Tag Archives: publishing

Guest Post: Why I Started My Blog By Inspired By A Book

Many thanks to Inspired By A Book for her great post. Its wonderful to know that there exist young people out there who are passionate about reading. Please do check out Inspired By A Book’s website together with her Instorgram. You can find Inspired By A Book’s blog here (https://inspiredbyabook.wordpress.com/).

I was so honoured when Kevin Morris asked me to do a guest post for ‘newauthoronline’; I jumped at the chance of getting the name ‘inspiredbyabook’ out there, giving it the opportunity to reach a wider audience, and hopefully get me the recognition I’ve always hoped for.

I chose to write a piece on why I started my blog, in hope for it to give other people the confidence to follow their dreams and if they’re wanting to, start their own blog.

Firstly at 17 I never had the idea of wanting to start my own blog, until one day I was in a English lesson and me and my friend were joking about starting blogs, which at that point I realised ‘’oh I’d quite like to have a go on that and see how it goes’’. When I got home that night I created a new email account ‘bookreviewss@hotmail.com’, and asked my mum and dad what their opinions were, both was up for me doing it but they didn’t think I’d last at it! How wrong were they? I made the decision to use a cover name, instead of my own because I didn’t have the confidence for all my friends knowing I was starting blog. I wanted it to be a personal experience ‘my own little world’’

I’ve always loved reading, so I put two and two together and created an instagram about books, originally it was called ‘review_that_book’, but eventually I felt this didn’t represent me as a person, or been able to post a wide variety of things on my instagram. Eventually this lead to the birth of ‘inspiredbyabook’, and new found ideas of creating my own website! Which I did less than a month ago, and already I’ve got 500+ followers which mean the world to me!

With the new name and website, I finally could share something I’m passionate about and thoroughly enjoy! Having a website helped me reach a wider audience and share my own thoughts and opinions, instead of writing a thousand mile long explanation on instagram! Sharing my opinion is how I got the opportunity to write this guest post, because Kevin liked ‘eBooks or paperback’ which expresses my opinion very well. I’m defiantly hoping to achieve my dreams from doing this, and my main goal is to get in contact with some publishers, and start requesting and receiving ARC copies of books to review! I refuse to stop, until I’ve got where I want to be.

Finally I’d just like to say, if any of you have dreams but are afraid, no matter what age you are, just go out and grab them! There is no one there stopping you, and you have full control! In the end you will be so proud of yourself, every struggle, down days or when you feel like giving up only make you stronger, and so keep at it! At 17, I’ve achieved so far in the space of around 3 month, more than i could have ever dreamed, if I can do it, around college and work life you can to!

Happy reading J

Opening Pandora’s Box

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During the past 10 days I have been busy contacting reviewers to ascertain whether they would write an honest review of my books in return for free copies of same. While searching for book review blogs I came across one site which states that it only reviews romances. As most of my stories are, broadly speaking in the crime genre I rapidly reached for the back button on my web browser. My finger paused in mid air as I considered my short story, “Samantha”, the book blurb of which reads as follows,

“Samantha tells the story of a young girl forced into prostitution in the city of Liverpool. Can Sam’s love for Peter, a man she meets in a nightclub, save

her? Or will Sam end her life in the murky waters of Liverpool’s Albert Dock?”

The focus of Samantha is Sam’s entanglement in (and her desire to escape) the world of forced prostitution. However there is, throughout the story a strong romantic strand. Samantha falls head over heels in love with Peter and struggles with her conscience due to the inability to confide in him that she is, in effect a sex slave. Had Sam and Peter met under other circumstances (with Samantha holding down a job as a secretary for instance) they would, very probably have walked off into the sunset hand in hand. However Sam’s lieing about her profession means that the course of true love runs far from smoothly. Consequently Samantha is no Mills and Boon romance.

Having written the above I realise that my metaphorical pen has run away with me. When I wrote Samantha the romantic aspects of the story did not figure significantly in my conception of the plot. Samantha was, for me primarily a tale of a young woman brutally forced into sex slavery by her pimp, Barry. However, looking back I see that Samantha took on a life of it’s own with the romantic angle playing a greater part than I envisaged.

