Make Money With Blogging: Affiliates For Bloggers

It’s the holiday seasons and as a blogger we have the opportunity to inform readers into buying gifts. An affiliate program is one that shares commission on products to bloggers. It’s like a thank you for directing traffic their way. Here is a small rundown to some essential affilate sites for any blogger.

Amazon Affiliates U.S.:

Ebooks/books: It’s a tiered system that starts at 4% at the beginning and goes up depending on how many items you help sale through your links. It’s easy to past the first tier of six sales. Once the seventh is sold everything gets bumped to 6%.

Amazon Affiliates U.K.:

Pretty much the same as the U.S. one. But many people only have a U.S. account. I really suggest putting both links on your site, even though I’ve gotten few hits but they are technically the second biggest Amazon affiliate.

Share A Sale:

TFAW : Comics! Comics! Comics! Oh and other things, but mostly comics. The best thing about this is as soon as you make one sale, you automatically get $5 bucks. How can you beat that deal? Plus it’s a great site for comics. I buy pretty much all my online comics from here and Mile High Comics. Oh and the Black Friday deals are the best. I’ll put up the Black Friday deals for Writers and Readers on Tuesday. Stay Tuned. You also get 14% for every sale.

Commission Junction:

For Writing Blogs:

Audible: 10% for any audio books. WE don’t use it too much on AKAQ because we deal with a lot of indie books.

Create Space: Perfect for people placing their books on Amazon.

Marvel: Now, it would be sweet to be apart of this program and even though it’s offered I don’t think they choose many people to become an affilate. I myself have had a pending status with them for over 3 months. But it would be nice because the offer at least 30% on all commissions.

Others that are useful:

Bodybuilding: Anyone running a health site would love this one. (I also write for a health blog that’s why I love this one.)

Sears: A big name with lots of deals from books to kitchen appliances. It kinda covers everything that Amazon doesn’t which isn’t really that much, since Amazon covers everything but when’s there deals it could easily make purchases cheaper than amazon. Like this one:

Conclusion:

The goal shouldn’t be to make money on your blog, it should be to inform and support your readers. But if you are trying to sell your book, use an affiliate link to make 6% more on your book. Also look around, if there’s a site that you send readers to a lot, see if they have an affiliate site. Also if there are any others I missed, let me know.

-L. Vera

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Peter Townsend’s Ghostly Images

Ghostly Images by Peter Townsend

Two apprentice photographers, David Taylor and John Evans, find themselves unemployed and desperate for work when their employer dies.

They fall into the clutches of Hood, a notorious charlatan, who is eager to exploit them as “spirit photographers” with the aid of the infamous Tate Camera now owned by David. This notorious camera is said to have the ability not only to photograph spirits, but it can predict how and when the person photographed will die.

Reluctantly, David and John become immersed into the dubious, murky trade of spirit photography. Although David stubbornly refuses to believe in the supernatural, he becomes unnerved when ghostly images start to appear on the untouched photographs of young women who soon fall victim of a man people are calling “The Whitby Ripper.”

Lucy Shaw, an ambitious reporter from The Whitby Herald, wants to expose both Hood and spirit photography as a fraud. She is a modern career woman eager to cover more exciting news than the flower shows her editor assigns. Her search for the truth attracts the attention of David, and possibly that of a murderer.

David is charming, handsome, a real lady-killer in every way. A relative newcomer to Whitby, he is reluctant to talk about his past or his direct link to the recent murder victims.

Is there any truth to the rumours about the Tate Camera? Can it predict the near future? Can it expose a killer?

Meanwhile…the Whitby Ripper waits for his next victim.

About the Author:

Peter Townsend was born in Sheffield and has a variety of interests including history, music and art. One of his current fascinations is the history of Victorian England. He now lives by the northeast coast of England and regularly walks on the local beach or on the cliff top path towards Whitby where Ghostly Images, is set.

Ghostly Images is available in print and several ebook formats including Kindle and NOOK and can be found at many other online retailers. Visit the Ghostly Images page at LL- Publications:

www.ll-publications.com/ghostlyimages.html

LL- Publications is an independent publisher based in Scotland specializing in genre and literary titles in both print and ebook formats since 2008.

