5 Things Millennials Look for in a Book
As they grow older, millennials are turning into quite a big market. Who better than Frank Hamilton, a millennial blogger and translator from Manchester, to answer some questions about them? Frank is a professional writing expert in such topics as blogging, digital...
Schinias (Marathon Bay) Beach
Readers of my blog and interviews will know that my sci-fi/fantasy series, Pearseus, is basically Herodotus' history of Cyrus, King of Persia... in space. It's easy enough to understand how I came up with the idea, growing up some 20' from the scene of the famous...
How Many Loaves of Bread in a Baker’s Dozen?
This is a trick question, obviously, as everyone knows there are actually 13 loaves of bread in a baker's dozen. So, how did this strange idiom come about? And no, the answer is not that bakers are just terrible at maths. This one, as the Australian Writers' Centre...
Rise of the Luddites
In my last post, I mentioned the possibility of AI replacing humans in writing. I am pleasantly surprised at the post's reactions, as they generated some great comments. So, I thought I'd clarify today what my own feelings on the matter are, something I only did...
Will Computer-generated Writing Replace the Human Kind?
You may recall my sci-fi romance, A Heaven For Toasters, taking place some 100 years in the future. Leo, the android protagonist, exhibits some distinctly human characteristics—including the ability to feel human emotions. But could Leo become a writer or poet? The...
What Percentage of Novelists Earn a Living Wage?
Of all the learned professions, literature is the most poorly paid. —Dr. Edward Eggleston, 1890 Lately, I have taken to answer publishing-related questions on Quora. Yesterday, I came across someone who asked, What percentage of novelists earn a living wage (i.e....
The Female Librarians Who Delivered Books On Horseback
Dusty Old Thing recently published an article by Rose Heichelbech about The Fierce Female Librarians Who Delivered Books On Horseback During The Great Depression. While everyone's heard of the Pony Express, this is a rarely-told story. If like me, you'd never heard...
The Pros and Cons of Social Media
People often ask me, which social medium should I use for my promos? While everyone suggests you use social media to promote your book, there are also some cons attached to their use. InSync Media, the awesome people I write for, recently published a post listing the...
How Hard is it to Say Yes?
I recently came across a great thread in Quora about the usage of the word "yes" in various languages. The thread is concerned with explaining why romance languages use almost the same word for "yes" (si [Spanish, Italian] and sim [Portuguese]) when there is no word...
Does Goodreads Have a Troll Problem?
I've heard from several authors who have stopped using Goodreads over the years. As Camestros Felapton reports, they may have a point, as Goodreads seems to suffer from a chronic troll problem. Matters reached crisis proportions way back in 2012. But recently, it...
The Top Publishing Trends For 2020
Written Word Media (WMD) recently published a must-read article with the top publishing industry trends for the new year, written by Clayton Noblit. I am sharing here a summary that includes their main points. 1. Audiobooks will continue to gain popularity, and more...
Shaming Bad Musicians In The Middle Ages
Marillion, a singer in Game of Thrones, had his tongue cut out on the orders of King Joffrey for writing and performing a crude limerick about Joffrey's parents. Thankfully, the real punishment meted out to musicians in the Middle Ages who had offended their audience...