Dwayne Albert Bearup's Blog, page 2
March 25, 2012
Pay with a tweet...
Found an offer for a free ebook today. Of course, anytime something is offered for free on the internet there's usually a catch. The catch in this instance was simply that I agree to send a single tweet about the fact that I downloaded the story. Not that I had read it, not that I liked it, not that it was a good story or anything like that. Merely that I had downloaded it for the price of a tweet.
There is a website with the imaginative moniker of www.paywithatweet.com and all you have to do is place a button on your website linking to your book - or any other item you want to sell, including music, movie trailers, or what-have-you - and it's all free. You tell people about the offer and provide the link, when they arrive they click the paywithatweet button and then send the tweet and download the item. Simple as that.
There is also the option to pay with a Facebook post, the idea in both cases being to use the extended "family" of all the people who download the item as word-of-mouth advertisement. I haven't tried it myself - that is, I haven't offered to sell anything for a tweet. But I will, and I will get back to you about my experience with it.
There is a website with the imaginative moniker of www.paywithatweet.com and all you have to do is place a button on your website linking to your book - or any other item you want to sell, including music, movie trailers, or what-have-you - and it's all free. You tell people about the offer and provide the link, when they arrive they click the paywithatweet button and then send the tweet and download the item. Simple as that.
There is also the option to pay with a Facebook post, the idea in both cases being to use the extended "family" of all the people who download the item as word-of-mouth advertisement. I haven't tried it myself - that is, I haven't offered to sell anything for a tweet. But I will, and I will get back to you about my experience with it.
March 24, 2012
Oi...
Out of Goodreads, Twitter, and four pages on Facebook (my own and three writer's groups I belong to) I got exactly one review of the story I posted about on here yesterday. Come on people, I'm *giving* away my best stuff and all I ask in return is an honest review. I can't help but find it interesting....
I am going to try it again, and again, and again, until I get at least ten reviews on that story, and then I'm going to promote a new story.
So again, here's the link https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...
Just post a review on Smashwords and let me know which of my anthologies you want, and I'll send you a coupon code to get it for free.
I am going to try it again, and again, and again, until I get at least ten reviews on that story, and then I'm going to promote a new story.
So again, here's the link https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...
Just post a review on Smashwords and let me know which of my anthologies you want, and I'll send you a coupon code to get it for free.
March 23, 2012
Story Giveaway
I've decided to start pushing my stories on people, and it occurred to me that the best way to up my readership is to increase the number of reviews. With that in mind, I have offered the first ten people off Facebook and any of the people following me on Twitter a coupon good for a download of any one of my collections. I have a collection of poetry, a collection of haiku, and a collection of short stories.
Now I am offering anyone reading this the same deal - post, on Smashwords, a review of the following https://www.smashwords.com/books/view... and get a coupon for one of my anthologies free. I'm not asking for a rave review, or a 5-star review, just an HONEST review. Like it or don't like it, but tell my why. "Too wordy" "Too short" "Compelling" "Thought provoking" "Funny" "Stupid" - you can't hurt my feelings. I just want to know what readers think of this story.
Now go, read, review! You'll be glad you did.
Now I am offering anyone reading this the same deal - post, on Smashwords, a review of the following https://www.smashwords.com/books/view... and get a coupon for one of my anthologies free. I'm not asking for a rave review, or a 5-star review, just an HONEST review. Like it or don't like it, but tell my why. "Too wordy" "Too short" "Compelling" "Thought provoking" "Funny" "Stupid" - you can't hurt my feelings. I just want to know what readers think of this story.
Now go, read, review! You'll be glad you did.
March 22, 2012
Ahhh, finally!
I haven't posted in almost a week, but that's because I haven't had anything to write about. However, I have gone back to work, and I attended my weekly writer's workshop last night and got lots of good feedback on one of my new stories.
I have also made strides on the outline of my novel, and will hopefully be able to make some major progress on the actual book soon.
Unfortunately, I *am* back to work, and in my absence a lot of work piled up so I will be pretty busy with that. Still, I will make time for this blog and my other writing in between all that. I may have to forego sleep, but it will be worth it.
