Sometimes it’s nice to get a positive review!
Tag: The Grand
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Now Available on Google Play
The Google Books Partner program recently began accepting new accounts. So I jumped on the chance to signup made a Google Play Books version of my books available for your reading pleasure!
Like all other editions of my books, these are available for free. Please feel free to grab a copy of The Portrait or The Grand and have a read!
The Grand
You will find The Grand nestled atop a cliff overlooking a cursed valley and surrounded by foreboding mountains. At this ritzy French palatial-style hotel things can to go terribly wrong for some because this hotel does not cater exclusively to the rich and famous. Instead, the staff and rooms are here to accommodate a more selective clientele.Even things that go bump in the night need a place to unwind.
The Grand is a collection of Gothic horror stories that focus a town prosecutor who accidentally discovers a series of grizzly case files. Individual stories incorporate supernatural themes based in the Roaring Twenties to create a rich historical, linguistic and cultural backdrop.
Centred on the Grand’s victims, each story brings a different perspective to the hotel, their staff and their esteemed guests. At the Grand it is always best to remember that even things that go bump in the night need a place to unwind.
The Portrait
The Portrait is a supernatural story about Victoria Frost, an author who develops an unhealthy obsession with her character. As events unfold, her obsessions begin to turn on her and forces Victoria to question her sanity. Is she simply slipping deeper into madness or are there other factors at play?A vision from the past becomes a writer’s deadly obsession.
The Portrait features a mixture of contemporary and historical scenes with the latter revolving around her muse. In this novel, Victoria will revisit certain scenes using both prose and art to yield new pieces of the puzzle with every pass.
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Message Received
Well I think I found a trend for my reviews on Amazon.
“I was a bit put off by the use of italics for slang words, but understood that it was to emphasise that the word was slang for the roaring twenties.”
–and–
“I couldn’t get past the first few pages because of all the random words that were unnecessarily italicized. Really drew me out of he story and made it impossible to read.”
I got the hint. Just had all of those italicized words removed from my manuscript and uploaded a new version to Amazon, Smashwords, and Draft2Digital. Fortunately Microsoft Word made that operation fairly painless!
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A Silver Lining
I occasionally check Amazon, Smashwords, and Goodreads for new ratings and statistics, although I do avoid making it a habit. Yesterday, I was looking on Amazon and noticed that my rankings had improved. How? I have no clue, but its never been better!
Ranking on Amazon as of 15 Oct 17 There was also a positive review waiting for me, which is always nice. Perhaps I am generating some interest? Not bad since I cannot spend much time advertising my work.
Review made on Amazon on 14 Oct 17 This should help offset the bad review I got a month or so back. Perhaps in time the positives will outweigh the negatives!
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Review woes?
Got my first review on Amazon today. Normally I’d be excited, but it came in at two stars. By itself that may not be a bad thing, however it speaks exclusively as to not liking how I italicize words that are slang from the period.
It is their opinion and they do say they don’t know of the book is good. Still, would have been nice to see a positive review first! Oh well.
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The Grand – One Week Later
The Grand has been officially out for about a week now. I posted the announcement was on my social networking accounts along with a few groups. This release also enabled me to dabble with some advertising campaigns on Amazon, Facebook and Fiverr, to gain some insight with the tools.
Since The Grand has been officially out, almost 400 copies of the book have been downloaded on both Smashwords and Amazon! The book is seeing much more traffic than The Portrait, which I expected since this is a new release.
Of note, 100 copies of the book were downloaded before the official release. The Grand has been available for almost a month of certain sites, enabling me to widen availability and make it free on every site before release. Despite there being no involvement on my part, the book was being downloaded regularly on sites where the book was free.
Another interesting anomaly The Grand was ranked at 7,861 (266 for Horror) on Amazon the day after it was released. Currently it is ranked at 16,518 (435 for Horror) even with a noticeable spike generated by an ad campaign setup through Fiverr. There seems to be no real correlation between ranking and downloads.
I’m also a bit curious as to why it is ranked under Gothic and Fantasy Romance on Amazon. Although I have a feeling the answer would blow my mind!
