Tag Archives: ebooks

In Search Of The Elusive Book Review

Press the magic button labelled publish in the Amazon Kindle store or other self-publishing outlet of your choice. People will purchase your book and the reviews will come flooding in, won’t they? Well unless you are incredibly fortunate the answer is no they won’t. Even if your book receives a steady stream of downloads only a small number of readers (if any) will take the time to pen a review. This is the case, in my experience even when readers enjoyed your book. To take a case in point, two friends downloaded my story, Samantha, (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samantha-K-Morris-ebook/dp/B00BL3CNHI). Both told me how much they enjoyed reading my book and indicated they would review it without any prompting from me. Neither have done so and not wishing to nag friends I haven’t pursued the matter. So, in the case of Samantha 2 people who derived pleasure from it haven’t left a review which does, I believe prove my point regarding the difficulty of obtaining reviews which, if positive will help in selling your book. So how can the author obtain reviews?

I have obtained several reviews by offering my books free via KDP Select, (https://kdp.amazon.com/select), an Amazon programme which allows authors to promote their work free or at a reduced price for upto 5 days in any 90 day period provided the books in question are exclusive to Amazon. A number of those who downloaded my titles left reviews which shows that KDP Select can help in promoting your writing.

Another way in which to promote your books is via your own blog. Mentioning that you are running a free promotion on Amazon or other platform can encourage your followers and visitors to download and, hopefully review your books. A word of caution. Don’t fill your site with posts promoting your books as this will turn many people off. Write about topics other than your books. be generous in supporting other authors via guest posting opportunities and your site is more likely to thrive and attract followers some of whom will read and review your books.

Contacting book bloggers can also result in reviews. Read their review policy (if they have one) prior to getting in touch. If you write romantic fiction and a book blogger only reviews the crime genre there is no point in contacting the blogger (it being a waste of their time and yours).

The overwhelming majority of book bloggers will review your book free which is, in my view as it should be. Most authors would never dream of paying for a review. However, for the small number of writers who might be tempted to do so, they should consider this. If you pay for a review then the perception will exist (assuming it is positive and you are found to have paid) that the review is not honest (I.E. you paid for a good review). While there may be sites who write unbiased reviews in exchange for cash mud sticks and even if the review is 100 percent honest your reputation will be tarnished. People will question all your reviews irrespective of whether they where given freely or otherwise.

In conclusion relying on Amazon to generate reviews is the most uncertain method of gaining them. The use of your own blog or other social media to promote your books coupled with contacting book bloggers asking that they please write an honest review of your work, is the best method.

Finally a huge thank you to all of my readers who have taken the time to write a review or who have promised to do so. I very much appreciate you taking the time to read and review my books.

You Know That Sinking Feeling

4 Replies

As a writer it is perhaps inevitable that sooner or later fiction and real life will collide. In November 2014 I wrote a short story entitled “Women’s Shoes” which originally appeared as a guest post on a fellow blogger’s site and, subsequently under the title “Shoes” in my collection of short stories, “The Suspect And Other Tales”, (http://www.amazon.com/The-Suspect-other-tales-Morris-ebook/dp/B00PKPTQ0U). The story deals with the obsession of a serial killer with the footware worn by prostitutes and is a work of fiction with no basis in fact.

Having finished “Shoes” I e-mailed it to my blogging friend, shut down the laptop and headed off for Sunday lunch in a local pub. There I sat, pint in hand idly browsing the Telegraph’s website on my mobile phone as I waited for my Sunday roast to arrive. My attention was arrested by a story regarding a man accused of having murdered 2 women in his Hong Kong flat., (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/hongkong/11203291/British-man-arrested-over-Hong-Kong-double-murder.html). The article referred to the victims as “sex workers” and contained horrific details regarding their deaths. Suddenly I didn’t feel particularly hungry. At first glance my story bore an uncanny resemblance to the article I was reading. Both the Telegraph’s piece and my story deal with the killing of prostitutes (in my case on a purely fictional basis while the newspaper’s piece pertains to the killing of flesh and blood women). I had written my story in total ignorance of the murders and had I known of the killings would not have penned it. However given that I had composed the story what was I to do? Should I email my blogging friend asking that the piece be deferred, or not published in any form?

