Successful "Local Author Showcase" at An Unlikely Story

I was one of five writers to be featured in the "Local Author Showcase" held on June 15 at An Unlikely Story bookstore in Plainville, MA.

It was very exciting for us on a number of levels: the event was the first event of its kind to be held at the store, which – for those of you who don’t already know – is owned by Diary of a Wimpy Kid author Jeff Kinney! There was a packed house and five very different local authors, including MichaelHartigan, Ian Hiatt, John Butziger, and Malka Older (and of course myself: Peter Cox).

After a 15 minute reading/speech from each author, the writers got to chat with their fans and sign copies of their books. It was wonderful to speak about the craft of writing and journalism during my presentation, and then to get to talk with new fans about the book.

Stay tuned for similar events in the future!

Kindle sale! Get the Mystery of the Masked Marauder for $0.99

The Mystery of the Masked Marauder is going on sale! Starting Monday, you can get a Kindle copy of the book for only $0.99. And you don’t even need a Kindle to get it, since you can read the book on your tablet or computer. 

Whether you were waiting to buy because the price was too high, or you simply weren't sure if the book was right for you, this is your chance to get The Mystery of the Masked Marauder for less than a dollar.

Interview with author Peter S. Cox

Mystery of the Masked Marauder author Peter S. Cox discusses the book and his writing on TV:

First reader review is in!

The first customer review of the Mystery of the Masked Marauder is in! Read the review below, and make sure you write your own review on our Amazon page once you've had a chance to read it. We really appreciate your feedback!

Release date! Mystery of the Masked Marauder

I am excited to announce that we have settled on a release date for the Mystery of the Masked Marauder! You can get your very own copy on April 11, which happens to be National Pet Day.

Where will it be sold?

The Mystery of the Masked Marauder will be for sale on Amazon.com, in both print and Kindle editions. We are also in talks with Jeff Kinney’s “An Unlikely Story” bookstore in Plainville to sell there. If you know any bookstore owners, librarians, or published authors please let us know!

What are you doing to celebrate?

We’re planning a book launch party of some type, so stayed tuned for updates on that. We’re also working to schedule author signings and readings.

What can I do to help?

If you haven’t yet, please like us on Facebook, and invite your friends to do the same. And as already noted, if you know anyone who works for a bookstore or in publishing, let us know. We are so excited to share this book with the world!

Is Kindle Scout worth it?

I spent the past month and a half promoting my new book on Kindle Scout, and in the process I learned a lot about the program and its strengths and weaknesses. If you’re considering Kindle Scout, or are just curious about how the Amazon program works, read on.

My book was not chosen for publication, but there are some positive lessons I can take away from the experience.

What is Kindle Scout?

Obviously, the first question people asked me was “what in the world is Kindle Scout?”

Kindle Scout started less than a year ago, replacing the popular, ambitious Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. In the original contest – which started in 2008 – novels were judged by a group of top industry experts, like publishers, agents, and professional critics. The prize? $50,000 and a traditional publishing contract.

Kindle Scout aims to be more “reader driven.” Authors upload their unpublished books, and then – after Kindle approves the submission – anyone with an Amazon account can “nominate” the book. The more nominations you receive, the more likely it is that a “Kindle Scout” will see your book and recommend it for publication. The prize? A $1,500 advance and publication through “Kindle Publishing.”

Is Kindle Scout worth it? The positives.

Exposure: On the Kindle Scout website, potential readers can easily find your new book, and from there can be directed to your author website, Facebook page, etc.

Learning promotion: It is up to you to promote your campaign, so Kindle Scout can be a good learning experience as you fine-tune your publicity skills.

Validation: If you have even an ounce of vanity (and let’s be honest, what author doesn’t?) then it will be quite a thrill when you see your book on the “Hot and Trending” list.

Is Kindle Scout worth it? The negatives.

Unfortunately, Kindle Scout has a lot of problems. From a small audience to low-quality books clogging up the site, overall it’s not a great experience. Let’s look at these one by one:

Low quality: Kindle tells you that they review every submission to make sure it meets their high standards. This turned out to not be quite… true. My book was approved in about an hour, which is barely enough time to approve the cover. But even worse, take a glance at the site on any given day and you’ll see some books that simply make you scratch your head.

This is not to be snobby or prideful. I’m certain some people took a look at my book and said “eh, not for me,” or even “this looks terrible.” Quality can often be a matter of opinion. But there’s a difference between “quality” and “what in the world is this supposed to be?” When my book was on the “Hot and Trending” list, it was surrounded by books that were nothing short of unintelligible. Taglines like “He could never the love not to be her for it is a thing of heart” or “Where r u, he is the top” were all over the place. 

I have no problems with an unpublished author trying his or her hand at a werewolf romance, even if that’s not my cup of tea, but Kindle Scout is littered with books that don’t have grammar problems, because they don’t seem to be written in any particular language of human origin.

Corruption: This is a serious issue. On my first day on the site, I was surprised to see some of these unintelligible books on the “Hot and Trending” list. My confusion was short-lived. I got an email promising me hundreds of nominations if I paid for them. Amazon has strict rules about paid reviews, but they don’t seem to have figured out paid nominations yet.

Confusion: Some people have asked me how many nominations I received. I have no idea. Kindle Scout doesn’t tell you how many nominations you get, or if your book was reviewed by one of their “scouts,” or even what process your book went through. Don’t expect any feedback. Don’t even expect to understand how it works. “So if I get the most nominations, I get a contract? No? Okay, so if I get a lot of nominations, then I’m guaranteed that a professional ‘scout’ will see my book? No?”

