Joylene Nowell Butler's Blog, page 17
January 6, 2015
IWSG: Ask PZM, January 2015
It's that the first Wednesday in the new year! Which also means Insecure Writer's Support Group Wednesday. Thanks to our noble Ninja Captain Alex J Cavanaugh, it's time to share our fears and insecurities, or support and assistance. Doesn't matter which.
To start off the new year, we've all been invited to include an introduction into who we are. For those of you who don't know me, here's my brief story:
If you'd like to join Insecure Writer's Support Group, click here.
Be sure to link to this page and display the badge in your post.
Our hashtag is #IWSG
The awesome co-hosts for the first posting of the IWSG for 2015 are:
Elizabeth Seckman, Lisa Buie-Collard, Chrys Fey, and Michelle Wallace!
Please stop by and thank them for their time.
Before we get to Ask PZM, just a reminder that The Insecure Writer's Support Group Guide to Publishing and Beyond is now available for free downloading. You can check out the sites here.
Ask PZM
Q. Does offering the first chapter for free work for unknown authors?
First, let’s look at this question in a known context. Many traditional publishers include a first chapter of a different book by an author at the end of that author’s published book (both in print books and ebooks). This makes good marketing sense because, having read the first chapter (or chapters) and having liked what we read, we as readers are probably much more likely to buy (or borrow from a library or from a monthly ebook subscription provider) that book.
Now with an unknown author, especially for a first book, there is not yet the opportunity of including that first chapter at the end of a previously published book.
Yet how much more necessary is it to give our potential readers a taste of our story as well as our writing style if we are unknown?
Assuming that giving away the first chapter for free does not affect any agreements we may have with publishers or KDP Select or the like, why not provide this opportunity? Although we may not gain from this, it certainly is one way to get in front of potential readers.
What are some of the ways that you might give away a chapter?
1 Provide the chapter on your author website or as a download on your author website. (Here is an example from a humor book by my 90-year-old father Al Zimbler -- http://www.alzimcomedy.com/first-date/ )
Create an ebook of just the first chapter and publish that first chapter ebook on sites where you can list the price as free.
Post the first chapter on Wattpad for free. (For example, see the first chapter of my women’s friendship novel MRS. LIEUTENANT -- http://www.wattpad.com/2140539-sharon-i-may-4-1970-mrs-lieutenant-a-women%27s )
Possibly ask a self-published author who writes in the same genre to include your first chapter at the end of his or her book (with the commitment to include a chapter from one of that author’s books at the end of your book).
Print out copies of the chapter (include the cover and in color if possible) and hand out to people.Caution: Make sure that all sample chapters in whatever format include the links to where people can buy the book.
Getting out the word about your sample chapter:Here is where using social media to link to the sample chapter online can be very effective. And you can ask friends to share the link on their social media accounts.
Q. They say to be a successful author you have to connect with your readers. How do we do that effectively without driving them away with our boring day-to-day living? It is important to clarify what is meant by connecting with our readers. In my opinion this does NOT mean always talking about our own books or our own lives.
What it does mean is sharing on social media accounts and blog posts a variety of information that may be of interest to our readers.
For example, if you are a romance author, you might want to share news of other romance authors. Why? Because romance readers are known for consuming many books, so why not showcase yourself as someone who recommends other good books besides your own?
At my own author blog at www.PhyllisZimblerMiller.com I often write about topics that are important to me, such as the portrayal of women characters in fiction as well as real-life projects that support our military troops, their families, and veterans.
I very rarely tweet or post on Facebook anything about my own life, which I agree would have little interest to the readers of my books. Yet I am very active on social media because I share good information on several topics (which does reveal what interests me).
A word of caution: I personally think it is good to share information only on a set of specific topics. If the information you share is all over the map, this may be too confusing for your followers, and confusion can cause people to stop following you. (My mantra in marketing is “Don’t make me think.”)
Q. Are there any new epic trends out there that we haven't heard of?
There are so many new trends all the time that it is very hard to keep up with these. Because as authors we need to conserve time for writing, I would recommend that we do not worry too much about emerging trends. If and when these trends push themselves to the fore, then we can consider adding them to our promotional toolkit.
Phyllis Zimbler Miller is a digital marketer as well as a fiction and nonfiction author.
Learn more about her on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/phylliszimblermiller and visit her author site at www.PhyllisZimblerMiller.com
ps. I'm a day early because we're having power outages, and I'm having blogger issues. IWSG is officially tomorrow.
To start off the new year, we've all been invited to include an introduction into who we are. For those of you who don't know me, here's my brief story:
My name is Joylene Louise Butler, and I am famous (in my own mind) for having eleven grandchildren and 2 suspense novels: Dead Witness and Broken But Not Dead; the latter won IPPY silver medal in 2012. I also collaborated on a steampunk anthology published last year called Break Time. Prior to that I had no idea what steampunk was. I, my husband and our two cats Shasta and Marbles, live 6 months in Cluculz Lake in central B.C. and 6 months in Bucerias, Nayarit. Because my husband's retired, the plan was he’d cook, I'd write...(hmm)
If you'd like to join Insecure Writer's Support Group, click here.
Be sure to link to this page and display the badge in your post.
Our hashtag is #IWSG
The awesome co-hosts for the first posting of the IWSG for 2015 are:
Elizabeth Seckman, Lisa Buie-Collard, Chrys Fey, and Michelle Wallace!
Please stop by and thank them for their time.
Before we get to Ask PZM, just a reminder that The Insecure Writer's Support Group Guide to Publishing and Beyond is now available for free downloading. You can check out the sites here.
Ask PZM
Q. Does offering the first chapter for free work for unknown authors?
First, let’s look at this question in a known context. Many traditional publishers include a first chapter of a different book by an author at the end of that author’s published book (both in print books and ebooks). This makes good marketing sense because, having read the first chapter (or chapters) and having liked what we read, we as readers are probably much more likely to buy (or borrow from a library or from a monthly ebook subscription provider) that book.
Now with an unknown author, especially for a first book, there is not yet the opportunity of including that first chapter at the end of a previously published book.
Yet how much more necessary is it to give our potential readers a taste of our story as well as our writing style if we are unknown?
Assuming that giving away the first chapter for free does not affect any agreements we may have with publishers or KDP Select or the like, why not provide this opportunity? Although we may not gain from this, it certainly is one way to get in front of potential readers.
