Steve Stred's Blog, page 96
October 15, 2018
LEFT HAND PATH ANNOUNCEMENT
LEFT HAND PATH: 13 More Tales of Black Magick ANNOUNCEMENT!!
Ok! Are you ready for the big massive, amazing announcement!??
IS IT AN AWARD!? – nope.
IS IT MOVIE OR TV NEWS!? – nope.
WELL?? WHAT IS IT!?
Sorry to disappoint, but it’s not as massive as most will expect.
So tag line – LEFT HAND PATH is an amazing collection of stories people love, but very poorly edited.
Now a few things up front;
I am an indie author. I have no backing (like a publisher) etc. So it is all on me. I write the stories, I get the covers set up (I don’t create them but work with someone to create them), I set up my own marketing plan, I try and create any sort of ads and I try and get folks to review them. I have had so much amazing help in the past it has been very, very humbling.
I completely self-released my first collection, The Fence: and Other Sordid Tales. (Same with my novel Invisible). I designed the cover and formatted etc etc. I also edited that myself. It was pretty bad. After fantastic feedback by author JZ Foster, I had it actually edited by David Sodergren (who also edited Wagon Buddy and YURI), had the cover revamped of For Balder Walks and re-released The Fence as Frostbitten: 12 Hymns of Misery. The feedback since has been outstanding. From the cover that my friend Lee Orr created to the stories themselves. A number of folks have said it completely changed the reading experience.
With Left Hand Path, I keep getting such amazing feedback about the stories. So I had someone edit it who didn`t want any credit, just wanted to help, and it came back. (This was not my sister Jodi, FYI. I give her thanks in the afterword, but she wasn’t the editor.) I sent it off to JZ (who formats the projects for me and creates the file types needed for publication) without really re-reading it. Then some feedback started to come back after it was released. The cover was fantastic! The stories are great, BUT, the editing sucks. Poor grammar. Incorrect use of too versus to. But the most common thing I heard was this;
“Do you say shake your head for an agreement?”
That was the question I was asked most frequently. I never thought about it. I do say ‘shake your head.’ But in the literary world, that is incorrect. You say ‘nod your head.’ David filled me in when editing Frostbitten, YURI, and Wagon Buddy.
Now why am I bringing this up? Well for several reasons.
People pay some money to read my stuff. It’s not a lot, but I pride myself on putting out really good content. To hear someone didn’t enjoy it because I didn’t take that extra step of re-reading the work before sending it to be formatted is my fault. Not the readers. I am a busy guy, but that’s no excuse. I was excited and couldn’t wait for it to be released.
People won some copies. I said in the emails that some of the winners were receiving pre-release uncorrected copies. But still – you won a contest. I don’t like to disappoint folks.
I don’t want to be a massive hypocrite. I have started doing some reviews for the fantastic Kendall Reviews site. How can I possible review someone’s work and comment on poor editing when I have that hanging over me? Not fair at all to the other author and makes me look like a tool bag. “Why should I believe him when he doesn’t edit his stuff?”
I am actively trying to gain fans. I want to release stuff people can’t wait to read. Things people getting excited about. I write some crazy, dark, sad, horrific stuff. I have a messed up imagination. There are folks who enjoy that. I want them to be proud to be a fan and be a reader of my work.
So what now?
Well, I try to be a stand-up guy. I am not trying to rip anyone off. I think there really is only a few things that can be done.
Left Hand Path will be re-edited ASAP. I have a number of works in progress, but nothing planned as an official release until next year. So this will be prioritized.
If you downloaded the book for free from my various promos or purchased the eBook (thank you so much!) when the book is re-uploaded you will be able to update the file. You can go to Manage Content and Devices and go to that file, click update. I will update folks when that will happen.
If you bought a physical copy (again thank you!) or have a physical copy for review, please message me through any of the various channels and I will send you a new Mobi copy as a thank you. I do apologize, I just simply do not have the money to replace everyone’s physical copies.
If you won a copy of Left Hand Path in any of the contests I have had, message me and I will resend you an updated copy once it is ready.
I hope that sounds fair, and I hope that you will all stick with me and continue to support me! I try hard and want to put out fantastic stuff! And, as I said before, I can assure you, Frostbitten: 12 Hymns of Misery, Wagon Buddy and YURI are all high quality, highly edited works!
Cheers.
Steve
October 4, 2018
New short story
Hey all! You may have noticed a couple new tabs on the main menu here!
The first is Kendall Reviews, which will compile all of the reviews that is published over at the fantastic Kendall Reviews site. The second is simply titled Eaten. I have a number of works in progress, and one of those is the next batch of short stories. This will be one of them! So enjoy Eaten!
Cheers
The Window Review at Kendall Reviews
Hey all! Another review is up at Kendall Reviews!
