Category Archives: self-publishing

The value of U…

Posted on August 14, 2020 by Mark Hayes

“England and America are two countries separated by the same language!” attributed to George Bernard Shaw, or possibly Oscar Wilde, or purely apocryphal, as its one of those quotes no one is entirely sure about even the QI elves apparently…. … Continue reading →

Posted in amediting, amreading, amwriting, books, editing, indie, indie novels, indie writers, rant, reads, self-publishing, writes, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Crafting books…

Posted on August 10, 2020 by Mark Hayes

A wise man probably once said, It’s one thing to write a novel, and quite another to make a book. Which is true, as far as it goes. A novel is a long series of words placed one in front … Continue reading →

Posted in amediting, amwriting, books, indie novels, indie writers, indiewriter, self-publishing, writes, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Reviews… The slow-crushing of an authors soul…

Posted on August 7, 2020 by Mark Hayes

One morning, a few months ago when I originally wrote this blog post I woke to three new reviews of my novels, all written by the same reader a close friend who has been promising to do the reviews for … Continue reading →

Posted in amwriting, books, indie, indie novels, indie writers, indiewriter, self-publishing, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

The great Lock-down novel…

Posted on August 6, 2020 by Mark Hayes

Lock-down has, converse to what many of us imagined when it began, been an unproductive time for most writers I know, myself among them. Surprisingly while a lot of writing involves voluntary spurning the rest of humanity to isolate yourself … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, amwriting, fiction, Hannibal Smyth, Harvey Duckman, humour, indie, indie novels, indie writers, opinion, reads, sci-fi, self-publishing, steampunk, supernatural, writes, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Fiscal realities of publishing… and the pursuit of happiness… 1 year on.

Posted on August 5, 2020 by Mark Hayes

‘If everything you do and everything you are is in pursuit of money, then you are already bankrupt.’       ~ Cake, Ink, Collective. Last year, around this point in time, I published a blog post called Fiscal realities of … Continue reading →

Posted in amwriting, big questions, indie, indie novels, indie writers, indiewriter, self-publishing, writes, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

A look back at Indie April

Posted on May 11, 2020 by Mark Hayes

Last month as you may be aware I threw the doors of the passing place wide open to a series of guest posts from indie writers of all kith and kin. The brief i gave them all was simple, write … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, amwriting, books, cthulhu, dreamlands, druidry, dystopia, Esqwiths, goodnews, goodreads, Harvey Duckman, indie, indie novels, indie writers, IndieApril, indiewriter, mental-health, opinion, pointless things of wonderfulness, publication, rant, reads, sci-fi, self-publishing, steampunk, supernatural, writes, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Subjectivity of Humour

Posted on May 5, 2020 by Mark Hayes

The problem with humour is it is subjective, occasionally some readers do not get a joke, because at the end of the day what one reader is amused by another may not be. My Hannibal Smyth books are somewhat satirical … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, amwriting, books, fiction, Hannibal Smyth, Harvey Duckman, humour, indie novels, indie writers, indiewriter, novels, opinion, reads, sci-fi, self-publishing, steampunk, writes, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The devil made me do it…

Posted on April 24, 2020 by Mark Hayes

Some would have you believe that audio books are the future… and to an extent they are right, at least for some people. Indeed one of the most common questions I get asked by a certain section of friends and … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, blogging, fiction, goodreads, Harvey Duckman, indie, indie novels, indie writers, IndieApril, reads, self-publishing, writes, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

POV matters… it does

Posted on April 21, 2020 by Mark Hayes

One of the writing issues we encounter most in the manuscripts we receive here at Sixth Element is POV (point of view). Whether from new writers or some of the most experienced published authors, it doesn’t matter… POV is still … Continue reading →

Posted in amediting, amreading, amwriting, indie, indie novels, indie writers, IndieApril, publication, reads, sci-fi, self-publishing, writes, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Podcasts, self-awareness and publishing

Posted on April 14, 2020 by Mark Hayes

Recently i was asked by an old friend Mark Adams to appear on his daily pod cast. I was of course both delighted to do so and utterly horrified by the idea. For an opinionated author seldom shy at expressing … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, amwriting, indie, indie novels, indie writers, IndieApril, indiewriter, publication, self-publishing, Uncategorized, writes, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment