Janet Gogerty's Blog: Sandscript - Posts Tagged "e-books"

Diary of a KSP - Kindle Self Publisher.
My latest novel is floating in the ether, like all Kindle books you might say, but my book is in Kindle Limbo, still in draft.
After downloading, the author can read it on the computer screen as it will appear on any e-book reader. If there are any mistakes to correct then the writer must return to the original document. No problem, because you may download again and again...when you are sure the book is ready, then press publish!
I am proof reading for the fourth time, still amazed how commas disappear, speech marks drop off the end of sentences and 'there' and 'their' have swapped themselves round during the night. A traditional proof reader would spot mistakes, but they could not make changes to phrases, improvements to wording as the author can.
We owe it to ourselves and readers to make the manuscript as perfect as possible and perfect is impossible I'm sure. With the variety of e-readers the author has no idea whether his novel will be read minutely on a phone or in giant letters on an Ipad by someone with bad eyesight - all mistakes glaringly obvious!

Most writers may hope, but do not expect to be properly remunerated for their hard work or to make a living out of it. The explosion of e-books and Kindle self publishing, with books selling far more cheaply than paper books on the shelves of a bookshop, has increased the fear that authors are giving away their work.
But the truth is, most of us read most books for free. First it was the birth of public libraries, one of the great achievements of civilisation!
Years ago it was book clubs who made such offers as 'your first five books for fifty pence each' to seduce us into joining. We regularly joined, left and rejoined, gaining a library of colourful and useful family reference books and new novels.
Then charity shops became the Mecca for book lovers, most of us do not have room for all the paperback novels we have read and are happy to pass them on for a good cause.
Word of mouth is an excellent way to hear about books, but also usually means a good book being passed around friends.
Finally, when an avid reader dies they leave a house full of books; how many of us have doubled our book collection by inheritance?
I have shelves of books acquired and waiting to be read. Since joining goodreads I have enjoyed reviewing every book I finish; not only is it a good way to keep a record of personal reading, it is a way of appreciating the authors whose readers surely number far more than their buyers.

What is the hardest sentence to write? The last sentence of a novel, especially if it is the last sentence of a trilogy.
The end of the year seemed like a good time to finish my latest novel and the last few weeks have been full of surprises for me and my characters.
Sixty chapters and 189,000 words, all printed out on paper, that is how I like to edit. As a Kindle reader myself I am coming more and more to think that shorter chapters are best in e-book format. With a paper book you can flick through to see if it's worth starting another chapter before you go to sleep, get off the bus or finish your lunch break. On your Kindle a chapter that ends with a cliff hanger or a question makes a good point to switch off and look forward to switching on.
The three books cover just over three years, three Christmases are celebrated, three very different characters narrate.
I have written the last sentence, but may change it or remove it. I don't have to decide for sure until it's time to press the 'Publish' button on Amazon KSP.
Look out for previews of 'Lives of Anna Alsop', the final novel in the Brief Encounters Trilogy' in future blogs and follow progress at my Facebook Author Page and see a preview of the cover.

https://www.facebook.com/Beachwriter?...

Sandscript in Triplicate

Why are we fascinated with the number three? Does it stem from the idea of the Holy Trinity, is it because we live in three dimensions? This morning I caught snippets of Stephen Hawking’s Reith Lecture on BBC Radio Four. The one thing Hawking and I have in common is that I have not read any of his books and I’m pretty sure he has not read any of mine; if he has, he has not left a review on Amazon or Goodreads. His topic was black holes and whilst I do not claim to understand all he says, a mere sentence can give us a humble inkling of the unknowable universe. I hope I paraphrase correctly...
'Perhaps our universe is a mere three dimensional layer of a universe of eleven dimensions.'

Photographers snapping scenery or still life know the magic number is three; from sailing boats on the waves to vases on a table, three always looks more aesthetic than two. Readers and writers like trilogies.

In a few weeks time nearly all my family’s ages will be in multiples of three, from three years old to ninety. Which prompted me to realise my other family… I mean the first novel in my Brief Encounters Trilogy, is now three years old. To celebrate, this winter you can buy ‘Brief Encounters of the Third Kind’ for US$1.41 or 99pence on Amazon.uk

In the early years of the Twenty First Century, widow Susan Dexter has more to worry about than the recession. For thirty years she has kept a secret; she is not sure if her daughter is human. New events lead her to other people who need to find the truth.
How do ordinary people cope with the extraordinary? In the vast unknowable universe what happened to Susan Dexter in her back garden could happen to any of us.

“Since Peter died Emma came round more often, though it was rare for both of us to have a weekday off. That day we were looking forward to enjoying the late September sunshine in my garden and she had news to tell me. Emma was arranging the loungers as I made the coffee.
Suddenly she cried out ‘What’s that in the sky Mum?’
I stepped out, followed her stunned gaze up to the clear sky and froze; I had always dreaded they would come back. Above us was a huge shimmering shape, elegant and beautiful.”

Is Brief Encounters a trilogy or a triangle? The second book runs parallel to the first, the third follows the first…. But new readers only need to know it is a family saga of three generations and three families set over three years early in the Twenty First Century. A thriller of music, medicine and mystery entwined with tales of unrequited love, love lost and found and love crossing impossible boundaries. But most of all this is a story of ordinary folk keeping secret the inexplicable events that have changed their lives.

http://www.amazon.com/Brief-Encounter...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Brief-Encount...

Many stories start with strangers, characters who are new in town or perhaps locals who start acting strangely. Even if we enjoy a gentle story where nothing much happens there is bound to be a stranger lurking somewhere for locals to gossip about.
Mr. Bingley arrives in Jane Austen's 'Pride and Prejudice' and there would be no story without him for he also brings his friend Mr. Darcy, another stranger.
In Charles' Dickens 'Great Expectations' young Pip meets a stranger far more fearsome, Magwitch lurking in the dark among the gravestones, an escaped convict.

Sometimes even authors are surprised by strangers walking into their novels. When I was writing ‘Brief Encounters of the Third Kind’ a nameless policeman featured briefly in one scene, then he appeared again, in a following scene I gave him a name. After some chapters he had become an important part of the plot. By the end of the novel he was demanding to tell his own story.

A man wakes up on a London park bench wearing another man's clothes and another man's watch. As he finds his bearings he realises the impossible has happened.
This is the preparallequel to 'Brief Encounters of the Third Kind' and second of the trilogy.
In the early years of the Twenty First Century a stranger arrives in Ashley. Only he knows the truth about what will happen to beautiful musician Emma Dexter in seven months time, but will he be able to save her and the others caught up in events that defy explanation?
Julie Welsh is a busy mother with plenty of problems and her life is about to get far more complicated when she stops to help a stranger.

‘Three Ages of Man’ can also be read as a stand alone novel and is now available as a paperback.
https://www.amazon.com/Three-Ages-Bri...

If you want to start reading the trilogy ‘Brief Encounters of the Third Kind’ can be downloaded for just $1.33.
https://www.amazon.com/Brief-Encounte...