Scott McCloskey's Blog: RainHand Books (Goodreads Digest), page 10
December 21, 2012
Reverse-Engineering the Apocalypse
(Original article can be found here.)
Are you all still alive out there? Did you survive the apocalypse?
Good.
I'm wondering if they plan the standard push-back date on the day of the last prediction, or if they plan ahead a few days so they can research another historical/religious/philosophical tidbit somewhere to base it on. That's about all the thought I'd spare on it, except that it's certainly good for story ideas!
Yes I know, stories about the apocalypse are rather overdone these days. Right up there with angsty vampires and hordes of zombies. Okay, so what's done is done. So why not do it in reverse?
How about instead of a story about how the world is going to end tomorrow and everybody is caught off-guard because nobody believes it, how about a plot where a society believes totally in it, but it doesn't happen? Imagine if we all believed implicitly that the world was going to end tomorrow. What would we do? How would people cope? And then, what if it didn't happen? Would people regret their actions the previous day? Would there be relief, or chaos?
Let's take it a step further. Very few characters involved in a vampire story who are not already vampires at the beginning of said story actually want to become one. For that matter, many of the vampires don't want to be what they are. But what if becoming a vampire was a desirable thing? Would there be some sort of caste structure? Perhaps the proletariat is composed entirely of vampires, and becoming one yourself is sort of like swearing fealty to a clan, much like a samurai might? Or maybe forget all that, and present a modern-day plot where humans believe it is natural evolution to become a vampire? At a certain point in your life you are turned as part of a coming-of-age ceremony, and turning somebody too early is akin to teen pregnancy?
Why do zombies always have to destroy the world? Maybe the zombie virus doesn't kill you, but reanimates your corpse into one of the hungry dead only after you die of other means? Maybe the whole world is infected, but they don't think much of it since the virus doesn't really do anything to you until after you die? What then? Would cremation be mandatory? Are there paramedic "death squads" that are dispatched in emergencies after somebody has already passed away, to ensure the remains don't reanimate? Or maybe becoming a zombie is some sort of transcendental religious thing -- zombies are tolerated and even considered holy, but kept at arms length and otherwise coexist with humans because there's some law against destroying them? The natural progression of death for a society where zombifying is as inevitable as death and taxes?
Everywhere you look, there's an idea for a new story plot. If you look a bit harder, your idea might just be that much more unique.
What do you think?
Are you all still alive out there? Did you survive the apocalypse?
Good.
I'm wondering if they plan the standard push-back date on the day of the last prediction, or if they plan ahead a few days so they can research another historical/religious/philosophical tidbit somewhere to base it on. That's about all the thought I'd spare on it, except that it's certainly good for story ideas!
Yes I know, stories about the apocalypse are rather overdone these days. Right up there with angsty vampires and hordes of zombies. Okay, so what's done is done. So why not do it in reverse?
How about instead of a story about how the world is going to end tomorrow and everybody is caught off-guard because nobody believes it, how about a plot where a society believes totally in it, but it doesn't happen? Imagine if we all believed implicitly that the world was going to end tomorrow. What would we do? How would people cope? And then, what if it didn't happen? Would people regret their actions the previous day? Would there be relief, or chaos?
Let's take it a step further. Very few characters involved in a vampire story who are not already vampires at the beginning of said story actually want to become one. For that matter, many of the vampires don't want to be what they are. But what if becoming a vampire was a desirable thing? Would there be some sort of caste structure? Perhaps the proletariat is composed entirely of vampires, and becoming one yourself is sort of like swearing fealty to a clan, much like a samurai might? Or maybe forget all that, and present a modern-day plot where humans believe it is natural evolution to become a vampire? At a certain point in your life you are turned as part of a coming-of-age ceremony, and turning somebody too early is akin to teen pregnancy?
Why do zombies always have to destroy the world? Maybe the zombie virus doesn't kill you, but reanimates your corpse into one of the hungry dead only after you die of other means? Maybe the whole world is infected, but they don't think much of it since the virus doesn't really do anything to you until after you die? What then? Would cremation be mandatory? Are there paramedic "death squads" that are dispatched in emergencies after somebody has already passed away, to ensure the remains don't reanimate? Or maybe becoming a zombie is some sort of transcendental religious thing -- zombies are tolerated and even considered holy, but kept at arms length and otherwise coexist with humans because there's some law against destroying them? The natural progression of death for a society where zombifying is as inevitable as death and taxes?
Everywhere you look, there's an idea for a new story plot. If you look a bit harder, your idea might just be that much more unique.
What do you think?
December 19, 2012
If you tag it, Twitter will come.
(Original article can be found here.)
So I'm comparing notes with a friend on Goodreads, and she asks me if I've added any tags to the kindle version of The Goldenwealth Light on Amazon. I thought about it and realized that I'd added a few categories when I first published the book, but no, I hadn't done anything with tagging. She mentioned to me that her book is now all over Twitter, simply because she'd added some tags to the bottom of her book's sale page.
