News and Notices from the Writing Trenches #100…
[Note from Steve: To celebrate the hundredth edition of his newsletter, I think I’ll allow myself a double Jameson whiskey tonight—please join me. I’ve been doing this a long time (writing the newsletter–I’m not an alcoholic). I hope all of you enjoy it. Maybe not the chest-thumping items, but I also try to keep readers and writers informed with my comments on the writing and publishing business. I’m admittedly biased toward indie writing, but those traditionally published writers completely content with their lot in life don’t have to read this newsletter. Others and indie authors and the reading public should—they’ll be entertained, at least.]
Item. More lies from the Times. How many have read the NY Times article making Amazon look like a Chinese sweat shop? While this isn’t surprising–the Times has a vendetta for all things Amazon and indie authors–an Amazon employee on Linked In Pulse shows how the Times twisted the truth to present a negative portrait of the huge company. Unfortunately, his exposure of Times’ duplicity won’t get nearly the publicity that the Times’ article does, so too many people will walk away thinking the company is worse than Walmart. By the way, the Times doesn’t have to write out an out lies. They can omit facts and interview biased people and lie that way. Fox News does it all the time. I guess the Times isn’t any better than Fox News. Their motto, “All the news that’s fit to print,” should certainly be rewritten. I’m ready to cancel my subscription. I already throw away their touted Book Review without looking at it, knowing that what all they tell me there are lies by omission and bias. There are a few honest newspapers out there–the Times isn’t one of them.
I’m not an apologist for Amazon–I have my own problems with the company, including still trying to recover an ebook that I paid for that customer service has denied me. My experience with Amazon can be summarized with that old movie title: The good, the bad, and the ugly. You’ve read about some of my experiences in these pages and blog posts. I don’t agree with their review system at all, for example. But they’re not Walmart, and most certainly aren’t duplicitous like the Times.
So, why does the Times attack Amazon? Because Amazon is the biggest seller of ebooks, many ebooks are indies, and the Times feels threatened by the whole reading revolution in America. Consider their attacks the thrashing around of a dying dinosaur who happens to know that not only he but his whole species will soon disappear from the face of the Earth. That little wooly mammal, the internet, will soon be lord of creation. Should we have pity on the dinosaur? Not me, because this one is bloodthirsty and out for Amazon’s blood.
Item. Inexpensive Kindles. With the Kindle Fire at $99, I’m wondering what the Paper-Whites are going for? I received my old Kindle Paper-White as a birthday gift years ago; wondered what I was going to do with it. Now I it’s almost as necessary as my laptop. Ignoring the gizmo’s conveniences, the idea of directly downloading ebooks without ever leaving my office is so important for my reading and reviewing, I can’t imagine being without it.
I usually don’t push products in this blog (I might attack them, like the Times), but an e-reader can be a game-changer for your reading enjoyment. The Paper-White is the best; I’d forget about the Fire. If you want a tablet, get something else. OK, maybe you can combine the e-reader functionality with a tablet computer (e.g. the iPad), but just try reading an ebook on the beach with one, including the Fire. The only glare advantage it has over a Galaxy or iPhone smart phone is that the fonts can be larger. What about other e-readers? Are they even supported anymore? B&N sold their Nook business, Sony’s history (they might be supporting them), and I don’t know about any others (readers can correct me), but Kindles were the first and are still going strong.
OK, so you like the feel of a real book in your hands? I guess you won’t try almond soy milk either? I tried the Kindle and became a convert; tried the almond soy milk and didn’t mind the taste, but I didn’t like what it did to my insides. One successful experiment, one not so successful. But I’m an adventurous guy, not always willing to jump in the water but willing to stick my toe in to try it!
Item. Alphabet. The word used to mean the list of symbols used in writing a given language, a word created from alpha and beta, the first two letters in the Greek alphabet. Now it will mean Google. Apparently the company thinks that their name will become commonplace, something like band-aid or Q-tip. I guess it will only mean Google when it’s written with a capital A. I still don’t see the improvement.
