e-Riches 2.0: Next-Generation Marketing Strategies for Making Millions Online by Scott Fox
Am always keen to improve my marketing opportunities for my fiction and non-fiction list and finding this book of interest re SEO, blogging strategies and using feeds and email lists.
You may buy E-Riches 2.0 at
Amazon.com
Come spend some time in my cottage garden along with my fellow crime writer, Anthony Bidulka.
Geordie enjoying blossoms
He’s got an unusually fun posting regime where he asks Canadian mystery writers to answer 10 silly questions.
I did and he very cleverly put it all together using pics from my cottage garden. The results are delightful!
Check it out today at Anthony Bidulka.
Thanks, Anthony.
Am delighted to have my new podcast listing with PodcastAlley.com.
My Podcast Alley feed! {pca-36ee8632873275dbd640afbf42b05186}
One cannot ponder words all the time.
I’m fortunate to have a lovely cottage garden.
During the months of May and June, it explodes with orange and salmon poppies spires under a carpet of poached eggs.
Orange Poppy with Flox
Poached Eggs
Until then, I’ll just revel in the incredible beauty in my own back yard.
Smashwords does it again. ‘The People’s Ebook Store’ has signed a distribution agreement that will make qualifying Smashwords books available on the iPad.
This is so cool and amazing. As an indie author and ebook publisher, it’s tough to get my ebooks onto the big selling sites. Now, Apple is about to add another great opp called iBookstore, the online site that will support Apple’s new ereading gadget called the iPad.
Am I discouraged because I can’t get into iBooks as an indie publisher? Nope. At least, not any more…Smashwords has come to the rescue.
Smashwords logo
Now, if I follow Smashwords’ detailed instructions, my four ebooks may soon be available for the oh-so-cool iPad.
Now, if I could just sell enough of them to afford to buy an iPad…
Creating memorable characters for your genre fiction can be both challenging and rewarding. It ain’t easy but it can be done. And if you’re in Victoria, BC, in May, check out my course which is being offered by Camosun College on Saturday May 8th.
You don’t have to have weird and wacky types like you’d find in Dickens (but bully for you if you do); however, you do want personalities that stand out, that resonate with your readers.
After all, think of any good book or movie. Do you remember the intricacies of the plot? Or do you remember the players?
How about The Sculptress, by Minette Walters, as an example. It’s an award winning mystery novel with a terrific twisty turny plot but what I remember most is the titular character, Olive Martin, as she sat in prison carving human figurines out of wax. Let’s just say she stuck with me.
I was recently asked to pitch novel/series ideas to Guideposts.
I’d been very fortunate to have participated in writing six novels in their cozy series, the Church Choir Mysteries, now available again, in large print.
The Angel's Secret cover
After some serious contemplation, I developed a concept that I thought would sing to them. Initially, my pitch for a cozy inspirational series, called the Sisterhood of Shepherds, went well and I was asked to submit the usual 50 pages plus an outline.
Took a few weeks but I finally finished it, ran it by a couple of independent readers who loved it, and then sent it off to the managing editor. More weeks dragged by until I received a nice but negative email. Ugh.
I was crushed and disappointed; I thought my concept suited them to a tee. After a few days kicking myself and them, I decided, what the hay? I’ll submit it directly to some publishers.
If you live on Vancouver Island, BC, Canada, and you’ve always wanted to write a mystery novel, then take your fingers off the keyboard and listen up.
I’m excited to announce that I’ve been asked to teach a workshop on writing mystery novels for Camosun College in lovely Victoria, BC. The workshop is based on my experiences crafting a number of mysteries and on my little how-to primer, Youdunit Whodunit!
cover image for Youdunit Whodunit!
The workshop is offered on six consecutive Tuesday evenings from from April 20th to May 25th, 2010. For more details and how to register, go to Mystery Writers’ Workshop at Camosun College.
Since I always enjoy peeking behind the curtain and seeing the secrets therein, I love hearing what other fiction writers offer as their methods, tips and techniques.
Now that PODCASTING exists as an easy to make and even easier to hear medium, it’s a perfect platform for what I have in mind: a ‘radio’ show that chats with published authors to discover the insights they’ve gleaned from the real life wordsmithing trenches.
Old-fashioned Mic (Photo CM Seter)
But what exactly is a podcast? Glad you asked. In a nutshell, media files are published online using RSS (stands for Really Simple Syndication) feeds. These files or POD (taken from the concept of “Portable on Demand”) and casts (taken from the term “broadcasting”) may be heard via a computer or an MP3 player.
My plan is to produce a regular free podcast which offers simple, practical and helpful ways to improve your writing based on the experiences of published Canadian genre writers.
And, I’m going to post my experiences about the creation and production to help other podcaster wannabes.
Okay, I’ve got the promo website, I’ve got social media whirling and I’m blogging. Should be enough, don’t you think?
Nah…I’ve decided to give podcasting a try and blog about it.
As a writer, I’m always keen to learn practical tips and techniques of the craft from other published novelists. Yeah, writing fiction is a craft as well as an art so some of it can be learned.
I doubt I’m alone; that’s the main reason I wrote my little inexpensive how-to mystery writing ebook primer called Youdunit Whodunit! and why I teach a similar writing course at our local college.
cover image for Youdunit Whodunit!
I know there’s a wealth of information out there from other Canadian genre fiction writers just waiting to be picked and offered up in a useful and usable format.
So, that’s exactly my plan.
Stick around; should be a gas.
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