Writing
Eric San Juan
September 21, 2011
A blank book reaching #44 on Amazon? Yep. It happened. A blank book — blank — became a top seller. They spend years writing a book, then even more years trying to get a literary agent and publisher to back it and then, when their book finally comes out, the author breathes a huge sigh of relief and assumes that their book will be discovered, widely read and will sell around the world in bucketloads. Well, any new author needs to wake up and smell the rankings. Most books, however well written, hardly sell many copies at all. And that’s the reality most people don’t see (including, sadly, many aspiring authors). For most folks, the world of books and publishing and authors and the like…
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Eric San Juan
September 2, 2011
A panda walks into a restaurant and takes a table. The waiter thinks it’s a bit odd, a panda walking into a restaurant , but he approaches it nonetheless. The panda grabs a menu, opens it, and points to a cheeseburger. The panda gets his cheeseburger, savors every bite, even wipes its mouth with a napkin. Then the panda pulls out a gun and shoots every person in the restaurant. Everyone except for the waiter. Soaked in blood, he can only ask the panda, “Why?” The panda pulls out an encyclopedia. It flips the book to the P section, places it on the bar, and points to his picture. Then he turns and walks out the door. The bartender leans down and reads the entry…
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Eric San Juan
August 2, 2011
This may not be the day when imposing alien spacecraft park themselves over every major city on Earth and bend the human race to its will, but it’s pretty close. Geek Wisdom is officially released today. Tremble in fear at the awesome geekery that will now become part of your life. Bask in its eternal glory. In all seriousness, I like this book and was honored to be one of the coauthors. Our great editor and coauthor, Stephen Segal, put together a fantastic team. I’m humbled to be part of it. I can confirm from my copies that it looks spectacular. It’s a spiffy hardcover with a great design and, of course, killer contents. I’m astounded Quirk Books were able to bring it out at…
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Eric San Juan
July 20, 2011
I came home from work yesterday to find a package at my door. A box. A wonderful little box. I peeled it open, as you do with boxes — a box can be labeled “Your Death Within” and you’d still open it; so would I — and found inside a treat. A wonderful little treat. It was this: Yes, that is Geek Wisdom, brainchild of award-winning editor Stephen Segal and a book to which I am proud to say I contributed. I and a team of other writers wrote some really great geek stuff, brief essays on video games and J.R.R. Tolkien and Star Wars and The Goonies and a million other great things — and now here it is! In a cool as hell…
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Eric San Juan
May 12, 2011
… even when it’s already in print. Over two years ago I did a series of posts called How I Got Published outlining the start-to-finish of how Jim McDevitt and I conceived of, wrote, and ultimately sold A Year of Hitchcock: 52 Weeks with the Master of Suspense. My hope was that those posts would help other writers understand what they might look forward to when their time comes. Consider this a follow-up on that series of posts. Readers of this blog may recall that not too long ago, I announced that A Year of Hitchcock is coming to paperback. That’s exciting news. This edition will target a wider market; with better bookstore distribution and a very attractive price, we should be able to reach…
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