Megan Publishing Services Podcast: Recent Episodes
Owen Jones - Indie Author
This programme contains podcasts of segments from books, and pages and posts from my website Megan Publishing Services
This article will show you How to Rewrite PLR Articles. However, there is no hard and fast rule, because it must fit in with the puclication's existing content and stle. Click through...
PLR Marketing is a very useful tool in the struggle to keep a company's website fresh and vibrant. Rea on to see how it can help you
Owen Ceri Jones AKA Owen Jones has written more that 175 books and novels, which have been translated and narrated into 1,250 books Read more
A Night in Annwn tells the strange story of old Willy Jones' remarkable otherworldly journey to Annwn, the ancient Welsh name for Heaven
Here are some of the nicknames given to some of the Books by Owen Jones - Writer from Barry, South Wales. It shows a kind of acceptance...
Many books by Owen Jones have acquired nicknames or shortened names. As the author, I find this comforting. Click through for some examples
Soi Nana – Sukhumvit Road is an ancient, narrow street located in the heart of Bangkok. It is also one of its most infamous red light areas
Use PLR to create a PLR Blog, by which is meant a blog on any topic, that has been developed quickly using PLR to get it off the ground
Spellbinding Pattaya Beach Road is magical both by day and night. There are magical views seawards, and great entertainment and food to land
Before you invest in a PLR bundle, think about who you’re targeting and what kind of content they need. PLR bundles vary in quality so check them carefully.
There has been a recent high demand for English Books Translated into Russian, perhaps from Ukrainian refugees. Click through to see our collection
There are at least two writers named Owen Jones in the UK. The Welsh, mystical, Celtic writer is Owen Jones author. The other is a journalist
The bar girls in Pattaya are pretty famous all over the world. Perhaps especially among men, but how much do you really know about them?
Content is the very life blood of any publication, so if you have an online presence, check out this exceptional PLR Content!
Pattaya Red Light District Girls are not located in one place as in most cities, but not many of the girls would say they are working anyway!
The 23-part Megan Series was renamed The Psychic Megan Series by Welsh author Owen Jones in 2021 to better reflect the content of it
Modern Fairy Stories are much like the traditional kind but set in current or recent times. Check out the 'Psychic Megan' series...
Soi Nana, aka Sukhumvit Soi 4, is located in the heart of what most foreign tourists would call Bangkok’s Red Light District.
PLR ebook providers are a source of useful, relevant, important information! Find out more about this undervalued resource here.
You can also use your PLR blog content in other publications such as on your website, blog, social media pages, etc. Even writers use PLR...
Megan's Market is a trading place for readers and writers in particular, but anyone in general on our blog Megan Publishing Services
Maybe you've heard of a PLR article, but do you know what it really is? In this article, we'll explain everything you need to know about PLR.
You can now find foreign translations of novels by Welsh writer Owen Jones in 37 languages on our blog at https://meganthemisconception.com
What is Dead Centre? Is it really responsible for a new form of terrorism sweeping the world. How can it be stopped before the public panics?
Are you looking for books translated into Russian? We have a number of acclaimed novels by Welsh writer Owen Jones available. Take a look!
Learn more about the work of Owen Jones, a most prolific Welsh novelist with more that 1,000 books registered to him at the British Library
Pattaya Beach Road is one of the most famous streets in Thailand. It is located on the eastern side of Pattaya Bay and The Gulf of Thailand.
Welsh Author, Owen Jones, full name Owen Ceri Jones, was born in Barry, South Wales, to an industrious working-class family with four brothers
Is there an Alien House near you? How could you find out whether you have alien spacemen for neighbours? Off-worlders will not be obvious!
Behind The Smile – What Else? A smile makes people feel good, but could there be something else behind the smile sometimes? Deceit or danger?
Tiger Lily of Bangkok - The Prowling Avenger is a deadly assassin who hunts the streets looking for victims. She is looking for revenge on paedophiles!
Daddy's Hobby by Owen Jones is the first novel from this Welsh writer. It explores why so many girls work in Pattaya and how they fare
Welsh Writer Gives Top 5 Tips for Aspiring Writers. Welsh writer Owen Jones gives his top five tips to aspiring writers.
Barry-Wales is where I was born and grew up. It will always hold a special place in my heart, although these days I feel sad thinking about it
Owen Jones, from South Wales, has been writing books since 2012. Many of them have an element of the supernatural and paranormal about them.
You'll be able to promote or even create a new online business using these PLR ebooks for authors. Get started business promotion today!
We have created a list of the best PLR eBooks to help you choose one that is right for your project - written personally by a pro novelist!
The PLR Ebook Listings here are of niche articles written by the author Owen Jones. Use them to create ebooks or courses to sell in your name
In this article, we'll show you how to write your first book as an indie author. It can be a long, but very enjoyable, journey.
You've written a great book. Now what? How do you market it so people buy it? In this article, we'll answer these questions and more.
Selling your book as an author is one of the most difficult things you'll ever do. But if you follow these tips, you'll be on your way to success!
In order to rank higher on Google, you must optimize your content. Learn how to rewrite PLR content by rewriting PLR content articles.
When you get into trouble with ACX or Audible and you start receiving silly, slightly off-topic messages you may be chatting with an ACX bot
My Problems with ACX started a year ago, but they grew to a new height within a year. I can't believe how ACX has behaved & not only to me
Book translations are a big feature of Megan Publishing Services's blog. It means that people from more countries can read Owen Jones' books
When ordering my new book covers, it's easy to forget details that will later seem very important, so here's a list of the most common items
I have been infected with a Book Cover Obsession! I used to like designing my own book covers and was proud of the, until I looked closely :-(
How is your book cover sense? Have your book covers become old friends, or are they still the equal advertising partners they once were?
This article is about the unusual blog stats I have for last month. There are certain patterns in my typical statistics, but these are odd
Foreign Translations is a key feature of the services offered by Megan Publishing Services, but are we both talking about the sae thing? Click through to find out.
Megan Publishing Services - the readers' and indie author's friend. Our intention is to be useful to readers and writers alike.
At the time of writing, there are about seven hundred translations and narrations in about thirty-five languages on the Megan Publishing Services blog.
When I started thinking of applying for Google AdSense, this blog was receiving a lot of visitors, and Google's online tool told me that I could earn decent money from it...
There is election fever in the air in our village, which often results in more than the usual amount of exuberance and drinking and spontaneous parties. I’m not sure what the election is
high blood pressure, blood pressure, hypertension, bradycardia, Atenolol, high blood pressure tablets
A Village Pub Crawl is often the highlight of my social life in the village. I don't speak Thai well enough to hold a decent conversation, but I do like to say 'Hello' as I wander around the village.
Do you run a travel blog, whether it is full of your own experiences or it is an affiliate marketing site doesn't really matter. An active blog needs several new articles a week to keep the search engines happy, to hold or improve your Page rank.
My brother, Roddy, was a Heinz 57 Baby. Do you have any idea what that means? Searching the Internet will not help you, and Google's results will be particularly disheartening. Google is not a real searcher of Truth any longer, it is a provider of shopping opportunities.
Pattaya Beach Road is the busiest road in the city of Pattaya as far as tourists, pedestrians and vehicles are concerned. It is also the most scenic because Beach Road runs literally the width of the pavement from the golden sand of the clean beach and only metres from the sparkling blue sea.
Today, some friends suggested that I should consider republishing books from my flagship series Behind The Smile. However, I find it almost impossible to contemplate, but ih has to be considered.
People say that one should never judge a book by its cover, but it is widely acknowledged that having a great book cover is the best way of selling books. It seems that people do not pay any heed the ancient advice.
How many authors are not making a living from books they have written? Come and see what we're doing about it in these difficult times
I recently saw a writer asking the question whether it was more important to have a good book cover or to have the book well edited. The overwhelming response on the forum was that if the cover is unappealing then no-one will ever know about the poor editing!
Just as the owner of a clothes shop would not dress the mannequins in the window only once in ten years, neither should an author set and forget his or her book covers.
If you know any ex-pats who live in Thailand, you might sometimes hear them referring to themselves strangely as 'mushrooms'...
No matter how much things seem to change in your favour, do not ignore what you already have... the very things that gave you the leg up in the first place,
Takeaway Thai village food is usually provided by more mature ladies, who often have no other means of support. These people know their onions... the food is excellent, but it is meant for general consumption.
...Finally, so far, that is, some authors are putting the 3-D cover with the blurb on a relevant background image, and that is the bee's knees in book advertising covers for me.
I was surprised when one of the larger fish, the red one, nudged my hand. It sped off, but slowly returned and did the same again.
There have been several medical side-effects of COVID 19 noted, but I want to talk about social side-effects.
I am hoping that our new garden fish pond will be an area of cool relaxation, tranquillity and delight for us, which will be great for writing. I could do with that as I have not written much over the last few years due a lack of stability in my life and a disappointing drop in sales, which could be the result of a culture shift brought on by Covid 19.
My wife has had Chinese Sinovacs, European AstraZeneca and American Pfizer injections, and that seems to me to give the best protection from Covid 19 you can get! I’ve had three Pfizers.
Many people day-dream about losing weight quickly. I have been part of that hapless crowd. When I first moved to Thailand, seventeen years ago, I weighed a hefty 110 kilos. After six months of good living and my girlfriend's excellent cooking, i weighed in at 120 kilos. I was way overweight, and I knew it, but I am big-built and just over six feet tall, so most non-medical people thought that I could get away with it. I felt great, and since I have never been into serious exercise, I just let it slide. Fifteen years passed and I remained at 120 kilos with no obvious ill effects. Then we moved to Spain. We had a kitchen in our apartment there, and life and my weight continued as normal. Then came the UK's Brexit vote, and I judged that we ought to get my Thai wife inside Great Britain before they raised the drawbridge and lowered the portcullis. We could not find anywhere to live for love nor money as we had no residential history, but a good friend let us have a room in his house. We intended staying a month at most, but we were there for nearly two years. Without a real place to cook of our own, the quality of our diet plummeted. After 21 months, my doctor weighed me in at 134 kilos. My wife and I were shocked. We returned to Thailand just before the aeroports were closed and nine months later I was back to 120 kg. Another six months passed, but I just couldn't get below 120 kg. Anyway, I went for a check up yesterday, and when I hopped on the scales, I weighed 110 kg. The scales in my house are twenty years old and giving false readings!
Nobody likes to have to renew their visa, even if it does have to be done only once a year.
Covid 19 has been with us for more than two years now, and I have not heard any predictions over that period that have come true. It was a new phenomenon for most of us, and for all of us when it is seen as a global plague, so there is little wonder that no-one could foresee any outcomes accurately.
I started to eat curry when I moved to Portsmouth as a student in the Seventies. In those days, nearly all 'curry restaurants' were Indian, or so we thought. I usually ate a moderately hot curry, but sometimes, if it was on the menu, I would choose the Malaysian curry, which was milder and contained pineapple chunks and slices of banana. I liked it with paratha or chapatis.
Thai mothers, who know how to cook old style, do not only cook for flavour, they also cook for the specific health needs of their families. The mother is a kind of shaman.
Then, one morning, I turned on my computer to discover that my Facebook account had been blocked or banned or shut down, whatever you want to call it, for 'spamming'!
The old man got out the vodka and his daughter went to make something to eat. We had been warned against allowing ourselves to become isolated, but there I was – alone.
Today was a big... an important day for me. Today, I left our village for the first time in nine weeks. You are probably assuming that the reason is Covid or even a disability, but that is not the case.
I have done a small poll about book sales in 2021 around my author friends, and I would like to share the results with you. Not all of the authors surveyed had books in all of the categories below, and I am not taking genres into account. Still, I think that the results are interesting. Let me know your opinion, please.
Blubrry Podcast Hosting is my recommendation to (would-be) podcasters. I started with the free month of Blubrry Podcast Hosting, but continued after the trial Get your free link here!
My Dere with a warped mouse pad
This article is my own personal experience with the Dere V14 Air Notebook, which I bought a little while ago. I will not be going into all the specifications of this device, because you can find this information on the manufacturer's website. I will say that it comes with Windows 10 Pro and the Intel core i7 processor though.
My first impression was that it is small and came with unadvertised accessories. I have been using 17 inch laptops for a decade, and didn't realise how much smaller 14 inches is. That is my fault. I should have done. However, it becomes a real problem when you transfer your spreadsheets across. If they were made to make full use of the larger screen, then there will be data that is not visible without scrolling, and if you resize the spreadsheet, the data will appear very small. You may need (stronger) glasses!
It is very light, but that was not a reason why I bought this device anyway.
The screen shows very vivid colours. It is the best screen I have ever worked with without a shadow of a doubt. It is very easy on the eyes. The sound capabilities of the Dere V14 Air Notebook are, however, not in the same league. I listen to the radio a lot when I am working, or not too, but I can often hardly hear it, which is completely unlike the Asus machines that I have been using for the last seven or eight years.
I will need to buy external speakers.
The Dere V14 Air laptop does not come with a carrying case, which I consider to be a serious fault. Why would a company that is proud of itself not provide a case with its name on it? In fact, this computer doesn't have its name on it at all.
That is just weird!
And another strange thing is the camera. It is on the hinge with the screen. I don't know whether it is an Asian/Caucasian thing, but in normal work mode, the camera is focusing just above my head. I suppose that is why they give you a free external camera, which should be unnecessary.
Yet another 'free accessory' that should be unnecessary is the USB hub. This device has only ONE measly USB port in this day and age! I am sure that the original specifications stated two ports - one normal and one high-speed. I would never have bought a computer with just one.
The three best features of this $600 laptop are the screen, the Intel core i7 CPU and the solid-state drive (SSD). It is so fast! I didn't know what I was missing, and will never go back to spinning disks.
My feelings are mixed at the moment, but I think that I just about comedown on the side of the Dere V14 Air Notebook.
Update After Six Months Use
That last paragraph above is wrong. I would never buy another one of Dere's products!
Pro's
1] It is very fast
2] It is very light
3] The colours are fantastic
Con's
1] The mouse pad distorts with the temperature! Sometimes, it distorts so much that it stops working. I think that the keyboard moves too, but I am not quite so sure as I use the black overlay they provide - otherwise the characters on the keys are difficult to read.
2] The sound system is completely inadequate.
3] Having only one USB port is really annoying. Yes, they provided a very cheap USB hub, but the Dere fails to recognise it quite often. I bought an expensive hub, but the problem persists. Perhaps the motherboard is distorting with the mouse pad.
4] It should have come with a mouse and a carrying case.
Summary
Now I know why the manufacturer has not written it's name on this notebook. Basically, it's an embarrassment. It's a cheap model that has not been designed very well (eg: the camera and speakers), and even has bits missing (eg: extra USB ports, mouse, carrying case, and heat-resistant housing).
The screen and the SSD are the only things it has going for it, and it's just not enough for me.
My rating is 4/10
"So, my fellow authors, beware of sweet-talking virtual assistants, because they can ruin your business and leave you with nothing, while they can always find another mug to milk".
ere were people lining a sort of a street about twenty persons deep, and I was one of them. The atmosphere was fantastic - a bit like London's Notting Hill or New Orleans' Mardi Gras carnivals.
"Villfarelsen" är den första delen i en serie av tjugotre noveller om den andliga utvecklingen hos en ung flicka som heter Megan.
We decided to buy a new blog theme since the previous one was seven years old and the designers had stopped keeping it up to date several years ago, so as WordPress developed, certain key features had ceased to work.
The topic of skin care is not one of only recent times. Indeed, people have been worrying about it since ancient times, when natural, herbal products were presumably the only means of taking care of the skin.
The Internet has been around for more than twenty-five years now, but there are still a lot of novice or would-be sales people who don't realise that Internet marketing is basically the same as any other type of marketing, except that you have more possibilities and that it can be cheaper.
