As a Machine and Parts: a novella (12/2011)


Mitchell, a twenty-something Cougar Cub with Marsha, his midlife girlfriend, wakes each morning, living an ever-thinning line between human and machine. As his literal condition progresses he looses his capacity for human emotion, and potentially with it, Marsha.  As a Machine and Parts is a story of Mitchell’s struggle to discover which assembly line he belongs Read more

I Didn't Mean to be Kevin: a novel (1/2012)


Jackson Jacoby is a motherless twenty-two year old boy with only the support of his crazy ex-military Uncle Marve and a kindred motherless peer named Creg. Creg holds fast to the hope of one day reuniting with his mother while Jackson maintains that his own life is so much better off without all the baggage that comes along with being somebody’s Read more

Charactered Pieces: stories


With Charactered Pieces, Caleb J. Ross presents a varied world of familial discord, one where a dead fetus evokes more compassion than its mother (“Charactered Pieces”);  where two brothers offer the destruction of a family legacy as a birthday gift for their aging father (“My Family’s Rule”); where one brother’s love of Holocaust documentaries pushes his family through the aftermath of his assumed suicide (“The Read more

Stranger Will: a novel


In this novel of impending fatherhood, an idealistic teacher recruits a pliant protégé to join her group of Strangers – a devout collection of kindred minds who have dedicated their lives to cultivating a unique idea of perfection. But joining is easier than Read more

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Marketing

I lost $ 75.48 on a Facebook ad campaign, and you can too! -OR- Can Facebook ads sell books? Quick answer: no. Long answer: noooooooooooooooo.

Posted on December 14, 2011 by Caleb J Ross Posted in Marketing, SEO for Authors | 13 Comments

(part of my ongoing Search Engine Optimization for Authors series[1])

Part of being a great author-marketer is knowing how to filter promotion time wastes from time worthwhiles. Some options are simple to filter. “Should I do a Goodreads.com giveaway to attract potential readers?” Yes (all it costs is the price of a few copies of a book to receive interest from hundreds of readers). “Should I rent a billboard for a month?” No (billboards offer either 1) travel-oriented products/services or 2) products with a high profit margin). Some options aren’t so simple. And in the case of the Facebook ad, prominence adds to the should I or shouldn’t I debate. Well, I’m here to help. Read more

  1. [1] I understand that paid search ads aren’t traditionally umbrellaed under search engine optimization. However, because tracking and optimization is involved, I’m including it in the series ↩

Choosing the right blogging platform for an author: it’s all about scripts and Google Analytics.

Posted on December 6, 2011 by Caleb J Ross Posted in Marketing, SEO for Authors | 4 Comments

(Announcing a new post category: Search Engine Optimization for Authors. Well, it’s new in that I’ve finally given a name to it, but as you can see by clicking over to the category, there are a few past posts that fit within this category)

If you’ve read Christina Katz’s fantastic Get Known Before the Book Deal, or have been at all concerned about building that illusive “platform” so many industry types talk about then either 1) you are an author with a career somewhere between beginning and burgeoning, or 2) you’re interested in the publishing industry for slightly different, though I’m sure equally masochistic, reasons. Either way, one of the cornerstones of author presence in our Web 2.0 world (aren’t we at Web 2.1 yet, at least?) is the blog. Despite its cornerstone status, many authors aren’t sure where to begin. Or worse, they take the leap into bloggery without considering how to leverage such a forum for their own career goals (okay, time to put on the Purina checkerboard slacks, you sleazy salesman). Read more

How do readers choose books? [Poll Results]

Posted on October 16, 2011 by Caleb J Ross Posted in General News, Marketing, Study (the world/the craft) | 1 Comment

I’m a data nerd. I’m a spreadsheet and chart nerd. Therefore, I could have made this lede a bit shorter and simply said “I’m a nerd.” Recently, I conducted a very unscientific poll on Twitter and Facebook, asking a general group of readers how they decide what to read when choosing a book.

While this is an admittedly small poll with a slight slant toward people I know, even if tangentially (they are connected to me via Facebook and Twitter in some way), I feel the findings are still valid, at least as part of a possible larger survey. If anyone has the resources to conduct a larger poll, contact me. I’d love to see the data.

Here are the results:

Observations:

  • It has long been said that word of mouth is the best advertising for books, so it is slightly surprising to see “Recommendations” appear 3rd on the list.
  • “Author” being so high on the list is not surprising.  We live in egotistical times. And with the embrace of ego comes the worship of ego.
  • I didn’t think that “Cover/Title/Synopsis” would have been so important.  It is especially interesting that this option was a voter submitted option.
  • “Price” is very far down on the list. In a world of so much free content, seeing that people are still willing to pay for perceived value is encouraging.

Talking the author performance with 4 other writers who know how to perform

Posted on March 11, 2011 by Caleb J Ross Posted in Events, Marketing, Media, Other Writers | Leave a comment

Fresh from our own live readings, me, Ben Tanzer (You Can Make Him Like You), Ryan W. Bradley (publisher, Artistically Declined Press), Nik Korpon (Stay God), and Brandon Tietz (Out of Touch) have a sit down at Bourbon in Washington DC to discuss the hows and whys of author performance.

