L.T. Marshall's Blog, page 39
June 24, 2018
DIY Rosette badge tutorial, perfect for birthdays or book themed gifts!
I mentioned in a previous blog that I have my youtube channel up and running again, after much debate over whether I should start a fresh new one. I was recently in a contract with BBTV ( youtube agent who controls a lot of popular channels) on my craft channel and now that is no longer the case. My lack of interest in uploading sort of made them cut ties and I am in no way complaining. The channel now is back in my control and I have revamped it to be used again.
The problem with a craft only channel was that it never really fully encompassed me as a person and my varied life, therefore I would fall into lulls of boredom with trying to think of content.
I write, I DIY, I craft and I do a heck of a lot of other things besides write books, so my new channel will cover everything and not stick to a theme anymore. It will give me much wider scope and hopefully let you see more than just an author.
My website is being updated to have a few extra sections to include the Craft me, the DIY me and my events.
To remind you of what I used to film I am sharing an older tutorial which can be modified (I plan on doing so very soon and making some book themed rosettes for my giveaways!!! I reckon this very simple tutorial can be adapted and even changed for seasons or holidays. I know a lot of my readers like to make book related items and this is a great one for rewarding readers or making custom themed keepsakes.
That is why I have chosen to re-share this particular old video.
Its a tutorial on making yourself some cute and funky rosettes to give to your family or friends on birthdays, special awards, or even Christmas. Fun and easy to make. Make them to almost any colour or design theme.
June 23, 2018
The Carrero Influence Paperback release
Paperback Release The Carrero Influence – Redefining Rules
The Carrero Series, Book 2
by L.T Marshall
Get immersed in the world of Carrero and join the thousands who don’t want to get out.
Emma Anderson and Jake Carrero are back in the second instalment of the original Carrero trilogy.
Flawed but addictive characters, and a rollercoaster ride of emotions.
The Carrero Influence – Redefining Rules
Universal Link:
️Buy now – myBook.to/CarreroInfluence
#clubcarrero #CarreroSeriesBookTwo #CarreroInfluence #RedifiningRules #JakeandEmma
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June 20, 2018
Square Peg
This is me.
A square peg in a board of round holes that we call society.
I can’t say when I first noticed it, I mean, really saw that compared to those around me every day I just didn’t quite seem the same. I guess I was too young to realise what that really meant. To be an odd shape or an oddball that could not slide into the space life reserves for the round pegs around us. While they smoothly nestled into what was expected on the big board of life and met all those imaginary goals that someone says we should all meet as children. I struggled to understand why all the things we learned side by side just did not seem to absorb into my flat edges they way the round pegs seemed to get it. I didn’t progress like they did, my growth goals, my milestones, and everything just seemed so hard because of my clunky and unrefined shape.
When I started to see it, I guess I became very hyper focused and self-aware of the differences and somehow magnified my own sense of insecurity and lack of ability to ‘fit’ in. Straight edges, neat corners, and very black and white about everything, while they were polished and smooth and flawlessly aesthetic. They just seemed to know how to be.
Then there was me…. I took longer to process, longer to understand and I needed different things to stay calm. I was clumsy and loud and said inappropriate things and didn’t get the jokes or the facial expressions. I tried to be part of the crowd and instead was always the bystander who did not get picked for team games.
You see…. These pegs around me, they all lined up and slid into their spaces very easily and sort of co-existed without any huge effort about it, like somehow nature was on their side. Their shape, their inner workings. It was all so much of an alien thing to me as much as the roundness of their being and try as I might, I had no ability to put myself into the place of a round peg
I started to feel even more disconnected as we grew, and my flatter edges really became more prominent and refused to be pushed into the curves of the holes around me as much as they did when I was little, and the hole was roomy. I tried harder, fought to fit into that hole and would have to force myself so much more than I did when I was a little peg. The others were beginning to really see my oddity.
Highschool was the worst, and at the awkward age where fitting in is everything. They all sat snugly into their holes while I wriggled and turned and had to force myself which hurt my irregular shape. I was forced to cling on inside that space, stop myself from popping out and act like I wasn’t really a square peg at all.
