Twisted Short Stories #2 – Death Penalty Now Available In Portuguese
To celebrate the recent opening of Amazon’s Brazilian Kindle store, we’ve just published one of our Twisted Short Stories, Death Penalty, in a Portuguese edition.
This version, which goes by the name Pena de Morte in Portuguese, is available from all the usual Amazon sites, including Amazon.com, as well as, of course, the new Amazon.com.br.
Look out for other non-English editions of this short story soon – for example, we have a (Latin American) Spanish version in the works. Sign up to our Newsletter to be notified automatically when these new versions are available.
Leia este artigo em Português.
Twisted Short Stories #3 – I Of The Tiger
We are pleased to announce the publication of the third in a new series of “twisted” short stories by Jaime & Raechel Faulkner. (The previous one was called Death Penalty.)
This fifth book in their Coffee Break Tales series is called I Of The Tiger, and like the first two short stories, it’s just over 2,500 words in length, and as the name suggests, it has a twist at the end – just like their Twisted Flash Fiction collections.
So what’s it about?
Before we answer that, here’s a quick song to give you a clue:
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We assume you guessed correctly that this story’s about a boxer! (If not, you need to go and watch those Rocky movies with Sylvester Stallone!)
Anyway, I Of The Tiger is about Dillon O’Boylan, a young boxer with a promising future and a chance at the world title.
However, his dreams are thrown into turmoil when he is told to throw the fight.
Will he stand up to the mobsters and risk his family’s lives, or will he take the easy way out and accept the bribe?
I Of The Tiger is currently only available in a Kindle edition.
Remember, though, that you don’t need a Kindle to read this book, since the Kindle edition can also be read using Kindle software and apps on many other devices (e.g. PCs, iPhones, Android phones, tablets).
Get your copy today:
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PS If you would like to be notified automatically when we publish future works by Jaime & Raechel, please sign up for our Newsletter, using the form near the top right of this page.
Discover How Easily You Can Support An Indie Author
R&M Publishing is a small, independent publishing house representing a small number of independent authors.
We do this to try to help out these writers, because we know how hard it is to be noticed in the tidal wave of new books that are published every single day.
The Life Of A Writer
Many people simply don’t realize what goes in to writing and publishing a book – after all, it takes a lot less time to read one than it does to create one.
For example, it has to start with an idea – something unique, something personal, something captivating.
Then there is the time that the author puts in to turning that idea into a finished product. And this doesn’t only include the writing, but all of the other activities that must be undertaken before their book can appear on Amazon’s vast virtual bookshelves.
Remember, being an indie author means that they are responsible for everything, including the editing, proofreading, formatting, cover design, and more. Big name authors who have big name publishing houses behind them will get much of this done for them, but the indie author has to be a master of all these trades – or pay somebody else to do it for them, without the benefits of huge advances on their royalties.
Many authors also have families, so every minute spent writing is a minute not spent with the people they love. There is a cost to this, and for many, balancing their writing time and their family time is difficult, not to mention the full-time job that many also have.
And then, once they’ve done all of that, they have to market their books too – no big corporate marketing department for them!
Now, you may be thinking that they do it for the money – after all, everybody knows that author such as Stephen King have made a lot of money from their books (and the film rights they negotiate too), but you may be surprised to learn that a lot of writers aren’t in it for that.
No, they only want to create something, to release a part of themselves into the world, to share their knowledge, their ideas, their fantasies, to entertain or educate. For some, it’s to do with loving the act of writing itself. Many writers put thousands and thousands of words down on paper, but never even publish their work.
But rest assured, the royalties they receive for each book sold is small.
And then there are the personal challenges.
The image of the writer sitting alone in his (or her) garret may be somewhat antiquated, but the fact is that it’s still a lonely life for many. Even if family is nearby, when authors are writing, they’re alone with their thoughts, their worries (will it be good enough, will people like it), and the risk of exposing just a tiny piece of their innermost self to people they will probably never ever meet. (It’s almost impossible not to include a part of you in any book you write.)
