tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-79998084473336563952024-03-13T04:26:31.190-07:00D Lee WarrenStories that DisturbBD Crowellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04609824498413769208noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7999808447333656395.post-85750400482406818522022-01-30T12:58:00.001-07:002022-01-30T12:58:00.206-07:00Email Subscriptions are Back<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiMoadIyk0Lg-d4hKhAhsJP4VYsNRrDfcB7u_m4_lxrZmlqyA1Nc5kaiXKMwenTDf0qOAgos152o8XKDg2QjYe6Hv0wpqakO_aSG2drGHafrf5UyWbgqFXXPutPAW1Ki2m8oRV2jyQpQ2bdPDdbXisCJ160b12-aQgkCTvLhgElT3H-EqzjoQlvhj7t=s1920" style="clear: right; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1344" data-original-width="1920" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiMoadIyk0Lg-d4hKhAhsJP4VYsNRrDfcB7u_m4_lxrZmlqyA1Nc5kaiXKMwenTDf0qOAgos152o8XKDg2QjYe6Hv0wpqakO_aSG2drGHafrf5UyWbgqFXXPutPAW1Ki2m8oRV2jyQpQ2bdPDdbXisCJ160b12-aQgkCTvLhgElT3H-EqzjoQlvhj7t=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Subscribe to Newsletter (photo credit: <a href="https://www.publicdomainpictures.net/en/view-image.php?image=368420&picture=subscribe-to-newsletter" target="_blank">Gerd Altmann</a>)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>In another case of Google killing off a service that a lot of people use, they killed off the RSS to email subscription feature of Feedburner, which is what this site (and many, many others) used to provide email subscriptions for updates. After a lot of hunting, I settled on <a href="http://follow.it">follow.it</a> to replace that functionality. It’s completely free for subscribers and has a lot more options than Feedburner offered.
</p><p>We’ve imported our previous subscribers who had previously confirmed their subscription. Any subscribers who were still in pending status did not get imported. Sorry, you’ll have to re-subscribe. For those and anyone else who’d like to subscribe, just enter your email address and click the Subscribe button along the right or click on the email icon at the top of the page. If at any point you want to unsubscribe, just follow the link in any of the emails from follow.it. </p><p> If you prefer RSS, that’s still available from the RSS icon at the top. While you’re up there, feel free to click on the appropriate icon to follow me on social media. </p><p> Let me know how the transition to follow.it is by dropping a comment below or sending me a note through the contact form over at the right. Thanks!
</p>BD Crowellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04609824498413769208noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7999808447333656395.post-56833007855978041472020-12-20T16:23:00.001-07:002020-12-20T16:23:38.334-07:00Smashwords End of Year Sale<p>All D Lee Warren books are free for the rest of the year through <a href="https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/dleewarren" target="_blank">Smashwords</a> with coupon code <strong>SEY25</strong>.  Merry Christmas!</p> <p><img alt="Smashwords" src="https://dwtr67e3ikfml.cloudfront.net/static/1/swlogo.png" width="250" height="67"> </img></p>BD Crowellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04609824498413769208noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7999808447333656395.post-71402833231542645732020-12-19T13:12:00.022-07:002020-12-19T13:12:00.718-07:00New Year Resolutions<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.publicdomainpictures.net/en/view-image.php?image=374526&picture=happy-new-year" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img align="right" alt="happy-new-year-1606926368J3V" border="0" height="427" src="https://drive.google.com/uc?id=1De9VxOrr9mI0m3rBgLzD1-PMM5SU7Iyy" style="background-image: none; border-color: currentcolor; border-image: none; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; border: 0px currentcolor; display: inline; float: right;" title="happy-new-year-1606926368J3V" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div itemprop="name">Happy New Year</div><div itemprop="name">(Photo credit: <a href="https://www.publicdomainpictures.net/en/view-image.php?image=374526&amp;picture=happy-new-year" target="_blank">Public Domain Pictures</a>)<br /></div>
</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Well, it’s about that time again, as one year is about to give over to a new. And what a shit year it’s been. May the next be better. I’m popping these out a little early, though, help offset all those years it was late.</p> <p>It’s been almost 6 years since I published anything under the D Lee brand. That’s depressing. I certainly have plenty of things in various stages of completion but nothing ready for publication (well, except for <i>Bound</i>, but you can read about <a href="/2020/11/the-importance-of-beta-readers.html">why I’m not releasing that here</a>). The next piece is <i>A Tale for Christmas</i>, or <i>A Christmas Tale</i>, or something like that (I still haven’t settled on a final title). It’s on its next to last draft (I think/hope), and the last is pretty quick as I run it through <a href="https://prowritingaid.com/" target="_blank">ProWritingAid</a> for that final polish. I follow that with an out-loud read-through to see what my ears catch that my eyes have missed. Then, the cover gets its due attention, and its off for beta reading. Which lead me into my New Year’s resolutions.</p> <p> </p> <h3>#1: Fucking Publish Something</h3> <p>The past few years have been pretty brutal. I’ve gotten very little writing done until the last couple of months. I finally seem to have settled into a bit of a groove, picking up some writing/editing/illustration time in the evenings while my wife is working and the kids are off glued to their screens. I also have sort of worked up an imperfect mobile writing solution in lieu of there being an Android version of <a href="https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener/overview" target="_blank">Scrivener</a> (how I long for that). I write in <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.microsoft.office.word&hl=en_US&gl=US" target="_blank">Word</a> on my phone when I find myself waiting such as for a car appointment, which syncs into <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/" target="_blank">Dropbox</a>, and then I can pull those scenes into Scrivener on my computer. It’s not my favorite, but it’s better than nothing. I could have gotten an iPhone, but I don’t want Scrivener on my phone that badly.</p> <h3>#2: Lose Some Weight</h3> <p>So, now my doctor has put me on some medication to help my blood sugar, but the kicker is, I can’t drink alcohol while on this medication. So, I’ve been booze-free throughout the worst of 2020, and if there was ever a year when I needed booze, it was this one. Fuck you, 2020! On the plus side, I’ve been one motivated motherfucker, and thanks to the <a href="https://www.loseit.com/" target="_blank">Lose It! App</a>, <a href="https://totalgym.com/" target="_blank">Total Gym</a>, and lots of walking, I’m down almost 25 pounds. So, here’s to drinking in 2021 after I get down the last 15-20.