JC added 2 books to this list. Add your votes »
add a comment
]]>
Well, the community has spoken and after reflecting on the points made, I believe you all are correct. I'm bringing the site down and we'll just write this off as a bad idea.
It was worth a go but like you all have said, integrity is more important than anything else.
Sorry folks...I'd like to think my heart was in the right place. ]]>
I don't mean self-publishing ebook sites like smashwords but actual e-book publishers?
Are there any? Are they genre specific? Where would one find them? I've tried to google it and it's a pretty jumbled mess. ]]>
I have to agree with the authors don't buy other authors' books sentiment.
I've never really tried to market to writers because frankly, I'm not looking for other writers to read my stuff - I want readers of the genre I'm writing in.
When you don't have the marketing backing of a big NY publishing house you're basically on your own. Word of mouth is key and frankly, Authors are going to pimp their own books, not yours.
They may offer a blurb or two...but it's rare when one does as Raff did.
I don't believe in if you buy mine, I'll buy yours, either. It may generate short term sales - but you're not establishing a following.
To me its a waste of time and money. ]]>
Pamela, yes, of course, goodreads, although I try to being too forward with the "check out my book" stuff because I don't want to be labeled a spammer.
I guess I never realized if you published your e-book with Amazon you could do other formats, too. I thought they were exclusive. Don't know where I got that from.
I'm strongly considering my next book (a collection of short stories) to be e-book first (and eventually paperback later on).
Are there e-book reviewers?
]]>
I didn't go through any of the organized Blogged Tour places, I cultivated a tour myself.
I used alexa and google to determine my targeted blogs. (Obviously I went with the most popular first).
Most bloggers were very nice and allowed guest posts, interviews, a few reviewed the book.
I think I finished with a ten blog tour and I'm sure it got me a few sales.
I'm honestly not sure if its worth $150 bucks, though.
]]>
Let me just say - it's rare I leave reviews. I only do it for books I truly do love. As an author, I understand the destructive nature a bad review can give a book, so I subscribe to the old adage, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all."
Secret of the Sands has forced me to break that oath. It's a confounding book that you'd like to love but it makes you work so hard to get there that by the furious end, it leaves you winded and feeling like you worked to hard to see the resolution.
Why is it so hard? Well, for one the writing style of the authors, Rai and Tavius isn't typical to my reading preference. That's not their fault. I enjoy a descriptive narrative told in an active voice, while Rai and Tavius' work is primarily telling, passive. This is not to say they don't paint a nice picture of the imagery of what's going on - but it reads at points like a report rather than a fiction tale.
Secondly, the dialogue between the characters (especially those in present time) seems out of place at points and at times comically bad. Some of the characters are paper thin caricatures of evil villains past, such as the conniving assistant Fessel.
The authors are much better when they flashback to Ancient Egypt, but even then its hard to picture a Queen's son in antiquity calling her "Mommy". Little things like that seemed to break you out of the story.
So that's the negative. The positive and the reason I gutted through is that Secret of the Sands is a fantastic story with action, suspense, and musty dusty discoveries that amaze the mind. As Alex and Mitch sift through the clues to what the Pharom is, you're whisked back to Ancient Egypt where the old story of betrayal is interwoven with the mystical powers of an unknown origin.
As you approach the end you'll notice the writing is better, tighter and at a frantic pace. It makes for fun reading that is a page turner toward the end.
I'd recommend Secret of the Sands to those who love history, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Astronaut theory, or all of the above.
JC De La Torre
Author of
Rise of the Ancients - Annuna
]]>