Aaron Dennis's Blog - Posts Tagged "books"

Why doesn’t America read?

Well, it isn’t a simple answer. Certainly, there are still many out there perusing internet articles for current events or scanning various sites for information, but where are all the Americans who read for entertainment?

Anyone who does actually read will claim that there are large communities of readers on sites like Goodreads, that there are plenty of places to download e-books like Smaswhords, and that the big boom in books released through Amazon and to e-readers would prove that there plenty of readers in America, but in truth, it’s a very small fraction of the country that engages in the lost art of reading.

Here’s a quick quote from the L.A. Times

The study found that overall, 72% of American adults have read a book in the past year, while the percentage for millennials, ages 18 to 29, was higher: 80%. The percentage of overall book readers dropped from the previous year, when 76% of American adults reported having read a book, either all or part of one.

Do you see? These are people who have read a book in a year, and not even a whole book; lot’s of people try to read and then give up after a few pages, but why? Furthermore, the study doesn’t discuss what kind of book was read and why; some people glance at a non-fiction book for information, but does that count as reading?

The major presses are releasing tons of books for entertainment in America and other countries, but the presses are way out of touch with today’s audience; they don’t post book releases and reviews to social media outlets, they don’t really show any commercials for new releases on television, and unless someone is already a subscriber to Reader’s Digest, there isn’t anyone out there reading magazines containing book releases, but is marketing the problem?

No, it isn’t. The problem is that today, everyone and their grandmother can sit down at their computer, type out 50,000 words, buy a cover from some photoshop artist, and release it through Amazon, Smashwords, and Lulu. These people are often called indie authors, but that’s incorrect; indie authors are published through indie presses like Baen, actual presses with editors, marketers, and printers. The correct term is self published author, and these authors release their books through POD companies like Friesen Press; it’s a flurry of unedited mush, and, all too often, self published authors also release e-books, which flood the market, through Amazon and Smashwords.

But why is that a bad thing? Is it inappropriate to write a book and release it? Would not the readers and the market decide if the author and book are worth buying? In a free trade system, yes, but these authors get together through social media and trade books with each other, so that they can all give each other 5 star reviews on book sites. The result is a poorly written, cliched, stagnant piece with 100 5 star reviews enticing readers to buy a book, and then readers purchase it to find the writer wasn’t able to string together five words, much less reveal a cogent plot, and so they feel shilled, and they give their 1 star review, but it doesn’t end there. That doesn’t solve the problem.

You see, these self published authors get together on social media and tell each other to support other self published authors because they write for a living and need to pay their bills, so they all congregate and talk about trading good reviews in order to boost their sales, and there doesn’t seem to be anybody out there trying to dissuade them from this practice, which fools unsuspecting readers into buying trash.

Now, not all self published authors are terrible writers. Some of them hire professional editors, others buy manuals to learn how to properly edit, some find beta-readers for feedback before a release, and some have degrees in literature or composition, but it’s so overly difficult to know which author has an inkling of editing when tons and tons and tons of e-books are flooding the market, and as I said, they all have hundreds of glowing reviews.

Another problem is the book reviewer industry. When a major press, or even a true, indie press, releases a book, they hire professional reviewers from companies like Kirkus to read and write a real, professional review on the book; these are paid professionals who take their careers very seriously, and they will describe in detail the good and bad points of the book. Furthermore, if the book is terrible, they will explain why and provide their rating for everyone to see. Self published authors don’t do this; they claim that paid reviews are biased, but it’s the paid reviewers that tell and post the truth!

Here’s the kicker, since these self published authors have been destroyed by real reviewers, they resort to each other for fake reviews, and they will even find blog sites and review sites to post reviews, but too often, these non-professional reviewers promise that they will NOT post a bad review. Instead, if they don’t like the book, rather than shaming the author, they opt out of posting the review, but reviews are not for authors, they are supposed to be for READERS.

So, why doesn’t America read anymore? Because every time an American tries to pick up a book and start reading, their eyes are assaulted by uninspired dialogue, unbelievable characters, convoluted, nonsensical plots, and feel so disgusted with the world of reading, that they become jaded, thinking that books are simply terrible.

What can be done?

No one is saying that people should stop writing; it’s great that so many Americans have decided to put their thoughts into words, but they should do their due diligence and make their work a professional masterpiece; it doesn’t matter if the concept within the story is any good, everybody has different tastes, what matters is the quality of the writing, and the only way to let readers know whether a book is worth reading is by posting a real review. If a book is bad, people need to say so. If a book is good, people need to say so, but what’s killing the reading industry is the masses of self published authors trading these fake reviews and these non-professional reviewers deciding NOT to post bad reviews; they must post bad reviews because reviews are for readers, not authors.

The Brian Griffins of the writing industry have been taking over. Someone needs to curtail this horrendous practice and restore reading and writing in America to its former glory.

Not only do readers deserve to know if a book is readable, but the authors deserve to hear why their book was bad, so that they can sit back and improve on their next novel. So many self-published authors write and release a book every month; there’s no way a book written that quickly is ready for release, and these clowns have no idea that they can’t write because they’re surrounded by their own ilk, raving about how amazing their book is, even though it lacks any kind of punctuation, all the characters talk the same, the plot makes no sense and wanders off like a drunken horse, and offers no lesson whatsoever.

Do you want America to start reading again? You can help to solve the problem. Before you buy a book, take a look at the reviews; look at the 5 star reviews, look at the 1 star reviews, and then, on Amazon, you can click “look inside” and actually check to see if the writer was able to keep an idea within a paragraph; there’s an art to writing; it isn’t just words on a page. Each word has to fill the sentence with life. Each paragraph has to drive the essence of the story forward. Each piece of dialogue has to sound like people conversing, and if an author fails in these concepts, readers will drop the book and walk away, enraged at the fact they just blew 2 dollars.

Please, America, read again; read reviews, good and bad, take a look inside the book, you have the opportunity, and on Smashwords, you can often download a free sample of the book.

And readers, you wonderful, American readers out there who still love finding a diamond in the rough, please review all the books you purchase; reader reviews are by far more important than professional or author reviews. If you want America to read again, give them a reason; talk about how good a book was; talk about how bad a book was; inform your fellow readers, so that all of you might band together on social media like the self published authors who are trying to trick you into buying a 50,000 word train wreck.

And be wary, be very, very wary; lots of self published authors will maliciously post negative reviews for writers if the other writer gave them an honest, bad review on their book. I’ve seen it; one author trades a book, he or she posts a review of the other author, and then, when they get their bad review in return, that author will remove their first review, and write a scathing indictment instead only to try and make themselves feel better, so it’s up to you, the American reader, to fix the book industry. If you love to read then you must review for better or worse, and you must tell your friends and family as well.

Help me make reading fun again. Please.

