Mars Needs Writers
  • Blog-O-Rama
  • The Store Thing
  • That Thing We Did
  • The Newest Thing

Many of this country's greatest writers...

10/6/2011

1 Comment

 
Picture
…came from Louisiana. We think you’ll agree because, like us, you don’t know where most of this country’s greatest writers were actually born.  And it’s in Louisiana that we currently find Blake M. Petit, author of Other People’s Heroes and The Beginner.

Even though he’s an award-winning writer, we like Blake M.  (He refuses to tell us what the ‘M’ stands for, so we’ll spend the rest of our lives wondering about it.) To begin with, boxful of awards or not, he’s still a struggling writer. Secondly, he dumped his publisher to go the indie route.  Finally, despite the middle initial weirdness, he’s a friendly, funny guy. (Montgomery. We’re almost positive the middle initial stands for Montgomery.)

Most of us are struggling writers and, like us, Blake has a day job. It’s not a particularly exciting day job – he doesn’t train elephants or fly jet fighters…or, for that matter, train circus elephants to fly jet fighters – so we won’t discuss it here. Instead, we’ll get to the good stuff: After you left your publisher, Blake Moomba Petitt, why’d you go self-pub?

“I’ve wanted to be a writer since I was in fifth grade,” he tells us. “Now, for the first time, I feel like I’ve actually got control over my success. No luck of the draw, no hoping I catch an agent’s attention while she’s in a good mood, no getting accepted by a publisher who quits publishing before my work sees the light of day.” (Which, by the way, happened TWICE.)  “Besides, I still believed in my books and I kept getting requests from people – friends, mostly, I’m not claiming I got e-mails from strangers.” We e-mailed. We’re strangers. He answered. And, now, he’s learned a valuable lesson. “Once eBooks hit the market, I wanted to make my books available for anyone who wanted them so I could move on to other things. The response to my first book, OPH, surprised me quite a bit.”

He’s too modest to share what he means so we’ll jump in: Blake MingtheMerciless Petit collected a bushel of glowing reviews – go to Amazon and you’ll see that people love his book or they really love his book – and he sold a bunch of copies. He’s still selling bunches of copies. (Which encouraged him to put The Beginner out, e-formatted and with a flashy new cover.  It arrived in the e-world just days ago, on sale here, and available for your glowing review. Get to it!) This didn’t surprise us…some people seem to prefer to read well-reviewed books instead of our stuff…but you know what did surprise us? Blake put OPH out as an audiobook. A free audiobook. How exactly does that work?

“Podiobooks.com reaches a huge audience of potential readers. Even if only a fraction of their listeners decide to buy the book after listening to it, those are sales that wouldn’t have happened without the audio version being out there.”

No, we meant –

“You mean ‘how’ did I do it? I’ve hosted a comic book/pop culture podcast for nearly five years, and I thought transferring that skill set to an audiobook would be a snap. At this point, clearly, I’m an idiot. Producing a viable audiobook is so much more difficult than doing a chat podcast that I thought I’d never get it done. Not only do you have all of the usual recording issues, you also have to be able to differentiate the characters from one another. The real torture, though, is editing. I learned that I HATE listening to myself over and over again, trying to cut out coughs and ‘ums’ and repeated lines and still screwing up. It’s the hardest recording work I’ve ever done.”

We interrupted again. What we meant was -- free? The audio version is FREE?  Isn’t he concerned about losing paying customers to an absolutely-no-charge version of his story?

In response, Blake laughs maniacally. Not really but it’s our blog and we wish he had so we’re leaving this non-action in place. “Not at all,” he tells us. “I’m a voracious podcast listener, and I saw just how effective certain podcast novelists were at building an audience. When Podiobooks.com released the audio version of the book, the sales of OPH actually increased. It wasn’t just that I sold a few more copies, it was that I was selling more per week than I had previously and that rate continues to grow.”

Now, we know what you’re thinking: Where, oh where, is your free audiobook version of Aly’s Luck or The Atheist’s Daughter? If you’re seriously wondering about this, we’d like you to reread Blake’s earlier conversation, where he casually dropped the words, 'audiobook', ‘difficult’, ‘hate’, and ‘torture’ before you ask this question again.
 


1 Comment

    Come on in! This

    is the electronic home of Renée Harrell. Did you bring any wine?

    Picture

                       Renée         &       Harrell


    It's about time you got here.

    We aren't kidding about the wine.
     
    This is where we talk about writing...
    ...our writing, mostly. We also discuss kiva.org, Hunting Monsters Press, the magic bakery, self-publishing, pseudonyms, life itself -- a bunch of things.
     
    Thanks for stopping by. It wouldn't be the same without you.
    We're on Facebook

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    July 2020
    June 2016
    March 2016
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011

    Categories

    All
    101 Things To Avoid Doing Before You Die
    101 Things To Do Before You Die
    2012 Zinfandel Les Enfants Terribles
    50 Faust Dates
    50 Shades Of Grey
    5 Star Reviews
    Abigail Breslin
    Aces Weekly
    Acting Classes Melbourne
    Actress
    Acx
    Addam's Family
    Agatha Christie
    Agatha Christie's Curtain
    Agent Carter
    Age Of Dinosaurs
    A Heartbreaking Work Of Staggering Genius
    Alan Dean Foster
    Alex Adventure
    Alex Cross And The Big Bag Of Gold
    Alex Sheikman
    All Fool's Day
    All Saints' Day
    Aly's Luck
    Amazon
    Amazon.de
    Amazon Eu
    Amazon Launch Bonus
    Amazon Preorder
    Amazon Prime
    Amazon Reviews
    Amazon Vella
    A. Meredith Walters
    American Horror Story
    Amy C. Cosper
    An Even Scarier Solstice
    Angelfall
    Animasher
    Anja Bauermeister
    Anne Glynn
    Annual Income In Tajikistan
    Aphrodite Hunt
    April Fools
    April Fool's Day
    Arizona
    Arizona Museum Of Natural History
    Arizona's Greatest Hot Dogs
    Army Of Darkness
    Arthur Conan Doyle
    Artist
    Ashes & Ink
    A Tale Of Two Cities
    Atlanta Nights
    At The Mountains Of Madness
    Audiobook
    Audiobook Narration
    A Very Scary Solstice
    Avocados
    Azatamut
    Azerbaijan
    Babelcube
    Babies
    Bad Book Covers
    Bad Book Reviews
    Bad Boy Billionaire
    Bad Monkey
    Bad Teddy
    Bag Of Bones
    Baking
    Barbie
    Barbie Convention
    Barbie Dream House
    Barbie's Birthday
    Bart Simpson
    Beautiful Disaster
    Beaver Pond Clubtail Dragonfly
    Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo
    Benjamin Roman
    Bernie The Plant Bot
    Best Buy Recycling
    Bestessays.org
    Best Fat Burner Pills
    Best-seller
    Best Sellers In Kindle
    Better Off Ted
    Betty Willis
    Bibliomancy
    Bigstock
    Bigstockphoto.com
    Bill Fitzhugh
    Billionaire Romance
    Bill Plympton
    Birgit Hausmayer
    Bitcoin
    Bizarre Things People Believed
    Black Adder
    Black Eyed Peas
    Black Friday
    Blake M. Petit
    Blast Vegas
    Blog
    Blog-O-Rama
    Bob Bailey
    Bobcat Goldthwait
    Bob's Burgers
    Book Reviews
    Bookrix
    Book Trailers
    Bootlicker
    Boston Globe
    Boys' Love
    Bppv
    Breathless
    Britannica.com
    Brown Recluse Spiders
    Bucket Hat
    Bucket List
    Buffy The Vampire Slayer
    Burst
    Business Insider
    Buzz Bernard
    Cafe Rio
    Caffeine
    Cambodia
    Can
    Canada
    Candace
    Cara Nelson
    Carl Hiaasen
    Casa Grande
    Cassandra Parkin
    Cassysailermoon
    Cast A Deadly Spell
    Castle
    Casual Gourmet Chicken Sausage
    Celtic Cross
    Census Bureau
    Ceromancy
    Chanel
    Chicken Soup For The Soul
    CHINYA Electric Kettle
    CHINYA Store
    Chocolate Chunk Peppermint Loaf
    Choluteca
    Chris Hemsworth
    Chris Pine
    Christmas Ornament
    Christopher Marlowe
    Chuck Palahniuk
    Cinderella And The Brooding Billionaire
    Circus Peanuts
    Clams
    Climb Mount Everest
    Clorox Bleach & Blue
    Clowns
    Cobblestone Press
    Cockneys Vs Zombies
    Coffee Maker
    COIVD-19
    Cold
    Condom Girl
    Cooking With Pooh
    Corante.com
    Costco Fruitcake
    Costco's Finest Champagne
    Coulrophobia
    Countdown Deal
    Courthouse Wedding
    Cover Design
    COVID-19 Restrictions
    Crank: High Voltage
    Crayola Mango Tango Crayon
    Crayon In Your Wallet
    Createspace
