May 21, 2020
Serving Authors the Indie Way
INDIE/pendent Book Services is an Indie-inspired publishing assistance company. Our purpose is to help self-published authors get off the ground on the right foot!
Although we look forward to working with brand new authors, our goal is to help everyone! Too many Indies have had bad experiences with Small Publishing houses that didn’t know what they were doing, or poor book sales with a cheaply made cover. We’re here to help!
INDIE/pendent Book Services is not a traditional indie-based company. It is a collaborative effort between two Freelance professionals.
Kristen Collins is a Native Texan, born and raised close to the heart of the great Lone Star State. She was born in January of ‘89 and was able to grow up during a great time. She doesn’t truly consider herself a Millennial, and really dislikes the title. She’s a part-time secretary and a full-time mother, wife, author, as well as a Lupus Warrior.
Rachel Olson-Pruneda is a workaholic. She has a fulltime day job, does graphics and formatting in her downtime, has three kids and a husband, and is a writer. Rachel lives in Rural Western Nebraska and has been continuously growing in her professional techniques since 2012.
How IPBS Got Started
Kristen and Rachel have been working together for the last several years. The idea of starting a service like IPBS had been a mutual brainstorming effort between both women. This year, they decided to stop delaying and jumped feet first into the endeaver.
SERVICES PROVIDED BY IPBS:
- Book Cover Designing, provided by No Sweat Graphics (a company owned and solely run by Rachel Olson-Pruneda)
- Manuscript Formatting, provided by No Sweat Graphics
- Service Set-Up, provided by Kristen Collins
Recommended for Editing: Alexis Whitney of
Book Reviews by Lexi Proofreading.
For editing services, contact Alexis!
Recommended Blog Tour Host: Silver Dagger Book Tours
UPCOMING EVENTS HOSTED BY IPBS:
CHILDREN OF CHAOS MULTI-AUTHOR SERIES
PARANORMAL CHILDREN, AGES 18 AND UNDER
Find release dates, participating authors, and upcoming books in this series HERE.
FOLLOW THE SERIES ON FACEBOOK!
PERFECTLY STATED MULTI-AUTHOR SERIES
ADULT ROMANCE, AGES 18 AND ABOVE
Find release dates, participating authors, and upcoming books in this series HERE.
WE STILL HAVE OPENINGS IN THIS SERIES!! WANT TO PARTICIPATE? FIND SUBMISSION INFORMATION HERE!
Want to follow us for future events including book releases, blog tours, and giveaways? Find us at one of these places!
September 23, 2019
Exciting News from Author Justina Luther!
Hey, everyone! Author Justina Luther here. Book 2 of my Step into Darkness series Gut Check publishes in eBook form tomorrow! I’m so excited for this story to be continuing and do hope you’ll check it out. Things are really heating up! Here’s a little excerpt to get your mind going.
Gut Check Excerpt from Chapter 5~4:00 p.m. Adnerba, Ohio.
“Justine?” He knocks. “I know you’ve heard everything,” he says, forcing the door open once it’s unlocked. “Be a sweet girl, Peaches, and make your mom and baby brother proud.”
He takes her by the elbow, squeezing until her bones pop.
She winces and tries to twist from his grip, but his vice-like hold remains.
He brings his lips to her ear, “One wrong word and I’ll kill him before I go after Eric, understand?” Releasing her arm, the stark white print of his hand slowly dissipates and he herds her down the stairs.
“How are you holding up?” Mr. Mitchell tilts his head when she sits down on the couch beside him, the detachment in his voice replaced with the same steady warmth she’d always known. On his face he wears the carefully constructed mask of neutrality she’d seen so many times when he’d taken her, Eric, and Leland to work with him as children.
She stiffens, feeling Dirk’s gaze from where he hovers on her other side. “I’m adjusting.” Read the rest of this entry »
September 12, 2019
*SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT!*
Hey, everyone, Author Justina Luther here! Book 2 of my Step into Darkness series is publishing on the 24th of this month in eBook form. In honor of this fact, Would You Have Believed Me? is, for a very limited time only, going from $2.99 to $0.99! That’s right, y’all, it’s a sale! Across all of Amazon, USA, UK, and so on, my book is on sale.
I will fully, and shamelessly, admit I would love to get this book onto the best seller’s list and I can’t do that without you. If you can share about the sale, on your blog, with your friends, gift a copy to a friend, or buy a copy for your own Kindle, I will be forever grateful. A writer is nothing without readers, you guys are where the excitement for our work comes from, and how other lovers of words find us.
