EJ Fredrickson – Book Editing & Promotional Services – Editor, Ghostwriter, Author, Promotions

The Top Five Things I LOVE About eBooks

March 1, 2026

Five Things I Love

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Number Five: Money, Money, Money!

Hey, call me mean, but, as a girl who likes to count the pennies ALMOST as much as Ebenezer Scrooge, the first thing I LOVE about eBooks has got to be the price!!!

Apparently, the average price of an Amazon Kindle eBook ranges from $3.99 to $12.99, while the paperback alternative comes in somewhere between $9.99 and $19.99.

This, admittedly, means that the prices of books on Amazon vary massively… but bargain hunters like me are quite willing to give up that nostalgic ‘book smell’ if we end up with a few more bucks in our pockets at the end of the day…

Coffee, anyone???

Number Four: Save the Tree!

I promise you, I’m not just thinking about myself and where my next espresso is coming from… Noooooooo, I’m thinking about the mighty oak!

Actually, in the Land of the Long White Cloud, it’s the (slightly less majestic) pine tree that lays down its life for the sake of the humble paperback! So let’s pause for a moment and appreciate this noble tree…

So, my all-knowing amigo (Google) tells me that one single pine tree can produce approximately 2,000 to 3,000 paperback books… Not bad, eh? But how many of our spiny, piney friends go into making an eBook? Of course, ZERO!

So I guess that means there’ll be plenty left for Christmas…

Number Three: Heaps of Holiday Reads!

I’m not alone in this, right? As much as I LOVE reading (and I REALLY do), the only time I get to actually sit down and devour book after book is when I am away from my desk, my washing machine, my dishes, my Hoovering…

That’s right! I’m talking about sun, sand, sangria, swimwear! I’m talking about HOLIDAYS! But aeroplanes don’t have room in their holds for ALL THOSE BOOKS I have been waiting to read… So what is the solution???

You’ve guessed it! eBooks!

By all accounts, a typical smartphone (and, I guess, mine’s pretty typical) can store thousands to TENS OF THOUSANDS of eBooks! So, even if I do NOTHING but read during my precious annual seven days in the sun, I’ll STILL never run out of those trashy novels I like to read when no one’s watching…

Number Two: Never Lose Your Place Again!

Seriously, as I think I have already mentioned, I LOVE reading! BUT (this is where I spill an EMBARRASSING secret) Even when I’m reaching the climax of the most GRIPPING thriller, I often find my head starts to nod, my eyelids start to close – and what happens then?

The gripping thriller SLIPS through my fingers, the pages fan out for the briefest of moments before resuming their most natural form – That of the CLOSED BOOK – and what happened to my precious, hand-crafted bookmark? Well, of course, it is cheekily resting beside my sleeping self, NOT marking the page that I will never even remember getting to anyway…

HOWEVER – and I guess, by now, you know where I’m going with this – when I’m enjoying the said thriller IN EBOOK FORM, does it matter if the Land of Nod beckons? No sirree!

Here’s the clever bit… An eBook automatically marks and remembers the last page you read, ensuring you return to EXACTLY the same spot… And, if that wasn’t enough, “Whispersync” technology is often used to sync this location across multiple devices…

GENIUS!!!

Number One: Super-Size It!

And YES! We’ve reached Number One in my countdown of the top five things I LOVE about eBooks! (Hoorah!)

This one gets my top spot because, for a girl who can only read in the daytime, or under some sort of high-octane, carefully angled reading light, the fact that eBooks have their own built-in illumination system works wonders for my less-than-perfect vision!

The special nighttime white-on-black no-glare option means that, if that juicy crime thriller is really starting to live up to its genre, I can read all night, and who would know?

And I ESPECIALLY love that thing where you can make the words bigger – SUPER-SIZED if you want to – so all that squinting at the page, and angling the book so the light hits it just so – these are things of the past. Yeeha! DIY large print puts an end to eyestrain!

Or, I suppose I could just get myself some reading glasses…
Cracks Beneath The Surface: A Titanic Novel (Titanic Tales of Love and Loss Book 1)

February 18, 2026

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Click on the book cover to purchase your copy from Amazon!

As a lover of historical fiction, I was excited about editing Cracks Beneath The Surface. Of course, as many of us do, I thought I knew the story of the Titanic, and I was very interested to see what new light author Laura McCrum could shed on this tragedy. I was not disappointed!

What I love about this novel is how Titanic passengers carrying first, second and third class tickets are brought together aboard this fateful ship. Unlikely friendships are formed, the rigid class lines become blurred, and the stories of real historical figures are told in an engaging and fascinating way.

