SPSFC4 - Adding to my TBR (2)

 

Continuing with my plan to build a TBR (To be Read) list of amazing SF from the SPSFC4 (Self Published Science Fiction Competition) – here are the next two that have caught my eye.

Embargo on Hope by Justin Doyle

This one was in last years contest and was cut in the first round. I’m glad to see it back as I read this, even before the competition began and enjoyed it immensely. I found the characters engaging and there was lots of great action and worldbuilding. I hope it goes further this year. 

Grave Cold by Shannon Knight

I felt that the blurb with this was was a bit muddled, but a compelling first chapter gets this one onto my TBR. It sounds like a really interesting idea, quite different from a lot of what I’m seeing in this contest. The writing is very strong and I really need to read this to find out more!

SPSFC4 - Adding to my TBR (1)

 

SPSFC4 – The Self Published Science Fiction Competition 4 has started. Books have been allocated and the judges have started reading. But while the judges are reading what is there for us to do while we wait to see if our books make it through to the next round? Why check out some of the amazing Science Fiction on offer of course. 

Over the next couple of months I will be checking out the books entered into the competition. There are 188 of them so this is going to take a while. I’ll be picking out the ones that catch my eye and sharing them with you here and on my socials.

So join me as I build my TBR (To be Read) list of some amazing Science Fiction. And here are the first two.

Turn Left at the Mooncrow Skeleton by Linda Raedisch

I’ll confess that this one I’ve actually read! The first one of this contest and I will be posting a review here in due course. This book caught my eye because it includes a race of people called Tyrrhenians and my own entry into the competition also has a group of people called Tyrrhenians. But needless to say our Tyrrhenians are all very different.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I strongly recommend it!

Drowning Earth by Sean Wilson

This one had me at the word submarine. I’m an oceanographer by trade and I love nothing more than an underwater adventure. The first chapter lived up to my expectations. I can’t wait to get my teeth into this one. Onto the TBR pile it goes!

A new cover for The Arid Lands

 

Review: Fugitive Zero by Jay Ishino

 The book:

On the moon of M3, Eira is a police officer at one of the best departments in the seven galaxies. Only there’s no crime on Mygaria, the planet M3 oversees, and the department has no budget.

Jeysiran lives in what seems like paradise. Mygaria is known for its gorgeous beaches and sparkling pink ocean. But the truth is the ocean is toxic, and Jeysiran’s best friend is dying.

When Jeysiran illegally leaves Mygaria to fulfill a promise, it’s up to Eira to bring her to justice. As Eira gets closer, time is running out for Jeysiran to deliver information that just may hold the key to the future of Mygaria.

My thoughts:

A pacey, fun novella. Short and sweet. A thoroughly enjoyable read. The two main characters, Eira and Jeysiran were engaging and compelling and the toxic oceans of Mygaria and the plight of Jeysiran’s best friend added poignancy and urgency to her quest.

There is a fascinating world being created here and my only criticism is that I felt that this novella was possibly a bit too short and as such the worldbuilding potential was not fully realised. There were quite a few aspects of this society that I feel would have benefitted from more explanation. But this didn’t stop me enjoying this novella. A cracking little story.

Dragons of Dunmoray is published!

 Dragons of Dunmoray is now available on Amazon in both kindle and print formats.

Amazon UK

Amazon US

Review: The Mind Game by MG Harris.

 The Book:

Years have passed since her childhood friend disappeared, but Roni remains consumed by the mystery. Can she uncover what happened to Maxim Santiago?

Podcast fame thrusts 17-year-old Roni into a perilous quest to find her missing friend, who disappeared from Dulles Airport, Washington D.C. She teams up with tech-savvy Kenzie to crack cryptic messages and unearth a dark secret about trafficked kids. Dodging shadowy agents of the ruthless Russian dictator waging a global ‘Mind Game’ on his enemies, they end up in a sweltering Mexican town, a nexus for refugees

They shared childhood memories, but Maxim has changed. He’s older, wiser, perhaps even dangerous. Now he seeks their help to rescue enslaved children guarding a world-shaking secret, but time’s running out. Roni and Kenzie dive into Maxim’s risky mission, testing their friendship amid a struggle for control of a key project that could win the ‘Mind Game.

It's a journey that brings Roni an astonishing self-discovery. Can she trust in herself to help the rescue succeed?

 

My Thoughts:

This is a fast paced action packed teen adventure with a unique concept at its core from the author of bestselling teen series The Joshua Files.

I really enjoyed reading this. It’s a fun romp through some great locations. One of the things this author does so well is bring Mexico to life. The pace never lets up and the pages almost turn themselves.

The story is narrated by teen podcaster Roni and is told in an engaging and chatty style, perhaps to reflect her online persona, yet for some reason that I can’t put my finger on I never really clicked with her. The character of Max by comparison had much more depth and I’m curious to see where his story leads.

This is the first in a new series from this author. I will certainly be looking out to see what comes next.

Self Publishing promotion update: (August 2024)

Here is my latest update on the various promotional activities I have undertaken to try to spread the word about my self-published books, and how successful or otherwise these activities have been.

1. Social Media

I joined a number of reader and author groups on facebook and did my best to contribute as far as possible. Most have very strict ‘no promotion’ rules but some do offer opportunities such a monthly post where people can post kindle sales or new releases. Apparently the way authors game these groups is to team up and then talk about each other’s books. Unfortunately I don’t have a team of author friends willing to big me up, so I just have to play by the rules. Where I was allowed to I advertised the kindle countdown sale for The Arid Lands and my ARC signups for Dragons of Dunmoray. The main benefit from joining these groups was the helpful advice on offer.

Other social media activities continued as normal.

2. ARC Readers

In the run up to self publishing my new book, Dragons of Dunmoray, decided that, rather than approaching review blogs, I would reach out for ARC (Advance Review Copies) readers. I set up an ARC signup form on google forms and included one important question – Why do you want to read Dragons of Dunmoray? This deterred non humans very effectively. I only had one signup who was clearly a bot.

So far I have sent out 20 review copies. Hopefully this will prove to be a better approach than my previous efforts of approaching review blogs directly.

3. Readers Book Club

The Arid Lands was chosen as book club read for April/May and the organiser sent out six free copies to the participants. There was lively discussion but then one of the participants warned everyone than Amazon frowns on authors leaving reviews for other authors’ books and will cancel your KDP account if they catch you. So this immediately killed off anyone leaving reviews for anyone else, which was a shame.

I did ask the participating authors if anyone would be happy to let me have quotes that I could use in my promotion, but nobody responded.

As of now this group appears to have fizzled out.

4. Indieverse awards

This has come to nothing and I won’t be pursuing it any further.

5. SPSFC4

I plan to enter The Arid Lands into SPSFC4. I thoroughly enjoyed taking part in SPSFC3 and although Red Rock didn’t make it past the first round I feel it raised my profile plus I discovered some fantastic new authors and books.

6. Kindle Sale

I ran a two day kindle countdown deal for The Arid Lands in June. Sales had tailed off over the preceding couple of months so I hoped that this would give it a boost. I did my best to promote it wherever I could but only picked up a handful of sales.

So in conclusion the approach I took to find ARC readers has been significantly better than pitching to review sites. Final tallies for how many ARCS I will send out at the proportion that translate into reviews are yet to be determined.