When I need to think up the next scene of a story or to ponder the direction of a business product, I need my brain to get into a specific mode of thinking. I have learned over the years that there are a handful of activities that almost inevitably kick Read more…
So, I get this offer via a third party for the “Guru’s Guide” to email marketing from a company who shall remain nameless (except in the screenshot below, ha!). Always one to keep up with all things “guru”, I jump through the hoops to sign up and get this PDF Read more…
Last month I wrote a guest post for agent Steve Laube’s blog, which he titled, “The Greatest Thing Since Sliced Bread?” The article didn’t have anything to do with bread. It was about the future of books, the changing nature of publishing and the new forms and formats that authors, Read more…
They say a picture’s worth a thousand words. Well, here are two pictures and I’ll slash the two thousand words I could have used to make my point. Deal? The old way to market (and publish) things: In print marketing we spread the word about our product (our book, movie, Read more…
Patricia Wrede’s Out of Context (Overheard at 4th Street 2011) is a hilarious — and occasionally thought-provoking — read for writers and anyone into sci-fi and fantasy. Some of my favs: Genre books are built around secrets. The author borrows the reader’s brain; if he leaves potato chips ground into Read more…
Ran across an interesting discussion about e-books and self-publishing between authors Joe Konrath and Barry Eisler. I’ve never read their books (never even heard of them), but it’s fascinating to hear conversations like this. As I’m finally getting serious about my own self-publishing efforts, this is the sort of eavesdropping Read more…