MB4 Honored with One of Writer's Digest Magazine's Top 101 Websites for Writers!

I'm proud to announce MURDER BY 4 was honored recently with the prestigious award as being one of Writer's Digest Top 100 Websites for Writers for 2008!

Murder by 4 is run by a group of ladies I have come to know personally not only as hosts for our authors at Pump Up Your Book Promotion, but personally, too, so it gives me pleasure in introducing to you one of the writers, Marta Stephens, who is here today to tell us what it was like when she found out MB4 was granted one of Writer's Digest Top 101 Websites for Writers!

MURDER BY 4 Selected by Writer’s Digest as One of the 101 Best Websites For Writers

© Marta Stephens 2009 all rights reserved

I couldn’t believe it when I opened the e-mail two days ago from Writer’s Digest congratulating me on their selection of MURDER BY 4, as one of the 101 Best Websites for Writers by Writer's Digest for 2009! I’d received the magazine earlier in the week, looked through the listing of other selected sites, and missed mine completely. What a wonderful way to end the week!

For those not familiar with MURDER BY 4, this writers' blog was launched in February 2008 to give readers and writers and insider's look at the lives of four published authors; Marta Stephens, Aaron Paul Lazar, Kim Smith, and S. W. Vaughn as well as a host of guest writers. Thus to receive this honor, is nothing short of amazing. When we launched the blog in 2008, my co-writers and I had no idea it would become so popular. In just over a year, the blog has received over 13,600 visitors, we've featured more than 120 guest writers, and posted well over 300 articles, reviews, and/or interviews. You'll find our anniversary post here: http://murderby4.blogspot.com/2009/02/mb4-celebrates-1st-anniversary.html.

Among our featured guests this past year were, author Warren Adler, "The War of the Roses" http://murderby4.blogspot.com/2008/10/warren-adler-idea.html and James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief, Midwest Book Review http://murderby4.blogspot.com/2008/04/4-7-08-interview-with-jim-cox-editor-in.html as well as numerous debut authors. Whether your reading preference is for a throat-clenching thriller, a page turner crime/suspense, or a can't-put-it-down cozy, I hope you’ll take a moment to visit Murder by 4. There you’ll find interesting articles, author interviews, articles by guest bloggers, reviews, and an insider's look at the publishing world.

I know I speak for all of us at MB4 in expressing a deep appreciation to our readers, featured writers, and the virtual book tour companies who have helped us grow. Many thanks to those who have visited our site, offered comments, cross promoted with us and especially to those who voted for MURDER BY 4. For those who have the magazine, you’ll find us listed on page 59.

About the author:

Marta Stephens is the author of the Sam Harper Crime Mystery series published by BeWrite Books (UK)
THE DEVIL CAN WAIT – (2008) , Top Ten 2008 Preditors and Editors Reader Poll (mystery)
SILENCED CRY (2007), Honorable Mention, 2008 New York Book Festival, Top Ten, 2007 Preditors and Editors Reader Poll (mystery)

www.martastephens-author.com

http://samharpercrimescene.blogspot.com

http://mstephens-musings.blogspot.com

http://murderby4.blogspot.com

Interview with Poet Balthazar Rodigue Nzomono-Balenda

Balthazar Rodrigue Nzomono-Balenda ( August 29, 1981), known as Rodrigue or Balthazar is a French-born Danish author and he is originally from the Republic of the Congo. Balthazar was born in Oullins, which is a suburb in Lyon, in France and his parents were diplomats in South Africa, before he and his family moved to Denmark. His parents, André & Rose Nzomono-Balenda were diplomats under the mandate of the former Congolese president, Pascal Lissouba. In 1997,there was civil war in the Congo As presidential elections scheduled for July 1997 approached, tensions between the Lissouba and Sassou camps mounted. On June 5, President Lissouba's government forces surrounded Sassou's compound in Brazzaville and Sassou ordered members of his private militia (known as "Cobras") to resist. Thus began a four-month conflict that destroyed or damaged much of Brazzaville and caused tens of thousands of civilian deaths.

Balthazar has written 2 books, The Depth of My Soul & The Struggle of Power & The Fight for Survival. He is a multimedia designer and a student at the Nordic Multimedia Academy (NOMA). Balthazar identifies himself as a French – born Congolese because he is more connected with the Congo and France than Denmark. He speaks French, English, Lingala, Norwegian, Danish, partially German, Dutch and Afrikaans. Balthazar learns Chinese and Japanese in his spare time, he writes poems, he paints, he goes out and enjoys himself. Balthazar is also a member of the International Society of Poets, which runs poetry.com and he sometimes publishes poems at poetry.com. There will be more books from him this year.

You can visit his website at www.ganymedeweb.com.

Welcome to Pump Up Your Online Book Promotion, Balthazar. Can we begin by having you tell us what The Depth of My Soul is about and why you wrote it?

The Depth of My Soul is a book of poetry.

Why did you choose this genre to write? Did you choose it or did it choose you?

I get inspired by people like Christiane Amanpour, Martin Luther King, Kevin Rudd, Nelson Mandela, Miriam Makeba, Lumumba, Patt Condell, Mark Steyn etc. because they are great fighters for freedom, free speech, justice and they bring so much hope, even when things seem to be tough. Christiane Amanpour from CNN does a great job talking about the hardest subjetc of all, genocide. And I have learned so much from her, her team and the rest of CNN anchors as well. It is said that people perish because of the lack of knowledge. I decided to get inspiration from the following documents: Scream Bloody Murder and God's Warriors because I want to share my approach and thoughts about why there are genocides and what impact does religion have when it comes to such evil acts. I heard about my country of origin, the Republic of the Congo go through civil wars because of political instability, just like in most of Africa. That is why I decided to write a book where I express myself through poetry. I am forever grateful to Christiane Amanpour because her documentaries have opened my eyes, even if I am chocked, you ask yourself why in the world as humans could choose to do such evil acts. And why don't we learn from it?

