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Wolfie novel is online - cue coupon!

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  • 18-08-2011 4:06am
    #1
    FewFew
    Registered Users Posts: 12,746 ✭✭✭✭


    Hi guys,

    Finally got around to putting my first novel "Diary of the Wolf" online.

    It's here on my Smashwords page... http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/82181
    If anybody wants a look.

    If you use the coupon code - "JR75F" you can download it for free (until next Friday, 26th)

    It's the usual deal... Kindle, iPhone, Android formats.

    Please let me know what you think, and throw up a review online if you have the time.


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    #2
    r3nu4l
    Registered Users Posts: 17,399 ✭✭✭✭r3nu4l


    Just downloaded it for the Kindle iPad app :) Will try to get time to read it soon and post a review...

    Thanks for the coupon :)

    EDIT: Okay there's no page numbers on this in the Kindle App so it's really frustrating to describe where I am. Chapter 1, you mention 'DIT'. Anyone outside Ireland reading this may not know what DIT is, they may relate it in some way to the world famous MIT but you can't rely on that. I'd probably spell it out or say 'DIT college' or something. Other than that, I'm liking the tension :) Early days but so far so good.


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    #3
    FewFew
    Registered Users Posts: 12,746 ✭✭✭✭FewFew


    r3nu4l wrote: »
    Just downloaded it for the Kindle iPad app :) Will try to get time to read it soon and post a review...

    Thanks for the coupon :)

    EDIT: Okay there's no page numbers on this in the Kindle App so it's really frustrating to describe where I am. Chapter 1, you mention 'DIT'. Anyone outside Ireland reading this may not know what DIT is, they may relate it in some way to the world famous MIT but you can't rely on that. I'd probably spell it out or say 'DIT college' or something. Other than that, I'm liking the tension :) Early days but so far so good.

    Yeah, the lack of pages bugs me too, but apparently you have to release the book from traditional constraints and let it flow on eReaders... or something. Due to different devices handling the content in different ways.

    Noticed the DIT bit alright, but I was hoping that the MIT association ,coupled with the mention of her studying, would do the job. I may change it in a future revision though.


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    #4
    pickarooney
    Moderators, Arts Moderators Posts: 35,096 Mod ✭✭✭✭pickarooney


    I have page numbers in the EPUB version on Aldiko. They don't match up with the 'pages' on screen but assuming they match the original document they can be used as reference points for feedback.

    I've only read two pages so far so I don't have any actual feedback yet :)

    FWIW, "design students from DIT" makes it obvious to me that it's a technical college in Dublin.


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    #5
    FewFew
    Registered Users Posts: 12,746 ✭✭✭✭FewFew


    pickarooney wrote: »
    FWIW, "design students from DIT" makes it obvious to me that it's a technical college in Dublin.

    That's kinda what I was hoping for. DIT doesn't feature as a location, just something to make it more real. There's a scene in Trinity, so more explanation was needed there.

    There are a fair few colloquialisms in the book that proof readers suggested I remove, but I decided to stick to my original plan for a credible and realistic Dublin werewolf. Though if anybody spots anything that might absolutely baffle a foreign audience, please mention it.


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    #6
    Leafonthewind
    Registered Users Posts: 62 ✭✭Leafonthewind


    I'm a member of the foreign audience (I'm not Irish and I've never been to Ireland, unfortunately), and the reference to DIT didn't bother me at all. I know the book is set in Dublin and I automatically assumed it was a school. Spelling it out would make the sentence too clunky, in my opinion. Looking forward to reading the rest of the book!:)


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    #7
    FewFew
    Registered Users Posts: 12,746 ✭✭✭✭FewFew


    Leafonthewind wrote: »
    I'm a member of the foreign audience (I'm not Irish and I've never been to Ireland, unfortunately), and the reference to DIT didn't bother me at all. I know the book is set in Dublin and I automatically assumed it was a school. Spelling it out would make the sentence too clunky, in my opinion. Looking forward to reading the rest of the book!:)

    Cool, glad to hear there was no issue. Yup, spelling it out made the sentence quite the pain, hence why it is how it is. Hope you enjoy.


