K.M. Alexander's Blog, page 95

Post-launch updates and how you can help out.

Well it’s three days post-launch and I’m sure everyone who reads my blog is now aware “The Stars Were Right“ is now out and is available on Kindle , Kobo or direct from me. Without readers books are of little value, so it feels good to get it out into the wide world and into your hands. 

So far I have had a lot of interest (yay!) and quite a few of you have taken the time to both purchase and start reading (yay x2!). Thank you! I appreciate you helping me out. It’s fantastic to see so many people excited to read Stars.

If you have finished or you’re still reading and enjoying the book I want to take a moment to list out a few ways you can continue to help make “The Stars Were Right” a success:

If you like it, tell your friends.

Seriously, this is an enormous help. Tell your friends you’re reading it and enjoying it. If you have finished, tell them what you thought. This is the best way to spread the word: face-to-face recommendations.
Post about it socially

Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, message boards, wherever. Tell people you’re reading Stars. Give them a link. Start a discussion. On Twitter I have been using the hashtag #TheStarsWereRight.
Leave honest ratings and reviews

Your opinion matters. Please give the book ratings and reviews on Amazon, and Goodreads, or wherever you picked up your copy. Honest reviews can really help an indie title become a success. For everyone who reads a book, fewer still will write a review, yet people shopping for a new book will pay close attention to reviews. They help a lot.

These little actions can go a long way, and they work for any new author— independent or traditional—and their stories. So if you want to help out, take some time and follow one of my suggestions.

Finally, thanks once again to everyone who took the time to pick up “The Stars Were Right.” I hope you’re enjoying it. Please feel free to drop me a line with comments, questions, feedback, really anything. You can leave a comment here or email me at hello@kmalexander.com—I do my best to respond to all my emails.

Happy reading!

“The Stars Were Right” is Out!

As promised “The Stars Were Right” is now available! Read an excerpt here if you have no idea what I am talking about or head on over to the usual locations and buy your copy today:

Amazon Kindle –  Kobo - My Store

When I have a choice I go out my way to make sure everything is DRM-free. More announcements coming  as “The Stars Were Right” is released on iBooks, Nook, and other platforms.

Make sure to mark “The Stars were Right” as the book you’re reading on Goodreads! If you’re tweeting about it I have started using the hashtag #TheStarsWereRight on Twitter.

Tuesday.

Friday Link Pack

It’s the last Friday before “The Stars Were Right” is released! I figured why not take the time to share a few interesting links I have found throughout the week. Some of these I mention on twitter, if you’re not already following me there, please do! I’m always looking for new links if you have any suggestions, please, let me know.

Writing:

“The Stars Were Right” on Goodreads

Yep, I’m going to recommend my own stuff. :) Early reviews are starting to come in and they’re looking swell! Make sure to add “The Stars Were Right” to your own “to-read” list.

Bring the Storm! How Ugly Emotions Can Ignite Your Setting

Lauren Sapala offers up some suggestions for writers working with adding some flair to their setting using emotion.

An Invocation for Beginnings

I’m going to post this again. If you’re ever struggling with your own creative endeavors: watch this. Ze Frank offers some of the most honest advice you’ll get from anyone, ever. (Warning: It’s NSFW but damn is it ever encouraging.)

Art:

Posters That Motivated Jazz-Age Workers To Strive

My good friend Steve shared this Slate link with me. So often we see posters like this as propaganda for governments, rarely does that cross over into the corporate world. While the tone is similar the messages are quite different.

Random:

Home is Where You Park It

One of Kari-Lise and my not-so-secret fantasies is to buy a VW Westy and head into the wilds of Alaska for a few months or drive down the pan-American Highway. “Home is Where Your Park It” is the Kickstarter for photographer Foster Huntington who essentially lived my dream and took a bunch of photos along the way. He’s assembling a book. It looks rad. Check it out.

Kowloon Walled City

Kowloon served as a great source of inspiration for the megalopolis of Lovat when I was working on Stars. It’s gone now, but at its peak 33,000 people lived in its 6.5 acres. The images and pictures behind Kowloon are as fascinating as they are heartbreaking and really shows the adaptability of humanity.

4 Rules to Make Star Wars Great Again

Portland creative house Sincerely Truman creates a fun little video directed at J.J. Abrams with their suggestions for making Stars Wars great again. The animations are a lot of fun, as for the rules, well…they are rules I can get behind.

Lovecraft Story of the Week:

Cool Air

Great little story with a excellent ending. If you don’t have time to read it make sure you listen to the audio version from HPPodcraft.com. They do a really fine job.

Farewell Gif(s) of the Week:

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How to take a great author photo

Richard Kadrey tweeted this on Friday. It made me laugh, so I am sharing it here. (Click the image to see it larger.) Obviously with “The Stars Were Right” only five days away I have been thinking about my own author photo.  As you can tell: I am clearly following a few of these tips.

The Stars Were Right coming next Tuesday, Oct. 1st!

That’s right. Official announcement time:

“The Stars Were Right” digital release is coming Tuesday, Oct. 1st!

Amazon Kindle and Kobo will be my first launch platforms. (You can pre-order from Kobo today!) iBooks and a few other platforms will be coming later. If you prefer you will also be able to buy a DRM-free .epub directly from me at my personal store. (Helpful for you iPad readers who don’t want to wait for the iBooks release.)

