Tag: World Castle Publishing

Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing

Posted on by joepowersauthor

Today I wanted to refresh a message I share with you from time to time. It never gets old, because it never goes away. And each time I put it out there, my hope is that one more person sees and absorbs the message. Today, I want to talk about vanity publishers.

Let me put this as plainly as possible: vanity publishing is a scam. Anyone who asks you for money to publish your work is not a legit publisher. Money flows from the publisher to the author, not the other way around. If an offer sounds too good to be true, it very likely is. Legitimate publishers rarely contact writers unprompted with contract offers. Before you sign any kind of contract, make absolutely sure you know what you’re getting into.

Last night my friend @luisaraegan posted a wonderful breakdown of some of the pitfalls of vanity publishing. You can read her article here, and I definitely recommend it – and not just because she quoted me throughout! I love that she’s helping to spread the word about this scam, and when she asked for my input I was happy to oblige.

In my writing class, Crafting the Short Story, I spend some time discussing the things to watch for when choosing a publisher. I put a lot of emphasis on avoiding these types of publishers because many of the participants are relatively new to the publishing world and have no idea this sort of thing even exists.

Again, if we can reach even one person and save them a lot of headache and heartache, mission accomplished. I’m always happy to do my part to put a dent in the potential pool of scam victims.

Thanks as always for reading. If you’d like to receive updates delivered right to your inbox, you can pop over to my contact page and sign up to be among the first to see all new posts. Until next time, stay safe, talk soon!

-JP

Old Bones Goes Live!

Posted on by joepowersauthor

I’m thrilled to announce the imminent release of Old Bones, my first short story collection.

From the cover:

“Gather round, my friends. Get comfortable, dim the lights, and settle in for a terrifying journey where each stop along the way is creepier than the last.

A themed corporate gathering…children with very special, very disturbing powers…a well-meaning criminal who can’t quite manage to stay on the straight and narrow…filmmakers chasing an old legend that’s more than just a story… a spectral visitor returns with stories from the past…

These stories reveal the evils of humanity at its worst, and the nightmarish things that lurk just around the corner from reality. Deceit, jealousy, temptation, danger, evil. Twelve tales of horror that delve into the dark recesses of your worst nightmares and lay them bare upon the page.“

The release date for the ebook is April 11th, but it’s available now in paperback and hard cover editions. Also, for those who enjoy free stuff, Old Bones is available on Booksprout. If you’re not familiar with Booksprout, it’s a free signup site that allows you to read books at no cost in exchange for leaving a review. Read great books, and pay nothing aside from the time it takes to leave a review, which authors love and appreciate? It’s a win-win!

I hope you enjoy Old Bones as much as I loved creating the stories within its pages. If you pick up a copy I’d love to know what you thought of it. Thanks as always for the support and feedback, it’s greatly appreciated. If you haven’t already, take a moment to sign up over at my contact page for all the latest news delivered right to your inbox. Until next time, stay safe, talk soon!

-JP

Seventeen Skulls Virtual Book Tour, Day 32

Posted on by joepowersauthor

Well, this is it. The last day of the Seventeen Skulls virtual book tour. It’s been quite a wild ride, from day one all the way to this final post. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I’ll have a retrospective look back on the tour at a future time. As for today, we’ll wrap things up, put a bow on it, and call it a tour.

Today’s lone stop sees us venturing over to Teatime and Books, where the tagline reads ‘all you need are books and tea.’ I don’t know about that, but I’m pleased and grateful to be featured on their pages.

Yes, I know I teased a week of double features. Yes, I know that hasn’t been the case on most of this week’s days. It’s one of those unfortunate “the best laid plans” things where not everything always unfolds the way we would like (or had been led to believe). Nonetheless, I hope it’s been an enjoyable experience for those of you who have followed along here. We’ve visited a ton of places I, quite frankly, never would have ventured otherwise, so my horizons have officially been expanded. Once or twice along the way it’s been a challenge to get the day’s post up in a timely fashion, but the streak held intact right to the final guns. I’ll talk more about it when I devote a post to looking back on the journey.

On the eve of the last weekend before classes resume for the fall, let me offer a gentle reminder that both Crafting the Short Story and Writing Horror: the Dark Side are both set to kick off once again. If you or someone you know is interested in one or both of these courses, registration is still open – just click the links above for more information. Hope to see some of you there!

