie and be in the draw for a Kindle Paperwhite.
 

Click here or on the banner above.

 

 

(Links are active at 1 am PDT on the given day)

Why do Authors choose the independent route? Find out at the AIA Opening Party today

 

Day four of the Awesome Indies Grand Opening party is meet the author day. Pop over and find out the difference between indie and self-publishing, watch a crazy video and read the author’s stories.

Click here or on the banner above.

 

The 99c sale is still on, so if you haven’t been already, pop over there now.

Visit the AIA Grand Opening party for a fun quiz

Do you enjoy quizzes? Then visit the Awesome Indies for a fun quiz on day three of their Grand Opening Party.

Click here or on the banner above.

 

And while you’re there don’t forget to check out the 99c sale, and see what else the site has to offer.

 

(Links are active at 1 am PDT for each day's events)

Who is the piano playing dog? Find out at the AIA Grand Opening Party

Who is the piano playing dog? Visit the Awesome Indies Grand Opening Party today to find out. Watch an amazing video and vote on the best explanation for who the dog is and what he’s doing.  

Click here or on the banner above.

 

And don’t forget to check out the 99c sale.

 

 

(Links are active at 1 am PDT for each day's events.)

The Awesome Indies Grand Opening Party; 26 top reads at just 99 cents each, plus 5 days of partying!

 

You’re invited to the Awesome Indies Grand Opening Party—a sale of 26 top reads at just 99 cents each, plus 5 days of fun. See the new website, meet the authors, join them for games, giveaways and giggles and be in the draw to win the latest generation Kindle.

 

The Awesome Indies have found a way to take the risk out of buying indie. If it’s Awesome Indies Approved (AIA), a qualified publishing industry professional has determined that it’s as good as anything produced by the mainstream. Readers need no longer wonder if that book is really worth downloading. If a book is listed on the Awesome Indies, then it’s worth your time.

 

Click on the banner, or this link, to visit the Awesome Indies to browse the huge 99c sale and learn what you have to do to be in the draw for a Kindle Paperwhite.

(Links will be active at 1 am PDT for each day's events)

 

  

Writer's (Contrary) Thought of the Day

"Calling a wolf an alpha is usually no more appropriate than referring to a human parent or a doe deer as an alpha. Any parent is dominant to its young offspring, so "alpha" adds no information. Why not refer to an alpha female as the female parent, the breeding female, the matriarch, or simply the mother? Such a designation emphasizes not the animal's dominant status, which is trivial information, but its role as pack progenitor, which is critical information. The one use we may still want to reserve for "alpha" is in the relatively few large wolf packs comprised of multiple litters. ... In such cases the older breeders are probably dominant to the younger breeders and perhaps can more appropriately be called the alphas. ... The point here is not so much the terminology but what the terminology falsely implies: a rigid, force-based dominance hierarchy."
 
Mech, L. David (1999). "Alpha Status, Dominance, and Division of Labor in Wolf Packs". Jamestown, ND: Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center Online. Canadian Journal of Zoology 77:1196-1203. Retrieved 21 April 2008. "The point here is not so much the terminology but what the terminology falsely implies: a rigid, force-based dominance hierarchy."

"Dominance hierarchies and dominance disputes and testing are a fundamental characteristic of all social groups... But perhaps only we humans learn to use punishment (and pain - poster's add.) primarily to gain for ourselves the reward of being dominant."

Pryor, Karen (August 1999) "Chap. 4." Don't Shoot the Dog! (Bantam trade paperback ed.). Bantam Books. p.108.

Something to think about when calling the hero of one's novel an "alpha male," not to mention when using the word dominance in other capacities. In an additional note, as someone who lives with a real dog pack - mother, father, four of their offspring and a non-related dog - I can second the above very strongly and suggest that an arrogant, condescending, violence-prone, controlling human man (or woman), and especially one who needs to hurt others to elevate him or herself, isn't anything like a canine "alpha" male (or female), and perhaps ought to only be considered a mentally or emotionally unstable antagonist (or another starts-with-a synonym that isn't alpha). I'm thinking it wouldn't be unfair to imagine that dogs and wolves the world over would be horrified to discover that certain lauded human behaviors today are mistakenly being compared to their own.

(Mama Zoe and two of her pups)

(Quotes courtesy of Wikipedia.)

The Horrors of Self-Promotion

Not every indie author will agree with this article in its entirety, but I imagine most will find one or two points of empathy. Or, if not that, at least enjoy the author's sardonic wit. With a nod to the U.S. movie industry's vague - and, I think, unintentionally funny in its PC-ness - terminology, this article is rated PG-13 for occasional language. And thank you to  The Passive Voice  for the share.

The Horrors of Self-Promotion