Sandy Appleyard's Blog, page 6

Honey…Kids Don’t Just Want it on Their Toast Anymore

I swear, sometimes it feels like it was just yesterday that our two little minions were born, but my eldest just turned nine and the youngest will be seven in five months. We went through the usual bout of unrelenting, reciprocating, perpetual illness during the first years of school, just like everyone else with little ones.

During those years, however, we learned a thing or two about kids and coughs, something so simple and inexpensive to remedy it…honey.

The first bad cough my eldest daughte...

Physiotherapy Changed my Life. Here’s Why…

No Affliction is Bad with Physiotherapy in Your Corner

Back in 2001 I was struck from behind the wheel making my trek out of the building I lived in at the time, and a woman in a pick-up truck t-boned me at an intersection going way too fast for eight o’clock in the morning.

My car was completely totaled as was her vehicle, which lay on its side fifty feet away.

After that day, physiotherapy became a part of my life, and it will be for the remainder of it.

From the accident, I had minor injuries:...

Her Husband has a Mean Streak, but he’s not Alone

// ]]>

Amazon.com Widgets

Emory Charbonneau is a paediatrician and a cross-country marathon runner who is in a lukewarm marriage at best. Her husband Jeff is supportive of her extracurricular activities in a “I support her because I have to” kind of way, and his career in the stock market pales in comparison to the success of her clinic.

As Emory leaves on a run one day, she is mysteriously struck on the head, landing her unconscious in the middle of nowhere. When she wakes, she’s in an unkno...

< ![CDATA[

Reviews Readers will Pay Attention to and How to Get Them

I failed to differentiate between which reviews are truly important and which ones aren’t

In all the hooplah over reviews and the trouble we have getting them, I failed to differentiate between what reviews are truly important, the ones that readers will actually be paying attention to, and the ones they likely won’t.

The reviews that readers are learning more and more can be biased are the customer reviews. Reason being, authors like me have to scrounge up reviews from our friends, family and...

A Note to the Haters of Fifty Shades of Grey

After my post last week, I received some negative attention surrounding my adoration of the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy. Some argue that the story condones physical abuse and that the context of Fifty Shades gives young people (or people of any age, as some have said) the idea that it’s okay to accept ‘this kind of behaviour’ and it further exemplifies that women should advance themselves in life by ‘laying on their backs’.

I would like to take this opportunity to address the backlash of both...

Review of Kindle Book Promotions

To follow up on a previous post, I thought I would share with you my experience using a high-end promotional program called Kindle Book Promotions

Admittedly, I did not quite understand the concept of ‘Amazon Bestseller Status’ clearly enough to truly absorb the focus of this program.

Allow me to explain.

What I initially thought was that my book would be placed in the #1 bestseller rank for its categories (or at least 1 category), but the definition of ‘Amazon Bestseller’ really only means that...

5 Things I Did Differently with Self-Publishing

After reading an article about an author who had just published a second book, and reflecting on what they would do differently on the third, I began to think about how my self-publishing process has revolutionized since my first book.

To view the post I’m referring to, see ‘5 Things I Will do Differently Next Time‘ from Social Media Just For Writers.

In total (counting pen names) my self-publishing resume lists to date six books that I have self-published, making this release my seventh. So wh...

If I Could Ask E.L. James One Question…

I realize there is a relatively even split between those who love E.L. James, admire her work, and are generally in awe of her basically overnight success, and those who hate her, noting what they see as shoddy writing skills, uneven or weak character development, and supposed biased connections in the literary world.

However, in my opinion…

E.L. James, the author of Fifty Shades of Grey, has written the greatest modern love story of my time

To quote book review one of four (yes, I loved the boo...

Why I Chose to Untick the KDP Select Box

I really hate to say it, but it’s such a split now with opinions,

some say KDP Select is worth it while others don’t

This is based on feedback received from a previous post ‘Do KDP Free Days Lose Their Zest?’ On one of the threads on LinkedIn, this post garnered some serious attention. In one group alone the post received over 57 comments. That is the most reception, to my recollection, that any of my posts have ever received.

And while I had already formed my opinion prior to writing the post,...

In the Ebook World, is Timing Everything?

Book one in my suspense trilogy has suffered badly, I’ll admit it. Ironic, because my first stand-alone suspense has done better (and still is, frankly), and it wasn’t properly edited, nor was it given a professional cover.

What’s even more mind-boggling is that my second suspense (not my first) was the first in a series, and aren’t series novels supposed to be way more captivating than a stand-alone novel?

The answer was staring me right in the face: Timing.

Despite the obvious train of thought...