BLOOD SKY is 2015 Indiefab Finalist
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BLOOD SKY is 2015 Indiefab Finalist

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BLOOD SKY named Foreword Reviews’ 2015 INDIEFAB Book of the Year Awards Finalist

New York, New York —Today, Parvati Press is pleased to announce BLOOD SKY has been recognized as a finalist in the 18th annual Foreword Reviews’ INDIEFAB Book of the Year Awards. Here is the complete list:

https://indiefab.forewordreviews.com/finalists/2015/

Here is the page for Traci L. Slatton’s novel BLOOD SKY:

https://indiefab.forewordreviews.com/books/blood-sky/

Each year, Foreword Reviews shines a light on a select group of indie publishers, university presses, and self-published authors whose work stands out from the crowd. In the next three months, a panel of more than 100 volunteer librarians and booksellers will determine the winners in 63 categories based on their experience with readers and patrons.

“The 2015 INDIEFAB finalist selection process is as inspiring as it is rigorous,” said Victoria Sutherland, publisher of Foreword Reviews. “The strength of this list of finalists is further proof that small, independent publishers are taking their rightful place as the new driving force of the entire publishing industry.”

“I am honored and delighted to receive this recognition,” said author and publisher Traci L. Slatton. “Foreword Reviews is the ‘Library Journal’ for independent publishing, and this kind of spotlight is encouraging and gratifying.”

Foreword Reviews will celebrate the winners during a program at the American Library Association Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida in June. We will also name the Editor’s Choice Prize 2015 for Fiction, Nonfiction and Foreword Reviews’ 2015 INDIEFAB Publisher of the Year Award during the presentation.

About us: Parvati Press is an independent press with a vision of quality books in print, ebook and audiobook format. These books are often playful, metaphysical, serious, and thought-provoking; they will enrich your life.

About Foreword: Foreword Magazine, Inc is a media company featuring a Folio:-award-winning quarterly print magazine, Foreword Reviews, and a website devoted to independently published books. In the magazine, they feature reviews of the best 170 new titles from independent publishers, university presses, and noteworthy self-published authors. Their website features daily updates: reviews along with in-depth coverage and analysis of independent publishing from a team of more than 100 reviewers, journalists, and bloggers. The print magazine is available at most Barnes & Noble and Books-A-Million newsstands or by subscription. You can also connect with them on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and Pinterest. They are headquartered in Traverse City, Michigan, USA.

Indiefab Finalist

Traci Slatton interviewed by Desiree Watson on Wellness Lounge
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Traci Slatton interviewed by Desiree Watson on Wellness Lounge

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Desiree Watson interviewed me on her VoiceAmerica radio show Wellness Lounge, A Step Further.

Life in its multifarious impishness is both funny and fun. Recently I started a BlogTalkRadio show, Independent Artists & Thinkers. I’ve been booking guests and thinking about people I’d enjoy having on the show.

A friend of many years came to mind, a woman of vision and great energy: Desiree Watson. Back in the day when I was a healer, Desiree was interested in holistic health and wellness, and we had done some things together. So I googled around and found her Wellness Interactive site. Desiree has been a busy lady, I thought, and promptly emailed her.

A few hours later, my cell phone rang. It was Desiree herself. What a delight to hear her warm voice!

I had meant to invite her to be a guest on my show, but she beat me to it and invited me to be a guest on her VoiceAmerica Radio Show: Wellness Lounge, A Step Further. Her show is focused on empowering listeners, body mind and soul.

Here’s what the show has to say about itself:

THE WELLNESS LOUNGE-A STEP FURTHER empowers you with the benefits of a wellness lifestyle. Desiree Watson, a pioneer in the wellness lifestyle movement, guides you toward incorporating wellness into your life through commentary and interviews with exemplary personalities from such diverse fields as professional sports, corporate management, government, and health care. Our topics embrace the interconnections of mind, body and spirit, while offering in-depth analyses of the wellness lifestyle movement and its impact on the health care system, politics and international aid. Related topics will spark awareness of the positive impact of the wellness lifestyle movement and how a wellness lifestyle commitment can successfully empower the individual and influence educational and political processes on a local, national and international scale. The Wellness Lounge – A Step Further airs Mondays at 6 AM Pacific on VoiceAmerica Empowerment and Saturdays at 7 AM Pacific on VoiceAmerica Variety.

This morning we aired. It was a delight to be a guest; Desiree has a talent for supporting and encouraging her guests to open up and be eloquent. What fun!

