News and Notices from the Writing Trenches #10…
#61: For writers, readers, and others who want to know a bit more about me and peek into my insane writing world, check out my guest post “When, where, and how do writers’ ideas originate?” posted yesterday at Erin O’Riordan’s blogspot: erinoriordan.blogspot.com. Note: Erin’s genre is a bit orthogonal to mine, but erotica and romance novels have a big following. She’s a master of her trade, wielding her pen (or laptop) along with the best. Clearly, we have a common interest, the business of writing. Hopefully my comments resonate with readers and writers in all genres.
#62: In Tuesday and Wednesday’s NY Times you will find a full page ad touting Patricia Cornwell’s new book Red Mist. Putting on my double-billed Sherlock Holmes’ hat and stoking my pipe (IBM kidnapped Watson), I take this and other ads and TV trailers I’ve seen that advertise well-known authors’ new work as evidence for two things: (1) The Big Six is starting to feel the pain; and (2) their answer is to forego the old search for new talent and spend thousands of advertising dollars on “the sure thing,” already established talent. They even have James Patterson peddling his most recent book on TV as part of an eReader ad.
Readers should rebel. These tactics by the Big Six are self-serving and highly detrimental for the future of literature in this country and the world. That’s due to the corollary of (2): if they forego the old search for new talent, a whole generation or more of new talent will be lost to the reading public. As with many big corporations nowadays, the Big Six are emphasizing immediate profits over long-term gains and holding their cash close to their vests.
Writers have already rebelled and hopefully continue to do so. When successful writers like Barry Eisler go indie, it’s a smack in the face at the Big Six. Truth be told, on the average it’s more profitable right now being a successful indie writer than it is being a successful Big Six writer. The indie writer’s cut of the sell price is larger! Moreover, the indie writer can produce more books in less time because he or she doesn’t have to suffer through the thick bureaucracy of the Big Six legacy publishing process. Avoiding the middle people and using digital technology, indie writers are much more efficient.
And you’ll read it here first: Your next Garcia Marquez will come from the indie world. The indie publishing process provides a new avenue for writers from the Third World to follow—it’s only a matter of time before indie and Third World publishing merges. In some distant future, we will find an indie author on that Scandinavian stage receiving the Nobel prize for literature. Why not? Until then, look for new authors outside of the Big Six—that’s where you’ll find them!
#63: In my comments on Elizabeth Sims’ WD article “Namedropping,” I neglected to point out a danger, namely that you can accidentally use the name of somebody real that feels offended by how you portray them (I think Elizabeth also mentioned this danger). That’s why you should always include that famous disclaimer “…any resemblance to real people, living or dead, is purely coincidental” on the copyright page of your novel.
A related danger is that you use the name of another author’s character. I’m not sure about the legal standing of that, especially when your character does something completely different (titles of books, on the other hand, definitely can’t be copyrighted). It’s why Ayn Rand’s John Galt became John Henry Galt in my book The Midas Bomb. My Galt didn’t bore readers with a 70+ page speech—ergo, he’s different.
Your best bet as a writer is to choose the first name and last name (and middle name, for that matter) of a character randomly and in accordance with Elizabeth’s guidelines. Even if the author with an equally named character doesn’t care, you don’t want his or her character to be confused with yours—unless intended, as in the two Galts. (I shouldn’t really say random either, I suppose, because you always want the character’s name to match the character’s temperament, or to be opposite to that temperament. Following Elizabeth’s guidelines is not random really—it’s a way to come up with a character name that works for you and your readers.)
#64: On Wednesday, James Kanter of the NY Times reported: “European Inquiry Focuses on Setting of E-Book Prices.” The report is about an anti-trust commission’s examination of the terms of agreement for price setting between publishers like Penguin, Pearson, Harper Collins, and others (all owned by the Big Six), and online retailers like Apple. Similar concerns have already led to litigation in the U.S. The Big Six deny any wrong-doing, of course, and Apple declined to comment, although their actions were a thinly veiled attack on discount online retailers like Amazon. Both in Europe and the U.S., the worry is that such tactics keep eBook prices artificially high, to the detriment of consumers.