What are some of the ways that you might give away a chapter?
1 Provide the chapter on your author website or as a download on your author website. (Here is an example from a humor book by my 90-year-old father Al Zimbler -- http://www.alzimcomedy.com/first-date/ )
Create an ebook of just the first chapter and publish that first chapter ebook on sites where you can list the price as free.
Post the first chapter on Wattpad for free. (For example, see the first chapter of my women’s friendship novel MRS. LIEUTENANT -- http://www.wattpad.com/2140539-sharon-i-may-4-1970-mrs-lieutenant-a-women%27s )
Possibly ask a self-published author who writes in the same genre to include your first chapter at the end of his or her book (with the commitment to include a chapter from one of that author’s books at the end of your book).
Print out copies of the chapter (include the cover and in color if possible) and hand out to people.Caution: Make sure that all sample chapters in whatever format include the links to where people can buy the book.
Getting out the word about your sample chapter:Here is where using social media to link to the sample chapter online can be very effective. And you can ask friends to share the link on their social media accounts.
Q. They say to be a successful author you have to connect with your readers. How do we do that effectively without driving them away with our boring day-to-day living? It is important to clarify what is meant by connecting with our readers. In my opinion this does NOT mean always talking about our own books or our own lives.
What it does mean is sharing on social media accounts and blog posts a variety of information that may be of interest to our readers.
For example, if you are a romance author, you might want to share news of other romance authors. Why? Because romance readers are known for consuming many books, so why not showcase yourself as someone who recommends other good books besides your own?
At my own author blog at www.PhyllisZimblerMiller.com I often write about topics that are important to me, such as the portrayal of women characters in fiction as well as real-life projects that support our military troops, their families, and veterans.
I very rarely tweet or post on Facebook anything about my own life, which I agree would have little interest to the readers of my books. Yet I am very active on social media because I share good information on several topics (which does reveal what interests me).
A word of caution: I personally think it is good to share information only on a set of specific topics. If the information you share is all over the map, this may be too confusing for your followers, and confusion can cause people to stop following you. (My mantra in marketing is “Don’t make me think.”)
Q. Are there any new epic trends out there that we haven't heard of?
There are so many new trends all the time that it is very hard to keep up with these. Because as authors we need to conserve time for writing, I would recommend that we do not worry too much about emerging trends. If and when these trends push themselves to the fore, then we can consider adding them to our promotional toolkit.
Phyllis Zimbler Miller is a digital marketer as well as a fiction and nonfiction author.
Learn more about her on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/phylliszimblermiller and visit her author site at www.PhyllisZimblerMiller.com
ps. I'm a day early because we're having power outages, and I'm having blogger issues. IWSG is officially tomorrow.
December 19, 2014
FNN Report: Clintons form exploratory committee for Chelsea’s daughter Charlotte
Charlotte Clinton Mszvinsky, born in September 2014 to her mother Chelsea Clinton, now has her own political action committee to analyze and prepare for a run for the Presidency in thirty-five years or so.FNN’s political reporter Stacy Conundrum broke this story.One of the committee’s initial tasks is to organize a Senate campaign for the tyke so she can gain legislative experience. The committee will also evaluate which state will offer the best chances for success and that will be the state she will move to with her parents as soon as the data becomes clear.The committee is anxiously awaiting her to grow old enough to attend pre-school. Then she can express her views on education with position papers and explain how she plans to change education once she is elected to public office.Her parents have announced plans to take Charlotte to a different country at least once a year so she can gain foreign affairs experience by playing with privileged children there who may someday become powerful leaders in those countries.Charlotte’s press agent told us, “Charlotte’s parents insist the child be raise as a ‘ordinary child’ not as a family member of the American elite.”The press agent also added, “Remember this, anything the Bush family can do, the Clinton family can do better.”
Do you have a topic you’d like FNN to investigate? Send us a message and we’ll investigate it.
Hank Quense is the author of 50 published short stories along with four novels and three collections of stories. All of these are humorous and/or satiric scifi and fantasy. In the non-fiction area, he has over a dozen articles published on fiction writing and he's the author of the Fiction Writing Guides series and the Self-publishing Guides series. Both series consist of a number of ebooks. The Fiction Writing Guides and the Self-Publishing Guides are an outgrowth of his lectures on both subjects.
Strange Worlds Online Hank's Amazon Page Hank's Blog Page Self-publishing GuidesStrange Worlds OnlineAmazon pageSelf-publishing GuidesHank's fiction works
December 3, 2014
IWSG: Ask PZM, December 2014
It's that the first Wednesday in the month again, which means Insecure Writer's Support Group Wednesday. Thanks to our noble Ninja Captain Alex J Cavanaugh, it's time to share our fears and insecurities, or support and assistance. Doesn't matter which.
If you'd like to join, click here.
Be sure to link to this page and display the badge in your post.
Our hashtag is #IWSG
The awesome co-hosts for the December 3 posting of the IWSG are Heather Gardner, T. Drecker from Kidbits, Eva E. Solar at Lilicasplace, and Patsy Collins!
Before we get to Ask PZM, just a reminder that The Insecure Writer's Support Group Guide to Publishing and Beyond is now available for downloading. You can check out the sites here.
Ask PZM, December 2014
Q. Do you have any suggestions for bulk or sponsored book sales?
This book marketing area is a wonderful opportunity for authors although I can only share my own experiences and thoughts on this topic.
In May, 330 copies of my paperback HOW TO SUCCEED IN HIGH SCHOOL AND PREP FOR COLLEGE were ordered from CreateSpace. I suspect that an elementary school ordered these books for its graduating 8th grade class as this is the ideal target audience for the book.
Then more recently 40 paperbacks copies of my novel MRS. LIEUTENANT were ordered from CreateSpace. In this case I suspect a book club or high school class because I have book discussion questions and a high school lesson plan on www.MrsLieutenant.com
Now I have been pondering how to get more of these sales.
First question for all of us is: What are the likely groups that might be interested in buying our books in large quantities?
Here we need to think outside the box, as the saying goes. And we need to think for both fiction and nonfiction after considering that there are two different target markets.
One potential market is the direct readers, such as book groups and schools. The second potential market is sponsored books.