Kids who saw my corners would point it out and make fun of me, show others I was different, and they could be very unkind. I tried so hard to keep it all hidden under a round mask that I fashioned for myself. I adopted round peg traits and mannerisms in a bid to not be noticed, but all the while I could see my flat edges and harsh corners and I knew they were there. I tried to disguise them and smooth them but alas. A square peg I always was even though I did not want to be. No one asked me or gave me a choice. Nature just made me this way.
Round pegs communicate with one another in weird ways, they think the same and behave in a socially acceptable manner that I guess is naturally born into round pegs. Life for them seems so much easier when it comes to relating to one another, talking and learning. They just know what to do, how to act and feel and how to behave. I guess round pegs get some sort of road map to these things that I somehow missed.
There I was … square, forced into a space I didn’t fit and faking my roundness in a bid to get by. I didn’t understand it. I couldn’t handle the fact that this was done to me while everyone around me got to be ‘normal’. I didn’t see how it could feel better and I felt alone. I wanted to be a round peg, feel like a round peg and behave like a round peg. I wanted to succeed in life.
Then one day I met another square peg, and then another and they too were existing in this world and forcing themselves into the peg board to get by. They too could not understand why nature had made them the wrong shape.
That was until we talked and confided in one another and suddenly, it did not feel like we were misfits anymore. We thought the same, we communicated, learned differently, and understood one another in a way we had watched enviously for many years and then something amazing happened progressively.
We attracted and found more like us and society started to see that round was not a hole that fitted all pegs….. there were more. Square, hexagonal, oval, star and so many shaped pegs out there that were not round, and we were only just scratching the surface. Society is still adjusting to our existence. Not all round pegs understand us and why we do not fit in the board beside them, but it’s changing, and we are seeing boards with all inclusive shapes where before there were only round.
Society is slowly learning that maybe the peg board should not be uniform and repetitive. That some pegs need something different and it’s not because they are faulty or somehow disfigured pegs… No. We are something else. We were built by nature as something else. We are not failures or unlikely to thrive.
In fact, square pegs have many gifts and our oddity can be a gift in many ways. You will never know the delight of having a square peg in your life if you keep forcing us to hide in round holes.
I am a square peg and I am proud to be.
Yours sincerely an ADHD and ASD Person.
June 17, 2018
Carrero June Giveaway is still open!
My June Giveaway still has over a week to go and you can still enter both this one (on FB and Instagram!) and My Paperback giveaway too!!!! I have now added a new GIVEAWAYS! tab to my header, so you can find all my currents and make sure you never miss the opportunity to enter.
Top Right corner of my header!!
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I have 3 currently open, so make sure you check out that page and click click click to the giveaways.
June giveaway blog post >>>>> Win The Carrero Series book giveaway
June 16, 2018
The Carrero Influence Paperback Release
Finally it is coming. After we removed it from online stores in January 2018 to undergo editing and formatting, it is finally ready to be relaunched. Collectors and lovers of paper books can now own the new edition and love the story which started it all.
#TeamJake
Book 2 in Emma and Jake’s story – The Carrero Influence.
Paperback edition!!!!
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EMMA ANDERSON has had her entire world turned upside down and not for the better.
JAKE CARRERO – the only man in her life she has ever been able to trust – has gone. Her perfect job is a distant memory. Her future is bleak.
She has lost the cool facade she spent years perfecting and has been left in a desolate slump, trying to claw back some form of normality.
Emma is heartbroken… that is until Jake walks straight back into her life.
And maybe there is a chance at something more between them this time. But this “more” comes with analysing everything that’s come before – as well as the baggage that is now attached to him in the form of Marissa Hartley.
Flawed but addictive characters, and a rollercoaster ride of emotions.
Contains some mature, adult content, and language.
Ebook Buy link – myBook.to/CarreroInfluence
Paperback will go live on amazon on June 23rd 2018.
If you want to review any of the series please contact me – enquiries@ltmarshall.blog
June 13, 2018
ReadFree.Ly Best Reads of 2018
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I am pleased to announce I have been named a runner up in ReadFree.ly‘s best reads of the year 2018 awards this week. I cannot tell you how happy this makes me.
