Are the magnets in stands and cases ruining your tablet?

Like most people, I love gadgets and when my OH bought me a Google Nexus tablet, I was chuffed to bits.

The Nexus is a great piece of kit for a writer. There's plenty of free apps that are great for writing like notebooks where you get to create your own unlined or lined notebooks with different covers and numbers of pages. That way you can work on multiple projects at once and gmail them to yourself or send to other apps.

Need to see a copy of the magazine you want to write a piece for? No problem, the Google Play store has lots of them. For the cost of the cover price you can have the publication uploaded to your tablet in minutes.

The Twitter app also allows you to send tweets from multiple accounts at once. Ideal when like me you've got a specific zombie account (hey, I love zombies and The Walking Dead) and a separate one for your writing and personal stuff.
Naturally I wanted to protect my new gadget from damage. So I shopped around for a stand.

That's when my problems started. The first one I bought, a black Carbon Fibre Print PropUp Stand Case Cover with integrated stand function and magnetic sleep sensors looked great.

 

 

Then I put my tablet in it. At first everything was okay. Then my cursor went haywire. I couldn't seem to copy and paste no matter what app I used. I thought my tablet was broken.

I shut it down. Took it away from the stand. Then I restarted it and the Nexus worked fine. It didn't take a genius to work out the stand was the problem and more to the point the magnet in the stand that activates the sleep function on the tablet.
I sent it back for a refund.

Then I bought the IPEVO PadPillow Lite Stand. It looked like an adjustable pillow. It wasn't until I received the pillow that I discovered the magnets. When I tried it with my tablet it was the same story. The cursor went crazy. My tablet was unusable. This time it took the tablet longer to recover. I actually thought it was broken forever.

 

I'm still on the look out for a stand or case, but from now on I'll avoid the ones with magnets. They nearly wrecked my tablet and they could damage yours.

Two week promotion for Hell To Pay on Kindle

Find out how the story ends -

For a limited time only, Hell To Pay is available on Kindle for

99p on Amazon.co.uk

$1.54 on Amazon.com

99cents on Amazon.ca

Grab the novella that's been labelled kick lit?

Writers, what to do when you get a bad review

The advice from other authors is to ignore reviews, but it's hard to ignore them especially when your publisher keeps going on about how reviews get you sales. When you get a really bad, withering review that makes you think you should never inflict your writing on the public ever again, you just want to dive under that duvet and never come out again.

But, is getting a stinker of a review really so bad? Well, yes it is, but here are some things to think about before you think of chucking this writing game in.

It helps if you write the answers down. That way your brain absorbs them and you can move on from the bad review, because you've got to move on so you can get on with writing.

Another great thing to do is answer these questions as though it's someone else's book that got the bad review; one you've read and know well. I use a similar technique in my bullying book, Bullying A Parent's Guide,  and to deal with my social phobias. 

Trust me, it works.

First off, look at the review -

1. Has the reviewer said anything constructive, that you can be used to improve the author's writing? For instance, a reviewer might spot a continuity error or that a writer over does speech tags. Or they might say that they couldn't see your characters, so you need to work harder on that. 

2. Do they talk about themselves in the review? Good reviewers don't talk about themselves, no; they talk about whatever they're reviewing. The over-use of I is a sign of an ego. The reviewer’s saying, "Look at me, look at me" and not here's a review.

3. Look at their other reviews. What kind of things do they say? Are they constructive in their criticism or venomous? Do they always seem to give good reviews to the top publishing houses, whilst slating self-published books or ones from smaller publishers?

I got a reviewer who admitted to not reading all of another book they reviewed because they "knew how it'd end." Why didn't he just read it then to see if he was right?

Another reviewer complained that a book with a bloody hand on the cover wasn't the erotic fiction they expected. Hey, I know what people do in their bedrooms is their business, but murder sex re-enactments? Now that is weird.

Does a good review come with a price tag?

4. Do they review for a site that charges for some books to feature on the site? I call these subsidy reviews. How likely are you to get a good review if you don't pay and are not with one of the big publishers who send them books and will probably stop sending them books if they start giving bad reviews? Mmm, we wonder.

