Still Kicking

If you look at the date of my previous blog post, you can see that I am not a blogger to emulate in your own blogging practice. I have things brewing, though, so I have hope that I may have a few things published now and again.

So! I am glad to announce that I am doing social media work and editing (among other things) for Bramptonist, a fantastic local news site. I have regular, continuing work with Hex Publishers and Not So Super Comics. I have many other individual clients as well, such as Maria Alexander (who just won a second Stoker award!) and Hank Early, with a debut Southern crime novel coming out in November.

Also, I will be at Ad Astra in Toronto this coming weekend, and Confluence in Pittsburgh in August, and then Bouchercon here in Toronto in October. I may get to another convention at some point during the year, but that's the current plan taking everything into consideration like budget and time.

Anyway, this is just a little taste, there's always lots going on here. Thanks for staying in touch, as always.

Gerald M. Weinberg Book Giveaway, Week 3!

The month of Jerry Weinberg marches on!

We are waiting for the winner of Week 2 to confirm with us, but in the meantime, let's forge ahead with Week 3!

Gerald M. Weinberg, or Jerry as he is often called, is a longtime and well-respected computer scientist and fiction author. Some of his books are perennial bestsellers and he still wins awards for his contributions to his field. Not only are testing, quality, and consulting topics about which Jerry writes, but he also creates smart, interesting genre fiction, too. Here's how the contest works:

Use the form below to choose any or all of the four ways to enter. But first, make sure you're cool with Jerry getting your email address for an occasional email. (He will NEVER sell your info. Not in a million years.)

If you win, you can choose one book from this list of Gerald M. Weinberg's non-fiction and fiction works (note that when the Week 2 winner chooses a book, this list will be reduced to five books):

• Quality Software Management: Systems Thinking (Volume 1)
• Perfect Software and Other Illusions about Testing
• The Secrets of Consulting
• Freshman Murders
• The Aremac Project
• First Stringers: Eyes that Do Not See

That's it! It's very easy, and easy to share, so I hope you will. We will announce the winner of this first round on Friday, then next Monday we'll do it all over again, so keep checking back both here on this blog or on my Twitter (or Jerry's Twitter)!

Entry-Form

Week 2 of the Gerald M. Weinberg Book Giveaway

The winner of week one was Jeff B, who chose Introduction to General Systems Thinking. He's got a personalized, autographed copy on the way. Thanks, Jeff!

So on to another week! Gerald M. Weinberg, or Jerry as he is often called, is a longtime and well-respected computer scientist and fiction author. Some of his books are perennial bestsellers and he still wins awards for his contributions to his field. Not only are testing, quality, and consulting topics about which Jerry writes, but he also creates smart, interesting genre fiction, too. Here's how the contest works:

Use the form below to choose any or all of the four ways to enter. But first, make sure you're cool with Jerry getting your email address for an occasional email. (He will NEVER sell your info. Not in a million years.)

If you win, you can choose one book from this list of Gerald M. Weinberg's non-fiction and fiction works:

• Quality Software Management: Systems Thinking (Volume 1)
• Perfect Software and Other Illusions about Testing
• The Secrets of Consulting
• Freshman Murders
• The Aremac Project
• First Stringers: Eyes that Do Not See

That's it! It's very easy, and easy to share, so I hope you will. We will announce the winner of this first round on Friday, then next Monday we'll do it all over again, so keep checking back both here on this blog or on my Twitter (or Jerry's Twitter)!

Entry-Form

Announcing an A-Z and DIY Book Publicity Course -- with Me!

Announcement

(Note: as of 15 January, the early interest form is closed. I expect to launch the course this week. If you are still interested in being part of the early interest group, however, email me and I'll handle it.)

