The Black Hat Riddle Bewares Writing

There are serious problems in publishing right now with black hat authors. Nobody is talking about it either, because the cost of speaking out is simply too great. Scammers are increasingly litigious. Dirty tricks abound. White hat writers are suffering in other ways too as readers come to mistrust any name unknown to them, and the only entity with enough power to enforce any kind of justice doesn’t like going on patrol. But maybe there is something else we can do.

My first introduction to the concept of black hats and white hats was not via cowboy movies – I am not American and my own cultural milieu was less focused on that… frontier – but from Philosophy classes as a college student. Particularly what is known as the Hat Riddle (or the Prisoner Hat Riddle).

There are many variations, but in the version I heard, four cowboys – two wearing black hats and two wearing white hats – are captured by banditos who decide to have a little fun with them. They bury the cowboys up to their necks in sand so they can’t move or even turn their heads. The banditos swap their hats around so each cowboy doesn’t know which color hat they are wearing. And then they are asked to guess… and if they get it wrong, they die. Read More…

7 Ways To Market Books For Children Marketing Publishing Resources Writing

When I discovered self-publishing back in 2010 it was, as for many, a dream come true after the familiar cycle of sending out manuscripts only to get a rejection six or seven weeks later. At last I would be able to get my children’s stories out and take the world by storm!

Except, of course, it doesn’t work like that…

As we all know, books don’t sell themselves and Amazon and the other platforms (not to mention bricks and mortar bookshops) won’t sell our books without our help. Of course, a great story, great cover, compelling blurb, appropriate metadata and category selection are all critical to get us off to the right start. However, to introduce and sell your title to your target market – and, crucially, keep it in their line of sight – you also need a robust marketing plan that includes a mix of social media, advertising, email marketing, traditional PR, and (for some more than others) live events.

For authors who just want to be writers, this is a tall order at the best of times. And, for children’s authors, it’s even taller… Read More…

Favorite Things: Blog Highlights 2011-2018 Bewares Publishing Writing

I thought I’d get the new blog rolling with two posts in one day. Why not, I’m the captain of this ship, dammit. You may have missed the monster post on Marketing in 2018 as it went out in the wee hours this morning — still stress testing traffic levels gradually on the new site. Speaking of…

I’m not one for anniversaries or the like, as my long-suffering partner will attest. And I generally save sentimentality for the saloon. Look forwards, not backwards, and all that palaver. But I did indulge myself a little when closing down my old blog and dove into those 2,000,000 views you guys generated since I started in 2011. Some interesting things jumped out! Read More…

Welcome to the Superfan Factory Marketing Resources Writing

It’s almost exactly a year since I gave a talk at a conference in Austin which introduced a concept I call “The Reader Journey” – which is a bookish version of a new marketing paradigm that is helping companies understand their customers better, and how to tailor their marketing accordingly.

I’ve spent the last twelve months researching and testing and experimenting, and then organizing all this information into a structure which will help you understand exactly who you are writing for, plus how to sway them with your marketing messages. But also how to treat them after you have convinced them to buy. How to turn them into the kind of superfans that will do the selling for you.

Strangers to Superfans: A Marketing Guide to The Reader Journey is out now and you can pick up your copy from all these lovely retailers: Read More…

Giving A Voice To Indies Bewares Writing

A new organization is being formed which is aiming to give a voice to indies – the Indie Author Support Network. The idea was proposed by indie author Marie Force, and it’s still at the very earliest stages, but what I’ve heard so far is very promising indeed – particularly that it will be exclusively focused on high-level advocacy and interfacing with retailers on issues which concern indies.

I’m not a member of any writer organization. I joined one here in Ireland when I first returned home, but didn’t renew after they wouldn’t even take the most basic stand against a local publisher who wasn’t paying his authors.

