Saturday, March 12, 2011

Hi Indie writers… Introduce yourself! « Paradox – The Angels Are Here

Hi Indie writers… Introduce yourself! « Paradox – The Angels Are Here

On any given day you can usually find me sitting at my desk in front of my laptop pounding away at the keys writing another chapter in the Paradox series. That would be a run of the mill kinda day for me!

A packet of Cruskits and a water bottle, that is now at room temperature, is sitting on the desk beside me. There is also a mass of USB cables, notepads, bills to be paid, bills to be filed a bunch of pens and a printer that is forever running out of ink. Sound familiar?

In front of me, apart from the obvious laptop (Acer), are three cork boards featuring pin ups of my characters faces and characteristics including eye colour, hair colour, age, height, ability….etc etc.

On most days I have to remind myself to eat and drink. I Should be thinner!!!

I am sure my housemates are very thankful that I still manage (usually at some ungodly hour) to bathe, brush my hair and clean my teeth. I don’t know about you. But I am usually mortified when visitors just pop around uninvited, only to find me sitting at my desk – punching away at the keys – and still in my PJ’s. I don’t even want to broach the hair situation! Did I remember to put last nights dishes away???

Now, they say to be a good writer, you must read, read, read. Then read some more… It’s kind of like what they say about real estate. Location, location, location.

Thankfully, due to the invention of the electronic reader (I have a kindle and love it) I get to read more these days. Correction. I have my kindle read to me! The only thing is, I have so many great books on my kindle, that it is so hard to know where to start. So many choices.

Currently I am reading Mathew Riley (Six sacred stones – Aussie writer). (I am number 4 – Pittacus Lore (a pseudonym for James Frey and Jobie Hughes who collaborated on this book). And Amanda Hocking (Switched – I just had to see what all the talk was about. So far I am enjoying it).

I would love to hear from any of you other indie writers out there that are new to the writing and publishing world, as I am. Especially those who have, or are intending to publish their books on Smashwords and Amazon.

About you:

What keeps you going day after day to get that next draft completed?
What inspires you?
How do your characters come to you?
Let me know what makes your day!
Do you bathe? Just kidding, I’m sure you do.

On the subject of blogs:

They say you should blog regularly with a bunch of interesting information that people want to read. But honestly, who has time for that! I guess you could say, “then don’t have a blog.”

But really!… Is that really an option for any self-respecting indie writer promoting and marketing their own work. I don’t think so.

If you would like to promote your new book, please feel free to do so in the comments section on this blog.

There! That ought to keep it interesting!

Don’t forget to include a link…. to your web/blog page or to where your book is available.

Patti :)

A little more about me…

And how you can contact me.

Born in Brisbane Qld Australia. Grew up in Darwin in the NT. Now living in Cairns Qld.

Currently writing fiction Novel’s.

Email: pattiroberts7@gmail.com

Facebook: 535092981

Twitter: http://twitter.com/PattiRoberts7

Web page

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Patti

All comments & critiques gratefully accepted.

All content of this blog, unless otherwise noted, is the property of Patti Roberts, © 2009-

Thank you to all those souls that have read my book – you make my day!

PS:

If you are thinking about popping around for a coffee, that might be nice. But please give me a quick call first so I can brush my hair and smear a bit of colour across my lips.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Electronic media – not just sci-fi gibberish anymore. « Paradox – The Angels Are Here

Electronic media – not just sci-fi gibberish anymore.

“Beam me up, Scotty…”

A friend asked me just recently about purchasing my book ‘Paradox – The Angels are here.

She said, “Can I put it on my iPad?? (so not tech savvy!!!)”

Trust me, had she asked me that question a year a go. I would have shrugged my shoulders and grunted, “hu?” Then thought where is my computer wizard and very savvy friend Henry when I need him?

I didn’t know very much about the electronic media either. Zilch, zero, nothing, nil.

However, a few months back when I decided to use the electronic media to publish my book, I realised it was time to learn. So after much deliberation and research I bought the Kindle (mobi file) from Amazon and LOVE it.

I thought the transition from the traditional printed matter to an electronic device would be hard to get used to, but not at all and now that is my preferred way to read a book.

I love that it can store hundreds of books, and that it can read to me! That is a huge bonus! I can even download the book to my phone (HTC Desire) if I want…. so I did. Absolutely amazing. I never have to be without a book ever again….

I would never have the audacity to call myself tech savvy. I will leave that title to those far more worthy. Like my friend Henry.

Today though, I could confidently tell my friend, “for your iPad you will need to download the ePub format at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/27156 .

Of course there are a ton of ebook sites out there now where you can download electronic books. Smashwords is just one and the one I chose to publish on along with Amazon.

Here is a table comprising of the various formats available for the range of eReaders out there.

Online Reading (HTML)

Online Reading (JavaScript)

Kindle (.mobi)

Epub (open industry format, good for Stanza reader, iPad, others)

PDF (good for highly formatted books, or for home printing)

RTF (readable on most word processors)

LRF (for Sony Reader)

Palm Doc (PDB) (for Palm reading devices)

Plain Text (download) (flexible, but lacks much formatting)

Plain Text (view) (viewable as web page)

And here is where you can find my ebook, along with many other must have ebooks.

Amazon for kindle and android phones

Barnes & Noble – Nook

Diesel

Sony

Kobo

Compare top 10 ebook readers

I hope this blog has been helpful to you and has made you, like myself a little more tech savvy in the field of electronic readers.

Please feel free to add your own personal opinions on ereaders and such. I am only more than happy to learn all I can on the subject. Especially now that my wizard friend Henry has moved interstate.

Further reading:

E-Readers and the Future of Picture Books By Jerry Griswold.

Electronic media – not just sci-fi gibberish anymore. « Paradox – The Angels Are Here
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