Category Archives: writing

March 21, 2013 · 11:30 am

Guest Post – The Life of a Story

The below is a guest post from Scott J Robinson.
One of my earliest reviews was an unsolicited one of Scott’s book “The Brightest Light”, a fantasy piece which I thoroughly enjoyed, and would heartily recommend.  Since that review, Scott and I have exchanged various communications, and my respect for his work has only grown.
I’m happy to share his words with you:

 

The Life of a Story

 Written by Scott J Robinson | 27 September 2011

 I’ve been writing science fiction and fantasy since before I could read. I’ve always been working on one novel or another. Or two novels or another. Or three…

 This was especially the case when I was a kid. I would have an idea for a novel (it was always a novel, never a short story) and write non-stop for weeks. I generally didn’t stop until I had a better idea. And by the time I was in my late teens I had floppy disks full of stories I was crazy about. Some of the stories even made it into multiple files when my trusty Commodore 64 ran out of memory. But it was never love and each story was promptly forgotten when my next crush came along. Those stories taught me a lot of lessons about writing though, obviously, perseverance wasn’t one of them.

 But I can safely say that without all those false starts as a boy, I would never have written, Tribes of the Hakahei, a four volume series comprising The Space Between, Singing Other Worlds, When the Time Comes and A Different Kind of Heaven.

 Of course, it wasn’t The Space Between back then. In fact, it wasn’t remotely like the story as it now stands, but the seeds are there to be seen.

 I can’t remember the name of that once-was partial story, but I remember the concept and the prologue.

 Imagine a typical fantasy tavern in a typical fantasy city in a land that has already been conquered by the Dark Lord (he was probably called Qwerty or something similar— I had a thing for stupid names). And out the back is a courtyard where patrons can escape from the noise and the heat of the taproom. And sitting in this courtyard are two historians who have stumbled upon a prophecy that they think will save them all from DOOM.

 The prophecy (I spent weeks writing one—it was terrible) said something like “one person from each race will chose themselves and go off on a quest to defeat Qwerty so light could come to the land once more”. The usual thing. So, anyway, these geniuses decide they’ll call for volunteers from the six races (Elves, Dwarves, Trolls, Gnomes, Humans, and some kind of dolphin people) and send them off to save the world. And the historians had also twisted the words of the prophecy to suggest that it would be set in motion in that particular tavern on that particular day.

 Little did they know, however, that all their twisting had led them to nothing but a true interpretation. But the six members of the party who would save the world were already in the courtyard. They just didn’t know they were going to be saving anything and they hadn’t actually met each other yet.

 The Prologue ended with a line something like, ‘But that wasn’t how the story started at all.’ The plan was for me to then go and tell the stories of how those six characters arrived at the tavern. And then it would carry on from there with some of them getting together and others crossing paths and… If you think it all seems a bit complicated you are right. If you then go and add in the characters of the party assembled by the historians I had 12 main characters in multiple groups doing who knew what.

 And I would have been about 12 or 13 years old when I started writing all of this.

 Don’t panic though. I quickly came up with a better idea and Qwerty and his evil shenanigans were quickly forgotten.

 Now, fast forward to somewhere around 2002. I’m just a bit older and have completed a couple of novel manuscripts and done a lot more writing. And I want to write something BIG.

 Of course, I thought about that idea I’d once had, wondering if I could salvage anything from it. The idea had been too big for a teenager and was still too big so I set about cutting it back to its roots.

 Six characters from six wildly different races getting together to save the world?

 Yeah, but that was fairly standard as far as fantasy stories go. What if I made it science fiction? How would that change it?

 It would give me Tribes of the Hakahei.

 The first problem was coming up with a scientific explanation for the different races. Once I had that, the background was obvious. And once I had that, there could really only be one story. (Well, obviously that isn’t actually true, but one story immediately came to mind and it was a great fit).

 I did research (something I’d never done before) finding myths and legends that I could weave into my history. Robin Hood? Surely someone that good with a bow must be an elf? Machu Picchu stuck up on a mountain for no discernable reason? I could think of a reason. Crystal Balls? Yeah, I can do that. Those hobbit people they found in Singapore? Great. Easter Island? Toss that in the pot as well.

 What had started out as a boring fantasy plot (90% of plots are boring—details give them life and beauty) had, 20 years later, turned in to something different. It had turned into something fantastic that was rooted in reality.

 You never know where a story idea will come from and you never know where it might end up. That’s half the fun of writing. (Well, if you’re a Pantser, but that’s another story).

 

Scott J Robinson

 

www.scottjrobinson.com

http://www.amazon.com/Scott-J.-Robinson/e/B0074H4FDU/

@skywordz

http://scottjrobinson.wordpress.com/

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· 11:20 am

Characters

During my latest little bit of brain-wandering, I spent a little time thinking about characters. What started off as an idea for a random blog entry musing on the idea that its easier to write with characters one can readily identify with became a musing on my favourite characters, became an idea for an entry about character types, became a rambling entry. This, in fact.

It seems that some of the most popular characters I find are those who are flawed, who have a bit of a dark history, and a certain moral ambiguity to life and death, and yet have a strong personal moral code, have the ability to kick some serious ass, can throw some quippy one-liners (but never too much. Unless you’re Spiderman or Deadpool), have a strong mix of supporting characters, are fairly intelligent, and don’t tolerate things like racism, sexism, etc.

