Friday, February 24, 2012

This is my very first blog so bare with me.  First review is coming soon, I thought it would take me longer to get the blog running.  Just waiting for the author's approval and comments!

Books to be reviewed:
Legon Awakenings by Nicholos Taylor (Smashwords)
The Lost Boys by Lillian Carmine (Wattpad)




The Beginning





Hi! I’m Theresa an avid reader with too much time on my hands.  I have a passion for writing but enjoy reading so much more.  I should also mention I am cheap, sorry authors I stick to reading the free material from sites like Smashwords and Wattpad.  In order to pay back all you hard working novelist I decide to start a blog about free eBooks worth reading. Hence the name of the blog!  



Let me tell you a little about the sites where I find my material.  Smashwords is an eBook publishing platform where authors present their work and set their own price.  Many new to self publishing often offer their material for free.  Once it starts gaining momentum the author can change the price to start earning a profit or the charges for the sequel.  The material on this site is well edited though the reader will on occasion find an error or two.  Many of the authors encourage their readers to report errors to make a more cohesive piece.  To sum up Smashwords from a reader’s standpoint, it is similar to reading from a nook or any other professional eBook forum. App available (I love reading from my iPhone). http://www.smashwords.com/library

Wattpad on the other hand in much different.  The material is posted as complete works or by updating the author’s page per chapter.  Readers are often left hanging waiting for the author to post an additional chapter, which can be frustrating for both parties. My daughter Tara, also a book junky, only reads completed books.  Reader’s can vote for their favorite authors, characters, and other categories giving the author a status rating.  They also list how many times the material has been downloaded giving the reader an idea of the books popularity.  I really like the interaction between author and reader but most material is not editedL.  This seems to cause the authors tension between their fans as well. If you can tolerate the errors some are definitely worth checking out. App available (easier to use than iPhone app) http://www.wattpad.com/home

How the blog works, each week I will review a book or short story from either of the two sites.  I will provide detailed information regarding the book, where to purchase additional works and give the book a rank.

1-    Purchase the Sequel or more from this author                               

2-   Definitely worth the time

3-   Not bad

4-   Pass

*Needs Editing

The majority of the beginning material will be those that I have read previously, from the fantasy/ Sci-fi genre and wanted to pass on to you.  Once I’ve exhausted those picks I will randomly pick from multiple genres.  I’m a huge sci-fi/ paranormal fan so I maybe posting more than one review a week.  I’ll let your feedback lead my progress!