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    #8
    FewFew
    Registered Users Posts: 12,746 ✭✭✭✭FewFew


    Diary of the Wolf is finally up on Amazon. I'm not sure if that makes a difference to Kindle users, but I just thought I'd let ye know.

    Also, you can still get it for free on Smashwords til next Friday (with the coupon code above). I'd really appreciate it if you could throw up a quick customer review/rating on Amazon, regardless of whether you enjoyed it or hated it.

    http://www.amazon.com/Diary-of-the-Wolf-ebook/dp/B005HYZI10/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1313796714&sr=1-1

    (For some reason Amazon are listing it as $3.51 rather than $2.99 as I asked... does anyone with experience of this know why this might be? I rechecked my list price and it was correct. New book exploitation perhaps?)


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    #9
    Dublin141
    Closed Accounts Posts: 190 ✭✭Dublin141


    Fewcifur wrote: »
    Diary of the Wolf is finally up on Amazon. I'm not sure if that makes a difference to Kindle users, but I just thought I'd let ye know.

    Also, you can still get it for free on Smashwords til next Friday (with the coupon code above). I'd really appreciate it if you could throw up a quick customer review/rating on Amazon, regardless of whether you enjoyed it or hated it.

    http://www.amazon.com/Diary-of-the-Wolf-ebook/dp/B005HYZI10/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1313796714&sr=1-1

    (For some reason Amazon are listing it as $3.51 rather than $2.99 as I asked... does anyone with experience of this know why this might be? I rechecked my list price and it was correct. New book exploitation perhaps?)

    I think it's VAT. It's only in certain countries that it shows up at $3.51. For example, to someone in the US, they would still see $2.99, whereas a country with whispernet charges might see $5.51/$4.99.


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    #10
    pickarooney
    Moderators, Arts Moderators Posts: 35,096 Mod ✭✭✭✭pickarooney


    It shows up as $5.74 for me, which is cool as it means I saved $5.74 with the coupon :D


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    #11
    FewFew
    Registered Users Posts: 12,746 ✭✭✭✭FewFew


    Dublin141 wrote: »
    I think it's VAT. It's only in certain countries that it shows up at $3.51. For example, to someone in the US, they would still see $2.99, whereas a country with whispernet charges might see $5.51/$4.99.
    pickarooney wrote: »
    It shows up as $5.74 for me, which is cool as it means I saved $5.74 with the coupon :D

    Oh ok... wow, that wasn't really spelled out clearly anywhere in the pricing. Well it did mention vat etc, but I assumed they'd keep the price the same and it'd just cut into the amount me and Amazon make. I wonder, since they're charging a vat rate for each country, do they pay their taxes in each country? Cause Amazon certainly seem to be trying to tax the author in the states, unless you go through all the hoops Eileen talked about before.

    $5.74 in France? Wow, that's a whole load of tax the French throw on their eBooks.


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    #12
    pickarooney
    Moderators, Arts Moderators Posts: 35,096 Mod ✭✭✭✭pickarooney


    I don't understand it at all. Amazon France doesn't sell eBooks so I have to buy directly from Amazon.com. VAT in France is 19.6% which on $2.99 makes $3.58 gross. But if I'm buying from the US I shouldn't be subject to French VAT surely?

    The price to purchase your book here is 92% above what you've set it at and whispernet is marked as free so I really don't know who's getting their 454g of flesh.

    From memory, Eileen's book was around the same price for me and I think she had priced it similarly to yours.

    Now I must get around to reading this thing :)


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    #13
    FewFew
    Registered Users Posts: 12,746 ✭✭✭✭FewFew


    pickarooney wrote: »
    I don't understand it at all. Amazon France doesn't sell eBooks so I have to buy directly from Amazon.com. VAT in France is 19.6% which on $2.99 makes $3.58 gross. But if I'm buying from the US I shouldn't be subject to French VAT surely?

    The price to purchase your book here is 92% above what you've set it at and whispernet is marked as free so I really don't know who's getting their 454g of flesh.

    From memory, Eileen's book was around the same price for me and I think she had priced it similarly to yours.