-L. Vera

An Interview With The Murderous Edward Lorn

Author: Edward Lorn

Interviewer: L. Vera

Part of The Dastardly Blog Tour

L. Vera: Edward Lorn, It’s a pleasure to have you on AKAQ.

Edward Lorn: It’s my pleasure being here. Thank you for your support of Three After and interest in joining the Dastardly blog tour.

L. Vera: So it must be fun writing horror. What’s your most favorite “death” that you have written?

Edward Lorn: I don’t really have a favorite death. I tend to fall in love with my characters. Sometimes they die. It’s just what happens in a horror novel. But if I absolutely had to choose, a death that stands out for me would probably be in my short story, World’s Greatest Dad. It involves a bad guy and a meat hook. That death was fun, only because I believe it was completely deserved.

L. Vera: Any crazier deaths in the future of your writing career?

Edward Lorn: I’d hate to give away any spoilers, but I assure you there will be plenty of deaths in my future novels. Who knows? I might write a book where everyone dies. That would be crazy.

L. Vera: Why Horror? I know you’ve dabbled in other genres, but what brings you back to horror every time?

Edward Lorn: Horror is a passion of mine. I enjoy all types of reading material, but while writing, I tend to go for the darker side of things. Horror contains elements of every other genre, or at least it should. I prefer horror with a little heart. I want people to feel bad when someone dies. I try to do that with all my characters.

L. Vera: If you can give other authors a writing tip? What would it be?

Edward Lorn: To just shut up and write. Stop piddling around wondering what your next project is going to be about and let your characters speak for themselves. So much more fun that way.

L. Vera: What should we expect in the future from you?

Edward Lorn: I have one new novel done, but it’s sitting in a virtual drawer for now so I can come back to it with fresh eyes at a later date. I’m about a quarter through another one, but I have no idea which will be next.

L. Vera: Thank you Edward Lorn. It was both a pleasure and a treat to have you on AKAQ.

Edward Lorn: Thank you so much for having me. I appreciate what you’re doing here. Keep up the good work.

Cyberpunk, A Lost Genre?

As a child I found myself reading a lot of science fiction. Even as as a kid in elementary school, I’d check out books by Isaac Asimov. Stuff like Venus or The Moon. I didn’t don’t recall a damn thing from those books, but as a kid I was fascinated by planets. Then I found myself nose deep in a book about Atlantis and the Bermuda Triangle. Yet, it wasn’t until my school had a program, where you could earn points reading books and taking a quiz on a computer to earn “Mcdonald Bucks”. I’m not sure if that’s what they were called, but I was earning money  to read. So I read lost of stuff. I even took quizes for other people and shared half the points. It was a good business for a kid that liked to read.

I stumbled upon Mirrorshades: The Cyberpunk Anthology. How or why? I have no idea, but just those final words, “Cyberpunk” echoed in mind. At the time I was also heavy into Hackers, Terminator and the video game Shadowrun and this was the genre that I thought it was made just for me.

So what is cyberpunk? It’s a sub genre mixed in among hundreds of others, like steampunk or dystopian literature but this one is special, at least to me. Cyberpunk is a world where computer and technology has advanced to the point that it’s in everything. You could have implants that let you “jack” into the internet or an eye that zooms and can see the tiniest sand on the farthest beach from a tower miles away.

From Wikipedia:

“Cyberpunk is a postmodern and science fiction genre noted for its focus on “high tech and low life.” The name was originally coined by Bruce Bethke as the title of his short story “Cyberpunk,” published in 1983.It features advanced science, such as information technology and cybernetics, coupled with a degree of breakdown or radical change in the social order.”

So I became a huge Bruce Sterling fan. I”ve read Globalhead, A Good Old-fashioned Future and Crystal Express. I’ve also been in the middle of Schismatrix for over ten years now. Maybe one day I’ll finish it but then what? Where did all the cyberpunk go?

I thought maybe it’s because we are living in that world. The internet has vastly improved, we can reach information at those super sonic speeds, we have devices installed on everything from refrigerators to our cars. Sure they’re not floating yet, but look at those silly Segways, or even motor bikes/cycles. Is that why we don’t see any mainstream cyberpunk anymore?

