Calvin's book Turning-Point now available to buy

Hello, folks,

 

Just to let you know that my novel Turning-Point is now live on Kindle at—

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00N1Z1UCI

 

The CreateSpace version will hopefully follow in a few days!

 

Have fun,

 

Calvin

Julia's New Book - The Returning Tide

We all build our lives on some form of deception known only to ourselves; it is how we survive and our secrets are rarely exposed.
 

Claire Bentley, a wealthy and successful business woman has concealed her secrets for thirty years. Now, recently widowed, she is persuaded, against her better judgement, to join her daughter, Krystina, on a holiday in Cornwall. Soon, unforeseen events bring back the memories and terror of her last holiday in Cornwall and she is forced to confront her past.
 

Again, Claire flees from ‘that cursed land full of promise and desolation.’ Once home, she feels compelled to write her story, while clinging to the hope that no one will ever need to read it.
 

Why has she hidden the truth for thirty years? And how much does Krystina know about her mother?
 

The Returning Tide is a dark, disturbing story of loss and deception, time and identity.
 

 

Now available on Amazon as an ebook Amazon ebook  and paperback Amazon paperback.

Julia

 

I have also asked Douglas to add the following to the writers' group member details page.

 

Julia Sokota is originally from Cornwall. Her varied working life includes teaching in comprehensive schools in Coventry, and training teachers in Africa. Now, semi-retired, she teaches at the University of Birmingham. She is married with two daughters and has lived in Leamington Spa for over forty years.

 

 

Why a paperback sticks in the memory

I see from my daily paper this morning researchers have found readers of paperbacks find recall of their reading easier than those who read on Kindle.

 

What have you found?

 

Douglas

When Evil Empires Collide (Amazon vs. Hatchette)

Of all the articles I have on the subject this is the best so far. Thanks Moira. Authors, Readers, Publishers and Retailers some explosive chemistry here!

Moira Allen is the editor of Writing-World.com (http://www.writing-world.com) and the author of more than 350 published articles. Her books on writing include Starting Your Career as a Freelance Writer, The Writer's Guide to Queries, Pitches and Proposals, and Writing to Win: The Colossal Guide to Writing Contests. 

 

Coffee on the Deck
by Moira Allen

August 21, 2014:

The publishing world is abuzz about the ongoing, and escalating, battle between Amazon.com and Hatchette Publishing. Gallons of ink have already been shed in describing the war between these giants, so I'll sum it up in a very small nutshell: Amazon wants to keep e-book prices low and Hachette wants to keep them high. Sounds simple, no? Motivation is even simpler: Amazon wants to keep prices low because, they say, lower prices mean more sales, which means more money. Hatchette believes that higher prices mean more money. It becomes clear rather quickly that the operative term is "more money."

Amazon recently ignited a fresh furor by sending an e-mail to its Kindle authors, urging them to write to Hatchette to express their support of Amazon's position (not exactly a step I'd describe as "keeping authors out of the middle of the conflict"). A coalition of some 900, mostly bestselling authors countered by publishing a letter in the New York Times "urging [Amazon] to stop using them as pawns in the negotiation."

These latest moves are designed to place a burden directly on authors (and readers) to take sides in the dispute. Now, when someone asks you to take a side, the first question you're likely to ask is which side to take? Generally, you want to know who the good guys are. Most of us (at least in Western culture) are conditioned to believe that there is a "good side" and a "bad side" to most disputes -- and that even if we try to see "both" sides, there's still a right and wrong. We believe that evil is forever attempting to defeat good, but that light will prevail and the Ring will be destroyed and... Oh, wait, that's another story.

How do we identify the "good guys" in a battle like this? Each side has spouted volumes about the threats the other poses to literature, ideas, openness, free trade, and a host of other values we writers hold dear. Can we choose based on size? Amazon's revenues in 2013 were $74.5B (yes, as in "billion"). It's a little harder to track down revenues for Hatchette, the world's fourth largest publishing company, so let's go with its parent company, Lagardère: Roughly $9.6B (if I'm translating euros to dollars correctly).