Wolverine, Han Solo, Repairman Jack, Captain Vimes (he’ll always be a captain in my mind), Iron Man, Sherlock Holmes, Buffy (and Rupert Giles), John Constantine, Captain Mal, Ellen Ripley, et al. Sometimes, the moral ambiguity about life and death is removed, and replaced with a very strong conviction about protecting life – Spiderman, Batman, particularly, but the dark history, the flaws, etc, remain.

True, they’re not necessarily THE most popular characters in their genres – Superman, Homer Simpson, Fred Flintstone, Doctor Who, Flash Gordon etc can be argued for those. But these are the ones that stand out for me.

I like my characters like this. I empathise with the strong personal moral code. I don’t have a dark history, but characters that do intrigue me. I want to learn more about a character, and I want to see them evolve.

I like knowing that a character can kick ass, but is vulnerable enough to face the very real possibility of defeat – overcoming it with skill, intellect, and ability. It’s like a comfortable risk – I know my favourite character *might* be defeated, but I have confidence in them to overcome. It can also lead to truly shocking moments when that character is defeated, or even killed.

Creating a truly memorable character can give an extra push to a story, and particularly a series.

Just a thought, anyway.

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January 2, 2013 · 3:56 pm

Hitting the target

Well well well… It finally happened.

Hallo, yes, I’m back, by the way. Happy New Year! The Mayans didn’t get me!

You can expect to see a few more posts from me imminently, including some new reviews (yes, I am still reading, and enjoying some of those books). And, funnily enough, it’s reviews I wanted to talk about today.

True Color ImageTrue Color Image

I’ve been drifting along with Clown for a variety of reasons, but I’m very happy to have picked up a number of reviews on the Goodreads and Amazon US and UK sites, and for that, I’d like to thank the reviewers. Obviously, commenting directly on a review is usually regarded as taboo, so I’ll refrain from that, but I will make some mentions here.

However, this isn’t going to be of the “Argh! You posted something negative, therefore I must bash your own book in retaliation!” nature. See, I’ve picked up some three star reviews, and I’m actually pretty pleased with them. They offer an insight from a reviewer/audience perspective. Authors far too often get so caught up with their own baby that they’re convinced it’s the greatest thing ever written, and the readers who don’t appreciate it are morons. There was a lot of things I tried to do with Clown, playing gently with expectation and subverting the genre in small ways. From the technical format, through to perspective, and a whole host of other things. For my own amusement and experiment, more than anything else. Some of it works, some of it doesn’t, and different readers will see things differently.

Did they pick up on everything that I wanted them to as readers? No.

Is that their fault or mine? It’s mine. I’m the writer.

Did everything I tried to do work for the readers? No.

Is that their fault or mine? It’s mine. I’m the writer.

Did they get where I was coming from, did they understand the innermost workings of my mind every time? No.

Is that their… you know what? Let’s just make it very clear:

If the reader does not “get” or “appreciate” something I was trying to do or say in my book, it is not through any fault of theirs. I am the writer. I am the conveyor of my story. The words, the phrases, the settings, the characters, the scenes… they all come from my head. Any message I want to get across has to be delivered by my hands.

Oh, and this isn’t some self-pitying rant, by the way. No writer has the ability to reach every single reader on the planet. I’m comfortable and confident enough to know that my writing succeeded on some levels. I’m not arrogant enough to insist it succeeded on all levels. The feedback I receive gives me something to work on. I’m damned grateful for it. Admittedly, a small part of me wants to weep and wail, “Why don’t they like me?”, but that’s just a natural emotional response. Write something, anything, and you set yourself up as a target.

Which brings me on to the second part of this post. I’ve also been lucky enough to receive a one-star review on Amazon’s US and UK sites.
Strangely, this is from an unverified purchase, and not from someone I’ve provided a free copy to.
Oddly, the reviews make strange comments: “For a book about a clown, this isn’t even funny”, “This book is about a clown lost in his own labyrinth”.
Weirdly, they are the reviewer’s only reviews. Well, apart from the one review they’ve done on their own book. Funnily enough, that got five stars.
But most bizarrely of all, and surely coincidentally, they’re from an author who received a very poor review from me (although, I hasten to add, the review I did write was a much restrained and far less damning one than his book deserved).

Sigh.

The bullseye was placed on my book, and someone took a cheap shot at it. Am I going to lose any sleep over a negative, malicious review like that? Heh. If it had been a well-thought out critique, then I would spend a lot more time thinking about it. As it is, I’ll focus on my other reviews, from people who’ve taken the time to read and digest, and give me something constructive to work with.

Thank you, peeps. Here’s to a bright and prosperous 2013!

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December 17, 2012 · 4:16 pm

Book Review – kind of

Book Review – Apocalypse of John by KGW Rahman

Well, this is a different one.

I received a request to review this book, and agreed to do so as usual. I duly read the book, and went to get the links as part of my usual reviewing process. To my surprise, I found that the book in question is no longer listed for sale.

