David George Richards's Blog, page 10
January 6, 2011
January 2011 New Year Review
We had a very cold Christmas here in the UK, with the snow coming earlier than last year. It was the first time since my youth that I actually remember having snow on the ground on Christmas Day. Of course, as a child you love it when it snows, but as an adult I just hate it as its just a nuisance to travel. Bah Humbug! Anyway, now that its New Year the snow has gone and the weather has become a little milder, but its still cold!
I have been thinking more about writing again, although I haven't done any actual writing as yet. I am thinking about some changes in the plot for “The Sullenfeld Oracle,” which is good, because the plot is pretty thin in my mind at the moment. The problem isn't so much fleshing out the plot and story, its more like deciding on the skeleton in the first place. I have begun writing it, but as yet the direction isn't confirmed and so it hasn't sort of gone off on its own yet. When I know the direction and point it that way, it should flow, but I just don't seem to have the thinking time available these days to mull it over. I seem to be getting that back now, or at least I hope so, so I might get it straight in my head. Here's hoping.
As I mentioned last month, I am a visitor and an irregular contributor to The Spinning Wheel Cafe, a forum thread on the Amazon Kindle Community, and my two readings there where I posted samples from my books can be found using the following links:
Reading at The Spinning Wheel 1
Reading at The Spinning Wheel 2
See you next month, and a Very Happy and Safe New Year to you all!
I have been thinking more about writing again, although I haven't done any actual writing as yet. I am thinking about some changes in the plot for “The Sullenfeld Oracle,” which is good, because the plot is pretty thin in my mind at the moment. The problem isn't so much fleshing out the plot and story, its more like deciding on the skeleton in the first place. I have begun writing it, but as yet the direction isn't confirmed and so it hasn't sort of gone off on its own yet. When I know the direction and point it that way, it should flow, but I just don't seem to have the thinking time available these days to mull it over. I seem to be getting that back now, or at least I hope so, so I might get it straight in my head. Here's hoping.
As I mentioned last month, I am a visitor and an irregular contributor to The Spinning Wheel Cafe, a forum thread on the Amazon Kindle Community, and my two readings there where I posted samples from my books can be found using the following links:
Reading at The Spinning Wheel 1
Reading at The Spinning Wheel 2
See you next month, and a Very Happy and Safe New Year to you all!
December 2, 2010
December 2010 Christmas Review
Still thinking more than writing. At least it is going to be Christmas soon, and the snow has already fallen outside to prove it. Its cold here!
I have been playing around with the website updating things again. The latest changes are to the music pages I link to some of my stories. These list the titles and lyrics of songs that I associate with the story for one reason or another. These pages go back quite a bit and only listed the lyrics, so they were due for an update. Anyway, I have now provided links on these pages that take you to a site where the music can be played on line. This and the presence of the lyrics I hope gives an additional experience to visitors. I have also made the links to these pages more apparent on the List Page. I hope you try them out.
As I mentioned last month, I am a visitor and an irregular contributor to The Spinning Wheel Cafe, a forum thread on the Amazon Kindle Community, and I will be doing a reading there on the 9th December, so I hope you do a fly by to see what happens. My previous and rather long-winded reading at TSW Cafe can be found here.
See you next month, and next year! So Happy Christmas to you all!
I have been playing around with the website updating things again. The latest changes are to the music pages I link to some of my stories. These list the titles and lyrics of songs that I associate with the story for one reason or another. These pages go back quite a bit and only listed the lyrics, so they were due for an update. Anyway, I have now provided links on these pages that take you to a site where the music can be played on line. This and the presence of the lyrics I hope gives an additional experience to visitors. I have also made the links to these pages more apparent on the List Page. I hope you try them out.
As I mentioned last month, I am a visitor and an irregular contributor to The Spinning Wheel Cafe, a forum thread on the Amazon Kindle Community, and I will be doing a reading there on the 9th December, so I hope you do a fly by to see what happens. My previous and rather long-winded reading at TSW Cafe can be found here.
See you next month, and next year! So Happy Christmas to you all!
November 1, 2010
November 2010 Review
Still no writing this month as life continues to keep getting in the way. On the up side I have managed to sell my first Kindle book on the UK Amazon site. Up to now all my Kindle sales have been in the US. Although not big sellers as yet, I am always hopeful, and to have a sale in the UK, even an electronic one, is very welcome.
