The Time trekkers Journal – The weekly newsletter from Scifi Author Brett Jackson.
For more about me, visit brettishbooks.com.
Hello there, and welcome to this weeks chapter of
The Time Trekkers Journal.
My name is Brett Jackson. I’m a Science Fiction Author, Time Travel lover, and occasional poet.
The Time trekkers Journal takes you through my journey as an Independent Author, and brings you weekly news full of Writing Updates, Writing World News and more… and now, let’s begin this chapter.
My Writing Life
The Author Accountability section of the newsletter is now known as My Writing Life, and will include such as things as what has happened in the last week, and how much progress I have made on my latest book.
- Mon 7th Oct marked 1 week off social media for me, and so far it seems to be having a positive effect. I have been procrastinating less, and have become a lot more productive, but here’s the clincher, I have more time to rest too. Spending time with the family, and reading has really changed, because I am not checking out all the latest buzz from the rest of the planet.
- I have changed the banners in the newsletter from Red and Black to something a bit more scifi.
- I have got back into writing too, after being poorly with Covid, and managed to edit another chapter. More updates will be posted on the website soon.
- The study decluttering is slowly getting sorted, and I can now see my desk!!!
- This week I went to Linc-Con (Comic Con at Lincoln) and it was a packed event. I took some fam with me, and they thoroughly enjoyed themselves.
Top left – Banner from Linc-Con / Top Mid The TARDIS, K-9 and Dalek / Top right Angeline Trevena with husband Paul
Bottom Left – The Ghostbusters car Ecto 1 / Bot Mid – some Cosplay actors dressed up as characters from Star Wars / Bottom right – Selfie with Author Ryan VernelAlong with meeting some wonderful cosplay actors (pictures below) I also met up with more Authors, including my author friend Angeline Trevena, and new authors Rebecca Wylde, and Ryan Vernel.It was gorgeous weather, which meant that there was a lot going on outside as well. So I got to see the car out of Ghostbusters, as well as the TARDIS, K-9, a Dalek and more.All in all, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and everyone had a great time. Thanks to everyone at the Engine Shed in Lincoln, you did a great job, and I can’t wait to go again next year.
Book of the week
Book Recommendation is now known as Book Of The Week, and will include a book recommendation, blurb, book cover, and a link.
Last week I started reading Diary of a Wimpy Kid – Old School, and I can’t believe I have actually finished it! This is the fastest I have read a complete book in years, and I put it down to several factors.
- I actually have time to read now, because I am not spending all my time doom-scrolling
- I found a book that’s really easy to read, and I reckon that will get me back into my love of reading, woohoo.
This week at Comic Con, I met some more Authors, and I grabbed three books, The Lady of the Loch, The Trickster and the Thief, and House of the Claw, all from author Ryan Vernel.
This weeks recommendation is – The Lady of the Loch.
Blurb
In a sleepy highland town, steeped in myth and legend, a long-buried secret is rising once again. When a local boy disappears in the dead of night, all signs point to one inescapable truth. The lady of the Loch has returned, and it’s up to Tyler to stop her.
This book is available on Amazon at the following link.
Grab The Lady Of The Loch on Amazon
Authors, If you would like to see your book recommended, reach out to me, let me know what your book is about, and I will add it to the list of recommendations.Message Brett Jackson – Scifi Author
Ask The Author
Ask the Author is back, and gives you the chance to ask me any book or author-related question you’d like.
A while back I posted on Substack, telling everyone I had closed down my Facebook, Instagram, and Threads, and that I had started to notice some changes.
Martin on Substack replied asking:
How does it feel?
My Answer:
It’s actually not as bad as I was expecting. After the first few days, I found myself getting more into writing todo lists, because I now have more time to do stuff. By stuff, I mean work, rest and play (yes, I schedule in rest time, it’s important).
After 20 years of scrolling, I noticed that I had fallen out of a lot of productive habits, and I am slowly getting back into them.
Since leaving, I have focused more on reading, writing, enjoying family time and just cracking on with stuff, because I have more energy.
I don’t have to panic because I may have missed something, because the people who really matter are connected to me, and I think this has made such a massive difference, although every now and then I do instinctively type facebook into my browser, then look at the logged out screen and think… nope, I’ve quit.
