Mistakes of a writer.

I wrote my first book during my late teens. I hadn't researched more about the world of publishing, and decided to self publish with a vanity press. I regretted it. My work contained massive amounts of typos and grammatical errors. I felt ashamed and decided to do a bit of research before sending anything out to the public. Luckily, this book hadn't been read as I expected. Then, after huge amounts of rejection from Literary agents, I decided to turn to Amazon Kindle store due to the success stories of Amanda Hocking and John Locke. That didn't work for me too, at least as of now. Why? Because I was too impatient to work on my craft as a writer and give the world my very best.

I released, two novels and two novellas. One of the novellas was edited by a professional editor in Canada, so it was readable. The two novels were copy edited, but to my surprise, readers still found out errors. One advice I would give to upcoming authors, especially indie authors, is that make sure your work is at its best. If you don't have money, save money, and hire a very good editor to work on it, even after giving friends and family to edit for you. This pays a lot. Most of the reviews I received on Amazon and Goodreads were talking on the same subject "typos and grammatical errors". People won't have the interest to read your entire book if they come across flimsy typos. Also the usual "you're and your" may not be tolerated by most readers. I learnt this the hard way.

I have finished the series of my paranormal romance story, but I've decided to take my time and work on them before releasing them to the world. I will be in Canada next year and will hire professionals to design book covers and edit the entire series. I already have a budget of C$5000. Then, I will release it to the world and make good use of the lessons I've learned. I am currently in Africa, Nigeria to be precise undergoing a year's course, and in the meantime, I've written a novelette that would be sold to Secondary Schools over here. Also, I am working on a new series, but will speak about that later. The purpose of this post is to educate new writers, that CONTENT is the most important aspect of writing.  Learn more about writing, join writing communities (autonomy, wattpad etc) give readers to critique your work and accept criticism. Once you have a solid content, it's just a matter of time before you get recognised for being a prolific author. But it takes time. Rome, they say, wasn't built in a day.

"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." - Thomas Edison.

 

100 paperback copies to GIVEAWAY

Baby and Echo Giveaway

Copies: 100 paperback (both)

Countries: US and Canada

Duration: Until all copies are given.

Baby at Amazon
45 Five Star Reviews

Title: Baby
Genre: Science Fiction
Synopsis: A deeper, darker E.T. A tear jerker featuring the love of an alien creature and the lives he touches.

The series "Species Intervention #6609" spans two hundred years, encompassing tender love between divergent species, political downfalls and violence of unspeakable order. It is an unfortunate tale of Armageddon and the despairing hope of redemption.

In Baby, Netty is a naive teenage farm girl given in marriage to an older brutal opportunist disguised as a successful citizen during the years of Prohibition in Sussex County, New Jersey. After years of enslavement, Netty flees into the night from her rapist husband, traveling back to the farm worked by her parents, where she rescues an unfamiliar damaged creature she finds in a cave in the woods of her childhood, falling in love with the enigmatic creature she names Baby. Together they find happiness and fulfillment despite the changes to Netty's body wrought by the proximity of the unusual creature.

When a handsome Italian stranger comes into Netty's life, complications ensue as she falls in love while trying to hide the bizarre and wondrous changes to her farm and her body. Netty, Baby and Wil strive to conquer obstacles thrown in their path by life, succeeding wildly until the heart-rending and astonishingly brutal climax to their story.

Echo at Amazon
27 Five Star Reviews

Title: Echo

Genre: Science Fiction

Synopsis: Netty’s influence transcends a full century as the United States evolves to a point of politically driven economic collapse. The year is 2033 as a young mother, abused by her shiftless husband, heroically decides to remove her two sickly children, Scotty and Abby, from the mean streets of their government subsidized tenement town of Short Hills, New Jersey to the hills and old farmland of Sussex County. There they unite with a Latino family that adopted Jose, a young boy from Costa Rica, traumatized at the age of seven by the brutal murder of his parents and the kidnapping of his infant sister. 

The two families unite to pool finances, creating the love and bonds that will enable them to survive the psychotic attention of Armoni, a soul damaged beyond redemption, discovery of Baby’s miraculous offspring, Echo; and their subsequent body changes. Through the efforts of Echo who develops an unexplained passion for the curly haired dog, Barney, they flee the clutches of Armoni after the murder of Armoni’s sidekicks by Echo, to Sarasota, Florida, one of the last remaining enclaves of wealth in the U.S. 

