Ten minutes to start...

The Obedience Of Fools...and the guidance of wise men, taken from a quote attributed to the fighter ace Douglas Bader, and this years entrant in National Novel Writing Month.

With what appears to be the right paperwork, what could you get away with?

Let's find out...

Follow the story as it unfolds via Smashwords and keep up with the latest word count here and at Nanowrimo.

Imagination to the power of...

Do you think NaNoWriMo is craziness squared, 50,000 words in 30 days, OK, shift the perspective and walk another path. Imagine this; you are the guide at a historic building somewhere. A place where history and the personal stories of people ooze from the walls.
The mission, should you accept it, is to tell those stories and unfold that history in a lively entertaining way, to draw the visitors in and hold their imagination with your words. There is no rehearsal, you go live with one chance, this will be your first and only draft. It is a different group of people every time you open the door.
Your talk will last at least an hour, perhaps an hour and a half, at between ninety and a hundred and ten words a minute.
No notes, just the prompts from the things around you. You are passionate about it and once you start the words flow freely. Work an average, 100 words a minute for 75 minutes, 7500 words. That's a little less than one seventh of NaNoWriMo in an hour and fifteen minutes.
The challenge is fifty thousand words in thirty days.
Now tell me that my first draft should be anything less than my best.
Write your first draft as though it was your last.

Summertime, and the reading is easy

And so it should be, with that in mind The Grange novels, Iceline and Control Escape have been listed in the Summer"Winter promotion at smashwords.com kicking off at 0001 Pacific Time and running through the entire month, take the opportunity, if you have been hanging about waiting to take the plunge, jump in. Stick the code SW100 in the appropriate box when you click to buy. Load up the ereader in time for the holidays.

My personal choice is a Kobo mini, compact - literally pocket size - with a couple of gig of memory and a battery that lasts for weeks. Check out the spec, doesn't work too good in the dark. I'm having a ball with mine proofreading What You Ask For, my 2012 Nanowrimo entry (and winner). Still a freebie at Smashwords, and when the proofreading, editing and all the other post-scribbling gubbins has been dealt with it'll go through the channels.

A whole month to explore some of the most original imaginations around, I can't wait  for midnight pacific time (it's about 8 am on a Monday morning locally).

Skulduggery and Scuba, smuggled in

Smuggling, skulduggery and scuba diving and he was in the right place at the wrong time. A late evening encounter outside the compressor shed and a moment of panic. A tourist joins the list of missing persons, literally whisked away one night and missing for weeks. 
Don Steel wasn't any tourist, his new enemies may have been unknown but their ignorance of who they had snatched would prove costly. Battered, bruised and bloody he turns up in a ditch high in the mountains above Glencoe; airlifted to hospital for treatment his recuperation is disrupted by an attempt to silence him. Steel would be neither silent nor compliantly lie down. Leaving his attacker in the care of and needing the attention of the ward sister he takes to the road and begins a cat and mouse chase across the highlands and islands of Scotland to a final showdown in Tobermory Bay backed up by allies colleagues and friends, and one friend discovers just how far he will go. 

There for the asking!

No need for caution, What You Ask For 2012 Nanowrimo winner published via Smashwords is now a completed draft; straight from the typeface and worth the read. Free to a good ereader, and a good home, while I sort out the proofreading and editing, and cover design for the final version.
Feedback is welcome, let me know your thoughts, suggestions and comments are via the link.

How Much!

The big question when you put anything out into the open market, and probably the biggest conundrum facing any author, self-published or otherwise, how much will the book sell for. Being an Indie I can't hand it over to marketing to do the calculations for me, but I know that Mark Coker at Smashwords has given the subject considerable time and thought. He's posted on the Smashwords blog and at Slideshare a couple of presentations (here and here) based on his research into the dynamics of ebooks sales.

Both presentations are worth a look at, and provide considerable food for thought. There is no magic bullet that I can see but more helpfully a solid appraisal of the situation facing any writer in the market place today.

There are likely to be as many ways of selecting the price for a book as their are writers, but one or two common factors seem to pop out. Obviously free shifts more dowlnoads than anything else, about 92 times more than, and ebooks come in a variety of prices but there is a correlation of approximately 30000 words per dollar, putting a full length novel edging towards epic length, (70000 to 1000000 words) around the $2.99 tag.

Have a look at the presentations, and see what you think.

World Book To-Night

Tonight is the night and the offer is still open, looking for a book for tonight. Iceline for free with the code NL36S here and Control: Escape with 50% discount code VK56T here.