Performance is part of the author’s life. Many of us may prefer the romance of the hermit writer to the reality of the performing writing, but as the culture shifts to a system of ever-spilling minutia (Twitter) and increasingly fragmented media distribution channels (hundreds of TV channels, YouTube, Hulu, and on and on), the author is expected to play an active role in selling both his book and himself. Performance—live author readings—offers a unique opportunity to do both.

Listen to the full discussion over at The Velvet Podcast. Or you can subscribe to The Velvet Podcast via Feedburner, Podcast Alley, or iTunes.

The Velvet Podcast, interview with Jane Friedman, social media expert

Posted on February 26, 2011 by Caleb J Ross Posted in Marketing, Other Writers | Leave a comment

Over the past few weeks, Jane Friedman and I have gotten to know each other almost entirely by way of Twitter. With online social media playing such an important role in our introduction and ultimate in-person meeting it made sense that we should take a few moments during the recent AWP (Association of Writers and Writing Projects) conference in Washington DC to discuss the role of social media in the author’s life.

Jane’s passion for the world of e-media is evident. She is the former publisher and editorial director of Writer’s Digest, has spoken at 36 billion writing events since 2001 (give or take a few), and is known within the publishing industry as an innovator, cited by sources such as Publishers Weekly, GalleyCat, PBS online, and Mr. Media. Jane currently serves as a visiting professor of e-media at the University of Cincinnati, and is a contributing editor to Writer’s Digest.

Playing the role of the tech-deficiant, Nik Korpon (Stay God) joins us for this hallway conversation (please, pardon the background noise).

Head to The Velvet Podcast to hear the interview. While there, subscribe via Feedburner, Podcast Alley, or iTunes.

I talk the role of social media in the author’s career (then I tweet, blog, Facebook, etc. about it)

Posted on February 15, 2011 by Caleb J Ross Posted in Events, Marketing, Mind Effed, SEO for Authors | Leave a comment

Recently, I was kindly invited to participate in a panel on social media during the 2011 AWP (Association of Writers and Writing Programs) conference in Washington DC. Joined by Tanya Egan Gibson, Dan Blank, Bethanne Patrick, Christina Katz, and moderator Jane Friedman, the panel succeeded in opening up and emphasizing both the possibilities and importance of social media in developing an author’s platform.

Having never before participated in an AWP panel (though I have attended many), I was initiated only from the perspective of an audience member. Knowing that an uninteresting topic coupled with boring presenters may drive the audience to mutiny, I came prepared to be as concise and witty (hopefully) as possible. Overall, I consider my effort a success. Of course, having the aforementioned panelists at the dais made failure near-impossible.

I’ve argued before that and author should openly embrace social media; the goal of both online social engagement and book-bound literary endeavors are the same: communicating on a human level. While naysayers abound, the consistent monologue about the form (such as this very AWP panel) seems to slowly be cultivating a more accepting and even more eager mindset.

Listen to the entire panel at The Velvet Podcast, here. Or you can subscribe to The Velvet Podcast via Feedburner, Podcast Alley, or iTunes.

Here’s the official description of the panel:

The Art and Authenticity of Social Media: Using Online Tools to Grow a Community. (Jane Friedman, Tanya Egan Gibson, Dan Blank, Bethanne Patrick, Christina Katz, Caleb J. Ross)

Social media is easy to disparage as meaningless socializing, undignified shilling, or time better spent writing. Yet sharing information online and having conversations with readers is critical to spreading the word about what you (or your organization) does. Online community building can help develop a long-term readership, plus open up new opportunities.

Treat every book like The Bible

Posted on February 1, 2011 by Caleb J Ross Posted in Marketing, Other Writers | 3 Comments

Can you talk about a single book for one hour every week? Ministers/Priests/Pastors/Reverends/Etc. do. Why shouldn’t more books get the attention that religion texts do?

Okay, most books don’t have a centuries-long history, a following (even a lukewarm one), or a cultivated lifestyle (excluding the Twilights and Harry Potters). What most books do have in common with religion texts is an industry infrastructure built to support their messages and the text itself; compelling narrative for the ultimate goal of better understand the human condition.

But week after week after week…how? Religious clergy have the amazing ability to use a single book as a point of reflection for EVERYTHING, from  contemporary world events to domestic irritants. Natural disaster? War? Impoverished country? Acne? Grab a Bible, right? Why not grab The Confederacy of Dunces or House of Leaves? Each has interesting characters. Each depends on the reader’s own moral scope for impact. Each is a reflection of a life possibility, a Theory of Mind playground. Theory of Mind “…it is a term used by cognitive psychologists…to describe our ability to explain people’s behavior in terms of their thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and desires” (Lisa Zunshine, Why We Read Fiction, pg 15).

Basically, Theory of Mind means that by reading about fictional characters in books, whether Johnny Truant, Ignatius J. Reilly, or Job, we implicate ourselves in their positions. This is the heart and magic of narrative. Sure, religion texts have the benefit of worldwide reach and passionate (sometimes vehemently so) devotees, but those aspects alone don’t reserve for the books a singular position as the only texts worth preaching.

So claim a street corner and tell everyone why Ignatius J. Reilly is so repugnant yet simultaneously endearing.

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