Archives for writing - Page 5
A/B Testing Amazon book sales
A/B Testing is when you try two almost identical approaches out with real people to see which option gets the best response. The only difference between A & B is the thing that you are trying to test. In my trial I had the same science fiction novella available through two Amazon ASIN. Both were enrolled in KDP (there's nothing forbidding this but I'm sure Amazon don't encourage that behaviour). Crisis Point (UK - 2 reviews) Crisis Point (UK - 0 reviews) What was different between these two was that one of the versions has two reviews, both five stars. There are also changes to the wording in the blurb. The test So this wasn't quite true A/B Testing as I didn't perform the free days simultaneously, one was over the Christmas period and the other was last weekend. However…
East End Explosions
I've been exploring the world of Perfects with some friends by running a roleplaying session with the Full Moon games group playing the senior officers of a police counter-terrorism group. More details on Operation Hawkeye. I couldn't resist writing some press stories as a result of the session. East Ended! Brave cops foil GM terror group in dawn raid. Silverton residents were woken by automatic gunfire and a bomb blast as terrorists fought off a police raid. Brave officers stormed through a hail of fire to take out the terrorists. One terrorist was confirmed killed by police, although not before two officers were wounded. Another is believed to have blown themself up in a suicide bombing. Commander Coalfield, the Counter Terror Chief, called on citizens to lookout for accomplices to the GM terrorists that may have escaped. Forensic teams are scouring the…
Crisis Point
I'm done editing Crisis Point, my military science fiction novella. Although I'd previously released it I got some feedback from people and I also re-edited it to apply the lessons I'd learnt from having studied creative writing. So this version is a better one than the earlier version, and it is shorter too. It also has the opening scenes of the re-written Perfects in it too. Here's the blurb: Why is rolling news showing footage of US Marines holding off an armed assault on the White House? Where have the Secret Service taken the President and why has the Vice President invoked the 25th Amendment? Why has US Space Command mobilised its strategic reserve and put it into orbit? Crisis point is a stand alone novella set in the same world view as Perfects (due 2015) and tells the story…
Meeting the Bechdel Test
I first came across the Bechdel Test on Charles Stross's blog when he was discussing its importance for pushing gender equality in fiction. However what has prompted this post is this article on Rochelle Dean's blog about her current work in progress. Since becoming aware of the Bechdel test I have consciously tried to meet the spirit of it in all the stuff I write, and as much as I can the actual conditions too. The Bechdel Test The rules There are three rules to the test: There are at least two named female characters in the story The women have a conversation with each other The conversation should not be about a man The Spirit of the Bechdel Test What I think is most important though is meeting the spirit of the test, which as I understand is that there should…
Book Review – Romps, Tots and Boffins by Robert Hutton
Romps, Tots and Boffins: The Strange Language of News by Robert Hutton My rating: 4 of 5 stars A really interesting commentary/dictionary on the language used by journalists. Well worth reading. The chapters are themed, Politics, Sex, Death etc. and after a little introductory bit there are then a set of definitions for each of the terms. As well as being informative there is also a sense of humour to it and several of the entries made me chuckle out loud as I read them. Definitely worth a read if you have an interest in language. View all my reviews Related articles Romps, Tots and Boffins by Robert Hutton (@RobDotHutton) for £! @eandtbooks #Amazon UK Kindle Nonfiction Daily Deal! The Word on the Sheet Lauren Collins: A guide to the language of news. Boffin lifts the lid on journalese: A…