Rob Hart's Blog, page 14
February 17, 2015
Want a free copy of my novella? [UPDATED]
UPDATE: All copies are now spoken for. Thanks for playing!
I recently updated the print edition of The Last Safe Place: A Zombie Novella. This is for a few reasons:
1. I wanted to use a different font.
2. I wanted to add in the cover and release information for New Yorked.
3. There was a typo I was burning to fix.
The new edition looks very nice—but now I’m left with a handful of copies of the old version. So I’m going to give them away! I’m sorry you won’t get the new font and will be subjected to a typo, but hey—free book!
There are 10 copies available. Want one? Hit me up on Twitter or on Facebook. Just ask. First ten folks, I’ll send them a copy. United States only. I’ll pick the winners and mail them out, probably later this week.
All I ask in return is that you consider leaving a review of The Last Safe Place on Amazon, or that you consider pre-ordering a copy of New Yorked. Or both, if you’re feeling saucy.
None of that is required. The important thing here is: I’d like to clear some space on my bookshelf, and I’d like to get these into the hands of readers.
February 16, 2015
Calling all reviewers!
Do you have a website or a podcast where you review books?
Would you like to review New Yorked?
You can get the book from Edelweiss at this link.
Or you can hit me up! Sadly, I have a limited number of print galleys and they’re already spoken for. But I’ve got e-galleys, too.
Hit the contact page and get in touch.
February 12, 2015
Galleys! Plus, first review from a stranger!
When your first novel is published, you’re in store for a long line of firsts: First edits. First proof pages. First galleys. First Goodreads review, etc.
I was lucky to get two firsts yesterday: My galleys came in, and they look fantastic. (Also in: Not Even Past by Dave White, a gorgeous-looking Polis paperback that proves I’m in really solid hands here—it’s a testament to a high standard of quality.)
Then, I got my first review from a stranger! People I know have read it, and while I trust their comments, there’s still a little part of me that feels they’re being kind because they know me. And here’s the first person who I’ve never met, who I wasn’t even friends with on Facebook, who has already finished the book.
Reading the review last night, I was struck speechless. That someone would respond so positively to something I wrote is an incredible feeling.
This was a great introduction to Rob Hart. If you haven’t heard about him, it’s time for you to get acquainted with him. You can thank me later.
February 10, 2015
Learn to sell yourself and your work like a pro
My marketing class is back on the slate at LitReactor! This is a fun one.
I am no great fan of people who run classes on social media for authors that run several weeks and cost hundreds of dollars—most of what they teach is filler, and you really only need to know the basics. That’s why this class is shorter and a little more affordable.
Basically, what you’ll learn here is the nuts-and-bolts stuff—what you should be doing, what’s a waste of time, and how to present yourself in such a way that you don’t look like a goofball.
Doesn’t matter if you’re just starting out, or if you’ve got a few publications under your belt. There’s stuff here for all skill levels.
Check the description, and if you’re interested in taking it but have questions, feel free to drop me a note.
February 3, 2015
Two ways you can get a sneak peek of NEW YORKED
We’re a few months out from the release of New Yorked. Want to get a sneak peek? There are two ways to do that.
The latest issue of Thuglit includes an excerpt of the first chapter. Special thanks to the mag’s editor, Todd Robinson, for including that. It’s also full of awesome crime stories, so this is a good bang for you buck. Get it here.
I’ve also added the first chapter to The Last Safe Place: A Zombie Novella (eBook only, not the print edition). You can find that here.
December 1, 2014
How to survive a writing conference
Left to right, Ed Kurtz (The Forty-Two), Hilary Davidson (Blood Always Tells), Todd Robinson (The Hard Bounce), Rob Hart (New Yorked).
I’ve got a new piece up at The Lineup, about how to survive a writing conference. Trust me, it ain’t easy. So much walking! So much drinking! It’s nuts.
Here’s the first tip, for free:
1. DRINK WATER, EAT FOOD.
At my first Bouchercon, I went the whole first day without drinking any water. My hangover on day two persisted until the early evening. This year, I forgot to eat dinner one night. With the time difference and the heavy restaurant meals, it’s easy to get sidetracked. Remember, your body has already been hammered by travel (unless you’re lucky enough to be a local). Be smart. And pack some aspirin, just in case.
Click over to see the rest of the article, which is also free.
November 11, 2014
Bouchercon
On Thursday I’m flying out to Long Beach for Bouchercon, the year’s biggest crime and mystery convention. Last year was my first, and it was a blast, even though it was in Albany, one of the worst cities in America.
(I can say that—I lived in Albany on and off when I was a political reporter. Albany in the winter makes the ice planet Hoth look like a fun and friendly place.)
Here’s a guide to MysteriousPress.com at Bouchercon—what I’ll be doing, what Otto Penzler will be doing, and what our authors will be doing.
You know those book bags you get when you check into the conference? Some of them are going to include a Polis Books sampler, which has the first chapter of New Yorked. I’ll also have a handful of copies of The Last Safe Place: A Zombie Novella for sale—if you want one, let me know, or track me down at the conference.
