Tag: paperback

Papa Zulu – Ready and Available, Finally!

papa_zuluWell, after about a week of tinkering, complaining, and demanding that Amazon, Kindle and Createspace get their act together, Papa Zulu is now available in all formats, and all in one place! This was a bit of a bugger last week, when I was finally finished with the tedious editing and submission process, only to find that it wasn’t even showing up in the right places.

To recap, Papa Zulu was made available through Amazon.com as of last Monday, but it did not appear with the rest of my books. So for the untrained consumer (i.e. anyone who doesn’t know me already), the book’s relation to Whiskey Delta would have been unclear. In addition, the Kindle edition and the paperback didn’t even appear together, with one only available at Amazon.com and the other at Amazon.ca.

But after a few days, that was all resolved. As of now, all formats of Papa Zulu can be ordered from one place (Amazon.com) and I’ve made sure the links to it have been updated to reflect that. And on top of that, it now appears alongside all my other titles on my Amazon author page. So now it will be easy to find, and people who said they wanted a sequel will actually be able to find it.

Yay for small victories and the work that makes them happen! Woe for the speed bumps and delays that make the extra work necessary! And feel free to check out the book’s listing and my author page, now that they are are in working order:

Papa Zulu:
http://www.amazon.com/Papa-Zulu-Matthew-S-Williams

Amazon Author Page:
http://www.amazon.com/Matthew-S-Williams

Papa Zulu’s First Sale!

shutterstock_102844133This past weekend, Papa Zulu went live on Amazon.com in paperback and ebook formats! I wanted to deliver the news the moment it happened, but as KDP and Createspace can take their time making books available to the public, I felt the need to hold off a little. However, that ended today when the book made its first sale. Yes, somebody out there is now the owner of an ecopy of Papa Zulu!

Granted, there are still a few kinks in the publication process. Right now, the ebook is only available on Amazon.ca, the store’s Canadian subsidiary, while the paperback is only available on Amazon.com. And neither are appearing on my Amazon author page. I can only assume my publishing services need to get their stuff together and expand its availability!

But in any case, I’ve gone ahead and posted the link for the ebook in the right hand column. If you liked the first one, be sure to check out the sequel. I’ve posted the respective links below to make it easier. And if you didn’t read the first one, didn’t like it, or just aren’t interested, then do what you like. I ain’t the boss of you!

Until next time, keep hammering those keys 🙂

Amazon.ca (ebook): amazon.ca

Amazon.com (paperback): amazon.com

Createspace store: createspace.com

Good News! The Latest Reviews Are All Positive!

picture by tt83x at deviantART
picture by tt83x at deviantART

Well, well, well… you remember when you were young and things weren’t exactly going your way? Remember how your parents would tell you to hang on and wait because things would only get better? Or perhaps you had one of those cheery optimistic friends who’d constantly tell you that things are always darkest before they turned to light. Not to be over dramatic, but I felt myself in need of that kind of advice awhile back.

And now, I feel like it’s paid off, because for once I got some good news on the review front that was all positive. As I had hoped, it seems that the 2nd edition of Whiskey Delta has been absorbed by the reading community and the returns are coming back positive! Two more reviews have been added to the queue, one a four star and the other a five! The net effect of this has been to push the overall review of Whiskey Delta up to 3.4 stars (though it looks like 3.5 on the book’s listing).

But what I’m most happy about was that there were people who had just “good book” or “good read” to say, without all the additional remarks about editing and proofreading. In fact, out of a total of twenty, only two reviews actually came back negative on the story itself. Most people who gave it two or three stars said they liked the story, it was just the technical errors that bothered them.

Not so much here. Here’s what the latest reviewers had to say:

(5.0 out of 5 stars) Great read:
Great story about soldiers doing solider business. I recommend it to anyone who likes this type of book. Waiting for the next one!

–john

(4.0 out of 5 stars) A great read:
Lots of action like the way he made me feel as if I was there in the middle of the action. Looking forward to more.

–Jesse

Not too wordy, but that’s fine by me. In short, they liked it, and wanted a sequel. And I thank them for it. This is the stuff authors yearn to hear, the stuff that makes the effort feel like it was worth it and which encourages them to keep writing. And to all my fellow indies out there, especially those I know personally, I hope that you too are getting your share of positive reviews. Lord knows we need this kind of thing, don’t we?

