Win a Kindle, Kobo or Book Tokens
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Competitions, Computers & Technical, Markets on November 5, 2012
Following on from my last post – my Kobo e-reader prize has arrived and has turned out to be more of an android tablet rather than a simple e-reader. It is the Vox model and has lots more functionality than I expected, so what choice did I have but to keep both it and the Kindle?
I find the Kindle easier on the eye for sustained periods of reading and it has a longer battery life. But the Kobo will drag me into the world of tablets and Apps – something I’ve had no experience of until now.
The first App I downloaded was A Quick Read (as mentioned in this month’s Writers’ News), which is a collection of short stories for reading on the move. Have a look at the website for how to submit your own stories for inclusion.
I’ve rooted out some prize draws if you’d like to win your own e-reader or some good old-fashioned book tokens:
- For the chance to win a Kindle Fire, click here
- For the chance to win WH Smith vouchers that can be used to buy a Kobo, click here
- For the chance to win some Book Tokens, click here.
Good Luck!
Kindle versus Kobo
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Computers & Technical on October 31, 2012
I need some advice. Which is best – Kindle or Kobo?
I already have a basic Kindle (without the keyboard or any of the fancy stuff) and I’ve just won a Kobo e-reader in the monthly flash fiction competition in Prima magazine (my story is in the December issue). The Kobo hasn’t arrived yet so I don’t know which model it will be but it’s supposed to be worth £149.
I’m trying to decide whether to tear open the packaging of the Kobo when it arrives and have a play with it, or whether to keep it all brand-spanking new and advertise it on eBay.
Because of its price, I’m assuming the Kobo will have a much wider functionality but what about the selection of books available? Does it have as many titles as the Kindle? I know that many authors who self-publish, only do so on the Kindle but the file format used by the Kobo is supposed to be more ‘open’.
Which screen is easier on the eye and is the page turning functionality as good on the Kobo as it is on the Kindle?
There’s an interesting article here from the MoneySavingExpert team. It recommends Kobo if buying for oneself but Kindle if buying as a present – but only so that you don’t appear a cheap skate by giving a less expensive Kindle substitute.
Conversely, Steve Fenton has written a great blog post here which compares the two in detail and comes out in favour of the Kindle.
So what do you think? Is one better than the other – or should I keep both (I’m thinking that if I ever get round to self-publishing an e-book it might be useful to see what it looks like on the two devices).
Sell Your Books! Part 2
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Books, Promotion, Resources, Self-publishing on October 24, 2012
In my last post I introduced you to Debbie Young – book promotion guru. And this post concludes her sage advice:
Many writers worry about the time-consuming nature of maintaining a presence on social media. What is the best platform (blog, Twitter, Facebook etc.) to concentrate on?
On Radio 4 alone there are plenty of magazine shows that need topical, expert material for their programmes – Woman’s Hour, Money Box, the Today Programme, PM. Your book and the knowledge or experience that enabled you to write it might give you viable ideas for an article, or an engaging comment to follow up a programme.
Approach your target programme’s production office with a well-thought out idea, backed up by your credentials as the author of a book on the subject, and you may get lucky. (Other national outlets can also be approached in this spirit – the nature of your book will dictate what should be your priority, e.g. a special interest national magazine in your field.)
Sell Your Books! Part 1
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Books, Promotion, Resources, Self-publishing on October 19, 2012
Here in the blogosphere you trip over lots of very knowledgable people and they’re all very generous with their support and 
advice.
Debbie Young is one such person. Debbie is an absolute expert on book promotion and marketing. She has 30 years experience in the industry and runs Off The Shelf Book Promotions which offers a bespoke marketing and promotion service to self-published authors (she also maintains a very useful blog of book promotion tips here.)
Debbie’s book Sell Your Books! has just been published (I’ve read it and it’s excellent – well worth buying if you want to give your book the push it deserves). I asked her a few questions about selling books and her answers were so comprehensive that I’ve split them into two blog posts. Here we go with number 1:
It’s often said that a writer needs to build a potential readership before their book is published. Do you agree and if so, how would you recommend doing this?
Try to define your potential readership, so that you can bear them in mind whilst writing the book. But don’t let it distract or divert you from actually getting the writing done nor from writing the book you want to write. Be true to yourself.
Always be on the look out for practical ways of reaching your target audience. Keep a note of useful websites, interest groups etc that you can come back to when you are ready. Watch out for what others in your field are doing to promote their books.
By all means engage with your potential readership but don’t show them your hand before you are ready – your book may evolve into something quite different to what you expected!