I have mixed emotions. Indie publishers tend to compete with low prices and special sales on their eBooks (my complete young adult novel, The Secret Lab, is only $0.99, the same price as some short stories or essays—it could be on MacDonald’s dollar menu)—in other words, we tend to undervalue our work, hoping that the low price will generate more buyers. On the other hand, sometimes a Big Six publisher will charge almost as much or more for an eBook version over the hardcover or trade paperback version (Cornwell’s The Scarpetta Factor, as found on Amazon, is a case in point), something which makes no sense at all. Finally, Apple has been trying to control eBook pricing just as it has dominated music pricing.
Then there’s the fight between the Big Six and public libraries lending eBooks. Where will it all end? Clearly, the eBook industry is suffering growing pains.
#65: On Wednesday, Julie Bosman of the NY Times reported: “Amazon Publishing Push Grows to Children’s Books.” (The article is right next to the one above. Clearly, publishing is still a big business!) The Big Six feel uneasy about this move which seems to emphasize picture books. To me, that means traditional picture books, not eBooks, although I have no data about the number of tots that prefer to read with a Kindle.
Considering Amazon’s overall strategy of discounting books, the reading public (namely, kids) could benefit. I wouldn’t mind seeing Amazon also get into college textbooks—they represent an enormous sinkhole for the budgets of college students everywhere. However, just as in more socialized medicine where doctors get paid less than their American counterparts, one can ask if any of this is good for authors.
Even in the “good old days,” authors found it hard to make a living. Poets ended up working for greeting card companies; novelists ended up writing reports and white papers for industries; and journalists ended up writing gossip columns for those magazines you find at the supermarket checkout. Now it’s even worse. Making a living by writing only works if you’re someone like James Patterson…or Patricia Cornwell. It’s a brave new world….
#66: There are many book contests out there for indie publishers and writers. Here’s my take: they’re a rip-off! The average cost of entering is in the greater-than $50 range. I don’t know about you, but these days I can’t afford to throw $50 bucks or more down the toilet. Multiply that $50 by the number of poor souls that play this lottery and you’ll see why it’s a rip-off. It’s worse than a lottery, in fact. There’s always a panel of judges “to make it fair.” That only means that an ad hoc committee of so-called experts makes a subjective appraisal of your book. They’re opinionated SOBs or they wouldn’t be on that committee. You’re better off with a lottery—at least there you know that you don’t have much chance to win!
#67: New Year’s Resolution? Here are some of my projects for next year: (1) In Survivors of the Chaos, the reader found the first chapters of Sing a Samba Galactica. I’m having a lot of fun putting the finishing touches on the latter. (2) I’m also having a lot of fun finishing a new thriller involving my favorite NYPD homicide detectives, Sgt. Rolando “Rollie” Castilblanco and Sgt. Dao-Ming Chen. The reader met them in The Midas Bomb. They have also appeared in a number of my short stories. Consider Angels Need Not Apply to be a sequel to Midas. (3) Speaking of short stories, the reader might remember several freebies about Dr. Carlos, an explorer ship’s surgeon far into the same future portrayed in Survivors. A new story about him, “The Frontier Affair,” will appear in eFiction’s sci-fi issue. (4) After finishing my young adult sci-fi thriller, The Secret Lab, I concluded that I enjoy writing young adult novels. I’ve started a new one based on the characters found in the short story “Marcello and Me,” another freebie found in “Steve’s Shorts.” (5) I also hope to release an eBook version of Soldiers of God. Like the eBook version of Full Medical, it will be a second edition, i.e. rewritten and re-edited.
As I stated in my guest post to Erin O’Riordan’s blogsite, I’ve never suffered from writer’s block. I have many stories in me still, just waiting to come forth. The problem is finding the time to write them down. Will I finish the list above in 2012? Maybe not. But I’ll have fun trying. Hopefully the ones I manage to finish will entertain you, the reader. Until the above are released, don’t forget my six sci-fi thrillers already released and the short story freebies at this website.
#68: By the way, all the new material listed in #67, will be released in eBook format (of course, eFiction is an eZine), in spite of doubts I expressed in Wednesday’s blog post. In other words, they will represent bargains for you, the reader. Readers rule!
In libris libertas…
