I’ve been wondering about book pricing for a long time. Specifically, whether making your book free makes me bothered about reading it or not. And I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m not. Bothered, that is. But before you start weeping and wailing (yes – you in the back, there) this has to be taken in the context of…
Tag: Writing
Why Your Attention Span Is A Great Excuse For Someone Else’s Failure
I wasn’t well last week, and ended up feeling dreadfully sorry for myself. Now, there’s nothing on earth can feel quite as sorry for itself as an Irish woman, so it can get quite dark. Anyhoo, as I lay prostrate, bemoaning the state of both my health and my immediate prospects, my lamentations eventually began to…
You ****! You Just Can’t Say That On The Internet
It’s the ILF Dublin this week (International Literature Festival Dublin – formerly known as the Dublin Writers’ Festival – related attempt at satire here) and the city is swimming in a lovely pool of gorgeous writerly types putting themselves out there for our ogling and listening pleasure. On Tuesday I went to hear Jon Ronson, author of…
5 Reasons The Internet Doesn’t Get Irony
I’ve been doing loads of giving out here, lately. It’s been lovely. Lambasting things like Twitter and terrible book marketing is more fun than reading cartoons whilst sipping champagne through a straw in a giant bathtub full of bubble wrap. The response has been enlightening, too. I expected lots of giving out in return. People taking offence at my offensiveness. I didn’t get…
Love, And The Way It Might Steal You Away
Today, this cynical old blogger wants to talk about love. * Because just 2 short weeks ago, I fell in it. I found myself swimming in sticky, glorious, all-consuming love. I tumbled into it while reading a book. I’m going to be mean, and not tell you which it was, because it was an old book, already famous, and I don’t want this…
What If Authors Behaved In Real Life Like They Behaved Online?
Come with me now on a journey to explore a side of the Internet which is still driving me batty. I know you don’t want to be driven batty, but let’s face it, if you wanted peace, or even sense, you wouldn’t be reading this blog in the first place. Picture the scene. You’re at a party. You know nobody there, but you’ve…
5 Cheeky Tips For Bloggers Embarking On The A-Z Challenge
April is a month when thousands of bloggers embark on what’s called the The A-Z Challenge: where people blog on 26 near-consecutive days (every day except Sundays) – on a theme of their choice. It’s a fantastic exercise. It can get the blog blood flowing, prodding bloggers either out of a pit, or into a routine; and it’s a sure-fire way…
Why I’d Be Really Crap At Having An Affair
I’m trying to carry on three fairly intense relationships at the moment. Simultaneously. And it’s no fun, let me tell you. I don’t know how some reprobates can do it with ease. I think it’s way too much pressure, trying to do right by more than 1 loved one at the same time, and still have time to wash…
Tark And Mara Go On Retreat And Find Themselves
Mara swept Billy goat’s-curd serum from her upper lip and sat up. She would know that noise anywhere. The man she loved was in pain. She had to go to him. She wound a bamboo hand-towel around her fleshless frame and donned sunglasses before exiting the treatment room. She was only three minutes into a two-hour Deeply Detoxifying Core Cleansing…
Authors! Your First Chapter Is Killing Your Book
To begin with, let’s make one thing clear: first chapters SUCK. The best first chapters in the world still suck – for writers, that is. The simplistic beauty of killer first lines and blockbuster beginnings, which hook the reader in several different ways, will usually cause their writers to collapse in a puddle of headachey sweat, eyes rolled back,…
Tara Sparling writes 