Christmas Wishes and some exciting news ...

I'm delighted to have been invited to take part in Hull University's three day English Literature Festival organised by The National Collaborative Outreach Programme. The Festival starts on the 6th February 2018 and is aimed at raising aspirations of students aged 13-18 across the Humber region by increasing their knowledge of careers in writing, publishing, illustrating, marketing, public speaking and much more.  A selection of panels and workshops are planned and full details will be available shortly on the website: www.force-higher.co.uk and on the Twitter feed @Force_HE  #ELFHumber2018.

I am also looking forward to being part of the Bradford UK Indie Literature Festival, which is returning for a third year on the 28th July, and is once again being held in the fabulous Kala Sangam in the centre of the city.  This is a free event, with 40 authors in attendance, so there is sure to be a book to suit all tastes.  Details on how to obtain a ticket are on the UKindieLitFest website.

Kala Sangram, Bradford

As it is the holiday season, I have reduced the price of the Kindle version of my romantic suspense novel, The House on the Shore, until 3rd January 2018.  You can download a copy from Amazon for only 99p/99c instead of the usual price of £2.99/$2.99.

2017 is drawing to a close, so I would like to thank everyone who has attended an event or purchased a book and who has supported me in anyway, a very Happy Christmas and a Healthy and Prosperous New Year.  I hope to see you again in 2018.

Tips for setting up your International Amazon Author Central Pages

I came across this very informative article by Marcy Kennedy while building my Japanese Author Central Page.  Marcy very kindly allowed me to reproduce it here.  Whether are published or not, I would also recommend that you visit her website, and in particular her blog, which has some great articles.  

4 Tips for Setting Up Your International Amazon Author Central Pages 

By Marcy Kennedy, @MarcyKennedy 

Part of the Indie Author Series 

Last month, I walked you through the 6 Steps for Setting Up Your Amazon Author Page. In that article, I talked exclusively about your author profile on Amazon.com, but Amazon sells books all over the world. While setting up our author page on Amazon.com is the most important (because that’s where we’re likely to sell the most books), we shouldn’t overlook our author pages elsewhere.

You might be thinking, Why do I want to take the time to do that for non-English speaking countries? 

The answer is simple. English is the most common second language in the world. Even if English isn’t the primary language of Germany or India or China, many people living in those countries still speak it, read it, or are trying to learn. Creating an author page on international sites gives us a leg up over authors who only bother to update their Amazon.com page.

Because you’ll want to add the same information as you did for your Amazon.com author page, I won’t go over all of that again. You can read my previous article for details. What I’m going to focus on in this article are the unique things to keep in mind when we’re updating our pages on the international sites.

Tip #1 – How to Find International Amazon Author Central Sites 

Currently, there’s no centralized list of Amazon Author Central sites, so the first thing we need to do is explore a little. Searching for sites is a two-step process.

Google the Amazon site for the particular country you’re interested in. For example, I might type “Amazon France” into my search bar.

This lets you know if Amazon has a site in that country, but what you’re really looking for here is the little country code that comes after www.amazon in the search results. For France, it’s fr.

The URL for all Author Central sites begins like this…

https://authorcentral.amazon.

So once you have the country code, you add it like this…

https://authorcentral.amazon.fr/gp/landing?

And that’s where you’ll sign in to create your author page.

Not all countries currently have Author Central, but more and more are appearing all the time. If you can’t find an Author Central site for a specific country (I’m looking at you Canada), just wait. It will probably appear in the not-too-distant future.

Here are a few sites to get you started:

http://authorcentral.amazon.co.uk
http://authorcentral.amazon.fr
http://authorcentral.amazon.de
http://authorcentral.amazon.co.jp

Tip #2 – How to Read International Amazon Author Central Sites 

Remember how we talked about these sites being targeted at non-English speakers? That creates a snag for those of us who don’t speak multiple languages.

Thankfully, technology gives us two ways around it:

(A) Keep your Amazon.com Author Central page open so you can compare. For the most part, the sites are all the same structurally, so you’ll know what it’s asking for even if you can’t read all the words.

(B) Use Google Translate or download Google Chrome (which comes with a built-in translator) to use as your browser while you create your pages. 

These won’t be perfect, but they’ll be enough to allow you to easily fill in your author pages.

Tip #3 – Some Other Countries Will Want You to Create a New Account 

Some countries will allow you to sign in with the same email and password you used when you created your Amazon.com account, and some countries will require you to set up a new Amazon account with them. If your regular Amazon email and password won’t work, it just means you need to start from the ground up with a new account.

Tip #4 – Don’t Think You’re Doing Something Wrong If You Can’t Find All the Same Features 

Strangely enough, not all international sites are created equal. Some won’t allow you to connect your blog. Some won’t allow you to upload pictures. If you can’t find a particular feature, it’s probably not because you’re blind. It’s probably because it doesn’t exist on that specific site. The key with the international Amazon author pages is to fill out what you’re offered and not worry about the rest.

