Leon Stevens's Blog, page 71

Music Monday Aug. 7: Australian Crawl

There is a radio show on CBC here in Canada that occasionally does a feature called SYNTH: Songs You Need To Hear.

CBC MUSIC, Central · Mornings with CBC Music

Now, I can’t say to someone, “You’ll like this song” (or book for that matter) because I can’t presume that others will share my taste in music (or books), so it is safer to say, “You might like this” and if they don’t like it, so be it. Maybe you will find a new favorite.

As a teenager, I found new music by listening to the radio. You never knew when that song you liked would come on, so the cassette recorder was ready to go when you heard those opening notes. That meant all of your favorite songs on the tape were missing the first few seconds. Then, you would anxiously wait for the department store to stock the album.

In the early 80s, a classmate’s friend’s cousin came to Canada from Australia for a week long visit and brought a cassette tape called Phalanx from the band Australian Crawl. Before she left, I played it on my stereo and recorded it with my portable cassette recorder. As you can imagine, the sound quality was … well, you can imagine.

Then, I got to show it off to all my friends. “Look, an Australian band that isn’t Men at Work or AC/DC.” I don’t know why I thought of the band to feature this week, but it took about 30 seconds to find the first video. Technology, huh?

I kinda miss those days, though.

Australian Crawl were an Australian rock band founded by James Reyne, Brad Robinson, Paul Williams, Simon Binks and David Reyne in Melbourne in 1978. 

I have no idea why they didn’t sue a certain band for copyright infringement of this one:

They could have made a fortune …

Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.

My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/

Sign up for my weekly newsletter and receive a free book!

Oh, pick me! C’mon, space stuff!

Weekend Wrap-up Aug 5: #IndieAugust

Didn’t we just go through #IndieApril? What happened to #IndieJuly?

Do these hashtags work? Unless a reader buys your book and then DMs you and says they bought it because of the hashtag, You really have no way of knowing.

Indie authors are always promoting their books, through blogs, swaps, group promos, newsletters, retweeting, and social media posts. Paying for advertising on certain sites does show what clicks net sales, but we are not talking about that.

So, look up #indieaugust and see what you can find!

-Leon

On my blog this week:

Free Book Friday Aug. 4: Social media
Thursday Thoughts: Hummus – A poem about hummus? Yup.
Weird Wednesday Aug 2nd: Cartoons
Music Monday July 31: The Weepies

Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.

My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/

Sign up for my weekly newsletter and receive a free book!

Oh, pick me! C’mon, space stuff!

Free Book Friday Aug. 4: Social media

WordPress. Medium. Vocal. Substack. FaceBook. Twitter. Instagram. TikTok. YouTube. Threads … and on it goes. It’s exhausting. Have I missed any? I’m sure I have.

I’m not on all of them, but since some people stick to some social media over others, as an author trying to reach readers, it is hard not to want to spread the word over multiple channels.

So, I’ve picked the ones I feel enable me to connect with readers and other authors, not just to try to sell books but to entertain on a regular basis.

That’s exhausting too.

The story behind Free Book Friday:

I’ve met many authors and readers during my time marketing, cross-promoting, and blogging. I think writers have a responsibility to inform readers about all the indie authors out there in the very crowded world of book publishing. You can’t do it alone, and why would you when you have a supportive group available?

Readers don’t just read one author – they stick with their favorite genres. Therein lies the power in cross-promotion. If one of my readers buys a book from an author I promote, then chances are there will be a reciprocal effect, or so is the hope. Do I want to boost sales? Of course I do. Do I want to boost other’s sales? Why not. It’s called karma.

Some free book offers require a newsletter sign-up, which is a small non-monetary price to pay to try out a new indie author.

Reads From StoryOrigin and BookFunnel

StoryOrigin and BookFunnel allows authors to advertise their books to each other’s audience. I hope you have been able to discover a new favorite!

Free Books Almost Free Books (Last 2 weeks) Review Copies

Review copies: Like reviewing books? Try my two poetry collections: Lines by Leon and A Wonder of Words

Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and receive a free book (poetry or science fiction or both): Leon’s Newsletter

Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.

My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/

Sign up for my weekly newsletter and receive a free book!

Oh, pick me! C’mon, space stuff!

