new book soon- 'Jade Fry and the Village Spy.'

I'm planning to release my new book soon. It's an ebook, the third n the Jade Fry series. This time Jade Fry Private Eye has to turn detective to help the village, Melton, which is in the Best Kept Village Competition. But it's neck and neck with the neighbouring village Paxby and when things turn nasty and someone seems to be sabotaging Melton's plans, Jade Fry has to spring into action to find the spy and ensure fair play.

I'm waiting for a cover ordered from fiverr, I'll let you know what its like but so far  I must say I like fiverr. The gigs as they call them are done swiftly and efficiently and well. Communications are really quick and  emails are terribly polite and quick and it only costs $5. What's not to like?

How not to get sidetracked when writing! Try a trusty alphasmart!

Try an alphasmart. I know it sounds stupid and low tech, positively neanderthal these days but if you're not great with IT like me it may help you. I like it because:
- I can write a scene in odd snatches of time  in the car on my knee, anywhere really
-the keyboard is punchy and solid , a bit like an old typewriter. atisfying to use somehow
-it runs on AA batteries which last for ages
- no need to rely on things that  can go wrong like the internet, saving files on tablets etc which I ALWAYS seem to do wrong
-you can pick a trusty old alphasmart up from ebay pretty cheaply (£30 maybe)
- you can easily transfer the scene you've written into your laptop at home, just connect with a lead, arrange the cursor where you want it to go and press SEND! A blindfolded monkey could do it, well maybe not
-Best of all, you CANNOT go on the internet, waste time on social networking, check emails
Good eh? Worth  thinking about maybe?

Deadman's Diamond FREE

My book is free to buy from amazon ALL WEEKEND. So why not have a look, get it and read it. If you like it please write me a review. It's great for 9-12 year olds action, mystery and crime lovers especially BOYS because it's exciting. You will want to know what happens next, I guarantee!

Deadman's Diamond review!

My first review for Deadman's Diamond said  that my book was, and I quote,
               'Intelligent and often funny'
which I think was a pretty fair assessment. The thing I need to do now is get some more reviews. So I'm going to email bloggers who write about children's books and see if they will review it, but apparently they are often deluged with review requests. I'll see what I can do.I'll let you know,
                                                                                                                     Suzi

         

Here's a great book!

Infinite Sky by CJ Flood is a fantastic story . It's for young adults and is a spellbinding story of friendship, jealousy and loss. Although it's for young adults I think it works as a crossover book. It follows the story of  Iris and her brother Sam though one long hot summer on the family farm. Their mother has left to go travelling and the young people are left with their dad. All three are struggling in their different ways, especially Sam. But then a group of travellers camp out on one of the fields and Iris befriends one of them ,an attractive boy  called Trick. But during the heat tensions mount until things explode with tragic consequences. It's beautifully written, subtle and heart breaking. Read it!

How to get reviews for your ebook...

Well I'm a novice at this but this is what I've come up with so far in getting reviews for Deadman's Diamond:

- ask family or friends ( please note that amazon have tightened up and reviewers must have ereaders, buy the book and wait for two days before posting a review) In my case that rules out most of my friends and family who are not very techno savvy to say the least but hey!

-contact groups like the Reading and Book Discussion Forum. You have to fill in a form and upload a free copy of your book ( I ticked the box which said publish review even if it's not favourable, )

- contact bloggers who blog about your sort of book and ask for a review

I'll let you know how I get on with these. Any more ideas gratefully received.

Deadman's Diamond

Hi everyone,
                Just to let you know you can borrow this book free now, for a limited period only.

Thank God for the nice people at KDP

I am relieved to say that I managed to change my silly mistake title.
Instead of Deadman@s Diamond, I've managed to change it to 'Deadman's Diamond'. Phew!
Who knew you could get so confused and make such daft mistakes? Reminds me of the time I bid for a pair of shoes on ebay and bid £15,000 by accident instead of £15. Still don't know how I did it but that's a story for another day... All I can say is don't rush like I did. Anyway Deadman's Diamond is out, all present and correct. You can get it for any 8-12 year olds you know, at just £2.03 now. Now for my next trick.

How not to publish on amazon KPD! Don't do what I did!

Don't rush things like I did. I spent nearly two months checking and rechecking that my ms was fine, was obsessive about the layout, about typos, etc. As I have written previously I got the lovely people at fiverr to do me a cover and convert the text into mobi. I then checked and rechecked the whole thing, got my sister to reread it rechecked the layout, contents etc etc. then I decided after Easter, fuelled by choc, on a high because the holiday had gone well, everyone liked the family treasure hunt I'd made up, etc etc that I'd publish it today. Did it in a rush, loads of interruptions but followed all the instructions,  pressed save and then publish. At last done! But no when I checked I'd put the title as Deadman@s Diamond instead of Deadman's. Will anyone spot this? I don't know but what a stupid idiot. I hang my head in shame!