Much Ado About Publishing

Watch and read this--CNN Opinion: If I Were Jeff Bezos, by James Patterson

Why so serious, James?

I have a different take on the Amazon/Hachette Book Group dispute, but this CNN piece (and James Patterson's rambling muses that are attached to the piece) are interesting. I find it funny that Hachette continues to use the media to shape the public's perception of the business dispute and yet most people continue not to care. The ones who should care the most--the authors--are taking the wrong side.

Out of loyalty to their publisher, they continue to vilify Amazon. Amazon gives the publisher 70% of the revenue generated per book sale. The publisher, in turn, gives the author 25% of that. Yet, if the author published directly to Amazon, THEY would receive the 70%.

The other thing that should be made clear is that Amazon is not fighting for more than 30%. Many of the pieces I have seen claim that Amazon is fighting for a larger share of the revenue. That simply is not true. Amazon is fighting to keep ebook prices from being more than or the same as hard copies. 

This obviously appears to effect the revenue of the publisher and therefore the authors. This is not always true, especially for authors who are considered "midlist" authors (outside of the top 50 sellers). Amazon's models have shown that the best pricing practices are under $9 for ebooks. They know that volume will increase if that pricing model is followed. With the increased volume, the total volume of sales will increase.

On the other side of this paradigm, publishers want to retain control over the pricing of their product.This is only slightly different than Wal-Mart telling Coleman that they need to make a sleeping bag that they will price at $25, even though Coleman would prefer to set the manufacturer's price at $35 for the same product.

This model threatens smaller distributors of books, like local independent book stores more than it does the big publishers. Amazon is leveraging their already considerable power to capture even more of the market by setting pricing models that only they can support. They can do this because they can offer you more than just the book. They have socks, computers, soap, raincoats, umbrellas, cell phones, ereaders, and more that they can market to the same customers who are learning just how great it is to purchase from Amazon. Their pricing strategy is a brand recognition incentive.

Where do I personally fall on this issue? Well, I have watched and read, listened and waited. The debate has raged on, with petitions signed, and famous authors like Patterson and even Stephen Colbert weighing in on the publisher's behalf. I do not think that either corporate giant needs a helping hand. This is a business dispute. I see benefits and concessions under both outcomes.

IF AMAZON "WINS"

If Hachette finally gives in and allows Amazon to set the pricing models, then some good stuff and some bad stuff will happen. First of all, let's all understand that when we speak of this pricing model, we are mostly speaking of new release books by best-selling authors. We are not talking about a book that is more than a year old, or that is written by an author in the midlist.

The Good Stuff
Readers win. Instead of paying $14.99 or $19.99 for the newest James Patterson novel, readers will only have to pay $9.99. Arguments will be that most people would pay $20 for that. I would not agree. But, if you saved $5 to $10 on his book, read it in a weekend and then received an email showing ten more books in that genre by authors similar to him where they had a deal on an older Harlen Coben book for $4.99, you'd be tempted to get it, right? You spent the same $14.99, but two authors benefited. The reader finds that they got a great deal, two books for the same price as what they would have spent on one before the Amazon/Hachette war. So the authors win as well.

With the increased traffic, increased publicity (although most of it was negative), and a chance to prove their algorithms are correct, Bezos and Co. will likely note an increase in revenue. More people will sign up for Prime (getting access to streaming movies, unlimited book borrows from 600,000 titles, and the availability for discounts and free shipping in some cases will be a no-brainer for Amazon regulars). More customers will buy ancillary products like movies, games, clothing, or electronics. More people will discover the greater Amazon community from reviews, to resellers, to blogs and sites dedicated to Kindle apps, Kindle accessories, and book discussions. So, Amazon (DUH) wins.

The Bad Stuff
The other publishers (Penguin, MacMillan, HarperCollins, and Simon & Schuster) are going to have to come to the negotiation table soon as well and will be faced with a precedent that has been set. They can fight it, but for how long? At what cost? How long will their authors be willing to continue to be loyal, knowing that results of Hachette's failure actually benefited their authors in the long run? Will they see that Amazon is actually reaching out to help them, or will the perception continue to be "Big Bad Amazon" vs. "Little Publishing House?" The other publishers lose.

This is potentially bad, because a repeat of this current dispute is not healthy, especially from a public perception standpoint. When it gets to the point of public apathy, then everyone else is getting hurt: publishers, Amazon, authors, and readers.

If Amazon "wins" independent book stores lose again. Already hurt by the burgeoning ebook market, independent book stores will have to continue to scrabble for ways to stay relevant. Pricing for them will remain the same for their stock. The pricing model that the publishers employ actually keep brick and mortar booksellers relevant and competitive. The price difference between a hard cover and an ebook is not significant. The good news is that the majority of people continue to PREFER printed hard copies over digital and pricing is not an issue to them as long as it maintains. However, if Amazon "wins" the dispute, this is still another dagger in the dark, another straw on the camel's back.

If Amazon "wins" Barnes & Noble loses. Again. Barnes & Noble continues to lose due to their dinosaur-like ability to move in the market and adjust. Their search engine still lags behind, their purchasing strategies are stuck in the 1990s, and their inability to market their superior ereader product perplexes even the staunchest retailers. If this dispute is solved in Amazon's favor, B&N may become the injured elk in the herd, crippled, wounded, and floundering, a target for some predator to take it out. That, in turn, would be a loss for readers. We NEED a good brick-and-mortar store to get books that curates more than just the best-sellers (like Target & Wal-Mart).

