Andy Kaiser

Self-publishing audiobooks: My experience with ACX

Andy Kaiser — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 05:38:24 +0000

ACX, or the “Audiobook Creation Exchange”, is a company dedicated to the production of audiobooks. …Or perhaps “production” is the wrong word. But it wouldn’t look as smooth for the marketing copy to say “a crowdsourced program that puts authors in touch with audiobook readers, and vice versa, and provides a low-cost way of doing [...]

Self-published video marketing: Make cheap and free video ads with Animoto

Andy Kaiser — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 04:38:58 +0000

Animoto is a video creation service: Pick a theme, a few pictures, music and text. The service will take your preferences and blend them together into a video. You can download the video (as an MP4 or DVD image) and upload that to services like YouTube. Which is exactly what I did. It’s a subscription [...]

DIY authors self-publishing tools, services and marketing recommendations

Andy Kaiser — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 01:01:12 +0000

At this point I’ve cranked two books through a full self-publishing process and have a third on the way with a traditional publisher. I’ve learned a few things and can justify a few opinions about the self-publishing process. Here’s the detail. My current self-publishing status Since publishing with a traditional publisher takes a VERY long [...]

“Waking the Dreamer” cover project featured on crowdSPRING

Andy Kaiser — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 02:40:18 +0000

If you’re a self-published author, you may be using Amazon’s CreateSpace to publish your book. During the book build process, you have a section for your book cover. You can choose from being able to create a book cover using built-in templates, or you can work with other advanced options. One option is crowdSPRING, which [...]

Transhuman #1: “Waking the Dreamer” is now available!

Andy Kaiser — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 02:14:02 +0000

It’s done. The book was written. The costs were financed. The cover art was created. And as of today, the book was published and is available for purchase on Amazon. Get the paper book or ebook “Waking the Dreamer” now:

I do not like IBM AIX

Andy Kaiser — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 22:09:34 +0000

I do not like IBM AIXI do not like it, IBM techs! I do not like it with a rebootI do not like it even as root I do not like unhelpful PS AUXI do not like it when cd0 is lost Instead of lurking in my subnetI’d rather it be quarantined as a threat [...]

Book cover complete: My experience with crowdSPRING

Andy Kaiser — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 02:06:48 +0000

Now that I have money to pay for a designer to craft a quality book cover (thanks to Kickstarter – see this post for detail), I was ready to get an artist. Artists are expensive. This is not a complaint – people should get paid what they’re worth. I just mean that book cover design [...]

Funding a book cover: My experience with Kickstarter

Andy Kaiser — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 02:14:38 +0000

As it relates to my latest book, I’m trying something very new to me: Crowdsourcing and (for a lack of a better term) Crowdcreating. This post is about the former. My next post will cover the latter. What is Kickstarter? My situation is that I need help to cover the up-front costs of paying for [...]

Voice precognition: One reason more why brick-and-mortar stores are disappearing

Andy Kaiser — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 21:23:18 +0000

I placed the shrink-wrapped box on the counter and the checkout girl smiled at me. She had a light in her eyes, an intimate twinkle that was hard to match, unless you were genetically gifted or practiced a lot. It went downhill from there. “Hi, how are you doing today?” Her first question was fine. [...]

Transhuman #1 update: Ready for the cover art. Kickstarter is live.

Andy Kaiser — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 04:53:18 +0000

The book is complete and proofed and ready to print. I even have a title: Transhuman #1: Waking the Dreamer What’s needed next is a cover to put around it! Astute readers may remember a previous post, about how I’m trying a service called Kickstarter to fund the book cover costs. I’ve created my campaign and [...]

How to protect your sighting of Elvis

Andy Kaiser — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 03:24:36 +0000

A very brief search can easily turn up the strangest things on the Internet. Apparently Elvis sightings are enough of an issue that the U.S. Copyright Office felt they needed to deal specifically with it, thirty-plus years after his death. The below is taken from the U.S. government’s “What Does Copyright Protect?” FAQ: How do [...]

Dev and Transhuman update

Andy Kaiser — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 02:25:41 +0000

I’m very thankful for weekends. I’ve got multiple projects going right now: Transhuman #1 is in the second round of editing. Multiple people (who are not me, or one of my alternate personalities) have the book in their hands and are hopefully, frantically, excitedly marking it up as I type this. The Kickstarter cover art [...]

How to be a good writer: Writing resources from great writers

Andy Kaiser — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 01:07:49 +0000

Here are the writing resources that have helped me the most. These are not only “how to write” books and expert recommendations on storytelling technique, but some detail the process of writing and storytelling, which is another thing altogether. Beyond the obvious “write more” recommendation that everyone uses, I’m not worthy of injecting my own [...]

Eena? Transhuman? Serieses? Whatever: Draft #1 is done.

Andy Kaiser — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 05:20:18 +0000

Thirty thousand words later, I have a book. Draft #1 is complete for what I’ve been calling “Eena”. The working title for this new series is “Transhuman”. Yeah, it’s another series. Dedicated readers might also know I have the Dev Manny series and League of Scientists series, and for each so far just the first book [...]

League of Scientists publication update: Lookin’ good!

Andy Kaiser — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 00:06:48 +0000

The League of Scientists #1 – “Ghost in the Water” – is rolling ahead with publication. We’re on track for the end of the year! See this post for more detail.

“Eena” progress and cover art

Andy Kaiser — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 19:58:23 +0000

My “Eena” book is coming along well. We’re at about 16,000 words so far. Going by the rough plot inside my head, it’s about half done, maybe a little less. It’s interesting how each book I’ve written has impacted me differently. For this one, I’m actually enjoying the story and am eager to tell it. [...]

New writing project – “Eena”

Andy Kaiser — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 14:30:52 +0000

As I wait for the results of the published Dev Manny book and the not-yet-published League of Scientists #1, I still feel the need to write. So I’m writing. I’ve started another project. This is another book, targeted towards young adults. It has a science fiction / fantasy theme. Or more specifically, you could call [...]

Dev Manny update

Andy Kaiser — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 13:46:48 +0000

While waiting for publication of the League of Scientists, I was able to finish and publish Dev Manny #1: Superliminal. Get it: Paper book Amazon Kindle Barnes & Noble Nook Figuring this out was a really cool process. I now know more than before about the self-publishing industry, as well as the craft of writing [...]

League of Scientists update

Andy Kaiser — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 13:40:38 +0000

Some of you pay attention to me. A not-small subset of you have asked: What’s up with the League of Scientists? When is it coming out? What stores will it be in? Will it be available as an ebook? Are you doing anything else? Here are those answers: Progress on the League of Scientists #1: [...]

Welcome to the Future!

Andy Kaiser — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 20:26:36 +0000

It’s only been a few years, but AndyKaiser.com was looking just a tad dated. Remember the beautiful, hand-crafted old website? I suppose it wasn’t that bad. Simple and minimalist and all that. But I still wanted to change it. Why? So I could do things like this, what I’m doing right now. Post any new [...]