The Importance of Family

One of the scathing comments often made about self-published authors is that “only friends and family” will buy your books. In fact, that is why you are not good enough. So, I would ask a question of anyone reading this: in being so dismissive, how many dreams have been burnt to ashes?

I make no bones about it myself. I write my books. They are for sale via Amazon and Smashwords, and I have produced it as a ‘print on demand’ paperback via CreateSpace. A recent discussion in another group asked the question of what was needed in order to consider your book ready for sale. The advice varied from starting with the e-book format, to having the paperback ready as a print on demand to the suggestion that the absolute essentials were to have the e-book, paperback, hardback and audiobook, and be prepared to spend at least six months doing a book tour to independent book shops, having sent posters and mailshots out first.

Whoa, horsey! My husband’s opinion that latter plan was that the list was all very well, but only if you had both time and money. Let’s face it, most budding authors who choose to self-publish have neither. In their absence, you may well have family and friends.

In this day and age of social media, that is how most of us will start things moving. Yes, in an ideal world, you score that big publishing deal, and they do all the promotional stuff for you. And, don’t forget, they take their cut. Even if you were paid an advance, the hard side of business interferes: you will have to sell at least that amount in books before you will receive any more money from your publisher. Think about that. If you received an advance of, say, £5000, that is the value you will need to sell before you are paid again. If you don’t look like you will make money and if your publisher decides that they were wrong about your potential for a return on their investment, you will be dropped. Simple business economics.

In reality, you will be working at least one job, perhaps part-time, but if you have a family to support, then it will be full-time. You have to do your own promotional activities, and that means using all forms of social media, but being able to balance, build up followers and post information on your books without falling foul of the social media spam filters. This is something that has to start before you are ready to publish. You need to build a presence.

So the importance of family. My favourite author, Sherrilyn Kenyon, has a fantastic quote on the subject in her Dark Hunter series.

I have my parents. I have my siblings. I have my husband and son. But then beyond that, I have my co-authors, Tracy Andrews and Donna DeBoard. Then there are others. There is a girl in Dubai, who is a friend of my son. She is the ‘daughter of my heart’. I have other close friends. I have colleagues.

Is it using people to ask them to talk about your book, about your dream? It can be, if suddenly, having not spoken to them in months, suddenly you start talking about your book, about your writing. Even the least cynical person would look in askance at the request that they spread the word.

What we write serves another purpose. It teaches us what is important in life. As Ms Kenyon’s words have encapsulated. Family is more than the ones to whom we are born. Before it is too late, before the only reason for you making contact with those who matter to you is to have them promote your work, start building those bridges.

I would like to sell more books, but I have learnt something very important to date. If I do make more sales, then well and good. I am fortunate in that my books are my dream which I am able to realise. I am fortunate that I don’t have to sell my books to make a living. I am fortunate that I can look at how successful authors like Ms Kenyon, like JK Rowling and all the others have built their words and their stories and learn from them how to write a better story and how to perhaps generate a larger following. But I am even more fortunate because I have found out that my ‘family’ matter even more to me that the sales. And, remember, that family is not just those to whom we are born.

LINKS TO THE BOOKS BY JO PILSWORTH & THE HUNTER’S ARROW LTD

“Bound”, Volume 1 of The Diaries of the Cŵn Annwn
currently free on Kindle Unlimited
Amazon.com $4.99: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B016TQFBNY
Amazon.co.uk £3.99: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B016TQFBNY

“Alpha”, Volume 2 of The Diaries of the Cŵn Annwn
Amazon.com $4.99: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01ENZ972O
Amazon.co.uk £3.47: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01ENZ972O
Smashwords $4.99: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/631708

“Beta”, Volume 3 of The Diaries of the Cŵn Annwn

Amazon.co.uk: £3.05 https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01KB20OL6
Amazon.com: $3.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01KB20OL6#nav-subnav
Smashwords: $3.99 https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/660156

From Little Acorns …

“From little acorns do mighty oak trees grow.” That’s how it goes … plan well, and the plans will pay off. Let’s face it, that’s what most small entrepreneurs intend. I nearly said ‘hope’ just then, but I want this to be about positivity. When someone wishes me good luck, I wonder if they think I can achieve my goal, or do they really just think it is a pipe dream. How many authors are patronised by friends and family, who think their ‘little hobby’ won’t amount to much. I prefer to make my own ‘luck’, so this is as much about the concept of ‘paying it forward’ as anything.