I looked at the facts of the case. My story was set in the UK and was written in total ignorance of the Hong Kong killings. In the (fictional) “Shoes” the killer is obsessed with the footware worn by the world’s oldest profession, (there was no intimation of any such obsession in the Telegraph’s article). In”Shoes” the psychopathic killer keeps his victims bodies frozen in a commercial freezer, meaning there would be no odour of decomposition, while in the Hong Kong case the corpse’s of the unfortunate ladies where found in a state of decomposition in the apartment of the accused (his neighbours had complained of the smell emanating from the flat). In short it was a pure coincidence that my story bore a passing resemblance to the (real-life) Hong Kong case and on this basis I determined not to withdraw it from publication.

There is, as is so often remarked “nothing new under the sun”. It is inevitable that stories written in total ignorance of (real-life) crimes will sometimes reflect (albeit wholly unintentionally), and often in an indirect manner those actual happenings.

(Please note, the Hong Kong case is still to go to trial and I make no assumption as to the outcome of the case, I.E. a man is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law).

Fun With Amazon’s Author Central

2 Replies

I have never had a problem with Amazon until today. I had experienced difficulties in adding my collection of poetry and prose, “Dalliance” (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00QQVJC7E) to my Amazon author page (http://www.amazon.com/K.-Morris/e/B00CEECWHY/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0). I contacted Amazon asking that they please add Dalliance to my existing author page and, low and behold they created an entirely new page showing only “Dalliance” (all 6 of my previously published titles remaining on the correct author’s page).

I contacted Amazon this morning and they advise that “Dalliance” has now been added to my existing Author’s page. However, on last checking it does not seem to be there.

Every organisation does, of course make mistakes. Companies are, after all composed of fallible human beings. The above incident does, however underline the importance of checking that your Author page (if you have one) accurately reflects all of your works together with any other information provided by you to Amazon.

Copyright Notices – All Authors Should Have One

1 Reply

All authors should copyright their work. A Copyright Notice acts as a deterrent to copyright infringement or, if infringement does occur makes it easier for the author to pursue the copyright infringer.

All of my books, together with the posts on this blog (newauthoronline.com) are copyright Kevin Morris).

When I first ventured into the world of publishing I was somewhat naive regarding protecting my work. I had, of course seen the copyright notices contained within commercially published books. However for some inexplicable reason it never crossed my mind that I should protect my own creations by employing the law of copyright.

Having recently read a number of posts regarding the theft of intellectual property I have determined to correct my omission by including a Copyright Notice with my current (and future) books. Thus far I have been lucky as no one has copied my work. However I and other writers can not work on the basis that everyone will play by the rules and respect our intellectual property, hence my decision.

For a good exposition of copyright as it pertains in the United Kingdom please visit http://www.copyrightservice.co.uk/copyright/p03_copyright_notices.

The Short Fiction Writers Guild

7 Replies

I am pleased to announce that I am now a member of The Short Fiction Writers Guild (http://shortfictionwritersguild.wordpress.com/). The role of The Short Fiction Writers Guild, as set out in it’s Mission Statement is,

“The Short Fiction Writers Guild (SFWG) celebrates and promotes all genres of short fiction in an effort to share the entertainment of the form with new readers, provides a robust marketing platform to expand market viability and profit potential for the works of its members, and offers a range of services to help members improve as writers, while embracing the virtues of honesty, professionalism, and integrity. (http://shortfictionwritersguild.wordpress.com/about/). For information on how to join The Short Fiction Writers Guild please visit (http://shortfictionwritersguild.wordpress.com/about/how-to-join/). For my latest book, “Dalliance; A Collection Of Poetry And Prose” please visit (http://www.amazon.com/Dalliance-collection-poetry-prose-Morris-ebook/dp/B00QQVJC7E, for the US) or (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dalliance-collection-poetry-prose-Morris-ebook/dp/B00QQVJC7E, for the UK). For my Amazon Author Page please visit (http://www.amazon.co.uk/K.-Morris/e/B00CEECWHY/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0, for the UK) or (http://www.amazon.com/K.-Morris/e/B00CEECWHY/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0, for the US).

