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Wednesday, August 1, 2012

To be continued (MG e-series with awesome main characters--Priscilla the Great and Hal Junior)


SC POE'S INDIE E-BOOK SAMPLER, #20




Oft-proclaimed advice in the world of indie e-publishing: publish multiple books, and publish often. An indie author's first sale (just as in the world of trad publishing) is the hardest to make. The best time to sell your sequel to an ebook fan is immediately after he/she's enjoyed Volume 1.




That's only part of Sybil Nelson's formula for success. She also offers vivid writing, clean editing, a hook that's trendy (but with a unique . . . flare), and a polished web promotion system that includes a blog (Prissy Fit) and music playlist for her MC.

Above all, Nelson gives us the lively, snarky voice of Priscilla herself.






PRISCILLA THE GREAT SERIES

By Sybil Nelson
CreateSpace, 2011-2012
Poe thinks this is humorous contemporary MG paranormal



First sentence: I awoke tied to a chair.


Brainy Priscilla's plagued by all the ordinary woes of a seventh-grade heroine in a contemporary novel--obnoxious brothers, worry-wart parents, a figure like a stick, unruly red hair, and a hopeless crush on Spencer Callahan.

Other challenges are not so quotidian. Her parents keep fibbing (rather clumsily) about where Mom is (South America? Dubai?). Priscilla's also showing signs of paranormal talents, like fire-starting and super-hearing. And (the flash-forward prologue warns) she'd better develop those superpowers fast enough to keep the bad guys from killing her.

Rated S for Snapped Up.


Last fall, Poe sampled the first book in another series, and is pleased to see that Volume 2 has launched:


HAL JUNIOR SERIES

Hal Junior 2: The Missing Case

By Simon Haynes
Self-published, 2012
Poe thinks this is MG sci-fi spoof




First sentences:

There was a young lad called Hal Junior,
whose homework was always peculiar.
His essays were bad,
His sums didn't add,
And his limericks weren't any good either!

Poe will allow Hal Junior to summarize the opening chapter (and his current relationship with his parents) in his own words: Nag, nag, nag, fire. Blah, blah, blah, explosion. Dangerous. Irresponsible. Punishment.


Hal Junior, in fact, is almost always getting punished for something. This time, the penalty will be babysitting the offspring of a VIP whose visit to the family's aged space station may result in an influx of money, or equipment—or at the very least, some real food to replace the ration bars they've been subsisting on.

Surprises ensue.

Rated Q for Queued to read soon

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