As summer approaches, we all like playing games and having fun, and authors are no exceptions. In the interest of having fun while also sharing useful information about writing, publishing, and (best of all) NEW BOOKS I’ll be running a series of mini-interviews with groups of published authors throughout the summer. I asked each author to answer the questions below in one sentence or less–let’s see their answers: What is the most important piece of writing advice you would give a debut novelist? Don’t get so stressed and wrapped up in the logistics that you forget to savor the fulfillment of
Read moreMonth: June 2014
Blog Tour Companies–Professional Virtual Tours
Today’s post continues our series on author marketing and our ongoing look at virtual book tours. In addition to setting up tours yourself (or through your publicist, if you have one), you may want to consider hiring a company to arrange a virtual book tour for you. Booking with a virtual tour company does cost money, but it also gives you access to high-traffic blogs and readers with an interest in your genre. More importantly, a tour company can increase your visibility by exposing your work to people who don’t already know you. Here are some tips for arranging a successful
Read moreKnow Your Ninjas – Shinobi Spies of Medieval Japan
Ninjas are a popular part of 21st century culture. We see them in films and on television, in Internet memes, and even on chocolates and coffee mugs – but how much do you know about who ninjas really were? In medieval Japan, ninja assassins represented a very real, and dangerous, threat. Ninjas – also called shinobi (“ninja” is based on a Chinese pronunciation of the characters, whereas “shinobi” is the more accurate Japanese term) – were highly trained spies and assassins. The word “ninja” translates “shadowed person” – and like most spies, real ninjas knew how to use the shadows to their advantage.
Read moreVirtual Blog Tours Part 2 – Planning Your Own Blog Tour
Welcome back to our mini-series on virtual blog tours. Today, we take a look at how to plan and schedule a tour yourself. Next week, we’ll look at working with a company to schedule a virtual tour. Regardless of whether or not you work with a tour company, it’s always a good idea to use your personal network to set up some kind of virtual tour with authors you know. Here are the steps to planning and scheduling a successful virtual tour: 1. Identify the dates you want to “tour” – starting a couple of weeks before your release date
Read moreReef Retrospective, May 2014
Since today is the first Tuesday in June, I’m taking a look back at the best images from last month on the reef: Little Tai the dragonet is growing and eating well, and proving a frisky addition to the tank: The emerald crabs feed mostly at night (or before the lights come on) so capturing one in the open can be a challenge: Ghillie has started sitting among the anthelia at night again – and peeking up periodically to see what everyone else on the reef is up to: And, last but not least, a photobomb of imperial proportions: Have
Read moreThe Imago Chronicles, an Interview, and … Cats on the Internet
Today, I’m honored to be interviewed by author and martial artist Lorna Suzuki, whose IMAGO CHRONICLES are currently under contract (and in production) to become a series of major motion pictures. You can find the interview at Lorna’s website (click, and the link will open in a new window). I’m also delighted to announce that Lorna (who has over twenty-five years experience in various forms of martial arts, and is a 5th-dan practitioner and instructor of Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu, a martial arts system incorporating six traditional samurai schools and three schools of ninjutsu, under Japanese Soke, Dr. Masaaki Hatsumi) has also agreed to
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