    Crooked Sexy Teeth
    Crypto Currency
    Cthulu
    Cub Scouts
    Cynthia Vespia
    Damned
    Dancing Days
    Dan Levy
    Dark Shadows
    Darn Tough Of Vermont
    Darn Tough Socks
    David Danger
    David Llloyd
    David Tennant
    Dead Sparrow
    Dean Koontz
    Deanna Lee
    Dean Wesley Smith
    Deep Thoughts
    Demon Hunter: Saga
    Denies Female Soldier
    Den Of Geek
    Depois Que Tudo Ficou Ruim
    Derek Haines
    Desert Rest Stop
    Destined
    Detective Novels
    Diddly-squat
    Digital Science Fiction
    Directorio
    #DisneyMustPay
    D.I.Y. Or Die
    Dizziness
    Dizzy
    Doctor Doom
    Doctor Sleep: A Novel
    Dolly Parton
    Donald E Westlake
    Don Quixote
    Donuts
    Doodly-squat
    Do You Fear What I Fear?
    Dr. Doom
    Dr. John Epley
    Dr. Who
    Dusk Till Dawn The Series
    Easter 2021
    Easy Peasy
    Ebook Booster
    Ebook Pricing
    EcoRealx
    EcoRealx Electric Kettle
    Edge Of Tomorrow
    Eerie
    Ellery Queen
    Emf Meter
    Entertainment Weekly
    Enter The Fist
    Epley Maneuvert
    Ereaderiq
    Ereader Iq
    Eric Shanower
    Erle Stanley Gardner
    Ernest Hemingway
    Escudo
    Eufy RoboVac 30
    Eugene Levy
    Evil Dead
    Eyewall
    Facebook
    Fake
    Fan Letters
    Faust
    Fawlty Towers
    Felicia Day
    Fergie
    Fifty
    Fire-grilled Chicken Tacos
    Fiverr.com
    Fl
    Flu
    Forbes
    Fortune-telling
    Fotolia
    Fox In Socks
    Francine
    Frankenstein
    Freaky 2020
    Freaky (2020)
    Free
    Free Kindle Books
    Free Sofa
    Fried Cockroaches
    Fruit Fly
    Fugu
    Futurama
    Gabbiano Chianti 2010
    Galaxy Quest
    Gale Haut
    Geoffrey Chaucer
    George C. Scott
    Germentrude Boggmonstro
    Get-rich-quick
    Ghost In The Invisible Bikini
    Gilbert And Sullivan
    Giles
    Gilligan Fandom.com
    Gilligan Shirt
    Gilligan's Island
    Gingerbread House
    Ginger Grant
    Girl Detective
    Glee
    Go!Animate
    God Is Dead And I Don
    Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake
    Golgotha
    Golgotha Ar
    Gonxha
    Good Ereader
    Good Show Sir
    Google Fi Voicemail Isn't Working
    Gotham
    Gourdbye
    Gourd Racers
    Gourdsters
    Graham Greene
    Grammar Girl
    Grande 500
    Grandma
    Grandmas Denturesc1be08622e
    Griffin Hayes
    Guardians Of The Galaxy
    Gung Ho
    Gun-jitsu
    Halloween
    Hamish Macbeth
    Hand Warmer
    Happy Death Day
    Happy Fun Ball
    Harry Potter And The Big Bag Of Gold
    Haunter
    Head-in-a-jar Creator
    Hellboy
    Hilaria
    HiNovel
    Historical Dictionary Of American Slang
    Hollywood Reporter
    Honduras
    Hotel Connor
    Hot Shower Sex Edition!
    How Many Of Me
    How To Write A Best-Seller
    How To Write Faster
    HP Laptop Computer
    HPLHS
    H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society
    Huffington Post
    Hyundai
    Iced Coffee
    Ilibrarian
    I Luv Halloween
    Independently Animated: Bill Plympton
    In-tank Cleaners
    Iron Man
    I Sell Love
    Island Castaway Costume Shirt
    It Only Got Worse
    Itunes
    Jack Ryan
    James Joyce
    James Patterson
    Janet Evanovich
    Jane Wallace-knight
    J.D. Robb
    Jebediah Buzzard
    Jennifer Grey
    Jennifer's Body
    Jerome
    Jessie Harrell
    Jill Trent
    Jim Patterson
    Joe Konrath
    Joel Kinnaman
    John Brunner
    John Carter Of Mars
    John Dies At The End
    John D. MacDonald
    Johnny Dollar
    Jonas Grumby
    Jonathan Cooper
    Jonathan Pinnock
    Jo Ramsey
    Jr.
    J.R.R. Tolkien
    Julie Kaewert
    July 4th
    Jurassic Park
    Kakamega North District
    Kakao Entertainment
    Katchoo
    Kate Hawkins
