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Two ways your Amazon affiliate links could get you in trouble

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As serendipity would have it, I picked up not one but two golden nuggets this week related to Amazon affiliate links, which I felt compelled to share here. Trust me, they are small and insignificant things that you’re probably unaware of, but could get you in trouble unless you take remedial action at once.

Obviously, this post is mostly of interest to those who are Amazon affiliates. That is to say, people who embed affiliate tags in their links to Amazon products (in order to gain a small commission from any purchases incurred). Still, even if you are not an Amazon affiliate, the information may still be of use to you if you’re an author so you can warn your reviewers. Stick with me and it’ll all soon make sense.

GOLDEN NUGGET NUMBER 1

You’ve all heard that Amazon deletes reviews (sometimes hundreds in one go!) of people that they suspect know the authors personally. In my post, How to not lose your reviews on Amazon, I discuss some of the ways Amazon finds out when a reviewer and an author know each other. Also, in this post by Gwendolyn Kiste, you will be shown clearly how Amazon sees who knows whom via the use of Super URLs that many authors share without knowing the risks.

Now, to the nitty-gritty of this post – this tip has been shared recently in my writer’s group, eNovel Authors at Work:

Amazon now deletes the reviews of those who use affiliate links to connect to a book on Amazon from a book review post (on a site or blog).

Think about it: You’ve read a book, you post your review on Amazon (so far so good), and then you blog the review on your site but you don’t just link up to the book on Amazon, you add your affiliate tag to the link. Bam! Wham! You just gave yourself a financial benefit from your review! Big mistake… As you know, the Amazon TOS forbids reviewers to receive payment. And yes, you guessed it, Amazon considers the addition of your affiliate tag as payment, even if no purchase is ever made!

We can all continue to blog our reviews, of course, but, without using affiliate tags in the review posts.

GOLDEN NUGGET NUMBER 2

There I was yesterday, browsing through my timeline on Twitter, no care in the world, when this post by Meron Bareket on Social Quant drew my attention like a magnet: “7 Ways Using Twitter Can Leave You in Need of a Lawyer”. Seeing that I use Twitter heavily, I couldn’t ignore that! I am always careful not to step on any toes, especially where plagiarism or image copyright infringement are concerned. This means I breezed through the article, feeling quite safe, until I got to number 3: “Failing to Disclose Affiliate Links/Paid Endorsements”. I’d never heard of The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) before. I live in Greece and don’t even know if, being a Greek citizen, I am within their scope of supervision, but being as careful and law-abiding as I am, my immediate decision was to comply anyway. Read the whole article, it’s well worth your time! I made sure to amend all my automated tweets so I can disclose the use of affiliate links. Phew! Another bullet dodged as I roam the obscure paths of Cyberspace! Thank you Meron Bareket!

I know the title of this post refers to two ways… but having discovered the aforementioned tidbits this week my apprehension hit the red part of the scale. I felt compelled to research further and stumbled upon this terrific article by Al-Amin Kabir on Marketever. It lists the various ways Amazon could ban you as an affiliate for using your tags in ways you’re not supposed to. I mean, who would have thought you could get banned for using them on email for example? Phew! More bullets dodged there.

And with that, I’ll let you go. Hope this helps, folks!

Two ways your Amazon affiliate links could get you in trouble #ASMSG #IARTG Click To Tweet

 

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Interview with mystery author, Anne Zouroudi

Hello peeps! Today I’m thrilled to welcome award-winning mystery author, Anne Zouroudi. I picked The Messenger of Athens years ago, before I even became an indie author, and loved its powerful prose. I was delighted when in time I met Anne online, to discover the lovely person behind the popular books. I don’t know about you, but the covers of her Mysteries of the Greek Detective Series make me dream of sparkling Greek island waters and quaint tiny village scenes. If that’s where you wish to drift with your mind during your next read, Anne’s stories will take you straight there.

 

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When the battered body of a young woman is discovered on a remote Greek island, the local police are quick to dismiss her death as an accident. Then a stranger arrives, uninvited, from Athens, announcing his intention to investigate further. His methods are unorthodox, and he brings his own mystery into the web of dark secrets and lies. Who has sent him, on whose authority is he acting, and how does he know of dramas played out decades ago?

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feastofartemis

From the real life Shirley Valentine, Anne Zouroudi’s seventh Greek mystery with the popular detective, Hermes Diaktoros.

The olive harvest is drawing to a close in the town of Dendra, and when Hermes Diaktoros arrives for the celebratory festival he expects an indulgent day of food and wine. But as young men leap a blazing bonfire in feats of daring, one of them is badly burned. Did he fall, or was he pushed? Then, as Hermes learns of a deep-running feud between two families, one of their patriarchs dies. Determined to find out why, Hermes follows a bitter trail through the olive groves to reveal a motive for murder, and uncovers a dark deed brought to light by the sin of gluttony.

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doctorofthessaly

My first question must be, why do you want no investigation? If some malicious person has robbed you – as you believe – of your precious sight, why do you not want that person caught, tried and punished for their crime?
A jilted bride weeps on an empty beach, a local doctor is attacked in an isolated churchyard – trouble has come at a bad time to Morfi, just as the backwater village is making headlines with a visit from a government minister. Fortunately, where there’s trouble there’s Hermes Diaktoros, the mysterious fat man whose tennis shoes are always pristine and whose methods are always unorthodox. Hermes must solve a brutal crime, thwart the petty machinations of the town’s ex-mayor and pour oil on the troubled waters of a sisters’ relationship – but how can he solve a mystery that not even the victim wants to be solved?

