Colin the Copywriter
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colinthecopywriter.bsky.social
Colin the Copywriter
@colinthecopywriter.bsky.social
Author of debut SF novel, Exo, available NOW | A quarter of a century writing UK publishing jacket copy | 5,000+ blurbs | Talking the cover stories that persuade readers to buy | A few mine, mostly others' | Also find me here colinthecopywriter.com
Thanks to @athenascalzi.com & @scalzi.com for the chance to talk about a Big Idea involving my novel Exo over at Whatever. It's all about writing adaptability and exploring different paths through the story woods. Because there's more than one way to tell a story.
whatever.scalzi.com/2025/11/20/t...
The Big Idea: Colin Brush
When writing a novel, a lot of people think of the process as sort of rigid. You have a specific story to tell and it needs to be an unchanging vision all the way through. Author Colin Brush, howev…
whatever.scalzi.com
November 21, 2025 at 9:26 AM
Thanks to @andrewliptak.com for putting my novel Exo on his list of new titles to consider checking out this month. Lots of great titles on that list that you should definitely *LOOK INTO MY EYES* FORGET THEY EVER EXISTED, BUY ONLY EXO . . .
transfer-orbit.ghost.io/sci-fi-fanta...
11 new SF/F books to check out this November
Hidden secrets, uninhabitable planets, secret worlds, and quite a bit more to check out
transfer-orbit.ghost.io
November 20, 2025 at 1:54 PM
But if you're in the UK/Europe and want a physical copy, you'll need to wait until January . . .
It's been a long journey, but thanks to @jberlyne.bsky.social @awfulagent.bsky.social @tonimargarita.bsky.social & Shannon Donnelly and all at @diversionbooks.bsky.social (not to mention @bookforward.bsky.social & @michelvrana.com ) for bringing Exo out into the world in style.
November 18, 2025 at 7:47 AM
Reposted by Colin the Copywriter
"Colin Brush is a name to watch in the realm of speculative fiction" 💥

EXO by @colinthecopywriter.bsky.social publishes tomorrow!
November 17, 2025 at 7:10 PM
It's been a long journey, but thanks to @jberlyne.bsky.social @awfulagent.bsky.social @tonimargarita.bsky.social & Shannon Donnelly and all at @diversionbooks.bsky.social (not to mention @bookforward.bsky.social & @michelvrana.com ) for bringing Exo out into the world in style.
November 18, 2025 at 6:44 AM
Thanks to @booktrib.bsky.social for the chance to talk about five books dealing with change in the world & how we live with that change, each of which changed how I wrote my own novel, Exo.
booktrib.com/2025/11/12/f...
@tadethompson.bsky.social
@sannewman.bsky.social
@catamaroon.bsky.social
November 14, 2025 at 9:43 AM
Thanks to @writersdigest.bsky.social for letting me explore the differences between my publishing copywriter day job & writing my first novel, #Exo. Spoiler: it's not just word count.
www.writersdigest.com/shifting-fro...
@diversionbooks.bsky.social
@zenoagency.bsky.social
@awfulagent.bsky.social
Shifting From Publishing Copywriter to Published Novelist
Author Colin Brush shares how he went from writing reductive copy for novels to expanding copy into a novel.
www.writersdigest.com
November 13, 2025 at 12:46 PM
Blurbs in the wild (1/2): Follow where the title leads. For @cornerstone_press & Ernest Cline's Ready Player One the super-short blurb is all tell and no show, leaning heavily on gaming tropes.

WORLD AT STAKE. GOOD AND EVIL.

QUEST. FATE OF HUMANITY.

And, lastly . . .
November 13, 2025 at 9:01 AM
I've read it from top to bottom twice and, while I accept I've got a vested interest, I do think you might have missed one . . .

reactormag.com/new-science-...
@reactorsff.bsky.social
@diversionbooks.bsky.social
@awfulagent.bsky.social
@zenoagency.bsky.social
#ColinBrush #Exo #sciencefiction
November 12, 2025 at 7:42 PM
Blurbs in the wild (1/3): Classic book, classic copy shape. @gollancz.bsky.social edition of Frank Herbert's Dune features copy with an inverted triangle shape. We start big and wide with awards & movie affirmation, followed by landmark works of SF that followed Dune. Says: this book matters . . .
November 12, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Perspective is everything. Plus, this reminds me strongly of the ladders I am wobblingly and swayingly at the top of in my dreams/nightmares. The base of the ladder is usually in a moving vehicle to add to the fun . . .
www.thisiscolossal.com/2021/11/stri...
A 'Staircase to Heaven' Installation Ascends into the Sky as a Trippy Optical Illusion
South African artist Strijdom van der Merwe’s deceptive “Staircase to Heaven” sculpture is designed to make you wonder. When viewed straight on, the towering optical illusion appears to ascend into th...
www.thisiscolossal.com
November 12, 2025 at 4:54 PM
Thanks to @elenataylorauthor.bsky.social for the spotlight on me (with hair) and my novel Exo (without hair). Seven days to go!
Exo: a Sci-Fi Mystery - The Mystery of Writing www.themysteryofwriting.com/2025/11/08/e...
@diversionbooks.bsky.social
@awfulagent.bsky.social
@zenoagency.bsky.social
Exo: a Sci-Fi Mystery - The Mystery of Writing
Exo, a science fiction mystery by Colin Brush. Book and author information along with praise for the novel.
www.themysteryofwriting.com
November 11, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Lovers of Dungeness: click below to discover how this curious corner of Kent coastline was the seed for Exo, my SF murder mystery set at the end of the world. Thanks to Michael Golding for asking me to write about his home & not minding my hubris at playing nemesis.
dungeness.org.uk/info/exo-a-n...
November 11, 2025 at 4:44 PM
Thanks to reading twins Alexis and Anna for the solid review of Exo. The end of the world really isn't long now . . .
@diversionbooks.bsky.social
takestwotobookreview.com/2025/11/08/r...
Review: Exo by Colin Brush
Alexis: Exo comes out on November 18th, 2025! A debut sci-fi mystery set on an abandoned future Earth, featuring a twisty mystery straight out of a John le Carré novel, a group of larger-than-life …
takestwotobookreview.com
November 10, 2025 at 11:58 AM
Blurbs in the wild (1/2): This old warhorse! After all these years @gollancz.bsky.social & @lordgrimdark.bsky.social The Blade Itself is still sporting its original cover and blurb. But this blurb knows something legions of Grim Dark fantasy imitators often forget: it's all about the characters ...
November 7, 2025 at 5:27 PM
Reposted by Colin the Copywriter
EXO by Colin Brush is out in two weeks!
zenoagency.com/news/exo-by-...

Due to be published by @diversionbooks.bsky.social (print and eBook) and @dreamscape-media.bsky.social (audio) on November 18th.
November 7, 2025 at 4:53 PM
Blurbs in the wild (1/2): The secret here is in the middle. Most blurb writers (myself included?) would pitch @harpercollins.bsky.social and @robinhobb.bsky.social Assassin's Apprentice with just paragraphs 1 and 3 of this blurb. Pitch the set up, the character's situation and the story direction...
November 5, 2025 at 8:09 AM