As a Machine and Parts: a novella (12/2011)
I Didn't Mean to be Kevin: a novel (1/2012)
Preorder details for my new novel, I Didn’t Mean to be Kevin are forthcoming. Until then, get all excited with this synopsis. Tis the season for Caleb, more Caleb, and a little bit of Jesus (if there’s time).
(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
How many times did readers download your sample chapters? How many times did readers view your new book trailer? How many times did your website visitors click a button to buy one of your books? How many times did someone click a link to read one of your stories posted at another website? All of these items can be tracked using Event Tracking in Google Analytics.
What is Event Tracking? I’ll leave the details up to Google itself, but for our purposes think of Event Tracking as a second, deeper level of website analytics. Most of you are probably using your analytics program primarily to track how users interact with your website on a macro level (how many visits, most popular pages, how long visitors stay, etc). Event Tracking allows a micro level of tracking, where actual clicks and downloads on specific pages can be tracked.
Anywhere a user can click, Event Tracking can be used. Let’s look at an example that an author could definitely use. Read more
(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
(part of my ongoing Unexpected Literary References series)
Though the wonderful Pablo D’Stair recently called me out on the possible inaccuracy of calling this series “unexpected” literary references, I’m too far in to change the name (re: too lazy to change the name). And this latest find, from last week’s episode of The Simpsons, does not help defend any point I may have had about the unexpectedness of lit references in cartoons. Perhaps the series should be called “Great Unexpected Literary References For Those Who Don’t Watch Much TV But Also Don’t Read Much So Therefore Probably Only Bake Cookies And Make Crafts With Hot Glue Guns.”
In this episode (S23E7 – “The Man in the Blue Flannel Pants”) Bart learns that he actually enjoys reading, and in doing so must hide his new love from Nelson and the rest of the bullies.
Why is this reference blog worthy? First, I’m not very discriminating. Second, it’s refreshing to see the act of reading so directly supported in a TV medium. Many references appear as clever asides or Easter Eggs for the astute watcher, but here we see reading actually addressed directly as a worthy form of entertainment.
Episode 012: November is NaNoWriNo. December is UhOhWriLess. Play Now
NaNoWriMo is a month-long event in which writers of all experience levels attempt to write a 50,000 word novel during the month of November. Sounds good, right? There is a sense of accomplishment for accomplishment’s sake with vomiting so many words, with setting and meeting a goal. However, I’m not so couch-therapy optimistic about it.
Send any comments on this episode, or any writing and publishing related questions to caleb [at] calebjross.com. I will answer them in a future episode.
I am so incredibly thrilled to announce that my newest book, As a Machine and Parts, is now available for preorder. Simply click over to the Aqueous Books website to order. ALL PREORDERS WILL BE SIGNED. Unfortunately, they will be signed by me. I tried to reanimate Christopher Reeves or get Stephen Hawking here to do the signing–as that would not only be incredible, but would play nicely into the man/machine hybrid themes of the book–but for some reason I couldn’t get their people to connect with my people. Maybe their people are dead and/or paralyzed, too.
There are a few amazing deals going on that make preordering even more worth your time and money.
If you don’t order the book, you are basically calling these people liars:
There was once a Marvel comic book called “What if…” and in it Uatu the Watcher, a bald sage-like character with an enormous head spun speculative tales of alternative versions of the Marvel Universe you thought you knew. With As a Machine & Parts Caleb J. Ross continues to stake his claim as his generation’s Watcher, which should not be construed as a commentary on his beautiful, yet clearly fake head of hair, but instead as an observation about the scope of his imagination and his ongoing vision of what the world can be, might be and just maybe will be if Ross has anything to say about it.
—Ben Tanzer, author of Most Likely You Go Your Way and I’ll Go Mine
As a Machine and Parts is equal parts hilarious, absurd and touching. It’s the kind of book that after reading makes you say, ‘Damn, why didn’t I think of that first?’ only to realize you couldn’t have done it so well. Wildly inventive without collapsing under the weight of its own genius, As a Machine and Parts proves that Caleb J. Ross is one of the most exciting young authors writing today.
—Nik Korpon, author of Stay God and Old Ghosts
