Confessions of a Book Abuser

When I moved back down-under from living in the UK, there were a couple of things that I realised I had been missing for some years – Australia has second hand furniture shops and second hand book sales. Second hand books readily available!

Software review: "Editor" by Serenity Software

Reblogged from Today's Author:

I'm working with a piece of software that might be of interest to those who self-publish. It's got the catchy name of "Editor", a product of Serenity Software. (I bought it retail and have no sort of relationship with the company.) I'm using it to go over my novel. So far, I like it. PC World gave it four out of five stars.

Read more… 1,157 more words

Interesting software. Reblogged post from Today's Author

Looking for more Blogathon punishment?

After the A to Z Blogging Challenge of April, if you’re into more month-long blogathon challenges, there are a couple of options – one running right now, another for June.

[Update] Free 3 Week Flash Fiction Course

UPDATE: Apparently some people had browser issues with seeing the email signup form for this free course. Another entry point has been provided for you – copied below. The course begins Tuesday 14th May with emails coming out to remind you.

Ditching or Mixing My Author Brand– Part 3

In Part 1 of this series I started with some concerns I am facing with author brands.

In Part 2, I discuss branding without genre, and some elements towards a personal brand.

In this final part, I attempt to suggest what this all means (to me) and provide all the reference links used in these posts. I’ll be rounding up what I think is an author brand, and how this pertains to my own exploration across genres.

What about Writer Voice?

I was thinking about my author branding yesterday as I wrote up my final post in that series. And at the end I wrote  off-tangent a little – about voice. But it belongs separately. So, here it is. My voice…what the heck is it?

If only I could audition for ‘The Voice’. The Australian version running currently has Seal as a judge. He’d kindly tell me whether I have one or not. My money’s on the NOT.

Post A to Z Challenge Roadtrip

Shannon and Tina are hosting, for the third year, the Post A to Z Challenge Roadtrip. This will run all the way up to December, and all you need to do is signup on a linky list, and travel around the blogs listed as participants in this year’s Blogging from A to Z Challenge.

Given I was already intending getting around all the blogs, signing up and grabbing the little blog button was a no-brainer.

Ditching or Mixing Author Brand– Part 2 [Updated]

In Part One of this small series on author branding I discussed my Concerns in Author Branding (specifically to genre). In this second part, I will discuss how to potentially brand without genre.

But first, I had to go back and remind myself of what author branding is. I include several post links, discussing the subject, and several examples as I continue to explore author branding.

Ditching or Mixing my Author Brand– Part 1

As an as-yet unpublished writer, my main time and concerns in writing lean towards actual writing, revision, and getting my books (products) ready. That’s as it should be.

BUT…

There’s always the big thoughts about author platform and branding circling my campfires. These have come to my mind this week again, because I’m currently rejigging my goals and plans for the rest of the year. Goals and plans need rejigging often, but it brings up the question towards branding again.

Part One – My Concerns in Author Branding (specifically to genre).

#atozchallenge Writer’s Core Habits Post Index

In April this blog participates in two corresponding challenges – the Blogging from A to Z Challenge and CampNaNo.

This sticky post will act as an index and progress meter for the challenges.

#atozchallenge A to Z Reflections

My reflections on the Blogging from A to Z Challenge of last month, word by word – A to Zed:

Status Updates

Want Books? StoryBundle offers packages at choose-your-own prices

A month ago I discovered StoryBundle, which at the time was offering a good package of female-authored eBooks, curated by M. J. Rose (so: full of thrillers and mystery fiction). Currently, StoryBundle’s newest bundle is a niche-offering of Video-Games books. Previous offers have included Holiday bundles, Halloween bundles and I missed the Indie Crime and Thriller bundle of last year.

These bundles of ebooks are available on choose-your-price options. In other words, readers can choose to pay what they like for a collection of reading.

#atozchallenge Z is for Zee Endz

Well, I’m not making up a Z post for the sake of it. It’s been a long and windy journey, and if you’ve arrived at Z via the #AtoZChallenge, I congratulate you on your perseverance. It’s been a tough journey for all the bloggers, but I’ve thoroughly enjoyed writing out these posts, and doing the rounds of reading others.

This post will simply work as an appendum, containing a list of all the references, links, and books I’ve used in this A-Z post series on Writer’s Core Habits. But first – a video…

#atozchallenge Final Bonus Post – Elements of Style Rap [Video]

Columbia grad students Jake Heller (“Strunk”) and Ben Teitelbaum (“White”) pay homage to the iconic style manual, set to Valentino’s music.