Democracy Rules on Front Cover: Paperback Proof

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My paperback proofs were left at a neighbour’s house while I was at the dentist. I sprinted down the street and in the past 10 minutes I’ve ripped open the package and taken this photo! Read more

Have a Say: Paperback Cover Design

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One Final Decision is now needed before A Calculated Life goes to print. Yes, real ink on real paper. Almost quaint yet so thrilling! And I’m wondering which of these three designs to go for.

If you’d like a say in how my paperback looks then leave a comment, or tweet or send a message via facebook.

Front cover artwork by Mack Manning.

Cover_1Cover_2Cover_3

 

What? Launch-day bestseller on Kindle?

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This was a surprise: A Calculated Life reached the Kindle Bestseller List for Science Fiction on Amazon’s UK store, on launch day.

So was it Flukey-Tuesday, or what? I’ve been mulling this over and . . . I suspect I’ll never know the reason. Read more

‘A Calculated Life’ is now available on Amazon

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Amazon

I clicked the ‘Save and Publish’ button yesterday morning and just seven hours later A Calculated Life went live on Amazon’s websites as an eBook. To be precise, at 18:28:12 GMT on Monday 12 November. Read more

Decisions for Indie-Authors going Kindle

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Err_

Along with most authors I’ve opted to go, initially, with Kindle Direct Publishing because, quite simply, this reaches the highest number of potential readers. Indeed, many indie-authors don’t bother with any other eBook or any Print-on-Demand (POD) provider. I can see the logic: readers can access Kindle books without even owning a Kindle device. There are free Kindle Reading Apps for smartphones including the iPhone, computers and tablets, including the iPad and Android devices. So, it’s a pretty rational decision to stick with publishing Kindle eBooks.

However, Read more

My Indie-Author Strategy

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After weeks of tortuous research, I’ve now finalized my indie-author strategy for publishing my first novel. I’m mightily relieved that I’m releasing A Calculated Life this month rather than six months ago because at least one major problem facing non-US authors has been addressed. But before I get into any detail, here’s the broad-brush plan. I’m not saying this will suit all indie-authors but I reckon it’s the best for my circumstances:

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Rethinking Em-Dashes and Other Punctuation Malarky

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Ellipses

Six pages into my manuscript, for the final (absolutely final) read-through before e-publication, I decided to check whether em-dashes require character spaces.

Here’s the two lines of dialogue that prompted this check:

‘You were worried. I wasn’t —’

‘I over-reacted. I didn’t mean it.’

but maybe it should be this:

‘You were worried. I wasn’t—’

‘I over-reacted. I didn’t mean it.’

Read more