Leon Stevens's Blog, page 57
January 19, 2024
Free Book Friday Jan 19: Promos and Featured Authors
Finally, new promos!
And what else? Two featured authors.
Anything else? How about a link to my newsletter?
Lines by Leon Magnificent Bi-Weekly Newsletter ExtravaganzaCan it be that good? Only one way to find out.
Leon
The story behind Free Book Friday:I’ve met many authors and readers during my time marketing, cross-promoting, and blogging. I think writers have a responsibility to inform readers about all the indie authors out there in the very crowded world of book publishing. You can’t do it alone, and why would you when you have a supportive group available?
Readers don’t just read one author – they stick with their favorite genres. Therein lies the power in cross-promotion. If one of my readers buys a book from an author I promote, then chances are there will be a reciprocal effect, or so is the hope. Do I want to boost sales? Of course I do. Do I want to boost other’s sales? Why not. It’s called karma.
Some free book offers require a newsletter sign-up, which is a small non-monetary price to pay to try out a new indie author.
Featured Authors C.P. JamesI write cinematic sci-fi of substance. What does that mean? Well, my love of writing came from reading, but my love of story really came from movies. Expect smart characters and short chapters that move along at a cinematic pace. I like intricate, plausible stories that reward careful readers without alienating those who just want to kick back and escape this messed-up world for a while.
Read The Technician for free!
Diana FedorakShe is offering this book to reviewers. Review now.
Diana Fedorak is a novelist from Las Vegas, Nevada. Born in Saigon, South Vietnam, she grew up in a Pan Am Airways family who frequently traveled overseas. Her prior career was as an officer in the United States Air Force. She enjoys writing complex characters in high-stakes science fiction and fantasy worlds.
Reads From StoryOrigin and BookFunnelStoryOrigin and BookFunnel allows authors to advertise their books to each other’s audience. I hope you have been able to discover a new favorite!
Kindle Unlimited
Sales/Purchase Links
Current promos: Discover New Authors
Review Copies (These are free!)Review copies: Like reviewing books? Try my two poetry collections: Lines by Leon and A Wonder of Words
Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and receive a free book (poetry or science fiction or both): Leon’s Newsletter
Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.
My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/
Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and receive a free book!
Oh, pick me!
C’mon, space stuff!
January 18, 2024
Thursday is Bookday
What did you think of the book?There has been a trend lately with books being advertised with arrows and short descriptors, which I have no idea what they are called. I’ve done my own (shown below) and recently decided to do a few book reviews in the same form.
I read everyday, but usually at bedtime, which means I usually fall asleep before the chapter is over. this also means it takes me longer to finish books.
When do you read?
-Leon
Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.
My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/
Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and receive a free book!
Oh, pick me!
C’mon, space stuff!
January 17, 2024
Weird Wednesday Jan. 17: Symbolism in The Top Row
[Originally posted on Aug. 25, 2021]
[Rewritten on Jan 17th because it was terrible in it’s original form. Don’t go there.]
Did you know?
The reason for the conventional configuration was to slow down the rate of typing because the strikers would jam if adjacent keys were pressed too quickly in succession. The most common letters were spread out to eliminate this. There are keyboard configurations that concentrate most frequent letters under the fingers, that reduce effort by 95% and increase speed by 50% but this was done well after the QWERTY set-up was entrenched in the world, and good luck trying to get the whole world on board (just ask the metric system).
Most punctuation is found in the lower section of the keyboard to be easily accessible by the weak fingers of the right hand, leaving the symbols to share space with the numbers on top row of the keyboard (I’m not counting the function keys). The numbers— angry to have all the cuss words as roommates—demanded to also be on the right hand side, and in a fit of defiance, configured themselves backwards to the phone keypad.
Now, since nobody really knows what the symbols mean, here is a handy cheat-sheet for you to print out so that you will never forget the official nomenclature.
The Symbols [crash!] Not Cymbals.`The Angry Eyebrow~The Kinda/Sorta!The OMG@The Wrong Symbol for Copyright#The Make Up Your Mind, Number, Pound, or Hashtag$The Can I Have Some More of This?%The I Better Not Have to Calculate That^The Funny Hat&The Fun to Say and Hear People Ask “The What?”*The There’s Something Cool at the End(The Psst)The Did You Catch That?–The Take-away or Joiner_The Space You Can See The Easier Than %=The I’m the Same AsBonus
—The How Do You Get That, I Don’t See That Symbol on the Keyboard?-Leon
Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.
My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/
Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and receive a free book!
Oh, pick me!
C’mon, space stuff!
January 16, 2024
Tuesday Tidbits: Book Marketing. Does it Work?
This isn’t going to be a boring statistics filled post, although it should be. Keeping detailed records of where books sales are coming from is important to determine whether your money is being wasted of not.
