When I published my first book twenty-one months ago (two years ago come February, so you don’t have to math), I didn’t know what to expect. I knew I’d sell some copies, probably my friends would read it, and it would get a handful reviews (hopefully good ones). If you’ve followed the blog for a…
Fellow authors, I need to tell you a secret – you can create a book trailer for free. Last night, my son (he’s 11, by the way) showed me a “trailer” he made with his school iPad. It was pretty cool, so I asked him to show me how me made it. He directed me…
There’s something going around on Facebook. Don’t worry, it’s not a virus. At least I don’t think it is. Though there’s a high likelihood you’ll come down with a severe case of forehead smacking, given this election cycle. What I’m referring to is summed up pretty well in this picture. These kinds of memes always…
There’s a bit of a misconception out there regarding authors. I know because I had this bright idea before I published that I would write something like “10% of all royalties will be donated to such and such organization” in the front or back matter of my book. Philanthropic, no? Another author told me it’s…
Editing is a vitally important step in the writing process. I don’t know about the rest of you, but my first drafts suuuuuuck. Did you see that episode of Mythbusters where they literally took a piece of shit and polished it to a lovely sheen? That’s the editing process. Though one would hope that the…
There’s a hashtag going around on Twitter today: #20ThingsIWantFor2015. I thought the presence of “20” was amusing, because who can write about 20 things in 140 characters? Fortunately, I have a blog with unlimited characters. MWHAHAHA! That sounded more maniacal than I planned. Anyway. I’ll count down from 20. Because New Years. Some are serious,…
I read a book review the other day, and it’s been irritating the crap out of me. The story that accompanied the review is set during the Napoleonic Wars, except the fighting countries have air forces comprised of talking dragons. I read the book, and I loved it (find it here). The dragons spoke eloquently in the…
I was tagged in a post on Facebook a couple days ago. I was supposed to list the top ten books that have stuck with me the most and tag other people. I don’t do that stuff on Facebook, but it did get me thinking about my favorite reads. So I’ll write about it here, and if you…
It’s a widely debated issue, I’ve learned. How much are readers willing to pay for a book? There doesn’t seem to be a solid answer, though there are trends. Popular books or books by popular authors generally cost more. Ebooks tend to be cheaper than the physical thing. The Bible is the most stolen book on…
Don’t worry. I recognize the irony of the title. Non-readers aren’t likely to read a blog post unless there are lots of pictures (like the buzzfeed variety). Really, this post is for readers to nod to in agreement as they read it, and maybe, just maybe, a reader will convince a non-reader to learn a…
Allison Maruska 