Ryan Casey's Blog, page 14
March 29, 2013
Amazon Buys GoodReads: Why it’s Not the End of the World
It’s that time of year again.
Y’know, the time where Amazon makes a move that results in it being branded all sorts of not-so-nice things. What’s the old dog gone and done this time? It’s only gone and bought everybody’s favourite reading social networking site, GoodReads.
No! R.I.P GoodReads. Why can’t Amazon just like, stop being so wise to the contemporary eBook climate? Jesus, it’s as if they want to succeed as a business or something.
Sarcasm aside, the move has naturally been met with some...
March 27, 2013
New Release Announcement! And a Special Easter Treat…
Time for a bit of news!
If you’re a follower of this blog, then you’ll be well aware that I’m currently hard at work on my second novel. I’ve mentioned it in the past without really going into any depth, so I’m delighted to be able to confirm the first details about the new book right here right now.
Firstly, the book will officially be titledKilling Freedom.I initially had this penned as a working title, but it’s just something that’s kind of stuck for me as the writing process has progressed....
March 20, 2013
Uncovered Books: The Future of Self-Publishing?
I’m always very intrigued when something new comes along in the world of publishing. Whether it be a change in terms that affects the whole landscape, or the launch of an intriguing new service offering another route for independent publishers to consider, it’s all very interesting to speculate how things might play out. Therefore, when I received an email about a new independent publishing platform, Uncovered Books, I thought it would be good to dig a little deeper.
Dig a little deeper I did,...
March 15, 2013
Progress Report: On Novels New and Novels Old…
I realised I hadn’t done a dedicated progress report in quite some time, so seeing as I don’t have particularly much to comment on this week in the way of writing/marketing experience and advice, there’s no time like the present, right?
The last few weeks have been busy indeed. I’ve entered the final stage of my university career, so the pressure really has flicked up a notch. Therefore, I haven’t been able to spend quite as much time on my writing and other commitments recently. It’s all abou...
March 8, 2013
Paid Book Marketing: Should Authors Bother?
There’s a whole bunch of paid book marketing opportunities on the web today, from paid blog tours to free book notification ads. Whether it be Twitter-blasts or advertising spots, the rise of social media and availability of independent digital content has resulted in the birth of entire new businesses, dedicated to helping content providers (such as authors) reach wider audiences.
I’ve sampled quite a few paid promotional opportunities in the past. I’ve taken a blog tour, had a couple of Twit...
March 6, 2013
The Walking Dead Season 3, Episode 12: Clear Review
I’ve made no secret of the fact that The Walking Dead is probably my favourite thing on television right now. Not only that, but season three is undoubtedly the best of the show’s short life so far.
Originally, I took issue with The Walking Dead. While I enjoyed it, I didn’t really find myself invested in the post-apocalyptic world, primarily due to the emotionally impenetrable (read: poorly written) characters. Combine that with the cringeworthy forced character development of the farm and th...
February 23, 2013
Amazon’s New Free Ebook Rules = Huge KDP Select Changes Ahead
1st March is a day where everything changes (again) for KDP Select and, more specifically, the promotion of free eBooks. It’s news that will affectallauthors, whether partaking in KDP Select or not, so I suggest you read on if you haven’t already heard the news. It’s made me blog on a frigging Saturday, goddammit, so if that isn’t an indication of the scale of the news, then I don’t know what is.
It all started with an email from the Amazon Associates programme on updates to their affiliates t...
February 22, 2013
Book Launch: How to Launch an eBook in 2013
It’s quite a while since I did a ‘how to’ guide of sorts. In fact, I think the last one might have been before I launched my debut novel,What We Saw. Wow, that is a long time ago. Okay, okay — only two months. But still, in blogging terms, that’s practically a lifetime ago. Anyway, now we’re into 2013 and I have an actual book launch behind me, I feel like I’m in a position to talk about the best ways to launch an ebook in 2013.
One of the biggest questions I’m emailed/messaged about is how to...
February 20, 2013
Book Piracy: A Reader Gained, Not a Sale Lost
I’m going to be open and honest to start off: I have illegally downloaded music in the past.
I’ve pirated plenty of films too. Books? A few, yeah. I guess my excuse is that during my teen years, I belonged to an age-group where digital content sharing was just, well, both formality and normality. Receiving music files over MSN Messenger was just the way I grew my music collection, before spreading it to other willing recipients like some sort of beautifully sounding infection.
I don’t pirate so...
February 13, 2013
Back Matter: The Simple Secret to Selling More Books
The End.
A great pair of words to write, huh? An even greater pair of words when your readers reach them. If they stuck with your book right through to that point, then you succeeded in your goal of creating an engaging story. Pat yourself on the back.
But a book does not end with those two words. Itmightappearto, but it would be foolish not to take advantage of your reader’s commitment to your book. I’m talking about back matter — the most important tool for not only building your author platf...