Hello again, friendly readers! I am pleased to announce that this winter I am launching a course on Udemy. It will be on DIY book publicity, which I often talk about, but it's going to be a total package, an A-Z course on what I do for my clients, how I do it--and how you can do it, too. If you are interested in knowing when it launches, enter your info here. The people who tell me they are interested using this form will get first dibs and a discount code for the course if they join in the first month! Feel free to spread the word if you think you know someone else who might be interested. If you refer three or more people who enroll in the course, you'll get something extra special just for you.

If you take the course you can look forward to knowing how to identify the best places to get publicity for your creative work, what to say when you contact them, and how to keep the whole thing organized. You'll also get office hours where I'll be available for Q&A, a message board just for fellow students in the course--and lots more. Sign up now to be among the first to know when it's live, and get yourself that discount on tuition the process.

Goals and 2015 Wrap-Up

2015 was the year of nearly no blog posts for  me. While I don't foresee ever being a particularly prolific blogger, I'd like to offer you more value this year.

See, the thing with my Book Marketing without BS brand is that if I have nothing to say, it seems silly to me to create a blog post to say nothing or to repeat myself. That said, I think I can do better than I have. I have retained some topic suggestions from the last time I asked people what was on their minds, but please let me know (in the comments or by email) what topics you'd like to see with regard to book publicity and marketing.

Those are my goals. What are yours? What do you look forward to this year? And don't forget to tell me you're interested in my course so you can reserve an earlybird discount code.

Winter Fun for Computer Science and Fiction Readers Alike: Gerald M. Weinberg Giveaway

Here's a different kind of contest. Gerald M. Weinberg, or Jerry as he is often called, is a longtime and well-respected computer scientist and fiction author. Some of his books are perennial bestsellers and he still wins awards for his contributions to his field. Not only are testing, quality, and consulting topics about which Jerry writes, but he also creates smart, interesting genre fiction, too. So here's how the contest works:

Use the form below to choose any or all of the four ways to enter. But first, make sure you're cool with Jerry getting your email address for an occasional email. (He will NEVER sell your info. Not in a million years.)

If you win, you can choose one book from this list of Gerald M. Weinberg's non-fiction and fiction works:

• Introduction to General Systems Thinking
• Quality Software Management: Systems Thinking (Volume 1)
• Perfect Software and Other Illusions about Testing
• The Secrets of Consulting
• Freshman Murders
• The Aremac Project
• First Stringers: Eyes that Do Not See

That's it! It's very easy, and easy to share, so I hope you will. We will announce the winner of this first round on Friday, then next Monday we'll do it all over again, so keep checking back both here on this blog or on my Twitter (or Jerry's Twitter)!

Entry-Form

Fall Workshops: First Lead-Up Exercise for Twitter

Hello again, everyone! I have two social media for authors workshops coming in September, one in Pickering and one in Brampton. In preparation I have exercises participants can work on over the summer. They will then bring the results with them to the workshop on the day they attend.

Since I am doing this in conjunction with BeNovel Marketing Services, the exercise is hosted on its site. Go take a look, and if you are in or have friends in the GTA, please share this with writers you think may be interested. Early-bird pricing has a few weeks to go and you won't want to miss out on the hefty discount for getting in on it early!

Register here (scroll down, the registration is right on the page), and view the Twitter Challenge exercise here.

Coming soon: tips for editing comic book scripts.

Ad Astra Schedule and Other Updates

Since it's been a while, here are a few updates!

I spoke last week at the Waterloo-Wellington branch of the Canadian Authors Association (CAA). We talked about handling your own blog tour from planning to execution, and we talked briefly about social media skills. It was my first official non-convention speaking engagement, so it was pretty exciting.

There were about ten people, so it was small, but everyone had excellent questions and it was a pleasure to know that I was helping some people get promotion activities off on the right foot.

The week before, I was on Daytime with Susan Cook-Scheerer on the local Rogers station in Kitchener to promote the event along with author, client, and president of the CAA branch Vanessa Ricci-Thode. Unfortunately I don't have any video of the appearance; however, I have a lovely snapshot thanks to Daytime's social media. No, Vanessa and I were not aware we would blend in with the furniture. ;)

In other news, I have been working with a gorgeous and well-written publication called Dirge Magazine. It's all about dark culture, dark entertainment, and powerful real-life stuff, too. Indeed, I had an essay published with them yesterday about a deeply troubling experience finding out a friend of mine was actually a predator: "The Unsettling Case of Andrew Barber".

