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The Girl On The Train - That Man And The Bench

8/29/2015

I've just started reading this...

...I'm about 8 pages in but can tell it's going to be a pretty compulsive read. It's good. But if you haven't read it yet you shouldn't rush out to buy it yet. You should instead rush out to buy/download this for your Kindle, iPad, PC, Mac, and there's a couple of very good reasons why...

The first reason is it's recommended by the Queen of Crime Writing, the brilliant and prolific MARTINA COLE, I was extremely flattered that she read it and blown away when she said the above about it. But there's another more lucrative reason for you, the reader of this, to download and read my novel before you buy THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN...or some other really good novel. And that reason is?

YOU PROBABLY KNOW ME.

The Bench IS GOOD - I don't care if that sounds like I'm blowing my own trumpet, I didn't sweat over it for months to sit here shyly about it and say nothing. IT'S BLOODY GOOD. Now I aim to sell enough of the downloadable version to start to get this into print. A FIRST EDITION print if you will. What I'm offering is if, as my friend, you buy this downloadable version and you leave me a small review on the Amazon Kindle site, and enough of you do it - then I've no doubt I'll sell enough. Reviews are the life blood of any title, particularly for new writers as you're an unknown, they live or die by the quality and quantity of reviews. So as my gift back to you for your review, I'll give you a SIGNED FIRST EDITION when it comes out.

I'm no stranger to writing, I know how to tell a good story as countless reviewers have said. So I'm going to be writing more novels of course and I'm already into the next one in the series - yes a series - of interconnected novels, that each tell their own story but connect to the others in the series, they just have their own independent Tale from Paradise Heights to tell. And you'll have a SIGNED FIRST EDITION of Book 1 in the series.

I firmly believe they will be picked up by a sharp publisher soon, and guess what? You'll have a SIGNED FIRST EDITION that will be worth some dosh/roll/cash.

So, instead of buying reading this or some other good novel now...

...download and review this instead...

...because that's what friends are for, OK Friendo? I love that word, Friendo - loved the way it was delivered in a particular movie...anyone know the film? It's a coin toss on whether you'll get it or not, leave me a comment - the first one to get the movie gets a signed copy of my second novel...:D

You can download THE BENCH: A Tale from Paradise Heights at this link:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B013VNYZOY/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_RvZZvb02QSMP7

And share this blog please if you can.

A Huge n Hearty Thank You

Joe

PS I've just started re-reading this...

I love it. And if you've missed Martina Cole you've missed a treat, get on her back catalogue now.

BUT READ MINE FIRST... x

I'm Selling Myself - and I'm Cheap...Getting THE BENCH Out There...

8/18/2015

So I'm around five days in after having The Bench published on Amazon Kindle last week. I've watched it arrive at around the #21,000 mark (not bad out of 700,000 book listings) then watched it start to slide, eventually dropping down to around #74,000.

But there's no need to panic, this is to be expected for a new writer. I am still an unknown in terms of novel writing, amongst a throng of established writers and die harders who have several novels out there, and all power to their elbows. Plus, of course, I am short on reviews. I don't have any yet as the book is still being read - or at least I hope it is :)

So I've ventured into Twitter territory and I have started tweeting like crazy and adding ebook publishing, recommending and reviewing sites and you know what? Yes. It made a difference, there is some GREAT support out there if you look for it. The listing started to rise again, and as I write this it is currently around the #31,000 mark.

So, if you know me I'm asking you to take a punt on me, you can buy me (or a very big piece of me) for £3.49 on Kindle. I'm cheap, brazen, but worth it...:D And if you buy me? Please review me, I'll keep you posted. The next novel is on the way...

You can download the novel at the link below, please share this blog if you can and once again, BIG THANKS...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B013VNYZOY/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_RvZZvb02QSMP7

Joe

Published: THE BENCH The Novel is now available at Amazon

8/14/2015

Stella Grundy as LITTLE RABBIT...THE BENCH: A Tale from Paradise Heights

Following on from my last blog update I can confirm that SCRIVENER is a fantastic program for converting documents and manuscripts to KINDLE or whatever ebook platform you want to convert and upload your novel to. I had a few teething problems converting and testing until I felt it was right, there may be further refinements but at the moment the novel is perfectly readable in its downloadable file at Amazon Kindle.