</p> <h3>#3: Make up for Lost Drinking</h3> <p>Usually, it’s drink less, right? Not me. I’ve finally been able to afford a decent liquor cabinet, and it sits there, calling to me. My days practically demand it, especially now that I’ve found a new arch nemesis at work, the pathetic little worm. He has inspired me on a couple of upcoming antagonists, so there’s that silver lining.</p> <h3>#4: Spend Time with my Family</h3> <p>I saved the best for last. When the kids come in the room, I stop writing, because family is way important than fiction. The oldest just turned 18. That blows my mind. My time with them, seeing them every day, is waning. I want to make the most of it. My wife and I aren’t getting any younger, and a lot of families lost loved ones, and not just the frail and sick, thanks to the damn virus this year (including ours. Fuck you, Covid-19!). Nobody ever wishes they’d worked more at the end, and that’s something I’ve tried to keep in mind, even at the expense of less fiction that, frankly, few care about. Even if they did, family’s still more important. It’s more a creative outlet for me. I certainly don’t make enough to quit the day job, although I hope to someday, which is one of the reasons I keep going. So, if you like the writing, tell some people or leave a review. The more I sell, the closer I get to quitting that day job, and then I can really start to crank out some words AND get to be around my family more. Win win.</p> <p> </p><p>That’s it. 4 resolutions are enough for me. Since the writing is more fun than the editing, I look forward to getting back to doing some of that. We’ll see how well I can pick up some of these unfinished works and see them through to completion. I have noticed that many, many thousands of words in, it’s all getting a little easier and smoother. By the time I hit a million, this should be a piece of cake. Ha!</p> <p>I hope your next year is better, that your holidays are safe and peaceful, and that Santa treats you well.</p>BD Crowellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04609824498413769208noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7999808447333656395.post-70224832609644636082020-11-15T13:08:00.024-07:002020-11-15T13:08:00.257-07:00The Importance of Beta Readers<p><a href="/2020/10/cover-reveal-for-bound.html">As previously announced</a>, <i>Bound</i> was sent out for beta reading. Feedback was received, and I am glad to have gotten it. Here is some of the feedback received: </p><ul><li><i>Rabin, is that the guy’s name? </i>(I didn't mention it was Lt. Rabin until later)<br /><i></i></li> <li><i>If they put tape over her mouth, how was she begging for her life?</i></li> <li><i>This ended too abruptly. That pisses me off. If I bought this, that would probably keep me from buying the next one, unless maybe it was already available.</i></li> <li><i>You should not release these separately. You need to finish the whole story and release it all together.</i></li> <li><i>I didn’t like the way you jumped forward and back in time.</i></li> </ul> <p><i></i></p> <p>Wow. How is that for valuable advice? Obviously, the first couple of bullets were things that I should have caught in editing and proofreading, and having beta readers are good for catching those things that you miss. But how about the third? You never want to lose readers, so any advice that keeps you from doing that is gold. The fourth was some good advice that I’m going to heed. Finally, it’s never good to confuse readers, so I’m restructuring and reordering.</p> <p>What all this means is that <i>Bound</i> will not be released as a standalone book. <i>Boundless</i> is already out there, so I’ll leave it be for the time being, but at some point, it’s going to get pulled back. I’m going to pull them into <i>Parts</i>, and turn that into a complete whole instead of what was almost a serialized novel. Once that’s ready, then I’ll pull back <i>Boundless</i> and release the entire story.</p> <p>What this means for you, if you’re a fellow scribe, is that you need to find your beta reader or readers. They can not only make your book stronger but possibly keep you from making costly mistakes. I certainly appreciate mine.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/uc?id=14oavf2X-9U4F3Gz6nAR506TiOFQRtgX2" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img align="right" alt="ballpoint-pen" border="0" height="431" src="https://drive.google.com/uc?id=1LgdyD57xL4ho-_jyzD_K2IauSEiqqQR8" style="background-image: none; display: inline; float: right;" title="ballpoint-pen" width="644" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ballpoint Pen public domain stock photo. <a href="https://www.publicdomainpictures.net/en/view-image.php?image=53547&picture=ballpoint-pen">https://www.publicdomainpictures.net/en/view-image.php?image=53547&picture=ballpoint-pen</a><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>BD Crowellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04609824498413769208noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7999808447333656395.post-852409533793349272020-11-14T10:11:00.003-07:002020-11-14T10:11:00.372-07:00Tips for Your Jail Stay<p>Note: This is a repost of an earlier post from a few years ago on <a href="http://www.bdcrowell.com">www.bdcrowell.com</a> that I thought fit better here. As such, some of this information may have changed since that original post. <br /></p><p>I recently attended a training workshop entitled <i>Polishing your Presentation Skills</i> with <a href="http://cypressmedia.net/" target="_blank">Randall Whatley</a> that I enjoyed. Near the end of the workshop, each attendee had a few minutes to come up with a topic to present and with what we were going to say. After racking my brain for a minute, I came up with tips to make your next stay in jail more pleasant. </p> <p>You see, I spent 6 years in jail. Fortunately, I was able to go home each night (most nights, anyway) since I only worked there and was not a resident. So, I had some good stories rattling around in my noggin and decided that could make for an entertaining presentation. The class seemed to enjoy it, so I thought I’d write it up and add it here for your enjoyment. Or maybe as useful information for your next jail stay. Keep in mind that I only had a few minutes.</p> <p>Disclaimer: As I stated in the Q&A that followed, these tips are based on actual events that I either witnessed firsthand or was told about secondhand. While this was very much tongue-in-cheek and meant to entertain, I don’t intend any disrespect to what happened to the victims of these morons, er, inmates… only to the morons themselves.