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Hello Anne and welcome to my blog!

Hello, Fros! Thank you for the invitation.

What was the first thing you ever wrote and how old were you then?

I was bitten by the writing bug early in life. At age ten, I entered a national essay competition and won a runner-up prize, a very smart ballpoint pen, which was presented to me in school assembly. Unfortunately several decades passed before I won any other prizes. From my teenage years onwards I always wrote, mainly short stories though I attempted my first novel at eighteen. When my mother died, I discovered that manuscript hidden away in a cupboard. Though it wasn’t as bad as it might have been, it won’t ever be making it into print.

What inspired you to write The Mysteries of the Greek Detective?

In a word, Greece. When I first set foot on Greek soil – almost thirty years ago now – I felt I had found my spiritual home. Everything about the place – the sea and landscape, the people, the way of life – seemed so idyllic. Over time, I discovered a few flaws and imperfections, but they serve to add spice to my writing. I feel my duty as a writer is to present the whole picture, the good and the bad. Before I wrote The Messenger of Athens I was reading a lot of crime fiction and couldn’t find any set in Greece, so I decided to try and fill the gap. I drew on the Greek myths too, because they’re full of the most amazing stories and characters, and that touch of the mystical brings an unexpected twist to my novels. In short, I wrote the kind of book I’d love to read.

And I’m sure many readers will agree with me when I say, thank goodness for that! Tell us Anne, do you see yourself in any of your characters?

As my creation, my investigator, Hermes Diaktoros, is naturally a man after my own heart. Like him, I abhor life’s unfairness and injustices. I’m very politically aware, and I’ve always been quick to support deserving causes and speak out where I see the need. Like Hermes, I’m also a stickler for good manners. There’s a scene in The Doctor of Thessaly where a woman pushes in front of Hermes in a queue, and he gives her cause to regret her presumption. I’m jealous of his ability to generate instant payback for those who behave badly towards others.

What are you working on at the moment?

I needed a break from Hermes after I finished The Feast of Artemis – writing seven novels in seven years was tough – but I’m very pleased to say I’m now working on a new Greek Detective novel, which will be available later this year. Having finished the Seven Deadly Sins, I’m moving on to the Ten Commandments, which will keep me busy for a while. In the meantime I’ve been penning short stories. My most recent is Swan’s Lament, a ghost story set in the Lincolnshire fens where I was born.

A ghost story? Yay – you got one reader hooked already! Which are your favorite authors, and what do you love about them?

I’m a huge fan of Neil Gaiman, whom I discovered only relatively recently when I read American Gods and found his (other) world view coincided pretty closely with mine. He’s a writer of huge imagination. His books remind me of Alan Garner’s magical tales, which I so adored as a child. And I love David Mitchell for the boldness in the scope of his writing, Niall Williams for the beauty of his prose and Michael Connelly for his ability to make me keep turning the page.

If you could choose another profession, what would that be?

I already have another profession, or at least an occupation. My partner and I have a little land where we grow most of our own vegetables and keep a few chickens. It’s hard work, but there’s nothing like the taste of food you’ve grown yourself. I’ve got quite green fingers – last year I managed to grow aubergines, peppers and even a couple of melons – not bad for dull, grey England! I’m also a keen cook, and I’ve always wanted to open a restaurant or a proper English tea-room. I may give that a try, one day.

Wow, these look fantastic! I bet you made Moussaka with these gorgeous eggplants!

Oh yes – more than once! (*grins*)

Being an author involves a lot of sitting around. What do you do for exercise?

There’s a cure to writer’s backside I’d recommend to every author: get a dog. A dog is the best possible companion when the words aren’t flowing as well as they might. They’ll trot along silently at your side for hours, until the knots unravel and the sentences begin to oblige, and all that walking eases the aching back and stiff muscles which are inevitable when you’re bent over a keyboard for hours at a time.

I was heartbroken to lose my much-loved canine companion of twelve years recently but there’s a new boy at my side now, a young rescue dog called Harry. Harry had a very poor start in life but now he’s being spoiled rotten and he’s thriving.

Harry Jan 2016

Oh, well done for saving Harry, and I understand he saved you too. Been there, Anne. You’re lucky to have found each other.

Thank you, Fros.

I see you’re holding one last photo there; can we take a look?

Of course; this is our splendid white leghorn cockerel.

cockerel 2

Oh, very beautiful. Thank you for sharing these photos! Last question: how would you like to be remembered?

Quite simply, as someone who told a good yarn. That would be the ultimate compliment.

Thank you so much for being here with us today, Anne!

Thank you, Fros. It’s been a pleasure!

 

annezouroudi

Anne Zouroudi was born in Lincolnshire and grew up in the north of England. In young adulthood, she pursued a high-powered career which included time on Wall Street and travel to Singapore, Canada and the capitals of Europe, but following a holiday to Greece, she abandoned the corporate world to marry a fisherman and begin a dramatically different life on a remote Greek island. Inspired by Greece’s beauty, people and mythology, she wrote The Messenger of Athens, a crime novel with mystical overtones featuring enigmatic investigator Hermes Diaktoros. Six other novels followed, each based on one of the Seven Deadly Sins. Anne’s work has received wide critical acclaim and has been shortlisted for a number of awards, including the ITV3 Crime Thriller Awards and the Desmond Elliott Prize. She currently lives in the UK but spends as much time as possible in Greece, which is still the main inspiration for her writing.

