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!