Category: Announcements

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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.

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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):

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)!

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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:

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)!

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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.

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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:

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)!
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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.

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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!

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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.

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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. 

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!


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GenreLitChat #2: Crime and Thriller

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

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!