K.M. Alexander's Blog, page 74

National Readathon Day is coming. Get involved!

This coming Saturday is National Readathon Day! What is National Readathon Day? Well, Penguin Random House, GoodReads, and Mashable have teamed up to create this event to promote reading and raise money for the National Book Foundation for their ongoing fight to promote reading and literature and end illiteracy in America. In our connected society it can be hard to believe but, according to the Readathon page, the numbers are pretty staggering: 40% of American adults are either at or below basic reading proficiency, nearly half, and 14% are fully illiterate.

The good news is you can help combat illiteracy and promote reading by getting involved! All you have to do is read! Sign up with FirstGiving and set up your sponsorship page then get your friends and family to help by sponsoring you (and leave a link in the comments so we can!) or do what I did and sponsor someone else. Then this Saturday, January 24th between 2pm—4pm (in your respective time zone) hunker down and get lost in a book. You’re going to do it anyway, so why not put in a little effort and raise some money for the cause? Together we can help the National Book Foundation promote reading, end illiteracy, and we can get some reading done.

Filed under: Reading Tagged: goodreads, illiteracy, mashable, national book foundation, national readathon day, penguin random house

Friday Link Pack 01-16-2014

Friday! It’s time to share a few links I’ve found over the last few days. Some of these I mention on Twitter, if you’re not already following me there, please do! Have a link I should feature in the upcoming link pack? Click here to email me and let me know! All right, let’s get to it.

Writing:

10 Things Teenage Writers Should Know About Writing

Grand master Scalzi shares some advice to young writers. From writing every day to dealing with rejection. Good stuff.

Sky Gazing

Hugh Howey with some straight talk on indie publishing, publishing, dealing with the market, writing, etc. Read it, easily my favorite article of the week. It also goes along splendidly with my article from last week: Ignore The Market. Tell The Story You Want To Tell.

Hey Video Game Developers, We’re Not Idiots

I am throwing this in writing because I feel like it’s a good critique of storytelling as a whole. Cara Ellison explains why sometimes beating your reader/player over the head isn’t necessary and is often… well, a bit over the top. Made me pull back and evaluate some of my decisions.

The Daily Routines of Famous Creative People

We have looked at famous creative’s routines before, but it’s nice to see them all laid out like this. How does your own schedule compare? (Thanks to Steve for the submission.)

Art:

Women Trying To Sleep Unsuccessfully In Western Art History

For hundreds of years women in art have been trying to take a break and catch some Zs. For whatever reason no one wants to let them. Art is weird.

Rovina Cai’s Illustration

Fell in love with Rovina Cai’s style over the holiday and I am sure you will as well. Make sure you check out her Facebook page as well. Lots of good stuff.

A B S A R O K A

Beautiful and haunting short shot by Duncan Wolfe for the Collective Quarterly. A love letter to Livingston Montana… well all of Montana really.

Random:

Watch Bill Gates Drink Water That Used To Be Human Poop

The headline you never expected to read. (Come on, click it, you know you want to.)

5 Of The World’s Most Dangerous Chemicals

Great little video that goes into details explaining some of the craziest chemicals ever invented by humans.

Robots Are Starting To Break The Law And Nobody Knows What To Do About It

Ecstasy and counterfeit hungarian passports… robots know how to party.

Lovecraft Story of the Week:

The Challenge from Beyond

H.P. Lovecraft, Robert E.Howard, C.L. Moore, A. Merritt, and Frank Belknap Long all take a crack at telling one whole story, writing only one chapter each. Good fun.

Gif of the Week:

Filed under: Link Pack Tagged: art, bill gates, chemicals, lovecraft, owl, robots, routines, writing

Deals Of The Day & Another Chance To Win

I’ve been saying that there would be a bunch more contests and giveaways and as promised here’s the latest! For the next three months I’ve partnered with book deal of the day site Sci-Fi Fantasy Freak to give away signed sets of The Stars Were Right and Old Broken Road. All you have to do to be entered to win is sign up. It’s that simple!

If you’re a voracious reader like I am I’d highly encourage you to visit their site and sign up to receive their daily newsletter. (I’m a subscriber myself.) Every day you’ll get notified with the latest book releases and book deals. It’s a handy way to keep your eReader full of new books and not go broke in the process.

Sign Up & Enter Today →

Not a Sci-Fi or Fantasy fan? Betty and the team have other lists coming later this summer: Mystery Freak, Romance Freak, and Historical Fiction Freak. So there will be more ways to find the books you love.