I know people join organizations for lots of different reasons, whether that’s continuing education or competitions or even just the social/networking aspects at conferences, which are desperately needed in such a solitary profession, and I think those needs are pretty well met with the various genre-focused organizations out there, and NINC too. However, advocacy has always been of most importance to me and I think there is a critical need right now for a very focused group which specifically speaks to the rather curious set of issues that indies are dealing with in 2018. Read More…

Please Help An Author Fight This Crazy Court Case Bewares Writing

Christina Garner needs our help. She has been fighting a court case over the last year and is running an appeal for donations so that she can continue the fight.

If you haven’t been following this case, it is against a notorious author/box set promoter/marketer/”mastermind” teacher who goes by the name of Rebecca Hamilton – and also runs other author businesses like OTOH Books (formerly GenreCrave).

The name of Rebecca Hamilton may be familiar to you – and if it’s not, ask around. Because of the various suits and countersuits also involve claims of defamation, I can’t go into detail on what happened, but you can read Christina Garner’s eye-opening account on her GoFundMe page. Read More…

The Birth of the Kindle Amazon Writing

The 10th birthday of the Kindle was on Sunday, which has been met with all sorts of retrospectives. Getting less coverage is that it’s also the tenth anniversary of Amazon’s self-publishing platform. In this excerpt from the forthcoming third edition of Let’s Get Digital, I argue that the real revolution is something else again which is also ten years’ old this month: the Kindle Store itself, which didn’t just open up publishing by allowing anyone to sell their books, it also democratized which books get recommended. I’ll be posting in more detail about the launch, and the two books on marketing which will follow. Digital 3 won’t be available as a free update like last time, as that caused way too Read More…

NaNoWriMo Writing Prompts – Bad Boy Romance Edition Bewares Writing

Lots of people will be diving into NaNoWriMo in a few days, and lots more are sitting on the fence. I’ve been on that fence, it’s made of excuses! Today, I’m going to do you a solid by taking one of those excuses away. You’re getting some Writing Prompts. And not just any Writing Prompts, but Bad Boy Romance Prompts. (Please note that no actual romance writers were harmed in the making of these prompts.) Prompt #1: You are foreign. Maybe Australian! Your scammy non-fiction books aren’t selling too well, but you spot the latest trend: bad boy romance, and decided to write under a woman’s name – no, screw that, several women’s names! You eagerly stuff several books into Read More…

Book Launch: LIBERTY BOY Marketing Writing

New release time! LIBERTY BOY is available now for $3.99 from Amazon US | UK | CA (and all the rest too). It’s the first book in a new series, and the first I’ve set in my home country of Ireland – specifically, in the aftermath of Robert Emmet’s failed 1803 Rising. The wonderful cover was done by my very talented sister – Kate Gaughran – and a huge thanks to her for that. Before I get into the background, here’s what Liberty Boy is about: Dublin has been on a knife-edge since the failed rebellion in July, and Jimmy O"Flaherty suspects a newcomer to The Liberties–Kitty Doyle–is mixed up in it. She accuses him of spying for the English, and he Read More…

Nothing Any Motherf*cker Said Was Going To Get Me To Quit – Guest Post by CD Reiss Publishing Writing

A new year is the traditional time for making all sorts of promises that we probably won"t keep. But there is something noble in the effort alone, right? And in that vein, I have a great motivational guest post from an author who is killing it at the moment: CD Reiss. I"ve been friends with Christine for a while, probably since around the time I started self-publishing back in 2011. Then, she was a writer of mysteries. They did okay, but she couldn"t seem to take things to the next level. So she reinvented herself in 2013 as an erotic romance author and started kicking all kinds of ass. But as with any “overnight success” story, there is a lot more to it. I think Read More…

Pay What You Want For Ten Great Historical Novels Writing

Hello! Sorry for the long silence. I’ve been taking my own advice for once and focusing on writing. But don’t worry, I’ll be back blogging very soon – once I’ve finish moving them commas around. If you"re looking for something to read in the meantime, I highly recommend this historical fiction deal from Story Bundle. Although I should note I’m somewhat biased given that I have a book in it. This is a little different to your standard box set. Story Bundle is a site which allows you to decide how much you want to pay. Fun! Here’s how it works: Gaze longingly upon said books (details below). Pick a dollar amount OF YOUR CHOICE and receive novels from Libbie Hawker, M. Read More…