How We Try To Help
So, we try to help them by publicizing their works here, and on other sites – we are active on social media such as Facebook, we create video trailers for their books, and we do whatever else we can to help them succeed.
In essence, we try to let them focus on the writing, leaving us to worry about all of the other activities that most authors hate.
How You Can Help
So, as readers, what can you do to help your favourite authors?
First and foremost, you can rate their books and write reviews once you’ve finished reading them.
You don’t need to be a world-famous critic or have a Masters degree in English to do this, and it doesn’t even have to be long – you simply need to write an honest review that lets other potential readers know what you liked about the book (and what you didn’t like, if that also applies), but remember that writers are artists and are sensitive souls, so please keep things polite and fair.
To do this, you can either leave a comment on this blog, on the appropriate page for the book (e.g. on this page) or, preferably on Amazon itself, where you need to look for the Customer Review section of the page:
Next, and even easier, you can click the Like button that you’ll find on Amazon near the top of the page:
Thirdly, you can spread the word to your friends, family, Facebook friends, people who follow you on Twitter, work colleagues, etc. You can do this by writing a review or status update, posting a link (e.g. to our site or to Amazon), or by good old word of mouth.
Remember, you can Gift a copy of a Kindle book to somebody – look for the small orange button near the top right of the page. Our books are very reasonably priced, so won’t break the bank!
Most of the books we publish on behalf of our authors are also available as paperbacks, and these can, of course, be gift-wrapped and sent directly to family and friends as unusual presents.
Whatever you can do to help our authors succeed will be greatly appreciated, not least because it will give them the encouragement to continue doing what they so clearly love – writing.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. On behalf of our authors, we appreciate your support.
Discover How You Can Quickly & Easily Protect All Your Digital Products Against Illegal Sharing
If you sell any type of digital product online, then it’s highly likely you’ve already encountered one of the Internet’s growing problems – online “theft”.
The fact is, online piracy affects all of us, regardless of whether you’re selling software, ebooks, video training courses, graphics packages, or whatever.
You may not even know you’ve been ripped off – unless you take the time and trouble to go searching for pirated copies.
We actually found a pirated copy of our own software, The Daily Goal Machine, and that was only by chance when we were looking for something else. How many more illegal copies are out there? Who knows?
So How Does This Online Piracy Work?
Well, typically, it goes something like this:
- Someone purchases your product as though he were a legitimate customer.
- He gains access to your product (e.g. a download link, a serial or licence number for your software, the password to your members’ area).
- Then he cracks your product and uploads it to the Internet, to sites such as black hat forums, torrent sites, file-sharing directories, pirate blogs or elsewhere.
- Hundreds of people then download your product for free!
- And to add insult to injury, the original buyer then requests a refund!
So, not only do you lose the original sale (and if they paid by credit or debit card, you might actually end up out of pocket because of the processing fees you’ll be charged on both the sale and the refund), but you also lose hundreds of future sales because everybody is now downloading your product from the Internet – for free!
Yes, we appreciate this may sound like it’s all doom and gloom, but the reality is that this does happen, and it happens on a daily basis.
How Big A Problem Is Online Piracy?
And if you’re thinking that it’s not a particularly big problem, then think again! Recent studies have showed that millions of dollars are lost every single day to unauthorized downloads! Yes, you read that right – millions of dollars, seven days a week, 52 weeks a year!
Even if you could track down these illegal copies, there’s very little you, as the product owner, can do about it. Unless you have the computing power and skills of a TV CSI lab, the Internet is a very anonymous place, making it really hard to find whoever’s running these pirate sites.
And even if you do find the site owner, as most of us have neither the clout nor the legal department of a major company like Microsoft or Disney, complaining to them will rarely do much good anyway.
Sadly, most product vendors and self-publishers are completely defenseless against illegal file-sharing and free download sites.
The Good News
Yes, we do have some good news for you!
