David George Richards's Blog, page 8
March 3, 2012
March 4 - 10, 2012 is Read an E-Book Week
March 4 - 10, 2012 is Read an E-Book Week, you can find more details here: http://ebookweek.com/index.html.
Smashwords is taking part in the fun. So for one week only, thousands of Smashwords authors and publishers will be providing readers deep discounts on ebooks, with coupon code levels for 25%-off, 50%-off, 75%-off and FREE. That includes me, so if you visit my Smashwords profile at http://www.smashwords.com/profile/vie... during March 4 - 10 you will be able to download my books for half price using this code: REW50. Yes, that is all my books at half price (50%-off) at Smashwords for one week only using code REW50 at the checkout.
Please take a look at Smashwords during Read an E-Book Week, and even if it isn't one of my books that interests you there will be a lot more on offer.
Smashwords is taking part in the fun. So for one week only, thousands of Smashwords authors and publishers will be providing readers deep discounts on ebooks, with coupon code levels for 25%-off, 50%-off, 75%-off and FREE. That includes me, so if you visit my Smashwords profile at http://www.smashwords.com/profile/vie... during March 4 - 10 you will be able to download my books for half price using this code: REW50. Yes, that is all my books at half price (50%-off) at Smashwords for one week only using code REW50 at the checkout.
Please take a look at Smashwords during Read an E-Book Week, and even if it isn't one of my books that interests you there will be a lot more on offer.
February 17, 2012
Another Place Where You Can Buy My Books Online
Following on from my February Review I have decided to publish my books with another publishing site called EZRead, who I met here at Goodreads. So you can now find one of my romance books An Affair of the Heart at EZRead here. The whole publishing process was very straight forward, and Amelia at EZRead was also very helpful, so I will probably publish my remaining books with them over the weekend.
Along with mainstream titles and best sellers, EZRead likes to promote the work of indie authors, so I am happy to recommend them. You can find Amelia and friends here on Goodreads at EZRead eBookstore, where they participate in a number of Groups and threads and post numerous reviews. They also have their very own Goodreads Group at Love Or Leave It. So please check them out. And please also visit them at their website at EZRead.com, you never know what you might find!
Along with mainstream titles and best sellers, EZRead likes to promote the work of indie authors, so I am happy to recommend them. You can find Amelia and friends here on Goodreads at EZRead eBookstore, where they participate in a number of Groups and threads and post numerous reviews. They also have their very own Goodreads Group at Love Or Leave It. So please check them out. And please also visit them at their website at EZRead.com, you never know what you might find!
February 5, 2012
February 2012 Review
My Smashwords adventures have now resulted in many of my books being available at a whole host of new retail websites. I now have my books available at the Sony eBookstore, the Apple iBookstore, and on the Nook, Kobo and Diesel ebook stores. I have updated the List Page on my website with all the new links, and I have taken the opportunity to do a revamp of the whole layout. Do you like it? Obviously it takes time for my book pages to get off the ground at each of these online stores, and not all of my books have appeared on all of the stores yet either, so some links are still to be added, but so far so good.
At the moment I am working on the Smashwords edition of “The Friendly Ambassador: Walking with the Enemy.” This will be the last of my published books to format and distribute through Smashwords. After this one it will be something new —if I can ever get around to the “Oracle” that is!
As you may know, but probably don't, I originally published the first two books in “The Friendly Ambassador” series with PublishAmerica. The last of these, “The Friendly Ambassador: A Gathering of Angels” will come out of contract with them near the end of this year. After that I intend to re-publish it through CreateSpace and also as a Google eBook. At the moment it isn’t searchable through Google Books for this reason, but I will add the feature when the PA contract expires.
Talking of Google Books and eBooks, the search facility with them had a bit of an issue over the past few months which has only now been fixed. This related to the specific ‘search my book’ search boxes on my website, and so I changed them to more general links to the Google Books website. Now they have been fixed I have returned the search boxes to my website. Did you notice?
Don’t forget to visit my Author Page (http://www.independentauthornetwork.c...) and Author Interview (http://www.indieauthorsnetwork.com/20...) at The Independent Author Network.
And if you are into Twitter or Facebook and generally like twittering, blogging or just talking about books on other social sites, please also visit my two Facebook Pages,
here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Booksan...
and here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Fri...
And please Like me! Don’t make me beg!
See you next month!
At the moment I am working on the Smashwords edition of “The Friendly Ambassador: Walking with the Enemy.” This will be the last of my published books to format and distribute through Smashwords. After this one it will be something new —if I can ever get around to the “Oracle” that is!