5. Did the right person review the book?
There are books that have popular cross appeal, like books by Stephen King, but most books have a specific readership.

I wrote Hell To Pay as an escapist piece of fiction for women who were sick of seeing women being the victims of appalling crimes like rape and not getting justice. I gave the book the sub-title Die Hard for Girls.

A male reviewer on a well known book review website that charges some books up to £145 to be featured (I didn't pay them a penny because as well as paid for reviews they legitimise themselves by doing reviews for books like mines from commercial publishers) panned the book calling it "reverse misogyny" because my heroine Nancy got revenge on the men who raped her and murdered her parents. In fiction, clearly just like real life, women are allowed to be victims, but woe betide them if they fight back.

I disregarded his comment because the book's not aimed at men who think women should behave like they're in a Jane Austen novel. It's aimed at modern women who are just as likely to punch a mugger as hand over their handbag. I make no apologies for that. 

Other things to consider -

1. Look at all your reviews. What have other reviewers said - reviewers who aren't family or friends? If every reviewer hates your book, then you should start to worry.

2. Have you won any writing awards? Placed in any contests? Had good reviews on sites like youwriteon.com or authonomy?

If you have, how can your writing be as bad as that review makes you think it is?

3. Do you have a history of getting published? Relive your successes.
Now, that feels better.

4. Look at reviews top authors have got on Amazon. Are they all five star glowing reviews? I doubt it.

Look at all of the one star reviews for authors who get advances in the hundreds of thousands or even the millions. 

Stephen King has got one star reviews, so has Harlan Coben and Frederick Forsyth. In the case of Day of the Jackal, one reviewer said "Derivative and lightweight. Another wannabe Ian Fleming best forgotten." 

Now get writing. The worst thing you can do after a bad review is to dwell on it.

Watch the trailer for Hell To Pay...Glasgow's about to get meaner

Hell To Pay's official release date is Friday July 26th, 2013 when it will be available on paperback and on Kindle...




Disclaimer: The Die Hard for Girls books are pure, escapist fiction and do not in any way advocate violence.
 

It's time self-published authors were more honest

You'd need to have been on another planet not to notice the rise of the self-published or indie author. Their stories are everywhere and make selling books sound, well easy –

"I sold a thousands books a day using social media."
"Why I'm turning my back on a big money book deal to stay indie."
"I tweeted my way to hundreds of book sales a day."

Whilst all these stories inspire indie authors and those who are thinking of going indie (like me) they also make those of us who don't sell thousands of books a day (whether we're self-oublished or traditionally published), feel like garbage.

We use the social networks, we blog, we write promo pieces. And, we wrote good books. So, what's wrong with us or our books?

Probably nothing. So, why are other authors succeeding whilst we're not?

Part of the problem is that although I've no doubt these bestselling authors work extremely hard, they are not always completely upfront about the things they do to "sell" so many books or the fortune they spend.

Here are 3 things I've discovered -
1. Writers counting free books as sales. When something's given away, it's a freebie not a sale. If I see someone giving out free candy bars, I grab one. It doesn’t mean I’m gonna eat it, or in the case of free books, read it.

2. Authors are spending a fortune on publicists. One author I read about spent 40 thousand dollars on her publicist. Compared to what others spend, that's chump change.

3. Authors spending a ton of money on advertising, including fees to get on book blogs. I was sad to see that there seems to be a growth industry in prising money out of authors’ hands. This is often money they can’t afford.

What this post isn’t, is me having a go at indie writers who write great books that sell and work hard to get those sales. What this post is however, is a call for successful self-published authors to be more upfront about how much money and time they spend to make the Amazon bestseller list.

Sadly, I know of too many authors who have grown disillusioned because they’re not the next John Locke, the first self-published author to sell over one million eBooks on Amazon.com. As well as writing what I’m told are great books, he spent a bundle on advertising to sell books too.
 

The angry writer makes a comeback...and she's livid.

 

When you're not being published you look at writers who are and think their life must be wonderful. They've made it. Their book's out there being coveted and they're being told how wonderful they are. They're raking in the cash - go on, you in the know; chortle away at that one.

Then you become one of them and realise life can still be, well not to put it to politely, shit.