Here’s the show link: http://www.voiceamerica.com/episode/85279/empowerment-of-self

You can listen here, too.

[sc_embed_player_template1 fileurl=”http://tracilslatton.com/watson051115.mp3″]

 

Wellness Lounge

BookGorilla and Kindle Nation Daily: Excellent Promotion
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BookGorilla and Kindle Nation Daily: Excellent Promotion

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BookGorilla brings free or deeply discounted books to readers via an online subscription service.

As an independent author and the publisher of a small press, I am always, eternally, and forever looking for ways to market and promote my books. It’s an essential part of the job. I do marketing and promotion tasks weekly. Should do them daily.

I can write and publish the most awesomely delicious books, but if readers don’t know about those books, they won’t buy them.

Over the years, I’ve tried various methods for making people aware of my books. I’ve paid to have book trailers made. Those help; everyone likes to watch a short, well-made video that teases and intrigues.

I regularly submit my books to book review blogs, because those sites can spread the word about a book all across the worldwide web. In fact, I constantly troll the internet for book review sites that would be a good fit for my books.

I blog regularly, and you, dear reader, are tasting the fruit of that effort at this very moment. I write pieces for the Huffington Post. I create podcasts for an iTunes podcast channel. I’ve recently started a BlogTalkRadio show, “Independent Artists & Thinkers.”

Perhaps the single most effective promotion I’ve done, that has the most immediate and measurable impact on ebook sales, is run a promotion through BookGorilla and Kindle Nation Daily.

The way it works is that readers subscribe to BookGorilla. When they sign up, they choose their personal reading preferences from a detailed list of genres and sub-genres. Then, every day, subscribers receive an email tailored specifically to their individual preferences. This email lists top quality ebooks that are, for a limited time, offered either free or at a juicy discount.

Kindle Nation Daily is more like a news service for all things kindle, and it dovetails with BookGorilla to offer bargains to readers.

For my recent novel BROKEN, I paid for a Kindle Nation Daily feature, which includes an excerpt, and received a free slideover to the BookGorilla email blast.

The KND feature looked gorgeous:

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Beautiful, yes? Beneath the 5 Star Praise box was the excerpt, so readers could get a taste of the novel–so they would be tempted to buy it.

The same day, Broken was included in the BookGorilla email blast:

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Nice, right? But much more than nice. It’s effective. Immediately, book sales increased. Amazon ratings started rising. After a while, I took screenshots to capture those lovely high rankings:

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Then:

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And:

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It was extremely satisfying to watch the ratings rise! I didn’t capture the ascent at its peak, because I was busy through the day.

To be clear, the ratings rose because the book was selling and selling!

These screenshots speak for themselves. BookGorilla, with Kindle Nation Daily, was an effective way to market and promote my novel. I recommend it.

BookGorilla

The Never Ending Journey of the Independent Artist, My Latest on the HuffPo
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The Never Ending Journey of the Independent Artist, My Latest on the HuffPo

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I am an independent artist, married to an independent artist, with friends who are, yes, independent artists. This piece on the Huffington Post reflects what I’ve learned.

In part, the article says:

What I experienced was that the big traditional publishing companies had gotten mired in the quicksand of conventional thinking and groupthink. They had forgotten the importance of nurturing a midlist author through a few books to build a readership. They overlooked the appeal of richness and diversity in a book list and so refused to invest in truly original, unorthodox projects.

Worst of all, they had taken the selection of books away from people who love books—editors—and turned it over to people desperately searching for a business school algorithm to make every book a bestseller out of the starting gate—the marketing department.

Not that some wonderful books don’t sneak past the eyes of the marketing department. But, increasingly, legacy publishers emulate corporate Hollywood studios: turning out branded, franchise entertainment, mindless drivel that appeals to the horny, nerdy teenager in us all.

The great books and movies that make it past gatekeepers usually do so because they are spearheaded by someone passionate about the project. These projects come from the creative heart and soul of a dedicated individual. They require perseverance and vision in order to unfold in the world.

With no luck but bad luck with the legacy publishers, I embarked on my own passion process. I founded Parvati Press. I started independently publishing my own books and recently other authors.

 I’m fortunate to have two strong-minded individualists in my life as models for my journey: my husband Sabin Howard, and my friend dancer Lori Belilove, Founder and Artistic Director of the Isadora Duncan Dance Company and Foundation.

Catch the whole article here on the HuffPo.