Filed under: Contests, old broken road, the stars were right Tagged: deals, fantasy, Giveaway, Sci-fi

Friday Link Pack 01-09-2015

We’re back baby! It’s time to share a few links I’ve found over the last few days. Some of these I mention on Twitter, if you’re not already following me there, please do! Have a link I should feature in the upcoming link pack? Click here to email me and let me know! All right, let’s get to it.

Writing:

10 Reasons Why Your Hero Needs Flaws

Good advice from Angela Ackerman regarding the writing of flawed heroes. No one likes a Mary/Gary Sue. Scuff ‘em up.

Cognition as Ideology: A Dialectic of SF Theory

A few weeks ago I tweeted about this incredible talk from China Miéville regarding the importance of fantasy. I highly recommend it to anyone who reads or writes speculative fiction.

Ayn Rand Reviews Children’s Movies

Wasn’t sure where to put this, but writing seems like as good of place as any. It’s hilarious and in line with Rand’s crazy beliefs.

Ignore The Market. Tell The Story You Want To Tell.

It’s easy to fall into the trap of comparing yourself to others. It doesn’t matter if you’re traditionally published or an indie author. The good news is there’s an easy way to avoid this trap…

Art:

A Thousand Souls

I absolutely love this series of portraits by photographer Maciek Jasik. The colors and the subjects, the spot focus, everything. Haunting.

Bay Area By Air

Beautiful video of San Francisco and its surroundings shot by drone. Well, except for that whole Niner’s stadium bit. ;-)

Star Wars Concept Art

The original concept art for the original trilogy. I really dig some of the city shots. Coruscant and Cloud City in particular.

Random:

20 Maps That Never Happened

From war plans for the invasion of Canada to the fifty states redrawn with equal populations Vox explores twenty imaginary maps. You know, I’d be cool living in the states of Rainer.

A Secret Ballroom Built In The 1800s Lies Under A Lake, Guarded By Neptune

Amazing, if I was a wealthy and infamous swindler I’d totally do stuff like this… annnd now I have about a thousand new ideas for a story. (Thanks to Kevin for sharing this.)

The First True Color Photo Of Earth

Did you know most of the images we associate of our planet has been enhanced? Until recently we didn’t have a true color photo of earth. It’s a lot darker than you’d expect.

Lovecraft Story of the Week:

The Beast In The Cave

A man comes across a bizarre creature while exploring Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. A quick read, or… you can check out Jason Thompson’s comic about The Beast in the Cave.

Gif of the Week:

Filed under: Link Pack Tagged: ayn rand, China Miéville, cognition, damn dirty apes, Earth, flaws, h.p. lovecraft, photography, san francisco, star wars, writing

Ignore The Market. Tell The Story You Want To Tell.

Recently, over on KBoards there has been a discussion going on about finding success as an author in the current market. It’s worthy of discussion. After all, it’s always helpful to share what has worked for you. It’s a big reason why I started this blog, I want to share my experience and I hope you glean something useful from it. But, I had to pause when I read a post from someone on how reading through that thread was depressing them. This was sparked mainly by the heralded success of romance fiction—something they didn’t write—and its perceived market and potential profitably compared to their own genre.

Often authors get sucked into the comparison game—indie authors especially. They look at what others have done to achieve success and the kneejerk reaction is to emulate them. Likewise, they get disheartened when they pour so much of themselves into a work and the market seems to ignore it. It can lead to frustration, depression, and animosity. Instead of telling the stories they want to tell or sticking with their work, they end up chasing promises while trying to placate the desires of the market. It turns the market into a hungry monster. Instead of a place to share and sell work it becomes something else. It slumbers like an evil beast forged in the dark fires of jealousy and thrives on our desire for explosive and immediate success.

“Oh!” It will say in its sultry voice. “You’re writing an epic fantasy? No. No one cares about epic fantasy anymore, we’re all into hard science fiction these days! Didn’t you see the sales numbers for the last bookstore blockbuster? Your numbers are a pittance in comparison! Didn’t you see how Famous McAuthor did their giveaway? You should have done the same! Why didn’t you write a character like that popular one? Yours are boring in comparison!”

As long as you keep feeding it, the thing will never be silent. The mystical market monster cannot be appeased. Even success won’t sate its hunger. It’ll always want something else, it’ll always cause doubt, and it’ll always frustrate. You sold ten thousand books? Well, Famous McAuthor sold one hundred thousand. You sold one hundred thousands? Well they sold a million! On and on it goes. It’s easy to see how it can spiral down for anyone.