So far (I'm expecting more rotten tomatoes) here's the lowdown on my publication hell -

Amazon getting the listing wrong on ALL their sites, so all of my books wouldn't appear on my Amazon author page. I had to contact those sites individually - you can't just contact one, you've got to contact them all - to get the details changed. See What to do when Amazon gets your details wrong post. This was a time consuming process and all because whoever keyed in the details on a book site, couldn't copy information.
The book coming out a month early but the Kindle version not following suit. Result - losing would be sales and losing out on potential readers.

Getting one star ratings from people who complained that the book "didn't contain enough romance."
It's a crime thriller with a bloody handprint on the cover. There's no mention of romance.

Getting two one star ratings on Goodreads from someone who hadn't read the book. One rating was for the Kindle version that isn't even out yet. I contacted Goodreads and they didn't seem to think this was a big deal. It wouldn't surprise me if there's going to be an Amazon review scandal with people leaving malicious ratings and reviews.

My publisher saying my book came out at the wrong time "for the word to have got yet" and the book missed out in being in "some of the trade catalogues" where so many bookstores order their books, so there were hardly any orders.

A writer with the same publisher wanting to exchange likes on Facebook, then pulling out and sending me a sniffy message saying "I don't like your cover." A bloody handprint for a crime novel - why didn't I have a picture of a fluffy bunny? Eh, it's not a book like Living Cruelty Free.

To top it all, I've spent hundreds of hours promoting this book, doing things like setting up a website, a Facebook page, blogging, getting reviews and running a Twitter account, as well as putting excerpts up on Wattpad and Scribd and I'm starting to wonder what the hell is the point? The last time I wrote anything was this blog post. Yet, I've got a heap of writing projects that I could be doing rather than promoting a book I seem to be more invested in than my publisher and fixing Amazon screw ups.

Then today I got a call from my dad to tell me they'd seen a book with the exact same cover in Waterstones. I'm now off to scream into a bucket.

Would you like a starring role in a novel? Have a character named after you.

Some fanfare please –

Would you love to have a starring role in a novel?

Or have a character named after a person of your choice – your other half, or even your dog as a unique gift?

Well, your dreams can come true.

Everybody who writes a review for Hell To Pay on Amazon or Goodreads between now and July 26th when the book will be out in Kindle - available now on Amazon in paperback – will be entered into a draw to gets a character in my next book named after them or someone of their choosing (but no obscene, made up names please). The two winners - YES - TWO WINNERS - will also get a signed copy and get a mention in the acknowledgements.

Here’s the links people -

Amazon UK

Amazon.com

Happy reading and good luck:)

The book won’t be available on Kindle until July 26^th, so I will be repeating this competition then for the Kindle version.

Note – I’ve had to extend the original closing date because a few people have been in touch to say they’ll be in holiday or books take longer to be delivered where they are.
 

What to do when Amazon spells your name wrong (or gets other book details wrong)

I was really excited to see Hell To Pay going on up on the various sites including Amazon, but that excitement was diluted ended when I saw that they’d spelt my surname wrong. Firstly, on the Amazon.com site and then on Amazon.ca

It’s important that the details are correct so that your Amazon author central* page will be linked to your book. Your author central page has tweets from you, details of blog posts and a list of your other books. It’s a great promotion tool, but only if the details are correct.

If this happens to you, this is what you do to get Amazon to change it.

*To get an Amazon author central page click here to register. For Amazon.com, click here

STEP ONE

Go to the book page on Amazon

Tip – Ignore the message for publishers and authors where the publisher is told to update the feed sent to Amazon and the author is told to contact their publisher. I know for a fact, that my publisher sent the correct details to Amazon who keyed it in wrongly.
 

TWO

Scroll down to where it says Would you like to update product info and click on that.

 

THREE

You will be taken to your Amazon sign in page. Sign in.

FOUR

From there you will be taken to Update Product Info

 

 

FIVE

Put in as much info as you have. For instance, if you have a pictures of your book cover complete with ISBN number (you need this) then submit that.

Tip – You can also submit a change of details through your Amazon Author Central account. It's just as easy to use.

Writers, what to do if you get a stinker of a review

My filing cabinet for bad reviews.