'Paternité de l´Œuvre - Publiez votre livre par vous-même' constitue un matériel d´assistance pour ceux qui veulent écrire, écrivent ou ont écrit un livre. Il sert de guide à l´écriture et à l´auto-publication. Il n´est pas censé être un guide détaillé sur le style, cependant, vous pouvez également trouver quelques conseils à ce sujet. Alors, pour ce faire, nous partons du principe que vous êtes sur le point de commencer à écrire, vous êtes en train d´écrire ou que vous avez écrit un « manuscrit électronique », et que vous voulez savoir comment le publier vous-même auprès des grands éditeurs et distributeurs sous forme d´impression et en livre électronique.
Clickez https://smarturl.it/authorship-fr?IQid=spreaker
Massage is internationally recognised as a means to well-being. Many countries have developed their own styles of massage for mental and physical health.
It will help you set up a home movie theatre system, and it may even help you venture out into a new career. The least that it will do is save you hundreds on professional advice.
Frank and Joy head off to Fuengirola on the Costa del Sol for their dream honeymoon, but then they meet the terrifying ghouls of Calle Goya...
Three things happened to me in the last 24 hours, which I don't think have anything to do with lock-down or cabin fever, because I don't think I suffer from those conditions. I have always spent a lot of time on my own - since leaving home at eighteen anyway.
Os Inadmissíveis é, na sua essência, uma comédia filosófica que tem o seu início quando Heng, um pastor de cabras de meia-idade que vive com a sua família nas montanhas de Chiang Rai, no norte da Tailândia, se começa a sentir mal. A princípio decide não ligar, mas com o passar dos dias começa a sentir-se cada vez pior e decide visitar a sua velha tia Da, a xamã da aldeia.
Após recorrer a vários métodos de teste tradicionais, Da determina que o sangue de Heng se transformou em água, mas não lhe apresenta soluções.
Segue-se a transição de Heng e as peripécias da sua família enquanto se adaptam às suas novas vidas, com novas aspirações e desafios, tendo uma aldeia remota tailandesa como pano de fundo.
https://smarturl.it/Inadmissiveisonazn?IQid=spreaker
"Villfarelsen" är den första delen i en serie av tjugotre noveller om den andliga utvecklingen hos en ung flicka som heter Megan. Hon har latenta övernaturliga krafter och hon är nyfiken på att utveckla dem, men ingen annan som hon känner verkar ha någon aning vad hon pratar om.
Eller gör dom det? Både hennes mormor och hennes mamma gör allt de kan för att stoppa Megan från att ta reda på mer. Historien visar Megans frustration med de levande, så när hjälp kommer från den andra sidan, tar hon emot den med öppna armar och utvecklar långsamt men säkert sina övernaturliga krafter.
Detta är berättelsen om Megans uppvaknande.
"Villfarelsen" handlar om de paranormala krafter som finns inom oss alla, vilket borde göra dem helt normala istället för paranormala, om människor inte var så rädda för det övernaturliga, vilket i sig självt också är helt naturligt.
Det här är en bok för alla som någonsin har funderat över det övernaturliga, paranormala eller metafysiska- Det handlar om den normala andliga utvecklingen som alla högre själar måste gå igenom för att nå sitt ultimata, oundvikliga öde, hur lång tid det än kan ta. Dessa berättelser bygger på faktum på flera sätt än en.
https://smarturl.it/M1-Swedish?IQid=spreaker
Andropov’s Cuckoo
A dying man recounts the story of the most amazing person he has ever met, a brilliant, Soviet linguist whom he calls Youriko. It is a tale of love, daring-do, spies and danger set in Japan, Germany, Turkey, the USA, Canada and the UK, but mostly in the Soviet Union of the Seventies.
Two girls, born thousands of miles apart in Kazakhstan and Japan just after World War II, meet and are like peas in a pod. They also get on like sisters and keep n touch for the rest of their lives.
However, one wants to help her battle-scarred country and the other wants to leave hers for the West. They dream up a daring, dangerous plan to achieve both goals, which Andropov, the chief of the Soviet KGB, is told about. He dubs it Operation Youriko and it is set in motion, but does it have even the remotest chance of success?
Andropov’s Cuckoo is based on a ‘true story’ related to the author by one of the protagonists.
https://smarturl.it/Andropov-bounty?IQid=spreakercmd
Luc Wyn has given a unique interview on Megan Publishing Services, in which he talks about his life as a Belgian in Monterrey, inspiration and work as a Dutch language translator,
"A Night in Annwn - International" lists the various translations and appropriate extracts from the Spiritualist novel "A Night in Annwn" about reincarnation
Asian Shorts International is an anthology of nineteen short stories by nine different authors. Most of them are professional writers but two of them were previously unpublished and one of those went on to write several more books.
This blog post contains Daddy's Hobby Previews in all the languages I have available. BEHIND THE SMILE - The Story of Lek, A Bar Girl in Pattaya" volume 1.
'Daddy's Hobby' is het eerste boek in de serie 'Achter de Glimlach -het verhaal van Lek, een barmeisje in Pattaya'.
We had only been back in Barry, my home town for six months, but it didn't take that long to realise that there were street problems that were unusual. At least, I wasn't used to them, but then of the previous fifteen years,
Uma Noite em Annwn
A história da EQM do velho Willy Jones
Annwn é a antiga palavra galesa para o Céu e, como Valhalla, era subterrânea.
por
Owen Jones
traduzido por
Nelson Leonel De Benedetti
O romance conta a história de Willy, um velho pastor montanhês de Gales, que se deixou levar pela morte de sua amada esposa. Um dia, enquanto caminhava com sua velha cachorra, ela morre, e Willy cai de um ataque cardíaco induzido por dor, embora tenha desistido da vontade de viver muito antes.
No entanto, ele acorda no hospital e tenta entender sua experiência. Dentro de pouco tempo, ele percebe que sua jovem enfermeira é sua falecida esposa, Sarah, e começa a perceber que está morto.
Isso não o abala; na verdade, ele está muito feliz.
Ele passa "dias" com Sarah em Annwn, durante o qual ela o mostra e explica como as coisas funcionam "no céu". Ele fica surpreso com tudo o que vê e ouve, até que de repente é chamado ao seu corpo sem aviso prévio. Seu corpo também esteve no hospital, mas no mundo físico, e ele acorda de uma experiência de quase morte (EQM). Então ele começa a começar a ver sua esposa novamente, e suas lembranças de estar em Annwn por vários dias retornam.
Sua vida é transformada, e ele tem uma vontade renovada de viver, trabalhando com sua esposa do Outro Lado para o benefício dos menos afortunados ao seu redor, até que um dia, seu verdadeiro fim vem também, e ele está com sua esposa novamente permanentemente.
https://smarturl.it/Annwn1-port-bounty?IQid=spreaker
Thailand vol 1 is a professionally narrated collection of 15 short stories by Owen Jones, who spent 12 years in his Thai wife's remote northern village.
Don't you think that Stories Should Have Something To Say? If not what is the point of writing or, even more so, reading them? Distraction? Not me or my books!
Tunes - Apple is now stocking 70+ professional audiobook narrations of Welsh author from Barry, Owen Jones' 300+ novels and translations that are available as ebooks elsewhere on iTunes – Apple. Psychological dramas set in many locations.
The story of 'Dragons in the Clouds' by American author David Blair is his debut fantasy novel set in in two epochs and on two continents.
David Blair got involved in story telling in the 8th grade. He wrote, directed and starred in a student film called ‘’Destination Destiny’’ He then picked up writing again in his early thirties.
Amazon Blows It's Benevolent Image when it terminates small sellers' accounts for high-falutin' 'reasons' that it won't explain in layman's terms
Do you suffer from dietary deficiencies? It is easy to fall into a dietary rut, and more is being discovered about our bodies and its needs all the time...
Lek ist als Älteste von vier Geschwistern in eine typische Familie von Reisbauern hineingeboren worden. Sie hatte nie erwartet, dass sich ihr Leben anders entwickeln würde als das ihrer Klassenkameradinnen in ihrem Dorf im Norden Thailands. Aber...
Free Audiobooks For My Friends!
I am giving away some of my most popular audiobooks completely free of charge on a first come, first served basis.
All I ask is that you leave a short review in the language of the book when you've finished it.
Languages currently available are: English, German and Spanish.
I hope you enjoy them.
If in the UK, please go to:
http://audible.co.uk/acx-promo
If you are anywhere else, please go to:
https://audible.com/acx-promo
and then enter the free code for the book you would like to listen to. If it has already gone, please try another. Please note, the books for the UK market are marked with 'UK', but that is NOT part of the code, so please don't enter it into the box:
In English:
25D57NHYANN58 (Authorship) UK
3MH4YLNMQLU3Q (Authorship) US
5GW3JK6BF2JQ6 (A Night in Annwn) UK
24B6SNGJ3CBTR (A Night in Annwn) US
8GA7M96UMEKCH (The Alien House) UK
4FY7ZJ9FQ8XAY (The Alien House) US
3XB8AQBAFX8AM (Andropov's Cuckoo) UK
3HSEWTEB5TC8B (Andropov's Cuckoo) US
In German:
2F44X9QJU5LW2 (Asiatische Kurzgeschichten)
2UEXXPTH93N78 (Asiatische Kurzgeschichten)
6XWY6NXQ96GTY (Die Falsche Auffassung)
85ES227WUCK9H (Die Falsche Auffassung)
3FEK9TC5T798H (Wie man seinem Hund ein echtes Hundeleben ermöglicht)
3JWR6R77Z84KZ (Wie man seinem Hund ein echtes Hundeleben ermöglicht)
In Spanish:
7KWPYN8247QW4 (Una noche en Annwn)
3GE5MNXWAC7YR (El malentendido)
42GNF3GL48PM3 (Cambiar el Destino)
3WDNM8NAEKPD7 (Autoria)
All the best,
Owen Jones
Visit my bookshop here:
My Novels on Amazon
All the best,
Owen
Podcast: Free Audiobooks For My Friends!
Asiatische KurzgeschichtenNeunzehn Kurzgeschichten über Asien in verschiedenen Stilen von neun AutorenvonVerschiedene AutorenZusammengestellt vonOwen Jonesübersetzt vonMelanie B. FrankAsiatische Kurzgeschichten entstand aufgrund einer Abfolge von Ereignissen an einem Wochenende im Mai 2015. Ein Freund von mir erzählte mir, dass er einige Kurzgeschichten mit asiatischen Hintergrund gesammelt hatte, dazu erklärte ich ihm, dass ich auch welche hatte, ein anderer Freund schrieb mir eine E-Mail, dass er eine Kurzgeschichte über Pattaya schreiben wollte und einer meiner thailändischen Cousinen schickte mir ihr jüngstes Foto, das auf dem Buchcover.Es war, als ob mir jemand oder mehrere etwas sagen wollten.Die neunzehn Geschichten von neun Autoren in dieser Anthologie wurden mir innerhalb eines Monats zugesendet, sie sind genauso vielfältig wie ihre Schriftsteller. Die Vorgabe war, dass Asien oder ein Asiat in der Geschichte vorrangig vertreten sein sollte. Wir haben Geschichten aus Kambodscha, China, Laos, Malaysia, Pakistan, Thailand, den USA und Vietnam, von asiatischen und nicht-asiatischen Autoren, die in Großbritannien, Malaysia, Thailand, den USA und Vietnam leben oder von da stammen.Manche der Schriftsteller sind bekannte Autoren, manche sind in anderen Bereichen bekannt, manche habe vorher schon viel geschrieben und auf dem traditionellen Weg veröffentlicht, Andere wandern auf dem Indie-Publishing-Pfad und für wieder Andere ist es das erste Mal, dass sie ihre Geschichten in gedruckter Form sehen werden.Sie können mehr über die jeweiligen Autoren erfahren, wenn Sie die Website, die sie nach ihren Geschichten zur Verfügung gestellt haben, besuchen. Ich empfehle Ihnen wärmstens, dies zu tun, denn was Sie über die Autoren herausfinden werden, wird Sie garantiert überraschen.Zum Schluss möchte ich allen Autoren, die dieses Buch möglich gemacht haben, danken, wir hoffen, dass Sie sich daran erfreuen und jedem Autor über seine Geschichte ein Feedback geben oder mir als Herausgeber über das ganze Buch eine Rückmeldung schreiben.
http://smarturl.it/Asian-Short-Germ-Aud?IQid=Spreaker
I oppose Brexit! I am a remainer! I don't trust politicians of any creed, colour or nationality, so I reckon that the more there are, the safer we will be, because there is more chance of them getting caught cheating us.
The Megan Series Audiobooks
by Owen Jones
“The Misconception" is the first story in the Megan Series Audiobooks of twenty-three novelettes about the spiritual development of Megan, a young girl. In the first story, she is twelve years of age. She has latent, supernatural powers and is curious about how to use them, but no-one that she knows seems to have any idea what she is talking about.
She tries asking her mother and even asks friends at school, but she gets no help. However, it is unclear whether her mother has had previous experience with the paranormal, although we do see early on in the first novelette that Megan’s maternal grandmother was against the paranormal too.
Her grandmother and her mother do everything they possibly can to prevent Megan from finding out any more. The first volume shows Megan’s frustration with the living, so when help comes from Beyond, she grasps it with both hands and slowly develops her supernatural powers.
The Megan Series Audiobooks is about Megan’s psychic Awakening.
‘The Misconception’ is about the paranormal powers which lie in all of us, which would make them not so much paranormal as quite normal, if people were not so frightened of the supernatural, which is quite natural too.
In the following books, and they are being released at the rate of one a month, we see Megan’s behaviour under different circumstances. We also meet the people, and animals, who interact with her. The main characters are: Megan’s mother, Suzanne; Megan’s father, Robert; her spiritual guide, Wacinhinsha, her maternal grandfather, Gramps and her familiar, a huge Siberian tiger called Grrr.
Wacinhinsha is a senior Spiritual Guide who has come to help Megan because she had no-one else, and was actually being punished for her curiosity into the paranormal and supernatural. He is a native American, what most people outside the USA would call a Red Indian of the Sioux tribe.
Wacinhinsha has a deep knowledge of spiritual life and is willing to help Megan with anything that she wants to know, which no-one else she knows is seems able to do.
Her grandfather, Gramps, has been dead for about thirteen years, but he is still very much a novice. He wants to help Megan and tries to get involved but his inexperience trips him up sometimes. Despite that, Megan is close to her Gramps as she has known him as a ‘ghost’ since she was a baby
Grrr is a tiger that died a long time ago. She cannot speak any language but tiger, of course, and humans do not understand much tiger - Megan is no exception. However, Megan and Grrr tend to understand each other a little more than anyone with a close pet does, although Grrr is not a pet by any stretch of the imagination.
The Megan Series Audiobooks
These books are for everyone who has ever wondered about the supernatural, paranormal or metaphysical – it is about the normal, spiritual development that all higher life forms have to go through in order to reach their ultimate, unavoidable destiny, however long that may take. These stories are based on fact in more ways than one.
Reviews are available on the website you will reach by following the link below. Please leave your own short review too.
The Megan Series audiobooks, ebooks and paperbacks are on Amazon and also available in many other languages (see Foreign Translations above)!
or get a free copy here: Megan The Misconception – 100% free!or get regular free!
http://smarturl.it/megan1_lp?IQid=audiobookSpreaker
or regular free audiobooks by joining our Megan's Free Audiobook Club:
http://smarturl.it/meganaudiocug?IQid=audiobooksSpeaker
Are Indie authors there own worst enemies? Have they unwittingly priced themselves out of the market because they don't understand how Amazon makes money? Read on to find out...
The Eternal Plan - Revealed by the medium Colin Jones is now out in audiobook format. It makes for very tranquil, peaceful and educational listening
How to Give Your Dog a Real Dog's Life (and make him love you for doing it!) - is a manual - a slightly humorous one - on how to choose, raise and live with a puppy and then a dog. It is an ideal gift for (young) first-time dog-owners.
Written by Owen Jones and narrated by Justine Ellis
Get more info about the manual and which other languages it is available in on Megan Publishing services here:
http://smarturl.it/dogsaudioMPS?IQid=spreaker
or go straight to Amazon and Audible here:
https://amzn.to/2XRL4q1
Tiger Lily of Bangkok - When the Seeds of Revenge Blossom opens when Lily was a happy little girl, which lasted until an 'uncle' started to abuse her from the age of eleven. She became shy and introverted, leading a lonely life until she moved to Bangkok to study at university.
