Category: Self-Publishing (Page 1 of 3)

A post about self-publishing.

Get your popcorn ready…

11/21/2019 / Mike / 0 Comments

First thing’s first. Check this out: FILM ANNOUNCEMENT! After that, why don’t you hop on over here to find out a little more.

The excitement of knowing that something you wrote is going to be made into a movie is inexpressible.
Knowing it’s also going to be a movie shot in 3D makes the excitement unbearable.
Looking at the timeframe it takes to make a movie is sobering.

While this post is mostly announcing the fact that someone thought something I wrote was interesting enough to try to make into a movie… it also gives me a chance to talk about something else that has had an impact on my life as a writer. Tempering excitement.

New book available for pre-order…

02/25/2019 / Mike / 0 Comments

Written in Time and Other Short Stories is now up on Amazon for pre-order.

There were a lot of difficult decisions I had to make in order for this book to come about. The first of these was including the 3 short stories that were previously published as separate ebooks. I’m still very proud of them. One is even being made into a short video/movie… slowly. So, just looking at that one point, if you choose to buy this book, you’re already saving a buck on those 3 stories, alone.

How long is it?…

02/19/2019 / Mike / 0 Comments

How long should a book be? Hundreds of thousands of guidelines have been posted on the internet. Publishers each have their own requirements based on genre and topic. Well-meaning people from all walks of life have chimed in with what they believe to be the magic range to keep a book at. It’s mind-numbing at times.

I guess the first question is: Who are you asking? I would guess that if you ask an author, you’ll either get pointed to one of the myriads of guidelines I was talking about up there or even a shrug. Personally, I write my stories to be as long as they need to be.

When the snow hits…

02/12/2019 / Mike / 3 Comments

Last night, it snowed… about 10 inches. Last night I also got sick (at least, began feeling the effects of getting sick). Today I woke up a little before noon because my body needed the rest. I’m still tired and sore and doing my best to keep my head in one piece. I’m also recovering from blowing the snow off the driveway and scraping the car.

Why didn’t I call in sick? Why am I still going to work tonight? Because a coworker has called in sick every day for the last week. I’ve seen how it effects everyone else’s schedules… how people need to be called and shifted around, how this person is asked to stay longer, how management is suddenly on the hook for people not willing to come in. When a monkey-wrench is thrown into a well-oiled machine, things tend to go downhill fast.

Twitter redemption…

02/08/2019 / Mike / 0 Comments

…or, a rebuttal to yesterday’s post.

I got a few comments regarding my complaint about the advertising habits of a few writers I’ve recently started to follow on Twitter, yesterday. The essential gist was, “Why do you hate the writers/writing community on Twitter?”

I don’t. I hate certain habits of a very few. But that was another post, this is a different one. This is about the redemptive qualities of the writing community on Twitter, and why I enjoy interacting and engaging with them.

Selling your soul on Twitter…

02/07/2019 / Mike / 0 Comments

I’ve been following more authors on Twitter lately, and I’ve noticed something that has me a bit concerned. The constant deluge of advertisement and self-promotion to the point of annoyance.

I’m not going to point fingers and name names, but there are a few people that I’ve recently followed who seem to have a series of targeted tweets set to auto-post every single day. I’ll load up Twitter, reading tweets and catching up on my echo-chamber of news that has been deemed important enough to mention, when out of the blue, I’ll see a familiar post… one with a picture chosen specifically to capture an emotion that said poster hopes to evoke from the viewer/reader. Then, invariably, there will be the exact same selection of tweets to follow… each one with a book cover or image, that are very indelibly inked upon my brain… in the exact same order that I’ve seen them tweeted every day since the day I followed that person.

A little about Mal…

07/25/2018 / Mike / 0 Comments

Since I’m giving away 3 copies of Mal-adaptive, I figured I’d talk a little about it.

What is Mal-adaptive? Mal-adaptive is a story about Malaika, a barista working in a big city just trying to make a living. She lives in an apartment with her roommate, Aaya, an ultra conservative girl who just so happens to work at a shop that sells BDSM supplies. Her best friend (and coworker), Ven, is a free spirit… likes to drink, likes to party, likes to have sex (and isn’t too particular who with). On the same day, an angel (Ephra) and a demon (Corson) show up at the Cruel Beans coffee shop in order to find Mal. They both have orders to follow her around. There’s also something about Armageddon, an evil corporation, and a Weapon that’s supposed to win the war for the side that has it. Add in a pinch of humor, and you’ve got Mal-adaptive in a nutshell.

Where did I come up with the idea? My girlfriend has fibromyalgia, which affects her muscles… especially in her neck and shoulders. Hearing her describe the pain as someone shoving knives into her shoulder blades is a bit… disconcerting to say the least. My brain seemed to jump on the idea of, ‘what if that’s NOT what’s causing her pain?’. instantly responding to the question, ‘she’s an angel who’s had her wings removed, and this is the residual pain she’s feeling’. Thus, the idea of Mal came to mind.

Putting a buck in an author’s hat…

06/23/2018 / Mike / 0 Comments

Today’s topic is about reviews. The picture I’ve used is a review for one of my books. That single review is worth more to me than I can express. THAT is how I really get paid as an independent author. I’m not saying that the reviews have to be that good, either. An honest, one-star review, that takes the time to tell me ‘why’ I only deserve one star… can be just as valuable as the one over there.

They say that if a street performer makes you stop and watch them for any amount of time, you owe them a buck (who are THEY?). While I would be okay with this ‘rule’, I rarely get a chance to see anyone performing on the street here in rural north Idaho. A street performer is putting on a show, displaying what they’ve got to entertain you with. They don’t get to pop out a sign with a cool picture and a few words describing their routine and a promise to entertain… they just do what they do to entertain and get paid based on how entertaining they were.

Used and abused?

03/28/2018 / Mike / 0 Comments

I came across something strange today, and wanted to talk about it. While making sure my genre changes took affect on Mal-adaptive (it somehow found its way into the Horror category), I found that a copy of Unlimited was being offered used from another Amazon seller.

Needless to say, my first reaction was definitely a knee-jerk reaction. I’m not making any kind of commission from that sale! A bit affronted, I stopped to ask myself (and my girlfriend) what that meant.

Gettin’ old…

08/04/2017 / Mike / 0 Comments

Wednesday, I turned 45. My son told me, “You’re officially old now, dad.” He’s not known for his tact. In the vein of giving, I decided to share Mal-adaptive with everyone as my birthday gift.

Head on over to: http://mybook.to/MBMal , and it should take you to the correct version of Amazon, where you can download my book for free from August 4-6.

I hope you enjoy, and I also hope to share another book with you next year.