Though I did realize this morning that there is one thing I forgot to mention explicitly in the post: the pleasure inherent in this path. It’s just fun to think ‘outside the box’ and to operate outside the confines of corporate mentality. It’s scary, yes, because it’s insecure. But it is ever so delicious.

 

independent artist

huffington-post

Independent Artists & Thinkers, a BlogtalkRadio show
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Independent Artists & Thinkers, a BlogtalkRadio show

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I’m launching a BlogTalkRadio show. I’ve created the “Independent Artists & Thinkers” show and our first show airs Thursday, April 16 at 1 pm EDT. I’ll be interviewing dancer and Artistic Director Lori Belilove, founder of the Isadora Duncan Company and Foundation.

This internet radio show is focused on one of my personal passions: the journey of the independent artist, who creates and sustains art outside the structure of the big studios, publishing companies, and galleries.

It’s my belief that the most interesting, creative, and original voices today are heard outside of the big corporations, studios, and galleries. Individuals of courage and inspiration are seizing the opportunities to create and promote their art themselves. I intend to support them and to bring their stories to you–to the world.

On this premiere show, I’ll interview independent artists of all kinds, unusual thinkers, and healers about their process. How do they do it? How do they start with an idea and bring it to life in the world? This show intends to illuminate the journey. Feel free to call in to 516 453 6052 with questions, or livechat with me at blogtalkradio.com/independentartiststhinkers

On this first episode, we’ll ask: What does it take to found and sustain an artistic institution? Lori Belilove has some ideas to share with us.

Lori Belilove is recognized around the world as the premier interpreter and ambassador of the dance of Isadora Duncan. She’s sought after as a unique contemporary artist who understands the essence of Isadora. Known as a solo dance artist for her interpretations of Duncan’s signature solos and staging of Duncan’s group masterpieces, she has also been recognized for creating powerful, contemporary works in her own voice. The purity, timelessness, authentic phrasing, and musicality of Duncan dance has been passed down to Lori through a direct line of Isadora Duncan dancers.

Lori is also a choreographer and the Artistic Director of The Isadora Duncan Dance Company. The company performs regularly and increasingly garners invitations to perform around the world. Lori herself is a dynamo as well as a dancer of supreme grace and appeal.

I’m excited about this new endeavor, and I hope my readers will tune in, either live or via archive. If you’re listening live, then, please, phone in! I’d love to hear from you. Consider this an invitation!

Independent Artists & Thinkers

 

Lori Belilove

BlogTalkRadio show

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Foreword Reviews Spring Issue: Broken is “beautiful”
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Foreword Reviews Spring Issue: Broken is “beautiful”

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Foreword Reviews is the “library journal” of independent publishing. It’s a content-rich, beautifully put together magazine that’s published quarterly. The top of their Spring 2015 issue is emblazoned, “THE INDIE BOOKS WE LOVE” and this periodical means just that: they love indie titles. Foreword Reviews understands the value of independently published books and appreciates the quality of those independently published books with excellent production values.

It was with great delight that I received word, some months back, that my novel BROKEN would be reviewed and featured in Foreword Reviews. Not only that, but the editorial director politely wondered whether or not it was possible to get a jpg of the cover image, the painting upon which the cover is based.

In fact, Broken’s gorgeous cover is based on a painting by the extraordinarily gifted Roberto Ferri, an Italian figurative painter, and a hero of mine. Roberto’s work is utterly ravishing.

After a Skype session in Italian with my husband Sabin Howard (for whom Italian is his first language), Roberto graciously gave permission for me to use the painting for the book cover. He sent me a large file.

It was the one and only Gwyn Snyder who took that file and turned it into the book cover. And what a beautiful job Gwyn did! She’s so very talented.

So I happily asked Sabin to check with Roberto regarding Foreword Reviews featuring his painting, and he, again, generously gave permission.

The review of Broken is absolutely lovely. There’s a pix below. Allyce Amidon writes,

Slatton has created a beautiful, heart wrenching tale of humanity during the Second World War. …Slatton writes poignantly, with lyrical prose: “I have been shattered, the shattering is still with me. I am only shards now. There is no core.” This is a gorgeous philosophical treaty on right and wrong, the “why” behind impossible decisions, and what remains when everything is gone. Slatton guides the reader gently through to the end, all the more heartbreaking for its inevitability, imparting powerful, resonant themes as she goes.

Take a look online, and do consider a subscription!

 

Foreword REviews

Foreword Reviews