nicholasrossis

[nicholasrossis]

Moving Through Life's Changes with Confidence

I was working as a web developer from 1995 to 2015. In 2013 I started this blog, in 2014 I published my first book, and by 2019 I had switched to being a full-time writer. Meanwhile, I got married, moved from Edinburgh to Athens, lost loved ones, my daughter was born… I guess what I’m saying is that I know first-hand how life is full of transitions, surprised, and navigating the unexpected. And I…

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Happy Thanksgiving 2023

With everything that’s happening around us, it’s easy to forget how good we have it. Many of us sometimes get so caught up in everything going wrong that we despair. That’s why it’s so important to take a step back and count our blessings. So, this Thanksgiving I encourage you to shift your attention from fear, war, and loss to gratitude, peace, and the countless small and big joys that make up…

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Kids: Not Much Has Changed in the Past 4000 Years

A letter written by a student to his mother in Babylon about 3,800 years ago shows that children’s behavior has not changed much, as Silvia S., demonstrates on Quora. Can you imagine you are the archeologist who unearthed this tablet, wondering what marvelous secrets it may hold, only to find that it’s a letter written by a student called Iddin-Sin to his mother Zinû, in which he complains about…

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The Case for Writing by Hand

We used to paint on cave walls. We carved on stones and marble our stories, myths, and legends. We put our imagination to work and transformed papyrus into a thin sheet to write on. We even used animal skins to immortalize our thoughts and stories, before paper spread from China to the rest of the world. All this was done by hand. We painted, drew, and wrote by hand. And then, computers happened.…

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Revolutionizing Book Launches: A Guide to Creating Video Invitations

In today’s digital age, the way we do things has evolved. We write our books on a computer, spell-check them with Grammarly, and publish them on Amazon. The art of marketing a book is no exception to this digital rule. Book launches, in particular, have seen numerous transformations, with many authors nowadays using video invitations to reach out to their readers. These invitations are an…

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The Amazing Medieval Aerial Battle Over Nuremberg

“On the morning of April 14, 1561, at dawn, a dreadful apparition occurred in the sky. This was seen in Nuremberg in the city, before the gates and in the country, by many men and women.” So begins a broadsheet news article printed in April 1561. illustrated with a woodcut engraving and text by Hans Glaser, it describes a mass sighting of unusual celestial phenomena. The celestial phenomenon over…

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Skills Writers Need in the AI Era

With all the recent hullabaloo about AI and its use for purposes such as the KENP scam and to create massive numbers of AI-generated books, one may wonder if writing is about to become obsolete. And yet, I use AI daily for a number of tasks, from researching and creating web content to spellchecking and maximizing the SEO impact of my copy. AI has boosted my productivity and opened up new avenues…

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How to Legally Listen to Thousands of Audiobooks

Audiobooks have been among the fastest-growing segments of publishing for a while now. Which is hardly surprising, as anyone spending long hours commuting will attest to. However, buying audiobook after audiobook can become quite the expensive hobby after a while. And the free audiobooks are often read in a computerized voice that isn’t exactly pleasing to the ear. Thankfully, there is a legal…

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Early Middle Ages Furniture: History & Design

I still remember my visit to Florence, where the missus and I went to a lovely Medieval palazzo, smack in the middle of the city. The massive doors could be bolted from the inside. The staircase leading to the bedrooms was overlooked by an interior balcony that allowed those upstairs to release volleys of arrows and bolts at any intruders attempting to climb them. And it was winding, to provide…

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How to Use Jungian Archetypes in Writing: The Ultimate Guide

Carl Jung’s archetypes are a powerful tool for writers as they tap into universal symbols and themes that resonate with a broad audience. Using them can enrich your writing by connecting your story to universal themes and symbols. By understanding and thoughtfully incorporating these archetypes, you can create resonant and compelling narratives that engage readers on a deep, subconscious…

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Amazon Takes the Second Step Against AI

It’s funny how fast things are shaking up in the publishing industry. Barely a week ago I was telling you how Amazon is taking its first step against AI-generated books in the form of a new questionnaire you must answer when publishing a title regarding your use of AI. Before the digital ink dried on my screen, the company took the second step in the form of a new limit on the number of new…

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Promoting Your Book Through Influencer Marketing

This is a guest post by Patrizia Ranzi, an experienced digital marketing professional with ten years of expertise in media strategy, social media, and paid search. She also runs the blog patriziaranzi.com, where she shares her insights and knowledge. How to Leverage Influencer Marketing to Promote Your Book In this article, I will discuss how to use influencer marketing to promote your book. I…

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Amazon Takes the First Step Against AI

Following the flood of AI-generated books and the KENP scam I was discussing a couple of weeks ago, Amazon has started taking action — just as I had predicted. As the Goodreader reports, Amazon KDP has recently introduced new content guidelines specifically addressing AI-generated books on the platform. This is to maintain transparency and quality of books available to the readers. Now, authors…

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Remembering 9/11

Every year, this is a post I wish I didn’t have to write. So much evil has stemmed from this action…  

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Amazon Ends Its Periodicals Program

As Barbara Krasnoff reports on The Verge, Amazon ended its periodicals program on September 4, 2023. The program allowed you to subscribe to several magazines as part of your Kindle Unlimited membership. Unlike books in KU, magazines were not required to be exclusive to Amazon or paid by pages read. Readers with a paid subscription to KU could get a subscription to those magazines at no…

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How to Write Books Using AI

You may recall how I recently discussed the KENP Scam, whereby AI-generated books are flooding Amazon in a blatant attempt to collect KENP royalties. You may have wondered just how easy it is to do so in practice — write a whole book from scratch. Geeky Gadgets and The Nerdy Novelist have the answer. Anthropic’s Claude 2 Writes While ChatGPT has stolen the spotlight, it faces certain length…

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The Shape of Stories, according to Kurt Vonnegut

I recently came across this video on Upworthy, where Vonnegut explains the shape of three different types of stories. According to him, any story, from “person gets into trouble” to “boy meets girl” to “Cinderella,” can be summed up on two axes: the Y represents good and bad fortune while the X represents the beginning and… electricity. Vonnegut once observed that “The fundamental idea is that…