Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur, Split-Personality Disorder

Photographer: Kabir Bakie

I’ve been reading Guy Kawasaki’s excellent book, APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur-How to Publish a Book. Kawasaki does a very nice job of describing and explaining each part of the process, stressing that an independent writer in today’s market needs to be all three of those things if he or she is going to succeed while giving practical advice on how to make each part of the process work.

I liked the book and have to say I’m 100% on board. At the same time, I’m finding myself struggling with internalizing the basic philosophy behind the book–which isn’t much different than the things I’ve been reading from other people on the web regarding success in indie publishing. It makes sense; it’s just hard to do. And I wonder if the book shouldn’t be titled APES: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur, Split-Personality Disorder.

One of the Big Ideas in the book has to do with using social media to promote one’s work. But you don’t want to do it in such a way that you’re screaming “BUY MY BOOK!” in every post. That’s just obnoxious. It’s blatant self-promotion, and those messages get lost in a sea of similar sales pitches. What’s to distinguish you from the next guy shouting the same thing? Nothing.

So, instead the APE’s goal is to present him or herself as a likeable person on social media, as someone trustworthy, giving, and honest. With luck, the APE will be seen as an expert in his or her field and will seem like someone worth paying attention to, someone whose book will seem worth a try.

All well and good. Makes perfect sense. But it is a bit crazy-making, too.

Let’s say you’ve spent between six and nine months writing, polishing, and editing your book. Maybe you’ve dropped some money on an editor and a cover designer. At the same time, you’ve been establishing your author platform, blogging and connecting with people on social media; you’ve made some e-friends and you’ve been mobilizing your real friends as well (probably to the point of being irritating, but sometimes that’s what friends are for). Now you’ve just hit “publish” on the e-book and paperback versions of your baby. Do you want your next several posts to shine a spotlight on your generous, trustworthy, likeable self? No. You want to scream, “BUY MY BOOK!”

But should you? Probably not. That’s where the split personality kicks in. You’re wearing (at least) three hats: the author, the publisher, and the entrepreneur. But to really make that last part work, part of you has to forget that it’s one of your hats. People are going to see the APE’s book through a variety of channels, but they’re going to see a lot of other books, too. What makes potential readers pull the trigger on one book over another? It’s certainly not the author screaming “BUY MY BOOK!” They’re more likely to buy the APE’s book if the author is a known quantity–someone they’ve read before or heard of, someone whose book is reviewed comparably (and favorably) with other books the reader has enjoyed. But those things take time, and when there’s a part of you (the BUY MY BOOK! part) that’s been hoping all the pre-release efforts will yield some serious sales and the mythical-but-possible foot in the door, then it’s hard to let time run its course.

When getting ready to release The Girl at the End of the World earlier this month, I spent a lot time blogging on related subjects and trying to get the word out. When the book came out, it sold about as well as my first book did almost two years ago when I’d done ZERO prepping. Disappointing? Kind of. Surprising? Nope.

I put up a quick post on Google+ a few days after the release, letting people in a Writer’s Community know what I’d done to promote the new release and asking if there was anything else I should try. One wise person commented that it’s easier to make friends than it is to sell books.

I saw his point.

But I hadn’t read APE yet. Now that I have, I really see his point.

So, hard as it is not to shout “BUY MY BOOK” or to think it when someone “likes” my Facebook page without making a purchase, the best thing to do when the APE has reached the “E” in the acronym is to go back to the A and start the next book, keeping the entrepreneurial efforts going but not getting obsessed by them. The APE needs to remember not to let Entrepreneurial failure (or even success) define him or her, but should try instead to look forward, letting e-friends and actual friends and strangers and future friends know about the next project, hoping (without getting hung up on the numbers) that here and there someone will actually click through on a link.

I haven’t exactly mastered that, but I’m working on it. As much as I want to shout “BUY MY BOOK,” I’ll just thank you instead for reading this far. And if you’re curious, you can take a look at my Books or Stories links. They’re right up there at the top of the page.

And if you don’t, that’s okay. I can handle it. But maybe, just maybe, you’ll stop in again to see what else I’m up to. Maybe you’ll let me know what you’re up to, also. Maybe we can have a little conversation about it. In the end, that’s probably going to do both of us more good than if you drop four bucks on my Amazon link, or if I do on yours.

Guest Interview at The Poetics Project

Today I’m in the spotlight at The Poetics Project, thanks to Amanda Riggle who did the interview and posted it. She asked some really good questions about the writing process and some of the decisions that went into The Girl at the End of the World. Head over to The Poetics Project and have a look.

