I read this article from my friend Misha Burnett a few minutes ago and had to pass it along to my readers. Misha breaks down his dislike of the genre system and makes some brilliant points as to why it hurts more than helps. He’s going to be categorizing his fiction as Slipstream from now on, a word I admittedly have never heard in this context until tonight. I think the continued fracturing of genres is leading to a lot of unnecessary confusion. Source: If You Like It Then You Should Have Glued Some Gears On It | mishaburnett
Buying Your Way Onto The NY Times Bestsellers List
[Updated June 20, 2016] As a bestselling author, I’m often greeted initially with enthusiasm. “Oh! You’re a bestselling author? How cool!” – Most strangers I meet. Then they discover I’m an independent author who self-publishes, and their tone takes on a different characteristic. It’s what I like to call the “isn’t he cute” tone. Oh. You’re talking about Amazon. I thought you meant a real bestseller list.
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Whiskey, Wine, & Writing (& Me!)
Hello friends and readers! I had the great privilege of being interviewed by the beautiful people at Whiskey, Wine, & Writing last night on Google Hangouts. We covered everything from Self-Publishing to…MORE SELF-PUBLISHING! [What else did you think I’d be talking about? 🙂 ] If you get the chance, head on over to the link above and give it a watch. And since they took the time to make this awesome graphic (below), I’m going to share it even though the event is in the past. Cheers! Nat
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Link Globalization
[UPDATED – 7/22/2015] Did you know there is more than one Amazon.com store? Don’t worry. If you didn’t know there is an amazon.co.uk, or an amazon.de, or even an amazon.co.jp, you’re not alone. In fact, many are unaware there are at least 13 international Amazon storefronts. But until you’re aware of this (and do something about it) you may be sending potential customers to the wrong store, losing untold sales in the process! Link globalization is something you need to be aware of if you’re attempting to direct people to an Amazon storefront. If you give an Amazon.com link to someone in the UK or Australia, for example, that person will not be able to purchase the product you’ve linked without going through a lot …
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Self-Published Book Awards
Based on the email I received this morning from Writer’s Digest, it’s that time of year again. No, I’m not talking about Christmas! I’m talking about the time of year to decide whether you’re entering the annual Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards. I want to offer my perspective, since I participated in the 2014 award cycle. Frankly, I was rather disappointed with the result last year, and it wound up being a $100 (USD) experiment I won’t repeat. Full disclosure: I was not a finalist. However, that’s not my concern, and that’s not what’s driving me to share my experience. I assure you, the content of this article would be no different if I’d won the contest. All I want to do …
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Platform Building Primer
[UPDATED 8/16/2014] In a recent article I wrote that detailed the various lessons I learned from publishing my book Necromancer Awakening (now an Amazon Bestselling fantasy), I stated that having a platform is every bit as important as you’ve heard it is. Since that article was written, I’ve received countless questions asking me how I did it. In this article, I’ll show you some basic steps you can take to get started on building your own platform.
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Necromancer Awakening Appears On 4th Bestseller List
I just received amazing news from a friend! Necromancer Awakening has entered a 4th Amazon bestseller list (Sword & Sorcery Fantasy)! As you can see from the images, Necromancer Awakening is currently #13 on the Sword & Sorcery Fantasy bestseller list, and is also #7 on that category’s “Hot New Releases” list! This is a profound honor that I cannot even comprehend right now. When I glanced at this bestseller list, I saw names like George R.R. Martin, Terry Goodkind, Morgan Rice, Margaret Weiss. And somehow, Necromancer Awakening is ahead of them. These are names I’ve idolized. These are names I consider to be part of the pantheon of fantasy. Somehow, my name is appearing next to …
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Lessons Learned from 1000 Books
**Updated February 5, 2020** [Apologies for any poor formatting you come across. I imported this from another platform and I’m still sorting through WordPress idiosyncracies.] Having sold more than 1000 copies of Necromancer Awakening (my bestselling dark fantasy novel, now available on Amazon), I’d like to share some of my lessons learned about independent publishing. Some of them will delight you. Others will disturb you. I believe many will surprise you. Beware…many an exclamation mark lurks ahead. [Update – January 10, 2015: This article was posted less than a month after Necromancer Awakening was published. In the interests of transparency, nine months after publication, that sales number is somewhere around 20k and climbing (not including 2.5k I gave away for free).]
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Necromancer Awakening Breaks Into Top 25 Bestseller List
I woke up this morning with a text message from a friend waiting on my phone: “#25!” I can hardly believe it myself. One week after publication, Necromancer Awakening broke into the Amazon Top 25 Dark Fantasy Bestsellers list. Moreover, out of a half-million books on Amazon overall, Necromancer is currently ranked #5601! I can scarcely wrap my mind around it! I’m simply without the words to sufficiently express my gratitude to you all. Thank you so much for following my journey, from my first fledgling steps several years ago, to today…an Amazon bestseller. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you! I promise you this: I’ll do everything in my power to make sure book 2 (Necromancer Falling) …
