Eclipse Day News

Posted on by joepowersauthor

It’s Eclipse Day! Here in my part of the world we were in the path of totality, which was something I have apparently experienced once before. I wasn’t very old in 1979 when we had the last such occurrence, and I don’t remember a lot about it other than being confined to the classroom with curtains drawn. Or drapes, or whatever they had to cover the windows. Sheets of cardboard, probably. Either way, it was cool to be in the middle of it this time around. Much older, arguably wiser, and more able to appreciate the significance of it.

I wanted to take a few minutes just to touch base here, to let you know I’m still alive and kicking, and still happily offering classes in short story and horror writing. In fact, summer sessions of Writing Horror: The Dark Side (May 13th) and Crafting the Short Story (May 16th) are almost upon us. Due to a bit of unfortunate website activity, links to individual courses are not currently available. However, both can be found here. As an added bonus, there’s an earlybird special, so if you sign up now you get a reduced rate on either or both courses.

In other news, I recently sold my first short story in a while. I honestly haven’t written a lot of quality shorts recently, as I’ve been bogged down in other projects. But I do love writing them, and every once in a while I’ll go on a little spree and knock a few out. I can’t reveal any details just yet, other than to say it’s a publication I have some history with, and am thrilled to be a part of. More to come soon, I promise. Also, the convention and book show season is almost upon us, so here’s a little reminder for those in the area of one such event on my upcoming calendar:

This was a fun, well-organized and well-attended show last year, and I look forward to attending again this summer, catching up with old friends and meeting new ones, and talking shop with fellow book lovers.

Until next time, remember: book reviews are the lifeblood of authors, so please consider leaving a review for those you’ve read and liked. (Oh, and I have a post coming soon on that subject too, as it’s inexplicably become a hotbutton topic of late). For all the latest news and updates delivered right to your inbox, pop on over to my contact page and join my mailing list. Until next time, be safe, talk soon!

-JP

Another One (Almost) In the Books

Posted on by joepowersauthor

As I wrote about last month, NaNoWriMo has come and gone for another year. Did you participate? How did it go? The goal is 50,000 words, but even if you wrote fewer than that – far fewer, even – if you took part, congratulations. It’s simultaneously overwhelming and exciting. Some people feel a lot of pressure to complete the task. Some treat it like a New Year’s resolution – which is to say, they sign up, maybe write for a day or two, tail off, and never pick it up again.

My personal experience with NaNo is one of mixed results. Last year I dove in with gusto, then petered out quickly and checked in at around five thousand words. This year, despite illness and various distractions, I wrote a three thousand word short story, around a thousand toward another one, and am currently staring at a novel manuscript just shy of 45,000 words. It’s a total mess, and will have to be almost entirely rewritten. But it’s a start.

A pedantic observer might note that only adds up to about 49,000 words, and they would be correct. The thing is, I didn’t use NaNo as a goal, but rather, a spark to kickstart something I needed to do anyway. I’m not finished, obviously. But the good news is, here in the early days of December and beyond, I can still work on it. I have no idea how long it will end up being; I’ll know when I get there. It probably won’t wrap up before Christmas, but at some point in the New Year, I will put the finishing touches on the first draft. And because some of the writing coincided with NaNo, I will be happy that I participated this year.

Just in case this is my last post of the year, let me take a minute to wish all of you a safe and happy holiday season. A heartfelt thank you to all who have visited me here. For those who purchased or read any of my books, thank you so much, I hope you enjoyed them. To those with whom I interacted with at any of the conventions and signings I attended, thank you for taking the time to come out and spend a few minutes chatting with me. I very much enjoyed that. To all of you who took any of my classes in the past year, I had a great time meeting and getting to know you and was blown away by the skills and talent level I got to see on display.

Here’s to a great 2024 for everyone. Drop in here any time, pop on over to my contact page for updates and all the latest news. Support local authors, leave reviews and help them spread the word about their books. Be safe, talk soon!

-JP

Book of the Month

Posted on by joepowersauthor

Halloween has come and gone for another year. It’s November now, which means it’s NaNoWriMo time! That, for the uninitiated, stands for National Novel Writers’ Month. Every year since 1999, aspiring (and existing) novelists frantically put pen to paper – or finger to keyboard, depending on your approach – in the hope that this event would be the inspiration that produces a novel.

The deal with NaNo is, we’re supposed to write 50,000 words over the course of the month, or roughly 1,667 words per day. You’re not strictly required to write every single day, although it sure does put the pressure on for the next session if you’ve missed one of those ~2k word days. I kicked off NaNo by writing a little over three thousand words! …on a short story, completely unrelated to this or any novel.

