A glimpse into SWEEK, a mobile platform whose motto is that stories never end!

Nowadays, people are moving more towards ebooks instead of investing in a physical copy of books. This is proving to be quite useful in many ways, making it easier to carry books around. With Sweek, reading books on mobile devices is made easier and more user friendly. An interesting concept, read on to know more about the app and how it came to be.

About Sweek:

Sweek is a mobile platform which allows anyone to read, write and share stories. All over the world. In an instant. For free.

It allows the user to read from a number of options, write or publish their own work and reach a large reader base, as well as share their favourite stories with friends via the various social media platforms.

Sweek’s mission statement:

‘Sweek stimulates community based writing and reading on a global scale by enabling everybody to easily publish, read and share stories with the world at no cost. By providing mobile and online reading, Sweek contributes to a more sustainable future.’

History of Sweek:

Sweek was incubated by Mybestseller, the European market leader in self-publishing. The founders of Mybestseller saw an opportunity in the rising trend of mobile publishing. Key were changing reading habits, serialization of content and short stories. After some research and deliberation, the Sweek concept was born!

In September 2015, Sweek was formally established. Since then the team grew considerably  and now consists of 14 members.

Now, since June 2016, Sweek has been available to the public on both Android and iOS platforms!

Publishing perspectives:

By introducing Sweek, Mybestseller offers publishers a comprehensive proposition and innovative tools for self-publishing and mobile publishing that can be easily integrated in their strategy in the fast changing publishing world. The focus is on creating synergies between traditional, mobile and self-publishing.

Benefits for publishers

Next to directly increasing sales via the marketing tool, publishers can benefit in other ways from using Sweek. Big data is very important to publishers, as it gives insight in reading behavior and trends, and in the reader demographics of their writers. Publishers can also use Sweek to scout upcoming writers with a large online follower base, who have already proven themselves: the new rockstars of writing will arise from mobile publishing.

Sweek self-publishing

Next to the Sweek mobile publishing platform, users are offered the opportunity to publish their paperbacks or e­-books via Sweek self­-publishing. For free. The state-of-the-art publishing platform enables any author to easily publish, promote and sell books. All relevant sales channels and a variety of additional services are available to the user. The best thing is, there are no costs upfront and authors receive a royalty per sold copy. Even though stories are available for free on Sweek, the team is convinced that fans would love to have an e-book or a printed copy.

Connect with Sweek:

If you want to read more about the Sweek story and the team, just check out the Sweek blog.

Further you can connect on social media at:

facebook

twitter

instagram

pinterest

Book Review: Sky Riders: Bright Star by Erin Swan

I found this book on Inkitt and got around to reading it. I was hooked immediately from the first chapter and didn’t stop until the end! Read on to know my thoughts.

Find the book on Inkitt here.

About the Book:

The Golden Era of the Guardians has passed, and the land of Paerolia has begun to slip into darkness once again. A slave in the judges’ palace, Andra has known only torment and terror her entire life. But when Kael, the leader of the rebel Freemen, breaks into the palace, Andra finds herself thrown headlong into a life she never imagined, into the midst of a rebellion that could change her future and the future of Paerolia. But the past is hard to escape, and Fate can be unkind. Alongside Kael, Andra must discover the strength that has always been within her and fight to win back what Fate kept beyond her reach—a dragon that should have been her own, and a man whose heart she can never hope to win.

My Thoughts:

It’s been a while after reading the Inheritance cycle (Eragon and other books in the series) that a book in the same fantasy fiction genre has captivated me so much. At first I was skeptical of the plot and was unsure whether this story would be any different, but I am happy to be proved wrong.

The story is wonderful, well thought out and crisp. The plot flows easily from one scene to the next and the characters are well developed and highly complex. Andra, a slave in the Judges’ household, when brought away from there, struggles to understand the life of freedom. The author as described this and captured the feelings and mental torture the girl went through. We are shown how Andra deals with the trauma and abuse she has endured and how this shapes her into a strong individual. Kael, with his charming personality, also has secrets which come out as the story unfolds.