    Katy Mattress
    Kdp Select
    Keith Giffen
    Ken Follett
    Ken Levine
    Kenya
    Kettle Corn Recipe
    Kevin Yarbrough
    Kindle
    Kindle Daily Deal
    Kindle Vella
    Kingdom Hospital
    Kirkland Signature
    KISS
    Kit Foster
    Kiva.org
    Kobo
    Krispy Kreme
    Kristine Kathryn Rusch
    Labor Day
    Labour Day
    L.A. Confidential
    Lady Luck
    Lasso
    Las Vegas
    Lawrence Block
    LC Kane
    Leanne Salter
    Led Lighting
    Lee Goldberg
    Legends Of Tomorrow
    L. Frank Baum
    Liam Neeson
    Liz Crowley
    Lou Ferrigno
    Louis Armstrong
    Luke Forney
    Luke Reviews
    Luxor
    Magic Promotion Genie
    Malice
    Mangos Mexican Cafe
    Manybooks
    Margaux Lange
    Marian Keyes
    Marshawn Lynch
    Mars Needs Writers
    Martin Salvador
    Mary Shelley
    Matilda The Musical
    Matthew Scudder
    Maybe You Should Write A Book
    M.C. Beaton
    Media Bistro
    Meira Pentermann
    Melbourne Ska Orchestra
    "Men's Stride Over The Calf Ultra-Lightweight Running Sock"
    Merri Hiatt
    Method Coffee
    Michael Agger
    Michael Crichton
    Michael Keaton
    Michele Lee
    Michelle Douglas
    Mickey Mouse
    Microfiction
    Might Be An Old Fart
    Mignon Fogarty
    Mike Mignola
    Mini-gourdster Race
    Miosal Brand
    Miosal Electric Kettle
    Moby Dick
    Moby Dick: Or
    Moderna
    Modern Library
    Mojo Jojo
    Mongolia
    Monk
    Morgan Kearns
    Mother Teresa
    Mrs. Darcy Versus The Aliens
    Multiplujillionaire
    Murder In Successville
    Murder Mystery Dinner
    Murder She Wrote
    Murderville
    Myfreeindie
    Nabla
    Nach Der Katastrophe
    Name Withheld
    Natalie Wood
    National Fry An Egg On The Sidewalk Day
    Naughty List
    Negros Women For Tomorrow Foundation
    Nehemiah Persoff
    Neil Gaiman
    Netflix Daredevil
    New Arrival
    Newman's Own Old Fashioned Lemonade
    New World Fairy Tales
    New Year's Resolutions
    New York Times Good Fruitcake Recipe
    NFTs
    Niceville
    Nick Hornby
    Nineteen Eighty-Four By George Orwell
    Nipple Piercing
    NO GOOD Mail-Order Bride
    Non-Stop
    Norman Spinrad
    Nudiustertian
    Nwf Daily News
    NWTF
    Omidyar Network
    One Bride For Seven Brothers
    One Republic
    On The Writing Of Speculative Fiction
    Open Your Legs
    Opie
    Other People
    Otolaryngologist
    Out Of Print
    Ozma Of Oz
    Paolo Di Giovanni Fei
    Passport Photo
    Paste Magazine
    Paul Cosca
    Peanut
    Pee Funnel
    Peeps
    Pencil Sketch
    Penelope Trunk
    Penguin Books
    Pen Name
    Penn And Teller
    Penn & Teller
    Pest Control
    Peter Cannon
    Phalaenopsis Orchid
    Phucket List
    P.I.
    Picton Bay South Lisand Pinot Noir
    Pillar Box Red
    Pillsbury Bake-Off
    Pillsbury Wine Company
    Pinewood Derby
    Pinyourbook.clom
    Portuguese
    Potty Putter Toilet Golf Game
    Powdered Milk
    Private Lessons
    Project Gutenberg
    ProWritingAid
    Proxima Books
    Pseudonym
    Psych
    Psychic
    Psycho Goreman
    Public Library
    Publishamerica
    Publisher's Weekly
    PUKE Dishware
    Purse
    Quick Rise And Shine Breakfasts
    Rachel Rising
    Rachel Ruiz
    Radish
    Ralph Daigh
    Rasputina
    Realbuzz.com
    Realbuzz Team
    Reklamproduktion
    Relentless
    Replica
    Rio
    Ripper Street
    Robert Underdunk Terwilliger
    Romance Novel
    Romance Writer
    Ron Goulart
    Ron Perlman
    Rosie Fletcher
    Roy Hinkley
    Rss Feed
    Runaway Bride
    Rune Reading
    Running Of The Gurds
    Ruth Handler
    Sable Grey
    Salem's Lot
    Santa Claus
    Savannah College Of Art And Design
    SCAD 2021
    Scamyououtofyourmoney.com