Direct readers
With the direct readers you could, for example, offer an author visit or skype call in connection to a group reading of your book. Or if you have a children’s picture book, you might offer to do a classroom art activity around some aspect connected to the picture book.
You can start locally by contacting high schools or community colleges in your area. For many readers meeting an author is very exciting, so an author visit can definitely encourage group purchases.
Note that the purchases can be the ebooks instead of the physical books. And in either case, the book discussion questions and high school lesson plan, for example, can be included in the books themselves. (I have this material in the ebook of MRS. LIEUTENANT but not the paperback. It would be relatively easy for me to add this same material to my paperback on CreateSpace.)
Sponsored books
In this scenario you locate companies who could benefit from the marketing goodwill of giving away your books for free to their customers or clients. Again, these could be the physical books or the ebooks.
For example, if you have written a book about estate planning and included information on life insurance, you might approach an insurance company and ask if the company would be interested in buying copies of your book to give to their customers. You can offer a wholesale rate that provides revenue to you and costs the company less than buying the books retail.
You could even do this if you have written a novel whose storyline concerns a major plot about insurance. Even a cautionary tale about insurance could be of interest to an insurance company.
Note that you can license your ebook so that a company may give away as many copies as agreed upon for a set licensing fee. This financial arrangement can be very beneficial for both parties.
And if you have more than one book, of course those books are listed at the end of the sponsored book. In this case you’re being paid to have free advertising for your other books.
Branding opportunities
If you are a self-published author, you can also offer branding opportunities for your sponsored books. You can, for example, add content to your book about the company sponsoring the book. You can even add the company’s name to the cover, such as “The Ideal Insurance Company presents” [your book title].
While there might be cases in which two companies sponsoring the same book would not be a good idea (such as the only two department stores in a small town), in most cases you can offer branding opportunities to numerous companies.
Prior commitments
If your ebook is on Amazon’s KDP Select with its ebook exclusive requirement, you will need to end the KDP Select commitment before your ebook can be given away. And although I am not a lawyer, I would say that this would be true even if you were adding sponsorship branding material to the ebook. It’s still the same ebook, and you don’t want to get in hot water with Amazon.
The good news is that KDP Select does not require exclusivity of the physical books, so even if your ebook is on KDP Select, you can look for bulk deals for the paperback.
Finding companies interested in sponsorship opportunities
Here I don’t have any specific advice. I personally am interested in finding high school teacher associations who might be interested in either HOW TO SUCCEED IN HIGH SCHOOL or MRS. LIEUTENANT.
(If you have any suggestions for me, you can leave these in the comments below. Unfortunately I won’t be able to respond in the comments. As Joylene and I have known for some time, her blogging software doesn’t allow me to leave comments. Yet I do read all the comments each month and am very grateful for the positive responses.)
Put on your thinking cap and brainstorm the different kinds of companies who could benefit from a branded sponsorship opportunity with your nonfiction or fiction book. Hopefully this brainstorming will produce several opportunities for you to pursue.
Phyllis Zimbler Miller is a digital marketer as well as a fiction and nonfiction author. She blogs on book-related topics at her author site at www.PhyllisZimblerMiller.com and she is on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ZimblerMiller
If you'd like to join, click here.
Be sure to link to this page and display the badge in your post.
Our hashtag is #IWSG
The awesome co-hosts for the December 3 posting of the IWSG are Heather Gardner, T. Drecker from Kidbits, Eva E. Solar at Lilicasplace, and Patsy Collins!
Before we get to Ask PZM, just a reminder that The Insecure Writer's Support Group Guide to Publishing and Beyond is now available for downloading. You can check out the sites here.
Ask PZM, December 2014
Q. Do you have any suggestions for bulk or sponsored book sales?
This book marketing area is a wonderful opportunity for authors although I can only share my own experiences and thoughts on this topic.
In May, 330 copies of my paperback HOW TO SUCCEED IN HIGH SCHOOL AND PREP FOR COLLEGE were ordered from CreateSpace. I suspect that an elementary school ordered these books for its graduating 8th grade class as this is the ideal target audience for the book.
Then more recently 40 paperbacks copies of my novel MRS. LIEUTENANT were ordered from CreateSpace. In this case I suspect a book club or high school class because I have book discussion questions and a high school lesson plan on www.MrsLieutenant.com
Now I have been pondering how to get more of these sales.
First question for all of us is: What are the likely groups that might be interested in buying our books in large quantities?
Here we need to think outside the box, as the saying goes. And we need to think for both fiction and nonfiction after considering that there are two different target markets.
One potential market is the direct readers, such as book groups and schools. The second potential market is sponsored books.
Direct readers
With the direct readers you could, for example, offer an author visit or skype call in connection to a group reading of your book. Or if you have a children’s picture book, you might offer to do a classroom art activity around some aspect connected to the picture book.
You can start locally by contacting high schools or community colleges in your area. For many readers meeting an author is very exciting, so an author visit can definitely encourage group purchases.
Note that the purchases can be the ebooks instead of the physical books. And in either case, the book discussion questions and high school lesson plan, for example, can be included in the books themselves. (I have this material in the ebook of MRS. LIEUTENANT but not the paperback. It would be relatively easy for me to add this same material to my paperback on CreateSpace.)
Sponsored books
In this scenario you locate companies who could benefit from the marketing goodwill of giving away your books for free to their customers or clients. Again, these could be the physical books or the ebooks.
For example, if you have written a book about estate planning and included information on life insurance, you might approach an insurance company and ask if the company would be interested in buying copies of your book to give to their customers. You can offer a wholesale rate that provides revenue to you and costs the company less than buying the books retail.
You could even do this if you have written a novel whose storyline concerns a major plot about insurance. Even a cautionary tale about insurance could be of interest to an insurance company.
Note that you can license your ebook so that a company may give away as many copies as agreed upon for a set licensing fee. This financial arrangement can be very beneficial for both parties.
And if you have more than one book, of course those books are listed at the end of the sponsored book. In this case you’re being paid to have free advertising for your other books.
Branding opportunities
If you are a self-published author, you can also offer branding opportunities for your sponsored books. You can, for example, add content to your book about the company sponsoring the book. You can even add the company’s name to the cover, such as “The Ideal Insurance Company presents” [your book title].