Dog's Life Audiobook
How to Give Your Dog a Real Dog's Life Audiobook
(and make him love you for doing it!)
by
Owen Jones
Narrated by
Justine Ellis
‘How to Give Your Dog a Real Dog’s Life – and make him love you for doing it’ is the complete handbook on choosing, buying, bonding with and looking after a dog, written by a dog-owner who is so passionate about dogs that his wife is sure that he was a dog in his last life!
Owen Jones has shared his life with dogs ever since the first day of his life.
He knows them so well that he’s sure that he can tell them jokes!
This is a must read for all current dog-owners and those who hope to be!
It is an ideal gift for young people who are about to be given a dog. In fact, why not give this book or audiobook to your young friend before they choose their new doggy four-legged friend? It will help them choose the ideal dog for them personally even if it is a mongrel rescue animal.
If this book doesn't contain the answer to your questions about dogs, email me and I'll try to help you find the solution myself!
How to Give Your Dog a Real Dog's Life Audiobook
Reviews are available on the website you will reach by following the links below. Please leave your own short review too.
How to Give Your Dog a Real Dog's Life audiobooks, ebooks and paperbacks on Amazon available in nine other languages!
or get a free copy here: How to Give Your Dog a Real Dog's Life - 100% free!
or get regular free audiobooks by joining our Megan's Free Audiobook Club
Available on Amazon, Audible and Apple's iTunes.amongst others.
Wie man seinem Hund ein echtes Hundeleben ermöglicht (und er Sie dafür für immer liebt!)
Geschrieben von: Owen Jones
Übersetzt von: Heike Stepprath
Erzählt von: Daniel Meyer-Dinkgrafe
"Wie man seinem Hund ein echtes Hundeleben ermöglicht - und ihn dazu bringt, Sie zu lieben" ist das komplette Handbuch, um einen Hund zu halten und sich um ihn zu kümmern, geschrieben von einem Hundehalter, der leidenschaftlich gern Hunde um sich hat, dass seine Frau sicher ist: Er war ein Hund in seinem letzten Leben!Owen Jones teilt sein Leben seit dem ersten Tag mit Hunden.Er kennt sie so gut, dass er sicher ist, dass er ihnen Witze erzählen kann!Dieses Buch muss man lesen!
Hier gehts kostenlos!
http://smarturl.it/DogsLife-Germ-bounty?IQid=spreaker
Frank and Joy head for Calle Goya in Fuengirola on the Costa del Sol, Spain, but unexplainable occurrences turn their dream honeymoon into a nightmare bringing them both to the verge of madness!
"Una noche en Annwn - La historia de la ECM de Willy Jones" porOwen Jones, traducida porAlexia Polasky es la palabra galesa Annwn es la forma antigua en la que se hacía referencia al Cielo y, al igual que el Valhalla, era subterráneo. Leer más aquí: http://smarturl.it/Annwn-bounty-es?IQid=spreaker
Cadena de Daisy
Amor, intriga y el inframundo en la Costa del Sol.
Daisy, la orgullosa hija de un adinerado gángster de Londres, John, y su esposa española, Teresa, crecieron en Marbella en la Costa del Sol, también conocida como la Costa del Crime. Ella idolatró a sus padres y trató de impresionar a su anciano padre ayudándolo a dirigir los negocios familiares después de la universidad. Sin embargo, un desastroso error de juicio termina en una tragedia familiar, y su madre pone a Daisy en un camino más seguro para ayudar a la comunidad local como penitencia. La Cadena de Daisy es una historia trágica con un final agradablemente feliz.
http://smarturl.it/daisy-spanish?IQid=spreaker
Lek was born the eldest child of four in a typical rice farming family. She did not expect to do anything any different from the other girls in her class in the northern rice belt of Thailand six hundred kilometres north of Pattaya.
The UK Post Office used to be a very respected establishment. I don't know when that changed, but sometime over the last fifteen years while I was out of the country. Now the Post Office is very expensive...
When I was a young man, in the Seventies, I used to sing in pubs on a Thursday or Friday night and I remember the first jukebox in Barry well...
The Eyes of Death is an interesting novella by Donald L. Vasicek concerning a girl, Hannah Powers, whose latent psychic powers were awakened after an 'accident'.
O Cuco de Andropov
O Cuco de Andropov
Uma História de Amor, Intrigas e a KGB
por
Owen Jones
Traduzido por
Nelson Leonel De Benedetti
Um moribundo narra a história da pessoa mais incrível que ele já conheceu, uma brilhante linguista soviética que ele chama de Youriko. É um conto de amor, ousadia, espiões e perigos ambientados no Japão, Alemanha, Turquia, EUA, Canadá e Reino Unido, mas principalmente na União Soviética dos anos 70. Duas garotas, nascidas a milhares de quilômetros de distância no Cazaquistão e no Japão logo após a Segunda Guerra Mundial, se encontram e são como ervilhas em uma vagem. Elas também se comportam como irmãs e mantêm contato pelo resto de suas vidas. No entanto, uma quer ajudar seu país marcado pela batalha e a outra quer deixar o dela e ir para o Ocidente. Elas sonham com um plano ousado e perigoso para alcançar os dois objetivos, sobre os quais Andropov, o chefe da KGB soviética, é informado. Ele o chama de Operação Youriko e ela é posta em movimento, mas tem a mais remota chance de sucesso? O Cuco de Andropov é baseado em uma "história verdadeira" relatada ao autor por uma das protagonistas.
Disponível em:
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This is our unique interview with the award-winning American author and screenwriter Donald L Vasicek, in which he talks about his work and his life.
Wayne Gamm grew up with witches and a warlock in his family near Dolgellau in north Wales, but, he didn't have the courage to follow the tradition, untill he met Emma...
'The Disallowed' is the humorous tale of a contemporary vampire family living in the first Vampire Republic in Chiang Mai Province of northern Thailand.
Spoilt daddy's girl, Daisy, tries to earn the affection and attention of her hard-hearted ex-Eastend gangster father, but has she bitten off more than she can chew?
The Asian Shorts Audiobook is the audio version of the popular anthology of nineteen short stories using Asia or Asians in the lead
A dying man recounts the story of the most amazing person he has ever met: a brilliant Soviet linguist, whom he knew as Youriko. It is a tale of love, daring-do, spies, and danger set in Japan, Germany, Turkey, the USA, Canada, and the UK, but mostly in the Soviet Union of the 70's.
The audiobook for A Night In Annwn is now out and free in most cases! Read of old Willy Jones' NDE and his night in (Annwn) Heaven
This is the Press Release for 'Dead Centre', the action-thriller by Owen Jones. It contains a review and metadata about the book, the reviewer and its source. Please feel free to reproduce it.
Boots Pharmacy is right in the heart of Barry and has been there all my life. In more ways than one, but nowadays it is a sad reflection of what once was...
In Wales, everybody receives a free bus pass at the age of sixty. However, I didn't apply for mine until I was sixty-four, and it wasn't as easy as I'd imagined
My wife suffered dizzy spells recently, which took a turn for the worse. Our doctor;s reception sent her home without seeing her, where she collapsed. Was this right? Paramedics had to be called to assist...
My Thai wife may need a residency card to live here after Brexit - nobody really knows - and part of the application process is the provision of biometric data, but what a palaver, and a waste of time!
Statement on Visit to the United Kingdom, by Professor Philip Alston, United Nations Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
NANOWRIMO 2018 starts on November 1st 2018. If you have ever dreamed of writing a book, now is the time to do it!
Promotion on Megan Publishing Services is available in several formats for writers and other artists to make their work more widely known
The Cloud is An 'Internet Service Provider' in the Barry area, although it could exist nationwide for all I know. It tends to be used in the larger bars
This is a review of the multi-faceted novel 'Andropov's Cuckoo', which is a political thriller - romance set in the Soviet Union of the 1970's
Iain Scott is a Singer, Impersonator and Comedian Extraordinaire. I had never head of him before the gig at O'Brien's, but I am glad I was there...
American author, Ed Benjamin, who is ex United States Air Force (USAF) often writes military - Air Force - dramas. Read more here...
Harry's War is a novelette on the last combat mission of an F15 Eagle Driver and the first years after his retirement. It is a #mustread...
S. A. Brain Doesn't Brew Any Longer or so a Brains pub manager told me the other day, although Wikipedia doesn't mention it...
... and left the doctor's surgery with the strange feeling that there was something he wasn't telling me. We had been in there for fifteen to twenty minutes for two check-ups
I was talking to someone who said that he was reading my book on his tablet. Being a bit of a pedant myself, I had to stop myself from saying something, not least though because I didn't want to stem his adoration of my work...
O'Brien's - The Community Pub in the Centre of Barry - has a terrible reputation among people who don't use it, but is it unjustified? People who don't use O'Brien's seem to have a dreadful fear of the place!
A Night In Annwn Audiobook
A Night In Annwn Audiobook
It has taken me most of this year so far to get my first audiobook - A Night In Annwn - read as an audiobook, but the process is now complete and you can listen to the first fifteen minutes below free of charge.
It does take quite a long time, but this is not really anyone's fault. Rather it is a completely different process and the author has to learn the new role of Director.
The Director
The Director, not unlike as you see in film credits, is in charge of setting the guidelines and choosing the producer according to criteria that he sets. This mainly has to do with the voice of the producer (narrator) of the audiobook.
When the Director has shortlisted a few voices, then auditions have to be held, and a final producer selected. From then on the Director has to be available to answer any production queries that arise on the fly.
Eventually, the chapters are ready to be edited, and the Director comes back to the fore, for each chapter has to be listened to and compared with the original text.
Alterations can still be made at this stage, and a cover has to be made. It is the Director's responsibility to get all this done to his satisfaction. When the book has been approved, the audio company's Quality Control takes over. Nevertheless, the Director may still get the audiobook back for editing.
Quality Control
Once it passes that stage, it goes on to the aggregators ( Amazon, Audible and Apple) to be checked by their Quality Control systems. About a week after that, the audiobook will go live.
A Night In Annwn is one of my favourite books because it is so different, and the wonderful reader, Andrew McGuirk, adds an extra dimension to the words and atmosphere.
AUDIO HERE
A Night In Annwn is available free for some at Amazon, please click the following link:
AMAZON LINK
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and list of audiobooks
Podcast: A Night In Annwn Audiobook
A Night in Annwn - one of the free audiobooks on MPS
When a Book Costs Less Than a Drink...
I will admit it straight from the off! I am a writer with an axe to grind and I cannot understand people who complain that books are too expensive. Most books, in the form of ebooks, cost less than the price of a drink!
My ebooks cost an average of 8p or 10c per 1,600 words, which means that a coffee costing £2.40 is the equivalent of a 48,000-word book! Let's call it 50,000 words... because many writers use that as the norm these days.
Mine are usually 80,000 to 112,000 words long or about the same as a coffee and a slice of cake!
Now, I'm sure that you don't need me to tell you that a coffee and cake is normally consumed in twenty to thirty minutes, but most people would spend a week or two reading a book of 90,000 words!
So, where is the expense?
Not only that, but the coffee will soon be forgotten, but a good book could be remembered forever and even change your outlook on life, something that a coffee, no matter how good it is, will ever do.
People just don't think much any more... their priorities have been skewed the wrong way. It is very sad.
I talk to a lot of people every week about reading and books, and it still saddens me to hear someone announce proudly that they haven't read a book since leaving school... and I hear that several times a week!
The even more depressing problem with this sad state of affairs is that parents who don't read much raise children who don't read either. This has nothing to do with education, or at least, very little. It has to do with parents encouraging their children to fantasise with a good book.
The Baby Boomers are the first generation of working class writers, and their parents were the first generation of working class readers, so that was not all that long ago, but we need to keep the momentum going forward, but I can't help thinking that we are going backwards.
It is very sad to witness and the remedy costs no more than the price of a coffee... with or without cake.
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All the best,
Owen
Podcast: When a Book Costs Less Than a Drink...
FBPE - The Anti-Brexit Twitter Hashtag
FBPE - The Anti-Brexit Twitter Hashtag
Have you ever heard of #FBPE ? No, I hadn't until recently either, but apparently #FBPE is the anti-Brexit hashtag that is sweeping the country amongst those who can't see the sense in leaving the EU.
Well, to quote the Animals, "And, God, I know, I'm one..."
I have tried and tried, but cannot see any good reason for getting out... I really can't; whether it happens or not. The only plausible argument that I have heard for leaving is 'to return power to Westminster', but I can't see why anyone would want to do that.
For example, did the European Parliament force our home-grown MP's to:
1) Steal from the public purse?
2) Tell lies to cover up the misdeeds of the true ruling class?
3) Forget that they are PUBLIC SERVANTS, and not glory-seekers looking for a knighthood?
4) Demolish the NHS?
5) Ruin our educational system?
6) Abolish legal aid
7) Further impoverish the poor, the sick and the disabled?
8) Create ghettos out of our inner citties and town centres?
9) Bail their banking buddies out?
10) Take away the impartiality of the BBC?
I could go on, but I think that ten are a good start. Did our home-grown politians need any encouragement to do that?
I don't think so...
When they say they want to return power to Westminster, they mean to them, not to us!
Are there things wrong with the European Parliament? I'm sure there are, but why do you care about the name of the thief or person ruining your life and country?
Who cares whether the bastard's name is George, Sjors, or Jorge? Helen, Helene, or Helena?
Europeans should stick together and throw all the self-serving shits out! Whatever class, party or country they're operating in!
We are being divided to make us easier to control... there is strength in unity.
Don't you think that the Spanish, French or Germans (or any of the others) are fed up of getting ripped off too? It's not only us, believe you me.
Get a grip, don't be led, step up to the plate and tell the glory hunters where to get off!
We, the ordinary people, are losing hundreds of millions of allies by abandoning Europe in the way that we are.
It is all very sad.
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All the best,
Owen
PS: Don't forget to use the #hashtag #FBPE to all your Tweets to show solidarity!
Podcast: #FBPE - The Anti-Brexit Twitter Hashtag
Spamming YouTube
Spamming YouTube
YouTube is owned by Google, which I will admit right up front is not one of my favourite companies. In my opinion, Google behaves like most bad, bossy fathers, demanding that you do as they say, not as they do, if you want to do business with them. I also suspect that they are are a data-collection agency for the CIA and would sell out dissidents in any country at a dime a time.
Hey, but that is just my opinion... although there are probably a few who would agree with me. Furthermore, they are not adverse to promoting crappy, cheating ads via Adsense, or allowing forgers, pirates and thieves to sell counterfeit books and other goods from D.I.Y blog platform Blogger.
However, like all good online hypocrites, they profess to despise cheats, conmen and spammers.
Right... and trees don't grow in the woods.
YouTube
Anyway, a few weeks ago, I decided to start promoting my stuff through podcasts as well, so I opened and account with one of the best companies online and got stuck in. An account included free dispersion of the said podcasts over several platforms including most of the well-known ones such as Facebook and YouTube.
My posts, and subsequent podcasts, were pretty innocuous, I thought, being mostly book reviews and author interviews with a link back to further information.
Within days, Google had sent me notice of a six-month ban from YouTube for 'spamming'. Closer inspection, however, revealed that they were not happy about my 'trying to divert' surfers from their website.
Although I was honestly not actively trying to do that, I can see how they came to that judgement. However, that being said, I wish that Google was just as fast to react to allegations of, or even completely prevent, wrongdoing on its websites.
So, beware of anything that Google can interpret as spamming YouTube, or you might lose your account, because they are just like bullying big daddies all over the world, preaching one thing but doing the complete opposite!
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All the best,
Owen
Podcast: Spamming YouTube
Megan Goes Yachting
Water Supply
I didn't realise it until today, but the local water supply was cut off five days ago. Please don't assume that I don't wash often, it isn't that, we have a water tank with a capacity of a thousand litres and an automatic pump attached to it, so while other households have been without a water supply for the last three or four days days, it has only just hit us.
