Jason Zandri's Blog: The GUNDERSTONE GOODREADS Review, page 7
February 1, 2016
KENPC v2.0 Amazon KDP Changes Normalized Page Counts (February 1, 2016)
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KENPC v2.0 February 1, 2016
Amazon KDP changed how it determines the Kindle Edition Normalized Page Count (KENPC).
This affects Kindle e-books enrolled in KDP Select, which can be borrowed via Kindle Unlimited and Amazon Prime.
KDP Select books borrowed through Kindle Unlimited or Amazon Prime pay by the page read, where a Kindle Edition Normalized Page (KENP) is determined based on the book’s KENPC.
(This has no impact on royalties earned through sales, just borrows.)
On February 1, 2016, the method that Amazon uses to compute the KENPC changed.
The new value of KENPC is called KENPC v2.0.
Visit your KDP Bookshelf and click the Promote and Advertise button next to a title to see what its new KENPC is.
According to Amazon, on average the KENPC has changed by 5% or less.
I checked several of my books, which had KENPC’s ranging from 170 to…
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Author Showcase with Susan Bird
Today on the GUNDERSTONE REVIEW Author Showcase we are promoting Susan Bird.
For Many years, Susan worked as an executive in the beauty Industry. While she considered her educational degrees important, the School of Life is what she most often uses.
She is quoted on her author profile saying: “I write simply because I love it. I write about life. To add uniqueness to my writing all my chapters are song titles, with acknowledgement to the artist. Within every chapter, there lies two stories. My love of music is shared with you and hopefully you will understand the body of the chapter even more, with the song title chosen. All present and future books will be designed this way. I reside in the Inland Empire with my soul-mate.”
Her current published works include Unhinged Fences and Splinters: How a Heart of Neglected Splinters Led to a Heart of Infectious Revenge (Unhinged fences Book 2)
Take a peek into the unexpected life of the girl next door who puts her Susie Homemaker apron away and puts the X in sex.
To Sunday O’Neil, the white-picket fence scenario, the American dream, was how she planned her life , until she opened the gate of that secure fence and walked through it.
Growing up in the late 1960s watching the lovely weekly TV series, “Father Knows Best, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet and The Donna Reed Show” all affirmed her expectations. Sunday O’Neil’s parents and relatives also avowed her beliefs. They all had wonderful secure homes with children and a happy healthy environment. The wives looked after the home and children while the husbands provided a stable life and all handled all the major problems of the family.
Thrust into a world she never knew existed…a world of BOOZE, SEX, AND ROCK N ROLL.
Will Sunday O”Neil find her way back??? Does she find her White-Picket fence???
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Sunday O’Neil has come to a place in her life that brings peace from all her Unhinged Fences, The white picket fence scenario and the American dream she had lost several times, through three failed marriages and many failed relationships. She has decided to move forward and adopt a new attitude of self-respect, knowing her White Picket Fence was inside her all time, and her happiness was up to her not a partner to make her happy.
Sunday vows to change her taste for men she had been drawn to in the past that only left her with despair. Sunday meets Dean Daniels who is like no one she has ever known. He is kind, loving and has no agenda except to make her happy. Sunday is reluctant to embrace another relationship but she involuntarily likes Dean and is surprised by the attraction, not being the stereotypical type she has been drawn to in the past. Aside from her personal failures Sunday O’Neil is a savvy business woman who is very successful.
Sunday is pursued to be an associate and fill the employment needs of a up and coming Solar business. Sunday takes on a huge endeavor as a business associate to a Mr. Reinhardt Preston, a very wealthy ruthless business man. This proposal was not merely a choice to be considered by Sunday, but an offer she dare not refuse, as there are devastating consequences if she does. A love hate business relationship emerges and there are lies, and deception to Mr. Preston’s proposal of association.
January 28, 2016
THE BLOG TOUR – starring Author Gordon Bickerstaff
Blog 6 The Best and Simplest Advice for New Aspiring Writers
If you aspired to be an electrician or a plumber then you would spend a few years learning your craft. If you aspire to be a writer then it is important to learn your craft, and to learn the writing craft you need to take off your reading for enjoyment hat, and put on your apprentice writer hat.