This will be my last daily post for a while as I take some time to recover, reset, and digest the past month’s events. I’ll be back at it soon though, so don’t forget to subscribe at my contact page for updates and news sent directly to your inbox. Until next time, stay safe, talk soon!

-JP

Seventeen Skulls Virtual Book Tour, Day 31

Posted on by joepowersauthor

We can now measure the time left on the Seventeen Skulls book tour in hours rather than days – right around 30 of them at this point. Just today’s post and tomorrow’s, and this whirlwind ride is over.

It’s still going on, so it’s too early to take a retrospective look back at the past month, but I will do that in the near future. As for today, to make up for a lack of tour stops yesterday, we’ve got three of them right here, right now.

Up first we have I Read What You Write, which in addition to the normal fare features a Q & A with yours truly. This is one of the scheduled stops from yesterday, and unfortunately the only one we’ll be making today as the other one is still MIA.

Moving right along to Nana’s Book Reviews – the first stop on the tour which, at first glance, does not appear to be an English-first website. That first glance was accurate, as it turns out: our host hails from Greece.

An interesting third stop today, as we’re visiting the site of Valerie Ullmer, Romance Author. I don’t know that Seventeen Skulls is her normal fare, but I’m certain there are romance readers who enjoy romance novels, and vice versa.

Big thanks to our gracious hosts for today, always fun and exciting to break new ground. Thanks as well to those of you following along with the tour, daily or otherwise. You’re always welcome here.

So, this is it, guys. Tomorrow is the final tour day. Come on back over for the grand finale, we’ll wrap up with our last two stops, and call it a tour. In the meantime, don’t forget to head over to my contact page and subscribe to have posts, news and updates sent directly to your inbox. Until then, stay safe, talk soon!

-JP

Seventeen Skulls Virtual Book Tour, Day 30

Posted on by joepowersauthor

It’s drifting into evening here in Eastern Canada, and I realize I’m a bit late getting today’s blog tour post out there. Unfortunately, it’s by design that I haven’t posted already; due to a scheduling snafu, it seems both of our tour stops for today have experienced technical difficulties. As a result, well… I haven’t got much of anything for you today. I’m not thrilled about it, and I guess it’s possible we can get back on track by the end of the night, but I didn’t want to drag it out that long.

I did spend a little time today drifting back through the tour dates, popping in on some of our previous hosts and responding to a few commenters there. It’s nice to see the reach continues beyond our featured day at some of these sites, and that readers still manage to stumble upon my daily features well after the original date.

Here’s what I will do: I’ll continue to monitor the situation, and if things get sorted by the end of the day I’ll add a second post. If not, we’ll have one of two scenarios tomorrow – either today’s posts just fade into the sunset, never to be seen again; or today’s stops go live tomorrow and, with yet another two posts already scheduled for tomorrow, we’ll have a massive quadruple tour day.

Either way, thanks as always for dropping by. I love seeing all the visitors old and new alike each day. Also, a reminder that my writing course, Writing Horror: the Dark Side, kicks off with the fall semester on Monday, September 27th. Then on October 7th we’re back with another round of Crafting the Short Story. Due to the current restrictions, both courses are still being offered online while we look forward to being able to return to the classroom.

Until next time, stay safe, talk soon!

-JP

Seventeen Skulls Virtual Book Tour, Day 29

Posted on by joepowersauthor

It’s the beginning of a brand new week. Here in Canada, we collectively wait with bated breath for the federal election results. The polls close in a couple of hours, and then we see what shakes out. In book tour news, we’re down to just four days remaining and it’s back to business with not one, but two tour stops today.

First on the docket we’ve got the appropriately-named Insane Books, a busy little site that features a ton of books. Next we move on to The Book Dragon, which has given us a nice feature spot as well. Many thanks to our gracious hosts today, your interest and exposure are greatly appreciated.

Check back tomorrow when we’ll have two more tour stops, including two guest posts as well as a review of Seventeen Skulls. Good stuff!

That’s all for today, make sure you head over to my contact page and subscribe to have these posts delivered right to your inbox. Until next time, stay safe, talk soon!

-JP

Seventeen Skulls Virtual Book Tour, Day 28

Posted on by joepowersauthor

It’s Election Day eve here in Canada, which means tomorrow, for the third time in six years, we head out en masse and flip the two-headed coin once again. Who knows, maybe one of these times the coin will land on its edge.