The novel is now out there! Please download, read and review and I'd appreciate you sharing the link where you can. This is the start of the Tales from Paradise Heights novel series and I have already started work on the next novel in the series. STRAWBERRY JACK will be the next Tale, watch this space and I'll also update you on the best ways of marketing your novel as I'm researching the best methods.

You can download the novel here -

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B013VNYZOY/ref=cm_sw_r_fa_dp_SnqZvb0CD7K4D

First steps as a novelist. It's a GREAT feeling...

Joe x

The Bench: A Tale from Paradise Heights: E-Publishing Hurdles...

8/8/2015

So THE BENCH The Novel is complete and the urge to upload and get it out there is overwhelming. So, where to start?

I spent some time looking at the best format to go with first, KINDLE seems to be the way to go as they have most of the market out there. Some great youtube help from existing authors pointed me in the right direction. I found this clip fantastically helpful...

...and he says something at five minutes and fifty seconds in that had absolutely no worries for me whatsoever.

'I would't advise you to upload a Microsoft word doc...'

Mine wasn't a Microsoft word doc, so mine will look peachy, I have absolutely no doubt. Mwah ha ha ha ha.

So I basically followed the steps though in Rob's fantastically helpful clip here. I still to do some things like pick the KEY WORDS etc, more research on that. But I registered an Amazon KDP account (need to fill in an Author's Biography section too - that can come later) and prepared to have my novel uploaded in about 15 minutes. I had some initial problems uploading the cover I'd designed for the novel, but with some redesign managed it.

This was easy though, I mean really easy...no major headaches.

And then...

I uploaded the Mac:Pages file and it appeared to have uploaded with Kindle's editor telling me I had 9 spelling mistakes (mistakes you can't alter on site, you have to alter your original doc file and upload it again) and I was then ready to check how it would look on the Kindle. I clicked the 'Preview' option.

The Horror. The Horror.

It all looked so bland, so horrible, endings and beginnings of chapters merged on the same page, no headers, no footers, no page numbers. The layout was all bunched together horrifically, looking like I'd just scrawled it out on the page with no thought to it. This would be ripped to shreds by anyone reading it because it just looked so awful, the equivalent of reading a book written on toilet paper. So, there has to be help out of this...I just need to convert my Pages file to a Mobi file...but how do I do that? No option for that - never mind - find out later. How do I then get the Mobi file to look acceptable on a Kindle or another ebook reader...? I looked around google some more and found out ways I might put page breaks into HTML (stuff I have NO idea about) etc, but then searched more and found this - again from the very helpful Rob.

I could use a program called Sigil that will easily do it (I should have known where this was going when he said he was really excited about it as it had taken him about six months to work out how to do this) so yeah, tell me Rob.

CODE VIEW...ARRRGH! Mine isn't a Microsoft file so maybe it won't have that??? Wrong. Watching the video from about 3 minutes in shows just how much 'fun' you can have editing your book to suit the Kindle.

Rob. Dude!

This of course is if your idea of fun is something like sticking needles in your eyes, ripping your hair out, or even setting fire to your hair. Yeah. This would be FUN. I could't watch anymore after around four minutes. Nothing wrong with what Rob is teaching here, I just glaze over when it comes to this kind of editing, cumbersome and time consuming.

I was really discouraged. Abandoned efforts for the day.

But I did a little more reading online....

I think I've found a solution...

SCRIVENER

'Scrivener is a powerful content-generation tool for writers that allows you to concentrate on composing and structuring long and difficult documents. While it gives you complete control of the formatting, its focus is on helping you get to the end of that awkward first draft.' So the google description reads...it will also help you format your novel for kindle and all other ebook platforms. Cool.

You can download a trial version...check the link below:

https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.php

...I did. I played around with it a little. And I think I'm gonna end up spending the just under £40 to purchase it as I really LIKE IT the same way I loved FINAL DRAFT, the script writing software package, and this can work with FINAL DRAFT files too, added bonus. There are also lots of helpful video tutorials on the use of Scrivener. After using the program for an hour I was actually really enjoying it.

I hope this series in my blog is helping some writers out there. I aim to have the novel uploaded over the next couple days.

Scrivener is galloping to the rescue...more later :D

Do please share this and if you have any tips drop them below, BIG THANKS.

Joe x

The Girl On The Train - That Man And The Bench

...download and review this instead...

I'm Selling Myself - and I'm Cheap...Getting THE BENCH Out There...

Published: THE BENCH The Novel is now available at Amazon

The Bench: A Tale from Paradise Heights: E-Publishing Hurdles...

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