Low readership: Imagine my excitement when I saw myself on the “Hot and Trending” list. All that hard work on social media paid off! The world is finally looking at my book! I ran over to see my book’s stats (okay, you don’t run on the internet, but my mouse hand sure did move quickly), and saw that my page had 84 views.

In other words, you can make the “Hot and Trending” list with less than 100 page views. For one of the largest companies in the world, Amazon can’t drive traffic to their exciting new publishing house?

In the end, the process was disheartening. Either Amazon doesn’t believe in their new program (and simply rolled it out to keep people from complaining about the death of the Breakthrough Novel Awards), or readers got so fed up with the confusion, corruption, and poor quality of the approved submissions that they stopped showing up.

I am incredibly grateful for everyone who nominated my book. It shows me that people are excited to see it, to read it, to watch it get out into the world. I certainly thank them. But Kindle Scout has some serious issues it needs to address if it wants to be taken seriously by the book reading – or book writing – public.   

Mystery of the Masked Marauder cover update

Alright everyone, we need your help!

We are so thrilled to show you some of the artwork our talented illustrator Jon Winchell has come up with for our front cover!

He has given us two final cover options to choose from. Which do YOU like better? Post here or on our Facebook page to let us know!

Mystery of the Masked Marauder: Almost there

Here's a quick update on where we are in the publishing process:

Our illustrator is putting the finishing touches on the cover, and everyone who has seen it loves how it's coming along. We'll hopefully have a cover reveal soon!

We're also almost done with the last round of edits, so once we have the cover we should be all set to go to the presses.

Here's where we need your help. There are a few things you can do:

1. Spread the word! Share our Facebook page and tell your friends about the upcoming book. Help us create buzz in anticipation of our release.

2. Give us some advice. Christmas is only 11 days away (and counting), and it's highly unlikely we'll have the book available for sale before the end of the week (at the very, very soonest). So what's your opinion? Should we rush and publish before Christmas, hoping for last-minute gift shoppers? Or should we take more time to generate buzz? Will our book get lost in the post-holiday shuffle? Comment here or on Facebook!

NaNoWriMo tips, tricks, and advice

Last week, I outlined the reasons you should try the “National Novel Writing Month” (NaNoWriMo) if you’re interested in practicing your writing, and this week I’ll give you some tips to succeed during the NaNoWriMo challenge.

These tips aren’t just for NaNoWriMo hopefuls, however. I believe there are some good lessons here for any time you’re trying to write a long-form piece.

What makes me an expert? Nothing, actually. I won't claim to be a master. But I have completed NaNoWriMo before, and I liked the finished product enough that I’m sharing it with the whole world. 

More than that, the NaNoWriMo process has actually worked so well for me that it’s now the only way I write. I finished the first draft of my latest book (86,000 words) in 29 days, all thanks to the lessons I learned in NaNoWriMo.

So what is that process? What did I learn from NaNoWriMo? What a coincidence you should ask. It just so happens that I wrote a blog post about that very subject:

1. Write something

I said this in my last post, but it can’t be overstated. How do you fight writer’s block? You write through it.

Yes, sometimes you get stuck and you aren’t sure where to go. Sometimes you need a mental health day (or two). But I argue that the best cure for writer’s block is to keep writing.

Here’s my theory: writer’s block is really the fear that our writing won’t be very good. If you know how to spell, you can write something. Writer’s block just means you don’t think it will be something worth writing.

So that’s my advice: write. Worry about whether it’s good or not after you're finished, after you let the finished product rest and you can look at it as a whole package with fresh eyes. Not now.

Some tips: take a step back. Try to figure out where you want to go. What is your goal with this story? What is your goal in this particular scene? Look at the story as a whole. If you know where you’re going, go there. If you’re not sure where you’re going... well, you can actually still begin the journey. Let the story figure itself out.

Now is the time to write. Don’t let yourself doubt, don’t let yourself stop, and don’t ever, ever tell yourself your idea isn’t good enough. Writer’s block is just another way of saying you don’t think your writing will be good enough.

Don't believe that. Just write.

2. Your NaNoWriMo novel won’t be finished

A related point, and the single most important thing to remember when setting off on this challenge: your novel won’t be done by the deadline. Yes, your goal is to have a complete story, so in a sense it will be "done." You should have a beginning, middle, and end. That’s how you “win” NaNoWriMo, after all.

But you won’t be finished. You will still have to edit your novel. That’s no reason to dread the challenge, it’s actually a reason to celebrate. As I’ve said more than once, relaxing and learning not to edit while you write are keys to writing well. So don’t worry about making the novel perfect by the end of November. Just get something down. 

It's much easier to fix something that's on paper than it is to perfect it while it's still in your head.

So let it out.

3. Keep track of your work, but don’t put yourself in a box

It’s important not to fall behind when tackling a challenge like NaNoWriMo (and it is a challenge). You can’t write 500 words per day for the first 20 days and then try to pack the last 40,000 words into 10 days. But if you get on a roll, you don’t have to stop at 1,666 words. And if you’re too busy or too tired or your creativity just won’t flow, you can take some time off.

Here’s the key: always adjust your goals. If you write 3,000 words your first day, divide the remaining 47,000 words by 29 days to find out how many more words you need to write per day. If you skip a day, make sure to recalculate. You need to know what you have to do in order to finish. Falling too far behind can convince you to give up.

It’s so exciting to see your goal getting closer and closer, getting a sense of accomplishment at how far you’ve come. Use that word count as a motivator.

So those are my three top tips whenever I write something lengthy: 1. When writer’s block strikes, write through it, 2. Remember that my novel won’t be perfect when I finish the first draft, and 3. Keep track of my progress.

What are some other tips you find useful?