K. Morris's Blog, page 784
April 20, 2014
Is it just Me?
Is it just me who finds this video a little sinister. Yes I know it is supposed to be funny and it is humorous. I can’t help however feeling a slight sense of unease when I listen to the clip, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXZMZ-XvvzI
April 17, 2014
As Insubstancial As A Dream
Last night I had one of those strange dreams which remain with you on waking. I dream most nights but rarely remember my dreams. On this occasion I fell into conversation with an author outside one of those trendy coffee places which have proliferated in London and other cities. He told me that every day he could be found sipping coffee at this establishment and went on to name several novels he had authored. I remember, while dreaming clearly recollecting the titles of the books he had authored, however, on waking their titles flew away to be remembered no more.
In my dream I felt envious that this man could enjoy a life of ease while I worked in a 9-5 occupation. I haven’t written anything substancial for a while so perhaps my dream is telling me that I need to start scribbling again. The ocean going yacht and the country cottage beckons …
They Shall Not Pass
This morning, as usual I took my guide dog, Trigger to the park in order that he might fertilise the vegetation, (there is a wooded area away from where children congregate so his business card causes no issues)!
On the way home Trigger stopped dead in his tracks as there was a large vehicle blocking a drive which I needed to cross in order to continue on my way. “The vehicle will move out into the road once there is a gap in the traffick” I thought. However several gaps came and went but it remained immovable. I began cursing silently wondering whether I might be able to judge a break in the traffick, step off the kerb and negociate the vehicle without running the risk of ending up decorating the paint work of some ppassing car with colourful red splodges! Fortunately a man came to my rescue and assisted me to bypass the vehicle,
“Some stu …”.
“We where unloading something, sorry” my saviour said.
Oops, I wonder if he caught the gist of what I was starting to say,
“Some stupid person has parked their vehicle so that its blocking the pavement”! A Victor Meldrew moment on my part!
April 12, 2014
Fading Out
The melodious voice of Suzanne Vega. A flick of a switch. The music fades as I too one day will fade and be no more.
April 10, 2014
Amazon: Experimenting with Review Changes..?
I must admit that I haden’t picked up on the changes mentioned by Chris in his post.
Originally posted on chrismcmullen:
If you’ve shopped for Kindle e-books recently on Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk, you may have noticed some changes to the way that search results are displayed.
Or maybe not. Not all shoppers have been affected.
Apparently, Amazon is testing something out with many customers, but not all customers. That would make sense, actually. Then Amazon would have data for two groups: a control group, shopping like normal, and an experimental group, experiencing the changes.
What’s going on?
This doesn’t apply to everybody. Many customers are observing the following:
The review tally and average star rating are not showing up next to Kindle e-books in search results for many (but not all) customers.
Just to be clear:
Reviews are showing, but only on the product page. Normally, you see the total number of reviews and average star rating before reaching the product page, but for those who are experiencing the change, you…
View original 1,065 more words
Stranger than fiction
My story, The First Time relates how Becky, a young graduate with a first class degree in English literature becomes a prostitute in order to clear her debts. The following post reminded me of an incident in The First Time where Julie, Becky’s friend and a fellow escort is asked by one of her clients to pretend to be his 14-year-old daughter. For the true account by a former working girl please visit http://recoveringsexworker.wordpress.com/2014/04/09/fantasies-of-business-men-on-their-lunch-hour/. For my story, The First Time please go to http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-First-Time-K-Morris-ebook/dp/B00FJGKY7Y
The Man Who Saw Hell
A moving article about a member of the SAS, John Randal who entered the Nazi death camp Belsen, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2601131/The-man-stumbled-HELL-His-place-history-never-revealed-But-just-published-memoir-SAS-officer-recounts-uncovered-horrors-Belsen.html. Randal was one of the first to enter the death camp and, not surprisingly the recollection of what he saw has remained with him for the rest of his life.
April 8, 2014
Sponsor A Guide Dog Puppy
A video from the Guide Dogs For The Blind Association about sponsoring a guide dog puppy helping to provide independence to blind people, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCTcvbV1CHI&feature=youtu.be&Ref=email&dm_i=LDK,2A5ET,5B5CNX,89P3S,1. As a blind guide dog owner I have every reason to be grateful to Guide Dogs and those who sponsor them. I am currently on my fourth guide dog, Trigger who can be seen by clicking on my author page here, http://www.amazon.co.uk/K.-Morris/e/B00CEECWHY/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0.
April 7, 2014
Giving Away E-Books for Free and the Damage This Can Do
A controversial though well expressed argument which can be summed up by the following quote, “I agree with Foster’s entire article. If indie authors want to establish a solid reputation amongst themselves, they must ban together, so to speak, and
imbue quality in their work by not giving it away for free. Yes, there are books given away for free that have great ratings, but then it drowns out the
rest of those who want to attach a value to their work. Authors, do not undervalue your efforts. If every single author never gives away a book for free
again, readers will have no choice but to pay, will not expect free books (save review copies), and you will be making money that is well-deserved.”
The problem with this perspective which is, as I say extremely well articulated is that it presupposes a perfect world in which all authors (or most) determine not to give away free books which, in the real world simply isn’t going to happen.
I understand the blogger’s argument and have some sympathy for it but, as an author I have received a number of 4 star reviews as a consequence of giving away my books for free, reviews which would, almost certainly have not been forthcoming had I insisted on keeping my books as priced publications. Once reviews are forthcoming this does, I hope encourage others to part with hard earned cash. To my mind many self-published writers have little alternative other than to utilise tools such as KDP Select if they wish to get their foot in a crack of the door and be noticed.
Originally posted on This is a very sensitive topic that I am going to try to handle with care, as I know some or many authors may disagree with me. However, this is a conversation I had with my personal assistant and the publisher of Writers AMuse Me Publishing. All of us came to the same conclusion: giving away e-books for free (outside of review copies, which are only given to select individuals) devalues both the author and his/her work. Now I’m not writing this article based on a conclusion among three people. However, I will use author Melissa Foster’s
article
to support my points, along with adding a few of my experiences as a YA author trying to compete with books being given away for free. Let me present this graph to your from Smashwords before I begin.
Okay, so free books aren’t on here, but notice even books at $0.99 cents…
View original 1,654 more words
The Solution to E-book Piracy?
An interesting post with some novel answers regarding how to combat book piracy. I personally suggest making the blighters walk the plank in shark infested waters but, funnily enough one or two people have told me that my solution is, perhaps a little extreme. Maybe making them walk the plank in non shark infested waters …!
Thus far, there is no solution for piracy, other than for authors to actively seek out the website pirating their work and requesting for it to be removed. I don’t know if my book has yet been pirated, but if it has and you have knowledge of this, please, please, please let me know.
A Tumblr follower whose handle is slurpeemoney made me aware of a service where those who pirate books can be given the option of paying what they think the book is worth after they’ve read it. And if they don’t pay, they can at least spread word of the book. mattfractionblog uses this service for his P.I. graphic novel series and seems to be successful with it. My follower admits it may have something to do with name recognition, but it is an interesting service to be made aware of.
Slurpeemoney then goes to admit that…
View original 422 more words
