Val Tobin's Blog, page 11
February 26, 2019
#CopyPasteCris
If you’ve been following me on twitter @CaffeinatedFae you have probably seen the huge scandal about Cristiane Serruya who has plagiarized at least 51 books, 34 authors, 3 articles, 3 websites, & 2 recipes. I’m creating this post so that everyone can support the real authors and buy the books that were so amazing #CopyPasteCris thought they needed to be stolen.
Looking for more explanation? Here are some good places to look Courtney Milan’s post, a comment from one of her ghostwriters, & Smart Bitches Trashy Books’ Post, & Nora Roberts’ response. Amazon links provided by Jeanna Louise Skinner. You can follow her at https://twitter.com/JeannaLStars. Barnes & Noble links provided by me.
Books Plagiarized:
Abby Green –
The Spaniard’s Marriage Bargain
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Airicka Phoenix
Transcending Darkness
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Alexandra Ivy
My Lord Vampire
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Darkness Everlasting
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February 24, 2019
Seriously flawed standards
Well said.
Now, on a serious note.
I happened upon a writer on Twitter and Facebook:
Dakota Willink
Her Twitter introduction: “Amazon Int’l Bestselling Romance Author | Survived my 1st publishing with coffee & wine | Music Lover | Star Wars Geek Since Birth.”
She explains how non-writers are scamming the system at Amazon
and
graciously allowed me to reprint (aka copy/paste) her post.
I need to tell a story – it’s going to be a long one, so settle in if you’re interested in hearing it.
I began writing my first book in 2013. I self-published it on December 27, 2015. I was new to the business and I literally knew nothing. I made my own cover, which I’m embarrassed of now. But hey – I was brand spanking new and was learning as I went. And yes, there were typos galore in this first book. My January 2016 sales…
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February 17, 2019
Mom’s Favorite Reads eMagazine February 2019
Great magazine and #FREE.
The February, Romance, issue of our Amazon #1, international bestselling magazine is now available featuring
* A must-read interview for all fans of Sherlock Holmes
* Romantic articles and stories for Valentine’s Day
* Articles for Dads
* Exercise, nutrition and wellbeing for you and your family
* Bestsellers and Hot New Releases
* Activities for adults and children
* And so much more!
* Over 100 pages!
* Advert free!
View our video
Then read FREE
December 6, 2018
A Date With . . . Melanie P. Smith
I’m currently reading one of Melanie’s books and enjoying the story. Interesting to read about her background. She’s been one of my expert consultants for police procedure, though, since my stories are set mostly in Canada, I have to adjust for slight differences between the two countries.
Today I’m going to introduce you to Melanie P Smith. Melanie was born and raised in Utah and she loves it there. Why?
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“That’s easy. It’s the scenery. We have five National Parks here in Utah; Zions, Bryce, Canyonlands, Arches, and Capitol Reef. If you love the outdoors — which I do —it would be hard to find an area that has more beauty than the state I call home. We have mountainous hiking trails, desert backroads great for exploring, as well as lakes and reservoirs that are perfect for swimming and fishing. And, to top it all off, I’m extremely lucky to have an amazing view of the Wasatch Mountains (which are part of the Rockies) from my front yard.”
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Melanie is a prolific writer who works in several genres. Her background is in law enforcement. How far does that experience feed into her stories?
“My knowledge and experience…
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November 27, 2018
50 Best Indie Books of 2018 on ReadFreely
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About Three Authors: Poison Pen
Voting is almost done for this year’s ReadFreely’s 50 Best Indie Books of 2018.
Poison Pen made the shortlist, and I’d love for you to help me out and vote for it. You can vote twice for each email address.
Here is a direct link to the form for voting for it (they seem to have a bug that redirects links to their home page, but clicking on it a second time usually does the trick):
www.readfree.ly/50-best-indie-books-2018-prefilled/?indie50title=POISON+PEN+by+VAL+TOBIN&indie50genre=Mystery
Thanks for your help, and thanks to the readers who nominated it.
If you’d like to check it out, you can find it at various retailers using this link.
Also, anyone in the Newmarket area can check it out of the Newmarket Public Library (just got the cheque in the mail for that one–woohoo) and read it for free.
