Tuesday 15 December 2015

Magnetic bracelets and copper bangles

This blog is a bit like a bus. You wait for ages and then two come along together. All right it's an old joke, but then again, as the saying goes, the old ones are the best.

What I mean is, you're probably wondering why I've suddenly become so active. The answer is I have a lot on my mind and all my friends are busy. So I'm sharing it with you. One of the things that is on my mind is my newfound interest in magnetic bracelets and more generally in magnetic products for health.

Now I know what you're thinking... how come this guy who has always been so sceptical that anything that reeked of New Age could even be considering anything as pseudoscientific as magnetic bracelets for pain relief and therapeutic effect? Well the answer is that I have become open-minded in my middle-age.

No, not buying it? All right then. I'll come clean. I have been reading up on the subject, because of personal need.The strain of typing at the computer for long hours is finally taking its toll on me and my wrist. (A cynic would say that I'm straining my wrist with other activities too, but that's another matter.)

Anyway, I want you to know that I am still open-minded, and have not committed to it one way or the other, but I am moving away from Gradgrindesque scepticism to cautious enthusiasm.

So as they used to say in journalism: watch this space.

Wednesday 2 December 2015

How to write an Amazon fiction book for the Kindle or CreateSpace

David Kessler - AKA the world's best thriller writer - has written a wonderful 240-page book called How to write an Amazon fiction book that SELLS.

Aimed squarely at the Kindle and CreateSpace market, there is also a CreateSpace edition, with a slightly different title (for reasons too complex to go into). Here are just some of the things that the book covers:
  • Getting ideas
  • Turning basic ideas into a story
  • Getting past the ole' writer’s block
  • Starting the book in a way that makes the reader curious
  • Picking the correct style and genre
  • Research - when and how
  • How to write sizzling action
  • How to write crackling dialogue
  • Making your description spring to life
  • Point of view and author's voice
  • Getting the pace right
  • Ending chapters at the spot that reader's want to know more
  • Ending the book to sell the next one
  • Self-discipline and sanity
  • Getting the most from the Kindle and CreateSpace platforms
  • Coming up with that perfect title
  • Steering clear of the sharks (vanity publishing and bogus agents)
  • You've written it, now SELL it!
To promote the book, Kessler is giving away ten free copies in a Goodreads Giveaway.


Goodreads Book Giveaway

How to write an Amazon book that SELLS* by David  Kessler

How to write an Amazon book that SELLS*

by David Kessler

Giveaway ends December 09, 2015.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.
Enter Giveaway
You can enter the giveaway from here or go to Goodreads and do so from there. That's for the paperback edition. If however, you are a Kindle person through and through, you might like to go directly to Amazon and get the Kindle version right away.  You could be reading it in less than a minute.