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Day 4 and 5 of Does a Free Kindle Promotion Work?

August 28, 2012

(Sorry for the lack of an update yesterday. No excuses. I just forgot) Some of you may have caught wind of the I Didn’t Mean to be Kevin free Kindle giveaway that is currently going on now through August 28th. What you may not know is that I am also planning to post details about the giveaway—details such as the giveaway totals and the tactics I used to make people aware of the giveaway—every evening here on my blog as part of my Book Marketing Tests and Studies category. This post serves as the fourth and fifth in the 5(ish) part series. For full details about the test, see the first post here. Day 4 tactics 10:57 am: Sent tweet using my personal account, and my literary news aggregator account. 12:03 pm: Sent tweet using my personal account, and my literary news aggregator account focusing on my daily documenting of this kindle giveaway (rather…

I read my story Petty Injuries at The Next Best Book Blog.

August 27, 2012

Ever wanted to hear my very first published short story, Petty Injuries, read out loud by me? No? Well then don’t head over to TNBBC’s The Next Best Book Blog today. I have to admit, without sounding full of myself I hope, that this story still works damn well, even though I wrote it in 2006. I’m still very, very proud of it. That’s something that I’ve always had as a goal for myself, that if I have my name attached to something, I would forever be proud of it. Click to listen to me read Petty Injuries. Let it work on you. Use it as ambiance to your daily minutea.

Getting the Signed Book – How the Hula Girl Sings by Joe Meno (Video Blog ep 025)

August 25, 2012

Hear the amazing, mostly made up story of how I got my copy of Joe Meno’s How the Hula Girl Sings signed by the author during the 2004 Association of Writers and Writing Projects conference in Chicago, IL. You’ll hear the first-hand account of how I knew Meno as a musician first and an author second, why I should be more sensitive to Hula throat issues, and why Joe Meno owes me a royalty check.

Review of Windeye by Brian Evenson (Video Blog ep 024)

August 18, 2012

I’ve never hidden my love for the work of Brian Evenson. In fact, overly enthusiastic may be a good way to describe my infatuation. His stories are like none other, both in concept and execution. So, know that this review of Windeye, Evenson’s latest story collection, comes to you with a deep history of appreciation. You aren’t getting a first-time reader here. You are getting a fan’s true perspective. With that being said, WHAT A DAMN FINE BOOK!

Watch book-related videos, win something cool.

August 16, 2012

As I get more and more into this YouTube channel thing, I’m starting to understand more about the YouTube community. One thing I’ve noticed is that when channels hit subscriber milestones (100 subscribers, 500 subscribers, etc.) they do something special as a way to say thank you. So, I’m going to do just that. I currently have 75 subscribers. Once I hit 100 subscribers I am going to give something away to one randomly chosen subscriber. What will that giveaway be? Not sure yet, but I promise it will be good and it will be made by my very own hands. I generally err on the side of handmade slipcases and a copy of one of my books, but who knows, maybe I’ll do more. Here's how it will work: You MUST be a subscriber to my YouTube channel. Once I hit 100 subscribers I'll make a video outlining the…

Getting the Signed Book – Freedom by Jonathan Franzen (Video Blog ep 023)

August 12, 2012

Hear the amazing, 100% true(ish) story of how I got my copy of Jonathan Franzen’s Freedom signed by the author during an author reading in Kansas City on September 22, 2010. You’ll hear the first-hand account of my bravery in the face of an elderly security guard, the strength of punches needed to take babies down, and why I’m glad Franzen is an author rather than a professional investment broker.

Video Book Review of Um: Slips, Stumbles, and Verbal Blunders and What They Mean by Michael Erard (Video Blog ep 022)

August 4, 2012

I’ve realized during my few months of video-making, along with my previous couple of years making podcasts, that I tend to break apart my speech with ums, uhs, ers, ahhs, and every other sort of cerebral flatus out there. A desire to break away from so many speech errors is one of the reasons I picked up Michael Erard’s book Um: Slips, Stumbles, and Verbal Blunders and What They Mean. My thinking was that if I could understand why I flub my words, then I could eventually eradicate those flubs. I’m likely beyond help, but at least this book did teach me that speech blunders are perhaps less something that needs to be cleaned away, and more something that we all need to approach differently. Speech errors aren’t, by themselves, errors at all. Instead, what’s important is measuring speech disfluency from a baseline. Think of reading ums and uhs as…