Some Ways to Waste Money

Just recently I have started getting e-mails from people offering to review my book(s). Of course, they want to be paid and I would never pay for a review – even from a prestigious organisation like Kirkus. For one thing, Amazon will punish you if they find out. Nor would I ask for payment in return for a review. But paying for reviews is only one way self-publishers and independently published authors can waste loads-a-money. Here, courtesy of Anne R Allen and Nate Hoffelder are some more: How to Waste Money When Self-Publishing a Book Continue reading Some Ways to Waste Money

Writers and Readers don’t always Understand Each Other

This post from Rebecca Bryn resonated with me because I recently received a couple of critical reviews of Strongbow’s Wife. In one case the writer of the review kindly e-mailed me pointing out a couple of minor period details that I got wrong. The other claimed to have had his faith in the book destroyed by the appearance of a minor  character who aspired to write ‘poetry in the Greek fashion’. Impossible in Medieval Britain according to my critic. Trouble is he was a real person who did indeed write epic poetry emulating Homer. Rebecca is definitely one of my … Continue reading Writers and Readers don’t always Understand Each Other

I HAD A DREAM

Originally posted on lucinda E Clarke:
I had a dream last night, not as earth shattering as Martin Luther King, I’m not that famous and important, and frankly although I was standing on a stage too, no one was listening to me. Sad isn’t it? Now most of us might dream of receiving the Nobel Prize for Literature and then being interviewed on a national Breakfast Show, simpering as the interviewer gushed about our brilliant book – right? Well, my dream wasn’t like that. The stage morphed into a television studio and my interview went something like this: INT: So,… Continue reading I HAD A DREAM