Maybe Those Who Can, Teach Too

The semester is coming to an end, and I’m watching my Developmental Writing students take their final exams after sixteen weeks of struggling through increasingly difficult reading and writing assignments. Some of them come up to me at the end of the exam to thank me for being an “awesome” teacher–which I have my doubts about, but I accept their compliments. Some of them just leave, and that’s okay, too.

I’ve been at this for more than twenty years now and have figured out a few good ways to help struggling students along in their journeys toward self-expression. How many of them have gone on to master the rigors of muddy academic writing, I don’t know, but I hope that a handful have at least reached an appreciation for the written word and what they can do with it if they just put their minds to the task–and give themselves plenty of time.

For many of those 20+ years, I was the closeted college-professor-who-wants-to-be-a-novelist. And I stayed in the closet because I really didn’t want to be that guy, didn’t want to be one more cliché professor who’s waiting for his big break–the literary equivalent of the waiter who’s auditioning for acting roles.

I was also pretty much haunted by what I saw as George Bernard Shaw’s condemnation of me: “He who can, does; he who cannot, teaches.” My definition of writer for much of that time wasn’t “someone who writes” but rather “someone who’s published,” or more accurately, “someone who makes a living by writing.” That last was something I could not do (still haven’t), and so in the Shavian sense, I had slipped into teaching by default: I was teaching because I couldn’t do the thing I wanted, an admission of failure in every lecture, every stroke of the red pen, every start and end of a semester.

And, of course, every rejection letter just added to my certainty that I was clearly in the second part of the Shaw quotation: the cannot-ing teachers.

Fortunately, somewhere along the way, I redefined writer. A writer writes, after all. That’s what I tell my students at the start of each semester. Whether it’s term papers or poems or journal entries (or blogs) or rejected novels, it’s all writing.

And along with that changed definition came another way to look at success. The indie movement in publishing has allowed a whole new way for writers to find their audience, bypassing the gatekeeper of the agent/publisher. So now, just about anybody can, even some who probably shouldn’t.

So here I sit, watching my students finish their exams, my third full-length novel now available for sale and already in the hands (or Kindles) of several readers. A writer and a teacher.

I think Shaw had it wrong. Those who teach, can do, too.

5 Things I Wish I’d Known Before Going Indie

Like a lot of people, when I jumped into the world of indie publishing, I didn’t really know what I was doing. I knew how to write and edit, and I’d gotten a lot of positive feedback from people who knew what they were talking about. Publishing an e-book through Amazon’s KDP program and setting up a paperback through Createspace seemed easy enough, far easier than the cycle of queries and rejections I’d been on for the years leading up to my decision to go indie.

So I released my first book, Take Back Tomorrow. And I waited for the sales to roll in. People who knew me bought the book. And they even read it. And they told their friends about it. In the first three months, I sold around 40 copies. Off to a good start, I told myself. And then, at around 42 sales, everything dried up.

So I moved on, getting my next book ready to go; this one was a novella. When I released it, it had maybe 5 downloads the first week. And not many after that.

And it was at that point that I thought, “Maybe I need a web site…”

Now, with 2 novels and 2 novellas out there and one more that I’m getting ready to release, I’ve finally figured out a thing or two about marketing. Not that I’m enjoying wild success or anything…but at least I’ve learned a few things that I wish I’d known back then. So, in an effort to help others who are jumping in with both feet, here are a few things that I wish I’d known when I started.

1. You Need a Web Site. Readers need a place to find you. There are lots of options for setting up a web site pretty inexpensively. At the very least, you should have a static page with your book covers and blurbs and links to the places where your book is available. If you’re more ambitious, you can set up a blog, which I think is a good idea: the more content you have available online, the greater the chance that people looking for your kind of writing will find you.

2. Give It Away Now. When I first learned about Amazon’s Kindle Select program, where you can make your book free for 5 days each quarter and earn 0 royalties on the books you give away, I thought, “No way!” The point is to sell books, not give them away. But I slowly became a convert. Most indie writers are unknowns, and people aren’t always willing to risk even 3 or 4 dollars on an unknown writer. They are, however, willing to risk 0 dollars. Yes, there’s some debate as to whether readers actually value those free books, but I’ve found that if I use some of the free book promo sites around my free days, there’s a little bump in sales that follows. Also, after giving away between 100 and 5000 books in a couple of days (results vary widely), there’s usually been a little trickle of reader reviews that have followed, and those were well worth all the freebies. Another strategy having to do with free books is to make the first book in a series permanently free to hook your readers.