What about those other “sub-genres”? Steampunk? Do they have a place in today’s mainstream?

They do. So write them, because there are people out there just waiting for that book. Even if it’s in a genre that’s no longer “popular”. Screw vampires. I’m tired of them too. Someone write me some cyberpunk.

I do plan on reading the classics soon and looking for some good self-published stuff. Oh, and Bruce Sterling still knocks some stuff out every couple of years, but I want some home-runs. Any suggestions?

-L. Vera

An Interview With Phyllis “Marketing Ninja / Thriller Writer” Zimbler Miller

Author: Phyllis Zimbler Miller

Interviewer: L. Vera

L. Vera: Phyllis Zimbler Miller, writer of CIA Fall Guy, it’s nice to have you on AKAQ.

Phyllis Zimbler Miller: I am very pleased to be here.

L. Vera: How does it feel to be a writer?

Phyllis Zimbler Miller: I have been a writer from the time I was in elementary school. I love the ability to share stories with others.

L. Vera: How does it feel to be in marketing?

Phyllis Zimbler Miller: I also love being in marketing. In marketing you are basically sharing the stories of the business, brand, cause or book you are promoting.

L. Vera: How does it feel to be working with your daughter?

Phyllis Zimbler Miller: It’s great to be working with Yael. Besides working together on marketing, she does the covers for my books and the design elements for our company’s social media outreach. Her interest in code led me to decide to do my own ebook conversion in html for “CIA Fall Guy.”

L. Vera: How can you help other writers with your company?

Phyllis Zimbler Miller: Yael and I believe that the foundation of any author platform is a user-friendly author website that the author can make changes on himself or herself. We build these websites for our clients as well as coach them on social media strategy specific to their abilities, interests and marketing goals.

L. Vera: And since, I can’t, could you explain to my readers why they need a social media presence.

Phyllis Zimbler Miller: With the vast number of books and ebooks traditionally published and self-published every day, it is difficult for authors to stand out. Using social media to create relationships with potential readers — if done as part of a strategic marketing plan — can help authors to promote their books without spending money on advertising.

L. Vera: What could we expect to read in CIA Fall Guy?

Phyllis Zimbler Miller: I call “CIA Fall Guy” a gentle thriller because I’m not a big fan of graphic blood and guts. And while the book is a novel, the bombing in May 1972 of the U.S. Army’s Officers Club in Frankfurt, Germany, is true. In fact, my husband Mitch and I took the train from Munich to Frankfurt that day and then immediately left on a U.S. Army chartered plane back to the U.S. without stopping in first at the Officers Club. I read about the bombing in the front page news items of The Wall Street Journal when we were back in the U.S. More of the backstory of this novel is at http://www.CIAFallGuy.com

L. Vera: What should we be keeping an eye out for in the future? And when can we see a family anthology coming out?

Phyllis Zimbler Miller: I’d like to write a sequel to “CIA Fall Guy” and I have already gotten the domain name http://www.CIASpyGuy.com in case I want to use that for the title of the sequel. I am particularly interested in exploring the East Germany-West Germany dynamics before Germany was re-united. In fact, Mitch and I wrote the screenplay “The Widow Springer” about the fall of the Berlin Wall.

And I like your idea of a family anthology! I’ll have to think about this.

L. Vera: You have written other books. Can you tell us what these are?

Phyllis Zimbler Miller: I have written two other fiction books — “Mrs. Lieutenant” which was a 2008 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award semifinalist — and the technothriller “Lt. Commander Mollie Sanders” (Currently FREE on Amazon) which I wrote with Mitch. We also published four of our comedy screenplays in the book “Four Comedy Screenplays.”

On the nonfiction side, I am just now releasing the three-book series HOW TO SUCCEED IN HIGH SCHOOL, COLLEGE AND BEYOND COLLEGE for teens and young adults.

L. Vera: Thank you for the splendid interview.

Phyllis Zimbler Miller: And, again, thank you for this opportunity; I really appreciate it.

