Category: Blogs
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Lords of the Flies
We boys are to be left alone while the lynchpin of our home operation conducts child labor research in island-nation Philippines for the next seven days. The irony’s not lost on me. How long ’til we descend into savagery? Not to worry. Rather than cranking the inevitable conflagrant sounds we so admire, we’ll tuck ourselves…
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In the Pathless Woods: Revising
Three years after writing a novel called The Fortress for my eight-year-old son, I’m taking on the fourth revision. It’s got a new title, In the Pathless Woods, inspired by Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, the 18th century narrative poem by George Gordon, Lord Byron. Byron’s verse replaces a simple placeholder I’d inserted at the time, filler…
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Finding Your Market
This video is about examining your manuscript to find its best market opportunity. For me the process took ten years, failed representation, and an entire rewrite. But it was worth it. In this segment from my interview with Matthew Whiteside, I share lessons learned from the process of bringing out my first novel. Hint: I…
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Lousy Book Covers
This clip from my interview with Matthew Whiteside explores the marketing side of writing books, and why a title like Two Pumps for the Body Man can be a real challenge to promote. The cover didn’t help, not even when it was featured on a website called LousyBookCovers(dot)com (their snark goes to 11…). Check the design…
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A BenEast FilmFirst Production
This week I enjoyed a 30-minute interview with Matthew Whiteside, head impresario at Uniweb Productions. The man’s doing a lot for indie writers, pumping out interview after interview exploring the challenges we face, the inspirations that drive us, and the rewards that come with pursuing our creative demons. He even inspired me to put up…
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First Lit Mag Layout in the Books
Last week I took on the role of layout designer for a community literary magazine. It was a satisfying experience with a few lessons learned. The Job The challenge included formatting and organizing 120 pages of photos, art, poetry, and prose fiction and nonfiction between 50 and 1,500 words, in three languages and three different…
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Happy Publication Day!
Happy Publication Day to all the contributors at the American School of Bombay! Over 80 students, parents, teachers, and staff added their voice to the first issue of ASB Musings — a collection of reflections of the world through our eyes — to make it a spellbinding repository of poetry, short fiction, memoir, photographs, journalism, and…
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Other Jobs Feds Can Do for $0
It’s our fourth week working for the Republic in exchange for no money. In these lean times ($0 income!) a few other jobs I can do for equal pay—but greater pleasure—have crossed my mind. These include: 10. Post reviews of my travels to TripAdvisor(dot)com 9. Polish tombstones at my local cemetery 8. Document…
Ben East Books 