For the entire month of July, Smashwords has provided writers the opportunity to give their books away for free. While one can always permanently set their books as free, not all writers do this, and not for every book.
Well, for the entire month of July, all of my books on Smashwords will be free for download in whichever format you prefer.
Visit my Smashwords page to grab free copies of The Adventures of Larson and Garrett, Cayneian, and various other titles.
https://www.smashwords.com/books/sear...
This free promotion will end after the 31st of July, so now is the time to stock up on a bunch of free e-books.
Also, please review the books whether you like them or not, so that other readers will know what you think. Also, Also, please share this post with everyone, so all of your friends and family can also grab some free e-books.
Thank you.

Like a word, a single sentence can make or break a book. Books come in all forms; fiction, non-fiction, entertainment, information, third person omniscient, first person narrative, but the structure is basically the same.

A writer uses words to form a sentence, and the sentence is presented in order to define and clarify an idea, but there are some sentences that do the job better than others.

Last time, I made my point by showing how changing a single word in a sentence can elicit different imagery. This time, I want to show the first few sentences from an actual, published book.

I went to Amazon, and by utilizing the look inside feature, I was able to look at the following sentences from the introduction of Marion Gropen’s The Profitable Publisher: Making the Right Decisions.

The following are the first sentences:

Most publishing folks would rather have their teeth pulled than wade into their “numbers.” But, if you want to survive and thrive as a small press, you can’t afford to avoid the math. My aim here is to get you past any difficulties, painlessly. I’ve never found anyone who couldn’t learn this material. Nor have they ever needed anesthesia! You can do this. You may even enjoy it.

Where do I begin?

First and foremost, I want to point out the use of would and could. Both of these words make for weak writing. I can expound upon this for hours on end, and perhaps, for my next post, I will, but for now, let’s look at the core idea.

A single paragraph is designed to present a single idea, and the sentences within the paragraph are there to explain the idea in the most concise and cogent terms.

So, what’s the key idea, and how do these sentences make or break this book?

The idea is that with Gropen’s information, a small press can thrive. The insinuation is that a small, publishing press can’t survive without doing the math. Great, but let’s look at the first sentence.

Most publishing folks would rather have their teeth pulled than wade into their “numbers.”

First of all, this is a wild assumption. Second of all, using would signifies an if situation; this is not an assertion but a guess.

If people find themselves wading through numbers, they would rather have their teeth pulled.

Again, this is an assumption.

A better way to write this is:

No publisher enjoys wading through the numbers.

Then, why is numbers in quotations? It isn’t a quote. There’s no dialogue. I understand this is written as a first person narrative, so the author is talking to me, the reader, but then the whole thing requires quotations, and we just don’t do that. Furthermore, numbers isn’t slang, which benefits from an italicized font and not quotations anyway, but I’m deviating from my point, sort of; a sentence is more than what we hear, it’s also what we see, and the punctuation and grammar we use is used to provide the most direct information, especially in regards to an informative book.

This first sentence also dives right into the second sentence:

But, if you want to survive and thrive as a small press, you can’t afford to avoid the math.

I guess no one taught this author not to start a sentence with a conjunction. Did they forget FANBOYS?

A conjunction ties two ideas together, so, more appropriately, the first two sentences are a single, complex sentence:

Most publishing folks would rather have their teeth pulled than wade into their “numbers”, but if you want to survive and thrive as a small press, you can’t afford to avoid the math.

That’s the correct way to write this single sentence. The reason the first comma belongs outside the quotation marks is because what’s quoted isn’t dialogue, and needs to not be in quotations anyway. Secondly, you don’t put a comma after but. The comma goes before the conjunction. Now, I want to add that when we deal with dialogue, many of the rules go out the window, but I’ll deal with that in a later post.

So, we have instead:

Most publishing folks would rather have their teeth pulled than wade into their numbers, but if you want to survive and thrive as a small press, you can’t afford to avoid the math.

Now, that’s a big, bulky, clunky sentence. What’s it saying? It’s saying that publishers don’t want to deal with numbers because it’s unpleasant. Is it unpleasant? Maybe; let’s assume it is.

How does the following sentence sound?

No publisher enjoys wading through the numbers.

That says it all. It’s concise, it’s direct, it gives the reader no wiggle room; they know beyond a doubt, just by reading that first sentence, that working through numbers sucks.

So, let’s tackle the next sentence:

My aim here is to get you past any difficulties, painlessly.

I don’t know that here is required. Obviously, if reading this book, the aim is provided in here.

My aim is to get you past any difficulties, painlessly.

It works, but again, it sounds clunky.

How about:

Unfortunately, the math is crucial to a small press, but don’t fret; I’m going to show you what to do.

This complex sentence accompanies my first sentence, and it provides reassurance to the reader while reinforcing the original premise; doing the numbers sucks.

Next, the writer has the following:

I’ve never found anyone who couldn’t learn this material.

This raises questions; how many people have they taught, how many people have had trouble trying to get over the trouble of dealing with numbers, and if there’s no trouble involved in learning how to get over the difficulties of dealing with the numbers, why is there a whole book devoted to it?

Moreover, this sentence deals with something superfluous. The introduction originally stated that publishers don’t enjoy working through the numbers, and that the premise of the book was going to be about how to get past that difficulty, but this new sentence addresses the ease with which one can get past the difficulty of how difficult it can be to get past working with numbers. Did you get all that? Confusing, right?

Let’s just cut this sentence completely and move on to the next one:

Nor have they ever needed anesthesia!

Well, crapola; now we start a new sentence with another conjunction, which ties back into the premise that people would rather have teeth pulled than wade through numbers. There’s no need to reinforce a would be scenario, and since this is a fragment, we’ll just cut it, too.

Next, we have:

You can do this.

Okay, its’ a little positive reinforcement. That’s good, but why on earth is can both italicized and bold?

Finally, we have:

You may even enjoy it.

Aha, but I may not enjoy it, eh? That just negated the previous, positive reinforcement, so we’ll cut that.

What do we have left then?

No publisher enjoys wading through the numbers. Unfortunately, the math is crucial to a small press, but don’t fret; I’m going to show you what to do. You can do this.

In this version, the final sentence breaks the flow of the paragraph, so you see how important a sequence of properly written sentences is.

A better way to write this is:

No publisher enjoys wading through the numbers. Unfortunately, the math is crucial to a small press, but don’t fret; I’m going to show you what to do. The following pages are filled with simple rules to follow, which will lead you and your small press to success. You can do this, and I’m going to help you.

Now, let’s be honest; which book are you more likely to read? Do you have a better understanding of the importance of proper sentences and how seemingly similar sentences can evoke totally different mindsets?

Thank you.

I would go to the store if it wasn’t raining.

I could leave the house, but there are zombies outside.

I should fix the car, but I’m saving up for a boat.

Would, could, and should are what I consider if words; they imply, they insinuate, and they excuse or absolve one from the action at hand. Generally, they make for weak writing when they’re used in prose, and for all of you who often read self published, or independently published, books, you’ll notice that every writer uses one of those words in every other sentence, on every single page.