IF HACHETTE "WINS"

The Good
Independent book stores win. Barnes & Noble gets a bit of breathing room and perhaps some collateral they can use when negotiating with the other Big 5 publishers. Big authors win. They lent their voice in defense of their publisher and get rewarded. Their face and name is associated with the winner. They helped slay the giant. Not the truth, you understand, but the perception, and in today's world, that is all that matters in the end.

The other Big 5 publishers win. They now have a precedent in their favor. They can leverage that in their negotiations without being accused of collusion. In their minds, Amazon used a "nuclear" method of negotiating, and if Hachette lost then they would have to threaten with their own nuclear option: pull their books from Amazon's store. Not the wisest decision and certainly one that will hurt them dearly, but also not an empty threat. But, with Hachette winning, this sacrifice will not be necessary.

Hachette gets their way. Although it is arguably to their detriment in the long run, in the short run, they win respect of their publishing peers, become heroes to their authors, build credibility with literary agents, and elevate themselves as a true defender of the publishing industry.

The Bad
Readers lose. They lose because publishers will continue to set the prices to ebooks at the same or sometimes higher than their printed counterparts. Which, makes absolutely NO SENSE. No printing costs. No distribution costs. Minimal "middle-man" costs (wholesalers and retailers are cut to only Whispersinc and Amazon). NO RETURNS (Where a store sends back their purchases to the publisher).

Why does Hachette (and RH, S&S, HC, and Penguin) want to keep ebook prices high? THEY MAKE MORE PROFIT. Simple. Plus, they also do not want to scavenge from their baby: hard cover sales. Even though the margins on hard covers are slightly lower due to their higher production and distribution costs, hard covers still represent a larger volume of revenue than publishers think they can recuperate from ebook sales. In addition, in their minds it would mean more RETURNS. This would dig deep into their pockets.

Authors lose. If you haven't read a publishing contract, you should. I am sure they are not too dissimilar to contracts offered to any type of artist. They are rarely favorable to the artist. Extended rights, clauses, terms--everything favors the distributor (Publisher, record label, art gallery, etc.). If Hachette wins, then their clout and perceived heroics will create an atmosphere that may enable them to continue to demand status quo in terms of author contracts. Why fix something that is obviously not broken, they will argue. In the meantime, they will continue to receive $10.50 in revenue for every $15 book and pay their authors $2.36 (after their agent's 10%). What is the publisher doing for their $7? A whole lot less than they would for that same title in paperback. So, why pay more? Publishers will argue: so the author gets a fair share. Bull. If the publishers were truly interested in the authors, then they would negotiate a better deal with them. If they were truly interested in ALL THEIR AUTHORS, then they would see the marketing logic that Amazon is presenting to them that would increase the sales of ALL of their titles and therefore benefit everyone.

I ramble. I could go on. Obviously, Amazon loses. Maybe only loses face, maybe some reputation, but ultimately, it will continue to be a mega-giant. Who knows how this will effect them in future negotiations? Will they continue to strong-arm their way into these deals if the strategy does not work with Hachette? Will they increase the pressure? Give in? Change direction? Aggressively pursue more authors themselves in order to put pressure on publishing in that way? Who can predict that?

Ultimately, this exchange has deepened my resolve to stay an independent publisher. I have even played with the idea of eventually becoming a small publishing house myself, offering editing, marketing, and publishing services to aspiring writers. I have to first become successful, I suppose. However, even though I am more committed to this path of self-publishing, I am saddened by the rhetoric and the clamor. I am appalled at the continued practices of gatekeepers who, under the guise of culling literary worth, manage to merely act as prophets of profit. They want to find the next 50 Shades, the next Harry Potter, the next Hunger Games. Not the next masterpiece of literature.

I am not knocking those books. I am merely pointing out that publishers continue to leverage their expertise and clout in the name of literature when they are actually only interested in money.

What do you think? Where do you fall in this dispute? Who would you like to see win? Do you even care? The Hachette authors would like for you to boycott Amazon on their behalf. Is that likely something you would do?

Why I am NOT Crazy

I just gave away 7,801 copies of a book.

Some feel this is insanity. Why give it away? The answer is complicated and not necessarily a good argument for my mental clarity. The same week I gave this book away, I also offered the second book in that series discounted to 99 cents. Crazy? I wish I was nuttier, actually.

I missed my goal of book give-aways, and books sold at discount. I intended to give away 10,000 books. ON THE FIRST DAY. I wanted the other four days to get that number closer to 20,000 or even 30,000 copies.

But, why? What good does giving away so many free copies achieve? you may ask.

Because no one knows me. I am a very small speck of plankton among hundreds of thousands of plankton. I want someone to notice me. I need to glow. Grow abnormally large. Send off book-reading pheromones. Develop a book-reader-attracting mating call.

One sure way to do that is to give away something.

People LOVE free.

But, you may argue, doesn't offering something for free devalue your work?

You may have a point. I am willing to take that risk. Because of numbers.

I have been in sales all my adult life and I live by numbers. "X" number of presentations will produce "Y" opportunities to close a sale which at "Z" close rate will result in "AA" number of sales at "BB" average revenue which will earn me "CC" dollars of commission. I intended to use a similar method of success for selling books.

See, that is the difficult part for me. I am the creator. The author, editor, publisher, cover artist, social platform manager, literary agent, sales manager, and public relations specialist. I wear a bunch of hats. Sometimes that is the part that wears me down.

So, when I produce a great story, get it edited, go through the hard work of packaging it, formatting it, creating a cover, writing the doggone blurb, pricing it, getting it beta-read, and then uploading it to the online book stores, I expect results. I have so much control over everything. That is what I LOVE about independent publishing. I have control. Well, over everything except people buying it.

