S. Evan Townsend's Blog, page 81

"Boosting" a Facebook Post

I experimented with "boosting" a Facebook post on Monday. To boost a post, you pay money to Facebook and it becomes one of those "Sponsored" posts you see in your time line. This has to be done through a Facebook "page" such as my author page. You can set up who you want to see it. I set it up so that it was people in the US, 18 - 65+, and one of their interests is "Science Fiction." I boosted a post about Treasure of the Black Hole. And I set a budget of $10.

The first time I tried to boost a post, it was rejected because there was too much text in the graphic (which was just my book cover). So I had my wife, who does graphic things on her iPad I can't do, make a graphic with less text:

I boosted the post with that graphic and it was accepted.

So what were the results? There were 870 people "reached" (I assume that means they saw the post). Of those, 235 were "organic" (meaning they would have seen the post without boosting it). The rest, 635, were paid. I had 21 posts "likes" (which probably increased the organic reach) and 7 post "clicks" which would have taken them to the Amazon page for the book.

Of the $10 budget, I spent $7.03 (you pay for clicks). But, I didn't sell one book, either paperback or ebook.

With that result, I'm not sure "boosting" is worth it. Yesterday I posted a post about another book and it's organic reach was 182 people "reached." And that was all free.

So now I'm thinking boosting isn't worth it. Or do I need to boost it again to drive the point home to people? You know, sort of like they do on TV with running the same ad over and over again? I don't know.

Grapefruit, the Yucky Fruit

Time once again for the 30-day blogging challenge that I'm doing over (approximately) thirty weeks.

Today's prompt is "A fruit you dislike and why." I had to think about this because I generally like fruit, especially oranges and peaches.

Then I remembered grapefruit.

Whenever I taste grapefruit I am reminded of the taste in your mouth right after you've vomited. The sharp tang of stomach acid (which is hydrochloric acid) that coats the inside of your mouth. And to me, that's what grapefruit tastes like. I don't know if it has a lot of citric acid in it or what, but to me, it literally tastes like vomit.

It must contain a significant amount of acid. I used to work with a guy who ate a grapefruit every day at lunch. His dentist told him to cut back because it was eating his teeth.

I don't know how or why people eat grapefruit. To me, it is disgusting.

And that's a fruit I don't like.

The Speculative Fiction Cantina with C. F. Waller and Clay Gilbert

Today on the Speculative Fiction Cantina we are pleased to welcome writers C. F. Waller and Clay Gilbert.
C. F. Waller

Award winning author Charles Waller published his first science fiction novel at age forty-seven, after a flight on an ill-fated commercial airliner over the Atlantic Ocean nearly became an episode of Why Planes Crash. This experience illustrated for him first hand that writing about exotic or dangerous locales was safer than traveling to them. Since then, he likes to think his meticulous research and storytelling gives readers a clear sense of their grandeur, without the inherent risk of flying.

After narrowly escaping the academic death-grip of several universities, Charles worked in nightclubs, took a turn as a new car salesman, and also as a hurricane shutter engineer. His favorite authors include, Oscar Wilde, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., and Michael Crichton. The latter being especially close to his heart as Crichton epitomizes the techno-thriller genre and the failure of humans to interact with technology.

Though he will forever be a Midwestern boy at heart, he now lives on the gulf coast of Florida with his wife, Tina, and one fuzzy feline companion. If he’s not working on a new novel, you can find him volunteering at church, playing overly competitive Yahtzee with his spouse, or indulging in an unhealthy addiction to competitive cooking shows on television.

C. F.'s Books:
Tourists of the Apocalypse
The Calling Tree
South Face
C. F.'s Links:
Website Facebook Twitter Amazon
Clay GilbertClay Gilbert
Clay Gilbert has been hearing the voices of aliens, vampires, and people from the future since about the age of four.  It wasn't long before he started to think taking notes on what they said might be a good idea.  This has led him many places—through the halls and classrooms of many schools, where he's been both in front of the teacher's desk and behind it, himself—to presenter's podiums at conventions, and, most often, to the comfortable chair behind his writing desk at home, where he uses his Dell computer as both a beacon and a translator for the voices that still find their way through from countless worlds and planes of existence. Clay is the author of Annah: Children of Evohe, Book One, Dark Road to Paradise, and Eternity, as well as the Chief Editor for PDMI Publishing.  These days, the place he calls home is Knoxville, Tennessee, where his cat, Bella, and his ball python, Andy, keep him company between visits from a teenaged alien named Annah, an undead, blood-drinking English professor named Martin Cabot, and a boy from the future named Eternity.  And it's a good thing, too—life is busy.  And Clay's still taking notes.