</p> <hr /> <p> </p> <a name="#tips"> <h3>Tips to make your next stay in jail more pleasant.</h3> </a> <p><img alt="Português: Uma cela moderna em Brecksville Pol..." height="263" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/73/Cela.jpg/300px-Cela.jpg" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-color: currentcolor; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-style: none; border-top: medium none; border-width: medium; display: block;" width="177" />Good afternoon and thank you for coming. My name is Brian Crowell.</p> <p>Jail. We’ve all been there. Whether you did something fairly innocent like lose track of how much you drank and inadvertently caused a multi-car collision or maybe accidentally beat your girlfriend’s parents to death with a crowbar, if you haven’t been yet, it’s only a matter of time.</p> <p>Let’s face it, jail is not <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.yale.edu/" rel="homepage" title="Yale University">Yale</a>. Still, it can be a nice break from the hectic day-to-day pace of your everyday life. To make it even better, here are some tips to make your next, or first, stay in jail more pleasant.</p> <ol> <li>Don’t swallow razor blades. It’s unpleasant, but we know it’s an easy rule to forget. So, what you really want to remember is that after they’ve cut you open and removed the razor blades, what you don’t want to do is pick at the stitches until you’ve opened up the wound. Because then as you lay there whimpering, the CO’s (that’s Corrections Officers) are going to have to take pictures of it (for evidence). Plus, they’ll stand around and talk about you and laugh at you. Embarrassing, right? </li> <li>Don’t go to jail to get your teeth worked on. Unless you’re looking for extraction, then by all means go. They’re quick and cheap. However, keep in mind that they’ll only generally take out one jaw’s worth of teeth at a time. So, make sure you have enough time left on your sentence for their next visit. Otherwise, you’ll just look awkward when you’re released with only half of your teeth removed. </li> <li>Don’t forget to tell them if you’re <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HIV" rel="wikipedia" title="HIV">HIV positive</a>. Pat downs in jail aren’t like they are on TV. They’re much more thorough and intimate <i>[speaking of intimacy, see my note below]</i>. If the CO forgets to put on his gloves first and you didn’t tell him, he’s likely to get upset. It’s just the polite thing to do. </li> <li>Jail can sometimes get crowded and loud. If you feel like you just need some alone time, the best way to get that is to become belligerent, start a fight, or threaten to kill someone. At first, you’ll be extremely popular. Several of your new best friends will crowd around you, but then they’ll whisk you off to your private accommodations, where you can enjoy some quiet “me” time. Possibly while strapped into a hard, plastic restraint chair. </li> <li>Don’t smuggle in contraband. That will earn you extra charges. Now, it’s easy to forget that you’re packing iron, but try to remember to let your arresting officer know, especially if he forgets to pat you down properly. You’ll enjoy fewer charges, and he’ll get to remain employed. Besides, even if you stow the contraband in uncomfortable places, it’s probably going to be found during the booking process, where you’re thoroughly inspected. </li> <li><i>[I’m going to switch around these last two based on response during the presentation]</i> Don’t break into offices to use the computer. Your email will be waiting for you when you get out. There aren’t any tweets you’re missing important enough to rack up additional charges. If you really need to know, you can give your password to your family during visitation, and they can check for you. </li> <li>Finally, don’t lie about your gender. Especially if you happen to be both. They’re going to find out after you strip down. And that’s good. You want the CO’s to find out before the other inmates. Otherwise, you’re going to be very popular. Unless you really like to party, this isn’t one you want to forget. </li> </ol> <hr /> <p>Then, I gave a brief closing that I don’t really remember. This presentation got a lot of laughs and incredulous looks. There was one extra bit from number 3 that I decided to pull at the last minute, but I thought I’d throw caution and good taste to the wind and include it here:</p> <p>Plus, if one of the CO’s is kind enough to enter into an intimate situation with you and happens to forget to use protection, you should jog her memory. It’s the least you can do, since she’s going to get fired after you two get caught. At least now she’s only unemployed instead of unemployed and with <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexually_transmitted_disease" rel="wikipedia" title="Sexually transmitted disease">STD</a>.</p> <p>Alright, I hope you enjoyed that. I also hope you never have to use any of those tips. Unless you belong in jail. In that case, good luck.</p> <div class="zemanta-img" style="display: block; float: left; margin: 1em; width: 310px;"> <p class="zemanta-img-attribution" style="font-size: 0.8em;">Photo: Português: Uma cela moderna em Brecksville Police Department, Brecksville, Ohio (Photo credit: <a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cela.jpg">Wikipedia</a>)</p> </div> <p> </p> <div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><img alt="" class="zemanta-pixie-img" hidden="" src="http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=1eac5848-5831-4e82-838d-52c94104cb87" style="border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-style: none; border-top-style: none; display: none !important; float: right;" /></div> BD Crowellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04609824498413769208noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7999808447333656395.post-35895922107191661322020-10-29T19:25:00.000-07:002020-11-11T12:59:51.930-07:00Cover Reveal for Bound<p><em>Bound</em> is finished!!!  It’s out for beta reading, so there’s no release date, yet, but the cover is finished.  Here’s a sneak peek at that.</p> <a href="https://drive.google.com/uc?id=1C7Qr4I1XA76kzy2VkUbbxQw0m-dBzz3X"><img title="bound-page-0" style="display: inline; background-image: none;" border="0" alt="bound-page-0" src="https://drive.google.com/uc?id=1yUTVuG2QQNGtvNg3TBjLUdXy3KMW-1Px" width="516" height="772" /></a> <p>Much thanks to <a href="http://diybookcovers.com/" target="_blank">Derek Murphy</a> for the design.</p> <p><em>Bound</em> is the 2nd book in the <em>Parts</em> trilogy.  You can read the 1st book, <a href="/p/library.html#boundless">Boundless</a><em></em>, for free, now.