In my quest to become a professional author, I am perpetually searching for the wisdom of those more established than I. Thankfully, the internet has made it possible to pick the brains of the experienced without stalking them.
I stumbled upon an interview with Cynthia Hartwig about her top 5 marketing tips for authors (@cynthiahartwig) . I found the interview to be really very informative and presented a common sense approach to establishing oneself as an author. I've put together an Author Central Profile on Amazon (which I invite you all to take a ganders at) and begun building this blog. Basic stuff really, but very effective. One thing Cynthia did suggest is to take advantage of the growing audio book market. I'd never considered the audio book market and promptly investigated the subject. "Interesting...." I thought. "I could produce my own audio book!" Brilliant, so I tried with Faulker Surprise (my short Horror novel - http://bit.ly/1hBUsRG). I really enjoyed reading it and it didn't take very long to complete. However, when I played it back I was met with horror. I have perhaps the least exciting voice ever. I seem to have two tones, boring and boring with bass. I am the kind of person who would go on X Factor thinking I had a great voice only for Simon Cowell to scowl and unleash a verbal volley at me which will simultaneously boost his ratings and reduce me to tears. Ah well, I have to accept that I haven't the sexiest of voices. Anyway, Cynthia's interview can be read in its entirety at http://tinyurl.com/msftpgr.
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It's an incredibly proud moment when you get the first proof copy of your novel. You've spent years working on it and now the first version is finally in your hands... Then you realise the monumental mistakes you made.
It's not a terrible story, quite the opposite. The ebook has been praised for its original stance on Greek Mythology, the use of Genetic Engineering Warfare and the introduction of a Were-Rhino. It's the small things you start to notice. Serpent of the Tyche was subjected to 6 re-reads and edits before its official ebook launch (lessons learnt from Dispatchers) but then when you finally have it in your hands that you start thinking "Maybe there is a better way of saying that" or "I could have mentioned something else there". Am not going to dwell too much on it. I don't think I would ever publish anything if I kept second guessing myself. Serpent of the Tyche is available in ebook from now (follow the links in the "My Stuff" page). Paperback will be launched Mid-May. After years of meaning to, I've finally gotten around to it...
Yep I've entered the world of the blogger. It is here I intend to introduce the world to Twisted Space, a bizarre parallel world where the line between fiction and reality become a little blurred. I've already published three ebooks (check out the "My Stuff" page) and working on several more which I'll be reporting on in the not too distant future. I'll also be reporting on things that fascinate me & publishing reviews. So if you have a novel, short film or a blog you'd like me to take a look at, drop me a note at [email protected] |