Book

GIVEAWAY Time!

For the release of my of my debut novella, SHADOW OF THE WICKED, I’m doing a HUGE giveaway!

It’s open for everyone, internationally. There will be 2 winners. 1 for Instagram and 1 for Facebook. The details are below but if you want to be a part of it, you have to go to my social media pages and follow the rules to enter and have a chance to win a $50 AMAZON GIFT CARD!

Winners will be announced via my Youtube channel on the 1st of July, 1800 AEST. Make sure you have subscribed and turned your notifications ON!

INSTAGRAM GIVEAWAY

FACEBOOK GIVEAWAY

YOUTUBE CHANNEL

1st PRIZE will receive:

šŸŽ $50 Amazon Gift Card; and 

šŸŽ A signed physical book!*

The next 5 winners will receive a FREE EBOOK copy of SHADOW OF THE WICKED!*

ā£ā£

To enter:ā£ā£ā£ā£ā£

1ļøāƒ£ Follow me at @douglas.w.t.smith or @authordouglaswtsmith

2ļøāƒ£ Like this postā£ā£ā£ā£ā£

3ļøāƒ£ Comment TWO FRIENDS 

For an extra entry, tag DIFFERENT FRIENDS in a separate comment, or SHARE TO YOUR STORY AND TAG ME (@douglas.w.t.smith or @authordouglaswtsmith).

ā£ā£ā£

Good luck!!

*Must be willing to give out full name, address and email to receive gifts. Not affiliated with Instagram, Facebook, Amazon or any other company.

How to Choose Your Book Cover

WRITING UPDATE: SHADOW OF THE WICKED is done. The launch date is the 1st of July. I’m doing a 9 day cover reveal on all my social media pages from the 1ST OF JUNE but my mailing list subscribers will see it first, and receive THE FIRST THREE CHAPTERS, so make sure you sign up below!

By clicking submit, you agree to share your email address with the site owner and Mailchimp to receive marketing, updates, and other emails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those emails to opt out at any time.

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If you didn’t see my last post, I created a Youtube channel. I’ve been pondering on the idea for a while and thought why not do it to celebrate the launch of my debut novella.

Here is my first video.

Make sure you subscribe, follow, and like my pages to keep up to date with the pre-release datesā€“ 1st of Juneā€“ and the RELEASE DATE ā€“ 1st OF JULY. There are going to be a lot of GIVEAWAYS, READINGS and Q & A’s.

Make sure you don’t miss out on this event!

How do you choose a book cover for your debut novel?

Your cover is the first introduction to your book, before the hook and before the first word. It swings readers to your book and entices them to discover more about your book. Your cover can grab or hinder the reader.

From what I’ve learnt from this whole self-publishing process, the book cover is your primary book marketing tool.

As you can see above in the youtube video, I’m using my cover to try attract readers. Although getting the cover wasn’t easy. Choosing a photograph or illustration for your bookā€™s cover can obviously be a daunting task. No matter how imaginative writers can be, visual imagination is not always included. For many authors, the fact that an entire novel requires only one picture to illustrate it is a blessing. The problem is that you still need to come up with that one picture ā€” and it needs to be a good one. Because itā€™s just one picture. One. I used a company, MiblArt and they were fantastic. Which you shall soon see…

The following are a few book cover design tips to help you formulate and execute a concept for your coverā€™s imagery.

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Nine Book Marketing Ideas

WRITING UPDATE: SHADOW OF THE WICKED is done. My mailing list subscribers will be the first to see it, and receive a FREE ADVANCE READING COPY, so make sure you sign up below!

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Success! Check your email and make sure you keep your notifications for FREE the stuff!

While book marketing isnā€™t easy, there are plenty of opportunities to reach new audiences. Finding the right ones starts with broadening your ideas of where to look.

I have just finished my novella, SHADOW OF THE WICKED. I’ve sent the release date but I realised, how are people going to read my book? How do I get my novella in the hands of readers?

Then I realised; thereā€™s nothing easy about book promotion. I’ve created my author website, but itā€™s hardly enough. How will I attract readers to visit my site? How will I entice them to buy mybook?

You canā€™t just rely on a single digital marketing effort.

Here are NINE BOOK MARKETING IDEAS you should consider when promoting your book online.

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Five Reasons Readers Should Leave Book Reviews

To begin, this is a call-out for Book Reviewers for the Of Metal and Magic: Compendium One

To begin the topic of the title, I started the discussion in a recent post, Of Metal and Magic: Compendium One and Book Reviews but I wanted to dive deeper into the topic of book reviews and how it can help authors.

Below are Five Reason Readers Should Post Book Reviews.

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Of Metal and Magic: Compendium One and Book Reviews

It has been a while since my last post and there are many reasons why I have been absent from my blog posting. They are the same reasons as my last post.

I have been writing my novel, To Wield The Stars. I have been devoting all my spare time to this novel and neglecting my blog. I’m sorry.

However, I am so excited to be apart of my first compendium for Fiction Vortex.

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Paperback or Electronic Books

Itā€™s that time of the week ā€“ Tuesday Discussion.

From those who are new, each week I post a topic (relevant to my WIP) and try to unravel the mysteries and perspectives of it. Last weeks post was Work in Progress and this week is:

Paperback or Electronic books?

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Australian Reading Hour

Today is Australian Reading Hour.

The idea is to pick up a paperback book and read for an one hour by yourself or with your children. You can read anytime of 14th of September, that suits you, as long as all devices are turned off for an hour and a physical book is in your hand.

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Discussion Tuesday

Creating a title for your work.

To run from a recent post. I finished my first draft of my novel. 

I feel I am stumped with the title. I have had people asking me, What’s it called? I don’t know yet.

I came to conclusion. A Book Title = the essence of your book + a twist.

Simple right? Not for me. Until recent, I never thought about the immense pressure on the book title.

This week’s topic is: Book titles.

Am I the only one that feels confused on how to make a book title that will make or break your sales?

If there are any published authors, how did you conjure your book title?

Aspiring authors in draft stages, are you stuck like me? If not, how did your title come about?

Leave your comments below. Please share, tag or re-post this topic to someone that would have an opinion.

alone in the forest

#DWTSmith #booktitles

 

 

 

Madness of HallenĀ 

The Madness of Hallen by Russell Meek.

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It took too long to draw me in. The first ten chapters were really slow, alot of world building and telling instead of showing (except some scenes).
I wasn’t convinced with the relationship and hardship with Ohrl and Keysa. Maybe the second book will answer a few questions and cement the history, Meek tells us.

The reason I changed my review to 3 from 2 was some of the scenes. He shows them and made me feel immersed in those particular moments, especially the with the kaaldreer.

In saying all this, I still decided to finish for numerous reasons.

Firstly, I met him at a market in NZ selling his books. He told me the story of how it all begun, self-publishing story and his future plans. In that aspect, I admire him and respect him as an author.
Secondly, he is an indie author and self-published.
Thirdly, he designed and photographed the covers; and
Lastly, he is passionate about writing.

Overall, read the book but be prepared for a slow beginning.

Here is his website, Russell Meek.

and a trailer for Madness of Hallen.