Joshua Harkin's Blog, page 4
July 30, 2013
A great review from a UK reader
A great review from a UK reader
I just found this great review on the UK store. Made my day. Thank you Iain Anderson.
“I downloaded The Bastion the day I got my kindle, but wasn’t expecting much due to it being a free eBook at the time. However, I was proven completely wrong in the first few chapters alone! The first few pages hooked me instantly, I really wanted to know why people were being taken away from their family. I wanted to learn more about Calix! And for me, this is always a very good way too start a book.
The characters are all described with detail, and while it’s easy to decide your opinions of some characters, some characters are a bit harder. The Administrator was an amazing character, with lots of tricks up his sleeve! I love the way he is completely unpredictable, and there’s quite a few unexpected actions further on in the book by him.
The story reached its best when the battle for the Bastion began, and I thought the author did a great job at getting the different viewpoints to connect. One person shooting another, could be heard by one character, while another paragraph is about the person getting shot.
Overall, the story is brilliant, and it got me hooked from beginning to end. I couldn’t find a part of the book where I couldn’t be bothered reading, or I found d boring. It is very section packed. The characters are well written, with lots of detail in descriptions of appearance, feelings and actions. I really can’t wait for the second book to be released! So far it is definitely one of the best books I have ever read! I recommend it to anybody looking for a great and enjoyable book.”
July 27, 2013
FeedARead.com process
I have just finished all of the steps involved to submit my book to the http://www.feedaread.com publishing site. FeedARead is a print on demand service similar to createspace.
I found the process to be quite simple. The guidelines for your interior were quite helpful as you can download a word doc with all of the correct margins and sizing in place. From there I just pasted in my book and adjusted it until I was happy.
Once the interior was approved I moved onto the cover creator. I found this step to be the best feature of the site. Compared to the creatspace cover creator, FeeARead’s was quite powerful, allowing me to make the cover exactly how I wanted it to look. On createspace the only way to 100% customize a cover was to calculate exactly how big the cover would be. I would have to take into account page count, page size and get everything perfect. On FeedARead the calculations and guidelines are set out for you online. They even automatically adjust any image you upload to fit. Createspace do have a decent template you can download, based on calculations of your book’s size.
So now I have completed all of the stages and am waiting on final approval which takes up to a few weeks. My only complaint so far is that the manufacturing costs of the book are a bit higher than createspace, but I think it’s worth it to be able to create the cover without the hassle of trying to get the correct measurements like on createspace. One great plus as an Australian author is that FeedARead do royalty payments via paypal. This is far easier than having to fill out IRS forms for the US createspace site and still only getting checks physically sent in the mail.
I also opted for the distribution package so the book will be available on amazon and other online stores. This is another great plus in my mind and it will be interesting to see what results come of it.
Below you can see a sample of the cover I was able to make with very little effort. I just used Photoshop to create a front cover and a backcover based on the dimensions that were calculated for my book size. This allowed me to have the same custom fonts from the ebook version of The Bastion. I also was able to make a spine cover, which I am excited to see in the final result.
So for anyone on createspace, give http://www.feedaread.com a try. It’s free like createspace, but a bit simpler in my opinion.
The Bastion on PinYourBook.com
The Bastion on PinYourBook.com
I just found an interesting pinterest styled website where you can post your ebook for free! I must say it’s quite a nicely laid out website.
July 25, 2013
July 24, 2013
First time authors
Very interesting read. I myself am a first time author giving self-publishing a go.
July 23, 2013
The Bastion – Last day of free promotion
The Bastion – Last day of free promotion
The Bastion free promotion will be finishing soon. Get your free copy while you can.
July 22, 2013
500 Free eBook downloads of The Bastion
The free download promotion on Kindle has just rolled over the 500 mark. There is still a full day to go.
The promotion has gone better than I ever expected as I was only expecting a few hundred overall. Hopefully I’ll see some more reviews come through as a result. Thanks to anyone that has downloaded a copy of The Bastion.
The Bastion – review by Angie on goodreads
The Bastion – review by Angie on goodreads
Thanks Angie for the great review. I’m glad you enjoyed it.
The Bastion on Jean’s kindle
The Bastion on Jean’s kindle