Consider also: other influential writers who you might ask to review your book; book reviewers; book bloggers; local booksellers; interest groups for your genre or topic. Follow their blogs and comment on their blog posts. Follow them on Twitter, befriend them on Facebook and GoodReads. Write reviews of their books. Comment on their book reviews on Amazon and GoodReads. Post worthwhile comments on their websites. Go to their public events. When commenting online anywhere, include a link to all your contact details (website, Twitter, email etc) so they can track back to you and the relationship can be a two-way thing. Then, when your book is published, you will be a familiar (and hopefully respected!) name to them and they will be well-disposed towards your new book.
Secure your own website address (URL) in advance so that it can be printed on your book jacket. But don’t be tempted to promote the book before it exists. This can be counter-productive. You’ll have much more impact on a bookshop, for example, if you can go in with actual samples of your book, a fully functional website and a few reviews, than with nothing physical to show. These things give you much more credibility as an author whose books are going to make a profit for the store.
There’s a lull between finishing your manuscript, proofing it and it being on sale as a finished product – that’s a really good time to roll up your sleeves and get stuck in. But don’t rush things. In this digital age of e-books and on-demand printing, there’s no rush to start marketing your book, because it’s never actually too late. Your book doesn’t come with a sell-by date, and it won’t be remaindered or de-listed by your publisher (i.e. you!). There’s more about this on my blog here.
On the other hand, don’t err on the side of sloth! You do HAVE to put in the effort sooner or later if your book is going to be successful, because no matter how good it is, it won’t sell itself if you don’t promote it at some time.
Crime Writing with Claire McGowan
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Authors, Events, Markets on October 14, 2012
I went to listen to Claire McGowan talk about crime writing as part of the 2012 Lichfield Literature Festival.
First of all she gave us 3 good reasons for choosing to write crime fiction:
- Crime accounts for 1/5 of all adult fiction sales
- In 2011 crime dominated the top 10 library loans
- Agents and editors are actively taking on new crime writers
Then she listed the essential elements of a crime novel:
- A good plot
- A gripping pace
- A satisfactory resolution
Suspense also forms an important part of a crime novel and the reader can be kept on tenterhooks in two ways:
- Wondering what has happened – for example, What dark secrets are the characters hiding? How did the victim meet his death when he was in a locked room?
- Wondering what is about to happen – for example, What will the killer do next? Will he be caught in time?
As well as the theory behind crime writing, Claire shared her own method of writing – which can be applied to any genre. She said it’s important to start with a one sentence ‘high-concept’ of what the book is about but it’s not necessary to plot every detail in advance nor to write long life histories for each character. Claire says she gets to know her characters as she goes along – a bit like getting to know someone in real life.
By writing 1,000 words a day for 3 months you can finish a first draft – and that first draft doesn’t have to be good! Claire repeated this last point several times. Once the first draft is complete, you can work on it and improve it. And Claire writes her first draft without research, to avoid getting side-tracked. She checks her facts later.
Doesn’t that make it sound easy?! So what are you waiting for…
Claire’s first book ‘The Fall’ is available here and her second book ‘The Lost’ will be published in April 2013.
Easy Reads – D.C. Thomson
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Markets, Successes on October 8, 2012
Many moons ago I started writing a My Weekly Pocket Novel. At that time they were 30,000 words and I thought that was an achievable target. When I was part way through, the required word count went up to 50,000 – so I adjusted my plot and carried on. I reached 50,000 words and the end of my story. Then I lost confidence in what I’d written and decided it was so bad that I couldn’t possibly send it out.
So it sat gathering virtual dust on my hard drive.
Then the news came from Maggie Seed that My Weekly Pocket Novels were being replaced by the new Easy Reads imprint and she needed manuscripts. I decided it was now or never. So I wrote a synopsis and polished up my first 3 chapters and, with nothing to lose, emailed Maggie.
A week later, I nearly fell off my chair when she replied and asked to see the rest of the manuscript. Unfortunately the rest of it was still in ‘first draft’ stage. So I’m now busy editing and trying to knock it into a coherent shape.
Of course, there’s still a high probability that the whole thing will be rejected so I’m not sitting here with rosy coloured specs on planning my launch party. But it’s nice to know that the basic idea, outlined in the synopsis, was not total rubbish!
So if you’ve got something languishing in a bottom drawer – why not get it out and search for a market? If you don’t submit then you’ll never get published. But if you do submit…who knows what might happen!
For more information on Easy Reads have a look on womagwriter’s blog.
Appeal for Short Stories
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Markets, Short Story on October 3, 2012
Update 24/4/2014 – Unfortunately ‘A Quick Read’ will be closing soon and therefore no more stories are required.
Original Post:
Sharon Boothroyd has been in touch to tell me about a short story app, A Quick Read, that she and her husband, Keith, are developing – and they need your stories. Here’s what Sharon had to say about it:
Would you like to see your stories published on an Android phone app?
My husband and I are launching a new project soon – a FREE short story app called A Quick Read.
The good news is, we’re not charging any writer to upload the stories on the app.
