Archive - October, 2011

What You Said: Your Three Favorite Podcasts

October 25, 2011 in Announcements, Gratitude with 0 Comments

Today, I posted on Twitter, Facebook and Google+:

Yo, I need YOUR help! I’m sniffing around for new things to listen to. What are your THREE FAVORITE podcasts? Hit me!

Here’s what you said. Thanks for all the wonderful suggestions!

On Twitter…

Guest Post: A Message from Author Jeremy Robinson

October 20, 2011 in All Posts, Announcements with 0 Comments

Hey, everybody — J.C. Hutchins here. Not long ago, I allowed my pal and fellow new media author Seth Harwood to commandeer this here blog to tell you about some exciting things he was working on. Today, I’m doing the same for the supremely-talented Jeremy Robinson, a storyteller who excels at telling tales in many genres.

Jeremy wants to introduce himself to you fine peeps — and I thought be best-possible way to do that was to let him choose any three topics he wanted, and share his thoughts about them with you. Along the way, he’ll share some cool news about his latest novel The Sentinel and tell you about an opportunity to win a free Amazon Kindle e-reader. Two Kindles are up for grabs, so it’s worth your while to learn about Jeremy’s work … and how you might become a lucky winner.

So long from me — the rest of this post is all Jeremy!

Welcome to Jeremy Robinson’s Great Kindle Giveaway and Blog Tour…

“Hurray for free Kindles!” you say, but who the hell is Jeremy Robinson? Allow me to introduce myself. I’m the author of 11 mixed genre novels, published in 10 languages, including the popular fantasy YA series The Last Hunter, and the fast-paced Jack Sigler series (also known as Chess Team — not nearly as nerdy as it sounds), Pulse, Instinct and Threshold from Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin’s Press. I’m the co-author of an expanding series of novellas deemed the Chesspocalypse, which take place in the Chess Team universe. If that doesn’t wet your whistle, I’m also known as Jeremy Bishop, the #1 Amazon.com horror author of The Sentinel and the controversial novel, Torment. For more about me, or my books, visit my website.

J.C. told me I could tackle any three topics I wanted in my guest post — so I did just that. My three topics are below. I hope you enjoy them.

Also know that there are rewards for sloughing through the questions and answers. I’ll be giving away two Kindles to two randomly selected readers who sign up for my newsletter. Details on the giveaway can be found below. On to the Q&A!

You published two novels, Beneath and Kronos as free podcasts novels a few years back. What was your podcast experience like, and why haven’t you released another podcast novel since?

In general, my experience with releasing the two podcast novels was great. Kronos has been listened to, in full, 19,500 times. Beneath has been listened to 16,600 times. From what I understand, those are very good stats. Maybe not Sigler or Hutchins stats, but respectable. But have that podcast fanbase translated to sales of my other, non-free books (which is the goal when giving something away)? It’s impossible to say for sure, but my guess would be no. In fact, when the podcasts were new and being downloaded in large numbers, there was no noticeable uptick in sales of my non-free books. I suspect this is because there is a glut of free books available now, so why bother paying for something when there are other free options? Continue Reading…

Podcast: Interview with Chuck Wendig, Storyteller

October 8, 2011 in All Posts with 4 Comments

After months away from the podcast feed, J.C. extracts himself from a hearty heap of freelance storytelling to chat with another freelance storyteller, the supremely talented Chuck Wendig. Chuck has professionally written in many media and industries, including gaming, novels, screenplays, transmedia and more. “Versatility” is a topic of great interest in this chat.

During the conversation, J.C. and Chuck discuss a freelancer’s life, the compelling opportunities for writers these days, and Chuck’s remarkable and varied storytelling career. If you’re a working writer, or dreaming of becoming one, you won’t want to miss Chuck’s incredible story, and his approach to telling tales.

  • Visit Chuck’s website Terribleminds, and follow him on Twitter
  • Learn more about (and pre-order!) Chuck’s upcoming novel Double Dead
  • Get your learn-on about Chuck and Lance Weiler’s gobsmackingly awesome transmedia experience, Pandemic
  • Snag copies of Chuck’s nonfiction ebooks (Penmonkey books One and Two, and 250 Things…), which offer insight on the writerly life
  • Read the spectacularly cool transcript of Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and Lawrence Kasden as they brainstorm Raiders of the Lost Ark
Podcast: Interview with Chuck Wendig, Storyteller [ 55:00 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Guest Post: A Message from Author Seth Harwood

October 6, 2011 in All Posts with 2 Comments

Hey, everybody! I’d like to share some cool stuff concocted by one of my new media author pals, Seth Harwood. Seth’s written a guest post that shares some deets about his recent successes, his incredible new (and free) content, and his plans to make a splash in the Amazon Kindle store with his latest ebook release Jack Palms II: This Is Life.

Seth and I go way back, and I’m honored to share his great news with you.

Take it away, Seth!

–J.C.

~ ~ ~

Hey Beta Clones,

Your boy here, Seth Harwood, dropping a line to let you know I’m back on the podcast scene with a new novel, a new special edition print book of Jack Palms II: This Is Life and a whole series of ebooks springing to life right around the corner.

But first and foremost, let’s get to what’s in it for you: more free crime fiction in the action/thriller genre as I present In Broad Daylight, my first story featuring FBI agent Jess Harding. Here she’s chasing a serial killer of young women across Alaska in a summer of 20-hour days. When she starts to realize that the killer knows as much about her as she does about him, it starts getting messy. Will she find him before he finds her?

I just put up episode six today and you can get them all here with my talk at sethharwood.com or on Podiobooks.com without my big yap. I hope you’ll come on over and give this story a try. If you like thrillers, action movies, police procedurals or stuff by Sigler and Hutch, I think you’ll dig it. Listen as even Nathan Lowell gives it the thumbs up!

Next up I have a Kickstarter project that ends on Saturday at 9am Pacific, Noon eastern. This has been a wonderfully successful way to fund a lot of the projects I have coming up this winter in ebook-land and offers the chance to get special editions of This is Life in hardcover or paperback AND copies of lots more upcoming work. Time is short, so if you want, you must act soon.

And this brings me to my last point: my proposed domination of Amazon’s Kindle bestseller charts. I know, I know, but let’s at least try. This is Life is now available for Kindle at Amazon and B&N’s Nook! Picking one up at $2.99 will really help this podcaster get noticed by more ebook buyers and sell some product! If you want to support and don’t have a Kindle, no problem: you can download a Kindle App here for FREE and buy the book then.

That’s all from me then, clones! Thanks big time to J.C. for letting me post this piece and I hope to see you in your earbuds this fall! In Broad Daylight is waiting!

–Seth