Does it actually work? For some, certainly. The event has grown in popularity, to the point where roughly half a million people participate each year. Of that number, between 10% and 15% reach their goal. Now, that might sound like a discouraging number on the surface. But take heart! Compare that to the overall stats – that is to say, writers who decide to write a novel regardless of what time of year, NaNoWriMo aside – and it looks a little more impressive. According to various sources*, of all who endeavor to begin a novel, around 3% actually finish it.

* (Not sure what this is based on, but it is frequently quoted by numerous sources across the interwebs. Possibly anecdotal, but there might be some sort of actual research done on the subject).

So… 10-15% versus 3% sounds pretty good, right? Maybe worth taking a shot at this NaNo thing? I guess it makes sense; a 30-day deadline forces you to buckle down and actually write every day, or near enough to that, to make a serious dent in a full-length novel. Realistically, if you wrote just 250 words a day for a year you’d be looking at north of 91,000 words. That’s a pretty thick novel, right there.

Now… the point of this is to write a novel. We’ve covered that. But that means writing more of the same project every day. Add to what you did yesterday, add more to that tomorrow, and so on. I think this is where some probably run into trouble. The average person probably writes well over a hundred thousand words a year, scattered across hundreds or thousands of social media posts, texts, emails, and so on. None of this contributes to your novel, of course. But the point is you might have the determination to write something substantial, based solely on word count.

At the end of the day, if having a strict timeline is the sort of thing that will motivate you to work on something every day and see it through, I sincerely hope you do tackle this November tradition. I would love to hear stories about how you dove in, stuck it out, and crossed over to December with 50k or more words under your belt. Even if you come up short and finish with, say, 31,284 words. That’s a victory, not a loss. That just means you’ve got a big chunk of that novel behind you, and enough to show for your time that hopefully you’ll keep going and finish it off anyway.

As for me, I’m working on something for NaNo. I can’t promise I’ll hit 50k, but I’m going to try. Here’s wishing the best of inspiration and dedication to those who wade into these murky waters, whether for the first time or the twenty first.

As always, thanks for reading and following along here. Until next time, stay safe, talk soon!

-JP

Fall Goings-On

Posted on by joepowersauthor

Hi, and welcome to my little corner of the virtual world. Just a few short items today to get you caught up to date.

It’s been a busy time on the book front. A couple of weeks ago I was at Miramichi Horrorfest, which turned out to be a great time. Plenty of vendors, some amazing costumes, lots of cool stuff to see and do. I met a lot of new people, and had a chance to catch up with some old friends as well. Their next big event is MiraCon, a comic, cosplay, sci-fi and pop culture convention in May. I’ll share more info about that here as the event draws closer.

Last weekend I was off to the official launch of Monsters in the Fog, the latest release from Partridge Island Publishing. I was thrilled to be a part of this project and I had a blast, spending the day among my fellow contributors, both familiar and new. I was impressed with the turnout this small publishing house drew for their launch – I’ve attended book launches that drew good numbers, and some not so great, but nothing like this. Go check out their website for all available titles, or if you’re in the area, check out their store at Area 506.

Classes are underway once again! It’s been a long summer away from the (virtual) classroom, but we’re settling back in nicely. I’ll add the dates for the winter and spring sessions here soon. Side note: writing courses are an excellent holiday gift for the hard-to-shop-for person on your list!

That’s all for today. As always, thank you for taking the time to visit me here and read my blog posts. Please feel free to browse around and have a look at the rest of my site. To have updates and the latest news delivered directly to your inbox, pop on over to my contact page and subscribe. Remember, reviews are the writer’s life blood, rate and review the books you like – it means a lot to the authors out there. In case you missed it, here’s a short piece on this very topic.

Until next time, stay safe, talk soon!

-JP

leave a review, if you dare

Posted on by joepowersauthor

I’ve been meaning to write something about this issue for a while, and I guess today’s the day. It amazes me that it’s even an issue in the first place. But since it apparently is, I figured I should weigh in. I have strong opinions on the subject, and I’ll try to address it as coherently as possible.

Lately, I’ve been hearing a lot about book reviews. Specifically, the fact that some authors are apparently – increasingly – lashing out at those who leave what they deem ‘bad’ reviews on their books. That’s right: someone picks up a book, gives it a read, takes the time to go on Amazon or Goodreads or wherever, and leaves a review. Maybe they liked it, weren’t blown away by it, but enjoyed it. So let’s say they leave a three star review. The author sees this review, and not only complains about it on social media, but in some cases lashes out at the reviewer or even, in extreme cases, seeks them out to confront them.

As an author, I can tell you that it’s very difficult to acquire a following and garner a readership. A huge part of our exposure comes from potential readers looking at ratings and reviews left on such sites. I don’t fully understand how the system works, but it seems the more you have the more visible your books are. This is why I, and others like me, humbly request reviews – we need the exposure. And it’s no easy task, getting those reviews. If someone buys and reads a book, they are of course under no obligation to review it, or even tell anyone they’ve read it. When they do, it usually means they felt strongly about the book to write something about it, whether good or bad.

