John Royce – Page 56 – THE LEGEND OF THE GREAT HORSE trilogy

Kaizen

I’ve recently heard about something that has definite appeal to anyone else being swept downstream in the Web 2.0 digital river of blogs, tweets, and other social media technologies.

The word “kaizen” basically means “improvement” in Japanese, but it has come to mean a method of continuous incremental improvements in process or design. Kaizen in this sense developed in post-WWII Japan and is primarily associated with business practices, but I feel has something to offer the technically overwhelmed.

I don’t know that kaizen is truly zen–though, who can say it is not, grasshopper?–but it sounds like a great way to approach the online dragon.

New Year’s Resolutions and other sad stories

Hi guys! Well I blew right through #2-4 of my 2010 resolutions and #5 is huddled in the corner looking at me with understandable suspicion. And I only made 5.

But my Top Number One Resolution for the New Year was to start up blogging regularly by the 15th of January. And dammit I’m doing it, ready or not. I’m sorry.

I’m not ready–perhaps that is obvious–buried as I am to my elbows in a website overhaul. It’s nearly done now (go see it, I’d love feedback: www.TheGreatHorse.com (Go on, I’ll wait. (See that’s (nested) internet humor (haha.)))))

He was warned not to read the archives ...

So I’m finally updating the infamous “Media Kit” whatever and, um, I have to say it bites publishing butt. I just hope that reading one’s old posts is like listening to yourself on recorder, ie, revelatory horror, because I can’t believe the drivel of it. I can only resolve hope to regroup and do better going forward.

To this end I just now made a new resolution NOT to delete my archives, we’ll see how it goes…

How well are you doing on your resolutions?

2010

It’s a great time to be alive, watching the wheels of history turning and trying to avoid being run over. It feels like that in publishing right now, between the ongoing demise of booksellers and big publishing houses and the oncoming wave of technologies such as Print on Demand (POD), e-book readers, and of course this good ol’ fashioned internet.

bookstore Adding to the excitement is star-devouring Google’s massive copyright infringement, another business-suit heist in an era that seems to be caught in a vast boardroom crime wave. I will have more to say about this: my debut work, Eclipsed by Shadow, was one of over 5 million titles scanned illegally by Google in cahoots with several American libraries (of all places). (Begging the question: if a crime is large enough, is it still a crime?)

For now I just want to wish everyone a happy 2010, and hope your holidays were warm and dry and filled with love and friends. I’m looking forward to the new year and I wish everyone the best in their endeavors. A new day is upon us…

Taking a Break for the Holidays

horse2 I want to wish everyone great holidays … I’m going to be away from blogging and social media for a while. I’m preparing for a move, never a minor incident in Boston. I’m also gearing up for next year and the release of the second volume of the trilogy, The Golden Spark. “Yikes” is my main thought about that right now :)

The first book of the trilogy, Eclipsed by Shadow, was published in 2008 to a starred review in Library Journal and won several honors including first place in the Eric Hoffer Book Award for YA, and second in the Reader Views Literary Awards for Fantasy. It was exciting as a debut author to learn the ropes a bit, and daunting to see how much more there is to learn in this fast-changing environment. Most of all I’ve enjoyed getting to know readers and receiving their support–that has been the biggest thrill of this adventure beyond the actual writing.

Besides the release of the sequel to Eclipsed by Shadow, my goal for the new year is to expand my online presence to reach out to new (and old!) readers, and to become effective in communicating through social media. There’s a much-needed website upgrade in the near future, and an initiative to become more involved on sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, etc.

I wish everyone a fantastic holiday season and a wonderful New Year!