From the Write Angle: Five Must Hear Podcasts for Writers

Free! Free!

Panzer and I were tootling in the catosphere today and found a new -- to us -- blog called From the Write Angle. There's a post by Jean Oram with links to FREE podcasts! And you know Panzer and FREE stuff.

Panzer says get your FREE podcasts by tootling on over to From the Write Angle: Five Must Hear Podcasts for Writers: by Jean Oram I've recently discovered podcasts as a part of my quest to improve my writing. While some of you may be laughing and saying t...

Yet Another Panzerism

Panzer on the art of seduction:

Some cats say wine is fine.
Others think catnip does the trick.
Me? I just take them home and show them my big ...  huge ...

Panzermobile!

New Panzerism

I'm still not listening.

Panzer says:

I went to the vet today.
She cleaned my ears.
I can hear much better now.

But that doesn't mean I'll do what you say.

Writers FM -- Writers Radio -- Download Podcasts

Free! Free!

Panzer loves this podcast site. This is a free author podcast site and we all know how much my bad boy loves FREE!

Each time a new podcast is posted, you can listen to it online or download it as an MP3 file. There is a list of interviews with mystery writers, romance writers, marketing experts, and it changes all the time.

To check out the interviews, tootle on over to Writers FM -- Writers Radio -- Download Podcasts

Mystery Writing is Murder: Top 10 Things One Writer Learned About Social Medi...

Panzer and I were out tootling around in the catosphere and we stopped in at Elizabeth Spann Craig's  Mystery Writing Is Murder blog. We found a guest post by Colby Marshall about using social media.

Now, as all of you who have been here at the Cats and Crime blog for a while know, social media is not Panzer's fete. (Remember, cats don't have thumbs, so it's very hard for them to use the keyboard!) But, my bad boy reads about it so he can tell ME what he wants done. He did find some good information in the list of 10 things to know before you use social media.

So, if you're thinking about jumping on the social media bandwagon to build a tribe of followers, read the rules first. Tootle over to Mystery Writing is Murder: Top 10 Things One Writer Learned About Social Medi...: Guest Post by Colby Marshall , @ColbyMarshall In my (very brief) career as a writer, I’ve learned a few things about self-promotion on soc...

Free Tab Section Added

It's Free!

Panzer and I have added a new Tab above. We'll be putting our Free From Us items there. Now, it has Fiona L. Webber's free romance. We'll be adding things as we get them finished. We're planning an excerpt from the ebook Cat's and Crime and an excerpt from the audiobook, too. We'll be adding other free ebooks, podcasts, audiobooks as they come up on our To-Do-List.

Panzer loves (giving away) free stuff, so keep checking back.

Amazon Serials Program

They want me to do what?

Panzer and I have been hearing a lot about the Amazon Serial Program, so my bad boy was happy to find a post at indie fantasy author Lindsay Buroker's blog about it. The guest post is by Roberto Calas and his adventures writing one of the Amazon serials. There's a link here to Amazon's submission guidelines too.

While neither Panzer nor I could write an adventure fast enough to get an episode up every two weeks, it is an interesting concept.

If you're interested in trying out for the Amazon Serial Program, read about it at Lindsay Buroler's blog.

Improve Your Amazon Listing

As you know, now that Cats and Crime has hit the rEtailers, Panzer has been scouring the Catosphere looking for marketing/promotion tips. Over at the duolit blog he found an oldie but a goodie. It comes from Laura Pepper Wu and has four easy steps to improve your Amazon listing. Panzer immediately put all four steps to work for Cats and Crime and he'll let you know how it works out.

If you're interested in trying these steps to improve your Amazon listing, tootle over to Improve Your Amazon Listing.

Simon Sez: Shelf Life: Enough Already (Guest Post)

No more!

Panzer stopped in at Simon Wood's blog today. There's a guest post up by Michelle Gagnon concerning the incivility between dead tree writers and ebook writers. It's true there has been a lot of sniping over the last couple of years between the two groups. So much of it that there are some blogs Panzer won't even visit any more. You know what my bad boy says, "More purring and less hissing."

If you've had enough of this arguing, tootle on over to Simon Sez: Shelf Life: Enough Already (Guest Post): I don't always do guest posts, but I wanted to share a very nicely written piece on the topic of bickering between traditionally and self ...

Free Sites to Promote Your eBook - GalleyCat

Free! Free! Free!

My bad boy was out in the Catosphere today looking for promotion sites for his new ebook. And of course he stopped in at GalleyCat one of his favorite blogs. And there was the answer to today's search: FREE promotion sites for ebooks. And you all know how Panzer loves FREE stuff!

Just because Panzer uploaded Cats and Crime to Amazon and Smashwords that doesn't mean his job is over! Now starts the promotion/marketing. And GalleyCat has a treasure trove of sites.

For FREE promotion sites for your ebook, tootle over to Free Sites to Promote Your eBook - GalleyCat

How To Write An Ebook

The woman has no shame!

Panzer found an interesting how-to series of posts at the inkybites blog.

Jennifer Blanchard has put together eight posts (seven now, one more to come) called How To Write An eBook. The posts cover the process from finding a suitable idea to the actual launch of your ebook. While the series is geared more for nonfiction, most of the process is transferable to a fiction project as well.

Shhhhh. Don't tell Panzer, but Jennifer has a ... dare I say it ... DOG! Check out her bio at the top of her blog. She even has a photo of her and her DOG! Oh, the shame of it all. Oh, no! I think he heard us.

If you're interested in seeing how Jennifer (and her DOG) suggest writing an ebook, tootle over to inkybites .

Miss Writerly Crankypants: A Writer in Bad Review Land

Panzer is laughing so hard he fell out of the Panzermobile! Every writer in the Catosphere who has ever gotten a one star review can relate to this post. Miss Writerly Crankypants' post should make you think twice before you post that bad review at Amazon!

Tootle over to Miss Writerly Crankypants: A Writer in Bad Review Land: Today Miss Crankypants finds herself wallowing with some other writers in Bad Review Land and boy, is the fur a'flyin'. Writers can't ju...

Romance University: Your Author Brand

Panzer was over at the Romance University blog today. Yes, you read that right. The Romance University. He was doing some research for Fiona L. Webber, the romance writer of our team, (click the tab above for more about her) when he came across a post that will help all of us. No matter what our genre, we all need to put our brand in place.

The post by Oliver Rhodes, founder of digital publisher Bookouture, is titled Your Author Brand - How to Make The Most Of It. Rhodes suggests we ask ourselves questions such as, "Who do I want for my audience?" and "What does my brand represent?" Rhodes says that by answering these questions and several others we can put together a formula for what we want our brand to do for us.

To see if this plan will work for you tootle over to Romance University: Your Author Brand

Crossover Deals from Self-Publishing to Traditional

 Panzer was out in the Panzermobile today and he happened to stop in at Dean Wesley Smith's blog. Smith has some interesting numbers on indie writers who have used the self-publishing route to get a traditional publishing contract. While that's not the way Panzer plans to go, there may be some of you out in the Catosphere who plan to use this avenue.

If this is the path you plan to take or if you just want information on indie to traditional publishing, Tootle on over to Crossover Deals from Self-Publishing to Traditional

Smashwords: Smashwords Year in Review 2012 - The Power in Publ...

Panzer sure has been hanging around Smashwords a lot lately. Here's the year 2012 in review for authors, publishers, and agents at Smashwords. The indie publishing industry and by extension Smashwords has been growing over the past year. There are more indie authors and rEtailers today than ever before and Smashwords has been helping connect the two thru the Smashwords distribution channels.

Be warned this is a very long post!

Tootle over and read the news at  Smashwords: Smashwords Year in Review 2012 - The Power in Publ...: Welcome to my annual Smashwords year in review. In the last 12 months, tens of thousands of new authors and publishers have joined the S...

Free Fiction Monday (on Wednesday): Love and Justice

We all know how much Panzer loves free stuff. He was out in the Panzermobile today and found a great free story at Kristine Kathryn Rusch's blog.

Did you ever wonder what happened to Cinderella and Prince Charming? Over at Kristine's blog you can find out. And it's not happy ever after.

It was posted on Monday and will be gone by next week, so you'll need to hurry over before the story disappears from view. You'll want to bookmark Kris' blog and check back each Monday for Free Fiction. Oh, yeah, sorry ... no cats in this one.

Tootle over to Free Fiction Monday: Love and Justice

Smashwords: Smashwords Supports EPUB Uploads With Smashwords D...

Panzer was over at Smashwords today and discovered they now support .epub uploads as well as .doc from indie authors and publishers. This will give you more control over how the finished .epub product looks. According to the post, you'll still want to upload your .doc file as well as the .epub file for maximum distribution. Smashwords also plans to accept .mobi files for upload in yhe future.

You can read the full announcement at Smashwords: Smashwords Supports EPUB Uploads With Smashwords D...: One year ago in my 2011 annual year-in-review here at the Smashwords Blog, we committed to support direct EPUB uploads to the Smashwords...