Learn from the experts. Read a book for enjoyment then read it again as an apprentice writer with a critical reviewer hat on. Discover how the writer held your interest. Learn the writer’s techniques in unfolding the story. Examine how the writer has revealed and described characters, and places. When I’ve read a good book, I may read it three times (not in succession) to understand the writer’s techniques. If I learn something, I make a note – maybe a paragraph, maybe a page to remind me of good technique/style/exposition etc.
If you want to learn the writing craft; you should make notes. What worked in the book? Equally, what didn’t you like? No book can satisfy all readers, and experienced writers do make mistakes in storytelling. You will come across different writing styles and voices. Find one that you like so that you can define your own style and voice.
Compare books by the same author, and compare books by different authors. More than likely you will read in the genre that you like, but also dabble in other genres, and look at the different writing techniques used in different genres. Now, your notebook of the writing craft is building up, and you are gaining a good understanding of what writing techniques you like, and which ones you don’t like. Maybe you will come up with your own hybrid style that people like to read. More important, when you come to write, you will employ established writing techniques that will bring your story and its characters to life.
Agatha Christie read 200 books every year. President Theodore Roosevelt read a book every day. Harriet Klausner had posted 31,014 books reviews on Amazon before she died. Though some critics believe she couldn’t have read them all.
The time it takes to read a book depends on how quickly you read. If you read at an average 250 words per minute it might take one and a half minutes to read a page. So a 300 page novel will take 420 minutes or 7 hours. If you read for an hour a day then it will take a week to finish.
Some people read more books by speed reading – taking in a line at a time. I found that if I take in the words too quickly, I sometimes miss the significance, and reading is less enjoyable. When I’m not writing, I can read and enjoy a 300 page book in a week. If it is well written, I’ll read it again with my apprentice hat on, and learn something from the writer. Good writers write good stories, and use good techniques to tell their stories.
Buy Gordon Bickerstaff’s Books
Amazon-UK – The Black Fox (Gavin Shawlens Thriller #3)
Amazon-USA – The Black Fox (Gavin Shawlens Thriller #3)
Follow Gordon Bickerstaff here:
Website: http://goo.gl/2in8SX
Twitter handle: @ADPase
Deadly Secrets (Gavin Shawlens Thriller #1)
Everything To Lose (Gavin Shawlens Thriller #2)
January 23, 2016
HELP!!!! How do #authors with kids EVER write ANYTHING?
I have four kids, I commute to NYC for work five hours a day, (2.5 hours each way – door to door), I am involved civically in my hometown (I serve on the Wallingford Town Council), and I am blessed with 36 hours in each day.
My deadlines slip too :)
Set goals for yourself in anything you do, but blow them for the important things… like sitting in a chair with your kids and “wasting time”.
This week I have written exactly two things and this is one of them, the other was a post for my “mommy blog”. The third book in the Sophie Morgan series is currently an outline, a detailed one, but an outline nonetheless. Since I had my baby three and a half months ago I’ve added around two pages of actual text to it – by that I mean words which mean things, that include hard thought and craft, rather than “Sophie goes here and picks up a thing and then wotshername comes in and says this… must think of name for wotshername… but she should definitely be a brunette….”. I have ideas for books and short stories coming out of my proverbial ears but no time. No time I tell you! My “to be read”
list is growing at a rate that I should be ashamed of. I open…
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January 20, 2016
WINNER ANNOUNCEMENT RaffleCopter Giveaway – Grand Prize – FIVE DAY / FOUR NIGHT stay over Valentine’s Day weekend
Straight from LAST DAY – RaffleCopter Giveaway from Author Jason Zandri, here are the prizes and the winners:
GRAND PRIZE – FIVE DAY / FOUR NIGHT stay over Valentine’s Day weekend – Tamie Dearen
ALL 6 KINDLE EDITIONS OF MY BOOKS (winner gets all six) – Sherri Maughan
KINDLE VERSION OF Before Another Sunset – Second Edition – Beth Minton
KINDLE VERSION OF Another Sunset – Cynthia Dawson
KINDLE VERSION OF I, Hero: The Beginning – Alan Saxon
KINDLE VERSION OF I, Hero: Nathan Returns – Anita Duvall
KINDLE VERSION OF As Life Goes: Elementary – Faye Gates
KINDLE VERSION OF As Life Goes: The End of the Innocence – Melynda Bailey
Congratulations to all the winners! I will be emailing you individually to let you know you have won with the email addresses that I have from your contest entries.