Visit Anne’s website

Visit Anne’s Amazon page  US   UK

https://www.facebook.com/annezouroudiauthor/

http://www.twitter.com/annezouroudi

https://uk.pinterest.com/annezouroudi/

Meet author @annezouroudi & her Mysteries of Greek Detective series #Greece #ASMSG Click To Tweet

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How to get your Facebook timeline just right

This week I stumbled upon a Facebook screen that helped me change my timeline in a way that finally suits me. You know how it goes… your friend list gets longer and longer and before you know it your timeline is packed with uninteresting (if not annoying!) posts while the ones you’d love to see from your favorite pages, best friends or family members are nowhere to be found.

Do you experience this kind of frustration? Fear not, for today I have the solution!

This is easy to do and will take you a couple of minutes. On any Facebook screen, click on the down arrow on the top right.

FB newspref

 

Choose, “News Feed Preferences”, then “Prioritize who to see first.”

This screen opens:

 

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This is as easy as A-B-C. Facebook lists all your friends and liked pages here. If you click on an image, Facebook puts a star on it. This is how you tell Facebook to list first on your timeline the posts of these people (or pages).

You are allowed to mark a maximum of 30 people or pages. If you try to star the 31st, it’ll prompt you to un-star someone else so you can star this one.

This little tweak has worked like a charm and I’m sure will maximize your browsing pleasure as well.

Oh – in case you don’t know: You can also tell Facebook who your closest friends are (so you get to see their posts more often). Just go to your friend’s page, hover the mouse over “Friends” and click on “Close Friends.”

While on the subject of Facebook friends, I’d like to give you a piece of advice, if I may, and if paying it forward is your thing:

If an author’s posts are too many, or not of interest, please don’t ‘unfriend’ them or ‘unlike’ their pages. You can continue to support them AND not have to see their posts. How?

Whether it’s their private page or their author page posts that you’d rather not see on your timeline, go to the top right of the post where the down arrow is. Click on the down arrow, then choose to unfollow them. Don’t worry; they’ll never be notified you did this.

This way, their posts won’t come up again, BUT you’re still friends AND your like still counts on their page. It’s a WIN-WIN.

To read some really cool tips and facts on Facebook, head over to this awesome post on HubSpot Blogs.

You may want to subscribe to their Marketing or Sales posts – lots of fresh information there!

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Interview with Laney Smith

Today I’m pleased to welcome Laney Smith, author of the Time Capsule Series. Laney sets her romance in Lock Creek, a small town where people love to gossip and are anything but what they seem!

 

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When Anne Howard moves to the sleepy town of Lock Creek, she thinks she’s found a quiet place to hide from her guilty past; that’s until the gossiping locals prove her wrong. One of the favorite topics of conversation here is the devilishly handsome Sheriff Derrick Decker. With a long line of hopefuls, and despite his resistance to commitment, Derick soon finds himself irresistibly drawn to Anne, but so does a charming firefighter, Trevor Thomas. Shy but sassy Anne finds herself torn between the two men. Is Derrick corrupted as the rumors say? Is Trevor Thomas really the saint he appears to be?

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InTheirOwnTime

Despite the many bumps along the road, the love between Anne and Derrick continues to flow strong. But the beautiful town of Lock Creek still harbors danger for their dreams to a blissful future in marriage in the face of Trevor, who hasn’t said his last word yet. As new, dark secrets are revealed, Lock Creek is veiled in mystery and intrigue once again. Things aren’t always what they seem, and the people in this sleepy town know that too well…
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 DERRICKSTIME
Derrick still enjoys the admiration of the people in the small town of Lock Creek. But, despite his best intentions to hide his many mistakes of the past, now he is in danger of having it all out in the open. Before he knows it, he’s at a risk of losing Anne, the woman he loves, the only one he ever had to chase… Will his past stay where he left it, or will this reformed wild child have some explaining to do?
 
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When Anne and Derrick return from their exotic vacation, they find Lock Creek in a big mess. The locals are being a handful and now a serial killer is on the loose…
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Hello Laney, and welcome to my blog!

Thank you for the invitation, Fros. It’s great to be here!

Tell us, Laney, do you see yourself in any of the characters of Lock Creek? And do any of them have traits you wish you had?

I think it is a little of both. I tried to create a world filled with people I would want to know. You have to have the people you don’t want to know, also. Otherwise, it is too unbelievably perfect and disturbing. Therefore, I wrote the antagonists to be everything that puts me off. I like to think I’m nothing like them, and I don’t value their traits. Having said that, I think you have to put some of yourself in them, too, since they represent everything you don’t want to be.

Are there any hobbies or interests that you enjoy in your spare time?

 There are so many things. I’ll narrow it down to three: spending time with family and friends, just about anything outside (just being out of the house), and going to sporting events.

What are you working on at the moment? Tell us a little about your current project(s).

There is a fifth book in the works for the Time Capsule Series. I have a murder mystery that will be coming out. I have quite a few love stories that I’m working on. It is somewhat non-stop. I just roll with whatever pops up and I work with that until something else happens. It is fun and I’m really excited to see what the New Year brings.

Which are your favorite authors, and what do you love about them?

I like Nicholas Sparks because his stories are just beautiful. I like other stories, but The Notebook is probably my favorite. I also like Stephen King because his stories freak me out and mess with my head. He has his own style, and somehow, he has managed to hold on to that. I also respect the fact that he is kind enough to pass along encouraging and motivating words of wisdom for other authors.

What genres do you read mostly, and what are you reading now?

