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Indispensable Writer's Tools
All you really need to be a writer is something to write about, on, and with. That first one's pretty important, but the last two could be as trivial as some paper and a pencil. In fact, there are writers who just use those. Or even typewriters. If that's you, and that works for you, then this post isn't for you. But if you have gone, or are considering going, the digital route, then read on. Windows Live Writer. Used with permission from Microsoft. (Source: Wikipedia ) I've been writing for awhile now and have, what…
New Year’s Resolutions
2015 is almost in the bag. This year has flown by for me. However, most of the reason it flew by was because of the day job. While there was a welcome promotion in January, my old position wasn't backfilled, so many of those duties followed me. Then, one of my direct reports left, and I was back to doing my old job, plus his, plus the new job. Eventually, the direct's position got filled. I spent a couple of months training him, and then it was right into a big Office 365 migration. All that has meant much unpaid overtime and li…
Easy Epubs with Scrivener & Sigil, Part 1
I make my own epubs because I like having control over the final product, I don’t find it terribly difficult or time-consuming to do, and I can update it whenever I want. However, I find myself forgetting which settings to choose between sessions, so I thought it would be best if I wrote out the directions. Thinking it might be useful for someone else, I thought I’d post it here. If it’s useful to you, good deal. If not, well at least the price is right. Background: I’m using Scrivener 1.x on Windows and Sigil 0.7.x. Sigil is free…
Book Review Etiquette for Authors
I’ve been thinking about book reviews lately. I use them when I’m deciding whether a book might be worth my time (along with the description, genre, etc.). I’ve even written some . Now I find myself on the receiving end of book reviews. So, what’s an author to do about reviews of his or her books? Open book icon, dedicated to the public domain under CC0 . Source: Wikimedia Commons . That’s kind of an important question. Pick any random book from your favorite online bookstore. See those reviews? Except for the ones who have but a …
My Precious
Recently, I received a welcome promotion at the ol’ day job. Shortly thereafter, the following dramatized, condensed conversation between me and my wonderful, beautiful, understanding wife took place: Miranda looked at me with big eyes and said, “Congratulations, Brian! You’re awesome!” WELCOME TO Microsoft®. Photo by Paul Downey, licensed under CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons . Twirling my equally awesome, albeit imaginary, mustache, I replied, “Yes, I know.” “It’s not every day you get a promotion. We should get you somethin…
Amazon, Pricing, and KDP Select
Something’s been on my mind for awhile, and after discussing it with my wife, I’ve come to a decision. If you look in the Library , you’ll see some free ebooks. I made the decision some time back not to charge for individual flash fiction and short stories. I just feel like they’re too short to justify charging anything for them. Through Smashwords , I can distribute to almost every ebook retailer you can think of except for Amazon and Google Play , and I can mark the price as free. For Google Play and Amazon, I have to publish direct. …