When you find a site that doesn’t allow you to connect your blog, make sure you include your website address somewhere. Along with claiming your books, this is the most important thing. This is all about providing readers with a way to find more of your books and to form a relationship with you.

Good luck!

Have you taken the time to set up your author page on international Amazon sites? Do you have any other tips I haven’t included?

Marcy Kennedy is a suspense and speculative fiction writer who believes fantasy is more real than you think. Alongside her own writing, Marcy works as a freelance fiction editor and teaches classes on craft and social media through WANA International. She’s also the author of the Busy Writer’s Guides series of books. You can find her blogging about writing and about the place where real life meets science fiction, fantasy, and myth at marcykennedy.com.
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Author Swag and Freebies...

I’ve been thinking a great deal about promotional items for authors as I’ve recently signed up to appear at two multi-author signings. This raises two questions: ‘What do readers expect in the way of ‘author swag/freebies’ when attending such events?’ and ‘Which items will hit home with them?’

Whenever I’ve given a talk to a group, presented a workshop, or attended a local literary festival, I have always provided bookmarks, postcards and ‘signed by the author’ stickers to grace the cover of any book sold. 

But are these the best promotional items and do they garner any sales? And how many of them end up in the bin.

Unless you have a proven sales record and are a multi-publisher author earning big money like James Patterson or J K Rowling, most publishers no longer provide a budget for such items; in fact, all promotion is often down to the author.

Paper promotional items are relatively inexpensive form of swag. So how do you go about providing the perfect bookmark or postcard?

Anyone with access to a computer and printer can produce a bookmark; but bookmarks that say everything about you as an author and your novel. These need to look professional if they are to connect with the reader and seduce them into buying your book. So don’t use a stock image, use the cover of your book, tagline and website address.

Most likely you will wish to hire a designer, but don’t panic, you’re not going to have to pay huge agency fees. A quick search of the Internet reveals many sites and graphic artists offering such services, but before you sign up or part with your hard earned cash, ask to see samples of their work.

 I recall the first writer’s conference I attended in America some years ago. The conference bag was crammed full of bookmarks and postcards. Did any of them fly home with me? Only those for novels I was interested in reading. The rest ended up in the bin. 

Paper is cheap and ‘everybody’ uses it. So if I can consign fellow author’s bookmarks and postcards to the dustbin, what chance do my own paper promotional items have of making it home with a reader?

These days however, it seems that anything goes when it comes to author swag/freebies, especially at conferences and large events such as the Romance Writers of America annual conference.

• ·      Pens
• ·      Mugs
• ·      Key Rings
• ·      T-Shirts
• ·      Tote bags
• ·      Coasters
• ·      Fridge Magnets
• ·      Notepads
• ·      Computer Mouse Mats
• ·      Chocolate
• ·      Lip Balm
• ·      Small bottles of hand cream/sanitizer
• ·      Badges

The list is almost endless.  While there is no doubt some of the items on the above list are useful, (especially tote bags for all those books your reader buys) but do they really say anything about YOUR book?

All these items cost money, and when the average author earns around £11,000 annually, finding something that readers will think is clever, and which entices them dig into their wallet to purchase your book, are difficult.  Setting a budget for such items is essential, as no author would wish to spend more than they are likely to earn in sales at such an event.

So, not only does my promotional item have to be unique and say something about my book, it has to be relatively inexpensive and useful. Before you empty your savings account and splash out on 250 T-shirts, pens and mugs etc, (remember, the more you buy the cheaper the individual cost per item), work out who your audience will be and where you are going to use your promotional items.

Rather than just handing out postcards at my next signing event, I am going to place a sticker on the back of some with the message ‘Email me and request a free copy.’ It will be interesting to see how many requests I receive. 

In the meantime, I would love to know what other authors provide by the way of swag/freebies. What do you use as give-aways? How have they supported your sales?

Thinking of Self-Publishing...

These days writers have the option to self-publish rather than hoping that a traditional publishing house will offer them a contract. Amazon, Smashwords, and a host of other companies offer writers the opportunity to see their book in print, but not everyone has the skill to prepare their manuscript.  That's where L. Cooper Press can help.

For one fee, L. Cooper Press provides:

• In-house line editing or if preferred, a list of approved editors 
• Service provider details for cover design and formatting
• Assistance  in creating an Amazon/Kindle/Createspace account if you do not have one
• Will assign an ISBN for your print book
• Guide you through the process for your printed book.

Advantages of self-publishing with L.Cooper Press:

• There are no contracts to sign
• You retain the copyright
• You set the price of your book and keep 100% of the royalties
• You will receive a professional and personal service from editors, designers and formatters to help you make informed choices for your manuscript.
• Your book will be available in print and ebook formats within weeks.
• A Publisher's imprint enters your book into Books in Print, which is where bookstores and libraries find books they want to order.
• Your book will NOT be perceived as self-published.

