Are you Curious?

The story behind the eBook 

A topic of interest

Many of my eBook stories have interesting back stories; if you are intrigued as to what lies behind a story drop me a note on the blog.

For example the story here - Nerja - this is a story about faith.

The story is set in Canada, far from where I had the idea, my concept was more a science fiction mystery than a short story on religious beliefs.

The only link between my original idea, and the story which earned TWO 5 star ratings on Amazon is they both feature an aircraft in difficulty.

I had the idea of the story while watching a video of a light aircraft flying over Manchester. The aircraft was flying over office blocks, and I thought "What would happen if it disappeared with all those people in view?"

The story could be considered close to the book The Lost Mesa by Louis L'Amour. Though he is a respected writer of western fiction, this book, his last, I found hard to read. That is something I found with other writers who died shortly after their final books. It raises the question, did they care about the book as they knew they were dying, or did they rely on past glories to sell a lack-lustre story?

My eBay store is closing

 My eBay buying policy

                                                              eBay buyer protection

As sales of my DVD selection on eBay run down, I am not going to add to my page from this month. The reason for this is their buyer protection policy gives the sellers no protection, as soon as the buyer "claims" their goods have not arrived, they have won the case; this leaves the sellers open to being the victim of a scam. Something I think has happened many times to me.

I had two or three regular customers, but as my sales are minimal, I won't mis the funds I get from the site

What don't you understand?

 A note to BOOK PROMOTERS on TWITTER

Foreign Language

I often think I talk in several tongues, or at least in a language which has passed into history, why?

Book promoters on Twitter keep trying to get me to pay them to promote my latest eBook, despite repeating myself I have NO MONEY for promotion.

Another futile policy is attempting to convince me my time will come if I write again.

          My light shone too bright for a short time in 2012 when I earned an award

History's Forgotten People

 YouTube favourites

Buying helps the Channel

Another YouTube channel I enjoy watching is History's Forgotten People, it is one of several channels I watch which has an online store where I can purchase goods to help the channel thrive.

Last year, I bought my late wife the book Tasting History with Max Miller, earlier this year, I bought two tee-shirts from Hollywood Mysteries, and I hope to buy another soon.

My wife would approve of the shirt I plan to buy next month, we both would have supported Empress Matilda against her cousin King Stephen, as she was the rightful heir

Why haven't I added to my eBook content on Draft2Digital?

 Draft2Digital / Smashwords

It is a Scam

From the opening of Smashwords, I had my suspicions about the site.

My suspicions centred on how one site could make its owner a multi-millionaire so quickly in competition with Amazon?

It didn't take long before my suspicions were confirmed by reports from other writers.

The site may sell your work, but they keep the fees.

When I first used Draft2Digital it was a reputable sales platform, in contrast to Amazon I was selling eBooks there.

Then things changed, they began using a lending library system which means readers pay a library to take books out, the library pays the distributor, but unless you get masses of sales - the number is unknown - a writer sees nothing.

Two examples of this happened to me; on two occasions I was asked did I plan to write a sequel for a ghost story? I replied, what is the point in writing a sequel for a story, which as far as I could tell had not sold?

Also, I found a new issue with Barnes & Noble which was my main sales platform, not that it concerns me now as I am not writing

Why do I have so few eBooks on my Amazon page?

 Few sales

                                                                  The Bitter Truth

A question I get asked a lot by book promoters on Twitter is why aren't my eBooks on Amazon?

The answer to the question is they were for over a decade, but they never sold. My bestseller sold 15 copies in a decade, that was only because the eBook twice sold seven copies in a weekend; the next bestselling book only sold a dozen, and that had TWO 5-star ratings

Zombiewatch

 WhatsApp 

                                                                   The Faceless ones

The story behind this short story is the story of a double-challenge I set myself.

Challenge 1

Write a story about zombies, as I am not a fan of such films I knew I would not have the passion for it. Technically, what are classed as zombies in the movies are NOT zombies.

There was a man in New Orleans who upset the local witch doctor i, and spent 20 years in a trance, when he was roused he had no recollection of events, though he'd lived through them.

Challenge 2

Sell my story.

Outcome

Success on BOTH challenges, even if the eBook only sold one copy.

The New Era.

I think Zombiewatch is an apt name for the young ladies who contact me via Twitter, asking me to go to WhatsApp, but are unwilling to show their faces