Universal Link to your amazon book

Do you use a universal link for the promotion of your kindle books? I was not, but hereafter I'm going to use it.

Many times we post links of our books on our websites or for twitter promotion with just about one store link. i.e amazon.com or amazon.in etc. If we post links like this, some smart ones may change it to buy from their country's site. Others may not even check it, thinking that it is not available in their country. Thus, you are likely to lose your potential customers from the other parts of the globe.

If you have made your kindle book available worldwide the best thing is to use a universal link, so that your potential customers worldwide can click on that link and they will be able to find the correct store available in their country.

How to make a universal link for your book in amazon?

Just use http://www.booklinker.net/ and then you can get your universal link.

It makes easier for the buyer to buy from their particular store.

Sweet & Sour-1

I was so thrilled to see that as I am writing this blog, my short story ebook Sweet & Sour-1 is ranked #311 in Amazon.in Best Sellers list. I know it won't stay there for long, and it will keep fluctuating. Still at least for some time it is nice to see it ranked there.

http://www.amazon.in/dp/B00IKFNAZY

Leaving Reviews for Indie Authors

This post was originally appeared on Author S Smith.

You know that friend who’s always pleading harassing asking you to leave them a book review on Amazon? The one whose book you read? Possibly you even got the book for free? Okay, so ME for some of you.

This is just a little tutorial/explanation of why it is so important and how to do it. One more encouragement to get you over there, leave the review, and drop the guilt. :)

First of all, is one more review really important? YES! Unless the book has over 100 reviews, it’s important. And the author checks every day on occasion to see if there is a new review. And it really makes the author’s day to see a new review (unless it is 2 stars or less and then they feel kind of bummed).

I. WHY REVIEWS ARE IMPORTANT

1) When a potential buyer goes to an author’s book’s Amazon page,

Read the full post here.

10 Quotes of famous writers about writing

1. Most of the basic material a writer works with is acquired before the age of fifteen.
- Willa Cather

2. Most writers can write books faster than publishers can write checks.
- Richard Curtis

3. Writing is turning one's worst moments into money.
- J. P. Donleavy

4. Get it down. Take chances. It may be bad, but it's the only way you can do anything really good.
- William Faulkner

5. A novel must give a sense of permanence as well as a sense of life.
- E. M. Forster

6. Engrave this in your brain: EVERY WRITER GETS REJECTED. You will be no different.
- John Scalzi

7. The historian records, but the novelist creates.
- E. M. Forster

8. My aim is to put down what I see and what I feel in the best and simplest way I can tell it.
- Ernest Hemingway

9. All writers are vain, selfish and lazy, and at the very bottom of their motives lies a mystery. Writing a book is a long, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven by some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand.
- George Orwell

10. I am a part of all I have read.
- John Kieran

Five Inspiring Quotes of William Faulkner

This week I am writing about the quotes of some of the famous authors.

William Faulkner, (1897-1962) - Some of his famous novels are The Sound and the Fury, As I lay Dying, Light in August, A Rose for Emily, Sanctuary etc and many Short Stories.

Faulkner won two Pulitzer Prizes for Fiction. In 1949, he won the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Five Quotes of William Faulkner

1. “Read, read, read. Read everything -- trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You'll absorb it. Then write. If it's good, you'll find out. If it's not, throw it out of the window.”

2. “Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty and truth and compassion against injustice and lying and greed. If people all over the world...would do this, it would change the earth.”

3. “A writer needs three things, experience, observation, and imagination, any two of which, at times any one of which, can supply the lack of the others.”

4. “Memory believes before knowing remembers. Believes longer than recollects, longer than knowing even wonders.”

5. "It's a shame that the only thing a man can do for eight hours a day is work. He can't eat for eight hours; he can't drink for eight hours; he can't make love for eight hours. The only thing a man can do for eight hours is work. ”

If you want to learn more about this great author please check this page.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all mothers. Read this touching and inspiring story of a mother.

Tips on Writing from John Steinbeck

As writers, we always would love to read the tips from great writers. We hope that some of their tips may be helpful to us in our own writing. Read about the Tips from John Steinbeck, Pulitzer Prize winner, Nobel laureate.

1.Abandon the idea that you are ever going to finish. Lose track of the 400 pages and write just one page for each day, it helps. Then when it gets finished, you are always surprised.

2.Write freely and as rapidly as possible and throw the whole thing on paper. Never correct or rewrite until the whole thing is down. Rewrite in process is usually found to be an excuse for not going on. It also interferes with flow and rhythm which can only come from a kind of unconscious association with the material.

