Text to speech programmes

So, in prep for the release of A Slave to the Darkness next week I have recently started using a text to speech programme called speak it! For the mac to check over my manuscript. It's a very robotic voice but I am highly impressed, you can only choose from male/female, British/American but that's all you really need in my opinion to hear your text the way it would be read in an audiobook. I love it and have found a few misplaced words or wrong formations such as the word form instead of from :-) these programmes come highly from me anyway x

Book 2 coming soon!!!

Well, the days is finally coming, A Slave to the Darkness will be released on 1st June 2014!!

I cannot wait to bring readers the second instalment of my series, hopefully adding to both the story and the characters' depths along with adding to the readers' interest in the Rose family and their journey. I wish I could interact better with the readers, especially those all across the world but that's impossible so i suppose for now all I can do is keep on writing and hope that whoever decides to give my books a try do so with an open mind and a vivid imagination.

Get in touch, review, write comments, whatever you want. Let's build a community of writers and readers that can pave the way for a new reading experience for everybody x

Freebie!!!

Well, everyone loves a freebie and to help boost sales before the second book in my Black Rose series is released, I have placed the ebook for Embracing the Darkness as free for the next couple of days on Amazon.
I love seeing the sales spikes, especially as they are being downloaded all over the world. I'd love to hear feedback, so as always please get in touch!

Busy, busy, busy!

Wow, all I can say is wow! I've had the most amazing year so far, Embracing the Darkness is out there in the world, people all over the place are buying it, resulting in a very decent amount of sales so far, considering I'm an unknown author just starting out.

The reviews have started to come in, all of them fantastic which is humbling and wonderful. I especially love it when people who know me come up to me in the street or send me a Facebook message telling me how much they loved it. I think it's hard when someone you know writes a book, I bet people think they know what to expect from me or think it might be kind of obvious or something, because everyone seems quite shocked by my story and the dark places i have taken them to, and I love it!

100% of the readers I have had feedback from cannot wait for book 2, which is the most important thing. I've written it and am doing the final edits now, it won't be long and then I will be ready for the next load of craziness! I love it xx

Createspace rocks!

It's amazing nowadays just what resources and facilities there are out the for Indie Authors, take Createspace - my newest venture. It is a print on demand service I am now using for the paperback copies of Embracing the Darkness.

After just over a week of formatting, proof ordering, re-formatting and finally hitting 'go' my novel is finally on its way to being available to order via Createspace's own estore, Amazon and so many more! I have to wait 3-5 business days for the online retailers to have it live too, but I am over the moon with how fantastic the whole experience has been.

One of the best parts of it all, and the moment I will cherish forever even if no-one ever buys a paperback of my novel, is the moment when I opened that box and held my first ever bound and professionally printed copy of my heart and soul in my hands. 

I think every writer dreams of their work making it into bookstores and although i am extremely happy and feel very accomplished to have the book available in the ebook market, there really is nothing better than the feel, smell and sense of pride I feel when holding my book in my hands. 

Fellow writers, i urge you - go for it! 

https://www.createspace.com/4759958

London Book Fair 2014

Morning all,

Last week I spent five nights in London for the London Book Fair. It was fantastic, informative and inspiring, to say the least. 

I started my few days away by flying into Gatwick and making my way to the centre of London, making it to Earls Court within the hour and then letting out that breath I felt as though I had been holding all morning as I checked into my temporary home, the Westbury Hotel (which I cannot recommend highly enough by the way). After a few hours of planning and a tube/train/bus ride I began my learning pilgrimage with a lecture by Smashwords founder Mark Coker at Kingston university. It was a couple of hours very well spent, Mark was a great speaker and his information was invaluable. I came away not only ready to take my career as an Indie Author further but with an insight into the ebook publishing that I would never have gained by self-learning and tiny community of aspiring authors I have found via Facebook and twitter. 

The fair itself is much more aimed at those already in the book industry and  has only opened itself up to the authors in the last few years. The 'Author HQ' area was small, but incredibly set up and had numerous seminars that ran over the three days. I tried my best to sit in on as many as I could, pen and paper at the ready as well as my thinking head on. I loved the feel of it, the industry people I met and the many authors who were there. Each of us were in different stages of our careers, my novel is already on Amazon and while I hadn't really considered that anything too huge before the fair, I certainly came away having realised I was a fair few steps ahead of a lot of the aspiring writers there. My sales were impressing those who I spoke with and I exchanged business cards (yes, I did go with cards at the ready) with lots of people. 

All in all, I am very glad I went along and could keep on writing about those days in greater detail. For now though, I shall leave it as a huge well done to all those who planned and delivered those amazing few days, and to my fellow authors: write, write, write! 

Embracing the Darkness by Laura Morgan

My little book trailer for my novel! Hope you like it x

Embracing the Darkness by Laura Morgan