For writers who may be weighing decisions about groceries vs. gas, it may be a bit difficult to feel much sympathy for either side -- which is, no doubt, why both sides, instead, keep asking us to feel sympathy for the authors who are "caught in the middle." Neither side, one notes, is actually alleviating those authors' pain by yielding their position; they just keep trying to remind US how much the "other guys" are hurting authors. So perhaps we should side with the authors themselves? 900 authors purchased an ad in the New York Times (which you can read at http://www.authorsunited.net/) to tell the world that they "weren't taking sides" in the dispute -- but were really, really upset with Amazon! ("Not taking sides" apparently means something different to these authors...)

So let's cut to the chase. The motivation on both sides is money, money, and more money. Amazon is not in the business of selling books; it is in the business of making money. Selling books happens to be one way of doing so. Hatchette publishes books, not because they have warm, fuzzy feelings toward authors, but because they, too, are in the business of making money. Each side sees the other as interfering in that goal. This isn't Mordor vs. the White Tower; this is Mordor vs. Isengard.

While both sides want us to believe that, unlike the other guy, they are the author's friend, let's get real: neither company is the author's friend. Big publishers have never been the author's friend. Authors are simply grist for the publisher's money mill. Royalties have not increased, percentage-wise, in decades. Booksellers are not the author's friend either; authors simply produce the product that puts money in the bookseller's coffers. But more to the point, neither side are the reader's friend either. Readers are the ones who actually provide the money so deeply beloved by publishers and booksellers, and readers are as much the victims of this conflict as authors.

Hence, while it's tempting to ask who's the "good guy" (or "bad guy") in this dispute, it's important to remember that this is a dispute between two gigantic companies with one common goal: To extract as much money as possible from your pocket. Amazon wants to get more of your dollars by selling more books, and believes that lower-priced books are the way to do that. Hatchette wants to get more of your dollars by charging a higher price for each book you buy. It's a simple clash of business models.

With that in mind, it's time to move the discussion away from what is "right" and "just" and "good" in the world of publishing and selling books. There has been a lot of blather about what is or is not the "American way," or "fair," or "proper" about how Company A should sell the books of Company B. We've been told that Amazon has a "responsibility" to make all books by all authors available to all readers at reduced prices. Um, since when?

Discounts are nice. They are not, however, a moral imperative. They are simply a device that has been used to attract customers since, perhaps, the first cavepreneur opened his skins-and-flints emporium. They serve the seller, not the buyer, and they are not a "right." Any store has the right to choose what merchandise it will or will not sell, and for how much. If you own a shoe store, you're under no obligation, moral or otherwise, to offer the merchandise of every shoe manufacturer in the country, or to offer identical discounts on every item in your store. You have the right to pick and choose what you sell and how much you sell it for. Conversely, if you are a shoe manufacturer, you have the right to set whatever price you choose for your products.

Let's remember that Hatchette is a manufacturer and Amazon is a store. Both are in the business of making money. Amazon does so by, typically, offering deep discounts on books. (Ironically, this practice originally caused authors and publishers to squawk in protest, fearful that it would ruin their profits -- and now they are squawking when their products are not discounted!) Hatchette does so by setting high prices (and, also ironically, now complaining that Amazon is refusing to discount the high prices that they, Hatchette, set in the first place!). While neither side may be "right," each side has the right to choose its own business model. There's no moral high ground that makes deep discounts, overnight delivery, or pre-order-ability a "right" for either the consumer or the author. These are conveniences, nothing more.

The problem is that the giants are currently at something of a stalemate. Hence, both are now trying to appeal to the emotions of writers and readers, hoping that they can win their battle in the arena of public opinion. Each wants to convince you that they care more about you (as writer or reader) than the opponent. So as a writer (or reader), ask yourself: How might a company really show that it cares more about you than about your money? Has it done so?

And then, do yourself a favor and simply stay out of the crossfire. Battles between giants tend to be hazardous to the ordinary folks caught in the middle. But this, too, shall pass, and will probably accomplish very little actual change -- and in a few years will seem downright silly. So rather than yielding to the urgings of Amazon or Authors United to choose sides, choose instead to make your writing and reading decisions based on what is best for you. Because of all the participants, you can bet you're the only one who actually cares about that!