I like reading non-fiction, criminal psychology books. I wanted to be a criminal psychologist, so I read the true crime type books and that feeds that interest a little. I like mystery and suspense. I also have an appreciation for books that make you question the reality you know, as with Stephen King’s books. I enjoy anything that engages your mind. For me, if it is believable and realistic, I probably want to read it. As far as what I’m currently reading, I read on Sundays. I start a book when I wake up and usually finish them before I go to bed. I have a few on my TBR list. So, we’ll see what comes up. I recently downloaded “The Necklace of Goddess Athena.” Maybe I need to read that one next.

LOL – thank you, Laney, it’s an honor you chose one of mine. Do you have any advice for other indie authors?

Many authors are indie for reasons of their own. Not every author is indie because they weren’t “good enough.” So, to think that you don’t have to be as good as traditionally published authors is a tragic gamble. Actually, you should try to be better. Many readers have no clue what the difference is between traditional and indie. They couldn’t care less. You are an author with a published book, and they have expectations built around that fact. If you are the first indie author they ever read, be the standard that the others are held to. Being indie isn’t a crutch. It’s a challenge to do it better. If we don’t see it that way, why would anyone else?

Well said! What do you enjoy the most as an indie author that you imagine you wouldn’t if you were traditionally published? If you had a choice would you still go indie?

I love being an indie author. There are benefits to both routes. I write under a different name and I’ve signed with a publisher under that name. I have experience in both realms. There are benefits to both sides of the coin. However, with indie, you don’t have to have approval to do anything. You do what works for you. When you’re indie, you pick the cover art. The publisher told me they would show me the final cover once it is completed. With indie, you can be who you truly are. When I’m representing the publisher, I’m like their character and I have a part to play. Don’t get me wrong. That is kind of fun. It is just two different sets of rules. Both have benefits. I have now seen both sides. I have released a book, as an indie author, since signing with a publisher. I have no regrets for either decision. I have learned a lot with both options.

Good luck with that, Laney. Sounds exciting and very promising. Describe your workstation. Are there any favorite objects you have there for inspiration?

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I have a desk that I usually work at. If that isn’t working for me, I will take the computer and go sit outside on the patio. As far as inspiration – my boys are watching. I have to do this so they can see that I bust it to do this. But, when the hard work pays off, it is a lesson for them, I hope. I also have different things that inspire specific characters, settings and scenes. Sometimes, it is a photo, a person, or a song. Sometimes it comes from the most unexpected things and in the most unexpected ways. However it happens, I am always thankful for that inspiration.

You have two beautiful children there, Laney. I bet they inspire you endlessly to keep on trying. Do you listen to music while you write and if so, what kind?

I do! I listen to just about everything, so my playlists look like I’m in the middle of some kind of crisis. I have had scenes that were inspired by a song. A song inspired the most heart-breaking scene I’ve ever written. That scene is in Lock Creek: Time of Death. The scene unfolded as though I were watching a movie screen as the song played. I’m pretty sure I will never be the same, ever! I like it when that happens. That scene broke my heart. I can laugh at myself for that. It is silly, maybe. However, I feel for those characters in the same way I do for other people that I care about. I know that music helps me write a lot. Even if it is just to set a certain mood or whatever, I think it is necessary.

Tell us about your website/blog. What will readers find there?

My website is http://www.authorlaneysmith.com. I have a lot of fun photos from various events. There is a listing for almost every interview or article. There is a web store where you can order signed or personalized copies of the books I have written or am currently involved with. There is a blog with a few postings. I think there’s an event calendar there somewhere. Of course, there is a contact form and causes I support. It has just about anything anyone would ever need. So, stop by, say hi.

Thank you for your time, Laney. It’s been wonderful to have you.

Thank you so much, Fros, it’s been a pleasure.

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Laney Smith has enjoyed writing her entire life. She had her first poem published in 1995. Since then, she has written multiple stories for local newspapers. She is the proud mother of two wonderful, brilliant and talented young men and has two younger brothers. Though she currently resides in California, she has lived in places such as Arkansas, Texas, Mississippi and Colorado. This has given Laney an exciting opportunity to experience aspects of life that she uses to create settings, characters, and even ideals. Through the encouragement of friends and family, Laney has now decided to pursue her hobby on a more serious level. Thus, “One Year’s Time” was born (the first book in the Time Capsule Series) and it is with great pride that she brings this fun story to you.

Visit Laney’s Amazon page   US   UK

Visit Laney’s website

https://www.facebook.com/oneyearstime

http://www.twitter.com/OYTLaneySmith

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8411874.Laney_Smith

http://www.pinterest.com/AuthrLaneySmith/

 

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Author, enter the competition and get your short story narrated by a pro!

Hello peeps! As you know, I am always on the lookout for new things . . . Today, after speaking to my British author friend, Matt Kruze, I got blogging and sharing like a mad thing; the tip he gave me is just too good to keep to myself!

Matt Kruze has created Bibliophone: a platform for writers to upload audio files of their books, short stories, even poems. Think of the site as a kind of Youtube for audio reads.

 For example, go now and have a listen to Matt Kruze’s The Villager on Bibliophone.

 
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Please note:
 
Nothing’s for sale on the site. Its sole purpose is to give exposure to authors and their work (authors are encouraged to include their Amazon page with their bio).
 
What type of work is accepted: novels, novellas, short stories, poetry, non-fiction (no problem if you have published the work elsewhere.)
 
What is not accepted: excerpts (only complete works are allowed), KDP Select books (as they need to remain exclusive to Amazon.)
 
To spread the word about his site, Matt is running a competition that’s free to enter: upload a piece of work of max 1,000 words and win the chance to have it recorded by a professional narrator and published on the site. Other than the competition, authors can upload their works at any time. I asked Matt what free software he’d recommend for someone who wouldn’t know where to start as to record their own narration – he said he uses Audacity (free to download and plenty of Youtube video tutorials available).
 
