Guest Post- Emoto Books: The Fusion of Written Fiction and Expressionistic Art by Ron Gavalik

Today I have Ron Gavalik on to talk about Emotobooks.  This sounds very different and incredibly interesting.  Please let us know your thoughts in the comments!

Emotobooks: The Fusion of Written Fiction and Expressionistic Art

Ron Gavalik

Thank you to Candace for allowing me to guest post.

As a writer and publisher, it’s always been a goal to bridge the gap between the cerebral gratifications of well-plotted fiction writing and the visual stimulation of illustrative art. The one day I had a mini-epiphany. Insert expressive, emotionally representative imagery in written stories, during moments of emotional consequence. By delivering a visual of what a character feels, the reader becomes more intensely immersed in the story.

Emotobooks are written fiction stories, not comics or graphic novels. The few emotional abstract images woven in the stories are the dream-like visuals each of us experience in the middle of the night.

The term Emotobook is a portmanteau word I conjured as a memorable label for the very first fiction medium for smartphones and tablets. For the first time, readers can now see actual representation of character emotions right on the page for a fun, interactive experience.

Stories are published as EmotoSerials or EmotoSingles. EmotoSerials are monthly-released, continuing stories, much like TV dramas or miniseries that continue until their climactic ends. EmotoSingles are individual experiences.

I launched Grit City Publications in July of 2011, with the first Emotobook series titled Grit City, a seven-part story about Dillon Galway, an idealistic freelance journalist, who scrapes out a living reporting on corruption. Since then, we’ve grown the Emotobooks Catalog into an array of fun genre fiction titles in Sci-Fi, Romance, Fantasy, Mystery, Thriller, and Horror.

Each Emotobook title consists of three creators: the author, editor, and illustrator. It’s our philosophy that three contributors on each Emotobook delivers a richer, more flavorful story. The creators even offer Autograph Cards and suggest mood settings, such as food, drink, and music. This way our fans can achieve a full-bodied experience.

Emotobooks accommodate a new audience, who desire a fast “full story experience” on smartphones, iPods, computers, or tablet readers in about 30 to 60 minutes. They can be purchased from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other retailers.

Our editors are currently seeking the best genre fiction for the Emotobooks transformation. It’s required that fiction writers read our submission guidelines and the free handbook, How to Create Emotobooks, before submitting. Our publishing model is unique and we require long-term participation from authors for everyone’s success.

Now that you’ve been introduced to the Emotobooks Revolution, I hope you’ll join our Readers Cult and begin collecting the coolest titles. We even offer free Autograph Cards to our fans. What it really comes down to is we write, edit, and illustrate the best modern fiction for our fans. Without you, we wouldn’t be here. Thank you.

Ron Gavalik’s Bio:

Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Ron Gavalik is a seasoned freelance journalist and fiction author of the successful Grit City thriller series. As Publisher for Grit City Publications, he oversees the Emotobooks Revolution. Ron holds an M.A. in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University and a B.S. in Marketing Communications from Point Park University. When not writing, you can find him in the outdoors of Southwestern Pennsylvania on his trail bike, hiking, or fishing.

Review & Giveaway: Precinct 13 by Tate Hallaway

Precinct 13 by Tate Hallaway

paperback, 320 pages

Expected publication: August 7th, 2012 by Berkley Trade

Source: Publisher

Recent college grad Alex Conner is thrilled to have landed a job as the Hughes County coroner/medical examiner in Pierre, South Dakota. But when her first day on the job ends with a missing corpse, Alex starts to wonder if she would have been better off collecting unemployment...

When the cops made some cryptic comments about being careful with the body they brought in, Alex just thought the boys in blue were messing with her. That is, until something freaky happens that no amount of med school could have prepared her for. By the time Alex gets herself together, the body has disappeared and the other residents of the morgue start talking her ear off.

After working up the courage to report the missing body, Alex is transferred to the mysterious Precinct 13 where she discovers that her new co-workers—including a cute technomage named Jack—are paranormals just like her. Now, Alex is being encouraged to use her ability to speak to the dead to solve crimes. And despite being in the middle of nowhere, Hughes County sure does have a lot of paranormal activity…

First of all, lets get the genre label cleared up.  My copy of the book is labeled as a paranormal romance, but I can tell you that this reads much  more like an urban fantasy.  The one thing (for me) that differentiates the two is paranormal romance has sex.  Well, more descriptions of it anyway.  And while we know that there IS sex in the book we see none of it.  For me that's a good thing, I like UF better than PNR.  However, there is romance and I assure you, you'll do plenty of swooning!  And this opens it up to the younger readers.  I would say this is entirely appropriate for mature YA readers (my opinion).

Okay, so have you read Tate Hallaway yet?  I love her Garnet Lacey books (though I still need to read the last one) but they are a little bit extreme.  I mean, her books teeter on the edge of a little too much, like not realistic feeling anymore, or slightly ridiculous.  I still liked them, but I'm pointing this out because this series doesn't seem to teeter quite on the ridiculous.  While it's chock full of supernatural beings of every type, it all felt kind of real.  And there was funny thrown in without going over the top and touching ridiculous.

So the thing is... I loved this book!  First of all, Alex is a great character!  It took a bit to warm up to her (like a chapter or two) but then I saw her awesome personality come out and I adored her.  She's kick ass and not at all shy.  She's been in the dark about the supernatural until a dead body walks out of her morgue.  Suddenly she realizes that she really did know more than she thought.  She's introduced to Precinct 13, which deals in all manner of supernatural and it's like she's suddenly found her home, her true self and her passion.  And she's good at it.  She loves it almost right away.  It's like she's waited her whole life for it to happen.  And while this book has a lot to do with her learning about it and accepting it, it really didn't slow down for her learning or explanations.  There was nothing heavy about this book at all.  It was constant action and moved along without going too fast and leaving us behind. 