I am looking for raving fans. Fans that tell other fans. I am risking my neck by tossing my book out into the maw of the free book binge. There is a whole culture of book collectors who look every day for new free books. Some of these people are voracious readers. Not all of them will like my book. That is risk number one: my work will be downloaded and read by readers who are not my target audience.

Risk number two is the devaluing of books we discussed earlier. Not just my book, understand. All books. It has come to the point now that we indie authors have conditioned folks to think that a "cliffhanger" in a short work is a cheat. That we are trying to milk them for all the book money they have. In a way, I suppose that would be nice. I will take milk money, too, if they will depart with it. But, this pervading perception that free is a springboard to capturing readers is exactly correct. It is what we want. Are you not entertained? Try my book for free. It is the first in a series. The other six are priced competitively in their genre for their length.

Are free books conditioning readers to not purchase? I don't think so. Most of the readers who fill their ereader devices full of free downloaded books are the same people who read books from the library, buy books from used book stores, and borrow books from friends regularly. I don't begrudge them their buying habits. They are not the audience I seek. For every one of these readers, there are potential buyers who snatch up series like they were going to out of print tomorrow if it is in a genre they like/author they like/ or set of covers they like.  Those readers are my audience. Or at least I hope they are.

Which brings us back to why I am not crazy.

My number theory about book selling is simple. I think that for every 10,000 books I can give away, 80 to 100 people will buy at least one other book in the series. Not only that, I believe that within 6 months, I will get: 10 new book reviews on the free book alone; 40 new subscribers to my newsletter; an additional 100 or so sales from carry through from book 2 to 3, etc.; 20-40 new sales at every new release, and 20 new Twitter/Facebook/Google+/Goodreads followers.

Those numbers are conservative and only refer to the readers who originally downloaded the free book. It does not take into account that with enough quick growth (several dozen sales in one day, for example), my titles will shoot up the best seller lists and gain more visibility. More potential sales. More potential reviews, newsletter subscribers, followers on social media, more website hits, and more reader engagement. It is a snowball. The thing is, to make that snowball grow in diameter, I have to pack the core and roll it down the hill, hoping it will pick up momentum and attract more mass.

Offering my book for free is like packing that snowball core. Ten thousand downloads is a bunch of potential readers. Not all will stick. Hundreds will never get around to sampling my free offering and may even delete it later to make room for more free books. Those ereaders have a capacity, you know. Hundreds of the people who DO read the free sample will just nod, smile, thank me silently, and read the next free book on their to-be-read pile. Then, some will read it, love it, and want more.  Leave a review, sign up for my newsletter, tell a friend, share it with a colleague at work, write a book blog about it, or simply visit my website and get a copy of another book. Soon, the snowball is rolling down the hill and picking up speed. Maybe before it gets to the bottom and sits for weeks melting it will get really big. That is the plan, anyway.

How many potential readers will join the snowball? Less than 1% is my guess. Which is why 10,000 is such a crucial number.

Am I crazy? Probably. I intend to make the first book free permanently. OK. Not permanently, permanently. Just permanently for now. Beginning in April, actually. For an indefinite time.

So, if you have the patience, you can save 99 cents and get the book free if you have not already downloaded it. MANIC MONDAY is the first novella (which means under 250 pages) in my 7-part series called THE JAKE MONDAY CHRONICLES. It is an espionage thriller in the vein of Jason Bourne and James Bond.

You can pick up a copy of MANIC MONDAY or any of my novels HERE.

Challenge Accepted

Today, I was tooling around on the internet on my lunch break and came upon a link to JA Konrath's blog. I already subscribe to it, but I had not seen his most recent post. What began as a short guest post turned into a challenge.

Joe claimed that as a joke, for fun, he wrote four novels while drinking, to see if he could write, edit, format, design a cover, and publish the book within an hour. I was not impressed with his efforts, really. I think much of it can be blamed on the beer. Not all, I am sure.

Joe continued to challenge his blog readers to do the same (without the drinking) and even gave us 8 hours in which to complete the "mission." The design was to find the fun in writing again. It is also to prove, I am sure, that independent writers can be so much more prolific in the volume of their work than authors who choose the traditional publishing route.

So, I took the challenge. I began writing MEETING MONDAY at 11:45. I mentioned I was on lunch, right? I quit at 1:00 and went back to my day job. While driving, I put some thoughts together (five minutes and forty seven seconds on Voice Memo app on my iPhone). Then, when I arrived home at 5:39, I immediately sat down and finished the story. Edited it. Formatted it. Designed a cover. Wrote a very short blurb (that actually should not be qualified as a blurb). Picked categories, pricing, digital rights, etc. And hit "Publish." It was 7:42. Not bad.

What I wrote was a prequel to my Jake Monday Chronicles series. It is basically an origin story that tells the tale of how Jake and Halley met. I had planned on writing this in 2014 to go along with the release of the Omnibus Edition of the Jake Monday Chronicles. My intent was to write a slightly longer piece. However, the limit was set between 1,500 and 2,500 words. It came in at 1800. Good enough. I wrapped it up and put a bow on it. I will add some more to it and re-publish soon. And, of course, it will be included with the other extras that I am stacking into the Omnibus Edition.

In the meantime, I am going to finish the fantasy I started. It is a novella. I am on the tenth chapter of fourteen. It was inspired by a wild game of D&D Next with some college-age gentlemen that I DM'd. When we finished the session, the guys begged me to write a short story about it. I am windy. I turned it into a novella. I am quite happy so far. I am working with a young art student to draw the cover and several beta readers. I should have it published the first week of September.

It was incredible to take this challenge. I know I can produce stuff really fast, but I usually drag my feet.

This journey of indie publishing is incredible. It is so fulfilling. I am not getting rich, but every review, every sale, every borrow puts a smile on my face. Writing is fun to me. Thank you, Joe, for reminding me.

Amazingly Broken: The Plagiarism Fallout

For those who have not heard about the buzz today, a fellow indie author, Jordin Williams, has been accused of plagiarizing other authors' works.  From the evidence I have seen here, I believe that the accusations will hold true.  Certainly, the actions of the author and of Amazon indicate that she is guilty.

I do not want to broach the validity of the claims, as that is up to others and I trust the right things will be done in response.  However, I think a discourse about professionalism, ethical behavior, and dedication to the consumer must be engaged.

I will begin by saying that I find the actions of authors who plagiarize to be ironic.  Hypocritical, even.  We bemoan piracy of our work, but some among us are willing to steal from the others.

The fallout will come, if it hasn't already.  I have not even checked The Guardian or other periodicals hostile to independent authors.  I am sure the lambasting will continue.  Now, the target of their ire will be the unethical independent authors who are allowed to steal from traditionally published authors' works and make it into the top 100.

The sad part is that they are right.  We don't have any constraints.  We have no "gatekeeper" to check our work and make sure it is original.  It is bad enough that we have no one to validate our work in terms of its fitness as a literary work prepared for public consumption.  We indie authors are rebels with a cause.

That will be the mud that gets slung at us.  And they will be right.  To a point.

I disagree that we do not have gatekeepers, that there exists no constraints, accountability, or repercussions for unethical business practice.  I do not agree that we are all hacks with no talent that cannot get a "normal" book deal because our work is inferior.  Or worse, we are in this book thing as a new business model to exploit.

Our gatekeepers, our constraints, our accountability is the market itself.  The readers provide the ultimate in judgment.  Not that their judgment is consistent.  Even the best written books in history have 1 star reviews.  Even the most popular authors have detractors.  In fact, it seems that the more popular a particular author becomes, the more they attract disappointed readers.

But, I digress. Despite readers' fickle and contradictory natures, they provide a screen for what is deemed "good" or "acceptable."  When something is wrong, and I mean really wrong, readers will sniff it out and that is the end of it.

In addition, I believe this characterization of independent authors as incompetent as a whole based on this case is unjust.  Our lot are not the first to participate in such incredibly repulsive business.  We will not be the last, either.  Traditionally published authors have participated in plagiarism, lying, making up facts, and such for years.  They are not above this behavior and neither are their publishers. Isn't that right, Quentin Rowan?  New York Times?  Washington Post? Isn't that right, Oprah?

The point, though, is that this behavior should not be condoned.  Amazon did the right thing to pull it down immediately.  People who went on the Goodreads page for Ms. Williams' book (which has now been pulled down, sort of) and flagged the book as plagiarized did the right thing.  Readers who contacted the author with their displeasure did the right thing.

The author, who has disappeared digitally in just hours after reaching as high as at least 58 in the Kindle store, did not do the right thing.  Even more irony: the title of her book.  Amazingly Broken.  Well, she got that right.

However, painting all indie authors with the "incompetent" or "exploitative" brush is also wrong.  A few bad eggs exist in every bunch.  We cannot all be held to the same standard as an outlier.  That has been our argument all along. Whether challenging the quality of our contribution to "literature," or our devotion to our craft and art, whether pointing at the ugly covers, or the poor marketing choices, whether laughing at the rate of financial failure of authors, or staunchly defending old business models for their own sake, the critics of indie authors really have no leg on which to stand in this matter.  Williams screwed up.  She will pay for it.  And, for a time, so will every indie author.  That is unfair.

De Ja You

Plots are a dime a dozen in fiction.  One author, Christopher Booker, would have us think that there are only truly seven plots in fiction:  Overcoming the Monster, Rags to Riches, The Quest, Voyage and Return, Comedy, Tragedy, and Rebirth.  Whether you agree with his assessment, regardless of the finiteness of plots, there are thousand upon thousands of STORIES.  An unlimited, unfathomable, inexhaustible supply of tales. 

And yet, sometimes, we can find similarities.  It would be easy for one to attribute this to influence.  I read Stephen King and then write a story about a girl lost in the woods, or attacked by a dog.  How many stories have been written about authors who have a "dark side" and it comes out to kill?  I could, if I sat and thought about it, come up with hundreds of other examples from authors ranging from Virgil, to Homer, to Shakespeare, to Hemingway, to John Irving, to James Joyce and Nathaniel Hawthorne.

But, what if I said I opened a book to peruse it and found a story strikingly like my own?  One which I had never before picked up?  What if I said my own story is barely published and originally written in 2008 while the book in question was published in 2010?

Some would want more proof.  Alright.  I have published the story in question, the first chapter of a fantasy "Work in Progress," on my website.  You can find it here.  It is the January excerpt.  While you are there on my website, take 2 seconds to enter the contest by answering one simple question.  There is a small prize in a drawing to be held at the end of the month.

Now, the published work, by an author which I like, SM Stirling is here.  You can read the sample (the first chapter) and compare for yourself.

You can see that I don't have a naked person running through the woods, but I do write something similar:  a panther that is able to communicate via telepathy.  Ok, his is a tiger with black on black striping and eyes of molten sulfur (great imagery, I am sure you agree), while mine is a true panther, but there are similarities.

Now, this got me to thinking about every time I have read a fantasy that tread over the same dwarf, elf, and dragon cliche, or every police procedural that walked that familiar path of evidence, motive, accessibility, and concurrence.  It also reminded me of the similarities of romances:  boy meets girl, boy is a bad boy and girl finds out too late, etc. 

