Month: March 2021

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Book Review – Become a Successful Indie Author by Craig Martelle.

Become a Successful Indie Author by Craig Martelle is a non-fiction motivational guide for Indie Authors.

The Cover: There are two covers I’ve seen for this book. The first cover is bright and stands out. It typically represents a business focused non-fiction title, but the image is a fairly good representation of the content inside. Personally, I don’t love the colour choices, but the cover seems to work for this book. The second (and the cover on my copy) is more tailored to authors, the colours are more neutral, the font clean and clear, and the title wraps up what to expect within. I much prefer this cover, I just find it easier on my eyes.

The Good Stuff: I actually really enjoyed this book. I found the content to be very informative for new authors, it is also very motivational and inspiring. Not only that, it is a very down to earth, no-bullshit, kind of book, written in plain language. That is always a bonus in my mind.  

The Bad Stuff: I don’t believe there was any bad stuff really. The large majority of the content applies to anyone who embarks on the course of Indie Authorship, however, this book is aimed at an American audience. It has content specific to that region, but that is the target audience, so I guess I can’t knock it for that. I would just say to those outside the U.S. who read it, be aware of this and research what is required for you in your country. A specific example of this is the section on setting yourself up with an EIN and/or an LLC. These refer to an Employer Identification Number and a Limited Liability Company. The Australian equivalent would probably be a Tax File Number and a Trust.

Overall, I found this an easy and enjoyable read. It was informative and inspiring. I’m going to give this title a positively influenced 4 out of 5 golden bookmarks.

Allan Walsh writes Fantasy and Horror. If you’re looking for something new to read in these genres, why not check out his books here. You can also find his titles available in libraries.

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Belated 2020 Wrap Up

I’m a little late to the party with this post, we are already half way into March 2021 and I’m only now reviewing my accomplishments for 2020. Well, better late than never, that’s what I say.

My goals for 2020 were as follows:

  1. Find a new job,
  2. Target 6000 words per week,
  3. Gain 10 new reviews,
  4. Publish an anthology of short stories,
  5. Finish 2 partially completed stories,
  6. Read 12 books,
  7. Write 12 reviews.

Here’s the short version on my achievements:

  1. I got a new job (eventually),
  2. I got nowhere near 6000 words a week. I’d say I’d be lucky if I got 1000 on a good week,
  3. I managed to garner 6 new reviews,
  4. I managed to write 5 new short stories to add to my existing ones. Part of this goal was to get 10 short stories to include in the anthology, so I made some progress on this goal. I also sent the new stories to my editor for a structural edit. I’m currently working through these edits, albeit at a very slow rate.
  5. I don’t think I even looked at these stories,
  6. I read 8 books towards this goal,
  7. I wrote 8 reviews.

2020 was full of surprises wasn’t it! Covid overtook the media and the world, throwing spanners in the works of many lives. Jamming the mechanisms and spitting out chewed up, mangled pieces of what once was. Needless to say, I didn’t meet my goals.

This is the longer version (covering a longer timeframe too) if you’re interested enough to read on:  

I was made redundant from my day job at the end of 2018. I signed up for some study to open up more job opportunities and I focused on getting through as much as I could while I wasn’t working. I did some volunteering as a migrant English tutor in 2019, which was very enjoyable and rewarding, but didn’t help to pay the bills, so I got a temporary, part-time job. The plan was to continue my study on my days off, but the job turned out to be many more hours than I signed up for and wasn’t an enjoyable environment to work in. At the end of the contract I turned down an offer of an ongoing position and moved on.

I had received a nice little pay out from my redundancy, so when I finished up the temp job, I decided to take a break, travel the world a little, and enjoy life while I had the freedom to do so. I was in Thailand with friends when the Australian government warned to come home or get stranded. I got the last flight back to Brisbane in April 2020, just as everything was closing down because of Covid.

My priority on return was always to find a new job. Coming back into a changed environment hit the job market hard and I had no idea how tough it was going to be to find work. I put both my study and my writing on hold and spent the following months trawling job applications online, tailoring my resume, writing targeted cover letters, and didn’t get an interview. Not one single interview from hundreds of job applications. I started to volunteer again, this time in an Op Shop, both to gain some retail experience to put on my resume and in the hope it may present some opportunities for paid work. Once again, I enjoyed volunteering and got some satisfaction from the work, but nothing came of it.

To be honest, looking for work and being hit with rejection after rejection is de-moralizing, but I kept my chin up and continued to apply. Eventually, a friend told me my old employer (the one I was made redundant from) was hiring again. I made a phone call and landed an interview which resulted in a fixed term contract. Now I’m back at work, I’m trying to get into a routine with my writing.

All in all the last few years have been quite disruptive, and Covid added an extra level of complexity to my life. I’m not complaining, just stating a fact. I consider myself lucky. Australia has weathered well through the Covid storm and I know there are people out there far worse hit than I have been. Not just with disruption, but with loss of home, or worst still, loved ones. I may not have met my goals last year, but I did move forwards.

Whatever is going on in your life, keep striving to get ahead. Keep going. Look for opportunities to make things better – you only truly fail when you give up trying.

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Book Review: Legends by Various Authors

Legends 1 (Legends 1, Volume 1of2)

Legends by Various Authors is an anthology containing 5 novellas by well-known authors, set in the worlds they are famous for creating.

The Cover: I like this cover, it represents one of the stories in the book written by Terry Pratchett and captures the humour perfectly. The cover does tell me I’m going to get fantasy inside, but it also says this book is for a younger audience and I don’t think it hits the mark here. Terry Pratchett’s story certainly is, but not all of them are in my opinion. The font works for the genre and there are big hitting names on the cover that are known for their fantasy.

The Good Stuff: For fans of the authors whose work is contained within the pages, this title will take you back into the worlds you love with a story you may not have read. There should be at least one story in here for every fantasy buff to enjoy. Personally, I really enjoyed the story by George R.R. Martin. Overall it is well edited and has some interesting characters. As I said before the authors are all well-known and are as follows:

Terry Pratchett

Anne McCaffrey

George R.R. Martin

Tad Williams

Robert Jordan

The Bad Stuff: I don’t know if it is just the author’s style or if the story by Robert Jordan was not edited that well. It’s as if words were missing here and there, but again, it could just be the style of writing. I was disappointed with two of the stories and ended up skipping to the next author. Out of the other three stories, I only really enjoyed one. I really wanted to enjoy Robert Jordan’s story, the world building was great, holding my interest until the end. I liked the characters too, but the story and the writing style didn’t grip me and have me excited to keep turning the pages.

Overall, this book was a bit of a let-down for me. I wanted so much to enjoy every story, but it just wasn’t to be, the writing wasn’t bad, the stories just didn’t draw me in. I’m only giving this one an average 3 out of 5 golden bookmarks.

Allan Walsh writes Fantasy and Horror. If you’re looking for something new to read in these genres, why not check out his books here. You can also find his titles available in libraries.

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