To check out Matt’s site & the competition, go here: http://www.bibliophone.com/the-bibliophone-1000-words-heard-competition/
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Book Review: Evanthia’s Gift by Effie Kammenou

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Evanthia’s Gift is a heart-warming family saga that still stays with me even though I finished the book a couple of weeks ago. My mind often drifts to its vivid characters, their difficult life situations and heartache. Although it is a long book, it kept me interested and I couldn’t put it down, always starting yet another chapter to see what happens next. In terms of storyline and characters, this books scores top marks. However, I found the pace could have been better – there are many scenes that are not necessary to advance the story and therefore could have been omitted to make this a shorter, tighter read. Still, because it was so unputdownbable and its story/characters so palpable and haunting, I am giving it four stars. I am already looking forward to the next book in the series.

My rating:

4 stars

A heart-warming story and vivid characters that will stay with you.

 

final cover

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Do you enjoy drama and nostalgic stories about life back in the 60s – 70s? Give this family saga a try – especially if you have some Greek ancestry. The Greek recipes included in the book are also worth a try!

Check out my interview with Effie Kammenou on this blog!

 

Logo 280x178 w font AR HERMANNHave you enjoyed this post? Follow the blog (see right sidebar) and miss no more posts! Sign up to Effrosyni’s newsletter to keep up to date with her news and special offers (very sparse emails). Interested to read more? Head over to Effrosyni’s Blog, where you’ll find her earlier interviews, book reviews, author tips, travel articles and even Greek recipes!

 

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Smashwords or Draft2Digital? My experience:

Hello peeps! Today I will share with you my experience with Draft2Digital (D2D) whom I chose to make a freebie book available to all major e-stores. In the process, I stumbled upon formatting issues that I share here. This post will also give you a couple of good reasons why you may choose not to publish your paperback with them.

Let me explain, first of all, that for my novels, I give exclusivity to Amazon, having registered them to KDP Select from day one. As a result, until recently I had no experience with Smashwords or Draft2Digital to make a book of mine available to other sales venues.

Back in the Fall, as I planned to publish a perma-free poetry book to attract new readers to my romance trilogy, I downloaded and began to read Smashwords’ infamous Formatting Guide. I am not ashamed to say, even though I hold a Bachelor’s Degree in IT, that the darn thing gave me a headache and I quit reading half way through. Next, a wonderful touch of serendipity provided the perfect solution. It was brought to me via an article by The Kindlepreneur (Dave Chesson) which showed the pros and cons of Smashwords VS the new kid on the block, Draft2Digital. The said post declared that Draft2Digital is preferable to Smashwords. For me, the biggest advantage of D2D was that they don’t expect you to read a mind-boggling formatting guide to apply, or to cough up a fee to a formatter to do the hard work for you.

So, without further ado, I registered with D2D and had my free poetry booklet sent out to new sales venues in no time. However, I did encounter an unexpected problem with the formatting and this is why I am blogging to tell you all about it. D2D converted my books into ePUB and MOBI format but it wasn’t done in the immaculate way Amazon Kindle does it… For my books, I use a .19 inch indent for every new paragraph. With Amazon Kindle, my book’s indents and line spacing look exactly as they do in the original Word file I upload.

When D2D converted my Word file into ePUB and MOBI format and asked me to check them for errors, I was surprised to see they didn’t look right at all. Take a look at two different passages in the book and you’ll know exactly what I mean:

 

The first line is all over the place in comparison to the rest of the text in any given paragraph – anywhere but honoring the .19 inch indent of the source file I uploaded. Now, here is where it got a bit awkward. I wrote to D2D’s Customer Services Dpt and asked for help to fix the problem, telling them I chose them instead of Smashwords as I didn’t know a great deal about formatting. To my surprise, I received a rather stiff response: “We are not proofreaders nor do we offer a full formatting service, even though we do help when asked to correct minor formatting issues.”

In the same email the agent declared: “Our conversions are made in Standard Narrative Fiction format which means that after every page break or scene break the first paragraph of the section is not indented.  If you look at any print fiction book on your shelves at home you will see the same standard format.”

The agent then offered a solution of sorts – to change the setting of my book from Standard Narrative Fiction format to Block Format, which changed the look of my book into this:

It’s not perfect but, as I had no other choice, I took it. As you can see, all the indents are gone. Furthermore, in the poems, the line spacing has increased… As I said, I had no other choice. At least this way there were no ugly discrepancies that jump out at you when you look at any given page. The agent told me she changed the setting in my book permanently so if I upload a later version it will retain the Block Format setting. So, if you go the same route as me and pick D2D, keep in mind if you encounter the same issues to ask for the Block Format option as opposed to the Standard Narrative Fiction format.

Truth be said, I do feel rather let down about that. In D2D’s home page, they state: “Your style guide is our style guide… Just get us your manuscript and we’ll do all the technical stuff for you.” I’ll say to that that there’s a whole world of difference between this statement and their agent’s response when I asked for help to fix the formatting issues. But, I do admit I was given an automated fix that met me somewhere half way. So there you have it – certainly not perfect as all the original indent and line spacing formatting is lost, but I didn’t have to bother with a formatting guide and it cost me nothing. In these respects, D2D delivered the promise. The publication process to the sales venues was incredibly fast and efficient too, with separate email notifications for every different channel. An excellent, FREE service.