Movie Deal for Mercenary Writing

I’m delighted to announce that the movie rights to Mercenary have been optioned. And So It Begins… Entertainment is a relatively new Hollywood production company founded earlier this year by industry veterans Toby Midgen and Stacey Stanley. Everyone at ASIB has a serious pedigree, having worked for companies like Lakeshore, Anchor Bay, DreamWorks, Fox 21, Ridley Scott & Associates, Starz and BBC Worldwide. ASIB represents one of the biggest studios in the Dominican Republic and identified Mercenary as a perfect fit for their client, Lantica Media (formerly known as Indomina Media) – which develops projects with an eye on both the English- and Spanish-language markets at their incredible new facilities. You are probably curious how these guys stumbled across my Read More…

Staying Sane in a Crazy (Self-Publishing) World Publishing Writing

How do you keep yourself from going crazy? It probably helps if you are reasonably well-balanced in the first place, but, for the rest of you, I have some advice today from Susan Kaye Quinn. As many of you will know, Susan is the author of the bestselling Mindjack series, and lots of other books too, including the highly regarded Indie Author Survival Guide – the second edition of which has just been released. She"s also releasing a companion book for more experienced authors in mid-July which has the intriguing title of For Love Or Money: Crafting An Indie Author Career and it"s available now for pre-order. Here"s Susan on how to stay sane in a crazy (self-publishing) world. Susan Read More…

Fighting With Both Hands Publishing Writing

This blog has been quieter than usual lately and I thought I should let you know what I’ve been doing. I’m going to prattle on for quite a while; you might want to get comfortable (or head off to Tumblr). So… It’s good to do a bit of soul searching now and then, to look at what you have achieved, where your career is headed, and to decide if you are on the right track. My goals and dreams have changed a lot since I started self-publishing in 2011. I haven’t been a big success, but I’ve been able to tick off little career milestones along the way. Some months my sales are wonderful, some months they are terrible – Read More…

How Jessica Mitford Exposed A $48m Scam From America’s Literary Establishment Bewares Writing

Jessica Mitford took on the American funeral industry, the California Department of Corrections, and the Ku Klux Klan, but it was her 1970 exposé of The Famous Writers School which led to Time calling her “The Queen of the Muckrakers.” And if a courageous editor hadn’t reversed his decision to kill her story, it might never have happened. Mitford had been aware of The Famous Writers School’s existence for some time. Anyone who was a frequent reader of newspapers, books or magazines would have seen its ever-present advertisements, inviting aspiring writers to cut out and apply for the free aptitude test. While Mitford was suspicious, she didn’t have anything concrete until her lawyer husband took on a new client. Bob Read More…
https://davidgaughran.com/category/writing/
davidgaughran.com
crawl=CC-MAIN-2019-39
156659
application/http; msgtype=response
sha1:7WAWTR6JMO6PQMIHMFTJ3SYQVCMPO3HS
<urn:uuid:361a9220-74e3-4ffb-be48-f97e497e25be>
2019-09-17T12:28:32Z
159.65.164.51
text/html
sha1:ZIVOVEUS62D2CEE2DLQD6DQRXGGN33PV
<urn:uuid:69d76376-9313-40a8-ba2b-df93e073f558>
https://davidgaughran.com/category/writing/
response
<urn:uuid:3971384d-8e79-4937-99fe-9c9c0327abbe>
isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2019-39
publisher: Common Crawl
description: Wide crawl of the web for September 2019
operator: Common Crawl Admin (info@commoncrawl.org)
hostname: ip-10-67-67-105.ec2.internal
software: Apache Nutch 1.15 (modified, https://github.com/commoncrawl/nutch/)
robots: checked via crawler-commons 1.1-SNAPSHOT (https://github.com/crawler-commons/crawler-commons)
format: WARC File Format 1.1
conformsTo: http://iipc.github.io/warc-specifications/specifications/warc-format/warc-1.1/