It is difficult not to fall in love with Eithne and Tiri, the dragons who are a constant presence. Though some parts of the plot may seem familiar, it is far from predictable. The way the Freemen bring out a change and the pivotal role the protagonists play, along with their friends is what sets this story apart. Moreover, the author’s writing is clear and easy to understand. The conversations and internal discussions that the characters have, are highlighted for easy differentiation. Also, bring in some well placed romance and the plot is complete.

An overall gripping read, this book will ensure that the reader will not stop until the very end. The overall plot is rounded up beautifully leaving no room for questions.

Inkitt’s Novel Writing Contest

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Read about a new Novel writing contest that is currently running on Inkitt. It is an exciting opportunity for aspiring writers to get their work noticed and even published.

Inkitt is a free platform where a writer can upload their work and reach a wider audience. It is extremely user friendly. Under the on-going competition, the Novels which gain the most popularity among Inkitt’s readers, win and stand a chance of getting published.

Why should Inkitt publish you?

They invest Minimum $6,000 in Your Book Marketing via a Proven Strategy (read about some of their book successes here) with a dedicated marketing team, professional editing & 25% in Royalties.

Note: Submit a work of fiction at least 20k words, without having any works on Inkitt before, language must be English in all genres.

Exception to kind of submission: no Fan-fiction, no short-story collection

Read about it further and sign up here. (Also clicking the banner will take you to the sign-up page)

Book Review: Esper Files by Egan Brass

I received a free copy of this book from the team at Inkitt in exchange for an honest review.

About the Book:

When an experiment goes wrong In Victorian London, Espers, people with supernatural abilities are created. In order to counter this new potential threat, the Institute is set up to teach Espers how to use their abilities for good and how to hunt down those who want to use their powers for evil.

Gifted with a formidable but self-destructive ability, Nathan is one of the Institute’s top agents. When the evil Baron executes his plan of controlling the minds of London’s political leaders, peace is dependent on Nathan and his team.

Will he learn to control his powers in time to save the world? Or will he succumb to their self-destructive nature?

My Thoughts:

Wow! This is a gripping tale of people with special powers/abilities living in a world of normal humans and the problems they face. Think X-men, with an institute, a professor and a whole lot of children being trained to accept their powers and learn how to use them. But, even with this comparison, the story holds its own, with enough differentiation to not make it cliched or the same as any thing the reader may have encountered.

The author has created characters who will enthrall you and pull you along with them. The story is well written and descriptive enough to keep the images running in your mind as the scenes are happening. The fight scenes are wonderful and a lot of research and effort seems to have been dedicated to writing them as there is an obvious attention to detail. Nathan, with his copy cat abilities and James with his teleportation are the first we encounter of  the Esper’s followed by Freya and her brother. Their powers, unique in nature, drive a lot of the plot. Starting off with the creation of Espers and how they came to exist, details of when their powers are likely to manifest and how to identify an Esper, the author covers all possible angles.

The story moves quickly, almost single mindedly in a specific direction and comes to a climactic end, leaving enough room for the next book. A great adventure to take, this book will have the reader hooked until the very end and is a very enjoyable read! Having said this, I cannot wait to read the next book, which is slated to be released soon.

Book Review: Operation Superstar by Yamini Pustake Bhalerao

I have been quite fortunate to get a chance to connect with and collaborate with Juggernaut.

I was given a free copy of this book, published by them in exchange for an honest review. Read on to know my thoughts.

About the Book:

(Taken from the blurb mentioned on the app)

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Bollywood superstar Junaid Kapoor is in deep trouble. Ex-wife Neha is not happy with the alimony settlement. She is threatening to release photographs of JK with his mystery lover.

