Happy 1st Birthday, FATAL ERROR...

One year ago, FATAL ERROR hit the stands during a very sad time for me. Just months prior, our two family matriarchs, my mother and mother-in-law, passed away within weeks of each other. It had been a summer of funerals and flowers and family visits. Tears and fears as I faced the stark realization that my husband I were now the ‘older’ generation, keepers of the family traditions and lore.

Amidst the grief, to keep my mind busy, to dull my pain, to escape reality, I closeted myself when I could over that sad summer and worked fervently with editors, cover-designers, formatters and the publisher to bring the book FATAL ERROR out of the potential world and into the real one.

FATAL ERROR was my distraction, my achievement, my immortality in a way. When I lamented to Cheryl Tardif, publisher at Imajin Books, that I wasn’t able to do all I wished for my book launch she mentioned not to worry, that FATAL ERROR was now out there forever. I could market it for as many years as I wished, whenever I wished. It was mine, it was a legacy to my children and grandchildren. It was there for the world to enjoy—forever. So, I invite you to join me in giving FATAL ERROR the ‘launch’ it deserves in celebration of its very first birthday!

My author presentations to young people top the list of the things I’m most proud of when it comes to my writing career. All my books are on the shelves of Canada’s northern young offenders facilities and in the outreach libraries of the St. Paul Alternate Education Centre.

FATAL ERROR, I tell my young audiences, is an entertaining, dramatic story that can help us develop a positive, well-rounded sense of justice that goes beyond our formal legal system of law-makers, law enforcement and the court house, although those concepts, too, are part of the story.

I explain how our sense of justice affects our personal lives. As we enter adulthood, our understanding of blame, guilt and forgiveness expands considerably from our basic black and white childhood concepts of right and wrong, good and evil.  As we mature we loose our self-centred childish outlook on life and being to notice, comprehend, and empathize with the experiences and feelings of others. This helps us develop our mature sense of what is fair and empowers us to take responsibility for our own lives.

FATAL ERROR is Book 2 in the BackTracker series. However, it reads well on its own as I wrote it before I wrote THE TRAZ (originally intending THE TRAZ to be a prequel to the series). FATAL ERROR is sold as a Young Adult crime novel. Action/Adventure. A psychological thriller that also appeals to adults.

In The Traz, Katrina made some poor decisions that landed her in a lot of trouble. The book ended with her being rescued from a biker gang during an undercover police operation. In FATAL ERROR, Katrina (along with the cops and the bikers) face the emotional, social, and legal  consequences of their actions during their time with the gang.

Aside from all the lessons and underlying themes, FATAL ERROR is an exciting read. 

What the reviewers say about FATAL ERROR:

 “Wise, haunting, deeply moving…unforgettable!”

 “Courage and insight make for a compelling read”

 "...douses the reader headfirst in a psychological drama..."
 

“...a worthy sequel to the explosive ‘THE TRAZ’

“The very best in today's motorcycle gang stories just got a little better.”

FATAL ERROR is available as an eBook and in paperback from all fine online book sellers. If it is not on the shelves of your local library or bookstore, you can ask to have it ordered in. And, if you want an autographed copy—just contact me through any of my social networking sites.

Purchase links:

All Amazon sites: viewBook.at/B009P593YU

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/337002

iTunes library (for all your Apple products): https://itunes.apple.com/ca/book/fatal-error/id679435635?mt=11

Barnes & Nobel: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/fatal-error-eileen-schuh/1115671159?ean=9781926997933&isbn=9781926997933
 

website: http://www.eileenschuh.com

blog: http://eileenschuh.blogspot.com

Follow me on Twitter https://twitter.com/eileenschuh

'Like' my author page: http://www.facebook.com/EileenSchuhAuthor

Press Release: 23-stop Library Tour

Press Release

Schuh Embarks on 23-stop Library Tour Across Alberta’s North East

Home town visits especially thrilling

ST. PAUL, ALBERTA  16 October 2013 - “I’m excited, nervous, and gearing up to be very busy,” St. Paul author, Eileen Schuh says. Following her second successful presentation to the children at the North Slave Young Offenders Facility in Yellowknife earlier this month, Schuh is taking a short breather before embarking on a twenty-three stop library tour of north-eastern Alberta.

Schuh’s tour, which includes writing workshops as well as general author presentations, is sponsored by the Northern Lights Library System and kicks off on Monday 21 October 2013 in Myrnam and ends in Cold Lake on November 26th. She will be travelling the length and breadth of one of Alberta’s largest library systems. 

“I’ve got my map in front of me so I can now confidently say that I go as far west as Morinville, Gibbons, Bon Accord and the Garrison library in CFB Edmonton, east to Paradise Valley, south to Wainwright and Chauvin and north to Cold Lake and many spots in between,” Schuh says.

Although she’s looking forward to all her visits, her trip to Tofield on Thursday, November 7^th  at 2pm holds a special thrill. “I was born and raised as Eileen Fairbrother in the Tofield area and returned there for a few years after I was married,” she says. “Since I was first published in 2011, I’ve wanted to go back to my home town and thank the community for nourishing my writing dreams and skills. Now it’s finally going to happen!”

She will  also be dropping in to the municipal library in her adoptive community of St. Paul at 5 pm on November 12th. “As I say about St. Paul on my dedication page of my upcoming novel, FIREWALLS, I couldn’t ask for a more supportive, generous, inspiring place to live and write.” The nearby community of Elk Point will host Schuh at 7 pm on Tuesday, November 5^th while the Two Hills’ school will be the venue for a writing workshop on Wednesday, November 6^th.

