What did you download and read during Read an Ebook Week, and how did you like it? - Page 2

CFarrell · 03-15-2010, 07:02 PM

I've been reading two consecutively - one I saw recommended more than once but I was really disappointed with it. The other was Xenolith by A. Sparrow which I'm enjoying so I'm pleased with at least one of my downloads from last week.

Nakor · 03-15-2010, 07:12 PM

I was too busy getting through my non-eBook-Week stuff to read the stuff from eBook Week yet. :P This thread should be more entertaining in, oh, a year or three.

worktolive · 03-15-2010, 08:06 PM

I have such a huge TBR pile that I've gotten very discriminating on the free and cheap books and only tend to download ones that are in my preferred genres (romance, PNR, and urban fantasy). That being said, I downloaded 12 romances last week from Smashwords.

So far, I've discovered an author by the name of Cari Hislop and have now read three of her books (bought all 5 available for $6). She writes campy Regency Romance parodies that are hilarious and completely politically incorrect. I would recommend them to anyone with some familiarity with Regency romances (you might not find them so funny otherwise).

Actually, I should add that I'm not completely sure that they are meant to be parodies. If they aren't, then she's a horrible writer, but if they are, then she's brilliant. She has a couple of other books available on her website (not on Smashwords) and I will probably end up buying those also.

neilmarr · 03-16-2010, 04:04 AM

***Only just now I finished "The End of Science Fiction" by Sam Smith (Bewrite!). And it was great.***

Thanks for the brief review on an earlier page in this thread, Omk. I agree with you. It's rare for an editor to go back and read a book he's handled after it leaves his desk, but *End of Science Fiction* is one I read over and again.

Sam's style is unique. Always present tense and clipped, no frills, no nonsense sentences. Every word is considered and not one is wasted. Probably comes from being one of the most renowned poets around. Once you get into his style, you can't get enough of it.

Sam's the author of about a dozen published novels and always has something new on the boil (he's just completed a six-volume SF epic), and edits some prestigious poetry journals to boot. We carry, I think, six of his titles. After EoSF, my favourite from Sam is *Marks*, a crime novel with all the wrong heroes. If you can cope with PDF, drop me a line and I'll send it to you.

Thanks again. Happy reading. Neil

David.Niall.Wils · 03-17-2010, 08:18 PM

I'm a bit flummoxed. Since the end of Read an e-Book week...not one sale. Not on Smashwords, not in the Kindle store, and not on my site. I was getting steady traffic on all fronts...and now? It's just...dead.

David

ficbot · 03-17-2010, 09:04 PM

I don't get why you are confused. You thought people downloaded only your book, read it immediately, have finished it already and then immediately went and bought more?

I'm not trying to be mean here, David, but honestly, this reminds me of the fanfiction authors who post author notes with every chapter threatening to not write any more unless they get X amount of feedback. I can't speak for other readers, but it's something that really turns me off. I'm not sure what you're really looking for out of the Read an Ebook Week experience, but a thicker skin and more of a view of the long tail might be good things to think about...

neilmarr · 03-18-2010, 07:20 AM

Yup, Ficbot. Unlike a sample cube of cheese on a toothpick in the supermarket where customers can decide on the spot whether to buy into a whole wedge, books and authors take time to assess. Everyone who offered deals during REBW needs a little patience to wait for a result -- positive or negative, we'll all learn something from the promo. Good luck, David.

lene1949 · 03-21-2010, 01:23 AM

I downloaded quite a few books (10), and I've just finished Matabele Gold by Michael Hunt (Bewrite)

Great book, which I'll probably read again some day.

lene1949 · 03-21-2010, 01:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by David.Niall.Wils

I'm a bit flummoxed. Since the end of Read an e-Book week...not one sale. Not on Smashwords, not in the Kindle store, and not on my site. I was getting steady traffic on all fronts...and now? It's just...dead.

David

A lot of people downloaded a lot of books in that week, and I expect us all to want to finish most of them, before we buy more books...

neilmarr · 03-21-2010, 04:33 AM

Glad you liked 'Matabele Gold', Lene. You read Michael's second novel, *The African Journals of Petros Aam?*. If you can live with PDF, drop me a line and I'll send it to you: ntmarrATbewrite.net (use the @ sign).

An admirable thing about Michael is that, although he's a successful author in his own right, he runs a local writing circle for developing authors, has a small press to encourage them by turning out their work in short-run from time to time (Towpath Press), and five years ago he founded his town's highly successful literary fair, which he's organised annually now for five years.

