Audiobook Review Blog

After some musing, I decided that there are plenty of both dead tree and eBook reviews done. What seems to be less well covered is that of Audiobooks. Now this I don't like as I am a huge fan of this medium. Particularly when I am driving long distance, exercising or just trying to de-stress, on goes the well-known mp4 device and I lose myself. Not too much, but just enough.

There are some great FREE audiobooks, as well as some good stuff read by well-known actors. There are also popular paper books which really don't work in this medium. So, I have decided that my www.gerardawhitfield.blogspot.com BLOG will be dedicated to the audio version. Of course, there could be exceptions, but that's the plan.

I have reviewed a couple already and am just just finishing a series by Abigail Hilton, which will be next on my list. A Clue is that The Prophet of Panamindorah by Abigail Hilton is doing the necessary for me right now.

Watch this space...

Some Interesting Facts

As more people visit the site, join up on networked blogs or add themselves to the eMail list, analysis of verious blog statistics has some meaning. In fact the most interesting, for me anyway, is where various traffic comes from.

To give you all an idea, and if we talk about ALL visits since the blog was started, visitor country ranking is a follows:

1. United States
2. Spain
3. UK
4. Holland
5. Russia
6. Germany
7. Iran
8. Canada
9. Brazil
10. Poland

If we just look at this week then we have:

1. United States
2. Germany
3. Malaysia
4. Bielorussia
5. Spain
6. UK
7. India

These countries are those with significant visits, and it's good to see such a big spread geographically. Mind you, I must admit that I was surprised at some of the new entries in the charts. More to follow as I learn how to find the information.

Watch this space...

The Power of being FREE

It is a theme which I keep touching on, but since being touched by the Amazon phenomenon it has really interested me. From a small fanbase to 10,000 "sales" in two months, seems rather surreal, but that is the reality of Kindle. Now these are FREE sales I know, but as an advertising tool invaluable. No matter which guru of publishing you talk to, read, or listen to, word-of-mouth is still a huge marketing channel. Right now, there are 10,000 (or any combination of that number) more people with a copy of one of my novels or short stories.

Well, I hear you say, they might not like your work and will give you a poor review, but Im not so sure. No, let me explain, I'm not egotistical enough to think that everyone likes my stuff, nor thinks it's perfect or couldn't do with being used as kindling. Nope, what I mean is that you have to raise passion of one sort or another in a person for them to give a review, and that's good. The majority will NOT review. How many of us buy a book in the shop, or online and write a review on it for others? A minority of us is the truth. This does not mean that we liked or loathed it any less, but we are more likely to tell somebody else about it in conversation or on a forum, rather than write a review.

When I write a review, I do so in my own way. I don't point out typo's, or whether the author has the correct POV or could improve their writing craft. Rather, I say whether I liked it or not and why. I do give a warning to those who ask me for a review, saying exactly that. I have seen too many reviews given which spark a food-fight, and to be honest, in that case it's better that the author neither asks for a review nor the reader gives it.

Getting back to the theme of this blogpost - I like FREE, in fact all of my short stories are free on one or other of the main distribution channels. I intend, for now, to keep it that way. If you want, tell a friend about them, and keep checking here as there will be new work available real soon.

Watch this space...

Are You Sitting Comfortably?

So, decisions made, first reviews in the works and there's no turning back now. What will become obvious is that the first reviews are of perhaps less well known and/or more independent authors. They are authors I have found or who asked to be part of my Kindle Trip.

I had a large selection of works to choose from and I will begin with those that I enjoyed as a sample, before the full novel version. This is a good way of looking at and "tasting" novels, wetting the toe so to speak. My view was that if they hooked me as samples, then it boded well for a more complete version.

As I said previously they are a mix of SF and Horror and I will be posting the reviews on my separate blog. The first four are:

Something Evil by Cal Noble
The Ultimate Choice by Lisa Hinsley
Elysium Burning by DDD Bryeton
Invasion by William Miekle.

Keep an eye out for my posts...

Reviews

A while ago on the Amazon Kindle forum, I asked people to pitch me in order to get onto my Kindle for a business trip I was taking. The rule was that people asked, I downloaded a sample and those I liked went on the trip with me (well their books anyway...). I tended to stick with SF and Horror, although no-one got turned away.

Having worked through the list, chosen my companions and completing the trip, I was left with a fair few review notes. Another promise I made was to post my thoughts somewhere. Having done that it came to me that I should have a seperate Blog to this one, in which I could give my opinion, do reviews and genrally cover things not specifically within the Urionverse. So that is what I will do.

I'm working on the page now and hope to kick it off this week. First reviews will be my notes from that trip, and I'll post the list of those books shortly. Having linked this blog to Goodreads, the reviews will be available there too.

Watch this space...