Find Phyllis Zimbler Miller on her blog at www.PhyllisZimblerMiller.com

on Amazon at her Author Page at http://amzn.to/L8vNZo

on her marketing website at www.MillerMosaicLLC.com

and on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ZimblerMiller

Get Your Story Made Into A Film: BDHR Looking For Submissions

Publisher: BDHR Entertainment

Theme: Horror

Pay:

• You will get an on screen “story” credit, as well as a credit on IMDB
• $100

 

Notes: I already turned in something, a little Idea I had written down quickly the other day. Make sure you read the post throughly and I wish you luck.

-L. Vera

Art Thieves, What Should We Do With Them? (Updated)

I search Amazon a lot. I’m always looking for some free, or cheap stories that will kill the dull time through out the day. Usually I write, but even that can eventually make me call for something else, something different. So here I am staring at an image I know the artist who created the book cover (I’m not going to accuse anyone of anything, especially if the job was and could have been done by someone else) did not make. Why? Because I was involved with a bigger Art Theft a while back and two of those same stolen images are being used for this author’s books. I’ve contacted one of these artist before and I  contacted him again, today.

This is his image: http://fav.me/d4uilq (Image is now different)

and this is the book cover:

There’s also another one that was stolen from a poster from a movie called Creep:

So what do I do about them? Last time the culprit stole images ranging from Marvel to Indie Artist. I contaqcted each artist first and made sure they were given without permission and then contacted each author. Those author’s didn’t create the images, the publication did. So one man was at fault.

Now, it’s a smaller incident. One where an author thought he could google an image and use it as a cover. (Again, I’m assuming.) I contacted the artist and left it in his hands. I let him know, that he needs to report it to copyright@amazon.com and email the author.

But what should the procedure be. This is what I want to do:

1) Post it up so everyone can see what a bastard he is.

2) Let the artist know.

3) Add him to my ban list. (Anything by Trestle Press is on it.)

4) Get people to troll him.

5) Contact him with a angry email.

After the last incident, I have the power to do all that. People love to troll thieves, I like to send crazy email; but the author’s got super upset. Mostly since it wasn’t their fault. They were given “Free” covers by their publisher. It was his fault, the publisher/cover designer/sales team/jerk/idiot/mongrel that stole the images to make a quick 15 cents off one of their books. I never blamed the author, but readers did. It really hurt the inde-publishing market as well as many aspiring writers.

So, I’m curious to hear what the AKAQ (A Knife And A Quill) community thinks. Everyone here is either an avid reader and/or a learning writer. We are more open to ideas then throwing stones, we talk and converse to decide decisions but overall we like to write. We write about our feelings, about other people’s feelings and I like to think we know a bit more about how people tick. So what do you think?

Update: Artist has contacted writer and writer’s wife, and has reported the author to amazon.

How To Kill Someone

Killing people is easy, at least for writers. (Now all you weirdoes who came here to see how to really kill people can leave.) Now, the hardest thing to do is to sell the idea. I’ve never killed a person. I don’t really know all the feelings involved. I’m sure most writers don’t so we have to sell the idea that we have, or at least sell the idea that are character can kill someone.

I like to view seeing a story in my head as staring through windows. I open one and sit with my elbows on the sill, a laptop and sometimes a glass of water and stare at the contents. Many times I feel like I have no involvement in it – I’m just a scribe. The story exist as it does and it’s my job to get an accurate description of what happens. Stephen King also describes this in a similar manner in On Writing but as fossils. I like windows.

So there I am, with my laptop – sometimes with my iPad or iPhone – peering out a window watching someone die. That’s a pretty normal day for me. I’ve never killed anyone; but I think of other people doing it all the time, hence all the windows. So this window is one that floats above a grassy, sunny space away from any form of life besides these two people. One is on his knees and the other is holding him down, from the throat. Have I ever seen this event? Not in real life, just in movies, images in my mind and the internet. So let’s continue this as a story, or a window.

The sky is bright, probably too bright for such a scene; but it’s too late now, Jerry had already begun what he thought he would never do. I shuffle and write that in my laptop. Click. Clickty. Click. I know the other man’s name, Leroy. Why? I don’t know, that’s just his name and it will always be his name, even though I’m watching him die. His eyes, bulge, his face reddens first, and then it fades. It fades like a man slowly turning into a ghost, white and it’s sickening. Something in my stomach churns; but I watch and I type. I like watching.