Hmm…. What to do? I strongly suspect that the book has been taken down for the various issues which I would normally state in my review. So, I can either provide a review of a book no longer for sale (which would then be a different book when the work is done on it, so the review would no longer be an accurate reflection of the book on sale), or I can post no review at all and chalk it up to experience.

Or, I can use the opportunity to make a few general suggestions. Or all of the above.

I had a few issues with Apocalypse of John, but the story wasn’t one of them. The basic premise was a simple but good one:

God has gone AWOL, and Lucifer has simply moved into Heaven. For reasons of his own, he decides to bring about the end of days, and employs the Four Horsemen to set it all off. Death himself gets to dwell in the mind of the titular John, an everyday nobody, until Lucifer sends a nondescript demon to lead John towards the fruition of his masterplan. Angels, demons, humans and the Horsemen all mingle, with alliances formed and betrayed, plots plotted and chaos and death surrounding them. Throw in a mix of oddball background characters, and you should have a winner.

Theoretically.

So, this is where some little bits of advice are going to be thrown out in general:

1. Know your words, especially your homophones. The occasional lapse with getting a word wrong can be forgiven (here/hear, for example). When it happens with every single word that can have a similar sounding/differently spelt word, and every single time you pick the wrong word, you have a problem. Dictation software is not always your friend.

2. Use a proofreader. Your first draft is never good enough. You need to review, edit, review, edit, ask someone else to review, edit again, and repeat until done. A fresh pair of eyes works wonders, clears up the mistakes, and helps to trim the fat.

3. A little exposition here and there is fine. One huge dump after another is not.

4. Show more than tell. A poor author has to tell the reader about everything – every emotion, every reason, every action – because they lack the ability to put it subtly and still have the reader pick up on it.

5. Say your dialogue out loud. Or get someone else to. If it’s painful to say or painful to hear, it’s going to be painful to write, so change it.

6. Plot inconsistencies will kill the reader’s ability to lose themself in the plot.

7. Punctuation should not be thrown randomly onto the page. Ditto for capital letters.

8. “Said” is not the only way to describe how a character vocalises something.

9. If you are going to refer to established mythology/religion – get the names right, unless you’re consciously doing it across the board.

10. Telling the reader the same thing over and again, in the same manner, is like beating them around the head with an bat. It makes for painful reading.

11. Try and keep the tone vaguely consistent. Little bumps up and down are fine, but moments of brutal, graphic violence can sit at odds in a story which has been fairly whimsical until then.

I may be wrong, but these are things that will kill a book for me, regardless of how much I like the actual story behind the words. I hope to read the Apocalypse of John again, some day. And I hope that it’s in a much more polished state than it was when I received it.

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October 15, 2012 · 3:00 pm

Good. Bad. Your choice.

Wow.

Sitting here, staring at my computer screen, and the only word that I can think of is… Wow. And really, really not in a good way.

Wow.

The source of my amazement is, once again, the wonderful world of writing (wwow, perhaps?). Or, a little more specifically, the writing community. I want to make it very clear – there are some absolutely wonderful, lovely people in the writing community. There are those who will take the time to support others, to give honest, constructive feedback. Those who will share their knowledge and experience, answer questions from new authors, and actively go out of their way to help. There are those who will deal positively with criticism, and discuss it in a mature, polite, professional way. There are those with a wonderful sense of humour – wild, crazy, creative people. There are authors who have taken their time to do their work properly – who have invested in their books, spending time to write, getting proofreading done, formatting, editing, etc.

I’ve been privileged to speak to a large enough number of these people to have faith in them. Whether it be those who run promotional websites, and have bent the rules to help me with a promotion; or have responded positively to my reviewing (even when I’ve had to say some things which haven’t been very positive, in the spirit of honesty); or have sought me out on forum boards after constructively and helpfully answering my questions, and offered some extra tips; or have explained when they’re unable to review my book at this time, but invited me to submit later; or have invited me to Facebook/Goodreads groups and shared their knowledge, or politely explained my ignorant breaking of the rules without making me feel like a complete idiot; or who have discretely contacted me to discuss points I’ve raised about their books; or who have taken the time to sit down with me in a pub and share their experiences with me; and especially those who’ve just made me laugh.

They are the shining stars of the self-publishing world.

Unfortunately, stars shine brightest when they’re surrounded by the black, murky pitch of night. And it’s that darkness that is, right now, making me stare at my computer screen and say… Wow.

The internet abounds with tales of badly behaving authors – throwing tantrums left, right and centre. In some cases, the original reason may be justified. In some cases, the tantrum is based on the ridiculous. Whether it be the author who threw a colossal shit-fit because his post was moved from one forum discussion to another; the situation regarding an author who has allegedly been boosting his own profile (through doctoring photos to suggest he was one a booksigning tour with another author, as opposed to just attending a booksigning, for example); the perpetual spammer on forums; the malicious reviewer; the stalker; the revenge stalker, or any of a thousand types.

I don’t know the details of the situations well enough to say “He’s right, she’s wrong”, or “She’s an innocent victim, and he’s to blame”. There’s a lot of malicious rumour spreading, a lot of malicious forum posting/blog posts etc, and a lot of malicious reviews out there. But, dear lord, there’s some truly appalling behaviour going on in those forums. A quick flick through sees authors – intelligent, creative, talented people – acting like a pack of wild dogs. Savaging one another mercilessly – sometimes dragging in innocent bystanders.

