Just a quick post to give you more details on how this newfangled Payhip thing works. The site isn’t well-known amongst book buyers but it’s a UK company that has been around for about 10 years. Many authors are starting to sell their books on Payhip, and that’s how I discovered it – via Joanna… Continue reading How to buy stuff on Payhip – an illustrated guide
Great news for those who hate Amazon but really want to buy one of my books – well now you can! I’ve opened a Payhip store and all my books are now available in PDF and EPUB formats. You can still get a paperback or Kindle version from Amazon if you want, but buying from… Continue reading The Astro Journal is (almost) here and my Payhip Book Store is Open!
A blurb can sometimes mean a short review quoted on a book cover, but in this post we’re going to look at the other kind of blurb: the book description. The blurb is your sales pitch, printed on the back of your book or quoted on its sales page online. It’s the second most important… Continue reading How to Blurb: Writing a book description that sells
It should go without saying but: I’m not a graphic designer or an artist. I’ve taught myself how to design book covers and this post distils what I’ve learned from people wiser than me online. The most important piece of advice is: Don’t design your own covers unless you know what you’re doing and have… Continue reading A Blagger’s Guide to Book Cover Design
Designing a book cover is lots of fun and a welcome change from word wrangling and beating your novel into shape. But it can also be a frustrating experience. I scheduled two days to work on the cover for The Shining Ones, but in the end, it took a week – and it still needs… Continue reading The Shining Ones Cover Considerations
They always say you should never give up on your dreams, but what if your dream isn’t worth fighting for? What if it turns out to be a nightmare? I’ve been writing and sending my work out for years, trying to get the publishing industry interested in what I’m doing. But the publishing industry has… Continue reading Why I Gave Up the Dream of Getting Published
The title of this post sounds like a bad thriller, but anyway…last time I promised to tell the story of how the tax credit office almost killed my novel, The Shining Ones, but first, some context: A few years ago I was made redundant in the Tory public sector cuts and, what with one thing… Continue reading The Tax Credit Office and the Sword of Damocles
I’m amazed to announce The Shining Ones is finished – well, apart from a final polish edit and proof. No matter how many times I tried to kill this book, it wouldn’t die, which is appropriate because it features characters who are reborn from long ago – but that’s a spoiler so forget I said… Continue reading The book that wouldn’t die: A History of The Shining Ones
We’re currently at the peak of the Jupiter Uranus cycle that began in 2010. The opposition alignment began last year and runs until 2018, and you can discover what has happened so far here. In this post, we’ll have a closer look at the last two cycles to get a feel for how things tend… Continue reading Jupiter Uranus Cycle: Recent History Syncs
I started self-publishing early and, as it turns out, I was writing fantasy and science fiction right from the start! My first books were small but ambitious, and lavishly illustrated. In Write Like a Beginner I shared one of these stories – Creepy Castle – which wasn’t really a book, more a couple of sheets… Continue reading My First (handmade!) Books
The rejections for my latest novel The Shining Ones are starting to roll in. The first came from Gollancz and I wasn’t that surprised, so the title of this post is a bit misleading. As writers we’re supposed to be cut up by rejections, but I couldn’t muster the energy to care. Perhaps I’ve got… Continue reading Slush Pile Woes: the first rejection cuts the deepest
I never wanted to be a writer. I didn’t fantasise about seeing my words in print or imagine adoring fans hanging on my every word. I believed I was an inarticulate musician and sound engineer. Writing anything would simply confirm my deepest fears: that I was stupid. So it was quite a surprise to find… Continue reading A History of Addled: from idea to publication
Jessica Davidson 