It happens to every writer eventually. You get a review that has you wanting to scream one minute and curl up in a ball sobbing until the stars fall out of the sky. How do you deal with that?

Here's a few tips.

1. Remember it's only one person's point of view. One person. Not hundreds of people - just one. Does everybody everywhere like the same things? Nope, so you have to accept that there will be people who may not like your book.

2. Print out the review and roll it up into a ball and throw it in the bin, or use it to play a game of ping pong. The review doesn't have much power over you now, eh?

3. Talk to other writers. Ask them about the worst review they've ever had. Moan about it. Laugh about it. Then forget about it.

4. Look at all your good reviews and all the good things that anyone has ever said about your writing. Does one or two bad reviews mean you are suddenly a bad writer? Of course not. Push away all that negativity by submerging yourself in positivity.

5. Tell yourself that at least they bought your book. The money from someone who leaves you a bad review is the same as someone who leaves you a good review.

6. And, if you really get upset by reviews, step away from the computer and STOP reading them. I know it's hard, but a writer needs to keep writing. Any time spent being all maudlin over a review, one person wrote, is eating into your writing time.

7 Ways to Kickstart your writing in the new year

If only it did come in a can:)

It happens to all of us. We get very little writing done over the holidays - that's if we get any done at all. Then when we have to get back to it, it's hard to get going again.

How do you break through that wall and get going again?

Here's some tips -

Even time spent watching Jeremy Kyle isn't wasted.

1.Look through a real life magazine or watch a show like Jeremy Kyle or Jerry Springer. Are there any stories that catch your eye? Don't read it. Just take the headline say, "My husband was a bigamist and a murderer" and write your own story based on that. Try for a new angle. Write from the husband's point of view or from two of the wives when they get together. 

2. Write your own version of your favourite movie or TV shows. 

Even time watching the soaps isn't wasted.

3. Soap storylines are also a good source of inspiration. Use a current storyline, but feature your own characters.

4. No takers on that book? Try turning it into a screenplay. The more strings a writer has to their bow the better. 

5. Pick any book off your shelf and look at the first paragraph. Write a story that follows on from that. 

6. Cut out pictures of people from a magazine or catalogue. Imagine their lives and what could have happened to them. Write about them. 

7. Try an online story generator. You'll be surprised at what they come up with. 

Writers, it's time to get out of Twitter jail

I realised I was getting too caught up in tweeting, Facebooking, blogging, messageboards, google plus...and the list goes on and on and on...when I wanted to throw my computer out the window in a fit of all consuming incredible Hulk rage.

Well, I couldn’t get the book trailer for Dead Bastards on Kindleboards.

With a second book in what I hope will be a popular Die Hard for girls series to write, my blood pressure bubbling and the lack of sleep, I decided enough was enough.

Here are the commandments I will now live by -

1. No social networking through dinner. No tweeting, Facebooking or writing a blog post.

2. Have one day a week when I don't use social networking at all.

3. When I'm watching a film or a TV show, I also have to go cold turkey.

4. Enjoy the social networking experience. Have fun with people. Stop saying "Please, pretty please buy my book/s" all the bloody time. Folk are sick of hearing it. You're sick of hearing it.

5. Write more without a computer because unless you do you’ll be dragged back to Twitter. Write in long hand. Scribble. By all means take a break, go on Twitter, but only for twenty minutes at the most. Then go back to writing. I'll set an alarm if I need to.

And those are the rules I hope to live by. Well, once I've posted, tweet, FB, Google + this blog post.

My crazy writing year

On the face of it you'd think I'd had a successful writing year. With Living Cruelty Free out in Kindle and paperback, my zombie novel Dead Bastards astounding me by coming out before Christmas (thanks to the remarkable editing skills of my publisher Terry Wright) and Hell to Pay written and in the hands of my publisher (and more Die Hard for Girls books planned), it does sound good.

 

But, sadly this year has been a complete nightmare and one I'll be glad to see the back of, for a number of reasons -

1. Because of a Facebook page I set up for my bullying book, I found myself being cyber stalked by a crazy person and their family who'd send me harassing messages even when I blocked them.