Sometimes, would, could, and should are great words. People do use them in dialogue. At times, would, could, and should work well in prose, too, but this is a difficult maneuver.

Since they’re weak words, or implications rather than assertions, they’re great words for either a weaker character, or they can be used to show deliberation. I’ll provide examples of everything in a moment, but first I want to portray, I mean, really get across, how different prose can be with and without those words.

I always like to take a look at the works of writers who claim to be best sellers. I often check their work, their rankings, and find that they are far from best sellers. Then, I look at the reviews, and often they have 500, glowing, five star reviews, but they have about a dozen one star reviews, and when I check them out, I can see that the one star reviews are given by angered readers, and the five star reviews are given by other authors.

Why are authors doing this? They think that giving each other great reviews in exchange for great reviews sells more books, and they think that reviews are for authors, and they think that they can trick people into buying a bad book, and sometimes it works, and that’s why the readers are angry when they buy a poorly written book.

Reviews are for readers, though; a reader decides that a book was or wasn’t worth their money, their time, and they want to let others know. Readers and authors aren’t reviewing Stephen King’s Dreamcatcher to help him sell more copies.

Generally, when it comes to reviews of indie books, there’s one chief complaint- lack of editing, sometimes called clunky writing, or poor flow, or they say it reads like a draft. Why? Why does this happen to every indie writer, and why are no indie authors spotting this?

Editors spot this kind of stuff. I say it all the time: Editing is not the same as proof reading, editing software cannot make your account of events more palatable to readers; you must hire a competent editor. Editors aren’t working for authors; they’re working for readers. Readers deserve to spend their money on a well written story, regardless of whether or not they enjoyed the plot, characters, etc.; you’ll never please everyone, but an editor goes a long way.

So, I have a short excerpt from Lola Silverman’s, Escorting the Wrong Billionaire.

Excerpts can be used in reviews and discussion, so I just grabbed the first few lines from the book by using Amazon’s look inside feature, a feature that readers need to use before they buy.

Kaylee opened the window of her apartment and took a deep breath. Perching her butt on the sill, she slung her legs out onto the fire escape. She hated heights. Thank God her unit was only on the second floor. Any farther up and she would have fainted dead away before plummeting to the concrete. (Aaron’s mental note: I thought there was a fire escape.)

Someone pounded on her front door. “Kaylee! I know you’re in there. I’ve given you three weeks on the rent and I can’t give you any more. Pay up or I’m going to have you evicted!” (Aaron’s mental note. Front door? This is a second story apartment. Is there more than one door?)

Yeah, hitting her head might actually be a positive thing. (Aaron’s mental note: Not sure from where this thought came. Who gave the idea of hitting her head?) If she had a concussion, maybe Mrs. Tobolovsky would feel sorry for her and give her another week to pay her rent. Except a concussion would mean a trip to the hospital—and that Kaylee could not afford.


Let’s see…five sentences in, would. Eleven in, would. Twelve, would and could. That’s four uses in two paragraphs, but what other way is there to write out this scenario? Do readers really care about would and could or weak writing?

Aaron’s rewrite:

Kaylee opened her studio apartment’s window. There, she sat, peeking out into the monotony of the world. Her feet dangled carelessly. While she didn’t like heights—the mere thought churned her stomach—she was on the second floor and protected by the fire escape. A sudden pounding drew her attention.

“Kaylee, I know you’re in there! You’re three weeks late on the rent! How many times we gotta’ go through this?” Mrs. Tobolovsky made her regular effort to collect, yelling and pounding, in the hopes of avoiding an eviction. “Hey!” She screamed, and followed up with another set of fists to the door. “I’m tellin’ you, you get your head straight, or you’re outta’ here!”

Yeah, my head straight, Kaylee thought. Rather than paying, she felt sorry for herself, her situation, and figured she was better off with a concussion than having her head straight. Unfortunately, a concussion came with more than a headache, it came with bills, and if she didn’t have rent money, she didn’t have hospital money.


See? The original phrasing was just awkward, and it didn’t tell us what we needed to know- Kaylee is in a jam, and she doesn’t have her life together. Instead, the original prose took us into and out of different perspectives and tenses, and with a weaker voice.

Let’s see, step-by-step, what changes were made and why.

Kaylee opened the window of her apartment and took a deep breath.

Nothing wrong there. It’s a great opener.

Perching her butt on the sill, she slung her legs out onto the fire escape.

Still moving along, but that’s weird. She slung her legs onto the fire escape? How are the window and escape built? Shouldn’t her feet be on the escape? Perching her butt…we normally sit on our butt and perch on our toes, like squatting. We know Kaylee is at home, sitting on the window sill, and with her feet over the fire escape…right?

She hated heights.

If she hates heights, why is she doing this? How far up is she? Well, we get a partial answer in the next sentence.

Thank God her unit was only on the second floor.

Okay, so she hates heights, but being nearly twenty feet up in the air is okay? Besides, she’s over the fire escape, which has a platform, right? Then, we get a weird addition in the next sentence.

Any farther up and she would have fainted dead away before plummeting to the concrete.

So, what do we have? What do we know? What is this paragraph trying to tell me, the reader? It tells me Kaylee is dangling her legs out from her window, and that she’s okay doing so because she’s not up very high, but I’m also told there’s a fire escape, and then I’m told she would otherwise faint and plummet to the concrete. It’s conflicting and confusing information. As a reader, do I want to learn more? I’m so plagued with questions.

Next, we have the following:

Someone pounded on her front door.

Alright, simple enough.

“Kaylee! I know you’re in there. I’ve given you three weeks on the rent and I can’t give you any more. Pay up or I’m going to have you evicted!”

Here, we have some dialogue, and now we get an idea of what’s going on. As a reader, now I’m assuming that Kaylee is a derelict, or that, perhaps, Tobolovsky is a horrible person. It is implied that Kaylee doesn’t pay her rent, and judging from the tone, this is a regular occurrence. Now, I’m expecting something to happen; there’s an opening for a discussion, or action, or some event.

Yeah, hitting her head might actually be a positive thing.

Okay, this is Kaylee’s internal dialogue, right? I wonder why it's her head and not my head. She’s having a rather strange thought from out of the blue. Who mentioned anything about hitting the head? Why is that a positive thing?

If she had a concussion, maybe Mrs. Tobolovsky would feel sorry for her and give her another week to pay her rent.

Well, that’s a strange a take on the story. Am I supposed to think that this character, Kaylee, is actually considering giving herself a concussion to avoid some rent? Why is that her first go to thought when the rent is overdue, assuming it’s overdue? I’m not really even sure that’s the case.

Except a concussion would mean a trip to the hospital—and that Kaylee could not afford.