Otherwise, I will be bouncing between panels and hanging out at the hotel bar, because, as we all know, that’s where the real business of these cons goes down.
October 16, 2014
Two new blog posts to flog, on feminism and ‘The Strain’
Got two new blog posts up on the interwebs. They are very different from each other.
Here’s a piece about why I think The Strain is a dumb television show and how I think it could be better, for LitReactor:
Top 10 Ways to Make ‘The Strain’ Less Stupid
Here’s a piece about having a little girl and being a feminist and wanting to be a better man, for Nailed:
One is sarcastic and one is not. Both feature generous use of the word ‘fuck.’ Some things never change. Enjoy.
October 9, 2014
On being wary of people who want to take your money—even me.
On Oct. 20 I’m kicking off another round of my marketing class, Sell Yourself, over at LitReactor. It’s a class I love to teach, even though I feel a little uneasy trying to convince people to sign up.
Here’s why: A lot of people are making their bones these days by ripping off writers, trying to teach them the ins and outs of marketing yourself and your writing. Problem is, a lot of what they teach is bullshit.
They might offer the stray nugget of wisdom, but for the most part, it’s padding—services and techniques that are unproven or don’t work, but mentioning them buys a half a day of discussion time. And then it’s easier to justify a multi-week course with an inflated price tag.
That’s why this class is just one week long, with only four units—social media, bios and websites, press and blog outreach, and miscellaneous (newsletters, author photo, online advertising, author promotional services, etc.). I think this stuff is important to cover, but I don’t want to waste anyone’s time either.
Seriously, no one needs LinkedIn. No one needs Pay with a Tweet. No one needs Klout. Fuck Klout. The time you waste with Klout could be better spent writing, or doing literally anything else.
But there are plenty of nuts-and-bolts about this that pass people by. For example, here’s one I’ve been noticing a lot lately.
Twitter. You can respond to people and tag people, right? Here’s an article I wrote for Mulholland Books. They posted a link on Twitter, and I’m tagged in there. Cool! People will read it, and maybe I’ll even get a few extra followers out of it.
So what do you do with 25 Jim Thompson paperbacks, anyway? @robwhart has some ideas: http://t.co/cRAAyNv2yi
— Mulholland Books (@mulhollandbooks) October 8, 2014
Now, here’s a tweet that went up to promote an interview I did at LitReactor with our new erotica instructor, Rachel Kramer Bussel.
@robwhart poses Ten Questions to @raquelita, a writer and seasoned instructor of erotica. http://t.co/r0e0aDVP2G
— LitReactor.com (@LitReactor) October 7, 2014
One problem: Because my Twitter handle is at the start of the tweet, Twitter considers it a direct conversation. So only people who follow me AND LitReactor will see it. That’s not good—it limits the audience!
You might notice that sometimes people put periods before Twitter handles. Like this:
.@missriki offers up six rock star romance novels for your reading pleasure. http://t.co/Depe9lwZuZ
— LitReactor.com (@LitReactor) October 8, 2014
It’s not terribly elegant, but it’s an easy workaround for this—now all of your followers will see the tweet, instead of just a limited batch.
It’s stuff like this—little things that slip through the cracks—that are important to cover. There are a lot of mistakes that are prevalent in online marketing, for self-published and traditional authors alike. And that’s okay! A lot of this stuff is self-taught because there aren’t a lot of other options.
It’s also easy to make mistakes. A lot of people don’t understand the difference between social marketing and spam. Pro-tip: Blasting your Amazon link to strangers on Twitter is the wrong way to go about it.
Retweets are not currency. Followers are not currency. There’s an art to all of this noise.
Between MysteriousPress.com, LitReactor, and my own work—plus former careers in journalism and PR—I feel pretty good about teaching people this stuff. And I have fun doing it, too! Just yesterday I broke out my social media lecture for review, and already I’m finding I have to update stuff. These things move at the speed of light.
All of this is to say that there are a lot of unscrupulous people out there who will try to convince you that you need to spend nearly a grand on an eight-week Twitter course, and those people are assholes. As with all things in life, you should always be a little wary of people who want to take your money.
Be wary of me too!
If you’re interested in learning about the class, check out the sales page, or ping me through the site, or on Twitter or Facebook. We can chat a bit and I can tell you about what we’ll be reviewing.
Class starts soon. It’s going to be fun. And I promise—no bullshit. I’ll teach you the nuts and bolts, I’ll answer your questions, I’ll be honest if I don’t know something, and I’ll give you the tools you need to shore up your marketing.
October 7, 2014
Two new blog posts!
Over at LitReactor, I’ve got a new installment in my Path to Publication series. This time I talk about TV rights, sequels, synopses, and show off the pretty new cover for New Yorked.
And over at the Mulholland Books blog, I’ve got a piece that explores a very important question: What do you do with a giant pile of Jim Thompson books?
Only one of the options I discovered involves body disposal.
Go forth and read stuff!
