Aug 19 2017

The Price of Fame

Beware Book Pirates!

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been running an Instafreebie promotion (where science fiction readers sign up to my newsletter and receive a free copy of my novel, “FACES OF JANUS“).

Then Google Alerts notified me that the novel was available on a few pirate sites. I checked and found that one site claimed not only to have my novels but also every anthology I ever was published in. Some charge for their copies (and keep the income). Others hand out copies for free. Forever.

I explored a few pirate sites’ extensive book lists. Some of these pirates claim to have as many ebooks as Amazon! Most likely, these were cover shots only and downloaders would get a nice virus instead of my book. (Be warned!)

As my free offer was limited in time and scope, I was at first unhappy about this. But I decided to ignore it, because… Continue reading →

Aug 12 2017

Snippets

KINDLE/NOOK AND NOVELS GIVEAWAY COMPETITION

The contest I announced last week is now over and the winners’ names will be released next week. So keep those fingers crossed.

REVERSALS

(Apologies to followers who received a draft copy of this post, sent in error last week. And this contains an update.)

It’s well known that book reviews are important to readers making buying choices. My two Janus Paradisi novels enjoyed a straight flush of 5-star reviews and I was a happy man!

Of course, I’m eager for more reviews and took a look to see if I’d garnered any. I found the opposite: a whole bunch of reviews had vanished.

Of course, I queried this with Amazon: no reply.

I queried again: no reply – for a few days.

Then came the good news: Amazon reinstated those reviews after investigating. Thank you, Zon!

I want to make it clear that I strongly approve of Amazon’s campaign to stamp out fake and bought reviews that boost a rich author’s lousy book to top position, misleading book-buyers. I guess I was just collateral damage, but anyways, Amazon refunded me the stars and so now I’m happy again.

An author friend suggested I’d drawn attention by being a new author with 100% 5-star reviews. So now I’m hoping for a few 4-stars… although it feels odd to be wanting worse reviews to enhance credibility and sales.

Ah, well. Such is the modern world.

SUCCESS STORY: DAVID BRADLEY

I had to mention this. You have to hand it to this guy: following a long list of acting appearances including the Harry Potter movies, Captain America, and Broadchurch, he’s been in both Game of Thrones and Dr. Who.

Well done, that man! And he’s from Yorkshire! Just like me.

So we’ll be looking for his appearance in Westworld soon?

Happy reading, until next time.

Jul 28 2017

Blurb Versions: One Plot, Three Stories

I’m offering Faces Of Janus free for a couple of weeks for sci-fi fans’ summer reading enjoyment.

(Grab it here or click the image below.)

Writing the short descriptive blurb for the promotion was hard. (Hell, I took 60,000 words to tell the story and now you want it in 70 words?) You see, there are three different stories in the novel, intermingled with the main plot. Although I hope everyone gets equal value from the overall experience, each protagonist’s story might appeal more to a specific type of reader:-

Zag: the spy, assassin, womanizer = adventure (Guys)
Katya: lost girl with secrets and thwarted love = coming of age/frustrated romance (Young Adult)
Angel: achiever, powerful and successful woman = ambition/drive (Post-YA)

I show the alternative blurbs below this image of the text I chose. Let me know what you think of them and if they are too overly-targeted or just market-segment themed 😉

Alternative 1: For the guys…

2091: Earth is dying.

Agent Zag Bishop penetrates a corporate conspiracy to expose the truth about the space program.

With affections divided between his powerful boss, Angel Flores, and Katya Ulyanov, the young recruit with a secret past, Zag seeks to join humanity’s greatest adventure.

Spies, lies, assassins, intrigue, corruption, romance, betrayal, mistrust, hi-tech and space travel.

Grab it now!

Alternative 2: For the YA (young adult) reader…

2091: Orphan Katya Ulyanov escapes the desert camps and earns her place as a security agent. She falls for her boss, Zag Bishop, lover of the agency’s manager, Angel Flores.

Hiding a secret past, Katya struggles with her conflicting emotions and nightmares, and Zag’s mixed messages.

Zag and Angel discover the true objective of the corporate space program and plan to leave for a paradise among the stars.

Will Katya win through the intrigue, corruption, romance, betrayal, and mistrust?

Will she grab a place on humanity’s greatest adventure? Will Zag stand with her?

Alternative 3: For the Post-YA female reader…

2091: Security company chief, Angel Flores, has risen far on a dying Earth.

She takes agent Zag Bishop as a lover when her affair with the agency’s owner wanes.

Together, they discover the truth about the corporate space program and plan to join humanity’s greatest adventure among the stars. But Zag is attracted to a young recruit, Katya Ulyanov, a girl with a secret past.

Can Angel overcome the corruption, betrayal, and distrust to gain Paradise?

So what do you think? (Comments below.)

For more background on the key players, see the interviews they gave in an earlier post.

And Happy Reading!

