Luis Samways's Blog, page 2
February 1, 2015
New year, new dedicated blog!
Hello everybody,
It’s been a really really long time, but I’m back with a blog post, but you might notice that I’m on a different website completely! Well, you’re not wrong, I’m blogging from my new wordpress blog.
I feel that if I blog from this standalone site rather than my actual website that I may actually use it more regularly. luissamways.com will still be used for my usual web stuff, like listing my books, putting pictures of my pretty face up everywhere and general author stuff, but this blog will be used to have a little fun and hopefully spread the news about my books.
I plan to write regularly (I promise) and will update this blog every few days with tidbits on publishing and writing in general. I know that if you’ve ever read my blog before (on my website) that you know that I dont tend to keep my promises when it comes to writing on my blog, but fear not dear readers, I shall honour my promise and make my new blog THE place to be if you’re interested in what I have to say! (Not that there are many of you out there!!!!)
So here we are, a new blog, a new year and a whole lot of my books coming out. I plan on telling all you wonderful people more about what’s in the pipeline soon, but for now I’m going to leave you with an updated release schedule for the next three months or so!
I’ll be back in a couple of days with a 1000 word (or more) post on self-publishing and some writing tips from yours truly. You never know, I might actually keep my promise and make this new blog of mine shine! We may even get more than three posts a year!
For now I’ll let you get on with your busy lives. I have WIDE AWAKE to continue writing. I’m sure you have stuff to do as well!
Cheers,
Luis Samways (Bestselling Kindle Author)
UPDATED RELEASE SCHEDULE FOR THE NEXT THREE MONTHS:
Wide Awake – March 13th 2015 exclusively on Kindle (and paperback)
The Evil Indie Author – March 22nd 2015 exclusively on Kindle (and paperback)
Strapped To The Chest – April 27th 2015 exclusively on Kindle (and paperback)
September 28, 2012
New book cover coming today!
I recently sought after the talents of one man named Damonza ( http://www.awesomebookcovers.com/) and Today I am due a look at my cover for Boston Blood.
Now a lot of you who frequent my blog and my website have already noticed that I already have a cover for Boston Blood, well that is a draft of my own doing. It was going to be the cover for the book, but then i saw Damonza's work and thought, why not.
This quick blog post is just a little teaser and reminder that as soon as I have the draft and have chosen which one I want, I shall let you people have a look as well!
(Expect a blog post up on the subject on Saturday.
Cheers
Luis
Now a lot of you who frequent my blog and my website have already noticed that I already have a cover for Boston Blood, well that is a draft of my own doing. It was going to be the cover for the book, but then i saw Damonza's work and thought, why not.
This quick blog post is just a little teaser and reminder that as soon as I have the draft and have chosen which one I want, I shall let you people have a look as well!
(Expect a blog post up on the subject on Saturday.
Cheers
Luis
September 27, 2012
Why you, the Indie Author, should be a bestseller.
Hey everyone.
I have finally come up with a good subject for my Blog...Me! Yay, I know what your thinking, How original Mr Samways.
I know, a blogger talking about himself is nothing new, nor is it nothing fresh but I feel I have something the world could use, Balls!
I have rather large ones at that, my goal is to become a best selling Thriller writer. Its a long shot, or so the "haters" say. But I believe its feasible.
The reason I'm writing in this particular way is to try and encourage the mass of Indie author's out there that they can make it if they chose, and why not? Why shouldn't they make it? Because they self publish? Because the big dogs don't want their novel? No, the only reason an Indie Author should not make it is because they don't try.
In my opinion you can not go out into this thing with hopes of hitting it big in one book and calling it a day. You have to make sure what you do is prolific, the stories you write are awesome and people want to buy the shit out of them. I haven't released my debut Novel yet, Boston Blood, because I'm waiting for it to get proof read & the cover to be ready. all and all, its a rather long process of waiting and hoping so with all this spare time on my hands I decided why should I wait? Why not write another story? this one will be shorter and used in a way to get people into my books. Think of it as Live bait so to speak. You hook that awesome short story out there, then bam, three weeks later your novel comes out. Then in December I release another novel (Linked to the first one, Frank McKenzie's second outing) and rinse and repeat.
Now a lot of you may be screaming "That's a bit tactless" and I'll respond by saying "How?"
Because I'm releasing stories non stop? Maybe its a little overkill but let me let you into a little secrete:
It isn't tactless and "Money Grabbing" if you release good books.