As I mentioned last month, I am a visitor and an irregular contributor to The Spinning Wheel Cafe, a forum thread on the Amazon Kindle Community, and I have added links to TSW Cafe on my various pages. As well as doing the occasional readings, listening to others read, and taking part in general conversations about books at TSW Cafe, I have also now been listed on another thread in the Amazon Kindle Community called The Indie Authors Gallery. This is a comprehensive list of self published authors with books available on the Kindle that has been put together voluntarily by Julie, a passionate reader of Kindle books. I must say that I and many other self published (indie) authors are very indebted to her for doing this. My entry can be found here at http://amzn.to/IAGRichardDG.
When I talk about doing readings at TSW Cafe, I am obviously talking about posting samples of the book on the thread with explanations, and when asked, answering any questions. I will be doing another reading like this on the 9th December, and my previous and rather long-winded reading at TSW Cafe can be found here.
See you next month.
As I mentioned last month, I am a visitor and an irregular contributor to The Spinning Wheel Cafe, a forum thread on the Amazon Kindle Community, and I have added links to TSW Cafe on my various pages. As well as doing the occasional readings, listening to others read, and taking part in general conversations about books at TSW Cafe, I have also now been listed on another thread in the Amazon Kindle Community called The Indie Authors Gallery. This is a comprehensive list of self published authors with books available on the Kindle that has been put together voluntarily by Julie, a passionate reader of Kindle books. I must say that I and many other self published (indie) authors are very indebted to her for doing this. My entry can be found here at http://amzn.to/IAGRichardDG.
When I talk about doing readings at TSW Cafe, I am obviously talking about posting samples of the book on the thread with explanations, and when asked, answering any questions. I will be doing another reading like this on the 9th December, and my previous and rather long-winded reading at TSW Cafe can be found here.
See you next month.
September 30, 2010
Those Book Trailers Again
Having talked about book trailers last time around, I have now placed them on my website at booksandstories.com. But by using the facilities of tiny.cc I have created links to them at Animoto so that they can be accessed anywhere. At the moment I only have three 30 second book video trailers:
One for "The Friendly Ambassador" series of four books that can be found by opening this link in a new window: http://tiny.cc/tfaseries
One for both "The Lost Girls" and "The Return of the Sixpack" from "In the Shadow of Mountains," that can be found by opening this link in a new window: http://tiny.cc/lostgirls
And finally, one for "The Tale of the Comet" that can be found by opening this link in a new window: http://tiny.cc/tale
Please take a look and let me know what you think.
One for "The Friendly Ambassador" series of four books that can be found by opening this link in a new window: http://tiny.cc/tfaseries
One for both "The Lost Girls" and "The Return of the Sixpack" from "In the Shadow of Mountains," that can be found by opening this link in a new window: http://tiny.cc/lostgirls
And finally, one for "The Tale of the Comet" that can be found by opening this link in a new window: http://tiny.cc/tale
Please take a look and let me know what you think.
September 13, 2010
Book Trailers
I have wondered about book trailers for a while now, mainly because I like the idea but don't have any video or film experience to do one myself. It now seems that you don't really need to have either to actually make one. There seems to be quite a large number available now, mainly on youtube and facebook. Anyway, I began looking around for sources on the web that can help authors and others make short videos and I eventually found Animoto.com.
Animoto specialise in a custom making video service aimed in particular at photographers and businesses as an alternative to slideshows and other types of photographic presentations. You only need some visuals, a choice of soundtrack and a few text lines and you are done. Animoto's specialised video engine puts the lot together and produces a random one-off production. Every time you repeat the process you get a different video.
It sounded easy, but I still thought about it for a while before having a go. As it turns out it was very easy. The results are determined by the number of visuals and the tempo of the soundtrack. Very clever. And a 30second video is free. I now have two on the List Page of my website at booksandstories.com. Please take a look and let me know what you think.
Animoto specialise in a custom making video service aimed in particular at photographers and businesses as an alternative to slideshows and other types of photographic presentations. You only need some visuals, a choice of soundtrack and a few text lines and you are done. Animoto's specialised video engine puts the lot together and produces a random one-off production. Every time you repeat the process you get a different video.
It sounded easy, but I still thought about it for a while before having a go. As it turns out it was very easy. The results are determined by the number of visuals and the tempo of the soundtrack. Very clever. And a 30second video is free. I now have two on the List Page of my website at booksandstories.com. Please take a look and let me know what you think.