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Are Your Writing Dreams Unrealistic?

by ALI on AUGUST 15, 2014

http://www.aliventures.com/writing-dreams-unrealistic/#more-4731

(Image from Flickr by Lennixx.)

Sometimes, I get emails like this:

I enjoyed your blog post on making money from your writing. I’d love to make a living writing but I don’t know if that’s unrealistic.

I can tell you now … it’s not.

I make a living writing, and I know lots of other (pretty normal!) people who do too.

But sometimes, I get emails more like this:

I’ve written to dozens of writers, telling them all about my background and my writing ambitions. I want someone to mentor and help me get my book, How to Avoid Papercuts, published and sell a million copies.

(They usually go on a fair bit longer than that.)

The truth? It’s an unrealistic ambition. First-time books by unknown authors (especially on topics that interest the author and pretty much no-one else) just aren’t going to become bestsellers.

And, nice as it might be to imagine a top writer spotting how talented you are and helping you out … every writer I know is busy enough with their own projects and their own life.

Worth reading on at http://www.aliventures.com/writing-dreams-unrealistic/#more-4731

Thanks Ali for this ... and other previous posts.


Douglas

Inkplotter Calvin Hedley’s novel release:

Calvin Hedley is very soon to publish his first novel, Turning-Point, for sale on Amazon as an e-book on Kindle and as a paperback on CreateSpace.

 Calvin says:-

 

Turning-Point is a split-time historical novel set against the backdrop of two conflicts: World War Two and the Falklands War.

          In May 1940, an unidentified man is discovered floating in the North Sea by the crew of a Luftwaffe seaplane.  Before he can be taken, an RAF fighter intervenes, and the naked, unconscious stranger is eventually picked up by the British.  His identity is a mystery, but the more MI5 specialist Marcus Gifford investigates the more startling the mystery becomes.  Gifford’s task leads him into the corridors of power, to Churchill and war policy, and much more.  Meanwhile, Heinrich Himmler realises the priceless asset the Reich has lost and initiates a ruthless operation to get the man back.

          In June 1982, university lecturer Dr Richard Pelham and his daughter Sally are mourning the loss of Matthew, his son and her brother, whose disappearance three years previously while flying an RAF Harrier remains unexplained.  Worse, what official conclusions there are blame Matthew for the incident.  Pelham’s grief and wartime memories are made raw again when Patrick Milburn, a complete stranger, delivers a seemingly innocent photograph and letter.  Pelham, in trying to prove the photograph fake, clear his son’s name, and discover Milburn’s motives, calls in what few favours remain to him; as he struggles to uncover the truth, further questions emerge to challenge fundamental beliefs in science, history, and time itself.  It also emerges that, for some forty years, MI5 has harboured its own secrets about the matter and is still determined to maintain security.

          The combined investigations uncover a temporal jigsaw that not only redefines much of the past but also offers potential for a tantalising future prize.  For Pelham and Sally, at least some measure of ‘closure’ is gained as they regather their lives and try to move on.

 I will alert you when published - Douglas

 

 

Compton Verney

Pauline and I attended a consultation / information gathering meeting at Compton Verney yesterday linked into the bureaucracy for their current application for Heritage Lottery Funding. Members of other writing, arts and photographic groups were present from Stratford, Warwick and Leamington. The people at Compton Verney want to grow their involvement in local arts activities.

I came away not completely clear about what future is envisaged but then perhaps that was the purpose of the meeting to gather thoughts and ideas. My underlying worry is any efforts on their part may dilute the work of existing  groups which are struggling to survive. The other issue is geographic and the effort required to go there for any regular activity. It is a lovely setting. Perhaps we can discuss at the next meeting and go back to them with our considered thoughts.

I met some people I had previously exchanged e mails with and spent last night reading a Kindle copy of "Urge to Kill" a first published book by  J J Franklin a local author from Stratford.

My first  visit to Compton Verney was in 1992 when the house was being looked at as a potential Heart of England Opera House and the stables were being converted to up market houses and flats. They have come a long way since then which is good to see.