    Now I must get around to reading this thing :)

    Yeah it makes no sense. Must look into it asap, the whole point was to price it as low as possible as I'm a brand new entity in the market. I tried checking the price in the UK website but it won't allow me since I'm not a UK resident. Odd. Brings me back to my Kindle rage, where I had to buy a Kindle from the US store instead of the UK one and then just lost my patience.
    It's all very odd, especially since Amazon have an issue with you selling it elsewhere for less. Always complications.


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    #14
    Dublin141
    Closed Accounts Posts: 190 ✭✭Dublin141


    It's supposed to be a weird legal issue that they're dealing with rather than the countries themselves applying extra tax. Ireland had the same surcharge up until last summer. I don't know exactly what the problem is, but some people who have asked have been told that Amazon are working on getting rid of it in other countries too. In the meantime, there's always Smashwords.

    You can check the price in the UK if you just log out.

    We have to buy from the international store, which right now is the US one. I got my Kindle in PC World in the end because I didn't want to wait for delivery.

    Unrelated tip. If you're selling, you should probably look into sorting out your own US tax issue if you haven't already. It takes a long time, but if you sort it out this year then you'll be paid the withheld tax from Amazon rather than having to fill out tax returns next year. I've only just received my tax number this week, and I still have to send out forms to Smashwords and Amazon to stop the 30% withholding tax.


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    #15
    FewFew
    Registered Users Posts: 12,746 ✭✭✭✭FewFew


    Dublin141 wrote: »
    It's supposed to be a weird legal issue that they're dealing with rather than the countries themselves applying extra tax. Ireland had the same surcharge up until last summer. I don't know exactly what the problem is, but some people who have asked have been told that Amazon are working on getting rid of it in other countries too. In the meantime, there's always Smashwords.

    You can check the price in the UK if you just log out.

    We have to buy from the international store, which right now is the US one. I got my Kindle in PC World in the end because I didn't want to wait for delivery.

    Unrelated tip. If you're selling, you should probably look into sorting out your own US tax issue if you haven't already. It takes a long time, but if you sort it out this year then you'll be paid the withheld tax from Amazon rather than having to fill out tax returns next year. I've only just received my tax number this week, and I still have to send out forms to Smashwords and Amazon to stop the 30% withholding tax.

    Yeah, seems it's $5.74 in other places too... so damn these crazy legal issues and their pain in the ass ways.

    Oh I didn't realise PC World had them for sale, I may actually give into the impulses and buy one.

    I think you have to send your passport over to London to sort out the US tax aspect (or at least I think I read that on Eileen's account of it all) so I'm just waiting until after an upcoming weekend away and I'll get to it. Thankfully Smashwords have a feature where they'll hold the payment until you supply the correct tax forms, so at least that saves in chasing.


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    #16
    mar-z
    Registered Users Posts: 1,225 ✭✭✭mar-z


    Fewcifur wrote: »
    I tried checking the price in the UK website but it won't allow me since I'm not a UK resident.

    It's £1.71 on the uk site (log out of you amazon account to check it). I'm saving reading it for my flight to New Zealand in a couple of weeks Few. I'll give some feedback then.


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    #17
    FewFew
    Registered Users Posts: 12,746 ✭✭✭✭FewFew


    mar-z wrote: »
    It's £1.71 on the uk site (log out of you amazon account to check it). I'm saving reading it for my flight to New Zealand in a couple of weeks Few. I'll give some feedback then.

    Make sure ya throw up your review (good or bad) on Amazon. Any reviews at all seem to generate more interest.


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    #18
    cyberwolf77
    Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators Posts: 47,791 Mod ✭✭✭✭cyberwolf77


    I read it. I enjoyed it. When's the next book coming?


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    #19
    FewFew
    Registered Users Posts: 12,746 ✭✭✭✭FewFew


    cyberwolf77 wrote: »
    I read it. I enjoyed it. When's the next book coming?

    Before Christmas I reckon. There's a lil novella, 1.5 you might say, coming online in the next few days.

    Glad you enjoyed it by the way.


