Never give in, never give up!

Get Notified About the Latest Posts!

Never give in, never give up!

by Karina Kantas
(Greece)

Write about what you know

Genre: Urban Thriller

I knew I wanted to be a writer since my teens and I was determined it was going to happen. It wasn’t until I moved to Greece that I decided to take my writing to another level. The first piece I ever had published was a film review. The cheque is framed and sitting above my computer. Being able to call yourself a published writer is a powerful achievement.

Bio:

I’ve written articles for several magazines; anything from band reviews, summer articles, film reviews and recently, a piece about a local demonstration against a planned rubbish dump next to a popular tourist resort. This report was sent to Greenpeace. I’m also a featured book reviewer for Future Fire and have had several poems published. I’m the author of the popular urban thriller, In Times of Violence and the short story collection, Heads & Tales.

Inspiration:

Rock music. Whether it’s classic or heavy I’m always listening to it when I’m writing. The music, vibe and lyrics inspire me. Even if I’m writing horror, fantasy or a comedy, I always have it playing in the background.

Self-published:

My first self-published novel is In Times of Violence. I decided to take the SP route after too many rejections from agents and publishers. I knew I had something new and edgy and given the chance it could be a very popular book. I was right to take the chance. In Times of Violence has received excellent editorial reviews and has been loved by hundreds of readers.

I first published through Lulu but because of shipping prices I changed to a UK Press. Unfortunately that was a very bad move and now I’m one of 17 authors that are taking the publisher to court. I returned to Lulu as they now have their books printed in Spain and so shipping charges are reduced. Lulu is an excellent place to self-publish and one of the cheapest ways to go about it. I’ve no regrets about returning to Lulu. My short story collection, Heads & Tales is also self-published through them.

Why urban thriller?

Readers of I.T.O.V begged me to write a sequel, which I have done.

Huntress, which is due for release November 08, is the follow up to I.T.O.V; but this one is strictly for adults. Huntress is much more than a sequel; containing hard core drugs, sex and rock and roll.

My new novel, Lawless Justice, is another urban thriller; but this one is about a gang of FEMALE vigilante bikers. Sexy, dangerous women you will love to hate!

The books are violent, Huntress is sexually explicit, but that’s what you expect in a novel about bikers.

The characters are tough, mean and violent but there’s another side to these stories; the warmth and love each member has for their brother/sister. It’s not just about the excitement and violence, it’s also about the respect, love and feeling of belonging. Against your better judgment you’ll find yourself liking and even caring about these tough characters.

Most of the characters in my urban thrillers are trying to find themselves. They don’t fit in; never felt they belonged. They’re searching for something.

Life is exciting, it’s about new experiences, whether good or bad. It’s an ugly world we live in and unfortunately, violence plays a huge part. I don’t think I stretch the truth. I tell it how it is. Everyone wants to be a rebel and I allow my readers that pleasure.

Unfortunately this is an unknown genre and agents and publishers are not in the rush to take a chance on something new. With sales in the hundreds, I’ve proven to myself and others that there is a market out there. It wasn’t easy, as SP relies on the author doing all the work. It can be very stressful and time consuming and as I’ve found, internet promotion unproductive.

Because of the wide world web, everyone suddenly wants to be a writer and seems to think they have the next best thing. If you’re determined and are ready to fight for your talent then I wish you all the best. But just know; there’s a gigantic sea out there with millions of little fish like yourself who are trying to get into the net.

Conclusion:

In Times of Violence, Huntress, and Heads & Tales are self published books and I’m proud of that fact. But I’m in the process of finding an agent for my new novel, Lawless Justice.

These novels deserve a larger audience; the problem is getting the word out there.

My readers range from the ages 15-80 and all have enjoyed I.T.O.V. Look how big S.E.Hinton’s Outsiders is. In Times of Violence can be just as popular given the chance.

Visit Karina's website.

Comments for
Never give in, never give up!

Average Rating

Click here to add your own comments

Jul 19, 2008
Rating

Many thanks
by: Karina

Well you've both given me a lot to think about. I guess I've been going the wrong route with my online promotion. I didn't know Amazon had a blog, but I'm certainly going to use that marketing tool. I can't do much at the moment as I'm working through the summer months and don't get a lot of time online, but thanks to you both, I now know the direction I need to take.

And Steve. Thanks for the confidence. I need to get an agent and a mainstream publisher if my name is going to be known. I'm not publishing books for fame. If I could afford to give them away for free, I would. I get so much pleasure when I know someone is reading and enjoying my work. If that continues, I'll keep writing and publishing more books.

Jul 18, 2008
Rating

Don't Give Up On Internet Marketing
by: Kevin Joseph

Steve, as usual, offers some great pointers about using a content-based Web site to attract attention to your book. In my experience, this approach can be enhanced my taking advantage of free tools that Amazon has to offer.

When I went on your Amazon page I noticed that you have not created an Amazon blog. You can do this for free, writing something that links to your personal website, thereby boosting your profile in Google searches. (Amazon blogs do very well in Google searches, and linking to your site will raise it in Google's ranking, too.)

Amazon also allows you to tag your book with specific genre descriptions. I went on your Amazon page and tagged your novel as "urban novel." This will allow other readers who are interested in these novels to find your book. If you click on the urban novel tag, you will find a discussion forum about these sorts of books. Posting there would also help increase your on-line visibility.