Digital StillCamera — “From little acorns do mighty oaks grow.”

Well, to my mind, there is a technique which is often cited in growing business. Again, this is my experience, but I will say that I am a third-generation salesperson. Ironically, my father didn’t want me to go into sales, but hey ho … Twenty-years later and I am still in sales, albeit medical sales as the day job and book sales in the evenings.

That technique is networking. There have been books written about the process, too many to count, but one things remains. Networking is more than making friends and just paying lip-service to the friendship. If networking is to succeed, then whilst a certain amount of ‘drive’ is needed, make it all about the sales and not about the friendship, and it will fail. People will go off you very quickly if all you do is sell your product/book/service. Therein lies the skill of networking.

The Hunter’s Arrow and the worlds of the Negrescu Cwn Annwn and Anghelescu Hellhounds started from three friends meeting online and realising that they could write stories together which people seemed to like. The start of a network perhaps? Each of us had our own networks of friends, but due to the nature of our writing, we couldn’t feel that we could share everything that we did with all our friends. For example, the first time I shared some stories about a very foul-mouthed character with my cousin, my comment to the other writers in the group was “I’m going to Hell!”.

But, going back to how those networks form. As an author, there are loads of suggestions. I joined the Rave Reviews Book Club (#RRBC), which works on the basis that for our membership we have to buy, read and review at least four books by fellow members each year. Why? It builds sales, it builds reviews, which builds sales etc etc. The whole purpose of networking.

However, sometimes networking is not just about the books, and sometimes it is worth branching out, if for no other reason than you might find the ‘impossible’ birthday present from a sole-trader artist. This was the case with one contact I made: Carly of Carly’s Creative Clay. Her work features as the image at the top of this post and here.

carlys dragon — Large Mother Fire Dragon and Egg Vase

Perhaps it is by dint of enjoying good craftsmanship, and appreciating that if you want good quality work, then it costs. However, sometimes that isn’t always the case, and that’s where artists like Carly come into the equation. I am sure the next question will be “What’s in it for me, in mentioning her?”. Do you recall what I said earlier. Sometimes networks form because there is more than just selling. Sometimes they form because occasionally, even struggling authors like to buy themselves a treat. Sometimes they form because in the same way that I admire Carly’s work, someone else might admire my stories.

It won’t be an overnight thing. That was why I told another author I know that I have a three year plan regarding writing, publishing and selling my books, and I don’t expect to see a return on my investment for three years.

From little acorns do mighty oaks grow. Where there is one dragon, there are many. Carly is a very talented artist, as you can see.

If you love dragons, if you love designs which seem to have their own personality, then I suggest you take a look at her Etsy store.

Perhaps in time, someone else will feature my novels in the same way. Who knows? But that is how it works. Planning and making your own luck. And that concept of paying it forward? Perhaps by doing a favour to someone, whether it is giving an elderly American tourist in Edinburgh Airport a pound coin so he could exit the car-park, or whether it is mentioning a friend’s fantastic designs on my blog … Maybe one day, someone will do something similar, and hey presto! The gateway to sales of my book series might be there, just waiting for the right push.

And, by the way, no money exchanged hands for me to write this post … unless you count the little bowl in the bathroom, the dragon fridge magnet in the kitchen, the little collection of dragon charms on my desk … You get the picture. I like dragons and courtesy of PayPal and ‘clickety-itis’, I have several new additions to my collection. Thank you, Carly.

LINKS TO THE BOOKS BY JO PILSWORTH & THE HUNTER’S ARROW LTD

“Beta”, Volume 3 of The Diaries of the Cŵn Annwn
Amazon.co.uk: £3.05 https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01KB20OL6
Amazon.com: $3.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01KB20OL6#nav-subnav
Smashwords: $3.99 https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/660156

Further Thoughts on Facebook Roleplaying

I started my ‘public’ writing career through the medium of Facebook roleplay. Five years ago, I didn’t even know that such a thing existed, but as a result of it, I have gained the courage that someone might actually like my writing. Now, I have five novels listed on Amazon.

