Blair MacGregor's Blog, page 13
December 12, 2014
Like the New Look? Want To Review It?
Since I’m behind on just about everything, I did what any good independent author would do: spent hours creating a new ebook cover!
With holiday sales coming up, followed by StoryBundle (more on that soonly!), followed by the anticipated release of Breath of Stone, I wanted Serpent Heart to share some of the same visual elements as the rest.
In coordination with Sand of Bone’s appearance at NetGalley, I’m offering review copies of Serpent Heart as well. Comment here or drop me a quick line via...
December 10, 2014
Linky Goodness
Someday I’ll get to posting about the weird (for me) process of writing Breath of Stone. In the meantime, here are some links I simply can’t keep to myself:
From M.C.A. Hogarth comes I Am an Indie Midlister (and That’s Okay)— a great post on her experience as an indie author, her sales numbers, and the perceptions of success in today’s direct-to-reader publishing world.
Via The Passive Voice, a link to and discussion of The Bookseller’s First Independent Author Preview. As I mentioned in the co...
December 1, 2014
SAND OF BONE Available On NetGalley
For December only, Sand of Bone is available to the readers of NetGalley.
Request your review copy before the impending holidays feast upon all your reading time!
Tagged: netgalley, reviews, Sand of Bone
November 28, 2014
November 26, 2014
Of Overused Catchphrases, Heartening Opportunities, and the Unintentional Slush Reduction Program
Via a Twitter link, I came upon Infodump, Mary Sue, and Other Words That Authors Are Sick of Hearing. I’m a little bit in love with it, truly. Don’t even attempt the comments unless you want to watch a rehash of the years-long debate of what Mary Sue actually means, and what every single commenter means when they use it. Trust me: if you weren’t sick of hearing Mary Sue before reading the comments, you will be after. It’s rather interesting, though, that of all the terms in the article, it’s...
November 18, 2014
All the Writing Rules You’ll Ever Need To Know
I spent years and years and years internalizing the do-this-not-that lists directed at writers looking to land a contract.
Then the truth about writing rules became clear. So here they are, in order of importance:
Rule One: The story must connect with and entertain the reader so well, the reader will want to tell others about it.
Rule Two: Anything that interferes with the implementation of Rule One should be set aside.
That’s it. All the rest — all thoseguidelines and do-this lists and don’t-do-...
November 13, 2014
Obviously, No.
Some professional writing organizations have opted to admit self-publishing writers at an alarming pace, insisting three or four or five years is plenty long enough to spend debating the issue. It would be best to invest another two or three years at least, but the push just won’t stop. Under such pressure to act in haste, it’s important to understand the reasons self-publishers should be kept out.
First, it’s always been understood that who pays the author is of upmost importance.Purchase dec...
November 12, 2014
Barnes and Nobles Wants To Be Author Solutions When It Grows Up
If you haven’t yet seen it, do check out the FAQ for the Barnes and Noble/Nook Press satirical attempt to offer self-publishing “services.” David Gaughran has more.
My favorite part is the $399 charge to be told which editing package you should purchase.
My second favorite part is knowing your Barnes and Noble/Nook Press print book will not, under any circumstances, be sold through any Barnes and Noble store — physical or online.
Barnes and Noble has run out of feet of its ownto shoot, and is ap...
October 26, 2014
The Light Beyond the Wet Blanket
Back at this post, we talked about throwing away the Wet Blanket—turning off the part of your prefrontal cortex that inhibits creativity—in order to use new writing skills and be creative at the same time.
It’s easy to say. There are writers who have, it would seem, a natural ability to bypass the Wet Blanket or perhaps have no Wet Blanket at all. Hearing their advice—”Just do it!”—can be so frustrating because the fact you can’t just do it makes you feel like a failure or an imposter. It’s ev...
October 25, 2014
Does Convention Visibility Matter?
In the past few weeks, I’ve seen many successful writers make mention of the issue of visibility – the connecting of interested reader with published story. These writers were not happy with their current visibility, and all commented about how difficult it was to know what would and wouldn’t work to increase success. And these writers are trade-published, having the same conversation self-published writers have every day.
Gen Con’s Writer Symposium was quite educational in that regard.
A panel...
