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Time Fixer - The Blake Bergman Chronicles
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John_Vella
I haven't seen my friends in so long
Joined: Fri Apr 24, 2009 7:55 am Posts: 7935 Location: Manchester.
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For those of you who haven't seen this on BookFace or Twitter... OK, folks, it’s time for a big announcement… My first novel, Time Fixer – The Blake Bergman Chronicles, is available from the Kindle Bookstore! It’s e-book only, for now, but it will be out on Paperback soon. If you don’t have a Kindle, you can install the free Kindle app on your Android mobile/tablet or iPhone / iPad by following the instructions below. You can also use these instructions to install the app on your PC/Mac Amazon Kindle InstructionsDon’t forget to leave a review and tell everybody you know about this. If you live in the UK you can get it here: Amazon UK LinkIf you usually use amazon.com it’s here: Amazin International LinkEither way, I hope you enjoy it… 
_________________John Vella BSc (Hons), PGCE - Still the official forum prankster and crude remarker  Sorry  I'll behave now. Promise 
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Sun Oct 13, 2019 10:43 am |
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Spreadie
I haven't seen my friends in so long
Joined: Fri Apr 24, 2009 6:06 pm Posts: 6355 Location: IoW
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Bought. 
_________________ Before you judge a man, walk a mile in his shoes; after that, who cares?! He's a mile away and you've got his shoes!
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Mon Oct 14, 2019 6:46 am |
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John_Vella
I haven't seen my friends in so long
Joined: Fri Apr 24, 2009 7:55 am Posts: 7935 Location: Manchester.
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Thanks! I'm going to spend the morning deciding whether or not I'm going to turn this into a series, or leave it as a stand-alond novel. If I do turn it into a series, I'll have to de-publish it for a few weeks, while I write the sequel... Or I could just have it as a pre-order. I'll think about that. I've also commissioned a new cover, which will be going live very soon... apparently the current one looks "home-made". Probably because it is!
_________________John Vella BSc (Hons), PGCE - Still the official forum prankster and crude remarker  Sorry  I'll behave now. Promise 
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Mon Oct 14, 2019 8:23 am |
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big_D
What's a life?
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 8:25 pm Posts: 10691 Location: Bramsche
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Bought a copy as well. Although I have read it already and it is in Kindle Unlimited. Anything to support a fellow forum member.
Congratulations on getting it published!
_________________ "Do you know what this is? Hmm? No, I can see you do not. You have that vacant look in your eyes, which says hold my head to your ear, you will hear the sea!" - Londo Molari
Executive Producer No Agenda Show 246
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Mon Oct 14, 2019 2:19 pm |
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John_Vella
I haven't seen my friends in so long
Joined: Fri Apr 24, 2009 7:55 am Posts: 7935 Location: Manchester.
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Thanks! It's worth having another read, as I did make some changes since you read it. I hope you noticed the dedication...  I spent my lunch break writing the synopsis for Volume two. It's amazing how quickly the story unfolded in my mind!
_________________John Vella BSc (Hons), PGCE - Still the official forum prankster and crude remarker  Sorry  I'll behave now. Promise 
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Mon Oct 14, 2019 2:34 pm |
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John_Vella
I haven't seen my friends in so long
Joined: Fri Apr 24, 2009 7:55 am Posts: 7935 Location: Manchester.
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So, Time Fixer has now been republished with a better cover and I've sorted out the pricing issues. Tonight's job is to update my newly created Amazon Author pages, and then I guess I'd better start on the sequel.
_________________John Vella BSc (Hons), PGCE - Still the official forum prankster and crude remarker  Sorry  I'll behave now. Promise 
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Tue Oct 15, 2019 7:45 am |
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HeatherKay
Moderator
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 6:13 pm Posts: 7262 Location: Here, but not all there.
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Got my Kindle copy and started reading last night. For a first novel, this is looking excellent. I’m only at Chapter 5 and I’m keen to see how things develop. If I may, and not wishing to cast aspersions on the proofreading Big Dave did, I might suggest seeking out a good editor for revisions and sequels. They would help tighten up the narrative, catch little idiosyncratic things, and level out the grammar and language. I follow a few on the social media, and although they’re professionals that may well be beyond budget for this job they might be able to point you to someone who can help. Anyway, that said, looking forward to another couple of chapters tonight!
_________________My Flickr | Snaptophobic BloggageHeather Kay: modelling details that matter. "Let my windows be open to receive new ideas but let me also be strong enough not to be blown away by them." - Mahatma Gandhi.
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Wed Oct 16, 2019 9:44 am |
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John_Vella
I haven't seen my friends in so long
Joined: Fri Apr 24, 2009 7:55 am Posts: 7935 Location: Manchester.