I can also tell you that, for those who do take the time to review a book, it’s hugely appreciated. Well, for most authors it is, anyway. But it seems there’s a growing number of writers out there who not only feel entitled to having their books reviewed, but also that these reviews must be overwhelmingly positive. Not only is this a ridiculous stance – no reader owes you anything, authors – it makes it increasingly difficult for the rest of us to convince an already hesitant readership to perform this generous act of kindness.

So, let me state this as plainly as I can. Authors: reviews are for readers, not writers. Read them if you must, but keep your thoughts about them to yourself. Just bear in mind that your book might not be to everyone’s taste, and that’s okay (or maybe, in some cases, if a book gets an inordinate amount of poor reviews, perhaps it’s worth considering that the book just isn’t that good). And whatever you do, resist the asinine urge to bite the hand that feeds you – because it’s not just you that hand is feeding.

Readers: thank you for those reviews, please keep them coming. Just know that most of us appreciate you. Whether it’s a glowing review for a book you loved, a short note for a book you merely liked, or a critique for a book you didn’t care for, please don’t hesitate to leave them, and realize that the vast majority of us aren’t entitled, petty, and short-sighted enough to attack you over it.

That’s all. A book review is a simple transaction that didn’t need to have this controversy surrounding it. If you’re so inclined, feel free to leave a review on any (or all!) of my books. I promise it won’t go unnoticed, and as always, it means a lot. You can also follow me here for all the latest news and updates.

Until next time, be safe, talk soon!

-JP

Horrorfest, and other news

Posted on by joepowersauthor

My first post here in a while. First since April, it looks like. Well, let me sweep away the cobwebs and blow some of the dust off, and see what we’ve got to talk about today.

It’s been a slow time for me on the writing front. We actually had a summer this year, and I spent a fair bit of it away from the ol’ keyboard, or off the grid entirely. No excuse, I know. On a positive note, my first new work in a while will appear in an anthology coming this October. It’s a great project that I’m pleased to be a part of, but… I can’t say a lot more about it just yet. Building the suspense, and all that. I can tell you that, in keeping with my Canadian-themed stories, my contribution to the anthology is set right here in the Maritimes, in Truro, Nova Scotia, to be precise. I’ll have more to say about that in the coming weeks.

For those in and around the area, Miramichi is hosting Horrorfest 2023 at the end of September. I’ll be there (of course I will!) as a vendor, but also just to soak in the atmosphere of a horror-themed con. It looks like they’ve got tons of cool stuff planned, as noted in the photo below (which I borrowed from event organizer AllEvents in Miramichi) so if you’re within striking distance of this lovely city, mark your calendars and make your way there. Hope to see you!

I’ll have more updates soon, including news about the fall sessions of Crafting the Short Story and Writing Horror: The Dark Side, and my thoughts on AI and bogus book awards. For now, thanks to all who visit this space, whether regularly or (like me, lately) sporadically. I appreciate you taking the time to come and see what’s going on, even during the slower times when there isn’t a lot of new content to see.

Remember: book reviews are the lifeblood of authors, so please consider leaving a review for those you’ve read and liked. (Oh, and I have a post coming soon on that subject too, as it’s inexplicably become a hotbutton topic of late). For all the latest news and updates delivered right to your inbox, pop on over to my contact page and join my mailing list. Until next time, be safe, talk soon!

-JP

Book Fair, and other Notes

Posted on by joepowersauthor

It’s been a little while since I had much to say in this space, but I thought I’d take a minute to mention a couple of items.

This weekend marked a first for me, as I participated in the first annual Greater Moncton, Riverview, Dieppe Book Fair. It was a packed house and a loaded roster, with more than forty local authors taking part. For the full list of participants, here’s the link to the website. I sold some books, which is always appreciated, but I also spent a lot of time socializing and mingling with the other vendors and the steady stream of people that came to check it out. I really enjoyed reconnecting with some old friends, and meeting some new ones as well. Some folks I’d been acquainted with through social media, but had never met in person – always nice to put a face to the name. I’m told the plan is for this to become an annual event, which would be great.

Speaking of the fair, at one point my writing classes came into the conversation. I didn’t have the information on the tip of my tongue, but for those interested the start dates for the spring sessions are May 11th for Crafting the Short Story and May 8th for Writing Horror: The Dark Side. Registrations are already rolling in, but there are still spots available for writers of all ages* and skill levels.

*Writing Horror is for ages 18+. We have a little more leeway for Short Story.

