As authors, we don’t want just to tell stories that readers want to read. We mostly want to “engage” our readers and sell books like I have with the Virtus Saga. So what does this mean really?

Well to me, engaging my readers means I write stories in which they can see or imagine themselves to be, in which they can relate to and empathize with the characters. However, this is not always an easy thing to do. Or also to write about characters that refuse to leave the readers’ minds once the book is over. If you don’t catch a reader’s attention from the get go, then that reader and potential book buyer may and often does go elsewhere. So, how can you the author engage your readers and thus encourage them to buy your book?

1. Start your story in the thick of the action. Authors that start their books with a bit of action are going to be far more likely to “hook” the reader into wanting to know more. I also encourage authors who are creating author spotlights to choose action filled excerpts that end in a bit of a cliffhanger making readers want to …

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But I’ll start with the five things I for one didn’t know about the Greeks and that still baffle me.

1. There were eighteen Greek City-States, and they had democratic governments before Athens, which many people believe, was one of the first democratic governments.

2. The Greeks did not tax their own citizens. I thought this was really interesting––the Greeks were willing to tax non-citizens. But apparently, those taxes weren’t enough to support their community and pay for things like new buildings, armies and such. Instead, they relied on the wealthy in their communities to build buildings, ships and such to provide for the things their communities needed. Also, apparently if you were wealthy and did not provide for your community, society considered it very shameful, so most of the wealthy did donate.

3. The Greeks were some of the very first people to work on perfecting underwater diving. They …

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There have been rumors that the Ouija board is far older than the late 1800’s when it came into vogue. Stories of how it goes back to as far as ancient Egypt abound, but the truth is the Ouija board was created in the late 1800’s by Spiritualists. Spiritualism held with the belief that the dead could speak to the living. At this time in history, Spiritualism was sweeping the United States. The interesting thing is that the idea that the dead could speak to the living was very popular during this time in history, and the Ouija or talking board was just a tool created by Spiritualists to make this communication easier. The idea was so rooted in American culture in the late 1800’s that everyone was using Ouija boards. It is not like now where most Christians believe that the Ouija board is evil and can allow evil spirits into a person’s life. Even Christians were using Ouija boards at the height of the Spiritualist movement, and they thought nothing of using an Ouija board on Saturday night and then turning around and going to church Sunday morning.

All this being said, what made using an Ouija board …

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