Only one week! More as everything develops.

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I’m scared.

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When I started this blog I told myself I wanted to document my whole writing process. Start to finish. Concept to publishing. Ups and downs. So, in that spirit, it’s time to be honest about where I’m at with “The Stars Were Right”:

I’m scared.

I’m scared it’s full of mistakes. I’m scared it’s not going to be good. I’m scared people are going to hate it. I’m scared my prose sucks. I’m scared that I am going to fail.

I spent this weekend thinking about this a lot. That’s a lot of fear, but nothing I listed is a good enough reasons for me not to publish. The risk is there, but in the long run it’s really inconsequential. You know what I will do if “The Stars Were Right” bombs? I’ll press on. I’ll keep writing.

Life is a learning process. Failure and success are a part of learning. It’s a part of everything, even the things we care so much about and pour so much of ourselves into. The thing is though, you can’t fail or succeed unless you try.

It’s time to try.

Big announcement tomorrow.

Friday Link Pack

It’s Friday so I figured why not take the time to share a few interesting links I have found throughout the week. Some of these I mention on twitter, if you’re not already following me there, please do!

Writing:

Conan Doyle Estate Is Horrified That The Public Domain Might Create ‘Multiple Personalities’ Of Sherlock Holmes

A very fascinating post from TechDirt regarding the legality of public domain creations in regards to a fictional character.

Tomato Can Blues

A New York Times article by Mary Pilon on Charlie Rowan, a small time cage fighter in Michigan who faked his death and was later arrested in armed robbery. It’s really well written piece and the interactive article is gorgeous. Very much worth a read.

Art:

Waterfalls, Islands, Lakes, Rivers, and Mountains of the Western Hemisphere

A really cool diagram from the 1850s by J. H. Colton comparing, lakes, rivers, mountains, and waterfalls of the western hemisphere. Super cool.

The Art of JCV

Jed Voltz has a super awesome and trippy style and an incredible imagination. He’s worth checking out. Also, he has originals for sale online. All of them listed are under $100. As I said on twitter: Your walls need art so go buy some.

Random:

Iron Horse covering “Enter the Sandman”

Step 1: Take one of Metallica’s best songs. Step 2: Cover it Bluegrass style. Step 3: Win.

How to Eat like a Pirate

Yesterday was International Talk Like A Pirate Day, and in honor of this most auspicious of holidays the Smithsonian gave advice for anyone wanting to take it to the next level.

Lovecraft Story of the Week:

Unda; or, The Bride of the Sea

I’m feeling a bit nautical this Friday.

Farewell Gif(s) of the Week:

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Hugh Howey’s 10 Counterintuitive Tips for Self-Publishers

I am a big fan of Hugh Howey‘s work. I have recommended his book Wool before as apart of my Reading Recommendations series. (Which you should read.) Over the last few years he has exploded on the speculative fiction scene and along the way he has hit the New York Times Bestsellers list multiple times. Not bad for a self-published guy who bootstrapped himself through his whole project.

Over the weekend I came across this Publishing Perspective article where Howey lists ten handy tips for self-publishers. It’s really good advice so I figured his ten tips were worth a share on here:

Asking people to buy your book doesn’t work. Instead, try to entertain or enlighten with your Facebook posts and tweets.
The people who sell your books are your existing readers. Concentrate on interacting with them and being accessible.
There is no promotion as strong as writing the next book. None. That always comes first.
It doesn’t matter how quickly your book jumps out of the gate upon release. An undiscovered book remains fresh and new. You have the rest of your life to promote or gain sales, so keep writing!
Give your books away. You need to build up a fan base. That means free ebooks, sample chapters, and not worrying about piracy or DRM.
A good agent is your best friend. Even if you don’t want to sign with a publishing house, there are overseas markets and media rights that they can help you with.
An email list is more powerful than Twitter or Instagram (though not quite as powerful as Facebook). You want to reach out to those who are receptive, those who have signed up to hear from you. Build that newsletter email list as soon as possible.
Videos are worth a million words. Readers love connecting with and getting to know their favorite authors. Shoot a video rather than typing out a blog post. They are quick to watch and easy to share.
Be yourself. This shouldn’t be counterintuitive. I hope it isn’t. Don’t lose sight of who you are. Embrace the awkwardness, the glee, the dumbfoundedness.
Authors are not in competition with one another. We are in this together. A happy reader buys more books, so celebrate others doing well and help who you can. Remember those who helped you. Pass it along.

I see a lot of self-published authors doing the exact opposite of Howey’s 10 Tips on a consistent basis. Their blog posts and twitter feeds read like advertising, their posts are little more than hashtags lists. There’s no content.

The biggest takeaway from these 10 tips can be summed up in one word: engagement. Find a way to engage with your readers: provide them quality content, have a conversation, respond to emails, be yourself. You wouldn’t want to buy a book from some weird sales obsessed robot so why would your potential readers?

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Want more content like this? Sign up for my personal newsletter: The Telegram. It’s packed full of writing tips, reading recommendations, news on my books, interesting links, even a few guest post. Sign up today!

The Moon in rotation

Saw this on io9 and figured I’d share it with the hope that maybe it will inspire someone. (Even started a whole new category for this kind of stuff.) Besides, how could it not? It’s a rad animated gif of the Moon! See io9′s post right here.