I understand that as authors, we tap into the "Muse," and use our imaginations to concoct new, exciting, never-before-written accounts.  We explore and create new worlds, our own sciences, our gods, religions, societies.  We use our existing world and twist history or create new futures.  Yet, every post-apocalyptic story seems similar in ways, don't they?  Fantasy worlds, no matter how divergent, are familiar and share elements.  Every genre has its iconic elements.  Zombies lurch, vampires bite, dragons fly, women are swept up by the leading guy, and police solve crimes. 

I am not trying to be negative here.  I am saying that we share something.  We share the wonderful world we live in and the thousand upon thousands of stories that have been and will be created.  I think there is a wonder in it.  Whether we are succumbing to influence or calling upon a common human theme of love, abandonment, grief, hope, triumph, quest, voyage, or death, we share a common story.  We share a connection.  There is no shame in what we have in common.  There is no shame in our differences either because even in our individuality, we have something in common.

What about you?  Have you ever come across a story like your own, even a simple element?  Or have you read two books and found so many similarities that it made you wonder?

Production is King

As I watch the success of fellow self-publishers, I try to maintain a sense of calm.  I have one book, Dark Mountain, published so far and have had a mediocre first two months. I have learned a ton.  Perhaps the biggest thing that I have learned so far is to be patient. 

Failure tends to demand that reaction, doesn't it?  The Colts have a miserable season with Manning in the stands and the ownership flips the entire organization on its tail.  Be patient.  The economy is in the toilet, unemployment is rampant, drug use on the rise, housing prices plummeting, foreclosures skyrocketing.  Be patient.

So, the only remedy I can truly see is more production.  Write.  Write some more.  I wrote recently about a difficult scene in my current work-in-progress, Cry Me a River.  What a bunch of whiny dreck.  I just wrote it.  Powered through it and ate up 15,000 words in three days.  Finished with a 8,000 word flourish. 

The remedy, you see, is to get behind a keyboard and do what you do best.  So, with another productive week ahead (20,000 words should get me to the end of the book), I will get the next book out before November.  And, soon after that, I plan on having the first of a series of adventure/suspense novels, my Jake Monday series, ready for editing.

The more novels you have, the more legitimate you seem as a writer.  It is then easier to cross-market, to brand, to develop a fan base that no longer just reads your books in obscurity but recommends them to friends and family, tweet about them, adds them on Goodreads, and buys the merchandise.

This is truly a wonderful time to be a writer.  We can never lose sight of that.  But, in this new world of publishing, production is king.  Do you find an author with a "long tail" (multiple books published, big back-list) to have more legitimacy, or does this even factor in when looking for that new book for your Kindle/Nook/Kobo/Ipad?

The Scene You Don't Want to Write

I have been struggling recently with a scene in my new novel, Cry Me a River.  I have done everything I can to procrastinate, avoid, and fret.  I have researched, I have worked on other projects (this blog, for instance), I have socialized on Facebook and Twitter, and I have read books.  Now, three days have passed and I have written a grand total of 455 words. 

The problem is, the scene causes me emotional and physical pain.  Why? Well, when dealing with emotions in my writing--anger, disappointment, joy--I try to embody those emotions within myself while writing.  I feel this allows me to portray those feelings with more honesty and realism.  The scene in question deals with the death of a loved one (a daughter's ashes are being returned to a Colombian village).  To properly be "in the moment," I have to emphathize with the mother, with the bearer of the ashes, and with the missionary who had enabled the relationship with the American husband that took the daughter from her home country. 

Some of these emotions, I have a difficult time processing.  I do not willingly want to expose myself to those raw feelings.  They are too visceral, too heart-wrenching.  So, I hem and haw, waste time and don't do it.  Can I write the scene without tapping into those emotions? Sure.  But it wouldn't ring true.  I want a masterpiece, not a soap opera or a television drama. The risk is that without embodying those emotions while I write, I will overdramatize them.  Melodrama:  something I want to avoid.

The task at hand is daunting, but not impossible.  Like many people, I am stalling.  The truth is, I WANT to write this scene.  It is a pivotal, powerful scene, full of conflicting emotions, drama, and love.  I want to write that.  I want to feel those things.  With sadness, grief, anger, love, joy, disappointment, and desire, we are attuned to life.  We know we live if we experience these inner tragedies and victories.  My book is about embracing life, and so this scene is important.  Perhaps that is why I am stalling:  I want it to be perfect.  I want it to be powerful.  I know that means it will take a toll on me as a writer, the creator, if I want it to convey something to you, the reader. Is that so bad?

Off to work I go.  I hope to have it finished by Monday.  I will let you know how it goes.

The State of Publishing

I am not an alarmist.  I am not someone who cries "The sky is falling!"  I make no accusations or prophesies.  I do not pretend to know what the future holds. 

However, I can smell a skunk when he is near.  I can see a rotten apple before I pluck it.  I can hear a train coming and know not to cross the tracks.  I can taste the spoiled milk and know to throw it out.

I began writing when I was young.  Before I ever took a college creative writing course, I had studied the craft of writing and followed the publishing world.  I submitted articles, anecdotes, jokes, and stories to magazines for 5 cents per word or less.  Sometimes, contributor's copies weren't even offered.  I knew then that writing was a pitiful career choice.  The potential for ruin for the shy, the fainthearted, the under-talented, was great.  I dared only to enter into the lake of publishing by dipping my toes in the water. 

