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Thread: Guerilla Novelist, Casper Parks - Updates

  1. #21
    Garuda, SouthernCross and Doc,

    Thanks for the positive feedback.

  2. #22
    You're welcome.

    I liked Southerncross' suggestion about sharing your publishing experience, etc. I would be interested to read that also.

  3. #23
    Quote Originally Posted by Doc View Post
    You're welcome.

    I liked Southerncross' suggestion about sharing your publishing experience, etc. I would be interested to read that also.
    Will type up something about the process and post it...

  4. #24
    Much appreciated Casper. I am studying up on my rusty conversation skills right now.

    I love Alfred Hitchcock's attitude about it where he spoke of it being like real life only leaving out the boring bits.

  5. #25
    Word processing for me is second nature. 15 to 16 years ago, I roughed out Coming From Darkness on an old 1987 Mac. Averaged 80 to 87 words a minute free-flow.

    Outlines for me are rare. I write flying by the seat of my pants. Most preferred to write using outlines. There was an old joke between published authors that went to college, “Those who can write do, those who can’t teach.” There is a vast difference between English taught in schools and writing fiction.

    Conversion from Mac to PC was rough, then upgrading PC to PC to PC over the years, and updated newer word programs.

    I write using Microsoft Word, using the same settings in a template set up by createspace.com. Settings for margins, plus top and bottom for distances from edge of page, watching to make sure it is not too far or too close to edge. I save as a word document. Newer word programs allow easy conversion to PDF if needed.

    There are a number of smaller companies similar to create space. Create Space is owned by Amazon. Thus far, their customer service is great. CS allows writers to keep all their rights. Rights is something to watch for with many companies. Amazon was the first for Indies, and thus far treated them with respect.

    Many indie writers do not use print books, only e-books.

    I like the idea of having printed copies. Print makes a huge difference, the emotion and sense of accomplishment. CS charges a fee for expanded print distribution, last time I checked it was $35.00 US dollars.

    At the moment, I am using size eleven font and Palatino Linotype.

    Seems I always run into formatting issues however, those issues are easily resolved. After I confirm the print copy looks good, will post whatever the confirmed settings, font style and size are. For e-book distribution there a number of options. Smashwords, draft2digtial and or upload on your own, or a combo of it.

    E-book distributers get a percentage of sales. In the past, I upload e-books on my own for Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Each store has its own formatting requirements. PDF for Amazon, and e-pub for Barnes & Noble.

    I am giving draft2digital a try for i-Tunes and Kobo Books. Draft2Digtial is a new company. D2D has posted at their website that, they are working toward adding Google Play and Sony. Their customer service was decent. Smashwords was among the first to become a distributer for e-books. Smashwords seems to be a love/hate thing with a lot writers. I tried them a couple years ago, but customer service was lacking. Smashwords may have improved their customer service, not sure.

    *Sony requires writers use an e-book distributer. I expect other e-retailers are moving that direction. Amazon, I expect will go unchanged.

    When CFD goes into e-book, I am leaning toward draft2digital. I am hoping they have added Google Play and Sony. If not, I may give Smashwords another try.

    Over the past twelve months, there have been a number of small changes with uploading e-books. Some places require using e-pub, others PDF files… Here is where the newer word programs are nicer. Older word programs do not always have that word to PDF conversion feature.

    Distributers are nice, since they make the conversions for the author. *Very important, do not use a company that requires you give up your copyrights or a percentage of it to them.

    The margin, top and bottom settings are different for e-books. If I forget to post those settings for e-book, please remind me.

    1) Create Space has a nice feature for building covers. Providing you are using same cover for print and e-book, stay away from using their artwork and photos. Using their stock images will limit usage to Amazon only.

    2) Creating a cover using gimp and similar programs is an option. Buying a cover can be tricky. Watch for scams where they demand a percent of copyrights and or ongoing usage for art fee that never ends. For CFD, I used http://www.selfpubbookcovers.com/index.php. A fee for the first 250,000 e-book and print sales. After 250,000 there is a second fee for unlimited usage. This is the first time I used a company like that. They have the two fees only. They do custom covers, but unsure what the charge is. CS offers professional built customer covers but it is costly.