I still work with authors and publishers of course, but I am expanding my services into working with small local businesses, too, and one of them is culinary nutritionist Andria Barrett. She does classes, one-on-one work, and personal training, and she's a friendly dynamo of a woman. If you want help with diabetes education or fibroids, she's the one to call. OK. I am a little biased.

Finally, I will be at Ad Astra, as I have been every year since 2009. I have a very busy schedule this year! If you want to chat I will likely be around at parties in the evenings, but you may also find me in the bar meeting with clients. Feel free to say hello any time and we'll see if we can make some time to visit. Below please find my panel schedule, but I'll also make stops at the Can*Con sweets party, the Bundoran launch, the EDGE SF&F launch, the late-night slash readings, and lots more.

No programming Friday

Sat 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM : Remembering Leonard Nimoy
Sat 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM : High Quality Self-Publishing
Sat 9:00 PM – 10:00 PM : Hannibal: Horror and Monsterous Beauty

Sun 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM : Publicity Campaign Workshop
Sun 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM : Protecting your Intellectual Property in the Age of the Repost

That's all the news fit to print for now. I hope to see you this weekend at Ad Astra if you're local. Keep an eye out for more updates in the near future!

nEvermore, a New Kind of Anthology. Edgar Allan Poe Time!

One other post today. This time it's all about an Indigogo campaign for an Edgar Allan Poe-themed anthology called nEvermore that celebrates both mystery and horror: the two things Poe did so well. Please click the raven below and take a look. It's edited by the esteemed Nancy Kilpatrick and Caro Soles, and it will be published by well-respected Canadian publisher, EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing. I am working with them to get the word out about the campaign, so I would (and we all would) be deeply grateful if you contributed and helped us spread the word.

And hey! Writers! It will also mean calls for submission for you writers, so there may be something in it for you down the road! So yes. Click the Raven. You won't be sorry.

Urban Fantasy Twitter Chat, GenreLitChat #3

It's that time again! Thursday, September 4th at 8 p.m. Eastern / 5 p.m. Pacific is the next #GenreLitChat, and this time it's urban fantasy. You can participate in this chat by sending me questions ahead of time for me to ask the panel, or simply being on Twitter and following the hashtag. While this is a moderated discussion, you'll be free to reply and interact as normal on Twitter.

The urban fantasy group consists of: 

Mia Marshall is the RT Reviewers' Choice Award-winning author of the Elements urban fantasy series. Before she started writing about things that don't exist in this version of reality, she worked as a high school teacher, script supervisor, story editor, legal secretary, and day care worker. She has lived all along the US west coast and throughout the UK, where she collected an unnecessary number of degrees in literature, education, and film. These days, she lives in a small house in the Sierra Nevadas, where she is surrounded by her feline overlords.

Nicholas Kaufmann is the Bram Stoker Award-, Thriller Award-, and Shirley Jackson Award-nominated author of Dying Is My Business, Die and Stay Dead, Chasing the Dragon, Hunt at World's End, General Slocum's Gold, and Still Life: Nine Stories. Over the years, he worked in publishing, owned his own bookstore, managed a video store, and was a development associate for a literary agent. He lives in Brooklyn, New York with his wife and two ridiculous cats.

Linda Poitevin is the author of dark urban fantasy (The Grigori Legacy from Ace/Roc Books) and contemporary romance (self-published). Linda lives near Ottawa, Canada’s capital, and in her other life is wife, mother, friend, gardener, coffee snob, freelance writer, and zookeeper of too many pets. When she isn’t writing, Linda can usually be found in her garden or walking her dog along the river or through the woods.

