Random Sunday updates…

Today is a day off for me, and this is just going to be a set of short updates. Tonight, though, I'll sit down to type up a new bar blog post for y'all.

First up is a quick announcement that Belfire Press has added The Life and Death of a Sex Doll to the Smashwords Summer ebook sale. So for now you can get the ebook for 25% off if you visit Smashwords and use coupon code: SSW25. Also, I've had two updates notifying my of purchases on Smashwords. So somehow the software let my publisher set me up with updates. Very cool feature, Smashwords. I like it.

I still don't know how I'm doing on other stores, so hopefully you Kindle readers are racking up some sales. But, if you have a Kindle, you could get the same .mobi file in a DRM-free format, and you can get it for 25% off the cover price. So hopefully that's an incentive good enough to entice some of you into checking out Smashwords. And, did I mention, they accept PayPal for faster purchases?

Second, on Twitter, writer Joyce Chng, AKA: @jolantru, had a good question for US/UK readers today: "What are you going to do as an 'ally' in promoting non-US/UK POC fiction/writing?"

For me, I can say that I've retweeted ads for Joyce's "wolf people" story Wolf at the Door, which was written under the pen name J. Damask and published by Lyrical Press. I've also talked about Koji Suzuki and Ryu Murakami. I'm not doing a lot, and I probably could do more to read and promote folks outside the traditional English-language markets.

But it isn't like I'm reading and promoting out of balance. I go out of my way to read both men and women, and to make sure that I'm reading a good mix of inde/mainstream titles as well. I work to promote writer in the same way, and I've happily promoted for midlisters like Maurice Broaddus and Briane Keene just as much as I push pro and small press writers like John A. Lindqvist and Michele Lee, respectively.

But a this point, I'm at my limits on how much I can read or promote other people. I promote other artists in many fields far more often than I promote myself, and at times I feel like I may need to back off of promoting other people just so my own "brand message" has a chance to reach people.

But, the question I'd like to propose to y'all is, how can new authors outside the US/UK build better buzz machines? It's safe to assume they can't show up for conventions or book signings in these markets. So there has to be some social platform or online promotion method that encourages people to talk up books outside the mainstream markets.

This really doesn't have anything to do with indie or self-pubbed folks, as even traditionally published writers outside the US/UK could use help getting a toe into these markets. But, how do new writers promote to get readers charged up about foreign writers they've never heard of? How do we convince readers to make leaps of faith instead of always reading the same things over and over?

And now, a random music update along with another question. I've started using the Zune player on my PC, and I'm streaming music to my TV. Because of this, my music stats on Last.FM are no longer accurate. I cannot find a scrobbler for Zune on Last.FM, and the only beta Zune scribbler I could find, Zenses 0.2, crashed on startup because I don't have a Zune, only the Zune software. (So I can stream tunes to my Xbox, you see.)

Until I can find a scrobbler, my Last.FM stats will be inaccurate and won't reflect my listening habits, only my habits when I wear my iPod out for shopping trips. So no, I haven't "lost the beat." I've just lost the ability to track my music addictions.

If you're a Zune software user and know another Zune scribbler for Last.FM, please let me know what you use. I don't have a Zune player, and probably won't for a while until Microsoft pulls their cowardly heads out of the sand and try to compete with Apple globally. Which doesn't seem likely, despite Microsoft dominating the OS and gaming markets. (Makes no sense to me, but what do I know? I'm just a stupid consumer who doesn't understand "market forces.")

And to conclude the updates, this morning, I made coffee and then discovered my milk was spoiled. So I got out and RAN one block to the bakery. Except, it was closed. So I ran all the way to the only open shop in the area, three blocks away. Then I ran home. It did not kill me, a sign that my exercise program is already having some positive benefits. But man, I sure wished I could die for a few minutes after I got home. I tell you, this getting older stuff is a real bitch.

And I'm outtie. See you tonight for a new bar blog with a newly tamed Agent Orange.