Schuh has four books published with two more in the wings. Throughout the tour, she will be promoting, selling and autographing the first two books in her young adult BackTracker series THE TRAZ (and THE TRAZ School Edition), and FATAL ERROR  as well as her adult sciFi novella, SCHRÖDINGER'S CAT.

 “I’m  hoping to have the third book in my Young Adult BackTracker Series, FIREWALLS, ready in time for Christmas, perhaps even for the latter part of my tour.” Her second SciFi, DISPASSIONATE LIES, will be released by WolfSinger Publications in the summer 2014.  Her books are available as paperbacks and in all popular ebook formats and can be bought online from Amazon and other fine online book retailers.

“If they are not on the shelves of your local bookstore or library, you can ask to have them ordered in for you,” Schuh explains.

For a complete itinerary of her tour and more information on her books and her career, visit her website at http://www.eileenschuh.com . 

For an interview:

 email: eileenschuh@yahoo.com

phone: 780-

Emerging writer competition

Creative Kids Tales and Ford Street Publishing are hosting an emerging writer competition. Uncommon YA author, Melissa Wray is on the list!  It would be great if you could check out the site and vote. All support is greatly appreciated.

VOTE HERE!

Check out the Creative Kids Website and you can read a few excerpts from different pieces of her writing. Melissa Wray Emerging Author

If you want to connect with Melissa just follow the links!

Dream Big … Read Often Blog

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Goodreads

_____________

 Brought to you by

THE TRAZ School Edition

 

 “The Traz is a must-read for tweens, teens & parents" 

“A great tool in connecting with & engaging teens" 

“An amazingly insightful story paralleling so many youth I work with” 

“What are some important differences between a family & a #gang?” 

 “…takes the reader on a whirlwind of emotion”

Eileen Schuh, Author
FATAL ERROR
Schrödinger's Cat
THE TRAZ

Investing in your writing career

How much does it cost to self-publish? The question came up during my participation on a panel on self-publishing at the Northern Lights Library System’s (NLLS) convention last weekend.

The other panelists had invested little, doing their own editing, cover design, formatting, etc. They wanted their books out quickly, they wanted to have a book to sell to their friends and family who were asking for them. They felt comfortable doing the work themselves.

My dollar investment, however, is quite extensive. It dates back to my hiring a book marketing coach to set my feet on the path to becoming published. With an eye to tapping into the potentials of the online, international marketplace that was just beginning to explode, my goal is and always has been, to become more than a local celebrity. 

I haven’t got there yet, I’m not a best selling author. Not an award winning author. Not an international sensation...yet. But I’m still working on it, still investing dollars and time in my career. Still dreaming.

My investment started about five years ago with creating a website and blog. I was not techno-savvy enough to do this myself. Back in the time when I first set out to become published, the technology was not as user friendly as it is now. However, even now, I’d likely call on the experts for help.

My website and blog are portals to my career, they are my front-line staff, the ‘WalMart greeters’ that introduce people to me and my work. It is not just getting something up there and out there. It has to be an attractive design, the right colours, professional looking fonts, great graphics. It has to attract readers and lure them into staying. It has to be user-friendly and convince people to buy my books. It has to show up on the first page of results when people google my name or my books. I have nowhere near the expertise to do that. I can write the content, but the rest...

My investment also includes investment in learning. Learning not only how to improve my writing, but how to query, how to research, how to promote. I had to learn about the technology involved in the eBook revolution, the changes occurring in the publishing industry. I had to learn about genres, target readerships, writing back cover copy, eliciting reviews. I had to learn about ITNs, ISBNs and cover design. I paid to learn how to use Twitter and facebook to market my books.

My investment includes memberships in professional writing organizations, to network me to the industry, to provide me with support and information. That investment include supporting those organizations with involvement in their programmes, donations, and feedback and suggestions.

My investment includes producing two video promo trailers, hiring online press-release distribution services, traveling hundreds of miles to participate in conventions relating to my genre and many more miles to give author talks to my target readership.

I invested in bookmark business cards and in purchasing paperbacks to sell at local businesses and at my many author talks. I purchased two Kindles to use as prizes in my book promotions. I had a professional 'author photoshoot' done. 

For the actual production of THE TRAZ, I paid a graphic artist to design the cover, a formatter to prepare the manuscript to upload to the printer and online bookstores. I hired several editors.

On the hardware side of things, I invested in a new laptop, mobile internet key, a Kindle and a Kindle Fire. And several mouses (mice?) --as I drop mine a lot.

This month, I invested thousands of dollars in hundreds of paperbacks because I’m about to invest countless hours in a 23-stop library tour and hope to sell a good portion (if not all) of those books during that tour.

There have been people who have been very supportive during my journey and those who haven’t. There are those who view me as a successful author...and those who don’t. There are those who are optimistic about my career and those who point out all that is wrong with it. There are those willing to invest in my future with me, and those who think I’m wasting my money.

Special thanks right now to my family, my community, my online friends, the businesses in my adoptive home town and the Northern Lights Library System—for being on the positive side of that ledger.

To those less enthused with my journey? Well, I guess we’ll have to wait and see if I’m able to prove you wrong. 

Investing in your writing career is brought to you by THE TRAZ , my first self-published novel.

"I loved this first book in the series..."

"It was a great adventure into the lives of bike gangs, and issues involving young people. Their grief, fears and their overwhelming struggle, to find their place where they belong, where they are accepted, and at what costs they are willing to pay!"

Eileen Schuh, Author
FATAL ERROR
Schrödinger's Cat
THE TRAZ