Dead South Paperback For Sale on Amazon.... Finally!

Dear All,

The title of the post says it all really; the Dead South paperback is now on sale across all of the Amazon websites worldwide. It is £8.99 on Amazon UK and $13.70 on Amazon USA.

I wrote about the challenges of publishing a paperback last time round and to be honest this post is more of a pat on the back for myself for getting it done than anything else!

Here is the book in all of its glory in the below picture.

So not only that... Day 1 sales were so good that the book made it into the Top 10 of books on amazon.co.uk in the Zombies, Werewolves and Vampires Best Seller List. So happy days!!

Fingers crossed it will continue to be a success over the weeks and months.

Until next time,

David

Going from digital to paper...

Dear Everyone,

Over the past few months I've been in the process of getting Dead South published in print. You'd be forgiven for thinking that because I have a digital file that it'd be easy; but it really isn't! You need the manuscript to be formatted for print, you need new artwork, you've got to wait for the hard copy to be delivered and then you've got to proof it all.

The artwork, although time consuming, was actually pretty easy to get done. I used James from GoOnWrite.com again, and again he came up with the goods. He kept the original eBook cover and expanded on the rest of it.

Next up was formatting the manuscript. This was not a simple process. There are so many things that you need to do right to make sure that the book has a professional feel. Microsoft Word is great to write in, but not very user friendly when it comes to doing more complicated formatting. In the end I got it professionally done, via Create Space. The service cost $199 which is pricey, but it ensures that the book has a professional look.

After you've chosen what colour paper you want the book printed on (white or cream) and what finish you want the cover to be (glossy or matte) your proof will be sent out to you. These options are where I made my first boob. I chose white paper with a glossy finish and whilst the book was excellent quality, it looked a little bit like a text book. So, I've swapped it all around and have chosen cream paper with a matte finish. And I am pretty chuffed with how that looks.

The most difficult part of this process was the final proof read of the manuscript. You might think that it would be a waste of time to do so, considering that I've read it on numerous occasions and paid for it to be professionally proof read. But it really wasn't!

The book has been available in digital format for nearly 4 months and I'd removed a handful of errors that a few eagle eyed friends had found for me. So, I was pretty certain that the manuscript was going to be error free. Well it wasn't. I found 3 pretty annoying ones. One case of poor grammar and two cases of missing words. I have since amended the eBook and I have also submitted my changes to Create Space. However, this is not a free service and has cost me an additional $79. I could have left them there, but I wanted this book to be as close to perfect as possible.

I am now awaiting my final, final proof from Create Space. If it is ok, I'm hoping that the book can come out the week after Easter. That may be a stretch, but it will definitely be out by mid-April.

When it's out you guys will be the first to know!

Until next time,

David

Social Etiquette

Dear All,

Following on from my last guest post by Skid (@SkidsGig) from skidsgig.weebly.com,  I have the pleasure in introducing you to the author and blogger Amie Ryan (@AisforAmie).

Amie is an American author who examines American culture. Amie frequently addresses the theme of how people communicate with each other and her blog post today examines the differences between Americans and the British. 

I have already downloaded her essay collection, Green Shoes Mean I Love You, and am looking forward to reading it. I implore you all to do the same via Amazon.

Check out Amie's blog: seattleamieryan.blogspot.com

Until next time.

David

***

Greetings, all, and thank you to Mr.Brinson for allowing me to say hello. My name is Amie Ryan and I write essay collections about American culture. This post comes all the way from the rainy city of Seattle!

I often write about the way people communicate and today my thoughts are on the very different way Yanks and Brits express opinions.

I'm speaking of Constructive Criticism. I wonder, do Brits feel the same spine shiver when they read those words? In America we volunteer our opinions 24 hrs a day. Actual knowledge of the issue at hand is never a requirement. In fact, often the least informed have the quickest (and loudest) things to say.

All too often we phrase our observations with "You should" or "You need to" or "You have to", as if we are the experts of the world. We force our views on friends and strangers alike: how others should look, how they should raise their children, whether they should divorce their spouse and how they ought to be making that sandwich.