As you may know, but probably don't, I originally published the first two books in “The Friendly Ambassador” series with PublishAmerica. The last of these, “The Friendly Ambassador: A Gathering of Angels” will come out of contract with them near the end of this year. After that I intend to re-publish it through CreateSpace and also as a Google eBook. At the moment it isn’t searchable through Google Books for this reason, but I will add the feature when the PA contract expires.
Talking of Google Books and eBooks, the search facility with them had a bit of an issue over the past few months which has only now been fixed. This related to the specific ‘search my book’ search boxes on my website, and so I changed them to more general links to the Google Books website. Now they have been fixed I have returned the search boxes to my website. Did you notice?
Don’t forget to visit my Author Page (http://www.independentauthornetwork.c...) and Author Interview (http://www.indieauthorsnetwork.com/20...) at The Independent Author Network.
And if you are into Twitter or Facebook and generally like twittering, blogging or just talking about books on other social sites, please also visit my two Facebook Pages,
here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Booksan...
and here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Fri...
And please Like me! Don’t make me beg!
See you next month!
January 2, 2012
January 2012 New Year Review
Christmas was a lot warmer and pleasant this year than it has been over the past two seasons. Well, it was in my small neck of the woods anyway. I hope you all had a good Christmas. Now it is another New Year, and I am not really sure of what it holds in store for me. Mind you, that isn't very different from any year! So to begin with in this first Review of 2012 are some changes in my publishing and marketing endeavours. I will start with publishing first.
I first started publishing my books on Amazon as trade paperbacks back in 2005, and when Amazon introduced the Kindle and opened their Direct Publishing platform I duly jumped on board the Kindle/ebook bandwagon. For a while KDP was limited to US authors, but now it is open to all. And despite the arrival of Sony, Apple, and some of the bigger main stream publishing houses in the digital book arena, I have been and remain very happy with the support I have received from Amazon as both a publisher and vendor of my books. In fact, Amazon has allowed me to reach audiences I might not have been able to reach otherwise. But even with a presence on Amazon on two continents I don’t really sell many print books at all, and even my Kindle sales are low. I do sell a few, but not a lot. So not wanting to remain with all my eggs in the one basket, even though I am happy in this basket, I started branching out (expanding my reach?) late last year with the Google eBook Programme.
I sold my first ebooks on Google in November and December, one in the UK and two in Australia. On the down side, MobiPocket, an ebook platform created by Amazon prior to Kindle, and a format I also published all my books in, is being closed down in 2012 as Amazon are now concentrating all their digital publishing on the Kindle. So I am back to only two main vendors for my digital output. On the print side, I have also had a presence on Barnes & Noble in the US, but their Nook publishing option (Pubit) has never been available to authors in the UK. And with the recent KDP Select option with its exclusivity clause being promoted by Amazon I decided I should finally bite the bullet and also publish through Smashwords.
Publishing via Smashwords will at last allow me to get my ebooks in Nook format alongside my print books on Barnes & Noble. It will also allow me to reach both the Sony and Apple audiences as well as those using other eReaders such as Kobo. And I can offer free ebooks by creating coupons. It is something I should have done long ago. “An Affair of the Heart” is already available on Nook, and I have already sold my first ebooks through Smashwords over the holidays.
On the marketing front I opened two Facebook Pages back in November, and along with concentrating most of my socialising on Goodreads I have now joined The Independent Author Network to help promote my work. They do this by using Twitter, Facebook and generally blogging with links to this website, Goodreads and my two Facebook Pages. In other words they supplement my poor attempts at socialising with a more professional and focussed one. Or that is the idea. So I now have an Author Page and an Author Interview at The Independent Author Network, so please check them out.
In addition I have also joined The WoMen’s Literary Cafe which is a website that both promotes authors and helps readers find good books to read. There are reviews, blogs, forums, and everything. I hope to join in with some of their promotions, hopefully starting with the Free eBook Friday that begins this month and runs throughout the year. Their website is well worth visiting. I will let you know when my books are featured.
So, what does this mean to the website? Well, a few changes will appear on the List Page as links to MobiPocket disappear and links to both Smashwords and Nook at Barnes & Noble take their place. And you never know, even links to the Sony and Apple ebook stores may appear in time. Hopefully this will give you more choice in how you get to view samples and even buy my books.
Oh, my wishful thinking...
Happy New Year!