As promised, we’re going right back to tour dates as of tomorrow, right through the end of the tour on Thursday. Four more days, eight more stops, and then it’s over. I’ve never done anything like this tour before, and I’m not sure I would again, at least not in this way. I think it could have been a lot more impactful with a couple of tweaks to both the approach and execution. Even still, I have to admit the number of people who have dropped in to visit along the way has been pleasantly surprising. If nothing else I’ve learned a little about the process, what does and doesn’t work.

Thanks to everyone who’s followed along here with me; or has stopped by once, on purpose or accidentally; or anything in between. It’s all very much appreciated. thanks also to those who have subscribed to my website and are now receiving all of these posts right to their inboxes. The more the merrier, I say! Until next time, stay safe, talk soon!

-JP

Seventeen Skulls Virtual Book Tour, Day 27

Posted on by joepowersauthor

Just a quick post today, with no tour stops until Monday and a couple of needed days off to recharge for the final push. Seventeen Skulls is still forging ahead and holding strong, and there’s actually been a bit of an uptick in interest in Terror in High Water, too.

In other news, Crafting the Short Story and Writing Horror: The Dark Side are both set to kick off for the fall semester. Hope to see some of you there.

The Nixies of McGillivray Lake, the debut novel from Sheryl Doiron-Powers, is available on Amazon and many other quality outlets. It’s also up on Booksprout, for any of you who have a membership and might be interested in checking out a high quality YA dark fantasy novel. As an aside, Seventeen Skulls is available there as well.

Enjoy your Saturday, thanks for dropping by to visit . It’s appreciated as always. Don’t forget to head on over to my contact page and subscribe to have these posts sent directly to your inbox. Until next time, stay safe, talk soon!

-JP

Seventeen Skulls Virtual Book Tour, Day 26

Posted on by joepowersauthor

It’s Friday, the end of another long week and the beginning of the last week of this virtual book tour. As a reminder, there aren’t any tour stops again until Monday, at which point we’re doing double stops each day until the end. I’ll have posts over the weekend with other stuff, though.

Today’s tour date brings us to the home of the Midnight Book Reader, where we’ve got a feature spot and an update on the giveaway counter – over 2,400 today, heading into the home stretch. Thanks to our gracious hosts today, as every day. I appreciate the interest and the time taken.

A reminder that Crafting the Short Story and Writing Horror: The Dark Side kick off in the near future. Click the links for details. It’s not too late to sign up if you or someone you know has an interest in writing and needs a little nudge in the right direction.

Enjoy your weekend, everyone. I’ll have posts here tomorrow and Sunday, before we launch into the last leg of this mammoth tour. Thanks as always for stopping by, feel free to pop over to my contact page and subscribe to have news and updates delivered right to your inbox. Until next time, stay safe, talk soon!

-JP

Seventeen Skulls Virtual Book TOur, Day 25

Posted on by joepowersauthor

I want to start off this book tour post with a small confession.

It isn’t lost on me that, by this late point of the book tour, some might be getting a little tired of seeing me pop up here each day spouting the same message, about the same topics. As an author (one of many, I can assure you) who really doesn’t like talking about or, really, drawing attention to himself, this has been an unusual experience for me. There have been days along the way where I’ve sat down to add another post and thought to myself “Dude, they get it. They’ve heard all of this before, do they really need to hear it again?” Well, maybe not.

However, besides the fact that I made a promise to myself to post daily through the end of the tour, you never know when today’s the day your post reaches someone for the first time. Maybe someone who really likes what you have to say and is intrigued enough to check out something you’ve written. Maybe someone who decides they liked it so much they blog about it, and reach someone else who’s never heard of me. This just might be the day that exposes me to an entirely new and large audience.

Or maybe not. But as the Great One famously said, “you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” So, while I promise to ease it back a bit once the tour is over, for the next eight days I’ll stick it out and keep the updates coming. Hopefully you’ll stick it out too.

With that out of the way, let’s get down to business. Today’s tour stop is a Facebook page called Cover Love Book Blog. Many thanks to our gracious hosts of the day for featuring Seventeen Skulls among the many titles they’ve profiled.

That’s a wrap for today. One more tour stop before the weekend, just seven days after today, and then we bring it all to a close. Thanks to all who have followed along here, whether sporadically or regularly. For those who may have stumbled in here for the first time, welcome. To everyone, feel free to subscribe on my contact page for news, updates, and more – often, but maybe not quite as often as during this book tour. Until next time, stay safe, talk soon!

-JP