Competition is fierce, the market is being flooded and publishing houses are simply not taking risks on new authors as much as they used to. Every additional star and positive review we earn translates to more sales and more recognition!

Go indies! Peace out!

Latest Reviews!

Whiskey_Delta

Hey folks! It’s a new day and a new week. And during one of my many trips over to Amazon to see how my books were doing, I noticed that I picked up some additional reviews. As expected, they were a bit of a mixed bag, which seems to reflect the fact that the new edition is getting out there and earning its keep. On the other hand, some reviewers aren’t done with the 1st edition, and once again opinion is divided when it comes to how much they care about editing.

See for yourself. I’ve arranged the three latest in order from best to worst:

(5.0 out of 5 stars) fantastic read:
This was an absolutely fantastic read. Highly recommend for any fan of the zombie genre. There are some terrible spelling and grammatical errors, at least with the 1st edition, but nothing that detracted from the story nor made hard to read in my opinion.
Cannot wait to read more from this author!

-echOs

(4.0 out of 5 stars) Great Story and Characters:
Surprisingly good story of combat in a military responding to a frightening zombie infested world. Strong, consistent characterizations, great story lines, believable situations, and good use of humor. Delightfully without massive amounts of information regarding weapons and ammunition. An author worthy of continuing support. A 4 1/2 star book and a 5 star author. Kimohair

-Irish Kathleen

(2.0 out of 5 stars) Poorly written, not proof read and his editor simply didn’t do her job!!!!!
I thought this was the first book in the series no preface lended to my confusion – therefore the story starts off unfocused with no clear beginning! This is followed by a character development that is non-existent backed up with so many misspelt words that lends itself to drive the poor reader insane.

Sorry to say but each page has so many errors it makes it hard to follow the storyline, which is actually not bad. But makes reading this extremely frustrating.

In my not so humble opinion the writer did not do his homework in regards to military chain of command,terms and or squad tactics which was again frustrating.

Moreover for me his insistence on using abbreviated terms such as “mage” for major and his reliance on buzzwords such as “whiskey delta” is annoying to the point of nails on a chalkboard! This shows a lack of respect for the armed forces rank and an overall disregard to the readers intelligence.

I would suggest this writer spend some time with a seasoned older mentor while collaborating. Plus make sure you have a proof reader who actually reads your proofs – so you release something that is somewhat grammatically correct and free of spelling errors.

-Putty Tat “Tat”

Okay, so that was one stellar review, in spite of what I can only assume is the 1st edition’s share of editing mistakes, one good review without any mention of editing issues – assuming they read the 2nd edition – and the worst review I have received to date! In fact, this last one was originally one star out of five, but ol’ Putty there seemed fit to upgrade it two stars after a having a change of heart (said with only mild irony!)

So basically, it seems that things are looking up for this little work of indie fiction. Fingers crossed the sequel will be well received, consistently so!

Reviews Got You Down?

thumbs upIn a word. Yes.

Whiskey Delta has been racking up its share of reviews lately. Unfortunately for me, the majority of them have been rather punitive of late. Despite the release of the 2nd edition, a thoroughly cleansed and updated version of the story, the book continues to get slammed because of what I can only assume are the weaknesses to be found in the first edition.

In total, six people have added their reviews of the book in recent weeks, and four of those six gave it two stars out of five. And, as usual, three of those four had the same things to say, just worded differently:

Good story, bad editing.

You ever hear something so many times it lost all meaning to you? Or so many times that you swore the next person who said it would receive a thorough thrashing? Well, that’s kind of how I feel about these. But don’t take my word for it, here’s what they had to say:

Proofread!:
There is actually a decent story here, but it gets lost due to a strong need of proofreading. Needs more than just computer spell checking.

–William Boyles

Good story, awful editing:
This is a solid zombie story – the story gets 3 or 4 stars – but give us a break with the sloppy editing. At least pretend to care about the finished product. The punctuation mistakes, grammatical errors, and spelling mistakes make parts of the book unreadable and confusing. You have seen this complaint several times in the reviews – how hard is it to go through the book, clean it up, and re-post it? The author and publisher should be embarrassed by the condition of the editing. It is the worst I have ever seen in a purchased work.