Seems fairly obvious, but why is that sentence written that way? Why is there a dash? A comma is required. Furthermore, it’s evident, for those who live in America, that healthcare costs can outweigh the cost of an apartment, but if I’m not American, this is really confusing, and it’s confusing anyway because Kaylee must have access to all this information, which means her thoughts just don’t make sense, and why does she think, or expect us to think, or tell us to think that Tobolovsky might feel sorry and give her a break? If she’s injured, she surely won’t be able to pay the rent for that month or likely the next. It’s just baffling.

There is something here, though; we have the idea that Kaylee is a self-pitying, underachiever, who likes to make excuses for herself and not take responsibility, which has the makings of a great character if she’s made to overcome obstacles. That’s why I provided my version.

Kaylee opened her studio apartment’s window.

Okay, that’s the same opener, basically.

There, she sat, peeking out into the monotony of the world.

Ah, see, I gave her a reason to open the window and sit rather than perch; she’s looking out at the monotony of the world. Now, she sounds like a tortured soul. Besides, we know how people sit; there’s no real reason to go into it, and while there is a time for perch, now is not that time.

Her feet dangled carelessly.

That sentence further implies her angst.

While she didn’t like heights—the mere thought churned her stomach—she was on the second floor and protected by the fire escape.

I kept the fact that she didn’t like heights, and kept that confusing feeling of her odd behavior along with the fact that she doesn’t like heights; angst plus strife makes for a great read. Furthermore, the structure of the sentence flows much more naturally. We also know how she feels physically when she’s up too high, but we also know she’s fine due to the fire escape, and not the senseless idea of not being too high; if you’re afraid of heights, sitting on the second story window sill is terrifying!

A sudden pounding drew her attention.

I wrote this in this fashion to slap the reader from a rather tranquil, if confusing, scene to something alarming. You have the mental image that she spun her head to face the door in surprise, right?

“Kaylee, I know you’re in there! You’re three weeks late on the rent! How many times we gotta’ go through this?” Mrs. Tobolovsky made her regular effort to collect, yelling and pounding, in the hopes of avoiding an eviction. “Hey!” She screamed, and followed up with another set of fists to the door. “I’m tellin’ you, you get your head straight, or you’re outta’ here!”

I changed this whole dialogue block because the original was stock and somehow confusing. We were told Kaylee had been given three weeks on the rent, but not that she was overdue. Also, the reader knows Tobolovsky doesn’t want to evict. Now, I made the distinction. Furthermore, I didn’t leave it up to the reader to assume this happened before, I straight said it, and, on top of all that, tenants can’t usually get evicted for being three weeks late on the rent, and it takes a month’s notice to evict, so I changed the dialogue for a realistic feel, not to mention that the intermittent pounding sounds far more menacing than the original version of this dialogue.

Yeah, my head straight, Kaylee thought.

In keeping with the idea of giving oneself a concussions, I actually gave a reasonable lead in to this idea with Tobolovsky’s dialogue.

Rather than paying, she felt sorry for herself, her situation, and figured she was better off with a concussion than having her head straight.

Here, I explained it all. We still don’t know why Kaylee doesn’t pay, which adds a touch of mystery. Is she a broke student? Has she recently been laid off? Does she have a kid? We don’t know, but we are curious, and especially because she’s considering knocking herself out rather than forking over the dough.

Unfortunately, a concussion came with more than a headache, it came with bills, and if she didn’t have rent money, she didn’t have hospital money.

Again, explained, and all without implications. The reader now knows by way of an assertion: Kaylee has no money and while getting knocked out sounds worthwhile, she does know it isn’t useful.

When comparing the two versions, it becomes quite clear that the original version doesn’t even know where it’s going; the writer doesn’t know what she wants her readers to think, feel, or know. That’s okay, though, most writers are like this; writers provide a sequential account of events. Editors turn those accounts into a story.

Now, I want to provide some original examples of when would, could, and should are great.

“Hey, Bill, you busy,” John asked.

“Nope. What’s up, John?”

“Well,” John hesitated, rubbing his chin. “I need to go to the hardware store and pick up a new ladder, so I was hoping you would like to come along.”

Bill smiled and looked away. “I would love to help you out, bud, but my pick up truck’s in the shop. Otherwise, I could help you.”


This is a very real conversation. Now, in a more lively context, the words I would are usually written as I’d, but I didn’t want to pull focus from the use of would. At any rate, two friends discussing a project can certainly come across like that, and one friend certainly wants to help the other, and one friend certainly doesn’t want to pressure the other, so the words would show deliberation, and they are followed up by an excuse or a reason, so it isn’t weak writing in this case; it’s a real situation, however, we also know that neither John nor Bill are jerks; jerks don’t give a reason or excuse, so they won’t use would or could in dialogue, or at least, not this dialogue.


Let’s take a look in prose.

John would’ve gone outside, but the hordes of zombies were still shuffling around the neighborhood.


What do we know? There are zombies. John is scared of them. He wants to go out, but he won’t. He has an excuse not to go out; there are zombies.

This is a perfect way to convey to the reader that John wants something, but he doesn’t have what it takes to get the job done, and it’s very relatable, but we also expect, if John is the protagonist, he will get over his fear in order to grow as a character, and get the job done, and therein lies the problem; if would, could, and should keep following John around, we’re always going to feel that he’s deliberating!

Let’s see what happens when we play with words.

John didn’t want to go outside. Hordes of zombies were still shuffling around the neighborhood.


In this case, there’s nothing implied. We don’t think John wants to go out at all, zombies or no zombies; we know John doesn’t want to go out. We’re then shown that there are zombies still roaming around, but we have a totally different John. The first John wanted to go out, but was scared. This second John just doesn’t want to go out, then we find out why; he’s so scared, he isn’t even considering going outside.

Would changed absolutely everything, so there is a time to use it, but the writer/editor has to know what they want to portray.

Let’s look at one more example.

John didn’t go outside. Hordes of zombies were still shuffling around the neighborhood.


In this case, it is implied that John wants to go outside, and then we find out why he doesn’t go, but we’re led to believe that he will venture outdoors at some point, so we’re expecting something to happen, but what? We don’t know, so this creates a degree of tension, expectation.

In the end, I won’t say that there’s a right or wrong way to do something; I’ll leave that conclusion up to you, but I will say that there is a time and a place to use certain words, that every word has a special impact on storytelling, and that it is extremely important for a writer/editor to read the work as a reader, because the reader is not in our mind, and we must convey to them what to think, feel, and know.

Thank you.

Hello to all my lovely and loyal readers. I have big news for readers. I know you love to read, and I know you’d like to make some money, and indirectly, there is a way for readers to make money by reading. I’m going to introduce you to affiliate marketing, but not the way you’ve seen it before.

You do want to make money, right? You like to read good stories? You can make money selling stories you’ve read. Well, you can make money even without reading stories, but what I want is for my readers to sell my stories because I know you guys have not only read my stories, you’ve loved them and want to share them with everyone, and I want to pay you to do it. It’s easy.

You’ve heard of affiliate marketing, right?

