Alzheimer’s and Book Reviews

Alzheimer’s and Book Reviews

Last night, my wife, Neem, came into my office quite agitated because our neighbour wants to build a wall blocking off the lane entrance. She had already had the materials delivered, but not consulted anyone. Neem was collecting evidence to support her rights.

‘How long have we lived here?’ she asked.

‘Eight or nine years,’ I replied.

‘How long have we been married?’

‘Six or seven,’ I answered.

This morning I had a message from Facebook congratulating me on my seventh wedding anniversary.

I had no idea and nor did Neem…  🙁

This is not unusual for her, though she normally remembers the month, but it is for me, extremely unusual. Perhaps, it’s the first sign of impending Alzheimer’s.

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Besides my novel(la)s, I have 99 ‘How to…’ books, which I started before I ever thought about writing stories. When I get any free time, I load some of them onto Lulu, which, I find, sells more of this type of book than the other players. I did two this morning.

Now, bearing in mind that they were formatted five years ago, I thought they were rather ugly, so I gave them a make-over at the same time..

I had a similar experience with Daddy’s Hobby, my first novel, last year and that led to thirty upgrades.

I, therefore, urge all self-publishers to re-evaluate their early books, because the formatting I am capable of now is infinitely better than what I was capable of even twelve months ago. Are you sure that it is not the same with you?

Despite the admonition, we all know that covers do sell books, but I suggest that you look deeper than that.

The cover grabs the potential reader’s attention, but they can see the first twenty percent of its contents too, so your frontispiece and front book need to impress as well.

Use the make-over to add other books you’ve since written to your bibliography and you have probably tripled your money-making potential with that book. If appropriate, change the publication date and the edition number to show that you maintain and care about your work. Don’t forget that purchasers of ebooks may upload the latest edition free of charge.

All the best for now,

Owen

Podcast: Alzheimer’s and Book Reviews