Not Without My Cat (when fish is not enough)

Science fiction adventure. When is a crime scene not a crime scene? When it hasn't happened yet, or has it or will it? Time travel and intrigue in equal measure. An entertaining read, good outlines, realistic characters, a brilliant techie-medical partnership. Read it once and then it again to savour the flavour. I keep picking it up, drawn into the world inhabited by the characters, even the thumbnail sketch of a minor player reminds you of someone. Available at Feedbooks.com here for free
The book went up a week ago and notched a hundred and fifty downloads in seven days. Readers spread across the globe, taking an adventure with an unknown writer with a fantastic imagination. Adventurous independent minded readers for an independent author, is that what you see in the mirror? Prepared to venture into unknown territory. A M Russell is the writer and Not Without My Cat is the book.

So what are you going to do? Play it safe and go with a big name, or step into the unknown, download it for free or if you believe in  independent authors you can buy a copy at smashwords.com here.

The biggest name was an unknown once, I know where my money is, and Not Without My Cat is where I put it!

The Big One - World Book Night

One week to go, seven nights from tonight World Book Night will be with us! 

Have you anything lined up yet?

To celebrate;  Iceline, the first Grange novel is free to anyone who wants to offer it a good home here with NL36S for a 100% discount. Bag Control Escape for half price with VK56T here and take both home. Two thrillers for a dollar and a half, Have a good read.

Is there anybody there?

Blogging can feel like shouting in the dark, hurling your words into the void and wondering if anyone is listening, or reading. The page view stats; are they real people or search engine bots crawling through the pathways of the Internet, devouring fragments of code as they go?
I suppose they must be a combination of both, and what and who am I?
We all carry tags and labels, a name for this and a description for that, simpler than lumping everything as a thingummy or a whatsit.
My tag cloud, the labels attached to this blog, the metadata for my website, all say something about the medium being used and reasonably would say it about me, so who, what am I.
I write, therefore I am a writer - there, I said it, wrote it;  I AM A WRITER! (Are capitals loud enough or is that the internet equivalent of screaming?)
I tell stories, so I am a storyteller, I like the sound of that too, and I live in Yorkshire, which is in England and part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, so I am also English, and British. That gives a choice of options for the tag cloud, my writing is fiction, but not entirely, I enjoy a good bit of factual research but the freedom of fiction is more immediate and fun. Novelist, my books are novels, or at least variations on a theme (Source Material, posted 23.03.13)
I self publish, via Smashwords, who are my distributors, which makes me an independent author, or an Indie Author to see the tag on Diesel ebooks, and the constant chatter about traditional, hybrid, legacy,vanity, indie, self published, privately published or whatever I personally find quite fascinating, confusing and irritating.
I like being independent, I gives me the freedom to explore what works, and what doesn't; that's where the exploration begins the personal trek to boldly go, or tentatively dip a toe to check the temperature.
Seriously, it is an adventure in whatever guise you step out on to the road, and it may be long and arduous, but it will be worth it.
So who am I, what's my tag cloud today?
Martyn Taylor, Writer, Indie Author, British Writer, Yorkshire, England, Self-published, distributed by Smashwords, storyteller, independent, novelist

Something for the week-end, Sir?

The old style Barbers with the traditional red and white pole outside the door, dark wood panelling stained with age and Brylcreem, and the smell of oil, shampoo and the other unctions and ointments, the alchemy of hair dressing There was a padded plank that rested on the chair arms to lift you to  the right level, because you were small and the seats were made for grown men,  where you went with your Dad or Grandad, and the question was an overheard fragment of a conversation from another customer, in a language you didn't quite understand.

Something for the weekend Sir? What's on offer? Tickets to the match on Saturday, the winning numbers for the lottery (don't you wish), or that something with a bit of a nudge nudge wink wink say no  more, by the way how is your good lady? Most of it floats straight over your head. You're thoughts of the week end are about plunging through the comics and magazines at WHSmith while trying to ignore the itchy bits of hair that sneaked past your collar, or maybe even a book, something for the weekend and into the week beyond.

Something for the weekend, Sir, or Madam, What's on offer, a discount code for Iceline (SG33N) and Control Escape (VK56T), 50℅ off using the codes, until the end of May, pick them up now and hang on to them for Summer reading.

Almost there!

The last few hours of Read An Ebook Week 2013, and the search through the catalogue at Smashwords brings one or two things to notice, Iceline and Control Escape have a good showing in the Fiction - Thriller and Suspense categories; Iceline is hanging around at the bottom of page 1 in the units sold, epic (>100,000 words), RW100 100% off listing; page 2 in the full length (>50,000 words) RW100 100% off and Control Escape is over the page at 3 on page 3 in the full length listings. Like the listing says, Thriller and Suspense, Intrigue and conspiracy.  Not long left for this annual extravaganza, don't be the pumpkin, the codes run out  at midnight Pacific Time tonight, March 9th.
Thanks for your interest, grab one or both, bag the brace, enjoy them!