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    #20
    r3nu4l
    Registered Users Posts: 17,399 ✭✭✭✭r3nu4l


    Fewcifur wrote: »
    There are a fair few colloquialisms in the book that proof readers suggested I remove, but I decided to stick to my original plan for a credible and realistic Dublin werewolf. Though if anybody spots anything that might absolutely baffle a foreign audience, please mention it.
    Did the proofreaders make you change Gardaí to 'police'? Seeing the word 'police' irked me to be honest. I've seen writers like Ken Bruen mention Gardaí and briefly explain it before moving on and it didn't interrupt the flow for me as a reader whereas I stumbled over the mention of 'police' in Dublin. I think most Dubliners would say Gardaí, cops or coppers (or other more insulting terms). I don't know anyone who says 'police' simply because that word is so linked to the UK police services.

    Maybe it's just me, maybe things have changed in the years I've been away from Ireland :D
    Fewcifur wrote: »
    I tried checking the price in the UK website but it won't allow me since I'm not a UK resident.

    Definitely still £1.71 over here! That's a good price imo.

    Anyway, I finished the book so here's my thoughts. :)

    I honestly wasn't expecting to like it :o, I love horror but I thought ;wrongly' that this was going to be a 'paranormal romance' type of novel(la).
    I'm glad I was mostly wrong.
    The action when it happens is blisteringly fast and it's so well written that I found it difficult to put down. On Friday when I was travelling to Zurich I was reading it on the plane and yesterday, on my way to Geneva, I was also reading it on the plane. All when I should have been reviewing client files :D

    I did find a typo in my version, I downloaded it from smashwords as the Kindle version (for my iPad) and I found the word 'collage' instead of 'college' towards the end of the book. Sorry I didn't pinpoint exactly where, I only noticed it last night and didn't mark it in my version.

    I don't really read these 'werewolf' books so I don't know how many typical werewolf clichés you've used but I enjoyed the way our protagonist is always learning new things about this alternative world he's been forced into.

    Loved it and will definitely buy the next version. Great work!


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    #21
    cyberwolf77
    Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators Posts: 47,791 Mod ✭✭✭✭cyberwolf77


    r3nu4l wrote: »
    I don't really read these 'werewolf' books so I don't know how many typical werewolf clichés you've used but I enjoyed the way our protagonist is always learning new things about this alternative world he's been forced into.
    I do read 'werewolf books' and must say he used almost none of the clichés often found in them. This si not a typical werewolf book.


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    #22
    r3nu4l
    Registered Users Posts: 17,399 ✭✭✭✭r3nu4l


    cyberwolf77 wrote: »
    I do read 'werewolf books' and must say he used almost none of the clichés often found in them. This si not a typical werewolf book.

    Well then that just makes the whole book even better than it already is! As I say, I don't read this genre so I couldn't tell if some of these ideas were innovative and new to the genre or if lazy clichés were taking over. From the style of writing I doubted it was cliché-driven, good to know.


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    #23
    FewFew
    Registered Users Posts: 12,746 ✭✭✭✭FewFew


    r3nu4l wrote: »
    Did the proofreaders make you change Gardaí to 'police'? Seeing the word 'police' irked me to be honest. I've seen writers like Ken Bruen mention Gardaí and briefly explain it before moving on and it didn't interrupt the flow for me as a reader whereas I stumbled over the mention of 'police' in Dublin. I think most Dubliners would say Gardaí, cops or coppers (or other more insulting terms). I don't know anyone who says 'police' simply because that word is so linked to the UK police services.

    Maybe it's just me, maybe things have changed in the years I've been away from Ireland :D



    Definitely still £1.71 over here! That's a good price imo.

    Anyway, I finished the book so here's my thoughts. :)

    I honestly wasn't expecting to like it :o, I love horror but I thought ;wrongly' that this was going to be a 'paranormal romance' type of novel(la).
    I'm glad I was mostly wrong.
    The action when it happens is blisteringly fast and it's so well written that I found it difficult to put down. On Friday when I was travelling to Zurich I was reading it on the plane and yesterday, on my way to Geneva, I was also reading it on the plane. All when I should have been reviewing client files :D

    I did find a typo in my version, I downloaded it from smashwords as the Kindle version (for my iPad) and I found the word 'collage' instead of 'college' towards the end of the book. Sorry I didn't pinpoint exactly where, I only noticed it last night and didn't mark it in my version.

    Loved it and will definitely buy the next version. Great work!