As authors, characters and plots spring from our imaginations. However, once Pandora’s Box is opened we are unable, try as we might to close the lid. Characters and plot take on a life of their own frequently leaving the writer surprised at the unexpected turn of events.

In conclusion I remain of the opinion that Samantha is primarily a story about a young girl forced into the sex trade, however the “love interest” does play a greater part than I, as the author foresaw when penning my story.

For Samantha please visit http://www.amazon.com/Samantha-K-Morris-ebook/dp/B00BL3CNHI.

The Strand Is Dead, Long Live The Strand!

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As a lover of the Sherlock Holmes stories I was interested to learn that The Strand Magazine, in which 56 of Conan Doyle’s Holme’s adventures first appeared has been revived in print and online formats, (http://www.strandmag.com/hist.htm). The revived magazine (The Strand began publishing in the 1890’s and folded in 1950 due to falling circulation figures and lack of finances) aims to continue the original publication’s venerable traditions by publishing the best in crime and other genres.

I wish The Strand well and am considering subscribing to the online edition. I do wonder though how, in a world in which so much fiction is provided free online, a paid for periodical of this nature can survive? Having asked the question I will attempt to answer it.

The growth in free online content has not killed the ebook (indeed the format is thriving. Witness, for example the success of Amazon). Many of my own stories originally appeared on this blog. This has, however not prevented readers from downloading them from Amazon. Perhaps the inclusion of stories on an author’s blog (either as extracts or in their entirety) attracts followers who, in turn will download the author’s work when it becomes available on Amazon or other sites. I am cautiously optimistic in terms of both the Strand and paid writing more generally.

Seeking Readers Willing To Write An Honest Review Of “Dalliance” In Return For A Free Copy Of My Book

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I am seeking honest reviews of my collection of poetry and prose “Dalliance”, (http://www.amazon.com/Dalliance-collection-poetry-prose-Morris-ebook/dp/B00QQVJC7E). In return for a free copy of “Dalliance” you would review my book (clearly stating in the review that a free copy had been provided by the author) and giving your honest opinion regarding it’s contents. The review could be posted on your own blog or on another site.

If you are interested in writing an honest review of “Dalliance” please contact me at newauthoronline (at) gmail.com, (the address is rendered in this manner in order to defeat spammers).

Many thanks,

Kevin

Fun With Amazon’s Author Central

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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

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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.

A Great Article On The Story Reading Ape’s Blog Regarding The Theft Of Intellectual Property (IP)

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Yesterday (21 November 2014) The Story Reading Ape’s Blog carried an interesting post on the theft of intellectual property (http://thestoryreadingapeblog.com/2014/11/21/authors-bloggers-readers-be-aware-of-intellectual-property-theft-laws/). The piece pertains to material published online and acts as a warning to authors and bloggers regarding the ease with which their (copyright) material can be stolen and used by others.

The article on Chris The Story Reading Ape’s Blog brought to mind stories of more traditional book piracy. A Chinese acquaintance tells me that photocopies of (copyright) material is rife in China, (the below article being a case in point although, it should be noted that the piece pertains to Hong Kong, not mainland China. http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1469753/school-busted-selling-cheap-copies-books). Some or other once remarked that “Immitation is the sincerest form of flattery”. However, as pointed out by the article on The Story Reading Ape’s Blog (see above) copyright theft is not a victimless crime, it entails the theft of another’s intellectual labours.

KDP Select – An Evaluation

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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

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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.

Author Interviews – A Great Way For Authors To Promote Their Work And Readers To Learn About New Writers

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Kev Cooper (no relation to yours truly) offers a great (free) author promotion service. Kev’s Author Interviews allows authors to promote themselves and their work by answering questions supplied by Kev. The interviews also act as a great way for readers to learn about new authors. For further information please visit http://kevs-domain.net/author-interviews-and-contact-information/