Amazon’s Hall of Spinning Knives | David Gaughran

Amazon’s Hall of Spinning Knives | David Gaughran

There has been a lot of disturbing news recently about how Kindle is treating its authors.

Cases include books having their ranks stripped without warning, and even whole catalogues being removed. More disturbing is that Amazon appears to be denying their authors any redress – not to mention refusing there is a problem with their system. The only way to make this company face up to its obligation to uphold fair practices is to ensure Amazon cannot hide their poor-conduct. We must share these stories as far and as wide as we can.

Authors should be working together as a community rather than trying to sabotage each other or cheat the rankings. Sadly, there will always be those who do indulge in dishonest practices, but to be accused is not the same as being guilty. These authors deserve to be shown the evidence against them and given a chance to answer to it.  If there is no evidence beyond what the algorithm vomits up, then should Amazon not be publicly apologising – if only for the sake of its own reputation – and working to improve their system? Based on the stock warnings, these cases appear to be the result of an overzealous, automated fraud prevention system that is clearly not working properly. These cases need to be dealt with carefully, individually, and by people rather than robots. The authors cannot be held responsible if their books have been targeted by scammers trying to boost their books by making others look guilty, This is the first thing that should be ruled out before punishment is dealt, especially when you consider that Amazon are jeopardising the livelihoods reputations of these authors.

Phoenix Sullivan is well-known in the indie community – I’ve known her myself since 2009 or 2010 and consider her a close friend. Aside from being exceptionally generous with her time and knowledge…

Source: Amazon’s Hall of Spinning Knives | David Gaughran

Is your book edit ready?

Is your book edit ready?

This post offers a selection of my personal favourite titles on self-editing. Many new writers have been caught out in thinking that once they have completed their first draft all they need to do is find an editor to spruce it up with a proofread. This could not be further from reality. The editor is who you go to once you have gone as far as you can without help (self-editing) but how do you go about such a task? In truth, the answer, like in writing, is that there is no single right way to go about it and, unfortunately, there is no magic wand I can wave to make it easy either. Your best bet is to find a system that works for you but always be open to listening to how others do theirs.

The advice in these few books is succinct and concise, so new writers will find it endlessly useful.

Outlining your Novel

Let outlines help you write a better book!

Writers often look upon outlines with fear and trembling. But when properly understood and correctly wielded, the outline is one of the most powerful weapons in a writer’s arsenal.

Creating CharActer Arcs

Have you written a story with an exciting concept and interesting characters—but it just isn’t grabbing the attention of readers or agents? It’s time to look deeper into the story beats that create realistic and compelling character arcs. Internationally published, award-winning novelist K.M. Weiland shares her acclaimed method for achieving memorable and moving character arcs in every book you write.

Edit Ready

Edit Ready is an author’s reference book for use during story development, writing and both self editing and when you get your manuscript back from your editor.

The Emotion Thesaurus

One of the biggest problem areas for writers is conveying a character’s emotions to the reader in a unique, compelling way. This book comes to the rescue by highlighting 75 emotions and listing the possible body language cues, thoughts, and visceral responses for each.