Here I chew, swallow, and every-so-often successfully digest various aspects of the writer’s life, from rejection to success, sober to drunk. The World’s First Author Podcast is for writers looking for a bit of navigation through the increasingly fractured path to publishing success…maybe.
The wonderful guys at Booked Podcast are conducting a marathon series of interviews with the contributors to Warmed and Bound story collection. I am lucky enough to have appeared at their podcast once before, so coming back feels more like a stop back to hang out than an actual interview in which I am trying to sell a book. They've got an enormous number of authors lined up, so please check back there often for more Warmed and Bound-ery.
Yes, another episode about the role of the whore personality among the writer's many bank of guises. This time, I approach the idea that perhaps an author shouldn't take the largest advance offered to him. What does such a gesture mean in terms of the author's career? When is it okay to take whatever money you've been given and run? Show Notes and Mentions: Paris and the Hiltons, and project mastermind Phil Jourdan The other contributors: Gordon Highland, Richard Thomas, Michael Gonzalez, Brandon Tietz, and Michael Sonbert Denis Dutton, The Art Instinct: Beauty, Pleasure, and Human Evolution photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/stuckincustoms/
This week I talk about the necessary entrepreneurial spirit of the contemporary author. I know; “boooooooooo” you say. Me too. But the fact is that publishers, even (perhaps especially) independent and small press publishers are relying more and more on the marketing savvy of the author. Is this fair? Probably not. Is it the reality? Definitely yes. Show Notes and Mentions: Ebooks: the latest frontier for spam (via The Guardian) E singles by Axel Taiari and Richard Thomas Broadcastr Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rainerebert/
Authors, you have to promote yourself. You can’t avoid it. But you can reinterpret what “promotion” means. Gone should be the negative connotations and skewed associations. Promotion should be embraced. At its core, promotion is simply a way to get readers to you books. As an author, you want people to read your books, right? No. Oh. Then go write a diary and quit muddying the waters for the rest of us! Show Notes and Mentions: Outsider Writers Collective Goodreads.com / Redroom.com The Stranger Will Tour for Strange blog tour Listen to The Art and Authenticity of Social Media: Using Online Tools to Grow a Community (from the AWP Conference, February 2011) photo credit: Chris Devers
Fresh from episode zero comes episode one. See, I'm good at math. Here I talk a bit about the importance of a writer to claim ownership of his/her location. Too many writers, especially newer writers, still equate capital-P Publishing with the East coast (in the US, anyway). The problem with limiting scope to the coast is that it doesn't allow writers to understand their existing context. In fact, I would say that it takes a better writer to leech from barren landscape. Anyone can siphon material from a crowded city. Show Notes:
Welcome to the world’s first blog post of the world’s first episode of The World’s First Author Podcast. For those who have somehow found your way here via anything other than my homepage, let me introduce myself. My name is Caleb J. Ross. I am an author of fiction, a bit of non-fiction, a couple of novels (Stranger Will, I Didn’t Mean to be Kevin), and perhaps one day a manifesto of some sort. I’m thinking I might go with 200 pages on the virtues of seasoned meat stuffed Greek sandwiches. I call it a Pitaco. Cookbooks and books about merging culture always sell. This episode zero is basically a kick-start to what I hope to be a long and mutually beneficial podcast series. You, the listener, maybe get a nice lull to sleep and I, the talking, get to pretend you are listening. Win win. Take a quick listen.…