The bad news is, we cannot pay writers a fee, as we’re starting the project as a hobby. However, if we mange to secure funding, we will be able to pay you.
I’ll be sending out lots of press releases to raise publicity.
The categories for fiction are:
Crime
Mystery
Paranormal
Twist in tale
Heart-warming
The word count we require is 500 -1,000 words.
No swearing, no excessive violence, and no erotica, please.
Also, we require a brief outline (one or two lines) about your story.
Go to www.aquickread.net to view our website.
‘Terms and conditions for writers’ can be found under ‘Information’ on the drop down menu.
It would be best if you sent us unpublished work. All writers retain copyright.
You can also see how the app works on the website.
Please e-mail your stories to me, Sharon at: keith.boothroyd@gmail.com.
Many thanks.
PS If you have a website or blog address, we can place this at the bottom of your story on the app.
I’ve sent in a couple of my own stories that weren’t quite right for the womags and not long enough for most competitions.
So if you’ve got something short and sweet that you don’t want to leave gathering dust, why not give it a try?
Sharon also runs Fiction Addiction, an online writers’ circle for those interested in writing for women’s magazines. She writes under the name S. Bee and one of her stories is critiqued in Sue Moorcroft’s Fiction Workshop in this month’s Writers’ Forum magazine.
Letters and Libraries
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Non-fiction, Writing on September 25, 2012
After a pep talk with Helen, my writing buddy, I’ve set myself some writing targets to get me through to the end of the year.
English: David Wilson Library, University of Leicester (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
One of them is to write a letter a week for publication in a magazine. There are several benefits to this:
- The satisfaction of something quickly written and submitted
- Lots of potential markets – so hopefully the possibility of success
- I will need to scan the magazines available in the newsagent and might spot new markets for other types of writing
I told Peter Hinchcliffe, editor of Open Writing, about my new goal and he suggested a further benefit of letter writing. Many years ago, as a young man, he was trying to break into journalism and started writing letters to his local newspaper every week, with a good ‘hit’ rate. Then he wrote and asked to join them for work experience – the editor recognised Peter’s name from the letters and he was taken on. A successful career in newspapers followed.
I don’t expect to land a job on a glossy magazine through the letters page – but occasionally letters can get followed up…
At the weekend I went with my daughter to Leicester University – she’ll be sending in her UCAS application for a Zoology degree in a few weeks time. Whilst we were there we went round the David Wilson Library (pictured). It is a wonderful, light, airy building, opened in 2008 by the Queen. At the time students waxed lyrical about their new library’s toilets. One was quoted in the Independent as saying, “If these toilets were a bird, they would be an eagle as they soar above the rest of the competition.” The toilets were nice – but not that outstanding! Although if I was living in grotty student house, I might think differently…
So it seems that whilst our public libraries are cutting opening hours or shutting down altogether, university libraries are thriving. Let’s hope that these wonderful facilities make young adults value the benefit of libraries so that as they start work and settle down, they might join in the campaigning to save and improve our public library system.
Finally, am I going mad or do the current and previous edition of Writers’ Forum magazine both say ‘October’ on them?
Genre Jumping
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Books, Writing on September 19, 2012
I’ve been getting out of my literary rut recently – by trying Sci-Fi.
I am attempting to enter each of the Monthly Writers’ News competitions. The September brief was for a science fiction story so, although I’m not exactly sure what constitutes sci-fi, I had a go. Creating a whole new futuristic world seemed too much like hard work, so I set the story in the present day with ordinary characters but included a new piece of technology which did a little more than it said in the instruction book. The result caused my main character a problem and so the story developed. This may or may not be classed as science fiction – but at least I had a go!
By coincidence, I also received a science fiction book to review from Waterstone’s this month – Great North Road by Peter F. Hamilton. It was billed as a futuristic crime story and I love crime so that was why I entered my name in the prize draw for a chance to review the book. But I got more than I bargained for – it is a HUGE tome, 1087 pages long. It involves a murder, clones, space travel and hi-tech police procedures but at the end of the day it’s still the characters that drive the story. I liked Detective Sidney Hurst, who is the main policeman and there’s another intriguing personality in Angela Tramelo. She only ages 1 year for every 10 years of her age and was locked away 20 years earlier for a similar crime. But she has always protested her innocence and swears that the original killing was an alien attack…
This venture into Sci-Fi was accidental and it hasn’t converted me to the genre but it has taught me a few things:
- It’s refreshing to try something different
- The elements that make up a good story are the same, whatever the genre. The setting/time-period/pre-occupations of the characters may differ but if you make the reader care about the protagonists then it is a good tale
- Moving out of one’s comfort zone (in real life as well as writing) may not be appealing but once you’ve done it, it creates a feeling of confidence in your own abilities.
Finally, if you are a Waterstone’s loyalty card holder and want the chance to review books, click here to see what’s on offer.
Sally Jenkins 