A friend of mine from the writer's workshop is getting a book published soon, http://www.zombiehousewivesoftheapoca... Any of you who are interested in zombies and the idea that zombies might have lives beyond merely chasing and eating brains should check it out.
I have also made strides on the outline of my novel, and will hopefully be able to make some major progress on the actual book soon.
Unfortunately, I *am* back to work, and in my absence a lot of work piled up so I will be pretty busy with that. Still, I will make time for this blog and my other writing in between all that. I may have to forego sleep, but it will be worth it.
A friend of mine from the writer's workshop is getting a book published soon, http://www.zombiehousewivesoftheapoca... Any of you who are interested in zombies and the idea that zombies might have lives beyond merely chasing and eating brains should check it out.
March 13, 2012
Missing a few days...
Well, I am officially sicker than ever before in my life. Last night I started coughing up blood. After an x-ray at the local ER I was diagnosed with mild pneumonia. So far, I am liking the better class of drugs that come with being spectacularly sick, but I hope to return soon to ponderously healthy. I despise being sick.
The good news is that I have had lots of writing time lately. I wrote a really good two pages on the zombie apocalypse story I got an idea for over the weekend. Been too sleepy and out of it to do much writing today, but tomorrow will be different. By the next writer's group I'll be able to attend I should have three or maybe four stories to choose from to read. That hasn't happened for a while, so I'm kind of excited.
The good news is that I have had lots of writing time lately. I wrote a really good two pages on the zombie apocalypse story I got an idea for over the weekend. Been too sleepy and out of it to do much writing today, but tomorrow will be different. By the next writer's group I'll be able to attend I should have three or maybe four stories to choose from to read. That hasn't happened for a while, so I'm kind of excited.
March 10, 2012
Day Eleven, Story Heaven
Found a link on twitter to a contest wherein the writer is presented with a picture and a phrase and must write a 150 word story combining both. I found it challenging to come up with an idea for the prompts, but once it came to me I found the story flowed nicely onto the screen. There were several other entries, all of which were quite enjoyable. The contest deadline is Sunday, March 11, 2012, and if you want to read them, or enter, here is the link: http://rebeccaclaresmith.blogspot.com...
Thanks to @leo_godin for providing the initial link.
I was feeling better today, but I still had the cough so I decided to check out my symptoms online (yeah, yeah, go ahead, mock the ailing man) and found I most likely had bronchitis. The cough can last for up to several weeks, but as long as it doesn't become infected I'll be fine. I'll continue to monitor myself to ensure that doesn't happen. Meanwhile, I'm going back to work Monday.
'Til then I will drink tea (unlaced, this time) and other fluids and take Mucinex (recommended by the pharmacist) to loosen the phlegm and make it easier to cough up. And I will continue to write.
Thanks to @leo_godin for providing the initial link.
I was feeling better today, but I still had the cough so I decided to check out my symptoms online (yeah, yeah, go ahead, mock the ailing man) and found I most likely had bronchitis. The cough can last for up to several weeks, but as long as it doesn't become infected I'll be fine. I'll continue to monitor myself to ensure that doesn't happen. Meanwhile, I'm going back to work Monday.
'Til then I will drink tea (unlaced, this time) and other fluids and take Mucinex (recommended by the pharmacist) to loosen the phlegm and make it easier to cough up. And I will continue to write.
March 9, 2012
Day Ten, In The Den
Still sick. Cough, fever, headache... if I still feel this bad tomorrow I will get my butt to an urgent care facility.
In other news, I found out today about a medical study in the area that will pay $7,280. It requires four 8-night stays, but if the side-effects aren't horrific I'm gonna go for it. That's too much money to resist.
I have tea waiting for brandy and honey, so I will write more tomorrow.
In other news, I found out today about a medical study in the area that will pay $7,280. It requires four 8-night stays, but if the side-effects aren't horrific I'm gonna go for it. That's too much money to resist.
I have tea waiting for brandy and honey, so I will write more tomorrow.
March 8, 2012
Book Review #1
Some secrets are meant to be shared; and a boy’s encounter with England’s most legendary archer will change his life forever. This is the tag-line of a new story by Mike Evers, due for release by Great Minds Think Aloud on March 16, 2012.
