Caleb J. Ross's Blog, page 69
December 11, 2011
How can authors use Google Analytics Events Tracking to understand their readers?
How many times did readers download your sample chapters? How many times did readers view your new book trailer? How many times did your website visitors click a button to buy one of your books? How many times did someone click a link to read one of your stories posted at another website? All of these items can be tracked using Event Tracking in Google Analytics. What is Event Tracking? I'll leave the details up to Google itself, but for … →
December 6, 2011
Choosing the right blogging platform for an author: it's all about scripts and Google Analytics.
(Announcing a new post category: Search Engine Optimization for Authors. Well, it's new in that I've finally given a name to it, but as you can see by clicking over to the category, there are a few past posts that fit within this category) If you've read Christina Katz's fantastic Get Known Before the Book Deal, or have been at all concerned about building that illusive "platform" so many industry types talk about then either 1) you are an author … →
December 4, 2011
Bart Simpson and Little Women
(part of my ongoing Unexpected Literary References series) Though the wonderful Pablo D'Stair recently called me out on the possible inaccuracy of calling this series "unexpected" literary references, I'm too far in to change the name (re: too lazy to change the name). And this latest find, from last week's episode of The Simpsons, does not help defend any point I may have had about the unexpectedness of lit references in cartoons. Perhaps the series should be called "Great Unexpected Literary … →
December 1, 2011
UPDATE: I Didn't Mean to be Kevin pushed back to January 2012
Just some last-minute tidying up that neither I nor the publisher wanted to rush.
November 30, 2011
[Guest Post] Compelling and Inspiring Short Fiction Writers by Nadia Jones
This is a guest post by Nadia Jones who blogs at accredited online colleges about education, college, student, teacher, money saving, movie related topics. You can reach her at nadia.jones5 @ gmail.com. I consider myself an indiscriminant and voracious consumer of fiction. While I mostly read novels, occasionally I find myself balking at the prospect of beginning yet another huge work of fiction, too exhausted by a previous book to dive into the new world of the next one. In these moments of reader … →
November 29, 2011
A selection of my strangest gifts ever given
I write domestic grotesque fiction, which is a term I think I made up, but is quite suiting to the themes and content of my stories and books. The most famous short story that I think would fit into the domestic grotesque genre is "Good Country People" by Flannery O'Conner (visualized quite creepily in this short film from the 1960s and quite cheesily in this student clip). Take a family situation—usually some sort of broken family dynamic—mix in something grotesque—possibly … →
November 26, 2011
Episode 012: November is NaNoWriNo. December is UhOhWriLess.
NaNoWriMo is a month-long event in which writers of all experience levels attempt to write a 50,000 word novel during the month of November. Sounds good, right? There is a sense of accomplishment for accomplishment's sake with vomiting so many words, with setting and meeting a goal. However, I'm not so couch-therapy optimistic about it. Send any comments on this episode, or any writing and publishing related questions to caleb [at] calebjross.com. I will answer them in a future episode. … →
November 25, 2011
Preorders are now being accepted for As a Machine and Parts. Preorders will be SIGNED.
I am so incredibly thrilled to announce that my newest book, As a Machine and Parts, is now available for preorder. Simply click over to the Aqueous Books website to order. ALL PREORDERS WILL BE SIGNED. Unfortunately, they will be signed by me. I tried to reanimate Christopher Reeves or get Stephen Hawking here to do the signing–as that would not only be incredible, but would play nicely into the man/machine hybrid themes of the book–but for some reason I … →
November 21, 2011
Neil Gaiman on The Simpsons, tween lit lovers rejoice and/or get depressed
(part of my ongoing Unexpected Literary References series) Yesterday (11-20-2011) The Simpsons continued its legacy of literary references with an episode featuring Neil Gaiman, author of American Gods, Anansi Boys, and many others . The episode, "The Book Job" (season 23, episode 6), explores the culture of tween lit, specifically stories featuring vampires and magicians, using an Ocean's Eleven-style heist as the plot backdrop. Though the episode speaks primarily to the idea that tween lit may be hugely factory produced for market … →
November 20, 2011
The Tale of Scrotie McBoogerballs vs. The Catcher in the Rye
(part of my ongoing Unexpected Literary References series) I briefly mentioned this Unexpected Literary Reference way back on the first official post of this series, but this one certainly deserves some special attention. The Tale of Scrotie McBoogerballs (Season 14, Episode 2) is an episode of South Park that speaks directly to the idea that historically banned books, placed in the context of modern media, simply don't have the power that they once may have. The is called out for being a … →
