Patoss Magazine Reviews A Hard Lesson a Thriller with a Dyslexic Fictional Character

I am thrilled to see a book review of my psychological thriller A Hard Lesson in the summer 2015 Edition of Patoss Magazine. They have reviewed my novel because one of the main characters has dyslexia. I have yet to encounter any fictional character with dyslexia, but am sure they exist. According to Dyslexia Action, 1 in 10 people have dyslexia. But this does not seem to be reflected in fiction or the entertainment industry in general. This is a shame, as people with dyslexia tend to be more creative and think outside of the box.

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The Patoss Bulletin is a magazine for teachers and students dealing with specific learning difficulties. A book review section can be found in the back, which rates all manner of books and resources connected with different learning styles, as this magazine recognizes lateral thinking.

Fictional Character with Dyslexia

Here is what Patoss Magazine has said about A Hard Lesson:

“A psychological thriller which, after a slow burn start, reels the reader in to care for Sarah, the fledgling teacher. Shy yet tenacious, she learns the hard way how to help her dyslexic pupil, Josh who lives on the edge of criminality and is the link to his dysfunctional family’s secrets. The tense ending packs a surprise.”

This review can be found in Volume 28 No. 1 Summer 2015.

Having taught art for a few years, have encountered dyslexic students who really struggled with written tasks. I do feel that this condition remains generally unrecognized in society and wondered why dyslexia is not featured more in culture i.e., films and books? Surely, this would bring dyslexia more into the public eye rather than remain in the shadows.

But this was not the reason why I wrote A Hard Lesson. I conceived the story when I was seventeen, not with the intention of raising awareness of dyslexia. I simply wanted to create a formidable character with a perceived flaw. Josh’s dyslexia could pose a risk of him submitting to the criminal world, as he sees his life choices as limited. But Sarah, fueled by guilt of her dead brother, refuses to give up on her most difficult challenge. Incidentally, Sarah's brother is special educational needs (SEN) due to a difficult birth, causing severe learning difficulties. This equips Sarah with some understanding of Josh.

Research into Dyslexia for Fiction

Read more about how I conceived the story for A Hard Lesson.

A Hard Lesson by Charles Jay Harwood

Research into Dyslexia for my fiction novel

The Butterfly Effect in A Hard Lesson
Patoss online magazine

A Hard Lesson can be found on Kindle, paperback, large print and audible.

The Audiobook Reviewer Interview with the Narrator of Charles Jay Harwood Thrillers

The Audio Book Reviewer gives narrators the opportunity to complete a questionnaire about their experience of book narration. Questions like how did you get into narrating audiobooks? Which narrators do you admire and what is the hardest part of narrating audiobooks gives food for thought for every narrator.

Mastering Audiobook Narration

Narrating and producing audiobooks is one of the hardest things I have ever done, particularly since I knew nothing about audiobook narration before taking up the challenge in 2015.

Challenges of Book Narration

But after filling in the questionnaire, have become aware of what I have learned after this challenge and the sort of style I have developed after narrating 7 audiobooks. Accents are tough to master, since I do not have a strong regional accent, despite coming from the Midlands. As every narrator must be aware, differentiating between characters is important, or the listener may not be sure who is supposed to be speaking. I have had to crack New York, Welsh, Cockney and others.

But the most difficult challenge I found is mastering the sound equipment from scratch. I had to learn mic technique as well as read up on how to use the hardware and the software. Experimentation was the most valuable lesson.


Mastering Sound Equipment

And then there was the sound booth to consider. I tried out various locations in the house to find the quietest room, and then built a basic sound booth, lined with blankets and a little acoustic foam. This created a dead space, where sound echoes and exterior noise can be eliminated.

But I have deleted hours of recording during the learning process and have listened to other audio book narrators to see how they have mastered the craft. I found I liked Stephen and Maya Angelou. Both have soothing voices that are easy on the ears.

It is important to eliminate anything that could be potentially annoying, such as noisy swallows, clicks or audible breaths. This ensures the listener will not be distracted from the story by the narrator.

Win a copy of audiobook Eclipse Quartet 4 Psychological Thrillers on Rafflecopter Sweepstake

Audio book Giveaway

Win a copy of my audiobook Eclipse Quartet Four Psychological Thrillers by entering this sweepstake hosted by Rafflecopter. All you need to do is tweet me and subscribe to this blog. In return, you could receive a 32 hour audio book containing 4 thrillers.

View Eclipse Quartet on Audible.

Update. The winners have now been announced. Thanks to all for entering the prize draw!

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How to Use Twitter to Promote your Book

I don’t believe in purchasing followers on Twitter. What would be the point? All the followers on my Twitter page are genuine. There aren’t many at the moment, but quality is better than quantity.

The followers on my page are those I like to reach. Real people: authors, book lovers, audiobook narrators and book publishers. It is a given that Audible, ACX, Kindle and GoodReads are included. But individuals are important. Some wildcards that I simply find interesting are included; creative people from various sectors.

Posting Interesting Tweets

I am careful about what I post. I don’t spam and go on and on about my books. I will post an excerpt now and again, to keep my books in the feed, but I will also post useful tips about writing, how to market ebooks and other useful info, such as how to format large print books and how to fill in a tax return if the writer lives in the UK. As an avid reader, I will also post book reviews.

Sharing useful information will more often create interest in your Twitter feed. Interest equals curiosity and curiosity will lead to more visitors reading your blog and seeing your books.

Author Tweets

Tweeting useful information will get noticed. Someone is more likely to visit the link to a blog and have a read. Perhaps this might result in some subscribers and readers. All without spamming.

Sharing Tweets

I will post tweets with real people in mind, not just as a sales pitch and therefore will not repeat or go on about reading my books. I rarely direct message people unless the subject of the tweet directly relates to that person. I will always retweet and favorite someone else’s tweet if I find it educational or interesting.

I have quite a number of articles that could be useful to followers and I will rotate links to my articles. Now and again, I will post a link that relates to one of my books. I will retweet if I gain a large number of followers later to ensure they see my new content. Sometimes, I will create a meme or post a picture on my Twitter feed to add interest of capture attention. Some of my links will also lead to my YouTube clips where an excerpt of my audiobook can be sampled.

I will dedicate about two minutes or so to Twitter per day, no more.

Scheduling Your Tweets

Tweets can be scheduled months in advance. This means Twitter can post your tweets at a specified time. You can have a list of tweets prepared for when you go on holiday for instance. This will ensure your presence on Twitter will remain when you are away from the computer. In the end, gaining a genuine following through posting interesting and useful content will more likely create interest in your books. This is why I am careful not to over promote.

The Paradox of the Self Published Writer caught on the Web

The indie writer had become caught in a web within the Web. Yes, self publishing has created a revolution in the publishing world. Now anyone can publish their books online. And this is great, because the reason most writers write is because there are stories within the head vying for a way out. So the writer writes, edits, conceives a blurb and designs a book cover. And once the novel is complete, it is self published somewhere.

Getting Reviews isn't easy

Chances are, the book will be found on KDP Amazon, Smashwords, Createspace, GoodReads, Lulu and other such places. Every writer wants their work to be read. Not to be unread. Not being read is the writer’s nightmare. Not being read takes away the point of writing. Writers like to be read. After all, writing is about communication. Many writers even put their books out for free just to be read.

How Not to Get Your Book Read

Now what happens? Chances are, there will be a few or no sales because there are millions of books out there and you will remain undiscovered. So the writer surfs the Net for ways of getting readers. And customer reviews are gold.

Naturally, the writer might peruse Amazon itself, looking for threads where readers congregate, perhaps discussing books on a particular genre that matches yours. The writer might contribute in the hope of piquing interest in his/her book. A similar approach might be used for GoodReads and LibraryThing and other such sites where readers congregate. But after a while, the readers get annoyed, saying, butt-out, stop spamming us about your book. This thread is for readers, not for writers muscling in, trying to sell your sci-fi or erotica!

Where to Find Readers of Your Novel

And what else happens? New threads are set up just for writers to congregate, because they can’t annoy or spam each other, only offer advice about writing, book cover design and perhaps lick each other’s wounds if a negative review is posted.

The result? There are sites and threads only for readers and sites/threads only for writers. The two are separate.

The writer cannot get easy access to readers, the very group the writing is aimed at. And the readers remain oblivious to the writer’s existence.

This has happened everywhere. Self published authors are at risk of being burned by GoodReads, the Kindle Boards and discussion threads of Amazon. So the writer keeps away in fear of reprisals, perhaps of getting bad reviews for the behavior rather than the quality of the book itself. Having said that, GoodReads is great for keeping a log of books I have read, but do little in the way of promoting my books there.

Causes of Bad Book Reviews

But this polarization of writers and readers is no doubt due to the bad behavior of the few, giving the majority of self published authors a bad reputation. I have learned the lesson by proxy, seeing other writers getting burned for over promoting their work online.

With this realization, the self pubbed writer gets caught on another web. Social media. The writer cannot spam himself, so he sows the seeds around the Net hoping to get noticed. Twitter, Facebook, GooglePlus, Linkdin, YouTube, Blogger and more. And yes, I have created such accounts myself for the same reason.

Rather than spending the time writing which is the writer’s prime passion, the writer falls down the rabbit hole of social media. Yes, such-and-such loves writing crime too and has favorited your comment. You have ten thousand followers. Perhaps you will buy another ten thousand to look more popular.

But where is the humble notebook and pen during all of this? In the drawer collecting dust along with your creative juices.

The self published writer is caught in a web on the Web where readers and writers are polarized and the jaws of social media are waiting to consume all your time. Getting noticed as a self published writer is now harder than ever. And here I am, blogging and tweeting this post within the paradox.

But here is something the self published writer should always remember...

The off switch to the computer is just few a inches away. And that notebook and pen is still in the drawer.

Where do I Put My Adsense Adverts for Most Ad Clicks?

Write great articles with lots of traffic, yet your Adsense sucks. Why? You haven’t optimized your affiliate ads to the best effect. Who wants to look at a page that is cluttered with affiliate ads? The key to a money making article is to place your ads discreetly on your web page, yet entice the reader to click through. Here are some tips on how to get the most of your Adsense.