When I bought that tank ten years ago, I had calculated that it would last us five days, or maybe even a week, if the water supply were cut off, but I hadn't reckoned on having a baby in the house, and she probably uses more water than I do... or causes it to be used anyway. It's quite a thought that about ten thousand people are without water around here.
Mains water is not used for drinking, except by the old toughies, but it is used for everything else. However, the older houses have water butts which hold a couple of days worth, so no washing now, no flushing toilets. It's all pretty grim, but then some people, in other countries, live like this all the time, don't they?
I'm pretty sure I couldn't though, not at thirty-five degrees Celsius. I have felt dirty and sticky since I found out about the lack of a water supply a few hours ago. Apparently, a water tower needs replacing or repairing, it's always hard to find out exactly what's going on, but surely there should have been a contingency plan for when it broke, or their should have been a backup water tower so that so many families did not lose their water supply unnecessarily?
Surely, the expense of having a few score extra of the old, young, and frail fall sick because of the (temporarily) unsanitary living conditions caused by an unreliable water supply is justification for having an extra water tower?
All the best,
Owen
Please visit my list of books
Podcast: Water Supply
Being Ill in the Countryside
Being Ill in the Countryside
A lump has been growing on my back for the last week or two. I haven't paid it much attention because it didn't hurt and I have had a non-malignant lymphoma removed before. The surgeon who did that in the UK twelve years ago, said that I could get another one there again or somewhere else in the future, so I put it down to that.
However, this one burst last night, so I suppose it is some kind of boil instead. My wife suggested going to hospital to get it sorted out and I agreed. So, I asked when she wanted to take me to the local hospital and she said they couldn't deal with something like this there, we'd have to go seventy-five kilometres to a big city hospital instead.
That has got me thinking about being ill in the countryside, if they can't handle a boil, what about a stroke or a heart attack?
Five or six years ago, my wife bought fifty mapang saplings, which grow into trees, or big bushes, I suppose. Anyway, we're had a few fruit from them over the years, but they were a little bitter and, so, rather disappointing. However, this year, she has bucketfuls of mapang and they are the best I've ever tasted.
Perhaps they just needed to grow up a bit - like children. I'm not certain, but I think mapang are called plum mangoes in English. The name certainly suits their size, colour, shape and taste. They look like large, yellow duck eggs with a big, flat, central stone.
This is Thailand's summer, so you can expect it to be hot, late thirties to early forties centigrade, but it is also overcast, which is unusual... that doesn't usually come until May when the Big Monsoon traditionally arrives. However, the old weather patterns are becoming less predictable, as in most places in the world.
Regards,
by +Owen Jones
Podcast: Being Ill in the Countryside
Fourth of July
Fourth of July
From the thirteenth of September, 2004 to the fourth of July, 2005, we slept on my mother-in-law's floor in the small, rice-growing village where we live in northern Thailand, while we were waiting for our own house to be completed. However, after a party at a friend's that finished after midnight on the third, instead of going back to Mum, we slept on our own floor.
You could say that the fourth of July, 2005, was our own Independence Day. There were no windows or doors yet in those days, and I'll never forget being awoken at seven am by my wife's screams when she surprised a poisonous snake changing its skin in the spare bedroom.
She phoned her mother who lives only fifty yards from our rear gate, and she came over and killed it.
She also phoned the contractors to tell them to get the doors on sharpish, and then she set about organising a party. The eleventh of July completed my first full year in The Land of Smiles.
Just under seven years after that event, I was filling in a U.K. visa application form for my wife and it called for details of her parents' identity cards. Well, her father has been dead for twenty years, so that only left her mother.
When I saw the card, it was my turn to be shocked.
'Do you know when your mother was born?' I asked my wife, not knowing whether it was a stupid question or not, but I had never seen her have a party.
'No,' she replied, 'I'm pretty sure she's never told us'. Now, I'm fairly certain that as a Westerner, you find that strange enough, but I informed her that her mother's birth date was easy to remember because it was on American Independence Day in the year after World War II finished: July 4th, 1946, but she gave me a blank look.
'What are they?' she asked.
She had never heard of either, but Thailand doesn't look far outside its own borders or affairs, except where football is concerned, and they are not taught about WWII, because the Japanese overran them and that is considered embarrassing, so they just ignore it.
On the other hand, every year, I get asked by at least one American, whether we British celebrate the 4th. Of course no! We lost! Although I personally am glad you escaped the poncy British royal family and aristocracy (despite the fact that you have let everyone down by allowing your own aristocracy to develop).
However, in spite of not celebrating the day, I hope that those who do have a great time, and maybe some of you will remember my lovely mother-in-law's birthday as well.
(This true story is expanded upon in the second volume in the series 'Behind The Smile' called 'An Exciting Future").
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All the best.
Owen
Please visit my bookshop
Podcast: Fourth of July
Golden Tree Snake
Cruelty to Snakes
When I arrived at the shop for a beer a few minutes ago, the 'landlady' was in a panic, because a girl had reported seeing a snake entering her shop. I saw it too, but I wouldn't have said anything since it was not poisonous and I knew what cruelty would await it if they found it.
Most Thais kill all snakes on sight whether they're dangerous or not, which I think is bloody stupid and their least endearing quality. Often they display the most extreme cruelty during these usually pointless killings.
They say it's better to be safe than sorry.
It's hard to argue with that, but since most snakes are not poisonous and eat a lot of rodents that eat their rice, I would have thought it was worth learning (at school perhaps) which ones were helpful and which were to be avoided. It would put an end to a lot of the ritual persecution and cruelty.
In fact, most of the snakes' killers are older women and teenage boys. I've seen women dancing after killing a snake and boys parading their trophy about as if they had achieved something miraculous. They're big heroes with snakes that can't fight back, but daddy is called to kill the really serious ones.
Identifying Snakes
What I have learned is that short, stumpy, light-green snakes whose back of the head is a lot wider than its nose are killers. This includes the pit vipers. Then there are cobras, which tend to be black here, and a few others which have quite distinctive markings and that's it. The large constrictors (over three or four metres) are also best given a wide berth, but I think that would come naturally J
This one today didn't match any of those criteria. It was about two foot six long, as thin as a bottleneck and dark green with hatching (a little like in the photo). It probably ate beetles, but three people armed with six-foot-long long sticks trapped it in a corner and hit it a few times before dropping it into the drainage system. I don't think it was dead, but perhaps had a broken back, so it's going to have to lie down there in pain until it starves to death.
That sort of cruelty makes me sick.
All the best.
Owen
PS: a note about the photo: my neighbour found this five-foot, harmless beauty, a so-called flying snake, on the outside of her front door when she got up bleary-eyed after their house-warming party. She called me to see it and then shooed it away :-) but most would have killed it on the spot.
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Podcast: Cruelty to Snakes
Linguistic Sloppiness
Linguistic Sloppiness
As my regular readers will know, I am fascinated by languages, so I have noticed a strange shift in the BBC's reporting. When I was a student of the USSR and Russian in the seventies, we talked about THE Ukraine, THE Caucasus et cetera. Now, as a Russian language speaker, I know that Russian does not have articles (a, an the), so when I heard them dropped in reference to the recent troubles there, it was a surprise more than a shock. However, last night, I heard a UK BBC reporter refer to THE United Kingdom as 'United Kingdom'. Is this a new trend or just sloppiness? To my mind, WE, in English, have articles, if you want to be taken seriously, bloody well use them, plonkers!
Update: I just heard a reporter referring to 'Muslim Brotherhood' not 'THE Muslim Brotherhood', yet he used articles correctly elsewhere in his report. It's catching on!
∞
On a different subject, I want to promote the advertising power of this website, I cannot believe that so few people have picked up on it. Anyway, 90% of readers are American, that means 70k page views a month, and the next best are UK at 17,788 and France at 17,648 per month. Today, the sixteenth, Google has sniffed around 3,846 times and the average for a human visitor has been 359 secs a visit, which is high. It translates to 22.34 pages a visit. Handsome!
∞
I was just talking to 'my daughter', sorry, I still don't know what to call her even after ten years, although I've heard she calls me 'Dad' generally, but Owen to my face. We will iron that one out tomorrow. Anyway, I told her that her English was worse than it had ever been even after three years in university. She said that the reason was that she was scared of making mistakes and people laughing at her now that she was older. This is the root cause of intelligent Thais not getting on - it's a national tragedy! They are scared that people will laugh at them.
It reveals a high level of national insecurity.
∞
'Asian Shorts' is now 100% full and I have pencilled in 'Paranormal Shorts' for next month, so if you have a story for it, send it as soon as you like, or start writing one if you haven't.
Get a free copy of the Asian Shorts audiobook here: Asian Shorts free audiobook
All the best,
Owen
PS: if you like linguistics, listen to this: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05tl3jm
Podcast: Linguistic Sloppiness
Marketing for Small Businesses in 52 Parts
Marketing Your Artwork
Marketing, advertising, promoting, publicising... it's all basically the same thing, ie getting the word out there that you have something fantastic to sell. So, where do you begin?
This may sound odd, but you should begin before you have anything to sell.
Let's say you're a writer, like I am. You could set up a website in the name of your book, with an eye to it becoming a series, and talk about books you like; review books and post articles on events going on in the literary world - the Pulitzer Prize, that sort of thing. Then, when your book is ready, you already have an audience to present it to. So, it is never too early to start building what is called your author's platform.
If you are that kind of person, you could make weekly or even daily posts about the progress of your novel. Some authors like this approach to marketing; others feel that it detracts from the suspense of the launch. I personally would not give away any spoilers, but I would talk about how I feel the writing is going and about cover designs. It's up to you through, isn't it?
About six weeks before you're ready to publish, you could offer your potential readership the chance to pre-order at a discount. The effect of this is that you have six weeks to sell something that isn't yet sellable (as it is unfinished) and all the pre-orders that you do make will go through on the one day, causing your book to jump in popularity. This is great because many people buy, and many firms recommend books on the strength of where they are in book lists.
However, as an unknown, you will find it very difficult to sell pre-orders.
Once you get to that stage, you could join a few of the online joint promotion schemes which combine the strengths of Twitter and Facebook. Try Bridgette's T4US on Facebook. She and her group are innovative and hard-working.
Maybe I'll see you there :-)
All the best,
Owen
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Podcast: Marketing You Artwork
American versus English
American versus English
I have had a hard week one way and another, but mostly because of the way different people have a different take on things or even life, I suppose. A lot of it has had to do with language, I think, American versus English and perhaps something to do with gender
This last week, I have had 'difficulties' with four American women. Basically, they think that I've been rude to them, and I think that they have overreacted to me. I can furnish examples.
A woman responded to my appeal for short stories about Asia(ns). She replied that she wasn't Asian, and I said that that didn't matter, the condition referred to the story not the writer. She had first said she had a story, but when I replied as above, she wrote, 'Right, I'm out of the loop then'.
To a Brit, using 'right' in this context makes it sound as if there has been an argument and she has left in a huff, yet I cannot see why she would do that. A simple, 'Thanks for the offer, but I've changed my mind' would have been more British. Did she think I was being rude? I don't know, but I do know that her reaction seems over the top to me.
Another, I accidentally posted on a group page on Facebook. I was told, 'Refrain from doing that...'. I said it had been a mistake and complained that that she made me sound like a serial offender. She flew off the handle, saying she wasn't 'in the mood to deal with me'.
I have no idea where she is coming from.
A feature is that all of these women emphasized how 'cool' they were, but that I'd better not rile them. That doesn't sound very cool to me, it sounds like they're looking for an excuse to boil over.
British women, American and British men, both sexes of all other nations (bar one person) and most American women I email, I get on well with.
Another example of American versus English, last week, a male American writer friend, told me that his book had been 'slated' on a famous website, so I commiserated about trolls. He quickly pointed out that 'slated' in the US version of English means lauded. Great! However, the point is that he didn't jump down my throat like some of his female counterparts. He recognised the American versus English difference, and dealt with it.
An ex US Marine told me yesterday that a section of American female society was making it hard going for men because of their aggression, although he had no idea of my recent experiences.
Coincidence? I don't believe in them. This is obviously a big problem in the USA, which is being exported via the Internet. These women are not 'cool', as they profess to be, they're as taut as a tow rope on a tailhook!
However, I could live with all that, if they just considered for one moment that the form of English that they speak is not the only one in the world and that comradeship, if not friendship, should be factored in, if they are as cool as they say. I have a sneaky suspicion that these gender warriors have never left their continent and rarely speak to foreigners.
Churchill was right, two nations divided by a common language, but now exacerbated by an unwillingness to listen to what someone is saying instead of how they say it. After all, every good linguist know that you have to translate ideas, not words.
I despair.
Oh, on the American versus English debate, but Australian, I like how the Australian prime minister expressed himself! He told the American actor via the world media that it was time his pooches 'buggered off back to Los Angeles'.
I like it, I like it, I like it! No pussy-footing about, no PC flim-flam, no ambiguity - just straight-talking. There should be more of it, and he should have fined the bloke $1m and given it to the dog shelters or animal rights organisations.
On a far lighter note, I think I saw one of the rare birds fly out of the nest I mentioned a few days ago. I couldn't be certain, but I hope it was one of them. Otherwise it must have been a different type of brown bird checking out th...
Site Maintenance
Site Maintenance
Site maintenance is an important part of any webmaster's duties and has to be taken seriously, but it is not usually an onerous task.
However, in the last thirty days or so, two of the largest players on the Internet, Google and Amazon have decided to force everyone to make huge alterations to their web sites
If you make any money from the Internet, the chances are that these changes will affect you.
Google says that most people now access the Internet from mobile devices with small screens or will do soon, so they are going to give priority to websites which are 'small-screen friendly'.
While it is perfectly feasible to have a menu of twelve or fifteen buttons taking you to different sections of the site, a mobile screen can't really accommodate more than two or three.
Therefore, to make a large site mobile friendly, you would need to drill down through many, many more menu options. That is tedious and means the downloading of many more menus and so the use of much more bandwidth.
I wouldn't be happy with that, but I suppose it must be easier than scrolling right and left and up and down all the time, but then why use a small screen for this type of work/pleasure? However, what bothers me is the site maintenance involved. If it is not your profession it will take a lot of thought and much more work.
Why? Because a private company has decided that that is the way they want to see websites so that they can make more money on the public Internet.
I have forty websites to redesign and maintain. Thanks Google, thanks a lot!
Then Amazon stuck its oar in. They have been doing their own site maintenance and decided to rename two of the root directories that deal with books and their sales (I only sell books, it probably affects all the items on its website).
There is no automatic fix for renaming all the links to products on their websites, but they will tell you where their software has found links that will need to be changed. There are about two thousand of them on 197 URL's on the forty websites.
At ten minutes a link, the site maintenance to make me Amazon-friendly is going to cost me 20,000 minutes or 333 hours, which is a month at ten hours a day with no days off and the old links will expire on July 15th.
Today is June 16th, so even if I start my enforced site maintenance right now, I will not finish in time. Who do these people think they are? However, it does make one thing very, very clear: they don't give a toss about the small entrepreneur.
Google and Amazon are firmly on the side of big businesses like themselves who have entire departments to deal with their site maintenance.
All the best, I'd better get on with my site maintenance, how about you?
Owen
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Podcast: Site Maintenance
Patreon is a place for artists to form closer bonds with their fans and raise money to improve their art. In my case, this would give me more time to write
Getting My Thai Wife to the UK (part 213)
Getting My Thai Wife to the UK (part 213)
Those of my regular readers who have followed the five-year saga of my trying to get my Thai wife into the UK will recognize the reference, because Getting My Thai Wife to the UK has been my biggest problem for a decade.
Well, I have had some good news today. An acquaintance of mine has successfully taken his Thai wife from Spain to the UK with very little hassle. This is exceptionally good news for me because our circumstances are almost identical.
We have both been married to a Thai woman for more than ten years, been married in Thailand, and lived in Spain for more than two years.
When my friend took his Thai wife to the UK, he went through the Channel Tunnel. They were stopped and questioned, but after providing the necessary evidence that they were married, were admitted with a visa 'without end' - in other words, there was an entry date, but no required exit date - an open-ended right to stay.
