Come celebrate the release of my novel, The Greatest Show on Dirt, at Starry Nites Cafe (696 University Avenue, in Rochester) at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, March 26. Paperback copies will be available, and if you want to order a Kindle version while there, they have free Wi-Fi. There will be door prizes (think books). [...]
Entries Tagged as 'Writing'
Book Release Party for The Greatest Show on Dirt
March 14th, 2012 · Comments Off · The Greatest Show on Dirt, Writing
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Don’t need a second briefcase to track sales yet
February 27th, 2012 · Comments Off · The Greatest Show on Dirt, Writing
I spend more time than I’d like to admit commiserating with Charlie Brown these days. I can’t blame it all on my son’s obsession with the Peanuts gang, though repeated viewings of the Valentine’s Day special have etched a few particular scenes onto my brain. Every time I check the sales figures for the Kindle [...]
Tags:Charlie Brown·James Bailey·Kindle·Kindle Select·Office Space·Peter Gibbons·Sales·The Greatest Show on Dirt
‘The Greatest Show on Dirt’ now available
February 10th, 2012 · Comments Off · '91 Durham Bulls, Writing
After racing all fall and into the early part of winter to complete the final revisions on my book, I wanted some lead time before the official release to allow for reviews and marketing. I first envisioned launching it the week pitchers and catchers report for spring training (mid-February). Most baseball books come out in [...]
One man’s readability is another man’s literary merit
January 3rd, 2012 · Comments Off · Writing
We are rapidly closing in on 20 years since I set foot in a college classroom. Time has blurred most of my classes together. One of the rare ones that stands out to me is an upper-level English literature class I took the first semester of my junior year. I signed up for an ambitious [...]
Tags:Chad Harbach·James Bailey·Reading·The Art of Fielding·writing
Vampires in Washington? Don’t be surprised, they’ve been there forever
December 13th, 2011 · Comments Off · Blog, Writing
Since I started writing book reviews for Baseball America three years ago I’ve seen all kinds of pitches. We get e-mails from Big Six promo folks and personal pleas from authors who have struck out on their own. In early 2010 I received an e-mail from a small publisher called Chin Music Press about a [...]
Tags:James Bailey·Jeff Gillenkirk·politics·Pursuit of Darkness·vampires·Washington
Is your lead character the master of his domain?
November 3rd, 2011 · Comments Off · Baseball, Writing
Ever read a book, or even a short story, and hit a scene that just doesn’t quite work for you? Something’s just not right, but maybe you can’t put your finger on it. Or maybe you’re thinking, “you know, if the main character just masturbated in here somewhere this would be perfect.” Okay, me neither. [...]
Novel writing not nearly as painful as a marathon
September 20th, 2011 · Comments Off · Blog, Writing
Rah-rah writing coaches are fond of equating writing a novel to running a marathon. The two are alike in only the loosest metaphorical sense. Both require commitment and discipline, but one can be done from the comfort of an office chair and the other demands hundreds of hours of grueling training. This is where the [...]
Nothing beats a great pair of legs, until they’re on the cover of your book
September 16th, 2011 · Comments Off · Writing
A deal with one of the “big six” publishers is what most writers dream of. Accepted by the gatekeepers and destined for prominent placement in every major bookstore (okay, every Barnes & Noble now that no one else is left), yeah, sign me up. This is what all those query letters were all about. But [...]
Tags:Amazon sales rank·books·e-books·HarperCollins·Jeff Gillenkirk·Polly Courtney·publishers·Self-publishing·Small presses
How to delete an entire novel in two seconds
July 13th, 2011 · Comments Off · Blog, Writing
It’s conventional wisdom that at least one thing will go wrong on your wedding day. The key to the day is how well you ride that out. (And what it is. If the bride doesn’t show, that’s a hard one to overcome.) Our wedding went off smooth. Everyone arrived on time, no one passed out [...]
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A view from the slow lane
July 6th, 2011 · Comments Off · Blog, Writing
I ran across a blog last week that claimed the way for authors to increase their ebook sales was to have more books to sell. It cited posts from successful indie/self-pubbed authors Bob Mayer and John Locke, who seem to believe that 3-5 books gets you to that tipping point where your book sales feed [...]
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