    Schitt's Creek
    Science Sleuth
    Scream For Jeeves
    Scrooge McDuck
    Self-publishing
    Sensualreads.com
    Sequels
    Serialized Fiction
    Sexy People
    SFWA
    Shaun Of The Dead
    Shortlist
    Shutterstock
    Sideshow Bob
    Sift Reviews
    Simon Maisch
    Sink Caddy
    Six Women Of Salem
    Sketch Drawing
    Sketch Editor
    Sketch Master
    Skottie Young
    Slate Magazine
    Slaxx
    Slow Burn
    SMEG Electric Kettle
    Snopes.com
    Soldier
    Something Evil
    Something Wicked
    Sometimes You Catch The Shark
    Southern Living Magazine
    Spangler Candy
    Spanish
    Sparkle271
    Spellbound By Books
    Splinter Of The Mind's Eye
    Spodomancy
    Spotify
    Spy
    Steampunk Bunny
    Stephen King
    Stephen King's Revival
    Steve Haynes
    Steve King
    Storage 24
    Strangers In Paradise
    Strangers In Paradise: Love Me Tender
    Stranger Things
    Strumpet
    Superblog
    Superfriends
    Supermoon
    Susan Ee
    Taco Barn
    Taiko Pumps
    Tailor
    Take Me To Your Leader
    Tapas
    Tarot Reading
    Tattoo
    Tavush
    Team Imon
    Team Inom
    Tears For Fears
    Tenderhooks
    Tenterhooks
    Terrible
    Terry Moore
    Thanks For The Ether
    Thar She Rolls
    The 100 Greatest Novels Of All Time
    The Atheist's Daughter
    The Awful
    The Best Things In Life Are Free
    The Black Bridge
    The Brady Bunch
    The Bride Of Chucky
    The Cabin In The Woods
    The Death Of A Policeman
    The Death Zone
    The Faust And The Furious
    The Fifth Brother
    The Getaway Car: A Donald Westlake Nonfiction Miscellany
    The Guild
    The Guns Of Will Sonnett
    The Hobbit Movies
    The Holy Trinity
    The Indian Express
    The Key To Rebecca
    The Land Of Painted Caves
    The Lego Movie
    The List Cafe
    The Little Dictator
    The Lovecraft Chronicles
    The Magicians
    The Ocean At The End Of The Lane
    Theodor Seuss Geisel
    The Old Man And The Sea
    The Powerpuff Girls
    The San Jose Mercury News
    The Seed Of Chucky
    The Shining
    The Slut In The Hut
    The Snail Trails
    The Sphinx Project
    The Stand
    The Summer We All Ran Away
    The Ten Word Game
    The White Whale
    The World's Best
    The World Swappers
    The Writing Life
    The Wrong Man
    Thighs Wide Apart
    Thor
    Thrift Books
    Tim Burton
    Tim Minchin
    Tina Louise
    Tinker
    Toilet Golf Game
    TokyoPop
    Tom Clancy
    Tom Cruise
    Tom Wolfe
    Topwit Electric Kettle
    Torchwood
    Train Diorama
    Trapped
    Tucker And Dale Vs Evil
    Tucson's Best Pizza
    T.v. Show
    Twilight
    Ulysses
    Uncertainty Principle
    Uncomplacent
    Unicorns
    Unsplash
    Vertigo
    Victorian Historical Romance
    Victorian Swear Words
    Victoria Strauss
    Vince Vaughn
    Vj Chambers
    Walt Disney
    Walter Brennan
    Wear-next.com
    WeatherBug
    WebMD
    Welburn Gourd Farm
    Werewolf Sex
    Western Romance
    What Is Amazon Author Central
    What We Do In The Shadows
    Which Superhero Character Are You?
    Which Supervillain Character Are You?
    Who's Your Favorite Supervillain?
    Wicked Games
    Will Arnett
    Willy Gilligan
    Woody Allen
    Word Hippo
    Word Loaf
    Worker Honey Bees
    World War Zayne
    Worst Self-marketing
    Wrinkles The Clown
    Writer Beware
    Writing A Successful Romance
    Writing Careers
    Wuertz Farm
    Wuertz Farm's 17th Annual Gourd Festival
    Xtranormal
    Yay!
    Young Adult
    Your Stripper Name
    Yours Truly
    Zarrowski
    Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance
    Zombeavers
    Zombieland
    Zombies

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.