Ryan Casey's Blog, page 11

The Disappearing (The Watching, #2): Now Available for Kindle, Nook, Kobo.

Hello folks! Just a heads up to let you know thatThe Disappearing– my new book — is now available for Kindle, Nook and Kobo (iBooks coming very soon).

The Disappearingis the sequel to the highly rated, creepy psychological thriller novella,The Painting,which I launched earlier in the year.

It is a new story and thus can be treated as a standalone novella, however I’d recommend reading the first book to truly appreciate some of the ideas and references, as well as the world of the story. Scroll...

KDP Select Free Promotions: Not Dead Yet…

Two weeks ago, I rather prematurely talked about the diminishing returns of KDP Select free promotions. I talked about an eventual rolling out of the KDP Select program, and why it isn’t even quite as important to newer authors as it once was.

That said, I had a BookBub promotion scheduled for my debut novel,What We Saw. I’ve been hearing a lot about diminishing returns, both with KDP Select free promotions and with repeated BookBub ads lately. I was curious to see how much of this was widespr...

KDP Select Free Part 4: Is Free Dead?

Part three, on KDP Select and BookBub, is available here.

Several months ago, I hypothesised that the changes in Amazon’s affiliate terms and conditions would lead to the self-destruction of the KDP Select programme. While my hypothesis may have appeared a little over-the-top, perhaps even laughed off as sensationalism, a trip over to kBoards(great place, btw)is enough to convince any author that KDP Select free is both 1.) dead, and 2.) pointless. I hate to say ‘I told you so’… No, that’s a l...

Book Launch: A Three-Step Plan to Increased Visibility

Two weeks ago, I launched my second novel,Killing Freedom. Now, book launches are something of an enigma to both writers and bloggers, which of course makes it a fantastic topic for discussion. In this post, I want to dispel some of the most common myths surrounding book launches, whilst offering a word of advice based on what I think I’ve done right and what I’ve done wrong.

Firstly, experimentation is key. I try something slightly different with each of my book launches. WithWhat We Saw, I o...

Bad Reviews: Why You’re a Fool to Ignore Them

There’s a hell of a lot of good writing advice out there.

There also happens to be quite a fair bit of bad writing advice, too. I know, I know — ‘good’ or ‘bad’ advice is subjective, especially in a ‘not everything works for everyone’ world, but there really is some lame, lame advice out there that need debunking right from the off. Amongst these is quite a controversial stance in the writing world, I imagine, and that is that all bad reviews should be ignored.

I can seewhyauthors make the argu...

Killing Freedom: Now Available for Kindle and Paperback

Hi all!

In case you weren’t already aware, my new novel,Killing Freedom, is now available from Amazon on Kindle ($4.99/£2.99) and Paperback.

Buy on Kindle // Buy on Paperback

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Jared is good at making friends. He’s even better at killing them.

When career killer Jared Colwright is tasked with intercepting and killing a family, he doesn’t think much of it. To him, it’s just another job.

But Jared’s life is thrown into turmoil when he begins to form an emotional bond with the family. As he grows clos...

The Pomodoro Technique: How I Write 5,000 Words Every Day

One of the most common questions I’m asked is how I manage to write so much whilst seemingly also having, y’know, a life.

Usually, I find this question quite funny, because I never really considered myself a prolific writer, not until recently, anyway. I used to write one-thousand to two-thousand words every day, which usually took me an hour to an hour and a half. To me, that wasn’t really a lot. If anything, I felt guilty for not spending more time writing than I did.‘If I could spend three...

The Five Best Books on Writing You’ll Ever Read

There are a lot of good books on writing and improving craft.

There is also a lot of crap.

Fortunately, I’ve read quite a lot of books geared towards every aspect of writing, whether it be motivational literature such as defeating procrastination and the myth of writer’s block, or craft oriented works on improving your style and honing your voice.

And it’s not just books on writing, specifically. There are loads of books out there that aren’t specifically aimed at writers but which I have found...

Book Marketing: How to Stand Out From the Crowd

A couple of months back, I wrote what was supposed to be the start of a three-part blog series on book marketing. It was intended as a sort of all-encompassing thing, covering the ins and outs of mailing lists, back matter, social media and blogging. I’ve had a few people ask me when the follow-up is due, so this is something of a response.

I hold my hands up: I couldn’t write a complete guide to book marketing. Why not? Because book marketing is constantly evolving. What might have worked yes...

Killing Freedom: Cover Reveal & Exclusive First Preview

Bumper post alert! Before we start, I want to give you a bit of a rundown of what to expect. I’m heading to New York for eleven days on Wednesday so I figured I’d leave you all with a bit extra to chew on. That said, bear with me: this post will reward the patient.

Seriously.

Also, I just found out the other day that I’ve been blogging for ONE WHOLE YEAR! That’s an absolutely crazy thought. I know it’s a cliché to say so, but this last year really has flown by. If you’d have told me a year ago...