After searching for some time for a way to protect our intellectual property, whether it’s the software we mentioned earlier, or any of the books we publish, we’ve finally found a service that we believe offers everything you need at a price that’s a steal (pun intended).
The company is called ActiveDMCA, and what they do is track and hunt down websites that might be illegally distributing your product. In a nutshell, they go out to the search engines (e.g. Google), and they sniff around searching for keywords like “Your Product” + “download link”, “Your Product” + “serial number”, “Your Product” + “crack”, or “Your Product” + “free download”.
By conducting such searches (every single day of the year), both in Google and using their huge database of sites reported to be suspect, the people at ActiveDMCA can soon unearth where pirates are illegally distributing your products.
But they don’t stop there!
As soon as they track down any potential illegal download activity against any of the products you register with them, one of their expert “Take-Down Agents” springs into action.
They will investigate to confirm whether it really is a pirate site, and if it is, they will contact the site’s administrator, requesting they remove your product from their site. If that doesn’t work, they then escalate the issue to the site’s hosting company, domain registrar and payment processor, who will make sure the site admin complies – otherwise that site will soon be offline for good.
These Take-Down Agents will contact anybody and everybody who may be related to the pirate site, sending them an official and personalized DMCA Take-Down notice. This is a legal document who remit is to enforce the current Internet copyright laws.
The following short video explains further how the ActiveDMCA service works, and how it can help you protect your digital product against unauthorized sharing and downloads.
Visit the ActiveDMCA site today and find out how you can protect your products within minutes, and enjoy the peace of mind that comes from knowing you have a team of professionals watching your back, 365 days a year. Every day you delay you could be losing even more sales.
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Update: As at 13 December 2012, one day after signing up for their service, ActiveDMCA have already found five pirated copies of our software, The Daily Goal Machine, and three of these have now been removed from the offending sites.
Romance In Marrakech – Second Honeymoon
Following the first two books by Safira Sanders, which were set in Paris, her latest piece of romantic erotika for women takes us to North Africa, to the ancient city of Marrakech, to be precise.
“Romance In Marrakech – Second Honeymoon” has been longer in arriving than we’d wanted, but when we read it, it was well worth the wait! It has a very different feel to her first two books, although that doesn’t mean she doesn’t have another charming couple for you to discover – and there’s certainly just as much sex as there was in her first novella, “Romance In Paris – The Magician’s Assistant” .
Anyway, check out this short video promo, and then read on to find out what her latest book is all about:
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The story features a married couple, Ellie & Cameron Roberts, whose commitment to their business has robbed them of a fulfilling love life.
Determined to repair their relationship before it is too late, they decide to take a second honeymoon in Marrakech, Morocco, in the run-up to Christmas.
At the last minute, shortly before they set off, a business crisis forces them to turn their vacation into a business trip.
Will this be the final straw that destroys their marriage? Who is the mysterious Dammar Bitar? Will they be able to save their business?
Needless to say, this book contains adult language, adult themes and (plenty of) sexual situations, so it is NOT suitable for children.
“Romance In Marrakech – Second Honeymoon” is available in both paperback and Kindle editions:
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PS To be notified automatically when we publish Safira’s next erotic romance, please sign up for her Newsletter.
Twisted Short Stories #1 (Going To The Dogs) – Cyber Monday Week Special
For our third and final special offer in our Black Friday and Cyber Monday promotion, we’re offering FREE downloads of the first in our Twisted Short Stories series, by Jaime & Raechel Faulkner.
Going To The Dogs, a 2,500+ word short story with a twist, will be FREE for three days, from Thursday, 29 November 2012 through to Saturday, 1 December 2012.
We hope you take advantage of this offer, and we know Jaime & Raechel would really appreciate your leaving a review for them on Amazon.
Twisted Short Stories #2 – Death Penalty
We are pleased to announce the publication of the second in a new series of “twisted” short stories by Jaime & Raechel Faulkner. (The first was called Going To The Dogs.)