Jo Pilsworth: Amazon Author Page

There is one major problem: Facebook doesn’t like roleplayers. As a group, roleplayers contravene so many rules that it can be mind-blowing. There are two angles for this attitude: one is altruistic and one is purely commercial. The altruistic rationale is the public face. The commercial reason is probably closer to the truth, considering that Facebook is a stock market listed company, and it exists to make profit to the benefit of its shareholders.

So, the altruistic reason. A roleplayer, by definition, is not a real person. They are writing under a pseudonym or the name of their favourite character from a book, film or TV show. There are other instances of ‘not real people’ who use the internet for nefarious purposes, e.g paedophiles who pretend to be teens, with a view to grooming their victims. Therefore, if you are ‘not real’, you must be bad. Sure, some might not be, but for the safety of little kids everywhere, let’s assume that anyone ‘not real’ is bad, and their account must be deleted.

Did that sound slightly bitter? Well yes, because this has caused me a problem. My writing is a sideline and not my main form of income. Some of my book characters are baddies, since every novel has to have a baddie somewhere in the process, particularly if your book will have a ‘happy ever after’. My ‘day job’ is in quite a conservative industry, where one’s customers need to have a particular image of the person and the company with whom they are working. So, I do write under a pseudonym. I also have used my pseudonym to build a following of people who like my stories. It is beyond annoying when, because Facebook have decided that my author pseudonym is ‘not real’, the account is deleted.

That’s what will greet you when the axe falls. That’s it. No going back. No right of appeal. No chance to plead that the contact list of followers that you have built up so that you can launch your book to a targeted audience is LOST. No chance of saving what you have published on that account, unless you were canny enough to back up your work. You were not a ‘real person’ and therefore, you must ‘die’.

This brings me to the commercial reason why this happens. Facebook is, as I have said, a commercial entity, a stock market-listed company, which exists to make PROFIT for shareholders. It does this through selling advertising, which increasingly, is targeted based on things that one has written on a profile post, or links clicked. Now, when writing under a pseudonym, the ‘likes’ and clicks on posts might not reflect what you, as an individual, actually like. Therefore, from an advertiser’s perspective, they are being misled that you are a potential target customer. They could become a tad cross with Facebook for ‘selling’ a misleading demographic, and thus, take their advertising monies elsewhere. That would be bad for Facebook and their profit-making potential.

So, accounts belonging to ‘not real’ people must be eliminated, and then they can sell a ‘true’ range of demographics to their advertisers. Happy advertisers means more profit, which means happy shareholders. Perhaps that is a simplistic view, but that’s what it seems.

Please do not misunderstand me. There are some sick individuals out there, who do prey on people. Equally, there are people who, through the medium of roleplay, are able to work through some fairly traumatic situations in their own lives, or find a way out of depression, because someone likes a piece they have written. In recent days, I have seen the roleplay community being the ones who publicise what is happening in natural disasters like the Louisiana Floods because it is not of interest to the message in mainstream media. Another, now defunct, group did a fantastic series of pieces on bullying, highlighting it as a problem not just for children but for adults also.

The point is that the ‘fake’ profile is not necessarily a bad person. As I said, sometimes I write under a pseudonym, and sometimes I write as the ‘real me’. For the sake of avoiding the stalkers, hiding behind another identity, would one avoid all people because they might be a stalker? I doubt that one would.

Facebook should remember that some of those pseudonym authors might actually be their potential advertisers, although sadly, that is no guarantee that they will not delete your account. Please, Facebook, leave us to write our stories in peace. We mean no harm, and who knows, maybe your precious advertisers might find that our followers are their target audience.

Self-publishing advisory: formatting

So, you have written the book. You have either self-edited or you have sent it for professional editing. You have made the alterations and corrections, and now … now you are ready to format your precious for publication.

First off, this is not a step by step guide to how to format your beloved book. There are more that enough guides on doing that. As with my other posts, this will be about things I have learned as I have gone through the mill of setting up my books for sale on Amazon, Smashwords and as a ‘print on demand’ book.