While there might be cases in which two companies sponsoring the same book would not be a good idea (such as the only two department stores in a small town), in most cases you can offer branding opportunities to numerous companies.
Prior commitments
If your ebook is on Amazon’s KDP Select with its ebook exclusive requirement, you will need to end the KDP Select commitment before your ebook can be given away. And although I am not a lawyer, I would say that this would be true even if you were adding sponsorship branding material to the ebook. It’s still the same ebook, and you don’t want to get in hot water with Amazon.
The good news is that KDP Select does not require exclusivity of the physical books, so even if your ebook is on KDP Select, you can look for bulk deals for the paperback.
Finding companies interested in sponsorship opportunities
Here I don’t have any specific advice. I personally am interested in finding high school teacher associations who might be interested in either HOW TO SUCCEED IN HIGH SCHOOL or MRS. LIEUTENANT.
(If you have any suggestions for me, you can leave these in the comments below. Unfortunately I won’t be able to respond in the comments. As Joylene and I have known for some time, her blogging software doesn’t allow me to leave comments. Yet I do read all the comments each month and am very grateful for the positive responses.)
Put on your thinking cap and brainstorm the different kinds of companies who could benefit from a branded sponsorship opportunity with your nonfiction or fiction book. Hopefully this brainstorming will produce several opportunities for you to pursue.
Phyllis Zimbler Miller is a digital marketer as well as a fiction and nonfiction author. She blogs on book-related topics at her author site at www.PhyllisZimblerMiller.com and she is on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ZimblerMiller
December 1, 2014
The Insecure Writer's Support Group Guide to Publishing and Beyond.
I'm very pleased to announce that The Insecure Writer’s Support Group Guide to Publishing and Beyond is available for downloading. As you may have heard, it's packed full of excellent information, supplied by some very talented writers. Please help us spread the word about this wonderful book.
Tapping into the expertise of over a hundred talented authors from around the globe, The IWSG Guide to Publishing and Beyond contains something for every writer. Whether you are starting out and need tips on the craft of writing, looking for encouragement as an already established author, taking the plunge into self-publishing, or seeking innovative ways to market and promote your work, this guide is a useful tool. Compiled into three key areas of writing, publishing, and marketing, this valuable resource offers inspirational articles, helpful anecdotes, and excellent advice on dos and don'ts that we all wish we knew when we first started out on this writing journey.
ISBN 9781939844088
235 pages, FREE
Find it at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Smashwords, Goodreads.
This book came together through the creative brilliance of our trusted Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh, IWSG creator. Helped by my other friends:
Susan GourleyL. Diane WolfeJ.L. CampbellMichelle WallaceLynda R. Young
Now for some news just out from our Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh:
And this Wednesday it’s time for another group posting of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group! Time to release our fears to the world – or offer encouragement to those who are feeling neurotic. If you’d like to join us, click on the tab above and sign up. We post the first Wednesday of every month. I encourage everyone to visit at least a dozen new blogs and leave a comment. Your words might be the encouragement someone needs.
The awesome co-hosts for the December 3 posting of the IWSG are Heather Gardner, T. Drecker from Kidbits, Eva E. Solar at Lilicasplace, and Patsy Collins!
Don’t forget to check out the IWSG Facebook group and the IWSG Critique Circle.
Ask PZM, Phyllis Zimbler Miller will be guest hosting on my blog for IWSG Wednesday and will be answering this question:
Q. Do you have any suggestions for bulk or sponsored book sales?
See you then.
Meanwhile...
Tapping into the expertise of over a hundred talented authors from around the globe, The IWSG Guide to Publishing and Beyond contains something for every writer. Whether you are starting out and need tips on the craft of writing, looking for encouragement as an already established author, taking the plunge into self-publishing, or seeking innovative ways to market and promote your work, this guide is a useful tool. Compiled into three key areas of writing, publishing, and marketing, this valuable resource offers inspirational articles, helpful anecdotes, and excellent advice on dos and don'ts that we all wish we knew when we first started out on this writing journey.
ISBN 9781939844088
235 pages, FREE
Find it at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Smashwords, Goodreads.
This book came together through the creative brilliance of our trusted Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh, IWSG creator. Helped by my other friends:
Susan GourleyL. Diane WolfeJ.L. CampbellMichelle WallaceLynda R. Young
Now for some news just out from our Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh:
And this Wednesday it’s time for another group posting of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group! Time to release our fears to the world – or offer encouragement to those who are feeling neurotic. If you’d like to join us, click on the tab above and sign up. We post the first Wednesday of every month. I encourage everyone to visit at least a dozen new blogs and leave a comment. Your words might be the encouragement someone needs.The awesome co-hosts for the December 3 posting of the IWSG are Heather Gardner, T. Drecker from Kidbits, Eva E. Solar at Lilicasplace, and Patsy Collins!
Don’t forget to check out the IWSG Facebook group and the IWSG Critique Circle.
Ask PZM, Phyllis Zimbler Miller will be guest hosting on my blog for IWSG Wednesday and will be answering this question:
Q. Do you have any suggestions for bulk or sponsored book sales?
See you then.
Meanwhile...
November 21, 2014
FNN Report: Center for Alien Research Issues
Cockroach Report
The Center for Alien Research (CAR) located in Weehawken, NJ today issued a startling report about cockroaches. FNN Science Reporter Sue Entropy is following this case.
In the report on this explosive research project, CAR announced that analysis of cockroach DNA has found that cockroaches are an alien species. Further, cockroach remains at archeological digs indicate the bugs haven’t changed in over five thousand years, thus defying evolution.
The CAR scientists have speculated that today's cockroaches are descendants of an invasion force that landed more than five thousand years ago in a failed attempt to subjugate Earth.
At CAR, scientists have identified a dozen small DNA variations indicating differing roles during the invasion. The combinations indicate most of the bugs are ordinary soldiers, a smaller group are the officer corps. Others appear to be political commissars, bureaucrats, news reporters and analysts.
Since the report was issued, speculation has run rampant on why the invasion failed. One theory is the invading force underestimated the size of the humans. Another is that the invasion hasn’t failed and that the plan was to gradually gain control of the planet’s resources. In a troubling statement supporting this last theory, cockroach populations in Earth’s largest cities have exploded of late, leading to speculation that the bugs are planning to seize the cities first. A third theory says the current cockroaches are gathering intelligence for a second invasion by much larger cockroaches.