–Justins Are Cool

Good story, horrible editing:
The story itself is good enough to keep you engaged but the editing made it a chore to finish. Misspelled words, missing words, bad grammar all through out took so much away from this book.

–Jackie L. Willis Jr. “waterboyjlw”

Ah, and check out this gem. This is the only thoroughly bad review Whiskey Delta has picked up since it was published. And for some reason, this person gave it the same rating as all those above who thought the story was good but the editing was bad. That seem right to you?

boring:
boring and poorly written. Story didn’t flow and there was no cohesive story line. I guess what can I expect for a couple bucks.

–Gil L Nicholas

In truth, this wouldn’t bother me so much if these rating weren’t hurting sales, or if these early reviews weren’t weighing down the overall rating. As much as I wanted to believe that the publication of the 2nd Edition might be a fresh start, every review contributes to the overall rating. And now, the book’s overall review now stands at a middling 3.1 stars out of 5. At this rate, I’ll need at least half a dozen five star reviews just to bring it back up to something respectable.

Luckily for me, there’s been some light at the end of this tunnel. In the same stretch of time, two 4 star reviews came in. There was this one, which I can only assume was for the 1st edition, and from a person who didn’t choose to knock me a whole bunch of stars over editing issues:

good book
Great story with interesting people. Spell check was poorly done and many editing issues were present. Would like a sequel

-Light

And then there was this one, which actually sounded like it might be from the 2nd edition since editing didn’t even come up in the review. In fact, this person chose to focus on matters pertaining to the plot and story, God bless their hearts!

good read but…..
Interesting story, but how do they have so many new guys in their unit? Where are they getting the replacements??
Pro’s- The military isn’t completely useless, a strong female character, interesting story
Con’s- The story starts somewhere in the middle and ends before the story seems done.

-DawnG

So that’s where things stand for this book right now. More good news, an advance proof of Papa Zulu arrived the other day and I’m getting down to editing it. By the time it is spruced up, say in a month or so, I hope to deliver on a sequel that is clean and proper coming out of the gate!

Maybe then this bad mojo will dissipate and I can get to entertaining fantasies of becoming a successful author and writer, the kind that has money, power, and access to the depths of sleaze that these things provide! Well… I’ll settle for money and power, thank you very much! Until next time…

zombie_keepcalm

1000 Sales!

fireworks1Today was a red-letter day for Whiskey Delta and the dude who wrote it (that’d be me). According to Kindle Direct Publishing and Createspace, the combined sales of Whiskey Delta has just passed 1000 copies. And I’d like to take the opportunity to thank all the people who helped make it possible.  I would name specific names, but at this point, that would be too many to count and I feel that everyone who’s been following this site since it went up has contributed to this milestone in one way or another.

So thanks are due to all! In fact, last night while I pondered the layout for book two, I decided that on the dedications page, I should make sure that the collective fanbase of Stories by Williams get a heartfelt thanks. So if you’re planning on buying a copy when it comes out (no pressure!) look for the part at the beginning where it says “Thank you to all the fans!”… or something like that. I will be talking ab0ut you people out there!

*Sidenote: In the future, you may notice me saying the following five words. They are sort of an inside joke, but also represent my long-term hopes for the series. It’s WD’s tagline, so expect to see if often in the future:

Six novels and a movie!

Big News (Updated)!

zombie_gore1Hey all, just thought I’d share a rather interesting and positive bit of news that came to my attention recently. Not more than two weeks ago, I put Whiskey Delta up for public consumption in both paperback and Kindle format. This would be the zombie apocalypse novel that Rami was able to get Max Brooks to mention while he was speaking at Ohio State University doing a talk.

Well, whether it was because Mr. Brooks gave it a mention, or just the inherent appeal zombie fiction seems to have, or a combination thereof, sales have been taking off! In fact, in the last two days, it has sold just over 200 copies! For most writers, that’s a drop in the bucket, but for an aspiring dude like me, it’s a veritable salesquake!