Wait, what?
It's true, tagging makes that much of a difference! I didn't think much of it at first, but with a "why not?" attitude, I scrolled to the bottom of my sale page and thought about tags for the book. What tags would I use? Well, if you'll notice, there is a handy link down there that will show you the most popular tags currently in use on Amazon. I clicked on it and did some research. Not every popular tag was relevant of course (I can't very well slap "erotic romance" on a YA fantasy novel), but just above that handy-dandy link is a search box that I used to check on some other tag ideas I had in mind, just to see if there were any other books around with authors who had the same idea. Here's what I came up with:
action, adventure, book, books, childrens books, coming of age, ebook, fantasy, fiction, kindle, knights, magic, teen, young adult, novel
All relevant, and all either from the "popular" list, or they came up in my searches with sufficient results to make them worthwhile. Two hours later, I did a search on Twitter for the title of my book, "The Goldenwealth Light". There were already 23 tweets about my book, all of which had to do with the tags I'd added!
Lesson learned. Tag your book. It might seem like an afterthought to you, but at the end of the day, people use tags. Popular tags will help immensely with your exposure and the more tags the merrier, but be careful not to attach irrelevant tags to your book (you want to draw interest from your target audience, not ire from those that aren't looking for your chosen genre).
Thanks, Rachele!
So I'm comparing notes with a friend on Goodreads, and she asks me if I've added any tags to the kindle version of The Goldenwealth Light on Amazon. I thought about it and realized that I'd added a few categories when I first published the book, but no, I hadn't done anything with tagging. She mentioned to me that her book is now all over Twitter, simply because she'd added some tags to the bottom of her book's sale page.
Wait, what?
It's true, tagging makes that much of a difference! I didn't think much of it at first, but with a "why not?" attitude, I scrolled to the bottom of my sale page and thought about tags for the book. What tags would I use? Well, if you'll notice, there is a handy link down there that will show you the most popular tags currently in use on Amazon. I clicked on it and did some research. Not every popular tag was relevant of course (I can't very well slap "erotic romance" on a YA fantasy novel), but just above that handy-dandy link is a search box that I used to check on some other tag ideas I had in mind, just to see if there were any other books around with authors who had the same idea. Here's what I came up with:
action, adventure, book, books, childrens books, coming of age, ebook, fantasy, fiction, kindle, knights, magic, teen, young adult, novel
All relevant, and all either from the "popular" list, or they came up in my searches with sufficient results to make them worthwhile. Two hours later, I did a search on Twitter for the title of my book, "The Goldenwealth Light". There were already 23 tweets about my book, all of which had to do with the tags I'd added!
Lesson learned. Tag your book. It might seem like an afterthought to you, but at the end of the day, people use tags. Popular tags will help immensely with your exposure and the more tags the merrier, but be careful not to attach irrelevant tags to your book (you want to draw interest from your target audience, not ire from those that aren't looking for your chosen genre).
Thanks, Rachele!
December 17, 2012
Book Review: Sushi (Taste and Technique)
Review added today. Check it out here, or click the book reviews link at the top of the page.
Highly recommended if you desire to learn to make sushi!
Highly recommended if you desire to learn to make sushi!
December 14, 2012
Silence
The Journal of Ord will observe a day of silence on Saturday, December the 14th, in observance of the recent situation in the state of Connecticut. The Gossamer Court stands in recess.
To Free or Not to Free
I recently posted my opinions of the idea of offering your novel to readers for free on my blog, ordonline.net. I would love to hear the opinions of others in the reading/writing community. If you have two-cents you'd like to share on this issue, please share and make yourself heard!
December 13, 2012
Author support on the Journal of Ord
So I've been meaning to add some diversified and useful content to the Journal of Ord. I've added an author support page, which currently has some tips on running free promotions as well as a bevy of links to helpful sites. This has mostly been pieced together from my own experiences and information I have gleaned from elsewhere, but all are welcome to give it a look. Maybe you'll learn something new. While you're there, maybe you can teach the rest of us something new -- feel free to comment and provide your ideas!
I will be updating that section from time to time as I encounter new ideas. I hope it proves helpful!
The Journal of Ord Author Support
I will be updating that section from time to time as I encounter new ideas. I hope it proves helpful!
The Journal of Ord Author Support
December 4, 2012
Quiz Time!
The Goldenwealth Light now has a general knowledge quiz on Goodreads. How well do you know the Gossamer City? Take the quiz, and drop by here, ordonline.net, or Facebook to tell us all how you did!
(This is not the same quiz as the followup contest for last month's promotional giveaway. Check out ordonline.net for that one.)
(This is not the same quiz as the followup contest for last month's promotional giveaway. Check out ordonline.net for that one.)