    3) Ages Past, I used a stock image from NASA and gimp to make it on my own. Should have had title up top and name on bottom. Nice thing about e-books stuff like that is easily fixed. Down the road, I plan to change the artwork for Ages Past.

    Here is the fun part. What to do or not do…

    Amazon has something called, Kindle Select. For KS the author must give Amazon a 90 day exclusives for e-books. The author must opt out prior the first 90 days ending or it renews on autopilot. KS allows writers a 5 day free promo give away once every 90 days. The promo days can be split up, running it free for two days, then a month later for three days, so long as it falls within that 90 days.

    When I did my giveaways on Amazon for Threshold and Ages Past, ran it five days straight, timing it to go over a weekend. *Christmas is good time for a giveaway because people getting a Kindle Reader are looking for e-books.

    Amazon is the largest player in the industry. Those giveaways do help move the title up in their algorithm. Draw back, using KS keeps the e-book from other stores like Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Google Play and others.

    At this time, I am not sure about using Amazon’s Kindle Select Program for CFD.

    Catch-22. Not using KS allows a broader base of people. Using Amazon’s KS program offers a great number of people downloading because of the promo giveaways. It’s about numbers. As much as I dislike locking CFD for the first 90 days with Amazon, more people will download it because of KS program.

    Writers can publish to Amazon and not use their Kindle Select / Kindle Prime feature, but giveaways are not allowed. Writers can only do giveaways if enrolled in their Kindle Select / Prime program. I am up in the air on using Kindle Select / Prime for Coming From Darkness for those first 90 days.

    Uploads for text formatting and cover size are different from print to e-book. That is where many people become intimidated. Don't feel that way, after a couple times of doing it - it becomes more of a nuisance than anything else.

    Marketing! Word of mouth is best... Building a readership takes time. If a writer decides to spend money for ads, take care. There are vast numbers of wanna-be websites out there ready to take your money.

    Again, I will post something about the process of writing Perceptional Threshold, Ages Past and Coming From Darkness. I have a number of other stories in process, the next forth one is nearing completion, and the fifth is well underway.

  6. #26
    Invaluable Casper. I, along with others here, are newbies to this but the Indie publishing venue is here to stay.

    Any comments on editing ? Do you self edit or do you have help ? I think once a writer has a book or two under their belt, editing becomes a limited thing, but an outside opinion is always useful.
    I will keep this information as I hope to be at the publishing point by winter. Writing and actually taking care of your life and marriage are challenging. Also, writing right now is my secret as I am not telling anyone in my family or close circle. I'm keeping the energy to myself. The minute I start talking, is when I stop creating. So I just deal with squeezing work in right now.

    Do keep adding things as you get time as this is very beneficial. Again, my thanks Casper. Let us know how your strategy is working at marketing and how the book is received. Best of luck with it.

  7. #27
    Casper, that was far more than I hoped. Thank you very much. My interest is from the point of view that I once wanted to write and publish (before the internet) and I may want to again but I have an ongoing interest in the process. Your detailed post answered all of my questions and more.

  8. #28
    Decided to run Ages Past and Perceptional Threshold as free e-books at Kobo and i-Tunes through this summer, 2013.

    Select link for free e-book downloads.
    Kobo Books and i-Tunes.
    Attachment 1030 Attachment 1031

    Both e-books are priced 99 cents US at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
    *Amazon is known to price match, request a price match of free.

    *Ages Past is great for adult and young adult.
    Last edited by CasperParks; 07-16-2013 at 09:01 AM.

  9. #29
    Quote Originally Posted by CasperParks View Post
    Ages Past and Perceptional Threshold as free e-books at Kobo and i-Tunes ends September 23rd, 2013.

    Select link for free e-book downloads.
    Kobo Books and i-Tunes.
    Attachment 1030 Attachment 1031

    Both e-books are priced 99 cents US at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
    Note: Many Amazon websites in other nations have both e-books.
    Here is a review posted at i-Tunes for Ages Past, I think nails it on the head.

    The Beginnings of Histories and Myths

    by K'Daneth

    I found this book to be a delightful read. It presented a variety of introductions to the multitude of creation beliefs from around the world, both past and present. This book taps into archeology, primitive cultures, differing cultures, survival, and the beginnings of societies across the globe.