2. Writing Living Cruelty Free meant looking at horrific images of man's inhumanity to man and animals. Some of those images and research I had to look at gave me nightmares. I sunk into a deep depression it took me months to get out of.

3. I found myself working 15 hours a day to promote/edit my books - yep, even on Christmas Day. I now find it difficult to sleep and my agoraphobia's got worse.

4. Sales of the books my publisher Need2Know decided to give away, free and unlimited (without telling me) for w YEAR have fallen through the floor. Before, one in particular, was selling steadily. No sales mean any royalties. No wonder I have to decide which room to heat. Anyone has this illusion of writers being wealthy should think again.

5. Thanks to the sock puppet scandal, I've had reviews from people who bought my books taken down on Amazon without explanation. The reason - they said in their reviews they were writers too. Like writers don't/can't read? It's hard enough to get reviews at it is without that happening. Ditto people who were bought my book as a gift because they weren't verified purchasers. Well, they wouldn't be - the books were bought by someone else for them.

 

Not that top authors who’ve already made a name for themselves will be affected; it will just be us little guys who don't have big publishing houses and the might of their publicity budgets behind us.

And, that's just my writing life. Oh, and the year started with a 3 day power cut - in an apartment, with no gas or coal fire.

So, let's raise a glass to 2013, may it bring us all better days.

 

6 Things every writer should know

I was first published when I was 15 and wrote a piece on superstitions for Jackie magazine. Over the years, though my writing, this is what I’ve learned -

 

1. Write as much as you can in as many different genres as you can. That way when opportunities present themselves you'll be ready. I know this from experience. In March 2011, I signed a contract to have my first work of fiction published, my novella How Kirsty Gets Her Kicks. For various reason it didn't happen. I also started a follow up book I called Die Hard for Girls. When I saw on Twitter that Sassy Books were looking for submissions, I tweeted the editor. Would she be interested in Die Hard for Girls that I'd since renamed Hell to Pay. She said yes and I submitted it and was offered a good royalty contract just days later.

2. That brings me to my second point - make sure you're on social networking sites so you'll see these opportunities. Without Twitter I'd have two books sitting in my unpublished file. Join great forums like Writer's News Talkback. Network with other writers. See an opportunity for another writer, let them know. They'll alert you to an opportunity you might have missed.

3. That brings me nicely to my third point - help other writers. Don't see them as competitors; see them as comrades in the trenches of writing. Help one another. Commiserate when things go wrong; celebrate their successes. Unless you do it can get lonely.

4.Learn to promote your books. You can't expect your publisher to place ads in the big newspapers. They only do that for the big names. As for you, a listing in their online catalogue is the best you can hope for. The plus side is that because you know your book so well you're the best person to promote it. I have Twitter, Facebook pages and dedicated blogs for Dead Bastards and Living Cruelty Free. The only cost to me was my time. I know doing this has sold books.

5.Don't ever tell yourself "I can't write in that." If a story comes alive in your head, go with it. I never thought I'd write a horror novel. Then this image came into my head of a man turning up at his friend's door looking like he'd been mugged. Only when he comes inside it becomes clear that his guts are spilling out and this is no ordinary mugging. When he dies and then comes back and tries to eat them, they realize that the zombies are here.

I just couldn't get this image out of my head of this guy's guts spilling out onto the floor and this Glasgow couple trying to scoop them up and shove them back in again, so I started scribbling away. And so, Dead Bastards was born.

6.Just because a publisher says no the first time doesn't mean you should give up. TWB Press who published my Glasgow zombie novel originally turned it down when I submitted it as a serial. I really admired the ethos of the company (no non-sense entertainment), so I worked on it some more and what was intended to be a 30k novella ended up a 70k novel (although over 10, 000 words were cut). The publisher Terry Wright liked it and wanted to publish it.

 

The zombies are on the move...

I was delighted to be invited over to the amazing McDroll's blog to talk about Dead Bastards and why I wrote it.

To read the piece, click here

McDroll's latest book is called Kick It With Conviction and is a collection of short stories. It's available on Amazon UK and USA.

To find out more about McDroll, click here.

Dead Bastards is available now from the following -

Dead Bastards (A Scottish zombie novel) is coming soon

----------Publication date to be announced------

Delighted to announce that my zombie novel set in Glasgow, will be published by TWB Press as an ebook. To find out more, please click on the book cover and while you're at it why not check out the other great books available.

