Second side to the story

I kinda had a hunch about this situation.  I posted a while ago about the beware of walking over bridges for the trolls that lurk...etc.  There was an interesting development involving the moderator of the facebook group that a load of us were members of.  Something had always bugged me about why so much hostility was being directed at this guy, and in turn the writers group itself.  There was the throwaway remark directed at someone wanting to enter the group and then there was the sudden blocking of a senior writer.  What looked like two egos getting pricked seemed to generate a hell of a lot of mileage in this forum.  A lot of digging was done and a dead forum thread was uncovered where this moderator had suggested a scheme for everyone to reduce their book prices and then buy each others books, he was talking about 180 people. My own book sold two copies the other day and I rocketed up my genre chart by 230,000 places to 35000, so 180 purchases over a couple of days can easily propel you into the top 1000, maybe higher.  A group of more experienced writers politely explained that amazon could suspect some system being played and remove the books and authors. The general consensus was that most authors want their sales to be genuine ones where the books are actually read and reviewed.  The response to this advice was shocking, this first time writer, who to be honest had not written a very good book was challenging the credibility some serious writers who knew their stuff. Needless to say the ball for this guy was already rolling before he even got his group off the ground, and the hostility spilled over.  The old moral is to see both sides of the story, but the other side is that if a party is out to make a point, please inform anyone who reacts to it where the relevant facts are to save a lot of wasted time arguing the toss.  A couple of statements have been put up which have been graciously accepted, people are leaving this guys group so I guess he may learn that he has to be careful how he says things, especially in print where it cannot be retracted, I'm guessing he will not. Suffice it to say that a number of us who stepped up to try and defend this guy and then the group feel let down by his earlier actions.  We're out of this group and have joined a number of others, so all systems go again.  See you later.

dotcom.

Just a quick one, I've built a small website.  I'm totally new to this so it is a basic site but as I get the hang of it I will be adding and modding it to suit.  www.johnsaundersauthor.wix.com/johnsaunders


Catch you soon.

Beware when walking over bridges for what may lurk underneath.

Hi all, longtime no see.

I experienced something that could be as near to trolling as you can get.  The fortunate thing is that reasonable dialogue did occur and a line has been drawn. 
I belong to an authors group on facebook.  The moderator of the group was plugging it on one of these amazon forums and gave what he obviously thought was a witty response but was actully quite an unnecessary insult.  She was understandably put out and so were a few of her co-contributors and a few jibes were thrown his way.   A few days later a writer was blocked from this group with no apparent explanation  and Jesus, the gloves well and truly came off.  I've never seen so many negative, sarcastic and undermining comments thrown his way, even promoting other groups to people who wanted to join this one.  Most of this thread was directed personally towards the moderator of the facebook group and it was almost laughable until a couple of group members had a topic under the title of 'plaigiarism' posted and directed their way. This was put up onto facebook by another blockee.  A bomb was put up by me, posting the whole thread onto the group page and it got a reaction, equally there were many who buried there heads and did not give a f**k. The funny thing is that all of a sudden a few one day old new member 'anonymous' contributors on the amazon forum jumped in to the debate and it would appear a number of moles have been reporting back to these amazon contributors.  As I've said, reasonable dialogue did eventually take place and a line has been drawn, unless the bloody moderator decides to block another without explanation.  I am toying with leaving this group as it now has a rotten core.  I have joined a couple more already established groups and I figure what I don't know ain't gonna hurt me and responses have been good.  I now have a slightly thicker skin and if it starts again, I ain't around to see it.  Cheers.

Youtubed.

Just a quick post this time.  A good friend of  mine has put together a small movie type trailer for my book. It is on youtube, and hopefully the link will work. Please feel free to go and have a look. All the links to the various sites where you buy the book are in the blurb.  Cheers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4ArlREow9g&feature=share

Got another paperback copy from a site called www.feedaread.com  It is the same format as the www.amazon.com and the www.amazon.co.uk copies and looks fabulous.  I've put it up on a new site to hopefully reach new members of other sites.  Fingers crossed. Here's the link:http://www.feedaread.com/books/Renatus-9781782993667.aspx

Still tapping away.

