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Jan31
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“I believe self-publishing should be a last resort. I think authors should try to get agents and get published traditionally. They need editors to help them grow and improve,” writes M.J. Rose, addressing her unusual journey to publication.
In 1997, Rose took that last resort. She wrote an erotic, intelligent book called Lip Service, but nobody wanted to publish it. Rose took a giant risk with self-published e-books, drawing on her former career in marketing and the growing Internet communities to establish her name. The book sold 2,500 copies, and Rose landed her first book deal.
Since then, Rose has built her career on top of countless web platforms, including: breaking e-book sales records with her first novel, a virtual book tour that weaved between different blogs, and video trailers to sell her most recent novels.
For all these reasons, M.J. Rose was the perfect subject for my new, deceptively simple feature: Five Easy Questions. In the spirit of Jack Nicholson’s mad piano player, I run a weekly set of quality interviews with writing pioneers--delivering some practical, unexpected advice about web publishing...
Jason Boog:
What are the best tools for a fledgling writer to build a web footprint (i.e., which blogging platforms, editing programs, or search engines do you recommend)?
M.J. Rose:
Look into my marketing service, Authorbuzz.com. Its a fast and easy way to reach over 300,000 readers, 1200 booksellers and 10,000 librarians.
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Jan30
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M.J. Rose’s blog opens with a modest reminder for fledgling writers: “There are over 195,000 books published a year and they can't all get reviews in the New York Times Book Review.” Nevertheless, this buzz-attracting lady has written six novels...
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Jan26
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Last night, I watched La Jetee, a gorgeous French movie by Chris Marker. It's a science fiction story about a man forced to travel backwards and forwards in time in order to steal things. Marker used still shots instead of...
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Despite my fleet of shipwreck metaphors over The Great Washington Post Comments Section Debacle, an observant reader pointed out that my own email address is not readily available for readers who wish to comment to me. So, without further ado,...
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Jan25
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Yesterday, my affiliate network, Know More Media, officially launched this blog with My Very First Press Release. They also installed a spiffy flash ad for my writing site, "The Jason Boog Show" in the corner over there. While coping with...
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Jan24
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Yesterday, I spent some time with Tom Evslin, a pioneering figure in the development of the Internet, a "serial CEO," and most recently, novelist. Evslin released his serialized online murder mystery, Hackoff.com, in handy audio and web formats, months before...
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Jan23
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Before I even started to dole out publishing advice, Tom Evslin had already founded a lucrative tech company, guided AT&T’s first Internet service, designed email products for Microsoft, and earned five U.S. patents. As if that wasn’t enough, Evslin decided...
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Jan20
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Everybody was talking about search engines this week, from the Washington Post to Publish (featuring an interview with web superhero, John Battelle). While this is a crucial juncture for privacy issues and Internet law, writers cannot ignore these powerful tools. ...
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Jan19
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Lagging just behind the curve once again, I just stumbled into Tom Evslin's serialized online murder mystery, Hackoff.com via M.J. Rose's blog. A blend of Internet references, hardboiled dialogue, and smart Blook-powered organization, Hackoff.com might become the standard for...
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Jan18
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Every November, thousands of writers bang out 50,000 words in a single month during "National Novel Writing Month" (NaNoWriMo), an international writing marathon staged on the Internet. I participated last year, working alongside this crazy Brooklyn crew that included two...
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Jan17
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Today is a busy day, so I'll let my friends do the work...Most importantly, everybody needs to start reading the "Online Media, Week In Review" feature written by Ziff Davis editor, Stephen Bryant. Stephen taught me almost everything I know...
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Jan16
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Over the weekend, Rex Hammock over at Rex Blog had, as usual, this pithy nugget of publishing wisdom. He wrote: "A blog is one of many ways I communicate. If I were a carpenter and I used a hammer in...
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Jan13
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Earlier this week, the best-selling author and Buzz, Balls & Hype blogger, M.J. Rose, wrote a podcasting manifesto that every aspiring and practicing writer should read. After tearing her hair over the miserable state of audiobooks, Rose made this simple...
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Jan12
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I just finished reading this post by Steve Rubel, the blogger who runs Micro Persuasion—one of the top media and public relations blogs going. He makes a really important point:“[I]t becomes a lot harder to find active communities when you're...
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Jan11
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Via Jeff VanderMeer's stellar blog, VanderWorld, I just found out some late-breaking news about a publishing conference at Florida State University this weekend. If you happen to be nearby, check out Other Words: A Conference of Literary Magazines and Independent...
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Jan10
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In the past, songs, stories, and movies were traded illegally between groups of friends on the Internet. Web analyst J.D. Lasica calls these small-scale clusters of file-sharing groups Darknets. Many content producing companies spend thousands of dollars a year trying...
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