Seth's blog

Hey folks, here's a short video taken from my online class where I talk about the revision process I'm currently using on YOUNG JUNIUS and JACK PALMS 2: This Is Life. Here I take you into the lab, talk about how I'm doing the work and show you the dirty behind the actual writing process. You KNOW this is going to make YOUNG JUNIUS a better book. I hope you're as excited as I am for the awesomeness of the upcoming Cinco de Harwood pre-sale event! More info on that coming VERY SOON!

And if you want to grab the Stephen Koch chapter "Working and Reworking" that I mention, it's here.

Now A Long Way from Disney and Jack Wakes Up are both available as iPhone and iTunes Apps. 

Yes! Thanks to my friend Brian Rathbone and White Wolf Press, you can now get A Long Way from Disney, the story collection as an iPhone app for $1.99.

Yes, the Kindle version is still available here for $0.99.

You can also get the stories on Smashwords and Mobipocket. Why? Because we love to bring you fiction for however you want to read it.

Also, a company not known to me, Iceberg Reader/ScrollMotion has packaged Jack Wakes Up to sell as an iPhone App for $16.99. Want to see it? Go here. Not sure how, but they've gone through Random House to get the go-ahead on this one. Enjoy it if you buy!

Want the Kindle version for $9.99? It's here. Shizz, you can even get a regular, old-school print version here for $11.16. Enjoy!!

That's right: now is the time to sign up for the Fourth Round of the Author Boot Camp Class taught by myself and Scott Sigler. We're happy to be hosted yet again by Stanford University.

This Spring's class will be on two Saturdays, April 24th and May 1st. 10AM - 4PM in Palo Alto

Register here to get into this class before it fills up.

In today’s publishing world, debut authors have to write well, but they also have to help sell their own work. Many agents and editors are looking for writers who bring an existing audience to the table. In this workshop, students will learn practical tools and techniques to build large networks of followers, fans, and eager readers. The methods discussed will include social networking, new media, and serializing novels as free audiobooks. The instructors will outline the process they used to make cheap, highly effective advertising that landed book contracts with major publishing houses. Why let a small number of insiders — agents, editors, and publicists — decide the success of an author, when the tools for building an audience are readily available?

Can't wait to see you there!

This Sunday: Feb 21st Oakland Public Library 2-4:30PM

I'll be spreaking at the California Writers Club Berkeley Branch chapter meeting on the topic of finding your audience before you pitch your book to publishers and agents. I'll also cover how I got my audience by serializing my crime novels as free, serialized audiobook podcasts.

This event is free and open to the public. I'd love to see you there!

I'll be signing/selling copies of JACK WAKES UP as well.

Where: Oakland Public Library - 125 14th St. (@Madison) - West Auditorium

More info: 510-238-3134

Ben and AlisonBehold: to your left you see Ben LeRoy and Alison Janssen, publisher and senior editor of Tyrus Books, who'll be bringing out Young Junius in the fall.

Listen here for the second of my two-part interview with Ben. Here we chat about the future of publishing, ebooks, Kindle and other readers, what makes for good writing, good candy and plenty more!

Ben talks about the history of Bleak House Books, how it became Tyrus Books, and what he sees in the coming publishing landscape.

Enjoy the cast! We'll be back soon with more! And I should soon be done with my revision of THIS IS LIFE. More on that soon...

I’m in the middle of a big revision on my second Jack Palms novel, This Is Life.  I’m at a point where I can see the end of the revision and the trees all around me. Yet I have no idea if what I’m working on is junk or good. My instincts point toward junk, but that seems more about me than about the book. The one thing I know now is that my instincts and current confused feelings about what the book looks like as a whole (particularly in terms of quality) are not to be trusted.

That’s the truth. I’m in a place where I’ve lost the forest for the trees, which I’m constantly pruning, and I cannot see the whole. Sure, I have specific doubts that might need addressing later on, but that seems normal. What can I do? Continue on in the manner that I have been. No other options. Besides, Young Junius, my next novel-to-be-revised, awaits.

Did I mention that the pre-sale date for the YJ special edition is now Cinco de Harwood--May 5th 2010?? It is.

PS: if you're in the Bay Area, I'll be spreaking at the California Writers Club on Sunday Feb, 21 at 2:00 at the Oakland Public Library. Flyer Attached. Hope to see you there!

Ty Cobb going in cleats, ninja-style!What's up, champs? I'm more than happy to have on Ben LeRoy this week, the publisher and founder of Tyrus Books, the company who'll be publishing Young Junius this fall.

Ben's a hardcore publishing/literature/crime fiction devotee and having him on here is tantamount to having on a publisher-version of what I've been trying to be as a writer. We get into some great topics this week in the first half of this interview: Tyrus's history, Andy Griffin, Young Junius, Maxwell Perkins, J.D. Salinger and much more!!

You'll also hear a short update on the front end about my progress with JP2/JP3 revisions. Enjoy!

Click here to listen to this week's 'cast!

Art by Bob OstromThis is where the big news gets dropped, people! Complete audio here! No, I'm not getting married, buying a ring, or any of that, but today's Special Guest, Alison Janssen of Tyrus Books IS. And that's mostly beside the point BUT, listen here to find out (within the first 5 minutes):

• How I'm resurrecting Palms Sunday 2010! (March 28th)
• What my next published book will be

and

• How YOU can get your hands on the book asap in a special limited, collector's edition as well as make publishing history by helping Tyrus and me pioneer a new model of book-release that (as far as we know*) only Scott Sigler has done so far!

If you can't wait to hear the news, click here to get it all after the break.

Click here to Listen to this post as Audio. (Right-click to download.)

As some of you already know, back on December 27th, I released a sample of my first short story collection A Long Way from Disney on Amazon’s Kindle store and used social media strategies to market it. I did this for various reasons, but mainly because, as I said here on Open Culture before, I believe authors need to take on the roll of scientists and experiment with what’s possible in today’s publishing world. (If you're interested in how I publicized this, see my recent posts at AuthorBootCamp.com.)

From a scientific point of view, the experiment was a great success. I learned a great deal, which I’ll discuss below. I sold a lot of books (at $.99 each): around 350 in the first week, and I got my name and stories in front of a lot of new people. I also heard from a number of them who read the book right away and really loved it! For you authors out there, I hope you can relate: Getting positive feedback on your work from total strangers is about the best feedback there is.

[For those of you keeping score at home, those sales put $260 into Amazon’s pockets and $140 into mine. Not too shabby, I don’t think, but also not the split an author might hope for.]

Okay, without any further delay: Here are the Results (What I’ve learned) from Experiment 1: