Is Ingram-Lightning the Future of Publishing?

The other day, I came across an eye-opening article through The Passive Guy. Veteran publishing consultant Mike Shatzkin was describing the ways that the Coronavirus is changing the publishing industry. Among his main takeaways is that supply chains have been so...

EDIT Premium Lifetime Offer

Back in November, I wrote a series of reviews for online graphics tools. EDIT was one of the best ones I could find. It offers a bunch of templates to choose from and helps you create design material for your social media and web pages. You can also use it to produce...

A Heaven for Toasters: Chapter 11

After relaunching A Heaven for Toasters, complete with new cover, I promised to publish it here in installments. Here’s the next chapter. Note: You can find a link to all published chapters at the end of this post or read more parts on Wattpad. A Heaven for...

Around the World in 10 Bookmobiles

Today, the internet gives everyone access to whatever they want, so searching for a good book is extremely easy to do. In times where we did not have internet access, however, people had to look for other options to be able to access books and read. Book shops and...

Free Writing Course by Rayne Hall

You may recall how I recently followed a great workshop by Rayne Hall organized by OIRWA. Now, Rayne is offering a special free seminar aimed at self-isolating writers who wish to take advantage of the pandemic downtime to hone their writing skills. Course...

Fall of the Roman Republic

As a child learning history at school, I often wondered why the Roman Republic gave way to the Roman Empire. Had the people had enough of voting? Was this forced upon them? If so, why didn’t they revolt, especially given how awful emperors like Caracalla were? I...

Blogging Statistics

My article on The Evolution of Blogging has turned out to be one of my most popular posts. So, I have some more information on the subject of blogs and blogging for you, courtesy of Logomaker. As I make most of my living writing blog posts as a freelance writer, this...

10 Types of Readers you Meet During a Lockdown

Angela Haupt of the Washington Post recently shared a fun list with the types of readers you meet during a lockdown. I belong to the very first group. With a restless 4-year-old always around and with both Electra and me working from home, getting a free moment to...

How to Use Colors in your Book Covers

A couple of years ago, I posted an infographic on How Color Can Boost Your Book Sales. Today, I am sharing some tips on color connotations courtesy of Dan Matthews of Avasam. They will help you create the perfect book cover. Yes, I know we’re not supposed to...

Happy Easter

Orthodox Easter is next Sunday but I thought it made more sense for me to post this today. Last year, I wrote about Greek Orthodox Easter and how Greeks celebrate it. With a country on lockdown, it’s funny how few of these customs can be observed this year....

A Heaven for Toasters: Chapter 10

After relaunching A Heaven for Toasters, complete with new cover, I promised to publish it here in installments. Here’s the next chapter. Note: You can find a link to all published chapters at the end of this post or read more parts on Wattpad. A Heaven for...

Email Video Marketing

I have written in the past extensively about email marketing, video marketing, and even live video marketing. But email video marketing? Is that even a thing? Turns out that yes, it is. Basically, instead of writing up an email, you record a video and send it to your...

Writing Interactive Fiction

A couple of years ago I wrote about the Choose Your Own Adventure books. In the books—for those not familiar with them—you read until you come to a decision point, which prompts you to flip to another page, backward or forward. They invite you into an exciting,...

Whisker Smile Wins Prestigious IBBY Award

I had some great news a few days ago: my illustrator, Dimitris Fousekis, called me late at night, sounding really excited: our children’s book, Whisker Smile (available only in Greek for now) had won the prestigious IBBY award! Whisker Smile is our second...

5 Dramatic Techniques to Transform Your Writing

ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors, recently published a post on dramatic techniques by Jules Horne, author of Dramatic Techniques for Creative Writers. With a background in scriptwriting, Jules is perfect for explaining how the dramatic techniques used in...

Happy April Fools’ Day 2020

It’s April 1st today, also known as April Fools’ Day. While past years I wrote about highbrow pranks like the 7 best literary hoaxes, this year is a strange affair. Lockdowns and quarantines feel like an endless prank the universe is playing on us. So, I...

A Heaven for Toasters: Chapter 9

After relaunching A Heaven for Toasters, complete with new cover, I promised to publish it here in installments. Here’s the next chapter. Note: You can find a link to all published chapters at the end of this post or read more parts on Wattpad. A Heaven for...

What Happened to Latin After the Fall of Rome?

Readers of this blog will be aware of my fascination with all things linguistic. So, I just had to share Susanna Viljanen’s and Dan Toler’s answers on Quora on what happened to Latin once Rome was no more. It may surprise many to realize that Latin is...

Atop the Super-Duper High Hill of the Mountain

Greece is in lockdown mode because of COVID-19. We’re urged to avoid getting out of the house for anything that’s not essential – basically, doctors and supermarkets. Even the churches have closed down, to avoid spreading the virus. This past week...