Yet… the market monster can be defeated. During interviews I have often been asked what my advice is for new writers. My best advice is to ignore advice. Advice will only get you so far. Everyone’s path to success is different. Keep working hard and keep trying new things. Don’t dwell on what others are doing. Ignorance, in this case, is bliss.

“There are thriving communities still out there that want more! They want to hear your voice…”

Sure, there are always cases of instant success but for the grand majority of people it takes time. Focus on craft. Write your stories. Tell what you need to tell and please, stick to it! It doesn’t matter if someone believes that “dystopian is played out” or “no one cares about steampunk” or “vampire romance doesn’t sell.” There are thriving communities still out there that want more! They want to hear your voice, and if you keep at it, you’ll eventually find them and they’ll eventually discover you.

That’s one of the best things about the internet and our connected culture worldwide. It’s what allows for stories like Homestuck to get told, find an audience, and become runaway successes. (If you haven’t heard about Homestuck, educate yourself.) None of the big publishing houses would have even considered giving the creator—Andrew Hussie—the time of day. He forged his own path and it took years but eventually his story found its audience.

So when it comes to your own creations, I really want to encourage everyone to keep doing what they’re doing. Keep writing. Keep perfecting your craft. Keep making quality products. Ignore everything else. Those three things should be your focus. Chase the stories you want to tell and ignore the market monster. You’ll be a lot happier and it’ll show in your work.

Now, get back to writing.

Filed under: publishing, writing Tagged: doubt, Fear, market, marketing, Success

Congrats OLD BROKEN ROAD Giveaway Winners

Just wanted to extend a big congratulations to the winners of the first Old Broken Road giveaway! The giveaway was a smashing success and out of one thousand fifty-two (Wow!) entrants five walked away with signed copies of the book and a bunch of cool swag.

So, please join me in congratulating: Rachel, Stephanie, Annie, Kate, and Matt! As of this morning the books are in the mail so they should be getting them real soon.

All sorts of other awesome things are coming. Stay informed by subscribing to my newsletter. Subscribers get news on my books before anyone else delivered direct to their inbox. Click here to subscribe!

Filed under: Contests, old broken road Tagged: Free, Giveaway, goodreads

THE STARS WERE RIGHT Now On Sale For Only 99¢

Now through the end of January you can pick up a eBook version of my first Lovecraft-influenced urban fantasy, The Stars Were Right, for only 99¢. Join Waldo Bell as he fights to clear his name while fleeing a mysterious evil through the city of Lovat. Purchase your copy for any of these platforms:

Kindle • Kobo • Nook • iBooks • GooglePlay • DRM Free ePub
Filed under: the stars were right Tagged: 99¢, eBook, sale, Urban Fantasy

The Writer/The Reader

Illustrator, cartoonist, and author Tom Gauld pretty much nailed the creative process with this little comic. I was dealing with this last night…

See more of Tom Gauld’s work here, check out his book Goliath or You’re All Just Jealous of My Jetpack over on Amazon, and follow him on Twitter.

Filed under: Art, Inspiration Tagged: reading, the struggle, tom gauld, writing

Last Chance To Enter The OLD BROKEN ROAD Giveaway

We’re in the final stretch. Today is the last day to enter the Old Broken Road Giveaway. As of 9am this morning, over seven-hundred of you have signed up to win a one of five signed paperback copies and the number of entrants keeps growing. Not a bad way to ring in the new year.

The five winners will be selected tonight at midnight so if you haven’t signed up and you live in the US, UK, or Canada you can CLICK HERE and sign up now for your chance to win. Good luck!

Filed under: Contests, old broken road Tagged: Free, Giveaway, goodreads

My Reading List For 2014

Last year around this time I posted my reading list, I enjoy reflecting on the books I read, so I figured I’d do it again. I’m not the quickest reader, so I set myself a goal of thirty books. Not only did I hit my goal I surpassed it ending up with thirty-seven. I also took a challenge. In January my editor, Lola Landekic, tweeted:

If you look at my list from last year you’ll see it was pretty bro-heavy and to be honest, an author’s gender isn’t something I’ve paid attention too when selecting a book. But 2014 was the year of reading women, so I took Lola’s challenge and I made an effort. Here at the end it looks like 60% of my reading came from women authors! Not bad.