Jerry’s face. It’s different, it’s not full of anger, it’s full of satisfaction. There’s no smile, just that look, a stoic pleasurable form of satisfaction. And Leroy dies, his face blue, his eyes like swollen white berries. Leroy dies. Click. Clickty. Klack. Klack. Klack. 

So how do you kill someone? With what you see. Ignore everything else. Did those things really happen the way I describe? Who knows? That’s the way I see it and that’s all that really matters. After all, are they buying the truth, or a story. Are they reading because what happens in the book is “possible”. No. If you want possible things watch the news. I’m here to show what I see in the windows.

I’ve read reviews where people say, “I don’t believe that’s possible,” or “Come one why would it happen on a sunny, happy grassy knoll.” The truth is I don’t know, it just did and I’m portraying that as best I can (I’m no professional, just another self-pub writer but a happy self-pub writer). Have I ever seen a person’s face turn all those crazy things. Nah. For all I know it doesn’t even happen that way.

Research is important, just for the fact that there’s a lot of douches and trolls ready to pick something apart if you don’t research. They expect our omniscient to be almost godlike. We writers know that isn’t possible, but we try. Try. For gods sake, try. Then with that research, you’ll feel confident. That’s what sells death – confidence. If you truly believe what you see is really happening, people will to.

As a writer, I like to think I’m lenient on a lot of things, I even over look spelling and send the author corrections. Yeah, I’m hardcore. But please do some homework, don’t change names and leave me confused. And not re-reading your story isn’t killing anyone but your readers. When I’m staring out my window watching poeple die, I tend to write too fast and misspell, miswrite, or just plain miss something important. So edit. Edit, edit, edit and then get someone else to edit. Please. Then kill some more people.

-L. Vera

Check out Part 2: How To Kill People The Right Way

Writers Beware of Pinterest

Everywhere I turn I hear about Pinterest. “It’s good for your business.” “What? You’re not on Pinterest. What are you a caveman?” I would just like to inform those people that first, I’m not a caveman and second, I strongly believe Pinterest is a website where people steal images for followers. I actually had a co-worker brag about the thousands of followers she has on Pinterest. I’ll give her the benefit of a doubt that the images she pins have permission, but I’m sure that’s highly unlikely.

Okay, I’m I being harsh? Maybe a little, but the truth is you can get sued for pining a photo that is not yours. So I think being harsh is justified.

Recently I was part of uncovering a scandal known as “TrestleGate“. After the crazy battle I ended up knowing a lot more about art theft. So here are some bullet points.

I know that I cannot use anything on this blog without permission from the artist or sole owner of the art.

I know that I cannot make book covers from art I find on google search.

I know that if I created an image I don’t want other people to use and I have the rights to it, I can sue them for it.

If you ask for permission and don’t get a response, you are still stealing.

The worst thing is if you look at Pinterest terms and agreement they put everything onto the user. Onto you.

“You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold Cold Brew Labs, its officers, directors, employees and agents, harmless from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses, including, without limitation, reasonable legal and accounting fees, arising out of or in any way connected with (i) your access to or use of the Site, Application, Services or Site Content, (ii) your Member Content, or (iii) your violation of these Terms.”

How many Pinterest users know copyright laws? Probably very few. They like the fact that showing their interest can impress people. I don’t blame them, but when you look again at it, it’s basically whomever can steal the best images get the most followers. It’s designed for you to steal.

I also learned that artist love giving away permission for free – only if they had been ask. The images you well find here are from Kay Peers. With her permission we use her images – because I asked. Many others are more than willing, they just don’t like it when it’s been stolen.

Pinterest is aware of the issue. And if you read this so are you. So be careful what you agree to in the terms and agreement, not knowing could get you in trouble.

Here are some other articles, a little more in depth about the subject I suggest you read: “A Lawyer Who Is Also A Photographer Just Deleted All Her Pinterest Boards Out Of Fear” , “Pinterest Might Be Enabling Massive Copyright Theft”

-L. Vera