Secondly, I will add a caveat, a warning. There are a lot of companies out there who will offer to format your books for you, and many of them come under a thinly veiled disguise. A bit of digging will show them to be a vanity publisher. They offer to format, and then they offer to publish. Self-publishing via the Amazon Kindle Direct option or via Smashwords costs nothing, other than the cost of having a decent front cover. That is the only thing on you should need to expend money.

So, why do I reckon it is so straightforward. If you look at this illustration, you might well think, “Noooo! I can’t face this …”. But it is possible. It just takes a bit of planning. I am going to make the assumption that you are using Microsoft Word. Not everyone does, but the majority do.

That picture looks scary, but it is not. The basics that you need are a style for your main body text, usual ‘Normal’ and one for chapter titles, for which you can use something like the one shown in the picture as ‘Book Title’. Everything else can be based on those two titles. It really can be that simple.

The key thing is that if you use those pre-set styles, you can fiddle with the fonts later. You can decide if you want block or indented paragraphs later, bearing in mind that indented paragraphs works better on Amazon, and Smashwords specifies block paragraphs in their Style Guide.

When it comes to CreateSpace and the concept of ‘print on demand’, this is NOT vanity publishing. This is a facility where you can still offer paperback editions, but without having to splash out for a print run of 100 copies, which would be your only other option if you wish to keep the cost per copy down to something where you make a bit of a profit on the cover price. Also, if you don’t use CreateSpace, you will have to buy your own ISBN, unless you use a printer who can supply this. With CreateSpace always order a print proof copy, because the screen version and the print version look very different. Key things which I learnt were that margins look at lot bigger in reality, and you can go with a 9-point font if you wish and have a lot of words. CreateSpace defaults to a 6×9″ book size. If you have an 80,000 word or less book, this will result in a very thin book. But if you go for a less common and smaller size to give a decent thickness, then the cost per copy will change.

In summary, scour the internet for specific guides. I have added some links to the ones I found useful. Both are free to download:

Smashwords Guide by Mark Coker: essential reading if you want to publish on Smashwords, which will give you access to Barnes & Noble and iBooks is here Link for Smashwords Guide

Publish on Amazon Kindle via Kindle Direct Publishing: this is specific to Amazon and may be found here Link for Amazon Guide

Above all, relax. It is not as scary a process as some people might think. Even if you don’t class yourself as a ‘technie’, you will be able to do this. You wrote the book. Go for it.

Indulge Me: Motorbikes

Excuse me while I pick myself up off the floor having been scouring the Internet for pictures to illustrate this piece. Throughout my writing, I make no bones about the the fact that I love motorbikes. I am a biker by proxy, at least until I can afford to take my test and buy a bike. In the meantime, my son is the biker in our family.

From the outset, my characters have been bikers. There is a whole image thing here: the tough guy stereotype, either a modernised version of the outlaw biker stereotype of 1970s America or the street-smart crotch rocket racer. In Bound, Fane Anghelescu and his sister establish Chain & Sprocket, which I named after a pub in Peterborogh in the UK. Fane was the bad boy, the Hellhound Alpha. Yet despite Chain & Sprocket being in the USA, he didn’t ride a Harley Davidson cruiser or a custom chopper. Even at that early stage, I wanted Fane to be different. Sure, his bike had been customised, but it was subtle, in a way that a biker would appreciate. And it wasn’t a common old Harley. Fane was different. So his bike was different. He rode a Triumph Rocket 3 Touring.

The Pack did customise bikes since they were ‘hiding’, but once Roxana died, the bikes changed. I introduced a new character, in Drax Anghelescu, and his favourites were the classic British marques: Triumphs from the 1960s, BSAs, AJS before the marque was ruined through moving manufacturing to China. The Pack didn’t have to conform. If anything, they shouted their differences from the rooftops and it showed in the bikes.

But the reason for this piece is to address another matter. When I was discussing the choice of bike for Casmir Gosselin with a biker friend, I described his traits. My friend felt that it had to be a Harley. Casimir was the bad guy. Bad guys rode Harleys. So what did I choose? I went for a Ducati Diavel. Why? Stereotypes are all very well. But as has been demonstrated by groups such as the American Patriot Riders, or the bikers against bullying, not all Harley riders are bad. Casimir was a far more complex creature than everyone saw, and I wanted his bike to reflect that.

