Tips, tricks and hacks for readers, to make your reading life easier. Plus news and gossip.
Do you have a “price too high” wishlist where you buy your books? Amazon in particular will let you create multiple wishlists, both for the public to view and for you to keep to your own little self. Goodreads will let you shelve books in groups you get to name, so creating a list there […]
Price Too High Wishlist Read More »
During 2017, a discussion via my newsletter and email from various readers alerted me to the confusion over book lengths and what makes a book a book, or a novel a novel. Novels and books are not interchangeable terms, anymore, although they used to be. A “novel” is a preset wordcount range that defines a
What Makes a Book a Book? Read More »
I’ve been sharply reminded this week of the constant tension that thrums between creatives and consumers – or, to be blunt—the writer and the reader. You. (For this post, “consumer” is not merely someone who buys products. I use the word to refer to anyone who consumes what creatives produce. Consumers are viewers and listeners,
Why Authors Let You Down Read More »
When I first created my Street Team, I wrote for new members a guide on how to write reader reviews. Of course, it hadn’t occurred to me that many readers love reading but are completely freaked out at the idea of writing, especially their own thoughts and feelings. That’s generally not an issue for me.
How to Write Reader Reviews Read More »
It’s Australia Day here for me, but it’s all over bar the shouting in Australia. Hope the fireworks were good! Cheers, Get the news that no one else does. Sign up for my newsletter. For a short while, you get a bundle of ebooks, free, when you sign up, as a Starter Library. Details here.
Monique Martin is my special guest this month, as part of the Time Travel theme for the month, and to celebrate the release of the time travel novel Celtic Crossing that will be out in a few days. Monique is an Amazon #1 Best Seller in Time Travel Romances – not just once, but several
Never Out of Time for Monique Martin! Read More »
I thought I’d try something a bit different for a bit. There’s quite a few writers I know who write “in public” — they post what they produce on their blogs, for readers to react to. Wattpad is the grand collective of this idea. For writers who are unsure of their craft, or for the
Flash Fiction Tuesday: The Well of Rnomath Read More »
I don’t know about you, but I use Wikipedia all the freaking time. It’s great for quick fact checks, it never out-dates* like a printed encyclopedia would, and it always scratches my rather large and eclectic curiousity. So when I tripped over the fact that it was International Wikipedia Day today, I just had to give the
Today is–Get This–International Wikipedia Day Read More »
This painting is simply amazing. [link] Not only is it an incredible canvas of many famous people gathered together in a sort of celebrity Where’s Waldo?, but when you hover your mouse over any individual — and some of the objects in the painting, too — you get a tag telling you who they are. Click
Name That Famous Person Read More »
Today is national Braille day and I thought it would be appropriate to acknowledge Braille, as for nearly a hundred years it has provided blind people with a way to read. Braille was invented in 1824 by Louise Braille, a Frenchman who lost his sight when he was a child. He built Braille to suit
National Braille Day Read More »