Tag: New York Times

Indie News Beat with Chris James

IndieNewsBeatwithCJThe news you read may not be the news you need.

The big story over the last few weeks also happened to be an almost non-story, but this is what makes the internet such a remarkable thing. On the one hand, sudden global exposure can give an important but off-beat issue the publicity it truly deserves, while on the other hand, less important news gains more notice than it can justify. This is caused by journalists having to meet a constant demand for new content, and these stories tend to follow a similar viral pattern.

Thus it was last month with the great Amazon vs. Hatchette bake-off. Continue reading “Indie News Beat with Chris James”

For Sale: NYT Bestseller Status

Moving the needle on your book sales is a chore. It’s hard enough to write a book, but selling it takes things to a whole new level. Wouldn’t it be cool if you could just publish your book and have it appear on the New York Times bestseller list without making any effort at all?

An appearance of your book on the NYT bestseller list is a sentinel event. It is one of the highest bars to hurdle. You’d be up there with the big names in traditional publishing. You’d become a household name. The money and recognition would start pouring in. Steven Spielberg will make your book into a movie, Oprah will want to interview you, and [insert name of latest sex symbol here] will want to have your babies!

After all, an appearance on the prestigious New Your Times bestseller list must mean you’ve sold lots and lots of books. It’s probably one of the books everyone is reading, right?

That’s a nice dream. If you like it, I advise you to read no further. Continue reading “For Sale: NYT Bestseller Status”

Interview with Hugh Howey

Here’s the scoop: I’m sitting at my work station on the Death Star, flicking dried bits of chewing gum at Carol Wyer, when suddenly I get an alert that Hugh Howey’s ship is cruising past, just out of tractor beam range. Knowing that the Evil Mastermind will be less than happy if I miss this opportunity, I run down to the shuttle bay. With no time to lose, I wind up the rubber band on the back of the shuttle really, really tightly. Then, I get in the shuttle and – ping! I’m hurtling across the heavens on an intercept course with Howey’s ship. I reach it, knock on his window, and manage to ask him these few questions before the rubber band contracts and pulls me and the shuttle back to the Death Star. Phew, that was a close one!

In case you’ve been living under a rock, Hugh Howey is the author of the award-winning Molly Fyde Saga and the New York Times and USA Today bestselling WOOL series. The WOOL OMNIBUS won Kindle Book Review’s 2012 Indie Book of the Year Award—it has been as high as #1 in the Kindle store—and 17 countries have picked up the work for translation.

Here’s what Hugh had to say: Continue reading “Interview with Hugh Howey”

Above the Foxhole

It’s good to poke your head up above the foxhole every once in a while and take a look at what else is going on in the world.

As always, the goings-on run the gamut from the wonderful to the weird.

First up, our own Martin Crosbie gets a nice hat tip in this article on Kindlegate over at Digital Journal.

Are you familiar with the term “back-formation?” According to Mark Nichol, of Daily Writing Tips,  “A back-formation is a new word produced by excising an affix, such as producing the verb secrete from the noun secretion.”

Mark says that while many back-formations eventually take their place in the lexicon, there are some newer ones that writers would be wise to avoid, at least in formal writing.

Book-to-movie is the new hotness. Well, maybe not that new. So, what’s coming down the pike? Publisher’s Weekly gives us a list of the 10 most anticipated book adaptations of 2013.

Are words more than characters used to convey meaning? Here’s a piece on the meaning of writing from the National Writing Project.

Last but not least, it looks like the jello is still squishing out from between the fingers of Amazon’s iron grip when it comes to policing reviews. The New York Times sees “swarm”  reviews used as a strategic weapon to attack books.