I first started publishing my books on Amazon as trade paperbacks back in 2005, and when Amazon introduced the Kindle and opened their Direct Publishing platform I duly jumped on board the Kindle/ebook bandwagon. For a while KDP was limited to US authors, but now it is open to all. And despite the arrival of Sony, Apple, and some of the bigger main stream publishing houses in the digital book arena, I have been and remain very happy with the support I have received from Amazon as both a publisher and vendor of my books. In fact, Amazon has allowed me to reach audiences I might not have been able to reach otherwise. But even with a presence on Amazon on two continents I don’t really sell many print books at all, and even my Kindle sales are low. I do sell a few, but not a lot. So not wanting to remain with all my eggs in the one basket, even though I am happy in this basket, I started branching out (expanding my reach?) late last year with the Google eBook Programme.
I sold my first ebooks on Google in November and December, one in the UK and two in Australia. On the down side, MobiPocket, an ebook platform created by Amazon prior to Kindle, and a format I also published all my books in, is being closed down in 2012 as Amazon are now concentrating all their digital publishing on the Kindle. So I am back to only two main vendors for my digital output. On the print side, I have also had a presence on Barnes & Noble in the US, but their Nook publishing option (Pubit) has never been available to authors in the UK. And with the recent KDP Select option with its exclusivity clause being promoted by Amazon I decided I should finally bite the bullet and also publish through Smashwords.
Publishing via Smashwords will at last allow me to get my ebooks in Nook format alongside my print books on Barnes & Noble. It will also allow me to reach both the Sony and Apple audiences as well as those using other eReaders such as Kobo. And I can offer free ebooks by creating coupons. It is something I should have done long ago. “An Affair of the Heart” is already available on Nook, and I have already sold my first ebooks through Smashwords over the holidays.
On the marketing front I opened two Facebook Pages back in November, and along with concentrating most of my socialising on Goodreads I have now joined The Independent Author Network to help promote my work. They do this by using Twitter, Facebook and generally blogging with links to this website, Goodreads and my two Facebook Pages. In other words they supplement my poor attempts at socialising with a more professional and focussed one. Or that is the idea. So I now have an Author Page and an Author Interview at The Independent Author Network, so please check them out.
In addition I have also joined The WoMen’s Literary Cafe which is a website that both promotes authors and helps readers find good books to read. There are reviews, blogs, forums, and everything. I hope to join in with some of their promotions, hopefully starting with the Free eBook Friday that begins this month and runs throughout the year. Their website is well worth visiting. I will let you know when my books are featured.
So, what does this mean to the website? Well, a few changes will appear on the List Page as links to MobiPocket disappear and links to both Smashwords and Nook at Barnes & Noble take their place. And you never know, even links to the Sony and Apple ebook stores may appear in time. Hopefully this will give you more choice in how you get to view samples and even buy my books.
Oh, my wishful thinking...
Happy New Year!
December 18, 2011
See my Interview on The Independent Author Network
Following on from my previous post about The Independent Author Network where I have an author page featuring all my books, the good people at IAN have now interviewed me and you can see all the gory details here at the IAN Interview!
Please pop over and find out a bit more about me (if you want). And there are many other self-published author interviews to chose from, too.
David
Please pop over and find out a bit more about me (if you want). And there are many other self-published author interviews to chose from, too.
David
December 12, 2011
Some Promotion News
As a result of a recommendation or two from a friend here at Goodreads (yes, you, Jill!) I have joined two author/reader websites.
The first is the Independant Author Network where I enrolled for an author Gold Page and posted my bio and book list. One of the services they provide is to promote your books using twitter, facebook and other web based social sites.
The second is the The WoMen's Literary Cafe where I also hope to join in on a few promotions next year.
I will see how all this goes, but any promotion is good news from my point of view!
David
The first is the Independant Author Network where I enrolled for an author Gold Page and posted my bio and book list. One of the services they provide is to promote your books using twitter, facebook and other web based social sites.
The second is the The WoMen's Literary Cafe where I also hope to join in on a few promotions next year.
I will see how all this goes, but any promotion is good news from my point of view!
David
December 3, 2011
December 2011 Christmas Review
For the past few months I seem to have been concentrating my socialising on Goodreads. At one time it was Amazon where I was most active, conversing on the various customer forums related to books and Kindle. But I have always felt that promotion was at the heart of many of the contributors who happened to be authors, not all, but many, and as an author I couldn't really disassociate myself from that culture. The result was that my postings diminished. I am a lot happier at Goodreads but also anxious that my socialising does not cross the line into promotion. Of course promotion is allowed on Goodreads where it is designated, but I have never been a happy spammer! I like to talk about books, book covers, book trailers, and about Science-Fiction and Romance. I have favourite authors and favourite books. It's nice to chat.
