The Author Guy Blog

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...

  2 2 nd December 2023 Hello, out there, Welcome back. Today, I’ve been thinking about the expression “the reason for the season” as it pertains to Christmas. What about the inverse – when the season becomes the reason, moving from a noun derived from Scripture to an adjective associated with the last few weeks of the year? This time of year, for many or most of us, connotes a feeling that can reach in and touch the human spirit. As a novelist, I remain in awe of the Hallmark Channel’s ability to create a seemingly endless run of seasonally-themed movies, all essentially telling the same story with basically the same type of characters with the requisite happy ending in so many different versions. Yet it’s likely not the true meaning of Christmas (noun) that keeps viewers coming back for more, rather the sentimentality of the Christmas (adjective) spirt in each and every storyline. Not complaining, mind you. Rather wishing there was a way for this seasonal feeling of happiness and ...