Amazon Author Pages and Good Reads

Well apparently there is a separate Amazon author page for the UK and the US. Both look exactly the same and do the same thing but for some reason you have to make a separate account for both. I made one for my Amazon ebooks, whether it will do much good I don't know. Personally I prefer the Smashwords author pages, more options there.

Signed up to Good Reads, good site this, seems to be a social networking site for people that read which is ideal for me. Haven't spent too much time on it but looks like a good place to show what genre's and authors you like to read. Will try and list my books on there at some point, looks like all I need is an ISBN which I have.

Ten thousand words into my next story, reckon it will be around 20-30 thousand all up. Enjoying the story and have a rough idea how it will turn out although these things can change as I write.

Anyways, back to it.

Amazon Author page, Scribd update and more

New update. I am about 6000 words into my next story, Rising Fears. Going well so far, although this will be longer than Stolen Fears so might take a month to finish. Going well so far, I know how some of the story will go, still figuring out some details.

I set up an author page on my Amazon store page, I had no idea that that was there, next time I will read the emails they send me.

After using Scribd for a month I have to say that Smashwords is far better for distributing works, at least in my experience anyway. I have had well over a hundred downloads of my last free book over the last couple of days. Far better than anything on Scribd. Kindle is good too but you can't put free stuff there.

Saw some good movies recently. Bronson was really good it's a British movie from 2008 with Tom Hardy. Worth a look. I am still reading Anvil of Stars, hasn't grabbed me as much as the first book but it isn't bad.

That's it for now.

Begun new story and about to start reading a new book

Okay I have started my nest story and already have the first few chapters planned out. Started writing the first one today. Will be a sequel to Stolen Fears, and will probably be called Rising Fears. I will keep the characters of Greg, Saul and Michelle and will give Kylie some more space and flesh her out more. I will probably introduce at least one more major character, still deciding some of the details but he will be a rich corporate guy who is influencing certain things in the background. Still working that out but it will come to me as I write.

Finished reading Forge of God, really liked the ideas in that story and for a 1987 book it is still very relevant. There is a sequel to it called Anvil of Stars which I will start reading soon.

Fall of the Lich is doing decently on Smashwords, at the bargain price of free it should do decently. I would be interested to hear what people thought of it so hope to get some reviews, good or bad. Good to see I have had a couple on my other stories, they are always very much appreciated.

New story up and new story started

Okay well made a quick cover and finally decided on a title for my finished fantasy tale. Since it ends very open to a sequel I made it a book 1. Will likely take me a couple of months to write some other stories before I go back to it though. Story is here and it is free:

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/83715

Decided what I will write next, I will write a follow up to Stolen Fears, beginning 6 months after the end of that story. I have been reading Forge of God by Greg Bear and it got me in the mood to keep going with that one. Greg Bear is a fantastic sci fi writer, particularly if you like sci fi that is set around our time. Some of his stuff may be 10-20 years old but you really would be surprised how relevant it still is and he really does write some compelling stories, certainly someone I aspire to write like.

I have also just finished reading 'The Walking Dead' comic series, well up to the latest one anyway. Great series, one of the best comic series I have read in a while. I don't read that many comics, Y the last man was the last series I have read, but this one might have gotten me into reading more. Storytelling is great and full of surprises, it isn't for the squeamish. The twists and turns are not quite as dramatic as George R.R. Martin but they come close.

Story Finished at Last, Now to Make a Cover

Okay well my next story is done, just need to make a cover for it which I will work on tonight. I also need to think of a title come to think of it. This story is more of a classic fantasy one, I used to read those kind of books a lot when I was younger, not so much anymore admittedly. Still it was fun to write a story of that genre.

Now to think about my next story. Thinking of doing a follow up to Stolen Fears or maybe another sci fi. I liked the setting I used for Bleak Rock and Lonely Child, a lot of options there. I don't know, might take tomorrow off writing to think about it.

Anyways, on to the next tale.

Finished rough draft of new story

Okay well finished the rough draft of my fantasy story. Sitting at 36000 words roughly so after rewrites it should end up around the 40000 mark. Probably be up on Smashwords and Kindle in a couple of days. Still have to make a cover for it but that shouldn't take too long.

Enjoyed writing this one, plenty of room for a sequel to this story, will see if people like it first though.

MMAGoss.com is going well, had it's best day ever yesterday, starting to get noticed a bit now. Learning how to work wordpress has been interesting, spent 2 hours figuring something out that a plugin did in 3 minutes but it's all a learning experience.

Anyways, off to bed, another day awaits tomorrow.

