RIP The Pink Bus
The world of writing puzzles me a lot and hence my fascination I suspect. As of today, I have a #1 bestseller and several other books in the top 50 of one category or another. I even have a fast selling audiobook hit as well. Given that, you might think that a new book of well written, thoroughly entertaining, well edited short stories on the theme of life after death and what happens when we die, would have a great chance of taking off….. Well, after 3 weeks, I am forced to conclude the The Pink Bus is hereby dead. Just like Monty Python’s parrot. RIP The Pink Bus. Strange, as I really think its my best work to date as well….. Hopefully, the audiobook version will sell a little.
Read More »Don’t Quit Your Day Job
The book writing business is one of those where a very small proportion of authors make any money. The rest of us hope for pennies and must remember to stay focused on the day job if we are to eat. As of today, I have written some 27 odd books across a wide range of topics and my experience to date falls into several buckets as follows; Published by a publishing Company Some people prefer to be ‘properly’ published. I have several books that were properly published by a publisher and my experience is that for someone starting out, it simply doesn’t make much sense. Some publishers will ask you to help ‘pay’ for putting the book out and yes, I have done that. I will never recoup that investment. Others
Read More »The Survey – Results
I managed to find time to review the recent survey results and the results are quite clear; if you want to sell books it really is down to word of mouth and by the way; paperbacks are still popular. At least that is the findings of a survey of 48 respondents to my recent survey. Now let’s be clear about who responded too as that is important. Around 60% were friends and family while the other 40% were random responses from Facebook and other sources. Still, whoever responded (my sincere thanks), the results are useful and intriguing. When asked what sort of book people preferred about 47% would rather have a paperback although around 23% enjoyed ebooks. Hardbacks and audiobooks ran neck a neck at 17% each. Actually, I find
Read More »The Pink Bus
The Pink Bus and Other strange Tales from LaLa Land actually got its start a long time ago. I wrote a short story right into this blog around Christmas 2014 called The Meaning of Christmas and thought I’d keep a copy in my desktop folder just in case. I went back to it a few times, tweaked it, edited it and so on but couldn’t really think how to build upon it. Then, as things do, a few weeks ago, I started writing short stories. They simply poured out of me one after the other and they all seemed to be themed around death, reincarnation, ghosts and supernatural activity and the meaning of life in general. That was when I saw where the Meaning of Christmas belonged…. I honestly think
Read More »Magical Books
For anyone interested in magic, I want to outline the three books that I have written or co-written on the topic and why you might consider reading them. If you have always had a passing interest in magic, alchemy and the occult in general then you might want to look at my very first book – Inner Journeys: Explorations of the Soul published in 2006 by Thoth. It is available in paperback and Kindle formats. The book is autobiographical in that I try to paint a picture of my childhood and background in which poltergeist and ghosts caused me all sorts of issues. As I grew up, I developed an interest in the occult but other then reading avidly I did nothing about it until about 15-years ago when I
Read More »Self-Publishing Pop
I’m not sure why I write books. It’s certainly not for the money! I guess I just enjoy the challenge of creating something, floating it by people and seeing if I can make a success of it! To me, putting out books has something of the flavor of the pop industry in the 70’s – you put out a single and watch it chart – or not – hoping to be #1 on the hit parade for a week or two all the while knowing that you are only getting a small pittance for the record. It is simply fun. Especially when combined with things that interest you. You see, I enjoy strange stories of the paranormal, I am interested in the occult, magic and the nature of reality –
Read More »Listen and learn – my encounter narrating a life changing book by Lorraine Ansell
Being a professional voice over is great. I learn so many things from the scripts I get sent. Whether it be factual, fictional or a mix, every day is filled with new things to learn. I sit in my studio reading and marking up texts and not just reading, but understanding the words and their meaning. From fun crazy voices to serious news delivery and everything in between I get to voice a lot of creative ideas. One day it might be narrating about training modules, guiding people through various tasks. Another day, an advert. And then on another day it might be an audiobook or poetry. It means that I get the chance to continually learn new things – I should do more quiz nights with the knowledge I
Read More »Number 1
It really is quite a thrill to be #1 in your chosen category on Amazon. Thanks for buying or borrowing the book! If you haven’t got it yet – you can buy it here.
Read More »What Price A Review?
For the last few days, I have been reaching out asking for reviews on Amazon. The take up has been very minimal. I don’t really understand why my books only get one or two reviews probably because I like to review books that I read. Anyhow, if you have read one of my books, do please consider reviewing it on Amazon. It doesn’t have to be a long review, it doesn’t have to be good – just honest. Meanwhile, I’m quite thrilled to see Your Haunted Lives riding in the top 4 of Amazon UK‘s supernatural category. It has been #1 several times already and that really is gratifying. It’s not doing quite so well in the US though – it’s in the top 100 there in the same category.
Read More »The Mystical Hexagram – 2nd Edition
This weekend, the paperback and kindle versions of The Mystical Hexagram – 2nd Edition became available. The book is a joint project with prolific author Sue Vincent, who incidentally designed the beautiful new cover. An additional chapter is contained in the book along with some tidying up and corrections. Overall, I am very pleased with the new version. The book originates as a follow up to Inner Journeys – my first book that outlines how I found the Servants of The Light School, went through its 5-year course and emerged a different person complete with an inner contact I came to know as Asteroth. For several years, I continued to meditate and guided by that inner contact, discovered that the hexagram is a key to unlocking the potential of may
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