Episode 18 – Getting Noticed as a Writer

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In this episode we talk about the nature of getting noticed as a writer and what are the best methods of developing a career and income as a writer.

Alan and Dave talk about short fiction sales.

Then we go on to discuss the process of short story writing. What’s involved in making a short story good and how it differs from writing longer fiction.

Alan talks about Cat Sparks, her short fiction success and her transition to novel length work.

http://catsparks.net/

We talk about self-publishing short stories on Kindle as a way of building a broader base of available work.

Alan talks about the Dead Red Heart anthology from Ticonderoga Publications and the joy of being part of something bigger, in the form of an edited anthology.

http://ticonderogapublications.com/tp/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=126:dead-red-heart&catid=77:dead-red-heart&Itemid=97

Alan talks about making his short fiction available on his Dark Shorts page after its initial publication.

http://www.alanbaxteronline.com/dark-shorts

Is it better for authors to put as much work out there as possible to get noticed, or work on their profile directly? Lots of work or a lot of online noise? Or both?

Readers expect to know a bit about authors, so an online presence is essential. But an author needs a decent body of work as well.

The sudden, massive success story is not the norm! We mention Amanda Hocking and J A Konrath as examples.

The long tail and how good writing will endure. The legacy income.

Do we devalue our work if we give it away for nothing?

Feel free to comment or email with your thoughts!

Episode 17 – Lost Worlds

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In this episide we talk about Amazon rankings and April Hamilton’s guest blog on Alan’s site - http://www.alanbaxteronline.com/2011/01/03/age-publishing-guest-post-5-april-hamilton.html

We talk about the relationship between Amazon, publishers and indie authors.

Here's Alan’s blog post about Apple’s 30% cut controversy that we mention - http://www.alanbaxteronline.com/2011/02/02/apple-cake-eat.html

Dave talks about small press Seven Realms Publishing signing David Golemon, NYT Bestselling thriller author, for his new horror novel, The Supernaturals.

Dave winds Alan up about the possibility of Tom Cruise starring in the Guillermo Del Toro movie version of H P Lovecraft’s At The Mountains Of Madness.

Which leads us to lament all the great films Tom Cruise has spoiled with his presence.

We go on to talking about Lovecraft’s writing and Alan describes the basic premise of At The Mountains Of Madness.

Which leads us to talk about Lost Worlds and their popularity in thrillers and genre fiction.

We give examples of our favourite lost cities from various books and movies and discuss what drives people to write about them and why they are so compelling for readers.

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