3. Your Book Needs Reviews. As I mentioned above, readers don’t know you. Unless the elusive, magical thing called “word of mouth” has kicked in for you, they’re not likely to trust your blurb that the book you’re selling is the greatest thing ever. Contact bloggers and book reviewers; send them free copies of your book in exchange for honest reviews. Most book bloggers have a huge To-Be-Read list, so it’s tough to get them to commit, but if you contact enough of them, you’re likely to land a few reviews. Even if the people who follow their blogs don’t actually buy your book, just having those reviews and star ratings on Amazon should help others decide to give your book a chance.

4. It Pays to Advertise. You may have warm fuzzy feelings about your book, and you may know in your heart that it’s the best thing ever, but all your good feelings won’t generate sales. This is a business, and there’s a LOT of competition. Life would be so much easier if there weren’t so many people with the same dream as you, but that’s not the way of it. So, while your book should be able to stand on its own merits and attract readers across the universe just because of its glorious vibes, that’s not likely to happen. Drop a few bucks on an ad or two, maybe on Facebook, maybe a guaranteed spot on one of the Free Book promo sites. Try to get your book featured at Book Bub (but be willing to pay a lot for it). Note: the ads won’t always pay for themselves in generated sales, but it’s worth trying.

5. It’s All About Community. If all you’re doing is shouting “Buy my book!” from the rooftops, you’ll likely find that there are a bunch of other people on other rooftops and that your shouts are drowning each other out. Instead, it’s helpful to work on making connections with other writers and readers. Look at the groups on Goodreads, join a writers’ community at Google+, read other people’s blogs and offer comments and advice. If people start seeing your name and seeing you’re generous and thoughtful, they may mention you or your book in their posts, may reference your blog posts in their own, may even buy your book or review it next time it’s offered free or at a bargain.

And here’s the best piece of advice I’ve ever heard about indie publishing, so important that it’s not getting a number.

It’s a marathon, not a sprint.

Cliche? Maybe. But true. You’re not likely to set the publishing industry on fire with the release of your book. But if you work at it, connect with others, write another book and another one after that, chances are you will develop a readership–not one that may ever set anything on fire, but small successes? There’s a good chance.

What things have you learned about this business that you wish you’d known when you started?

Side Walk

I’ve been thinking for a while about posting some of my short fiction to this blog. So here goes. I may do more. We’ll see what kind of feedback it gets.

“Do you think we’ll see them today?”

“I do.”

Elaine smiled, her cheeks a maze of creases. “Conditions have to be just right, you know.”

“I know.” Walter gave her hand a light squeeze, the skin so much softer than it used to be.

“But we don’t even know what the conditions are.”

“Still.”

She chuckled. “You’re always so optimistic.”

“I suppose. Sometimes, I’m actually right, though.”

They had seen the other couple perhaps a dozen times in the last two months. The first three or four times, neither Walter nor Elaine had dared ask the other about it, each fearing they would be thought insane by the other. But it had gotten to be too much, and when Walter finally broached the subject, Elaine had been so thrilled to know she hadn’t been alone in her thoughts. After that, they had kept a careful eye for the younger couple, never knowing when their paths would cross. And as to why they crossed…Walter had theories, but Elaine put it down to serendipity: the universe brought people together and set them apart. That was all there was to it.

They walked on. Trees lined the sidewalk, and this time of day it was like entering a different climate every time they stepped into the shade. Neither of them liked the feeling of the cold biting their bones, so they stuck to the sunny side of the street.

“Do you think we should put an end to this soon?” Elaine asked.

Walter hesitated before answering.  “Why?”

“What if they recognize us?”

“Not likely to happen.”

“But still.  They could.”

“I don’t think we have anything to worry about.  It will never occur to them.”

She went on as though he hadn’t spoken. “Maybe you should shave your beard.”

“What on earth for?”

“It’s similar to his. Might start him thinking.”

“Ridiculous.” He hadn’t meant it as an insult, but the word hung in the air between them nevertheless. After a few more steps, he grew uncomfortable with the silence and said, “Besides, near as I can figure it, before too long we won’t be seeing them for a while.”

She gave him a quizzical look.

“The accident,” Walter said. “He’ll be hit by the car soon. That broken leg . . . They won’t be taking walks for months after that.”