Then comes Valentine and well, I can't even say anything about this dude, other than you want to know his secret.  Trust me, you do.  And you'll love it!

This is one phenomenal world.  I loved each new thing that came into play.  I was stunned by how creative the author managed to be in a world that's inundated with UF books and supernatural beings.  Not everyone can pull off such a big magical feat, but Tate Hallaway did it, this book rocked my socks!

 Disclosure:  I received a copy for review purposes, all opinions expressed are my own and I was not paid or influenced in any way.

Giveaway:

I realized that I ended up with two copies.  As my finished copy is damaged from shipping I am giving away my ARC.  This is a solid yellow cover (well, with the title and stuff) so isn't pretty or anything.  But the inside is the same (or close to it!)

You must be 16 or older to enter.

Open only to addresses in the US.

Ends 8/6/12

Fill out the rafflecopter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Confident Reads (2): Let's Talk Covers! (Part 1)

Hello everyone!  Welcome to the second week of this brand new feature!  Confident Reads is a way to open communication between readers and indie authors.  It is to help readers feel confident in the books they spend their money on, and for authors to feel confident in the book they publish.  You can find this feature each week (Wednesdays except in September when it will be Tuesdays) discussing a different subject regarding indie books and authors.

Last week we discussed the differences in publishing and Jeff Bennington helped clarify the differences.


This week we are talking covers!  Any book person knows that a cover is important.  It's the first thing we see.  If we see a cover that catches our eye we're likely to look up the description.  Personally, I'll often get a book if it has a great cover and sounds good but I skip a book if it has a lame cover even if it sounds good (unless I see a rave review by a reviewer I trust).


Indie authors are different than traditionally published authors because they have full control over their covers.  They can do whatever they want.  Sometimes this is good and they go all the way making sure their cover is perfect.  Unfortunately others don't have a clue and end up with not so great covers.  The things is, we all have different tastes and we can't really speak for everyone when we dislike a cover.

I asked people "What do you want/need in a cover?" and this is what they said:

Robbi Sommers Bryant at www.robbibryant.com says:

Something that draws me in.

 Beth Cutwright at bethartfromtheheart.blogspot.com says:

 I like a cover that is like a work of art...inviting, lovely...

 Jessica @ Books: A true story http://www.booksatruestory.com says:

To look professional. If it looks thrown together I might think the book was thrown together, too. I love this indie cover of Urban Hunters by Gary Taaffe. It was a big reason I picked up his book.

 Lizzy http://erlessard.wordpress.com says:

 I like it to accurately describe the book.

Jim Collette at www.jimcollette.com says:

Simple is good.

 While I agree with all of these comments the ones I want to point out that may not be as obvious to people is to look professional and to accurately describe the book.  Another one that's big for me is that I want to stand out.  In a good way, of course.  There are so many covers that are similar or even just remakes of other books and I REALLY don't like that.  I did some searches and I found that there are quite a few covers that seemed to be based off of some big name traditionally published books.  Please don't do that.  Come up with your own cover, don't copy someone else's.  Now, I do know that covers can be made from stock photos and other people may use those same ones for their covers.  I don't like this, but sometimes it's unavoidable.

Robbi Sommers Bryant talks about covers in a post HERE and this is a fabulous example of a cover accurately describing what's in the book.

Now, does anyone buy a book JUST for the cover?

Beth Cutwright at bethartfromtheheart.blogspot.com says:

Not really, but if it is eyecatching, it helps.

 Jessica @ Books: A true story http://www.booksatruestory.com says:

I don't purchase books just based on the cover, but I have passed up a lot of indie books because the cover looked poorly done. If there aren't many reviews for an indie book, the only thing I have to go off of is the cover.

 Lizzy http://erlessard.wordpress.com says:

My favorite book covers echo the genres I enjoy. I'm attracted especially to those with a Gothic feel. I generally avoid covers that hint at erotic or contemporary literature because I'm simply not interested in those genres.

Jim Collette from www.jimcollette.com says:

I'll pick the book up if it has a good cover, but the first few paragraphs I read had better do something for me or it goes back on the shelf.

 My opinion?  If I see a cover I love I'll look further.  If it's free I'll grab it for cover alone.  But if it's .99 cents and up I need to see at least a description.  And if someone I trust has reviewed it and loved it then I'll probably grab it.


Each week I spotlight an indie title that has my stamp of approval.  This weeks Stamp of Approval is Exiled by M.R. Merrick

 Check out my review HERE.  This book was so fantastic that I actually labeled it as EPIC.  This was one of the first indie books I read and I wasn't sure what to expect and was blown away!  This is a good mix of urban fantasy and epic fantasy and has fantastic characterization!  AND it's a male narrator, which is a personal favorite. 
This book was so fantastic that it's ended up on my favorites list for this year.  I very highly recommend you check it out!

And since we're discussing covers this week, this is an example of a good cover.  I love trees on covers and the font is bold and easy to read.  It's a unique and memorable cover.  Love it!

Buy the kindle book of Exiled (The Protector Book 1)or Buy the paperback from amazon.  *These are affiliate links and if you purchase through them I will receive a small percentage which goes toward maintaining my blog.*

There are a few authors that want your opinion on their covers.  This is anonymous.  They won't know it's you and so please be honest without being mean.

For the comments:  What do you want/need in a cover?  What is important to you?
Check back next week as M.R. Merrick is going to guest post about covers!