In this situation, poster X has raised a question on a forum board. It’s a variant of a question they have raised several times before, with a fairly accusatory tone about reviews on Amazon and Amazon’s responsibilities to remove fake reviews, especially as they have affected poster X’s sales. A quick look reveals that some of these negative reviews could easily be malicious. Some of them are verified purchases. Poster X may have a point. Unfortunately for poster X, his response to every single negative review is to accuse the reviewer of being the same person, leaving their reviews to support their racism, and then continue with various strong responses to people he believes are responsible on the forum pages. He also engages in a spirited attack in a discussion around his book (on Amazon’s pages) being plagiarised, and the attacks the discussion originator has made on his book. And, in the forum itself, he seems to have had major problems with some other posters – accusations of plagiarism, bullying, malicious reporting, etc.

Again, I don’t know the situation – or a lot of the history – which surrounds this situation. Certainly, it would appear that poster X has been the victim of some malicious actions. However, poster X’s responses – born out of frustration and (real or imagined) persecution do not in any way help him. His multiple posts have attracted the ire of the forum community, and his responses to their ire have served only to fuel their fire. It’s now at the point where posters on both sides of the argument have become overly vicious and aggressive.

Worryingly, some of the comments have mentioned that such behaviour will be attracting more negative reviews to his book. Whatever his behaviour, or indeed, whatever the behaviour of any author out there, a malicious and negative review placed purely for spite is just a very unpleasant bullying tactic. By all means, have your discussions with that individual in the forum boards, but leave it there. Would you go to your boss to raise unwarranted complaints about a colleague who said something a little snarky at their desk one day, and sustain this over several months?

I’m not picking sides. I certainly believe that everyone involved in this particular situation is, at least a little, at fault. But generally, this habit of malicious reviews, flame wars, online abuse, and general bad habits damages the community as a whole. Booksellers are not in competition. There’s no situation where the entire reading world will only pick one book at a time to read collectively. Your book, his book, her book, my book, their book can all be bought and read – sometimes even by the same author.

Just as the internet abounds with tales of bad authors, it also contains a wealth of advice. Behave professionally. Don’t respond to reviews – but if you must, do so positively, and without attacking the reviewer. Don’t rush your work out. Don’t post fake reviews for yourself or for others.

You may have some justification floating around for your actions, or the actions you’re tempted with. But realistically, there’s really no good reason. By engaging in any of these, you create a negative perception of yourself – and you are your product. Be better. Do better.

Please.

And if you’re a new author, new to the self-publishing game, and you happen upon this post – don’t despair. As mentioned, there are some truly wonderful people in the online writing community. They’re worth seeking out.

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October 10, 2012 · 3:53 pm

Promotion suggestions and writing resources

Following on from the last post, I thought I’d give a few thoughts for those who do wish to go ahead with running a KDP Select promotion.

Please note that the following is based purely on my experiences, and is no guarantee for success.

The Book
First things first. Your book is finished. Congratulations!
I’m going to assume that at this point you have done all of the necessary additional bits, since they will play a huge part in your success. Formatting, editing, proofreading, etc.
Make sure that you have a good title (one that is pretty unique, so that it appears easily in searches), cover and blurb. These are essential hooks for drawing a new reader in.
Don’t publish yet.

Setting Up
Get yourself established in various forums. Kindleboards, Goodreads, Facebook, etc. Those communities are more likely to react favourably to someone who’s been positively posting for a while than for someone who drives by and spams with adverts for their books once in a while. Bearing in mind that these are your contemporaries and have a hell of a lot of advice and support to offer, if you don’t piss them off.
Search for genre-forums, and get active there as well.
In terms of self-preparation, start developing a thick skin. Your book is your baby, but it won’t be to everyone’s liking. You will attract (at best) some negative reviews. At worst, you may find yourself the victim of unwarranted attacks.
Contact reviewers as early as possible with a ready-to-go copy of your book. Approach them politely, remembering that they may not be able to respond in the time you need them to. Most will, where possible, try and support the launch of a new book at the time specified, with enough notice. A few genuine and positive reviews will help immensely. Do not, under any circumstance, solicit or write fake reviews! 

Publishing
When you do publish, make sure you have a firm online presence with the forums, Facebook page, Goodreads page, etc, and most essentially on Amazon’s author pages (all countries).

 The Promotion
Your initial audience for your book is most likely to be family and friends. Sorry, but that’s the truth. No one else knows you.
So, here’s my personal advice. You have up to five days. No one knows who you are. Your friends and family are most likely to help you once – any more is pushing it. Forums will help you when you have good standing, but they won’t do it over and again. Make your first promotion count. Go for broke with this one!

Scheduling your promotion
The start and end of the month are the most popular days for promotions. Try and avoid them.
If there is a particular event/holiday which ties in nicely with your book, look at that as a possible date to work with.
Try and get part of your promotion over a weekend.
Use the full five days – the downloads are cumulative during this period. The longer you can get them at the top of a genre-specific chart and keep them there, the better.
Give yourself at least one month before you kick the launch/promotion off.