In another surprising development, the National Security Agency issued a statement that said the NSA does not have the capability of intercepting cockroach messages and even if it did have that capability, it wouldn’t make use of it since that would violate the cockroaches’ privacy rights.
Ms Entropy will follow these developments and issue further reports as necessary.
Hank Quense is the author of 50 published short stories along with four novels and three collections of stories. All of these are humorous and/or satiric scifi and fantasy. In the non-fiction area, he has over a dozen articles published on fiction writing and he's the author of the Fiction Writing Guides series and the Self-publishing Guides series. Both series consist of a number of ebooks. The Fiction Writing Guides and the Self-Publishing Guides are an outgrowth of his lectures on both subjects.
Strange Worlds Online Hank's Amazon Page Hank's Blog Page Self-publishing Guides
November 17, 2014
Living in Mexico.
Today is day #17 of our winter hiatus in Bucerias, Nayarit. Is it my age or is it the change in climate that has me shaking my head as to how fast those seventeen days have passed? Doesn't matter. I will gain momentum soon and begin a routine of writing and blogging and whatever else I promised myself I'd do while here. The right schedule will arise in short order.
In fairness, my internet connection has been terrible and I've had to stifle my impatience. Which also means I've had no excuse for not writing.
That will change. I pledge to finish my current WIP, Shattered and to smooth out any clinks in my Vietnam political thriller, Kiss of the Assassin.
Mexico is a beautiful place with wonderful people. They are gracious, giving, and kind. I can't tell you how much I love it here. The gardener is even instructing me on the local vegetation.
We've renting a small villa inside the botanical gardens of Los Arroyos Verdes, called Casa Manzana.
I expect to do a lot of writing on the quiet terrace.
Or maybe by the communal swimming pool. Yes, it does rain occasionally.
I'm very grateful to be here.
In fairness, my internet connection has been terrible and I've had to stifle my impatience. Which also means I've had no excuse for not writing.
That will change. I pledge to finish my current WIP, Shattered and to smooth out any clinks in my Vietnam political thriller, Kiss of the Assassin.
Mexico is a beautiful place with wonderful people. They are gracious, giving, and kind. I can't tell you how much I love it here. The gardener is even instructing me on the local vegetation.
We've renting a small villa inside the botanical gardens of Los Arroyos Verdes, called Casa Manzana.
I expect to do a lot of writing on the quiet terrace.
Or maybe by the communal swimming pool. Yes, it does rain occasionally.
I'm very grateful to be here.
November 5, 2014
IWSG: Ask PZM Nov 2014
It's that the first Wednesday in the month again, which means Insecure Writer's Support Group Wednesday. Thanks to our noble Ninja Captain Alex J Cavanaugh, it's time to share our fears and insecurities, or support and assistance. Doesn't matter which.
If you'd like to join, click here.
Be sure to link to this page and display the badge in your post.
Our hashtag is #IWSG
Our awesome co-hosts for the November 5 posting of the IWSG will be LG Keltner, Donna Hole, Lisa Buie-Collard and SL Hennessy!
Please take time to visit and thank them for their time.
Now for my honoured IWSG host, Phyllis Zimbler Miller's Q & A for November:
Q: What do you think about paying for book ads on sites such as BookBub?
Since 2008 I have been experimenting with and evaluating various marketing strategies for “selling” ebooks. (Note that giving away ebooks can be an important strategy for increasing sales of an author’s books.)
If, as an author, you want to advertise one of your ebooks on the site BookBub, for example, there is a review process before you get a yes or no to pay for a free or special price ad campaign targeted to readers segmented by BookBub’s stated genre preferences. Here is a sample of the BookBub pricing by mysteries, the most costly ad category: Listing Cost By Book Price Free Book Stats Discounted Book Stats Category Subscribers Free <$1 $1-$2 $2+ Avg Dwnlds Range Avg Sold Range Mysteries 1,710,000+ $320 $640 $960 $1,600 29,500 11,500 to 46,400 2,710 260 to 6,470
To test the effectiveness of BookBub’s segmentation effectiveness, I did little or no promotion anywhere else for “free day” campaigns for two different Kindle ebook campaigns. In terms of downloads, both campaigns yielded about 35,000 downloads, which is quite good.
BUT – and this is very important – although BookBub’s email promotion lists are segmented by genre category, there were people who downloaded my books who should not have. These were readers for whom the type of book was not in their targeted reading interest. Some of the subsequent Amazon reviews, for example, indicated people unaccustomed to reading espionage thrillers who complained of difficultly following the traditional arc of such stories.
Perhaps the review issue might not have been a problem if I had advertised for special price days rather than free days. The free option may attract readers who otherwise would not be interested in a specific genre and would not pay even $1 for a book in a genre not usually of interest to them.
After evaluating these two “successful” campaigns on BookBub, I decided that the cost for advertising and the risk to my book’s overall star rating on Amazon due to readers who weren’t in the target audience negated the effectiveness of BookBub campaigns for my books. I did not want to risk more “off target” reviews even if I offered a book in a BookBub campaign for a special price rather than free.
Now there is another consideration to the above – whether your book has reviews.
Both books for which I used BookBub had a good number of Amazon reviews (a certain number of reviews – usually with a specified rating – is often required from book marketing sites with paid advertising before they will allow you to buy ads). But if these books had none or very few reviews and I would still have been allowed to buy a BookBub ad, that could change the equation of my thinking on this subject.
Fairly or not, having a decent number of reviews can influence a reader’s decision to purchase – or download for free – your books. And buying ads for free or special price days may be an effective way to get these reviews, although the risk of the “wrong” readers still remains.As in everything else about the art of book marketing, numerous factors have to be considered, and then it still will probably be a gamble whether to spend money on paid advertising.
Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller on Twitter and Pinterest) is a fiction and nonfiction book author who blogs on book-related topics at www.PhyllisZimblerMiller.comand has some of her writing available for free on Wattpad at http://www.wattpad.com/user/ZimblerMiller
If you'd like to join, click here.
Be sure to link to this page and display the badge in your post.
Our hashtag is #IWSG
Our awesome co-hosts for the November 5 posting of the IWSG will be LG Keltner, Donna Hole, Lisa Buie-Collard and SL Hennessy!
Please take time to visit and thank them for their time.