Operation Superstar by Yamini Pustake Bhalerao is exclusively available on www.juggernaut.in

My Thoughts:

This book is around 60 pages and is a very quick read. The story revolves around Junaid Kapoor, a Bollywood superstar, recently divorced and trying to ensure that his wife doesn’t release some photographs that she has of him with his mystery lover. The story jumps right in with Junaid meeting our protagonist, the lady who will make all this go away and ensure that his ex-wife has nothing to threaten him with.

The story is written in the typical style of a Bollywood film, but is lacking in substance. For a short story, it is thorough, but there is not enough information anywhere about any of the characters. The author’s style of writing is good and flows well, but the characters are not developed enough. Everything just seems to happen and fall into place so easily. Quite frankly, however good you are, things are not this easy in reality. This put me off the book a little and was the reason that I did not enjoy it a lot.

Overall, this can be read while taking a break from work or having a bite to eat. It has some elements of entertainment that will keep the reader momentarily entertained.

Inkitt – app launch for Android

I was asked by the Inkitt team to promote the app on it’s release date (which is today!) and spread the word. Read further to know all about it!

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THE INKITT APP BRINGS THOUSANDS OF NOVELS BY INDIE AUTHORS TO ANDROID

Inkitt empowers readers and publishers to discover world’s next best sellers

BERLIN, JANUARY 7, 2017: Inkitt, the world’s first readers and data-driven book publishing house is introducing an Android app for phones and tablets, globally available from today.

Inkitt’s iOS app became available back in November and was well received by users: The app was not only featured on the US App Store but also on numerous other App Stores around the world, as well as on the front page of Product Hunt, ranking in the top 10 in Tech.

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Inkitt for iOS featured as a top Books app in the US App Store

Following the warm welcome by the iOS community, and in order to meet the demand of their own fast growing user base, Inkitt is now bringing their digital library with thousands of novels by emerging authors to Android devices.

“It was a great reward to see Inkitt featured as a top app in numerous App Stores around the world and receive such great feedback from users” says Inkitt’s Founder and CEO, Ali Albazaz. “Readers were really excited about the iOS app but kept asking when we’re launching on Android too. We heard them, worked really hard and today we’re bringing Inkitt to Android devices. All readers will now be able to discover tomorrow’s bestsellers on the go and read great novels by upcoming authors wherever they are.”

Inkitt for Android – 4 key features:

  • Access to thousands of novels from all fiction genres: fantasy, sci-fi, mystery, thriller, horror, romance, drama, action, adventure, YA and more
  • Personalized reading suggestions: hand-picked novels based on a reader’s favorite fiction genres

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  • Customizable look to match user preferences (e.g. font size, color combinations)

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  • Online/Offline: readers can save novels to their offline library to access them anytime

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Beyond being a platform connecting aspiring authors with book lovers, Inkitt’s mission is to become the world’s fairest publishing house: Its in-house developed algorithm analyzes reading behavior to determine the potential of a novel to become the next bestseller. Using this unique data-driven approach, Inkitt wants to ensure that great works by new and talented writers never again stay in the dark.

Since July, Inkitt has published 7 novels: Catalyst Moon: Incursion by Lauren L. Garcia (Fantasy), Just Juliet by Charlotte Reagan (YA Romance), I Was A Bitch by Emily Ruben (YA Romance Mystery), Esper Files by Egan Brass (SciFi) and Caged by Onaiza Khan (Psychological Thriller),  King’s Lament by Lilia Blanc (Fantasy Romance) and Three Fat Singletons by J.M. Bartholomew (Humor Romance), six of which became bestsellers on Amazon.

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Inkitt for Android will be available to download on Google Play from the 7th of January 2017

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About Inkitt

On the surface, Inkitt (www.inkitt.com) is a platform where aspiring writers can share their novels and inquisitive readers can unearth fresh content. But under the hood, we are democratizing publishing: The Inkitt algorithm analyzes reading behavior to predict future bestsellers. In other words: if readers love it, Inkitt publishes it.

MEDIA CONTACT

marvin@inkitt.com