Zed Amadeo's Blog, page 5

Top Ten Tuesday: Fall TBR

Welcome again to another Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Today’s topic is the top ten books I’m most looking forward to reading this fall. All book covers from Goodreads.

1. The Science of Interstellar by Kip S. Thorne

I’ve always been intrigued by astronomy and took a couple of intro courses in college. Even though I saw Interstellar a few months back, I’m still curious about the science that inspired parts of the movie. I requested this from the library just last night, so I can’t read wait to start it this week!

 

2. My Work is Not Yet Done by Thomas Ligotti

I recently read and thoroughly enjoyed The Conspiracy Against the Human Race and checked out Teatro Grottesco last year, which made me curious to read more Ligotti.

 

3.  Marrow by Tarryn Fisher

This book was on my summer TBR list but I somehow never got around to purchasing/reading it. I’ve heard great things about it and the blurb really caught my eye, so I’m hoping to give it a try soon.

 

4. Cinder by Marissa Meyer

I’ve actually got a copy of this book sitting on my dresser now and it’s been on my TBR list for quite some time. Not entirely sure why I haven’t read it yet. 

 

5. Seveneves by Neal Stephenson

I figured that enough time has passed without trying a Neal Stephenson book. I picked up Reamde from the library but was too intimidated to start it at the time. Maybe the second time’s the charm?

 

6. The Martian by Andy Weir

Another book that’s been on my TBR list for too long.

 

7. How To Be A Writer In The E-Age… And Keep Your E-Sanity! by Catherine Ryan Hyde and Anne R. Allen 

I stumbled upon this book in the Kindle store while searching for books on writing. Seems like a helpful guide for my current writing endeavors.

 

8. End Online by D. Wolfin

Another title I stumbled upon in the Kindle store. I’ve found some real gems that way, so I’m excited to see what this story holds in store!

 

9. Nexus by Ramez Naam

Found by searching for books on Transhumanism in the Kindle store.

 

10. One, No One, and One Hundred Thousand by Luigi Pirandello

I found out about this book from its mention in The Conspiracy Against the Human Race. Seems a lot different from the rest of my current reading material.

 

 

Which books are on your Fall (or Spring if you’re in the Southern Hemisphere) TBR?

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3 Rules for Writing

Can you guess what these three rules are? I bet you can!

I stumbled upon this quote on Pinterest fairly recently:

From Buzzfeed

And it really got me thinking. One of the things I enjoy the most about writing is the freedom it grants me. People can always suggest criticism and ways to improve my writing, but ultimately (for better or for worse) I get to decide how and whether to take that advice. Similarly, a writer can make a list of rules that works in their writing practice, but the sky’s really the limit in how you create a compelling story. I think this image sums it up quite nicely:

From Why I Write

Every writer has their own method for getting their words down. Here are my own three “rules” for writing:

1. Trust your gut

Not sure which direction you want to take in a story, or debating whether to change your story based on a critique? I find that going with my gut instinct can guide me in these situations. Sometimes you’ll just know if a certain possibility doesn’t feel right for what you want to achieve in your story. In the case of criticism, it’s important that you make these considerations only after you’ve had the chance to get over your initial reaction to receiving criticism to determine its value in improving your writing.

From Freedom with Writing

 

2. Fill Your Mental Buffer

I recently experimented with BufferApp, a tool that lets you schedule social media posts in advance. Buffer has this nifty feature where you get an email if any of the buffers, or queues, for your social media profiles are empty. I like to think of feeding my imagination/creativity in a similar manner. I constantly seek out books not only in my genre, but in other areas that pique my interest, and nonfiction titles to help improve my craft. Even though I’m a writer, I feed my imagination not only with the written word, but also images (part of why I love Pinterest), playlists of music that suit the mood of what I’m writing at the moment or evoke strong emotion, and movies with compelling stories. Feeding my imagination fills my mental buffer and provides inspiration for the stories that I write.

