In the midst of one of the most nightmarish years in my lifetime, I am releasing a new book. If I were a patient man, I would have waited, maybe a year or two (or four, depending), before interrupting stories of disease, racism, and autocracies with silly ads for a sillier book. But I'm not a patient man. And no matter how bad it gets out there, I will still be here, at my desk, writing stories...
I independently published my first book in 2004, and since then, I've tried all sorts of services and gimmicks to turn them into best sellers. BookBub, email lists, Facebook ads, Twitter ads, Goodreads ads (when they were still a thing), and after sixteen years, I can tell you that the only ad channel that ever produced meaningful results was Amazon Advertising. And that's why, for the launch of...
A couple months ago, I set a goal to line up 50 advance reviewers for my newest book, Brigham Plaza. So far, I've only been able to secure 30, which means I've got some spots open for anyone who loves cyberpunk and science fiction and wants to get a free advance review copy of the book (plus some swag*).
Write, publish, and market books long enough, and you'll find yourself doing all sorts of crazy stuff to show people how much you appreciate their support. That's how I found myself in the backyard one day recording yet another video in a failed web series I called Daniel Says Thanks. I remember...
He was a cool dude and had great taste in books. You wouldn't have known it by looking at him, but Obama loved the Science Fiction. If he were still President, he would shut down the government until Hybrid Mechanics is released.
I just wanted to give a quick thanks to Maureen H for her recent review of Veneer. I tend to look at my books as always increasing in quality, and yet it's Veneer, my second book, that continues to outsell the others. I don't know why that is. From the reviews, it seems people really enjoy the concept of augmented reality, while others like the characters themselves. Some people don't like the...
I don't use the highlight feature on my Kindle very often, and when I do it's usually for something funny or interesting I want to remember. Sometimes, it's for a sentence or paragraph I find particularly literary and beautiful and poetic, though that is rare when reading contemporary works. Last night, after a shitty day to end all shitty days, I opened my Kindle to continue reading Henry...
So I ask you, fellow authors: If you were trying to market standalone novels that shared the same universe, would you use the series tag? Why / why not?
When it comes to getting reviews for your books, you have two options: bribery or write a killer book. Bribery's a lot easier.
When it comes to reading reviews, I only ever check my author page at Amazon. How many times a day I check that page for new reviews isn't relevant. It's the only place I really want reviews--good and bad--because that's where people are making the decision to buy, and for some reason, the reviews tend to be... better (?)... than the ones at Goodreads. Maybe there's something about Goodreads that...
I'm a Science Fiction author, so I mostly post about my experiences with writing, publishing, marketing, and self-loathing.
Be sure to check out my books at Amazon!