It's easier to buy a book than it is to book an air ticket

Who hasn’t dreamt of dropping everything, driving to the nearest airport and running off into the sunset? However, most of us know that we can’t just leave our friends, family and jobs, and jump on a plane every time we need a bit of R and R. However, we can pick up a book. Here are 5 reasons why it’s easier to buy a book than it is to book an air ticket:

Get Unlimited FREE Books

If you love to read, you might find that it's an expensive habit, with some novels costing up to $16 each! Does that mean you have to cut back on your reading? Of course not. With recent developments in technology, there are now many ways in which you can get an unlimited number of free books! Here are some of the main ones:

1) Get Free Ebooks on Amazon
Many authors give away their books for free for a few days in order to gain more readers and exposure. If you don't have an ereader, you can download reading apps from Amazon for free that let you read ebooks on your computer or phone (click here for details).

Making the Unbelievable Become Believable: Meet Author Janet Beasley

I just love fairy tales, so I’m thrilled to be able to welcome fantasy author, Janet Beasley. First Janet, could you tell me something about your wonderful books?

My main books are epic fantasy. . . you know, good old fashioned good vs. evil, but with a fresh new approach. So far people have said it is a very intriguing colossal experience, it reminds them of the day when you believed in the tooth fairy, and one even remarked that it was a mix of Harry Potter and The Wizard of Oz.

Is Twitter a Waste of Time?

How does an indie writer like Dracie Chan become a best-selling author? According to the Wall Street Journal, her only book, 'The Mill River Recluse’ has sold over 400,000 copies since it was first published on Amazon in May 2011 (less than a year ago!)

Hoping to pick up a few tips, I thought I would look at what Ms. Chan has done to promote her book. When I found her on Twitter @DarcieChan (easy to find), I was amazed to see that as of 14 April 2012, she had only 307 followers, was following 11 people and had made just 189 tweets! Obviously Twitter has not been a factor in her success. However, does this mean that I’ve been wasting my time tweeting and following on Twitter?

Thrilling History! An Interview with Author, John Paul Davis

As a huge history fan, it’s great to welcome author, John Paul Davis. Firstly, you have had two works of non-fiction published, the first of which was the highly acclaimed history, Robin Hood: The Unknown Templar. Could you tell us something about it?

The Robin Hood book was my first completed manuscript and my first work accepted for publication. And it all happened by accident.

The Robin Hood connection actually came about when I was researching another book, a novel, now known as The Templar Agenda. I’ve always loved history and my dream was to write a novel that was based on a credible premise and this involved a lot of research. Before I started researching the Templars, I had never ascertained the possibility that Robin Hood could have been a historical Templar. I knew the films well and I was familiar with most of the ballads. As it turned out the ballads were the smoking gun. The Robin Hood of medieval literature is so far removed from the disinherited, freedom-fighting nobleman of the movies that I think few people really know what to expect from a historical Robin Hood. The ballads confirm the original Robin was little more than a commoner, with a tendency toward helping his fellow man and extremely devoted to his religion, far more so than a typical outlaw. The military structure of the merry men is also surprising for that of alleged cutthroats. Further still, the king of the ballads is an Edward.

Promote Great Books! Make a List!

My Listmania List

I’ve just recently ‘discovered’ lists on Amazon.  They’ve been there all the time staring me in the face and I’ve even read quite a few of them, so I’ve no idea why I hadn’t thought of making one before myself!  They seem like such a great way to promote other authors' great books (and of course, one’s own work!)  Amazon lists come in two forms, ‘Listmania’ and ‘So you’d like to . . .’

Music, World War II and a Russian Billionaire: Meet Julie Thomas

After Robert Collins’ and Kevin Ashman’s excellent guest posts about how history has influenced their books, I am pleased to be continuing this topic with author Julie Thomas who is talking today about her wonderful book, The Secret Keeper, and the amazing World War II story behind it.

Julie Thomas

Hello to all of Katheryn's readers from far-flung New Zealand and thank you so much for sharing a few minutes with me.

I have three books uploaded to Amazon and Smashwords, one is a novel, one is a book of short stories and one is a book of my late father's letters home from WWII, he was a Spitfire pilot in the UK and the Middle East. Today I am talking to you about my novel, The Secret Keeper. It's had five five-star reviews on Amazon and one on Smashwords and is free! It's number one for free Jewish fiction on Amazon and I suspect I am the only Gentile on the list. I uploaded it in early September and so far have had around 8,000 downloads.

Ancient Rome, Murder Mystery and Adventure: An afternoon with Kevin Ashman

This afternoon author Kevin Ashman has kindly agreed to talk to me about his bestselling books and how he came to write them.  Over to you Kevin!  

Hi there to all Katheryn’s readers and thanks for allowing me a few moments of your precious time.

First of all I would like to say I am a relative newcomer to writing, though have had some minor success, selling almost 8,000 copies since September 2011. Not life changing, but I am very grateful to all who have downloaded them so far.

Secondly, I would point out that the book overview below is not of my best seller Roman, but of my third book, Mortuus Virgo.

Babies, Writing and Travelling: An interview with Sarah Elle Emm

Today I am delighted to welcome Sarah Elle Emm, author of Marrying Missy.  First of all Sarah, can I ask how you became an author, what inspired you? 

Award-Winning Romance and Suspense: An interview with Ellen Gable

I recently did a posting about the award-winning historical romance, In Name Only and I said at the end of it that I was hoping to interview the author, Ellen Gable. Ellen has not only agreed to do an interview with me, but she has also very kindly offered to give away a FREE copy of her novel (more about that later)! First of all Ellen, thank you very much for doing this interview with me.  Can I start by asking you how you became an author?

I actually began writing in a journal 20 years ago to ease my grief during miscarriages.  That journal became my first published article in 1995 called “Five Little Souls In Heaven.”  Six years later, I began writing my first book because I wanted to share the parallel stories of myself and my great-grandmother.

Writing refresher

I'm currently rereading Kate Walker's 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance.  I first read it about 5 years ago and thought it was about time for a refresher course as I start on my next romance.  I've read loads of books about writing, but this is one of the few that I think is worth a reread.  If you don't have a copy, I would recommend it if you write romance fiction, especially the Harlequin/Mills and Boon type of romance.  Kate Walker is a successful writer for Mills and Boon 'Modern Romance' (Harlequin 'Presents'), so her book is especially helpful if you write that type of book.

I personally don't write for Harlequin/Mills and Boon, but that's another story for another day.  If there are other good writing guides that you would recommend, please let me know.

Now I'm going to go back to reading Kate's book.

 

Great Summer Sale!

You can now get over 25% off The Royal Sheikh at Smashwords as part of their July sale, but you'll need to hurry as the offer runs out on 31 July.

Personally I love a good sale and I'm looking forward to picking up some bargains in this year's summer sales. I'll mainly be looking for clothes (my husband says I desperately need some new ones - he's probably right). Also, while I'm on holiday, I'll check out any local second-hand and charity shops for books, jewellery, silver etc. I'll let you know if I find anything interesting.