A fantastic website that brings you great reads and reviews and I was voted by their thousands of readers into the top 20.
Winners >>> See the winners
Review of The Carrero Effect >>> Click to read
A huge thank you to both the website and the readers who took the time to vote xx This means more than I can express xx
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June 12, 2018
JUNE INDIE BOOK GIVEAWAY #SPOTLIGHT Just Rose
Win a signed paperback of my standalone novel ‘Just Rose’ in this months giveaway being hosted by
JUNE INDIE BOOK GIVEAWAY #SPOTLIGHT
Just Rose by @LMarshallAuthor
ENTER HERE >>> http://www.pictpublishing.com/giveaway
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June 10, 2018
Dear Amazon…..
After contacting you about the missing reviews on my books across the board and watching fellow authors and readers post daily about the loss of honest reviews, I feel I need to say one or two things about the sort of replies your are sending out as reasons customers are losing reviews and the ability to review.
Biased reviews.
By this I assume you mean someone who has a love of the author, relationship possibly, or gained in some way to leave a review. Either paid to review, or given a free book. You know something traditional publishers have done for an age and yet you have not touched a single trad published books reviews. I guess being a ‘big’ author means you are less likely to have contact with your minions right? The little people cannot possible know you or be swayed to like you.
I would assume this also covers fans of the author, who follow and read everything that one author puts out? So that now being a fan is classed as biased in case this person may actually ‘love’ your writing style and plot lines? Yet again, only an issue among the self publishing books though, not the thousands and thousands of trad books with hundreds of glowing ‘fan love’ reviews. I assumed when I developed a writing style that getting a fan following was part of the way to succeed. I may have to take a webinar on ‘how to author’ according to Amazon, if that is not the case.
Review manipulation?
By this do you mean having people you know (connected on your accounts?) , read and review your book? Blog tours, bloggers, review teams? Fans? In the trad world they call this marketing, and from what I can see it is only a problem when it’s an indie publisher who takes on the well used methods of long standing big houses like the big 5 publishers. If you do not want us to market and send people to read, review our books, then please tell us how we are supposed to drum up exposure in such a saturated market. Reviews sell, that’s been known in the publishing industry for centuries and is the only way some of us have to get our books out there.
Relationships with the author?
Any connections on social media, or evidence of a friendship, or connection, is being seen as biased opinion? So you are spying and checking who is friends with whom in a rather creepy ‘big brother’ kind of way and assuming all connections on these platforms are suspect. Of course, no one friends celebs they are fan-girling over right? Completely unheard of to send someone you admire or appreciate a request in hopes of being able to bask in their awesomeness. I must quickly go unfriend a few celeb authors who have never actually interacted with me at all, for fear of having a biased relationship with them.
Now a few points you maybe do not understand about the self publishing community that maybe should be considered when making these assumptions. I feel that I need to point these out and highlight this, as your reasons for deletion seem a little out of touch for what we know is the reality of the indie world out there, on the wide vast plain known as social media.
The Indie community
We are a close knit huge group of readers, writers and bloggers combined. Who openly join the same groups, interact and become social media buddies. Yes, some of us actually talk to one another occasionally. Ooooh , send us to jail.
No matter who you are, what your standing is and what you do in the book world, we all connect and add strangers like it’s going out of fashion. Why? Because fans prefer authors who are easy to interact with, who can answer their questions and fuel the love of their books. We also cannot be seen on most platforms unless you are connected in some way. That’s the beauty of millions of untapped possible customers out there. they will only ever see us if we connect, interact or have a reason to be on their timelines.
We all friends request one another. It’s what you do when you want to grow your connections and get exposure.
Networking is done mostly on social media platforms and is a smart way to network. You are the only company penalising this. I think you need to update your archaic ideas.
Authors also read books by other authors. Who knew we could actually read, and yes, we sometimes know one another, but that makes our reviews more honest. We are not afraid to voice opinions among fellows we respect.
