Every author will face it: bad reviews. Some more, some less, but in all cases they will hurt. Bad reviews come mostly because your book came into the wrong hands: that reader wasn’t supposed to read your book but based on your cover or summery they thought they are and they read it. So, a large part of potential bad reviews can be avoided with careful considerations when deciding on your metadata: genre selection, book covers, blurbs and such. But even if your metadata is spot-on, you will still end up with some readers that were never meant to pick up your book in the first place. Here is how I dealt with mine.
Michelangelo’s Captives in the Writing World
Michelangelo allegedly said that in every block of marble there is a hidden statue. And I believe the same is true for the blank piece of paper. There is always a story to be told. And as we, writers, put our words down, more and more of the sculpture gets revealed.
The draft for the final DOE sequel is done!
The last few months of finishing the first draft of the novel, I focus so much on the writing that I almost completely disappear from the social media world. The good news is that the draft for final sequel of “Descendants of Earth” trilogy is finished and I am super happy about that. Still some work ahead before it´s ready for publishing but the ending is near and within a few months, I´m happy to tell you that the book will be available.
The Senthien is a Number 1. Bestseller!
There are 48 million books on Amazon.
Let me repeat that.
There are 48 million books on Amazon.
So as you can very well imagine, it is difficult for a not-well-known author to be discovered. Sometimes, a promotion helps. And every now and then, my free kindle deal for “The Senthien” helped me found some new readers.
This time, however, when I did my free-promo, something quite amazing happened!
“The Senthien” climbed up to a number 1 spot on Amazon USA, UK, Japan, Brazil, Canada, Australia, France, India and Germany in sub-genres of hard science fiction, genetic engineering science fiction, space opera, sci-fi romance, sci-fi adventure and dystopian science fiction.
Which was just WOW! I couldn’t believe it. And needless to say, it made me so incredibly happy.
12 years since I first started writing “The Senthien”, it is now a bestseller.
The adventure, of course, continues. “The Mind” sequel to “The Senthien” was published in April 2020, and the final sequel wont take too long either. The first draft is finished, and is now in the process of post-production, which means edits and re-writes until I finally have it in the form I want.
For all who are curios as to when the final sequel will be out, please join my newsletter and I will keep you in the loop.
Take care and stay safe!
Interview: The magic of audiobook narration
If any of you were wondering who is the mystery person behind the amazing honey-colored voice of my audiobooks “The Senthien” and “The Mind”, it is an actress, Corinne Davies.
And today I’m bringing you the interview where she explains what -or who- inspires her voice choices, where does her voice-shifter talent come from and what is the process in auditioning and narrating the books.
The link below is an abridged version, but if you want to see the full version of this interview, please check out https://youtu.be/RtUjWyCKbP8
And if you would like to hear more of her voice and enjoy the sci-fi romance story at the same time, write me an email. I still have a few freebie codes I can send you 🙂
Take care all and stay healthy and sane!
The book that changed my life
For many life changes, one can point to a specific event that was pivotal for that change in life’s direction. In my case, it was a book I read more than ten years ago, and also something that the author mentioned in one of her interviews.
Check it out!
How many of you like “Twilight”?
Take care and stay safe!
Author vulnerability No.1: Fear of rejection
I think I can talk for all authors when I say that each and every one of us fears that our work will be disliked, that people won’t respond to it, that it will leave them unaffected, especially if we give heart and soul into our creative work (which is pretty much always). I succumbed to the same fear so much, that I unpublished some of my work due to the response. And then, I had a good talk with a very clever person who taught me some wisdom 😉
Check out my short stories: www.tarajadebrown.com/books
A word about gratitude, love and recognition
A long time ago, my mother in law told me that there are three components to happiness. Looking forward to something, to love and be loved, and to be recognised and acknowledged by others. Today I will focus on the last one: recognition, and what does recognition mean for a writer.
The last audiobook excerpt Vlog, and my favourite scene
Today I’m playing the last of the audiobook excerpts from my book “The Senthien” and, as a proper romance author, I chose this one to be one of the romantic scenes.
Also, this is a place where where Humans find out that Senthiens can tell the future, and where J finds out that he needs to change something to make this particular future happen 😉
#audiobookgiveaway
Findaway Voices, the production and distribution company for audiobooks, is offering 10 free copies of the audiobook “The Senthien”.
If you are interested, just send me an email.
* the free copy is available from Chirp, and currently only in US, Australia and UK.
Sam Swift at “Swift Escape” book giveaway
I figured since I have the paperback for “The Senthien” and “The Mind”, I might as well do one for my tech-thriller stand-alone novel “Swift Escape”. And for this episode I invited someone very special: Sam Swift, a main male protagonist of “Swift Escape”.
I hope you enjoy it 🙂