Bryan Thomas Schmidt's Blog, page 30
July 20, 2012
Cover Reveal: 102 More Hilarious Dinosaur Jokes For Kids
Well, here it is at long last, the cover for my upcoming debut children’s book 102 More Hilarious Dinosaur Jokes For Kids. Jeff Rutherford, publisher/editor of Delabarre Publishing sent it over today and I’m quite excited because the illustration samples he’s been [ Read More ]
July 18, 2012
Dear Stop GR Bullies People...
Please stop.
Seriously.
1) People are allowed to have opinions. We believe in free speech. It's what allows us as authors to have a voice. I don't want to lose it, do you?
2) Free speech is allowed to be exercised with discretion and consideration or as total asses. I choose the former, some choose the latter. Doesn't change my belief in free speech.
3) How did you ever come to think bullying people you feel are bullies makes you right and them wrong? It doesn't.
4) I don't like negative reviews anymore than you do. Especially mean, juvenile ones with nothing positive to add. My favorite are the idiots who don't even have an opinion but just link to someone else's review and say: "I agree with him/her." It just proves they are not intelligent enough to engage with your writing themselves. But that doesn't make them bullies. And it doesn't mean they don't deserve free speech.
5) By behaving as overemotional, insecure people, you make all authors look bad. You scare all readers into thinking they can't say what they really think or be honest in reviews. You encourage compliance and assimilation into a world where authors will have no opportunity for constructive feedback that helps them grow. Please stop using your free speech to try and keep my writing as mediocre as you'd like yours to continue to be.
6) Just stop. See 1-5.
Thanks.
Bryan
Seriously.
1) People are allowed to have opinions. We believe in free speech. It's what allows us as authors to have a voice. I don't want to lose it, do you?
2) Free speech is allowed to be exercised with discretion and consideration or as total asses. I choose the former, some choose the latter. Doesn't change my belief in free speech.
3) How did you ever come to think bullying people you feel are bullies makes you right and them wrong? It doesn't.
4) I don't like negative reviews anymore than you do. Especially mean, juvenile ones with nothing positive to add. My favorite are the idiots who don't even have an opinion but just link to someone else's review and say: "I agree with him/her." It just proves they are not intelligent enough to engage with your writing themselves. But that doesn't make them bullies. And it doesn't mean they don't deserve free speech.
5) By behaving as overemotional, insecure people, you make all authors look bad. You scare all readers into thinking they can't say what they really think or be honest in reviews. You encourage compliance and assimilation into a world where authors will have no opportunity for constructive feedback that helps them grow. Please stop using your free speech to try and keep my writing as mediocre as you'd like yours to continue to be.
6) Just stop. See 1-5.
Thanks.
Bryan
July 16, 2012
Writetips: 10 Most Creatively Inspiring Places In The World I’ve Visited So Far
I love to travel and I love to learn. So, to me, one of the greatest things about trips is getting to discover things: new places, new languages, new cultures, new people, new points of view. It energizes me. That’s one reason I’ve dedicated so much of my life to travel. From 2000 through 2010, [ Read More ]
July 11, 2012
Write Tip: Top 10 Writer Lessons Learned From Cons & Appearances
Love it or hate it, for the modern author Conventions and Appearances come with the job. These can be a great deal of fun or a great deal of stress or both. I’ve done 9 Cons since 2010, 5 since March 2012. (You can check out my appearances here.) I’ve enjoyed them all for different reasons [ Read More ]
July 10, 2012
The Returning Blog Tour Schedule, Part 2
Well, after a brief break for the July 4th, holiday, the blog tour for my second novel, The Returning, has resumed and I’m late posting links to it but here they are: Friday July 6 Heidi Ruby Miller Heidi’s Pick Six Interview Saturday July 7 FMW Podcast Interview Monday July 9 Jeremy C. Shipp The Value [ Read More ]
July 4, 2012
Join The Returning Street Team & Win A Free Copy Plus Book Trailer Contest
We need your help. The launch for The Returning has been rough. Not quite as rough as the ride I took writing it but we lost some momentum. This book has gotten great reviews so far and we believe it’s better than the first. The first got B&N Year’s Best mention, so that’s saying something. But [ Read More ]
July 3, 2012
Book Day Two: The Returning Comes To Print!!!
Well, paperbacks are finally here, so this is Book Day 2 for the exciting sequel to The Worker Prince, which made Barnes & Noble Book Club’s Year’s Best Science Fiction Releases of 2011! Mitch Bentley of Atomic Fly Studios did some of his best work ever on the cover. Sorry again for the delay, but we’re excited to [ Read More ]
July 2, 2012
Write Tip: How NOT To Approach An Editor
This is hard because I hate to potentially embarrass someone. But I was pretty shocked by this approach and really felt it worthy of blogging about so I am taking that risk. I am paraphrasing things as much as I can and, since it was done through a website and anonymous, I am not revealing [ Read More ]
June 30, 2012
My Convergence Panel Schedule
Well, at least for me, one of the biggest Conventions of my year has arrived: Convergence, which is being held in Bloomington, Minnesota, Independence Day weekend, Thursday through Sunday July 5-8. This Con has been around for many years and now occupies multiple hotels. There are tons of invited guests, including Scott Lynch, Elizabeth Bear, [ Read More ]
June 25, 2012
Guest Post – PERILOUS MISSION: The Challenges Of Writing Science Fiction
by Anne E. Johnson I’ve been a fan of science fiction since I was in high school, but Green Light Delivery was my first attempt to write a novel-length work in this genre. Of course, any type of fiction is a challenge to do well. But I found that writing science fiction offers special hurdles [ Read More ]