My other problem is that I no longer read as much as I used to. The majority of my reading was done before the age of twenty, and the number of books I consumed fell exponentially after that. One of the reasons for this was because I had begun to write and wanted to concentrate on my writing without distractions. Another reason was real life as I started work, became a house owner, got married and all the usual pressures associated with all these things are heaped upon you. And finally it was finding books that I still wanted to read. The disappointment at not finding anything that excited me in either books or films meant that I just stopped looking.
Well, I am finally cultivating my reading interest once more, reading some free classics available on Kindle that are either new to me or that I read before but a very long time ago. Gradually I hope to move back to my Science-Fiction roots and pick up some new books that might actually stir my imagination in the way I used to remember. And maybe after that I might feel more inclined to create as well as consume.
As the Christmas Season approaches I would like to wish everyone a happy and safe one. Hopefully the New Year will be good too. And thanks to all who have visited my website, read, reviewed or purchased my books in whatever format, and even just became my friend or liked me here or on my Facebook pages.
And yes, “The Sullenfeld Oracle” remains on the back burner. At least it is warmer than me.
See you next month!
My other problem is that I no longer read as much as I used to. The majority of my reading was done before the age of twenty, and the number of books I consumed fell exponentially after that. One of the reasons for this was because I had begun to write and wanted to concentrate on my writing without distractions. Another reason was real life as I started work, became a house owner, got married and all the usual pressures associated with all these things are heaped upon you. And finally it was finding books that I still wanted to read. The disappointment at not finding anything that excited me in either books or films meant that I just stopped looking.
Well, I am finally cultivating my reading interest once more, reading some free classics available on Kindle that are either new to me or that I read before but a very long time ago. Gradually I hope to move back to my Science-Fiction roots and pick up some new books that might actually stir my imagination in the way I used to remember. And maybe after that I might feel more inclined to create as well as consume.
As the Christmas Season approaches I would like to wish everyone a happy and safe one. Hopefully the New Year will be good too. And thanks to all who have visited my website, read, reviewed or purchased my books in whatever format, and even just became my friend or liked me here or on my Facebook pages.
And yes, “The Sullenfeld Oracle” remains on the back burner. At least it is warmer than me.
See you next month!
November 9, 2011
I have Two Facebook Pages
After avoiding Facebook and other similar social sites for a long time I now suddenly have two Facebook Pages. I set up the first one to promote information on The Friendly Ambassador, my four part Science-Fiction and Fantasy story. This can be found here at http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Fri....
Although I don't have many likes yet, the ease of setting up the page in a manner that I was happy with has led me to create a second one. This one can be found here at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Booksan....
This second one is a more general page that promotes my main website at booksandstories.com, and so features many more of my books. Hopefully I will add the rest later.
Although I don't have many likes yet, the ease of setting up the page in a manner that I was happy with has led me to create a second one. This one can be found here at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Booksan....
This second one is a more general page that promotes my main website at booksandstories.com, and so features many more of my books. Hopefully I will add the rest later.
November 2, 2011
November 2011 Review
Although I have a presence on Amazon, Goodreads and one or two other social sites, I am far from being a very social animal. So it is after some serious thought that I have decided to give in and create a page on Facebook. Rather than doing one for me as an author, or one for booksandstories.com featuring all of my books, I have plumped for one featuring only “The Friendly Ambassador.” Although I reference and link out to my main website here, I focus only on the four books of “The Friendly Ambassador” series with tabs for each book. Apart from links to my Animoto Video Book Trailer there are no other real images to speak of, and no bells and whistles (or likes!), but at least I am on Facebook.
This is a bit of an experiment for me, so please let me know what you think if you should find me on Facebook and I will see how it goes.
I had an email from Jodie in Australia who wanted to access the password chapters of “The Look of Love.” I am always happy to provide the odd password on this basis as it is nice to know that people still visit and read online at my website.
And yes, “The Sullenfeld Oracle” is still on the back burner. At least it is still warm.
See you next month!
This is a bit of an experiment for me, so please let me know what you think if you should find me on Facebook and I will see how it goes.
I had an email from Jodie in Australia who wanted to access the password chapters of “The Look of Love.” I am always happy to provide the odd password on this basis as it is nice to know that people still visit and read online at my website.
And yes, “The Sullenfeld Oracle” is still on the back burner. At least it is still warm.
See you next month!
October 20, 2011
I am on Indie Snippets Again!
The second of my two books to feature on Bryan Dennis's Indie Snippets blog has now appeared. This time Bryan has included In the Shadow of Mountains: The Lost Girls.
I hope you take the time to view and subscribe to Bryan's Indie Snippets blog, it's a good site.
I hope you take the time to view and subscribe to Bryan's Indie Snippets blog, it's a good site.
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