Well, here’s the deal; Smashwords allows their writers to set the amount of money affiliate marketers can earn.

Starting on 03/01/2017, I am offering everyone 25% of my sales. All you have to do is make a Smaswhords account, you should already have one anyway, and down at the bottom of my books’ pages is an affiliate link.
All you do is copy and paste that link on your site, or blog, or whatever, and whenever people buy my book through your site, with your link, you earn 25% of the sale. You’ll have to add your Paypal address to your Smashwords account to earn the money, but it’s super simple, and you earn money immediately.

Yeah, I’m taking a cut so that people the world over can earn money by selling my books, and it should be pretty easy because my books practically sell themselves.

Look at this title, cover, and blurb; wouldn’t you buy this book for $5.99?




The Dragon of Time Two, Dragon Slayer
By Aaron Dennis

Scar, the Dragon Slayer, was fashioned to purge the Dragons from Tiamhaal, yet such a thing is not so simple. Kings and queens yet war amongst one another. They, too, lie, connive, and coerce, and so, Scar and his friends must find a way to persuade men to stand together against the machinations of evil forces. Join Scar on an adventure, which will test his mettle as man and warrior.

Well, here’s the deal. If you sell this book, you’ll get to keep over a dollar of the sale.

It’s easy, right?

You should start today. Just keep in mind that extra income won’t be available until March. You can still sell my books for 11% of the profit starting today, which isn’t bad, but from March 2017 and on, I’ll make sure all you guys can earn 25%. You won’t find a better deal anywhere else by any other author.

Here’s the link to each book that actually has a price.

Apollo - https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...

Cayneian - https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...

Short Stories from the Mind of Aaron Dennis - https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...

Gods and Dragons - https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...

Dragon Slayer - https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...

Kink Erotica – if you’re feelin’ nasty - https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...

Otherside - https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...

The rest of my books are free, so there can’t be any profit earned.

If you have a Smashwords account then the bottom of the each book’s page will present a special referral link that you use to generate sales and earn income directly from selling my book.

If this opportunity sounds too good to pass up then don’t pass it up. Start a Smashwords affiliate marketing site today, and reap the rewards of selling my books. Then, when your Smashwords affiliate marketing site is up and running, leave a comment with your name and a link to your site. I’ll add your site to my Backlinks tab and promote your site on Twitter.

I told you it was easy, didn’t I?

Think about it. You already read. You already know my stories rock. You already know people buy my stories. Why shouldn’t you get a cut? You already tell everybody, your friends, family, coworkers, and your blog or website fans which books you enjoy reading, and then your friends, family, coworkers, and blog and website fans go out and buy those books. Why shouldn’t you get a cut?

You should! That’s why I’m giving you 25% of the sales from March of 2017 on out. You guys are great. Without my fans, I wouldn’t have anything, and I want you to have some extra cash in your pocket. You can certainly sell anyone’s books, but is anyone else giving you 25% from each sale? I don’t think so. The standard affiliate referral from Smashwords is only 11%, and other sites like Amazon make affiliate marketing a pain and a convoluted mess.

Save yourself the headache, and share with the world what you already love: my stories. Earn a cut of the pie while you’re at it.

Apart from the books listed above, three more books will be released this year, so now’s a great time to hop aboard this money train because with each new title I release, more and people are going to be buying my books, and you want to make sure to be among the first to earn a fat cut of my profits. Thank you for being loyal fans.
(Please leave comments on the original post http://www.storiesbydennis.com/?p=776)

Does Bantam pay you to sell books? No. Does Penguin Random House pay you to sell books? No. They certainly charge you to buy books, though.

Does George Martin pay you if you blog about A Song of Ice and Fire? No, but he sure benefits when you talk about A Song of Ice and Fire, and people buy the books because you praised A Song of Ice and Fire on your blog or website.

Does J.K. Rowling pay you if you blog about Harry Potter? No, but she sure benefits when you talk about Harry Potter, and people buy the books because you praised Harry Potter on your blog or website.

What about all the writers out there now who are crowdfunding in order to publish their books. Writers are crowdfunding, accepting money, for something that doesn’t cost much, and then they turn around and sell their product to consumers, so there you are, paying a writer to write, and then they turn around and sell the product, making money again.

What happens if they have money left over from the crowdfunding campaign? Where does it go? Do they pay you? No. Most often, they can’t even be bothered to hire competent editors. They just pocket your money and claim they need to eat, too.

Let me turn you on to a new wave of thinking, a new wave of earning money, a new wave of affiliate marketing.

I have big news for readers. I know you love to read, and I know you’d like to make some money, and indirectly, there is a way for readers to make money by reading. I’m going to introduce you to affiliate marketing, but not the way you’ve seen it before.

You do want to make money, right? You like to read good stories? You can make money selling stories you’ve read. Well, you can make money even without reading stories, but what I want is for my readers to sell my stories because I know you guys have not only read my stories, you’ve loved them and want to share them with everyone, and I want to pay you to do it. It’s easy.

You’ve heard of affiliate marketing, right? Well, here’s the deal; Smashwords allows their writers to set the amount of money affiliate marketers can earn.

Starting on 03/01/2017, I am offering everyone 25% of my sales. All you have to do is make a Smaswhords account, you should already have one anyway, and down at the bottom of my books’ pages is an affiliate link.
All you do is copy and paste that link on your site, or blog, or whatever, and whenever people buy my book through your site, with your link, you earn 25% of the sale. You’ll have to add your Paypal address to your Smashwords account to earn the money, but it’s super simple, and you earn money immediately.

Yeah, I’m taking a cut so that people the world over can earn money by selling my books, and it should be pretty easy because my books practically sell themselves.

Look at this title, cover, and blurb; wouldn’t you buy this book for $5.99?

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...



Well, here’s the deal. If you sell this book, you’ll get to keep over a dollar of the sale.

It’s easy, right?

You should start today. Just keep in mind that extra income won’t be available until March. You can still sell my books for 11% of the profit starting today, which isn’t bad, but from March 2017 and on, I’ll make sure all you guys can earn 25%. You won’t find a better deal anywhere else by any other author.

Here’s the link to each book that actually has a price.

Apollo
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...

Cayneian
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...

Short Stories from the Mind of Aaron Dennis
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...

The Dragon of Time, Gods and Dragons
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...


The Dragon of Time Two, Dragon Slayer https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...

Kink Erotica – if you’re feelin’ nasty
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...

Otherside
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...

The rest of my books are free, so there can’t be any profit earned.

If you have a Smashwords account then the bottom of each book’s page will present a special referral link that you use to generate sales and earn income directly from selling my books.

If this opportunity sounds too good to pass up then don’t pass it up. Start a Smashwords affiliate marketing site today, and reap the rewards of selling my books. Then, when your Smashwords affiliate marketing site is up and running, leave a comment with your name and a link to your site. I’ll add your site to my Backlinks tab and promote your site on Twitter.