Thursday Thoughts: Hummus

I was reminded of an earlier Minuscules cartoon:

New pricing for books two and three in the trilogy, only $2.99 each!

Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.

My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/

Sign up for my weekly newsletter and receive a free book!

Oh, pick me! C’mon, space stuff!

Weird Wednesday Aug 2nd: Cartoons

Yeah, my pen was running out while drawing this one.

New pricing for books 2 & 3 : $2.99 each!

Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.

My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/

Sign up for my weekly newsletter and receive a free book!

Oh, pick me! C’mon, space stuff!

Indie August!

#IndieAugust and Other Events

Music Monday July 31: The Weepies

There is a radio show on CBC here in Canada that occasionally does a feature called SYNTH: Songs You Need To Hear.

CBC MUSIC, Central · Mornings with CBC Music

Now, I can’t say to someone, “You’ll like this song” (or book for that matter) because I can’t presume that others will share my taste in music (or books), so it is safer to say, “You might like this” and if they don’t like it, so be it. Maybe you will find a new favorite.

The Weepies were an American indie pop-folk band consisting of singer-songwriters Steve Tannen and Deb Talan.

The first song I heard from The Weepies was Jolene. Not a cover of the other Jolene song, but I think it ranks very high in songs titled Jolene.

-Leon

Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.

My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/

Sign up for my weekly newsletter and receive a free book!

Oh, pick me! C’mon, space stuff!

Weekend Wrap-up July 29: Time to weigh in on the “X”

Should I weigh in on X?

If you are on Twitter, you are not anymore. Mr. Musk decided to change the name to X. It is one of the many changes he has made since he paid 46 billion dollars for it.

Side note: How many social programs can be funded for 46 billion dollars? Just sayin’.

Is it worth staying on X? Some people complain that now it is full more misinformation and radical content, but I haven’t seen much more than more annoying ads. Might be because I follow the right people …

I have “met” many authors (it’s the majority of whom I follow) and I my followers are made up of authors and readers. I prefer to use my social media accounts to post entertaining content, but it needs to be used as an advertising conduit as well.

Does social media interaction sell books for me? Maybe. It’s always difficult to say where the sales come from.

So, for the meantime, I’m sticking with X, IG, and FB. I haven’t figure out Pinterest yet, and TikTok isn’t something I think I would enjoy doing.

-Leon

On my blog this week:

Free Book Friday July 28: Let’s do the math.
Weird Wednesday July 25th: Cartoons
Tuesday Tidbits: Ratings
Music Monday July 23: Beatrice Deer

-Leon

Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.

My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/

Sign up for my weekly newsletter and receive a free book!

Oh, pick me! C’mon, space stuff!

Free Book Friday July 28: Let’s do the math.

55% of readers who start my sci-fi trilogy continue to the second book.

95% of readers who make the decision to read book two of my trilogy finish the series.

So, you 45%ers, what are you waiting for?

The story behind Free Book Friday:

I’ve met many authors and readers during my time marketing, cross-promoting, and blogging. I think writers have a responsibility to inform readers about all the indie authors out there in the very crowded world of book publishing. You can’t do it alone, and why would you when you have a supportive group available?

Readers don’t just read one author – they stick with their favorite genres. Therein lies the power in cross-promotion. If one of my readers buys a book from an author I promote, then chances are there will be a reciprocal effect, or so is the hope. Do I want to boost sales? Of course I do. Do I want to boost other’s sales? Why not. It’s called karma.

Some free book offers require a newsletter sign-up, which is a small non-monetary price to pay to try out a new indie author.

Here are last week’s promos which are still going on:

Reads From StoryOrigin and BookFunnel

StoryOrigin and BookFunnel allows authors to advertise their books to each other’s audience. I hope you have been able to discover a new favorite!

Free Books Almost Free Books Review Copies

Review copies: Like reviewing books? Try my two poetry collections: Lines by Leon and A Wonder of Words

Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter and receive a free book (poetry or science fiction or both): Leon’s Newsletter

Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.

My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/

Sign up for my weekly newsletter and receive a free book!

Oh, pick me! C’mon, space stuff!

Weird Wednesday July 25th: Cartoons

Have you ever wondered what the very first Miniscules cartoon was?

Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.

My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/

Sign up for my weekly newsletter and receive a free book!

Oh, pick me! C’mon, space stuff!