September 2, 2010
September 2010 Review
Writing News
I am progressing slowly with “The Sullenfeld Oracle.” Although I know where I want the story to go, getting there from the starting point isn’t clear in my head yet. I have a basic idea of how to get into the story, and I am introducing characters I think I will need as I go along, but nothing is definite yet. It could be that I have more characters than I need, but I am trying to get the story moving to the point where it runs on its own. I think it has a bit of a way to go before then. Still, it is taking shape, its just that I can’t recognise it yet.
Last month I registered here on Goodreads as an author, listing all my books together and combining the various Kindle and paperback editions. Basically setting my author profile in order so that people who look will know a bit about me. Rather like on Amazon. Since then I have been introducing myself on various forums and creating a list of my favorite books. I must say having to think about books that I have read and those that are my favorites was very strange as I read most of them a long time ago. Its nice to see that many of them are still popular and some are even considered to be classics.
I joined Goodreads because I felt a little uncomfortable as an author posting on the Amazon forums. Although there are many discussion threads set up for promoting the work of Indie Authors it still felt uncomfortable doing so. Although I still post on the Amazon forums I still don’t, and never have, included any of my books in my profile signature. I just don’t feel right about it. Here on Goodreads there is a slightly different emphasis and although carpet bombing is still frowned upon as spamming, people in general are here to find something to read. Hopefully I can join in. So far I have a handful of friends, some from the Amazon forums and some I have met at Goodreads, and I have found a couple of books I would like to read, so that can’t be bad.
Website News
Now here is something different. In previous Monthly Reviews I have often made note of updates, changes, and hopefully, improvements to my website. In general I believe it has improved over the years, and it has been over ten years in existence. But I have always kept it as simple as possible so it loads easily. Anyway, I have also always included my 3D digital artwork on the site, either in promoting my books where they are featured on the covers, or just to decorate the site. Now I have found CafePress, a company that allows you to create merchandise from your artwork for sale over the internet—and its free! Well it is for a basic shop, and that is good enough for me. So I have decided to try it. So I have a merchandise site. Exciting isn’t it? So if you feel like browsing my T-shirts, posters, mugs and mousepads, pop over to the Booksandstories Merchandise Stores and give me a shot. Go on, you know you want to!
See you next month.
I am progressing slowly with “The Sullenfeld Oracle.” Although I know where I want the story to go, getting there from the starting point isn’t clear in my head yet. I have a basic idea of how to get into the story, and I am introducing characters I think I will need as I go along, but nothing is definite yet. It could be that I have more characters than I need, but I am trying to get the story moving to the point where it runs on its own. I think it has a bit of a way to go before then. Still, it is taking shape, its just that I can’t recognise it yet.
Last month I registered here on Goodreads as an author, listing all my books together and combining the various Kindle and paperback editions. Basically setting my author profile in order so that people who look will know a bit about me. Rather like on Amazon. Since then I have been introducing myself on various forums and creating a list of my favorite books. I must say having to think about books that I have read and those that are my favorites was very strange as I read most of them a long time ago. Its nice to see that many of them are still popular and some are even considered to be classics.
I joined Goodreads because I felt a little uncomfortable as an author posting on the Amazon forums. Although there are many discussion threads set up for promoting the work of Indie Authors it still felt uncomfortable doing so. Although I still post on the Amazon forums I still don’t, and never have, included any of my books in my profile signature. I just don’t feel right about it. Here on Goodreads there is a slightly different emphasis and although carpet bombing is still frowned upon as spamming, people in general are here to find something to read. Hopefully I can join in. So far I have a handful of friends, some from the Amazon forums and some I have met at Goodreads, and I have found a couple of books I would like to read, so that can’t be bad.
Website News
Now here is something different. In previous Monthly Reviews I have often made note of updates, changes, and hopefully, improvements to my website. In general I believe it has improved over the years, and it has been over ten years in existence. But I have always kept it as simple as possible so it loads easily. Anyway, I have also always included my 3D digital artwork on the site, either in promoting my books where they are featured on the covers, or just to decorate the site. Now I have found CafePress, a company that allows you to create merchandise from your artwork for sale over the internet—and its free! Well it is for a basic shop, and that is good enough for me. So I have decided to try it. So I have a merchandise site. Exciting isn’t it? So if you feel like browsing my T-shirts, posters, mugs and mousepads, pop over to the Booksandstories Merchandise Stores and give me a shot. Go on, you know you want to!