My only other activity concerning writing for decades was to wait.  To watch.  To refine my skills, define my audience, and confine my art to a drawer and a hard drive.  Recently, with the advent of a new era in self-publishing, I have awakened the hope and wonder of my semi-dormant skills and faith in becoming a published author. It was a dream I didn't think would ever transpire.

As I continued to research, I continued to hold a fondness, a loyalty, to the legacy of the publishing world.  The historical behemoths of publishing, the massive, dinosaur-like monstrosities in New York and Chicago, in London and Toronto seemed impregnable, but rightfully so.  Not everyone DESERVES a chance at publication.  For God's sake, it is best that some are not given that opportunity to muck up the pristine waters of the lake.  What a bunch of baloney.

I don't write romance novels. I have only read a few.  Some were my mom's Harlequins, more than two decades ago.  However, I have always known that the market and the authors of these books made a pittance.  I read this post by famous self-pubbed, whiner extraordinaire, viciously enthusiastic supporter and trumpeter of self-publishing, JA Konrath.  Although I don't drink Mr. Konrath's kool-aid 24/7, he often makes salient points and gives some sound advice if you have the time to wade through the detritus of his arguments and rantings to find the scraps and nuggets of goodness. 

This particular post, though, was completely enlightening.  So much so, I had to share it and my absolute distaste for Harlequin and their poor business practices.  The post is written by Ann Voss Peterson, author of PUSHED TO FAR.  Her career is very impressive in terms of total books published and total books sold.  But, Harlequin publishing hasn't treated her fairly at all, if you read the post.

I don't believe them to be "evil," any more than coal companies in the early 1900's were evil.  Or Enron was evil.  Or Exxon Mobile and the offshore drilling are evil.  They are advantageous, as most businesses are, but they have overstepped the boundaries of good taste and fair business practice.  Poor taste and bad practice to the point that they should be made to stop. 

It is the Harlequin's of the world, and agents who support them through their contract negotiations, who are turning the tide of this war on publishing.  The first salvos from the self-pubbed camp have been pathetic, with a few scattered victories to lift spirits.  There have also been defections and converts, but now, the corrupted system (think Rome) is being exposed and it may not be too long before the lake of publishing overflows its dam and creates a new body of water altogether.  I am not intoning the death knell of the Big 6.  They aren't called the Big 6 for nothing.

Right now, only a chosen few are feeling the ground swell.  Some readers are beginning to sense the shift, but are just getting over their "free book" high and seeing their Kindles and Nooks full of unreadable dreck and overpriced Best Sellers.  Soon, though, the authors themselves, will be running for the hills, hiding in the woods, turning printing presses and hiring out cover artists, laid off publicists, editors, and marketing directors.  Soon, agents will be offering service packages for a flat fee and a smaller take of the royalties (5% of 70% on a $4.99 ebook is bigger than 15% of 2.4% on a $5 mass paperback, right? The agent makes 18 cents per copy rather than 2 cents!).  Soon, more print-on-demand stores will open.  Soon, vanity presses will lower their costs.  Soon, more online ebook stores will open, offering more to the consumers.  Bigger discounts, more selection, exclusive content, bundled purchases, merchandise giveaways, etc.  Jeesh, I am starting to sound like Konrath!

But, seriously, check out her book, give Ann Voss Peterson some props.  Support your local artists, whether they be musicians, artists, or authors.  I read PUSHED TOO FAR myself, and her writing is very similar to Patterson's.  Engaging, suspenseful, and interesting.

As far as writing goes, though, before you go skinny dipping in the lake of publishing, you better look close before you leap.  There are sharks and alligators waiting to eat you up, if you aren't careful.

Self-Publishing Basics Part 2: Creating A Cover

Books are judged by their covers.  This is one truism (or "truthiness") that seems to always apply.  If you have decided to self-publish, let me recommend that you take some time to study book covers.  Look at covers that have caught your eye and covers that are appropriate for your genre.  By this I mean BEST SELLING covers for novels in your genre.  Some covers out there, especially among self-pubbed books, are very amateurish.

I chose to go a little outside my genre (thrillers), and incorporate some imagery and cover format that had worked to draw my eye.  I have always been partial to a solid block of color behind the author's name/title of the book.  Some cover artists can blend the type into a dark spot of the cover art, or a place where there is a solid color.  This allows the title to "pop" and also allows the reader to delineate between the image and the title.  The two should connect, by the way.  The image should reflect in some way either the title or the theme of the book.   Unless there is a murder at the picnic, a bucolic scene with a field of flowers, a bench with a family around it laughing does not a mystery cover make.

Covers are art.  That is the way you must see it.  This art can be as simple as type face over a solid color, photo images and type or illustration/painting with type, or any variation of those.  The point of the art, the point of the cover, is to draw potential readers to pick up the book, to click on it and read more.

Now, I by no means am an expert at this, but I have a good eye.  I have read thousands of books and have perused libraries and bookstores for three decades.  I know what stands out.  I have watched the trends.  I notice when a book cover for a particular novel (i.e. Game of Thrones or The Stand) changes.  I notice when a cover I find appealing, but is outside of my reading circle--romance, for example--catches my eye and then becomes popular.  For sure, the popularity of novels is not dependent upon their covers, but on their contents.  Some books succeed IN SPITE of their covers.  The Stand was one of them, Stieg Larsson's Girl series is another.

The practical side of the cover is the design of it in preparation for print.  Many of the Print-On-Demand publishers like Create Space and Lulu provide tools to make this task easier.  But, just like many other areas of self-publishing, you must don another hat, develop another skill.  If you don't have proficiency with Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign or some other design studio software, I recommend that this task is one that you hire out to someone that does.  A good graphic artist, a cover designer, or even a graphic design student can provide the PDF document or JPEG image you will need to provide your cover.