Area 51?

Area 51 - that got your attention; no, not the place that officially unofficially exists or doesn't somewhere in Nevada, although Google Earth seems convinced it knows where it is, but the 51st area for Apple's iBookstore - Japan. Now open for business

I admit there are certain oriental mysteries about the culture and people of the Japanese islands that have always intrigued me, and a favourite James Bond novel, You Only Live Twice, is set there. The book has a much more exotic element regarding poisons and volcanic vents than the film, but it catches something of the strangeness of the culture.

The news yesterday morning carried a link to the press release announcing the opening and tucked away inside it was a fascinating factoid, a conversational elephant stopper, 130 million iBook apps have been downloaded to iPads, iPhones etc.; now wind it back and run it again. That is a staggering figure, and imagine all that space waiting to be filled with books, 130 million iBook apps, we're already half way through Read an Ebook Week and time to go bobbing in Apple's barrel.

If you haven't had your fill yet, help yourself, my two books Iceline and Control Escape are part of the action this week and the notification emails have never been busier. The discount code until Saturday is RW100, don't keep it to yourself.
A week is said to be a long time in politics, not so when your working through the pages of a book, a week may put ten or fifteen thousand words on the story, more if you're working at it full time - a delightful luxury I'm not in a position to enjoy at the moment, but hey, I can dream.

Be part of it, spread the word.

130 million opportunities for an Indie Author like myself to connect with the reading public: you,  to entertain you, to share the adventures of my characters and hang in there with them through thrills, mystery and danger until  way off in the distance there is a hint of a large lady singing.

Whatever and wherever you're reading, enjoy.

Breakout the Books.

Spot of early morning reading, checking the emails and this blog and the Smashwords blog trumpeted the news, Apple iBookstore in the UK and Ireland (my local iBookstore) is pushing the Breakout Books, 39 of the top 50 Breakout titles are from Smashwords and  the titles are listed in the post.

Hang on a minute here, what are you doing plugging someone else's book? Well, yes, why not. Putting a book together and getting it out there takes a lot of effort and determination, and not everyone who starts the journey finishes. Making that step from "One day I'm going to," to sitting down and mining the typeface, then cutting and polishing the jewels hidden within the prose is a huge one. Being able to pick a book with your name on it, whether off the shelf in a bricks and mortar bookshop or the electronic shelves of an ebookstore is a fantastic feeling. I understand the drive that keeps you working and appreciate when it doesn't, the words dry up and stuff gets in the way.

So what if your storyline is faltering, make tea, coffee, have a beer, walk the dog, have an hour or two in the garden, take a week off, a month, and come back to it. The characters may tell you a different story when you sit down with them again, but go with it and stay the course. When that stack of paper, the manuscript; lies on the desk with an unmistakable, "and now what are you going to do?" air about it, leave it for a few weeks again.

What you do next is an interesting question, the landscape is changing almost daily, Apple are pushing the Breakout Books and other sites are working to promote their writers. the old idea that only one way was the right way is crumbling and the Indie Author is making a mark. Traditional is fine, but true tradition is never static, it changes, because to work it has to mean something; it  has to convey a significant message, and if the message is unintelligible it must change or be left behind. Tradition and storytelling go hand in hand, changing constantly; centuries ago troubadours and balladeers wandered the countryside telling their tales. Now we stay in one place post our comments and stories on the net and they do the travelling, - I like the shaded map of the world in the Stats for this blog that shows where the page views came from, for its journey through the internet and I wonder if there will be anywhere new, a different place where it breaks out on to a new screen for the first time. (Hi there, nice to meet you.).

Yes, I'm giving the other chap a pat on the back, blame it on the rugby football and it's traditions. After ninety minutes of scrummage, ruck and maul, tackles, mud and blood; the defeated side form a tunnel for the victors to walk through and are applauded for the way they played the game, and the victors would return the compliment. Then it is time to get cleaned up and go for a drink together. So here I am, a  Newbie Indie Author applauding the writers who have made it to the Breakout Books, and one day...

Early one morning just as...

