Most of us aspiring writers sign up for Online forums, either to pitch new ideas and wait for feedback, or to ask for advice, but foremost to “build a platform.” “Building a platform” is based on a very basic principle: If nobody knows you, nobody will buy your books.

Just today I found an entry in the Online forum at AuthorNation.com (in my personal opinion the most civilized forum for writers). A fellow author complained about a book that apparently sells very well in the United States, but whose title he found somewhat annoying.

For truth is always strange; stranger than fiction.
- Lord Byron
Okay, things are getting a little weird. I am putting in a lot of work to promote my novels and, consequently, my web site, but I did not expect the e-mail inquiry I received today from Bruce in New York in regards to my new novel
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As a business man I am appalled by the lack of business sense literary agents display to the public, especially when it comes to rejecting writers not because they’re not talented but due to primitive reason such as violation of the submission guidelines.

The winner is clearly American Male Prostitute. First, the title itself is the best marketing tool, because it is provocative, and I have already written more than 7,500 words. Writing American Male Prostitute is fun, and I am not saying that writing The Fellow Utopian isn’t.

On November 6, 2009 I received an e-mail from a friend, informing me that one of my books, and a book I publish for him, has been posted IN FULL on the scribd.com web site. As of the same date there have been 935 “reads” on both books since June this year, which translates in a loss of sales volume of almost $20,000 for me and my friend and his co-authors.

Never write an advertisement which you wouldn’t want your family to read. You wouldn’t tell lies to your own wife. Don’t tell them to mine.
- David M. Ogilvy
The following is a random list of marketing activities I started since the release of my novel The Bleeding Hills. First, it serves as a written record for myself,
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America: the only country in the world where failing to promote yourself is regarded as being arrogant.
- Garry Trudeau
1. You need a Blog!
Don’t even bother designing your own web site (you should be spending time writing your next novel) or even paying to have it designed. What you need is a blog! A blog allows
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I am very close to publishing my first novel, The Bleeding Hills. The actual writing is done, and we are currently going through the consistency test, before we pass the novel to a professional editor. In the meantime I feel compelled to share some experiences I made during the writing process.