Alexander Kosoris was born and raised in Thunder Bay, Ontario. He lived on residence in Toronto, Ontario while attending the Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Toronto between 2006 and 2010. While there, he discovered his love of writing, spending much of his free time writing short stories, one of which he expanded to arrive at his first novel, Lucifer. After graduating, Alexander has moved back to Thunder Bay, where he now lives, working as a pharmacist. Whenever he gets a moment of leisure, Alexander enjoys listening to and playing music, as well as riding his bicycle.

Launched in 2009, All Things Urban Fantasy is the place where para is normal. Currently a group of five readers and bloggers, we're dedicated to reviewing the latest books in the urban fantasy, paranormal romance, and speculative fiction genres. Participating in the chat will be Kate, who has been running ATUF for about a year now, and loves urban fantasy with a passion. 

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You can use the TWUBS link or just follow the hashtag on Twitter. Also, please feel free to email me questions you would like me to ask the panelists. 

I look forward to seeing you at 8 p.m. Eastern / 5 p.m. Pacific on Thursday, September 4th!

GenreLitChat #2: Crime and Thriller

We're two weeks away from the next #GenreLitChat, and this time it's a crime! The lineup:

• J.T. Ellison  (When Shadows Fall) (J.T.'s Twitter: @thrillerchick)
• John Rector (Out of the Black) (John's Twitter: @john_rector)
• Christopher Irvin (Federales) (Christopher's Twitter: @chrislirvin)
• John Mantooth (The Year of the Storm) (John's Twitter: @busfulloflosers)

What is #GenreLitChat? It's an occasional Twitter chat with writers on the state of genre, and how their work does--or doesn't--fit. Learn about new books! Ask authors questions! Crack open a beer! Well, I guess that last part's optional, but please feel free. 

The date of this thriller and crime Twitter chat is Thursday, May 22nd at 8:00 p.m. EDT / 5:00 p.m. PDT. When you join the chat, you can use this page (http://twubs.com/GenreLitChat) which will focus only on the hashtag, and even automatically insert the hashtag for you if you ask questions or reply. Alternatively, you can follow the hashtag #GenreLitChat right on Twitter, but make sure you use the hashtag or your questions and comments may be missed!

You can send questions to me, the moderator, during the chat (@BeverlyBambury). You are also encouraged to send questions ahead of time to beverly@beverlybambury.com and I'll add the best ones to the list. 

Questions? Email me or ask in the comments. Hope to see you during #GenreLitChat in two weeks!

Press Release: Tesseracts 18: Wrestling with the Gods

This is the first time I've ever published a press release. Normally they don't have a big place in publicizing a book; but, in this case, Tesseracts, an annual anthology of the best in Canadian speculative fiction, holds a story by my husband, James Bambury. Keep an eye out for pre-orders which should be available soon. 

Don't worry. I'll remind you. - Beverly

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

"Tesseracts 18: Wrestling with Gods" edited by Liana K and Jerome Stueart 
Faith in Science Fiction and Fantasy Anthology 
ISBN: 978-1-77053-068-3 (Trade Paperback 5.5" X 8.5") 
E-BOOK: e-ISBN: 978-1-77053-069-0 To be released April, 2015
http://www.edgewebsite.com/books/tess18/t18-catalog.html

Authors announced for the latest volume of the prestigious Canadian speculative fiction anthology series. 

(Calgary, Alberta) EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing is pleased to announce the names of the contributing authors for the forthcoming edition of the prestigious Tesseract series. 

"Tesseracts 18: Wrestling with Gods" will include works by: Robert J. Sawyer, Matthew Hughes, Alyxandra Harvey, Halli Lilburn, Derwin Mak, J.M. Frey, Steve Stanton, Megan Fennell, Jen Laface and Andrew Czarnietzki, S. L. Nickerson, John Park, Janet K. Nicolson, Suzanne M. McNabb, Allan Weiss, Savithri Machiraju, Carla Richards, Mary-Jean Harris, James Bambury, Mary Pletsch, David Jón Fuller, and Jennifer Rahn, Erling Friis-Baastad, David Fraser, John Bell, David Clink and Tony Pi -27 of the biggest names and brightest rising stars in Canadian science-fiction and fantasy. 

