Tuesday, 10 April 2012
When is a book not a book?
The interesting thing about Amazon is that everything that is sold in their books section is classed as a book. No matter whether it's a single sheet of A5 with one word on it or the complete works of Tolstoy.
So, should there be a separate nomenclature for shorter works of fiction? I appreciate we have terms like: short story, micro fiction, nanofiction and so but they are still clumped together under the term 'Novel' or 'Novella'.
When I buy a novel I expect about 80,000 words or in laymans terms 'a good long read', when I buy a 'novella' I expect a 'good short but punchy read'. Short stories, microfiction and nanofiction are often collected into a single work and called 'a collection of...' therefore I expect another 'good long read of different stories.'
But what if what I'm writing doesn't fit neatly into those categories? I don't have enough words to call it a novel or a short story and I don't have a collection of them to bundle together. The buyer then feels short changed when they are buying my story and may not return to buy my work again.
I now want to publish the e-booklet. A single work of fiction that leaves the purchaser under no illusion that what they are getting is a very very short story. But then do we have further subcategories such as e-pamphlet, which would be smaller than a booklet?
Monday, 2 April 2012
Promo Video is Now Available
Friday, 30 March 2012
New flexi screen Kindle or Sony ebook coming soon?
It's been a long time coming but the flexible screen is finally here. Who'll be the first brand to release it into the wild?
http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/29/lg-flexible-e-paper-display-launch/?a_dgi=aolshare_facebook
Friday, 24 February 2012
What lessons I've learnt from publishing my first book?
What lessons have you learnt from publishing your first book?
I've learnt a couple of things recently and it's a good job you can republish your book electronically really quickly.
1. Carefully select the friends who can and will edit your work efficiently and honestly.
I have many fiends who are writers of various disciplines but some are better than others.Someone who I'd previously not thought of for editing has just provided really valuable advice and criticism that will take a while to fix and another who I thought would be ideal just didn't want to help in enough detail. Lesson learnt - don't discount anyone until they've done you one favor.
2. Provide all editors with the best draft you can have not a crap first copy. In my haste to get a book out there I irritated some friends by giving them a first draft that wasn't really worthy of name. Make sure it's at least readable and all your tenses are in order.
3. Don't be too hasty to get the book out. Slow down and step back from it for a while.
So what have you done that you won't do again?
1. Carefully select the friends who can and will edit your work efficiently and honestly.
I have many fiends who are writers of various disciplines but some are better than others.Someone who I'd previously not thought of for editing has just provided really valuable advice and criticism that will take a while to fix and another who I thought would be ideal just didn't want to help in enough detail. Lesson learnt - don't discount anyone until they've done you one favor.
2. Provide all editors with the best draft you can have not a crap first copy. In my haste to get a book out there I irritated some friends by giving them a first draft that wasn't really worthy of name. Make sure it's at least readable and all your tenses are in order.
3. Don't be too hasty to get the book out. Slow down and step back from it for a while.
So what have you done that you won't do again?
Friday, 10 February 2012
I've just been interviewed by Kris Wampler, author of Lovetrain.
You can read my interview on Kris's blog.
Friday, 3 February 2012
I'm now on Goodreads check out my profile at Goodreads.com.
In the mean time a sequel to As the Crow Dies is in the works. Watch this space for more details.
Friday, 20 January 2012
My book is on Amazon - A short novella about Harry Patterson getting caught up with a Chinese tech co and the Chinese secret service. There's sex, there's violence, there's computers what more could a geek want?
What's more for a limited time you can download it for free from Amazon. But please review it.
http://www.amazon.com/As-the-Crow-Dies-ebook/dp/B006ZHK4JY/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1327017977&sr=1-1
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