Nicholas Benedict's Blog

My Mommy is a Zombie

My first children’s picture book endeavor, created in collaboration with my wife, the lovely Janet Benedict, is now available in eBook format. The print version should be available in the next week or so. Pick up a copy of My Mommy is a Zombie for your little ones. You can get it on Amazon, Barnes [...]

Free Kindle eBook giveaway.

The Dexter Quigly Codices will be available for free download on Amazon from Wednesday (Aug. 14th) through Friday (Aug. 16th) You can pick up your free copy here. You can also sign up for a chance to win one of two paperback copies being given away on Goodreads.

Free eBook for Kindle

I’m running a promotion right now. You can pick up a free copy of my book, The Dexter Quigly Codices, for your Kindle today and tomorrow. Just click the book cover above to get there. Don’t miss out.

Book vs. Movie: The Hunger Games

I’m just going to go ahead and get this off my chest. The Hunger Games movie sucked. Now, before all you fanboys and girls get all worked up, let me say that I’m a big fan of the book. But unfortunately, for me, the movie was an epic fail. One of the biggest flaws is [...]

You need a platform. Now.

You don’t have to be an expert in anything or have a list of written works and fans to build the proverbial platform. All you need is people to listen to you. You get them by saying interesting things. At first no one will hear you because, believe it or not, no one is looking [...]

Meet @AlaizabelisCray

Meet @AlaizabelisCray, aka Daniela. She roams this planet Earth upon her dragon, slaying zombies and saving creatures great and small, and making  the world an overall better place. Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating the truth, but only a little. I swear. She loves books and would one day like to write one. And if she does, [...]

The devil is in the details

I hate excessive details in books. Maybe it’s just me, but I can’t stand it. A “well described” scene usually just becomes a monotonous list of adjectives bogging down the story. My brain glazes over and I suddenly find that I’ve read five paragraphs and can’t remember a single word of it. I don’t want [...]

Random Musing #1

Sometimes I wonder if we’re all just robots tricked into believing we’re alive.    

Advice on writing your first book

  So you want to write a book. Maybe you’ve just got a sudden itch, or maybe it’s something you’ve longed for and thought about for a long time. Well, my first bit of advice for you is quit. Quit thinking about it. Quit planning and outlining. Quit hesitating. Just do it. Obviously, the more [...]

You need a platform NOW.

© Dvu | Dreamstime Stock Photos & Stock Free Images

For a long time, while researching the publishing world, I kept hearing people talk about building a platform. I would think, Yeah, that’s nice. Too bad I don’t have anything to build one with. That was a big mistake. One that I’m wishing I hadn’t made.

You don’t have to be an expert in anything or have a list of written works and fans to build the proverbial platform. All you need is people to listen to you. You get them by saying interesting things. At first no one will hear you because, believe it or not, no one is looking for you. You have to reach out to people. Forget everything your parents taught you and start talking to strangers (just don’t give your address to that creepy guy on Facebook, or the hot chick on Twitter who is really just that creepy guy from Facebook.) You need to create a web of social media. Start writing a blog and link it to Facebook and Twitter and Tumblr and whatever else is out there. Just keep talking and people will slowly trickle in. Most of them will just want you to listen to them, but that’s okay. Why? Because you’re in their stream and you’re saying interesting things.

When you finally publish your first book, most of your sales will be to friends and family. And as much as they love you, they’re only going to buy your book once. Now, you need to reach out of your comfort zone and sell to strangers, even the creepy guy on Facebook. If you’ve already built a platform, you can simply post a couple of messages online and tell a few thousand people about your book. If you’ve procrastinated, like me, you now have to start building a platform instead of trying to sell books. And you can’t really multitask. You can’t just start asking everyone on Twitter to buy your book (well, you can but that just makes you needy and annoying.) You first have to engage them, make them want to like you, turn them into friends, and then tell them about your book. Remember, it’s friends and family that want to buy your book. And they don’t just buy your book. They tell other people about it, because they like you and want to see you succeed.

But if you’re only thinking about making the sale, it will be obvious. You need to be genuine. When it comes to social media, you need to forget about selling books and just try to connect with people and try to make some friends. Get people in your corner and let them help you however they want, or not at all.

Think about it. If you watch a movie, you’ll mostly remember the main characters and forget about the supporting cast. But if you meet one of those supporting cast members in a coffee shop and have a conversation with them, you’ll remember them for the rest of your life.  So quit trying to make sales, and focus on making memories. At least, that’s my theory. I’m still crawling my way out of the bottom of the barrel so maybe I’ve got it all wrong. But I refuse to sit around spamming people about my book.

What are you’re thoughts?