EARCS and Piracy
Yesterday on Twitter, indie author Jasmine Gold mentioned that she found her book on piracy websites. Due to the timing and file format, she believed that it was an EARC (electronic advanced reader copy) reader who released the book. Warning to writers new to self-publishing: When I published my novel last summer, some supposed reviewers […]
When Authors and Critics Should Engage
A few weeks ago, there was a Twitter beef between an author and a critic who gave a negative review of her book. The author challenged the critique by saying the critic only read an ARC and the critic countered this by saying the final copy of the book had the same issues. The author […]
Write Critical Reviews, Not Negative Reviews
I was him-hawing about posting my review of Watersong because it was to be the first critical review on my blog. I even postponed it two days for this reason. Some people are good at taking thoughtful criticism, and some aren’t. Hannah Conrad took my critical review in stride which was a relief. She even […]
That Friend Who Always Rains On Your Parade
This memory has been burning on my mind lately, so I’ll rant about it. Lots of social circles have that friend who will almost never be happy for anything good that happens in your life. They’ll always put you down. Seriously, why can’t you be happy when something happens to your friends? If you’re truly […]
Why You SHOULD Judge a Book by Its Cover
It’s a phrase you always hear from your role models when growing up: “Don’t judge a book by its cover!” Yeah. I get it. It’s good to not be superficial. You’re reading the blog of a cheapskate who drives an inexpensive car, owns an inexpensive phone, wears inexpensive clothes, and is by no means a […]
The “Running From the Bear” Book Opening
Of the few writer’s conferences I’ve been to, there’s a coveted event that writers love: “The First Page Gong Show!” There’s a few variations of this event, but it usually goes something like this: A panel of literary agents reads your first page aloud. The agents will raise their hand when they get to the […]
The NA/YA Bait & Switch Submission
For a fleeting moment in time, book marketers were trying to make the age group of “new adult” take off the way that young adult exploded into popularity in the early 2000s. It failed miserably. Since then, some authors and agents still hope that it’ll catch on, but that hasn’t been the case. I say […]
Why Remakes and Sequels Aren’t So Bad!
Damn! There’s been a lot of uproar lately about the proposed remake of “The Princess Bride.” This was a near-perfect fantasy fairy-tale with romance, swashbuckling, and mental might overcoming evil. I get it! I complain about remakes and sequels, too! Hollywood’s got no good ideas left! They’re sticking to what’s safe! The odds of a […]
Don’t Be a “Gump”
In both writing and other social circles, I’m seeing more and more of a certain personality type. My coworkers have come to call this personality type, the “Gump.” They usually have a very outgoing, alpha personality (a bit different than the character portrayed by Tom Hanks). The real reason we call them a “Gump” is […]
MLM Scams and the Poison They Spread
In 2002, I was a high school graduate looking for work. I did manual labor for my parents’ construction business for minimum wage and I got a W2, but it never felt like a “real job” because it was just given to me. So I hit the classifieds hard in my local paper. Craigslist was […]