Lines by Leon

Weekend Wrap-up May 13: Perils of Multi-genre Writing

This could be a very long post but I’ll make it short. It’s hard to be a multi-genre author because you have to divide your marketing efforts if you write under one name or many.

My mailing list started after I published my poetry book, as I set out to reach as many poetry aficionados as I could. As I was doing so, I started on my short story science fiction collection. The dilemma was to start a completely new mailing list under a new pen name, or market to my already growing list.

Did I want to have to craft and send out two different newsletters each time? Nope.

Readers read. Most readers read different genres, so I hoped my poetry fans would give my sci-fi writing a chance and my sci-fi readers would enjoy my poetry. I even wrote some post-apocalyptic poetry to bridge the gap.

I have more sci-fi books than poetry now, and I am sure I have lost subscribers along the way, but that is understandable. As I wrote in yesterday’s post, I just want to entertain and contribute to the promotion of other indie authors.

Now I just have to finish my short story romance collection …

In the meantime, here are my two genres:

On my blog this week:

Free Book Friday May 12: Writers are entertainers.
Weird Wednesday May 10th: Cartoons and Origin Stories
Tuesday Tirade: Writing
Music Monday May 8: Andy Shauf
Sunday: New Trailer

Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.

My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/

Free Book Friday May 12: Writers are entertainers.

I support the striking writers in the USA as they fight for better compensation for their craft. I don’t know all the details, but they need to be fairly paid for their intellectual property.

Are you going to take a jab at Amazon?
About the low royalty rate for Kindle Unlimited page reads? Yeah, they are low, but they don’t make up a large percentage of sales, so I’d rather have readers discover my books than limit my reach.

I just want to entertain. That’s why I write, draw, and compose music.

My newsletter keeps my subscribers up to date on my writing and hopefully keeps me relevant between projects. My blog allows me to grow as a writer, as I am challenged to create on a regular basis.

Now, I just have to start/continue/finish my next book.

The story behind Free Book Friday:

I’ve met many authors and readers during my time marketing, cross-promoting, and blogging. I think writers have a responsibility to inform readers about all the indie authors out there in the very crowded world of book publishing. You can’t do it alone, and why would you when you have a supportive group available?

Readers don’t just read one author – they stick with their favorite genres. Therein lies the power in cross-promotion. If one of my readers buys a book from an author I promote, then chances are there will be a reciprocal effect, or so is the hope. Do I want to boost sales? Of course I do. Do I want to boost other’s sales? Why not. It’s called karma.

Some free book offers require a newsletter sign-up, which is a small non-monetary price to pay to try out a new indie author.

Here are this week’s promos to check out:

Reads From StoryOrigin and BookFunnel

StoryOrigin and BookFunnel allows authors to advertise their books to each other’s audience. I hope you have been able to discover a new favorite!

Free Books

Purchase Links

Previous promos: Discover New Authors and Free Books.

My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/

Weird Wednesday May 10th: Cartoons and Origin Stories

Do you like a good origin story? Well, nobody likes a crappy one, right?

Are origin stories just a way to extend the life of a book or movie franchise or is it a way to info dump without info-dumping? Maybe. I’m just rambling today, but I have included a link to an origin story in this post.

Learn about The Miniscules:

Miniscule Mondays

Weird Wednesday: The Miniscules-Origins

-Leon

-Leon

My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/

Tuesday Tirade: Writing

Writer’s block. I haven’t written anything (other than my blog posts) for a while. I had a few projects on the go but they stalled for various reasons:

Too many plot holes
Saw a book that was similar
Busy with marketing
Busy trying to make a living
Binging a TV show (or two)

Inspiration will come back … won’t it?

-Leon

My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/

Music Monday May 8: Andy Shauf

There is a radio show on CBC here in Canada that occasionally does a feature called SYNTH: Songs You Need To Hear.

CBC MUSIC, Central · Mornings with CBC Music

Now, I can’t say to someone, “You’ll like this song” (or book for that matter) because I can’t presume that others will share my taste in music (or books), so it is safer to say, “You might like this” and if they don’t like it, so be it. Maybe you will find a new favorite.