</p>BD Crowellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04609824498413769208noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7999808447333656395.post-58335241349559141922020-10-24T16:03:00.000-07:002020-10-24T16:03:22.879-07:00Site Update<p>It was overdue that I needed to update my site.  The old one not only looked dated, but it was also not responsive (as Google kept reminding me).  Thanks to a new premium template from <a href="https://www.soratemplates.com/" target="_blank">Sora Templates</a>, the site is now:</p> <p><strong>Responsive <br />Mobile Friendly <br />Fast Loading <br />Minimalistic <br />Simple <br />SEO Friendly <br />Clean Layout <br />Clear Design Using HTML5 & CSS3 <br />Improved Modern Browser Compatibility</strong></p> <p>Please have a look around and let me know what you think (and if you find anything broken).  Before we go, here’s a last look at the old site.  Thanks, old template, for many years of faithful service.</p> <a href="https://drive.google.com/uc?id=1KhZ0WKGW1IuzWuXJnKO-XkDJCoAjdG85"><img title="dlee-welcome-10-24-2020-old-design" style="display: inline; background-image: none;" border="0" alt="dlee-welcome-10-24-2020-old-design" src="https://drive.google.com/uc?id=1Wrqlp4rxZ4uW6XNZjzSGyBy-_dSM5EI8" width="604" height="495" /></a> <p> </p> <a href="https://drive.google.com/uc?id=1MXThhhtv0B1VIw8pV6Wv_HWeqJQ_T4Aa"><img title="dlee-blog-10-24-2020-old-design" style="display: inline; background-image: none;" border="0" alt="dlee-blog-10-24-2020-old-design" src="https://drive.google.com/uc?id=1AxTZpK0WrXj-ss-fMLFIbZt0esNaFoJ9" width="604" height="488" /></a>BD Crowellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04609824498413769208noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7999808447333656395.post-87735192341168715762020-10-10T10:07:00.009-07:002020-10-24T16:55:38.866-07:00DIY Book Covers Review<p>Note: This is a repost of an earlier post from a few years ago on <a href="http://www.bdcrowell.com">www.bdcrowell.com</a> that I thought fit better here. As such, some of this information may have changed since that original post. <br /></p><p>I am a diy’er: auto maintenance, home repair, lawn care. I even built my own desk and bookshelves for my office. And when it came to my writing career, I planned to do as much of it as I could on my own. Of course, the conventional wisdom is that you need an editor, and I lucked out early on with finding <a href="http://victoriashockleywrites.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Victoria</a>. I did my own formatting and was happy enough with how that came out. I then tried to make my own book cover. It was bad. I mean, it was embarrassing, so much so that I destroyed it without having shown it to anyone. Thus, I resigned myself to finding a cover designer. And after some trial and error and a lot of time looking at portfolios, I stumbled across <a href="http://artbykarri.com/" target="_blank">Karri</a>, and I’m very glad I did. Here’s the cover she made for <i>Repetition</i>:</p> <p><img src="http://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-hAXdhRdUaoo/UfTGhG4rwqI/AAAAAAAAAdQ/c1ibxf7vapw/s400/Repetition_ebook_Final_small.jpg" style="display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></p> <p>Suffice it to say, I’m quite happy with my editing and cover design team.</p> <p>Recently, I’ve been dabbling in shorter works, too short in my opinion to charge for. I’d originally planned to save them up for a collection, but thought it might be valuable to give them away by themselves, like free samples at the grocery store. For such short works that I’m giving away, I couldn’t really justify the time or cost of passing these by my team. With the help of my beta readers, I’ve worked through the editing as best I can. But I still had to have a cover. For my first piece of flash fiction, I ran <i><a href="http://www.bdcrowell.com/p/library.html#xmas_past" target="_blank">Of Christmases Past</a></i> by the good folks at <a href="http://www.fiverr.com/" target="_blank">Fiverr</a> and got back this:</p> <p><img src="http://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-_1XL-fgYmmw/VBxLpmxne8I/AAAAAAAAAqg/aWZgyzdZ6AE/s400/cover-web.jpg" style="display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></p> <p> </p> <p>Not too shabby for $5. It got me thinking, though, “I can draw, arguably so anyway. Why can’t I design something fairly simple like this?” So, I went on a search for templates, info, advice, whatever I could find. Along the way, I stumbled upon <a href="http://diybookcovers.com/" target="_blank">DIY Book Covers</a>. I am so glad that I did.</p> <p>I got access to <a href="http://diybookcovers.com/" target="_blank">DIY Book Covers</a> last year when it was centered around Microsoft Word templates. I wanted to get a couple of covers under my belt, see if I could do it, before writing this review. Since then, <a href="http://www.creativindie.com/" target="_blank">Derek</a> has expanded the offering to include an online designer and additional templates for it. I’ve not had a chance to play with those, but I’m so pleased with just the original offerings, that I’d recommend it based solely on those. Plus, if I wait to write this until I’ve tested the new features, I may never get this done. So, let’s talk about the offerings sans the online designer.</p> <p>At the time I got the Word templates package, the cost was $87. Just for what it came with last Fall, it’s a steal. And at the time of this writing, he’s still offering all that plus the new stuff for the same price. For less than $100, I got:</p> <ul> <li>150 Word templates </li> <li>full-print cover templates </li> <li>templates for business cards, bookmarks, etc. </li> <li>a handful of useful and informative books written by Derek </li> <li>lists of genre-appropriate fonts </li> <li>instructions </li> <li>design guides </li> <li>interior layout templates </li> </ul> <p>This is more than just a collection of high-quality templates. And they are high-quality: Derek is a highly sought out cover designer; his stuff <a href="http://www.creativindiecovers.com/coverdesignsamples/" target="_blank">looks incredible</a>. The real value is in the knowledge that he imparts: how to design a quality cover. He talks about color theory and where to get stock photographs. There’s even a sample cover that he walks you through on the creation process from start to finish, and you can see how he adjusts and tweaks the design as he goes along, all while using a tool that most of us have in our tool belt: Microsoft Word. With <a href="http://diybookcovers.com/" target="_blank">DIY Book Covers</a>, you won’t have to delve into the complexity (or cost) of Photoshop to get a good-looking cover.</p> <h1>Examples</h1> <p>I set to work going through all the tutorials and reading the books he includes. Using Word 2010, his templates, and the knowledge he imparts, I was able to create the covers shown below on my own at zero cost (I used public domain pictures and free fonts). First, is the template I worked from through to the end product.