This is much more than I would ever have hoped for!
It gives one plenty of time to apply for a residency card. This is fantastic, because one of the requirements of a residency card for a Asian wife is a six-month tenancy agreement, and I am just learning how difficult it is to find accommodation.
Brexiteers' Lies
In fact, it is horrendous, no matter how easy the Brexiteers say getting into this country is! Pure lies - the UK is famous for being VERY tough on immigration - the rest is lies. I have been married for more than ten years - if it is so easy, why am I struggling and have I been for more than five years to get her in?
Answer me that Brexiteers! You have been hoodwinked...
Now, we are in the UK, but the quest did not stop when we arrive. It gives us a chance to recoup though, and to be honest, we are in need of another victory, as the last were obtaining a Spanish residency card for my Thai wife and a UK visa for her. Next we will need somewhere permanent to lay our heads, and after that the big one - a UK Residency Card...
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All the best,
Owen
Podcast: Getting My Thai Wife to the UK
Carling Black Label
Carling Black Label
I think I remember when Carling Black Label was first introduced to the widespread British beer-drinking public. There was an advert for Carling lager on television and my mother commented that that was my father's latest favourite drink.
I was still underage, and I remember commenting that I couldn't understand why people would want to drink pint after pint of beer just because they were thirsty.
She gave me a verbal pat on the head for my naivety, when my mother said, "There's a good boy! I hope you remember that when you are older".
Well, I do remember what was said, obviously, but adhering to it is often much more difficult.
Anyway, last month, I returned to Wales after fifteen years of travelling in Asia and walked into a bar. I ordered a pint of Black Label from the helpful young barmaid, but she looked back at me with a completely blank expression. Her manageress must have felt a vibe, because she was quick to ask if there was a problem, which there wasn't really.
"This gentleman wants a pint of Black Label, but that's whiskey, isn't it?".
"Lager, sir?" she asked, pointing out the relatively obscure black label on the pump. "People call it Carling, sir", she informed me moving off, but repeating 'Carling Black Label' for her underling.
Change for Change's Sake?
Or is it change just to justify a job title?
I have noticed so many changes in our medium-sized home town since I've been back - some of them completely pointless. Like renaming the Job Centre 'Job Centre Plus' even though they actually handle fewer tasks there now than they ever did before.
The Rowan Hill Hotel is another example. It used to be the most prestigious hotel in town. However, it has been renamed the Rowan Rooms. Now, it is a rather sad place for travelling reps and salespeople providing cheap run-down rooms for under-paid, over-worked mostly young people.
Not all changes are for the better, and money plays a big part it most decisions. It is just such a pity that our home town has been allowed to devolve into the very, very poor reflection of the great place it used to be to live in.
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All the best,
Owen
Podcast: Carling Black Label
August 2017
August 2017
This is the month I have tried to take off every year since I left school. August falls in the school summer holidays in the UK. When my father remarried, it was my sister's birthday on the first, my dog's on the fourth, my brother's on the seventh, mine on the fourteenth, my real mother's on the twenty-second and a good friend's on the twenty-sixth.
It was easier to take the month off than keep making up excuses!
There are two weeks left, and I don't see those I used to know who had/have birthdays in August any more.
I wish I did.
We don't have any real friends here in Spain, no long-term ones anyway. So has it been for most of my life, but my wife is used to more. She has always had loving friends and family around her... I wish I could say the same since I first left home, but I am more than willing to accept the blame for that.
I'm tired now though; I'm fed up with fighting. I would happily give up my life tomorrow, if I could be certain that my wife would be all right, although I suppose that I know that she would be, because she is Thai, and Thais take care of their families.
I have fought with most of the people I know this year and made a tit of myself, but I am not happy and will not be until this struggle to get Neem to the UK is over. I am sorry if you got caught up in my turmoil. I have learned such a lot about why people did the things they have done in the last year.
I am tired of all the hassle, but sleep will not put it right. Death is the only answer I can see and I don't sodding care any longer. If that upsets you, well, like I said above, I have already pissed most people I know off, so what is another one?
Although I do care about my friends and family... it is just a rotten situation that we are in… and I didn’t bring my wife to Europe so that I could literally worry myself sick and so my wife would worry off ten kilos that she didn’t need to lose.
I hope that you are doing better than we are.
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All the best,
Owen
Podcast: August 2017
Search Engines
Search Engines
I should imagine that if I asked a hundred people, which is the best search engine, at least ninety percent would say Google, but how many of them ever consider using other search engines? Google has done such a tremendous job of PR that it now attracts at least 85% of search queries. In this article, I am going to look into the phenomenon of search engines.
I looked through my computer's logs and found that my blog had figured in a search that used the query 'Asus F541U Laptop Computer', because I had written a review of that computer after buying one earlier this year. First, I checked Google, the default search engine on my Asus F541U, then I checked some others – six in total. Here are the results of my article's placing or rank within those search engines:
Google: >100
Yahoo: 3rd
Bing: 2nd
Ecosia: 2nd
DuckDuckGo: 2nd
Yandex: 2nd
That's right, my article could not be found within the first 100 entries on Google, yet five other top search engines ranked it within the top three most read articles on that particular laptop.
How can that be?
It's simple, Google charges for the higher ranking slots. In other words, it takes an upfront commission on all sales made through searches made on its site, and that is why, if you enter the name of a product, the top dozen or more listings will direct you to shops where you can buy it.
I wrote my review of the Asus F541U to help people and attract them to my website, so I am not going to pay to promote it, and that means that Google is not interested in me or it.
So, if you want honest search results, you need to be careful which search engine you use, however, there are other advantages too.
For example, Ecosia donates a percentage of its profits to planting trees, and DuckDuckGo promises not to track your searches. This is important, because most search engines do, which is why, if you search for, say, the Asus F541U today, you will see ads popping up everywhere for it for the next week to come.
So, let's stop automatically going for Google. Google is basically a list of shops ranked in order of what you want and which one paid the most to get near the top. Some people might call that corrupt.
Give the other search engines a chance, you will be pleasantly surprised.
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All the best,
Owen
Podcast: Search Engines
Free Books on Amazon
Free Books and Amazon
I started a page on this blog called Free Books and, needless to say, it is very popular, receiving well over three hundred views a day. 'Free' is an extremely powerful word, so that is not surprising in itself. What does surprise many people is Amazon's attitude towards free books.
In fact, free books on Amazon are frowned upon by the giant on-line retailer, and what many bloggers don't know is that they can lose their monthly earnings if their ratio of free book give-aways to sold books is too high, and they can lose their account if it happens too often.
A blogger must consistently sell more books than he or she gives away or face the consequences.
I recently started a free book page, as I said above, but I was concerned about how far I could go, and I now realise that that is not far, however, there is a way around it, which I will explain below to those who can stick with me.
There is an option to authors publishing their books on Kindle to give them the exclusive publishing rights to your ebook and enroll it in Kindle Select.
Readers pay a monthly fee for membership to Kindle Select, and that confers upon them the right to read books for free - or at least those books that authors have put into Kindle Select.
Therefore, a blogger can offer free books on Amazon on his website, if the books are in Kindle Select, but they will only be free to Kindle Select subscribers.
Right now, you may be thinking that this is another spiral downwards in the earnings of blog- and website-owners, but there is one salvation.
If the free books that you are offering/promoting are interesting enough to make non-Kindle Select subscribers want to join up, Amazon is willing to pay the blogger $3 for giving away a free one-month trial subscription to Kindle Select.
This makes the whole process of selling books on-line even more convoluted, of course, but it is the only way that I have figured out of making money out of the powerful word 'free' in the context of free books on Amazon and not running foul of their rules.
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All the best,
Owen
Podcast: Free Books on Amazon
Residence Permit for Spain (final part)
Residence Permit for Spain (final part)
We applied for my wife's residence permit for Spain on February 14th. 2017, although we had been working on it for a year before that. When we left Thailand in May 2016, the Spanish Embassy had assured us that we had all the paperwork we needed for my wife to obtain her five-year residency card.
So, we set off for Spain. Our tactic was for me to get my residency permit first, as that would be easy for a Brit, and sure enough, I did get mine, although it took eleven weeks. My wife was told that she had the wrong visa (a visitor's visa, not one declaring that she was the wife of an EU citizen).
So, we returned to Thailand, spent five months getting the correct papers, translations and visa and came back to Spain in January, as I said above.
The wait has been horrific! There is no more we can do but wait, but in a way, that is the problem. Now, the waiting is almost over. The five-year residence permit, in the form of a bio-metric card will be ready for collection sometime 'after August 24th.'.
However, the stress that we have been trying so hard not to let each other see is getting to us. I feel really ill and can hardly walk from backache, and my wife has lost ten kilos. She is pretending to be pleased that she has lost the weight, and I'm sure that she is, but I wish that she had lost it through dieting or exercising, not from worry.
She is now insisting that we check the police station for her permit on Tuesday - she cannot wait until Thursday. That proves to me that she is anxious about it, but we will go and look, despite the fact that it is a thirty-minute walk and I don't know whether I can do it.
Anything to stop this agonising waiting though.
UPDATE My wife received her five-year residency permit on the Tuesday - Whoopee for women's intuition :-)
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All the best,
Owen
Podcast: Residence Permit for Spain (part 700)
Facebook Friends
Facebook Friends Part 1
I recently ran a campaign to drum up support for for my latest novel, and a large part of that took place on Facebook. However, I only had 1,100 Facebook friends and it soon became apparent that I would need at least double that for a campaign of thirty days. Now, obviously, not everyone you ask to become a friend fancies the idea, so to get, say, 1,500 new Facebook friends in a month, you have to invite at least fifty new Facebook friends a day.
I have had 1,100 Facebook friends for ages, but when I started recruiting in ernest, more and more people asked to become my friend too. It was as if Facebook saw that I was looking for new friends and so promoted me to others via that block on your timeline - People you may know...
However, if it is true that Facebook helped me get new friends, it is also true that they discouraged me from talking to them. In the morning, I would start asking my Facebook friends to check out my book and vote for it if they felt able to, but after about twenty such messages, I invariably received a warning that I was probably violating their TOS.
I was even banned for twenty-four hours once. However, I soon settled into a pattern of waiting for the warning, and then doing ten an hour until I reached my goal of a hundred a day - 3,000 in the month. I fell a bit short because I only had 2,600 Facebook friends, but I will have the shortfall by the time I finish my next novel.
I had 3,220 visitors to my target URL, although KindleScout, the hosts don't reveal how many voted. My book was deemed HOT for 393 hours out of the maximum of 720, so draw your own conclusions. I think that most people I asked went there, and most of those voted for my book.
Now the fun part. Of my existing Facebook friends, the original 1,100, not many, a few hundred, reported back that they had helped, although that doesn't mean that the others didn't. I probably wouldn't tell a friend that I had helped either. However, well over half of the new Facebook friends told me that they had voted for my book., and I think that I would with a new friend as well.
There were several splinter groups, which are interesting.
There were about fifteen who asked me to return 'the favour'. When I asked how, they told me to buy their book, read it and write a review for Amazon and Goodreads - about four days' work, and I would have to but their book, in exchange for their two-minute vote on my cover and blurb! I should coco! Needless to say, they are no longer friends.
Then there were the twenty or so who explained I detail that they were busy professionals with no time for trivial activities. One man wrote me four long emails explaining how little time he had. It would have taken only two minutes to click NOMINATE on the strength of the cover and the 100-word blurb!
There was one man who said that he was very sorry, but he could not access the Internet... he was saying that via Facebook's Messenger! I don't know whether he was doolally, or he thought I was.
Then there was a huge group of 'beautiful women'. This group is the one I found the most interesting. Naturally... but more of them next time :-)
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All the best,
Owen
Podcast: Facebook Friends Part 1
Facebook Friends Part 2
Facebook Friends Part 2
(From part one: "Then there was a huge group of 'beautiful women'. This group is the one I found most interesting. Naturally...")
I would say there were about four hundred in my group of new Facebook friends. They all came from Texas, and most of them from Austin. None of them had any friends, or one or two older men, no interests, no place of birth, zilch. Most of these liars had a birth date in the Nineties. Only about a dozen of these females, if that is what they were, complied with my request to vote for my book. Most ignored it and asked whether I was married, had kids, made good money, owned my own house, etc. When I say most, I mean 395 out of 400!
I started to wonder about these people after about ten of them asked me to send them an iTunes card. So, I started asking for selfies taken there and then, in an attempt to check that they were actually women. About half sent me photos that could have been copied from anywhere. I assume that they were older women, in a relationship or even men.
When I questioned them further, some got angry, some sent me nude photos (again could have been copied from any porn site, and some, probably a hundred, said the camera on their smartphone was broken. About a hundred sent me probably genuine selfies, some rude, and offered to come and live with me 'because they had fallen for me'.
Further conversation revealed that nearly all the women were currently in sub-Saharan Africa attending their sick mother, but would be returning to Austin 'soon'.
This is an industry, really... a large industry. Nearly all those people were African, but there were other groups of Asians and South Americans. Mostly on the make. Many young women in the last two groups offered private, live sex shows for payment, but I never asked how much. $5-$10 would be my guess. I did see a few free samples and they did seem live, as opposed to pre-recorded.
I met about a dozen men who asked me to help them get funds out of their country by giving them my bank details, but they stood no chance.
Finally, I met two women, one in Mexico and one in Ghana who were brilliant. They both offered to help me (in non-sexual ways), and I think that we will be friends for a long time.
So, that was my experience - two friends out of the new fifteen hundred.
However, I learned to take precautions with my Facebook account's permissions, after one angry person started posting on my timeline in an obnoxious manner because I wouldn't buy her an iTunes card and I felt really sorry for a girl who was (genuinely) worried about her mother's health. She wanted $200 to set up a fruit stall, but I didn't send it.
Update: the 'Mexican woman' actually got me a job interview with a Scandinavian bank, which I am following up :-)
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All the best,
Owen
Podcast: Facebook Friends Part 2
The Beginning - volume 7 in the series Behind The Smile - my NaNoWriMo 2017 entry
NaNoWriMo 2017
I just finished NaNoWriMo 2017, my fifth consecutive NaNoWriMo and I still enjoy it enormously. I overheard a few people talking about it a while ago, and all three of them had written their entry during the year, so that their annual novel would get a sticker. I think that's really sad, because the race to produce 50,000 words in thirty days is what it is all about. Pushing yourself, and having a good time with others, tens of thousands around the world, who are in the same boat.
I normally write my 50k within a fortnight, and I have a friend who often writes two books during the month, but you can take the whole month to finish your novel, if you like. Then it has earned it a badge to go on its cover.
After that, you can take as long as you like to add to, edit and publish it. In fact, I still haven't published my 2016 entry, Daisy's Chain, yet, although it is now 80,000 and fully edited.
My latest entry, for NaNoWriMo 2017, entitled Lek - The Beginning, is still languishing on my desktop at 50,500 words, but it is the seventh in my series called 'Behind The Smile' and fans are waiting for it. Some have even pre-ordered it already, because I have promised to deliver it on Boxing Day - 26th. December, 2017. You can pre-order it too here:
The Beginning Lek7
In the first three years I took part, there were considerable incentives to accept and complete the NaNo challenge, but they were pretty poor this year, like 2016. Before, you got things like a free hardback, or two paperbacks of your work, but now the 'prizes' are 'a month's trial' or '10-20% a year's subscription'.
I didn't see anything in the list that was worth having, which is a shame, but I suspect that it is a reflection of the poor state of the book market, which is also a symptom of the disaster our so-called betters have made of our economies around the world.
NaNo staff would deny that these gifts are incentives, probably calling them rewards, and they are right. NaNo is a personal challenge to write those 50k words in November, and successfully completing it, should be reward enough. However, it is always nice to get something for nothing even if it is not called 'winning'.
If you have always wanted to write a book, do it, and if you would like the moral support of thousands near you and worldwide, try NaNoWriMo 2017 next November. It is free to enter and even if you do not succeed, you will have made a start, which you can finish at your leisure until the next NaNo starts.