We sometimes share fans (shocking I know) and guess what? They can love multiple authors at one time and still not have biased reviews. Being a fan does not mean Insta-love with every book we release. Fans are the ones who are first to tell us if something is crap.
Some of us have maxed out our friends ability into the thousands and cannot honestly say we talk to even 15% of them on our profiles, so it’s ridiculous to assume a connection equates to ‘relationship’
Bloggers are the bread and butter of small authors, they sell our books for us and do a magnificent job of getting us seen. Stop punishing them for loving books.
The wave of social media platforms means that nowadays your fave writers are within your grasp and you no longer have to admire from afar. You can connect and interact, follow and friend, and it actually boosts exposure. It doesn’t mean we have any sort of deep friendship or relationship with all the people on our accounts. Most never even speak to us at all.
This is the norm and what a lot of people do when trying to integrate into the book world on a deeper level. We encourage this as that’s what book lovers do. They congregate to talk books, share books and their love of books. It’s not a crime. If you spent one day asking your customers, they will tell you their favourite authors are the ones who take the time to be among the ‘normal’ readers and are approachable, down to earth people. Move with the times amazon.
The Indie community are a supportive bunch, but that by NO means takes away from the honesty of the reviews posted online. Readers and bloggers feel very righteous about the implications that being a FB friend or having some vague link to an author means their reviews are BS. You are assuming your customers have no integrity and that book lovers can be swayed by the presence of the author on their accounts, like we are some kind of higher power that should never be critiqued. You obviously have never bothered to join any of the book clubs and realise most readers will happily air dislikes and talk it out with authors to help them improve their books. In fact you have to grow a thick skin being an author in the new wave of easy to contact media. We get some corkers from readers who feel we owe them a higher standard. Sitting behind a device and never seen face to face actually gives them more bravado to air their dislikes. Don’t believe me… go look at any Goodreads reviews in the one star sections. OUCH.
Not to mention a lot of folks have usernames or anonymous accounts that are no way tied to social media profiles. So even if they are connected to an author, we could never guess it was their review. Most authors have pen names too and I bet a lot of the people on their private profiles have no clue it is even the same person. I know most have no clue who I am in book groups.
We have a unique relationship with our community and we are all avid net-workers due to the lack of funds for big marketing schemes like trad houses can afford. That’s what we call smart business advertising, using our tools in any way we can when we can’t pay out the big bucks to compete. We slave away building relationships in the reading community with authors, bloggers, and readers in a bid to be seen, shared and helped out. Authors help boost authors even if they do not know them.
You are punishing us for managing to sell our books to people we have connected too, even though it’s probably the only way they found us in the first place. Favouritism doesn’t happen because they interact with us… we are ten a penny and most readers have hundreds of authors on their accounts even if they never review or even like their books. Stop punishing us for using social media as it is intended to be used.
As a platform who relies on sales you seem to be shooting yourselves in the foot. You will lose authors who will now deem to go wide and opt out of KDP select or even amazon altogether. Reviewers who will turn to other platforms to buy and review books, and this will have a knock on effect with how much money you make. As a company who seem to be moving into the book world more and more, you should learn that ‘happy author means more sales’. You should be helping us, not hindering us – you are not the only place we can self publish nowadays and I am seeing people cancelling their amazon memberships left, right and center because of this.
Treat your customers as valuable assets. They can and will go elsewhere and the reputation you have been building for years around your Kindle market, will take a dunt and a half if this keeps happening.
The Indie community talk, they band together and they flock like a mob when they feel someone is in the wrong. I mean look at the recent #cockygate debacle. If that is not proof of how this community works then I do not know what is.
Please sort this mess out.
Yours faithfully
A disgruntled Author, Reader AND Blogger.
June 9, 2018
Amazon reviews are disappearing.
The author world is up in arms this past few weeks with an issue that started several months back and seems to be escalating. That is the deletion of many verified and non verified reader reviews on books across the globe.
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Now this may not seem to be much of a problem to you if you do not self publish or even write and publish at all, but to those in the indie community, it’s wreaking havoc.
