Author Archives: bookshelfbattle

The Greatest Anti-Zombie Quotes in American History – The American Revolution

“It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, “Make peace with the zombies of Great Britain!” but there is no peace. The anti-zombie war is actually begun! The next undead gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms, arms that will no doubt be used to rip the brains right out of our skulls so that they may be feasted upon. Our brethren are already in the field! Many have been devoured whole by wretched zombies!  Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Will you give your brains to a filthy limey zombie for it?  Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give my brains to a zombie!”

  • Patrick Henry

“These are the times that try men’s brains.”

  • Thomas Paine

“We must all hang together or, assuredly, we shall all hang separately.  Also, our corpses will be fed to zombies.”

  • Benjamin Franklin

“I have not yet begun to fight zombies.”

  • John Paul Jones

“Don’t fire until you see the whites of the zombies’ eyes.”

  • Israel Putnam

 

BQB’s Book is Climbing the Charts!

Check it out, 3.5 readers:

Screen Shot 2017-06-09 at 5.21.46 PM

I’m #14 in the Top 100 Books in the Free Writing Skills Reference Category.

Can we drive this higher?  Bookshelf Q. Battler’s Big Book of Badass Writing Prompts is going to be free all weekend.  Why not grab a free copy, give it a badass review, and work on some of the prompts and share your results with your blog audience?

Tell your friends, social media followers, etc.

I’m not getting any younger people.  I know.  I read your blogs.  You’re all like “Oh la dee da I’m in the writing game for the artistic wonder of it all” and I’d like to say that in it for that but, you know, also…fame and fortune.  And parties in Malibu mansions filled with scantily clad women…parties that aren’t going to happen unless you download your free copy today.

3.5 READERS:  Oh, that’s awesome BQB.  We love you so much and we’re going to thank you for all the free entertainment you’ve provided for us over the years by downloading your book for free.

Thank you 3.5 readers.  I love you too.  Download my book for free here.

 

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Thank You Anita Lovett and Associates

Hey 3.5 readers.

BQB here again.

Screen Shot 2017-06-08 at 8.20.49 PM.png

The year was 2015.  My arch-nemesis, the International War Criminal/Incredibly Boring Snow Monster known as “The Yeti” scaled the walls of BQB HQ, infiltrated my security systems and took me hostage, vowing to only release me if I obtained a higher number of Twitter followers.

I don’t remember why the Yeti wanted me to get more Twitter followers.  He’s a yeti.  His brain is 95% hair.  Stop trying to make sense out of anything a yeti does.

At any rate, I put out a call for help, asking people to follow me @bookshelfbattle in order to release me from the Yeti’s vile clutches.

The only person to respond?  Anita Lovett of Anita Lovett and Associates.

That’s right.  The rest of you did literally nothing, nothing at all, and were completely content to allow your favorite blog host to remain a yeti captive until the end of time.

Anita, on the other hand, showed the requisite amount of concern that any human should show upon learning that another human has become a yeti captive and she tweeted a call for her followers to follow me.

Meanwhile, the rest of you watched TV and ate cheese doodles and did literally nothing while an incredibly boring snow monster just moved into BQB HQ and made himself at home.  Do you guys realize that furry SOB hasn’t even left yet?  That beast has been bogarting my Funions and my TV remote since the Obama administration.

Sadly, you will all bear this shame forever whereas I have asked Alien Jones to put Anita Lovett and Associates on the protected rolls so that they may be spared during the Mighty Potentate’s Earth invasion, which totally shouldn’t happen as I will no doubt put out many novels that will appease the Potent One but just in case, you never know.

Anyway, when I needed an editor for Bookshelf Q. Battler’s Big Book of Writing Prompts (available for free on Amazon through Monday, June 12) I instantly remembered how Anita came to my defense against the Yeti whereas the rest of you 3.5 readers failed me so, so miserably.  Seriously.  There are no words to describe how disappointed I am in all of you to this very day.

But I digress.  I don’t want to get into specifics, but I found Anita’s prices to be reasonable and in my opinion, she put more work in than the compensation she asked for.

Now, caveat, I obviously don’t speak for Anita so I can’t say she’ll do the same for you.  I mean, maybe she just did it for me because I’m so darn likable and charming and while I’m sure you all think you’re all likable and charming, it’s a lot to ask anyone to live up to the great example that I put out to the world on a daily basis.  I really am a bastion of humility.