The other thing I wanted to mention was a plea. If you are going to use bikes to illustrate a piece of writing, please be consistent. Recently, I was asked to join a fan-fiction group in which the characters were described as speed-loving. They drove Maseratis, the family had their own car racing team. I had to leave because it was clear that the other writers were both clueless and unwilling to learn. One is okay, but both? Nope! The story in question started with a man and woman on a Lambretta, a bit like this:

Then, inexplicably, they moved to one of these:

This was in the same story. The final straw was that they took the bike up to 200mph. Remember my biker friend? He rides his Aprilla for pleasure around Brands Hatch, a race track in the UK. He has video shot of him riding down the back strait at 150mph, solo, without a passenger. My biker son laughed at the alleged speed of 200mph, saying the bike would vibrate to pieces.

So, if you do plan to use bikes in your writing, check your facts, your illustrations and your narrative. Your potential readers may be bikers and your credibility will disappear faster than the proverbial melting snowball in the Sahara.

Everyone has to start writing somewhere. Five years ago, I stated writing fan fiction, when previously, I had only written novel-type stories. It opened my eyes to some of the different styles of writing out there. Make no mistake, it takes all sorts to please all people. But, and this is the tricky bit, I changed how I wrote, wanting to improve, wanting to be like the authors whom I idolise. Your character might spend less than half a page on that bike, but somewhere you had to read up on why that brand, why that particular model, why that road?

I guess what I am trying to emphasise is whether you are writing about motorbikes, or boats or anything, if you want to be taken ‘seriously’, then you have to be willing to learn. As you learn, it will show in the quality of your writing. I would like to think that those who read my books might notice that effort, but maybe they won’t. That’s okay though, because the sternest critic of quality of my work will always be me anyway.

———–

Book Links

“Bound”, Volume 1 of The Diaries of the Diaries of the Cŵn Annwn currently free on Kindle Unlimited

Amazon.com $4.99: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B016TQFBNY

Amazon.co.uk £3.99: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B016TQFBNY

“Alpha”, Volume 2 of The Diaries of the Diaries of the Cŵn Annwn

Amazon.com $4.99: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01ENZ972O

Amazon.co.uk £3.47: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01ENZ972O

Smashwords $4.99: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/631708

Using ‘Furrin’ Words in Novels

I had a couple of comments which I picked up from recent visitors to my Blog as to why I use foreign names or speech in my writing. There is a very simple reason: authenticity.

My characters are based on a Welsh legend. Now, I could give them ‘ordinary’ names, but when you consider that, for example, the Alpha of the Cŵn Annwn was born in North Wales in the 15th Century, it stands to reason that his name would fit with both the area and the time period. Hence, his name was Gabriel Black, until he accepted his Mate’s modification of his name to Gavril Negrescu.

Collage 280416 — Andrei Andrei, the Hungarian model provided the inspiration for the ‘look’ of Gavril Negrescu, Alpha of the Cwn Annwn

In comparison, his Mate, Aaleahya, was born a Romany, so her name would reflect her heritage. Other names of the Pack members also reflected their heritage: Bran, the Pack Beta, and Owain Cadwaladr, his co-Beta; Rhys and Taren are Sentinels. Then we have Angharad, the Healer.

Yes, the names may not be the easiest to pronounce, but I felt it would do my characters a disservice to give them modern names. Why would a Welsh character have an modern American style name? It might be easier to pronounce, but would it feel right?

As to the use of foreign speech in the novels, well again, there is an explanation. I remember reading somewhere that the definition of one’s mother tongue is the one used when you hit your finger with a hammer, i.e. the language in which that unexpected swear word erupts.

In “Alpha”, Gavril had to face situations where he is under stress. As he points out when he swears in Welsh, it is the language of his birth. Born in the 15th Century, it would have been the language his parents used. Another character in a later book speaks French as his cradle language. So, when he vows his love for his Mate, it is in the language that comes from his heart. Equally, her response is in Spanish, her own cradle language.

