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Losing An Art Form In Book Sales
Just Was Brought to My Attention… That publishing is losing an art form. Television still has it, so do movies, so do gaming and other licensing areas. But books are losing this art form completely. Tag Lines. That’s right, writing a tag line to catch a reader’s attention used to be an art form on book covers and helped sell millions of copies of books. But now, due to simple lack of knowledge, the art form is vanishing. So what is happening? Well, in traditional publishing, massive budget cuts have taken out most of the sales force, leaving a few for only the bestsellers. Where the sales force used to…
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Still Time to Get Into June Workshops
A Bunch of Great Ones… First week will be done on Tuesday and Wednesday, but if you jump in and let me know, I’ll still read your first assignment. And then you can stay with the workshop the rest of the way. First weeks are often summary weeks and focus weeks. So to get to them, go to June Regular Workshops on Teachable. To find them, just remember to hit “see all courses” and then scroll down to the regular workshops. Some really good workshops and the brand new KILLING THE CRITICAL VOICE workshop is also starting. So here is the list. A good month for workshops and to keep…
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Cold Poker Gang Kickstarter Hit Two Stretch Goals!!
Gets Great From Here On Up!! Any supporter will now get three books and a choice of lectures just for supporting the kickstarter. And with each stretch goal hit now, more reading and more workshops, pop-ups, and so on. (The “so on” will be really amazing for anyone if we get there. (grin)) And I am excited because now we are finally going to get the Cold Poker Gang entire series into hardback. I want that set of books on my shelf. Just having it there will make me write more and more books in the series, I can tell you that. I am that superficial at times. (grin) So…
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Cold Poker Gang Kickstarter Almost To First Stretch Goal
Only $310 Away… I want to thank everyone for the support so far. Been fantastic. And we still have 12 days to go. With the stretch goals above this first one, writers will get a choice of a $50 lecture and then the next stretch goal a choice of a $150 Classic Workshop. Above that is a Pop-Up choice worth $150 and above that it will really be amazing. Readers for each stretch goal get books to read. A couple I wrote you might never heard of, actually. Can’t believe we are so close to the first stretch goal. That is so cool. Thank you!! So here is the link…
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Cold Poker Gang Kickstarter Hit Goal!!!
In Just 24 Hours!! Wow. That is so cool. Thank you, everyone! Going to finally get the entire series into hardback and all supporters will get an early copy to read of BOTTOM PAIR, the new novel. That will be available to early readers from the campaign later this fall and published for everyone later in the winter. Remember, there is a nifty new workshop only available through this campaign called How to Write Mystery Series. A number of people have asked if it will be different from what Kris taught in her in-person (and Study Along) mystery workshop. And different from the now classic Writing Mysteries Workshop and the…
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Cold Poker Gang Kickstarter Launched
Fun New Campaign… JUST LAUNCHED!!! We’re trying to get The Cold Poker Gang books into hardback. And I have a new novel in the series called BOTTOM PAIR coming out later this year. So if you want to get an early read of BOTTOM PAIR, you can do so through this Kickstarter Campaign. Plus limited edition signed hardback set of all eleven of The Cold Poker Gang novels. Plus a limited edition signed hardback of BOTTOM PAIR. And a very, very limited set of Cold Poker Gang chips, with the special decks of cards in a metal case. On top of all that, there is a special workshop that you…
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A Streak Still Holding
Day 2,860… That’s how many days it has been since I missed writing something here on this blog. August 1st, 2012 I started. And the reason I counted this tonight is because I have a Kickstarter campaign I will announce here tomorrow afternoon, but needed to keep my streak alive here tonight. So write about the streak. Duh… I suppose I should also tell you that June Regular workshops are starting today and tomorrow. And those of you signed up for the June session of Creative Nonfiction Writing workshop from the last Kickstarter, it also started today. (Only could get it in the Kickstarter.) And the June Historical Fiction special…
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Wow! It’s June!
We Made It Through May… Actually, unlike April which seemed in a time sense to take forever, May flashed right past. And I do understand that a lot of people did not live through May. I got that. But the rest of us out here, trying to do what is right, stay safe, keep working and writing and taking care of families. We made it through another month of the craziness. Another month closer to whatever point all this is going to end. Who knows what the rest of 2020 has to offer. Like Kris, I just want to flip to the end of this book. But we can’t, so…
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Why Am I So Against Traditional Publishing?
I Published 106 Novels Traditionally. But that was a different time, different companies, different contracts, different level of respect for authors. I would be a distant and faint memory in writing now if not for indie publishing. Never would have continued to work in the current traditional publishing environment. Never. So let me list a few reasons why I try to keep writers with dreams away from traditional publishers. THE SHORT VIEW… TRADITIONAL Most early-stage writers have a very, very short view of being a writer. They think that just selling a few short stories and then getting a novel sold to a major publisher will make their career. Nope.…
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Decade Ahead Second Quarter 2020
Seven New Videos Are There… Also, since this second quarter is so different than any normal second quarter for writers, we have decided that no only will this Decade Ahead class go through the end of the year, but we will do the second quarter, and more than likely the third quarter, next year with a bunch of normal videos about how to get through these months writing in a normal year. This month, like last month, I have some videos up on how to write through this pandemic there as well. So another class gets extended. The licensing transition is already extended for a full year as well. Both…