To be able to see that orange best seller tag next to my book’s title? I can’t even imagine. Even if you can’t buy, or share, I appreciate all of you.
Buy your copy now by clicking here.
Sincerely,
Justina.
January 20, 2019
Cover Reveal: Justina Luther “Would You Have Believed Me?”
Author: Justina Luther
Title: Would You Have Believed Me?
Genre: Young Adult/New Adult Suspense
Release Date: 5/10/19
Publisher: Crazy Ink
Blurb:
17 year old Justine Leonard wants to be happy for her widowed mother when she meets, falls in love with, and marries a new mystery man, Dirk Martin. But while this man seems to shine like a knight in freshly polished armor, Justine can’t shake the feeling something isn’t quite right. Is Justine’s gut telling the truth, or is everyone else right when they say her imagination is playing with her?
Excerpt:
Justine presses into the warmth of Mother’s palm and tries to ignore the nagging pit in her belly.
“Why don’t you and Dirk chat while I find the little bride’s room?”
“Mom, wait. I—”
Mother lifts her glass in salute and takes a final sip of wine. “Be back shortly.”
“I feel I should apologize for our conversation before the wedding.” Dirk slips into the now empty seat. “To upset you was never my intention.”
“I appreciate it.” She picks up her water glass and gulps it down while she scans the room for Eric’s tall frame.
“Do you?”
“We need another chair here for Eric. Someone ignored the seating chart.”
“No, I changed it. I put him with his mommy.”
His words slither down her spine and her flesh puckers in waves. “Excuse me?” She purses her lips.
“We should get acquainted. Eric is a distraction.” He tilts his head and reaches for his glass. “I want to know the secrets those beautiful silver eyes of yours hide. We are family now, after all.”
“I’m honestly still processing this wedding actually happened.”
“Really?” He smooths his auburn mustache.
“Four months isn’t enough time to know you’ve found someone to marry.”
He slowly nods, his shrewd amber gaze studying her while he swirls his brandy. “Your statement is incorrect. We dated each other for a month before she accepted my proposal, the remaining three we spent planning the wedding.” His chuckle rumbles in concert with the bass of the stringed music. “Perhaps what Camille saw expedited the process?”
“Is this some backhanded way of calling my mom shallow?”
“If you choose to interpret my words that way, then fine. However, it’s natural for people to assume some things.” Raising his glass, he shuts his eyes and savors its scent. “People might deduce you’re intelligent from of the color of your hair and feminine because of the length. I’ve learned these are true.”
Shifting, she studies the crimson velvet curtains draped above the windows.
He leans toward her, each word tinged with alcohol. “I’m sorry. I meant to say she trusts me. I wish you would too. There must be something here to make you happy.”
Purchase links coming soon!
Author Links:
Facebook Author page, Facebook reader group, Twitter, Goodreads, Amazon, Blog, Bookbub
Author Bio:
Justina Luther is a lifetime author with a passion for reading and for people. Be it a story or something she’s learned, sharing with her readers is her greatest joy. 
With a love for trying new things, she constantly finds experiences to add depth and realism to her fiction. Her short story titled GED=OMG was published in Beginnings XIV, her short story titled Choices Made was also featured in the For Melissa anthology. Her blog Welcome to My Imagination has won several awards. Her debut suspense titled Would You Have Believed Me? which is book 1 of the Step Into Darkness series is publishing in May of this year and she is currently working on book 2 as well as several short stories to be published soon.
July 30, 2018
Guest Post: Alexandra Rivers on her experience with Kindle Scout
Once upon a time there, was a woman who loved stories. She lived in a high castle far away from the nearest village, and she spent her days weaving her stories. Each time she finished one, she opened the door and gently ushered it out to find its way in the world.
But between the castle and the village, there was a dark forest, so it was easy for a story to lose its way. Whenever that happened, a fairy godmother appeared, took the story’s little hand in her gloved one, and guided it out of the dangerous forest for all the villagers to see and welcome.
I bet that by now you recognize that for what it is: a fairytale. Still, it’s an alluring one. When a writer writes a story, she hopes that it will find its way out of the woods all alone while she’ll be able to concentrate on what she does best: write. And if that doesn’t happen ̶ it never does! ̶ the story will be guided by an agent, a publisher, a champion in shining armor who will fight for it as if it was his own. Well, that happens rarely nowadays, especially in the established publishing environment we experience, so if you have a champion fighting for you, cherish him/her/them!