Clay's Books:
Annah
Dark Road to Paradise
Clay's Links:
Website Blog Facebook Twitter Goodreads
From Today's Show: Light from a Black Hole Collision
Listen to today's show live at 6:00 PM ET / 3:00 PM PT or in archive here.

Ageism

Once again, back to the thirty day blogging challenge. The next prompt is "Your feelings on ageism."

This is a tough one because I haven't spent much time thinking about ageism. Ageism is discrimination of people based on their age. Any discrimination is bad if it's based solely on some factor about the person they can't help. But you have to realize that a 90-year-old man is probably not going to be a very good fire fighter because he can't move as fast or be as strong as a 25-year-old man. Of course, there are exceptions. The 90 year old could be an exercise nut and the 25 year old a couch potato.

My thoughts on ageism or any type of discrimination (including affirmative action) is that people, no matter their sex, race, or age should be judged on their individual abilities, not on attributes they have no control over (such as sex, race, and age).

So this was pretty easy.

A Speculative Fiction Cantina Reply with Amy H. Sturgis

Today on a special replay edition of the Speculative Fiction Cantina, we welcome speculative fiction expert, Dr. Amy H. Sturgis.
Amy H. SturgisAmy H. Sturgis

Amy H. Sturgis earned her PhD in intellectual history from Vanderbilt University, specializes in Science Fiction/Fantasy and Native American Studies, and teaches at Lenoir-Rhyne University. In addition, she contributes the regular “Looking Back on Genre History” segment to StarShipSofa, which in 2010 became the first podcast in history to win a Hugo Award. In 2006, Sturgis was honored with the Imperishable Flame Award for Achievement in J.R.R. Tolkien/Inklings scholarship. In 2015, the Los Angeles Press Club named her Reason Magazine article "Not Your Parents' Dystopias: Millennial Fondness for Worlds Gone Wrong" the "Best Magazine Review/Criticism/Column" of the year. She has authored four books, edited six others, published over fifty essays in scholarly and popular publications, and given over 200 presentations at universities, science fiction conventions, and other venues across North American and Europe. She also has been interviewed as a genre expert in a variety of programs and publications such as NPR's "Talk of the Nation" and The Huffington Post. Sturgis lives with her husband in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Her official website is amyhsturgis.com.

Listen to today's replay at 6:00 PM ET / 3:00 PM PT or in archive here.

A Book I loved and One I Didn't.

Back to the thirty day blogging challenge. The next prompt is "What tattoos you have and if they have any meaning." I have no tattoos because I've never figured out anything I want to permanently etch into my hide.

That was easy.

Okay, we'll do the next one: "A book you love and one you didn't."

A book I love (other than my own books) would be Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein. Often dismissed as a sort of fascist fantasy, Starship Troopers is probably Heinlein's best juvenile (what we'd call YA today). Heinlein describes a society bereft of hypocrisy and what today we call "political correctness." It is a pro-military novel, talking about how men (it was the 50s) stand between their homes and any threats (in this case, the "bugs"). Even though it's a juvenile, I first read it as an adult (while I was in the military) and have read it multiple times since. Yes, Heinlein stops the narrative dead to lecture the reader. But the lectures are interesting, too. You may not agree with Heinlein's view of the world, but you can't argue with the skill he used describing it. And if you've only see the silly movie, you really don't know this book.

A book I didn't love (or even like much) was Mother of Kings by Poul Anderson. Mother of Kings is my least favorite book by one of my favorite writers. While it has a few fantasy elements in it, it is mostly historical fiction based on a real life person. Anderson took a chance and wrote it in a very archaic style, which was hard to read and slow to comprehend. And the book is long. Now if you want a tour of Viking culture, you might enjoy this. But not much really happens in the book, and the main character, a conniving woman, isn't a very likable person.

What's a book you love?

Forces Release Date

Today is the release day for my eighth novel, Forces.

Captain Olly Johnson has twice used his stolen Bussard ram jet, the Longboat, to blackmail human colonies into giving him large amounts of gold. That makes him humanity's first interstellar pirate, even though his ship travels slower than light. One more profitable raid, and Johnson thinks he, his family, and his First Mate John Larsen can retire, and never have to worry about money again.

Approaching a third star system after an eight-year (ship's time) journey, the pirates have found mysteries they cannot solve: an entire population of a human colony missing and an unknown, alien-looking ship in orbit. When the alien ship comes after them and they can't outrun its superior technology, they have to decide to fight or surrender. And Johnson isn't the type to surrender.

