Wednesday 29 January 2014

Free eBooks - Frowned Upon!?

Free eBooks what's your opinion? Good idea/Bad idea?
I have decided today to discuss something that has been long in my mind to write, albeit I have never got around to writing about it.

Free eBooks!.

Right...

As author of five free ebooks, (which I do for a reason which I will explain later here), I feel so much in the minority. Why do you ask? Well as an author I feel so much down the scale you would not believe. I figured that such a thing is frowned up from the community. I never felt on a par with anyone else  who has books that cost a sum to purchase. In fact I will go as far as saying that, I feel like I am out of' the club!'

Yes you heard right. That's how I feel. I know this will largely change when I start to charge for my books but until then its the rocky road of freebies I tread.

I feel at times guilty for giving my work away for free, but I am happy to do so presently. I feel,  at time, I have to fight my way through the mass of material out there to get even a squeal from someone about one of my books. Yes, I find it a struggle. I feel alone in this community at the best of times. I write hoping someone somewhere will read what I have written and enjoy it. That is such a thrill for me!

Ok granted I am not the best writer in the world. I do not have a plethora of awards or a single award even. I am not academically taught in wordology/creative writing etc. I learn from being observant, listening, reading etc. I am learning as I go along. For me giving my work away is a way for me to reach readers and authors, to build a base, a platform if you will, to start from and to continually work on it.

Though it is a struggle at the best of times, just to be heard, to be amongst those that have books on Amazon/Kindle etc. They garner more respect and afforded more things that they can do because of just not giving their book away completely free, for whatever length of time. Let me just state this for the record, I am not jealous nor am I looking for a pity party, I am only concerned that free ebooks are not looked at the same way as books you can purchase, and that said authors of those books, whether it is one or many free books they give away, that they deserve to be respected every bit as much and afforded same or similar opportunities as those who get paid for their work, At the end of the day we all in the same slog and slave over our typewriters, note pad and pen, or laptop etc...we all try to carve out some niche in this literary world and want to be remembered by at least some people at the end of the day.

Ok one part you might think about is quality etc. Well I have read some cracking books that are free. I have no doubt that amongst the myriad of books out there that there will be some which sorely need tending too. But may I also add that you will find flaws almost everywhere. People will like, people will dislike, no matter how good or bad you are as a writer. You have to find your own audience, your own, shall we say, group of fans!


In saying all that and in conclusion, I am thankful that I do love what I do and enjoy every minute of it and hope to at some stage, have my books in hard copies and for purchase. I love how this is all progress, how we learn and change etc. Just remember we are one community and one spirit all aiming for that same ideal.

Have fun  with your work and never give up even when you are faced with the odds. Keep on.

Right time for me to be outta here. Next post soon including news of goodies, reviews etc coming soon to this little blog :)

 

Tuesday 28 January 2014

News Update!

Full blog post soon. Just kept busy on a number of projects, writing my next novel, designing eBook covers and creative art pieces. So lots to get done.

Next post later this week.


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Monday 13 January 2014

Light Bulb Moments

Inspiration.

This is a short post today as I need to work on for my blog plus writing my next book, reading books for review purposes as well as designing an eBook cover for another author plus sorting out another blog to do with arts n crafts.

Current work is still going slow with my next novel. Whilst I have been writing it, I got inspiration for another novel, so wrote some pieces down with regards to it. I have so many ideas and sudden 'light bulb' moments that I hope I live long enough to write them.

Typically, it is always when I am writing a piece I get inspired to write another story. Writing is no easy task, but it is an enjoyable journey of magical proportions, which  is the stuff dreams are made of.

Next blog post next week. My posts on here will be intermittent for the time being until the new look blog is complete.

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Wednesday 8 January 2014

All Aboard!

Lots of changes, new content and pages being added. It's really exciting. We will have guest bloggers, exclusive content and giveaways, reviews and so much more.

I will also be letting you know of up and coming authors, ones to watch.

There is a good bit to go before the blog update and new look is complete.

 More news in the next few days, but will be working on blog content and new blog related items in the meantime.

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Monday 6 January 2014

Creative Competition


As my blog is still undergoing changes and looking ahead, this is the first in a new style of posts to be featured!

It is a creative competition for short stories, poetry and illustration run by the Bronte Society website.

The Bronte' as you know wrote timeless classics such as Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights and Agnes Grey etc

The three categories of this year’s competition are: Short Story, Poetry, and Illustrations of a Brontë novel. And we have three first-class judges:
Short story - Dame Margaret Drabble
Poetry - Simon Armitage, CBE
Illustration - Victoria Brookland


Please see the competition website. Link below will open a new tab window.
 
http://www.bronte.org.uk/bronte-society/creative-competition

Best of luck to all.

More news soon. Back to work on my novel and tuning in later to make more adjustments to my blog.