May 1 2017

The Economics of AI: Example

I recently had a great time at the 68th British National Science Fiction Annual Convention: meeting old friends; making new ones; attending some fascinating panels…

The panels prompted my restless mind to explore tangential threads, as they should. Example… Continue reading →

Apr 10 2017

JANUS PARADISI

I am delighted to announce the publication of the second novel in my JANUS PARADISI series, set in the open source Paradisi Chronicles universe.

Take a look at both ebooks here.
Or read the first chapter of FACES OF JANUS here.

In FACES OF JANUS, Angel Flores’ security agents uncover the lie behind Earth’s greatest corporate conspiracy. They fight for places on humanity’s incredible journey.

Her lover, Zag, assembles a team of special ops warriors but falls for Katya, an operative with a secret past. Betrayal and secrecy on all sides put the whole plan at risk.

The hardest journey is the one on Earth. The stars can wait.

In JANUS CHALLENGE, Angel’s team have maneuvered their way aboard a great spaceship bound for a paradise planet in another galaxy.

But the battle is not over. They must seize the ship before the voyage can begin. Their special skills are needed again and again as the journey continues.

Zag struggles with his love for both Angel and Katya, whose behavior becomes more erratic until Angel’s life and the fate of the entire ship rest in her hands.

And when they arrive in that far galaxy, they face more conflict…

If you’re interested in becoming a Beta Reader or receiving Advance Review Copies, for future releases, please sign up here.

Happy Reading!
Andy

Feb 20 2017

Faces Of Janus: 100% 5 star!

Reader Reviews

With Janus Challenge straining at the release leash as March approaches, I’m starting to gather 5-star reviews for Faces of Janus (the first in my Janus Paradisi series)

Samples of kind words from readers… Continue reading →

Jan 17 2017

Beyond Beginnings: Sequels

A Good Year End

In November 2016 I became a published novel author, building on my years as a short story writer.

Where do you go from there?

You write the sequel.

Actually, I started writing the sequel long before I published “Faces of Janus“. It’s already gone out to beta readers, for publication in Spring 2017. Continue reading →

Dec 5 2016

Insights on a Launch

Interviews with Janus Security Corporation personnel

Angel Flores : Executive Officer

“I worked hard to get from a favela to the executive floor of JCorp tower. Huge office, wonderful view, penthouse suite… I had always aimed for the stars. It was just a metaphor, until one day… If I had stuck to my job and my affair with the company owner… But I am not made that way. Satisfaction leads to stagnation. I am just not made that way.

“It started with a few odd coincidences and my curiosity making me dig deeper. Or perhaps it started with my affair turning tedious. Or both. Perhaps it was Zag being there at the right time when I needed someone strong.

“Anyway, one day the real stars came within reach. How could I not grasp that opportunity with both hands?

“Zag? Yes, he was crucial to my plans. How did I feel about him? He was… everything. Did I show him this? Not enough, perhaps. I am just not made that way.”

Zag Bishop : Operations Manager

“I’d been trouble as a kid in the lower city. The military fixed that, or most of it. Then contract work I can’t talk about. Then to JCorp and Angel. Happy times. I loved them both. Did she love me back? I’m not good with emotion. I blame the work I did.

“So this space conspiracy thing came along and turned everything on its head. Would it have been better to quit and get a new job? Who knows? I’m tactics, not strategy. The strategy was Angel’s, from the start. The kidnaps and killings? Just part of the job.

“With Earth falling to pieces, escape to the stars seemed a good idea. Escape with the woman I loved. Sounded good. But which woman?”

Katya Ulyanov : Operative

“I had a secret. A dangerous one. A secret that could get me thrown into the desert. And I’d fallen for a damned cop. How did he feel about me? I knew how I felt about him. One day I hated him, the next… I guess I’d been let down too many times. He said I had a trust issue. No wonder, with my past.

“So I decided to be the best operative Zag had. I did a few crazy things to get his attention. It didn’t help that my PTSD, my other secret, kept getting in the way.

“Then the space thing came along. Changed everything.”

“Faces of Janus” : launched November 6, 2016 Available from your local Amazon store

Nov 6 2016

FACES OF JANUS : Published

Can a handful of security agents overcome the greatest corporate conspiracy and reach the stars?

In the last decades of the twenty-first century, the wealthiest, most powerful families on Earth choose to escape the increasingly failing planet by constructing ten vast ships that would ferry mankind to colonize Mars.

It was a lie. Continue reading →

Oct 27 2016

A Beginner’s Tale #3

Large FoJ It has been a long journey, but here I stand on the verge of publishing my first novel.

I always wanted to write, but my first High School English teacher convinced me I was barely literate. I think he resented me being taller than him, as a later (taller) teacher promoted me from bottom of the class to (almost) pole position.

Too late!

It was my final year of school and my small fantasies had been strangled. Hurrah for education! Continue reading →

Andy McKell

A guy who writes – and more

Tag Archives: Sciencefictionwriter

The Price of Fame