Alex Rubens's Blog

This content is password protected. To view it please enter your password below:

Password:

This post probably isn’t your typical book promotion post. I’m not here to tell you about the amazing plan we have (we have one!) for 8-Bit Apocalypse (B&N) but rather to ask for your help in making it even better.

8-Bit Apocalypse is a book I’ll have been working on for more than five years by the time that it’s published on October 16th, 2018. It’s a story that I’ve wanted to tell so badly, I spent years trying to make it happen. Since then, I’ve moved away from the games journalism sector...

Hey there! Thanks for taking the time to sign up for and/or read this (if you find it worth your time, please subscribe to the email so you don’t miss upcoming lists!). I’m going to keep this short and simple — I don’t want to waste your time — and promise not to spam your inbox. If I don’t have something interesting to say, I’m not going to send it, but I currently plan to do this monthly. I get through enough books that I’ll be doing something wrong if I don’t have anything good to share...

I’m tired of bad pitches. They waste everyone’s time and make you look bad. That’s not the reason I’m tired of them though. I just don’t want to see anymore great ideas die because the writer can’t pitch. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not easy, but it’s an essential part of telling stories and one that you must master if you want to be a successful writer. 

You might have the greatest story ever, but it doesn’t matter if you can’t articulate it well enough for someone to understand why they should...

When I hear of people journaling, I get a quick vision of the 13 year old writing in their diary about how their crush may or may not have looked their direction that day. I don’t get a vision of something that can have a direct and immediate impact on my daily productivity. Turns out, I was super wrong.

Upon being introduced to the benefits of journaling as an adult, it quickly began to fill together in my head. It isn’t just about writing about your day, it’s about recognizing these importa...

Networking is a vital part of any professional industry and is a necessary evil in an industry like the games industry where your connections often provide more opportunities than your past work.

It isn’t favoritism, I’m not saying that, but it is helpful to have someone fighting for you, giving you chances that you might not have normally without this person on your side. You can be this person for others too, which is its own kind of reward. To get these kinds of opportunities, you have to...

If you have just 48 hours to spend in Milan, here’s a pretty good way to experience what the city has to offer and spend a little time off the beaten path at the same time.

It’s a beautiful city no matter where you go, but if you want to do it right, here’s what I recommend based on past experience.

I know what you’re thinking: “Park Hyatt?” Trust me when I say that the Park Hyatt Milano is the highest r...

This is weird. I never thought I’d have to write a new first post on my personal website…ever. ‘Why would it ever go anywhere,’ I thought. WordPress hackers. That was something that I hadn’t factored. I hadn’t thought about the need to scam people for Ugg boots. Because of that, my old site is gone. I looked at the cost/benefit of working my way through the code to identify the malicious lines and decided that I was better off just nuking the entire thing and starting from scratch.

For me, th...