Her silence prompted him to look at her face. Elaine’s expression was grimmer than he had expected it would be.

“We should warn him,” she said, her voice quavering. “About the accident. Before it happens.”

Walter let out half a sigh and then tried in vain to recall it, to turn the sigh into an exhalation before she could pick up on his reaction.

“You know we can’t,” he said quietly.

“But we wouldn’t have to tell them. We could leave a note, anonymous.”

“And what then? You think the accident wouldn’t happen?”

“Yes,” she said, a bit defiantly.

“And after that? Who knows what else would change?”

“Exactly,” she said, vehemence creeping into her voice. “Who knows?  Maybe things would change for the better?”

“For them maybe.  But what would it do to us?”

She didn’t take even a moment to think about it. “How can you be so selfish? They’re young; we’re old. What would it matter what it did to us?”

He nodded, unconvinced but lacking the words to express it. Instead, he stared ahead, letting her hand rest in his as they shuffled along with the sun on their left sides.

“Quiet now,” Walter said even though she’d remained silent since her question.  He nodded ahead.  “I think that’s them.”

She squeezed his hand now and drew a little closer to him, protectively.

The couple approached, moving quickly and with purpose. They didn’t hold hands, but pumped their arms vigorously instead. Both wore hats and sunglasses. The man had a mustache and goatee; the woman had pulled her hair into a ponytail that poked out the back of her hat and bobbed behind her as she walked. The man wore shorts and a sleeveless shirt, the woman a matching jogging outfit.

The younger couple moved fluidly to the left as the older pair moved to the right. The men nodded as they passed each other. Both women gave light waves.

Walter and Elaine listened as the heavier footsteps faded behind them. When the younger couple was long past, Elaine said, “You know what they’re thinking?”

“I do.” Walter smiled.

“What?”

“They’re thinking we’re cute, holding hands as we go.”

“They’re hoping they’re just like us when they get to be this old.”

He chuckled.  “Ironic.”

“Yes.”

They went on in silence, their earlier conflict forgotten for now.

“I don’t think we’ll walk tomorrow.”

“Your leg?” she asked. She glanced down. His limp wasn’t as pronounced as she’d noticed at other times.

He nodded. “It’s going to rain.”

“You can always tell.”

“Well, not always.” He slowed his pace to give the leg a break. “Conditions have to be just right, you know.”

“Yes.”

They kept going, a light breeze taking away some of the comfort they found in the warmth of the sun. Wordlessly and without any other signal, they drew closer to each other and walked on.

Getting Some Perspective on Bad (and Good) Reviews

I’ve had books for sale on Amazon for more than a year-and-a-half now and have had the good fortune to rack up quite a few reviews, mostly 4 and 5 stars but a few stinkers. I know there are some writers who claim not to read their reviews, but I’m not one of them. I have come to embrace the idea that readers are the new gatekeepers of the literary world–not so much agents any more–and I want to see what my readers think. Even when what they think isn’t so nice.

When I got my first negative review (and it wasn’t entirely negative, mind you), I was incensed because the reviewer made some personal comments about me and what she perceived were my politics based on some characters in my book. I talked to people, who calmed me down, and started developing a new layer of the thick skin I used to count on when waiting for agents’ rejection letters.

And then that review was followed by lots of positive ones, so I felt better again. The balance in my world had been restored.

Or had it?

The negative review, I’ve often found, is motivated by some specific thing that let the reader down. I’ve had readers comment negatively on the lack of science in my time travel novel and the reliance on tropes having to do with virtual reality in Strictly Analog. In those cases, there was something in the books that took the readers out of the plot, caused their suspension of disbelief to falter, and they had a negative reading experience. It wasn’t just that they didn’t “get it”–in fact, they didn’t enjoy it. My fault? No. Just a poor match between reader and book.

It’s easy to write off those negative reviews and bask in the positive ones, but in many cases I’ve found there’s also some bias in the good reviews–a book clicks with a reader because it reminds him/her of events or places or people the reader is fond of; or because the reader was amused or aroused or intrigued or curious. The reader was able to suspend disbelief and was taken to another world populated by characters the reader could care about. Mission accomplished. Does that make me a genius? No. My book found its audience; that’s all.

Of course, if a writer is getting reviews that complain about typos and poor editing, holes in the plot, character inconsistency, lack of interest, a dud ending, etc. then it’s time for that writer to pull the book and hire an editor. Fortunately, I haven’t had any reviews like that, but I would argue that even those can be useful for writers, showing them their shortcomings and motivating them to improve.

