Five Mistakes KILLING Self-Published Authors

After you read this, you’ll think this is all common sense (which it is). But how nice of Kristen Lamb to put it in such a great, easily read format so everyone can understand what NOT to do when considering self publishing!

Kristen Lamb's Blog

Rise of the Machines Human Authors in a Digital World, social media authors, Kristen Lamb, WANA, Rise of the Machines

When I began writing I was SO SURE agents would be fighting over my manuscript. Yeah. But after almost thirteen years in the industry, a lot of bloody noses, and even more lessons in humility, I hope that these tips will help you. Self-publishing is AWESOME, and it’s a better fit for certain personalities and even content (um, social media?), but we must be educated before we publish.

Mistake #1 Publishing Before We Are Ready

The problem with the ease of self-publishing is that it is, well, too easy. When we are new, frankly, most of us are too dumb to know what we don’t know. Just because we made As in English, does not automatically qualify us to write a work spanning 60,000-100,000 words. I cannot count how many writers I’ve met who refuse to read fiction, refuse to read craft books, and who only go to pitch agents…

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Review: The Burglar Who Counted the Spoons

The Burglar Who Counted the Spoons
The Burglar Who Counted the Spoons by Lawrence Block
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

There are times during The Burglar Who Counted the Spoons where our protagonist, Bernie Rhodenbarr, laments that he doesn’t want anything to change. He wants everything to continue on just the way it is. We who love the Burglar books want the same thing. There’s just one problem: things change whether we want them to or not.

And yet… Lawrence Block manages to address both issues at the same time and does it brilliantly. Continue reading “Review: The Burglar Who Counted the Spoons”

Pay it Forward

Coffee InnA few weeks ago I decided to try something.

I’d been hearing about the various “pay it forward” events which had been happening all over America, people buying coffee for the people in line behind them, paying off layaway Christmas presents for families in need at Target, covering the toll for another car… all these kinds of things.

Continue reading “Pay it Forward”

Review: Death from a Top Hat

Death from a Top Hat
Death from a Top Hat by Clayton Rawson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As someone involved in both the world of magic and the world of literature, I’m surprised it took me this long to come around to Clayton Rawson’s “Merlini” books. These are widely considered classics of the “locked room” mystery genre and with Death from a Top Hat one can see why.
Continue reading “Review: Death from a Top Hat”

How to Gift an Ebook

Not that I’m hinting about anything (although my own wish list is here) but for anyone who might like a book for the holiday this is a great way to go!

World Weaver Press

gift‘Tis the gift giving season, and a question we’re getting asked by family and friends is how do you give an ebook as a gift? You can’t pop it in a box and wrap it. You could give a gift card, sure, but what if you want something more personal or precise? What if you want to give someone a copy of this one great book you just read?

It’s easy: there’s a button, we tell our loved ones. And our loved ones look at us skeptically and consider revoking their previously bestowed title of She-Who-Is-An-Expert-In-All-Things-Book-and-Ebook.

So we’re here to back up our statement with the following image-heavy tutorial: There is a button on almost all major ebook retailers’ sites, and many of them offer you the option of emailing the recipient immediately with their gift, or on a future date of your choosing, or of retaining and printing the…

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Review: Divine Misfortune

Divine Misfortune
Divine Misfortune by A. Lee Martinez
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The idea of the gods interacting directly with mortals is not a new one for modern fiction. Neil Gaiman tackled it in American Gods and now A. Lee Martinez does it in Divine Misfortune – but that’s about as far as that comparison can go. Where Gaiman treats the subject with seriousness and gravitas and has something to say about the nature of belief and humanity, Martinez is just having a romp. Continue reading “Review: Divine Misfortune”

Review: Doctor Who and the Loch Ness Monster

Doctor Who and the Loch Ness Monster
Doctor Who and the Loch Ness Monster by Terrance Dicks
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I will freely admit that while I’d heard of Tom Baker’s Fourth Doctor and I could identify the scarf a mile off, I hadn’t ever seen an episode of his. I came to the Doctor during the Russell T. Davies reboot era and I certainly love me some David Tennant. But this past summer, when I was in Scotland, there was a few book stores and one of them was having a sale and I came across a slim paperback of Doctor Who and the Loch Ness Monster. How could I resist? I’d been to Loch Ness myself a day or two earlier and I’d always wanted to read a Doctor Who novelization. And this one featured the Fourth Doctor, so I was thinking win/win. Continue reading “Review: Doctor Who and the Loch Ness Monster”

Review: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

One of the nice things my Audible subscription is doing is giving me the opportunity to catch up on a lot of the classics I never actually read. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is one such book. Continue reading “Review: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”

Two Crazy People in Tallinn

IMG_1735So a few weeks ago my friend Monika asked me if I wanted to go to Tallinn with her. She’s a tour guide and has been to Tallinn a number of times but always with a group and there were some things she wanted to check out for herself, some places she wanted to find so she could guide people there on her tours. And there was a Christmas Market, which is always fun. Continue reading “Two Crazy People in Tallinn”

Review: Her Royal Spyness

Her Royal Spyness
Her Royal Spyness by Rhys Bowen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I’m on a roll, reading the first book in a series, again. At some point, I’ll read the rest of them, maybe. This one is fun and cute and well written – it may be the first in a series but it’s not a first novel, not by a long shot. Continue reading “Review: Her Royal Spyness”