3. Forget your generalized audience. In the first place, the nameless, faceless audience will scare you to death and in the second place, unlike the theater, it doesn’t exist. In writing, your audience is one single reader. I have found that sometimes it helps to pick out one person—a real person you know, or an imagined person and write to that one.

4. If a scene or a section gets the better of you and you still think you want it—bypass it and go on. When you have finished the whole you can come back to it and then you may find that the reason it gave trouble is because it didn’t belong there.

5. Beware of a scene that becomes too dear to you, dearer than the rest. It will usually be found that it is out of drawing.

6. If you are using dialogue—say it aloud as you write it. Only then will it have the sound of speech.

If interested, check out some of his books -

The Grapes of Wrath - The Pulitzer Prize-winning epic was first published in 1939.

Cannery Row. First published in 1945, Cannery Row focuses on the acceptance of life as it is—both the exuberance of community and the loneliness of the individual. John Steinbeck draws on his memories of the real inhabitants of Monterey, California, and interweaves their stories in this world where only the fittest survive—creating what is at once one of his most humorous and poignant works.

East of Eden (Penguin Twentieth Century Classics) - Set in the rich farmland of California's Salinas Valley, this sprawling and often brutal novel follows the intertwined destinies of two families—the Trasks and the Hamiltons—whose generations helplessly reenact the fall of Adam and Eve and the poisonous rivalry of Cain and Abel. The masterpiece of Steinbeck’s later years, East of Eden is a work in which Steinbeck created his most mesmerizing characters and explored his most enduring themes.

Don't forget to check out more about him here.

Book Review - Wise and Otherwise by Sudha Murthy

"Wise and Otherwise" is a collection of short stories authored by Sudha Murthy. They were drawn from the real life of people whom she came across in her life. That must be the reason each one is believable and come alive before you as the story unfolds.

In addition, the stories are gripping from the beginning, and make you turn the pages to know what happens next. (That is what I felt). Like her other books, this one also has a simple style. Though the stories are simple, they are powerful. Some of the stories make you think and some make you laugh. Though almost all the stories are good, some of them stand out in the crowd like An Old Man's Ageless Wisdom, A lesson in life from a beggar, and Think Positive, be Happy are some of them. The characters won't leave you there after finishing with it, but remain in your mind at least for a few days. Her ability to transform the simple life incidents of human value, which usually go unnoticed,into the eyes of the readers through her beautiful writing is praise-worthy.

When I finished reading the book, a friend of mine who was going through a bad phase of her life, asked me to recommend her a book to read, and I couldn't give it anything better than this book at that moment. At a later date, she thanked me for the timely and thoughtful gift.

After having said this, I know this book is not for everyone. However, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, and some of them stayed with me for a while.

Vishu in 2014

Happy Vishu to all Malayalees (people of Kerala, India).

Vishu is the Malayalam New Year, which usually falls on 14th April, but due to Surya Sankramana time some years Vishu is celebrated on 15th April. It is celebrated on the 1st day of Malayalam month Medam (astronomical New Year of Kerala).
(Vishukkani)

Vishu in Sanskrit means equal. An important thing on this day is both day and night are equal. The highlights of Vishu are Vishukkani, Vishukaineetam, Vishubhalam etc. It is believed that seeing the first sight of vishukkani in the morning of Vishu, is very good for anyone to start the new year.

Read more about Vishu here.

Book Review - Sweet & Sour-1

This review was by Nuggehalli Pankaja, a veteran writer.

As the title itself suggests, the ten short stories presented here are an amalgamation of the various emotions weaving itself into interesting as well as introspective episodes of human nature. So naturally they are brought out that the readers get involved automatically-unconsciously, delineating the complexities of the characters as each story unfolds.

As mentioned before, each story is different, some poignant stamping its own mark on the reader’s mind. The fourth story ‘SWEET REVENGE’ is one such. It is the story of a young couple though not rich, finding happiness in the arms of love. With an unexpected kick of fate, their blissful world is almost shattered! A sudden twist at the end by the master hand, lo, a well-formed story emerges, widening our eyes!

Title of the 6th story ‘THE REBORN DAUGHTER’ at first giving the impression of a ‘reincarnation theme,’ unravels the menace of the social issue-‘DOWRY,’ prevalent in spite of the government ordinances and efforts of social reformers. The agony of the poor bride in question, and the helpful attitude of her boss is presented in a very pleasant as well as unexpected way, leaving a message to the bad elements of society. The plot is well contrived.

To read the complete review go here. http://www.induswomanwriting.com/review-of-sweet-and-sour1-authored-by-lakshmi-menon.html