Here is the latest MMAGoss article

http://www.mmagoss.com/2011/08/22/dana-white-looking-at-holding-australian-%E2%80%98the-ultimate-fighter%E2%80%99/

Update on Issuu, Scribd, Smashwords and Kindle

Thought I would give a quick update on what I thought of Issuu, Scribd, Smashwords and Kindle. I have fiction stories on all four sites and they have been there for a few weeks now.

Firstly Kindle, for a self publishing site it is excellent, returns are poor for a 99c book but it has a wide audience. I have sold a decent amount of stories there. The site is easy to use and very quick.

Smashwords is another good site, haven't made anywhere near as many sales there but my free stories have done very well so it is a great site to get some exposure.

Jury is still out on Scribd for me, all my stuff is free there but I think it gets swamped by everything else. I will give it some time but not getting anywhere near the downloads I do on Smashwords.

Issuu seems to be a waste of time. I won't be using the site again, nowhere near the views of anyone else.

Others may have had different results but this has been my experience.

Another writing update

Okay well my current story is approaching novel length, sitting around 17000 words now and still plenty to come. Still really enjoying it which is good, although still thinking of new ideas for future stories.

Had an overload of mma events over the weekend, be nice to take a break this week from that although I will still post updates on my site.

Trying to write 2000 fiction words a day and achieving it relatively easily. At this rate should finish this story in a couple of weeks I reckon. Then comes the laborious process of rereading and correcting. Amazing what silly errors you type out without even realising.

Writing, Reading and Watched The Fountain

Watched The Fountain today, yes five years too late but I finally got around to it. I must admit it was a very good film. I have listened to the soundtrack for years as it has always caught me, the movie really does it justice.

Still writing my story, over 12,000 words now and aim to do another 2000 tonight. This could be my first novel. Already looking ahead though. Might do a continuation to Stolen Fears or one of my earlier stories.

MMAGoss.com seems to be going well. Site had it's biggest day yet yesterday and I really enjoy writing about MMA. Striking a balance between that, fiction and learning German is the hardest part.

Story Update and MMAGoss Progress

Hit 7500 words and should get over 9000 tonight, really enjoying writing this one. Might have an interview lined up for MMAGoss.com, will see how that pans out. Also had a couple of my Smashwords stories reviewed and positively too, so it has been a good day.

Had laser eye surgery today so my eyes are still a bit sore but it didn't stop me writing. An uncomfortably operation but worth it in the end.

Latest MMAGoss article http://www.mmagoss.com/2011/08/11/bamma-to-introduce-british-mma-titles/

Writing update, story still coming along

Latest story is coming along well, not sure how long it will end up but I am enjoying it so far. Finished reading A Dance with Dragons last night, yet another cliffhanger ending, hopefully George R.R. Martin won't take so long to write the next one.

MMAGoss.com is still coming along well, starting to make the odd contact and getting some Twitter followers. Putting up 2-5 articles a day depending on news. Latest article here http://www.mmagoss.com/2011/08/10/proelite-rumors-and-future-heavyweight-tournament/

Stolen Fears Free on Smashwords

Well I put Stolen Fears up a couple of days ago for free on Smashwords and Scribd and it has done very well on Smashwords. Currently sitting on a 105 downloads in 3 days which is my best yet by far. I wasn't sure whether to continue that story but if people like it I might look at it after my next story.

Current story is going well, 4000 words I think so far, will get out a thousand or 2 today. MMAGoss.com is going pretty well, normally putting up 2-3 articles a day there too. Just put up one on the new ProElite event http://www.mmagoss.com/2011/08/09/proelite-returns-august-27-arlovski-grove-and-penn-on-the-card/

Anyways back to it.

Finished One Story, Started Another and Writing for MMAGoss.com

Well I have been writing more than ever of late, finished my latest novella or novellete, whatever 12000 words is called these days. Started a new story too, already 3000 words in, this one is a high fantasy story, enjoying it so far. Also started my own MMA website. http://www.mmagoss.com/ it seems to be doing okay so far, but then it has only been a couple of days. Lots to learn there.

Here is an article I did recently for it http://www.mmagoss.com/2011/08/06/how-and-why-mma-fighters-cut-weight/

It isn't fiction but I do enjoy writing these articles.

Anyways bed time for me.

Been Busy but Still Writing

Haven't written much fiction the past two days, been busy setting up me new website. I have been an avid viewer and fan of MMA for years now so set up a site for it at MMAGoss.com

Now it is working I can get stuck into finishing this latest story.