This latest volume of the Tesseracts series contains tales of creative and religious diversity - a trending topic in books and movies. The stories and poems draw from Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Shintoism, Agnosticism, Atheism, Humanism and the beliefs of Indigenous Canadians, (as well as actually creating faiths and religions of other worlds). 

“Any anthology that starts with a story called 'Mecha-Jesus' is clearly not a traditional look at religion” says EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publisher, Brian Hades. “This robotic savior is joined by the Hindu god Ganesh trying to break into Bollywood, the Sun God Ra discovering Coronation Street, a priest on Mars, a vampire in residential schools, and a woman with a secret under her hijab. 'Tesseracts 18: Wrestling with Gods' definitely contains many surprises!”

As in past versions of the Tesseract series, the editors are handpicked by the publisher. “Tesseracts 18: Wrestling with Gods” is edited by widely-published sci-fi/fantasy author and writing teacher Jerome Stueart -- who is a gay Baptist from the Yukon Territory -- and “perfect heathen” media personality Liana Kerzner -- who is best known as Liana K. 

"Tesseracts 18: Wrestling with Gods" is a lively, thoughtful interfaith/interpath anthology of creative and religious diversity - with a speculative fiction and fantasy twist!

Media Contact: 
Janice Shoults, EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing 
www.edgewebsite.com 
403.254.0160

ABOUT THE TESSERACTS SERIES: 

The first Tesseracts anthology was edited by Judith Merril. Since its publication in 1985, 299 authors/editors/translators and guests have contributed 502 pieces of Canadian speculative fiction, fantasy and horror for this series. Some of Canada's best known speculative fiction writers have been published within the pages of these volumes - including Margaret Atwood, William Gibson, Robert J. Sawyer, and Spider Robinson (to name a few). Tesseracts Eighteen is the forthcoming volume in the series. The entire series includes Tesseracts One through Eighteen, plus Tesseracts Q, which features translations of works by some of Canada's top francophone writers of science fiction and fantasy. 

Self-Planning for Self-Promotion: A Book Marketing without B.S. Web Workshop

I am doing an in-depth online workshop on self-promotion for all authors and comic creators. This isn't just for the self-published, either. If you're published by any house, big or small, you know how much work falls to you for your own book marketing and publicity. In fact, it's telling that my clients primarily fall in the small-to-medium publisher category, with the next largest being major publishing houses. (And yes, I have a few self-published/owner-created comics clients, too!)

Right now there are two dates: Thursday, March 27th at 7 p.m. Eastern Time and Sunday, April 13th at 1 p.m. Eastern Time (get those tickets here). I will do this again a few times a year as long as there is interest, so if you miss these, let me know what time is good for you and I will take that into consideration when I schedule the next one. (Also, if you can gather 6 or more people interested in the workshop, I'll create another event at a time chosen by your group.)

Here is a tentative course outline:

• Pre-Planning
• Honestly determine your strengths and capabilities
• Choose the right tools for you
• CreateSpace and other print-on-demand vs. traditional printing vs. ebook-only
• Decide whether to create a business entity or publish under your own name
• First Steps
• Plan and Outline
• How far in advance to send review requests?
• How far in advance to hire help if you are going to?
• How to get blurbs?
• Publicity: interviews, guest blogging
• What about traditional media?
• One-sheets for mailed books
• Book trailers and other video
• Details
• How many and what type of targets?
• Get your data right here!
• Review copies: physical vs. electronic
• Keep consistent, good records
• What does return on investment mean in this context?
• Social media: tips, tricks, and useful apps
• Obstacles
• Toughening up to criticism--or how to cope if you can't
• Connections and networking: more important than you think
• Growing too fast: slow follower growth is GOOD
• The importance of honest people
• Self-publishing and industry respect
• Q&A

This should all take between 90 minutes and two hours, depending on how many questions there are--and please do bring questions! Also, feel free to email me questions ahead of time if you don't see them addressed in the outline and I'll do my best to work them into the material.

