10 Tips for Marketing Your Book Online

My dear friend, bestselling thriller author J.T. Ellison, recently posted “10 Tips for Marketing Your Book Online.” In a world where banks have started holding payroll checks because so many of them are bouncing, online marketing’s a particularly savvy tool that all writers should investigate. Most importantly, J.T. includes the most important piece of advice that should be on…

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Like a Band-Aid in the Sun

Porcelain. Chocolate. Alabaster. Cafe au lait. Tawny. At one point or another, you’ve read all these adjectives to describe skin tone. (Go on, I know I’m missing some. Feel free to add your own in the comments.) Every time I notice these same tried-and-true descriptions, it makes me wonder what words I would use to characterize my own skin….

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X Amount of Words

Last night I was editing a story I hadn’t looked at in a while — it needed some TLC and the 10% cut (you know, the rule about trimming 10% of the words…that’s a GOOD edit). I dug it out because it was one of those rare times when a magazine was in the market for A, B, X,…

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AlphaOops: H is for Halloween Auction

…is now up at Do The Write Thing for Nashville: http://dothewritethingfornashville.blogspot.com/2010/05/day-6-item-23.html Bids are already up to $35. (Wow! Thanks!) Come on folks, win it before you can buy it and support a great cause. You have five days to place your bid in the comments (starting yesterday), so keep checking back!

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New Books ISO Author Shelf

One of the greatest things an author can get in the mail is his or her contributor copies. Sometimes it’s a giant box like George McFly…sometimes (especially with anthologies), it’s only one or two copies. In the last couple of weeks, I’ve received a copy of H is for Halloween (being auctioned off tomorrow 9am CST at Do The…

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Doing the Write Thing

Yesterday in my “Muddy Waters” post about the Nashville flooding, I mentioned a few websites, including the Do The Write Thing For Nashville site. They’re getting agents and authors and editors and all sorts of folks in the publishing industry to donate items and time so they can auction them off for big bucks. The proceeds will go to…

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Live from Mo*Con

We’re about to start Open Mic Night and I’m super excited. I’ve been asked to perform as Gretchen Von Stroodlehymen in a live-action rendition of Greg “The Funky Werepig” Hall’s infamous award-nominated paranormal romance “Dracula’s Winkie.” And then…well, then there will be a surprise. Kelli’s reading now from her Alphabet Book…not for small ears…shhhh….

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Suitable For Framing

Not only do I have the honor of AlphaOops: H is for Halloween being a Junior Library Guild Selection, but now I have this awesome lapel pin and a certificate suitable for framing. Squee!!!!! This is *so* way better than making the honor roll. Don’t forget — the release date is July 13, 2010. The publisher may sell out before…

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One of *those* writers

Yes, apparently I am one of *those* writers. I’ve been working on this ghost story for Michael Knost this week, based on a plantation house in West Virginia. First, of course, I had to do a butt-ton of research because I can’t write about somewhere like Mount St. Helens or Harlan, Kentucky without knowing the place like I’d lived…

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Audio: “The Giant & The Unicorn”

The long-awaited, highly-anticipated audio version of my Shimmer Clockwork Jungle issue story “The Giant & The Unicorn” is now live! Hooray! I swear I channeled Kate Winslet for this narration. Click here to listen (run time about 19 minutes) and tell me if you think the same. This story is rated G — appropriate for all ages and fun…

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