For book/ebook authors, publishers, & self-publishers
Happy Thanksgiving to all! That said, I have to tell you
that since I’m in the service industry, I work every Thanksgiving. So today,
black Friday, is my day to celebrate. Oh it’ll be a hoot. Got the family coming
over, got friends of the kids stopping by, got lots of food and drink. By the
time most of you read this I’m going to be knee-deep in overindulgence. But for
now, I must write. This post is only the beginning of about two hours I’ve set
aside this morning to…
Added by Neil Ostroff on November 25, 2011 at 8:47am — No Comments
So, you married yourself a writer, eh? You bought into the
romantic notion of the two of you sitting fireside, you drinking a glass of
pinot noir while your significant other sits beside you writing the next great
American novel. The only sound is the crackling fire and the tapping of their
keyboard. Every once in a while your significant other looks up from their
masterpiece and flashes you a smile that makes you feel like you’re the most
special person in the world.…
Added by Neil Ostroff on November 22, 2011 at 1:06pm — No Comments
Got a new book coming out next week and I must say it’s a
great feeling. Not because I finished another book, but because I finished a
book that I started writing in 1997. As I slowly weed through more than two
decades of manuscripts, there’s a certain joy that comes each time one is
finally declared “finished”. Even as I re-read the manuscript for the
thousandth time, I could still picture myself fourteen years ago, sitting
upstairs in my sweltering bedroom…
Added by Neil Ostroff on November 21, 2011 at 2:00pm — No Comments
Please check out my latest interview.
http://susanwhitfield.blogspot.com/2011/11/neil-ostroffs-insectland.html
Added by Neil Ostroff on November 17, 2011 at 1:56pm — No Comments
Home from vacation and looking forward to working sixty
hours in the next six days… not! There are many reasons why people attempt to,
or actually do, write a book. Some are for purely egotistical reasons: money,
fame, the adulation of pretty girls and boys. Some people write books because
they feel they have a story to tell the world, whether it’s fiction or
non-fiction. Some people write stories purely for the joy, and care little if
no one else but family members…
Added by Neil Ostroff on November 10, 2011 at 1:32pm — No Comments
I’m sitting on the dock this morning, my fishing rod baited
with a shrimp and hoping to catch some lunch when a strange thought occurred to
me. Fishing and becoming a successful author are similar activities. Except
when you’re fishing, you use bait to catch stuff and when you’re a writer you
use your books to try and catch something, that something being an agent,
publisher, or audience. The analogy expounds even further. With fishing, the
quality of bait is…
Added by Neil Ostroff on November 5, 2011 at 2:30pm — No Comments
As readers of my blog know, I am currently on vacation in the Florida Keys while my step-kids are at our house up north. The Keys is and was home to many famous artists and writers including its most notable resident, Earnest Hemmingway. Hemmingway lived and fished here, and wrote some of his most memorable novels in this tropical paradise. So, how has my own writing been going? I must admit the scenery is breathtaking and watching the sunsets really does get the creative juices flowing. But…
ContinueAdded by Neil Ostroff on November 4, 2011 at 1:00pm — No Comments
As I write this I am on vacation. Yes, vacation. That
magical two weeks a year when you leave your cares behind and head off into the
sunset. In my case, this is Key West Florida. It’s beautiful! Right now it’s 82
degrees and sunny with low humidity. I watched the recent snowstorm in the
northeast on television and thanked my lucky stars that I left Pennsylvania two
days before it hit. I do write on vacation, usually in the morning before the
high heat of the day sets…
Added by Neil Ostroff on November 2, 2011 at 12:55pm — No Comments
I’ve been doing a lot of marketing/promotion lately for my
books and have come up with a “must-be-on” list for writers who want to promote
their books. These website provide free services that can really get your books
noticed. There are many other sites out there but I highly recommend you
concentrate your marketing efforts on these. Did I mention that they are…
Added by Neil Ostroff on October 25, 2011 at 9:04am — No Comments
I work at a country Inn rumored to be
haunted. And I’m not just saying that. The Inn has been
written up in books about haunted places and actual ghost hunters have spent
nights trying to capture on film inhabitants of the great beyond. One of more
frequent questions I get asked by people who know the Inn’s
history is if I have ever seen anything out of the ordinary? Now, I’m at the
Inn late at night, I’ve done inventory in the “haunted” wine cellar at two…
Added by Neil Ostroff on October 23, 2011 at 12:30am — No Comments
Just a quick post before I spend my weekend working at my
job and this little piece of promotion disappears into cyberspace. If you’re an
indie writer and have a book to sell than check out the site below, Indie
