Tuesday 29 April 2014

One Poem = One Book ?

On many of my visits to some online bookstores, I have noticed somewhat of a trend amongst writers to publish 'book/s' containing just one poem or one short story or a story that is extremely short,  and nothing else!

I fail to see the relevance in publishing any of these, and justifying it by calling it a 'book' or the writer claiming to be a 'published author/writer.'

This appears to occur mostly with Indie 'writers' perhaps just 'testing the waters' or having the 'urge' to publish something. I have seen an influx of these types of books in recent times. Personally I do think it undervalues the Indie writing industry.

One poem or one very short story does not constitute a book. I really think there should be a set  minimum word count in order to have a book published by the Indie publishing companies.The word count would be relevant to each genre. It would mean that at least there would be no 'clutter' of these supposed books and would be a good 'tidy up' of the industry, so we can all be taken more seriously by main stream publishers.

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In Other News

Free e-Book Covers are still available but for a limited time. The free e-book covers will be removed by the end of June from this blog  So make sure you get them while you can. 

I have been considering if book reviews are the way to go with this blog. I have read a number of articles about such plus book promotions on blogs, and as a result feel I should either limit these to a handful at a time or remove it altogether from this blog! Will have a think on that.

My next novel is taking shape slowly. I am very happy with how it is turning out, but still have a long way to go with it. I am somewhat reluctant to make pubic any previews or quotes just yet. The book is a totally new territory for me but it has also been the book I have always wanted to write! This book is unlike any of my other published works, in which I always had a running title, had an idea about the cover and knew the full story, just had to write it - but this novel has thrown  me completely I don't have any of those things I had when writing my previous books. There is no title, no idea of cover design, no idea of where the story/characters are taking me. I have never under taken as much research nor have I written character bios, even down to dates of birth, before.  I am taking my time with this book. I am in no hurry to complete the story nor am I publishing any promos, not until the final edit at least. I have had portions of this book read by a couple of beta readers who told me they loved the story. So not leaving it just at that, I want it to be the best one I have written so far and to surpass all my other books. Well I am hoping that's the case!

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Wednesday 9 April 2014

The Pages Turn

Note that the FREE eBook Covers are up on this blog. All are still currently available details via top tab on this blog.

Since completing the e-covers., I have gone back to working on my next novel, which is slowly taking shape. Still researching and taking notes. The story is unwinding very gradually.  A short preview will of the novel will be available later this year. Publication is either late this year or early 2015. I am not rushing this book nor am I a book mill.

That's the thing I do not understand how some people can churn our books like switching on a conveyor belt and et voila! I still do not know how they do this! In another blog post I mentioned about how some authors just never seem to be off the Internet. They're always there on social networking sites, yet manage to be a book mill at the same time! It is quite possible they may have someone else to write on those sites, who knows!

For my next book I intend to take as long as I need with it. I am taking care of the story as it is one that I have always wanted to write since I was 17 but never got to do so, until now.  I have no title for it nor any cover, these will come much later. This is the first time for me this has happened, writing a book without having the title or the cover first!

It will all be worth the wait in the end.


 Next blog topic is the  'one poem/one short story 'book'




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The unread story is not a story; it is little black marks on wood pulp. The reader, reading it, makes it live: a live thing, a story.- Ursula K. Le Guin