One final note on the book fair: Kudos to organizer Allan Hudson, who worked tirelessly to put this together and make it successful. Allan does a lot for writers and the writing community in this part of the world, including but not limited to his South Branch Scribbler which always has something interesting. It’s worth a look if you’re interested in the local (Atlantic Canada, primarily) author scene.

I’ve had a few ideas for blog posts rattling around in my head for a while, but so far haven’t taken the time to come in here and actually churn them out. Maybe I just needed to do this update to ‘prime the pump’, so to speak. So hopefully, over the next little while I’ll churn some of those out as well. We’ll have a post that takes a look at the “book awards” phenomenon, sharing my thoughts on why they’re largely a waste of money and bring little to the table in return; and one regarding fake and scam publishers (I covered this topic briefly last year in this post, but it bears repeating, I think).

That’s about it for today, I guess. More to come in the not-too-distant future, barring unforeseen circumstances. Until then, stay safe, talk soon!

-JP

Spreading the Word

Posted on by joepowersauthor

A followup on my previous post, as an opportunity presents itself to spread my tentacles out a little further into the world.

Last week I mentioned an interview I did with The Miramichi Reader for their TMR Podcast. I chatted with editor-in-chief James Fisher about writing, the horror genre, the stuff that inspires me, Old Bones – my latest release- and all kinds of fun stuff. It’s live as of this afternoon. You can find it on Spotify (look for TMR Podcast) or check it out here. It was a fun experience, and I really appreciated the opportunity to discuss the craft and shine a light on my little corner of the book world.

That’s all for today, short and sweet. As always, thanks to you for taking the time to drop by and visit. While you’re here, why not swing over to my contact page and sign up to have all the latest news delivered directly to your inbox, hot off the presses, as soon as it’s released. Your continued support is always welcome, and appreciated. Don’t forget to post reviews for the books you like, authors love that! Until next time, stay safe, talk soon!

-JP

Summer Housecleaning

Posted on by joepowersauthor

It’s been a while since I had much to report on here, but I thought it was high time I checked in. Throw open the curtains, clear away the cobwebs, frown at the layer of dust that’s accumulated since my last visit. I really do need to spend more time in here.

Ahem… anyway, today was spent in the company of some lovely folks, chatting about the writing and publishing biz in my online course, An Introduction to Publishing. If you missed out, don’t worry, the next one runs this December. In the meantime, we’ve got the next Crafting the Short Story and Writing Horror: The Dark Side both running in October.

Due to this scheduling conflict I had to miss out on visiting my friend Allan Hudson at his book signing today at the grand re-opening of Dog Eared Books. Allan, by the way, hosts the South Branch Scribbler blog where he interviews and brings a ton of exposure to many authors, including myself a while back. Lots of good stuff over there, I recommend checking it out.

I’m also pleased to announce a fun interview with my friend James Fisher will be appearing on an upcoming episode of the esteemed Miramichi Reader podcast. This is another fine site that shines a bright light on authors and their work, and is deserving of some recognition as well. There’s a lot to look at there, so feel free to browse around and see the sights.

That’s about all I have for today, aside from a hearty thank you for your continued support, and a reminder that posting reader reviews is a wonderful way to bring much-needed exposure to the authors you enjoy. Feel free to drop back here any time, and for all the latest updates delivered right to your inbox, pop over to my contact page. Until next time, stay safe, talk soon!

-JP

Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing

Posted on by joepowersauthor

Today I wanted to refresh a message I share with you from time to time. It never gets old, because it never goes away. And each time I put it out there, my hope is that one more person sees and absorbs the message. Today, I want to talk about vanity publishers.

Let me put this as plainly as possible: vanity publishing is a scam. Anyone who asks you for money to publish your work is not a legit publisher. Money flows from the publisher to the author, not the other way around. If an offer sounds too good to be true, it very likely is. Legitimate publishers rarely contact writers unprompted with contract offers. Before you sign any kind of contract, make absolutely sure you know what you’re getting into.

Last night my friend @luisaraegan posted a wonderful breakdown of some of the pitfalls of vanity publishing. You can read her article here, and I definitely recommend it – and not just because she quoted me throughout! I love that she’s helping to spread the word about this scam, and when she asked for my input I was happy to oblige.

In my writing class, Crafting the Short Story, I spend some time discussing the things to watch for when choosing a publisher. I put a lot of emphasis on avoiding these types of publishers because many of the participants are relatively new to the publishing world and have no idea this sort of thing even exists.

Again, if we can reach even one person and save them a lot of headache and heartache, mission accomplished. I’m always happy to do my part to put a dent in the potential pool of scam victims.

Thanks as always for reading. If you’d like to receive updates delivered right to your inbox, you can pop over to my contact page and sign up to be among the first to see all new posts. Until next time, stay safe, talk soon!

-JP