Author, Blogger, Book Designer
Sometimes I stare at my growing To-Be-Read stack and wonder how many books it would take to break a 3/4" wooden shelf. I fear that I might wake up one night to the crashing sound of dust -- that one speck that breaks the threshold of my shelf's resistive strength and causes the entire mass [...]
What an education this self-publishing journey is. Sigh... As I was about to post an exciting new review of 17 Weddings to my Facebook page, I saw a message from a friend saying that she'd already received a paperback copy of the book. Normally, I would be thrilled to hear that -- except that it's [...]
It's been so long since my last post that I should probably call this a cobwebsite. Okay, that was terrible. But seriously ... for the past nine months, my blog has been an exercise in futility. A reflection of my fragmented existence. Too many projects and priorities chattering away in my mind, battling for precedence, [...]
"What do you do for a living?" It's such a simple question. Why do I find it so hard to answer? Ever since 2011, when I sold the software company I co-founded, I've been trying to redefine who I am and what I do for a living. At times, I've been both tempted and repulsed by the idea [...]
I might have outwitted myself. My post entitled Vanna Depresses was a tongue-in-cheek look at the division between self-publishing and traditional publishing. But if you've never heard of a "vanity press" or a "hybrid publisher," then that post will probably seem a little obscure. So here's a quick primer... "Vanity press" is a term used within [...]
A lot of people have warned me to watch out for Vanna D. Just like her namesake on that long-running television game show, she's quite a make-up artist. Vanna D offers cosmetic assistance to self-published authors, promising them great results. I wouldn't be surprised if she struggles with her own self-esteem beneath that well-made-up surface, because almost every writer [...]
I released my first e-book yesterday. As usual, the launch itself was anti-climactic. After months of research, weeks of design, days of testing and hours of i-dotting and t-crossing, I clicked on a few last buttons ... and voila, my e-book was live on Amazon. I'd planned to tell the whole world about it -- [...]
I am quite certain that I have Tourette's Syndrome. As a child, I frequently exhibited odd little tics: excessive blinking; strange breathing patterns; unnecessary throat clearing; and various other twitches, grunts and squeaks. Watching my son exhibit similar tics, which tend to last from a few days to a few weeks, I see a reflection of [...]
I am told that an author these days needs to be a master promoter -- a frequent blogger; a frenetic Tweeter; a "friend" to everyone and their dog, and to their dog's friends too; a member of multiple writing groups; a contributor to writers' forums; a reviewer of other authors' works; a public speaker. In short, a [...]
"Writing about a writer's block is better than not writing at all." - Charles Bukowski
Mark of Words 