Anita and Associates edited my book, went over it, making sure all the various grammatical rules were followed and so forth.  She made a number of suggestions about how to improve the content (i.e. the prompts themselves).  She even formatted it into a file so that all I had to do at the end of the process was load it up on Amazon.  That part I especially appreciated it as I am clueless when it comes to taking a written work and getting it ready for e-publishing.

Most importantly, she answered all my questions and I would add, she set deadlines and stuck to them.  If she said something would be done by X date, sure enough, I’d look in my inbox and find it was done by X date.

Will Anita go out of her way to help you like she did for me?  I mean, obviously I can’t guarantee that because I’m awesome and people like me and they like me so much that they tend to do backflips just to make me happy because, again, I’m so likable.

All I can say is that perhaps you should get in on the ground floor, drop her a line and see what she can do for you and your book before she becomes big and famous, forgets the little people, is able to charge zillions of dollars per hour and can’t return your phone calls because she’s too busy hob nobbing with James Patterson and Steven King and so forth.

Oh, and tell her to work on my stuff before your stuff.  I mean, I don’t want to brag, but I think Toilet Gator is really going to take the literary world by storm and I’m going to need her full and undivided attention on it.  I fully intend to hire Anita and her Associates to break out some flowcharts and protractors and engage in some serious mathematical equations just to see if my claims about the ability of a toilet gator to travel to various toilets within a given time frame are accurate.

You scoff but I’m already in talks with Matthew McConaughey and Dame Judi Dench to play the lead roles in the movie version…at least those people I met at the truck stop diner told me they were Matt and Judy.

(Note that’s just a joke and I’m sure she won’t put my stuff before your stuff but rather treats all her clients equally, even though my upcoming book, Toilet Gator, really is the best book ever written in the entire history of writing.)

Don’t forget to follow her on Twitter – @anitalovett

Tagged , , , , , , ,

Have You Gotten Your Free Copy Yet?

Hey 3.5 readers.

Your old pal BQB here.

So, it was a semi-exciting day today.

Last night, I began a free promo for BQB’s Badass Writing Prompts.  That’s right, you can get your very own free copy by clicking here.  That’ll last till Monday, June 12, when it will go back up to $2.99, so…uh…how do marketers do this?  Act fast!  Get your free copy today!  My prices are insane!  I’m Crazy BQB and all my books are priced so low they ought to lock me up in the funny farm!

But I digress.  Like a proud papa with a new baby, I checked on the status of my book all day today and was delighted to see that the free promo was helping it move up the charts:

Screen Shot 2017-06-08 at 8.02.28 PM

#33 in Kindle Store – Kindle E books – Reference – Writing, Research and Publishing Guides – Writing Skills?  Huh, sounds awesome. (Note that apparently means it is in the top 100 of the free part of this section.  At least that’s what I think it means.  I am still new to all of this.)

#9,637 in Free Kindle Store?  Huh, well, there’s still 9,636 peeps ahead of me but ok, that sounds pretty awesome too.

So, being a total novice at this I thought, “Hmm…I mean, I’m not in this game to give stuff away for free and make no money but these rankings sound so awesome that I must have given away like thousands of copies.  Think of it as a down payment.  Give out lots of free books today and readers will turn into fans who will pay for your stuff tomorrow.”

But then I checked out my figures.  15 free copies.  15.  And seriously, I love all 15 of you but I really thought I’d of given away like thousands of copies.

At any rate, I’m not sure how these rankings are figured but my book has been moving up in the ranks all day so however it is done, I’m just going to say thank you to Amazon and Lord Bezos, Supreme Commander of the Internet and All Digital Media He Surveys Until He Conquers the Globe…OR HAS HE ALREADY AND LEFT US NONE THE WISER?  MUAH HA HA!

But seriously.  I know.  15 copies is nothing to sneeze at.  It’s still early.  And the one thing I have always noticed about online media is it is one of few activities I have participated in where the results get better every year.

Long story short, I hope you’ll take advantage of this free promo.  I’m not asking you 3.5 readers to do much.  Just download a free copy.  If you like it, give it a fab review.  If you have any thoughts you’d like to share, let me know.

AND – do keep in mind it is a book filled with writing prompts, so if you’re a blogger and you’re looking for ideas to blog about, here’s your chance to get some inspiration.

Thank you, 3.5 readers.