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Thanks, Heather. Good points, well made. I did have some people other than Dave look at the manuscript, (some of them published authors) but I will seek even more feedback for the next book. As a point of interest, could you let me know some of the ones that we missed? Ooh, before I forget, I'm expecting the proof version of the paperback to arrive on Sunday, which could be cool. 
_________________John Vella BSc (Hons), PGCE - Still the official forum prankster and crude remarker  Sorry  I'll behave now. Promise 
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Wed Oct 16, 2019 8:44 pm |
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big_D
What's a life?
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 8:25 pm Posts: 10691 Location: Bramsche
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No offence taken. I'm re-reading it now and seeing some spelling and grammar mistakes I missed on the first time round. And we did make some big changes to the narrative, here and there. But this is a general problem with modern self-publishing, the author "knows" what they have written, it is hard to see the mistakes, I know I suffer from this with my own writing (mainly technical documentation and reports at work). A professional, which costs money, does a much more thorough job - although I read a lot of English and German novels from established writes, like Jodi Taylor, Mark-Uwe Kling, Dirk Trost, Jo Neso etc. and their books are still full of spelling and grammar mistakes and even plot holes. One of my problems is that, while I still read a lot of English stuff, 90% of it is technical web sites these days, a lot of my private reading is in German. I learnt a lot about how restricted my English is, when I worked as an interpreter. My translations were readable, made sense and were, generally, gramatically correct (and streets ahead of online translation websites, like Google Translate), but it was still a long way short of how a translation company would do it professionally.
_________________ "Do you know what this is? Hmm? No, I can see you do not. You have that vacant look in your eyes, which says hold my head to your ear, you will hear the sea!" - Londo Molari
Executive Producer No Agenda Show 246
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Thu Oct 17, 2019 4:38 am |
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HeatherKay
Moderator
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 6:13 pm Posts: 7262 Location: Here, but not all there.
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I started highlighting things in the app, so I’ll try and collate them when I’ve finished for you. There’s nothing major, just little things that tend to catch my pedantic mind as I read. Other things are more to do, with my former designer head on, with formatting conventions and things like that. So far, good first effort. Oh, and you can’t beat seeing your words in all their inky goodness on the page! 
_________________My Flickr | Snaptophobic BloggageHeather Kay: modelling details that matter. "Let my windows be open to receive new ideas but let me also be strong enough not to be blown away by them." - Mahatma Gandhi.
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Thu Oct 17, 2019 8:18 am |
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John_Vella
I haven't seen my friends in so long
Joined: Fri Apr 24, 2009 7:55 am Posts: 7935 Location: Manchester.
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That would be brilliant, thanks. As far as formatting, I am going to blame the Kindle design app for anything that doesn't look right! In other news, I got an email from Amazon this morning, advsing that the book has been sent and it should be landing on my doormat today! Woop! 
_________________John Vella BSc (Hons), PGCE - Still the official forum prankster and crude remarker  Sorry  I'll behave now. Promise 
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Thu Oct 17, 2019 8:20 am |
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John_Vella
I haven't seen my friends in so long
Joined: Fri Apr 24, 2009 7:55 am Posts: 7935 Location: Manchester.
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Woohoo! The proof copy arrived yesterday, and it's looking good. Going to wait for Heather's feedback before I approve that, as I can always upload a new copy of the ebook but changing the hard copy probably won't be as easy. Here is a reminder, in case you haven't yet seen the links yet. If you live in the UK you can get it here: Amazon UK linkIf you usually use amazon.com it’s here: Amazon International link
_________________John Vella BSc (Hons), PGCE - Still the official forum prankster and crude remarker  Sorry  I'll behave now. Promise 
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Sat Oct 19, 2019 1:28 pm |
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HeatherKay
Moderator
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 6:13 pm Posts: 7262 Location: Here, but not all there.
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Better get me readin' specs on sharpish!
_________________My Flickr | Snaptophobic BloggageHeather Kay: modelling details that matter. "Let my windows be open to receive new ideas but let me also be strong enough not to be blown away by them." - Mahatma Gandhi.
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Sat Oct 19, 2019 3:32 pm |
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John_Vella
I haven't seen my friends in so long
Joined: Fri Apr 24, 2009 7:55 am Posts: 7935 Location: Manchester.
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Thank you kindly, Ma'am. *tips cowboy hat forward slightly, before flashing a winning smile*
_________________John Vella BSc (Hons), PGCE - Still the official forum prankster and crude remarker  Sorry  I'll behave now. Promise 
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Sun Oct 20, 2019 7:45 am |
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pcernie
Legend
Joined: Sun Apr 26, 2009 12:30 pm Posts: 45931 Location: Belfast
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Don't trust him, the hat's at a rakish angle! 
_________________Plain English advice on everything money, purchase and service related:
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/
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Sun Oct 20, 2019 12:55 pm |
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