Pages: 1 2 3

The Free Promotion Of Samantha Ends On Sunday 23 November

Leave a reply

The free promotion of my story, Samantha ends on 23 November. To download Samantha free of charge please visit the following links. For the UK please go to http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samantha-K-Morris-ebook/dp/B00BL3CNHI and for the US please click here, http://www.amazon.com/Samantha-K-Morris-ebook/dp/B00BL3CNHI/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top.

KDP Select – An Evaluation

Leave a reply

The results thus far of the free promotion, using Amazon’s KDP Select programme (https://kdp.amazon.com/select), of my story, Samantha have been disappointing. For anyone unfamiliar with the programme, KDP Select allows authors with books enrolled in it to offer their titles free for 5 days in any 90 day period. As an alternative writers may sell titles at a reduced price (known as a Kindle Countdown Deal) for up to 5 days in any 90 day period. To qualify for KDP Select books must be exclusive to Amazon.

The free promotion of Samantha began on 19 November and ends on 23 November. Despite the book being free in the Kindle store and the kindness of other bloggers in publicising this fact, Samantha has, at the time of writing been downloaded 5 times from amazon.com and 3 times from amazon.co.uk. Both sites show that my book has sold 4 copies of Samantha (2 on both sites) in November.

The results thus far are causing me to evaluate the effectiveness of KDP Select. Samantha has a total of 6 reviews (counting both amazon.com and amazon.co.uk. Just over half of these have been generated by fellow bloggers while the remainder have eminated from people who, to the best of my knowledge have come across my book as a consequence of previous free promotions of Samantha. The position is roughly similar with my other titles (approximately half of reviews coming from bloggers and the remainder from readers who have, I assume come across my titles via KDP Select promotions).

The results of the current free promotion of Samantha are, as I say above disappointing. Where I to take a decision to remove Samantha and my other books from KDP Select the incentive to do so is compelling in terms of the current promotion. However, standing back and surveying the bigger picture, reviews have been forthcoming as a result of previous promotions, consequently I am not inclined to dismiss KDP Select out of hand. I will monitor how the remaining days of the free promotion of Samantha pan out and look at the results of the forthcoming free promotions of An Act Of Mercy and Street Walker to ascertain number of downloads together with any reviews generated. On the basis of these results I will take a decision regarding whether to keep my books enrolled in KDP Select. The evidence thus far seems to indicate (despite the current slow downloads of Samantha) that the use of both KDP Select free promotions and social media help in obtaining downloads and reviews.

(The 4 sales refered to above entail people purchasing Samantha, while free downloads are, as the name suggests just that – readers downloading Samantha at no cost).

Gifting Kindle Content

Leave a reply

As an author I would love to gift my Kindle titles to family and friends. If I lived in the US this would present no difficulty owing to the facility, on amazon.com to “give as a gift”. However, as a UK-based writer the ability to gift copies of my books is not available. I am at a loss to understand why a facility available to US authors can not be extended to writers based in the UK.

Amazon has many great author features including KDP Select which enables writers to promote their works by offering them for free, or at a reduced price for upto 5 days in any 90 day period. I am, on the whole a fan of Amazon but I can not grasp why the ability to gift publications is restricted to US-based authors.

After having posted this I will send a word copy of my latest collection of short stories, “The Suspect And Other Tales” (http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Suspect-other-tales-Morris-ebook/dp/B00PKPTQ0U), by e-mail to my mum. It would be wonderful if, instead of having to do this the title could be gifted by me from the Amazon Kindle Store. I will raise the suggestion with Amazon and will post their response once received.

Update to Author Central page

3 Replies

I have at long last got around to updating my Amazon Author Page. I have added an additional photograph showing my guide dog Trigger and I outside the Roebuck pub in Richmond. I have also added a link to my Author page on amazon.com.

To visit the Author Page please click here http://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B00CEECWHY