Its imperative that we as Indie author's see the opportunity to release what we want as a curse. Not a gift. sure release as much as you like, but make sure its of value to the customer, not just drivel you want to release so you can make some extra $$$$$.
will it work for me? Yes it will, Why? Because every story I'm going to release is something I'm immensely proud of and want the world to adore, not so I can make millions (maybe I will) But because I want the person reading it to think:
"Maybe this guy's alright"
People do like certain author's and I'm determined through good practices, and awesome stories, that people will one day think of me as their favorite, and why shouldn't you be one of theirs to?
Go on, don't be scared, man up, speak your mind, write good books, and please for the love of god, don't release horse shit stories, don't be afraid to make the best, even if it takes you for ever.
Just my 2 cents.
Thanks
Your indie pal
Luis :) Mwah!
I have finally come up with a good subject for my Blog...Me! Yay, I know what your thinking, How original Mr Samways.
I know, a blogger talking about himself is nothing new, nor is it nothing fresh but I feel I have something the world could use, Balls!
I have rather large ones at that, my goal is to become a best selling Thriller writer. Its a long shot, or so the "haters" say. But I believe its feasible.
The reason I'm writing in this particular way is to try and encourage the mass of Indie author's out there that they can make it if they chose, and why not? Why shouldn't they make it? Because they self publish? Because the big dogs don't want their novel? No, the only reason an Indie Author should not make it is because they don't try.
In my opinion you can not go out into this thing with hopes of hitting it big in one book and calling it a day. You have to make sure what you do is prolific, the stories you write are awesome and people want to buy the shit out of them. I haven't released my debut Novel yet, Boston Blood, because I'm waiting for it to get proof read & the cover to be ready. all and all, its a rather long process of waiting and hoping so with all this spare time on my hands I decided why should I wait? Why not write another story? this one will be shorter and used in a way to get people into my books. Think of it as Live bait so to speak. You hook that awesome short story out there, then bam, three weeks later your novel comes out. Then in December I release another novel (Linked to the first one, Frank McKenzie's second outing) and rinse and repeat.
Now a lot of you may be screaming "That's a bit tactless" and I'll respond by saying "How?"
Because I'm releasing stories non stop? Maybe its a little overkill but let me let you into a little secrete:
It isn't tactless and "Money Grabbing" if you release good books.
Its imperative that we as Indie author's see the opportunity to release what we want as a curse. Not a gift. sure release as much as you like, but make sure its of value to the customer, not just drivel you want to release so you can make some extra $$$$$.
will it work for me? Yes it will, Why? Because every story I'm going to release is something I'm immensely proud of and want the world to adore, not so I can make millions (maybe I will) But because I want the person reading it to think:
"Maybe this guy's alright"
People do like certain author's and I'm determined through good practices, and awesome stories, that people will one day think of me as their favorite, and why shouldn't you be one of theirs to?
Go on, don't be scared, man up, speak your mind, write good books, and please for the love of god, don't release horse shit stories, don't be afraid to make the best, even if it takes you for ever.
Just my 2 cents.
Thanks
Your indie pal
Luis :) Mwah!
September 16, 2012
To Cover or not to Cover...That is the question!
Hello everyone.
I know it's been a while since I actually blogged. But the factor behind that is because I have been busy finishing Boston Blood! Yay for me and everyone else! Nah, truth is its been one hell of a ride. I officially finished the last single sentence of the whole glorious "63000" + characters yesterday! whoop!
Weird stuff aside its time to move onto the most critical part of being an Indie author. So I got the writing right, Check. I have a story I'm happy with, Check. I'm getting it proof read? Check. It's on its third official draft, check. I made my own cover....Yep. I did. You can probably tell its home made. or though on the KDP forums its been getting some rave reviews when i asked them for their opinions. So lucky me...or is i?. No its not lucky me, because frankly i was looking for an excuse to get a "pro" cover done. yeah it would cost me a few hundred but it was accomplish more then my attempt. so finally after much deliberation i did decide to get a pro cover done & I will be showing it off side by side to the old one, and you guys can tell me what you think. No matter what though, I probably will be using the paid cover...it is going to cost me £250. If any one is looking for a good value cover designer then look no further then this guy! http://www.awesomebookcovers.com/ .
So this update is to basically get people up to date on my process so to speak. I will be blogging more on Frank McKenzie and my other works as the weeks continue. You will also get to hear me review some TV shows that I'm watching and Books I'm reading. Might as well make this blog a bit more fun and out going!