Word count, download count, sales figures, for a business that is about words and sentences there are a lot of numbers involved, all useful and interesting, and a bit frustrating sometimes. the interesting bit comes along when you write, post and tucked away behind the website store-front a page view chart spikes. The obvious question is why did that happen, and then the wondering about what it was, if anything that I did perhaps created the spike. The grey porridge inside the head starts to move sluggishly around groping myopically around the corners of an unused attic space where all that information you haven't used since the family stopped playing you at Trivial Pursuit, and occasionally handed your team the edge in the Pub quiz is stashed away. The stuff that stops a conversation the way a field gun stops an elephant
You know the feeling, the bit you're looking for is there and it's brilliant, but you can't pull it out. It has everything a blog piece could want, charm, wit, intellect, and in a thoughtful way provocative - like I said, brilliant. In the end you lose interest and drift off across the internet and the post is forgotten, until you wake up in the middle of the night and try to scribble something down - and the story of the writer who had a notebook beside his bed for just such an occasion and woke up one night with a fantastic plot buzzing in his head, switched on the light; grabbed the notebook and pen and scribbled the idea down. Content that the genius was caught on paper he dropped back on to the bed and was asleep before his head hit the pillow.

Next morning he woke up and checked the notebook; the plot was there, but somehow it lost the magic of the early hours - it read simply Boy Meets Girl!

That is so frustrating!!!

Somebody's reading free ebooks

Is it you, or the person next to you. Are you going to be the only pumpkin in town midnight on the 9th, after all week thinking about it. This is the time for action. That ebook, you know the one I'm talking about; you've hovered on the Smashwords page view for ages, now chase it down. Hunt it across the four corners of the web and bag it. Get a brace of them if they're in a pair, take the trophies back to your favourite chair and enjoy.

Read an ebook

Go on, you know you want to. The week has started at Smashwords, so the code is live and you won't feel like a total pumpkin for jumping the gun. The code is RW100 for free copies of Iceline and Control: Escape, follow the links.

This could be fun - seriously

The annual  Read An Ebook Week is here, this is the first time I've been in a position to take part and it looks like fun, and if something is going to be fun then you have to be serious about it. There is a serious side to it; serious enough for the Canadian Parliament in Motion 239 of the First session of the 41st Parliament to declare March Read An Ebook Month. The host site www.ebookweek.com is worth a look at. The week is featured and discussed on the Smashwords blog,  go for it, dip in and take a look; help yourself to a book, or even stagger out with the electronic equivalent of a shelf full. Your new favourite writer may hiding in the list. The Smashwords Catalogue is open through the week

Be part of the action, spread the word!

Free ebooks for this week

Read An eBook Week starts tomorrow at Smashwords.com, the fifth annual celebration of books on the site, and Iceline and Control: Escape are free for the week. Enter the code RW100 for each book when you go to buy.
What You Ask For is free and downloadable, still a work in progress but updated yesterday.
Go with the links in this post or click on the cover image alongside, but don't forget the code.
(The official start time is one minute past midnight on the 3rd March Pacific time; then the Smashwords catalogue appears, it will disappear at the stroke of midnight pacific time on the 9th.)

Where are we going now?

Recent posts from the Office of Letters and Light - the people behind Nanowrimo - Self-Publishing vs Publishing: How To Choose Your Path by Lynn Viehl, and Mark Coker at Smashwords have discussed the ongoing debate between traditional and self-publishing.

Lynn Viehl considers the options as either or and perhaps both depending on the circumstances and the writer making the choices. Mark Coker's posting after the San Francisco Writer's Conference, where eBook publishing held the centre stage referred to a constantly and rapidly changing landscape in the publishing world. His presentation, How The Ebook Revolution Will Transform Your Career, explores ten trends in publishing and how they impact on the traditional and eBook sides of the story. In an earlier post at Smashwords blog and an interview on NPR Mark Coker remarks on the shift in perspective where self-publishing was considered the option of last resort. The refuge of the vain and the desperate, and now the goal posts have been uprooted and appear to be wandering around the pitch. Writers are deliberately opting for self-publishing as a first choice not the last chance saloon, and traditional publishers are trawling through e-published works for the next best seller - the Fifty Shades spectacular last year - eyeing up the also viewed and most download Stats at sites across the net.

Whatever lies in the future and considering the changes that have taken place in the last five years that is a movable feast of the most magnificent proportions; the old way is gone forever. Books will continue to be created and enjoyed, cherished and loved, published and read with every emotion that reaches out from the written word. We will argue over which is best, discourse and discuss the words on the printed page, the iPad, Kobo and Kindle screen, in whatever format we have or favour, and is the truth of it not that we love books -  though undeniably true - rather that in any shape or form we adore stories, and the people who create them; the Writers, of million sellers or for a select readership. The story is what counts and today, writers, along with publishers (self or trad), agents and book sellers are the characters in a story as profound as the impact of the movable type.