December 3, 2012
Reviews really are the bread-and-butter!
The Goldenwealth Light Just received its second official review on amazon. I recall dropping everything I was doing (though I admit it wasn't much at the time) and trotting joyfully over to read it right away.
Yes, it's only the book's second review. But as many authors who have gone the way of self-publishing know, when you're doing all your own promoting, reviews really are the bread-and-butter of your existence. You can tout the joys of your own book until you're blue in the face, and it's somewhat helpful for people to know you care enough to say something, but let's be honest -- of course you like your own book, right? If you didn't think it was well written and worthy of publication, you wouldn't have tried to publish it.
...at least I hope you wouldn't have.
At any rate, did you ever watch Reading Rainbow? What did LeVar Burton always say at the end? "But don't take my word for it!" No truer words have been spoken in a long time. You're the author. You can most certainly drum up interest in your book through your own hard work, but at the end of the day, people can't just take your word for it. That's what makes reviewing so important. Reviewing establishes credibility -- it tells people that the general public is liking what they read when they spare the time to stare at your book. Even a mediocre review at least shows others that people are reading your book.
I recall a book (which shall remain nameless) that I encountered on Amazon last week that had reviews so abysmal, I was curious to see what people had such a problem with. Man...those were some painful reviews (some of them really weren't even fair, but I digress). But all the same...the book still had 239 total reviews, and not all of them were total train wrecks. Famous or infamous...people are clearly reading this book. People are telling their friends, who are picking up their own copies to read and review.
Of course, as new authors we all hope and pray that people will like our masterpieces, and that we will receive more good reviews than poor ones. But still, folks? When you take the time out of your day to read a book, consider adding on a few extra minutes to share your thoughts in the form of a review. Are you obligated to do this? Certainly not. If you were, then the words would likely lack impact because they would be forced. See writing a review as a token of your appreciation if you liked the book, and constructive criticism (or at the very least a friendly warning to others) if you didn't. If the book has a lot of reviews already, share your voice anyway. If it doesn't, then your review might just be a pivotal decision-maker for somebody else.
Your favorite author, whoever it is, needs your voice. Writing isn't easy...but neither is brain surgery or rocket science. Still, surgeons and scientists are paid for what they do. Most indie authors aren't, until they "make it". Help your favorite author to "make it" by telling them how you feel, since they can't be there reading the book over your shoulder.
And really, you don't want them there reading over your shoulder anyway, right? That would just be disturbing.
Yes, it's only the book's second review. But as many authors who have gone the way of self-publishing know, when you're doing all your own promoting, reviews really are the bread-and-butter of your existence. You can tout the joys of your own book until you're blue in the face, and it's somewhat helpful for people to know you care enough to say something, but let's be honest -- of course you like your own book, right? If you didn't think it was well written and worthy of publication, you wouldn't have tried to publish it.
...at least I hope you wouldn't have.
At any rate, did you ever watch Reading Rainbow? What did LeVar Burton always say at the end? "But don't take my word for it!" No truer words have been spoken in a long time. You're the author. You can most certainly drum up interest in your book through your own hard work, but at the end of the day, people can't just take your word for it. That's what makes reviewing so important. Reviewing establishes credibility -- it tells people that the general public is liking what they read when they spare the time to stare at your book. Even a mediocre review at least shows others that people are reading your book.
I recall a book (which shall remain nameless) that I encountered on Amazon last week that had reviews so abysmal, I was curious to see what people had such a problem with. Man...those were some painful reviews (some of them really weren't even fair, but I digress). But all the same...the book still had 239 total reviews, and not all of them were total train wrecks. Famous or infamous...people are clearly reading this book. People are telling their friends, who are picking up their own copies to read and review.
Of course, as new authors we all hope and pray that people will like our masterpieces, and that we will receive more good reviews than poor ones. But still, folks? When you take the time out of your day to read a book, consider adding on a few extra minutes to share your thoughts in the form of a review. Are you obligated to do this? Certainly not. If you were, then the words would likely lack impact because they would be forced. See writing a review as a token of your appreciation if you liked the book, and constructive criticism (or at the very least a friendly warning to others) if you didn't. If the book has a lot of reviews already, share your voice anyway. If it doesn't, then your review might just be a pivotal decision-maker for somebody else.
Your favorite author, whoever it is, needs your voice. Writing isn't easy...but neither is brain surgery or rocket science. Still, surgeons and scientists are paid for what they do. Most indie authors aren't, until they "make it". Help your favorite author to "make it" by telling them how you feel, since they can't be there reading the book over your shoulder.
And really, you don't want them there reading over your shoulder anyway, right? That would just be disturbing.
RainHand Books (Goodreads Digest)
A digest of posts from my writing and review blog, RainHand Books. Check out rainhandbooks.com for more!
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