I told you it was easy, didn’t I?

Think about it. You already read. You already know my stories rock. You already know people buy my stories. Why shouldn’t you get a cut? You already tell everybody, your friends, family, coworkers, and your blog or website fans which books you enjoy reading, and then your friends, family, coworkers, and blog and website fans go out and buy those books. Why shouldn’t you get a cut?

I’m telling you; Bantam, Penguin, the writers, the crowdfunding abusers, they’re all making money off of you! Why shouldn’t you start making money?!

You should! That’s why I’m giving you 25% of the sales from March of 2017 on out. You guys are great. Without my fans, I wouldn’t have anything, and I want you to have some extra cash in your pocket. You can certainly sell anyone’s books, but is anyone else giving you 25% from each sale? I don’t think so. The standard affiliate referral from Smashwords is only 11%, and other sites like Amazon make affiliate marketing a pain and a convoluted mess.

Save yourself the headache, and share with the world what you already love: my stories. Earn a cut of the pie while you’re at it.
Apart from the books listed above, three more books will be released this year, so now’s a great time to hop aboard this money train because with each new title I release, more and people are going to be buying my books, and you want to make sure to be among the first to earn a fat cut of my profits. Thank you for being loyal fans.

This guy’s already started selling my books and other books!
https://affiliatemarketsmashwordsbook...

Visit also http://www.storiesbydennis.com/

They Lurk Among Us is officially for sale at Smashwords!!!

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...

The Lokians have been defeated. O'Hara has gone AWOL. His spec ops team has been disbanded and reassigned. The President of the North American Union is working with aliens. Gray-Human hybrids are controlling the Earth from sights unseen, but hope is not lost.

After recovering on Eon, Admiral Lay warned O'Hara of an impending threat, and the young captain left the new planet behind him as he flew through space-time with Adams and Franklin, agents of The Bureau. Now, The Bureau has a new mission for Riley O'Hara, and it involves the Gray Agenda...but what, exactly, is the agenda of mindless, alien drones?

This is military, scifi at its finest! You have never seen aliens like these!

https://plus.google.com/1105749711048...

You can learn more about They Lurk Among Us by downloading a free sample from Smashwords, or you can read excerpts from the Google+ page. You'll also see a ton of aliens, space ships, and all kinds of scifi concept art. You can also visit my web page.

http://www.storiesbydennis.com/?page_...

Where you can not only learn about They Lurk Among Us, but the whole Lokians series; there's even more books of genres apart from scifi. You can even learn how to sell my books, and make money off of me!

You already read and review, right? You already blog and discuss, right? You know that when you talk about books that generates buzz, and that's what sells books, right? You sell books to fans, so why not earn a cut?

You’re on twitter, FaceBook, LinkedIn, Google+, wherever; every time you turn around, someone’s got their greasy palm out, asking for handouts. “Donate, please; I’m on IndieGoGo, I’m on Patreon, I’m on Gofundme, come support me at Twitch TV, come support me here, there, everywhere.”

Aren’t you sick of it? Every time you turn around, someone wants you to give them money for doing what they enjoy doing, and then what, they give you a little trinket, maybe, maybe, if you donate enough.

Well, if you’re not sick of it, I am. People draw pictures—they’re at Patreon, wanting you to give them money, to support their lifestyle. Tell ‘em to go get a job and draw their little pictures on the side until they can support themselves.

People want to dress up as cartoon characters, and they stick their ugly mitts out, asking for you to give them money, so they can play dress up for a living. If they want to play dress up for a living, they need to work a real job and earn their own cash until they can support themselves from their side hustle.

You even have people who write books, writers like me, on Patreon, Gofundme, and IndieGoGo; they’re asking you for 5,000, 10,000, 30,000 dollars so they can write and publish a book! You want to give them your money?! Are you out of your mind?

Let them work a day job like Bon Jovi did before he made it big in the music industry. People can work, and they can write, or play video games, or dress up in their spare time until their passion pays off. Don’t go donate to their cause.

Did Macklemore or Kanye ask for handouts? Did Dan Brown? Did Harrison Ford?! Did David Schwimmer ask anyone for money when he was an unemployed, struggling actor? No! These people worked real jobs while they developed their passion into a paying profession.

Here’s what you need to do. You need to find someone who will pay you to help them get their service, art, product or whatever out to the public.

Peep this; I want you to make money off me, not the other way around. I’ve been writing since 2011, and I worked a day job when I first began. Then, as my books sold, as I wrote more and more books, and more books sold, and more people learned about me and enjoyed my work, I was able to cut back to working part time. Now, I’m successful, and all without sticking my grubby fists out, begging for someone to support me while I type a few thousand words at a computer for an hour or two a day.

Understand, my books sell, and since you already read, and you already discuss what you read, you sell books!

Yes! That’s how it works! If you have a book blog, a review site, anything where you discuss the books you’ve read and loved then you sell books. It’s your praise, your discussion, your sharing of thoughts and emotions that generates buzz, and that means that you are selling books for the authors, the editors, the publishers, but is anyone paying you?

No! They got their damned, slimy fingers out, asking for you to give your money, but you work, don’t you?! I’ll bet you do, but you still make the time to read, and write about what you read, and discuss with your fan base, who cherish your thoughts, and they go out, and they buy the books you praise, and you aren’t asking for anyone to support what you enjoy doing, right?

Not to mention that those crowdfunders—with their creepie-crawlie little fingers—then go out and sell a product or service to the consumers, thus they earn money twice; once from your donation, and they earn again when they sell their book, picture, music, whatever!

You sell books, so why aren’t you earning any money? Where’s your cut? Why are you giving your money away?

I got your cut! Your cut is here!

http://www.storiesbydennis.com/?p=860

Smashwords has a referral link for anyone who wants to sell Smashwords books. You can make a free Smashwords account, supposing you don’t already have one, and you can link up your PayPal account. That way, when you add the referral URL to your site along with your review and dissemination of that title, and people buy the book through your site, you earn a cut of the sale.

You just paste the link to your site. It’s that freakin’ simple! People click on it, and when they buy the book, it counts as your sale! No third party software like most affiliate marketing schemes. No pay per click like most affiliate marketing schemes.

Now, here’s the thing; normally, Smashwords books give you an 11% cut of the profit, so you basically earn something like $0.08 out of each dollar because the writer gets their cut, Smashwords gets a cut, and then there are some billing fees, but here’s the thing; the real thing, the real deal; I am increasing the profit from the referral link to 25%.

This means that you can earn more by selling my books. What’s that? Yes, you earn. No, I don’t want you to support me. I want to support you. You can sell my books, or Hell, you can sell anyone’s books, but not everyone will give you 25% of the profit, and not everyone can write like I do.

If you’re one of my loyal fans, you know I’m better than the Bee’s Knees; I’m the Gazelle’s Bells. If you’re not one of my fans…yet, feel free to download any of my free titles. You can’t sell those, but after you give the free titles a read, you’ll see how good I am, and you’ll believe that my books sell themselves.

