Latest Articles from The Vandal AKA Derek Haines

Beware Of Indefinite Pronouns

I love something about indefinite pronouns. I found this short text today in my little folder of long forgotten things that I have written about. I can’t recall when I wrote it, but I know why I did. It had something to do with the overuse of indefinite pronouns. Using too many indefinite pronouns is a very habit to get into as a writer, but using nothing else is so much more fun! In the beginning there was nothing, until something arrived, and everything changed. For some reason, something always creates a problem, and so it was to be again. Nothing remained the same thereafter, as something had altered everything.

Making The Most From Your Amazon KDP Free Promotion

Using KDP free promotion to help your book ranking Anyone who is enrolled in Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing knows about the five KDP free promotion days available every ninety days for each book if you are enrolled in KDP Select. What some may not know is that it has now become another little industry in itself, as sites pop up all over the internet, listing and promoting these free ebook offerings. When KDP Select first started, it was enough to book your KDP free promotion days and then promote it yourself via your own social networks. Now, however, there are so many free ebooks on offer every day it’s getting

In Defence Of The Indie

Indie authors are innovators. After reading a blog post written by Su (@Sirra_girl), The Ugly Side of Indie Publishing on Videlicet Productions, I didn’t hesitate in adding my two cents worth by way of a comment. However, as good as the post was, it was a comment from @remittancegirl that really caught my attention. ‘Traditional publishers, with few exceptions, publish book after book of safe, tired, formulaic crap in an effort to do that trick again and again. They have become a serious inhibition to cultural growth, not the promoters of it as they once were.’ In my mind, this encapsulates exactly why self-publishing and Indie writers are a great new pool of talent

Self Publishing – Not For The Dreamers

Self-Publishing in not for money making dreamers Take a quick glance at a list of Twitter profiles, and within a few minutes, you can find the self-published writers who thought the streets were paved with gold. Simply write a book and send out a few Tweets and I’ll be a bestseller and millionaire. Oh dear, did they just dream for a few days? It’s also clear to see how they started with such enthusiasm and then when it became obvious that it wasn’t going to be a cake walk, they just packed their little Twitter bags and gave up. The dead writer accounts. With the advent of self-publishing, we have