Perma Free

Hi all,
Giving away free book downloads seems to be a good way to let readers know about your writing style, especially if you have several books published. So, how do you go about it?

The most obvious way is to join Amazon select, by doing this you will be able to offer your book free for any five days in a 3 month period. However, this has its drawbacks, to be in Amazon select you have to make your ebook exclusive to Amazon, which means that you can't sell that book through Smashwords or D2D.

The other issue is that many books on Amazon seem to be permanently free. Because I'm a bit of a miser, when I'm looking for a new book I can't help but search through the free book offers on Amazon. Some are good and some are bad, but there are literally hundreds of them. After doing this several times over a period of months I noticed that the same books were always free, so how does that work if I only get five days through Amazon select?

I sent an e-mail and asked Amazon if I could make one of my books permanently free and they said no. So how do Authors manage to get their books on the permanently free list? Well if you have a book that is distributed through Smashwords or D2D here is how it is done in four easy steps.

Step one
Go to Smashwords and or D2D and change the price of your book to free.

Step two
Over the next few days keep checking one of the channels, ie Barnes and Noble, to see if they have made your book free. When they have, copy the URL.

Step Three
Go to your book on Amazon and in the details you will find a link that says "report a lower price" Click on this link and a dialect box will open asking for the URL of the website where you found it cheaper. Paste the URL you copied into the box and then answer the other couple of other simple questions they ask.

Step Four
Ask some of your friends to do the above just to nudge Amazon in the right direction.

Well that's the theory. My book, "Bossyboots" went free on Barnes and Noble last week and I reported it to Amazon so that they could price match it. So far it hasn't cahnged, but I gather that the process is a bit hit and miss.

If you would like to report a cheaper price for my book, here is the link and, if you've got a Nook reader, why not pick up a free copy for yourself while you are there.

Wise Words

Hi all,
Isn't February one of the worst months of the year. Spring seems almost within our grasp but the weather can't seen to get any better. Just when the sun feels as if it warm the cockles of you heart a blast of wind that could freeze a penguin's winkle hits you straight in the face.
 Still I shouldn't grumble, I have a half brother who lives in Finland and they don't get any nice weather until May and then it's down hill all the way from July.

My father, who passed away seven years ago, was born in February and, on his birthday, memories of him crowded my thoughts. He was the person who introduced me to fishing, a hobby that became a life long passion. If it hadn't been for him I would have been able to write several books on the subject.

He was also responsible for taking me and the rest of the family to Melbourne, Australia on an assisted package. I was was only sixteen years old, I didn't want to go but I thank him for the experience. Just recently I published a book, "The Reluctant Pom" which tells all about my time in Australia, a land that my father thought would be the place of our dreams, but turned out to be a place of poisonous critters. However, without my father there would have been no book.

Throughout my growing up years he would drill bits of information into my head, words of wisdom that would see me safe on my journey through life. Through the years I have been able to discard some of his opinions, but others I still cherish and indeed use them to ease my passage through life.


When I was an impressionable youngster, who still believed his father was the font of all knowledge, he was always drumming the same message into my head. The advice, he said, had been handed down from his father and would be invaluable to me on my journey through life. Here is what he said.
"Never believe what you hear, and only half of what you see."
I suppose these words sound like good advice, but be aware because they turned me into a cynic.
Then one day it dawned on me. If I'd followed his mantra properly, I would never have believed him in the first place.
By the way, if you want to check out "The Reluctant Pom" or any of my fishing books, more information about them and a free book offer is available on my website. http://www.shirewriting.co.uk/

Free Book

Hi all,
Just a quick one to let you know that I have made my latest book "The Reluctant Pom" free on Amazon.co.uk.

The offer only lasts for three days, so if you are interested in a free read grab a copy before midnight on Friday. Here is the link for the free book.

The Reluctant Pom Photos

Hi all,
Just a quick post to let you know that I have added some photos of my time down under in Australia to my website . All you have to do is go to the home page click on any book and then click on "The Reluctant Pom" cover and you'll find the photos.
Here's a sample.

I was a sixteen years old when this photo was taken out side our house at 17, Carmichael Street, West Footscray, Melbourne. A fresh faced young lad who was dragged half-way around the world because my dad  thought Australia would be the land of beer and money.

I recently went onto google street map to see if the old place was still standing but sadly it's been demolished and a new house has been built in its place. It is interesting to note that while I was in the area on my computer I had a good look around at some of my old haunts and it made me kind of sad. I may have been a reluctant pom, but Australia still tugs at my heart strings when I see it on the telly.

I met my first wife in Australia and we did most of our courting on the veranda of her parent's house at number 1, Dove Street, West Footscray. I popped along there on street map and found that it is still there and looks almost the same as it did 47 years ago. What a great invention street map is, to be able to roam about the streets where I grew up on the other side of the world is just down right amazing.