From Steph Vandermeulen

 

3. Give Your Mind a Break

A Psychology class I took in college discussed methods for effective decision-making. My professor described studies that found that people tend to make better decisions when they deliberately think about the problem and then take a break to give their unconscious mind the time to work the problem out. When they came back to the problem, they often made better decisions.

Similarly, if you hit a difficult patch in a story that you’re writing, it may actually be counterproductive if you spend ALL of your time trying to figure out a solution. After thinking for the problem for a bit, be sure to give yourself a break: go for a walk, watch a movie, or sleep on it. When you come back to solve the problem, you may discover a new solution waiting for you.

Zed Amadeo.

Top Ten Tuesday: Surprisingly Influential Books

Sometimes you never know how influential a book was on your life until you look back at it years later. For this week’s Top Ten Tuesday, as hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, I listed the top ten books that left a surprising impact on me, my writing, and my reading habits. All book covers from Goodreads.

When I think of influential books, an image of a thick classic, probably one that I was forced to read in school that I grew to love anyway, is the first image to pop into my mind. In my experience, the books that have left the largest impact on me often aren’t the ones that I would have expected.

1. If You Can Talk, You Can Write by Joel Saltzman

The first writing guide I read that made me take my writing more seriously. If You Can Talk taught me the simple yet effective advice to write a page a day, regardless of how “inspired” I was feeling, and other useful lessons that strengthened my craft.

 

2. The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud

This unique YA fantasy series inspired me to use the concept of planes of existence in a lot of my fantasy stories. I also entered a period where demons kept popping up the stories I wrote, to the point where I banned myself from including demons to force myself to be more creative with my invented mythologies.

 

3. The Death of Ivan Ilych by Leo Tolstoy

I can’t honestly say that I really enjoyed this book while I was reading it for English class in high school. However, months later it got me really thinking about my life and whether I was choosing the path that I really wanted or trying to live the “ideal” life that others expect of me.

 

4. Happy Ever After by Matt Shaw

Besides introducing me to one of my favorite authors, Happy Ever After was one of the first books I got on my Kindle. After I explored more of the author’s work and delved further into the sea of indie books published for Kindle, I considered the possibility of using KDP to launch my writing career. A little over a year later, here I am!

 

5. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

I thought Cloud Atlas was an excellent example of how diverse one author could be with writing style, as well as a lesson in how to create intersecting narratives. Made me raise the bar on my own writing standards.

 

6. House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

I have so much love for this book that I barely know where to begin. Similar to what Cloud Atlas did for narrative voice, House of Leaves illustrated how creative and experimental I could get with my writing, and encouraged me to try new forms of storytelling.

 

7. The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Fairies by Anna Franklin

One of the most beautiful books I have ever read. Flipping through its descriptions or pictures of fairy-tale creatures from around the world sparked my imagination and interest in mythology, which would later feed into my creativity when I started writing stories. 

 

8. Rise of the Machines by Kristen Lamb

This is the book that I read the most recently. Rise of the Machines made me rethink my author platform and how I used social media. I recommend this book to any aspiring or current authors, especially if you’re taking the indie route. I discussed more of the benefits I gleaned from this book in a previous post.

 

9. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Why not start with the Sorcerer’s (or Philosopher’s) Stone? I only got into Harry Potter after I saw the first movie in theaters. From there, I figured that I could jump right into the next book in the series, where I subsequently became obsessed with all things Harry Potter. Plus, JK Rowling continues to inspire me.

 

10. Sandman by Neil Gaiman

I picked up The Sandman on a whim from my local library, and soon found myself addicted. This beautifully illustrated and written series introduced me to the world of graphic novels.

 

Which books have left a surprising impact on you? Tell me in the comments!

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Book Review: Malus Domestica by S.A. Hunt

Dark fiction done right.

Malus Domestica – book cover from Goodreads

Sometimes you really can judge a book by its cover. The first thing about Malus Domestica that caught my eye was the beautiful book cover, designed by the author himself, S.A. Hunt.

