Renegade Profiles: Sci-Fi Author Jon Cronshaw
Author Jon Cronshaw JV: Why do dystopian/post-apocalypse novels all have zombies? Haha. Although these sub-genres have a lot of crossover, they also seem to be tackling different primal questions. With dystopian fiction, the core questions are about the ways people...
Techology + Teamwork = Magic
When Writers Get Together and Use Instafreebie I wanted to start building a newsletter mailing list of science fiction fans for the launch of Cold War. So I started from zero. After Ken formatted our book on Draft2Digital, I put it up on Instafreebie. The first few...
Marketing Monday – A Free Story
This weekend was basically a crash course in indie publishing: Ken and I finished the book learned how to format it in Draft2Digital (love them) write a blurb load the book on Instafreebie sign up for a Sci-Fi cross-promo link it to our Mailchimp list, and set up the...
Renegade Profiles: Space Marine Author J.R. Handley
Author: J.R. Handley JV: Tell me a little about “Team Handley” and how you work together. JR: I come up with the ideas and flesh them out with my wife and mother. We tweak them so they flow and make sense and lately to ensure continuity. Mostly we do this...
I Gained 10x More Readers Standing On The Shoulders of Giants
I’m active in a few writer groups on Facebook. The other day a video by an author who had hit the NYT and USA Today bestseller list 33 times was making the rounds. This video was of her presentation entitled “Capturing the Golden Goose: How to Sell a Bazillion...
Making Money On Your Writing – Following Heinlein’s Rules
I had never heard of Heinlein’s Rules until I started reading Dean Wesley Smith’s blog. The five rules are pretty straight forward and I paraphrase them here: Write. Finish what you start. Don’t rewrite except to editorial order. Market your...
Using Data Science To Pick Your Reading List
Who are your favorite authors? What are your favorite books? If you have a voracious reading appetite and have finished up the stack on your desk, or the purchases on your Kindle, what do you do next? Amazon has figured you out. They serve you up the “also...
DIY Package Templates from Creative Indie Saved My Sanity
It’s not going to be a surprise when I say, I like to write. But these days, being a writer also means that you need to tackle a host of other areas, such as marketing your books. I’m learning the ropes of book marketing, but mostly just concentrating on...
Renegade Profiles: Author Amy DuBoff
JV: Amy, tell me who would play you in a movie? Hmmm… I’ll go with Tatiana Maslany. I think she has incredible range and could capture everything from my quiet introversion to my passionate nerdom. JV: Nice! I heard she was in negotiations for a role for Star Wars...