You can't help but love an author who gives so much back. Cheers. Neil

omk3 · 03-24-2010, 06:40 AM

Just finished Alan Hutcheson's Boomerang. It was good fun, with a multitude of diverse characters that managed to get themselves into comical/farcical and often life-threatening situations. I did chuckle a lot, but what was missing for me was that there was not one character I even remotely cared about enough to be upset if he/she got killed on the next page. It may well have been intentional, and I don't necessarily need good guys to root for in what I read, but I would prefer to feel just a little bit more involvement with at least one of them. Still, I liked it enough to be interested in whatever Alan decides to write next.

ficbot · 03-24-2010, 08:54 AM

Just finished 'The End of Science Fiction' by Sam Smith. Not bad, if a bit repetitive at times. Also, a bit over-priced now that the promotion has ended. For almost $7 I can buy a commercial paper book in a bricks-and-mortar store. I posted a full review at my blog.

CFarrell · 03-24-2010, 01:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ficbot

Just finished 'The End of Science Fiction' by Sam Smith. Not bad, if a bit repetitive at times. Also, a bit over-priced now that the promotion has ended. For almost $7 I can buy a commercial paper book in a bricks-and-mortar store. I posted a full review at my blog.

I read your review earlier and have to agree.

I would have never looked twice at that book at that price. I am probably a bit stingy about ebook prices though

Michael J Hunt · 03-25-2010, 07:06 AM

Lene,

It's good to see that my book has reached you in Australia and even better to know you enjoyed it. As an Internet published author (BeWrite Books) it's difficult to get reviews, so I'd be even more delighted if you could see your way to doing a review on one of the bookselling sites - Amazon.co.uk would be the best, since I'm accumulating quite a few there for all three of mine - the other two are The African Journals of Petros Amm (which is twice the length of Mat Gold) and Two Days in Tehran (the same length). No apologies for the plug here - opportunities such as this don't come around very often. Regards, MJ

neilmarr · 03-25-2010, 05:08 PM

Hya Michael. Great to see you here. A friendly place full of experts who are generous with sound advice and learners who're so enthusiastic they soon become experts themselves.

I've also noticed that the gang here enjoy having author members, so a gentle plug for your own work from time to time doesn't faze anyone. If you want to boast on an epic scale, there's a 'shameless self-promotion thread' and you'll also find a 'writers corner' forum which is a good place to hang out.

Of course our mission in life hear is now to browbeat you into getting an ereader device. The amount of reading and proofing you do, I'm amazed you can live without one.

Cheers. Neil

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03-15-2010, 07:02 PM	#16
CFarrell Member Posts: 14 Karma: 499030 Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Ireland Device: sony	I've been reading two consecutively - one I saw recommended more than once but I was really disappointed with it. The other was Xenolith by A. Sparrow which I'm enjoying so I'm pleased with at least one of my downloads from last week.

03-15-2010, 07:12 PM	#17
Nakor Addict Posts: 214 Karma: 511602 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: BC, Canada Device: Aluratek Libre	I was too busy getting through my non-eBook-Week stuff to read the stuff from eBook Week yet. :P This thread should be more entertaining in, oh, a year or three.

03-15-2010, 08:06 PM	#18
worktolive Guru Posts: 805 Karma: 4344613 Join Date: Feb 2009 Device: Paperwhite, iPad	I have such a huge TBR pile that I've gotten very discriminating on the free and cheap books and only tend to download ones that are in my preferred genres (romance, PNR, and urban fantasy). That being said, I downloaded 12 romances last week from Smashwords. So far, I've discovered an author by the name of Cari Hislop and have now read three of her books (bought all 5 available for $6). She writes campy Regency Romance parodies that are hilarious and completely politically incorrect. I would recommend them to anyone with some familiarity with Regency romances (you might not find them so funny otherwise). Actually, I should add that I'm not completely sure that they are meant to be parodies. If they aren't, then she's a horrible writer, but if they are, then she's brilliant. She has a couple of other books available on her website (not on Smashwords) and I will probably end up buying those also.

03-16-2010, 04:04 AM	#19
neilmarr neilmarr Posts: 7,216 Karma: 6000059 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Monaco-Menton, France Device: sony	*Only just now I finished "The End of Science Fiction" by Sam Smith (Bewrite!). And it was great.* Thanks for the brief review on an earlier page in this thread, Omk. I agree with you. It's rare for an editor to go back and read a book he's handled after it leaves his desk, but End of Science Fiction is one I read over and again. Sam's style is unique. Always present tense and clipped, no frills, no nonsense sentences. Every word is considered and not one is wasted. Probably comes from being one of the most renowned poets around. Once you get into his style, you can't get enough of it. Sam's the author of about a dozen published novels and always has something new on the boil (he's just completed a six-volume SF epic), and edits some prestigious poetry journals to boot. We carry, I think, six of his titles. After EoSF, my favourite from Sam is Marks, a crime novel with all the wrong heroes. If you can cope with PDF, drop me a line and I'll send it to you. Thanks again. Happy reading. Neil

