D.C. Akers's Blog, page 3
February 25, 2014
An Interview with D.C. Akers, Author of Haven: Revenge of the Viper
by claresg
I am very excited to post my first official author interview on goodbookscents.com today! A few months ago I got to sit down with Akers over the internet and ask him a few questions about his writing habits, the inspiration for Haven, and his favorite characters both in and out of the Haven world. The first Haven book, Haven: A Stranger Magic came out last May (see the press release here) and it has been a great success on Amazon, reaching the #1 spot on multiple Amazon Bestseller lists (see here and here).
Read the entire interview here.
February 10, 2014
HAVEN: REVENGE OF THE VIPER – COMING MARCH 1, 2014
Haven: Revenge of the Viper (book 2) coming March 1, 2014 at the following online retailers: Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Kobo Books, IBooks/Itunes, and Smashwords.
Haven: Revenge of the Viper
The Great War of Haven ended thirteen years ago but Alisa Dalcome is about to discover that the war did not end for her. Placed on Earth as a sleeper agent for the Majesty of Haven, Alisa had one objective—protect the portal keys at all costs. In the wrong hands the magical keys could jeopardize the safety of everyone on Haven. But Alisa’s relocation was more than just Majesty business; it was also a chance for her to escape her enemies, enemies that still wanted her dead. Alisa wasn’t thinking about herself when she left Haven, she was thinking about her children Sam and Sarah. The Great War had already taken her husband Rylan; she would be damned if she would let it take her children too. But what Alisa didn’t count on was her inquisitive son Sam and his friend Travis. Sam’s world has turned upside down after discovering magic is real. After barely escaping the caves Sam begins to piece together the past day’s events when he stumbles onto his mother’s secret past. With the clues mounting, Sam must dig deeper to uncover the truth that could change his life forever.
But Sam doesn’t realize that his mother’s past has already caught up with them. Hidden within the shadows nearby is Haven’s most malevolent predator—the Viper. A hunter forged from the blackest of magic, it watches, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Can Sam uncover the truth in time or will his mother’s past collide with the present placing them all in grave danger?
Haven: A Stranger Magic Amazon’s #1 Best Selling Fantasy Fiction Novella is now available for FREE at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Kobo Books, IBooks/Itunes, and Smashwords. If you already have a copy, get a new one! Each version (PRINT and DIGITAL) have been reformatted. You will love the new look. Also when you buy the PRINT copy of Haven: A Stranger Magic at Amazon.com you still get the DIGITAL copy in a bundle package for FREE.
February 7, 2014
HAVEN: REVENGE OF THE VIPER – CHAPTER 1
Read Haven: Revenge of the Viper CHAPTER 1 exclusively on Wattpad today!
Revenge of the Viper is (Book #2) in the Bestselling series HAVEN, following A Stranger Magic (BOOK #1) which is available for FREE at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Kobo Books, IBooks/Itunes, and Smashwords. Make sure to LIKE/SHARE with your friends!
About Wattpad
Great stories bring people together!
Wattpad is the world’s largest community for discovering and sharing stories. It’s a new form of entertainment connecting readers and writers through storytelling, and best of all, it’s entirely free. With thousands of new stories added every day, an incredibly active community of readers, and the ability to read on your computer, phone, or tablet, Wattpad is the only place that offers a truly social, and entirely mobile reading experience.
February 5, 2014
J.K. Rowling Regrets Hermione-Ron Romance in Harry Potter
Well all writers regret something after a book has been published. But for J.K. Rowling it was a big one. In fact, I always wondered about it myself. Hermione and Ron… why? I guess I wasn’t alone.
Seven years after the beloved Harry Potterbook series came to an end, author J.K. Rowling has revealed that she regrets turning characters Hermione Granger with Ron Weasley into a couple.
In a Wonderland magazine interview with guest editor Emma Watson, who played the brainy Hermione in eight films, Rowling admitted that she thinks Potter and Granger would have been a better pairing.
“I wrote the Hermione/Ron relationship as a form of wish fulfillment. That’s how it was conceived, really,” Rowling, 48, told Watson, 23. “For reasons that have very little to do with literature and far more to do with me clinging to the plot as I first imagined it, Hermione ended up with Ron.”
February 3, 2014
HAVEN: A STRANGER MAGIC HITS #1 ON WATTPAD IN FANTASY AND MYSTERY/THRILLERS
Thank you to all the HAVEN FANS on WATTPAD for making HAVEN: A Stranger Magic #1 in Fantasy and Mystery/Thrillers! You guys are AWESOME!