This is not Constructive Criticism. It's DEstructive criticism. And it's usually voiced in a loud monotone, command-style, so that the already often hurtful statements sound even worse.

When confronted with what feels like a verbal attack, the listener feels upset and defensive. It instantly becomes a me vs. you battle, with one person right and one wrong. Even if the advice is good, it isn't heard: the hurt gets in the way.

The British seem to do the remarkable act of sometimes keeping their thoughts to themselves. You who gave us The Beatles, oh how I wish you could give us this also. Even when a Brit is required to give advice, it's often phrased "I wonder if you might.." or "Perhaps one way to go would be.."

This is marvelous, not just because it's kind and respectful but because it makes the listener feel as if the two of them are a team. Instead of feeling upset or defensive, the listener is interested and may readily agree about the idea. In fact, he or she may feel HAPPY because the person has helped them.

Construction should mean helping to build things, something Brits seem to already know and something Yanks might do well to remember.

I hope you'll visit me at amazon.com/author/amieryan and thank you for letting me say a hello from across the pond.

Enjoy more from Amie at seattleamieryan.blogspot.com and follow her on twitter @AisforAmie

                                 

Literature the tie that binds - A guest post by Skid from skidsgig.weebly.com

Dear All,

Little more than 2 weeks after the success of my first guest blog by Marlon Hope (@hope_insight), I have found an absolute gem of a blogger for you all to enjoy. 

I introduced you all to Skid (@SkidsGig) from skidsgig.weebly.com in my last post. He is without doubt the leading light of post zombie apocalypse technology, and I'm delighted that he has written something for us all.

Enjoy!

David

***

Waking up to receive an invitation to be a guest blogger for David Brinson’s blog site was truly one of the most invigorating opportunities I have had in many a day.  I was, to say the least, ecstatic to prove positive my decision to become a professional blogger, and to also be recognized as the leading expert in “post-Zombie Apocalypse Technology applicability”.  Sure, I have many more months, perhaps years, to prove my competence as a professional blogger, but I think in a relatively short time I have validated that I am the leading expert in my field.  Perhaps the only expert in my field.  But, as experts go, it’s been an exhilarating ride to the top so far!


            My first act was to peruse David’s blog site at davidbrinson.blogspot.co.uk.  I have been reading his book for the past week, caught up in the action, suspense and dialogue.  I suspected I would find his postings equally as entertaining and I was not disappointed.  Imagine my exhilaration as I read through the opening paragraph to see that it would be about football!  One of my favorite discussions, this was going to be something I could sink my teeth into. 


            Okay.  Point of order.  Note that David’s blog site ends with “uk.”  And that his book is called “Dead South: The Zombie Apocalypse in London.”  And note that I write with an American accent.  Its safe to assume that UK doesn’t stand for University of Kansas.  All those facts put together add up to one undeniable fact.  It’s a different type of football.


            No worries, though.  I still read on.  And I was fascinated.  The concept of an entire country being behind a national team is foreign to me.  We Yanks do follow almost any and every sport (except cricket, can’t quite figure that one out)  and we will rally behind our teams in international competitions, but the concept of caring for them in the off season doesn’t resonate.  Shortly after any international sporting competition we return to the routine of our seasonal sports, cheering for our regional teams.  Marlon Hope penned a fantastic article, but to be honest my depth of understanding wasn’t enough to be conversant in the topic.  Obviously it will take the U.S. sometime to grasp English football.


            On to the next post!  The Changing Nature of Writing!  And I see quite quickly that Mr. Brinson is also a Lee Child fan!  Well, that makes sense, as Lee Child is a British Author, who has put together a great series of books with the hero Jack Reacher.  Instantly I bond with Mr. Brinson, understanding more about him because of the books he has read and the heroes that he has.  His love of reading good authors, and his effort to hone his own skill are kindred to my own.  As I continue to read, post after post, I am amazed by the parallels between my pursuits and Davids. 


            But I keep coming back to his post on The Changing Nature of Writing.  Something intrigues me.  My favorite author?  Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.  Edgar Allen Poe.  Edgar Rice Burroughs.  (Two Edgars?  What are the odds.)  Lee Child.  John D. MacDonald (Travis McGee author) and a few others.  Some who will take the effort will begin to see that I favor the classics, with Lee Child being probably the most recent.  But, what makes them favorites?