There’s just one problem: You are never going to be 100% sure that what you do is leading to a sale, unless you only advertise on one platform and don’t mention your book to anyone…ever.
Can it be that difficult? Yup. Let me break it down.
I blog about my books, not all the time, because no one wants to be “bookwacked” every time they come to my blog. Of course there are always links to my books because I’m proud of them and I hope that they get purchased and enjoyed. I can tell if a link gets clicked (but not who clicked it), but does that lead to a sale? I don’t know.
I have links in my newsletter, and I can tell which subscriber clicks them, but does that lead to a sale? Again, I don’t know. I mention my books on various social media platforms. Some will give stats if a post is viewed or a link is ‘engaged’ with, but does that lead to a sale?
OK. You know where I am going with this. Unless a reader tells me directly, “I bought your book because I saw it on [insert platform/website here].
Of course, I can tell when a book gets sold. It shows me on my Amazon dashboard. Some sales can be loosely connected to the group promos and swaps with other authors. If my book is featured in another author’s newsletter on Thursday, and there is a sale on Friday (there’s usually a 1 day delay in reporting), that might be why. But wait? My newsletter came out in Wednesday and there was a click to my book, so maybe that was it.
Hmm, one of the group promos I am in got shared this week as well. Oh, and I did a post on Instagram on Monday and it got a like on Tuesday, and then there’s Twitter/X, I added my book to someone’s post.
Confusing. I bet you are wondering about that spike in sales on Jan. 4th. I did a paid promotion on Jan. 3rd so that must have worked. right? Probably the majority of them, but I had a newsletter go out as well, so…
So what’s up with the “Best books for readers who don’t think they like science fiction” graphic? Just another platform I’m trying to reach more readers, called Sheperd.com. Is it like Goodreads, Reedsy, Bookbub, or any of the many others out there? I guess. Why don’t you let me know what you think?
The best books for readers who don’t think they like science fiction
-Leon
Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.
My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/
Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and receive a free book!
Oh, pick me!
C’mon, space stuff!
January 15, 2024
Music Monday: 1980
There is a radio show on CBC here in Canada that occasionally does a feature called SYNTH: Songs You Need To Hear.
Now, I can’t say to someone, “You’ll like this song” (or book for that matter) because I can’t presume that others will share my taste in music (or books), so it is safer to say, “You might like this” and if they don’t like it, so be it.
Maybe you will find a new favorite.
CBC MUSIC, Central · Mornings with CBC Music
Apparently, this is that saddest day of the year according to someone who said so. Music is always a good mood lifter, even if the the song has some sad overtones. I know that are some songs that make me tear up when I hear them, and others that make me smile.
If you are feeling sad, don’t keep it to your self. Talk to someone. A family member, a close friend, a professional, or if you are reading this, your favorite bogger.
Last week, I highlighted a few songs from the early 70s and 80s, which got me thinking about the evolution of my musical tastes. I started high school in 1980. a year before Much Music (so where did these videos come from?) and four years before Much Music. Everyone listened to the radio.
This next song was earlier than 1980, but it’s here because it’s one of my all-time favorites and it was still getting airplay.
-Leon
Want to read more music blogs? Here are some of the ones I follow: Mostly Music Covers, Take it Easy, Beetley Pete, A Sound Day
Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.
My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/
Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and receive a free book!
Oh, pick me!
C’mon, space stuff!
January 13, 2024
Weekend Wrap-up Jan. 13: Cold enough for ya?
What’s colder, -37C of -34.6F?
It’s a trick question because either one is really—and I mean really—cold. Welcome Polar Vortex! Don’t overstay your welcome.
In Edmonton, Alberta, home of the 5-time Stanley Cup champion Oilers—not to be confused with the no-time Stanley Cup champion Houston Oilers, but here’s an Edmonton connection for you: Quarterback Warren Moon who played for the Edmonton Eskimos (now the Elks) winning 5 consecutive Grey Cups, played 9 seasons for the Houston Oilers (winning no championships)—
Where the heck was I going with this? Oh, yeah…
In Edmonton it will be -37C. That’s cold. And that’s not even factoring in the wind chill. You know Wind Chill. The “I don’t think it’s cold enough for you, so try this on for size” effect.
Compare that to Iqaluit, located on Baffin Island in the Arctic, which will be a balmy -4C.
The Polar Vortex will bring freezing temperatures to some of the southern states later, making places in Canada warmer than Texas. Guess you need to pack up the RV and head up to Ottawa. I hear they have a beautiful skatung rink.
On my blog this week:Weekend Wrap-up Jan. 13: Cold enough for ya?Free Book Friday Jan 12: Read this if you didn’t read last week’s.Thursday Thoughts: WinterWeird Wednesday Jan. 10: Remember when?Music Monday: Mondays. Do you like ’em?Hope you enjoyed the recap! Feel free to share it with others.
Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.