Wattpad is the world’s largest community for discovering and sharing stories. It’s a new form of entertainment connecting readers and writers through storytelling, and best of all, it’s entirely free. With thousands of new stories added every day, an incredibly active community of readers, and the ability to read on your computer, phone, or tablet, Wattpad is the only place that offers a truly social, and entirely mobile reading experience.
January 31, 2014
HAVEN: REVENGE OF THE VIPER – COMING MARCH 1, 2014
Get ready Haven fans, the Viper is coming! Haven: Revenge of the Viper (book 2) will be available March 1, 2014 at the following online retailers:
Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Kobo Books, IBooks/Itunes, and Smashwords.
Make sure to following us on one of our social networks to remain updated!
All social networks are available on the right hand side of this website.
Haven: Revenge of the Viper
The Great War of Haven ended thirteen years ago but Alisa Dalcome is about to discover that the war did not end for her. Placed on Earth as a sleeper agent for the Majesty of Haven, Alisa had one objective—protect the portal keys at all costs. In the wrong hands the magical keys could jeopardize the safety of everyone on Haven. But Alisa’s relocation was more than just Majesty business; it was also a chance for her to escape her enemies, enemies that still wanted her dead. Alisa wasn’t thinking about herself when she left Haven, she was thinking about her children Sam and Sarah. The Great War had already taken her husband Rylan; she would be damned if she would let it take her children too. But what Alisa didn’t count on was her inquisitive son Sam and his friend Travis. Sam’s world has turned upside down after discovering magic is real. After barely escaping the caves Sam begins to piece together the past day’s events when he stumbles onto his mother’s secret past. With the clues mounting, Sam must dig deeper to uncover the truth that could change his life forever.
But Sam doesn’t realize that his mother’s past has already caught up with them. Hidden within the shadows nearby is Haven’s most malevolent predator—the Viper. A hunter forged from the blackest of magic, it watches, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Can Sam uncover the truth in time or will his mother’s past collide with the present placing them all in grave danger?
Haven: A Stranger Magic Audiobook is now available at Amazon.com, Audible.com and ITunes! Listen to a sample today for free!
FREE GIVEAWAY: Enter to win a FREE Haven: A Stranger Magic Audiobook by simply entering your email address in the FOLLOW BLOG via EMAIL section in the right hand corner. Winners will be announced 02/01/2013.
Sam Dalcome thinks he is so completely average that no one ever notices him. Until he discovers a mysterious stranger outside his home. Bewildered, he tries to uncover the stranger’s intentions. But Sam is sidetracked when he and his friend Travis discover a secret passageway deep in the town’s quarry that leads to a hidden cavern. What they uncover next will not only change their lives forever, but will uncover the first clue to a deadly Dalcome family secret. Sam finds himself drawn into a world of mystery and magic he never knew existed, which brings him closer to a destiny he never knew was possible.
Haven Series:
Known as a place of refuge, Haven is a sanctuary for those with supernatural abilities. Decades of peace between the Witches, Vampires, Goblins, Elves, and Orcs is coming to an end. Now the once tranquil world is shrouded in deception and corruption. Dark secrets tear at the very fabric of their alliance giving way to an evil that stirs in the shadows. Exhilarating and utterly gripping, the Haven series is an action-packed journey full of suspense, magic, mystery, and intrigue.
Narrator: Lauren Harris
Studio Mix: Lauren Harris
Dark Times Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Satiate Percussion Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Lauren Harris does an amazing job bringing the #1 Amazon Best Seller to life. Lauren is a fantasy writer, voice actress, and the co-creator of Parsec Award Finalist Pendragon Variety Podcast. She is also the fantasy review columnist for Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show. Her short story “The Incident of the Clockwork Mikoshi” will appear in the steampunk anthology Ministry Protocol: Thrilling Tales from the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences in late 2013. Her voice acting can be heard on Audible.com and fiction podcasts such as EscapePod and The Dunesteef Audio Fiction Magazine.
Amazon’s #1 Best Selling Fantasy Fiction Novella is now available at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Kobo Books, IBooks/Itunes, and Smashwords.
If you already have a copy, get a new one! Each version (PRINT and DIGITAL) have been reformatted. You will love the new look. Also when you buy the PRINT copy of Haven: A Stranger Magic at Amazon.com you still get the DIGITAL copy in a bundle package for FREE.
January 13, 2014
A WRITER’S RESOURCE TO HELP SHOW AND TELL WITH DESCRIPTIVE WORDS
This is a little something that I put together with several of my author friends and now it’s time to share.
Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned writer, most of us struggle with the age old battle of “Show. Don’t tell”. But let’s face it—sometimes you have to tell and when you do, it needs to be in a way that captures the reader’s attention and draws them into the world you are trying to create. Coming up with descriptive words can sometimes be a challenge, not to mention knowing where to start.