Just a few things to consider. On-line promotion takes work but it does result in sales. It is the only way I have ever promoted my novel, and I have sold around a thousand copies, one-by-one, almost exclusively through Internet sales channels.

Jul 18, 2008
Rating

faith in self
by: Steve B. (webmaster)

Karina, your confidence is impressive. Thank you for your slyly promotional contribution. (Inside joke.)

I take issue with one thing you said, though, that internet promotion is unproductive.

Correction: YOUR internet promotion (and that of many other authors) is unproductive.

Tossing aside (for the moment) that your site is a freewebs site with a freaking big banner ad atop it, your website is about one author who has sold hundreds of books.

The internet is about bigger numbers than that.

Until you're famous (and with your confidence, I expect you will be), a website solely about you is destined to attract minimal traffic. Yes, your site Googles #1 for KARINA KANTAS, but that's about it.

I would much rather be #10 for URBAN THRILLER.

The search engines view the 'net as an information resource. If you want search engine traffic, you need to offer information on a subject larger than yourself. If you want to sell books to that traffic, you need to make sure that "larger than yourself" subject appeals to the kind of people who will have an interest in your books.

A recent contributor to this site wrote a novel about a runner. On one page of his site he created a list of novels about running. Search RUNNING NOVELS and that page comes in #1. It doesn't result in a flood of traffic, but it's his #1 page. Of course, his book is included on it. It's the one with the Amazon link!

His name is Kevin Joseph. Again, I'd rather come in #1 for Running Novels than for Kevin Joseph. Wouldn't you?

Kevin's is a smallish, one page experiment. Accordingly, he gets a decent dribble of traffic he wouldn't get otherwise and some of those people buy.

Don't get me wrong; it's a very worthwhile thing to do. Whatever effort he put into creating that one page is now benefiting him for the life of his website.

But imagine now an entire site devoted to a larger subject, and let's use Urban Books as an example. (Why? Because Google Keyword Research reports 18,100 searches per month on the subject, versus 16 for Karina Kantas.) Pages on Urban Novels, Hip Hop Books, Urban Thrillers, Urban Book Clubs. Imagine yourself as THE expert (or at least AN expert) on Urban Literature.

Now imagine a box on every one of those well-trafficked page promoting your books.

Internet promotion can be productive, but you have to create pages and a site that contain information plenty of people are looking for. The typical one author website, I'm afraid, does not produce much in the way of sales.

Oh, and coming back to your Freewebs site. Know this: the search engines - in determining rankings for a particular page on a particular search - consider a site's domain name. All things being equal freewebs.com/froget will always come in well behind, say, urbanbooks.com/thrillers.html. Just how it is!

X Close Editor

Jul 18, 2008
Rating

Submitted by: Steve B. (webmaster)

Title

Comment
Karina, your confidence is impressive. Thank you for your slyly promotional contribution. (Inside joke.) I take issue with one thing you said, though, that internet promotion is unproductive. Correction: YOUR internet promotion (and that of many other authors) is unproductive. Tossing aside (for the moment) that your site is a freewebs site with a freaking big banner ad atop it, your website is about one author who has sold hundreds of books. The internet is about bigger numbers than that. Until you're famous (and with your confidence, I expect you will be), a website solely about you is destined to attract minimal traffic. Yes, your site Googles #1 for KARINA KANTAS, but that's about it. I would much rather be #10 for URBAN THRILLER. The search engines view the 'net as an information resource. If you want search engine traffic, you need to offer information on a subject larger than yourself. If you want to sell books to that traffic, you need to make sure that "larger than yourself" subject appeals to the kind of people who will have an interest in your books. A recent contributor to this site wrote a novel about a runner. On one page of his site he created a list of novels about running. Search RUNNING NOVELS and that page comes in #1. It doesn't result in a flood of traffic, but it's his #1 page. Of course, his book is included on it. It's the one with the Amazon link! His name is Kevin Joseph. Again, I'd rather come in #1 for Running Novels than for Kevin Joseph. Wouldn't you? Kevin's is a smallish, one page experiment. Accordingly, he gets a decent dribble of traffic he wouldn't get otherwise and some of those people buy. Don't get me wrong; it's a very worthwhile thing to do. Whatever effort he put into creating that one page is now benefiting him for the life of his website. But imagine now an entire site devoted to a larger subject, and let's use Urban Books as an example. (Why? Because <A HREF="https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal">Google Keyword Research</A> reports 18,100 searches per month on the subject, versus 16 for Karina Kantas.) Pages on Urban Novels, Hip Hop Books, Urban Thrillers, Urban Book Clubs. Imagine yourself as THE expert (or at least AN expert) on Urban Literature. Now imagine a box on every one of those well-trafficked page promoting your books. Internet promotion can be productive, but you have to create pages and <A HREF="http://infopublishing.sitesell.com/writingsuccess.html">a site that contain information plenty of people are looking for</A>. The typical one author website, I'm afraid, does not produce much in the way of sales. Oh, and coming back to your Freewebs site. Know this: the search engines - in determining rankings for a particular page on a particular search - consider a site's domain name. All things being equal freewebs.com/froget will always come in well behind, say, urbanbooks.com/thrillers.html. Just how it is!

Cancel Delete Delete & Ban

throbber Updating Comments page...

Click here to add your own comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How?
Simply click here to return to Fiction Genres

Never give in, never give up!

Comments for Never give in, never give up!

Comments for
Never give in, never give up!