Promoting the promotion
Your friends and family can be leant on a little bit to help. They might not all want to, but you can probably get away with it once. Use them.
Facebook, Twitter, etc – promote your promotion. Too much, and you risk spamming people who will unfriend/unlist/unfollow you. Go for a reasonable amount – you won’t be attracting new people with this, but you want to reach those you’re in contact with, and get them to spread the word to their friends.
Contact key websites that advertise free books (I’ve included a list of some at the bottom, but keep searching for more). Some will charge – and you need to make the decision on whether you want to pay. Some are wonderful, friendly and free – and will do anything they can to help out.
Contact Twitter accounts that promote free books – making sure to check any relevant #tags
Look at any alternative sources you can use – for example, a friend of mine runs a World of Warcraft podcast, and agreed to mention my promotion for a fantasy piece.
Depending on where you live, where you can access, you may want to consider physical advertising – you’d be surprised at what you can get for free/very low prices. I’ve handed out business cards printed with my book and promo days on it. If you can tie this in with a local event (e.g. Comic convention), then do it.
Look at unlikely sources – I’ve had (minor) celebrities retweet my promo days, for example. It certainly doesn’t pay to hassle them, but you may get lucky.
Look at where you’re promoting – remember that KDP Select currently works in America, UK, India, Germany, Italy, Spain and France. America is obviously the largest market, but don’t shoot yourself in the foot by missing an opportunity elsewhere as well.
Don’t forget that there are countless other places for free advertising – newspapers, free advert sites (e.g. Gumtree, Craigslist, etc) – some are worth popping a message in.
Keep some time ready for the kick-off of the promotion itself.
And understand that things sometimes change drastically…
You may fall ill. There may be a domestic or work emergency. Can someone else support your promotion that little bit for you?
The more thought you put into this, the more creative, the more work – the better your results will be. 

The promotion
And so, it arrives. The day of the promotion.
Ideally, you should have some time ready to go on this.
Let people know! Again, the reminders on your social media (provided you haven’t spammed people to death!) and requests for retweets/reposting/sharing etc.
Post adverts relevant for that day on whatever system you’re using (e.g Gumtree, Craigslist, etc) – you want them as visible as possible, and reposting/bumping isn’t always an option. Be warned, though, that some of these will not allow links to be posted – hence your title and image should be as easy as possible to find.
Remember time differences – your promotion will start at approx. 00.00hrs in the US, and 08.00hrs in the UK for example. Time your messages accordingly.
Keep your eye on the forum boards
Don’t cut the promotion short – remember your results are cumulative. Keep yourself as high on the genre charts for as long as possible.
Be ready to accept that the numbers you want may not be possible. ANY download is a good result.
Keep an eye on the various sites – problems with Amazon are not unknown. A problem in the UK may not affect the US, for example. Do not rely on your links – regularly go in and search for your title. Make sure it still appears, and contact Amazon immediately with any problems.
Keep an eye on the Kindle Community boards for issues as well. They are, thankfully, rare – but very frustrating when they hit your promotion.

What next?
Ideally, you should have some decent figures with your downloads, and you should see some of those figures converted into reviews.
There’s nothing wrong with sending out the occasional message/Tweet asking for people to post a review if they picked up a copy.
Maintain your online presence – don’t just do your promotion and run away.
Write! Now that you have someone willing to download your book, they’re interested. You want them to come back for more – so try and have something in the pipeline, at least.
And, if you can, help the writing community in return. If you want reviews, are you prepared to give them yourself? Are you willing to be a proofreader, beta-reader, formatter, editor? Maybe, maybe not. But it’s always nice if you can be.

And… that’s about it. I’ve been tempted to write a much longer article, but this covers what I want to say. Personally speaking, my promotional experimentations are over. I know what I need to change for my next book, and how I need to do it. My next stage will be to leave the KDP Select programme, and move Clown over for publishing elsewhere as well. I’ll keep you posted on that, too.

 

Links
Some useful links which may help:

Vistaprint are a fantastic company for discounted business cards and other assorted promotional material. They run regular special offers, and are well worth checking out – www.vistaprint.co.uk

Reviewers

http://www.theindieview.com/indie-reviewers/
http://www.pixelofink.com/
http://ereadernewstoday.com/
http://blog.booksontheknob.org/
http://www.indiebookslist.com/
http://www.fkbooksandtips.com/
http://www.ereaderiq.com/free/
http://www.kindleboards.com/index.php/board,42.0.html
http://kindlenationdaily.com/
http://flurriesofwords.blogspot.co.uk/
http://thekindledailydeal.com/contact.cfm
http://www.freebooksy.com
http://bargainebookhunter.com/feature-your-book/
http://www.gregscowen.com/2012/02/a-few-indie-book-reviewers/ -

Writing Websites

http://www.pixelofink.com/
http://ereadernewstoday.com/
http://blog.booksontheknob.org/
http://www.indiebookslist.com/
http://www.fkbooksandtips.com/
http://www.ereaderiq.com/free/
http://www.kindleboards.com/index.php/board,42.0.html
http://kindlenationdaily.com/
http://flurriesofwords.blogspot.co.uk/
http://thekindledailydeal.com/contact.cfm
http://www.freebooksy.com
http://bargainebookhunter.com/feature-your-book/
www.freebooksy.com
www.digitalbooktoday.com/
www.squiddoo.com
www.umenow.com
http://www.worldliterarycafe.com/
http://www.shelfari.com/
www.goodreads.com