See you next month.
August 18, 2010
August 2010 My First Post on Goodreads
For the past ten years I have been posting what I called Monthly Reviews on my website. These featured writing news as well as site updates. Well, this is the first Monthly Review to also be posted on Goodreads, and I intend to do this with each Monthly Review in future. For those interested in what came before, please visit the Letters Page on my website. So I will now dive in where I left off...
August Writing News
I have started playing about with “The Sullenfeld Oracle” again. This is my new writing enterprise which has been very slow in getting off the ground. But you never know, I might actually get something done this month.
If you remember last month I told you about Publish America deciding to publish books as paperbacks at $9.95 alongside higher priced hardbacks. Well the hardbacks seem to have been shelved for the moment, but I do now have new paperback versions of “The Friendly Ambassador: The Beginning Of The End,” and “The Friendly Ambassador: A Gathering of Angels,” both at the new lower price of $12.95. Although this is slightly higher than originally stated—due to my books having a larger (300) page count—I am still much happier with this. These cheaper and more realistically priced books are currently only available from Publish America’s online store. However, the original softcovers, now at $29.95, are still available at Amazon and other online retail stores. I don’t know if the cheaper editions will appear alongside the softcovers at Amazon, but I am assuming they will not. Obviously these two new editions of “The Beginning of the End,” and “A Gathering of Angels” have new ISBN numbers to go with them. These are now displayed on the List Page on my website. Also on the List Page are new links to the purchase pages for these cheaper priced editions at Publish America, so you have no excuse for not buying them!
Also mentioned in the odd previous Monthly Review was my intention to publish these very same two books on Kindle. Well, in another welcome development this month Publish America agreed to return the digital rights for these two books back to me. So I now have a cheaper paperback available through PA, and I have the Kindle versions available at Amazon for $2.00 each, and the eBook versions at MobiPocket for the same price. So you see you really don't have an excuse not to purchase the whole of “The Friendly Ambassador,” as you can get all four books at $8.00—and thats for 1300 pages!
By the way, for all those who read on my website, and those who actually buy Kindle or MobiPocket versions of my books: Thank You. And to all those at Goodreads, thanks for the help in setting things up here—I am still learning!—and I hope you can all welcome me to the site. See you next month.
August Writing News
I have started playing about with “The Sullenfeld Oracle” again. This is my new writing enterprise which has been very slow in getting off the ground. But you never know, I might actually get something done this month.
If you remember last month I told you about Publish America deciding to publish books as paperbacks at $9.95 alongside higher priced hardbacks. Well the hardbacks seem to have been shelved for the moment, but I do now have new paperback versions of “The Friendly Ambassador: The Beginning Of The End,” and “The Friendly Ambassador: A Gathering of Angels,” both at the new lower price of $12.95. Although this is slightly higher than originally stated—due to my books having a larger (300) page count—I am still much happier with this. These cheaper and more realistically priced books are currently only available from Publish America’s online store. However, the original softcovers, now at $29.95, are still available at Amazon and other online retail stores. I don’t know if the cheaper editions will appear alongside the softcovers at Amazon, but I am assuming they will not. Obviously these two new editions of “The Beginning of the End,” and “A Gathering of Angels” have new ISBN numbers to go with them. These are now displayed on the List Page on my website. Also on the List Page are new links to the purchase pages for these cheaper priced editions at Publish America, so you have no excuse for not buying them!
Also mentioned in the odd previous Monthly Review was my intention to publish these very same two books on Kindle. Well, in another welcome development this month Publish America agreed to return the digital rights for these two books back to me. So I now have a cheaper paperback available through PA, and I have the Kindle versions available at Amazon for $2.00 each, and the eBook versions at MobiPocket for the same price. So you see you really don't have an excuse not to purchase the whole of “The Friendly Ambassador,” as you can get all four books at $8.00—and thats for 1300 pages!
By the way, for all those who read on my website, and those who actually buy Kindle or MobiPocket versions of my books: Thank You. And to all those at Goodreads, thanks for the help in setting things up here—I am still learning!—and I hope you can all welcome me to the site. See you next month.
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