Neil Ostroff's Blog – July 2013 Archive (10)

Success for a writer can be defined in many ways. For some, success can only be defined in monetary terms. For others, world-wide recognition and fame are the incentives. But every once in a while an unsolicited review from a total stranger can put all my time and effort into perspective.

This is one of them. New…

If you follow my blog, you know that recently my book DROP OUT  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005FX0K7U  was listed under bargain books on the website Ereader News Today. This was unlike any promotion I had done before. Instead of paying an upfront fee for the sponsorship, the website takes a small percentage of sales that come from…

 I recently had my first sit down interview with a magazine reporter and she asked me the question, “once an author indie publishes a book, how do they get that book noticed?”.

          I told the reporter the standard replies of using social networking and placing…

Great new review on Amazon. DROP OUT is really starting to take off. Thank you to all who have emailed me personally to tell me how the story has touched their lives. To read more about me and my books please check out my blog: ALWAYS WRITING …

I had my first sit down interview with a real magazine reporter the other day. I thought it went very well. Who knew I could talk about myself for two hours straight? haha



Rather than focus solely on my books, we talked about the indie publishing scene and how it is changing the traditional publishing game. I threw out a few good catch phrases like "Amazon.com is a book search engine and not a bookstore", and when asked…

          I was recently contacted by a prominent NY literary agency who shall remain nameless at this point, about possible representation. They got wind of me because of my constant promotional efforts and then explored a little deeper into the kinds of books that I write. They have not said they will definitely represent me but want to see more samples of my writing and my future…

         I’ve reach that much sought after and elusive milestone of finishing a book. My latest novel (my thirteenth to date) is now complete and awaiting a second read. This new novel took exactly one hundred and twenty-two days from first sentence until the final sentence.

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          Ebooks have surpassed regular books in sales for the first time ever! What does that mean to the 21st century writer? It means that the future of publishing is here! It means that the stigma of reading ebooks has passed. It means a world-wide audience can download a book in seconds. It also means we will probably soon be seeing the end of traditional bookstores.…

          Being a writer means experiencing dizzying highs and terrifying lows as a novel transforms from mere idea bubbling in the brain into reality on the page. There are times when you believe that everything you’ve written is total crap and there are times when a character reveals something or does something that you hadn’t expected and you find yourself on this emotional high. This…

          I’ve been contemplating the future of the author in today’s high technology society. What will become of us and the books we write? Will the paperback go the way of the compact disk and disappear forever? Will publishing houses dissolve into nonexistence the way most record labels have? Will a paperback book become a rare object of antique art? I don’t know. But one thing I do know…