Just check this this out

Beyond the End of the World, Lokians 1

Most of my book sell for $4.99, so if you sell even one copy of my books, you’ll earn about $1.00. Is that a lot? No, but isn’t earning a dollar better than donating five dollars, so that someone can sit in front of their computer and type for an hour or two a day? Isn’t this better than most of the convoluted affiliate marketing schemes?

Plus, I have seven titles for sale at the moment with one more coming out by the end of 2017, and probably another two more titles before 2019.

If you sell just a few copies a day, everyday, by practically doing nothing, and whatever you are doing is what you already love doing—reading and reviewing—you can earn 5, 10, 20 dollars a day, easy—from just my books, and like I said, you can put anyone’s books up on your book blog or review site. This is passive income.

Think about it. You can keep donating to everyone who thinks they’re a writer, or musician, or cosplayer, or whatever, and you can go broke, while you work, and they play, or you can earn money by just putting up some links to some books on your book blog or review site. As I said, this is passive income.

Is it really that tough to figure out which benefits you? Passive income benefits you!

Listen, crowdfunding has a definite role in the indie entertainment industry. Film producers and game developers do need crowdfunding. When James Rolfe of AVGN crowdfunded his AVGN movie, he not only threw in all of his money, he crowdfunded in order to pay for permits, to hire actors, editors, and to rent equipment and shoot sites.

That’s when people need crowdfunding, to organize an entire production. Rolfe used the crowd funds to employ people. There’s nothing wrong with that, but there is something wrong with lazy people asking for handouts in order to do something, which can easily be done in spare time after coming home from an honest day’s work.

I also have a re-release of a title that was originally published through a small press, but I didn’t like how much they were charging for it, and when it was first released, it had a terrible cover, and quite a few formatting errors, but now it’s updated, and all set to go.

Did I get on Patreon, GofundMe, or IndieGoGo and ask for people to give me money to buy the new cover art or hire an editor? No, I paid for it out of pocket because my profits come from selling a quality product to consumers.

I know you can easily sell my books for $4.99 and earn a dollar, I know because I sell books all the time. You can sell books, too, and all from doing what? Pasting a link to your book blog or review site, and then just hanging back, and letting your fans come to your site, and buy the books straight from you. It’s what you’re already doing. If you aren’t already running your own book blog or review site, you can start now; you have the incentive.

It’s so easy; I should know; I sell a ton of books, my books, and you can sell them, too, and then when people stick their greasy mitts out, lookin’ for a handout, you tell ‘em if they want money for their side hustle, they can go sell Dennis’s books.

Thanks, everyone, you guys are the best. Don’t give your money to people who laze around their homes all day doing nothing. You don’t need to be supporting healthy, young, lazy people. You don’t even need to be buying my books. Just sell ‘em. Let the others work for a living until their product, service, or art can support itself, and you worry about your income.

I want everyone to succeed from doing what they love just as much as you do, but I want to pay you to succeed; I don’t want you to support me. There’s a right and a wrong way to crowdfund. There’s a right and a wrong way to get involved with affiliate marketing. I’m just trying to simplify the process, and make sure that everyone can earn some money rather than having everyone who works for money give me their share.

I know you can get on board with that. Right? Sure you can. Start earning something for your hard work and passion today, and stop supporting lay-abouts, who call themselves artists. This is the conservative movement; look out for your pockets, your income, and stop trying to get everyone to support everyone else. If you work hard, and take care of yourself, you don’t need a handout; no, you can earn money by doing what you love.

I’ve had about enough of this crowdfunding madness, and I know you have, too. If not, if you’re okay with giving your money away to someone who pockets your cash, 1,000’s of dollars, and then spends 15 bucks to produce a poorly written novel, a single shot of them dressed like Princess Zelda, a water color painting that took 7 minutes to paint then you go ahead, and you give your money away, but if you’re like me, and you’re pissed off that every time you hop on social media, you see numerous people asking for handouts just so they can sit on their butts, and play dress up, or write a book, or sing at their computer’s microphone, do something about it.

Stop the madness. Stop donating. Start earning!

Thanks again.

Calling all voice actors, voice over artists, and book vloggers!

How would you like to keep doing exactly what you’re doing, not a change a damn thing, and earn more money? Did I get your attention?

You’re brilliant, patient, and have a sonorous voice. You use it to convey emotions. It’s your art that elicits our passion, dreams, and aspirations, and rightfully so, you use your talent to earn a living. This is why I want to call your attention and preface the following information by saying that books are turned into movies, television shows, motion comic books, and video games, all of which need voice actors.

Many of you have YouTube accounts, and you showcase your wonderful talent. Every time you read something, a script, a novel, a short story, a review, anything, you post the video to YouTube, and your channel draws numerous visitors and subscribers.

By utilizing Google AdSense and other third party advertisers, you generate income, and that’s great. Sometimes, you sell your services to companies like Audible, and you perform readings of books, but what if there was an additional way to augment your income, which required absolutely no more work, no more effort, than what you’re already putting into your occupation?

What if on top of augmenting your income, you were also able to create more and more videos to showcase your stunning talent? You also want to get more likes and subscribers to your YouTube channel, right?

Peep this reading of The Dragon of Time, Gods and Dragons.

https://wildsoundfestivalreview.com/2...

This book and performance was the winner of a book reading, but what if you had a chance to read this book, any book, out loud and upload it to your YouTube account. Your performance certainly sells that book to interested readers, right? You certainly deserve compensation for your efforts, don’t you? With more videos, you’ll surely get more likes and subscribers to your YouTube channel, and that means more exposure, more income.

What if you were paid every time that a book sold a copy? What if every time that a book sold, you earned a dollar? A dollar isn’t much, but if you add that dollar to the income you already earn from ads, it’s a great bonus, especially if you sold multiple books regularly. Ten books a day is suddenly ten dollars a day, that’s an additional $300 a month…not to mention that the additional likes and subscribers means more revenue from Google AdSense.

Here’s what I’m doing, and here’s where I want you to participate and earn more money by reading books, performing, selling books, and getting more likes and subscribers to your YouTube channel.

Smashwords books have affiliate referral links on their buy pages. Down at the bottom of the Smashwords page for They Lurk Among Us, Lokians 2, the second book of the Lokians scifi series, you can plainly see a URL, and you can also see that you can earn 25% of the sale.

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...

Not all Smashwords authors provide such a high referral income, but I do, and sometimes, I offer more than 25%, but never less, so if you perform a reading of They Lurk Among Us, Lokians 2, and people see your performance, and they buy They Lurk Among Us, Lokians 2 through your referral link, you earn a dollar from the sale, and you earn more money than just utilizing Google AdSense.

