The Dope on Kindle Select

Note: When I say ‘the dope’, that is me being hip, not me referring to myself.

Alright kids, let’s talk about KDP Select (Amazon Kindle’s exclusive ‘we will crush you if you defy us’ program). My first 90 days are about up for ‘Joe Café’. I almost forgot to use all my free promotion days (what can I say, time flies, and I am a moron). It will be free today, tomorrow, and Saturday. Tell your friends…tell your enemies, your postman, your hairdresser, your twitter followers and Facebook pals, your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. But this isn’t just an ingenious way to promote the three free days I almost blew…no, my friends; I am actually going to educate you (but seriously, the more people that download the book FOR FREE, the better my daughter’s bones will develop due to nutritious meals – no pressure – she likes eating recycled paper just like the rest of us).

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Fear and self-loathing, sober on my couch

Writers are sensitive folks, generally. This is good. Empathy is important and all that. This is also bad. Lots of us kill ourselves or drink ourselves to death, etc. I was thinking about this today because I started feeling really bad about myself, and then I had an epiphany.

See, I write a lot of things and some get ignored and some blow up and some just kind of exist, taking up internet space. So, anyway, what got me all bummed out was looking at my stats on Amazon. (I have yet to figure out that Jim Devitt trick that would make me the #1 bestselling writer named JD Mader or something – I love you, Jim – this isn’t about you, you’re awesome – and I WILL figure it out).

So, I was looking at my stats and I started feeling crappy. I did the KDP select program with one book (more about that on Thursday). My reviews are good. I’ve done pretty well, but it felt shitty. And then I stopped and mentally bitch-slapped myself for a moment. In far less time than it took to endure middle school, I have self published two novels, gotten this IU gig, started some blogs which I now pretty much ignore, started BlergPop with two writer friends, wrote Bad Book with Hise and Brooks, started an advice column (I have only done one so far, but people are digging it), just published an article with the biggest online fishing resource, and started a Freelance writing business. So, thought I to myself, why are you tripping you gorgeous nimrod, you? Continue reading “Fear and self-loathing, sober on my couch”

Don’t Ask…with JD Mader.

Let me share my wisdom.

I am about to admit something that I have never really told anyone. My wife did not know until yesterday. None of my friends know. My family doesn’t know. If you’ve read my stuff before, you know that I am kind of an open book, but there is one thing I have always held back. And now I am going to tell you. And you may look at me differently. I am prepared to accept that. You may hate me or pity me – I understand. I accept the ramifications of this announcement. I am no longer afraid. I am coming out of my closet of shame.  Are you ready?

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Why Fiction is where it’s at.

The importance of masks.

I used to teach writing workshops for kids who, in some cases, had lived through things I can barely imagine. And, as I have mentioned, honesty is the cornerstone of great writing as far as I am concerned. I was working, and writing, with people who had some really, really intense shit to draw upon. I had three rules. Three very, very important rules.

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