If you do it, look me (owenjones) up on their website, and we can be writing buddies.
I hope to meet you there!
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All the best,
Owen
Podcast: NaNoWriMo 2017
Reviews of Books on Amazon
The Reviews of Books on Amazon
I have been with Amazon for a relatively very long time - since a few weeks after it started, I think, but I can't help thinking the the people at the top - the ones running the firm (that might not include Jeff Bezos, the guy who set it up) are buffoons. Why? Well, let's start with the question of reviews of books on Amazon.
They tried to fix the problem of sham reviews of books on Amazon, but all they ended up doing was punishing small authors by hunting through their friends' lists to see whether somebody on one of those lists had written a favourable review and then deleting it. This does not stop more affluent or well-known authors from having fake reviews of books on Amazon posted, because they have access to a larger group of reviewers.
Please don't get me wrong, fake reviews are not good - they are often called 'sock puppet' reviews. However, many readers become pen-pal friends of their favourite writers these days, and what is wrong with that for Heaven's Sake?
Having said that, Amazon is quite happy to let Trolls leave ten-word shyte reviews without ever having proved that they have read the book (by having purchased it - called 'a verified purchase review').
No, they're fine!
But why are they? I don't understand…
The current Reviews of Books on Amazon policy stinks because it favours famous authors with representation in the form of an agent or and publisher, so it should be changed, but that is unlikely... just look at how Amazon rewards their top Kindle Unlimited authors with tens of thousands of dollars in bonuses leaving most people with an income under $20.
Another problem with reviews concern series. ONE woman didn't like ONE book in a 24-part series but her review is attached to all of those books!
Is that mind-blowingly bonkers or what!
The other issue that they fall down on is taxation. Amazon is the only on-line company that I know of that makes the vendor, writer, in my case, work out the tax and add it to the cost of the item, book, for each country the item is sold in!
This is Stone-age lunacy!
I do all my own work myself, and am expected to work out the various taxes for fifteen countries for each of my 140 books?!
Aren't repetitive mundane tasks what computers are supposed to be good at?
Put it this way: Amazon is by far the biggest on-line retailer of books, but it is the only retailer who forces its authors (and every other vendor) to do this.
I think that the CEO of Amazon should pack it in and grow sweetcorn. Let them head-hunt someone who really knows about taxation and fairness.
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All the best.
Owen
Podcast: Reviews of Books on Amazon
Bangkok Red Light District
Bangkok Red Light District
I lived in Thailand for thirteen years, and visited Bangkok scores of times because my wife has family there and most visa work is carried out there too, but I'm not completely sure that there is a designated Bangkok Red Light District as such.
Bangkok is the Bangkok Red Light District to put it simply. There are sex bars and non-sex bars all over the city, and then there are the hybrids - ie, those which are respectable by day, but turn into sex bars after dark. Many of these places have a microphone on a stand in a corner, so that they can play Karaoke songs later on. Many of the girls who come to sing will be on stage to draw attention to themselves, but they are not hoping to be spotted for a career in music.
If there is such a thing as a dedicated Bangkok Red Light District, I suppose that it is around Sukhumvit Soi 4, which is more popularly known as Soi Nana, after the first and largest hotel in the street. However, many of the most popular sex venues are around, not necessarily in that street
I know that many tourists to Bangkok head for the famous sex bars and night clubs in Soi Nana, but if you are staying in Bangkok for more than one night, check out the bars around your hotel first, you will find some pleasant surprises that are not overfull and not overpriced. Thais, other Asians and falang residents use these places, so they are more typical of Bangkok than what you probably think of as the Bangkok Red Light District.
One thing to remember when looking for typical examples of the Bangkok Red Light District, is that it is not like what you have seen on the films of American soldiers in Saigon, Tokyo, or even Bangkok. In general, the signs are not so flashy, and the girls promoting the bar on the street will be more modestly dressed, although schoolgirl uniform is popular.
If the Bangkok Red Light District is on your list of sights to see, don't be worried about checking it out, you are not obliged to do anything you don't want to, and you will probably have a lot of fun.
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All the best,
Owen.
Podcast: Bangkok Red Light District
Growing Old Abroad
Growing Old Abroad
Old age creeps up on us, as does getting older in general. Parents regularly wonder what happened to their youth, and older people wonder why they hadn't noticed it happening to them. These are common experiences, but when you have been growing old abroad, there are other factors.
Those who are growing old abroad probably only have elderly friends. More than likely, they don't have younger family members around them as they would, if they had stayed at home (in Britain, for example).
That can make growing old abroad pretty difficult for an ex-pat, much more so than if they had stayed at home near their family.
This is quite obvious, but it still surprises most elderly people because they didn't see it coming. It seems as if one day, they were frolicking on the beach, or at least going out for walks every day, and the next they were house-bound or in a wheelchair and lonely.
However, it is a very depressing experience that a lot of ex-pats growing old abroad will have to come to grips with one day.
Sex Matters
It is easier for a man in some ways. He can go to the pub, but many women will not do that alone. They tend to live longer than men too, giving them longer to have to cope with ever-deepening depression.
This now very common phenomenon of ex-pats growing old abroad is one of the reasons why Neem Jones established Fuengirola Home Help Services. It is meant to provide home help and companionship to those who need it - the elderly, the infirm, the house-bound and busy parents.
If you would like to discuss your requirements completely confidentially with Neem, please go to her Facebook page and click 'Submit Message', which will give you the option to phone, email or Message her.
https://www.facebook.com/fuengirolahomehelp/
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All the best,
Owen
Podcast: Growing Old Abroad
The Beginning - volume 7 in the series Behind The Smile
The Beginning
Behind The Smile – The Story of Lek, A Bar Girl in Pattaya
(volume 7)
by Owen Jones
Review by Barry Boy
The Beginning is volume seven in the much-liked series Behind The Smile - The Story of Lek, A Bar Girl in Pattaya by Owen Jones.
Volume One in the series began when Lek was twenty-two and already working in Daddy's Hobby in Pattaya, Volume Seven goes back to before she was even born - just before, to the days when her mother was young and working in the 'na' or rice fields.
Even nowadays, life as a Thai rice-farmer is hard, but for many, there is some mechanisation, but, then, in the early Seventies, it was mostly manual labour.
Pang and her husband, Maar, lived with Pang's parents and worked their land. They all got on well, and worked for a better future for their family. One day, Pang announces that she is pregnant with their first child, and their lives change, as it always has done in all families around the world.
Lek has a happy childhood on the exterior, but she has her internal dialogue about her fears and insecurities. Ayr and Goong, her best friends, are there to help, but they drift apart for a while when Lek is forced to leave school at the age of twelve.
The stigma is to remain with her all her life.
The Beginning is written in the third person and the cover is apposite, being the same, except in title and colour, as the previous six. It is instantly recognisable in pink, being a diluted form of the colour of Volume One, which is red.
The Beginning: Behind The Smile -The Story of Lek, A Bar Girl in Pattaya (volume 7) will be published on December 26th, 2017 for $3.99, but the price will rice on January 1st to $4.99. However, you can pre-order it now for $2.99 at a discount of up to 45% and have it delivered to your device on Boxing Day, while you are recovering from a hectic Christmas Day.
What could be better?
Pre-order here:
Smashwords: http://smarturl.it/lek7?IQid=mps
Amazon: http://smarturl.it/lek7am?IQid=mps
Kobo: http://smarturl.it/lek7kobo?IQid=mps
It also gives you 25 days to catch up on any Lek Books that you haven't read yet.
See the full list here: http://smarturl.it/my-books?IQid=mps
That makes two of the volumes that are NaNoWriMo Winners!
NaNo-2017-Winner!
All the best,
and enjoy December despite the rush,
Owen
Podcast: Lek - The Beginning
British Bureaucracy
My Thai wife and I arrived back in the UK for the first time in five years last Wednesday, so our first encounter with British bureaucracy was at Rhoose airport's immigration. My wife was coming in on a five-year Spanish Residency Card, and the official had never seen an Asian with one before. The poor man didn't know what to do, so he gave her a six-month visa.
A friend coming in six months ago in exactly the same circumstances, obtained an open-ended right to remain for his wife, but they could also have given her ninety days (I think). 'Get her residency as soon as you can', he said to me quietly.
The following Friday, I went to the Job Centre to see about a National Insurance number for her. The official turned to his computer, and I waited while he called up the right page. After ten minutes, I asked whether there was a problem. 'No', he replied, 'I'm just Googling how to apply for a new NI number'.
I couldn't believe my ears! British bureaucracy... even civil servants, now have to use an American search engine to find the correct government policy! It doesn't sound right to me. I wanted to ask whether they still receive training, but civil servants are not renowned for their sense of humour.
It turns out that we have to travel fifty miles to make the application!
So, that left residency to sort out, and to get more information, we visited the local Citizen's Advice Centre (C.A.B.). The man took one look at the stamp in my wife's passport and left to discuss the matter with his supervisor. 'I'm sorry', he said, 'but this is way over our heads. We can't even understand how you got this far!'.
'Research, hard work and perseverance', I replied.
'We can only suggest that you go to see an immigration lawyer', he said offering me a list to choose from.
I declined it, and left, thinking how sad it was that the C.A.B. had degenerated into a mere funnel for the local branch of the legal profession... especially since legal aid has been abolished.
What sort of a country have I brought my wife back to?
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All the best,
Owen
Podcast: British Bureaucracy
Beware Amazon Book Rankings!
If you are a reader, or a writer, you probably use Amazon book rankings at some time or another. Even if you are a bookshop owner's dream and buy your latest reads locally, the chances are that you do your research online and, therefore, on Amazon.
And why wouldn't you?
'What could be wrong with that?' you might ask.
The answer is: nothing, as long as you are aware of some of Amazon's weirdest policies.
I will come clean here, and say that I am a writer, and I know many writers, just as you know many people in your profession, trade occupation or hobby. I have about 175 books on Amazon and other online book retailers, and I have been doing it for about six years.
A few years ago, I forget how many, but let's say three or four, the powers that be in Amazon decided to attempt to wipe out the widespread practice of 'sock-puppet' book reviews. Some unscrupulous authors, literary agents and publishers were buying a book on a false account and then leaving a gushing review about it.
They might do this a hundred times or more - at least enough times to boost the said book into the Amazon book rankings top-ten charts, which would ensure that it sold significantly more.
Beating Amazon Book Rankings
Buying hundreds of books was beyond many independent authors, so they might just open dozens of Amazon accounts in false names, or get their friends and family to write reviews for them. I'm sure that you can see what I am getting at.
You see, many, many readers choose their next read from the top-ten lists.
So, in attempt to combat this, Amazon decided to spy on authors' social media accounts and delete any GOOD reviews from people that the author knew.
This is a bizarre method of dealing with the problem, because those who use fake accounts won't appear in anyone's friends list. On the other hand, many authors, myself included, end up becoming friends with some of their readers.
I could name six or seven right now off the top of my head - people I correspond with, but have never met. So, I (and they) have two options: either to pretend we don't 'know' one another like secret agents in a comedy show, or let Amazon do its worst.
I choose the latter, and consequently have lost well over a hundred reviews on just my flagship novel, Behind The Smile.
It is a silly policy, but it also means that the top-ten lists that many people choose their books from are inaccurate.
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All the best,
Owen
Podcast: Beware Amazon Book Rankings!
A Life in Twenty-Two Kilos
Forty-four kilos is the average luggage allowance for a couple flying abroad - twenty-two kilos each. That is how much you can take with you, even if you are starting a new life – even if you are emigrating. It is the airlines' norm. I can see why that is and I have no argument with it.
However, that is from the airline's point of view.
Two years ago, my wife of twelve years and I left Thailand for Spain to start a new life there. It was very exciting and a great triumph, because it had taken us a lot of effort to get the correct papers together for my Thai wife. (They included a WHO health certificate, a certificate from the Special Branch that she had no criminal record, plus marriage certificates etc - all in Thai, Spanish and English and certified by the Thai authorities).
However, the most difficult thing by far was choosing the twenty-two kilos of luggage that we each wanted to take with us without paying for any excess. I suppose it was a little easier for me than my wife, because I had moved from the UK to Thailand with my twenty-two kilos twelve years previously, and with the exception of a blood-pressure monitor and updated clothing, I took the same things back to Europe with me. However, it was very difficult for my wife.
It was a question of clothing for her, and I know that she sneaked some of her stuff into my bag.
Now, we have been here for two years and she has a heap of extra clothes, shoes and accessories to choose from. My guess is that she will need to leave about three-quarters of her stuff in a local charity shop.
So, if you were to move abroad, whether it be forced or by choice, do you know which twenty-two kilos of your stuff are most important to you?
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All the best,
Owen
Podcast: A Life in Twenty-Two Kilos
MPS Blog Reaches New Heights!
May 2018 was a record-breaking month for my MPS blog in terms of readership figures. The blog, which strives to inform readers and writers about the easiest and or best ways of doing things, continues to go from strength to strength. We almost reached 10,000 pagereads last month!
The record-breaking statistics are: unique visitors up by a whopping 83% from 5,365 to 9,818; total visits up by 39% from 29,618 to 41,397 and total pageviews up by 34% from 164,208 to 221,315. Visitors are spending an average of 7 mins 22 seconds per visit.
This means that there has never been a better time to book advertising on the MPS blog. There is a range of advertising opportunities designed to fit most needs. They range from interviews and reviews to banner advertisements in most of the common dimensions, and links.
The MPS blog is primarily for SWAMP people (sculptors, writers, artists, musicians and painters), and people who appreciate them, but there is nothing to stop firms that service them promoting themselves on the blog as well.
However, the leading advertising package is the Set and Forget 365-day Ultimate Promo Pack, which has just been enhanced with two extra posts and the resultant podcasts!
Check the deals out on the title bar at the top of this page or click this link:
Megan Publishing Services Blog Advertising Index
All the deals on the MPS blog are implemented by me alone, so there could be a slight delay. If you want to co-ordinate a promotional package with a special event – like, say, the release of a novel, please book as early as possible and I will try to fit you in.
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All the best,
Owen
Podcast: MPS Blog At New Heights!
Arrival in the UK
We had planned our arrival in the UK three months in advance and had bought flights accordingly. I had asked friends and family to look out for accommodation for us and spent a lot of the intervening time researching procedures and looking for possible immigration problems and their solutions.
Two days before our actual arrival in the UK, my brother, our fall-back in case we were homeless, informed me that we would not be able to stay with him. I rushed to reserve a hotel room, but they could not do that without payment. However, I didn't want to pay in advance because there was a reasonable chance that my wife, being Thai, might be refused entry.
When the day came, we flew from Malaga into Barry. At Immigration / Passport Control, the official said that he had never come across a case where an Asian married to a Brit was carrying a Spanish Residency Card. After a few worrying minutes, during which he talked to his superior, he called us over. He wanted to see her passport and residency card, and then gave her leave to stay for six months.
So far, our arrival in the UK was going better than we had hoped for, except for accommodation. A taxi took us to the hotel and, unbeknownst to us, we took the last room in Barry. Apparently, a festival in Cardiff and a Rolling Stones concert had caused every available room to be taken for the following week. They could accommodate us for two nights but no longer.
So, at eleven am, ninety minutes after our Arrival in the UK, we set off looking for the next place we could move to. Despite many helpful suggestions, we were out of luck, and so went to bed a very worried couple.
The following morning, we trawled the remainder of my old haunts and asked several taxi drivers, but everything came up blank. As we were walking forlornly past a pub in town, a man standing outside smoking said, 'Hello, O, long time no see!'
It was someone I used to know twenty years before, but I had forgotten his name. I asked whether he knew of any lodgings, and he took us inside for a think. Anyway, he offered us his spare room which would become vacant after five days. We leapt at it.
Now we only had five days to cover.
Homeless in Barry
However, his assistance didn't stop there. He and his wife insisted on taking us around all the guest houses they could think of. Needless to say, they were all booked solid, so we retired to a pub to think again.
'You can have our bed and we'll sleep on the couch', was their solution. We were flabbergasted, but had to accept after offering to sleep on the couch ourselves.
