I heard a few good things about Wattpad during 2014. Wikipedia (December 20, 2016) says... "Wattpad is an online storytelling community where users post written works such as articles, stories, fan fiction, and poems, either through the website or the mobile app... As of April 2014: [Yes, 2014] 85% of its traffic and usage comes from …
Dysprosium was the 66th annual UK SciFi Convention, held at Easter 2015. (Yes, I'm still playing "catch-up".) Overview Weird and wacky, thoughtful and intelligent, and a Real Ale bar permanently packed-out with hobbits. Well, not real hobbits, but hairy folk wearing homespun and sandals. (For my non-UK readers, Real Ales are traditional beers produced by smaller breweries with …
Great news! According to the reputable Alexa ranking system today, my blog was the 814th most accessed site from Luxembourg. So out of the teemingly uncountable* domains on the planet, a few sites like Amazon and YouTube are more popular. (Okay, those two and 811 mega-corporations and a few porn sites.) So, villmols merci, Letzebuerg. My …
Last time, I praised the opportunities for unpublished writers offered by submitting to Anthologies and Contests. So where do you start in your search for Anthologies and Contests seeking submissions? Today, I list a good number of links below, to get you started. And please note that I in no way endorse any of these …
How To Impress Publishers With A Huge Following Last time, we saw that an aspiring author needs a big Following to get the attention of a publisher. So how to achieve that? Tricky. Without any published work, the newcomer has little to share about his work. All he can do is to show the world …
Last time, I considered "Failing To Spot A Winner" in the entertainment industry. Now, let's look at the reverse of the coin. How To Spot "Potential Success" Today, a publisher will assess the potential of an unknown author's manuscript by checking "Social Network Following", before glancing at the work. The assumption is that a huge …
. The traditional publishing industry does not exactly have 100% record of identifying books carrying the stamp of massive popularity and commercial success. Consider this list of best-sellers from various genres and their initial rejection totals (source: "How Stuff Works"): Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell (38) Dune by Frank Herbert (20) Carrie by Stephen King (30) Dubliners …
My blog has been a little quiet these past weeks, as I've been catching up on some writing. I have seen a few independent writers recently close down their blogging activities on the grounds that they wanted to spend more time with their work-in-progress novels. Writers write, right? Well, yes, but... The demands of the …
In a recent post I considered the social network etiquette - the "netiquette" - of Following-back, particularly in Twitter. I've now reached that wonderful "critical point" where my Following grows daily without any "marketing effort". I do know that this is due to the weight of numbers already Following me, rather than a sudden, global appreciation …
Andy McKell, Speculative Fiction Author 
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