Smashwords Summer Promotion

As a working writer I'm never very happy to see this roll around. It simply doesn't do me any good. Traffic to SW increases as a good number of writers make their work free. The result is a slowdown of sales elsewhere.

As ever with a thing that exists, I have to make a decision what to do with it. It makes sense to me to offer up free and discounted copies of work that is not selling, but that I think should reach a wider readership who would likely enjoy it.

Some time ago I wrote a series of shorter works collectively called Dancing with Darwin. These stories are Science Fiction, Apocalyptic and Post Apocalyptic fun and I have a whole bunch of them planned. An alien intelligence brings about an apocalyptic event, he destroys the world by spreading a virus that makes us all uniquely crazy. Imagine the fun that ensues as everyone on the planet develops their own unique form of crazy. For reasons it's futile to guess at, they didn't catch. I mean, I think they are good, and some reviewers do also. But they just failed to catch on. So, here's a chance to grab one of them free and to buy the collection at a reduced price.

Evolving Environment is free here: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/168088.

And if you like that one - and why wouldn't you? - then the collection is on sale for a dollar fifty.

Dancing with Darwin (Sane?) is available here: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/237665

Oh, and The Last King's Amulet ebook is reduced most places to a bargain basement price of 99cents for the month of July. I may have said this elsewhere but it bares repeating.

Now it's time for me to go back and work.

Excerpt from John Daulton's Blog

If you are not a writer, it makes no difference. I thoroughly recommend that you click on the link and read the whole piece on John Daulton's blog, here: What is a REAL Author Anyway?

What is a REAL Author Anyway? The Difference Between Perdurance and Endurance

June 19th, 2013

I’m writing this for a writer friend of mine who is struggling right now as an artist. She’s hit a rough patch on the already rough road of writing, and now she’s wondering if she even is “a writer” at all. She’s wondering if she is “a real author” at all. And I’ve seen other people ask themselves this question a lot. I’ve seen them beat themselves up about the very same thing they love. I’ve seen long debates on writers forums about indie authors versus traditional authors, different people arguing about whether indie or “self-published” (a pejorative to many) are or are not “real” authors from the start. Some argue that people who write, no matter if published at all, are only “real” authors based on some abstract criteria they’ve dug up, while some others affix any number of arbitrary sales figures or income figures to their understanding of what it means to be a “real” author.

I think they are all missing the point.
Perdurance is a word I first heard in a metaphysics class. It’s also a word I am dedicating to my friend. And to all my fellow writer friends out there, whether I’ve met them or not. Perdurance is what I think my friend, and anyone else out there, needs to understand to find joy in their work, their art and their career. And since I know it’s not a commonly used word, or even a definitively defined one, I’ll explain it as best I can.

Goodreads Giveaway

Goodreads Giveaway active now. You will need a Goodreads account, and I'll post a link below so that you can go grab one. Then you will need to do a search for The Last King's Amulet, click on a button, and give some basic information (so that I know where to send the book if you win).

The Prize: The winners will receive autographed paperback copy of The Last King's Amulet, book #1 of a four part series culminating in the recently released All The King's Bastards. There are five signed copies up for grabs.

Entry: Simple, sign up to Goodreads, a great site that allows you to rate and review books and recommends books to you based on your own preferences. To enter the contest, this is the page you will need to take a look at:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8095038-the-last-king-s-amulet

Then simply press the Enter to Win button, and fill in some info. Job done.

Good luck.

Giveaway dates: Jun 02 - Jul 31, 2013
3 copies available, 1 person requesting
Countries available: US, CA, and GB more
https://www.goodreads.com/ 

What Sapphire thinks about Everyone He meets

I haven't finished reading Game of Thrones, and probably won't do so any time soon. It seemed to lose focus... that and the advent of the TV series, which I have watched some of, kind of muddied the waters so much that I basically lost interest. I probably have the same issue as many - not enough focus on my favourite characters and too much of people who I basically don't remember. This is not a problem Sapphire has; he kills most people he meets so that his memory doesn't get cluttered up with names he has to remember.