Lets make it happen people...
As usual its been a pleasure, Thanks for reading.
Luis Samways
I know it's been a while since I actually blogged. But the factor behind that is because I have been busy finishing Boston Blood! Yay for me and everyone else! Nah, truth is its been one hell of a ride. I officially finished the last single sentence of the whole glorious "63000" + characters yesterday! whoop!
Weird stuff aside its time to move onto the most critical part of being an Indie author. So I got the writing right, Check. I have a story I'm happy with, Check. I'm getting it proof read? Check. It's on its third official draft, check. I made my own cover....Yep. I did. You can probably tell its home made. or though on the KDP forums its been getting some rave reviews when i asked them for their opinions. So lucky me...or is i?. No its not lucky me, because frankly i was looking for an excuse to get a "pro" cover done. yeah it would cost me a few hundred but it was accomplish more then my attempt. so finally after much deliberation i did decide to get a pro cover done & I will be showing it off side by side to the old one, and you guys can tell me what you think. No matter what though, I probably will be using the paid cover...it is going to cost me £250. If any one is looking for a good value cover designer then look no further then this guy! http://www.awesomebookcovers.com/ .
So this update is to basically get people up to date on my process so to speak. I will be blogging more on Frank McKenzie and my other works as the weeks continue. You will also get to hear me review some TV shows that I'm watching and Books I'm reading. Might as well make this blog a bit more fun and out going!
Lets make it happen people...
As usual its been a pleasure, Thanks for reading.
Luis Samways
August 19, 2012
Okay, so a name change it is.
Hello all!
I guess some of you are wandering how the heck my debut books name went from "CTRL ALT KILL" to "Boston Blood". well I will enlighten you all with this little tale.
CTRL ALT KILL is hard to spell and say, because it has a sort of slang meaning & not to mention most people just wouldn't get it. Come to think of it, I hardly got it when reading the dam thing. I asked my self, Why the hell is this book called CTRL ALT KILL, and then I thought, wouldn't it make more sense if the book sounded like it was about murder and crime, instead of IT talk, so hence the name "Boston Blood" which by the way i think is a kick ass name, it sounds like a god dam TV show! oh well, there you have it. And to ask many a peoples questions on whether it will be a play on words for the next Frank McKenzie novel, in short, no it wont! It did cross my mind I.E book one is "Boston Blood" and book two could of been "Boston (insert clever name here) but then it would pull away from the story and limit my potential of getting the narrative across, so Frank McKenzie book 2 will not be Boston-Whatever.
In other news, the book is shaping up brilliantly and I hope to release a 10 chapter sample soon!
Thanks for reading
Luis Samways
In : Boston Blood
I guess some of you are wandering how the heck my debut books name went from "CTRL ALT KILL" to "Boston Blood". well I will enlighten you all with this little tale.
CTRL ALT KILL is hard to spell and say, because it has a sort of slang meaning & not to mention most people just wouldn't get it. Come to think of it, I hardly got it when reading the dam thing. I asked my self, Why the hell is this book called CTRL ALT KILL, and then I thought, wouldn't it make more sense if the book sounded like it was about murder and crime, instead of IT talk, so hence the name "Boston Blood" which by the way i think is a kick ass name, it sounds like a god dam TV show! oh well, there you have it. And to ask many a peoples questions on whether it will be a play on words for the next Frank McKenzie novel, in short, no it wont! It did cross my mind I.E book one is "Boston Blood" and book two could of been "Boston (insert clever name here) but then it would pull away from the story and limit my potential of getting the narrative across, so Frank McKenzie book 2 will not be Boston-Whatever.
In other news, the book is shaping up brilliantly and I hope to release a 10 chapter sample soon!
Thanks for reading
Luis Samways
In : Boston Blood
0.99p, My take on the Cheap pricing of kindle books (indie books)
Hello again
Turns out this blog thing is quite fun!
I was looking through amazon kindle books and was reading the 100 paid charts. Now seeing I'm soon to be releasing my book on amazon to a fan base f zero (That's why i'm starting this website) i want to arrange a good price for my book. One that will show its value while being worth it to the people (you guys) and me (My bank).