Meet Robin, an unusual young woman who stars in her own show on YouTube, the eponymous Malus Domestica, which documents her adventures travelling across the country and killing witches. Sounds like one of those shows like LonleyGirl15: clearly engineered for entertainment. Only Robin’s adventures are all too real.

Robin’s bizarre exploits were spurred by the murder of her mother, which she claims was the result of witches dabbling in evil magic. She travels back to her hometown, a place that has become filled with hidden horrors, with the intention of killing the witches and destroying the dark and hidden power they wield to manipulate the world around them. Throughout the story, Robin gains a colorful cast of companions: Kenway, a veteran and artist with the potential for more than a friendship; Joel, a friend and blast from her past; and Wayne, a teenager who has just moved into town with his father. 

Though Malus Domestica is categorized as urban fantasy and horror set in the present day, the story has the feel and language of an epic fantasy with interweaving narratives. Malus Domestica is quite unlike anything else that I’ve read lately. And the story doesn’t stop there: the author is working on a sequel! If you love speculative fiction or are looking for a dark read, give Malus Domestica a try.

You can grab a Kindle or paperback copy of Malus Domestica on Amazon.

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Top Ten Tuesday: Finished Series I Have YET to Finish

Don’t we all have those book series that we just haven’t gotten around to finishing? That’s exactly the topic of this week’s Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. All book covers from Goodreads.

Top Ten Finished Series I Have YET to Finish:

 

1. The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

This is a series I really do hope to finish one day. The Magician’s Nephew is definitely one of my favorite fantasy books. I think if I got a really nice hardbound collection of the entire series, that would be a good enough incentive for me to finally finish it.

 

2. Cirque du Freak by Darren Shan

I wish that I could go back in time and retroactively make my younger self finish this series, as I’m sure teenage me would have loved it.

 

3. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

I know, I know – “What, you’re a fantasy writer and you haven’t even read the entire LOTR series?!?!” This is one of those series that pretty much everyone except me has already read and enjoyed. One day I’ll finish it…

 

4. Dune by Frank Herbert

This is a series I would probably learn a lot from writing-wise, if only I could actually sit myself down to finish it! 

 

5. The Jenna Fox Chronicles by Mary E. Pearson

I absolutely LOVED The Adoration of Jenna Fox when I read it during my YA phase as a teenager. I didn’t realize that there were sequels until a while later. I hope the rest of the books are as good as the first.

 

6. Stravaganza by Mary Hoffman

An intriguing depiction of an alternate universe version of Italy! This is another YA series that I might have outgrown, so even if I finished the series now, I probably wouldn’t enjoy it as much as my younger self would have.

 

7. Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

My younger brother dropped some spoilers from the rest of the series, which intrigued me enough to consider picking up the rest of the books.

 

8. Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer

My only real excuse for why I haven’t read this series is that I stumbled upon them fairly late. This is another series I think my younger self really would have loved had I finished it.

 

9. Modern Faerie Tales by Holly Black

This is probably the series I have the most chance of finishing in the near future – I would only have one more book left to read (Ironside). Considering that I’m an urban fantasy writer, I really should pick up the last book in the series, now that I think about it.

 

10. Xenogenesis by Octavia Butler

I read the first in the series for a Science-Fiction class I took in college and thought it was fantastic. I’d love to find out how the intriguing premise plays out in the rest of the series.

 

Which series have you still not finished?

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Making the Most of a Book Promotion

Planning a free or discounted book promotion? As a follow-up to my previous post on planning a book promo, I would like to share several other resources I have found especially helpful for creating a solid book promo strategy. 

I. Your Audience

Are you planning on using any of the many sites/newsletters that promote free and bargain eBooks? If so, you might want to take a look at this BookBub post describing the audience that purchases books from these sites. Earlier this year, BookBub surveyed bargain eBook readers and the results. Did you know that most of these readers enjoy genre fiction? Or that most will buy a discounted book from an author they’ve never heard of? This data may indicate that, for example, it may be especially helpful for a new indie fantasy author to promote their titles using similar bargain book sites. Check out the BookBub post for more helpful stats about bargain readers.