'I'll tell you something,' he said. 'I only stopped at that pub to smoke a cigarette with an old friend and that was only the second time I've been in there in eight years!'
So, there we are now, and I am sitting on the couch writing this. I can't wait for our own room, so that they can reclaim their bedroom.
Such acts of kindness are truly humbling, especially when I still haven't had even a simple email from any of my family asking whether we are still homeless or even just all right!
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All the best,
Owen
Podcast: Arrival in the UK
There Be Demons
by M. K. Theodoratus
Review by Barry Boy
There Be Demons by M. K. Theodoratus is a (Contemporary) Fantasy Fiction written in the third person and set in a city called Trebridge on a world called Andron, where most people are human. However, demons and imps led by the evil Lord Vetis and his somewhat silly lieutentant, Abraxus, have plans to invade, for which purpose they have established at least one seep, which is like a worm-hole, from their world into Andron.
The main seep is in a soon-to-be demolished cmmunity church called St. Edmund's, and it is closely guarded by four gargoyles, who are sworn to protect mankind. Nevertheless, these protectors of humanity still require human help and this comes in the form of four teenage school friends led by a wilful girl named Britt. The head gargoyle, Gillen, is very concerned when his promised psychic reinforcements are just teenagers.
Britt and her friends study at a school run by nuns on the poorer side of town and the nuns play a role in the ultimate battle with the evil ones who seek to possess them. The penultimate scene us the battle between the human and the demon teams.
There is a correlation between the society, the church and the religion in There Be Demons with American society and the Christian (Catholic) Church, and it is interesting to match up the parallels.
I thoroughly enjoyed There Be Demons even though it is not my preferred genre. I thought that the characters were well drawn, and that the book's title and cover were appropriate for the story. It is also well written, and well, although not perfectly, edited, which can easily be corrected.
If fantasy stories are your genre, I am sure that you will enjoy There Be Demons by M. K. Theodoratus. I would read a sequel. Well done, Miss Theodoratus, full marks in my book!
M. K. Theodoratus
1 Name M. K. Theodoratus
Website www.mktheodoratus.com
Blog http://kaytheo.blogspot.com -- Fantasy Thoughts from My Easy Chair
2 Country USA
3 Do you prefer to read a particular genre? I mostly read various forms of fantasy or mystery books, though I read other stuff too.
4 Do you write in the same genre? If not which one? I write fantasy since I never could break my "make-believe" habit. In reality, I'm a hermit who doesn't interact much with the outside world anymore, so creating fantasies where I can ignore the intricacies of the faddish world work best for me.
5 Have you always written and what got you started professionally? Started writing in the sixth grade when my teacher introduced me to the concept of me creating my own stories on paper. Have written since then. I sold mostly non-fiction. I didn't start getting ending on most of my fiction until I retired. Writing keeps me busy and out of mischief.
6 How many books have you published? There Be Demons is the only book I've published, but I do have a list of several novellas and free short stories set in Andor. Once There Be Demons had a contract with a mom & pop publisher and I tried to build a platform for them. Must say the reviews for all of my available stories are decent.
7 Which one would you like to tell us about? Actually, I'd like to mention the There Be Demons sequence. The whole thing started with an idea about how would a gargoyle protect a city. Night for the Gargoyles was born, featuring Gillen as loadstar, and sold to Spectra Magazine, a defunct ezine out of the UK. But I kept wondering how Gillen would cope trying to teach the headstrong teen-aged girl he admired. There Be Demons was born. While I shopped it, I wrote On the Run set in the same world. The sequence runs: Showdown at Crossings, Night for the Gargoyles, There Be Demons, On the Run, and Rendezvous with Demons, if it gets written. [Rendezvous is about 30,000 words of sloppy notes and some chapters at the moment
8 Why did you write this book book and what is it about? See the book review here: There Be Demons
9 Book cover and ISBN/ASIN: ISBN: 0999203908 - ASIN: B075Q6KJST
10 What would you like your next book to be on? It's a little complicated. I have edits of a Far Isles Half-Elven novella in my computer I'd like to finish. Then, I don't final edits on the sequel/stand-alone book titled On the Run. Then, I'm working on a new book is a possible trilogy. The working title is Rendezvous with Demons, featuring Britt/Cahal and Pillar/Nate plus other characters facing down a demon team of Vetis/Grylerrque.
11 If you could go anywhere in the universe, where would you go and why? My back yard. It's relaxing under the trees watching the birds and butterflies do their thing. It's my favorite place to read though I read mostly in my comfy chair in the living room.
12 What is your favourite foreign food? I don't do favorites--either books or food. It all depends on my mood. Mostly I cook plain American, Mexican, and Greek. I learned to cook decent Asian food back in the day when my town didn't have any good Asian restaurants. My least go-to food is Indian though I often cook curries with a heavy Asian accent.
13 Are you, or have you ever been a terrorist? I used to cause terror regularly, mostly when I was younger. I have strong opinions and wasn't shy about sharing them, especially in public meetings.
Thank you very much for this interview M. K. Theodoatus, I look forward to your nrxt book.
Tiger Lily Audiobook
The Tiger Lily Audiobook, or the audiobook of Tiger Lily of Bangkok to be more precise, one of my novels, has been in the pipeline to be be published on Audible, Amazon and iTunes for weeks, but nothing seemed to be happening with it...
They said that it was 'under review' for audio quality.
That is, until last night. I got up in the middle of the night because it was so hot and decided to do a little work to get me back to sleep as it was only four a.m. I noticed that the Tiger Lily Audiobook had been approved and put on sale. After checking my email, I went back to bed and slept for a few more hours.
At nine, I returned to my post after breakfast and was amazed to discover that my Tiger Lily Audiobook had sold six copies!
The truly amazing thing about this is that there had been no advertising whatsoever. In fact, Audible and the others don't give authors notice of when their books will be going live, which makes prior promotion difficult and they don't support pre-orders either.
So, where did those six customers for my Tiger Lily Audiobook come from?
How did they find out about it?
I doubt that I will ever know, but I do know that Tiger Lily of Bangkok is a good story that is narrated so skilfully by Annya Strydon, so I hope that they enjoy it. I also hope that they read this article and discover that I appreciated their buying it so quickly off the mark.
If you would like to see what the story is about that created this buzz, and perhaps get a free copy yourself, just click this link:
Tiger Lily Audiobook
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All the best,
Owen
Podcast: Tiger Lily Audiobook
Quick Blog or Website
In this article, I will show you how to set up a quick blog on your own using pre-designed templates for the site and the content. The first thing that you will need is a host for your publication - somewhere which will store and display it.
Professionals pay for this blogging platform, but many others do not. The decision is yours and can be reversed later. Basically, you can find an 'unlimited' host for $5 p/m or you can find free blog sites like WordPress, Blogger or Weebly (and many others).
So, now you have a host. You may want to blog on your own domain name, but you can do this later and your host will explain how to do it. Now you need to follow the hosting site's step-by-step instructions (in an easy-to-use wizard) to set up the basic style of your site (choosing from a variety of themes, colours, fonts, etc).
This can take ten minutes (or longer the first time), then proceed to PLR Books on this site and look at the 120+ example sites in the left navigation bar. It will open in a new window. Decide what you would like to write about and click the link there to 'PLR Content', which will bring you back to this blog - see the title bar).
Dig down through the menus to find the niche content PLR ebook pack that best suits your intention. There are 140+ there and all but one contains 15 (or more) 500-600 word articles on the subject of the pack's title. So, choose the five most relevant articles for your subject and upload them as blog/website pages.
That leaves you with at least ten more to use in promotional ways. For example, add them to your site one at a time or add them to article directories with backlinks to your own site.
Setting up the site itself is very easy. If you pay, your host will have website and blog templates free for your use, and so will the free hosts, although the choice may be more limited.
The first time, it might take you all day to set up your blog and launch it, but after that you'll be able to create two or three a day (and sell them). The PLR niche content will cost you $7.99
This is an easy business for anyone who is willing to learn and invest a little time and money.
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All the best,
Owen
PS: Teachers might like to consider teaching their pupils how to set up a Quick Blog or Website so that they will have an extra income for life in these difficult times. Think, a 15 year-old could have 50 blogs making money by the time he or she is 65 and that is only at the rate of one quick blog a year.
Final Preparations for the UK
We have started to make our Final Preparations for the UK, since we will be flying on June 13th. which is now twenty-five days away. I can't say that I am looking forward to moving yet again. Moving our home from Thailand to Spain last year with forty-four kilos of our most important belongings was traumatic enough, but then we had had to change our residence five times. We have been happy in our current apartment and now we have to move abroad again.
Not only that but we have nowhere to go - nowhere definite, nowhere of our own, anyway.
Not only that, but all the problems associated with getting a visa for an Asian will start again too and in the worst country in Europe to have those troubles in too.
Britain seems proud of treating foreigners like criminals at the moment.
The worst thing is that nothing is guaranteed - it could go either way, but one gets the distinct feeling that people seeking residency are not welcome. It is a horrible feeling, especially since the Asian in question is my wife of fourteen years.
At present, European Law over-rules British Law, so I have the right, under certain circumstances, to take my wife back to the UK with me, whereas under British Law I do not unless I can 'afford' her. Under British Law, only money counts, but then that is not so surprising, since British society is arranged to suit the wealthy. No matter what criticisms Brexiteers may throw at Europe, at least love and family still mean something on the Continent - in Britain judgement has been reduced to the size of the bank balance in question.
It is sad, very sad.
Still, we have to go back, and before the government pulls up the drawbridge, and hence the need for us to begin our Final Preparations for the UK, but I am not looking forward to the journey 'ome...
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All the best,
Owen
Podcast: Final Preparations for the UK
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
Originally by Washington Irving
Abridged by Fiza Pathan and Michelangelo Zane
Illustrated by Farzana Cooper
Reviewed by Barry Boy
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Fiza Pathan and Michelangelo Zane is a rewrite, an abridged version of the 1799 American classic by Washington Irving, and illustrated by Farzana Cooper.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is set in Tarry Town on the eastern shores of the Hudson River. We are told that it acquired its name from the women of the town, because their men spent too much time in the inns and that the area and its inhabitants were prone to ideas, thoughts and visualisations of a supernatural nature, one of which was that of a headless horseman.
Most of the story involves an impoverished out-of-town teacher, who decides that his prospects would be greatly improved, if he could persuade one of his young pupils, the beautiful heiress xxx to marry him. However, this upsets several local youths, who think that they should have the first crack of the whip. The teacher seems to be impervious to this conflict of interest though, and that forms the crux of this story.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is written in the third-person and in a slightly archaic style, which only enhances the rhythm and appeal of the story. I am sure that there must have been a temptation to bring the language up to date, but I am glad that they resisted it. Having said that, I do not think that the target audience, children, will have any trouble with it either. Indeed, it may even encourage some children to read older, say, classical texts. Despite the quirky old dialogue and often descriptive, somewhat jocular narrative, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow has been edited very well, which is always a plus-point.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow has been professionally produced, and, according to sleeve notes, is part of a planned series which includes classics from Britain, Russia and the USA, making the proposed series international in character.
Abridged, and film, versions are often looked down on, but I think that this version of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow has been well executed. Friends tell me that the 1999 film version was good too, but I haven't seen it.
Nevertheless, I give The Legend of Sleepy Hollow abridged version by Fiza Pathan and Michelangelo Zane, and excellently illustrated by Farzana Cooper, five stars out of five, and look forward to reading the next one.
Podcast: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
How PLR Can Be Useful for Authors
PLR can be very useful to authors, because they are such good writers. That may sound rather odd, but sometimes you just want to put content on a site without having to do all the leg work. If you can trust the source of your PLR, this gives authors a golden opportunity to just download some PLR, adjust it to suit the circumstances and up load it to the web.
How difficult can that be for a writer?
The PLR on this web site comes in niche packages of 15+ 500-word articles which have hardly been used anywhere else. In fact, some have never been used anywhere else. That is not the point though, before PLR is put on a decent web site, it should be re-written as a matter of course, so that it is stamped with the site-owner's personality and becomes unique.
How would an author of novels use PLR?
Every book has a theme and a genre, so an author exploring the use of PLR could select the niche pack that most closely resembles the content of the book / novel in question, and 'bend' the content to provide backup material for the book. These articles can be posted to the book's web site and / or to article directories in order to garner backlinks to the author's or book's web site.
This strategy allows the writer to spend more time writing creatively and less time writing background, which is a necessity for unknown writers these days. Nowadays, it is no longer good enough to have written a book. If no-one has ever heard of you, you have to create a 'buzz'.
One, and arguably the best, way of creating a buzz, is to write 'around' the subject matter of the book in question. An example: I have three books based on Lek, a bar girl in Pattaya, Thailand, so I have written articles on her youth, her village, Pattaya and Thailand.
If your main character is a cotton mill worker, you could write articles on the cotton industry, cotton slavery, northern England, the southern states, looms etc, etc. Anything of interest that will get people thinking about the subject of your book.
When you publish these articles off your own site, you add a by-line with at least one link back to your book's site or where it can be bought. Good articles will be picked up by other web masters looking for useful content and your piece may be seen by thousand - which means that the link to your book will be too.
It all depends on how much time you have and whether you can see the importance of what I am saying.
Good luck with your book or project.
Regards,
Owen
For 100+ niche PLR ebooks, go to our favourite PLR site
Podcast: PLR Can Be Useful for Authors
Crater's Edge
by Lucy Andrews
Review by Barry Boy
Crater's Edge is a well-edited novel written in the third person in the genre of futuristic, off-world, fantasy or science-fiction.
The main protagonist is Kalen Trinner, an experienced mining engineer-cum-troubleshooter, who is sent to a mine at Area 20, which is in Three Craters on a planet called Taidor, where they have been experiencing unusual phenomena, such as an abnormal number of cases of sickness among the miners and malfunctions in the plant and equipment.
Futuristic
In the time of this story at Crater's Edge, mankind has still not managed to control the birth rate, but they have come up with an ingenious method to adapt to it. They have the population living in shifts! That is, people have their own homes, but they share the streets, amenities and even their jobs. There are two such shifts called (time) Zones - Unity and Early.
These two Zones are strictly segregated and the people from each are prohibited from meeting each other, which means that all public places have to be cleared at the end of each shift. Presumably, because of this, each Zone develops a distinct character, feel, or way of behaving.
The only point of contact is through the notes that the person doing your job in the other Zone - called one's Duplicate - leaves at the end of the day. In this way, plant, offices and businesses are kept running twenty-four hours a day.
Crater's Edge portrays a unique answer to the problems of overcrowding that reminds me of some of the situations that the crew of the Star Ship Enterprise encountered during their voyages. Weird, outlandish solutions that don't quite work, which allows us, from our present-day, Earthly perspective to wonder how those other-planetary leaders came up with them!
I thoroughly enjoyed Crater's Edge by Lucy Andrews. I enjoyed Miss Andrews' unique storyline and the well-drawn characters and locations. I also thought that there was the right amount of detail concerning the mining operations themselves. If I have a criticism, it is personal and small - I thought that the cliff-hanger ending was a little abrupt.
However, the cover and the title also match the storyline of Crater's Edge, so I have no hesitation in giving Lucy Andrews five out of five stars for her novel Crater's Edge.
Well done!
You can find a unique interview with this author on this blog by clicking her name: Lucy Andrews .
and purchase Crater's Edge here too!.
Podcast: Crater's Edge
Lucy Andrews
Hello, could you begin by telling us your name, how we can reach you and where you come from, please?
Name : Lucy Andrews
Social Media : https://www.facebook.com/LucyAndrewsAuthor
https://twitter.com/LAndrewsWrites
Country: England
Do you prefer to read a particular genre? :
Yes, I usually read either historical or science fiction novels. When I read a book, I want to be transported out of normal daily life to places I’ve never been to.
Do you write in the same genre? :
My first novel is science fiction. I decided to write the sort of book that I would want to read. I realised that if I set my novel in the future, there would be no constraint on the sort of society I could put my characters in. I could create a whole world and a different way of living unlike contemporary society and take my characters to unusual places and situations. I wanted to create a world that would stretch the imagination and pose questions about the way people live, the things they do and why. Science fiction enables the author more freedom to do this than setting a book in the past or present.