Fantasy Specific

www.fantasy-faction.com
www.thefantasyforum.com
www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/
www.speculativevision.com/forum/
www.sf-fandom.com/vbulletin/forum.php
www.thefantasyforum.com/forumdisplay.php?216-Book-Forums
www.sffworld.com/forums/
www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/fantasy
www.fantasyforums.com/
www.bestfantasybooks.com/forums/

Samples of general advertising websites:

http://www.friday-ad.co.uk/
http://community.vivastreet.co.uk/freebies
http://www.gumtree.com/freebies
http://www.goodbuy.co.uk/category/Household/140/EverythingunderPound30orFREE.aspx
http://www.nationalfreeads.co.uk/
http://forsale.local.thesun.co.uk/free-merchandise/
http://www.localspider.co.uk/classifieds/category/buy-and-sell/freebies/
http://www.adpost.com/
http://london.craigslist.co.uk/zip/
http://www.ukclassifieds.co.uk/books-s55_0.html
http://www.itsmymarket.com/classifieds/for-sale/books/
http://uk24.org/books-dvds-magazines
http://www.hallolondon.co.uk/free_ads/for_sale/books_music_and_film_!117.html
http://loot.com/
http://www.abadoo.co.uk/
http://www.usnetads.com/
http://www.usfreeads.com/
http://freead1.net/post-free-ad-to-USA-42
http://boston.craigslist.org/
http://www.cathaylist.com/

Sample Twitter accounts for promotions:

@kindleebooks
@Kindlestuff
@KindleEbooksUK
@KindleBookKing
@KindleFreeBook
@free
@free_kindle
@FreeReadFeed
@4FreeKindleBook
@FreeKindleStuff
@KindleUpdates
@kindlenews
@DigitalBkToday

These lists are in no way comprehensive, but may help. Hopefully.

Good luck! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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· 2:37 pm

Why promote?

And so, another period of promotional activity has concluded. The numbers are in, and I have a few thoughts mulling round my head.

This marks the third promotion experiment I’ve tried, and I have one more idea to go (hopefully towards the end of the month).

I’ve tried a few variables in the promotions I’ve run – including length of promotion, timing of promotion, promotion of promotion, etc. I’m going to do a separate post on my conclusions and my recommendations, which hopefully someone will find useful.

In the meantime, I wanted to look at the big question that has to loom over doing a promotion:

Why…?
Why do a promotion at all?
Good question. Thank you for asking.
Let’s go to the start.

KDP Select
When an author uploads a book for sale through Amazon, they can either choose to enrol in the KDP Select programme or not.
By not selecting to be a part of it, their book can be sold through other platforms (e.g. iBooks, Smashwords, etc), and can be price-matched against them. Thus, if your book is free elsewhere, it can be free at Amazon.
By selecting KDP Select, you are entitled to five promotional days per ninety day period, which will post your book as free. Other benefits of KDP Select include allowing members of Kindle Prime to borrow your book (and you will receive a payment based on the number of borrows).
The cynical part of me suggests that it’s easier to go with KDP Select. An author will only have to upload to one system (Amazon), can get the extra payment for borrows, and can still do free promotions. For a new author, and one not exactly au fait with the various systems and intricacies, this represents a nice, simple, beneficial option. Particularly with the proviso that each run in KDP Select is for a (rolling) 90 day period, and you can choose to opt out at the end of it.

Promotions
The aim of a promotion is to… well, promote your book. In theory, with your book being offered for free, it should be more attractive to potential buyers.
Indeed, there are a variety of sites which actively promote free books on a regular basis – often without being requested to. Facebook, Twitter, blogs, websites, etc, can all provide listings.
Thus, the new author can tackle one of the major problems with sales – generating book awareness.
And, as more people download the free copy, the book rises up the respective Free Charts in Amazon, so that even more people will see it, and more people will download it. Fantastic! The theory being that the more people who have your book, the more will read it, the more will spread the word, the more will write reviews, and the more your sales will pick up afterwards. Right?
Hmm… Well. Things have changed a little bit at Amazon, and the results you aim for may not actually help.

Problems with promotions
Previously, having a high number of downloads meant that your book would linger a little longer in the paid book charts, and so readers would be more likely to pay for it outside of promotion (“If everyone else is reading it, I should too!”). This no longer happens. The promotion finishes, and your book disappears from those charts again.
Scanning around the internet and various boards has a very negative approach to free downloads. A lot of it suggests that the majority of those who download a free book won’t actually read it. I was a tad sceptical, until I realised I do the very same thing myself.
Another approximate figure being bandied around is that it takes approximately 700 free downloads to get back 1 review. Again, scepticism reared its ugly head, until reality stomped down on it. I’ve personally found this figure to be about right.
And, perhaps the last thing that goes against a promotion – if readers know your book is being regularly given away for free… why would they pay for it?

Benefits of Promotions
Well, there wouldn’t be much point to doing a promotion if it was all doom and gloom, now would it?