Andy Shauf is a Canadian singer-songwriter from Regina, Saskatchewan.

Andy does a great job not keeping to a rhythmic pattern in the lyric, at times fitting in way too many words in the allotted measure, but that’s what makes it work.

Here’s a band that I have been thinking about to feature and I still might:

https://marvelousgeeksmedia.com/2023/05/01/music-monday-first-two-pages-of-frankenstein-by-the-national/

-Leon

My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/

Sunday: New Trailer

I’ve been wanting to revamp my Lines by Leon: Poetry, Prose, and Pictures trailer for a while now, and guess what?

Tah-da.

My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/

Weekend Wrap-up May 6: Just the Highlights.

On my blog this week:

Free Book Friday May 5: Coronation Eve
Thursday Thoughts: May the Fourth … (you know the rest).
Wish You The Best — Take It Easy (I dare you not to cry …
Weird Wednesday May 3rd: Cartoons / Editing – How did I miss that?
Music Tuesday May 2: The loss of a legend
Music Monday May 1: The Weather Station

My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/

Free Book Friday May 5: Coronation Eve

Is the monarchy relevant in my life?

Not really. The queen has always been on our money, her portrait was in our schools until they weren’t anymore, and there was a giant one in our old hockey arena. I think we (our government) still has to ask permission from the monarchy (through a symbolic representative) to do stuff, and we get to send our athletes to the Commonwealth Games.

When I was growing up, I thought the Queen seemed like a pretty nice lady, and Coronation Street along with many British sitcoms were a staple on Canadian television.

Does the monarchy cost the Canadian government money? It sure does:

‘While Canada might not pay money directly to the monarchy, the country’s ties to the House of Windsor could cost taxpayers more than $58.7 million annually.

That’s according to the Monarchist League of Canada, which calculated the figure for the 2019-2020 fiscal year based on costs such as maintaining historic buildings, running the Governor General’s office, and covering travel-related expenses for visiting royals like security for Prince Harry and Meghan. The pro-monarchy group says the total represents $1.55 per Canadian.“*

Worth it?

-Leon

*from CTV.ca

The story behind Free Book Friday:

Some free book offers require a newsletter sign-up, which is a small non-monetary price to pay to try out a new indie author.

Here are this week’s promos to check out:

Reads From StoryOrigin and BookFunnel

StoryOrigin and BookFunnel allows authors to advertise their books to each other’s audience. I hope you have been able to discover a new favorite!

Free Books

None this week

Purchase Links

Previous promos: Discover New Authors and Free Books.

My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/

Thursday Thoughts: May the Fourth … (you know the rest).

Or maybe you don’t. Just ask the sci-fi nerd in your life.

I wonder if George Lucas thought that it would be a thing. Not the Star Wars craze but the Star Wars phrase. Anyway, here are my thoughts on the franchise, keeping in mind I saw the first one in the theater when it came out.

The first three released episodes (IV, V, VI) were the best. The next (I,II,III) were the worst. I thought that the technology in those seemed far more advanced than what was shown in the original three. Episodes VII, VIII, and IX returned the excitement to the series (and the technology matched the historical sequence).

When Disney took over, two things were bound to happen, one: they were going to milk it for all its worth, and two: well, just the first one because it feels like overkill at times with so many spinoffs, some good, some not, and others I have no time to invest in. In order of my favorites:

– Rogue One
– The Mandalorian (haven’t started the 3rd season yet)
– Han Solo

Haven’t watched Obi-wan, but I’m not sure I will, and there are animated series and a couple others in the works, but I think I’m Star Wars-ed out.

Here’s a cartoon from last year:

To celebrate, here are a couple of science fiction book promos so you can find and support your new favorite sci-fi writer (it’s me, right? 😉).

BookFunnel

StoryOrigin

My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/

Wish You The Best — Take It Easy (I dare you not to cry …)

I wouldn’t normally post two days in a row, and I don’t often play just one song, but I’ve been moved to do both by a story I read in the paper this morning. You may recall that the singer-songwriter Lewis Capaldi was one of those I featured in my recent post Musicians And Health […]
Wish You The Best — Take It Easy