A couple of weeks ago, Jeff Cohen posted about his Chemo Promo Conundrum. The core situation he described—an author confronting the problem of having to promote their books—is a common problem, I think, made immeasurably harder for Jeff because he’s going through...
Last weekend, I read this essay in The Guardian when it was shared by novelist Steve Mosby. Despite it being published on April 1, it does not appear to be an April Fool’s joke. The Guardian’s April Fool’s story is here. The thing that jumped out at...
I believe that there are two kinds of people in the world: words people and numbers people. Thankfully, being one doesn’t preclude you using the other, but if you’re more comfy with one or the other, stepping outside that comfort zone can require some...
My father was writing his Master’s Thesis about WB Yeats when I was born, and this, combined with our Irish family history, led to my being named after Ireland. When I was growing up, Erin was an unusual name; I was well grown before I met another Erin. I moved to...
In March, many of you are heading for Honolulu for Left Coast Crime. Since I grew up there, I wanted to share some “insider” tips… Speaking of Tips… Living in Hawaii is expensive. VERY expensive. When tipping, keep in mind that the people serving you are...
Have you noticed (I know you have) a plethora of Facebook posts lately that have a line at the end asking you not to share the post, but to copy and paste it? Sometimes it includes an “explanation” that the audience will be larger if you copy-paste rather than share....
I’ve seen a lot of authors lately seeming to wonder whether their efforts are worth it. So let me tell you a little bit about yourself, from the perspective of a reader who is lucky enough to help connect books and readers… You are an author. A writer, a...
Once upon a time, before email existed, we used to write letters, memos, and postcards. Letters and memos could be kept private in regular or inter-office envelopes, but postcards were different. They could be–and often were–read by anyone who happened on...