Now, imagine performing a reading of hundreds of books, books you don’t even have to purchase because you can download free samples of the books, and choose your preferred section to perform. For absolutely no cost, you can download a free sample of any of my books, perform a reading, and place your referral URL in that YouTube video, and then when people buy that book because of your performance, you earn more money.

Easy income, right? Free income from downloading free samples of great books!

There’s no hassle, no cost, and you’re just doing what you already love doing, speaking!

You do need to make a Smashwords account, but the account is free, and then your special referral URL automatically appears at the bottom of every book’s buy page, and all you do is place that URL in the video description or in the video itself.

In order to receive your compensation, you just link your Paypal account to your Smashwords account; it’s all free, it’s all easy, it requires no additional work or money, and there are thousands of free stories you can also download and read—all genres; scifi, fantasy, romance, horror.

How much fun would it be to just read stories for a living?

Here’s a link to my page on Smashwords, so that you can see all of my stories, and they are of numerous genres.

https://www.smashwords.com/profile/vi...

Many of them are free, but if you perform a reading of those titles, and upload your performance to your YouTube channel, you can earn easy money through the ad revenue. Then, to augment your earnings, you can download the free portions of my priced books, and perform those readings, too. Just add the referral URL to your video, and when people buy the book through your link, you get paid.

Sounds easy? Sounds too good to be true? Sounds like affiliate marketing? It is easy easy. It is not too good to be true. It is affiliate marketing—affiliate marketing simplified.

No third party software, no pay per click, no extra work or effort, absolutely no cost to you, but you get all the benefits; you get a free story or sample, you get to stretch your vocal muscles, you get to showcase your talents, you get to add videos for more ad revenue, and likes, and subscribers, and you get to enjoy fantasy, scifi, horror, romance, whatever, and you get free money whenever anyone purchases a book through your link.

You can do this for any book you want, but remember that most Smashwords authors won’t be giving you 25% or more of their sales, but even the customary 11% is nice.

Think about it. If you’re already a YouTube hit, everyone will come to view your readings. If you’re not a YouTube hit…yet, you can certainly become one by adding numerous performances—just imagine having hundreds of videos on your YouTube account all from various genres; scifi, fantasy, horror, romance, whatever you want, and so you can showcase your range, and all the while, you earn tons of cash and exposure.

You already love voice acting. You are an actor, a voice actor, and if you so choose, you can showcase your acting talents by staging actual performances with a group of friends—group readings, whatever you want. There are no limits to what you can accomplish with this wonderful opportunity, and we all benefit.

Maybe, you’re not a voice actor. Maybe, you’re just a reader, a lover of the written word, and you enjoy reviewing your favorite books on your book review vlog. You can still earn an income through both Google AdSense and Smashwords referral URLs—affiliate marketing simplified. Like I said, we all benefit.

I benefit because you’re giving me exposure. You benefit because you earn a cut of my profits, you earn more through more ads, and voice actors can certainly land more jobs from the added exposure. To top it off, fans of reading benefit from learning of new material.

If you’d like more information, you can check out this post as well.

http://www.storiesbydennis.com/?p=860

You can also see that more and more people are searching for simplified affiliate marketing—more people are finding ways to earn money by doing what they love, free from the shackles of laborious jobs.

You definitely want to jump on this before the competition gets heavy, and I promise you, in about six months, a year, everyone will be reading books on YouTube, selling books on YouTube, reviewing books on YouTube.

Look at all the book review vlogs! It won’t be long before all the book review vloggers learn they can earn an actual living by doing what they’re already doing—selling books to consumers by reviewing them in vlog format. I also know people are taking advantage of streaming, so stream some readings, and provide the referral URL on your website, blog, or social media accounts!

Yup, this isn’t just a call to professional, voice actors; this is a call to anyone with a voice, anyone who enjoys reading, anyone who enjoys reviewing, speaking, acting.

Start earning more money today by reading books, streaming, making videos, and making vlogs. It’s your performance, your art, your interest, your passion that sells books, so earn more by doing what you already love, and at no cost, no additional effort.

Book review vloggers, when you review A Song of Ice and Fire, does Bantam pay you? Does George Martin? No, but people, your fans, certainly by those books because of your praise. Does J.K. Rowling pay you whenever you read or praise Harry Potter on your review site or review vlog? No, but I will; every time you review a book, and it sells, it sells because of your hard work, and you deserve a cut of the profit.

Start earning more money today. Streaming, blogs, vlogs—the internet is designed for you to take advantage of what you love doing; you can earn more doing what you love and without having to beg people to donate to your crowdfund campaign, or YouTube channel, or website, or whatever.

Now is the time to break away from the mainstream crap. This is the indie age, an age where anyone can earn money by providing the world a service, and your service is one of the best. Show the world what you can do, what you enjoy, get exposure, and start earning more money.

SELLING EBOOKS AS AN AFFILIATE MARKETER FOR SMASHWORDS

Happy Halloween, Happy Thanksgivings, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and whatever else. What you celebrate is none of my business. My business is writing, and my business is selling, and I want you to be a part of my business.


I’ve talked before about how you can sell ebooks as a Smashwords affiliate without the requirement of any kind of 3rd party software. I’ve talked about how easy it is, how it’s all free, and how I set up my ebook sales in order to ensure that you, the readers, the reviewers, the sellers, are getting the biggest cut.


I normally give out 25% of my profits, and sometimes I juice it up to 35%, even 50%, but since the holidays are coming up, I want to do even more for you.


It’s no secret that with holidays comes a great deal of spending; the kids want new toys, the wife wants a vacation, the hubby wants new tools; there’s always something. Every year you end up spending more and more money, so I want to make sure that for the entire month of November, you can earn more money.


If you haven’t been selling books, my books, I implore you to read this article. How to earn money from reading.

https://journal.media/how-to-earn-mon...

If you have been selling books then you already know how easy it is to earn money as an affiliate. Regardless, now is the time to get a jump on selling my ebooks. For the entire month of November, I will be giving you, the sellers of my books, 75% of the profit.

If you sell just one book per day, you can still earn nearly 100$ for the month of November. That’s a few gift cards you can buy for the in-laws, or whatever. Of course, if you’ve been selling my ebooks, you’re probably selling two or three a day, maybe even more, and that means that for the month of November you can bring in 500$ by exerting just a little bit of extra effort.


Now’s the perfect time to send your friends and family on over to your blog, vlog, or website, and tell them to buy some ebooks as gifts directly from you!


Go earn some extra holiday money by selling my books through Smashwords. Your Smashwords account is free; all you need is an email address to get started, so be sure to check out this article, which explains, step-by-step, just how easy it is to start selling ebooks. How to earn money from reading.

https://journal.media/how-to-earn-mon...

Thanks for reading. Happy Holidays. Merry Christmas. God Bless, and buy your family some nice gifts with the money you earn from my hard work.

To help out, here is the link to my profile on Smashwords so that you have easy access to the list of my ebooks.

https://www.smashwords.com/profile/vi...