In this episode I examine two examples of book design: the die-cut cover and the photo finish (or ImageWrap) while touching on the the embossed hardcover. Examples include Denis Johnson's Nobody Move, Chuck Palahniuk's Rant, Donna Tartt's The Little Friend, Tim Etchells' The Broken World, Brian Evenson's Baby Leg, and Will Christopher Baer's Hell's Half Acre.
Easter Eggs, you know, those hidden references in movies, books, websites, and more that aren't necessary but are damn fun in a treasure hunt sort of way. I planted a few (13 to be exact) in my newest novel, I Didn't Mean to be Kevin. In this, part 4 (of4), I reveal references to Chuck Palahniuk (Fight Club) and Geoffrey…
Just live, late, late last night, a new post over at Phil Jourdan's Slothrop blog. Writer’s block has nothing to do with motivation (if the story is working, you’ll have plenty of motivation). It has nothing to do with a weak plot (plenty of great books are weak on plot; The Great Gatsby is “guy moves into a house next to rich…
UPDATE: The results of this annoying link test can be found by clicking here (If you got to this page via an annoying social media or blog comment link, keep reading. This is all for the sake of science.) I’m a data nerd. I’ve gone record stating such, and I’ll go on record again. Something about seeing charts and graphs…
Logically, grotesque noir can be defined by a mashup of the traits that define grotesque and noir separately, so perhaps we can best define the combined term by investigating the individual components. What is noir fiction? Noir fiction is not so much a genre as it is an overlay to existing genres. Most people probably think of early black and…
For those of you not in the know, LitReactor is a writer-focus site spawned by the minds behind ChuckPalahniuk.net, the official Chuck Palahniuk site. The site has received some high-praise not only from the writers who've come together to make up the blood of the community, but even Huffington Post has come out to offer a few kind words. Having…
(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.