November 22, 2018
A Date with . . . Tom Johnson
Tom Johnson is a retired Military Cop from Seymour, Texas. As well as moving around quite a bit as the son of a cowboy, his military service took him to Korea, France and Vietnam but he loves his home town:
“ I was born in Seymour, but spent twenty years in the military. My dad was a cowboy and cook, so we moved to other places during my early years. In fact most of my early education was in schools in Wichita Falls, Texas. After retiring from the military service we moved back to Seymour because our parents were in bad health, and we stayed after they passed away. Seymour is a small ranch and farm community,with a population under three thousand. However, we have two museums here. The Baylor County Historical Museum, and the Whiteside Museum of Natural History. Seymour is in the Permian Basin (think oil) where a…
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November 12, 2018
The Amazon Game: Are Books Disappearing from Amazon’s US Site?
Lately, indie authors have noticed something hinky with Amazon’s e-books. They seem to be disappearing from the Amazon US site.
When my novels fell victim to this crime, I tried to find them via my Bookshelf in KDP. Here’s what I found, using my novel Poison Pen as an example:
I’d never seen this “feature” before, but today I noticed that when you hover over “Live” on your KDP book, you get this:
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When you click on “See title availability details” you get this:
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When you drill down into “View details” in the row pertaining to Amzon.com (notice the Status for it says “Limited availability”), you get this:
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Notice how in Canada it says “Unavailable”?
Scroll back up to the image with the Availability Report for Poison Pen. Notice how the row for Amazon.ca says “Live”? When I view the details on that, I see this:
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It seems Amazon isn’t removing e-books and making them unavailable for purchase. They are mucking around with visibility depending on the country you’re in. This is causing frustration amongst authors who want to check their pages on countries they don’t reside in.
What’s scary for us non-US residents is the fear that users searching for books to read will no longer find these books in the search results. I’ve often searched in Amazon US for something and then clicked on the CA link to view it on the Canada site. Now that I understand (I think) what’s happening, I’ll do those searches on the Canadian site.
I’ve also noticed that direct links will get you the book’s page in the US even if it’s unavailable for you to purchase there.
While this new feature *cough* bug *cough* will take some getting used to, we’ll have to see how it shakes out and affects sales.
Amazon: unilaterally moving the goal posts for authors once again.
November 8, 2018
A Date With . . . Kim McDougall
Great interview with the talented Kim McDougall.
My ‘date’ today is with a multi-talented woman from the York Region of Ontario, Canada. Kim McDougall started off in Montreal, then moved to Ontario, then Long Island, NY. Next was Pennsylvania, and then back to Ontario.
“And I’m glad to be back. York Region is a cultural hub. There is always something going on – festivals, concerts, fairs. I love that. The only thing I dislike about this area is the snow. That was hard to come back to.”
I was curious about a gap in her publishing history. It turns out this was to do with parenthood:
“My daughter was born in 2000. I thought I could write and take care of a toddler at the same time. That didn’t work out so well. I kept writing during this time, but I didn’t attempt to publish much. This was when I developed my love of picture books. We…
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November 5, 2018
Being a Good Girl – available
Whether this type of fiction is for you or not, Tom’s post on his erotic works is an interesting read.
I’ve read westerns where on several occasions a six-gun accurately shoots over a distance of fifty metres, knocking the gun from another man’s hand—I didn’t get in touch to tell the author it is fantasy. I’ve read romance in which characters spend so much time expressing their love and gushing tenderness—I forgot where they were, and if they were dressed or naked.
In this tale, like my other erotica titles, apart from being detailed and realistic, I’ve opted for a cohesive story. Yes, I’m afraid I use that old-fashioned idea of a beginning, a middle, and an end.
There are no college bets, big debts to be repaid—however, magic potions to turn men into women (or vice-versa), and no time-travel to change somebody’s sexual orientation.
As I explained in my two-part article,Boys will be … Girls: Part 1, and Part 2, the cross-dressing sub-genre is an area…
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November 1, 2018
Mom’s Favorite Reads
Along with fellow authors Ronesa Aveela and Denise McCabe, I’m delighted to be a founder of Mom’s Favorite Reads. Mom’s Favorite Reads is an international community of readers, writers, teachers, librarians and book lovers established to encourage reading amongst adults and children. We believe that reading offers great joy to people. Furthermore, it is a cornerstone of education and education is a cornerstone of a civilised society.
There are many strands to Mom’s Favorite Reads, including our monthly magazines. Inside our magazines you will discover
• Parenting Tips
• Short Stories
• Recipes
• Activities for Children
• Exploring New Worlds
• Wellness and Well-being
• New Authors
• And so much more
If you are a reader, you can read our October edition here
If you are a writer, you are welcome to join our community via our Facebook group. Mom’s Favorite Reads promotes the authors within our group…
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