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Posts By Caleb J. Ross

began writing his sophomore year of undergrad study when, tired of the formal art education then being taught, he abandoned the pursuit in the middle of a compositional drawing class. Major-less and fearful of losing his financial aid, he signed up to seek a degree in English Literature for no other reason than his lengthy history with the language. Coincidentally, this decision not only introduced him to writing but to reading as well. Prior this transition he had read three books. One of which he understood.

Episode 017: Flash fiction is not as sexy as it sounds

BananaFlash [powerpress] Fresh off of his announcement of a contest in which he will challenge any writer of crime flash fiction in a monetarily-prized writing battle, Pablo D’Stair explores with Caleb J. Ross the impetus to his denouncement of the abbreviated medium and what exactly it is about the flash form that has elicited such a reaction. Caleb J. Ross (I Didn’t Mean to be Kevin, As a Machine and Parts) and Pablo D’Stair (they say the owl was a baker’s daughter: four existential noirs, you’re dead and i killed you: a conversational anthology of crime, noir, and murder) discuss the idea of flash fiction, particularly how it speaks to the writer’s ego, perhaps more than it does a reader’s interest.

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I lost $ 75.48 on a Facebook ad campaign, and you can too! -OR- Can Facebook ads sell books? Quick answer: no. Long answer: noooooooooooooooo.

(part of my ongoing Search Engine Optimization for Authors series[ref]I understand that paid search ads aren’t traditionally umbrellaed under search engine optimization. However, because tracking and optimization is involved, I’m including it in the series[/ref]) Part of being a great author-marketer is knowing how to filter promotion time wastes from time worthwhiles. Some options are simple to filter. “Should I do a Goodreads.com giveaway to attract potential readers?” Yes (all it costs is the price of a few copies of a book to receive interest from hundreds of readers). “Should I rent a billboard for a month?” No (billboards offer either 1) travel-oriented products/services or 2) products with a high profit margin). Some options aren’t so simple. And in the case of the Facebook ad, prominence adds to the should I or shouldn’t I debate. Well, I’m here to help.

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How can authors use Google Analytics Events Tracking to understand their readers?

How many times did readers download your sample chapters? How many times did readers view your new book trailer? How many times did your website visitors click a button to buy one of your books? How many times did someone click a link to read one of your stories posted at another website? All of these items can be tracked using Event Tracking in Google Analytics. What is Event Tracking? I’ll leave the details up to Google itself, but for our purposes think of Event Tracking as a second, deeper level of website analytics. Most of you are probably using your analytics program primarily to track how users interact with your website on a macro level (how many visits, most popular pages, how long visitors stay, etc). Event Tracking allows a micro level of tracking, where actual clicks and downloads on specific pages can be tracked. Anywhere a user can click, Event Tracking can be used. Let’s look at an example that an author could definitely use.

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Choosing the right blogging platform for an author: it’s all about scripts and Google Analytics.

(Announcing a new post category: Search Engine Optimization for Authors. Well, it’s new in that I’ve finally given a name to it, but as you can see by clicking over to the category, there are a few past posts that fit within this category) If you’ve read Christina Katz’s fantastic Get Known Before the Book Deal, or have been at all concerned about building that illusive “platform” so many industry types talk about then either 1) you are an author with a career somewhere between beginning and burgeoning, or 2) you’re interested in the publishing industry for slightly different, though I’m sure equally masochistic, reasons. Either way, one of the cornerstones of author presence in our Web 2.0 world (aren’t we at Web 2.1 yet, at least?) is the blog. Despite its cornerstone status, many authors aren’t sure where to begin. Or worse, they take the leap into bloggery without considering how to leverage such a forum for their own career goals (okay, time to put on the Purina checkerboard slacks, you sleazy salesman).

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Bart Simpson and Little Women

(part of my ongoing Unexpected Literary References series) Though the wonderful Pablo D'Stair recently called me out on the possible inaccuracy of calling this series "unexpected" literary references, I'm too far in to change the name (re: too lazy to change the name). And this latest find, from last week's episode of The Simpsons, does not help defend any point I may have had about the unexpectedness of lit references in cartoons. Perhaps the series should be called "Great Unexpected Literary References For Those Who Don't Watch Much TV But Also Don't Read Much So Therefore Probably Only Bake Cookies And Make Crafts With Hot Glue Guns." In this episode (S23E7 – "The Man in the Blue Flannel Pants") Bart learns that he actually enjoys reading, and in doing so must hide his new love from Nelson and the rest of the bullies. Why is this reference blog worthy? First, I'm…

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