Since my list is so much longer than last year I’ll avoid reviews, however I will select some of my favorites at the end. Follow me over on Goodreads to see what I thought of others. Links will go to Amazon.

Pallitine Rising (Pallitine’s Path Book #1)

by Roderick Davidson
Something More Than Night

by Ian Tregillis
The Strain (The Strain Trilogy Book #1)

by Guillermo del Toro & Chuck Hogan
Three Parts Dead (Craft Sequence Book #1)

by Max Gladstone
The Man in the High Castle

by Philip K. Dick
The Rithmatist

by Brandon Sanderson
Ancillary Justice (Imperial Radch #1)

by Ann Leckie
Dust (Silo Saga #3)

by Hugh Howey
Vicious

by V.E. Schwab
The Waking Engine

by David Edison
Sand: Omnibus Edition

by Hugh Howey
Bitter Seeds (Milkweed Book #1)

by Ian Tregillis
Fourth Uncle in the Mountain: A Memoir of a Barefoot Doctor in Vietnam

by Marjorie Pivar & Quang Van Nguyen
Half Bad (The Half Bad Trilogy Book #1)

by Sally Green
Forsworn: A Powder Mage Novella (Powder Mage Trilogy Book #1)

by Brian McClellan
Range of Ghosts (The Eternal Sky Book #1)

by Elizabeth Bear
The Mystery Knight (Current Available in Warriors #1)

by George R.R. Martin
Hounded (Iron Druid Chronicles Book #1)

by Kevin Hearne
A Wizard of Earthsea (The Earthsea Cycle Book #1)

by Ursula K. Le Guin
Promise of Blood (Powder Mage Trilogy Book #1)

by Brian McClellan
Doomsday Book (Oxford Time Travel #1)

by Connie Willis
Under the Never Sky (Under the Never Sky Trilogy Book #1)

by Veronica Rossi
A Wrinkle in Time (Time Quintet Book #1)

by Madeleine L’Engle
Windhaven

by George R.R. Martin & Lisa Tuttle
Jagannath: Stories

by Karin Tidbeck
The Giver (Giver Quartet Book #1)

by Lois Lowry
One Night in Sixes (The Children of the Drought Book #1)

by Arianne “Tex” Thompson
Boneshaker (The Clockwork Century Book #1)

by Cherie Priest
Soulless (The Parasol Protectorate Book #1)

by Gail Carriger
Maplecroft (The Borden Dispatches Book #1)

by Cherie Priest
Gone Girl

by Gillian Flynn
The Planet Savers

by Marion Zimmer Bradley
Assassin’s Apprentice (The Farseer Trilogy, Book #1)

by Robin Hobb
The Clan of the Cave Bear (Earth’s Children, Book #1)

by Jean M. Auel
The Killing Moon (Dreamblood Book #1)

by N.K. Jemisin
Daughter of Smoke & Bone (Daughter of Smoke & Bone Book #1)

by Laini Taylor
The Witching Elm (Memento Mori Series Book #1)

by C.N. Crawford


Favorite novel of 2014:

A Wizard of Earthsea

by Ursula K. Le Guin

This was a tough one, but in the end Le Guin won out. She’s a marvelous writer and A Wizard of Earthsea really shines throughout. I’d easily compare it with The Lord of the Rings or C. S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia.

 

Favorite novel runners-up of 2014:

There’s two other books that really stood out to me and since I didn’t read many short stories or graphic novels this year I figured I’d take some space to hit the two runners up to my favorite novel of 2014.

Doomsday Book

by Connie Willis

Time travel + the plague = good reading. Connie Willis’ exploration of a future where historians travel back in time enthralled me from beginning to end. I look forward to reading more in the series.

Maplecroft

by Cherie Priest

If there is anyone who could be considered writing proper new mythos it’s Cherie Priest. I had expect Maplecroft to be another alternate history thing similar to Seth Grahame-Smith’s books. Instead I got an enthralling tale of a Lizzie Borden who is fighting an unseen evil, not unlike the protagonists in a Lovecraft’s work. It was hard for me to put this down.

So there’s my list for 2014! If you’re interested you can check out my list from 2013 as well. How was your year of reading? Did anything stand out? Did you discover a new favorite? What’s on queue for next year? Is there a book you’re really excited to read? Leave a comment and let me know!

Filed under: Reading Tagged: 2014, A Wizard of Earthsea, Doomsday Book, maplecroft, Reading List