Now for my honoured IWSG host, Phyllis Zimbler Miller's Q & A for November:
Q: What do you think about paying for book ads on sites such as BookBub?
Since 2008 I have been experimenting with and evaluating various marketing strategies for “selling” ebooks. (Note that giving away ebooks can be an important strategy for increasing sales of an author’s books.)
If, as an author, you want to advertise one of your ebooks on the site BookBub, for example, there is a review process before you get a yes or no to pay for a free or special price ad campaign targeted to readers segmented by BookBub’s stated genre preferences. Here is a sample of the BookBub pricing by mysteries, the most costly ad category: Listing Cost By Book Price Free Book Stats Discounted Book Stats Category Subscribers Free <$1 $1-$2 $2+ Avg Dwnlds Range Avg Sold Range Mysteries 1,710,000+ $320 $640 $960 $1,600 29,500 11,500 to 46,400 2,710 260 to 6,470
To test the effectiveness of BookBub’s segmentation effectiveness, I did little or no promotion anywhere else for “free day” campaigns for two different Kindle ebook campaigns. In terms of downloads, both campaigns yielded about 35,000 downloads, which is quite good.
BUT – and this is very important – although BookBub’s email promotion lists are segmented by genre category, there were people who downloaded my books who should not have. These were readers for whom the type of book was not in their targeted reading interest. Some of the subsequent Amazon reviews, for example, indicated people unaccustomed to reading espionage thrillers who complained of difficultly following the traditional arc of such stories.
Perhaps the review issue might not have been a problem if I had advertised for special price days rather than free days. The free option may attract readers who otherwise would not be interested in a specific genre and would not pay even $1 for a book in a genre not usually of interest to them.
After evaluating these two “successful” campaigns on BookBub, I decided that the cost for advertising and the risk to my book’s overall star rating on Amazon due to readers who weren’t in the target audience negated the effectiveness of BookBub campaigns for my books. I did not want to risk more “off target” reviews even if I offered a book in a BookBub campaign for a special price rather than free.
Now there is another consideration to the above – whether your book has reviews.
Both books for which I used BookBub had a good number of Amazon reviews (a certain number of reviews – usually with a specified rating – is often required from book marketing sites with paid advertising before they will allow you to buy ads). But if these books had none or very few reviews and I would still have been allowed to buy a BookBub ad, that could change the equation of my thinking on this subject.
Fairly or not, having a decent number of reviews can influence a reader’s decision to purchase – or download for free – your books. And buying ads for free or special price days may be an effective way to get these reviews, although the risk of the “wrong” readers still remains.As in everything else about the art of book marketing, numerous factors have to be considered, and then it still will probably be a gamble whether to spend money on paid advertising.
Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller on Twitter and Pinterest) is a fiction and nonfiction book author who blogs on book-related topics at www.PhyllisZimblerMiller.comand has some of her writing available for free on Wattpad at http://www.wattpad.com/user/ZimblerMiller
October 18, 2014
FNN Report: New Reality Show Revealed
FNN Logo
FNN entertainment reporter Mia Diversion had an exclusive interview with independent TV producer, Pom Posity. Mr. Posity told Mia he had a new reality show in production called "The Widower". In it, a dozen widows peruse a widower and try to win his hand. The youngest of the contestants is seventy-two. The oldest is eighty-one. The entire show is filmed live in Atlantic City.
"This is great stuff," Mr. Posity said. "Hilarity breaks out when the 'girls' get feisty and competitive. One of them uses her walker to stomp on another's instep. A second uses her cane to trip other contestants. And to top that, two of the widows imitate the knights of yore by tilting with each other using their powered wheelchairs instead of horses and canes instead of lances and swords. The jousting takes place in the hallway of the hotel."
Ms. Diverison asked Mr. Posity what happens after the widower picks one of the widows.
"Everyone will love this ending. After the widower picks the winner, the two of them will retire to the honeymoon suite to take a nap and rest up for their big night. It starts off with an Early Bird Special in a four-star restaurant followed by a few rounds of cut-throat bingo at a local church. Finally, their action packed night concludes with two hours of free play at the penny slots at the casino of their choice.
Mia Diversion caught up Amy Bigelow, one of the widows who said, "I don't give a fig about the old geezer. I'm in it for the free slot play."
Ms. Diversion will issue a follow up report with the name of the winner.
FNN entertainment reporter Mia Diversion had an exclusive interview with independent TV producer, Pom Posity. Mr. Posity told Mia he had a new reality show in production called "The Widower". In it, a dozen widows peruse a widower and try to win his hand. The youngest of the contestants is seventy-two. The oldest is eighty-one. The entire show is filmed live in Atlantic City.
"This is great stuff," Mr. Posity said. "Hilarity breaks out when the 'girls' get feisty and competitive. One of them uses her walker to stomp on another's instep. A second uses her cane to trip other contestants. And to top that, two of the widows imitate the knights of yore by tilting with each other using their powered wheelchairs instead of horses and canes instead of lances and swords. The jousting takes place in the hallway of the hotel."
Ms. Diverison asked Mr. Posity what happens after the widower picks one of the widows.
"Everyone will love this ending. After the widower picks the winner, the two of them will retire to the honeymoon suite to take a nap and rest up for their big night. It starts off with an Early Bird Special in a four-star restaurant followed by a few rounds of cut-throat bingo at a local church. Finally, their action packed night concludes with two hours of free play at the penny slots at the casino of their choice.
Mia Diversion caught up Amy Bigelow, one of the widows who said, "I don't give a fig about the old geezer. I'm in it for the free slot play."
Ms. Diversion will issue a follow up report with the name of the winner.
Hank Quense is the author of 50 published short stories along with four novels and three collections of stories. All of these are humorous and/or satiric scifi and fantasy. In the non-fiction area, he has over a dozen articles published on fiction writing and he's the author of the Fiction Writing Guides series and the Self-publishing Guides series. Both series consist of a number of ebooks. The Fiction Writing Guides and the Self-Publishing Guides are an outgrowth of his lectures on both subjects.
Strange Worlds Online Hank's Amazon Page Hank's Blog Page Self-publishing Guides
October 10, 2014
How to Write a Good Villain
by A.F.Stewart
Like with all characters, when I write villains I strive to create well rounded, relatable constructs with sound reasons for their actions. Those reasons may be awful, but they have to be plausible. Villains need to be complex, like any character, with flaws and quirks, weakness and strengths, but they do come with a built-in problem: how to make evil seem personable.