I will also send out an update via my mailing list.
Keep you eye on the blog for my future book release announcements as well as future giveaways!
#AuthorReview – #TopAuthors2016 -10 Indie Chick-Lit Authors You Should be Reading in 2016
Source: #AuthorReview – #TopAuthors2016 -10 Indie Chick-Lit Authors You Should be Reading in 2016
#AuthorReview – #TopAuthors2016
10 Indie Chick-Lit Authors You Should be Reading in 2016
WOO HOO! I made #10!
10 – Jason Zandri – This is the surprise dark horse of the race! Jason Zandri writes what I’ve dubbed “guy-lit,” (chick-lit with male characters as main characters and/or written by male authors). He has two main good genres that I’ve read: women’s fiction/romance/chick-lit and sci-fi/fantasy/romance. It’s hard to describe. His women’s fiction/romance/chick-lit has darker, more serious themes (the As Life Goes series: As Life Goes-Elementary, As Life Goes – The End of Innocence (which is on my #TBR), and a third book in the works) and his sci-fi/fantasy/romance (the I Hero series: I Hero – The Beginning, I Hero – Nathan Returns, which also has a third book in the works, again) also has darker themes, but is eminently readable. If you love comic books, you should check out the I Hero series. Although not quite chick-lit (too “serious”), not quite not (has romantic relationship interactions that are the focus of the books (i.e., As Life Goes series)), Jason Zandri’s “romance”/guy-lit books are thought-provoking and high-quality.
Goodbye Traditional, Hello Indie (Part II)
Part I of this blog summary focused on my personal experience contracting with a small press. On the whole, it was a valuable learning experience, especially for a new author who knew nothing about anything. My publisher treated me fairly and respectfully, I improved my craft and happily published 6 books. For many authors, this approach may be the perfect publishing route.
Yet, publishing through a small press has significant challenges that are worth considering. As I gained knowledge and skills, it became clear to me that the obstacles outpaced the advantages. In 2015, I experimented and self-published 2 books. The results drove home the stark differences in the two approaches.
In December, I decided to go all indie. I began the process of canceling contracts with my publisher and reclaiming my books with the intention of republishing them myself.
Below, I explain my reasons.
So what were my small press…
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Goodbye Traditional, Hello Indie (Part I)
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I’ve begun the process of reclaiming my 6 traditionally published books and republishing them myself. I thought it might be useful to document my reasons, particularly for those writers dawdling at this fork in the publishing road, trying to decide which way to go.
I published through a small press, and I don’t want to give the impression that this was a bad deal or that the publisher did anything wrong. It was, in fact, a valuable learning experience, especially for a new author and one as clueless as I. A small press may be the perfect publishing solution for many authors, especially if the words “traditionally published” carry personal weight.
Before I dig in, it’s important to state that – with a few exceptions – this was my experience. It reflects my personality, expectations, and quirks. What worked for me might not work for you and visa-versa. In…
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January 19, 2016
5 things I couldn’t (make myself) do before joining RRBC…
… there must be more than 5, but we’ll leave it there for now! ;-)
I can’t remember when I joined RRBC exactly but it was around 18 months ago. My first novel had been ‘out there’ for six months or so and I only had a handful of reviews on Amazon. These had come from most of the other writers and friends I already knew, or had met on LinkedIn, so I was out looking for other avenues to find potential reviewers for my book Milele Safari. A connection on LinkedIn posted in a group I’d joined about this fantastic community – theRave Reviews Book Club– I went and had a look, liked what I saw and dulyjoined up!
I got off to a slow start, because at first it was all about the reviews for me – I got stuck into reading the Book of…
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Rave Reviews Book Club Wants You – #RRBC
As you may know, I am a member of the Rave Reviews Book Club. What you may not know is the reason I joined and what the Club has meant to me. Let me clear these last points up.
I joined Rave Reviews Book Club to become associated with like-minded writers who were interested in promoting each other’s work. At the time, I looked at some organizations and had made the decision not to associate myself with them due to what I considered unusual quid pro quo requirements.
By quid pro quo, I’m referring to the practice of following each other if followed, reviewing each others books if reviewed and other scratch my back, and I’ll scratch yours kind of programs. At the time, these practices seemed a little shady to me and so I passed.
Then I had a chance to read a blog by an RRBC member and…
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