So, let’s go with the most obvious. A promotion promotes both you and your work. It increases awareness. If your sales are virtually nil, and you have no reviews at all, getting any kind of awareness is going to help.
Your book may not be read immediately. Or in the next year. But maybe it will be read. And it’ll have hit the right audience. And they’ll come back. And they’ll buy your next book. And write reviews. And be your bestest friend ever! Well, maybe not that last, but if someone’s taken the time to download your book, there is a better chance that they’ll read it than if they never found it at all. How they’ll react to it is down to them and down to you.
Promotional activity can be tied in for a bit of fun, encouraging people to know you and your work – generally feeling better about it, so they’re more likely to react better to it.
By taking a chance on a new book, the new reader can be lead to your other books.
It’s also a nice little ego-boost, sometimes, provided you have realistic expectations. Running a promotion without any promoting of that promotion can still result in a small, but decent number of downloads.

So… To promote or not to promote?
The choice, as every choice must be, is yours. Look at the facts. Look at the benefits, and do a little research.
Are you writing purely for money, or purely for the joy of having someone else read your book and enjoy it? Or, are you somewhere in the middle? Perhaps you’re a little like me – you want people to read your stories, but you’d quite like to get paid for it.
Some writers get great benefits from a promotion. Some see virtually nothing.
A promotion which gets a high number of downloads requires a lot of work. A lot of work.
But done at the right time, in the right way, that KDP Select promotion can help you. A lot.

My recommendations?
Check the next post…

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October 2, 2012 · 3:34 pm

Free book! Clown, by Paul Montgomery

Okey-dokey, my favourite peeps, it’s about that time!

Yes, freeby promotion time!

Yes, it's promotion time

Clown is going free!

Clown, that lovely book on the side there, will be running free on Amazon from October 5th until October 9th. Five free days to get a new book for your collection. To take a trip into the fantastic. To see what all the fuss and delight is about.

Go on.

Mark the date in your diary, and get a copy for yourself. You know you want to. All the cool kids are doing it…

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September 26, 2012 · 2:39 pm

Inspiring inspiration

Inspiration comes in many forms. And like sleep, it is at its most elusive when its being searched for.

So, on to the aspiring and actual writer’s most useful tool: A notepad. Or, at least, something to record those invaluable ideas when they arrive. Whether it be a notepad, an application for your phone/tablet/laptop, a Dictaphone, or the back of a cigarette packet. The absolute worst thing is memory. “Ah, I don’t need to write it down. I’ll remember it later.” No. You won’t.

But the internet, and the blogosphere abound with suggestions about how and where to take notes. I just need to reinforce it, because, let’s face it, no one wants to lose that million-book-selling idea. Make sure you record it. Someway, somehow, make sure it’s recorded – and in a way that will make sense to you later!

Instead of belabouring that point, I wanted to scribble a few lines about where I find inspiration these days.

It was suggested, some time ago, that I go for a walk – watch the world, and pick up inspiration from the things around me. Sometimes that works well. More often than not, it doesn’t. Dreams? Sure, dreams are good – depending on what you can remember. Lots of people use them.

No, what works best for me is other people.

Yes, yes, hush. No plagiarism here. See that book over there, the one called Clown? It’s called Clown. It’s an original piece of work. It’s not about Ebeneezer Clown, or Sherlock Clown, or somesuch. If you’re in any doubt, click on it. Trial it, buy it, read it. Go on, you’ll enjoy it. (OK, shameless shilling over)

What I’m talking about is when a line or an image leaps out at me (as the audience), and becomes something I can play with. In the context it’s presented, it can mean one thing, although it might even be something completely throwaway, that means something specifically to me. My background, my experiences, my outlook, my knowledge, my beliefs, my ethics, my circumstances – everything that makes me uniquely me, all conspire to take that one particular phrase that means nothing to anyone else, and make it my own.

It might take a while. It might take a lot of mulling about. It might take a lot of playing with. It might take to the point where something else comes along to spark it into life, and then it all makes sense.

I have the aforementioned notebook, filled with scribbles. Some names, some lines, some phrases, some outlines. A lot of them stand alone. Some of them are vaguely linked. Sometimes when I flick through it, I can start to draw a line between one particular entry and another. It may be a character and a situation, and together they suddenly click.

Sometimes something just sticks. At the moment, there’s a line going through my head from a song. It’s a single, throwaway line from a song which was never particularly huge. Or, at least, it wasn’t for me. I hadn’t heard of it before it popped up in a movie soundtrack. Me and Julio Down By The School Yard, by Paul Simon, appearing in the latest Muppet Movie. Some great lines in there, but the one that stood out was this:

“I’m taking my time, but I don’t know where”

Every time I hear that, it makes me smile. It’s a line that, for me, fills with possibility. “I’m taking my time” is that old phrase, perfect for a casual attitude, that suddenly gets twisted “but I don’t know where.” It suddenly changes to “I’m taking my Time, but I don’t know where”, and becomes that much more interesting and inspirational.

Who? Who are you, my mysterious friend, so casual in where you’re going, and so unknowing of your destination. And more to the point, how are you carrying your time? What kind of world or circumstance exists where you can carry your time? Why don’t you know where you’re going? What happens when you do get there?