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The Grand is Out! Time to Celebrate?
Even things that go bump in the night need a place to unwind
The Grand is officially out and available on multiple platforms, formats and even in print! From Amazon to Smashwords the eBook is freely available for your delight. So time to celebrate? At least get to enjoy the doughnut!
The Grand shown in multiple formats, including print Now for a little something about the Grand.
Nestled atop a cliff overlooking a cursed valley and surrounded by foreboding mountains you will find The Grand. At this ritzy French palatial-style hotel where things tend to go terribly wrong for some. This hotel is not only for the rich and famous but a favoured destination for things that go bump in the night.
The Grand is a collection of Gothic horror stories that revolve around a town prosecutor who accidentally discovers a series of grizzly case files. Individual stories incorporate supernatural themes based in the Roaring Twenties to create a rich historical, linguistic and cultural backdrop.
Centred on victims of the Grand, each story brings a different point of view related to the hotel, their staff and esteemed guests.
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Comparing the Grand’s Revisions
When I wrote the Grand, I made sure to collect statistics on changes and kept a copy of revisions. This enabled me to measure my progress and gauge how things were moving along. I detailed this process before under the post titled Spiral Development for the Literary World.
There was one element I never explored at the time and that was comparing the earliest revision available against the newest. In the back of my mind, I half-expected it show me a document filled with corrections and would find very little original text remaining. What I found was pretty much exactly as I imagined.
To find the ideal candidate, I looked through the amount of changes made per revision and originally found that the Van Helsing Paradox had the highest number. Not a revelation per sey, considering it is also my largest chapter.
Instead, I compared total revisions made against the amount of words and discovered that the Man and the Sea had highest percentage of corrections over it’s lifetime. Since this chapter is also one of the shortest, it also allowed me to show visually how the bulk of the chapter was altered.
For those curious here is a list of the number of changes based on revision:
- Revision 2 – 62
- Revision 3 – 30
- Revision 4 – 17
- Revision 5 – 12
- Revision 6 – 4
- Revision 7 – 3
- Revision 8 – 2
- Revision 9 – 1
- Revision 10 – 3
- Revision 11 – 2
- Revision 12 – 1
- Revision 13 – 1
- Revision 14 – 1
Overall I found it humbling and fascinating. It allowed me to see how dramatic 12 revisions could be when compared directly!
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Choices, Choices
It’s always nice to have some options! A friend has cleaned up the prototype cover that I made for the Grand. Essentially, she applied her experience and skill to create a more refined cover.
However, she also created an alternate cover. This variant is far simpler and would realistically scale better at different resolutions. Alas, it seems that I am a bit biased, since I made the prototype.
So what do you think? Which is better? Detailed or Outlined? Feel free to post any recommendations on potential changes that could make this cover really pop!
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The End of the Fourteenth Cycle
Even Things That Go Bump in the Night Need a Place to Unwind
I have completed my fourteenth review of the Grand. This review resulted in a 42% decrease in corrections when compared to the thirteenth cycle. Ethereal Nights had the most substantial drop of 88%, while Penny Dreadful increased by the 400%. Overall, there were 45 corrections which averages 3 changes per chapter.About half the chapters saw a drop in changes during this cycle. Of note, One Flight Over averaged of 4,452 words between corrections. Here is a summary for this cycle:
- There was a 42% drop in corrections when compared to revision thirteen;
- 45 modifications for the entire work;
- 3 modifications per chapter;
- Ethereal Nights had the most substantial drop at 88%;
- Penny Dreadful increased by 400%; and
- One Flight Over averaged 4,452 words between corrections.
These revision took far less time than revisions prior to seven and for the following reasons:
- It takes far less time to run through the material;
- There are far fewer errors to find with an average of 1,951 words between corrections. This improves on the 1,209 words per change seen in revision twelve and is the first above a thousand; and
- Changes implemented are minor in scope.
This is effectively makes this revision my last. I have handed the work over to a copy editor and will include those changes in what would be officially known as the fifteenth revision. Also, since revision zero was my first revision the grand total would be sixteen total revisions to get this novel ready!
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