Have you always written and what got you started professionally? :
I’ve always wanted to write a novel but never had the time until recently. I’ve had a busy career and first tried my hand at writing short stories for women’s magazines several years ago. I wasn’t very successful, primarily because women’s fiction isn’t a genre I particularly enjoy. I eventually woke up to the fact that what I really wanted to write was science fiction which I hadn’t tried before. As I was still working it took me some time to write my first novel and it is only within the last year that I’ve been able to give up the “day job” to focus on writing.
How many books have you published? :
Crater’s Edge is my first novel.
Why did you write Crater’s Edge and what is it about? :
I wanted to write an exciting adventure story that readers would enjoy on one level, but at the same time the book explores serious issues on a deeper level. The story is set in 2235 on a planet that is being colonised. As there is restricted space, the characters live in two different time zones. My main characters are an engineer, Kalen and a geologist, Sera. Kalen’s job is to trouble-shoot mining problems, but when he is sent to the new construction site at Three-Craters, things begin to unravel. All is not as it seems. Kalen’s search for the truth about the problems on the site, end up taking him on a dangerous journey. The book explores love, betrayal and treason. Kalen has a hard time! By the end of the book, everything is revealed, but I’ve tried to keep the reader guessing.
Crater’s Edge by Lucy Andrews
ISBN – 10 162526674X (UK); ISBN – 13 978-1625266743 (US); ASIN - B07771GBBN
What would you like your next book to be on? :
I’m writing a sequel to Crater’s Edge. Although Crater’s Edge is complete in itself, I thought it would be fun to take the story to the next level. Things are going to get pretty nasty for my characters. I’ve got a great storyline and I’ve dreamt up some very frightening challenges for them.
If you could go anywhere in the universe, where would you go and why? :
PLR Pension Fund
Do you have a pension fund and do you think that you can rely on it to provide for all your retirement needs? Do you even trust your company or the government not to dip into it before you can? If most of us are honest, we don't have a lot of faith in our pension fund, do we?
No.
So, I am going to propose a way to regain the reins of your future finances and it will only cost you $20 per annum and most probably nothing after the first year.
It sounds too good to be true, eh? Well, just stick with me a while longer and I will reveal all completely free of charge!
This system works best the earlier you start it, but assuming you don't expect to be dead within ten years, it is well worth giving it a go.
Websites and blogs can make a lot of money, however most don't and so most people give up on them. It is quite hit and miss when choosing a subject for your attention, so you need to have a lot of them, like seedlings and regularly thin them out.
Let's say that you made one every three months for year or two. That may sound like a lot of work, but there are many free blog sites where setting up your own blog is simply a question of filling in a questionnaire and choosing a colour scheme.
The rub is that you need content for that site. But what if you could buy that for a reasonable price? Most starter websites and blogs only have five pages.
You could buy an ebook of niche articles targeted on your topic and drip feed them into your blog. It would take a morning to create your first blog or website and add five articles from your ebook of PLR articles.
(PLR articles are those which you buy and have a license to use in your own publication).
So, my suggestion is to:
1) Think of a subject you are interested in
2) Choose a name for your site and find a free host (WordPress, Blogger, Weebly)
3) Find a source of relevant PLR articles
4) Create your blog
5) Apply to Adsense and others for accounts to sell relevant items and earn money
Let's say that you earn $100 in that first quarter. Your outlay will have been $10 for the blog name and $10 for the PLR, so you will have made 400% profit in three months or a whopping 1,600% p.a.!
Take $20 of this and do it again, and the rest you can put into a traditional pension fund, if you like.
So, after a year, you are earning $400 p.a which is not bad for four mornings work, is it?
If you started doing this when you were 30 years old, you would have 30x4x400 or $48,000 p.a by the time you were sixty and thirty years' of profits in a pension fund!
Could you live on that?
Not all of your bright ideas for blogs will work, naturally, but you give them a year and ditch them if they are not paying their way. On the other hand, some will produce stellar returns, and all you have to do is tend them like a loving gardener.
For more suggested uses of PLR, see the panel at the top of the page and for a list of our 120+ books of 15+ 500-word niche targeted PLR articles click here.
Please LIKE and SHARE this article using the buttons below and visit our bookshop
All the best,
Owen
Podcast: PLR Pension Fund
Holidays for Webmasters Exclusive!
$7.99 for Two Weeks or More!
As the owner of every business knows, it's difficult to get away on a decent holiday, because it's hard to find someone who will devote as much time and attention to your business as you would. This is usually a very real problem in the world of bricks and mortar, but at least webmasters can take their computer anywhere in the world and work just as effectively from there.
The thing is, does your family want to see you, or even do you want to be, poring over your computer when you are supposed to be enjoying your holiday with your friends or family?
No, of course not!
However, as all good webmasters with an eye on the website's Google Page Rank know, if you don't keep up a campaign with a steady flow of high-quality relevant content, your PR will slip and that would be a disaster, wouldn't it?
Months, or even years or hard work writing content to get your website on Google page one, only to come back from a fortnight's holiday and find it on page ten - buried in the wilderness.
Well, now I have a solution for you, webmasters - you may go on your holiday and not lift a finger in content-typing and all for the measly sum of $7.99 for fifteen days!
Surely that makes it one of the cheapest holidays you could ever get?
This is how it works. If you need fresh content to maintain a current campaign for your online publication, say, blog, website or newsletter, you need one of my niche PLR ebooks, which contain on average fifteen, five-to-six hundred-word, laser-targeted, keyword-rich articles.
Then all you have to do is spend a few minutes before you go changing some of the wording in each one to make them your own and either have someone upload them for you one a day or set it up to work automatically - some systems allow the phased release of articles - or at worst, you could spend five minutes updating your website with them yourself every day - while you're checking your sales and Page Rank.
Now don't tell me you won't be doing that at least once a day!
So there you have it, complete rest for webmasters for only $7.99 for two weeks or more - what a bargain!
To peruse the ninety-nine PLR ebooks for your keywords and phrases, and start planning your well-deserved holiday, please go here: PLR ebooks
NB: PLR eBooks sold on Amazon for your complete peace of mind :-)
All the best,
Owen
Podcast: Holidays for Webmasters Exclusive!
Building a Website Using PLR
For the purpose of this article, I am going to assume that you are a complete novice at building websites, if you are not skip to here. This short article though will teach you the basics of how to make money online with a website by building a website using PLR.
When I first started building a website using PLR., I would build my website offline, then go looking for a domain name, but things have altered for beginners now, and it is better to start elsewhere in the creation process.
First you will need to check out the content available, so you can choose a name and a theme for your website. Select a theme for your site from the Private Label Rights (PLR) packages here: PLR content and buy one that takes your interest. These packages contain fifteen articles and are themed around a concept. That costs $8
Second, you will need somewhere to store your website, somewhere where visitors can find it by typing its name. I have used Hostgator for seven years and thoroughly recommend them. Their $5 per month package has all you need to host dozens of websites.
Then, think about a name for your site and purchase it (you can do this at Hostgator too). That costs less than $10
Now you have all the raw materials for your website. So, next, you decide whether you want a traditional static website, ie one where the information remains on pages, or a blog, where the front page can change frequently automatically and other people can interact with comments.
Whichever you choose, you have already paid for it, so you just have to either choose a template (free from Hostgator) and activate it in their SiteBuilder app, or activate Wordpress (also free) and choose a blog theme that suits your content.
Now, you also have the framework for your Internet site.
Next, choose an article from the pack, rewrite it to make it original, sign it and publish it to your site. Do this as a page in Wordpress rather than as a post, then do it four more times.
Now you have a decent five-page niche site of quality, original articles. At this point, you should look for something for visitors to spend their money on, so search for affiliate deals in your niche and add the banners (or whatever) as the company directs you too.
Now you are ready for visitors or traffic, in the parlance. You can do this by rewriting one of the other ten articles and posting it to article directories with a link back to your home page and the most relevant of the other pages in the 'Author Bio', which is called deep-linking (it impresses the search engines, which should give your site better visibility in the search results.
If you are using Wordpress for building a website using PLR, you can also post this piece to your blog as a post NOT a page. Use tags and hyper-links to associate it with one of your pages.
Some people say to leave time between posts, but I don't know. I used to just crack on with it, but I suppose it depends whether this is a hobby, a sideline, a project or a business. For me it was the latter.
The greatest benefit of using PLR in this way, is that the content is there for you. You need do no research, just rewrite it in your own words. This saves time, and is a godsend to students of English as a foreign language and TEFOL/TESOL teachers.
If there are any terms here you don't understand about building a website using PLR, just ask in a comment below, or do a search - they are quite standard.
So, first go here and look around PLR content
PLR Articles and The Self-Employed
In this piece on PLR articles and the self-employed, we will choose a specific trades-person, say a carpenter, but the same principles apply equally well to any other self-employed tradesman or professional, such as computer engineer, lawyer and even dentist.
The basic concept is to use PLR articles that you have bought, possibly had written and use them in your advertising campaigns. If you have the time, you could write your own articles, but then, technically, you would not be using PLR in your advertising campaigns.
So, you need to find a reputable source of material. This can be difficult, so build a relationship with a writer who is prepared to do the necessary research and buy from him or her regularly. The best way of getting what you want is to suggest the titles yourself.
Go for a pack of fifteen, 500-word articles at a time because this will give your article marketing campaign a real punch and fifteen PLR articles are enough to do several other things with too which we will go into below. The articles should be useful, informative, but at 500 words, they will only give tantalising tastes of the subject matter.
The job of these PLR articles is to show that you know what you are talking about, not to teach the reader your professional skills! They should have the same tone as your web site and newsletter or blog, be that humorous or serious.
A carpenter can write on apprenticeship, tools, aspects of reading drawings, working on site, health and safety, customer relations, working in people's homes, cleanliness, sharpening a chisel or saw, the different weights of hammers - there are dozens of topics for the self-emloyed, whatever jobs, trades or professions they have.
If you already have a web site, you can trickle-feed these articles into it at the rate of one a week. When they have been indexed by Google, say six weeks later, you can copy them to article databases with links back to your own web site in the author bio at the bottom, which will give you one-way backlinks to boost your sites rank.
If you do not have a web site, use five articles to create one. Add the articles to your newsletter too, because readers of that will probably very rarely go to your site, if they ever do - they don't need to, do they?
The final stage is to create an ebook from the same PLR articles in order to reach a totally new audience again. You will have enough material for an ebook of about 8,000 words, so if you would prefer a longer book, get another batch of articles and when you have used them on your site and in your newsletter, you can add them to your book to raise it to 15-16,000 words, which you can sell on Amazon for $7-$10
You will soon recoup your outlay on the PLR articles from the sale of the books alone and you will be the author of a book on your chosen self-employed profession. You could publish one or two books a year and build yourself a worldwide reputation.
by +Owen Jones
If you are looking for well-written PLR articles on niche subjects, Megan Publishing Services recommends The Niche PLR Collection, where you can choose from over 100 niche packs of 15 or more articles of 500-600 words each.
Podcast: PLR Articles and The Self-Employed
How Merchants Can Use PLR
I suppose that it seems quite normal to think that PLR (articles that can be rebranded as one's own) are only suitable for on line use, because that is where they are used most often, but if you think about the amount of writing a business person does every month, merchants can use PLR to help there too.
If you have the right PLR, that is, because one of the biggest benefits of PLR is that it reduces the amount of research that the end-writer has to do. Therefore, you have to be able to trust the original writer of the PLR to have done the research for you.
Subsequently rewriting the PLR and making it your own is very easy, when you have an article to adapt in front of you. This is a very handy approach if English is not your first language and you want your writing to sound fluid and natural.
So, let's say that you have a shop in the high street selling, er, gardening implements, for example. Wouldn't your shop stand out from the crowd if you could hand out free leaflets on things related to gardening?
How to build a garden fish pond; how to care for Koi carp; how to deter mosquitoes from your patio; et cetera, et cetera? However, just because you sell garden implements, it doesn't necessarily mean you know about the topics I just mentioned, does it?
What could you do? Hire someone to write the articles for you? Go and learn about fish ponds? Or buy good PLR on fish ponds, reprint it and job done? Good PLR does not have to be expensive: you can get an ebook of 15 500-word niche articles for less than $10.
At the rate of one a week, that is nearly three months promotional material for about 65 cents a week! And you would be the only one for miles or more who was bothering to do it.
Would that not give you an edge over your competitors?
Are here any other ways merchants can use PLR?
Let's say that you wanted to start selling your stuff on Amazon or eBay? You have 15 ready-made articles that you can make your own with a little re-writing and you can post them around the Internet with links back to your Amazon or eBay account in the 'author's bio' or by-line at the bottom of the article.
Any other ways merchants can use PLR?
What if you wanted a blog, web site or / and newsletter? No problem at all! It's the same tactic, you can slightly rewrite your PLR and use them for the basic pages of your site and send the others out to article directories for back links or / and add them to your auto-responder to send to your list since the readership will not be the same.
There are many ways merchants can use PLR, good PLR, in the on and off line world, but it helps if you remember a few points:
] PLR's main purpose is to save the rewriter time (researching or / and learning English grammar)
] You must buy good PLR from a reputable source
*] No matter how good the PLR is, you must read it through and at least change any expressions that you would not use or do not like - in other words - make it sound like you could have written it.
For 125+ niche PLR ebooks, go to our favourite PLR site
Podcast: Merchants Can Use PLR
Uses for PLR Articles
Maybe you are not sure what Private Label Rights Articles, commonly called PLR, are, so let's ensure that we are talking about the same thing here. Private Label Rights Articles are articles that you hold the right to publish as your own, but which were written by someone else.
The right to use the private label rights articles as your own may have been conferred on you as a gift or, more commonly, because you paid for them. There are two main points that affects the value of, and so, the uses for PLR:
1] the quality of the private label rights articles and
2] how many times they have been used.
In turn, the quality of the private label rights articles is affected by the style and quality of the writing; spelling; research; etc .. PLR is often sold to many webmasters. If the PLR that you possess has been sold to only a few people, all well and good, but if thousands of people have used it, well, Google is not going to take much notice of your copy.
This situation does not restrict the uses for PLR, since it has a simple solution. Just rewrite the PLR articles in your own style. Why buy an article, if you are going to have to rewrite it?
You may ask, but, if you trust its author, then the research will already have been done and it is considerably easier for most people to rewrite than to write an original piece.
Not only that, but if English is not your mother language, it is far simpler to change words, but keep the grammar than it is to write the whole thing from scratch. This is one of the best uses for PLR.
Other uses of PLR is in newsletters and autoresponders, where you don't care what Google thinks, because it has no access to these mailings. For example, if you had a lit of subscribers who are interested in dogs, you could buy a few articles on dogs from a PLR writer and programme them to be sent out when you are on holiday or otherwise too busy to write articles of your own.
A pack of 15 articles would effectively give you 15 weeks off work, which is quite a lot, I am sure you will agree. It helps enormously if the writer of the PLR organises the articles into tight niche subjects.
One of the great uses for PLR is getting a web site up quickly. For example, if you wanted to have a web site selling St Valentine's Day Gifts, but you had left if a little late (or could not write the content for yourself for the reasons given above), you could buy a pack of PLR on, say, romantic gifts, use five articles to create a nice little five-page web site, put five in an autoresponder for subscribers and place five on article directories with links back to your new site.
How long would it take to set that up? Half-a-day? A whole day? Well, that's not bad, is it? To have a whole web site, an autoresponder loaded with messages and articles getting you attention and backlinks in a day!
Of course, I would always recommend rewriting PLR, even if only a little, just to put your own slant on it, but when you can get a dozen or more good 500-600 word PLR articles for less that $10, what have you got to lose?
Start thinking of uses for PLR in your business today and save yourself some time.
If you are looking for well-written PLR on niche subjects, Megan Publishing Services recommends The Niche PLR Collection, where you can choose from over 125 niche packs of 15 or more articles of 500-600 words each.
Podcast: Uses for PLR