For me, those are the touches that make my characters more ‘human’. Paranormal creatures they may be. Born of legend they may be. They may live longer and they may have abilities which are unknown to humans. But, they live and they love. When tragedy strikes, they mourn. I can but hope that they will come to life for you also.

Book Links

“Bound”, Volume 1 of The Diaries of the Diaries of the Cŵn Annwn
currently free on Kindle Unlimited
Amazon.com $4.99: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B016TQFBNY
Amazon.co.uk £3.99: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B016TQFBNY

“Alpha”, Volume 2 of The Diaries of the Diaries of the Cŵn Annwn
Amazon.com $4.99: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01ENZ972O
Amazon.co.uk £3.47: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01ENZ972O
Smashwords $4.99: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/631708

The Inspiration Behind “Alpha”

As a keen student of history, both ancient and modern, it was hardly surprising this much of the inspiration for events in the second of the “Diaries of the Cŵn Annwn”, Alpha, came from historical events.

I had discovered a few years ago that my maternal great-grandmother had been an Ashkenazi Jewess from Palestine. She had converted to Christianity at some point in the process of marrying my maternal great-grandfather, so the only name I had for her was Agnes Angeline McCurley. On a business trip to Berlin, some ten years ago, I visited the Holocaust Museum, which left a significant impact on me, hardly surprising one might say, but it was more than I expected.

Nicholas_Winton_in_Prague — Sir Nicholas Winton (1909-2015)

Stories and snippets came into play. There was the story of Sir Nicholas Winton (1909-2015) and the way that he had saved 669 children from death. There were letters, such as those on the “Letters of Note” site: http://www.lettersofnote.com/2016/08/farewell-my-dear-brother.html, a letter from a brother before his deportation to Auschwitz, to his sibling in a forced labour camp. I wondered, with the focus of modern history, how many realised that not all Eastern European countries were immediate victims of the Nazi regime. Hungary did not suffer invasion until the Spring of 1944, for example, or that when the wrath of the Nazi regime fell on their former allies, it was with an impact which seemed greater as a result of how Germany had been viewed previously.

So many details and so much emotion. How would a member of a paranormal race like the Cŵn Annwn react to the knowledge that children were at risk? Bearing in mind that, for my interpretation of their legend, they lived under a duty to their Goddess of hunting down the souls of those who would do evil, could they sit back and do nothing, because it was the world of humans?

I would like to think that they would not. Knowing that innocent souls were at risk, it would not matter to them that they were human or a different species. What would matter to my interpretation of the Cŵn Annwn was that they had the ability to do something to help, perhaps to save some of those innocent lives, like Sir Nicholas Winton had done. I would like to think that if they could help, then they would do so.

But, at what cost? And, having paid that price, how would that impact on their willingness to help humans in need again? Knowing that a price was paid when humans had no idea of the cost paid by their rescuers, would they say “Enough!” or would they continue to help, even thought they would receive scant thanks for their efforts?

The research for section of Alpha which focussed on World War 2 was not easy reading, but it was necessary. To tell a story, I had to understand the motivations of those who lived through those events. Nothing is as straightforward as it might seem. That is where the craft of telling a story plays a part.

Now, as I work on Volume 9 of the Diaries of the Cŵn Annwn, “Cythraul”, the research is again harrowing, because now, it is events happening in the world today, reported by the media with the different sources slanting the story for their own reasons. As with Alpha, my hope is that I have and can continue to do justice to those events and the individuals who refused to become victims.

Book Links

From Roleplayer to Novelist

Life can change dramatically in five years. Little did I know when I started a new job in 2011 that by 2016, I would have five book titles listed on Amazon. I had been writing since my teens, but it was a hobby, right? Nothing serious? It was just something to kill time?

Then I stared a job which involved spending a lot of nights in hotels away from home. Talk about lonely! One evening, I was flicking through the ‘Other’ messages on Facebook, the ones not from ‘Friends’ and there was a message from a character in a book series which I enjoyed reading: Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dark Hunters. Online conversations and a face to face meeting, and I started to write online fan fiction, playing the part of one of the series characters.

