November 2000 Newsletter

Ms. Hart is writing up a storm for us. We recently released some other books by her, including poetry and recipe mini-books. Below is a sample recipe from her mini-book, Apple Mania.

Buy it here:

http://www.sirius-books.com/applemaniasum.html

Sample recipe:

Potted Apples

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

Pare, core and cut into quarters or eights,

Six to eight large apples (two pounds apples (depending upon the number to be served).

In a ceramic, earthen or glass-baking dish, layer the apples with

A sprinkle of sugar (brown or white may be used)

A pat of butter, broken into pieces*

(A dash of lemon juice, cinnamon and nutmeg may also be used)**

Nuts, raisins, cranberries, rhubarb, apricots, fresh pineapple (if desired)

Fill the baking dish almost to the top. Add

1/2 c. cold water (to each 2 quarts of apple mixture)***

Cover the dish with

Buttered cookie, cake or dark bread crumbs (I like to mix these for a more interesting flavor)

Place in preheated oven. Cook for one hour or until the apples are tender. Serve with sweetened cream, whipped cream, topped with ice cream as a topping for day old cake or plain or on a bed of rice.

* The total of the pats of butter or margarine should equal 1 stick or 1/2 cup

**The proportion of flavorings and spices, if used, for each two pounds of apples is

2 tsp. lemon juice

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

Grated rind of one lemon (about 2 tsp.)

***The dish can also be prepared without water. If so, the apples will form a clear jelly around the fruit.

Spiced Apples can be prepared in a crock-pot or slow cooker. Again, the mix of the apples is up to the cook. You can use one variety or several or alternate for interesting variations. The options for creativity and choice are among the rewards of home cooking.

Buy the book:

http://www.sirius-books.com/applemaniasum.html

Third mini-cookbook to be released November 20, 2000.

Good Reviews!

Bride of the Overlord recently had some excellent reviews. The most recent can be found at:

http://www.roadtoromance.dhs.org/reviewboto.htm

"Strong life-like characters, vivid setting descriptions and an unlikely romance make 'Bride of the Overlord' an entertaining read." --PJ Johnson, The Road to Romance

New Books

Also new on our book list is Rare Passion by Jo Barrett. This is pure romance! Bailey Price, an English professor at a local college in the southern town of Eberton, swears off relationships and vows never to let another man trample her heart after her disastrous marriage had finally come to an end. But when a lawyer with fathomless dark brown eyes by the name of Grant Blackburn, mistakes her for a burglar, she finds herself trapped in a situation that puts her oath to the test.

As Bailey battles with the disturbing attraction she has for Grant, her ex-husband, Mark Jackson, swears he will have his wife back and connives to stop Grant’s pursuit of Bailey. With the help of an endearing, yet somewhat overbearing aunt, and a series of unusual events, Grant and Bailey are brought together. But someone wants Bailey dead....

Author Profile

Mrs. Barrett's love of reading and romance novels prompted her to write Rare Passion, her first book. Her past experience lies mostly in short stories and poetry. She writes for the sheer pleasure of it and has already started on her second contemporary romance novel.

Get your copy here:

http://www.sirius-books.com/rarepassionsum.html

Immediate Download Available

Select ebooks are now available for immediate download from our site. Other books are still available through email.

The Memoirs of Josephine Fish: A Cat's Eye View

The Memoirs of Josephine Fish will be available soon as a paperback print on demand book at our site. Congratulations to the author, Patricia Fish, for being our first to go to print. Pre-orders are being taken now, and the books will be sent out by December 5- just in time for the holidays. Pre-order your copy or get the e-book at:

http://www.sirius-books.com/josephinefish.html

Our Sponsors:

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New Contests

Contest #1: Newsletter Readers' Contest

Win one of our books! If you subscribe to our newsletter, you are automatically included in the November drawing. If you aren't a subscriber yet, just go to the contest page to subscribe (our privacy policy holds for this contest- you will not be contacted except to confirm your entry and notify you if you win, and of course to deliver the newsletter.) Deadline is November 30. Enter here:

http://www.sirius-books.com/contest1.html#reader

Contest #2: Reviewer Rewards

To Enter: Submit a review of one of our books. Review must be at least five sentences long. Of course, you must have purchased and read the book to review it. By submitting a review, you give us permission to post it on our site.

Grand Prize: Twenty-five dollar online gift certificate via Flooz plus a free e-book. First place: Winner may choose from among the many choices at Sirius Publications, including romance, horror, fiction, and much more. A complete book list is available. Winner can choose an e-book or paperback print on demand format (if their book is available in that format.) Paperback format will be signed by the author.

