It’s always a probem to know how to describe a character’s physical appearance. Often the best course is to say as little as possible, especially if it isn’t relevant to the plot. Better for the reader to form his or her own picture. The more effort the reader puts into this, the more personal and intense will be the imagined result. That’s one of the reasons why films of favourite books often prove so disappointing, and why authors who have any sense will oppose the depiction of characters on covers. In the new novel I am working on now, the heroine...

Author Richard Herley has started a new blog which aims to bring worthy ebooks to people's attention. Here is what he says: The hegemony of the traditional publishing industry is crumbling, and not before time. Who knows how many wonderful books have fallen victim to the faulty opinion of overworked and underqualified publishers’ readers? Who knows how many talented authors, worn down by unjust rejection, have simply given up? Smashwords is central to the coming revolution in self-publishing: anyone can publish there. This is to be celebrated, but it raises a problem for readers in finding new authors producing work of...

I have just ended a two-year experiment. Readers were invited to download six of my novels and send me a fee if they enjoyed any of them. You can see the original proposition here. The experience bears out much of what I have read about online content. Of more interest, it also got me thinking about the practice of authorship in the Information Age. Downloads and payments At least 36,568 ebooks were downloaded from external, authorized sites, and well over 100,000 from my own. Some titles were posted on torrents. Originally the requested payment varied with the title (85p and up), but PayPal...

Richard Herley, an English author whose books are great, has a wonderful blog in which he often discusses the natural history of the English countryside. I follow him with relish. Now he discusses Gilbert White's Natural History of Selborne, and he says: While not going so far as one author, who declared that no one who does not own and appreciate a copy of White’s Selborne has no claim to call himself an English naturalist, I would nonetheless hold it up as indispensable to the library of anyone who loves our countryside, or who loves our language properly used, or both....

Editor's Note: Richard Herley has been absent from these pages for too long, so it's a pleasure to re-print, with his permission, this article just published on his blog. Paul You will not find a more passionate advocate of literacy than me. Reading is the key to so much -- education, enlightenment, defence against tyranny -- that I am anguished by the thought of its decline. Books can entertain and delight, transport and comfort us. Truly, as the motto on that series has it, Everyman, I will go with thee, and be thy guide, in thy most need to go...

It's always great to get links from our readers. You will note that you have heavily contributed to the site today. Here, from British author Richard Herley, is a link to a compendium of over 100 e-book sites. This is worth bookmarking and keeping handy. The author says: I recently went looking for some free Ebooks and was surprised to find that there are many resources for this. I decided to put together this list of sites that offer free Ebooks as a reference. Since there are so many, I was not able to check each...

So says a fascinating blog post by Donald Clark. Here are a few excerpts, and I suggest you read the whole thing. He makes a lot of sense, especially when he talks about publishers confusing the medium with the content. I must also admit that I've had some of the same thoughts about libraries myself. Any rebuttal? Thanks to author Richard Herley for finding this post. 100 Classic Books on Nintendo Who would have thought? I've just seen the ‘100 Classic Books' title advertised on prime time TV, just after Big Brother, for the Nintendo DS. Brain Training was...

Finding Free eBooks is a great new blog for ebook fans. Quote: [It] will list websites LEGALLY distributing free ebooks, mostly novel length fiction. Each site will have a blog entry so you can sign up for the rss feed and be notified of new additions. I want to support independent authors, I'm especially interested in linking to them. I will add individual author sites and multi-author sites (if they offer something different from the ones already listed) distributing free ebooks legally. I will also add time limited promotional give aways. Please send an...

An often overlooked feature of most e-book displays is the ability to change the size of the font. Especially in recent years, I have noticed that the average font-size in p-books has been getting smaller and line-spacing has decreased, making the text harder to read for anyone without good eyesight. Years ago, I remember searching the Large Print section of our local library, trying to find intelligent reading-matter for an elderly relative who, although suffering from failing vision, had nothing whatever wrong with her mind. It was not easy. And of course, if even an ebook-display does not permit sufficient...

Editor's note: Here is another posting from Richard Herley's blog. He poses an interesting question in this one. One I certainly had not thought about before. I have just received this email from a reader, which I reproduce with his permission: I have just read The Penal Colony and really enjoyed it. Usually when I read a book by a new author (to me) and enjoy it I go straight onto Amazon and purchase every single book by that author. But currently I am going through a little bit of a financial...

Independent ebook authors, and adventurous readers looking for their work, should without fail check out eBooks Just Published, a recent venture by Mark Gladding of Tumbywood software. This site allows authors to submit announcements of their new work. The books are categorized according to genre, and readers can vote for their favourites. Browsing eBooks Just Published feels a bit like browsing a book store - except that all the books on offer are electronic and, most importantly, DRM-free. The format allows each book to be presented in its best light, showing jacket art, blurb, and any other text the author feels appropriate,...

Our contributor Richard Herley describes this book on his website as: In 13th-century Sussex, an illicit love-affair and ruthless power-politics find focus in a masterwork of medieval engineering. Well, it certainly is that. I decided to download Richard's books (he is offering them for free on his site and asks you to make a contribution if you like what you've read) as I was intrigued by the time frame in which it was set, as well as by the the concept of medieval engineering. The book centers around the attempt of an English Lord to erect a mill that is...