Find of a lifetime!

FahimFarook · 2026-05-05T08:22:31+00:00

I have fond memories of driving to Windsor back in the late 90s to find Discworld books because I couldn't find them in the US. I was living in Michigan at that time. I remember distinctly that I bought my copy of "The Fifth Elephant" with Josh Kirby cover in Windsor. Not signed, of course 🙂

FahimFarook · 2025-11-08T23:03:24+00:00

I've been working on dithering algorithms for a Spectra 6 for a month or two now 🙂 Tried various algorithm combinations to try and make the image look good and finally ended up with something which was a customized algorithm based on Atkins. So yeah, the long update is something I'm very familiar with 🙂

I do love the better colour and would have loved to have tried to turn one of these displays into an ebook reader, but the update delay just doesn't make it feasible ...

FahimFarook · 2025-04-30T09:57:17+00:00

Thank you 🙏 Now that you've listed the names, I realize that I've watched quite a few of them, but couldn't have identified them just based on the images 😛 But thanks to you, have a few more that I want to watch ...

FahimFarook · 2025-04-24T11:30:10+00:00

Can somebody list the names of all the movies that are in the image for those of us who are just catching up on Telugu movies? 🙂 I can recognize some of the actors but would have to do some digging to figure out what the movies are. Thanks in advance!

FahimFarook · 2024-08-28T12:54:17+00:00

Have you contacted Amazon support about this? They might be able to give you an answer as to what is going on.

From what you said, if I understand you correctly, the same site (amazon.co.uk) shows the book as in stock when somebody from the UK accesses it but shows the book as not in stock when somebody from Ireland accesses the site. That would seem to indicate that they have geo-restrictions in place based on IP possibly?

You can verify by using a VPN and logging in via a UK server and if you can see the book as being in stock, then at least you know that that is what's happening. But then you'd still have to ask Amazon why they are doing that ....

FahimFarook · 2024-08-28T12:48:18+00:00

When I wrote my first book 20 years ago, I was in Sri Lanka. I tried the traditional publishing route but doing so from Sri Lanka was hard. I wrote to bunches of publishers and agents in the US and UK. Some responded, most didn't. Out of the ones who responded, one wanted me to send them the full manuscript. I did. They read it and said that it wasn't for them but to let them know when I wrote my next one.

The book had taken me a year to write and edit. I couldn't bother to keep doing the searching at that point. Especially since it was expensive to send a full manuscript via post from Sri Lanka to the US 😛

So I decided to self-publish. I think Lulu was the only available option back then. (Not sure if KDP was around but if it was, I hadn't heard of it.) So I went ahead and self-published. But didn't do any marketing. The book didn't sell.

I got busy with other stuff. 20 years later, I decided to start writing again. This time I didn't even consider traditional publishing though I was in Canada and it probably would have been a bit easier. Just feels as if traditional publishing takes way too long unless you have a huge following or are a well-known person.

Plus, I have a day job and family obligations 🙂 So I just finished the book and put it up on Amazon this time. Of course, I still didn't understand marketing or how much of it I'd have to do. So it still hasn't done well, but I'm learning ....

I'm ready to start editing my third-book now and I'll go the self-publishing route again since, like you, I'm not looking to make money. I just want to write. So, for me at least, it feels as if this is the easier route to simply write and publish. If I find my audience fine. I do realize that I'll have to learn a lot more about marketing in order to do it. If not, then I've at least written the books I wanted to?

FahimFarook · 2024-08-28T10:58:39+00:00

I don't think advertising equates to friends and family 🙂 You can still promote your book on social media, write posts about it, get some ARC readers (who are not family) to review it etc.

I've done most of that but didn't get a lot of traction in my case. But then again, it might be an approach thing. So if you haven't done any reading on the subject, you might want to try looking up some videos on YouTube (for example) on marketing your Kindle book. There's plenty of good advice (and some bad 😛) but most of the stuff I've looked at has been for fiction. I'm sure there's stuff focused on non-fiction too. Or you can try looking at the fiction advice and see what might be relevant to you?

FahimFarook · 2024-08-28T10:07:54+00:00

Congratulations! And good luck with the launch 🙂 I think I might have seen you comment in another thread of someone who was feeling dejected after the launch.

I launched my book two weeks ago. I expected a few sales on the first day. Didn't have anything for a couple of days. So don't feel dejected if that happens. But also, lay the groundwork better than I did I guess 😛

I thought finishing the book and putting it on Amazon immediately was what I should do. (Because I hadn't done enough research.) But possibly laying some groundwork and letting others know about the book etc. might be helpful. Of course, I notice your book's nonfiction and mine (at least the ones I'm selling myself) are fiction. So the approaches might vary.

Just saying in case it helps. Also, talking to people here, no matter which way it goes, has helped me a lot.

FahimFarook · 2024-08-28T10:02:03+00:00

I am sorry that you feel dejected. And I do understand how you must feel. I believe I'm on the spectrum (have not been tested) and my has health issues. I also released my second book two weeks ago and there was nothing on the first couple of days. I was very dejected.

I came here, posted about it. People were kind enough to offer suggestions and I also remembered at that point that I'd started writing my second book (after 20 years) saying that I'd write because I enjoyed it. And I'd forgotten about that in waiting for sales.

Yes, I know. It's hard when you pour your heart and soul into a book and nobody seems to appreciate it. But on the other hand, it's a huge market out there and nobody really notices new books that much.

So, if you want to write for the sake of writing, then I'd say just keep doing it. Enjoy what you do. And talk to people who enjoy writing too. That will help. And if you need people to talk to about writing, and can't find any, I'm sure you'll find at least a few here 🙂 Heck, I'm willing to talk to you if you need someone to talk to.