Have they stumbled into a galactic war, or are they about to start one?

This amazing space adventure is available at Amazon in paperback and Kindle, and other outlets. Check out my website for details. Get your copy today!

Daredevil on Netfix

After watching Jessica Jones on Netflix, I decided to give Daredevil a try. It is set in the Avengers universe with a few references to "the incident" that was when New York City was heavily damaged during the first Avengers movie.

While Jessica Jones only has one season out so far, Daredevil has two (although what, exactly is a "season" on a Netflix show?). I have so far watched the first season of Daredevil and I have to say I enjoyed it a lot. It's not quite as dark (and gruesome) as Jessica Jones, but there's lots of action and character development. The first season villain doesn't have superpowers, but is just one evil dude named Wilson Fisk played to perfection by 
Some of the episodes drag a bit concentrating on Fisk's business or the relationship between Matt Murdock (mild mannered and blind lawyer by day, Daredevil by night) and his partner Foggy. But you keep watching wondering what Fisk is going to do next and how Murdock will handle it. And the action scenes can be pretty intense. You have to suspend belief that a blind man can beat up a sighted person. But they explain that with the old "toxic waste" trick of comic books. Charlie Cox does a fine job playing Murdock (although I suspect someone else does his fighting and jumping). But I think Fisk steals the show. He's the guy you love to hate.

I'll probably start watching season two right away as I wait for season two of Jessica Jones.

The Speculative Fiction Cantina with Braxton A. Cosby and David Temrick

Today on the Speculative Fiction Cantina we are pleased to welcome Braxton A. Cosby and David Temrick.
Braxton A. Cosby
Multi-Award Winning and #1 Amazon Bestselling author Braxton A. Cosby is a dreamer who transitioned his ideas on pen and paper to pixels and keyboards. He tells stories that evoke emotions and stimulate thought. Protostar: Book 1 The Star-Crossed Saga and The Sect: The Windgate are currently two Young Adult/New Adult series he created, along with the Amazon Bestselling My Life In Story Series with Mike Clemons. He recently penned the second book in the My Life In Story Series: Stronger with three time Olympic Gold Medalist Gail Devers and co-authored Matt Mercury: Plot of the Galactic Mastermind with Star Wars creative designer Bill Hughes. He is the CEO of Cosby Media Productions and lives in Georgia.
Braxton's Books:
Protostar
Supernova
Braxton's Links:
Website/blog Facebook Twitter Amazon Instagram
David TemrickDavid Temrick
I’ve been writing for most of my life, though it wasn’t until 2008 that I starting writing novels. After shopping my first novel around for the better part of three years, I decided to try self-publishing and then started writing a new book. Both Draconis’ Bane and Deadly Intentions, which started as one longer book but were later split into two because of their length, rose quickly to become Amazon Top 100 Fantasy books in both print and ebook formats. Encouraged by their success, I just kept writing and releasing books.
David's Books:
Draconis’ Bane
Deadly Intentions 
Daughter of Vengeance 
David's Links:
Website Facebook Twitter
From Today's Show: Monarch Butterfly Migration
Listen to today's show at 6:00 PM ET / 3:00 PM PT or in archive here.

Someone I Find Fascinating

Continuing on with the thirty-day blogging challenge that, being the rebel I am, I'm not doing in thirty days. Today's prompt is "Someone who fascinates you and why."

This is hard to do without getting into politics or
Someone who fascinates me and is not a politician (or someone having to do with politics such as a reporter) or a crush, is . . . Michael Dell.

Dell was the founder of Dell Computers. Big deal? Well, yes. Dell started a computer business in his dorm room when he was a pre-med student in college. He then moved it to a condominium. Finally he started Dell Computers in Austin Texas with $1,000 of capital.

At age 27 he was the youngest CEO of a company ranked in Fortune magazine's list of the top 500 corporations. This was 1992.

Dell, who is now 50 years old, is very rich, with an estimated net worth of $22.4 billion. And it all started with $1,000 and hard work. Lots of hard work, I suspect.

Dell's success shows that hard work, creativity, and more hard work pay off. Or at least they did in the '80s and '90s.

And, despite his success, he's been married to the same woman since 1989. No trophy wife for him.

I, personally, have had great luck with the Dell computers that I own. And I love being able to configure them almost exactly as I want them on their website. So I'm not only an admirer, I'm a customer.

And that's a person I find fascinating.