The Author Guy Blog

30th August 2024 Hello out there, Welcome back. This morning, I re-read all of my weekly blogs going back to when I began in late November of last year. I realized they’re all about me, or mostly about me, and at first that was disconcerting and troubling. But then I remembered my commitment at the outset that my blog would be narrowly focused on my author journey and things in orbit in that self-styled galaxy. Make no mistake. I have opinions about a wide myriad of topics, especially current events, but I recognize opinions are like noses – everybody has one. I choose to keep my nose out of the galaxies of others. I read once that those who want to tell you all about their religion or politics don’t want to hear about yours. I believe that to be true. I won’t deny that coming up with weekly topics I think will interest to others is challenging, especially since other than my novels, I have nothing to promote or sell. But since mine is truly an author journey and not a destination, I w...

23rd August 2024 Hello out there, Welcome back. I made a decision 2 ½ years ago to stop watching television almost entirely, either traditional broadcasts or streaming services. My reasons are my own, and have everything to do with keeping my mind clear of their negative and damaging influence. I yearn for a time when the news was simply the news with no place for partisan “alternate facts.” I can’t change the polarization found across cable channels, so I choose not to be in their audience, but will watch home improvement or cooking shows with my wife. I will occasionally seek movie channels, and even then select away from almost everything except older fare, usually in black and white and more often than not based upon novels. This is because my writing is heavily dialogue-driven, and watching them become learning experiences. During the day, I devote my time to writing, publishing and book marketing and sales endeavors, as well as a myriad of other activities enabled by stepping off...

16th August 2024 Hello out there, Welcome back. While I was writing my first novel eleven years ago, I made a decision not to either seek agent representation or try to secure a place for my books with one of the Big Five. Here’s why. Mainstream publishers receive thousands of unsolicited manuscripts every year that will never be read. The only hope to break through this seemingly impenetrable barrier comes in one of two ways. Either a current author in the publisher’s stable advocates for the unknown author’s book, or the manuscript arrives with the endorsement of an agent with whom the publisher has an established relationship. My research revealed it could take years to secure an agent, and years after that for the agent to find a receptive publisher that enables the book to finally find its way into print and distribution. Those lengthy and uncertain timelines may work for others, but certainly wouldn’t work for me. I also learned that publishers will, on average, invest about six ...

9th August 2024 Hello out there, Welcome back. Since my author journey began eleven years ago, I’ve been a relentless student of both the craft of fiction writing and the business of marketing and selling books. One marketing endeavor has never made sense to me in terms of an acceptable ROIT — return on (the author’s) invested time. That endeavor is book readings/signings. I have so much to learn that I try to attend as many author presentations as I can when they come to our university town. My time investment is always satisfied if I come away with just one new tidbit of knowledge or insight, and I almost always do. But what about the authors? Even those who are household names may only draw a few hundred readers to an event, and these “name” authors are often paid substantial appearance fees because, if travel is involved, event book sales alone to every attendee wouldn’t even begin to cover expenses. I recently attended an author event at the library in my home town – the third lar...

2nd Aug 2024 Hello out there, Welcome back. Today I’m going to recommend a book by another author, and this one comes as a surprise to me. There have been numerous times when I’ve struggled to finish books that have become mega-bestsellers, and two come readily to mind. The first is  Where the Crawdads Sing . I started, stopped and re-started probably a dozen times before closing the book for the last time at the last page. The second was  The Gentleman from Moscow  by NYTimes bestselling author Amor Towles, and I confess I never did finish it. Yet it is his latest book I’m recommending without hesitation or reservation. The 2024 book is entitled  Table for Two . I purchased it based upon a review I read (in the Wall Street Journal, I think). It is comprised of six short stories, all set in New York City and averaging thirty-five or so pages each, and a short (two hundred pages) novel set in Los Angeles. The stories are intriguing and captivating, the characters beli...