I mean, c’mon fellows! It’s already a lost cause. Google’s already so common that it’s a verb: I google (that’s a small g) to find out things on the internet. I’m sure not going to say, “Let me alphabet that.” OK, maybe that’s the point. But Alphabet is already the name of other companies, and they’re complaining, you Google wizards. Are there lawsuits in the works?
Google’s important for my writing business. I use the search engine many times during a writing day. The search usually leads me to a Wikipedia or Britannica article. If it’s a key item, I check it out with other sources, including my old copy of the Britannica on my bookshelves (those articles, while dated in some respects, have a completeness I’ve never found online).
Item. Bobbie Christmas. For years, this nice lady has championed a “search and destroy” self-editing procedure for manuscripts. I’m talking about copy editing. Even traditionally published authors have to worry about that: you’d better not send a sloppy MS to an agent (you know, all those pariahs who send out all those rejection letters). You know what’s good about Bobbie’s technique? You can design your own list of your own bad habits over time—a personalized list of bad word choices and other editing sins to look for.
For example: I tend to overuse “that.” The word’s often redundant, especially in genre fiction, or the word “who” should be used instead. My problem comes from Spanish and its ubiquitous “que.” Yep, second languages can influence the use of your mother tongue, especially for someone who once dreamed in Spanish!
I started doing this type of copy editing before I met Bobbie (lamentably only online), but I’ll give her credit—she’d shared her ideas with the writing community long before. I began my own list of quirks about ten years ago; she was touting it long before that. So, I’m giving credit where credit’s due. (FYI: I won’t share my list. Make your own. I will second Bobbie by saying it’s a good idea: The search feature on your word processor is a powerful tool when it comes to copy editing.)
Item. Snipers. They’re ubiquitous in media—books, movies, and real life, both authorized (armed forces and SWAT teams) and unauthorized (hit men and terrorists). The only thing in the last issue of WD (Writer’s Digest) worth reading from the indie writer’s perspective (I tossed my copy of the magazine in the circular file after thirty minutes) is the one-page article on sniping, written by an ex-cop (because I tossed the issue, I can’t give him credit by name).
He makes several technical points about hitting a target at long distance, most of them common sense for anyone who’s used a rifle, but the take-away point is that “authorized” means a sniper-cop or federal agent already has a blanket authorization. Makes sense: By the time an on-the-scene authorization’s forthcoming, the chance for a shot might be gone. Bad guys should take notice. And fiction and screenplay writers better pay attention too. Writers should get it right.
“Wait!” you say, “aren’t you anti-gun?” Nope, not when the bad guys are often better armed than the good guys. The general public, from gun-loving freaks who say their guns are a hobby, to schizoid psychotics and terrorists, shouldn’t have guns. As far as cops with guns go, those two guys in Connecticut who raped and murdered the wife and daughters of the doctor’s family, would now be dead if a SWAT sniper had taken them out. And the only good terrorist is a dead one.
That doesn’t mean that cops are perfect. Some make mistakes; some are gun-happy; and a few are bigoted bastards. Most NRA members also have the wrong idea about guns—otherwise, they wouldn’t be NRA members! I grew up with guns. I learned to respect them and their use when the bad guys employ deadly force against the good. For most NRA members, though, guns are a fetish, the macho playthings of ignorant minds. I’d never be an NRA member for that reason, even if I were a cop or ex-soldier. But like many complex issues, gun control isn’t black and white. The debate will go on.
Item. No chest-thumping in this newsletter? It often seems like a waste of time to push my ebooks here. Let’s face it: if every blog reader bought a few of my ebooks, I’d be a happier author. But to keep issue #100 of this newsletter pure and pristine from commercial promotion of my ebooks, I’ll forego that this week.
Item. Summer’s end. Geez, the summer’s almost over. School is almost here for the kiddies, and some colleges and universities are getting ready to start. Soon I’ll be setting by the fireplace with my two fingers of Jameson, always neat, reading a good ebook, happy to be entertained and warm. Not a bad picture compared to sand everywhere and sunburns from beach visits, right? Nah…you can enjoy a good book anywhere, and I have a pocket flask for the Jameson.
In elibris libertas….
