How to write and sell an Amazon bestseller

Amazon makes it easy to publish your own ebook - but the challenge is getting punters to find and download it. Ebook author Nik Rawlinson shows how it's done

It’s never been cheaper or easier to publish a book. Agents and traditional publishers are being squeezed out, and writers are selling directly to Kindle, Kobo and iPad owners. The trouble is, it’s become too easy: the market has exploded, and you’re now competing with a greater number of potential JK Rowlings than ever before.

On these pages, we’ll explore how to give your work the best chance of success. If you haven’t already written your masterpiece, it begins with choosing a subject that people want to read about - but one that isn’t already saturated. We’ll also show you how to work around Amazon’s block on free books if using Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), boost series sales by letting readers borrow selected titles, and navigate the pros and cons of enrolling your books in KDP Select.

Remembering… Autoexec.bat and Config.sys

David Hayward reflects on the two most important files used in DOS

When we recall the DOS days, it’s often with a rose-tinted hue. However, while it was less complicated than a modern operating system, it wasn’t quite as straight forward as we often give it credit for. For one, getting a game to work often meant having to play around with the two most important files on a DOS-driven PC: Autoexec.bat and Config.sys. These files defined how the environment started up, what drivers were loaded, what the temp directory was, the Path statement and where other commands could be accessed.

Seasons After Fall

Beautiful platformer will put a spring in your step

Got a favourite fictional fox? Does he happen to be fantastic, by any chance? There aren’t many vulpine heroes in gaming these days, but this nature-loving platformer from French dev team Swing Swing Submarine is planning on changing all that.

Top 5 Annoying Facebook Things

It’s the world’s most popular social network, but it’s possibly the most irritating too

1 Fake Competitions

You know that lovely warm feeling you get when someone Likes something you posted on Facebook. Well, apparently, companies enjoy that so much that they’re willing to give away iPads and sports cars in exchange for a few more clicks on that Like button. Click on their page, though, and you’ll see their account was set up the week before. You’d think people would understand that this means it’s fake, but it seems not, because these make-believe competitions always have thousands of Likes from what we assume are not very bright people.

Archos 101 Oxygen

A tablet that’s a breath of fresh air

Archos is a familiar name in the tablet and smartphone market these days, and a name that has earned some respect from users and critics alike. The company has had some shaky products in the past, but these last few years have seen it shine and come out with a catalogue of impressively designed kit.

SteelSeries APEX M800 Gaming keyboard

SteelSeries new Apex M800 keyboard offers both colour and function, for a price

I covered the original Apex keyboard from SteelSeries, and concluded that, while it was acceptable for gaming it wasn’t much use for other keying activities. That design was also enormous, like it had been conceived by an ironing board maker on his day off.

HP Officejet Pro 8610 e-All-in-One

Mark is pleasantly surprised by a budget office printer from HP

Having seen a slew of multifunction printers recently, I’ve realised that the differences between them often come down to daily running cost, and not initially outlay. That’s critical in the typical small office scenario, because a low print volume printer can get a sudden shock to the system should the business rapidly start growing.

HomeMonitor HD Pro

Impressive outdoor security with plenty of features

Security cameras have become so familiar in our surroundings that we barely notice them these days. You could argue that we’ve become a surveillance society, where our every move is being watched with close scrutiny. On the other hand, maybe we’d just rather be safe.

Archos 50 Diamond

A quality sub-£200 phone, with farm more expensive features

There are numerous mid-range smartphones available at present, finding one that manages to offer close to top of the range features at decent price can be quite difficult, though. Archos has, in the past, tried to bridge the gap between mid- and top-of-the-range with its products; offering good value for money with functional hardware.