Questions, questions. Answer them, and you have your tale. It’s one of those perfect leaping-off points. For me. I want to do something with this one, simple little line, that could make a whole world. This could easily be a quick little story, or a sprawling epic. It can easily be a sci-fi, fantasy, horror, thriller, comedy – or possibly even all at once. Hell, it could be whatever I want, and that’s what works for me. The best kind of inspirational moment. I can introduce other random scribblings in my book of ideas, and get something truly wonderful from it. Or, I can labour with it, and get something poor. Or, I can just sit on it and do nothing, but think of how wonderful it could be… (Fear of starting. A topic for another day…)

But, let’s make this clear. This is what works for me. It might work for you. It might not.

That’s the big trick with writing. Finding what works for you. Personally, I can’t write in the silence everyone else dictates. Can’t stand it. I need some comfortable, familiar background noise. That’s what works for me. By all means, take a principle, but adapt and personalise it. You have to find what works for you.

If you find your best ideas come when you lie on your bed with your finger up your nose and you stare at the ceiling… Go for it (although not when entertaining company. It’d just be a bit too weird).

If you find you write best when you’re on the train, with someone sharply jabbing you in the ribs to keep you awake… Go for it.

What works for you, works for you. Do not rely on someone else’s techniques. Find what works for you.

This is what works for me.

And I wish you every success in the world!

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September 20, 2012 · 11:05 am

Give ‘em a hand

Another little diversion today.

It seems I’m getting spurred on to different topics by watching things at the moment. Not too bad a reason, I suppose. This time it’s from a couple of different sources, and they got me to thinking about audiences.

To explain a little more. Periodically, I enjoy watching professional wrestling (yes, I know it’s “fake”, thank you kindly). From a story-telling point of view, it’s always fascinated me, existing as a genre of writing and story-telling all of its own. Performed live (like ballet, theatre, opera); with a weekly “script” (like soap opera, or tv show); with intertwining plots and characters; a degree of improvisation (promos and in-ring activity, especially if something goes wrong); character evolution over several years; story-telling which must captivate both in-ring during a match, on a live promo, and over the course of several weeks; caters to young children, teens, adults, men and women, both those who believe it’s real and those who know it’s not. The backstage politics are at least as interesting as what goes on in front of the camera. Put aside your disdain, and actually try to understand it, and it’s amazing that it exists in the current form of (rigged-fights) sports entertainment.

Anyway. Several years ago, for those not in the know, professional wrestling worked through its “Attitude Era”, where the three main promotions of the time (ECW, WCW, and WWF – now WWE) pushed the boundaries of good taste a little further than usual. I’ll talk some other time about the dubious nature of story-telling, but there’s one incident I wanted to highlight:

A wrestler by the name of Mark Henry had been portrayed as a ladies’ man, and ended up with a very senior girlfriend (Mae Young, then aged around 75), who managed to fall pregnant during the course of their romance. This being at the sleazy time of wrestling, she ultimately ended up giving birth to a false hand (don’t ask). The reason I use this as an example, was that this storyline took place around 1998/9. Mark Henry left the promotion, and returned, his character undergoing several changes. The wrestling industry as a whole changed drastically, switching the target audience to good, clean, wholesome family entertainment. Earlier this year (some 13-14 years later), WWE’s flagship show, Monday Night Raw, celebrated its 1,000th episode. Amongst all the actions and storylines, backstage skits and whatnot was a three second clip, wherein Mae Young (now aged 89) turned up with a young man dressed as a hand, who introduced himself as her son – and no other explanation.

Which, in a very roundabout way, brings me to my point. That moment, which must have lasted all of a couple of seconds was an inside joke. The target audience of today is drastically different to the target audience of then, and most of the old fans have deserted wrestling as a whole. No one who had started watching after 2001 would have got the joke without an explanation, which couldn’t be provided as it would be wholly unsuitable. And yet, they put it in. Three seconds. A little nod and a wink for those who did remember the old days. It cost them nothing. It alienated no one. And those who did get it, judging by online chat, found it hilarious to get that totally unexpectedly thrown in.

In subsequent episodes, more little throwaway lines have been thrown in here and there. Amusing on their own, but if you know what’s actually going on, the backstory behind it, it becomes that little bit more amusing. An inside joke. Done right, an inside joke can be a wonderful little treat. If it’s handled right, it can be a nice nod to the long-term fan, or those with specialist knowledge, and doesn’t alienate the casual reader/watcher. It can be a nod back to an earlier episode or situation. It can be entirely for the amusement of one person, or for hundreds.

When I wrote Clown, I threw in a couple of “insider jokes”, only recognisable if you pick up on them. One is the naming of a character (and I’m sure many, many authors do this) based on a real person. The real-life person couldn’t be more different from the character portrayed, but the name fit perfectly with the character. On another note, purely for my own amusement, the first four paragraphs of one chapter start with the words Once, Upon, A and Time. It harms no one, but hopefully it’ll make someone out there smile.

Getting the balance is key, though. Too many inside jokes, and people start to tune out. If I feel like too much of a series, a show, or a book is sailing over my head, I’m not going to enjoy it.

So, all of which brings me round to the two points I’m making:

  • In-jokes are good, in moderation. Reward your reader, but don’t alienate them.
  • Professional wrestling, as a form of story-telling, is worth your attention.

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