03-17-2010, 08:18 PM	#20
David.Niall.Wils Author & Digital Publishe Posts: 90 Karma: 534770 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Hertford, NC Device: Kindle	I'm a bit flummoxed. Since the end of Read an e-Book week...not one sale. Not on Smashwords, not in the Kindle store, and not on my site. I was getting steady traffic on all fronts...and now? It's just...dead. David

03-17-2010, 09:04 PM	#21
ficbot Wizard Posts: 2,409 Karma: 4132096 Join Date: Sep 2008 Device: Kindle Paperwhite/iOS Kindle App	I don't get why you are confused. You thought people downloaded only your book, read it immediately, have finished it already and then immediately went and bought more? I'm not trying to be mean here, David, but honestly, this reminds me of the fanfiction authors who post author notes with every chapter threatening to not write any more unless they get X amount of feedback. I can't speak for other readers, but it's something that really turns me off. I'm not sure what you're really looking for out of the Read an Ebook Week experience, but a thicker skin and more of a view of the long tail might be good things to think about...

03-18-2010, 07:20 AM	#22
neilmarr neilmarr Posts: 7,216 Karma: 6000059 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Monaco-Menton, France Device: sony	Yup, Ficbot. Unlike a sample cube of cheese on a toothpick in the supermarket where customers can decide on the spot whether to buy into a whole wedge, books and authors take time to assess. Everyone who offered deals during REBW needs a little patience to wait for a result -- positive or negative, we'll all learn something from the promo. Good luck, David.

03-21-2010, 01:23 AM	#23
lene1949 Wizard Posts: 1,952 Karma: 213930 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Middelfart, Denmark Device: Kindle paper white	I downloaded quite a few books (10), and I've just finished Matabele Gold by Michael Hunt (Bewrite) Great book, which I'll probably read again some day.

03-21-2010, 04:33 AM	#25
neilmarr neilmarr Posts: 7,216 Karma: 6000059 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Monaco-Menton, France Device: sony	Glad you liked 'Matabele Gold', Lene. You read Michael's second novel, The African Journals of Petros Aam?. If you can live with PDF, drop me a line and I'll send it to you: ntmarrATbewrite.net (use the @ sign). An admirable thing about Michael is that, although he's a successful author in his own right, he runs a local writing circle for developing authors, has a small press to encourage them by turning out their work in short-run from time to time (Towpath Press), and five years ago he founded his town's highly successful literary fair, which he's organised annually now for five years. You can't help but love an author who gives so much back. Cheers. Neil

03-24-2010, 06:40 AM	#26
omk3 Wizard Posts: 1,454 Karma: 37243 Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Europe Device: pocketbook 360, kindle 4	Just finished Alan Hutcheson's Boomerang. It was good fun, with a multitude of diverse characters that managed to get themselves into comical/farcical and often life-threatening situations. I did chuckle a lot, but what was missing for me was that there was not one character I even remotely cared about enough to be upset if he/she got killed on the next page. It may well have been intentional, and I don't necessarily need good guys to root for in what I read, but I would prefer to feel just a little bit more involvement with at least one of them. Still, I liked it enough to be interested in whatever Alan decides to write next.

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03-24-2010, 08:54 AM	#27
ficbot Wizard Posts: 2,409 Karma: 4132096 Join Date: Sep 2008 Device: Kindle Paperwhite/iOS Kindle App	Just finished 'The End of Science Fiction' by Sam Smith. Not bad, if a bit repetitive at times. Also, a bit over-priced now that the promotion has ended. For almost $7 I can buy a commercial paper book in a bricks-and-mortar store. I posted a full review at my blog.

03-25-2010, 07:06 AM	#29
Michael J Hunt Enthusiast Posts: 38 Karma: 50000 Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Lancashire, England Device: none	Lene, It's good to see that my book has reached you in Australia and even better to know you enjoyed it. As an Internet published author (BeWrite Books) it's difficult to get reviews, so I'd be even more delighted if you could see your way to doing a review on one of the bookselling sites - Amazon.co.uk would be the best, since I'm accumulating quite a few there for all three of mine - the other two are The African Journals of Petros Amm (which is twice the length of Mat Gold) and Two Days in Tehran (the same length). No apologies for the plug here - opportunities such as this don't come around very often. Regards, MJ

03-25-2010, 05:08 PM	#30
neilmarr neilmarr Posts: 7,216 Karma: 6000059 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Monaco-Menton, France Device: sony	Hya Michael. Great to see you here. A friendly place full of experts who are generous with sound advice and learners who're so enthusiastic they soon become experts themselves. I've also noticed that the gang here enjoy having author members, so a gentle plug for your own work from time to time doesn't faze anyone. If you want to boast on an epic scale, there's a 'shameless self-promotion thread' and you'll also find a 'writers corner' forum which is a good place to hang out. Of course our mission in life hear is now to browbeat you into getting an ereader device. The amount of reading and proofing you do, I'm amazed you can live without one. Cheers. Neil