For more information visit the website:  L.Cooper Press  or email  lcooperpress@yahoo.com

    

PLEASE WELCOME TODAY'S GUEST, DAVE GIORGIO

I was thrilled when Dave agreed to produce the audio book version of my novel, Ring of Lies.  It's taken a little persuading, but Dave finally agreed to take some time out of his busy schedule to talk to me about his career and love of music.

1.     In the past, you’ve worked as a web developer, in video production and as musician.  How did you become involved in audiobook production?

I had actually started doing voice acting and audio recording before I became a serious musician. When I was six years old, I was doing John Wayne and Richard Nixon impersonations (thanks, Rich Little!) By the time I got to high school, I had added Rodney Dangerfield, Archie Bunker and Jackie Mason. I even performed a Rodney Dangerfield impersonation routine during a talent show in high school. But having already developed significantly as a musician, I stopped doing live comedy performances because I thought it was "more cool" to be recognized as a musician.

I later did voiceover work and comedy recordings, such as an interview with Woody Allen, Sean Connery, Rodney Dangerfield, Peter Faulk and William Shatner. All the while, I had been working professionally as a musician and (having built several audio recording studios) had been producing talent in studios.

Being a writer, I'd had a love of the written word and co-founded a book-publishing firm. We had decided to move into audio book publishing and recording. It was a natural fit for me being that I had already built half dozen studios, had been working producing talent, and was experienced with voice recording. So there at last was the merging of my experience with both the written and spoken word.

 2.     Audiobook production is time consuming and I believe it requires a great deal of patience and skill.  Did you undertake any specific training?

Training-wise, I developed my audio engineering and producing chops with years of work and experience. More specific to audio book recording, I already had a background in engineering and producing, plus I had great ears. So from there it was a feasible move towards specializing in audio books. However, there was nothing that could have prepared me for the patience, stamina and unflappability needed for audio book production! There is simply no art form in the world that tests your will like audio book recording does. No training can prepare for that. The only way to harden yourself to the rigors of audio book recording is to do lots of long hours of audio book work. Only then does it become a manageable practice. 

 3.     Can you give my readers and listeners a brief idea of what is entailed in making the perfect audiobook recording?

The easiest parts of this answer are: Acoustically tight room, Great Mic, Great Mic Preamp and Analogue-to-Digital Converter; plus a reader with a nice voice. That's that part that people can easily see on the surface. And it makes up only about 10% of the answer! The real keys are ears, talent and know-how. Unfortunately, these are 90% of the answer yet are the hardest of all aspects to acquire.

Audio editing is so important. But if you listen to many of the books these days, really carefully, you can hear so much noise, bad breathing and cracks, pops and whistles, that it's obvious that the producers and editors of those books have no idea they are doing. Again, it all comes down to having the ears and the know-how. That's one of the things I have made a high priority with davebooks.com

 4.     What kind of books do you enjoy reading?

Do you mean reading as in recording audio books or pleasure reading? As far as recording books as a narrator, I like to read fiction books. The more interesting the plot, the better. I also like it when there are characters with specific dialects such as British, Russian, New York, Southern U.S., etc., though I tend in general to not alter my voice too much because listeners prefer a more straight read. As for pleasure reading, I am reading Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (and the other 2 books of the Karla trilogy) for about the 5th time, because I love LeCarre's work!

5.     Do you have your own studio?  You’ve recorded books for a variety of publishers, is there any particular genre you enjoy most?

Yes, I've got a great studio with top grade tools. My studio is the perfect blending of workability for both audio books and music, because I've got the high resolution that music demands, yet the desired room sound and layout for audio books.

 6.     How do you feel when you hear your own voice on a recording?

Like everyone else, years ago I hated it. I spent about 10 years trying to get my voice to sound good (vocally). Different mics, positions, styles, etc. It finally came together around 15 years ago while recording a hard rock song. Voice over was the same. I listen to my early recordings and cringe. But I've gotten to a point where I can accept the sound of my voice most of the time :-)

 7.     You are also a talented musician. What type of music do you like to play/sing?  Do you have a regular fan base, and what is the largest venue you have played in?

The music I like most to work on is my original singer/songwriter material. That's the most fun. I've got a small fan base, though one of my deficiencies is that, with my own music at least, I am almost introverted when it comes to putting it out there. With other people's music it's totally different. I've got two Gold records so far for my recording work, and I have some new material that is unreleased that I think can be pretty huge. The largest venue I've played was the Mann Music Center in Philadelphia, about 20, 000 people. Lots of fun, that was!

For more information about Dave Giorgio and Dave Books, visit his website at:  http://davebooks.com

Coincidence? I think not.

