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 [...]
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, [...]
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 lost today ... and still won. I learned this morning that I did not make the list of finalists for the inaugural Whistler Independent Book Awards. I had been thrilled to find my name on the list of 10 fiction nominees -- the "longlist" -- for what some are calling the first major awards for self-published authors [...]
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 [...]
(now that's a mouthful!) For anyone who's interested in a free copy of Goodnight Sunshine (postage included to any location worldwide), I started a Goodreads Giveaway that expires on Dec 28th. Check out some of the other good reads that are also available for giveaway -- it's a neat program, and a great way to learn about some new [...]
I launched my first novel today. It feels strange, and yet familiar. In my past life I ran a small software company. Product launches were the rhythm section for the whole company. Launch, upgrade, update, update ... Launch, upgrade, update, update ... that was the sound of software being released into the wild. Major launches were significant [...]
Well, I am now being blogged about ... by someone other than me. It makes me feel kind of like a celebrity. Kind of. Never mind that the blogger is my wife, Sheila. Or that she is my editor. Or that she has her own take on me and my writing, which might not be exactly [...]
Mark of Words 