A Level Playing Field?

January 8, 2013
A friend recently complained that when he did a search on Amazon for Discord's Child, my novel wasn't listed.  I couldn't understand this as a Google search for the title finds it straight away on both the Amazon.com and .co.uk sites.  I tried the Amazon site myself and discovered that if I used the title alone, or my author name (K. S. Dearsley) Discord's Child was top of the list.  However, if I prefixed the title with 'book' or 'novel', as my friend had done, it didn't appear at all.  Instead the search chose books that only had 'child' or 'children' in the title or author's surname.  
Using 'ebook' or the genre 'Fantasy' or 'Fantasy Epic' as prefixes succeeded in finding it.  If the specific title hadn't been used, I could understand it appearing lower down in the search, but not it being totally absent, even if the Amazon search engine regards ebooks and books or enovels and novels as totally different things.
I contacted Amazon and was told that the system was working as it should.  Apparently, even if the words entered in the search are the exact match for a title, the search will show books that are higher ranked, although only tenuously connected, first.  This doesn't explain why Discord's Child doesn't appear on some searches at all.  It seems that if a work is already selling well, Amazon will tilt the scales to ensure it does even better.
So, if anyone would like to look up Discord's Child you'll find more about it on my website, on Goodreads, or by going to http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006KRYYOK or http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B006KRYYOK or by searching for the title alone.

Posted by K. S. Dearsley.

 

The Feelgood Factor

January 3, 2013
It's no good having a fragile ego if you're a writer.  It isn't like being a mathematician or a scientist, there are no absolute right or wrong answers or ways to do things.  All the rules can be broken as long as you know that you're breaking them and have a reason for doing it.  The problem is that writing is subjective.
Some readers will happily ignore the occasional grammatical error or typo if there's a cracking plot, or will forgive a slow pace or digression if the language is beautiful...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : FantasyFiction 

 

Out Soon

December 24, 2012
It looks as if 2013 is going to get off to a good start.  I've heard from Daily SF that my story, Salvage, will be available to subscribers from Christmas and that everyone will be able to read it free at www.dailysciencefiction.com from around the beginning of January.
If you've never read Daily SF, I recommend it.  There's an impressive range of genres and styles, with a new story every day, and you can rate the ones you read.  I really loved the one they featured a couple of days ago, So F...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley.

 

Bowled Over at Tate Britain

December 16, 2012
I've always been a fan of the Pre-Raphaelites. They aren't everyone's cup of tea, but I've always loved the stories/poems that inspired them and the inspiration the paintings provide, their stained glass colours and the way they capture the moment. For me, the exhibition Pre-Raphaelites: Victorian Avant-Garde at Tate Britain was unmissable.
Even though I had seen many of the paintings before at exhibitions, on television or in books, I found the exhibition dazzling. Reproductions certainly do...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Reviews 

 

Shameless Plug

December 9, 2012
Plasma Frequency 3 is now available in print and free online versions, containing my fantasy story, Job Satisfaction.  The magazine is a great mix of fiction from action or poetic to tongue-in-cheek. One of my favourites is The Glass Hill by Joanna Michal Hoyt, which is a beautiful tale about the reaction of a young musician to the mockery of his less talented schoolmates. Check it out here. I've also seen the cover of Otherwhere and Elsewhen from Bridge House, which will include my science f...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : FantasyFiction 

 

Be Excited

December 4, 2012
When you write to commissions you don't get to choose the subject you write about. Sometimes it can be something you've never been interested in. Instead of turning work down (and if you do, be prepared never to hear from that customer again), do your research.
Always ask the customer/editor whether there's a particular angle or aspect that they want you to focus on. You need to be enthusiastic otherwise your writing will be dull and won't hold the reader's attention. Speaking to people who a...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley.

 

Contact

November 25, 2012
You can never tell what's around the corner.  I've been to book fairs and not bumped into another author, yet when I went to the Christmas get-together of the Samba Bandits (the band I used to play with) recently, I was introduced to Heather Day, who happens to be an author of erotic fiction.
It was good to be able to chat about the joys and the problems of writing, and to hear another person's experiences. Writing's a solitary activity, and even with all the writers' forums (fora?) that are ...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Inspiration 

 

Grrr...

November 18, 2012
It's been an irritating week in many ways.  I won't bore readers with the details, but the problem's been people rather than the usual inanimate objects.  While I might not enjoy waking up at four in the morning with things whirling around in my head, at least events have woken me up in other ways too.  
It's all too easy to get settled and forget where you were heading when you started out, to get locked into certain ways of thinking.  This week, I've found myself with renewed motivation and...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley.

 

All the Latest

November 11, 2012
The news is, I now have an author page on Goodreads with details of Discord's Child. Of course, I shall still be reporting any news on my website, but the Goodreads page will allow me to do a few extra things without overloading visitors there who are more interested in other areas of writing. There will be updates on the progress of the next novel in the series, as well as about my quest for a new cover for Discord's Child. (I've just sent the novel to an artist. I'm looking forward to heari...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : FantasyFiction 

 

Enough to Make a Willow Weep

November 4, 2012
'If the oak before the ash, then we'll only get a splash. If the ash before the oak, then we're sure to get a soak.' I blame the rhyme for the way I always felt about ash trees. It wasn't that I disliked them, only that I never felt the same warmth towards them that I felt for oaks or hawthorns or limes. Somehow, they became associated with dismal, depressing days. I've always taken ash trees for granted, but since the news that they may now fall victim to an invasive fungus in the UK that ha...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley.

 
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About Me


My writing career began as a freelance feature writer for the local press, businesses and organisations. Now a prize-winning playwright and short story writer, my work has appeared in numerous publications on both sides of the Atlantic. I write as K. S. Dearsley because it saves having to keep repeating my forename, and specialise in fantasy and other speculative genres.

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