Well here I still am.  I felt like I had bitten off more than I could chew with my second novel.  The storylines are all in my head but it is just the act of getting them down on paper (or screen) that is the tricky bit. There are so many plates spinning at the moment my head is spinning with them. One by one each storyline is being played out and slowly I am getting to the half way point where like the series of Keifer Sutherlands 24, a new and deeper story starts.  Thats the plan anyway.  Watch this space. 

As a reminder here are the links to book one

http://www.amazon.com/Renatus-ebook/dp/B00B0FD2HM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1367007553&sr=8-1&keywords=renatus

http://www.amazon.com/Renatus-Mr-John-Anthony-Saunders/dp/1481973940/ref=sr_1_12?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1367007613&sr=1-12&keywords=renatus

Here are the links for you.

Short and sweet tonight.  Here are the links to both the paperback and kindle versions of my novel.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Renatus-Mr-John-Anthony-Saunders/dp/1481973940/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1363119434&sr=8-2

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Renatus-ebook/dp/B00B0FD2HM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1363119434&sr=8-2

Please feel free to take a look. Thankyou.

Godammit!!!

Just signed up with an outlet called Smashwords, it lets you upload your book and they distribute to other E readers.  I have stuck with it, and am nearly there, but I have never known such a frustrating process. You would think that what you see on a page and what you can read perfectly clear on a page is what would come across when you upload it. Jesus christ I have nearly ditched the smashwords site because of issue ofter issue, formatting is wrong, spacing and indents are all wrong, copyright wording, and it presents a problem when you have spent about fifteen minutes uploading a new and adjusted version. On kindle it was fine, worked first time and looks great. Gradually I have sorted each issue bar one. Apparently one of the formats automatically spots any page that begins with the word 'Chapter' and makes a contents link for you. Great stuff, except that it cannot see my chapter 3 page heading, which is set out in exactly the same way as chapters 1,2,-, 4 all the way to 16, when you download and read it, the chapter is there, ust no link in the contents table. An email has been sent but I have wasted nearly a week of evenings trying to sort this out. It is available on smashwords.com through a limited number of their publishers, but sorting this problem will put my book into their premium catalog, and will expose it to more of their outlets. FFS!!!

I have also revamped my paperback interior for Renatus, I clicked on the large print option for the original version and although it looks great, it was a bit boxy to me.  I downsized the font and it has transformed it. Renatus in paperback is now available again on the amazon sites as is the kindle version.  I have also uploaded it to a site called feedaread.com, they deal in paperbacks only and I'm currently in a days long queue waiting for them to convert and accept my files. When they do I can move on and finish the cover and get it all proofed( I hope)...   Nite all.

Wahey....!!

Yippee, For this month I have got one sale each for my paperback and kindle version of my book Renatus.  It doesn't sound a lot but it means there have been sales in each of the three months it's been out.
If you have seen my posts then please check out the link and see if we can build some momentum for it. There's a guy in the states who released his book and it has sold nearly 5000 in one month.  I can only dream of months like that.  ;)Renatus

New book struggle

God this is hard.  I have nearly 140 pages of book two done.  I try to re edit as I go so it is in as best possible shape come the full and proper re edits when the full writing has been completed.  There are so many ideas floating around and I know how I want the story to go.  The plotlines, twists and turns are all there, but it is so hard to get them down at the moment.  It shouldn't be because I know the characters, I know the story, the only thing is that I don't quite have a full ending just yet, where as in the first book I knew my ending and stuck to it. Perhaps I am trying to force the story a touch but it is all in there and is having to be dragged out at the moment.  No worries, it will get there and live up to and be better than the first one.

Book 2

This is the second of the Renatus series of books I am working on.  At the moment it is a work in progress with about 120 pages written. I hope to have it out by the end of the year and the image you see is the cover I have in mind for it.

Still available.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Renatus-ebook/dp/B00B0FD2HM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1363118766&sr=8-2

This is the title and link to my first novel, currently available at the amazon sites.  It took nearly two years to write, the final six months spent editing and rewriting it over and over.  It was a real labour of love and I am immensely proud of this work.