Scotty learns to utilize Echo as a co-conspirator in his intrigue to thwart the efforts of heinous people that prey on the lives of creatures in their environmentally rich new home, where the insidious miscreant, Armoni, tracks them; dragging along Ginger Mae, a New York City prostitute looking for opportunity with her mute child, Daisy; bringing brutality and violence to all. 

Having fallen in love, the young Abby and Jose draw close, only to be separated by the transcendental Netty, who tries to use Abby as a conduit in her plan to rescue as much wildlife as they can before despicable political events bring on the specter of Armageddon.

Check out the author's website
Click here to ENTER GIVEAWAY. 

What inspires a writer?

Happy New Year everyone,

I believe different people have different sources of inspiration, irrespective of their passions. For example, not all actors get inspired by watching movies or going to the theater to see an iconic play etc. Some, get inspired through books, listening to music, reading the papers. Now, the topic of what inspires a writer doesn't seem so clever after this brief introduction.

However, most people get inspired by the success of others, or their brilliant works. Just to be clear, there's a difference between Motivation and Inspiration. Finding a way out of the occasional 'writers block' is more of motivation than inspiration. Inspiration is what keeps you going, that is, what makes you persistent. Writers could have their entire plot laid down before them, but still are not inspired to write a novel. Either the occasional self-doubt kicks in: 'I'm not good enough' or 'Maybe writing isn't for me'. Inspiration is the key in unlocking one's potential. Once you're inspired by something or someone, you'll get the drive to kick start your career. Then, if you slow down or get stuck, that's when motivation comes in place.

What inspires Kelvin? One might ask. Well, it's a mixture of great books and success story of great people. "I want to be like him or her" or "I want to write such a mind gripping novel." This is what inspires me, Lately, it has been really difficult to sit down and write my novels. I've finished the 'LS' trilogy, and it's going through the editing phase, now, I'm writing a new series, which I believe will endear the fantasy readers. I hope to get the first book done before the London Book Fair this year. For now, it's writing, writing, writing.

So tell me, what inspires you as a writer? If you're not a writer, what inspires you to do what you do? Leave a comment below and share this post with your friends and family.

Warm Regards

Kelvin

On the edge: I guess this is where it ends

it's been a while I started writing. To me, I feel writing is my life and most of the time, I prefer writing to speaking. However, I'm at the point in my life that I have to make a vital decision, for me and my future family.

There are so many secrets behind my writing career. I hope in time I'll get to reveal them to the world. No worries, they aren't bad things. 'I don't do bad'.

So recently I got a review for the first book in my paranormal series, LS: The Beginning. It was rated 2 stars out of 5. To be honest, I felt a bit hurt at first, knowing how much I'd given into this book. I can clearly recall staying home just to write each chapters, while my friends went outing. I'd sacrificed a lot to become a writer. Does this mean I should get 5 stars every time? A big NO to that. I believe for one to become successful at anything he/she does, there needs to be three main factors: Passion, Skill and Luck.

Passion: As I aforesaid, I love writing and even if I never make it in the future, I'll keep writing for the fun of it. I had to buy a blackberry just because I want to be writing even when I'm on the bus, on my bed, anywhere.

Skill: I won't say I'm the best, considering my age. At the same time, I won't say I'm the worst, considering my age. haha :) I have gotten a few 5 star reviews, which means at least I must be a bit good at what I do as a writer: creating compelling stories and characters. There was a reviewer who rated the same book above 3 stars out of 5. Then she left a comment for me on Librarything. Thank you again for sharing your work with me. Keep at it Kevin and remember you have readers out in the world waiting for more of your books.

I had chills just reading this. To be honest, I almost cried. Although, why do most people call me Kevin; it's Kelvin :)

Luck: Now, this is the factor I seem to lack. Although, I think it's the least of the factor. if one doesn't have any of the two above, I doubt even the luckiest man could become John Locke or Amanda Hocking, just saying. I've read some paranormal romance out there on kindle, and I say to myself, this book's okay and it's doing really well. Why aren't mine? I believe that's the period of weakness. I try to compare my books with others, which to me isn't right. Every author has a unique voice, and I'm learning to understand that.

