Snob's Guide to New Zealand

I've written a useful guide to New Zealand, out now in Paperback and on Kindle. This book will need to be read by anyone interested in a move to New Zealand. It reveals how Kiwis think and from a snob's perspective what are the best schools, cities, cool places?

It goes deeper than you find with most guides. What other guides do is gloss over things or they describe only how to do something. They don't contain criticism or they're too stale. What Snob's Guide to New Zealand does is assume you know how to do things, like fill in forms. But what you really need to know is; what will you experience and who will you come up against?

But this book isn't just a guide, it will also be valuable for Kiwis too. From this book they can measure where they're at, where they're going, how to get there. It raises important issues only occasionally addressed in New Zealand.

What are the best schools and universities? Which cities are best? This is a no holds barred type of approach the reader will find invaluable.

Here is the link to the Paperback on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1727804147

Snob's Guide on Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07J9XRCWK

Dana Point - Promotion

Ken Horlor's latest novel is out now on Kindle and in paperback through CreateSpace. Available FREE on Kindle for the next 2 days, the first five genuine reviews will receive one free paperback of any title by Ken Horlor. That's potentially two free books, one on Kindle, the other in paperback.

Click Here >>Dana Point<<

It's a science fiction read and suitable for ages 14 and older.

On the run from the authorities, Augustus flees his place of refuge as it is about to be destroyed. Now in need of fuel, he heads to Earth with his only son. Augustus expects to find the Roman Empire when he gets there, only to discover it's now 2016 and the Romans aren't around anymore.

Dana Point - The Latest Novel from Ken Horlor

My third novel has now been released. It's a science fiction story, and the first in a series. What we learn is we are not alone in the Universe and that there has been regular contact with aliens. Revealed is the origins of civilization on Earth and some of the science enabling long distance space travel.

It's also a personal story: On the run from the authorities, Augustus flees his place of refuge as it is about to be destroyed. Now in need of fuel, he heads to Earth with his only son. Augustus expects to find the Roman Empire when he gets there, only to discover it's now 2016 and the Romans aren't around anymore. 

To buy the paperback copy please follow this link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1723249610 
Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FP5DLJ1/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

Dana Point cover:

Ken Horlor: Free Book Promotion

My third novel is about to be released, but before that happens I'm offering my readers a chance to download free Kindle versions of my first two works.

Free copies will be available from June 1st (California time). The promotion will run for five days. Yay!

https://www.amazon.com/Basketball-Obsession-Ken-Horlor-ebook/dp/B00VIEZ51G/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

https://www.amazon.com/Crushing-Son-Ken-Horlor-ebook/dp/B01DK352BK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1459250262&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Crushing+Son

Two Decades Naked

It's not fiction but it looks interesting, it's the memoir of a stripper who started out working in Christchurch, New Zealand, anyone seen her strip?

https://www.amazon.com/Two-Decades-Naked-Leigh-Hopkinson-ebook/dp/B01B54U2GG/ref=sr_1_1_twi_kin_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1472041840&sr=8-1&keywords=leigh+hopkinson

Turn Me Loose

New release from Rosalind James in May 2016...

Turn Me Loose

http://www.amazon.com/Turn-Me-Loose-Paradise-Idaho-ebook/dp/B018IAZMWE/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

No Alarm

From NZ author Bernard Beckett

http://www.amazon.com/No-Alarms-Bernard-Beckett-ebook/dp/B01BI5FK2S/ref=sr_1_8?s=

A story that speaks to a whole generation of disillusioned teenagers - and reveals something to those who are not.Sixteen-year-old Sharon's had enough. School sucks and even in her repeat year, she just doesn't get it. Her mother Kaz behaves more like a teenager than a mum, and Sharon gets left too often with her young brother Zinny. She wants out.Along comes Justin who offers a way. His hand's on the door to a glittery new world where the risks are high. But it's a world that could pay for her wildest dreams. A dangerous world that could put an end to everything.

What Makes a Really Great Novel?

I've thought about this a long time. Like, maybe forty years or more. I've read what others think, and mostly they offer good advice. But boiling it all down, the following is my summary, follow the advice carefully and I think you'll write a great book.