I recently ran across a negative review of Strictly Analog on a blog (and was grateful that the blogger opted not to post the review to Amazon) in which the reviewer criticized the handling of technology in the book, arguing that some of it was inconsistent with the other tech in the novel and that there was far too much time spent explaining the technology rather than developing plot and character. Rather than being a knee-jerk complaint based on the reader’s biases, this was actually an intelligent, thoughtful, well-reasoned critique that gave me a lot to think about. The bottom line was still that this reader, I suppose because of his own techie knowledge and lots more reading in the genre, couldn’t suspend disbelief, kept being taken out of the world of the novel, but I was still able to learn something from the review.

Ideally, that should be the function that reviews perform for writers. They may or may not affect sales: most people tend to look only at the overall star rating and maybe read the first one or two reviews, never getting down to the real stinkers. But for the writer, it can be helpful to try reading between the lines of those reviews, to look for the places where a book failed a reader as well as the places where a book grabbed a reader and wouldn’t let go. That’s what we want to do, after all. And it’s good for writers to know how close they’re getting to the mark.

At the same time, it’s important not to be misled by the gushing praise. That may be as biased and knee-jerk as the barbs.

We need to look for the reasoned, analytical, and carefully considered reviews. Those are the ones most likely to shed some real light on how a book is doing. The rest, treat with interest, but not as weighty deciders of one’s fate.

So…I wonder about other writers: do you take it personally when your work gets a thumbs-down? And as a reader, what sorts of things prompt you to write and post a review?

Blogger Book Fair: Interview with Aoife Marie Sheridan

Blogger Book Fair continues today with an interview with Irish fantasy author Aoife Marie Sheridan.

Question: How, and when, did you decide to become a writer?
Answer: I have always written but mostly poetry, it’s always been my way to deal with my emotions, no matter how big or small. Two years ago I lost two people I was close too. I had never lost anyone before, so I didn’t deal very well with it. One night I had a dream of a man and women on a horse, passing through a wall of fire. The dream lingered with me, as did my grief. So instead of writing poetry I started my story. My starting point was my dream and I worked my way from there. Eden Forest helped me once again deal with death, and all that comes with it. So in a way I am very grateful for this story.
I always wondered why God created us and what was our purpose, but those questions are unanswered. So in my story I give you the answers for this world called Saskia. In the story God creates a world parallel to ours, for four fallen angels.
Death is something that I also question now, like why do we die, is 60 to 90yrs of life enough, imagine having immortality what would one do to gain it? And that’s where a lot of my plot lies. The greed for immortality, for power’s that only God should wield, drives Saskia into war.
God decides to give one person all the powers that anyone could possess to banish evil, before it destroys Saskia and Earth. This one person happens to be a young lady called Sarajane Anderson who lives in the mortal world (Earth) but is actually from Saskia.

Question: Where can we find your published writing?
Answer: I have my own website http://www.aoifemariesheridan.com
It displays my work, any links to where you can purchase my books, listen to my interviews, watch my book trailers and more.
Question: What is a typical day like for you as a writer?
Answer: I work full time so, I write when I can, but always with pen and paper, never typing at first. I carry a pen and paper where ever I go and when an Idea comes to mind I jot it down. Also If I had any weird dreams (the ones that linger) I will keep them maybe for a different story. At present there are seven books I want to write. Since I started I just can’t stop.

Question: What types of writing do you do?
Answer: My writing I would consider fantasy. I write about the impossible, of different worlds that have magic in them. I always feel this can’t be it. All us on this little planet, floating in the galaxy, there has to be so much more. We just haven’t discovered it yet. Maybe in a couple of hundred years people will look back and say “They know all along that there was more”. Well that’s what I like to think.

Question: What are your favorite characters that you have created? Tell us about them
Answer: My favourite characters in Eden Forest would have to be, Queen Bellona, she was the most interesting to write about. Bellona is all that is bad in the world she is a combination of people that I have crossed paths with in my life. But she does not represent one person alone. Through her I could vent the injustice of people’s ways, and display it.
Secondly would have to be Sarajane she plays the main Character. She is relatable as in she isn’t perfect. I created Sarajane with flaw, as we all have them. Mine can be that I am selfish so that’s the flaw I gave Sarajane.
I am surrounded by very strong women in my life, and I am grateful for this. I take a lot of their personalities and place them in my characters, or something they might do, or even a facial expression. I love to watch people’s reactions as they talk to me, if they stumble on a line, they may chew their lip, in an endearing way. I note it and file it way for later.

