Thursday 15 October 2015

Use SumoMe to Drive Sales from your Book Site

It's every author's nightmare.

Your new site is looking awesome. You are about to hit "go" on some well-tuned Facebook advertising, and you hope this will give sales a bump, since most of your books' rankings have started to drop off on Amazon.

The advert goes live. Impressions start coming in, and soon you are racking up the conversions. Yes, people are going to your site through the ad! Money well spent.

But then the book sales don't really move. At all. They stay stubbornly on trend, and that trend is "meh".

What to do?

Well, as luck would have it, this exact scenario happened to me shortly after I created the shiny new ArmadaWars.com web site. Because I don't believe in holding back strategies that would help other authors (you're my colleagues, not my competition!) I'm going to share my solution with you now.

Thursday 17 September 2015

Use Scrivener's Keywords to Manage Your Series

I'm having a little break from writing The Ravening Deep, so I thought I'd share a technique I'm using now that I have moved my entire Armada Wars operation from Open Office to that unbelievably good writer's app: Scrivener.

In this article, we'll start with the premise that you are writing (or starting) a series of novels set in the same universe. Here not only will you discover how to manage the books from your series in a single project file, but you'll also learn how to make the most of the keywords feature in Scrivener by setting up keywords in a structured fashion.

Wollen Sie diesen Artikel auf Deutsch lesen wollen? Gehe hier hin.

Don't forget that this blog is now for behind-the-scenes reporting on the Armada Wars universe, and RCV's posts on writing and for writers. All of the current news and events going on in the Armadaverse can now be found on the all new web site at www.ArmadaWars.com!

Thursday 30 July 2015

Announcement: Get to the Choppa!

It's an auspicious day!

I'm proud to announce that the official Armada Wars full web site is now up and running.

ArmadaWars.com

You'll notice the new site has its own blog (called "News" in the main menu), and you might well wonder what use two blogs are. Here are my thoughts on that:

Although it is branded as the Armada Wars blog, I've used this blog here for quite a lot of posts about my experiences as a new author, and writing posts advising other writers who are publishing virgins. I'll continue to do that here.

There will be some minor re-branding, but this will become the RCV blog, carrying articles and pointers relating to the writing experience.

All blog posts about the Armadaverse will now appear on the ArmadaWars.com news page.

Old posts relating to the Armadaverse will remain here; for posterity, for link validity, and for the sake of Google's sanity.

And yes... there is already new news on the new news page. Go. Go now.

Wednesday 29 July 2015

There are Many Ways to Read

Just as a little follow-up to my previous post about the Kindle App, this post is about the various ways there are to read the Armada Wars books.

First things first: all the books released so far have not one but two paperback versions. Each one has a standard paperback, and a cheaper 'compressed' paperback, which has a smaller text size and therefore a lower page count.

To find the paperback version of the book you want, just look on the Kindle version's Amazon product page for the link to alternate versions. Or search for the title in books only.

Newcomers to Kindle might not realise it, but depending on where you live there is more to the Kindle store than simply "buying" an eBook and downloading it to your device. Amazon have put a couple of different methods in place for customers to get access to the books they want to read without having to make a one-off purchase.

  • Kindle Unlimited,
  • Kindle Owner's Lending Library / Amazon Prime.

Kindle Unlimited

Kindle Unlimited could be viewed as the eBook equivalent of Amazon Instant Video. You just pay a monthly fee, and you have unlimited access to eligible Kindle eBook titles.

What makes an eBook eligible? It's a choice made by the author/publisher. They have to flick a switch at the back-end to decide if the eBook will be included in the Unlimited library.

Eligible eBooks have a second button next to the "Buy Now" button, which says "Read for $0.00 with Kindle Unlimited".

Kindle Owner's Lending Library

The Lending Library is for Amazon Prime customers. If you have a current Prime membership, you can borrow eligible eBooks as frequently as once a month. As with Kindle Unlimited, it's up to the author/publisher to enable their eBooks to be borrowed.

Eligible eBooks will have the Prime logo displayed on the product page.


Don't worry about authors missing out on royalties if you borrow instead of buy. Both Kindle Unlimited and KOLL remunerate authors on a "per page read" basis.

All the Armada Wars books published on the Amazon Kindle platform are (and will be) eligible for both Kindle Unlimited, and KOLL.

Tuesday 28 July 2015

"I Don't Have a Kindle"

It still surprises me that many people think they need to own a Kindle to read books published on the Amazon Kindle store.

That is simply not so!