One thing I did notice, which was a bit of a shock was the amount of graffiti that could be seen on some of the walls in West Footscray. My memories are all of a clean and tidy place without rubbish or graffiti, but back then in the sixties perhaps I was just too young to notice.

Guys and Gals

Getting older is a pain because little things start to irritate. One of the things that is currently driving me loco is when people refer to females as guy.
Until recently, a girl was a gal and a boy was a guy, but not anymore. Some how, some where and by whom I haven't a clue the rules were changed and every body became a guy. Every time I see somebody on the telly refer to a group of mixed sex individuals as guys, it makes me cringe.

It is bad enough having this thrust on us whilst watching the box, but last week it came closer to home. My wife and I went into a village cafe that we hadn't used before and we were greeted by a pleasant young lady with a charming smile.

 However, she spoil the introduction by her choice of words, "Hi guys table for two is it?"

Were were shown to a table and after asking what us guys wanted to drink she left us with the menus.

After five minutes she returned with the drinks. "Okay guys have you decided what you want to eat?"

"Yes, we'll both have oat cakes with cheese and bacon," I replied.

She took out her pad and whilst leaning on the table she said, "How do you spell oat?" I guess that says it all.

Hobbies

Hi all,
Having just finished writing and publishing The Reluctant Pom, I'm going to take a break from writing. Only physically mind you because, being a writer my brain is always working on the next book. Even when I'm immersed in one of my hobbies I'm still thinking about plots and names for characters. The main character in my next book is going to be called Gozzer, but I've only got as far has his first name. So while I'm fishing, doing a bit of pyrography or wood work, I'll be trying hard to think up a suitable surname.

I am a great believer in hobbies and think that most people would benefit from doing something creative instead of searching for entertainment. I guess I'm lucky that fishing has been a passion with me for for over fifty years and while other hobbies have come and gone fishing has always been a part of my life.

Other hobbies I've had a go at over the years include. Keeping white mice, which I had to give up when my father decided we are emigrating to Australia. Pardon the plug.

I have had a go at building a flying model aircraft. This was one of my constructive hobbies, the building was great, but I got put off by the number of crashes I endured. Seeing all that hard work crash to the ground isn't very pleasant and it happened to me on a regular basis.

One of my main hobbies during the summer is gardening, even weeding can be therapeutic in a mad sort of way. The trouble is that gardening isn't one of my favourite hobbies for the winter.

I have always been interested in art and I've had a go at many different mediums, watercolours, oils, acrylics, and pen and ink. I have produced some nice pieces that have found there way onto our walls but I've also produced some crap. I painted a lion once that was a bit bow legged and if my wife is ever down in the dumps she gets the painting of my lion out and has a blood good laugh. I might dig it out soon and put it on here for a laugh.

More recently my hobbies have taken on a woody theme, I have done  some pyrography and some scroll saw work and have even started to do a bit of inlaying with both wood and polymer clay.

Here is a wooden vase that I finished last week, which shows a bit of inlay work with some  pyrography thrown in for good measure.

Now you may be thinking that a wooden vase would be about as much use as  a rubber nail because it will leak more then the Titanic, but it doesn't matter because it is only for my wife's clay flowers.

My wife also has more hobbies than she has time for and is always moaning about having to stop to do some cooking etc. There are several other hobbies I'd like to have a go at like etching and wood engraving but time is a real issue.

I guess it is a shame that hobbies on on the decrease because nowadays it is so easy to get on the computer and do some social net working or play some electronic game on a tablet. I fear that making the effort to try an hobby is fast becoming a thing of the past and I'm just glad that I have some great hobbies because they have seen me through some rough times.

Don't get me wrong about computers and tablets by the way because I love them both and spend many happy hours on my kindle fire. However, I try to divide my time between entertainment and creation to get a balance. Entertainment is fair enough but it doesn't even come near to providing the pleasure that comes from creating something with your own hands.
If you would like to see some more of my pyrography please click Here to go to my website.

The Reluctant Pom Update

Hi all,
I going to have to apologise for the way I ended my last post. I gave many of you the impression that The Reluctant Pom was going to be my last book. Well I can tell you now that it won't be, in fact, I have at least two more books in the pipe line. I won't give any details away yet because they are both in their infancy but they will feature fishing, which is my favourite topic.

I guess I was feeling a bit down after finishing The Reluctant Pom, so I had a temporary downer on writing. When one is writing a book it is on ones mind for months on end, so it shouldn't come as a surprise if ones brain has a dicky fit when it is all over.

 Anyway, I'm pleased to report  that sales of The Reluctant Pom are steady. I don't think it will ever hit the best seller charts, but that was never my intention when writing it. I knew nothing about my parents lives because they never talked about such things. So at least my kids will have a record about my life and others might find my adventures in Australia interesting and too.