Another practical consideration you must keep in mind is the art/photography.  I am not a photographer.  I used to be a fair illustrator but have not honed those skills in decades.  Find a photographer you like or subscribe to iStock photos or eShutter or some other online stock photo marketplace.  You can get pictures there royalty free for less than a dollar.  Or, if you like the personal touch, digital photography is an art form in itself.  If you would like to marry that talent with your talent for writing, then that could be your best option.

The beauty of self-publishing is that YOU have the control.  YOU make the decisions.  However, it is also the burden you bear because, in the end, the success or failure is on you as well.  You have to have good content, a good story told with craftmanship.  You have to have an attractive cover that draws in readers.  You also have to have a good marketing plan that puts your title, your name and your brand in front of as many people as possible.


NEXT UP:  EDITING

Self-Publishing Basics Part 1--Formatting

You can easily find a ton of help out there for self-publishing, if that is your goal.  I am new at this, but I have followed self-publishing for almost a decade.  I want to impart some of what I have discovered and chronicle my journey into self publication.  My first book, Dark Mountain, was just released.  I am making it availabe in both print and electronic versions, because I believe that both mediums are important.  Some will laud one over the other and there is much debate over print vs. ebooks as well as traditional publishing vs. indie publishing.  I believe that there is an audience for both print and electronic books.  I also believe that authors should be able to enjoy the benefits of both traditional publishing and self-publishing.  Neither has to be mutually exclusive of the other. 

Formatting Your Book For Print

The biggest hurdle in self-publishing a book is that you need to incur some extra-writerly talents and skill sets.  One of the first skills you must use, once you decide how you are going to market your book, is to format it for publication.  Obviously, this step takes place after you have written the book and edited it thoroughly. 

You will probably be formatting for several formats (Kindle=html; CreateSpace = PDF or .doc; Smashwords = .doc, etc.), so remember to always have a clean copy or two of your original manuscript.  I kept five:  one for editing (clean manuscript with bookmarks at chapters so I could easily navigate when fact-checking); one to submit to agents (that didn't pan out); one for print publication (page numbers, headings, cover pages, etc.); and two for the electronic version--one in .doc or normal MS Word, and one in .htm format. 

This can get confusing, but if you name them to remember, it makes it easier.  You can also put them in separate files, to keep it straight.  The point is, be prepared to do formatting more than once, especially if you are publishing it in multiple formats.

First, I recommend highly that you stick to MS Word.  It is the easiest to use and has the most widely recognized format.  In fact, to publish to Smashwords, it is almost impossible to get your manuscript accepted without it.  Each version (2003,2007, 2010) each has its benefits and inconsistencies, but they are all generally the same. 

Second, get your manuscript edited.  I will cover this in another post, but it is still an important step you cannot ignore.  It will cost money, but it is worth it.

If  you are seeking to have your book published in print (via Lulu or Createspace or others), I recommend that you download a template for the size of book you are seeking to publish.  This can be everything from a mass market paperback size to a common 6" x 9" trade paperback.  Once you do that, it can be as simple as copying and pasting your book into the template.  You can alternately study the template design (page widths, margins, gutters, sections, headers and footers, etc.) and apply those to your manuscript.  Don't forget to save the document under a different name (instead of "Title.doc," save it as "Title 6x9.doc" or something similar). 

This step can be daunting.  Some publishing service providers offer a service that does the formatting for you for a charge.  In fact, at any one step, Lulu, CreateSpace and other print-on-demand (POD) publishers offer services for a fee.  Often, they are great bargains.  Mostly, if you have the technical savvy, patience, and time, you can do them yourself for free.  I did them myself and saved over $500 total. 

Formatting Your Book for Electronic Distribution

If you are seeking to digitally publish your book, then start with your clean, original manuscript in MS Word.  Select "All" and then "Clear Formatting."  You should see a pretty plain document, with all the fonts removed.  This is the best way to start your formatting for Kindle or Smashwords.  Save the document as a different title--"Title Clear.doc" or "Title Digital.doc" will suffice.  Then, you can go in and create bookmarks, paragraphing, etc.  Re-save the document and then "Save As" html, formatted.  This is the format that Kindle demands in order for it to be published in its newest format.  It can also be converted this way to Epub and Mobi formats (Apple, B & N, etc.) as well.

I could go deeper, give more information, but these are the basics.  To provide more information, this would be a very long post.  I can, however, recommend heavy research.  Each provider (CreateSpace, Kindle Direct Publishing, Lulu, Smashwords, B & N direct publishing) offers TONS of help, links, and information on how to publish.  In addition, there are ebooks online as well as other blogs that offer more in-depth information about formatting.

NEXT UP:  COVER DESIGN

The Self-Publishing Choice

I am writing this in anticipation of my proof copy for my debut novel, Dark Mountain.  Over the next week or so I plan on writing some blog entries that cover some aspects of self publishing: formatting, choosing a POD publisher, marketing, Amazon, pricing, making a book trailer, designing a cover, making a website and branding.  Today, though, I thought it best to start at WHY I decided to self-publish in the first place.

To truly understand this decision, I have to first establish my love for writing.  I knew at the age of 12 that I would someday be a writer.  I loved books and when I wrote my first story (a sort of "Children of the Corn" knock-off), it was for an Eighth Grade English class.  I really liked my teacher, and so when she gave us a writing assignment, I really wanted to impress her.  So, having some drawing skills, I took some art paper and made a scary cover with blood dripping from the words and stapled my hand-written story inside.  I even embellished the back cover with blurbs and fake reviews.  Needless to say, she was duly impressed and gave me some very positive feedback.  I never looked back on that dream that began that day on the second floor of Weston Junior High School. 