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-qp2UA7pS35E/VTVBE8W_LwI/AAAAAAAAAxw/mqeMKTXPUZM/s1600-h/sleep4.png"><img alt="sleep" border="0" height="455" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-C5CSZt7Wju8/VTVBFOovGDI/AAAAAAAAAx0/u1UOWYwVhg4/sleep_thumb2.png?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="sleep" width="1024" /></a></p> <p> </p> <p>I kept it real simple on <i><a href="http://www.bdcrowell.com/p/library.html#sleep">Sleep</a></i>, same fonts and colors as the template. I just swapped out the background image, played a little with visual effects, moved text around a bit, and did a color wash. If I had it to do again, I’d play more with the font and positioning of the title, maybe put it on a little off kilter or at an angle to coincide with the fan blades.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-CYTJhvsbvj4/VTVBFtq_OdI/AAAAAAAAAx8/ESJHatlL1nY/s1600-h/pink4.png"><img alt="pink" border="0" height="455" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-0JG8sGZD7zM/VTVBGRYb5ZI/AAAAAAAAAyE/bSwUelHwHf0/pink_thumb2.png?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="pink" width="1024" /></a></p> <p>For <a href="http://www.bdcrowell.com/p/library.html#pink"><i>Pink</i></a>, I changed up quite a bit from the source. I swapped out fonts, going for a more genre specific one for the title. I again played with font positioning and added a color wash and a little bit of texture. On retrospect, I should have made the title larger. I also don’t love the font for this cover. I wish I had the skills to make the title ripple with the water, but I’m not there (and rather doubt I could achieve that in Word, anyway).</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-qvpMNrvJwXM/VTVBGjon_SI/AAAAAAAAAyQ/lZBnjK2eMnc/s1600-h/boundless4.png"><img alt="boundless" border="0" height="455" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-xEMXQsFHLSY/VTVBHDcc_SI/AAAAAAAAAyU/VvAG8A7pZJo/boundless_thumb2.png?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="boundless" width="1024" /></a></p> <p>For the third go around, I used a texture image from <a href="http://www.deviantart.com/" target="_blank">deviantART</a> (not public domain but the artist allows free use of this texture) for the cover of <i><a href="http://www.bdcrowell.com/p/library.html#boundless" target="_blank">Boundless</a></i>. I liked the texture so well, I decided to use it as is. I really like the way this one came together and think it’s the strongest cover of the three. Maybe I’m getting better. I felt like the title font really lent itself well to all lower-case, so that’s the way this went, and it’s a nice contrast to the all caps of the author name. The guy’s face actually blended really well into the image, and I almost kept it, but then it made the whole thing feel off a bit, with everything else nicely centered. In the end, I dropped it.</p> <p>It feels really well balanced. At least I hope it is. The only way I’ve found to center things in these templates is by eye. Perhaps if I spent a bit more time with positioning of the text boxes and pulling them out to the edges, that might prove to more exact.</p> <p>Update: Since I published <i>Boundless</i>, it’s moved far faster than anything else I’ve put out there. It took a couple of months to move as many copies of <i>Pink</i> as I did in just a few days with <i>Boundless</i>. Since none of my descriptions for the flash fictions stories are particularly earth-shaking, I have to give credit to the cover. It even got a review on the day of release, far sooner than with any other title. Yay for good covers!</p> <h1>Summary</h1> <p>This is a fantastic package. The templates themselves are great but the extras are what really make this valuable. Instead of just giving you a bunch of templates you can modify, Derek teaches you how to design a quality cover and then provides a lot of great starting points with his templates. I can see a progression of improvement in the covers I’ve created. I think the <a href="http://diybookcovers.com/" target="_blank">DIY Book Covers</a> would make a great starting off point for someone who wants to design their own covers with software they likely already own. It might even be all you ever need, but I could see this serving as a launching point to teach someone the skills and give the experience to move onto more advanced tools, like <a href="http://www.photoshop.com/" target="_blank">Photoshop</a> or <a href="http://www.gimp.org/" target="_blank">Gimp</a>, and really take it to a level beyond what Word can do. However, even if someone doesn’t get that far, Derek has shown that with the right knowhow, someone can make a damn fine cover using nothing more than a tool like Word.</p> BD Crowellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04609824498413769208noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7999808447333656395.post-45558211787315517282015-04-02T23:43:00.000-07:002020-10-24T15:04:08.411-07:00Boundless Now Available as an Ebook<img style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: right; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" src="http://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-9IPkjq3ytLY/VRwdS3oFb1I/AAAAAAAAAxQ/dTep1gfwbz0/s288/47fiction-page-0_thumb%255B4%255D.jpg" width="160" align="right" height="240" /> <p>The flash fiction story <i><a href="http://www.bdcrowell.com/p/library.html#boundless" target="_blank">Boundless</a> </i>is now available in ebook form.  This short work shows a glimpse into the sick world of a serial killer as he toys with and tortures a young girl.  </p> <p><em>Boundless</em> is book 3 of The Killers series.  It’s the first appearance of Gary Avellis, a sadistic serial killer who features prominently in the work-in-progress (WIP) <em><a href="http://www.bdcrowell.com/p/library.html#wip" target="_blank">Parts</a></em>.  Although he doesn’t appear in it, his handiwork also appears in the WIP <em><a href="http://www.bdcrowell.com/p/library.html#wip" target="_blank">Bound</a></em>, the sequel to <em>Boundless</em>.</p> <p><em>Boundless</em> is currently available on <a href="http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/531814" target="_blank">Smashwords</a>.  It should be rolling out to the other stores soon, with the exception of Amazon.  Kindle users will need to read it online <a href="http://www.dleewarren.com/2015/04/boundless.html">here</a> or download the mobi from Smashwords… or wait until I have a collection that I can put up on Amazon.  I’ll update <em>Boundless’</em> <a href="http://www.bdcrowell.com/p/library.html#boundless" target="_blank">library entry</a> with additional links when they become available.</p> BD Crowellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04609824498413769208noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7999808447333656395.post-9830660287060062992015-02-26T03:26:00.002-07:002020-10-24T15:04:08.410-07:00Pink Now Available as an EbookYay for snow days! It gave me the opportunity to finalize and upload <i>Pink</i> early. As such:<img align="right" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-wAKlE9HBmGA/VO3MK7pOm6I/AAAAAAAAAtU/hKvq6poywUA/s288/pink%255B7%255D.jpg" style="display: inline; float: right;" /><br />