Unfortunately, ‘good’ things come to an end. Jealousy, rivalry between other groups, and that original group started to fracture. I was invited to join what was known as an ‘Own Character’ (OC) group run by the same person, but found that the story she envisaged was not to my liking, not least because it used thinly veiled ideas from other book series. Instead, I set up my own OC group, using the ideas I had from my own writing all those years ago. I was delighted when two of the other writers joined me, not least because the pleasure of writing had been restored. I was even more delighted when several followers of the original Facebook group followed my own group. What would become the Negescu Cwn Annwn and the Anghelescu Hellhounds had begun.

As was common with such roleplay groups, each writer would write the parts of a character in the stories. A ‘face claim’ would be used, either an actor or a model whose looks embodied or inspired the character. My own group was no different: the ‘look’ of the Negrescu Cwn Annwn Alpha was inspired by the Hungarian model, Andrei Andrei. A photograph of the Spanish-Israeli model, Angel Macho, inspired a short story about rescuing a young Jewish girl from the Nazis during WW2.

It was about this time that I found out about Smashwords.com and self-publishing. I discovered the fun of finding covers and ensuring that the finished product looked professional. Amongst all that, my friends and I continued to write. We survived attempts to wreck our novels. And yes, we even sold some of the finished product to people who were not family.

It wasn’t easy. Sometimes I wondered if I had made the right decision. I think I did. For what I have learned and the friends I made along the way, yes, it was the right decision.

And further on the plus side, I found a role-play group being run by someone I knew where I might reprise my first role-play character. Like the picture said, there were those who wanted me to fail in my dream. Well, tough!

In Defence of Self-Publishing

There are so many articles out there about self-publishing: the joys, the perils, the problems and the success stories. I can only speak for myself. What worked for me might not work for others. Equally, you might say, “No way I have the time/money/will to do that …” At the same time, I am a firm believer in learning from mistakes. If someone learns from one of mine, that’s fine.

So, what started it? Let’s start with an explanation of the world of online roleplay, as it pertained to my own work. I was scrolling through a role-play site on Facebook, and noticed that a group had self-published one of their group ‘storylines’, which is effectively a short story or piece of fan-fiction written by a group of roleplayers, each taking the role of a specific character in a story. Some can be detailed (multi-para) and some can be fairly simplistic (one-liner, single para).

That sounded interesting. After all, if one group could do it, why couldn’t my own group? So, I checked out this site, Smashwords.com, because until that point, I had not heard of them. Strange as it may seem, I did not know about Smashwords. I downloaded the ‘How To …’ guide, which is excellent reading by the way. That was the starting point. It sounded daunting, but follow the instructions and you will end up with a file which may be uploaded.

The most important thing that I learned from the Smashwords experience was that, when writing the next book, set up style-sheets within Word or whatever word processing programme you are using. It will make life a lot easier at the publishing stage.

So, Smashwords. Then I thought, why not take a look at Amazon and Kindle Direct (KDP) publishing. First of all, avoid Kindle Unlimited if you only have one book. Sounds like a great idea, but I will explain why it doesn’t work out as planned in a bit.

But take a step back, because there is that other big issue in self-publishing: quality. Now there is more than enough on the internet about the benefits of having a professional editor. I have friends who are professional editors. However, and this is my own view, I was fortunate that I went to a traditional convent school with an emphasis on learning English Language and Grammar, and yes, you damn well knew there were capital letters involved. Former school-mates have spoken of being given two sheets of A4, with the word ‘get’ in various contexts, and being told to find alternative verbs. That’s the sort of education which I was privileged to receive. And, don’t even let me start on the lecture I had from my English teacher on the definition of a finite verb. A good ten minutes …

So, yes … drum roll … I have the temerity to self edit. Remember what I said about learning from my mistakes? Well, my first publication was so full of mistakes it was damned embarrassing. Simple truth. But, I learned from my own mistakes. Now, I use the following method.

Retype the original text, as I have to change it from 1st person present tense, to 3rd person past tense. Yes, other tenses are involved, but the description is for simplicity.
LEAVE THE DAMN THING FOR AT LEAST A WEEK.
Send it to my Kindle app via e-mail.
Use the Kindle app to go through and proof read, because it is a doddle to mark up the errors.
Use different colour highlights to mark up spelling, grammar and text flow.
Return to the original document and cross-check all the errors on the Kindle version.

