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What is the value of a Goodreads.com book Giveaway? 93% of entrants had never heard of me. 88% plan on reading my books.

February 25, 2012

Does giving away your books lead to more readers, and in turn, more fans? I’ve long read of the marketing effectiveness of giving away books using the Giveaways option at Goodreads.com. And though I’ve conducted one giveaway in the past (for Stranger Will) I’ve not yet been able to confidently attribute any gains in readership or sales due to that giveaway. With this attribution gap in mind, I set out to conduct a giveaway for As a Machine and Parts, that would allow me to more precisely measure the value of a Goodreads.com user. My conclusion: a Goodreads.com user stands a great chance of becoming a reader. The setup I listed a 2 copy giveaway for As a Machine and Parts to take place between 2/3/2012 and 2/15/2012. During this time the giveaway received a total of 398 entries. After the giveaway was closed for entries, I followed up with…

Family Guy does Stephen King, X3

February 16, 2012

(part of my ongoing Unexpected Literary References series) Yet another Family Guy take on something Stephen King, this time with parodies of three movie adaptations of King works: Stand by Me (based on the novella The Body), Misery (based on the novel of the same name), and The Shawshank Redemption (based on the novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption). Peter: Hi, it's me, Peter. Your TV cartoon pal. You know, Lois has been bitching lately that I watch too much TV and don't read enough books. So I went to the library and picked up three books by the greatest author in the last thousand years: Stephen King, and tonight, I'd like to share them with you. Click over the the episode's IMDB page to see a clip.

That great writer, Harry Potter, so says Stan

February 15, 2012

Here's a quick one for the Unexpected Literary References list. From American Dad, Season 2 : Ep. 14: An Apocalypse to Remember Hayley: There's no such thing as mutants because the world didn't end. Steve: You lied to us, Dad? Stan: Oh, I tell a great story and I'm a liar, but Harry Potter does it, and he's your favorite writer.

Book Metadata. Let the Algorithm Sell Your Books For You. A Primer.

February 11, 2012

There’s a rule when it comes to search engine optimization: Content is King. Basically, this means that above everything else—all the link building, code tweaking, and social networking—the most important factor of any well-optimized web presence is the content itself. What good is your website without compelling content? And without compelling content, how can you expect other websites to link back to yours? I would go so far as to suggest the rule should be Content is God, but then we lose out on the lovely alliteration. But the Content is King rule governs everything, not just your website or social profiles. Your books themselves actually contain Kingable Content that can be tweaked and optimized for marketing benefits. I’m not suggesting that you to manipulate your book’s words for the sake of search engines; that would be [keyword]ing+<h1>stupid</h1>. Rather, I’m here to clue you in to an area of underutilized…

How can a happenstance bucket list lead to compelling characters?

February 8, 2012

Bucket lists are generally grandiose compilations of big events with universal appear. So, you want to swim with the dolphins and go cave spelunking in Chile? Well, who the hell doesn’t want to do those things? Big events do not a compelling character make. I believe I’ve taken the bucket list concept to a much more satisfying place, one that celebrates happenstance and relative minutiae rather than expensive plane tickets and vacation photo fodder. For a long time, I’ve been paying attention to the unique moments of my life, ones that more often than not seem to materialize without any provocation, but that are nonetheless sources of pride. Here are a few examples of the accomplishments on my bucket list: Free alcohol drinks on an airplane (described here) Witness a light bulb burning out Make a day-stranger friend in an unfamiliar city (adapted to the non-fiction piece “A Chinese Gemini”…

A Taste of Philosophies to Come. Further Thoughts on Writing and Publishing.

February 7, 2012

Earlier this afternoon Pablo D’Stair, as he is apt to do, asked some questions that made me evaluate my writing in way that I haven’t before. Not deeper, necessarily. Just different. I won’t copy the questions and answers verbatim here—as I believe Pablo has something planned for the full discussion—but I don’t think he’ll mind if I mull over a few of the topics for a bit. Literary and Genre Do you think of what you do as “genre” writing and if so or if not, do you see a difference (and what is it) between writing termed genre and writing termed literary? In common use “genre” equates fiction created to entertain while “literary” refers to fiction created to enlighten. Here’s where the dispute originates, in that the differences are with intent rather than the end product. When something cannot be judged 100% objectively, there’s going to be disagreement. Hell,…

Subscribe to this blog with your Kindle? Yep.

February 6, 2012

Wow, the future is a crazy place. Word on the cyber-spacial street is that this blog, The World's First Author Blog, is now available as a subscription via your Kindle. While you are at it, plug into the Outsider Writers Collective blog, too. Click here to subscribe to www.CalebJRoss.com Click here to subscribe to www.outsiderwriters.org