A few weeks ago I received an email from Susan Crealock. Susan requested permission to place a link to Moonlight On Snow, my romantic comedy published in 2008 by Romantic4ever.com on her blog Online-Novels.(Note: I was notified today, 11/24/2013, by a reader that this blog is no longer available.)
Susan maintains Online-Novels which currently has more than 400 works of fiction listed with accompanying links. These works of fiction are all free online reads so I know you'll want to bookmark the site.
Of course, I knew the amount of work that must go into a project like this. After my publisher and I gave permission to be linked, I asked Susan to visit with us here at Sling Words and tell us more about her ongoing project. Not only did she agree, she also sent a stunning photograph of the village where she and her husband live. Bettona in the Fog was taken a few days ago by Susan's husband, Alejandro Toyofuku, Copyright 2008, all rights reserved.
On with the interview.
How did you get the idea of starting your Online-Novels blog?
Most of the sites listing novels to read on the internet exist to promote books written by their webmasters, and Online Novels is no exception. Last April I uploaded a story I'd written onto a private blog as a sort of ultimate backup in case the house burned down or my computer died. Several months later, wondering if anyone would actually read it, I made the blog public and sat back waiting for readers. And waited. Naturally no one Googles the name of a book he's never heard of, so my story was destined for oblivion without some kind of plan. A bit of research on the internet turned up a number of directories for online novels. I submitted mine to several of them, got accepted, and readers started trickling in. However grateful I was at being listed, I realized I was pretty much at the mercy of others. If they decided to remove my story or take down their site, I was back to square one. This gave me the idea of starting my own online novel website.
When did you "open for business?"
Online Novels went public at the end of August; I took it down for a few weeks in October, so it's been up just under three months.
How many visitors does your site get?
Currently the blog receives about 4,600 hits a month. That's small compared with the older, well-established online novel sites, but the total is growing. I spend three to four hours every day on maintenance - writing authors to solicit listings, answering email regarding the site, updating the database, checking for broken links, etc. - and the effort seems to be paying off.
What kind of book do you enjoy most?
Mostly I read books on history, political science and current affairs, not too many novels.
Who is your favorite author?
Tolstoy.
Is there anything special you'd like visitors to know about Online Novels?
Online Novels contains tracking code to show me where readers are coming from, what they're looking for, where they go in the site and what books they click on. What never fails to astonish me is the global reach of the internet. As I write this paragraph, there are people from the United States, Australia, Pakistan, Germany, France and Romania reading my blog. Since August, the site has received hits from 95 countries! To further emphasize the international character, I'm based in Italy.
Please tell us something about yourself and how you plan to celebrate Christmas and New Year's.
I retired at the end of 1999 after 30 years in data processing. In 2003, my husband and I came to Italy, initially to study Italian. After we found la dolce vita suited us, we decided to stay and bought a house in a small town in the region of Umbria, less than 100 miles north of Rome.
At Christmas, for the first time, our town is staging a presepe vivente, or living nativity scene. This is usually a recreation of the manger, featuring live people in the roles of Mary, Joseph and the magi, but ours will be a series of scenes - the shepherds in the hills (with live sheep, no less), the Annunciation, the manger, Herod's palace and so on - accompanied by a narration of the nativity story.
The production calls for 125 costumes and the whole town will be turned into Bethlehem. Every able-bodied seamstress, including me, has been drafted into sewing the outfits. I finally convinced my husband, who is the event's photographer, that walking around town in khaki pants and a down jacket will detract from the mood of the spectacle, so he has reluctantly agreed to dress as one of the three kings - but he balks at wearing a crown. After the final presentation, January 6, we plan to take a vacation in the U.S. to visit our children and grandchildren.
Buon Natale e Felice Anno Nuovo a tutti!
In return, I wish you and your husband a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year also.
Takeaway Truth
One of the best aspects of the Internet is that it brings together those with common interests.
Hi
ReplyDeletethis is mahesh from india. I'm huge fan of your site. When i decided to study novels i searched internet for novels. I had visited more sites but among all sites, yours is best, because of collection free novels and best site management. I have downloaded and studied more than 30 novels. I didn't get any problems in links. Don't close your site. I thought google want to stop your site to do favour for somebody. Anyway stay alive.
Bye