Only then do I consider uploading a version to Smashwords and KDP. At this point, the original script will have gone through at least four to six version changes. I am also fortunate that I am a member of an excellent, small critique crew, the Kosher Critique Crew run by the excellent Kel Nichols (https://www.facebook.com/groups/1819407404971997/), where the members, all independent or aspiring authors, help each other to find the not-apparent mistakes.

The simple fact is that self-publishing has a bad name for poor quality writing. If a cover or a blurb has spelling or grammar errors, then I would not go any further as a reader. That is the simple truth. But, it is difficult to see those mistakes. If your grammar or spelling is not up to scratch, then really, consider using some form of professional editing. It is not a case of being a grammar Nazi. It is simple sales technique. Poor quality will not sell. You might have the best concept in the world, but poor quality will not sell. Are you hearing me?

So, yes, self-editing does not mean your work is damned for eternity. Remember, this is the route that I chose. This is the route that works for me.

Finally, in closing, why do I think Kindle Unlimited is an issue? It is a crowded marketplace out there. If Amazon promoted all books equally, then it might work. If the payment model was based on uploads rather than number of pages read, it might work for indie authors. If the ‘you might like’ selections featured more regularly those who are not published by major publisher, then it might work.

However, as I can’t see a pig flying past my window right now, then, I would say, having tried Kindle Unlimited for both a full-length novel and a ‘freebie’ sampler, it is not worth the effort. I would also point out that Smashwords gives the option to upload free books as samplers, and I had more success there.

The key thing will remain, if you wish to self-publish, you have to be prepared to put in a lot of effort. There are no short cuts. Do the work, and eventually, the results will show. It ain’t easy, but it is possible.

Dowsing: The Neem People Approach

“That’s that thing with pendulums or when you walk around with sticks.” Fortunately, the attitude of most people to dowsing has changed considerably. I was introduced to dowsing by my parents over ten years ago, and I still have the first pendulum, a rose quartz one, which my father gave me.

So, what makes my father’s approach to dowsing any different from other people’s ideas. It is best summarised in his own words, taken from his website: www.theneempeople.com

This web site is all about The Neem Tree, so what has Dowsing to to with Neem? I will tell you. Marjorie and I do Mind, Body, Spirit type exhibitions all over the country and also in Ireland; people coming to the events come looking for help spiritually, emotionally, physically etc. and there are far too many exhibitors more interested in pushing their products and “latest technology” than in whether the person will really benefit. Mammon rules!

Simply put, my parents saw too many vulnerable people being sold inappropriate solutions to their problems. Through dowsing, they might be able to determine if their purchase was in their best interests.

I won’t go into much detail about the ‘how’ of pendulum dowsing, other that to simplify it:

Hold the chain of the pendulum between the thumb and forefinger, with enough length that the weight at the end can swing freely.
First ask for the pendulum to show a ‘yes’ motion and then ask for a ‘no’ motion.
Second question, ask if you are dowsing at greater than 90% accuracy.
Then the matter on which you are dowsing. There are three questions: “May I dowse for/about …”, “Should I dowse for/about …” and “Can I dowse for/about …”

Provided that you receive a ‘yes’ to all three questions, you are good to go.

I have a particular reason for finding dowsing invaluable. I have an unusual food allergy, and I eat out a lot due to being away on business. Not all the menus are in English, so how can I be sure that the dish is safe. In this day and age of using convenience ingredients in the majority of restaurants, it is a real problem for me. A reaction can knock me out for 48 hours.

So, dowsing. What I have found is that I can dowse over a menu. “Is this dish safe for me to eat?” or “Will this dish cause a problem for me?”. To date, despite using this around Europe and the UK, my pendulum, a lump of Ethiopian opal on a cotton cord, has not given me a wrong answer.

As to the material for your pendulum, my parents sell a very pleasant range of hand-made wooden pendulums. I have used crystal and wood, and currently use either my opal or a wooden pendulum my mother made for me. The material is your own choice. There is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ material. You could use a tea-bag on a string if necessary. One thing I would say in this age of airline security: crystal pendulums do not scan well on security arches, so if you fly regularly, you may want to use a ‘safe’ material.

If you have any questions, leave a comment, and I will be happy to answer.

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