‘All That Matters’ was reviewed by Rita at Raindrop Reflections. The positive notes and comments throughout her review are very encouraging to me. I want to share a little of what Rita had to say about my book, but to read her whole review you should head over to her website at Raindrop Reflections.
…it’s a big deal that I even read this book, because the author is dyslexic and I think it’s amazing that today he writes books.
The story itself was moving, especially the ending, which I didn’t expect.
…it showed amazing depth in Ethan’s character to be able to do stuff like that. I very much admired him for it.
…kudos to Youseph Tanha for attempting such a sensitive topic.
I had another review of ‘All That Matters‘ come in. I am still in shock by all the positive feedback I have been getting from my first book. I sometimes have to pinch from myself when I read reviews like this just to make sure I am not dreaming.
This time it was from The Bornean Bookworm. Vanessa, who reviewed my book gave me FIVE STARS review and had the following to say.
In terms of narration, the author had done quite a great job in delivering the story to its full potential.
at the end of the day, the simple but terrific story of undying devotion made me aching in sadness, yet swarm on the inside simultaneously from the purest of love that we all crave for in our lives.
Before I ever start writing a book there are a couple of things I do that help me with my writing process. One thing I do is create a ‘Cheat Sheet’ of characters I am going to use in my book.
My ‘Cheat Sheet’ helps me keep track of people, there names, there personalities, there ages, and anything else I might need for future reference. A character I keep on a cheat sheet rarely takes up more than one line on text. So the whole thing is clean and simple and is an easy to use reference.
So here is an example of a cheat sheet I would create using characters from the Simpsons. It contains the important information I might need to know about a character in one line of text.
Homer Simpson • 36 (Ralph Kramden) Loud – Get Rich Quick ideas – Lazy
Lisa Simpson • 8 (Marcie from Charlie Brown) Smart – Voice of reason – Musical
So the idea behind it is pretty simple and generally includes.
Character Name
Age
Who they remind me of
Personality traits to remember
This is actually the template I use when creating a cheat sheet.
Character Name • Age (who they remind me of) Traits – Personality – Quarks
Thats how I do it. My cheat sheet has been such a valuable tool for me when writing. It makes the whole process of writing so much easier. I really hope anyone getting into writing will find this tip useful. Let me know if you have any tips on how you track characters. I am always interested to learn how others write.
Why write an ebook? Why not? We live in a wonderful time where we as individuals can self publish our own work and make money at it. It’s never been easier or more cost affective to take something you have created and put it out their for the masses.
At the very least writing an ebook is going to require time. Time for you to write your ebook, edit it, and format it for an ebook reader. Things like cover art can be done through an ebook sell, such as Amazon.com, for free. A lot of the effort of creating an ebook has been made easy for you, the writer, by removing a lot of the stress, time, and waiting that one would normally experience going through a traditional publisher.
At most an ebook is going to cost you time and money. The time to write your ebook, the money it costs to have it edited by a professional editor, the money it costs to have someone professionally design your own cover art. It all depends on how far you want to take it.
I have been documenting my experiences of writing and self publishing. I hope to share my experiences with you in this and future blog posts. Hopefully answering any questions you might have about the process so you do not have to hunt around digging for answers much like I have had to do.
When I say self publish an eBook I am also talking about self publishing a physical book. Companies like Amazon.com offer people a way to sell their self published books on the Kindle eBook reader. They also offer people a Pint On Demand (POD) option which means when someone buys a physical copy of your book, one is created as needed to complete the sale. In almost the same way you can upload your book so it can be sold for eBook readers, you can also upload your book so a physical copy can be sold and not cost you a dime.
In both the eBook and POD options you have the choice to set the price of your book which allows you to determine how much commission you will make for each book’s sale. Wether it be an ebook or a POD book. Isn’t living in the future cool?
Recently sales figures show that eBook copies have been out selling physical copies of the same books. This means that people who are buying books are choosing to buy electronic versions. This could be for any number of reasons. Perhaps its because they don’t have to carry around heavy books anymore. Maybe its because of the ease in which you can purchase an eBook. Or still it could be because eBooks tend to cost less than physical books. Whatever the reason may be, its clear that people are making the shift from paper books to eInk eBooks.
Amazon.com is now selling more Kindle books than paperback books. Since the beginning of the year, for every 100 paperback books Amazon has sold, the company has sold 115 Kindle books. Additionally, during this same time period the company has sold three times as many Kindle books as hardcover books.”This is across Amazon.com’s entire US book business and includes sales of books where there is no Kindle edition. Free Kindle books are excluded and if included would make the numbers even higher.
For anyone who has not yet read on an eBook device like the Amazon Kindle, I can honestly say from my own experience that reading on such a device has been a great experience. Its like staring at a piece of paper. I have never once experience eye strain from reading on an eBook device. The technology is sound and proven.
Creating something and getting paid for it has never been easier. In fact I think the hardest part is just creating. Give yourself some time each day. Even if it is just a couple of minutes and write, photograph, or create. Whatever it is. Just create!
Simon & Schuster just signed a deal with John Locke, the first self published author to ever sell a million eBooks. I have been reading more and more about self published authors who are being signed to publishing houses. What makes the deal with John Locke so unique is that he gets to retain all of his eRights. That is unheard of. Simon & Schuster wont get one cent for any sale of his eBooks. John Locke gets to keep it all for himself.
When an author publishes an eBook and sells it through and online service like Amazon.com they normally get to keep 70% of each sale. When an author sells an eBook through a normal publishing house like Simon & Schuster it is considerably less. I am just floored that any publishing house would sign and author and not retain the eRights like that.
I can’t help but wonder what these means to the Publishing industry. Is this the first nail in the coffin for publishing houses? Will big name authors start demanding eRights to their own content? It is going to be really interesting to watch what unfolds.
