Isis Sousa's Blog: Tragic Books' news - Posts Tagged "amazon"

I have written my first fiction work, a Dark Fantasy/Surreal/Paranormal short story:



“The XIIIth hour at Duskland” is an introductory short story from the illustrated anthology “Stories of Duskland”.

Sinopsis:

Leonhard is a wealthy gentleman surrounded by the most unusual and loyal friends. His life has been a hiatus for many years until the day he finds a mysterious young lady lying unconscious and hurt in the nearby woods. Pity and curious, he brings her home and does all he can to help her recovery.

A day later, by the XIIIth Hour, Leonhard and his friends discover together the horrid truth about the stranger’s past. “Elisa” and the ones she came across were never the same, once they met in the picturesque world of Duskland.

You can buy it here

Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00E7P2HVE

Amazon.co.uk
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00E7P2HVE

Amazon.de
http://www.amazon.de/dp/B00E7P2HVE

Amazon.fr
http://www.amazon.fr/dp/B00E7P2HVE

Amazon.es
http://www.amazon.es/dp/B00E7P2HVE

Amazon.it
http://www.amazon.it/dp/B00E7P2HVE

Amazon.co.jp
http://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B00E7P2HVE

Amazon.com.br
http://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B00E7P2HVE

Amazon.ca
http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00E7P2HVE

Amazon.in
http://www.amazon.in/dp/B00E7P2HVE

I am also looking for reviewers, if you’re interested, drop me a line here on GR :)

Download your free copy of The XIIIth hour at Duskland
- A Dark Fantasy short story, introduction to the upcoming anthology "Stories of Duskland".



on Kindle Store/Amazon!

Only this 24th and 25th September!

Click on this link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00E7P2HVE

The XIIIth hour at Duskland (Stories of Duskland) - 2nd Edition - Revised now FREE @ Amazon/Kindle through price match!

http://www.amazon.com/The-XIIIth-Hour...

Have a cozy read :D

If you like to read interesting interviews, I have a brand new one for you: 8 questions and answers with Grace Draven , author of "Entreat Me" and "Master of Crows"

I also added my personal review of her latest book, Entreat Me, a re-telling of "Beauty and Beast", which also happens to be one of my favorite fairytales.

You can read it on my writer's blog: storiesofduskland.tumblr.com

I would like to share my experience of indie author & illustrator, on creating my debut work, a novella born out of a short story + the feedback of amazing readers!



Above, Leonhard, one of the protagonists of “The XIIIth Hour at Duskland” (short story) and “The Night of Elisa” (illustrated novella coming soon!).

Almost 2 years ago, I was sitting out in the balcony in one of my off days and started drafting a short story which came to my mind.

That short story was “The XIIIth Hour at Duskland”. When I thought it was finished, I looked for beta readers on Goodreads and a few people were kind enough to take of their precious times and good will to Read my material and provide honest feedback.

From that precious feedback, I changed several things in the manuscript. The essence of the story was the same, but I changed something to fit to grammar rules, cut words which didn’t fit for the characters and timeframe and so on.

I even put it for sale on Kindle and Smashwords , as an experiment. I wanted to know how the self-publishing engines worked, and how would be the general feedback of the readers.

Most people thought the story had grammar issues, it meant, no matter how hard I tried to improve it in this aspect (specially, when English is NOT my primary language), it really didn’t work. Lucky me, one of my readers were also an editor, the one I am working with to this day, Clare Diston.

She edited the text, and all grammar issues were gone and the story was presentable. Still, readers were complaining they missed more explanation behind the facts (short stories focus on actions and plot, different from a novel or novella, where you have room for characterization and details).

The readers wanted to know more about the main characters, what triggered the events we read in the story and so on.
It was clear to me I needed to do something about it and listen to the “vox populi, vox dei”. So, during the last semester of 2013, I decided to turn the short story ( 8.5 k words ) into an illustrated novella ( 55 k words ).

The initial idea became a beautifully illustrated Gothic Ghost story, divided into 7 chapters, where the settings are better explored and the characters have more time to make themselves living.

All thanks to the fantastic readers and curious people who takes time to read first time author stories and provide honest, constructive feedback! I learned a lot during the process, and now I have a better, more attractive product to offer, to give back to those who helped me and new readers.

I gave a new tittle to the novella (The Night of Elisa), it is all done and edited, now I am finishing painting the concepts and illustrations and preparing the manuscript/design for the publishing market.

The big learning for me as indie author was: LOVE the people who give you 2 and 3 stars (and even 1) if they are being honest in their feedback. Because that feedback can help you take your work to the next level, learn and work on a better product for your audience! In no moment I felt down when I got low rating, on the contrary, I knew each low rating on my short story was worthy a chest of gold!

Hope this story can inspire you or at least, give you some insight!

It’s been some time since my last journal, and I have been a bit “anti-social” lately to say the least, mainly for two reasons: I had some health issues this year and had to slow down and whenever I got better I had client work to catch up with.

I have some good news to share and it is that The Night of Elisa – my fiction debut was sent today for printing approval @ Lulu.com, which means once it is approved, it will b also distributed by Amazon network! Yay! I will make a new post once the ILLUSTRATED PAPERBACK is out!

The Nigh of Elisa was also added to Smashwords.com as E-Book (non-illustrated edition) – which you can see HERE and, also sent to Amazon Kindle and is now under review. Once the Kindle version is out, I will spread the word as well!

A little back story about this book is that it started out as a sort story, over two years ago, and during the last year it became an illustrated novella (55k words).

Now, I can’t wait to have the hardcopies available – so I can send copies to the lovely BETA READERS involved in the early and later parts of the process and, of course, give a few free copies on Giveaway!

Greetings, GR fellows! :)

The Blog Tour for The Night of Elisa has started before this weekend, but there is still time for you to come, join the tour, read interviews and participate on giveaways :)



The tour ends this Friday, the 13th! ^.^

Looking for a super cool bargain?

If you live in UK, don’t miss the super promotion. Amazon UK now has Dark Love for sale with 56% discount!!! You can buy it for only £ 3.63!!!

Click here to buy it @ Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cold-Hearted-...

But RUUUUNNNNNN! Soon the paperback edition will return to its normal price of £ 8.20!

Good luck! :D

Looking for a Valentine's gift for yourself?

You need to look no further, mon chérie! Tragic Books and Isis Sousa have a promo waiting for you this 14th February: FREE KINDLE E-BOOKS - episodes 1 + 2 of A Cold-Hearted Phoenix.

Search for "A Cold-Hearted Phoenix" on your local Amazon. ONLY THIS 14th February!

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_n...

Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_nos...