Tag: Authors
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Featherston Booktown Karukatea Festival 2023
I was in Aotearoa New Zealand’s only Booktown recently for the eighth Featherston Booktown Karukatea Festival which featured more than 50 events, 80 presenters, and 25 booksellers. This is my third year attending the festival. If you’re keen to hear a bit about my previous visits, I jotted down a few things in 2022 and 2021. Or,…
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20Books Auckland, New Zealand
I attended 20Book Auckland – a one-day book publishing conference and networking event – and it was a big day. Craig Martelle hosted a great line-up of inspiring and motivating speakers, but the major win for me was hearing from and speaking with local authors. There was plenty of time in the schedule for coffee and tea breaks,…
G B Ralph
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Featherston Booktown Karukatea Festival 2022
I was in Aotearoa New Zealand’s only Booktown over the weekend for the seventh Featherston Booktown Karukatea Festival which featured 50 events, 100 presenters, and 18 booksellers. Stories Off the Beaten Track After driving through some truly wild weather, we arrived in time to catch “Stories Off the Beaten Track” in the Joy Cowley Room…
G B Ralph
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My first free book promo debrief
The quick version I made my first book (Duck and Dive) free for five days. Promoted it via my mailing list (email newsletter), blog, social media, author newsletter swaps, book promotion sites, and paid advertising. Total spend was USD 135. Got my book into the virtual hands of over 1500 readers. Hit the #1 spot…
G B Ralph
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Hay Festival 2021 is online and kicks off next week
The literary festival (one of the world’s biggest and best) is usually hosted in the small town of Hay-on-Wye on the border of England and Wales. With a resident population of 2000 people it boasts around two dozen bookshops, including many second-hand and specialist shops. This year the Hay Festival is back, and it’s all…
G B Ralph
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My 2020 reading recap (with charts!)
The short version: Last year I read 45 books, fewer than expected which I put down to more time spent writing instead. Of the books I read, most were great: The biggest share fell into the fantasy genre, followed by scifi, then stories with prominent gay characters or storylines. I favoured physical books this year…