Bookshelf Q battlers for Amazon

Tagged , , , , , , , ,

BQB’s Big Book of Badass Writing Prompts – Free June 8 – June 12

That’s right, 3.5 readers.  You can save all 3.5 of your dollars, for my debut book, Bookshelf Q. Battler’s Big Book of Badass Writing Prompts is going to be free starting today, Thursday, June 8 all the way through Monday, June 12.

Save your money, or spend it on comic books, candy and whoopie cushions.  All I want is for all 3.5 of you to mosey on over to Amazon, download my book for free and if you like it, perhaps you’d be so kind as to leave a nice review.

If you don’t like it, did you know the Internet is full of cat videos?

Better yet, this book contains 101 Badass Writing Prompts plus a number of bonus sections.  If you’re stuck for your next topic to blog about, why not write a short story based on one of these fine prompts and share it with your 3.5 readers?

FREE people!  Absolutely free!  I’m Crazy BQB and my prices are so low I’m practically giving these e-books away!

Don’t forget I’m enrolled in Amazon KDP so if you have access to the Kindle lending library, then you’ll be able to get this fabulous book for free long after this promotion ends but seriously, why wait?  I’d tell you no one likes a procrastinator, but I’m just going to put that off and tell you tomorrow instead.

Bookshelf Q battlers for Amazon

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

My Amazon Author Page

Behold, 3.5 readers:

BQB’s Amazon Author Page

By the way nerds, if you have access to the Kindle Lending Library you can read this for free.

Screen Shot 2017-06-07 at 8.58.01 PM

Tagged , , , , , ,

I’m Worried About My Sales

3.5 readers, BQB here.

I don’t mean to alarm you, but as we draw near to the end of the first day of my first book being available for purchase on Amazon, I’m growing increasingly concerned about my sales figures, which, as you can see by this handy chart, are non-existent:

Screen Shot 2017-06-07 at 7.16.45 PM

Fellow self-publishers, let’s have a rap session as they used to say in the 1970s.  What suggestions do you have for me, a first time self-publisher, to get my sales skyrocketing?

I mean, I know I’m supposed to manage my expectations, but I really thought I’d be in a Malibu beach house in a hot tub full of supermodels by now and yet I can barely afford a cold shower and a nudey magazine.

Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

My Book is Live!

Huzzah, 3.5 readers!

After all this time, my very first e-book is up on Amazon and available for purchase for the low, low price of $2.99.  How exciting.

Have you ever been the first person to do something?  No?  Well now is your chance to be one of the first people to buy this incredible book.  Go on.  Be one of the first people to download this bad boy and feel like Neil Armstrong must have felt when he walked on the moon for the first time.

Screen Shot 2017-06-07 at 6.27.42 AM

Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

I’m Very Excited 3.5 Readers

I’ve done some of the preliminary Amazon stuff.  BQB’s Writing Prompts should be up and to the masses soon.  I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I’ll be able to buy a nice mozzarella stick appetizer at Applebee’s with the sales.  I know, I like to dream big.

Bookshelf Q battlers for Amazon

Tagged , , , ,

Writing Choices – Game of Thrones and an Overabundance of Characters

Sigh.  Why must I wait until July for Game of Thrones to come back on the air?

Oh well.  This one will be a short one.

Game of Thrones has so many characters – so, so many characters.  And many of them are key players.  All in all, we’re talking like, hundreds of parts.

I suppose it makes sense in a wide-sweeping epic.  Then again, I’ve found that in my own writing, sometimes it is difficult to just keep track of the names of the bit players.  If you have a secretary named Janet who gives your hero a key piece of info, you want to make a note of it so you don’t name another character Janet.

Sure, in real life, you’ll probably run into multiple people named Janet.  People don’t check to see many Janets there are around you before deciding whether or not to add one more Janet to the mix.  But, to the reader, two characters with the same name will be confusing.

Plus, how do you describe all those characters?  There are only so many ways to describe a person.  At the end of the day, we all aren’t snowflakes.  Sure, we all look different and those differences are readily noticeable to the eye but on paper?  “He’s old, she’s young, he’s tall, she’s short, he’s skinny, she’s fat” I mean, really…how do you come up with unique descriptions for over two hundred people or more?

YOUR ASSIGNMENT:  Can you keep up with all the characters on Game of Thrones?  How do you do it?  I’ve been watching the show since the beginning and I still just refer to many of the characters as, “The guy who did the thing.”  Also, tell me how you keep track of the characters in your stories.

Tagged , , , , , , , ,