There are some other changes too. I find myself giving out my email address instead, or asking if people want to sign up to my newsletter. I have been signing up to more authors newsletters, and offering newsletter swaps.
So far, it’s been great, my anxiety levels are down, because I am no longer chasing post view stats, or wondering what to post or write next. I just live life, write my books, and update my website, and newsletter 🙂
And finally… my phone battery is lasting so much longer now, I managed to get two days out of it a couple of days ago, and that was with making phone calls, and sending emails 🙂
The bots have gone, the adverts have gone, and the stress has gone. I still get one or two marketers on substack trying to sell me their marketing services, but that’s only one a week, instead of thirty to fifty a day.
If you have questions you want to ask an author, no matter how complicated or trivial, why not send them to me. I love to hear from people, and can’t wait to feature your questions in the newsletter.
Leave a comment
Featured Article.
10 Reasons why you should read Diary Of A Wimpy Kid Loded Diper as a new Self-Published Author.
Recently I started to read The Diary Of A Wimpy Kid books. I had struggled with reading since my mum passed away in April of this year, and I would start reading books, only to be distracted by something different, and never finish the originals.
When I picked up Diary Of A Wimpy Kid Old School two weeks ago, I flew threw it in about 3 days, and decided I wanted to read more.
As luck would have it, I found a couple of the DOAWK books in my local superstore at discount price, so I decided to pick them up.
Again, I am finding Loded Diper a really easy book to read, and lots of fun too. It follows the adventures of Greg Heffley as he helps his older brother with their rock band Loded Diper, as they go from just a dream to getting gigs and more. The interesting thing is, that I noticed a lot of similarities between this book, and starting out as an independent Author, and I wanted to share them with you.
- Getting themselves known – The boys in the band put stickers all around town, this lead to a gig – As an author you could get a website, tell your friends, and more
- Getting gigs – One gig, lead to more gigs – Getting a book signing up and running is pretty cool, grab yourself some posters, a banner, table, chair, a place to sell them, and of course, some books and a pen.
- Selling merchandise – They came up with loads of cool ideas about different merch to sell – Once you have some money coming in, you may want to start creating some branded merchandise, perhaps pens, notepads, mugs, hoodies etc. This would be a great addition to your signing table, or on your website.
- Touring – They got themselves a van and went around to different gigs – Having transportation as a self published author really helps. It will make things easier when it comes to transporting books etc for book signings.
- Social Media – Loded Diper advertised on socials to get themselves more popular – Social Media is a great way to get yourself known as an indie Author, and it’s free.
- Transporting all your stuff to gigs – They got a better van with more space for equipment – deciding what transportation is key as an author, and it really helps.
- You quickly learn how to stop wasting money on things – There were some crazy ideas in this book, such as a great big baby and a diaper gun, and the band were realistic about what they could and couldn’t afford – this is something you need to learn fast, especially in your early years as an Author.
- Checking out the competition – In the book, the band spotted other groups in the battle of the bands, and were able to see just how great they were – As an author, if you check out your competition, you will soon find things you can do better, to either improve what you are doing, or to make things better than your competition. Competition is healthy, and provides you with insights on the sorts of things you can do better.
- Prizes – Loded Diper wanted to beat everyone at battle of the bands, and as an Author, it’s a great thing to get yourself into some competitions, not only for the chance of winning the competition prize, but winning something much bigger… the opportunity to prove yourself, and to be recognised.
- An old band came back into the spotlight – The moral of the story here is, never give up, sure it’s worth it to have a break every now and then, but the best news is, you can come back 🙂
I hope these tips have helped you as an author. I got so much out of reading this book, and I am sure you will too. So why not check it out, I thoroughly recommend it.
And that’s us all caught up today.
If you have any questions, or just wish to get in contact, you can do that by clicking the following button. I would love to hear from you, and appreciate any feedback from the newsletters.Message Brett Jackson – Scifi Author
Want to know more?
Check out my books at www.brettishbooks.com, and consider supporting me by signing up to my free or monthly subscription to this newsletter. It’s less than the price of a cup of coffee, and your support helps me, write more books for you.
There are no differences between paid and free subscriptions, except that warm fuzzy feeling knowing that you are supporting an independent Author, and my gratitude 🙂
And that’s all for this week, thank you for reading.
See you all, in the future.
Brett Jackson – Indie Author