My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/
Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and receive a free book!
Oh, pick me!
C’mon, space stuff!
January 12, 2024
Free Book Friday Jan 12: Read this if you didn’t read last week’s.
Having a bi-weekly newsletter has it’s drawbacks when it comes to promoting books. I don’t want to overload my subscribers with a plethora of promos, but I also what to make sure I am participating in enough so that my books get noticed.
But on the plus side, it is a lot less work.
Last weeks promos are still active and a few new ones start on the 15th.
-Leon
Free Book Friday Jan 6: In Conversation Revisited – G.G. CollinsThe story behind Free Book Friday:
I’ve met many authors and readers during my time marketing, cross-promoting, and blogging. I think writers have a responsibility to inform readers about all the indie authors out there in the very crowded world of book publishing. You can’t do it alone, and why would you when you have a supportive group available?
Readers don’t just read one author – they stick with their favorite genres. Therein lies the power in cross-promotion. If one of my readers buys a book from an author I promote, then chances are there will be a reciprocal effect, or so is the hope. Do I want to boost sales? Of course I do. Do I want to boost other’s sales? Why not. It’s called karma.
Some free book offers require a newsletter sign-up, which is a small non-monetary price to pay to try out a new indie author.
Reads From StoryOrigin and BookFunnelStoryOrigin and BookFunnel allows authors to advertise their books to each other’s audience. I hope you have been able to discover a new favorite!
Since my newsletter goes out bi-weekly, I offer book promos on those dates, so here are what’s running right now:
Current promos: Discover New Authors [under construction Jan 2024]
Review Copies (These are free!)Review copies: Like reviewing books? Try my two poetry collections: Lines by Leon and A Wonder of Words
Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and receive a free book (poetry or science fiction or both): Leon’s Newsletter
Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.
My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/
Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and receive a free book!
Oh, pick me!
C’mon, space stuff!
January 11, 2024
Thursday Thoughts: Winter
As I write, it’s been snowing for 24 hours. There’s about 10 cm out there and more on the way today. If you have mobility issues, it will be difficult until the sidewalks are plowed, and even then, winter in general is a tough season at the best of times.
As much as I like cycling in the winter, it’ll be tough today, but I do have to venture out this morning. Up until today, we have enjoyed a mild start to the season, with very little snow and above average temperatures. Not great for the farmer’s fields, but we still have 4 months to go.
There’s a small river close by that is now perfect to snowshoe on. It was wonderful to walk and cycle on, several skating rinks had been cleared, and you could hear hockey being played and families skating. I suspect that after today, some will be abandoned to the throws of winter, but I hope many people will do their duty and spend the next few days resurrecting the ice surfaces.
It’ll take a week or two for the foot/snowshoe/bike traffic to return the trail to its former glory, and I’ll do my part as soon as I can.
-Leon
Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.
My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/
Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and receive a free book!
Oh, pick me!
C’mon, space stuff!
January 10, 2024
Weird Wednesday Jan. 10: Remember when?
For a while there, I was writing a post every day. And then something happened. I stopped writing a post a day.
That’s pretty much it. Part of it was I decided not to take my laptop with me for the weekend, which was nice. I scheduled my Saturday post which worked and gave the illusion that I was still here, when in actual fact, I wasn’t. I was somewhere else.
A lot of people use their phones for everything in their daily lives, like checking email, checking social media, posting on social media, watching shows and movies, playing games, etc.
I don’t. When I leave my residence, my social media presence drops off the map, and I’m OK with that. Maybe it would be better for my book sales to be able to post more, but I’m not one for being glued to looking at the phone.
Oh I could go into the old, “I remember when…” but I won’t. But I do remember when. And so do you.
It’s just a different when.
Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.
My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/
Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and receive a free book!
Oh, pick me!
C’mon, space stuff!
January 8, 2024
Music Monday: Mondays. Do you like ’em?
There is a radio show on CBC here in Canada that occasionally does a feature called SYNTH: Songs You Need To Hear.
Now, I can’t say to someone, “You’ll like this song” (or book for that matter) because I can’t presume that others will share my taste in music (or books), so it is safer to say, “You might like this” and if they don’t like it, so be it.
Maybe you will find a new favorite.
CBC MUSIC, Central · Mornings with CBC Music
A song can remind you of a time in your life. It might be of an experience or someone you know.
Older siblings always have an influence on their younger ones as they get to experience the world first. My sister was the one who would bring home the latest records and regale me with stories of concerts she was able to attend while I was still a few years off to attending my first one*.
So, here are some songs that will always remind me of my sister.
-Leon
*My first concert was Blue Oyster Cult, in case you are wondering.
Want to read more music blogs? Here are some of the ones I follow: Mostly Music Covers, Take it Easy, Beetley Pete
Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.
My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/
Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and receive a free book!
Oh, pick me!
C’mon, space stuff!