<br />
The flash fiction story <i>Pink</i> is now available in ebook form. It’s currently available on the <a href="https://play.google.com/store/books/details/D_Lee_Warren_Pink?id=Zn7NBgAAQBAJ" target="_blank">Google Play</a> store, on <a href="http://www.scribd.com/book/256956155/Pink" target="_blank">Scribd</a>, and on <a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/522567" target="_blank">Smashwords</a>. It should be rolling out to the other stores soon, with the exception of Amazon. Kindle users will need to read it online <a href="http://www.dleewarren.com/2015/02/pink.html" target="_blank">here</a> or download the mobi from Smashwords… or wait until I have a collection that I can put up on Amazon. I’ll update <i>Pink’s</i> <a href="/p/library.html#pink" target="_blank">library entry</a> with additional links when they become available.<br />
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BD Crowellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04609824498413769208noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7999808447333656395.post-77326533414675135842015-02-25T03:36:00.000-07:002020-10-24T15:01:04.595-07:00Now on Google PlayCross-posted from <a href="http://www.bdcrowell.com/2015/02/now-on-google-play.html" target="_blank">bdcrowell.com</a>:<br />
<br />
It took me awhile to get around to it, but I’ve finally started putting the books up on the Google Play store. They’re not all up there, but I have titles from both <a href="https://play.google.com/store/books/author?id=BD+Crowell" target="_blank">BD Crowell</a> and <a href="https://play.google.com/store/books/author?id=D+Lee+Warren" target="_blank">D Lee Warren</a> up, and I’m working on the rest, updating the back matter as I go. I’m updating <a href="http://www.bdcrowell.com/p/library.html">the Library</a> with links as they go live in the store. Just in the short time they’ve been up, with no advertising or fanfare from my camp, Google has already moved several copies. I’m excited and looking forward to what we’re going to accomplish together.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container zemanta-img" style="float: right; margin-right: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><div class="zemanta-img">
<a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Googlelogo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: clear:right;"><img alt="English: Google Logo officially released on Ma..." border="0" class="zemanta-img-inserted zemanta-img-configured" height="120" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/30/Googlelogo.png/350px-Googlelogo.png" style="border: none; font-size: 0.8em;" width="350" /></a></div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption zemanta-img-attribution" style="text-align: center; width: 350px;">English: Google Logo officially released on May 2010 (Photo credit: <a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Googlelogo.png" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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In other news, <i>Pink</i> is back from beta reading and <i>Boundless </i>just went out for beta reading. With any luck, I can get <i>Pink</i> finalized and published this weekend and maybe get <i>Boundless</i> out early next month. I’m also making good progress on <i>Bound </i>and slow but steady progress on <i>A Christmas Tale</i>. I’ve resumed work on <i>Parts</i>. It’s been a challenging piece and isn’t coming easily, but I’m still plugging away at it and hope to see it through to completion one of these days. I’ve limited myself to 4 active writing projects at a time so I don’t get spread too thinly but always have something in the pipe. I’m trying to stick to 80% writing projects, 20% blog posts during my writing time. And I work on illustrations whenever I can (which I plan to ramp up soon, but I’ll discuss that in another blog post). You can always see where I’m at in the queue by visiting the <a href="http://www.bdcrowell.com/p/library.html#wip">Works in Progress (WIP) section</a> of the Library.<br />
<br />
That’s it for now. I hope the rest of your winter isn’t too cold.BD Crowellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04609824498413769208noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7999808447333656395.post-59805738487034761022014-11-02T02:59:00.000-07:002014-11-02T02:59:00.065-07:00A Pair of Curious Problems<p>I turned 40 not long ago.  That fact alone seems rather surreal and not quite possible.  Statistically speaking then, I’m about halfway through this life.  True, I may not be quite at the halfway point.  In fact, if I turn out to be one of those bizarre cases, it could be that I’m only a third of the way through.  Or it could be that I’ve expended two-thirds or better of the time I’ve been given.  We never know.  But for the sake of this posting, let’s settle on half.</p> <div class="zemanta-img" style="width: 360px; float: right; margin: 1em; display: block"><a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Goulds_Book_Arcade_BookStack.jpg"><img style="border-top: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; display: block" alt="English: Stack of books in Gould's Book Arcade..." src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/60/Goulds_Book_Arcade_BookStack.jpg/350px-Goulds_Book_Arcade_BookStack.jpg" width="350" height="227" /></a> <p class="zemanta-img-attribution" style="font-size: 0.8em">English: Stack of books in Gould's Book Arcade, Newtown, New South Wales (NSW), Australia. (Photo credit: <a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Goulds_Book_Arcade_BookStack.jpg">Wikipedia</a>)</p> </div> <p>In looking at <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/7351618-b-d-crowell?shelf=to-read" target="_blank">my Goodreads to-be-read shelf</a>, I see that I have over 700 books on there.  That does not include all the books I’d like to read or even all of the physical books that I have sitting on bookshelves, waiting for me to pick them up.  There was a time when I had to ponder what my next read would be, when I would work on one or two books at a time and had to have the physical book in front of me.  Now, I can read almost anywhere and typically have a half-dozen or so in progress at any one time.  I’ve become extremely picky about what I add to my shelf, only picking up unknown books by unknown authors (to me, at least) when they have at least 4.5 stars by double-digit or better reviewers.  