            Very quickly I determined that David Brinson was my type of author.  The story picked up speed quickly, and there were several layers of characters and plot lines.  For me, being a Sherlock Holmes fan, it was quite enjoyable to find myself back in London, putting the places back in my imagination and watching the action unfold.  Each and every one of my favorite authors has created a hero on a quest to right a wrong or protect the innocent.


            But there is more.  The story of the author has always come into play.  Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s rumored practical joke of sending a note to five friends that simply stated, “We are discovered.  Flee now!” and the rumored result that one of his friends did indeed disappear forever, make anything and everything he wrote worth reading.  Before Sir Arthur was “The Father of the Detective Novel” Edgar Allen Poe.  Where did Mr. Poe go to school?  London.


            Edgar Rice Burroughs and John D. MacDonald wrote of amazing heroes.  Mr. Burroughs crafted Tarzan and John Carter.  He created Tarzan!  Lord Greystoke, a British Lord!  Amazing how so many of my literary heroes have had ties to London.


            John D. MacDonald is that exception.  But he followed in their literary footsteps, creating the hero Travis McGee, a “knight errant” who had his cerebral sidekick Meyer as they solved mysteries.  The similarities of him and Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson is not lost on me.


            These authors created heroes, they created environments, they created situations and they created solutions.  They blazed a path of literature that we must not lose.  History shows that these authors struggled to find their way.  John D. MacDonald typed 14 hours a day, losing twenty pounds as he began his career.  Edgar Rice Burroughs was a pencil sharpener wholesaler. A pencil sharpener wholesaler!  I don’t even know what that is!


            So David Brinson has accepted the challenge.  He has created a hero.  He has created an environment.  He has created the situations and their solutions.  But equally important to me his post has demonstrated he has a passion for the art, and I applaud that.


            My path is slightly different.  I will create for you, over time, an environment where when you purchase any bit of technology, you will think to yourself, “I wonder if this will be useful after the Zombie apocalypse.”  You might smile.  You might not buy it.  You might by two of some gadgets.  But it will be worth the laugh. 


            Maybe it will take us years to get together to watch football.  But, the tie that binds is our literature.  And apparently Zombies.  Apparently we have exactly the same views on Zombies. 

“We are discovered!  Flee now!”


Enjoy more from Skid at skidsgig.weebly.com and follow him on twitter @SkidsGig

The changing nature of writing...

Dear Everyone,

I love to read as much as I love to write and I have found that reading really fuels my writing. I love reading the works of Lee Child, Michael Connelly and John Grisham. Love them or hate them, the three of them are renowned for writing page turners. I love the way they let you inside the minds of the characters. They are experts at bringing the locations to life. I get enthralled by the action, tension and drama that they create and I enjoy the fast paced nature of their stories.

Now lots of the experts and commentators say that you write what you read and I hope that's true. I like to think that my book, Dead South, despite being a very different genre to the above best selling authors works, has those same characteristic. I wrote it to be fast paced and action packed and it's gratifying to see that lots of the book's readers think that it is. (Check out Dead South's reviews here.)

So, onto the changing nature of writing...

I just finished reading the 1899 novel Heart of Darkness by Anglo-Polish author Joseph Conrad. Not my usual fare, but I was really hoping to enjoy it, after all, in 1998 it was ranked by Modern Library as the 67th best novel (in English) of the 20th Century... However, I found it really hard going. Now, I don't think that it is because I'm a philistine, although that can't quite be refuted just yet! Or that the book wasn't any good. On the contrary, I think that it is simply because I am a child of my time.

The 21st Century reader and author are totally different beasts to their 19th and 20th Century counterparts. In fact, today's novel would be markedly different to something written 20 years ago. In short, the novel has evolved and it will continue to do so.