This one if for a sure-fire coming-of-age masterpiece. The Window is one of the best reads this year!
http://kendallreviews.com/the-window-glenn-rolfe-kendall-review/
October 2, 2018
Haunted House Guest Post
Hey all! To celebrate the release of YURI yesterday, I did a guest post over at the great Sci-Fi & Scary to discuss haunted house cliches!
Take a look!
https://www.scifiandscary.com/avoiding-or-owning-haunted-house-cliches-by-steve-stred/
Breathe. Breathe. Review up at Kendall Reviews!
Hey all! My second official review for the great folks at Kendall Reviews is up!
Take a read!
http://kendallreviews.com/breathe-breathe-erin-sweet-al-mehairi-kendall-review/
October 1, 2018
Free promo wrap up post
All right! Here is the free promo wrap up post! This is partly for me so that I have it written down somewhere and partly to show those reading, the benefits of doing a free promo like this!
So all last week (Monday – Friday) I featured one of my releases for free for the day, to celebrate the upcoming release of YURI (which came out today! Go get it!)
So here are the download numbers as well as any sales of the book since
Monday – Jane: the 816 Chronicles – 52 free downloads – 0 sales (peak position #121 in horror)
Tuesday – Invisible – 70 free downloads – 3 sales ( 2 ebooks 1 physical) (peak position #97 in horror)
Wednesday – Frostbitten: 12 Hymns of Misery – 93 downloads – 6 sales (5 ebooks 1 physical) (peak position #23 in horror and #31 in single author collections)
Thursday – Left Hand Path: 13 More Tales of Black Magick – 231 downloads – 12 sales (10 ebooks and 2 physical) (peak position #17 in horror and #19 in single author collections)
Friday – Wagon Buddy – 125 downloads – 33 sales (29 ebooks and 4 physical) (peak position #9!!! in horror)
So there you have it! Was a fantastic week of free promotion, which lead to some trickle in sales as well! Can’t wait to see what YURI can accomplish with the October buzz!
Thank you to everyone who snagged a copy!
Steve
YURI Review
Hey all! Apologies, I lied! There will most likely be three posts from me today!
That’s because Jim at Oneleggedreviews.com kindly did another review for me! Much like Wagon Buddy, Jim took a read through YURI!
https://oneleggedreviews.blogspot.com/2018/10/yuri-by-steve-stred.html
YURI release day!
Hello all! This will be post 1 of 2 today!
Happy release day to YURI my twisted haunted house tale! This one was a lot of fun and there are a few spots in the story that will leave you feeling a little dirty!
I will run all the numbers coming up and post about my free week of promo’s that just happened!
Grab YURI!
September 28, 2018
Final free ebook! Day 5!
Hey all! Today marks the last day of free ebook promo’s leading up to the release of my novella YURI on October 1st!
Today’s offering is my most recent release, the novella Wagon Buddy!
“Hello Scott,” the creature said, its voice deep and tasting like dirt.
Synopsis:
You ever have an imaginary friend? You know, that made up person that was always there for you, always willing to play with you and letting you confide in them?
“Scott, you wouldn’t like my real name. So how about you just call me your wagon buddy?”
What if your imaginary friend turned out to be real? And not a person at all?
Wagon Buddy tells the tale of a man and his creature, his only friend, who time and time again comes to his aide.
But what happens when you can’t control the creature anymore?
“A fresh and original suspenseful tale with shades of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Steve Stred weaves an amazing story about a childhood connection that grows more sinister and dangerous with age.
After an imaginary friend turns out to be real, and not human at all, a man must make a choice.
Exciting, thrilling, addictively entertaining, Wagon Buddy is a 2018 must read!”
Seb Jenkins, Author of Life After Death
September 27, 2018
Free ebook Day 4!
Day 4 of the free ebooks! Today see’s my latest collection of short stories Left Hand Path: 13 more tales of black magick available for free!!
Synopsis:
Do you remember the first time, you heard something go bump in the night?
Or when you first played with the Ouija board and it moved on its own?
What about the last time a movie or book scared you so badly, that you had to turn on all of your lights and make sure your feet were not hanging over the edge?
If any of this rings true, something probably caused you to find this book.
Within this book, the author of Frostbitten: 12 Hymns of Misery, Invisible, Yuri and Wagon Buddy returns to ensure you will be looking behind you frequently while reading.
Left Hand Path: 13 More Tales of Black Magick collects all new tales filled with depravity and retribution. Brimming with horror, thrills and creepy chills, the reader is sure to find the hairs standing up on the back of their necks and the occult themes causing them to question the true nature of the lights flickering.
When all is said and done, when you finally finish reading this batch of stories, you will have found that at some point, you locked the doors, checked under the bed, and made sure all of the closet doors are closed.
You have been warned.
