Novelists are learning to be marketers. We Twitter, and blog, and send out e-newsletters. But branding is a little elusive. It goes hand in hand with platform, a concept that’s also a little squishy for novelists. Still, the branding basics can be tweaked and put to use for book promotion. Here are the fundamentals, which I made note of long ago.
My second standalone thriller is now on Kindle and I’m celebrating by giving away some e-books. THE BABY THIEF is a unique and complex story in which fertility science collides with an isolated cult when two different women decide to have a child.
Enter to win one of five free copies by e-mailing me with Read more →
I’m finally retiring the weekly giveaway of a print version of THE SEX CLUB—after two years and lots of money spent at the post office. I sent copies as far as Portugal! Instead, I’m starting a weekly e-book giveaway of my new standalone thriller, THE SUICIDE EFFECT. You can enter today by simply e-mailing me with the words Win: The Suicide Effect in the subject line. Read more →
I finally took the plunge! Many traditionally published authors have self-published their backlist titles and/or unsold manuscripts as e-books, and now I’ve joined them in this exciting venture. Why not?
Before I started writing the Detective Jackson series, I wrote several standalone thrillers, Read more →
The highs and lows of book selling can give you whiplash. One minute a reader says, “Your series looks terrific, I’ll take all three” and your heart swells with happiness. An hour later, it’s pouring rain, you haven’t sold a book in an hour, and you start to wonder if it’s worth. And by it, I mean the whole novel writing experience. Because novel writing and selling books are intrinsically linked. Read more →
For readers looking for reviews or new-book news, or writers seeking bloggers who might want a review copy, here’s some serious book bloggers who attended the first Book Blogger Convention in New York last month:
One-star protest. The Kindle reader practice of giving a book a one-star Amazon review to protest the price is bullshit. It’s like stiffing a waiter or complaining about the service because you’re pissed about the cost of your meal or the restaurant’s policies. It punishes the wrong people. If you don’t like the price, don’t buy the book. Stop hurling tomatoes at the author. Read more →
Tips for Busy Writers: What better way to start every Monday than by learning a great tip for managing a busy life?
I use the monthly calendar function in my Entourage e-mail program to track my personal schedule, and I print out a few months at a time and carry the pages with me. This neat trick serves two functions: Read more →
Just have to say that lately I’m having a blast. Much of it has to do with my newspaper job. In the last few months, I’ve interviewed cartoonist Jan Eliot, a professor of film studies who discussed great women movie characters (blog coming soon!), a 77-year-old woman doing standup with a very naughty routine, and a female weightlifting champion, to name a few. As a novelist, I’ve been privileged to interview a SWAT team Read more →
Characters everywhere! You can run into the most interesting people just cruising around, but as newspaper writer, I get sent to interview them. It’s wonderful! One day last week, for example, I interviewed Omer and Dave Orian, red-afro-sporting Israeli brothers who operate Off the Waffle out of their home (and a cart near the UO). “Obsessed with waffles” is how Dave describes them and their business, which has a very loyal following. (You have to click through for the photos!) Read more →