D2D provides an option to publish your paperback with them using Createspace. I gave this a miss for a number of reasons. For starters, why give the middle man a percentage when you can publish with Createspace directly? The publishing procedure on Createspace is quite simple and self-explanatory. Other than that, be warned of these two important reasons why you may want to opt out of publishing your paperback using D2D:

  • D2D only provides one trim size option for paperbacks: 5.5″x8.5″ with black and white print and cream paper. If you’re publishing a non-fiction book this restriction becomes an even bigger problem as the standard out there is cream paper for fiction and white paper for non-fiction.
  • If, like me, you have to use the Block Format option with D2D as discussed above, it will work for your ePub and Mobi books sold out there in e-form but the setting will be lost when D2D sends the file to Createspace. The agent actually told me so – so your paperback may have the bad formatting shown above (if your original Word file looked on ePub and Mobi like mine did originally).

So, there you have it. My experience with D2D – Where I felt it delivered 100% and where it rather failed me. Mind you, I believe this company has a great future ahead of it and it seems active with closing new deals. A few days ago they emailed to advise they sent my book to a new partner – 24Symbols – and will continue to do so with any new e-stores they start collaborating with. Hopefully they will provide more formatting options in future as to do a better job, and maybe one day they will manage to convert Word files in the immaculate way Amazon Kindle does, leaving all line spacing and indents as they are in the source file. We can hope. I certainly do. So, thank you D2D! It was wonderful you came to the rescue to save me from that appalling Smashwords formatting guide. Yuk! Isn’t being indie hard work enough? Kudos to any of you out there who have braved the Smashwords path – I am in awe of you – but for any of you who’d struggle with that ghastly formatting guide like I did, at least now you have a good alternative. Despite the unfortunate formatting issue, I don’t regret my choice and will certainly pick D2D again.

Have you used Smashwords or D2D? What was your experience?

Thanks to D2D, Poetry from The Lady of the Pier (a selection of poems from the trilogy and a short story of sweet romance) is now available FREE on Amazon US &UK, iTunes, Kobo, Nook, Inktera, Oyster, Scribd and 24Symbols.

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FREE Download Links: http://effrosyniwrites.com/books/poetry-from-the-lady-of-the-pier/

 

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Book review: An Almost Perfect Christmas by Donna Fasano

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Christy is a hospital nurse who volunteers to help Aaron give his little girl, Izzie, the perfect Christmas at home. Izzie suffers from leukemia so Christy feels compelled to work with Aaron–a widower for the past two years–as they try to tick off every item on Izzie’s Christmas list. This story tugs at the heartstrings, as one would expect, and Donna Fasano’s masterful pen does it with a mixture of drama and lightheartedness that allows you to keep reading without feeling heartbroken all the time. It is a dramatic theme, after all, and the two adults seem to be living their sweet romance almost guiltily considering the tragedy unfolding. Still, the romance is what gives Christy and Aaron the strength to carry on, little Izzie being the glue that binds them together. If you’re looking for a Christmas book that will stay in your memory, this one is the perfect, short read and won’t disappoint. Grab a hankie and lose yourself in this heart-stopping, spell-binding Christmas tale.

 

My rating:

5-stars

A spell-binding Christmas tale!

 

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Looking for a heart-warming, short Christmas read?

Trust USA Today bestselling author Donna Fasano to deliver the perfect choice!

Visit Amazon   US   UK

 

Logo 280x178 w font AR HERMANNHave you enjoyed this post? Follow the blog (see right sidebar) and miss no more posts! Sign up to Effrosyni’s newsletter to keep up to date with her news and special offers (very sparse emails). Interested to read more? Head over to Effrosyni’s Blog, where you’ll find her earlier interviews, book reviews, author tips, travel articles and even Greek recipes!

 

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Interview with bestselling author, Martin Crosbie

Woo-hoo! It’s not often that I have indie superstars on my blog the likes of Martin Crosbie so excuse my big excitement today! When Martin accepted to do the interview, I couldn’t believe it. Goes to show that sometimes, all you need to do is simply ask. Martin is a bestselling author with a recent kindle scout winner in his arsenal: his crime novel, The Dead List. His book, How I sold 30,000 eBoooks on Amazon’s Kindle, is always handy in my office, a ‘promo bible’ for all intents and purposes.

 

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Outlines the methods the top 5% of successful self-published authors utilize to produce their eBooks in a professional, cost-effective manner.
Shows what happened after Amazon changed the rules and what you need to do right now to adjust your strategy.
How to adopt the philosophy that will allow promotional opportunities to come to you.

In February 2012 Martin Crosbie’s self-published eBook “My Temporary Life” hit Amazon’s top ten overall bestseller list. The next month Amazon posted a press release revealing that Crosbie had made $46,000 in one month, with one book. Prior to this, his novel was rejected one hundred and thirty times by traditional publishers and agents. In the months that followed, “My Temporary Life” and its sequel have been consistent sellers, often sitting atop Amazon’s rankings. Crosbie’s story has been mentioned in Publisher’s Weekly, Forbes online, and other media outlets around the world. In fact, Amazon referred to him as one of their 2012 success stories in their year-end press release. “How I Sold 30,000 eBooks on Amazon’s Kindle-An Easy-To-Follow Self-Publishing Guidebook” tells the story of how he became a full-time writer, detailing the specific steps he took to find and connect with his readers. Plus, it describes how he adjusted his strategy when Amazon changed their systems.

VISIT AMAZON  US    UK

 

 

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#1 BESTSELLER – ROMANTIC SUSPENSE
#1 BESTSELLER – CONTEMPORARY FICTION

“It has everything, simply everything-a coming of age, a romance, and a thriller all rolled  into one delightful read.”