Now i know that its taboo for some one to talk about royalties but here goes nothing:
I want my book to be as low as possible price wise, so i can get in the "cheap" sales and people can stumble on my work and think "what the heck, the sample is good and its cheap, lets roll!" but i obviously want to be able to make some money seeing i have no "real job" and it would be nice to fulfill a dream, bla bla bla!
my ideal price would be 0.99p, because i think that's a pretty cheap price, yeah it sucks because you think to your self "man i spent all that time writing this book and now i'm selling it for 0.99p" well i completely understand that price is king so i don't mind so much BUT When i checked how much royalty ratio id be getting for such a price 99p quickly turned into ........ 26p! Wow man, what a bitch, that sucks pretty hard ya know!
Then i did some calculations and even if i sold 10000 copies (which would be epic & is a good number to aim for seeing kindle is a large market) i would only make..... 2600 ODD POUNDS!
So i'm sorry for being blunt here people, but selling a book to 10 000 people should not only be an amazing feeling but it should also make you at least a years minimum wage salary (that's what i aim for, make a living off what i do, if i can get higher then minimum wage, then its just a bonus, i am not a get rich quick guy, but ill settle for rich guy any day, people who say other wise are full of...)
To cut to the chase, I am not selling the book for 99p folks, sorry, i know that money is tight these days, but i thought if i was to explain why i'm doing what i'm doing then maybe you will forgive me for such a price hike! The book will be.... wait for it.....dam......its.....so.....hard....to....say.....£1.49! know this, I did not want to go over price to much seeings i'm unknown but if it means the difference between making a living and giving amazon near 60% of my book price, then i think you will understand that me going 49p over the "indie success" price is a must.
I'm also under the impression that price is not that much of an issue. I mean if the book is good, and the sample grabs the person, i would of thought that their lust to carry on reading would not go away seeing the book priced at £1.49.
"oh my god, how dam expensive" is what i usually say when i see "pro" authors kindle books at £5.99 and can nip in Tesco and buy the same book for £3.99 with pages!
I thought i'd vent because that's what this blog is for, i can promise you people that my books will never be over £2.00 just because i know what its like to be on a budget, and reading is all about pleasure not spending the Benjamin's. Plus with a book at £2.00 (judging the royalty ratio doesn't get changed) would still get me to make £1.00 plus on every sale, per download, per sale, that would make a huge difference and way of living, even if my book was not selling millions, but 10's of thousands, id still do this for ever (maybe id have to release 2 books a year! hahah) but id still do it!
thanks
p.s
Buy my book when it comes out! Nah i'm just kidding.... No i'm not..... shut up Luis, your gonna scare people..... what people......exactly.....
Thanks again.
Luis
xxx
Turns out this blog thing is quite fun!
I was looking through amazon kindle books and was reading the 100 paid charts. Now seeing I'm soon to be releasing my book on amazon to a fan base f zero (That's why i'm starting this website) i want to arrange a good price for my book. One that will show its value while being worth it to the people (you guys) and me (My bank).
Now i know that its taboo for some one to talk about royalties but here goes nothing:
I want my book to be as low as possible price wise, so i can get in the "cheap" sales and people can stumble on my work and think "what the heck, the sample is good and its cheap, lets roll!" but i obviously want to be able to make some money seeing i have no "real job" and it would be nice to fulfill a dream, bla bla bla!
my ideal price would be 0.99p, because i think that's a pretty cheap price, yeah it sucks because you think to your self "man i spent all that time writing this book and now i'm selling it for 0.99p" well i completely understand that price is king so i don't mind so much BUT When i checked how much royalty ratio id be getting for such a price 99p quickly turned into ........ 26p! Wow man, what a bitch, that sucks pretty hard ya know!
Then i did some calculations and even if i sold 10000 copies (which would be epic & is a good number to aim for seeing kindle is a large market) i would only make..... 2600 ODD POUNDS!
So i'm sorry for being blunt here people, but selling a book to 10 000 people should not only be an amazing feeling but it should also make you at least a years minimum wage salary (that's what i aim for, make a living off what i do, if i can get higher then minimum wage, then its just a bonus, i am not a get rich quick guy, but ill settle for rich guy any day, people who say other wise are full of...)
To cut to the chase, I am not selling the book for 99p folks, sorry, i know that money is tight these days, but i thought if i was to explain why i'm doing what i'm doing then maybe you will forgive me for such a price hike! The book will be.... wait for it.....dam......its.....so.....hard....to....say.....£1.49! know this, I did not want to go over price to much seeings i'm unknown but if it means the difference between making a living and giving amazon near 60% of my book price, then i think you will understand that me going 49p over the "indie success" price is a must.