Snippets. They have a pretty good base of readers and having my books placed
there has increased traffic to my book sites. I think they’re a little
backlogged right now, but take a moment to fill out their submission form. It’s
free, and free is always…
Added by Neil Ostroff on October 21, 2011 at 10:38am — No Comments
Lately, I’ve been blogging about memories, life experiences,
writing, my take on the publishing industry, etc. So, today I’ve decide to do
some good ole’ fashioned promotion. My latest three books, all released in the
last year, are now available for just $1.25. As I mentioned in a previous post,
although these books all came out around the same few months, they took more
than a decade for me to consider them finished. They all have been
professionally edited,…
Added by Neil Ostroff on October 20, 2011 at 9:57am — No Comments
I’ve been pondering the notion of my books one day going
viral and selling millions of copies. I’ve been pondering how much my life
would change and what I would do with my time if I didn’t have to work at a
conventional job anymore. Of course, I would still write books, that’s a given,
but what else would I do with my time? I guess it depends on the amount of
sales. A million copies sold would allow me to live a life of ease, but if
you’re talking in the millions,…
Added by Neil Ostroff on October 18, 2011 at 2:01pm — No Comments
I dreamt of my dog last night. It has been exactly six
months since I made that awful decision to put him down. He was deaf, crippled,
and going blind. I had spent the last months of his life in denial of his
condition and constantly cleaning up his incontinence. When I went to work I
would have to line the floor with newspaper and still would come home to
messes. Finally, when all he could do was eat, sleep, and spin in circles, I
decided it was time. It took…
Added by Neil Ostroff on October 17, 2011 at 9:19am — No Comments
Once again, I’ve made the cardinal sin of trying to market
my books on forums and threads, and once again, a bunch of people are sending
me nasty replies. Which is fine if these forums and threads had a policy of no
author marketing, but they don’t. I learned early on that trying to post of
those sites gets you a base of enemies real fast. But what still confuses me is
the length that some people will go to, to make you feel bad for even trying to
distribute your…
Added by Neil Ostroff on October 14, 2011 at 9:15am — No Comments
I’ve been wondering how long it really takes for an author
to write a book. I’m not talking about a first draft, I’m talking about the
point where an author says “done!” and then sends it off to the publisher or
agent. For me, it usually takes about six months to write a draft worthy of
revision. But to consider the manuscript completed it takes a lot longer. Since
all of my books have been through the ringer with agents, editors, and
publishers and I’ve used their…
Added by Neil Ostroff on October 12, 2011 at 1:14pm — 1 Comment
Tis the season to be spooky. That said, AFTER is now half
price for the Halloween season. Many of you read my article on pricing and I
received many comments both good and bad about lowering the price of my books
and the perceived worth of the material inside. I believe that by temporarily
lowering the price of my books I will be able to generate a larger audience who
will appreciate a good, original story and want to check out more of my stuff.
If you haven’t checked…
Added by Neil Ostroff on October 10, 2011 at 12:56pm — No Comments
In earlier posts, I’ve often said that I think the 99 cent price on Kindle books seem to cheapen the worth of the book. Now, I’m not reversing that conviction completely, but what I will say is that 99 cent books
appear to be selling many more copies than those books priced just a few
dollars higher. Why? Let’s put it in terms of a used bookstore that has a rack
of books for 99 cents and a rack of books for three dollars. As a reader, which
shelf are you likely to check out…
Added by Neil Ostroff on October 5, 2011 at 1:05pm — No Comments
My father always told me that it's okay to make mistakes, it's how you
learn. Well, I'm about to tell you the mistakes I've learned while marketing
and promoting my books so that you don't have to go through the same things
when you market and promote your books. I'll put them in list form so it's
easier to digest.
Number 1. When posting on forums don't just promote yourself with no other
redeeming information. When I first started out I'd post summaries…
Added by Neil Ostroff on October 1, 2011 at 9:43am — No Comments
INSECTLAND is now available nationwide! This week will be spent marketing
and promoting. I have several hundred people on various websites and forums
that are anticipating this book. Hopefully, it will reflect in the sales. If
you're looking to read a story like no other, than this book is for you. Please
check it out. Thanks.
INSECTLAND
Be frightened! Be very frightened!
Tiny, dragon-like creatures hiding in our homes are going to harm us. They…
ContinueAdded by Neil Ostroff on September 26, 2011 at 4:00pm — No Comments
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