Adsense Heat Map. Hot is Good

Think of the visitor first. Make sure your webpage, whether hosted on a blog or other website offers something valuable the visitor is looking for. This might be vital information or advice on finding the best services. An example is how to format your own book or where to find the best formatting services for book design if you do not wish to do this yourself.

The image represents the general rule of thumb of Adsense hotspots. Hot is good, cool, not so much. But one size fits all is to be avoided. Experiment with your Google ad placements and shift your ads around to prevent 'ad blindness' of your visitors.

Good Keywords for Adverts

Using keywords in your article will trigger ads that contain these keywords, which might simply be ‘Book Formatting Services’ or ‘How to Format my ebook’. This is called contextual advertising.

Don’t worry if your article does not trigger contextual adverts, as some articles will not contain such keywords. However, people will stick with your interesting article for longer and possibly click on a non-contextual ad they find interesting whilst reading your post.

Ad types, sizes and placement on your page will have a huge effect upon your Adsense earnings. There are basically 2 types of ads: media rich, which comprise images and graphics, and text only links. Enabling both types will encourage more business to bid on your space, and encourage bigger clicks, so don’t block any ad type.

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Remember the visitor to your page is also a human. Don’t bombard your page with huge ugly ads that compete for attention, pop ups and jazzy colors. Always ‘blend’ or ‘match template’ when adding your Adsense units.

People tend to read from left to right rather than vertically. This means that banner ads or horizontal link ads tend to perform a little better than skyscrapers. Square ads are good, as these will fit anywhere. I have used large rectangle (336x280) but you can also try square (250x250).

Best Place for Ad Placement

A good place for place Adsense is at the top of the page or ‘above the fold’ as a leaderboard or wide banner, as can be seen here. I have used large leaderboard (970x90). But you can also try half banner (468x60) to fit your page. Billboard (970x250) I think is ugly. I have tried it and it didn’t perform well.

Best Ad Placement for Blogger

A good place to put ads is within the article itself, but is not possible with Blogger, as can be seen on this page. However, I still manage to get good click through rate by smart art placement. For instance, you will find link units within links to my other articles which work in harmony with the look of the page. I have used 160x90 and 180x90 buttons but you can also try wide button or horizontal row.

Tips for Ad Placement on Blogger

Make sure your ads fit with the content of the page. Try out different sizes so the webpage looks smart and neat. Skyscrapers fit nicely within the navigation bar. 120x600 or 180x600 are most commonly used. The wide skyscraper will perform a little better, but don’t sacrifice the look of your page in favor of sticking so-called good performing ad units on your page. If it doesn’t fit or it looks horrible don’t use it.

Don’t use more than three ad units per webpage, or the excess will not display on your page, leaving ugly blank spaces. However, you are allowed three ad units and three link units per page. Something I didn’t know until recently.

Don’t Want to Make Money Blogging? Checklist of Mistakes to Avoid

I have been blogging for seven years and have seen many myths written on the internet about how to make money blogging. Here is my personal list of mistakes you cannot afford to make if you want to make cash blogging:

Don’t write about something you don’t care about. Your blog will fail after 3 months max, even if the subject purports to be lucrative.

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Don’t spend lots of time on social media and such stuff. Twitter, Facebook and Linkdin will not earn you cash directly, only bits of traffic now and again and will eat at your valuable writing time.

Don’t clutter your blog with gadgets that are going to slow you pages down. The reader will click away after getting bored. Attention span is microseconds on the Internet.

Don’t write about something timely such as SmartPhones and the latest gadgets. Such subject matter will be yesterday’s news before you know it and traffic to these pages will die before you know it.

Don’t write about something that is already covered by the big sites. For instance, film reviews or gift ideas for Valentine’s Day. I have written articles about these things and you can almost hear the bulrushes drift across these deserted pages. Write about something no one else is writing about.

Keep the design of you blog simple with obvious navigation. Don’t go too heavy with images and gizmos. Don’t get obsessive about how ‘pretty’ your blog is. It won’t earn you money. I detest pop ups and will immediately click off.

You don’t have to keep blogging every day. Your blog can be a sweatshop of hundreds of articles with little cash to show for. Look for questions that are constantly being asked on the Net. Carefully select the questions that fall within your expertise. Answer these questions to the best of your ability.

Don’t get obsessive over SEO. I have researched extensively on the money matrix, long tail keywords and high paying keywords, yet it is my articles that I have written in a rush without much thought for these things that seem to get the biggest traffic. Why? Because I have answered questions lots of people are asking. Listening is the key to a successful blog.

Making Cash Blogging

Make your blog interesting that will encourage visitors to engage. Have an email list, be friendly, polite and give things away. People will keep subscribing. BUT WATCH OUT. The mere numbers of subscribers will not necessarily earn you cash.

The bottom line? When it comes to earning clicks from Adsense, traffic is the key to getting clicks. The bigger the traffic, the more likely the clicks. Getting traffic to your blog is possible without making the mistakes outlined above.