 

II. The Price of Your Book

The above BookBub post also provides helpful information on pricing your book during a promotion. Their data indicate that the higher you price your book during a promotion, the less likely readers are to purchase that book. While running a book promo, it might be more helpful to make your book free or lower the price to 99 cents for the most downloads.

“Promoting your Series: Free vs. 99c,” a post by author Nicholas C. Rossis, provides more helpful data on pricing strategies during a book promotion. Continuing from the data provided in the BookBub post, this post compares 99 cent books to free books during a promotion, finding that the latter tends to get more downloads. This is especially helpful if you’re promoting a book series: making the first book in the series free can also help increase sales of the rest of the books in your series.

 

III. Case Studies of Other Authors

Before launching my first book promotion, I read case studies of authors detailing their experiences running discount book promotions for ideas I could implement in my strategy. An important caveat is that even if you do the exact same things another author did, it’s unlikely that you’ll have the same result due to factors beyond your control. It’s important to set realistic goals for yourself during a promotion. Some authors may get thousands of downloads because they already had an established fanbase and a mailing list (neither of which I had when I did my first book promotion). In addition to providing ideas for what I can do to promote my book now, these posts are also helpful in thinking ahead and considering what may be possible once I have established my name as an author. A couple of these case studies:

1. Becky Wicks, a romance author, wrote a post about her strategies for getting over 20,000 copies of her book downloaded without using BookBub (especially helpful because authors often find it difficult to get their book accepted by BookBub). She describes which book promo sites she used, how she used Twitter to spread the word about her promo, and strategies to encourage readers to review her book. She used this plan to launch her book to the top of her category. No matter your genre, I’d recommend checking out Becky’s post for ideas of what to do during your book promo.

2. Annie Jacoby detailed her experiences promoting a book series by making the first book in a series permanently free. She emphasizes the importance of continuing to promote a permafree book (otherwise your sales will eventually plateau), writing interrelated book series, and publishing on platforms beyond KDP. Read more about her experiences in her post on the Kboards forum.

There are plenty more case studies online about running a book promotion. If you’re planning a book promo, I’d recommend setting aside some time to do a search on your preferred search engine, Kboards, or the KDP Forum for more posts like those two to get an even broader idea of how to run a successful book promo and figure out which strategies are likely to be the most helpful for you.

 

What resources have helped you create a solid strategy for promoting your book?

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Reunion: A New eBook Available Now!

I’m very pleased to announce Reunion, the second book in the “Kindred” series!

The follow-up to Resurrection has arrived!

Reunion: A Dark Fantasy Tale

Here’s the blurb from Amazon:

Brian, a less-than-average warlock trapped in an underworld ravaged by violence, wants little more than a chance to display his worth to his tribe. Desiring an opportunity please his brethren and prove his moxie, Brian takes on a mission for his coven: spy on Shay, a witch with a rare and valuable talent, and figure out how to steal her away for her coven’s gain. A plan that should have been easy, if not for Brian’s growing infatuation with the witch he is meant to ensnare. His decision is only further complicated when Shay gains a new companion: a new witch seeking a way to contact her dead adviser. With only days left to decide between his infatuation or his assignment, Brian soon finds himself enmeshed in a grand plan far beyond his meager depths.

Descend into a world of dark magic in Reunion, the second book in the dark urban fantasy series “Kindred.”

If you haven’t read the first installment, you can check out Resurrection on Amazon.

You can also get a free Kindred spellbook when you sign up for my newsletter!

Look out for more updates on the third installment, Recipe, coming in Winter 2015!

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Top Ten Tuesday: Characters I Just Didn’t Click With

It’s Top Ten Tuesday again, hosted by The Broke and The Bookish! This week it’s the top ten characters I just didn’t click with. All book covers from Goodreads.