I'm also under the impression that price is not that much of an issue. I mean if the book is good, and the sample grabs the person, i would of thought that their lust to carry on reading would not go away seeing the book priced at £1.49.
"oh my god, how dam expensive" is what i usually say when i see "pro" authors kindle books at £5.99 and can nip in Tesco and buy the same book for £3.99 with pages!
I thought i'd vent because that's what this blog is for, i can promise you people that my books will never be over £2.00 just because i know what its like to be on a budget, and reading is all about pleasure not spending the Benjamin's. Plus with a book at £2.00 (judging the royalty ratio doesn't get changed) would still get me to make £1.00 plus on every sale, per download, per sale, that would make a huge difference and way of living, even if my book was not selling millions, but 10's of thousands, id still do this for ever (maybe id have to release 2 books a year! hahah) but id still do it!
thanks
p.s
Buy my book when it comes out! Nah i'm just kidding.... No i'm not..... shut up Luis, your gonna scare people..... what people......exactly.....
Thanks again.
Luis
xxx
I phone 5 $800
Okay so i guess this will be my first post, well real one anyway!
I was scouring twitter today and realized what was trending, iPhone 5 $800 . Now I'm not an i-Anything guy, frankly i couldn't give an i-crap about apple and their fan boys, but at the risk of alienating people who may like apple and me, You are all very welcome to like them, because at the end of the day if you want to spend $800 on a phone that does everything besides not break in 2 months, then be my guest!
Now I'm going to admit that i am a Microsoft guy, why? Because i like PC's and love xbox's. Now why do i love these things that are notorious for getting viruses and red lighting on you?
Because they are cheap, last as long as you want (in most cases) if you treat them right! PC's are like women, if you bash them around they will stop pleasing you and disappear out of your life!
On the other hand, if your a mac guy then all you need to do is place your mac product in a room at room temperature and wait for something to fall off. the thing is when something of mac fails, you will find it hard to find a non affiliated person to fix your mac for a non apple affiliated price, unlike a PC, i cant take my mac down to a local shop and just expect my PC guy to fix the dam thing.
my point in toe is that mac sucks and all they want to do is grab you by the balls and make you sing big time.
Well I'm just messing, mac make good quality products if not a bit over priced, ill stick to my gates PC's for now!
Thanks for reading!
I was scouring twitter today and realized what was trending, iPhone 5 $800 . Now I'm not an i-Anything guy, frankly i couldn't give an i-crap about apple and their fan boys, but at the risk of alienating people who may like apple and me, You are all very welcome to like them, because at the end of the day if you want to spend $800 on a phone that does everything besides not break in 2 months, then be my guest!
Now I'm going to admit that i am a Microsoft guy, why? Because i like PC's and love xbox's. Now why do i love these things that are notorious for getting viruses and red lighting on you?
Because they are cheap, last as long as you want (in most cases) if you treat them right! PC's are like women, if you bash them around they will stop pleasing you and disappear out of your life!
On the other hand, if your a mac guy then all you need to do is place your mac product in a room at room temperature and wait for something to fall off. the thing is when something of mac fails, you will find it hard to find a non affiliated person to fix your mac for a non apple affiliated price, unlike a PC, i cant take my mac down to a local shop and just expect my PC guy to fix the dam thing.
my point in toe is that mac sucks and all they want to do is grab you by the balls and make you sing big time.
Well I'm just messing, mac make good quality products if not a bit over priced, ill stick to my gates PC's for now!
Thanks for reading!
First Post!
Hello everybody!
This is my first blog post on this website.
You are probably wandering what's the point in this blog, the answer, none, its just a way for me to vent steam and get close to my adoring fans (fan) :)
So i guess this will do, its not like at this moment i have anything interesting to say other then hello and thanks for visiting the website. Now I have to get onto making this website ace and publishing it. Once i have done that, expect a blog post! (a real one with content and structure.)
Thanks again.
This is my first blog post on this website.
You are probably wandering what's the point in this blog, the answer, none, its just a way for me to vent steam and get close to my adoring fans (fan) :)
So i guess this will do, its not like at this moment i have anything interesting to say other then hello and thanks for visiting the website. Now I have to get onto making this website ace and publishing it. Once i have done that, expect a blog post! (a real one with content and structure.)
Thanks again.