For one thing, many books on the Kindle store have paperback versions, and both the Amazon web site and the Amazon shopping app provide links to alternative versions (including audiobooks) wherever they apply on book product pages.

But perhaps more importantly, Amazon also provides a free cross-platform Kindle app which can be downloaded by a range of supported devices.

The app is supported on the following platforms:

"The Ravening Deep" — Cover Art Revealed!

Feast your eyes upon it: the front cover of the upcoming Armadaverse instalment, The Ravening Deep...


Tuesday 7 July 2015

Donation Made: Save the Children campaign for the Nepal Quake

You might remember that back at the start of May, in the wake of the disastrous Nepal earthquake, I pledged all of the May/June author profits from the Armadaverse to the Save the Children relief campaign.

That donation has now been made.

It's sod's law of course that May and June were the slowest sales months so far this year for the Armada Wars books on the Kindle store. The paperback sales were surprisingly healthy by comparison to previous months (although still in single digits most months; I don't think my target audience likes paper very much.)

Towards the end of June I went to the length of promoting List of the Dead with a double-pronged attack: a Kindle Countdown discount on that book, with a giveaway of Steal from the Devil to get people interested.

Obviously many, many more people downloaded a free copy of Devil than bought a discounted copy of List, but I am fairly certain from looking at the monthly and daily trends that this tactic meant there were more sales than there would have been without the offers. Which meant a larger donation for Save the Children!

The total profits that would have gone into my pocket came to just under £50 GBP, which is not very much at all but it will still save lives. I rounded it up of course, from my own money. Because I am a UK citizen there is also an additional 25% whacked on top of that through the "Gift Aid" tax relief system, so the campaign will actually receive £62.50.

I look forward to the day when regular sales are good enough that I can donate much larger sums!

The effects of the quake have still not gone away, even though the world's reporters appear to have done. If you wish to make your own donation, you'll find the option on this Save the Children donation page.

Tuesday 23 June 2015

Episodic Characters — Character School Part 3

In the previous two articles from this series, we looked at general tips for believable character interactions, and the basic fundamentals of creating solid main characters.

Both of those articles give a number of useful starting points for the kind of things that need to be taken into consideration when we are trying to craft characters the reader will enjoy and respond to.

But what should we do if we want to develop a character across several books? How can we juggle the opposing goals of creating a reader-character relationship, and not giving away too much too early?

I might just be able to help with that.

Wednesday 27 May 2015

It's Not Just Robots! Why We Need Science Fiction

There seems to be a prevalent belief that if it contains robots, spaceships, or aliens, then it's science fiction, and that is all science fiction really is.

The truth is that science fiction need not have any of those things in it, and just because a book, film, or television show contains them it doesn't necessarily mean it's best placed in the science fiction genre.

Star Wars is possibly the best known and most divisive example of that; it's mostly fantasy, but with many science fiction elements which — funnily enough — all fall squarely into the robots, spaceships, and aliens category. The story itself combines two fantasy tropes: "The Hero's Journey" and "The War Between Good and Evil". Everything else is window dressing, and the actual story would probably suffer no ill effects if it were set in Middle Earth instead of a galaxy far, far away.

So how do we tell if something is science fiction, and what use is it anyway?

Wednesday 20 May 2015

Crafting Main Characters — Character School Part 2

In the first entry in this series we looked at some general aspects of believable characters, but only in the sense of realistic interactive behaviour.

In this article, we will get down to the important business of how exactly we can create main characters who are credible, memorable, and likeable (or not!)

The main characters of any piece are not just important to the story; they are the story. If they don't work as characters, then no matter how well-written and intriguing your work is, it will not engage the reader. Knowing your main characters inside-out early in your process will not only pay dividends later on, it will actually help you to shape your plot.

This is the most important piece of advice a new writer can receive, yet it's easily overlooked: the main characters — if they are well-conceived, rounded personalities — will actively sculpt the plot for you.

Sunday 3 May 2015

May/June Profits to go to Nepal - Save the Children

Unless you have been visiting another world recently, you will know that an earthquake struck Nepal on 25th April 2015.

More than 7,000 people are known to have been killed, and there are potentially many more yet to be located.

The legacy of this quake is that there are now thousands of people in need of urgent medical attention, food, clothing, and shelter. Hundreds of thousands of homes were destroyed by the quake.

Nepal is one of Asia's poorest countries by GDP, and it is no slur to say that they are struggling with the aftermath of this disaster.

To try and help in any way possible, all of the author profits generated by the Armada Wars universe in May and June will go to Save the Children's campaign for the victims of the Nepal quake.