I admit to weeping real tears throughout the editing of this book, which, I have to say, does not happen often, and I hope the author will take this as a sign of a very well-written story, and characters that are believable enough to really care about!

Hey, I don’t want to spoil the story for anyone who has not read Cracks Beneath The Surface yet… Of course, tragedy happens – but, still, I went away feeling both uplifted and hungry for Book Two!

My Interview with Laura McCrum…

What is your favourite thing about writing?

My favourite part of writing is creating characters and bringing them fully to life. I love getting to know them, being true to who they are, and allowing their stories to unfold in a way that resonates with readers. For me, writing is not just storytelling, it’s discovery. The process reveals a great deal about who we are, what we value, and how we move through the world. I truly believe everyone has a story worth writing, even if it’s only for themselves. Putting your experiences into words can offer powerful insight, clarity, and a deeper understanding of your own journey.

How has writing this book changed you?

I’ve always been someone who loves the excitement of starting new projects, full of ideas and energy. In the past, I would happily move from one beginning to the next. Writing this book, and building my career as an author, has changed that in the best possible way. I’ve discovered the deep satisfaction that comes from seeing a story through from its first spark to its final full stop. Now, it’s not just the beginning that excites me, but the craft of sustaining momentum, paying attention to detail, and guiding a project all the way to completion.

What’s next for you?

For the past twenty months I’ve been happily buried in notebooks, documents, and real and imaginary worlds, and I’m currently writing book three in my Titanic series. It’s been a wonderful stretch of creative focus, though I must give full credit to my husband, who has heroically handled almost all of the cooking and cleaning while I’ve been off with my characters. I’ve promised him that this summer, once book three is safely on its way, I’ll be stepping out from behind the laptop. I’ll still keep an eye on marketing and the book world, but there will also be fresh air, proper meals cooked by me, hopefully some sun in beautiful Scotland, and perhaps even a holiday where the only plot twist is where to go for dinner.
The Secret of Spanish Bay: Some treasures are buried deeper than gold by Kasey Wincott

February 8, 2026

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The Secret of Spanish Bay: Some treasures are buried deeper than gold by Kasey Wincott is a book that really stood out to me as an editor because it was a real page-turner from the outset (which makes my job SO much easier – thanks, Kasey!)

As I embarked on the epic tale of Rodney, Marty, Chloe and Julie, I immediately thought of my 11-year-old niece and 13-year-old nephew, who I knew would eat up this story and soon begin to dream of their own adventures hunting for treasure and learning the amazing legends of lost Conquistadors!

What I love about this story is that it is so much more than a treasure hunt! Firstly, it is both historically and geologically fascinating, and secondly, Kasey Wincott is not afraid to tackle the sometimes-thorny issues of family relationships, which, of course, trouble most of us at some time during our teenage years, although it is not always talked about!

My Interview with Kasey Wincott…

What is your favourite thing about writing?

What I’ve found most interesting has been how excited I can get when I’m brainstorming a creative idea. It must be literally setting off endorphins. I can feel so pumped up and alive when I’m creating a new story idea and beginning to really build on an idea. It’s not something I feel all the time, but it’s such a change from my normal going about day-to-day mode that it’s noticeable.

Do you read your reviews? How do you handle feedback/criticism?

Yes, I’ve read reviews of my books, I’ve seen and think I read it sort of from an emotional distance, or sort of neutral. Like, hmm, that’s interesting. There’s been some reviews where people raised points either I didn’t agree with, or it was like I had a fuller viewpoint as to ‘why’ a character did this or that, and it didn’t register as negative or harsh criticism.

There was a time that wasn’t so. I have talked to and read other writers who all have had similar experiences as I have, where early on, we had school teachers or other adults criticize our writing in such a way that we stopped writing, period. For a while. And then the creative drive rises up again after years sometimes, and we try it again. If only teachers would embrace the child’s desire and drive to write creatively when it appears, and focus on the positive act of teaching how to write dialogue that seems real or a description that won’t make a reader put the book down and do housework. And focus on encouraging, not demeaning so much a child never puts pen to paper again or needs therapy to overcome.

What’s the most surprising thing you learned while writing this book?

Writing makes me happy. My writing may not be classics in the making, sparkling and epic prose, but I can keep plugging away. I have completed books. They’re published. I continue to learn the mechanics of writing plot structure, POV, pacing, and my life didn’t fall apart. I feel a wholeness, that I can do all these things because writing makes me happy. It makes me think of more things I can do, write about, more ideas, more ‘what if’ plot scenarios, not less. I didn’t have to choose one or the other and pine for what I might have lost because writing makes me happy.