David George Richards's Blog, page 3

May 2016

Summer has arrived since my last post. I know that because it is raining. Well, maybe not all the time. To be fair I did catch the sun on one of the odd days that it did put in a more persistent appearance. The bane of driving a convertible I suppose.

Bookwise, not much to report on. As usual quite a few of my books were picked up when they were available for free during Read an eBook Week, but whether that will turn into further sales is still unknown. Some of my books are now permanently free as well of course. These have now percolated through to most websites.

Website changes this month has seen my merchandise links and pages removed. I wasn't really using these much, so it was only natural that these would be phased out.

Now I am looking forward to further sunshine, Le-Mans in June, and a few more times driving with the top down.

I'll probably catch my death of cold.

See you next time.

March 2016

I wasn't intending to post this month. For a while now I have slowly reduced my posts to either bimonthly or quarterly. My intention is to move to quarterly posts as I wind down my writing hobby. But as usual, I forgot about Smashwords Read an Ebook Week promotion.

I have a tendency to forget this promotion each year, and on one occasion I only realised it was on when it ended. This year I have been more fortunate, and my weekly visit to my account on Smashwords alerted me to the fact that it starts tonight. So I am in.

If anyone is interested all my books will be free this week on Smashwords. So if you ever wanted to read one of them, but was never sure about spending your money on them, now is your chance.

Until next year.

Maybe.

February 2016

The New Year is now well under way and it won't be long before it is my birthday. Not that I celebrate these as much as I used to. I think that has something to do with the number of candles on the cake. But at least it isn't as cold as it could be this year. I have never been very tolerant of the cold, but I seem to find it more uncomfortable these days, even when I know it isn't as cold as it used to be in the Winters of my youth (nice title there). But I think that also might have something to do with those candles.

I have added a little gizmo to my website that allows people to go directly to an Amazon preview page for each book. I like playing with html code like that. It is sort of fun when they work.

I updated my prices on Google Play Books this month. That only leaves the prices on Amazon to be updated. Most of the retailers fed by Smashwords have now got the new prices and free books in place, but Apple seems to be lagging behind. Until Apple are up to date I will leave the Amazon prices alone.

I hope you all had a Happy Christmas and an exciting New Year. Time to look forward to Romance and Valentine's Day. Got your Cadbury's Cream Egg yet?

See you next time. Probably.

December 2015 Christmas Post

I told you the year would suddenly be at an end. Well here we are. Christmas is just around the corner and I am already preparing for a couple of weeks off from work.

Things have ramped down a bit on the work front since my last post, mainly because a few major deadlines were in October. Those I have delivered successfully and it looks like my work load will ease in the New Year. This is mainly due to discussions with my employer and the fact that I was doing a dual role and will continue to do for the time being. But they are now looking for someone else to take up that role on a permanent basis. It will relieve me of a task that was beginning to burn me out.

On the non-writing front I have decided to follow the trends identified on Smashwords for a couple of years now and move the prices of my larger books up to $3.99. Smaller books will remain at $2.99. On the bright side I have also decided to make "In the Shadow of Mountains: The Lost Girls" and "Mind Games" available for free as they are both series starters. So that means four of my books will be permanently free from now on. These changes might take a little while to percolate through the system.

Happy Christmas to you all.

See you in the New Year. Probably.

September 2015

I am still spending more time working than doing anything else. Even updating this page has taken a back seat. Summer has come and virtually gone already, and my year is hurtling on like a driverless carriage drawn by panicked horses. I seem to have a lot to do with deadlines drawing ever closer. But then real life has always been relentless with only a brief period during childhood for you to enjoy the world around you in some state of calm. But even those days can be a lot shorter for some. For me those were my longest days, with many more stretching ahead into an unseen horizon. Now they are behind me before I can count them. Days follow weeks and the year is suddenly at an end. But there is always another year to follow.

Maybe.

See you next time. Possibly.

June 2015

Work is taking a lot more of my time nowadays. I think this is due to a mixture of things, like the heavy workload I seem to have at the moment. Well, it is a small company and I already handle two main functions, so I tend to be busy. On the other hand as my interest in my hobbies decreases I tend to occupy my time with more work. Sometimes this is bad, because I don't really enjoy technical writing as much as I used to. And sometimes this is good, because I like 3D modelling anyway, even though steel fabrications and assemblies might not be the usual subject of graphic art. Oh, I don't know though...

The year seems to be rocketing along and it will soon be the Summer Solstice. It's all downhill after that.

See you next time. Possibly.

May 2015

It seems strange that it is May and I am already looking forward to the one motor race in the world that counts for anything. Of course that isn't for a few weeks yet, and although I am getting inpatient I know it won't be long before I am sadly looking back at the event in July. They say time is relative and when I think back to my childhood and how long it took me to grow up and all the things I did, I have to say that I think time moves a lot quicker when you’re older. Much too quickly in fact.

I seem to be quite content in my dormant author mode these days. I suppose as time passes the guilt at not writing passes too, and I sort of get used to it. I also feel less stressed as I read posts here on Goodreads about the endeavours of others to promote and sell. I have given up on all that and moved on. I still look at my latest sales or royalty figures on Smashwords and Amazon, but I am no longer excited or deflated. I have other hobbies and interests.

I wonder if it will be another one, two this year...

April 2015

Easter has come and gone and it is getting brighter and a little warmer. So Spring is well and truly in the air. Not had the roof down on the car yet though. We live in hope.

I had my usual week off during Easter. I like to do that every year. In a way I am sort of sticking to an old Christian, and probably more relevant, old school timetable. I like to have a week or two at Christmas and Easter the way I used to when I was at school. It's an old habit I suppose. I don't get the chance to do the same during the Summer though. There aren't many jobs where you can take six weeks off all in one go. But I live in hope for that, too.

March 2015

I had my usual set of downloads at Smashwords during March for the Read An Ebook Week with the Free discount coupon being the main choice of those participating. I like to think of the event as a yearly bonus to those wanting to pick up ebooks they might like but are not confident enough to splash out the full price for. I can understand that, as I am not that well off that I can afford to buy everything that takes my fancy. But will all those ebooks end up being read?

I know that the general view is that many free ebooks get picked up in such promotions merely because they are free, and just get added to an already large pile. But I feel that the Smashwords Read an Ebook Week with its coupons requires a more deliberate purchase, because it is classed as a purchase, just with a free coupon at the checkout. I think people would only do that if they really wanted to read it. I may be wrong though.

Happy Easter.

February 2015

It is that time of year again when Smashwords joins Read An Ebook Week with the usual discounts of Free, 75% off, 50% off and 25% off. As usual I have also joined in with a number of my ebooks available at 50% off and free. The promotion runs from the 1st March until the 7th March, basically from Midnight Sunday to Sunday. There will be an awful lot of ebooks at ridiculously low prices. Of course you have to do your purchases at Smashwords as the coupons are only available there.

Happy bargain hunting.