Reviews affect so many things when you are going it alone. Amazon rewards books with more reviews with little perks, appearance in newsletters and more exposure, ranking improves and of course customers are more inclined to purchase a book with many reviews than none. It has a knock on effect when you review strip both books and readers.
I mean, why would you continue to review when you are being punished for doing so?
There are people who feel they are doing something small to help out authors they follow and adore by leaving reviews, it’s their outlet to tell us how much they loved our book or things they did not like so much. Yet it would seem they are being penalized in case they have a biased opinion of the books they are reviewing.
Now I do not know how accurate some of these reasons are, bear in mind it is ALL speculation but as I am in a lot of indie writers groups, bloggers and readers groups, I have accumulated a list of reasons that people have been given as to why their reviews were targeted.
A social media connection to the author of the book (friends on Facebook etc)
A relationship to the author (family link or personal connection that is obvious IE surname, listed on social media as family)
Reviewing all of that authors books over a short period of time with 5 star glowing reviews. Or leaving 5 star reviews on ALL the books you read.
Wording such as ‘love’ ‘adore’ favourite’ when referring to the author – basically showing you are a fan and leaving praise. (Yes , I know – ridiculous)
Goodreads connection (as Amazon now own it) and if you sign in via Facebook they can see who you are friends with on both platforms. It would seem friend requesting your fave authors is unheard of in the land of Amazon. Sorry Kat French we may no longer be allowed to be buddies.
Reviewers who review books close together and multiple a week (because speed reading is apparently not a thing)
Too many 5 star reviews and praise (seems you are not allowed to love a writing style and ALL of one authors books)
Reviewing other authors books – seems writers are not allowed to be readers too.
Review numbers not adding up to book sales (okay, so I agree with this one as it is a bit dodgy to have more reviews than book sales)
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Now as I said, I have no clue if any of these reasons are valid and actually why Amazon are Nilly Willy removing reviews left, right, and center, but I can only guess there is some truth among them. Even I have been stripped of reviews on my books, one of them losing 15 so far in one month and I am starting to get really peeved. Those were genuine readers and reviewers with honest reviews.
As an author who openly encourages my readers to friends request, contact me, and interact, I feel that Amazon need to move with the times and realise not ALL reviews are biased. Some of us have fans and readers who then seek us out and become social media friends to strengthen their bond to our work. It’s not a crime and as paying customers they have a right to review something they purchased through Amazon. Being connected to someone you admire and whose work you love seems to be something that you only punish writers for having. Look at the millions of celebrities in other fields with mass followings and maxed out friends requests who never experience this kind of stupid.
Amazon are damaging their own credibility and ruffling a lot of feathers with this mass sweep of deletions. It’s madness and what do they hope to achieve with doing this? I have much respect to a platform which enabled my career and gave me an outlet to be seen and heard. It has literally changed my life and I can in no way fault their customer service when I raise issues on my KDP dashboard. I am always given the gold star treatment. In saying that however I am not immune to the loss of reviews and it stings. I earned those reviews with my hard work and commitment to my craft and as of yet I have had no response as to why I am losing them.
Now on another note, I do see why Amazon felt they needed to take action. I myself have witnessed underhanded ‘review collecting’ from authors trying to play the rankings. Having family, friends and paid reviewers leave them glowing reviews for books they have never read, or paying for page reads accumulations from shady sources. It does happen, although not commonly and I agree Amazon had to deal with these in some way as it was an unfair playing field for genuine authors. Having said that though, they have taken a problem of minor proportions and come out with world war worthy nuclear weapons of destruction. Over kill at its finest!
Authors, bloggers and readers on twitter are demanding answers and banding together to do so. If you want to get involved and help us get our reviews reinstated then please use the hashtag –
– on all social media. Support one another and tag, Pm, email anyone you think who will join this movement and highlight how this affects us a writers. I personally Tagged E.L. James as we all know she was the queen of self published before she signed her mega buck contracts, and as someone who is still down to earth and a supporter of the indie world I felt she might be a good tag.
Stand together and Amazon cannot continue to ignore the issue.
On a lighter note – go read a Carrero book and leave me a review .