1. Have a strong voice

I've read where writers are advised to use an active voice, not a passive one. That's fine but I think you just need to be strong. Sure. To the point. Whether you use long sentences that drag on and on and on. Or short ones. Your voice must be strong.

2. Make it a good story

If you sit around the dinner table and people love the story you're telling, then most likely it would make a good book. Structure the story, plan it, plan the characters, the story arc, protagonist, antagonist, but first make that story a good one that will resonate with a wide cross section.

3. Tell the story well

Get the story out, tell it, make the characters come alive through dialogue. Work on the telling of the story. I liked John Braine's advice (Room at the Top ) to finish each chapter on a cliffhanger. I think what he's saying is to tell the story well. Syntax, get that right, avoid sounding like Yoder. Convey images, and sounds.

Then lastly - and this is where your book becomes great - to get to greatness you have to have at least two of the above in place before you achieve number four. Failure to do that means your story is only adequate or good, not great....drum roll please.....

4. Make the story sing

An obvious example is The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame. The song you hear when reading truly great work is a rare thing indeed. 

Now obviously, your book has to sell. If it doesn't, no matter how good the novel is, no-one will read it and no lives will have been touched by your work. So everything above is conditional upon survival, but it doesn't have to be a best seller. The book's status can grow over time. If you do all four things right, then most certainly it will.

The Crushing Son

I am pleased to announce the release of my second novel, The Crushing Son. It is set on the Gold Coast, Australia in the quarrying industry, an industry I know a lot about. The story is about family rivalry, intense competition, feuds, and the heat that oppresses everyone.

The Crushing Son

All Washed Up And Nowhere to Run

Free on Amazon Kindle, March 23 and 24, 2016

http://www.amazon.com/All-Washed-Up-Nowhere-Run-ebook/dp/B01CPZNMLQ/

When a horrific event turns a holiday of a lifetime into a nightmare, Lara Adams finds herself stranded on a remote tropical island. She joins three previously-shipwrecked men already waiting for rescue. 

Fallen Angel

This looks fun...

Deer Keeper

Looks interesting this one, solid reviews...

Putting The Price Up

I'm in a funny place at the moment, contrary to most other authors, my book does not sell well on Kindle, but it does sell well on Amazon through CreateSpace.

This is the book here << Click on This is the book here

So I've put the Kindle version up in price from $2.99 to $4.99, making it a 50% discount on the paperback version. What may have happened is the lower price meant lower quality in most readers minds.

Another observation, it seems to come down to what kind of book you have to sell. Some do well on Kindle, while others lend themselves to the physical copy. There is no absolute in terms of what to do.

The Chimes - Anna Smaill

The Man Booker prize nominated book can be found here...

Loving Rowan Free On Kindle

Don't know for how long but right now it's free on Kindle

CreateSpace Expanded Distribution

Something I didn't see the importance of but just ticked the box and forgot about it, turns out to be very significant. I'm talking about making my book available to resellers. I don't get as much out of each sale as I'm no longer the retailer, but the book is made available across a much wider platform.  Basketball Obsession is now being added to resellers inventory all the time, with prices as high as US$31.69 (must be a mistake, I think it's meant to be $13.69).  One reseller has a secondhand copy and a new, with the secondhand copy higher priced than the new one.

Kindle Library Rule Changes

Good news for writers of longer work with readers who see the book through to the end. Kindle have changed the rules relating to how writers get paid for loans from the Kindle library.

In the past writers got paid a share of the cash pot for every read past 10% of the book. The obvious response to that would be for writers to write short reads, or books that simply fell over past the 10% mark. It made no difference if the book was finished or not.

Now Kindle will pay based on the average number of pages read each month. Good writers, who have longer work that readers finish, will get more.

Seagulls Cry

A new Kindle book to read

In the Land of the Long White Cloud

Sarah Lark....historical fiction, family saga, New Zealand.

Treasure trove of NZ classics

From Creative NZ...

Auckland University Press has produced a treasure trove of more than 240 classic New Zealand books, some long out of print, as ebooks in multiple formats for readers in New Zealand and around the world.

With the support of Creative New Zealand, Copyright Licensing New Zealand and the Vice-Chancellor’s Strategic Development Fund at the University of Auckland, the Press has mined fifty years of great publishing to bring back its classic books in these new formats.

Good to see...