Counter Currents Gets Silver Medal

Counter Currents is the 2013 silver medal winner for Historical Literature Fiction – Modern (set 1500-1940 AD) awarded by Dan Poynter's Global Ebook Awards. This is the first novel by Shaun J. McLaughlin.

Get the Correct Words for a Historical Era

When I wrote my previous novel, Counter Currents, and while I write its sequel, I often stop to check if words I use are true to the era in which I set the story. I feel I must do more than engage and entertain my readers: I must not misinform.

Most important to me are the verbs and nouns I choose for narration and conversation. I strive to make sure those words were part of the common vernacular in the story’s era.

Sound difficult? Not so much!

Researching My Novel: Dark Southern Sun

Writing authentic historical fiction, I believe, requires research. Such novels cannot be constructed entirely from fiction. My research for the sequel to Counter Currents took me to southeast Australia.

Many Literary Awards Exclude Indie Authors

In the past, I often bought books that won or were shortlisted for one of the major English language literary prizes. Not any more. When I became an indie author, I began to boycott such books because many prize-granting organizations specifically exclude self-published authors. How can you claim to award the best if you exclude vast numbers of authors?

Make Sure the World Can Buy Your Ebook

Recently I advised self-published authors to diversity their ebook formats: I said go beyond Kindle to include sellers who offer the epub format. Here’s a further tip for my American colleagues: diversify your epub vendors to make sure your foreign fans can buy your books.

Indies Should Publish on All Platforms

We indie authors work hard to coax readers to buy our books. When even a trickle of sales of an ebook is cause for euphoria, it astounds me that so many authors ignore nearly 40% of the American ebook market and the majority of the Canadian market.

The Adult Content Dilemma

My first novel, Counter Currents, contains one nude swimming scene (pretty tame stuff) and one explicit sex scene. The latter is not gratuitous--it is a natural evolution of a relationship between two characters in the story. I included it because I wrote the book for well balanced adults.