Conrad used intensely descriptive imagery, with very little conversation between characters - Heart of Darkness is essentially a story about a man telling a story. The reader is told everything by this man in sometimes excruciating detail, he gives you exact details of people and places, and it leaves little to no room to engage your own imagination. I found myself becoming passive in the reading process and as such I didn't enjoy it as much as I'd hoped that I would. However, please don't let that diminish the truths of the book and what it was trying to communicate (The 1890s Ivory Trade is a both a harrowing and brutal subject). And anyway, it could be argued that it is unfair for a 21st Century reader to pass judgement on a 20th Century book.

However, the reality is that if written today, Heart of Darkness, would be a much different book. The themes would still be the same, but they would have been communicated in an entirely different way.

The best modern day authors work hard to keep the reader engaged throughout the story. They do not want you switching off or zoning out. They engage you by layering places and characters throughout a scene rather than in telling you everything about them in one hit. They allow you to use your own imagination and really become involved within the narrative.

If you have ever found yourself giving up on a book half way through, I would bet it was because you had become passive whilst reading it. You were probably spoon-fed everything and you had no way to engage with it and use your own imagination. We live in a time where TV and Film already do all of the work for us when we put the box on, so it is a real pleasure to be able read and conjure up our own images via a compelling novel.

Now as much as I love Child, Connelly and Grisham, I am not trying to say that they are the greatest authors ever. I'm not even saying that they are the greatest authors of our time. What I am saying is that they hook you with their stories and keep you coming back for more. Why else would they each have sold millions of books?

And if I am able to replicate what they do, whilst putting my own twist on it, then I will be a very happy man indeed.

Until next time.

David

Not the power of love, but the power of reviews

Dear All,

The 5 star amazon review is the holy grail of all independent authors. They are not only great for the ego, but key to your books future success. 

A lot of people may think that having a great book would be enough to guarantee a smash hit, but sadly it isn't. The book market, especially eBooks, is driven by amazon. Of course there are other eBook sellers, but none of them come close to the giant that Amazon is. Thanks to the Kindle it is the destination that most people go to when they are looking to pick up their next read.

Therefore, you need to master amazon to have half a chance of selling any books. In my last blog post '12 tips on how to get an Amazon Best Seller',I mentioned that you needed to choose 7 relevant keyword strings that would enable people to find your book on the site. What I didn't tell you was that, just because you have chosen a key word, doesn't mean that your book will come any where near the top of the search results.

For my best selling post-apocalyptic zombie book, Dead South, one of my key word choices had to be 'zombie'. But with the zombie market being highly competitive and awash with lots of books, I found that Dead South was no where near the top. In fact after listing my book and typing in 'zombie' into the search bar for the first time, it came in on page 7! 

The reality is that not many people are going to look that far down for a book. Most will look at page 1 and a few may look at page 2. This wasn't great, but I wasn't too disheartened, because my other 6 key words, whilst not as relevant as 'zombie' were fairing much better.

But that being said 'zombie' was still the best search and I wanted to be on page 1, so I rolled up my sleeves and did what I had to do to get Dead South up that search.

I needed to do my best to make Amazon notice me and make their success formula kick in. Which is as follows:

sales + reviews = higher up search engine = more sales = more reviews = even higher up search engine = even more sales etc, etc

Your early sales will inevitably come from friends and family. Don't be shy to ask them to buy it, I'm sure you've done lots for them over the years! Also remember, to promote the book on social media and maybe even write a blog of your own. The more that you do this, the more chance you have of selling books early on.

Those early sales and hopefully a few reviews will help you to quickly climb the search engine - within 2 days Dead South had sold around 10 copies and picked up 2 five star reviews and although that may not seem many that had already got it onto page 5 of the 'zombie' search.

The sales kept on coming and after 6 days, Dead South had climbed up to page 2 of the search. It did this with about 40 sales, but the key was that 6 five star reviews had come in.

It took 6 weeks, but Dead South had finally managed to climb on to page 1 of the 'zombie' search. Sales were going well (approx. 600 odd), but it was the reviews that seemed to make the most difference in getting it there, and number 20 was the one that finally did it.

Now that it is there, the sales and reviews seem to be going from strength to strength. But I know that I can't rest on my laurels and that I need to keep on posting, tweeting and blogging to keep it there.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Until next time,

Dave