    This was, in my opinion, a very well written Alternate way that Humans got their start on Earth, along with all of the various lore from cultures around the world. I find the blend to be a satisfying, and smile-making, story. I even shed some tears.

    It brings out how we might have once lived and how we might live, if we ever get over our differences and learn that we are more alike than we are different, and stop hating each other.

    I find the blend of various creation myths and beliefs to be intriguing, and plausible given the premise this book is based on: we were already out in the Universe and part of a Council of All Beings. And then there came Discord, and Chaos Followed, and that's how we ended up 'Here', with 'Here' being on Earth and in our current cultures and societies.

    I enjoyed the book even more when I realized that the author was drawing together various creation myths in quite unexpected ways.

    This is a book for someone willing to say "Gee, I never thought about it like that." I found it to be is fun read.

    To the author: there are quite a few mistakes in using the wrong word, such as 'haul' instead of 'hull', 'too' instead of 'to', 'patients' instead of 'patience, 'rouge' instead of 'rogue'. There were some places where the wording was sufficiently off that I had to read what was written before and after the part that was off in order to figure out what was intended. I would suggest that you have someone who has English as their first language review and correct these problems.

    Thank you for writing this book.
    Ages Past is great for adult and young adult.

    Yep, you will find a few errors. With each new book there is improvement.

    Want grey aliens? You got em.

    Want human aliens, including Pleiadians / Plaideans, and Reptilians? You got em...

    Love story, conflict, war and lives torn asunder? You got it...

    Great for introducing family members and friends to UFO research, and the what ifs.

    Great read in preparation for Disclosure.

    Ages Past:

    After Benjamin discovered a habitable planet, he negotiated opening the colony for human races from across the known universe. Before his home planet of Bootes had stepped into the heavens, many of the inhabitants were used in experiments by the Kohana (Greys). Humans from other star system feared those experiments had altered DNA of humans from Bootes. As an exchange of various human cultures is underway, those fears faded away.

    When Jermack fell in love with a girl from another star system, Benjamin stood proud that his son led the way for others. A small number of non-human races were afraid of humans intermixing and creating a new race. In doing so, humans could request another seat on the Council of All and upset the balance of power. Opposed to the colony, a Cold Blooded Coalition formed and contacted the Kohana for help ending the new human colony.

    Unknown to everyone, the Kohana (Greys) have plans of their own...
    Review from Bestselling Author Ralph Cotton for Perceptional Threshold:

    Ralph Cotton:

    Having known Casper Parks for some years and having had the privilege to read some of his earlier works in-progress, I'm not at all surprised at his ability to key a great piece of literature -but I am greatly impressed. In this special rough-draft edition Perceptional Threshold delivers all of the right elements essential to good enjoyable fiction. Parks' work doesn't present itself as a debut novel, but rather as the efforts of an old hand and authority unique in presenting this fascinating look at the dimensional realities surrounding us in a cosmic forward roll of cause and affect. What part the "Fallen Ones" play in our physical world and to what extent they affect our day-to-day lives is a matter of each reader's personal perception, and I expect that is exactly what the author had in mind when he set this work in motion. I sense a sequel.
    Perceptional Threshold: A fantastic Halloween read.

    Professor Andrew Hueser enlists his younger brother Peter and four other students in his special project, keeping the school board in the dark as to his true find, alien technology. Upon assembling and powering the equipment, he expected it opened a doorway to another planet or dimension. He was wrong. When stepping through the Door of Light, they bodies are transformed into a ghostlike state.

    Adventurous, they set-out to explore the Hollywood Strip as ghosts. What they discover is horrific. They had opened a Passage onto a Ghostlike Prison Plane where Fallen Angels are imprisoned. They must make it back to the college alive, through the Door of Light and shut it down to prevent a massive prison break.

    Aliens, Angels and Fallen Angels fighting an ongoing Ancient War, their prize humanity caught in the middle and not fully comprehending what is at stake.

    From all side it becomes a Mad-Dash for the Door of Light.
    Last edited by CasperParks; 09-17-2013 at 04:26 AM.

  10. #30
    Nice reviews!
    An opinion should be the result of thought, not a substitute for it.
    - Jef Mallett

    Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge.
    - Charles Darwin

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