Steven Savage's Blog, page 47

Beware The New Age Of Job Spam

(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

Lately I’ve been receiving a lot of phone calls and emails about job opportunities, and I’m not alone according to my friends. I’ve begun to realize a lot of this is due to technical changes and business changes – ones that it’s important as a sort of Geek Career Person to warn people about.

Now before I go into just what I found, a note that this isn’t bragging. I’ve been in IT for decades, m...

Timely Isn’t Always Relevant

(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

Thus it is that the Great man abides by what is solid, and eschews what is flimsy; dwells with the fruit and not with the flower.

Tao Te Ching, Chapter 38, Legge translation

Over at his blog, Serdar discusses the seeming constant need out there to keep track of what’s timely, relevant, and so on. There’s so much to keep track of, and people want us to have opinions on everything. We can’t, y...

Marketing For Self-Published Authors and Artists (March 2019)

(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

So as promised, every few months I’m going to update my findings on marketing for indies.  Most of this is oriented towards self-published authors like myself, but a lot of it should help artists too.

The Core Principle: The Web Of Connections

To promote yourself your various activities, giveaways, social media, and so on need to connect and reinforce each other.  If a new book comes out, prom...

Steve’s Update 3/9/2019

(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

It’s been a calmer week, so let’s see what’s up!

So what have I done the last week? Way With Worlds: I’ve outlined the next book while the City book gets edited – it’s on fashion!Expanded Distribution: All my books except A Bridge To The Quiet Planet and my fandom-specific books are out I may not do the Focused Fandom series – I’m worried it’s aged a bit.Seventh Sanctum Book: I don’t have a ti...

Use This Idea: Library Swaps For Authors!

(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

One thing I want to return to is posting cool ideas for people to try, a bit like idea tithing that I mention in my Brainstorm Book. This one is for we indie authors.

Being an author we want to be read after all, and reach people. It’s also nice to help people out with our writing, and I find that “helpful” approach keeps us empathizing with people. Finally, it helps to meet other authors to n...

How Fun Becomes Pathological

(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

So the last entry in my series exploring how “fun goes bad” – for now. I’m done with it – or it’s about to not be fun anymore . . .

This is a delicate issue, because we’re used to people who engage in “fun control” as a way to manipulate us. It’s too easy to label things people enjoy as “bad,” which many have done throughout history. Often those people claiming fun was a problem had something...

Steve’s Update 3/4/2019

(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

Here’s what’s going on with my projects! A lot of my time was taken up by some illness-related issues and general chaos.

So what have I done the last week? Agile Creativity: The print copy of of the book is out!Way With Worlds: The city book is now off to the editor.Expanded Distribution: All my career books are out in expanded distribution! The only thing is I’m not putting them on itch.io ye...

Steve’s Books 2/27/2019

Since I write a lot, every month or so I’m going to post a list of ALL my books so folks are aware of them and can find them in one easy place.

Here’s a complete list of all the books I have available for folks interested in creativity, geekery, worldbuilding, and careers. Man, 24 of them so far . . .

Also you’ll notice the expanded distribution – this is ongoing, so if something’s not on the device you want, check back, it may be in the future. You can find all of them at InformoTron.com.

Fi...

Steve’s Update 2/24/2019

(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr.  Find out more at my newsletter.)

Here’s what’s going on with my projects!

So what have I done the last week? Agile Creativity: The print copy of the book should be done this week – I have the (hopeful) last draft in the mail.Way With Worlds: The city book has more questions entered. Really, not sure how much to update.Brainstorm Book: The Brainstorm Book is out! – and it’s got wide distribution!Seventh Sanctum: I’ve got the n...

Steve’s Creative Resources 2/23/2019

My latest list of creative resources (which I keep at Seventh Sanctum) for your use.  Please reblog freely, and suggest new ideas.

This update adds color tools, web platforms, and a few updates to the usual lists.

Art Sources

Free

Pixabay – A source for art that is free as well as royalty-free. There’s a lot here, and much of it is professional.Unsplash – A source for photos that are free as well as royalty-free. The quality is very high.

Royalty Free

Canstockphoto – A great source for royalt...