“What happened is that the gatekeepers, all at once lost their power. If you want to make a record, make a record. Put it on iTunes; pick yourself. If you want to write, write. Build a blog; pick yourself” – Seth Godin So, I spent most of Saturday uploading my first book—the first offering fromContinue reading “What I Learned from Uploading My First Book to Amazon”
Author Archives: New Bayou Books
I Think I Know Why Most “Self-Published” Authors Fail (to sell books)
“Do you know what truly, honestly separates people who succeed from those who fail? It’s simple: People who do the work succeed. People who don’t fail.” – Sean M. Platt, and Johnny Truant, Write. Publish. Repeat. (The No-Luck-Required Guide to Self-Publishing Success) (p. 405). Sterling & Stone. Kindle Edition. You might recognize this quote fromContinue reading “I Think I Know Why Most “Self-Published” Authors Fail (to sell books)”
I Don’t Know What I’m Doing -But Then Again, Nobody Does
“Do you know what truly, honestly separates people who succeed from those who fail? It’s simple: People who do the work succeed. People who don’t fail.” – Sean M. Platt, and Johnny Truant, Write. Publish. Repeat. (The No-Luck-Required Guide to Self-Publishing Success) (p. 405). Sterling & Stone. Kindle Edition. Over the past six months orContinue reading “I Don’t Know What I’m Doing -But Then Again, Nobody Does”
You Can’t Multitask Anything, But Especially Not a New Novel
“Multitasking is a computer-derived term. We have one processor. We can’t do it” – Janice Marturano, as quoted in 10% Happier, by Dan Harris Okay, so I’m going to make this week’s entry quick, for several reasons, but the primary one has to do with the title of this entry, and the quote above.Continue reading “You Can’t Multitask Anything, But Especially Not a New Novel”
Selling Art; the Trifecta of Working in the Connection Economy
“Why Make Art? Because you must. The new connected economy demands on it and will reward you for nothing else.” – Seth Godin I read Seth Godin’s book, The Icarus Deception, recently, and it helped to put some observations I have made, but wasn’t quite bright enough to articulate, into perspective about the modernContinue reading “Selling Art; the Trifecta of Working in the Connection Economy”
The Holy Trinity of New Bayou Books
I’m on the cusp of finishing the second novel from New Bayou Books. It’s an adventure called All Saints Day of the Dead, and there’s a lot of religious imagery in the book. Also, in a few weeks we’re going to publish an open letter to Louisiana authors in which we challenge writers to joinContinue reading “The Holy Trinity of New Bayou Books”
One Man’s Approach to Organizing a Novel
Last week, I offered some personal insights on how I approach creative writing. Novels, specifically. This week, to round out the picture, I want to outline the structure I use to organize the books. For me, I found that once I had a specific organizational scheme, it’s been a lot easier to get the workContinue reading “One Man’s Approach to Organizing a Novel”
How Reed Writes; 9 Techniques that Stand on the Shoulders of Giants
I’m a veteran writer, but a new novelist, and since I’m getting a late start—entering the competitive market of commercial fiction at the ripe old age of 46—I took a pretty deliberate approach to studying the best practices of others. Over the past year I’ve synthesized those lessons with my own experience to customize aContinue reading “How Reed Writes; 9 Techniques that Stand on the Shoulders of Giants”
Launch From a Long-Ass Runway
I had a kind of epiphany this week, triggered, in a way, by something from last week’s blog. It involved the word “highfalutin”, which I’m pretty sure I’ve never actually uttered or written before or since. But the actual bit of clarity I had–which relates to how we’ve been describing the mission of New BayouContinue reading “Launch From a Long-Ass Runway”
Write for Yourself, Edit for your Characters or Fuck ‘Em and Feed ‘Em Fish Heads!
This week I spent some time and energy—of the intellectual and emotional variety—in the final stages of editing our first book, Tattoos and Tans. And the process brought out some very real lessons for me as a writer that I’d like to pass on. These will be especially useful for anyone who occupies the uniqueContinue reading “Write for Yourself, Edit for your Characters or Fuck ‘Em and Feed ‘Em Fish Heads!”
New Bayou Books 