Well now there is Word Bank. Word Bank is a great writing tool to help you, the writer, be descriptive whether you are trying to show or tell. Word Bank has been designed with the writer in mind; it’s a quick-no frills reference tool with an easy-to-use navigation list. Just select the word you are trying to describe from the table of contents such as “eyes” and get a wonderful list of creative ways to describe a person’s eyes. Then choose what you like from the list or mix and match to come up with your own descriptive style.
What makes Word Bank so powerful is that it’s created by many contributors, not just one person. Word Bank is updated quarterly at no additional charge for those who have already purchased it, so if you have fantastic descriptive words that you would like to share and have included, submission is just a click away.
P.S.
I would like to thank all the authors and individuals who have contributed to this project. Your endless hours of time, knowledge and ideas have culminated in the completion of this wonderful resource.
Always,
D.C. Akers
December 20, 2013
Smashwords Signs Distribution Agreement with Scribd
Smashwords today announced a distribution agreement with Scribd, which operates one of the world’s largest publishing platforms and online reading communities. Scribd receives over 80 million monthly readers to their platform according to their website.
There are two distribution components to the Smashwords agreement with Scribd. 1. Smashwords will supply books to Scribd’s new ebook subscription service, where for $8.99 per month subscribers can enjoy unlimited reading. 2. Smashwords ebooks will also be available for individual sale to Scribd customers under our standard retailer terms.
Ever since Scribd launched in 2007, I’ve admired their publishing platform, their social reading technology and their commitment to content creators. Scribd has built a massive audience of millions of readers, and these readers are now accessible to the 70,000+ authors and publishers that distribute with Smashwords.
Scribd’s roots are in community publishing. They’ve been a pioneer in user generated content, and in making it possible for content creators to share their works with the world. Their platform makes it easy for people around the world to upload documents, presentations and books, and they’ve always done a great job of making the content discoverable, readable and sharable.
Back in October, I wrote a two-part blog post in which I named Scribd as one of the leading examples of the new breed of ebook subscription services that aim to do for ebooks what Netflix did for filmed entertainment and what Spotify did for streamed music.
Over the last year, they’ve developed a compelling subscription ebook service. For a low monthly subscription of only $8.99, readers can enjoy a massive catalog of ebooks, and a frictionless reading environment where book price is not a deciding factor. Readers can enjoy unlimited reading on-demand.
Visit the Scribd home page and it’s immediately apparent they’re positioning their entire business around ebooks. They’re working to convert their 80 milllion monthly visitors to subscribers for your benefit.
Scribd is going to provide an incredible level of support to Smashwords authors, and I trust every Smashwords author will want to be involved and support their efforts.
Scribd reaches a global audience, serving readers in over 100 countries.
The terms we negotiated with Scribd are author friendly, generous, and closely aligned with our standard retail distribution terms. But as you’ll see, they’ve thrown in some compelling twists as well.
For Scribd’s retail store, the terms are identical to our standard retail agreements. Smashwords authors and publishers will set the price, there will be no discounting, and authors will earn 60% of the list price on all sales. The first 10% of the book, from the cover image forward, will be the free preview sample, similar to most retailers.
For Scribd’s subscription ebook service, authors will earn 60% of the list price on all qualifying reads, and here they’ve added a cool twist. With subscription services, the author or publisher earns credit for a full read when the reader reaches a certain trigger point, measured by the percentage of the book that is read. The first 10% of the book is a free sample, similar to a retailer. Excluding the sample, once the reader reads an additional 20% of the book, a full sale is triggered and the Smashwords author earns 60% of the list price, up to a maximum of about $12.50 per read. In practice, what this means for most fiction writers is that after the reader reads more than the first 30% of your book, it triggers a full sale. For some non-fiction writers, where your book’s content is more likely to be read non-sequentially, it means if the reader starts their reading deeper in the book at Chapter 10, a sale could be triggered after reading only 20% of the book (As an aside, this underscores the importance of authors building fully functional navigation into their ebooks so that all their book’s content is easily discoverable. To learn how to upgrade your ebook’s navigation, check out my recent blog post and video, How to Add Navigation to a Smashwords Ebook).
Unlike any other subscription service or retailer, Scribd has sweetened the pot by added a secondary sales trigger for the author by providing credit for partial reads. If the subscriber reads 5% more than the first free 10% but less than the additional 20% necessary to generate a full sale, this triggers a credit for partial read. For every ten partial reads, which Scribd calls a “browse,” the author earns credit for a full sale. Since most people read fiction from page one forward, this means if 10 people read just over the first 15% of your book but less than 30%, it’ll generate a full sale. For non-fiction, where readers are more likely to read non-sequentially, they can read 5% of the middle of the book and trigger a browse credit.
