Amazon.com Book Descriptions

Judge and Author K.S. BrooksMy oh my. I’ve been banging my head against the wall quite a lot lately. I’ve found so many book descriptions on Amazon.com that are not doing justice to the authors’ books. Twenty words or less? More about the motivation to write it than about the story? Nothing more than a few reviews? An entire paragraph telling me how awesome the author is at flossing his/her teeth? Listen, there’s a right place for everything. And the right place for the book description…is the book description. Potential customers want to know what the book is ABOUT, otherwise, how will they be able to tell if they want to read it? (If you need help writing your book’s description, try this tutorial here.)

For authors who self-published their book, they can go into Createspace or Kindle and easily change the book’s description. But, once the print and Kindle versions are merged, this may not reflect the description they’d prefer. Also, if you aren’t the publisher of your book, and your requested changes have not been made, there is an alternative for you: your Amazon Author Central Page. Continue reading “Amazon.com Book Descriptions”

Always Look On the Bright Side of Life

A few weeks ago I was out shopping with my husband when we came across a card. It made my husband guffaw. On it was written:

Dear Optimists,

If you continue to look always on the bright side, you’ll eventually go blind.

Regards

The Pessimists.

It summed us both up perfectly. I always believe something good will happen, while my husband believes that the worst will always occur, and is bemused by my perpetual optimism. Continue reading “Always Look On the Bright Side of Life”

Congratulations to Steven M. Moore

Congratulations to author Steven M. Moore on a great review of his science fiction book, Survivors of the Chaos.

Civilization passes through a social singularity. The U.S. and E.U. break apart. China collapses. Companies consolidate and expand around Earth and to the far reaches of the solar system, becoming the glue that prevents anarchy as they contract mercenaries to brutally maintain order and ensure profits.

Three reluctant heroes rise above this Chaos. A mild Midwest rancher becomes a vengeful vigilante in the Big Apple; an aging astrophysicist struggles to save alien artifacts found on one of Saturn’s moons; and a tired and reluctant mob enforcer finds a new life aboard a starship on its way to 82 Eridani.

Pulitzer-nominated reviewer David W. Menefee of Bookpleasures.com says of the book, “Readers steeped in current literature will appreciate the brevity of scenes that burst in front of you with a blinding flash of startling detail and then exit as quickly as a comet streaking through the night sky.” You can read the whole review here.

Survivors of the Chaos is available from Amazon US, Amazon UK, and Barnes & Noble.

Taking the Plunge and Writing for a YA Audience

Guest Post
by Charles Ray

I’ve been writing since my teens; more years than I care to count; and, even as a teenager, what I wrote was aimed at an adult audience.

I am constantly coming across articles suggesting that writers consider targeting the YA market. My problem was, having for so long been immersed in a world of gritty reality and often harsh speech, I wasn’t sure I could make the transition and still retain what I view as my ‘unique’ voice. Continue reading “Taking the Plunge and Writing for a YA Audience”