Most of the time, I don’t even open my <a href="http://www.bookbub.com" target="_blank">BookBub</a> emails anymore, because I’ve come to realize that even if I stopped adding books today and only worked on my backlog, looking at my rate of reading (which has averaged 27 books a year over the past 3 years), there’s a good chance I don’t have enough years left to get through them all.  It’s a rather sad thought.  True, I could read faster than I do, but what would be the point in that?  I read for either the enjoyment, the knowledge, or both, and I tend to not enjoy it and not pick up as much when I speed-read.  Thus, I read at the speed at which I can enjoy and get the most from the experience.  That whole quality of life vs. quantity.  So, I have to accept that every time I pick up a book that it may be at the expense of getting through another in this lifetime.  And thus, it had better be a good read.  I don’t give books nearly the chance that I once did because life is too short to waste on a mediocre or poor reading experience.</p> <p>Then there is the other side of the coin to books:  the writing.  I’ve heard of writers bemoan the process, worried that the muse will give out and they’ll be left with nothing to write.  I don’t understand that.  I have the opposite problem (knock on wood that I’m not jinxing myself).  I have scores of story ideas written down, even more that I’ve forgotten (although I figure that if they’re worth telling, they’ll come back to me).  I work on the ones that gnaw the worst at my brain and won’t let me be and for which I think I’m up to the challenge*.  Unless senility claims me early, I can’t imagine running out of stories to tell.  Although, granted, I’m not able to turn them out very quickly, so maybe that’s a problem for the full-time writers.  Or the unimaginative.  But again, as with the reading, I don’t expect to live long enough to tell all the tales that are waiting for me to tell.  And that’s just as sad to me as the fact I’ll not be able to read all that I’d like.  Perhaps more so, I’ve not yet decided.</p> <p>Am I the only one who thinks this?  Let me know.  Thanks for reading.</p> <p> </p> <p>*Yes, <em>Three</em>, I know that you (and your sequel) keep gnawing at me, but I don’t think I’m up the challenge of your second draft yet.  Come talk to me after <em>Parts</em> is done.</p> BD Crowellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04609824498413769208noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7999808447333656395.post-11913785079117123532014-10-01T02:51:00.001-07:002014-10-01T02:51:14.284-07:00All D Lee Stories FREE in October!<p>Ah, it’s Fall.  The weather’s cooler, the leaves are changing colors, there’s sweet and tart apple cider about, and soon the kiddies will be dressing up as princesses and… wait a minute, that doesn’t sound like D Lee.  Let me try again…<img style="float: right; display: inline" src="http://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-hAXdhRdUaoo/UfTGhG4rwqI/AAAAAAAAAdQ/c1ibxf7vapw/s400/Repetition_ebook_Final_small.jpg" align="right" /></p> <p>There’s a chill in the air.  The leaves on the trees are dying, turning brown.  They’ll soon release their grip, leaving stark branches outlined against a steely gray, uncaring sky.  The chill worms its way into the hearts of the people who know that the Winter will soon be here, all of nature dying for another year, and forcing contemplation of our own short existences.  But before old man Winter descends on the lands, we must first go through the time of the reaping, All Hallow’s Eve, when all manner of creatures – spirits and demons – get to roam the land and go bump in the night.  The wise will huddle close to the fire, their shutters and curtains drawn, lest they look out their window to find something looking back.</p> <p>Might as well cuddle up with a good book.  And if you can’t find one of those.. well heck, have one of mine.  <img class="wlEmoticon wlEmoticon-winkingsmile" style="border-top-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-left-style: none" alt="Winking smile" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-DcY6UG-PzPs/VCvOj_9-MBI/AAAAAAAAAq4/GTsSJXmbyLQ/wlEmoticon-winkingsmile%25255B2%25255D.png?imgmax=800" />  All the D Lee stories are free this month*, in celebration of my favorite holiday, Halloween.  The price has already been set at Smashwords and should trickle out to the other retailers they distribute to over the next few days.  The only pesky ones may be Amazon and Barnes & Noble.  I can’t set it as free there, so we just have to wait on a price match.</p> <p>How could you ever thank me?  Your readership is enough.  If you really feel compelled to do more, leave a review or a comment or even send me an email.  I’d love to hear from you.  And if you liked it, tell a friend.  And if you didn’t, lie to an enemy so they waste their time reading it, too.  Bwa ha ha!  And have a happy Halloween!</p> <p> </p> <p>*To be fair, all of the currently released ones except <em>Repetition</em> have been free, but this month you can get <em>Repetition</em> free, too.</p> BD Crowellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04609824498413769208noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7999808447333656395.post-74421358927378406992014-09-01T06:13:00.000-07:002014-09-01T06:13:00.920-07:00Updates over on the Main Site<div class="zemanta-img" style="width: 360px; float: right; margin: 1em; display: block"><a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Haast_River_Bridge.jpg"><img style="border-top: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; display: block" alt="The bridge over the Haast River, north of the ..." src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8c/Haast_River_Bridge.jpg/350px-Haast_River_Bridge.jpg" width="350" height="235" /></a> <p class="zemanta-img-attribution" style="font-size: 0.8em">The bridge over the Haast River, north of the Haast township. At 737m it is the longest one-way road bridge in New Zealand, and the 7th longest New Zealand bridge overall. Transit New Zealand Frequently Asked Questions. Retrieved on . (Photo credit: <a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Haast_River_Bridge.jpg">Wikipedia</a>)</p> </div> <p>I’m a bit late relaying this over here, but there have been a couple of updates over on the main site that I thought might be of interest to D Lee Warren fans.</p> <li>There is now a <a href="http://www.bdcrowell.com/p/faq.html">Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section</a> that’s live.  We’ll try to keep that up-to-date with the questions that we get asked most often. </li> <li>We’ve also added a <a href="http://www.bdcrowell.com/p/library.html#wip">Works-in-Progress section</a> to the <a href="http://www.bdcrowell.com/p/library.html">Library</a>.  