Poetry chose me and I discovered it, since I was 22 years old. Poetry is the easiest way to express myself about different circumstances.

In regards to promotion, what have you been doing to promote your book online?

I talked with my family and my friends about my book and I even went at allpoetry.com, where I write most of my poems. I had a hard time promoting my book on Facebook and some social based websites. I discovered dailybookshow.com and humanmade.info, they made things easier for me to promote my book. The person who has helped me most is Dorothy Thompson. She is my mentor and I need her experience so that I can be a successful author . I am forever grateful to her and pumpupyourbookpromotion.com .

Of all the promotional items (bookmarks, press kits, etc…) you have used to promote your book, which one was used most effectively?

This is a good question because I would rather wait until next month to see which promotion has been successfull. I want to take one promotion at the time.

Do you feel that the Internet has opened doors for authors who never dreamed they’d ever see a publishing contract and how has it influenced you in regards to your own publishing journey?

It depends on which publisher the author chooses. There good online publisher on the internet, however there are lots of con publishers who are not real and they just steal money from innocent authors and this can degrade their dreams. My publishing journey has been tough and it is still tough because I am not making changes with my books and they are ready again, but the titles are the same. I ordered a copy of my book, but there was a problem because my book is all in color. I changed it to black and white instead.

If you were in the middle of Manhattan (or any busy thoroughfare) and you wanted to call attention to your book, what would you do and what would you say?

The idea behind the title of my book is my passion from the inside out. Talking about these themes from the bottom of my hear with deep emotions. Whether we like it or not these problems are real and I believe that everyone of us can make a change in our societies. Time after time, our leaders promise that those who stand behind war crimes will face justice, but when they are warned about the problems, they do not listen. I do wander if the national interests come above reaching out to people who are in pain and those who have been victims of torture and oppression.

If you could trade places with any author just for a day, who would it be and why?

It would be Ayaan Hirsi Ali because she inspires me. She is a freedom fighter who tells the truth about how destructive Islam can be in Western societies, if Muslims don't chose to acknowledge that there is a problem with their religion. She talks about integration and the responsiblity, migrants have so that they can adapt to a the country that has welcomed them. She is a brave woman and many cowards want her dead bcause she is speaking the truth and that is sad.

Lastly, how do you determine your book’s success?

I determine my book's success by the way I promote my it, the way most readers view it, how many other publishers view it and how effective have I been to my readers and the question I can ask myself is if I have made it easier for them to understand my message.

Thank you for coming, Balthazar. Can you tell us where everyone can pick up a copy of The Depth of My Soul?

http://store.i-proclaimbookstore.com/depthofmysoul.html

Virtual Book Tour: Interview with Suspense Mystery Author Richard Roach

Suspense/Mystery author Richard Roach was born in 1931 in Galveston, Texas. Short stories of his have been published in Man’s Story 2, Happy 2007, Vol. 20 and Bibliophilos 2006, Vol. 42. His first novel, Scattered Leaves, hit the book stores on September 1, ’08, and his second novel, Scattered Money, will be published in 2009.

You can visit his website at www.richarderoach.com.

Welcome to Pump Up Your Online Book Promotion, Richard. Can we begin by having you tell us what SCATTERED LEAVES is about and why you wrote it?

I had an itch that couldn’t be scratched any other way. I had to write it. A point of interest: (maybe) I originally called it Bloody Scattered Leaves—I wish that I had left it that way. There are four books with the title Scattered Leaves.

Scattered Leaves is a mystery. Why did you choose this genre to write? Did you choose it or did it choose you?

It chose me. I write about crime.

In regards to promotion, what have you been doing to promote your book online?

I have a publicist, I guess that’s what you call her—someone I paid a bunch of money to; Of course, sweet Dorothy is paddling my drivel around the internet and is doing a wonderful job. My angel of the night . . . and day.

(thank you, Richard!)


Of all the promotional items (bookmarks, press kits, etc…) you have used to promote your book, which one was used most effectively?

Internet blogging. It does spread the word most effectively.

Do you feel that the Internet has opened doors for authors who never dreamed they’d ever see a publishing contract and how has it influenced you in regards to your own publishing journey?

Yes, definitely! In as much as I know nothing about publishing, I have to depend on other folks so my publishing journey depends on the amount of money I’m willing to spend. This, dear ones, assumes SCATTERED LEAVES is worth reading.

If you were in the middle of Manhattan (or any busy thoroughfare) and you wanted to call attention to your book, what would you do and what would you say?

I’d go to the bank and get $500 in ones, stamp SCATTERED LEAVES in black ink on each one of them, wait until the wind was just right, and drop the currency from the fiftieth floor of one of the skyscrapers.

If you could trade places with any author just for a day, who would it be and why?

John D. MacDonald. He’s dead, so I would be dead and at peace, plus, I’d have the added attraction—I wouldn’t have to go throw the hell of dying. It ain’t easy you know, that is, of course, normally.

Lastly, how do you determine your book’s success?

Strictly by the number of cc’s sold.

Thank you for coming, Richard. Can you tell us where everyone can pick up a copy of SCATTERED LEAVES?

Amazon.com, mmpubs.com or any good book store.

Thank you for having me. Loads of love to everyone. I love all readers, we will rule the world.