When I read about Kindle Scout*, I thought: this is my champion! I was experiencing the “writing blues” after completing another story and thought what would be better than letting another help me? And not just “another”. This is Amazon’s marketing machine in all its glory! Ebooks, translations, audio books. The fairy godmother with all her family…Santa with the elves… you get the picture. You sit back, keep writing, and watch the game where the champion goes from one level to the next. (I need to hear from a writer who has published more than one book with Kindle Press to see if that chair is as comfortable as it looks.)
The advance was not a motive for me (for various, boring to mention reasons ̶ no, I’m not an heiress! I just don’t live in the USA, so taxes interfered) but the rest was. So I signed the agreement which I had read three times before I was absolutely certain that I’ll never understand it completely, and after a relatively easy procedure, my story Time Not Wasted appeared in the “Recently Added” category.
I had a professionally-designed cover; I had a professional editor who took care of the editing after my three betas (friends and family) had tried their best. I had confidence.
What I didn’t have was a network.
I didn’t have a blog or a newsletter.
I didn’t even have a webpage really (don’t roll your eyes, I can see you! The castle far away… remember?)
I had to start a FB account and an Amazon Author Page when I was prompted by the procedure. So when the Kindle Scout* team sent me the typical email “this is the time to inform your network”, I saw the little chance I had slipping away. Reality’s blow was hard and quick but if nothing else, I am a realist (a realist who weaves stories ̶ okay, I see the contradiction there.)
Time Not Wasted did not land in the “Hot and trending” category upon its arrival, as other stories did. I got the message. But still, around 700 people viewed my page the first day. The same on the second and the third. And then on the fourth day ̶ and after some shameless promoting to friends and readers ̶ my beta sent me a FB message that I had hit the famous “Hot and Trending” group.
The feeling? Elation!
(Now it would be a good time to insert confetti images, but instead I’ll share the print screen.)
Time Not Wasted is very loosely inspired by Beauty and the Beast, so you see that I’m prone to fairytales. I had found my champion! My story would be discovered!
The elation was short-lived. To make a long story short, in the month of its nomination, Time Not Wasted spent 5 days in the category that leads to “what is this?” that leads to “let’s think about it” that leads to “we will publish your story”.
The statistics?
One of these five days was my doing (the harassed friends and family) and the rest was all Kindle Scout*. When a story appears in the first page categories, it gets its chance under the sun (my page was viewed a total of 6,724 times!) My novel got its chance ̶ especially the last few days ̶ but it wasn’t enough. There are stories out there which are “Hot and Trending” during the entire month of their nomination! (Beware: even that does not guarantee selection.)
My thoughts after my Kindle Scout* experience?
-If one’s goal is to get published, one needs to have an established readership. Using their words, this is a “reader-powered” publishing platform. You have to bring the first bunch of readers in for the recipe to work.
-A rejection is always a rejection, even when you expect it, even if you go there in full knowledge that it’ll come, even when you see it coming.
-If one resets one’s goals ̶ quickly ̶ then meeting new people is always a treat.
(Especially if one lives in a castle far away…)
I have new FB friends due to my Kindle Scout* nomination.
I interacted with at least three other writers from KS.
I have two eBooks to read (one out of a nomination that got selected and one because of a very generous writer.)
So overall, the verdict about Kindle Scout*
even though I didn’t have my happy ending:
Time Not Wasted!
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Bio: When Alexandra Rivers does not write, she reads. When she does not read, she makes a living as a graphic designer/illustrator. Unfortunately, not always in that order.
She likes coffee, dogs, cats (!!!) and other animals (people, too, but she’s selective in that department) and LOVES stories with solid characters and a good twist here and there – the ones you want to read again and again and again.
She lives with her significant other (and his endless patience) in Athens, Greece, so if something “sounds Greek to you”, it probably is! Yet, she writes only in English.
She has co-written the romantic comedy, The Falconer. You may find it on Amazon. Her sophomore solo effort Kepler’s Web (part of a Duology) is tentatively slated for release December 2018! And don’t forget Time Well Wasted is out now wherever eBooks are sold.
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Where to find Ms. Rivers:
Facebook
Website
Amazon
Goodreads
Instagram
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Editor’s Note: Unfortunately as of April 3rd, 2018 Amazon sadly decided to end the Kindle Scout program essentially leaving independent authors to work 100% by themselves on funding their work and growing their fan base.
The Procrastinate Reader