Buy tickets here:

• Thursday, March 27th at 7 p.m. Eastern Time
• Sunday, April 13th at 1 p.m. Eastern Time

I look forward to meeting with you soon!

Winners Announced!

Thanks once again to everyone who entered and who shared and tweeted. Your support is fantastic and I couldn't do this without you. This has also been a great chance to promote my non-publicity campaign services, of which there are many you can see here. Some of my favourites are social media planning and coaching, and copy editing, and even though it's not officially on the list, I enjoy critique as well. It's likely to end up on the list at some point. So please contact me and ask about these other services. I can work with any budget, so don't be shy.

Anyhow! here are the three winners:

Karina Sumner-Smith Site | Twitter
Jessica Meddows Site | Twitter
Teri Kline Twitter (and yes, I know the name on the Twitter account doesn't match this. ;))

I have been in touch with all of them, and it is my hope that I can help them and also have some fun in the process.

I know many of you joined the email list to enter the contest. I hope you'll stay, but if not, you should be able to unsubscribe easily from the next email you get, or if you're in a hurry contact me and I'll take care of it for you.

Coming tomorrow, a guest post about a local self-publishing in comics panel, and next week it's back to regularly scheduled programming!

Enter Here to Win Free Consulting or Critiques!

Subscribe (and confirm--check that spam email box!) to my email list and you will be entered to win two consulting or editorial hours. You can use the time toward:

• Help creating your book or comic's marketing plan
• A complete flash fiction critique and copy edit
• A full social media consultation and plan
• A brief critique of a novella or a partial of a novel 
• Website critique/planning assistance
• Any other publishing- or marketing-related consultation time

Three winners will be selected at random from mailing list subscribers who have joined and confirmed by clicking the response link (remember it may go to a spam filter) by 11:59 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday, February 19th.

Not sure how to join the list? Subscribe right here.

Note that the prize will be delivered no earlier than March 15th, 2014. I will work out final details with the winners, whom I will announce on Thursday, February 20th.

I'll take this opportunity to also remind you that I provide all of the above services at reasonable rates, so if you aren't the winner, contact me and let me know what you need and we'll put together a plan that fits your budget.

Good luck, and spread the word to anyone you think may be interested!

#GenreLitChat: An Occasional Twitter Chat about Genre

Introducing #GenreLitChat, an occasional Twitter chat with writers on the state of genre, and how their work does--or doesn't--fit.

The kickoff chat is just in time for your holiday book buying needs! It's this Thursday, December 5th at 8:30 p.m. EST/5:30 p.m. PST with John Mantooth, author of The Year of the Storm (Berkley/Penguin), Heidi Ruby Miller, author of Green Shift (Raw Dog Screaming Press), and Nathan Ballingrud, author of short story collection North American Lake Monsters (Small Beer Press).

When you join the chat, you can use this page (http://twubs.com/GenreLitChat) which will focus only on the hashtag, and even automatically insert the hashtag for you if you ask questions or reply.
Alternatively, you can follow the hashtag #GenreLitChat right on Twitter, but make sure you use the hashtag or your questions and comments may be missed!

You can send questions to me, the moderator, during the chat (@BeverlyBambury). You are also encouraged to send questions ahead of time to beverly@beverlybambury.com and I'll add the best ones to the list.

Questions? Email me or ask in the comments. Hope to see you during #GenreLitChat in a couple of days!

Coming Soon: Calls for Submission Column

In the next week or two I'll have the first of a reoccurring column aggregating calls for submission. It will be by Selene MacLeod who also administers the successful Facebook group Calls for Submissions (Poetry, Fiction, Art).

If this is what you like to see, sign up for email notifications of new posts so that you don't miss a thing!