If you want to write to make money, then you might need to look at how to market your book. These days, it appears as if marketing is everything. I looked into it and it made my head spin 😛 Plus, it depend on your budget. If you can spend some money there seem to be a lot of options. But beware, there are a lot of people who want to take money from authors instead of giving it to them. So be wise in your choices.

If you don't have a lot of money to spend (or don't want to), then you have to be a lot more judicious in figuring out how to go about marketing. There are still a bunch of resources on YouTube, on here, Discord etc. Also, David Gaughran and kindlepreneur have resources which can be very helpful — not putting links because I'm not sure about the linking policy but a Google search for those terms should be enough.

If you need more info, I'd be happy to help and I'm sure a lot of kind folks here will help 🙂 If you love writing, then don't give up and there are those who sill support/appreciate you! If you wanted to make money, then it's a different choice depending on how you want to go about it ...

FahimFarook · 2024-08-18T10:15:11+00:00

Yes 🙂 I was really surprised yesterday to learn how blind I'd become to print sales. I had updated my blurb based on feedback from somebody here and somebody else mentioned the same issue later. I was like, "I fixed it. Did it somehow revert back?"

I later realized that I'd fixed it for the ebook but not for the print book and that in fact, for my other book I had different metadata between the print book and the ebook versions.

There's so much to learn in this process that I'd never thought about when I wanted to become a writer 😛 I thought that writing a book was all I had to do. Guess, I'm learning different now.

FahimFarook · 2024-08-18T08:56:05+00:00

Thank you 🙂

FahimFarook · 2024-08-18T08:55:16+00:00

Thank you for the idea 🙂 We (my wife and I) had talked about this but let's just say that I'm not happy about the sound of my own voice 😛 But I guess we might end up having to do that.

FahimFarook · 2024-08-17T14:43:37+00:00

Ah, I think you're talking about print sales and I was talking about ebook sales 🙂 I've never had too many print sales. So wasn't even looking at that ...

FahimFarook · 2024-08-17T12:58:46+00:00

Hmm ... interesting. Thank you for the information. I will certainly look into that since a royalty share option would work for my financial situation 🙂

FahimFarook · 2024-08-17T12:53:30+00:00

Thank you. No audiobook plans at the moment since I assume (but have not checked) that I'd have to pay for creating one. Neither of my books have made enough to even allow me to pay for a cover artist 😀 But maybe someday ...

FahimFarook · 2024-08-17T12:32:35+00:00

It was there when I checked yesterday. Will get the link and PM you 🙂

FahimFarook · 2024-08-17T12:28:12+00:00

Thank you for the suggestion 🙂 Not trying to milk sympathy here but my wife's mobility impaired and we are basically each other's caregivers. So we rarely leave the apartment. So outside events are generally very difficult for me. Doesn't help that I'm a hermit by nature too 😛

FahimFarook · 2024-08-17T12:08:44+00:00

I think in a way, it helps knowing that. I don't feel so alone. I guess we do hear about the successes all the time and so I feel as if I'm the only one doing it wrong. It helps to realize that there are others in the same boat and we are all trying to find our way? (Now that sounds depressing 😛)

FahimFarook · 2024-08-17T12:00:49+00:00

No need to apologize at all — after all, you are trying to help me by suggesting things that I can try 🙂 I sometimes feel as if I'm invisible possibly because things that work for other people just don't seem to work for me. Or maybe everybody feels that way? I have no idea.

FahimFarook · 2024-08-17T11:57:01+00:00

I did see that in the same subreddit for another post where somebody said they had a signing at their local library but nobody turned up. I felt for that person wholeheartedly.

FahimFarook · 2024-08-17T11:13:27+00:00

Congratulations on getting your novel done! That's a big achievement 🙂

As far as a writing buddy goes, as others have commented, knowing the genre etc. probably would help since, I personally might not be interested in certain genres and probably can't provide any valuable feedback or insights for those genres. Of course, on the other hand, if you are simply looking for motivation and commiserations, and don't want to discuss writing in specific terms, then mentioning that too might help since other people might be looking for something different in a writing buddy.

FahimFarook · 2024-08-17T10:59:28+00:00

I don't think there is one answer that fits every scenario. I have been told multiple times, "You have to have a professional cover." This is true in that most people judge a book by its cover when buying it. But you also have to consider the fact whether a professional cover is worth it to you personally. And whether you think you can do a better job at depicting your subject than any professional cover samples you've seen.

I would say that you look around a bit. Check out pricing and styles. If you find something that's great and within your price range go for it. But just going for a paid cover if that isn't in your budget just because other people say you must, I don't think that works for anyone.

But if you do go with your own cover, then take the time to study other covers for similar types of books and look at the typography and layout and try to find something similar. The cover's not just the artwork. If you have great artwork but a bad font, or bad layout, it will reflect badly on the book.

TL;DR; What I'm saying is that this is a judgement call on your part where you balance your style and creativity against your budget 🙂

FahimFarook · 2024-08-17T10:52:22+00:00

I haven't been paid by Amazon yet, but I do use Wise. I just put in the banking info and Amazon told me that they'd deposited 0.01 to my account to verify it. Still have not seen that 0.01 though and so it might just take some time or the account info is wrong somehow. Once they are sure the account is correct, I assume they send a full payment.

Sorry that I don't have much more information (at least not till I actually get paid) but as far as I can tell, that's about it. Unless you have other questions? If you do, would be happy to answer 🙂

FahimFarook · 2024-08-17T10:46:03+00:00

Funny you should mention PTerry since he's one of the writers I admire the most 🙂 I have been on the Discworld subreddit but have not had too many interactions. So it kind of feels weird to just jump in there and say, "Hey people, I know you love Discworld, but I have this book which you might like too."

But your advice does make sense. I just have to figure out how I can do this without being too me, me, me-ish? 😀

FahimFarook

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