28 June 2017

Expertise and self-publishing



Several years ago, a friend who lectures about how to deal with problem teenagers was telling us about her specialty. Alex asked her if she was ever asked for more information. She said 'always' and that she gives the parents a typed handout. He advised her to self-publish her notes in a book and sell it instead. She did just that and now sells enough books to have quit her day job and do what she loves full time.

24 June 2017

Survey of Indie Authors by Smashwords Yields Interesting Insights

Smashwords does an annual survey of indie publishers results and this year's has some interesting revelations. You can read their blog here:  http://blog.smashwords.com/2017/06/smashwords-survey-2017.html 

And view the results of the survey in a slideshare here:
https://www.slideshare.net/Smashwords/2017-smashwords-survey-of-ebook-trends-and-data

Significantly, they found signs that many indies who are selling ebooks well at $2.99 should probably experiment with higher prices.  In previous surveys, $2.99 and $3.99 were the sweets spots.  It looks like it's time to add $4.99 to that mix.

21 May 2017

What's in a dream?



I have been unable to write much in the last few weeks. I've experienced a series of events that blocked me up.

  • We went skiing to Livigno, Italy for a week and for the first time I admitted that skiing was getting to be excessive work (Am I getting old?). The conditions were great, and we had fun skiing with cousins from Germany until Celine tore her knee up like I did so many years ago. Perhaps the memory of that did me in. 

03 May 2017

Promoting my book

It's hard work promoting a novel. We were travelling for much of the time since we released the book so I never had a chance to really launch it. We're also concentrating on Alex's new release Self Publishing for Success. He launched it at Books@One in Louisburgh to a small but interested audience in a very nice session. Next week he does a seminar at the Castlebar Library. But me, I'm not really doing much.


My book was on the table as an offering from White Seahorse Press at Books@One. I did post it on Goodreads and amazon.com. I did a book reading to post on our website and blogs. I have signed up to Reader's Gazette and they tweet my stuff out regularly. I did post when I had a chance on Women who sail Facebook group. I do occasionally post something on different sites but I'm not really working at it. Why? because I think this is a trivial book that helped me learn how to write a book. I am aiming for the next one to be the literary novel or memoir that I have to get out.

27 February 2017

The Naked Truth Press Release

Contact: Alex Blackwell
President
White Seahorse
Division of Knowledge Clinic Ltd.
Port Aleria, Rosnakilly, Kilmeena
Westport, County Mayo, Ireland
+353 87 624 3907
ablackwell@knowledgeclinic.com
www.coastalboating.net

For Immediate Release


Announcing the New Release:
The Naked Truth
A nautical murder mystery
by Daria Blackwell

14 February 2017, Westport, Ireland:  White Seahorse is pleased to announce the release of The Naked Truth - A nautical murder mystery. It is Daria Blackwell’s first novel. She is the co-author of several previous non-fiction works.

Alex Blackwell, White Seahorse President, independent publisher and author said, “This novel complements our existing line of self-published works, each of which takes on a degree of a nautical theme, but weaves an intriguing story around adventures on the high seas. It’s not the typical diary of an Atlantic circuit. It has multiple twists of plot that are unexpected but highly plausible. It’s a story that anyone who has ever thought about sailing away will find amusing and intriguing. They may even glean several valuable lessons from the narrative.”

When asked how she developed her story, Daria Blackwell explained, “When we sailed across the Atlantic and through the Caribbean, I kept meticulous notes and wrote missives to our friends and family throughout the trip. But I knew I didn’t want to just tell our story as a travelogue. I wanted to use our real experience as the backdrop to a fictional story, one that would be full of twists and turns. So I just started writing, and one day the idea of stringing together a series of disparate yet potentially connected events came to me, and The Naked Truth was born.”

The story begins with Xander and Jessica anchored in the Canary Islands. They had sailed off in search of adventure. Sailing across oceans on their own boat was exactly the kind of restorative voyage the Lynches craved. They quit their high powered jobs, sold their house, and cast off the lines. When Jessica witnesses a series of murders in exotic settings, their adventure sets her on the course of a murder trail. On finding no evidence – no bodies, no signs of struggles – their quest to answer unasked questions begins.  Tormented by helplessness, Jessica experiences bizarre dreams within which lay the clues that evaded the professionals. They embark on a convoluted course to uncover the naked truth.

The Naked Truth is set in the Atlantic Islands and the Caribbean. The description of crossing oceans as a lifestyle is based on the author’s experience. Everything else is fiction.

Paperback: 418 pages
Publisher: White Seahorse/CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Launch date:  February 10, 2017
ISBN10:  1540793745      
ISBN13: 978-1540793744
SRP: $15.00        

About the Author

Daria Blackwell is the co-author of two critically acclaimed non-fiction books Happy Hooking - The Art of Anchoring, Cruising the Wild Atlantic Way and Onyx, The Cruising Kitty. The Naked Truth is her debut novel, a murder mystery set in the midst of sailing adventures. She has written numerous articles for sailing magazines and websites on both sides of the Atlantic. Daria is a USCG-licensed captain with three Atlantic crossings and a year’s sabbatical sailing in the Caribbean to her credit. In a former life she was a scientist, a science writer, a creative copywriter, a strategic planner, and a top level executive in marketing and communications firms. She is the author of several publications on cultural competence. A dual citizen of the US and Ireland, Daria has taken on a mid-Atlantic mind set. Follow her blogs at http://dariablackwell.blogspot.ie/ and http://aleriasadventures.blogspot.com/.

About White Seahorse

White Seahorse (www.whiteseahorse.com) is a division of Knowledge Clinic Limited based in Westport, County Mayo, Ireland (www.knowledgeclinic.com). White Seahorse is dedicated to providing information, products, and consulting, marketing and communications services to the marine leisure industry. White Seahorse’s publishing arm provides support for independent authors who self-publish.

Soon to be released: Self-Publishing for Success, Every book deserves to be published.