    Glad you liked it!

    Yes, I'll admit the Gardai/Police issue did cause some debate. I went with the police as it's international, but it does seem somewhat out of place, especially when the rest of the novel is meant to be set in the real world Dublin.

    And thanks for spotting the typo, I'll hunt that sucker down, pretty sure "collage" shouldn't be anywhere in the book :)
    cyberwolf77 wrote: »
    I do read 'werewolf books' and must say he used almost none of the clichés often found in them. This si not a typical werewolf book.

    I'll admit I don't read werewolf books either, so I could have just as easily made it cliched packed without knowing, so this news is great. I tried to make the book as realistic as possible (albeit with werewolves and witches), so I'm pretty sure I avoided a number of Hollywood werewolf staples.


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    #24
    slavetothegrind
    Registered Users Posts: 2,789 ✭✭✭slavetothegrind


    bought it there half an hour ago.

    As a result i am now well late with the dinner and the missus won't be impressed!

    enjoying so far....


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    #25
    Antilles
    Registered Users Posts: 1,183 ✭✭✭Antilles


    Hey Fewcifur, what's the world count for this novel?


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    #26
    FewFew
    Registered Users Posts: 12,746 ✭✭✭✭FewFew


    slavetothegrind wrote: »
    bought it there half an hour ago.

    As a result i am now well late with the dinner and the missus won't be impressed!

    enjoying so far....

    Thanks for picking it up, hopefully you'll enjoy the rest. Even if you don't enjoy the rest, please schtick an aul review on Amazon, it's good to get feedback and seems to encourage others to read.
    Antilles wrote: »
    Hey Fewcifur, what's the world count for this novel?

    Think it's about 56,000 or so.


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    #27
    Antilles
    Registered Users Posts: 1,183 ✭✭✭Antilles


    Nice one, I'll pick it up so. Didn't want to start anything too long since I'm a fairly slow reader!


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    #28
    cyberwolf77
    Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators Posts: 47,791 Mod ✭✭✭✭cyberwolf77


    Fewcifur wrote: »

    I'll admit I don't read werewolf books either, so I could have just as easily made it cliched packed without knowing, so this news is great. I tried to make the book as realistic as possible (albeit with werewolves and witches), so I'm pretty sure I avoided a number of Hollywood werewolf staples.
    Closest I've seen to it was Ronald Kelly's "Moon of the Werewolf". Except his werewolves craved human flesh and could only achieve wolf-man forms not true wolves


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    #29
    pickarooney
    Moderators, Arts Moderators Posts: 35,096 Mod ✭✭✭✭pickarooney


    I finished this today. I'm a bit reluctant to put a review up on Amazon as to be honest the book seems quite a way off being finished. I'll go into more detail if you like but the gist of it is that the action, which is very well written, is smothered and strangled by pointlessly elaborate descriptions, particularly in the first three chapters, where you need to be hooking the reader with snappy prose.

    You have an large number of errors with homophones throughout - stuff which, along with the pacing, your beta readers should have pointed out.


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    #30
    r3nu4l
    Registered Users Posts: 17,399 ✭✭✭✭r3nu4l


    pickarooney wrote: »
    I finished this today. I'm a bit reluctant to put a review up on Amazon as to be honest the book seems quite a way off being finished. I'll go into more detail if you like but the gist of it is that the action, which is very well written, is smothered and strangled by pointlessly elaborate descriptions, particularly in the first three chapters, where you need to be hooking the reader with snappy prose.

    You have an large number of errors with homophones throughout - stuff which, along with the pacing, your beta readers should have pointed out.

    Ah but did you enjoy the actual story? As a writer myself by profession I always put my profession completely to one side when reading and also when writing casually, particularly on internet forums. ;)

    I used to obsess over typos and errors in books but I found it was spoiling my enjoyment of the story so I've completely compartmentalised those two aspects of my life...something I'm sure the psychologists out there would tell you is a recipe for trouble :D


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    #31
    pickarooney
    Moderators, Arts Moderators Posts: 35,096 Mod ✭✭✭✭pickarooney


    I did enjoy the actual story, although it was a struggle in places. The spelling errors didn't really make a difference in that respect but the laboured descriptions did.


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