In college, I eventually got my English degree (after flirting with Pulpit Ministry, Computer Programming, Teaching English, Teaching English as a Foreign Language and Library Science).  I knew to be a writer that all the Creative Writing courses I could take would never really advance me in my career.  They were helpful, for sure, but I wasn't prepared to live on the income of a starving writer.  I'm still not and so I have a real job in addition to writing.  I wasn't attracted to the stodginess of journalism and even though I have a salesman heart (that's what I do now), I didn't want to move to Chicago, New York, Miami or Los Angeles to work for an ad agency or marketing company.

So, I took classes, read books, researched online, and wrote as much as I could discipline myself to do with a young family and the demands of life. In other words, I produced nothing because I felt I had an excuse.  I lamented my diminishing skills (they were actually getting better), my lot in life (I have, for the most part, always moved forward), and dwelt in the Land of Pity and Self-Loathing for almost a decade.

Then, something awoke in me.  I began keeping a writer's notebook.  I began and stopped several books (some of which I plan on finishing).  I tried to get published.  I wrote articles for a homeschool publication in our state.  I wrote and produced a newsletter for our homeschool support group.  I kept honing my skills.  I kept reading literature. 

Then, about eight years ago, I got more serious. I subscribed to writer's groups, critique groups and searched for ways to expand my writing.  Eventually, I began to call myself a writer.  I let that define me and even started a blog, wrote some short stories and published them on Smashwords for free.  I subscribed to industry blogs and kept up with the publishing industry on a daily basis.  I researched agents (that was new to me:  early in my writing I had been sending to slush piles, but all that had changed). 

Then, in 2009, with several novels started, a bunch of notes for others and ideas swirling in my head, I discovered NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month.  It is in November and it challenges aspiring writers to write 50,000 words in 30 days.  It is an accomplishment, to be sure.  I participated and actually succeeded in my first attempt.  The result was mediocre.  I recognize good stories.  Dark Mountain Mean was just ok.  I put it aside, began a more ambitious novel that required massive research and kept me up at night with excitement. 

Meanwhile, Dark Mountain Mean languished on my computer, stewed for almost a year.  I pulled it back out in 2010 when I was unable to get my NaNoWriMo off the ground.  My fantasy project flopped about halfway through and I knew I wouldn't make it.  So, I picked Dark Mountain Mean back up and began the daunting task of writing the final 25,000 words and editing the mostly crappy first 50,000.   Tracey, my wife, agreed to read it while I edited the first part and finished the last part.  She actually pushed me.  She finished the first part and begged me to continue writing.  She was interested in reading about how it ended.  Her excitement lit a fire under me. 

I now knew--KNEW--I could write well.  I was finally beginning to think I was publishable AND had the discipline to finish.  But, even after completing the first draft, I knew I wasn't finished.  I began the second edit with my wife's notes in hand.  I fixed inconsistencies, bad story arcs, some spotty grammar, some sketchy moral fallacies and that took a year.

Eager to get some more positive feedback--Tracey's excitement was contagious, but she is my WIFE--I asked some folks if they would interested in reading it.  My college-bound son, Nate, and a friend from church volunteered.  Another year went by.  I began to query agents while I waited for more feedback.  I got several rejections. 

All this time I was waiting, watching.  I was a Team Big 6 proponent.  I had read (and participated a little) in self-publishing.  I was immensely disappointed in the quality of the writing.  It went beyond the bad grammar, poor formatting, amateur cover art and poor premises.  The story-telling was awful.  Just dreadful.  I am no high-brow reader, even though I can recognize the difference between Henry James and John Grisham.  I am an eclectic reader, perhaps the most widely read person I know:  everything from Dickens, Dostoevsky, and Camus to Star Wars, Forgotten Realms and Magic the Gathering. I read Stephen Covey, CS Lewis and Larry Burkett as well as biographies on Jim Brown, business books, sales training books, and motivational and devotional books.

The simple fact is:  most self-published books were sub-par.  They thankfully didn't charge much and often were free, but even that sometimes didn't make up for the poor writing.  But, I digress.

The point is, I was firmly NOT in the self-pubbing camp.  I wanted an editor. I wanted an agent.  I wanted the clap on the back that comes from acceptance into this community.  But, the longer I researched the publishing industry, I realized that the timing, the money and the hassle weren't really what I was expecting.  Agents, other writers, and  publishing professionals laud the experience as worth it, as all part of the "way things are."  The longer I listened to that, the more it sounded hollow.  I saw the same lack of editorial care with traditionally published books, I saw the hackneyed titles and regurgitated plots. 

The longer I listened, the more Amazon and Lulu and CreateSpace and Smashwords, even, looked more logical.  At least, to me.  I had made a timid attempt at getting represented.  I struggled with my query letter.  It doesn't do my story justice.  I felt rejected, because I was.

One day, I made the decision.  I knew I wouldn't go back.  Although, I might.  If offered, I would accept.  But, I want them to come calling to me, not the other way around.  I will self-publish even if it means the only people who buy my book are people I know.  I don't want to do it for any other reason other than it is my dream and I refuse to let it die.

I can't wait for the proof copy.  I already know I will have to do some more work on the cover.  In fact, I have already uploaded a new cover and edited the interior again (the 5th time).  I have about 50% of the marketing in place (website, Amazon Kindle Select, social media) and about a dozen people lined up ready to make a purchase or a download.

I am already satisfied.  To me, that little feedback from people who haven't even read my book yet sustains me.  It's like I am in Eighth Grade all over again.