So right now, I'm preparing to release a new romance fantasy book, but I keep asking myself one thing. Will readers like this? or will they hate it like some did to the rest. As the bestseller, Melissa Foster said in a guest post, "bad reviews don't mean your book is not good, it just means if fell into the wrong hands." Also, John Locke said this as well in his amazing book 'How I sold 1 million eBooks in 5 months' If you're an aspiring indie writer you need to check out this book. It's just $2.99. That's just less that £2 in the UK, and it could change your life. It changed mine.

I read a post on Patti Roberts blog, an amazing Aussie writer. She said we should complete this...

Mark Twain wrote “Sing like no one's listening, love like you've never been hurt, dance like nobody's watching, and live like its heaven on earth.”

So how should this end: 'Write Like....."

In an agreement to Mark's quote. I'll add, "Write Like No One's Reading"

The funny thing about this blog is that I started with an intention to tell the world how I frustrated I am with my bad reviews and slow sales, but now I just realized something: THIS ISN'T THE END, IT'S JUST THE BEGINNING

P.S: Please do check out the blogs of the mentioned authors on my blog list at the side. They are amazingly gifted. Also, do leave your comments on how you battle bad reviews

Poem!!!

ME

Everyone makes mistakes
but I learn to float on the correction lake
allowing my mistakes to guide ME

Most people want fame/fortune
but I don't flow with the same tune
I want fortune/fame to want ME.

Most people hustle around
but I still remain on the same ground
knowing my Lord is with ME..

Some people are never fulfilled
but I'm grateful to God, for not being killed
And I know he'll never leave ME

Some people find it hard to love
As for me, I find it hard to be loved
Then again that's just ME

Most writers are talented, few are blessed
I hope one day my skills would be put to the test
Till then, I'm left with being ME

Lastly, it takes a great deal of perseverance to be successful
Most people fail to comprehend this important tool
Remember I said most people, not ME

B for Barcelona football club

From a very young age, I have supported the famous Football/Soccer club, FC Barcelona. It's a Spanish football club suited in Barcelona. From the days of Rivaldo to the days of Lionel Messi, I have been a loyal fan of the club. So when it came to the letter "B" this was the only word I could think of.

Not only do they win trophies and games, they play excellently well, entertaining their fans and mostly - enemies as well. Presently coached by Pep Guardiola, Barcelona has become one of the greatest football clubs in the world. They have over 10 European cups, 21 La-Liga titles and 25 Spanish cups. They have never been relegated in history. Indeed, they are simply brilliant.

I love their game play, and how they move with the ball. Even though they lose a match, I still enjoyed how they played. I began liking their game play the moment they signed Ronaldinho. the Brazilian mid-fielder. Then I fell in love with the club the moment they signed Lionel Messi, the Argentine supporting striker. These two players brought out the best in the club. Ronaldinho helped them to win the UEFA Champions League in 2006, while Lionel Messi helped them to win the same title in 2009. scoring the second and finishing goal in the second half.

Barcelona brings out the best in players as well. If you take a look at all the Fifa World Best Football Player till date, most of them where in Barcelona during the time they won the title. Also, in the present competition, Barcelona broke history by having the first three positions of the Fifa World Player of the Year filled with their players alone. What can I say? They are awesome.

I know this post has been a bit one-sided, but I just wanted to share with you all my interest in sports. So the question for the week is:

What is your favorite sport, and what club/team do you support?

Books arrived!!!

Hiya everyone:

Been a while a posted a blog on this site. I'm really sorry, been so busy. No worries, you didn't miss much. I'm still looking for reviewers for my new and upcoming Fantasy book. I have gotten few people to begin reading, and I'm looking for more. If you're interested, leave me your email and when you're free to do the review, and I'll get back to you. Check out this page for more on the book.

Anyways, I arrived home this night to meet a parcel waiting for me. Instantly, I knew what it was and where it came from. I opened the parcel and smiled at the hardcopy of my new book. Just to share the joy with everyone, I took a few photos of a copy of the book.

There are still two signed copies of this book to be won. All you have to do is enter your name and email in the form HERE Don't miss out. Entry closes 20th May 2011.

Also, it's now on print. Click HERE to buy a copy.