Shaun Horton's Blog, page 21

Timing is Everything

So, last week, I went all out trying to garner promotional stuff and getting my book mentioned in as many places as possible. Today's post is going to be a somewhat boring re-hash of the efforts I made and the results of all that effort. So, here goes.

1. Crypticon Seattle. This is one of the things I wasn't supposed to talk about before it happened. Now it's over. The jist is this. I submitted a short story to the convention's writing contest and I managed to be a finalist. That meant my shor...

An Advertising Checklist

Whew, I've got so much going on with my book this week. It's a veritable checklist of ways to advertise your work, so, let us begin. (I also saw Star Trek: Into Darkness over the weekend. It was awesome.)

1. One of my friends runs the popular Air-Raid podcast  and he graced me with a shout-out this week. I encourage you all to check out his show and give it a listen. If you're a fan of music, he usually is interviewing up and coming bands. This week he talks to the band Stornoway from the...

How not to be Professional

This is a topic I've touched on before, but apparently, not enough people got the memo.

If you want to be a popular, respectable author that makes a living off your work. PUT IN THE EFFORT!

I don't care if you're worried about your piece losing its voice. I don't care if your mother jumps up and down because she's happy you've managed to string five words together. I don't even care if you've been in a car accident and have brain damage. We have computers with spell and grammar checks. There ar...

Personal Rant #2: Organizations

Reaching back to when I was still convinced that my future in writing hinged on my attempts to find an agent and get discovered. I dreamed of being able to become an actual member of the HWA. The Horror Writer's Association. Having my name on a roster which also includes the likes of Stephen King and Dean Koontz.

I used to look at all the organizations and associations with awe and respect. Like a goal to be reached.

Truth be told, I'm seeing them more and more now for the obsolete markers of...

Feedback and Making Changes

So. My debut novel The Unknown Neighbor has been out for over a month now, and I've gotten some feedback on it which seems fairly decent to me. As I write this on Sunday morning, I have:

Five 5-star reviews/ratings.  4 on Amazon.com and 1 on Goodreads.com
Three 4-star reviews/ratings. 2 on Amazon.com and 1 on Amazon.co.uk
No 3-star reviews/ratings.
One 2-star reviews/ratings. On Amazon.com
Three 1-star reviews/ratings. All on Amazon.com

Not a bad spread. It actually tells me something good. Pe...

A Mash-up of an update. With numbers!

So, this post is going up on the last day of the first month my debut novel The Unknown Neighbor  has been available. Some numbers may change before the end of the day, but these are close enough for blog purposes for now. I also thought I'd share a few things with you all regarding my blog and my writing habits.
For a start, this is what my writing (well, computer) area looks like.
As well as numbers on my book, this also represents the sixth month and 30th post I've been blogging. Over th...