For more details of existing activity - http://www.comptonverney.org.uk/default.aspx

Douglas

Russell Blake - Three years of Writing

The experiences of a successful self published author.

Worth a read especially his comments about readers.

http://russellblake.com/three-years-come-and-gone/

"I love what I’m doing for a living. I was doing it for free for my own pleasure, and I love it even more now that I’m doing it for readers. My final words of advice for budding authors is to always keep readers at the forefront of your thoughts, and to focus on improving your craft every day, like using a muscle. If you do that, you’ve got an advantage over most of your peers, who are in this for other reasons than to tell the best story they can as well as they can. Make that your priority and you can’t go wrong, whether or not you hit the sales lottery."

 

Thanks Russell

 

Douglas

Last and next meeting

The Inkplotters met on the 12 August and exchanged views on web site and future topics. Julia and Calvin are about to publish their new books. On the subject for reading – a death scene, members enjoyed hearing a variety of pieces from poisoning in the Roman Empire, through to revenge for WW2 acts, a dead parrot, an accidental death at Maple Court, natural death and an arranged death in Zurich. Next meeting Thursday 4 September 2014 with reading subject – An overheard conversation ...

 

Ian has given me a story - Ademu - on the death scene theme which I have added to the writing page.

 

Douglas

More good stuff from Joanna Penn

 

http://www.thecreativepenn.com/2014/07/17/writing-thrillerfest-2014/

More writing advice

• “Your ending should be unexpected, but inevitable.” Richard Krevolin, PowerStoryConsulting.com

• Your characters don’t have to be likeable, but they can’t be all bad. The trick is to have them love something e.g. Buffalo Bill in Silence of the Lambs has a poodle. Or, make them express emotion e.g. Frankenstein’s monster says he didn’t ask to be created. From Peter James.

• There are no rules around how to get the book written. Lee Child won’t plot at all, doesn’t know the end and just writes until he’s done. “I don’t want to type out a story I already know the ending to.”Jeffrey Deaver writes a 350 page outline. Everyone else is somewhere on the spectrum.

• “You don’t commit to writing one book. You commit to being a writer.”John Lescroart. Most authors write at least 5 books before anyone wants to read more of their work. Even when you’ve ‘found your voice,’some people won’t get it.

• “A novel must be novel, or there’s no point in publishing it.” Mark Tavani, Editor. An editor is looking for something they can sell. The concept may have similar elements to other books but it must be fresh. Get the little details correct– in an age of Google Maps, there’s no excuse. Anything that jars the reader will end their experience of the book. The editor is thinking about whether this is the beginning: of a series, of a business relationship, of a new career for this author. “Start as close to the end as possible.” Stop flashing back – keep moving forward. Readers react to lag time negatively, so a book a year is recommended.

• “The fact is: authors die.” Peter James on why there’s always room for more authors! This made lots of us feel better. When faced with huge mega-famous names in the room, it can feel as if you’ll never make it – but many of them have been writing for 30+ years. I’ve been writing fiction for 4 years now and I’m 39. I have time!

Another post response from Russell Blake

Author: Russell Blake
Comment:

... but I'm too busy writing. What I can say is the man's a consummate storyteller, and keenly in tune with pacing. And he does love his twists. He views himself as an entertainer, not a high-faluting author, which is a similarity we share. If you keep the reader in mind at all times, and constantly question why they should give a s*** about every page of every chapter, you're on the right track. If the answer is, "they shouldn't - it's not important" then it should be cut. Pretty straightforward.

See all comments on this post here:http://russellblake.com/sad-state-of-affairs/#comments

Thanks Russell ... particularly relevant in my time of self editing ...

Douglas

Remember next meeting Tuesday 12th August 2014 19.00. My contribution starts .....

Writer’s group - Death Scenes

 

I did not sleep much last night after our argument. 

When I woke I moved nearer to her but she had flown. 

Today I felt sure I would find out what happened to my twin brother Eric. The historian of the family, the swot, the gentle academic. 

Confirmation came all too soon as I came out of the bathroom when the telephone trilled.

“Hello, room 21”

 

Come to the meeting and hear what happens next ...