I find that’s the core of writing a good villain, connecting to a reader, and—in my opinion—the number one thing a villain needs is motivation, the rationale for why he does all those dastardly things. Does he feel wronged by the world, and is out for revenge? Does he feel he’s doing some kind of service by killing certain types of people, or trying to take over the world? Is he wicked for profit and in the game solely for money? Or does he simply enjoy being bad, and gets a thrill from spewing his evil into the world?
Take my character, Balthazar, who appears in both Killers and Demons, and the new sequel. He’s a horrible murderous demon from Hell, who chases after escaped souls of the damned, and truly enjoys his job. But job performance isn’t his only motivation. His actions are also driven by the selfish desire to stay on the good side of his boss and not return to Hell. He’d much rather remain topside where he can sip fine wine and wear dapper clothes (he’s a bit vain about his appearance). He’s like many people, in that he just wants the good life, the only difference being he does it demon style with a side order of murder and mayhem.
Another example of how I humanized the villains in Killers and Demons II is Hannah. She’s young, a bit cynical, and she’s had some hard breaks in life, but is trying to get by in the sometimes cruel world of Victorian London. I introduce the character as a sympathetic, used and abused woman, then flip a switch to show the rather nasty way she’s decided to deal with her circumstances. I think this ambiguous juxtaposition makes her a very fascinating character despite her wicked ways.
In my experience, the crux of writing a believable antagonist is to appreciate that even bad guys need understanding, and what makes a good villain is the emotional correlation to a reader. They may loathe them, fear them, even somewhat sympathize with them, but on some level a reader has to recognize their emotive mayhem. It’s the little touches, these emotions people identify with, that help ground a villain and bring him (or her) to life on the page.
Come one, come all, to a festival of murder and mayhem. We have killers, demons, witches and more, with bloody exploits galore.Evil is back, with a greater appetite for death.
Sample what is offered, but be careful. What you nibble on may turn out to be somebody’s fingers…
A. F. Stewart was born and raised in Nova Scotia, Canada, and still calls it home. The youngest in a family of seven children, she has always had an overly creative mind and an active imagination. She is fond of good books (especially science fiction/fantasy), action movies, sword collecting, and oil painting as a hobby.
Ms. Stewart is an indie author with several published novellas and story collections in the dark fantasy or horror genres, with a few side trips into poetry and non-fiction. She has a great interest in history and mythology, often working those themes into her books and stories.
Amazon Author Profile: http://amzn.to/19WZAhESmashwords Profile: http://bit.ly/19WZjLuTwitter: http://twitter.com/scribe77
Teaser Trailer Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eW4wd5pFINw
Smashwords Link: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/466078Amazon Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MRKCFWMB&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/killers-and-demons-ii-a-f-stewart/1120170387iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/book/killers-demons-ii-they-return/id908095199?mt=11
Like with all characters, when I write villains I strive to create well rounded, relatable constructs with sound reasons for their actions. Those reasons may be awful, but they have to be plausible. Villains need to be complex, like any character, with flaws and quirks, weakness and strengths, but they do come with a built-in problem: how to make evil seem personable.
I find that’s the core of writing a good villain, connecting to a reader, and—in my opinion—the number one thing a villain needs is motivation, the rationale for why he does all those dastardly things. Does he feel wronged by the world, and is out for revenge? Does he feel he’s doing some kind of service by killing certain types of people, or trying to take over the world? Is he wicked for profit and in the game solely for money? Or does he simply enjoy being bad, and gets a thrill from spewing his evil into the world?
Take my character, Balthazar, who appears in both Killers and Demons, and the new sequel. He’s a horrible murderous demon from Hell, who chases after escaped souls of the damned, and truly enjoys his job. But job performance isn’t his only motivation. His actions are also driven by the selfish desire to stay on the good side of his boss and not return to Hell. He’d much rather remain topside where he can sip fine wine and wear dapper clothes (he’s a bit vain about his appearance). He’s like many people, in that he just wants the good life, the only difference being he does it demon style with a side order of murder and mayhem.
Another example of how I humanized the villains in Killers and Demons II is Hannah. She’s young, a bit cynical, and she’s had some hard breaks in life, but is trying to get by in the sometimes cruel world of Victorian London. I introduce the character as a sympathetic, used and abused woman, then flip a switch to show the rather nasty way she’s decided to deal with her circumstances. I think this ambiguous juxtaposition makes her a very fascinating character despite her wicked ways.
In my experience, the crux of writing a believable antagonist is to appreciate that even bad guys need understanding, and what makes a good villain is the emotional correlation to a reader. They may loathe them, fear them, even somewhat sympathize with them, but on some level a reader has to recognize their emotive mayhem. It’s the little touches, these emotions people identify with, that help ground a villain and bring him (or her) to life on the page.
Come one, come all, to a festival of murder and mayhem. We have killers, demons, witches and more, with bloody exploits galore.Evil is back, with a greater appetite for death.
Sample what is offered, but be careful. What you nibble on may turn out to be somebody’s fingers…
A. F. Stewart was born and raised in Nova Scotia, Canada, and still calls it home. The youngest in a family of seven children, she has always had an overly creative mind and an active imagination. She is fond of good books (especially science fiction/fantasy), action movies, sword collecting, and oil painting as a hobby.Ms. Stewart is an indie author with several published novellas and story collections in the dark fantasy or horror genres, with a few side trips into poetry and non-fiction. She has a great interest in history and mythology, often working those themes into her books and stories.
Amazon Author Profile: http://amzn.to/19WZAhESmashwords Profile: http://bit.ly/19WZjLuTwitter: http://twitter.com/scribe77
Teaser Trailer Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eW4wd5pFINw
Smashwords Link: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/466078Amazon Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MRKCFWMB&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/killers-and-demons-ii-a-f-stewart/1120170387iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/book/killers-demons-ii-they-return/id908095199?mt=11
October 1, 2014
IWSG - Ask PZM - book covers
It's that the first Wednesday in the month again, which means Insecure Writer's Support Group Wednesday. Thanks to our noble Ninja Captain Alex J Cavanaugh, it's time to share our fears and insecurities, or support and assistance. Doesn't matter which.