Question: do you find you “mentally edit” other writers’ works as you read them? Does doing this help you or bother you?
Answer: Yes which I absolutely hate. I am so much more aware now. It drives me spare. But in another way it makes me feel better that I am not the only one who makes mistakes. LOL.

Question: What music do you listen to, while writing?
Answer: My Music: My favourite Musician would have to be David Guetta; Titanium and She wolf. I wrote nearly the whole two books too these songs, I find the words empowering and a story is told even in the beats.

Question: What do you eat while writing?
Answer: O God I am really bad, have a serious sweet tooth. I do try and control it, sometimes I do but other times I fail. So I love sour cream pringles. Yum. Cadbury’s cream egg. Love the centre.  After that I love sprite. These are my 3 enemies yet my favourite things ever. (apart from writing and reading, of course).

Five for Fun:
What is your favourite non-alcoholic drink?  Sprite I can’t get enough of it.
What is your favourite cartoon character? I would have to say Dora the explorer. My niece is a huge fan, and I think she is so cute.
What is your favourite movie of all time? Troy, I would watch it at least once a week. Brad Pitt is easy on the eyes.
What TV shows do you like to watch? I am not a fan of TV. I love movies or reading.
What do you like to do for fun or just to relax? Reading is my way of relaxing. Give me a book a glass of wine and I am a very content person.

Question: Where can we find you on the web?
Answer: Here are some places:
My website www.aoifemariesheridan.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Aoifemariesheri
Goodreads: Aoife Marie Sheridan
Twitter: aoifesheri

Ready to find out more about Aoife’s books?

Eden Forest

Book One of the Saskia Trilogy
Aoife Marie Sheridan

Four banished Angels,
A world created by the hands of God,
A Kingdom on its knees,
A secret protected for centuries,
And one mortal can save them all.

Step into Saskia.

Available in paperback at Amazon.co.uk, Easons and Synergebooks and at Amazon.com in paperback and e-book formats.

…AND COMING SOON

City of Secrets

Book Two of the Saskia Trilogy
Aoife Marie Sheridan

A war awaits her arrival,
A warrant for her arrest.
She must rise as a princess,
And Darkness shall fall.
But will their love survive this battle?
For Tristan and Sarajane?

Step back into Saskia.

About the Author:

Aoife Marie Sheridan is twenty eight years of age. She lives in Kells, Co. Meath, a small town just outside Navan. Aoife was raised in Navan but left with her family at the age of sixteen. Aoife has always had a passion for writing but mostly poetry. This is her first time to write a novel.

Aoife Marie Sheridan studied Accountancy and qualified as an accountant technician. She worked in this profession for several years but with the economic downturn she was made redundant.

Aoife Marie Sheridan now spends endless hours reading and writing.

Aoife Marie Sheridan’s first novel Eden Forest placed first in writers got talent.

Website:  www.aoifemariesheridan.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/Aoifemariesheri

Goodreads: Aoife Marie Sheridan

Twitter: aoifesheri

Blogger Book Fair–Book Sale and Giveaway

As part of my participation in this week’s Blogger Book Fair, I am putting all four of my books on sale for 99 cents each.

I am also hosting a Giveaway of a signed copy of one of my books. Which book? It’s the winner’s choice.

To enter, all you need to do is click on the book covers below; you’ll be taken to my book pages where you can read the blurbs. Then come back to this page and enter a comment answering this question:

Based on the blurbs and covers, which of my four books would you most like to read and why?

         

The giveaway will run until midnight on July 26 (Pacific Standard Time). I will use Random.org to select one winner at random from all entries. That person gets to choose from Take Back Tomorrow, Strictly Analog or the Ace Stubble collection. I will sign the book of that person’s choice and mail it to the winner. Please note that I can ship only to addresses in the United States. If the winning entry is from outside the US, I will send that person an electronic copy of the book but will not be able to send a signed paperback.

And remember: all 4 novels are on sale at Amazon for 99 cents each until July 26th!

You can visit the books’ Amazon pages here:

Take Back Tomorrow

Strictly Analog

Dead Man’s Hand

Unfinished Business

Thanks for reading!

Missed It By That Much: Rejection Indie Style

It’s a Get Smart reference–by which I’m dating myself. That’s okay. There are worse things.

