A Tip About Hyperlinks and Epubs

Many times, the cause of .epubcheck errors is complex or bad syntax in a url that's included in the book. These can be buy links or links to other websites. The urls that most often cause problems will contain syntax such as: %22&t=none&f=id?. I've found that shortening the links using www.bitly.com works very well. Bitly.com converts the link to a new url rather than just hiding it in shortened text. If you use a shortening service that simply hides the link behind text, the .epub validation program will still see the original url and send back an .epubcheck error.
Another tip is when copying buy links such as from Amazon.com, you really don't need anything past the item number to make the link work. For example: http://www.amazon.com/The-Law-Annabelle-ebook/dp/B00B8TX1RQ is a sufficient link. Any other syntax such as: "/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1" that might come after the "B00B8TX1RQ" item number isn't necessary and can be removed.
And one more bonus tip: For those of you who copy and paste references from the internet, be very careful. Without realizing it, you could be copying and pasting hidden hyperlinks and HTML code into your document. The best way to copy and paste anything from the internet or even from another document is to copy it to first to a program like Notepad; then copy and paste from Notepad to your Word .doc.

Front Page News Has A New Look

My romantic suspense novel, Front Page News has a brand new look. Readers are starting to take an interest in this one. It had more downloads than any of my other books during "Read An Ebook Week". As my first–and so far only–attempt at suspense/mystery, it's steamier and darker than my other books, and I thought it needed a fresh look to reflect that. It has some good reviews posted, so I might try penning another suspense in the near future. I learned from writing The Law & Annabelle that I really like writing mystery, and my current WIP is another in that genre.
Front Page News at Smahwords.com

A Tip About File Names and Amazon KDP

I had known about the issue of file naming conventions (computer jargon for how a file is named) for a while, but a client of mine came to me a few days ago with this problem, so I thought I'd pass along the information. The client was attempting to upload a revised Kindle.prc file to Amazon, and Amazon wasn't converting the revision. After looking at this file, I realized (through past experience) that his naming convention might be causing the problem. When I name files that I send back to clients, I name them (for example) MyWonderfulBookKindle.prc. I put no spaces between the words and no extra characters. My client had renamed the file I gave him to My Wonderful Book _03_14_13.KindleNEW.PRC.prc.prc. Unfortunately his file name was causing Amazon's computer to reject the file. I had him upload the file again with the name I had assigned, and it went through with no problem.
So before uploading your files to Amazon KDP, make sure that the file name is simple (no spaces, underlines or symbols) and the only thing that should ever follow a period in a file name is the file extension, which in this case was .prc.

New Cover

After receiving some helpful feedback and then kicking it around with a few author friends and a cover artist, The Law & Annabelle has a new cover that has been uploaded to Smashwords, B&N and Amazon. It wasn't that the original cover was terrible. It just didn't represent the story as well as it should have. I also want to add that after spending hours on Shutterstock.com and Dreamstime.com searching for the right artwork, I now have a great appreciation for the work that cover artists do. Good cover art is essential and so is listening to feedback from readers.

READ AN EBOOK WEEK March 3-9

READ AN EBOOK WEEK March 3-9. Smashwords.com has tons of e-books free and discounted this week.
Get any or all of my books free this week. Use coupon code RW100 at checkout to receive the free offer. Offer good only atSmashwords.com.

Exclusive to Barnes and Noble and Amazon.com, a re-release of Love & Marry that includes a bonus short story. Not For Me is a story that I wrote a few years back as a Valentine freebie. I've updated, re-edited it and included it with Love & Marry. There's also a 2-chapter preview of The Law & Annabelle at the end of the book.