How [Not] to Run a Promo on Amazon AND Apple, Kobo, Nook, & Google

Goal: run a simultaneous book giveaway on all 5 major e-distribution sites — Kindle/Amazon, Apple/iBooks, Nook/B&N, Google Play, and Kobo. As described in my previous post, I’ve wanted to do this for ages — WITHOUT enrolling the book in KDP Select, as Amazon requires for Kindle giveaways, OR switching its …

Fault Lines: Stories by Northern California Crime Writers

It’s here! Sisters in Crime’s NorCal branch has published their (our) first-ever anthology — Fault Lines: Stories by Northern California Crime Writers — and I’m delighted that my story “Birdbrain” is in it. Brilliantly edited by Margaret Lucke, this short-fiction collection by 19 outstanding writers from all over the mystery-crime-thriller …

Still Unsolved: Mystery Writer Josephine Tey, AKA Playwright Gordon Daviot, AKA . . .

Pity the poor 21st-century writer who became a Josephine Tey fan in her/his formative years. Vanity Fair contributor Francis Wheen explains why in this excellent story from September 2015: Decades After Her Death, Mystery Still Surrounds Crime Novelist Josephine Tey Unlike Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, and Ngaio Marsh, Josephine …

Who Killed Pronoun? Mysterious Death of a Promising E-Publisher

The dashboard announcement is startling and terse. The explanation is corporate-ambiguous: Two years ago Pronoun set out to create a one-of-a-kind publishing tool that truly put authors first. We believed that the power of data could be harnessed for smarter book publishing, leveling the playing field for indie authors. That’s …