This fourth book in their Coffee Break Tales series is called Death Penalty, and like the first short story, it’s just over 2,500 words in length, and as the name suggests, it has a twist at the end – just like their Twisted Flash Fiction collections.
So what’s it about?
When Death rides into the villages along its route, nobody survives its voracious appetite – except a lone teenager.
Will the inexperienced youngster be able to save the next village by taking on the Grim Reaper?
Will he live to tell the tale, or will he suffer the same fate as his family and friends?
Death Penalty is currently only available in a Kindle edition.
Remember, though, that you don’t need a Kindle to read this book, since the Kindle edition can also be read using Kindle software and apps on many other devices (e.g. PCs, iPhones, Android phones, tablets).
Get your copy today:
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PS If you would like to be notified automatically when we publish future works by Jaime & Raechel, please sign up for our Newsletter, using the form near the top right of this page.
Twisted Flash Fiction (Volume 1) – Cyber Monday Week Special
To continue in the spirit of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, we’re offering FREE downloads of Volume 1 of Twisted Flash Fiction, by Jaime & Raechel Faulkner for two days, from Tuesday, 27 November 2012 through to Wednesday, 28 November 2012.
We hope you take advantage of this offer, and we know that Jaime & Raechel would really appreciate your leaving a review for them on Amazon.
Ring Of Daggers – Black Friday/Cyber Monday Special
It’s that time of year when everybody’s looking for Black Friday deals and Cyber Monday deals, so we thought we’d join in the frenzy and offer our full-length action/adventure novel, Ring Of Daggers, for FREE for four days, from Friday, 23 November 2012 through to Monday, 26 November 2012.
This only applies to the Kindle edition of this book. However, we will be able to offer you a $3 discount on the paperback edition if you use a Discount Code of 7X5YHBE6 at our secret site – but not until Black Friday, of course!
We hope you take advantage of this offer, and we know that Jaime & Raechel would really appreciate your leaving a review for them on Amazon.
To find out more about this unusual novel, pleaes check out the Ring Of Daggers website.
WordPress Training Step By Step
Have you heard of WordPress but don’t know what it is?
Or are you one of the thousands of people who consider themselves technophobes but would like to set up a WordPress blog – and don’t know how?
The fact is, WordPress has become the platform of choice for many website builders, including those who just want to write a blog (or online journal, if you will), marketers, business owners, photographers, and more.
So why is it so popular? (According to WordPress themselves, there are over 57 million WordPress sites on the Internet!)
There are lots of reasons, but here are some of the common ones:
- It’s easy and quick to set up (if you don’t believe us, grab your free copy of 5-Minute WordPress, where we walk you through setting up your own WordPress site in five minutes or less)
- It’s very flexible (you can make your site look just the way you want)
- There are a ton of themes (which are what make WordPress blogs look the way they do)
- There are a ton of optional plug-ins (which add more functionality to the blog)
- And it’s free!
Maybe the problem is that people are put off by this wide range of features, or by the terminology (e.g. blogs, themes, plug-ins, posts, pages, blogrolls).
To be honest, we didn’t jump on the WordPress bandwagon ourselves for several years – for many of these same reasons.
However, having built many traditional HTML / PHP sites, we realized that there had to be a faster way, so reluctantly, we forced ourselves to embrace this not-so-new-any-longer technology.
It took a while to get used to it, and we’re still learning, but now we almost never build any other type of site.
Having climbed (most) of the WordPress learning curve, we know how tough it can be – and we consider ourselves to have above-average computer and Internet skills.
So, we were delighted to find a series of over 50 WordPress training videos that walk you through almost every aspect of WordPress, from installing it to customizing it, and much, much more.
We therefore decided to partner with the company who produced these videos, and we have managed to secure life-time membership access to these WordPress tutorial videos for a single, low-cost payment.
To find out more about how you too can master WordPress quickly and painlessly, please visit our WordPress Training Step By Step site now – you’ll be amazed at how much you’ll be able to learn!
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