As someone, who for twenty years, was involved in the offshore industry, I know what it’s like to have your heart skip a beat when the evening news reports an accident on an oil rig. My heart goes out to the families of the eleven men killed on the Deepwater Horizon.

Drilling and transporting oil comes at a high price, and there are times in our lives when we become too complacent.

We repeatedly ignored warnings by environmentalists, the Coast Guard, and other agencies that using single hulled, single-engine tankers to transport oil was asking for trouble.

On March 18, 1967 these agencies were proved correct.

The Torrey Canyon, a super tanker carrying a cargo of 120,000 tonnes of crude oil struck Pollard’s Rock between Land’s End and the Scilly Isles in the UK. Oil spread on the sea between England and France, killing most of the marine life along the south coast of Britain and the Normandy shores of France, blighting the region for many years thereafter.

Did we learn the lesson? Sadly, no.
Twenty-two years later, on the March 24, 1989, Exxon Valdez hit the Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound, Alaska. We were horrified at the images of dead seabirds, otters, and marine mammals covering the front page of nearly every newspaper in the world. These same images were beamed nightly into our living rooms.

For many years, the offshore oil and gas industry was convinced that it had adequate safety measures to ensure that oil and gas rigs and platforms operated with little or no risk to personnel. But on the night of the 6th July 1988, Piper Alpha, a production platform in the North Sea, exploded into a fireball, killing 167 men. To date, it remains the world’s worst offshore oil disaster in terms both of lives lost and impact to industry.

After a protracted investigation, all three disasters were attributed to human error.

I had hoped the world would never experience another disaster on the scale of the Exxon Valdez and Piper Alpha, but sadly that was not to be the case.
This week, another oil rig, the Deepwater Horizon, sank in the Gulf of Mexico, with the loss of eleven men. Unlike Piper Alpha, the thousands of gallons of oil pouring out of a fractured pipe is already devastating the marine environment and fragile barrier islands and marsh of the Louisiana coast. It will take months, if not years to recover.

It is therefore somewhat eerie that my short story, ‘Man’s Complacency,’ should be released at this time.

Written nearly two years ago, ‘Man’s Complacency’ deals with an oil spill in Washington State’s Puget Sound, and features Joe McCabe, an important character from my novel, Three Weeks Last Spring. Joe is the head of the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife, which is partly responsible for the cleanup.

I think it’s it about time we became less complacent and developed systems and procedures that not only protect the men and women working on rigs and production platforms, but the wildlife that makes our planet so unique.

You’ve come up with an amazing idea for a novel, so what’s next? Part 2

While out walking with my Border collie, Lucy, the other day I thought about the plot for my next novel. I’ve been working on this manuscript for nearly a year now, and have got no further than Chapter eighteen. No doubt you’re wondering why I haven’t finished it.

There are two reasons.

Firstly, although I had completed The House on the Shore over two years ago and had been submitting it to agents, I decided to revise the manuscript – not once, but twice. This entailed adding some 24,000 words to the original manuscript, so what had started out as a 70,000 word single-title suspense romance finally became a 95,000 word novel. Did I make the right decision in revising the manuscript? You bet! It was published in February 2009 by Vanilla Heart Publishing.

The second reason for not completing my third novel is due in to the fact that I felt the plot was lacking something. The idea originally came to me while I was sitting on a beach on Gasparilla Island in January 2006. I knew the basic premise was sound. My characters have depth and by that I mean they are not one-dimensional – when I think about them, I can see them acting through the events I have planned for them. I can even imagine snatches of dialogue, and occasionally I dream about them. In other words, I know what makes them tick. They have the personality, wit, and intelligence to overcome the problems they encounter during the course of the novel.

So what was wrong with the plot and how did I rectify it?

By asking myself questions or playing “the what if game.” I already knew, “Who,” “Where” and “When,” but “What and “Why” eluded me. I knew how my story began and how it would end.

My problem was how to introduce my hero and make his meeting with the heroine plausible. Originally, I had planned to have my hero follow the heroine from the airport and then contrive to meet her by accident. But it didn’t feel right.

I put the manuscript to one side and worked on a short story. When that was complete, I emailed a friend who happens to be a fellow writer and we tossed ideas back and forth for a few days. I also tried to imagine what I would do if I were in a position similar to that of my heroine. It was only by doing this and asking myself questions that I finally reached a solution I was happy with. I re-wrote my plot outline – the key events and points I wanted to achieve during the course of the story. When I started writing again the words came easily.
If you don’t have a writing friend, someone you can bounce ideas off, I suggest you put aside your work-in-progress, and spend a few days away from the computer, or work on something else. If that fails, there are a number of excellent books on plotting; Goal, Motivation and Conflict by Debra Dixon, and Holly Lisle’s Plot Clinic are excellent. Both are guaranteed to get the imagination fired up and working.