Malcolm Wilson learns that everything is always temporary. Growing up, he’s raised by a promiscuous mother who can’t stay out of trouble, his best friend is a thirteen-year-old alcoholic, and the masters at his tough Scottish school are always raising their canes in his direction. When he becomes an adult, he escapes, and chooses the safe route, watching the world from a distance. Everything changes the day he meets the beautiful, alluring, green-eyed Heather, and when he learns of Heather’s own abusive childhood and the horrific secret she’s been carrying, Malcolm decides to help her. And, this time he’s not backing down, whatever the cost. The first book of the “My Temporary Life” Trilogy tells a story of love, friendship, and what it truly means to be a hero. A top-ten overall Amazon best seller, this grand, sweeping story has been enjoyed by readers all over the world.

Be sure to check out Martin’s other books-My Name Is Hardly – Book Two of the My Temporary Life Trilogy, Lies I Never Told-A Collection of Short Stories, How I Sold 30,000 eBooks on Amazon’s Kindle-An Easy-To-Follow Self-Publishing Guidebook – 2014 Edition, and Believing Again: A Tale Of Two Christmases.

VISIT AMAZON  US   UK

 

 

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The dead man’s head rests on a halo of blood. His hands are locked together as if in prayer. Rookie police officer John Drake is first on scene. His superiors want to call it an accidental death, but he isn’t convinced. In his previous life, Drake saw his share of dead bodies. He knows this was not an accident. When he uncovers a list with five names including the name of the dead man, there’s only one question. Are the names on the list suspects or potential victims?

VISIT AMAZON   US   UK

 

me in Lake Ont

Hello Martin and welcome to my blog!

Hello Fros, it’s great to be here!

First of all, congratulations for your latest novel, The Dead List – a Kindle Scout winner! Was it the first time you submitted a book on Kindle Scout? How did you find the process?

This was my first Kindle Scout submission; yes. The process was exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time. During the thirty days you try to build interest without bombarding your followers with requests to check out the preview of your book. So, I guess in some ways it was just another normal day for a self-published author. I believe in this book, I think it’s a great story and really wanted to tell it. I’m hopeful that Scout will help me reach more readers than I could by myself.

What has inspired you to write The Dead List?

It’s very loosely based on a true story. I was originally told about a dead list type of situation by a man many years ago. I don’t want to give away too much of the plot, but this gentleman was the last man standing. I always found the whole process fascinating but I wasn’t sure how to tell the story. And, you know how that works. You eventually buckle down, create your characters and let them fill in the blanks. It seems to have worked.

Yes, indeed it has! Martin, I’ve read your book, How I sold 30,000 eBooks on Amazon, and thought it was a wonderful tool for indies. I keep it handy near my desk for its great tips on promotion. With the indie world being so fluid, how hard do you find it to keep revising this book so that it can stay updated? How often do you need to do it? And would you be happy to share here a tip that you have learned since you last revised the book? I’d love it if you could share one here the first time!

Thank you for reading my book, I’m glad you find it useful. The book is taken from workshops that I have taught and you’re right, it’s difficult to keep revising as the indie world continues to evolve. As you know from the book I believe that approaching your career in an ethical manner and following a professional process rather than one or two distinct things will help you connect with readers. Having said that though, I still believe that if a writer has written a great book it will find an audience. So, the best thing we can do is keep writing and continue to become better writers. I don’t know if I can give you a tip, but one thing I have learned recently is that I can write faster and produce more than I believed I could. Others were doing it so I’ve been trying to increase my output. Whether all my scribbles will be published remains to be seen, but for me, I know I can write more than I have been. My writing mentor always told me there’s no such thing as writer’s block. Writing is a job and we just put the words together until they start making sense. I believe he was right.

I agree with you that writer’s block doesn’t exist. It’s just lack of determination, and the absence of a solid writing plan/method. Sometimes, a decision for better time-management is all you need. What other writing have you done? Anything else published?

I was very fortunate with my first book. I published My Temporary Life at the end of 2011 and readers really enjoyed it. A major Canadian newspaper wrote a story on me when my book hit top ten overall on Amazon and called me a “traditional publishing reject”. I’m one of those authors who was lining his walls with rejection emails. I had 130 of them for that book before I published it on my own. My Temporary Life is a tough book to categorize. It’s part coming of age, part adventure and part romance. Nobody quite knew what to do with it, but readers seemed to like the book and posted positive reviews. I was very lucky.

Perhaps it was luck in part, but I am sure it all started with the brilliant-writing bit, otherwise people wouldn’t have spread the word about it in the first place. I think you’re being very humble, Martin!

*chuckles* Perhaps, thank you.

Any hobbies or interests that you enjoy in your spare time?

Brandy, 30K book, and me

I enjoy movies with subtitles. There are a couple of very good film festivals locally each year and I love sitting in dark theatres watching foreign films. And I have a black lab who walks me most days. Plus, I’m a lapsed runner. I’ve run several half marathons and a full marathon. It’s my goal this winter to hit the treadmill consistently so I can train outside next spring and get back to long-distance running. And now that I’ve said it out loud I actually have to do it.

LOL! My husband is a marathon runner and I know the kind of commitment and inner strength it takes to do this. You have my full respect! Do you see yourself in any of your characters, or do any of them have traits you wish you had?

I was teaching a workshop a couple of years ago and a couple of ladies kept referring to me as “Malcolm”. Malcolm was the protagonist in My Temporary Life. When I told them I wasn’t him they repeated in unison, “Oh yes, you are.”

