Monthly Archives July 2011

Conflict cover

July 30, 2011 Uncategorized

A quick update or two. First, I just received a draft of the Conflict of Interest cover, once again produced by Razzle Dazzle Designs.Any feedback would be welcome.Also Fire Season will be up on Indie Spotlight today. Read the feature and article here.And finally a slightly unexpected effect of D.A.Boulter's Indie/BBoS project was a sudden boost to The Docks, which briefly jumped to 37K in sales rank yesterday for the first time. The details can be found here: Kindleboards. Of course, an endorsement like that gives me a lot to live up to with the next book. Better get back to work on "Conflict".

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Give an indie book a chance?

July 27, 2011 Uncategorized

If you pick an indie author's book up, what are the chances it will be good?A few weeks back I took part in an experiment on the Kindleboards. D.A. Boulter volunteered to purchase up to 20 books with only one criteria: that the title hadn't sold anything on Amazon that month. I volunteered The Docks. The results are now in (full results here).In total he picked up 15 books, and has read the first seven. In summary all were enjoyable reads, and only one was marked down for proofing and editing issues. He comments that

"‘Mountains of dreck’ may exist out there but, within this small sample of non-selling books, I didn’t find it."

It is a good point. I've heard people refer to self-publishing as "putting the slushpile online" but I have also encountered raw unedited slush. There are

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Conflict of Interest SampleSunday

July 24, 2011 SampleSunday, The Docks

This sample is from an unpublished piece: A short sheak preview sample from "Conflict of Interest". This is still being edited, so I don't guarantee it won't change before the book comes out.

I stowed the papers in my own safe and secured it, hiding it as best I could in the cramped room. There's no point in stealing something if someone else takes it off you before it can be safely passed on. Then, brushing myself down, I reminded myself the job was only half done.

The second part should be simpler. Shoving the gear, ropes and knife I'd used for the first stage under the bed, I pulled on a non-descript dark green fleece and flipped the hood up to hide my face from cameras.

I walked out of the building where I'd rented the office – cash. no questions, they were desperate

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An update

July 22, 2011 Promotion

Things are rather busy at the moment, but so this is just going to be a status update.Conflict of Interest, the sequel to The Docks, is undergoing a lot of editing. The first round of editing added extra plot and tightened up the action. Now it's back for a second re-read and I'm hoping the editor likes it. I'm working on replacing the Googlesite with a decent website, hopefully something which looks a bit better and is more likely to sell books.The real problem right now is promotion. Due to contract restrictions from my work, I am very limited in what I can do to "promote or endorse" a product - one reason why I use a penname. However, it has been confirmed this does mean I can't use my real name for things like Facebook and setting up a fanpage, or even admin my own fanpage, because it

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The Docks (Crime novella) is an undiscovered gem!

July 13, 2011 Uncategorized

The title is taken from the feature that lovethyauthor have just done on The Docks. Reviews and comments like this make writing worthwhile, or at least let you know some readers like what you're writing.*Bargain!* The Docks (Crime novella), 4 stars, is an undiscovered gem!

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The Docks – a new review

July 9, 2011 Reviews, The Docks

"Great short story that I highly recommend and I look forward to reading more from this author!" Read It, Review It

The Docks just got its first review, a solid 4 stars from Read It, Reviewed It. I'm delighted and rather relieved since I'd heard that novellas did not do well online. It was a nice piece of news to end a Friday with!The Docks is available on Smashwords and Amazon, with samples available free on both. Alternatively, it was last week's SampleSunday, and the first chapter can be read here.

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Mirror, Mirror – duplicate cover images

July 5, 2011 Articles and Opinions

It has been commented on recently that many covers are very similar. With the rise in e-books, self-publishers, small press, vanity presses and reverse vanity, the number of these covers also appears to be rising. (*Many of the images on this entry are served by Amazon. Adblocker users may find them hidden.)

It isn't just small press that is affected. A particularly high profile example just happened to Stephenie Meyer, whose cover for the Host is very similar to an earlier book: De Beproeving by Tess Franke (spotted by IcanhazCheeseburger).This isn't a new thing. In high turnover markets like pulp it's been going on since the fifties. (The Rap Sheet documents various examples). It isn't just that it is happening more now, due to more commercial stock image catalogues, but that with

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SampleSunday – The Docks

July 3, 2011 SampleSunday, The Docks

Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | SmashwordsGenre: CrimeWord Count: 17,500Cost: $0.99The sequel, Conflict of Interest, is due out at the end of July.Harry's in more trouble than he knows, and he knows he's in a lot.His freedom depends on covering his tracks, and uncovering the truth before the police do. One person holds all the pieces. Unfortunately Harry killed him last night.Murder, manslaughter or self-defence? When Harry agreed to a light spot of arson, he didn't know what was really planned. Then the bomb went off. Now he's confessed to burglary, could be on the hook for murder and is desperately trying to dodge a terrorism charge. On his side, a bunch of crooks and the solicitor he's dubbed Ms. Pitbull. Against him are his former accomplices, the police, and the inspector

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The Docks Book Trailer

July 1, 2011 The Docks

A new book trailer for the Docks. Please let me know your opinions (be aware, this does have sound effects):<!---->Read a sample on Smashwords or AmazonA new month, new possible sales channels, a in-character interview with Harry from The Docks going up, and hopefully at the end of it, Conflict of Interest ready to be announced and released. I think I'm going to be busy.

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