How: Our panel of judges will vote on which was the best review based on creativity, clarity, appropriateness, and style. The review receiving the most votes wins. The winner will be notified by e-mail.

Deadline: Midnight, January 5th. Enter here:

http://www.sirius-books.com/contest1.html#reviewer

Contest #3: Romance Lovers' Contest

Win one of our romance novels! This contest is in conjunction with one of our authors, Tracy L. Ranson. Deadline is December 15. Enter here:

http://www.sirius-books.com/contest1.html#romance

Ad Rates Available

Our Ad Rates are now posted on the site, along with information about purchasing advertising on the site or in this newsletter. We now have online payment available. Here's the link:

http://www.sirius-books.com/advertising.html

New Column: Your Publishing Questions Answered

Sirius Publications' Publisher, Kerri K., answers questions about writing, publishing and e-books. Have a question for us? Write us at sirius@sirius-books.com. Your letter may be edited for space and clarity.

Today's Column: Steps to Getting Published

Karen asks: I am just finishing up the writing of a book. My problem is, I have no idea what the next step is. What do I do? See a copyright attorney? Send the book to publishers? How do I e-publish? Can you offer me any advice? Thank you so much.

Dear Karen,

If you have been writing for years and produced many stories and books, you may feel you are ready to look for publishers. However, you may want to start first with publishing magazine articles (online and in print.) This is a good way to get your name known and to begin collecting writer's credentials. You can find a subject that catches your interest, perhaps a hobby you have. You can find magazines at a book store like Barnes and Noble, and in books like Writers' Market (also mentioned below.)

That said, there are several steps previous to submitting your book to publishers. These include:

Step 1: Finish your book

Step 2: Get feedback from readers and other authors

Step 3: Buy a copy of Writer's Market, which lists hundreds of potential publishers.

You can buy it from Writers Digest or Amazon.com. It is also now available as a cd-rom or online, which should help in searching for your specific type of magazine or book publisher. Another resource is Literary Market Place- and you may find that at your local library as a reference book. These books both list a lot of information about the markets, so you can make an informed decision about who is likely to accept your book and who you might want to submit it to, and they also list information about what type of query the company requires (i.e. chapter samples, query letter or entire manuscript.)

Step 4: Run your manuscript through a grammar and spell checker.

Step 5: Print the manuscript out and checking it over yourself to edit it. Make sure you have formatted it properly (again, information is found in Writers' Market.)

This is also a good time to check for common errors (for example, repetition)- you can find information about these on some of the writers' sites.

Step 6: Have a professional editor check your work so it will be "perfect." This step is optional.

Note all these steps that involve proofreading. Publishers/editors do notice if your work has grammatical and other errors. You want them to notice only your impressive writing skills. Since not all authors are proofreaders/editors too, it is up to the author to determine whether they need a professional editor to look at their work. I work with an editing service, Dogstar Design. And of course you can find numerous services by looking in Writer's Market, Writer's Digest and in search engines. It may help to have an 'objective' third party proofread your novel, but some novels do need professional editing.

Step 7: Seek an agent (optional) and/or submit your book to publishers/e-publishers.

An agent will help with those major publishers. You can find information about agents and listings in the book mentioned above and the links below.

Step 8: Keep sending your book and don't be discouraged by rejection.

Keep in mind that the major publishers do have high rejection rates, and it is currently very hard to break into print through them. However, it is not unheard of. In addition, as an online publisher I would be lax if I did not ask you to consider e-publishing and print on demand as an option. Your acceptance rates may be higher, and if your books sell well you can tell publishers this and use it to your advantage. Again, it may be helpful to start out with magazines and other publications rather than trying to get a novel published. More information on this can be found at the Writers' Exchange (the url is below.)

As far as rights go, when you e-publish, there is still some debate as to whether a work that appears online is considered published. If it is considered a published story, then you couldn't sell it to publishers who request 'first rights'. Apparently different publishers have different views on this issue, but many print magazines will consider your work to have been previously published if you post it at your site. There is more information on this here.

There are some useful links below about e-publishing and getting published. Hope this was helpful to you! If it was, I hope you will give me a positive rating. Good luck!

Take care,

Kerri K

Publisher

Sirius Publications

Useful Links:

Author, Author, The Online Writing Workshop, Forum, Resource, And Community Nexus

http://author-author.net

Metacrawler Search Engine

http://www.metacrawler.com

Dogstar Design Editing Services

http://www.chicagocanine.com/eservices.html

Inkspot's E-publishing FAQ/Guide