If you'd like to join, click here.
Be sure to link to this page and display the badge in your post.
Our hashtag is #IWSG
IWSG's awesome co-hosts for the October 1 special anniversary posting of the IWSG will be Kristin Smith,Elsie, Suzanne Furness, and Fundy Blue!
Be sure to visit the
Insecure Writer’s Support Group Website!!!
The IWSG Team is putting together an eBook that will benefit all writers -The IWSG Guide to Publishing and Beyond. And we invite all IWSG members, Facebook members, and followers to contribute.
Here are the details:
The three topics will be writing, publishing, and marketing.
Each contribution needs to be between 200 and 1000 words. Focus on one of those three aspects and give us your best tip or procedure. The essay can include bullet points, top ten lists, and recommendations. (Websites, software, books, etc.)
You can either post it for your October 1 IWSG post or email it directly toTheIWSG AT gmail.com or alexjcavanaugh ATearthlink.net (Since the length can go over the standard IWSG post length.) Include a one sentence byline and a link to your site. Also state that you give us permission to use it in the book and which topic it falls under. (We will only edit for misspellings and grammar mistakes.)
All submissions need to be sent or posted by October 2, 2014. We will compile them into an eBook and aim for an early December release. The book will be free and available for all eReaders.
Here's an important reposting from Ask PZM, March 2010
How important is my book cover?
The front cover of your book is very important, and it is even more so in this age of Internet book buying.
Let’s think about this. You’ll be promoting your book online and linking to its Amazon page or a page on your website where the book can be bought. The cover is one of the strongest emotional connections you can create with a prospective reader.
Look at the size of book covers on Amazon. How clearly can you read the title, the author’s name, “register” what the cover image projects?
That’s how small your book cover will be. And this is why you can’t look at a physical book cover and determine its effectiveness based on that size.
If you doubt this wisdom, think about billboards you’ve driven by. How many times can you barely read the main tagline? Have you wondered why the company and the advertising agency didn’t notice the type was too small or too fancy to read quickly as you drove by?
The answer is that those people looked at the billboard prototype while standing still and not at the distance from which a driver sees most billboards.
The same with your book cover. You have to forget about how you see the cover and put yourself in the mindset of how someone with the attention-span of a half a second will look at your cover.
If you want expert book cover advice, check out John Kremer’s website www.bookmarket.com – he offers book cover consulting. And on a recent book marketing teleseminar for which I was his guest, he rightly noted a problem with the cover of my novel “Mrs. Lieutenant.”
(The words “A Sharon Gold Novel” should not be shoved up right under “Mrs. Lieutenant.” I’ve had advertising design training and I should have noticed this problem but didn’t.)
Cautionary warning: Yes, I know that self-published authors have much more control over their covers than do authors whose books have a traditional publisher. Still, if you think your cover won’t “read” well online, ask your agent to discuss your concerns with your publisher.
Phyllis Zimbler Miller is a fiction and nonfiction author who blogs on book-related topics at www.PhyllisZimblerMiller.com
If you have a question you'd like to ask Phyllis for her ASK PZM: November 2014, email it to cluculzwriter at yahoo dot ca and I'll pass it along.
If you'd like to join, click here.
Be sure to link to this page and display the badge in your post.
Our hashtag is #IWSG
IWSG's awesome co-hosts for the October 1 special anniversary posting of the IWSG will be Kristin Smith,Elsie, Suzanne Furness, and Fundy Blue!
Be sure to visit the
Insecure Writer’s Support Group Website!!!
The IWSG Team is putting together an eBook that will benefit all writers -The IWSG Guide to Publishing and Beyond. And we invite all IWSG members, Facebook members, and followers to contribute. Here are the details:
The three topics will be writing, publishing, and marketing.
Each contribution needs to be between 200 and 1000 words. Focus on one of those three aspects and give us your best tip or procedure. The essay can include bullet points, top ten lists, and recommendations. (Websites, software, books, etc.)
You can either post it for your October 1 IWSG post or email it directly toTheIWSG AT gmail.com or alexjcavanaugh ATearthlink.net (Since the length can go over the standard IWSG post length.) Include a one sentence byline and a link to your site. Also state that you give us permission to use it in the book and which topic it falls under. (We will only edit for misspellings and grammar mistakes.)
All submissions need to be sent or posted by October 2, 2014. We will compile them into an eBook and aim for an early December release. The book will be free and available for all eReaders.
Here's an important reposting from Ask PZM, March 2010
How important is my book cover?
The front cover of your book is very important, and it is even more so in this age of Internet book buying.
Let’s think about this. You’ll be promoting your book online and linking to its Amazon page or a page on your website where the book can be bought. The cover is one of the strongest emotional connections you can create with a prospective reader.
Look at the size of book covers on Amazon. How clearly can you read the title, the author’s name, “register” what the cover image projects?
That’s how small your book cover will be. And this is why you can’t look at a physical book cover and determine its effectiveness based on that size.
If you doubt this wisdom, think about billboards you’ve driven by. How many times can you barely read the main tagline? Have you wondered why the company and the advertising agency didn’t notice the type was too small or too fancy to read quickly as you drove by?
The answer is that those people looked at the billboard prototype while standing still and not at the distance from which a driver sees most billboards.
The same with your book cover. You have to forget about how you see the cover and put yourself in the mindset of how someone with the attention-span of a half a second will look at your cover.
If you want expert book cover advice, check out John Kremer’s website www.bookmarket.com – he offers book cover consulting. And on a recent book marketing teleseminar for which I was his guest, he rightly noted a problem with the cover of my novel “Mrs. Lieutenant.”
(The words “A Sharon Gold Novel” should not be shoved up right under “Mrs. Lieutenant.” I’ve had advertising design training and I should have noticed this problem but didn’t.)
Cautionary warning: Yes, I know that self-published authors have much more control over their covers than do authors whose books have a traditional publisher. Still, if you think your cover won’t “read” well online, ask your agent to discuss your concerns with your publisher.
Phyllis Zimbler Miller is a fiction and nonfiction author who blogs on book-related topics at www.PhyllisZimblerMiller.com
If you have a question you'd like to ask Phyllis for her ASK PZM: November 2014, email it to cluculzwriter at yahoo dot ca and I'll pass it along.