I (Brian) have been getting asked repeatedly how I’m coming along with the next Derrick and Max book (and also about the next D Lee Warren book).  Well, now you’ll be able to tell where I am with the projects that are actively being worked on.  If it doesn’t seem like they’re going up very quickly, that would be because I work at a snail’s pace.  Slow and steady wins the race, right?  Maybe? </li> BD Crowellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04609824498413769208noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7999808447333656395.post-84672833074619302962014-08-10T05:59:00.001-07:002014-08-10T05:59:04.036-07:00Of Christmases Past free now at Smashwords and Wattpad<p>The flash fiction story <em><a href="/2013/07/of-christmases-past.html">Of Christmases Past</a> </em>has been given a cover and published at <a href="http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/465989" target="_blank">Smashwords</a> and <a href="http://www.wattpad.com/story/21249739-of-christmases-past" target="_blank">Wattpad</a> so you can enjoy it on your ereader of choice.  For free!</p> BD Crowellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04609824498413769208noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7999808447333656395.post-2595667080738467092014-03-02T04:12:00.000-07:002020-10-24T15:01:04.594-07:00Read an Ebook Week<h3 align="center">March 2-8, 2014</h3> <p>Smashwords is kicking off its sixth annual <a href="http://www.smashwords.com/ebookweek" target="_blank">Read an Ebook Week promotion</a>!  </p> <p>Read an Ebook Week is an international celebration of ebooks in which thousands of authors, publishers, and retailers feature free and discounted ebooks to help promote the joys of e-reading to the world's readers.</p> <p>During the promotion, all my ebooks will be free through the Smashwords store.  You can visit <a href="http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/bdcrowell" target="_blank">my publisher page</a> to see all available works.  Or click the image below to find all available books being offered through the promotion.</p> <p> </p> <p><a href="http://www.smashwords.com/books/category/1/newest/1" target="_blank"><img title="RAEWbanner1" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="Read an E-Book Week, March 2-8, 2014" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-xdXl-21EK9A/UxHBkoya2FI/AAAAAAAAAlg/YuA4nJ9Crl8/RAEWbanner1%25255B7%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="640" height="237" /></a></p> BD Crowellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04609824498413769208noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7999808447333656395.post-33977130849585362272013-11-13T03:16:00.001-07:002020-10-24T15:04:08.410-07:00Repetition now at Smashwords and B&N<p><em>Repetition</em> is now available to read on your non-Kindle devices.  Nook owners can head over to Barnes & Noble to <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/2940149002597" target="_blank">pick up a copy</a>.  Everybody else (including the Kindle and Nook people) can get the format they need at <a href="http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/376190" target="_blank">Smashwords</a>.  Still just 99 cents!</p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-jC-qdA-T7f0/UoNRX1niH-I/AAAAAAAAAio/LiLSgmL8Ql4/s1600-h/Repetition2%25255B3%25255D.png"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px" title="Repetition2" border="0" alt="Repetition2" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-XrcALrINwUw/UoNRY3h3-gI/AAAAAAAAAiw/v5hArnEPnEU/Repetition2_thumb%25255B1%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="199" height="252" /></a></p> BD Crowellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04609824498413769208noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7999808447333656395.post-13418930607997279042013-08-08T16:53:00.000-07:002020-10-24T15:04:08.410-07:00Repetition<i>Repetition</i> is available now in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EDP2ERK/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00EDP2ERK&linkCode=as2&tag=bdcrcom-20" target="_blank">ebook</a>. Launch price is 99 cents. As with <a href="http://www.bdcrowell.com/p/library.html#derrick1" target="_blank"><i>Derrick the Dog</i></a>, this will be exclusive to Amazon for 90 days. Unlike <i>Derrick the Dog</i>, this will be ebook only. Paper lovers can expect it to show up in a collection in paper later on (sorry, at roughly 46 pages, it’s just too short to justify a stand-alone paper copy). <br />
To sample, buy, or borrow (for Prime members) click the cover below.<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EDP2ERK/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=B00EDP2ERK&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=bdcrcom-20" target="_blank"><img alt="Repetition" border="0" height="205" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-dG1r5LFdmQk/UgPkEx4_ioI/AAAAAAAAAdw/WJCUi5Hnt_o/Repetition%25255B1%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Repetition" width="244" /></a><br />
Thanks to <a href="http://victoriashockleywrites.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Victoria</a> for helping me get the words right, <a href="http://artbykarri.com/" target="_blank">Karri</a> for designing an awesome cover, and Miranda, my #1 beta reader.BD Crowellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04609824498413769208noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7999808447333656395.post-11301083453311300162013-07-27T10:59:00.001-07:002013-08-01T08:24:11.842-07:00Another BlogDo I really need another blog? I think maybe yes. <br />
<br />
I have my <a href="http://bdcrowell.com/" target="_blank">main site/blog</a>. There, I talk about all the work I'm doing, plus writing, art, publishing, etc. It's very generalized.<br />
<br />
Then, I have my <a href="http://kids.bdcrowell.com/" target="_blank">kid-specific blog</a>. I only talk about the children's books there. No links to social media or sales info. And at some point, I plan to add more content there, like coloring pages, etc.. If only there were more hours in the day. Sigh.<br />
<br />
So, do I need a horror-specific blog? I think so, and here's why:<br />
<ul>
<li>It gives me a place I can write about horror and put in writing excerpts that are maybe NSFW.</li>
<li>It gives me a place I can link to from the horror books that is just about D. Lee Warren.</li>
<li>It provides one more degree of separation from the kids site to the scary stuff.</li>
<li>This way I can keep the really gruesome stuff off the main site.</li>
<li>I can feed the RSS to my D. Lee Warren Facebook page and future GoodReads page, thus automating content to them like I do for the B. D. Crowell ones.</li>
</ul>
So, that's that. I hope you enjoy it.BD Crowellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04609824498413769208noreply@blogger.com0