Siomai and Friends Fries by Chris DeBrie: travel

It is a rare thing when a memoir allows you to not only be a spectator to someone’s life but actually feel as if you are walking through their experiences with them. 

--Amazon review

NBA 2K16-9: Round 2, Roanoke Railguns v Atlanta Hawks

Atlanta was not as good as the Miami Heat, who we had just dispatched 4 games to 1. The Roanoke Railguns coach anticipated a

sweep. Never mind that the Hawks were rated at 81 to the Guns' 73. They were worse than the Heat on paper and on the court.

Joe Dumars had a bad hammy that is day to day. The lineups were very different than at the start of the season. That's attrition for you. But the rest of the team was prepared and relaxed.

Game 1, in Roanoke: Roanoke wins, 87-56. At some point, the Hawks got a doppelganger of our Willie Wolfe. On our team, Wolfe is a lead-footed bench warmer. On Atlanta he was a starter.

Enough said. Mack Long, our Shawn Kemp-like backup center, was a 70 rating but if he ever got to 90 or so, he could be lethal. He went 24 pts, 6 reb, 5 steals, a block and an assist. That was off the bench... 

Game 2, in Roanoke: Roanoke wins, 82-58. John Derry Stevens poured in 28 [13-19 shooting], 4 assists, 4 rebounds, 4 steals. Nevalove nearly fouled out before getting 17 acrobatic points. The Warriors lead 2-0 over OKC; same for Memphis over New Orleans and Chicago over Cleveland....

Game 3, in Atlanta: Roanoke wins, 65-49. Ugggly! Stevens was the player of the game and he shot 5 for 20. 11 points, 5 steals, 4 boards, 2 assists. Nothing to see here. Clear the area.

Game 4, in Atlanta: Roanoke clinches, 68-61. Good news arrived after that crime scene victory we got in Game 3--Joe Dumars was healed up from his hamstring injury and we had our starting PG back. Swole Whitehead might not have been happy, and he played pretty well in relief. But Dumars was simply better; the game would have been closer without him, because Alanta took it up a notch and were tough... he scored 18 points. Stevens had an 18 point, 6 board game.

The Oklahoma City Thunder eliminated Golden State, 4 games to 3, on the other side of the bracket. A one-point victory in Game 7 at GSW, with Russell Westbrook missing because of injury. So much for beating the Warriors in the Finals... OKC would face the 8 seed New Orleans Pelicans in the Western Finals. Next up for the Roanoke Railguns: #2 seed Chicago Bulls.

Five Ways to Promote Your Indie Novel: Cap'n Random

For the indie writer, getting attention in a saturated market can be a challenge.

 

Here was my guerrilla marketing/promo for the 2013 short novel, "Cap'n Random"...

 

1. Buy a few reviews to be posted on Amazon, Goodreads, and other websites. You can find people to read your book and write (hopefully) honest reviews, for a fee. Fiverr is a freelance site where people perform a number of services, including book reviewing, starting at $5.

2. Make the book available for free, at least briefly, shortly after publication. Most independent writers know about Amazon's KDP platform, which lets us give the work away to gain publicity. Some conditions apply, such as giving Amazon exclusivity during the promo period. For me, this did not translate into more sales after the "giveaway" period. But hundreds of people downloaded Cap'n Random, which may spark some recognition in the future.

3. Do a Goodreads giveaway drawing. I sent three signed copies to the drawing winners. All three were international addresses. There is a "American only" type box and it will be checked, if I do another giveaway.

4. Sign up with a virtual book tour organizer. The well-connected writer can schedule his or her own. For the sake of convenience, I went with an online service, and the organizers set me up with a couple weeks' worth of QnA, essay-type blog visits. Prices and length of tours vary widely. Shopping around paid off dividends.

5. Do the usual social networking announcements. These don't pay of much of anything unless you have majorly devoted followers. Otherwise, only a percentage of them are going to respond. But it is just another place to leave a mark for search engines to sniff out.

 

 

***

 

Did any of these things work? Depends on the goals. Mine were to make a few more neural connections on the InterWeb.  People find links in all kinds of ways... Mission accomplished.

 

I heard or read that, to sell five units of something as a writer, you will need to be exposed to one thousand people! Puts things in perspective. It's a good thing that I'm not in the writing game to make a buck.

 

For those who want that buck... the best hope for the indie writer is to create an aggregate of stories and other art. Find a niche, a personal specialty, and corner it artistically. You could get speaking engagements, seminars, books, and media appearances out of it. Again, this depends on the goals.

 

Unless someone strikes a main vein of interest, or is willing to compromise, there's little chance of a big-time career in fiction writing coming from one book. 

 

Obviously none of this applies to the publicity/marketing genius. This type of person can spin gold by sheer will and personality. For the rest of us, it's best to simply keep producing.

 

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Liz Long

 

Must Read Faster

 

 

 

 

 

Roanoke, VA: Old-Timey Car at the Waffle House

Just some quick flicks I took early one Sunday morning. If anyone knows what kind of car this is, let us know.

I'm tempted to make a joke about being able to write my name in chalk on this machine's tire, while it is in traffic. But that's too much. I and a good partner could beat it in a three-legged race, though.

The good people at Waffle House know my face, if not my name....