Smashwords and Scribd have begun integrating our respective distribution systems and conducting test shipments. If all goes as well as we expect, Smashwords books will start appearing during the month of January.
To qualify for Scribd distribution via Smashwords, the book must be Premium Catalog approved.
In addition to the sales opportunity represented by their subscription service and ebook store, Scribd has outlined some exciting plans to take their support of Smashwords authors and publishers to the next level.
Here’s a hint of some of what you’ll see from Scribd in the months ahead:
As part of this relationship, they plan create ongoing merchandising features dedicated to indie authors, showcasing and celebrating the amazing talent of the indie author community. Smashwords will share our bestseller lists with Scribd, drawing upon our knowledge of your sales through the Smashwords distribution network (yet another reason to maintain full distribution with Smashwords!).
For a limited time, they’re planning to offer Smashwords authors who distribute to Scribd via Smashwords a free one-year subscription to the service so you can try it out. Multiplied by 70,000 Smashwords authors, this is a $100 per author bonus, and an overall potential commitment valued at over $7 million. Cool beans! To qualify, make sure your books are opted in to Scribd by January 1. The Scribd distribution channel will appear in your Smashwords Dashboard’s Channel Manager later today.
They’re planning to develop author profile pages that Smashwords authors can access and manage.
They’re planning to create analytic tools in which they aim to give authors unprecedented data about how readers are engaging with their books. I’ll share more about that in the months ahead as their plans unfold.
Please join me in welcoming Scribd as the latest member of the Smashwords distribution network. I’m looking forward to working with Scribd to grow our authors’ audience and sales in the months and years ahead. I’ll send out an author/publisher alert about the deal later today.
Check out the Scribd blog which quotes Smashwords author Quinn Loftis.
December 19, 2013
HAVEN FANS PUSH HAVEN: A STRANGER MAGIC PAST TWILIGHT AND HARRY POTTER
Well Haven fans you continue to blow me away! Being in the company of these great authors is simply amazing! Thank you so much for all your support!
DCA
Amazon’s #1 Best Selling Fantasy Fiction Novella is now available at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Kobo Books, IBooks/Itunes, and Smashwords.
If you already have a copy, get a new one! Each version (PRINT and DIGITAL) have been reformatted. You will love the new look. Also when you buy the PRINT copy of Haven: A Stranger Magic at Amazon.com you still get the DIGITAL copy in a bundle package for FREE.
December 9, 2013
NEW AUDIOBOOK FOR HAVEN: A STRANGER MAGIC
Haven: A Stranger Magic Audiobook is now available at Amazon.com, Audible.com and ITunes! Listen to a sample today for free!
Sam Dalcome thinks he is so completely average that no one ever notices him. Until he discovers a mysterious stranger outside his home. Bewildered, he tries to uncover the stranger’s intentions. But Sam is sidetracked when he and his friend Travis discover a secret passageway deep in the town’s quarry that leads to a hidden cavern. What they uncover next will not only change their lives forever, but will uncover the first clue to a deadly Dalcome family secret. Sam finds himself drawn into a world of mystery and magic he never knew existed, which brings him closer to a destiny he never knew was possible.
Haven Series:
Known as a place of refuge, Haven is a sanctuary for those with supernatural abilities. Decades of peace between the Witches, Vampires, Goblins, Elves, and Orcs is coming to an end. Now the once tranquil world is shrouded in deception and corruption. Dark secrets tear at the very fabric of their alliance giving way to an evil that stirs in the shadows. Exhilarating and utterly gripping, the Haven series is an action-packed journey full of suspense, magic, mystery, and intrigue.
Narrator: Lauren Harris
Studio Mix: Lauren Harris
Dark Times Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Satiate Percussion Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Lauren Harris does an amazing job bringing the #1 Amazon Best Seller to life. Lauren is a fantasy writer, voice actress, and the co-creator of Parsec Award Finalist Pendragon Variety Podcast. She is also the fantasy review columnist for Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show. Her short story “The Incident of the Clockwork Mikoshi” will appear in the steampunk anthology Ministry Protocol: Thrilling Tales from the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences in late 2013. Her voice acting can be heard on Audible.com and fiction podcasts such as EscapePod and The Dunesteef Audio Fiction Magazine.
Amazon’s #1 Best Selling Fantasy Fiction Novella is now available at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Kobo Books, IBooks/Itunes, and Smashwords.
If you already have a copy, get a new one! Each version (PRINT and DIGITAL) have been reformatted. You will love the new look. Also when you buy the PRINT copy of Haven: A Stranger Magic at Amazon.com you still get the DIGITAL copy in a bundle package for FREE.