For those not in the know, super agent Maxwell Smart would drop the catch phrase, “Missed it by that much,” after failing at some almost awesome move in the old spy satire TV series. He was blissfully unaware of what a buffoon he was, mainly because he kept defeating his slightly more buffoonish enemies at every turn.

The old catch phrase popped into my head yesterday when I received my latest rejection letter.

It’s nothing new. I’ve been getting publishers’ rejections for more than 20 years now. And agents’ rejections. And editors’ rejections. Like Eddie Royce, the pulp science fiction writer in Take Back Tomorrow, I’ve come to look for that first negative word in the publisher’s response, the one that sets the tone for what follows. Yesterday it was “unfortunately,” but sometimes it’s “sorry” or “regret.” They’ve almost always been polite and almost always end with encouragement as well as some indication that the rejection wasn’t anything personal; often, there’s a phrase about the manuscript somehow “not fitting” in with the publication schedule, the rest of the list, etc.

Rejection is never easy, but I’ve gotten hardened to it. It doesn’t tear me up the way it used to, partly because I’ve also received some acceptances (from magazines rather than book publishers, but a thumb’s up is a thumb’s up no matter how you look at it). And I’ve also gotten some real approval from the new gatekeepers of the indie publishing revolution–the readers who’ve given me lots of 4 and 5 star reviews, enthusiastic emails, and a definite feeling of validation. The publishers who passed on my work may not have been wrong–my books very well may not have matched their needs. But then again, the readers who’ve found my books and thoroughly enjoyed them are proof that people other than editors value my writing. My kind of success may not be enough to finance an editor’s or agent’s lifestyle, but it’s getting the job done as I define it.

So why did I subject myself to one more round of rejection when I’ve already hung up my “Indie Author” shingle? Old habits die hard, I suppose. With three books independently published by last November, I saw a notice that a small but respectable press was opening its e-book line to unagented authors. I had a manuscript that I’d been sitting on for a little while, and it fit the description of what they were looking for, so I sent it in. If they passed on it, I’d go the KDP route as I had with my other books. No harm, no foul. Right?

The 4-month reading period came to an end and I hadn’t heard anything. So I let a few weeks go by before emailing and got a nice reply–the book had made it past the first reader and was on to the second. If both readers agreed, the book would go on to the editors. Another month went by, and then another. More polite queries followed and more polite answers came back. The book had made it past the second reader and was waiting for the editors to decide. It was hard not to feel hopeful in the face of those little victories, but I knew not to get too excited about the possibilities. Finally, after seven months, the decision came…with that “unfortunately” coming along a couple of sentences in.

So it goes.

What would acceptance have  meant for me? A bump in sales for my books? Probably (wouldn’t take much). An increase in my fan base? Maybe. Some money? Yes, but probably not a life changing amount. Validation? Yes, but more valuable than what I already get from my readers? Not necessarily.

I’m pretty sure it would have meant giving up some control–of editing, marketing, cover design, and other things I can’t even imagine.

But here’s what it really would have meant: fantasy fulfillment. The dream I’ve had for more years than I care to count would actually have come true. It’s the same carrot that was dangled in front of me in the days when I had an agent and my books were sent out to (and rejected by) the Big 6 and lots of the little publishers, too.

I can’t let myself look at it that way, though. If I think of my books as rejected, as also-rans, as not-quite-good-enough, it’s terrible. If I walk through Barnes and Noble and look at the shelves as being full of accepted books, it’s like running a gauntlet, like telling myself those other writers grabbed the brass ring and I’m still going in circles. That’s the wrong way to look at it, though. Instead, I have to think of the validation I have received and view my books simply as being in a separate category.

I’ve heard it said that rejection is good for writers, that it forces them to write better, to push themselves and find ways to make their writing stronger. I think this is true, especially of beginning writers. I know rejection has pushed my growth as a writer. But in the case of this latest rejection, I know the manuscript didn’t get the axe because it’s not good enough. It is a good book. The first and second readers felt that way about it, meaning other writers who started the process at the same time got their rejections a long time before I did. And the editors liked it, just not as much as they liked some others. Or, should I say, they saw other books as having greater potential to help their publishing house continue to do well. Mine? Not so much.

So, from where I sit, that’s a victory.

Maxwell Smart kept missing the bad guy, but CONTROL beat KAOS in every episode, and Max got the girl, too. Maybe I haven’t been missing my target all these years, but rather just aiming at the wrong one.