Malcolm has become a favorite character of many readers. I receive emails from his admirers telling me what he can and cannot do in the follow up books. It’s been quite interesting to see how folks have taken such a personal interest in him. When asked I tell people that even on my best days I don’t think I’ll ever be able to measure up to Malcolm, but we can dream, can’t we.

What you just said might as well be the best elevator speech you could give for your book. I am hooked! What are you working on at the moment? Tell us a little about your current project(s).

I’m writing the second book in the John Drake (The Dead List) series. I will probably submit that to Kindle Scout also. I’m also playing around with a short novel that is still in draft form. It’s the follow up to a Christmas romance I published a couple of years back –Believing Again – A Tale of Two Christmases. And, I am always plugging away at the third book in the My Temporary Life trilogy. One day I will be pleased to announce that it is complete.

What genres do you read mostly, and what are you reading now?

As I write this I’m due to leave on a short holiday so I’m filling my kindle with books. Amazon has many of the classics available for free and I’ve been taking advantage of that. I recently completed a Wilkie Collins book and enjoyed it very much, but right now I spend every night with Madame Bovary. She’s quite a woman, I mean book. She’s not real, is she? Was she? Either way, I’m enjoying my time with her very much.

Do you have any advice for other indie authors?

Don’t rush it. Put the best product you can out there and take your time doing it. If you’re not happy with the result then go back and find more beta readers to freshen it up before you publish. And, don’t be afraid of criticism. I’ll once again paraphrase my writing mentor. He told me to listen very carefully to everything he said and consider his comments. Then if I didn’t agree throw them out the window because nobody knows your work better than you do.

Great advice! Are there any sites or writing tools that you find useful and wish to recommend?

I write a monthly article for Indies Unlimited. Those guys volunteer their services to try and help the Indie author community. I highly recommend you check them out. And, I keep a list of tools for authors on my own website too.

Well, Martin, it’s been a huge honor to have you here with us today. Thank you so much.

Thanks for having me, Fros, this was fun!

martincrosbiephoto

In a press release, Amazon called Martin Crosbie one of their success stories of 2012. His writing journey has been chronicled in Publisher’s Weekly, Forbes Online, and Canada’s Globe and Mail newspaper. Martin’s latest novel The Dead List is a Kindle Scout winner and published by Amazon’s Kindle Press.

He makes his home in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada.

 

Visit Martin’s Amazon page  US   UK

Visit Martin’s website

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/martin.crosbie.3

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Martinthewriter

 

Logo 280x178 w font AR HERMANNHave you enjoyed this post? Follow the blog (see right sidebar) and miss no more posts! Sign up to Effrosyni’s newsletter to keep up to date with her news and special offers (very sparse emails). Interested to read more? Head over to Effrosyni’s Blog, where you’ll find her earlier interviews, book reviews, author tips, travel articles and even Greek recipes!

 

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How to NOT lose your reviews on Amazon

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Image by Dave Chesson (Kindlepreneur)

Boy, do I have awesome tips for you today.  I’ve just had an epiphany, and I’m blogging immediately to share. I owe this epiphany to the genius that is Dave Chesson, or as he’s otherwise known, The Kindlepreneur. Have you ever had your Amazon reviews deleted? Or are you an author affected by this with reviews in your own books? Fear not, because thanks to Dave, we’ll all have a few ideas from now on to protect ourselves!

Let’s face it – we all give out copies of our books to friends, or readers we meet online, hoping for an honest review to be posted at some point. Personally, I’ve never asked close friends or family members to review for me and, as my books are written in a foreign language to them, chances are they never will either. But, I realize, some of you may have gone this far out of desperation – I am not judging! – but did you stop and think that this is actually a surefire way for Amazon to catch you out?

As you will see on Dave’s post and on the embedded youtube video therein, the easiest way for Amazon to catch you getting a family member to review for you is by your mutual postal address or bank account.

Now, on to the more elaborate ways that Amazon may be associating you with a reader: Dave puts forward a very educated guess that made a light bulb go on in my head. When you read it, I’m sure you’ll know he has to be right! Personally, I’ve never made this mistake and have never had my own reviews deleted (phew, at least, so far!) but knowing what I know now, I finally feel more confident I am well protected and know how to protect my reviewers as well.

But, before you head over to Dave’s site to be amazed, I’d like to share one of my own theories:

When an author friend asks you to uptick an Amazon review for the umpteenth time, don’t. And don’t keep doing it for several authors either. I mean that ‘yes’ you can click on to make the review more helpful. Why? Because a sophisticated algorithm on Amazon will find it child’s play to work out that an author who keeps clicking ‘yes’ (or ‘no’, for that matter!) on the reviews of the same people’s books over an over has to be their buddy. Think about it. Even if Amazon doesn’t associate you with a specific other author, if you keep doing this for several authors, chances are Amazon will brand you as a reviewer with an agenda… then all your reviews could be deleted in one go. Scary, huh?

Now, head over to Dave’s awesome post. Believe me, you’ll get more info than you think! For example, his advice to publish on paperback before you launch the kindle, if you care to sell more paperbacks, is great. It is a clever little trick that will ensure your paperback will be listed on the top (instead of the kindle) in the searches for your book (this may be useful to non-fiction authors of reference books that sell more easily in paper form).

CLICK HERE FOR DAVE’S AWESOME POST

I highly recommend the site of Dave Chesson for his tips on Amazon Kindle, so while you’re there, make sure to register for future posts. You’ll get an awesome freebie book and, trust me, you’ll be thankful you listened to me when you read it!

 

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