Kindle

Obsessed with Reviews?

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5 Star Reviews

Some authors are obsessed with reviews – as are every Airbnb on the planet. When my wife and I travelled for the research into MUTINY we often stayed in Airbnb’s and, without fail, every host hounded us for 5-star reviews. Why? To attract more business. Authors love reviews too and often for the same reason. I also love reviews but would be surprised if every reader of MUTINY loved the book enough to give it ***** reviews. Why? Because MUTINY will appeal to some more than others, which is the nature of any book. Anyway, enough rambling. If you haven’t yet read MUTINY please do, and PLEASE feel free to leave a ‘constructive review’ to help others, rather than massaging my ego with 5 star reports. Here’s the Kindle link.

The Power of a Book Cover

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“You can’t tell a book by its cover.” But, we do – all the time. The cover is super-important and is the first contact with the book when you pick it up. Covers signal genre, but the good ones do more than that. They give face to a book’s personality. They create excitement and anticipation. A cover has the power to communicate the book’s genre, tone, and theme, as well as to pique the reader’s interest. A well-designed cover can also make a book stand out in a crowded marketplace, and can help to establish the author’s brand. A book’s cover and its content should be inextricably linked.

Here’s the reaction to the cover of MUTINY from my middle daughter (age 47) yesterday:

  1. She picks up the book and looks at the cover, commenting, “I love the color” and “it looks really interesting.”
  2. She reads the back cover and adds, “So, the outcome shocks everyone. I want to know more.”

So, she’s hooked. Meanwhile, my cover designer has changed the spine width to make it fit better. But this led to another issue – the title is too close to the margins. So, I need to wait for the revised cover before uploading it to Amazon for the final version. Once this is done I can order more copies for the book launch :-).

Despite this setback of a few days, the Kindle orders are coming in from readers keen to get a head-start on MUTINY.

Just another exciting day in the life of a self-published author.

On a Cold and Rainy Day

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What to do on a cold and rainy day? I could finish painting the spare bedroom, but the weather is damp and the paint won’t dry very well. I could take my wife out for a coffee, but she is ill and resting. I could keep editing my new book—or, rather, what I call fine-editing since the major editing is finished. No, I need a new inspiration. So, I decide to work on my first book; produce a new cover, revise the first chapter and update the About the Author page. My goal is to have this done in three days. Meanwhile, my darling publisher Amazon have changed their Kindle format from .mobi to .pub, so that requires more work :-). The next day, I have a head cold and don’t feel like doing much at all. But, the weather is warmer and the painting is almost finished. I’m praying for a better week ahead and a new-look to the bedroom as well as my first book. More news to follow if all goes well. {PS: good progress on both the bedroom renovation and book revisions. The text changes are done and have been uploaded to Amazon. Now I am working with my illustrator with final touches to the cover. All will be revealed soon}

Grab a Free Copy of 3 Wise Men – one day only!

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Grab a copy of 3 Wise Men for Kindle here – one day only starting tomorrow. If you do, please leave feedback for other readers (and me). 3 Wise Men has proved very popular and this is an excellent chance to escape to the south of France and Italy. A special feature is that this thriller is based on fact.

“This is a classic thriller with fairly short chapters, which is always good, punchy, gritty realism, gloriously exotic locations and chapter endings that leave you hanging – another tried and tested formula that began with Edgar Rice Burroughs back at the turn of the last century. Thrillers don’t come much better than this – huge fun and very entertaining!” (review from: booksmonthlyreviews.wordpress.com).