There's a lot to like in this story. Most notably, the authenticity of the dialog - both from the modern characters and from Robin Hood - and the visualizability of the characters and the action. For this I give it 5 stars.
I also like the availability of links - both within the story and as an appendix at the end - to articles regarding many of the historic events mentioned in the story. I'll give a gold star on that.
For punctuation, spelling, and grammar, I give this story 4 stars. Unfortunately, I found myself distracted from the story on several occasions by typos. While some of these may be the result of dialect differences (the author is from the UK), others were clearly intended to be other words and I found myself abruptly pushed out of the story by these. I also found myself wondering about the punctuation, but I put most of that down to different speech patterns. After all, a person who speaks differently than we are accustomed to hearing will punctuate his written sentences differently as well.
The formatting could also use some work. Primarily the use of block-style formatting (this blog is an example) instead of indent style - the former is primarily used for non-fiction while the latter is used for fiction. Not a tremendous turn-off, but it was still a bit offputting. Also, there were several instances where the ends of sentences were cut off and placed separately two lines down, and at one point there was an entire blank page. All these were due to formatting irregularities. I cannot honestly give any stars for this.
The feel-good ending wrapped up all the story threads nicely, and while I felt Robin Hood's sudden appearance at the end to save the day was a bit of a deus ex machina the overall effect was not off-putting. It is, after all, intended for young adults and I feel it likely that most younger readers will find this ending highly satisfying. For the ending, 5 stars.
All in all, Mike Evers' "The Spirit Archer" is highly entertaining and I will recommend it to all the young readers I know. If you want to find it for yourself, go here http://www.greatmindspublishing.moonf...
There's a lot to like in this story. Most notably, the authenticity of the dialog - both from the modern characters and from Robin Hood - and the visualizability of the characters and the action. For this I give it 5 stars.
I also like the availability of links - both within the story and as an appendix at the end - to articles regarding many of the historic events mentioned in the story. I'll give a gold star on that.
For punctuation, spelling, and grammar, I give this story 4 stars. Unfortunately, I found myself distracted from the story on several occasions by typos. While some of these may be the result of dialect differences (the author is from the UK), others were clearly intended to be other words and I found myself abruptly pushed out of the story by these. I also found myself wondering about the punctuation, but I put most of that down to different speech patterns. After all, a person who speaks differently than we are accustomed to hearing will punctuate his written sentences differently as well.
The formatting could also use some work. Primarily the use of block-style formatting (this blog is an example) instead of indent style - the former is primarily used for non-fiction while the latter is used for fiction. Not a tremendous turn-off, but it was still a bit offputting. Also, there were several instances where the ends of sentences were cut off and placed separately two lines down, and at one point there was an entire blank page. All these were due to formatting irregularities. I cannot honestly give any stars for this.
The feel-good ending wrapped up all the story threads nicely, and while I felt Robin Hood's sudden appearance at the end to save the day was a bit of a deus ex machina the overall effect was not off-putting. It is, after all, intended for young adults and I feel it likely that most younger readers will find this ending highly satisfying. For the ending, 5 stars.
All in all, Mike Evers' "The Spirit Archer" is highly entertaining and I will recommend it to all the young readers I know. If you want to find it for yourself, go here http://www.greatmindspublishing.moonf...
March 7, 2012
Day Eight, Woke Up Late
Not that it matters since I'm too sick to work.
Spent part of my day putting all my stories into an anthology and posting them here and on Smashwords.
Feels like I will still be sick tomorrow, so will probably try my new ideas for Vengeance Reincarnate. Shouldn't take long.
Spent most of my time today watching Dead Zone on Hulu.
Spent part of my day putting all my stories into an anthology and posting them here and on Smashwords.
Feels like I will still be sick tomorrow, so will probably try my new ideas for Vengeance Reincarnate. Shouldn't take long.
Spent most of my time today watching Dead Zone on Hulu.
March 6, 2012
Day Seven, Bed By Eleven
Sick. Won't write much tonight. Read a lot of interesting news articles, but didn't feel like writing.
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