If you wish to donate to the appeal, but not buy into the Armada Wars brand, you can make a direct donation on the Save the Children Nepal Earthquake Appeal page.

Tuesday 21 April 2015

Characters are People too — Character School Part 1

As I described in an earlier article, I started writing creatively when I was quite young then had a relatively long break. In order to create the Armada Wars universe I had to dust off my writer's brain and up my game to a whole new level. One of the ways I achieved this was to tackle the problem of characters; chiefly to stop being so lazy when designing them.

I have always been aware of the advice which circulates endlessly on crafting characters, but until recently did not apply it. The difference it has made is indescribably powerful. If I had to explain to other up-and-coming writers how it makes a difference, and why they should take notice, I would have to put it like this:
If your characters are not believable and interesting, your fiction will not be believable or interesting either.
Since I started I have made it known that I am perfectly willing to discuss my process and the lessons I have learned with anyone who wants to know. This article then is the first in a short series intended for newer writers, or those who are struggling to grow their creative muscles.

Sunday 29 March 2015

"I Dream of Damastion" — New Details!



The upcoming novella which will serve as an expansion episode for The Ravening Deep has now been named.

I Dream of Damastion will be a first person story, taking place in a claustrophobic environment where the stakes are high and the threat is difficult to see.

It will feature a previously unseen main character, and a dangerous villain we have met before.

Saturday 28 March 2015

Another Scam to Avoid...

You may remember that I posted an article a while ago about a site claiming to allow downloads of a pirate copy of List of the Dead, before I had even finished writing it.

Thanks to Google Alerts, which I use to notify me automatically when people write about the Armada Wars universe, I have now identified another scam. This one is similar but much more sophisticated.

Google Alerts found what it thought was a genuine link (now removed), to a site called fire-italia.org. When you click the link, it takes you through a series of redirects (one page forwarding you to another page on a different server) until you land on what appears to be a discussion forum. In this case, the topic under discussion was Steal from the Devil, and the thread starter said they were looking to download it cheaply.

That was my first clue, since it's only $2.99 (£2) on Kindle anyway.

Tuesday 24 March 2015

You Really Matter! Why your views should be in REviews

This article was — I have to admit — prompted by a couple of reviews on one of my own books, my début novel Steal from the Devil. While I will refer to SFTD as an example to illustrate some of my points, what I'm going to talk about here applies to all books, whether they be fiction or non-fiction, traditionally published or self-published, paper or eBook, as well as other products.

The basic foundation of this article is this: any given reader is not just a lone "end customer". They are part of a community of readers, and also part of the ongoing life-cycle of books.

I'm going to talk about the problems with reviews, the value of good and bad reviews to writers, their value to readers, and what each group will find useful. So if that is the sort of thing that will interest you, read on!

Monday 23 March 2015

Announced: Armada Wars Novella 1

Those of you following me on Twitter may have spotted this bit of news appearing quite sneakily a few days ago.

If you've got as far as List of the Dead you will know that in the current story various Imperial ships and facilities have gone silent. You can probably guess at why that is happening, given the other events in the novels, but might feel that you'd like to see it first hand (so to speak).

This first novella — one of a handful which will expand and enhance the Great War of the Shaeld story arc — will be released fairly quickly after The Ravening Deep becomes available. My intention for the novellas is to add extra dimensions to the overall story without interrupting the flow of the narrative with irrelevancies. This particular episode will deal with some of the mechanics of the ongoing invasion.

Without wanting to drop any spoilers, I can confirm that it will follow a previously unseen character aboard an Imperial starship.

Keep an eye out on the blog and social media for a title announcement!

Wednesday 18 March 2015

"The Ravening Deep" Teasers


Just before the release of List of the Dead, I posted an announcement for the title of the next book in this series, The Ravening Deep.

You may remember that at the time I did not provide any plot details, for fear of dropping spoilers about the major events which occurred at the end of List of the Dead.

Well... enough time has now passed!

Let's have some teasers...


  • Euryce Eilentes will be the flashback character in this volume, and as was strongly hinted at in List she will be coming into her own in major ways.
  • As far as the dreadships go, the heavy defeat suffered by the Empire at the end of List prefaces what is coming next.
  • The story unfolding on Guathelia, which so far has occupied only the prologues and epilogues, will collide with the main narrative.
  • Maber Castigon will also collide with the main story, in a way you might not expect.
  • You will hear more from Voice and The Emptiness, and also see more of Earth.

Deep is the middle volume of this five-part story, and it will very much be the Empire Strikes Back of the series. Dark days are ahead for our plucky protagonists!

Worlds Will Fall.