Thanks to all who have taken a chance on this piece of indie fiction. Rest assured, its encouraging and makes me think that Pappa Zulu, the sequel to this first installment, just might be worth publishing too! Who knows, it might force me to buckle down and get to work on the third installment as well, aka. Alpha Mike.

Update: Some reviews have come in, and the new is… generally good!

1: Whiskey Delta (Five Stars):
This was an excellant book from start to finish. I will be looking for other offerings from this author. He knows how to tell a good story, properly his characters and keep a reader riveted.

2: Almost There (Two Stars):
This book started out great but the spelling and gramatical errors really handicapped the book. Charachters change names several times through the book and the military lingo is never completely explained,and at times is very incorrect. There are no gunnery sergeants in the Army or the Air Force. This book has great promise but suffers from terrible editing. The story is great it just needs a little work.

So what I’m hearing is great work, need editing. Huh, tell me about it! My weakness always has been the process which needs to begin after the creative process ends. Well, some would say editing is part of that process, and an intrinsic one at that. But to me, editing and promotions have always been like the clean up and bookkeeping tasks that the artist retreats from in horror. So I either need to change my attitude, or get an editor! But dang, they cost money…

Still, that’s an average of three and half stars after two reviews. I gotta think that’s not bad. And not to be petty or vengeful but did you notice the unfavorable reviews was itself full of spelling errors. Just saying…

Pappa Zulu Complete!

zombie_goreAnd it’s done! The second installment of my zombie apocalypse is finally complete, and I’m set for a break! My thanks to those who’ve been following the story for lo’ these many months, and my hopes that you will be available when it comes time to start work on the third and (presumably) final chapter. But we’ll see how that goes. Could be this series is more of a “trilogy in four parts” kind of thing. You never know 😉

Anyway, onto the business of this novel. This one was even longer than the last! At 305 typed pages and 109,442 words, compared to Whiskey Delta which weighed in at 261 pages and 93,746 words. As I’m sure I’ve mentioned before, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America guidelines specify that a novel is any book with 40,000 words or more. At what point does a book become a tomb?

And much like before, I prepared a write-up and a cover for it’s eventual release in ebook and paperback, which I want to run by people now. As you can see, the cover is a mish-mash of army colors and a scene of paratroopers on the attack, while the back sports my usual “bio” pic and a small blurb on the book itself. Here’s what it says:

“Men rise from one ambition to another: first, they seek to secure themselves against attack, and then they attack others.” -Niccolo Machiavelli

In the barren deserts of New Mexico, the war against the Whiskey Delta continues. After years of fighting, the “Mage” and his Rattlesnakes have managed to get the upper hand on the undead, while back at their base, “Doc” Cooper and his team are getting close to producing a vaccine from the Patient Zero strain. But things quickly change when a new opponent enters the arena. Ever since their encounter with rogue forces in LA, the Mage has worried that there are military forces back East, people who owe allegiance to another master and want the Patient Zero strain for themselves…

Pappa_Zulu

Now comes the next part… At this point in time, I still need to finish doing edits for a Mr. Rami Ungar who’s made it clear he wants his new book Reborn City, to make the birthday deadline of November. In addition, I’ll be busying myself with the Yuva Anthology, which has expanded in recent months to take on more authors and now comprises five full-length short stories.

And once that is all done, I think I’ll get to work on that Apocrypha tale I’ve been reminiscing about. And of course there’s the matter of keeping up with all the cool science, tech, entertainment news and book reviews from the wide, wide world of science fiction. No slowing down over here! I’m just that awesome! Yeah, not really, but I do what I can… stay tuned!

Delays!

Well, sorry to say but that double-headed gorgon thing deadlines/editing has reared its ugly head again. Whereas I wanted to have Data Miners all polished and ready to go for the month of January, it seems that other stuff has got in the way and forced me to push the release data back to February. I could release it today if I wanted, but I really, really, want this baby to be typo, error, and inconsistency free. I don’t imagine I need to tell anyone that there is nothing more annoying than finding those nasty little things showing up in a work of print.

So, keep your eyes open for it, and for those people in Ottawa that I promised copies to, don’t worry, they will be ready in time for our trip! In the meantime, check out the covers I made for Amazon and Lulu (the second one is a PDF, just click on it):

Dataminers.Lulu