I'm so pleased to be working with Terry Wright, proprieter of TWB Press, author, screenwriter and all round good guy who is one of the most enthusiastic people I've ever met.

Anyone who knows me will know I'm obsessed with zombies. In fact, I even keep one in my closet (okay, he's about 8 inches tall, is made of plastic and is battery operated, but Fester still tries to eat me).

P.S. No, that's not a picture of me on the cover. I'm much zombier looking.

UPDATE - IN December 2014, the book was renamed The Restless Dead and given a brand new cover. Check it out on Amazon. 

Authors with small publishers to lose out as Amazon takes down reviews by other authors

Bet he doesn't need to worry about getting reviews:)

 

As an author I like to see reviews anyone has done of my books. I appreciate anyone who takes the time to read my books. Last night, I noticed some reviews had absconded.

I did a bit of checking and I found out that in response to a petition by 400 authors, Amazon had decided to remove any reviews from customers who were registered with Amazon Author Central - anyone who has a book published, whether it's traditionally published or self-published can set up an account so people can click on an author's name and see a list of their books.

I think this unfairly penalises authors like me who are with small publishers and those who are self-published.

This is unfair for a number of reasons -

1. Authors rely on peer reviews from other authors to get reviews. Readers say they'll do reviews, but they don't always find the time.

2.Authors read books too. They also buy books from Amazon. Why shouldn't they be allowed to leave reviews like anyone who's not an author can?

3.The reviews I did for books by the big publishers were left alone. In other words, Amazon operate a two tier system - if you're an author with a big publishing house you appear to be protected from review removal, but if you're not stuff you. Amazon can do what they like. 

At the moment, I don't think the same applies to the UK Amazon, but it's only a matter of time. So, if your reviews start to go missing you know what's happened. You could always complain to Amazon, but I've heard about people who have who've been warned that if they don't shut up and go away they're books will be taken off the site.

Better go now, off to see if Stephen King will endorse Hell To Pay I already have some amazing authors who've read it and agreed to endorse it. Watch this space...

So, you've written the book, here comes the doubt

You've got the publisher, written the book and now it's done.

There's no room for doubt.

You've done it.

You're an author.

WRONG

You sent it to other authors for endorsements, your finger hovering over the 'send' button, heart beating like a klaxon because you're worried they'll say 'this is utter garbage, please don't write another word, readers need to be protected from your woeful writing.'

Ditto your publisher.

This is perfectly normal. Most writers have doubts.
For a number of reasons -

1. You're too close to your book. You've read it and edited it many, many times, analysed it, dissected it. No wonder you have doubts whether it's any good or not. Imagine if you did that with someone else's book that you were reading. Would you still like it as much?

2. When you read your book, you're reading it as an editor who's close to the work. You don't read it in the same way as you read other people's books or that people will read yours.

3. You're exhausted. All those hours working away into the wee small hours, of thinking about nothing but your book have drained you. You're not thinking straight.

Now you've written that book, take a rest. Read a good book. Relax. Chill out. You've earned it. 

What's luck got to do with it?

 

The other day, I discovered I hadn't even been shortlisted in a novel writing competition I'd hoped to win. But, I shouldn't have been surprised.

This isn't the real lilac pen. I'm too superstitious to take a picture of it.

You see, when I recorded my entry in my diary, I didn't write it in my lucky lilac pen.

Let me tell you a little bit about my pen.

Every time I've written things down using that pen I've been lucky.

Lucky strike.1 - A publisher asks to see more of one of my novels.

Lucky strike.2 - Two days after sending my revenge novella Hell To Pay to Sassy Books, I sign a contract. The book will be out in 2013.

Lucky strike.3 - I noted the details of an idea for an article I sent to an editor. I got the commission.

Writers and their superstitions, eh?

I know I'm not the only one who's very superstitious when it comes to my writing. I have a friend who writes in longhand. Whenever he makes a mistake he scrunches up the paper and throws it in the bin then starts again.

Extreme? Maybe. But, we all have our ways.

Now, where's that lucky pen?