Here is the 57th installment of Ten Top Lists of What Not to Do. I put this together after observing other conference attendees in action at a recent writer’s conference I attended. Hope you enjoy

Top Ten Things Not to do if You Attend a Writer’s Conference

10. If you attend a writer’s conference, do not think you need to impress the faculty with your knowledge of the writing craft. If you do, at best you will sound ridiculous teaching best-selling authors about writing. At worst, one of the best-selling authors may ask you how many books you have sold.

9.  If you attend a writer’s conference, do not volunteer to be the first to read your story out loud. If you do, at best you will finish your reading and no one will applaud since you obviously did not hear the instructions. At worst, you will finish your reading and…

Photo Credit: Flickr by BK and Carlos Bonilla

It’s Monday… what are you looking for?

Guys, it’s happening. It’s really, really happening.

*bounces off walls* *throws confetti* *pulls out massive scientific dictionary*

NASA has started working on a warp drive ship that can travel hyper-fast (think faster-than-light). If they can actually build the ship, it could reach Alpha-Centuari, the closest star to us, which is still over 4 light years away, in only 2 weeks. TWO WEEKS.

Trekkies, rejoice. And they are naming this ship the IXS Enterprise:

You can find more photos of the ship in the designer’s Flicker account here

I know, I know, you’re probably wondering how this ship could work if Einstein’s law of nothing-can-travel-faster-than-the-speed-of-light holds true.

Warning: filtered science ahead as best explained as I can understand it

Physicists have found a theoretical loophole. Since spacetime has no mass (think about that for a second—space has no mass. Mind bendy), it can travel at…

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Authors often do very little research to really understand who their potential audience is – or could be.  Asking them: “Who is your audience and who is your competition?” one might receive only vague answers …  However, these are essential questions that are not only very important for self-publishers, but also for authors who want to go with a traditional publisher!  They need to proof to the agent or the publisher that they have done their homework.
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How Can You Research Your Competition?
First of all make a long list with possible keywords that readers might use to find a similar book.
Check out the complete categories / genres at Amazon, Barnes&Noble, Kobo, Apple, Sony, Google Books, Waterstones etc. and study all the books, that could be akin to your future work. Visit several public libraries to learn about your competition. Borrow the most interesting ones…