Ten Characters I Just Didn’t Click With
1. Holden Caulfield from The Catcher in the Rye

I read this during the height of my teenage angst and I STILL found him annoying.

 

2. Charlie from The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Oh boy…I’m not gonna make any friends from putting this one on my list (I’ll probably make some enemies). Like Catcher in the Rye, I read this during a time when I thought it would be especially relevant to my life, but didn’t really connect to it all that much.

 

3. Sean, Lauren, and Paul from The Rules of Attraction

I REALLY enjoyed the movie adaptation, which I watched as a freshman in a college similar to the one that the novel takes place in. So I was disappointed when I didn’t enjoy the book nearly as much as the movie. Although the characters probably aren’t meant to be very likable because they’re arrogant, shallow college students, I preferred their movie counterparts over those in the book.

 

4. Katniss from The Hunger Games

Probably part of the reason why I was never able to latch onto the craze surrounding this series.

 

5. Ceony from The Paper Magician

Although I enjoyed the overall setting of this novel, not liking the protagonist made it difficult for me to finish.

 

6. Jane Eyre from…Jane Eyre

One of those books I was assigned to read for school and probably wouldn’t have finished otherwise.

 

7. Marianne and Elinor from Sense and Sensibility

See Jane Eyre.

 

8. Ann and Adele from Anywhere But Here

Another case where I liked preferred the characters in the movie adaptation more than the source material.

 

9. Sookie Stackhouse from Dead Until Dark

I was never a huge fan of True Blood so I can’t really compare her character in the book versus the show.

10. John from The Contortionist’s Handbook

I thought the book had an intriguing premise, but I didn’t care much for John.

 

I find that an unlikable protagonist or one that I have a hard time relating to (especially if the story is told through first person) can really taint my perception of a book, even if the overall story is good. However, I think it’s also possible to not like the protagonist as a person (perhaps they’re evil or more of an anti-hero) but still be intrigued enough by what’s happening to them to keep turning the page. Sometimes I have difficulty connecting with characters because they’re flat or cookie-cutter personas. Other times, it’s through no fault of the authors writing – just as you’re not best friends with everyone you’ve ever met, I’ve also found that there are some fictional characters that I just don’t get along with.

Have you ever had similar experiences with a fictional character?

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Top Ten Tuesday: Dark Fiction 101

Hello class! Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday: X 101, hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Today’s topic is Dark Fiction 101, encompassing horror, dark fantasy, and other forms of speculative fiction. Some examples may not immediately come to mind when “dark fiction” is mentioned, but may fall within this category due to horror elements within the story. Prepare to learn all about Dark Fiction, both classic examples as well as some of my favorites from the present. All book covers from Goodreads.

Dark Fiction 101
1. The Dunwich Horror by H.P. Lovecraft

A classic. One of my favorite tales from Lovecraft.

 

2. The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe

My introduction to Poe. Also contains one of my favorite opening lines to a story.

 

3. Teatro Grottesco by Thomas Ligotti

An excellent collection of short stories by a modern writer of dark fiction.

 

4. The Dark Eidolon by Clark Ashton Smith

A collection of stories and poems by a contemporary of Lovecraft.

 

5. Malus Domestica by S.A. Hunt

An excellent example of an epic horror/dark fantasy story by a modern author.

6. House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

A hard-to-classify novel that is another one of my favorites.

 

7. Stalking You Now by Jeff Strand

Proof that dark fiction can also be humorous.

 

8. The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker

The inspiration behind the Hellraiser film series.

 

9. The Pilo Family Circus by Will Elliot

The most messed up circus you’ll ever visit.

 

10. I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream by Harlan Ellison

AI gone horribly, horribly wrong.

 

What books would you suggest for this course? Alternatively, what was your 101 course?

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A Huge Thank You!

 

I’d like to extend a huge thank you to everyone who supported my promotion of Resurrection this past weekend. Whether you downloaded a copy or helped me spread the word on social media, I really appreciated your help! I wish you all the best in your reading adventures.

Cheers,

Zed

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