Too Close, Too Comfortable

Whenever it’s time to start talking about the art of revision with my college writing students, I usually begin by saying if they want to revise effectively they first need to put some distance between themselves and what they’ve drafted. Being too close to one’s material often causes a writer to see it for what he or she thinks it is rather than for what it really is. This accounts for students omitting words, repeating words, or failing to see that they’ve written the wrong word. I forget the context, but I once had a student who wanted to write the phrase “sex with your partner” but instead wrote “sex with your parent.” Eeew. That student could have benefited from a little distance; a few days between drafting and revising would have allowed the writer to see the words as they were, not what they were supposed to be.

I recently ran into a different sort of problem with my own writing. It wasn’t a misused or omitted word (although I’ve had plenty of those show up long after a book’s been proofread, edited, and published). No, it was more a case of misused tone and emphasis. And it wasn’t in a book or story, but rather in the blurb for my novel, Strictly Analog.

I should start by saying that copy writing is not my strong suit. I really, really dislike it. The same was true of synopsis writing in the days of trying to land an agent. Ick. Having to condense a whole book into a few paragraphs, making it sound compelling without giving too much away, convincing someone to buy or read the book when there are so many other choices out there…talk about pressure.

The downside to being an indie writer is that I have to do all of this myself. No publisher’s budget with a section for copy writing and advertising. The advantage, though, is that if there’s a mistake, I can fix it, and quickly. No waiting for the next print run. I can just go into my Amazon account and tweak the blurb to my heart’s content.

If you haven’t read Strictly Analog, let me say that it’s something of a hybrid, blending dystopian science fiction and hard-boiled noir-style mystery. It’s about a private detective in a near-future California that’s run by a high-tech corporation and where just about everyone–except the hero–is constantly plugged in to the technology that runs society. When his daughter is accused of murdering her boyfriend–an agent with California’s Secret Police–the protagonist has to drag himself out of the virtual hole he’s been in for years in order to save her.

I think of the book primarily as science fiction, but with a plot involving mystery and a tone reminiscent of old hard-boiled detective novels and films. Think The Big Sleep in a high-tech dystopia. It’s science fiction not just because it’s set in the future but because the murder and the case’s solution are linked integrally to future technology and because the novel uses its characters and futuristic plot (including the murder mystery) to comment on today’s social and technological trends. It uses mystery as a catalyst, but that doesn’t make it a mystery per se. I wouldn’t expect military science fiction to be placed on the same shelves as military fiction, nor would I expect humorous science fiction (say, Hitchhiker’s Guide) to be on the “Humor” shelves. Yes, the book is a hybrid, but I’m sure that anyone who reads it would still see it predominantly as science fiction in the same way most viewers wouldn’t confuse Blade Runner (or at least the original voice-over edit) with mystery even though there are cops and missing “persons” and some big questions for the protagonist to answer.

So imagine my surprise to find Strictly Analog listed with mystery books on a site that I was using for a promotional campaign. The person running the site was apologetic and is making it up to me, but explained that the book’s blurb made it sound like contemporary mystery rather than science fiction, adding that one reviewer compared the book to those of Lee Child and James Patterson.

No way, I thought and went back to the blurb. It screamed science fiction at me. But then I asked other people’s opinions, mostly in writers’ groups on Google+. And just about everyone who commented said they thought the book was a mystery. Aarghh!

Looking at it more objectively, I saw where they were coming from. Words like private detective, murder, case, etc. were scattered throughout the blurb. And while it clearly said “future California” in the first line, if someone were just skimming the blurb, the word future wouldn’t be enough to sound the science fiction alarm. One person pointed out that the the future technology referenced in the blurb wasn’t that far ahead of where we are now, so it was easy to focus more on the mystery elements of the blurb than the SF elements.

I couldn’t believe it. The blurb’s been out there that way since last September. “You idiot!” I shouted at myself in my best Peter Lorre imitation. I’d been too close to the book, too close to the blurb. I may as well have written “sex with your parent.” How could I have not have seen it?

The answer is that there’s a learning curve here, and every now and then I wipe out on it. Writing I’m good at. Marketing I’m just figuring out.

Needless to say, I went back into the blurb and fixed it, doing more to emphasize the science fiction elements of the story. You can read the blurb here. I’d be interested in hearing if it grabs your attention or not. But please, if you think maybe it’s a Western now, or Chick Lit, or an erotic bondage thriller…keep it to yourself. There are some things I’d rather not know.