E. C. (Gene) Ayres Blogspot

I was raised in a Quaker family in which it was improper to 'blow your own horn.' This is a terrible handicap, for someone who works in a competitive field in which there are now several million books on the market, and I must somehow elbow my way to the top of the list, which is all but impossible. And yet what a small investment it is to purchase a book! I visit coffee shops that are frequented by people on a daily basis, busy working their Macs over a hot latte and bagel. Both of which, combined, cost well over the price of a Kindle. Yet how many hours of pleasure will a latte give you? One at the most. Whereas a good book will give you ten times that, or more, and you can repeat it any time for free. What a deal! So here is my plea and my pitch: please take a look at my website . Or visit my book site on Amazon.com . See for yourself. Read the five star reviews. Read the blurb. Read a few pages. A lot of work and a lot of years went into my new book Red Tide . I think the...

Recently I attended a rather remarkable catered event sponsored by Amazon.com's answer to the democratization of publishing--CreateSpace--whose motto seems to be 'Anyone can be an author.' Unlike, apparently, in the old un-democratic days when you had to be able to write, with a product that passes at least somebody's version of muster (usually one of those now-nearly extinct educated female editors with a no-nonsense approach and a degree or two from Barnard or Wellesley). Yet here in the now in Seattle, it all seemed fitting, because one of the key topics was having a so-called 'platform,' and as former publisher and editor Alan Rinzler (who has published and edited such dauntingly diverse clients as Toni Morrision, Hunter S. Thompson, Tom Robbins, Shirley MacLaine, Clive Cussler, Andy Warhol, and Robert Ludlum and thus has stood on lots of platforms prior to this one at the Asian Art Museum) put it, "who are you to write about this subject?" Indeed...