News and Notices from the Writing Trenches #6…
#35: OK, folks…I didn’t receive much help for writing reviews of anthologies. Doug from eFiction offered some sage advice for those who write such a review in a MFA writing class but immediately qualified it by saying that most readers would want a very different review. So, I took a wag at it. You can see the results in Tuesday’s post to this blog (or, if you prefer, on Amazon). Now you can help by reviewing the review….
#36: Writers should challenge themselves now and then. Writing the review for Alex Carrick’s Three Scoops Is a Blast was such a challenge, albeit only a brief struggle. Writing my first YA (young adult) novel The Secret Lab was more long term but equally rewarding. I’m now sketching out a new YA novel. WD (Writer’s Digest) has a good article about how the author should not parent his young YA heroes. Better late than never. I struggled with this when writing Lab and employed many of their suggestions before they ever thought of writing the article. Nevertheless, authors interested in writing YA stories and novels should read their advice. (Also see #39.)
#37: Since I mentioned WD, let me make an observation. After working with Doug at eFiction and enjoying the interchange in some of eFiction’s online groups, I’m convinced that paper magazines should be replaced by eZines. I’ll make that suggestion to WD right here in this note (maybe I’ll also drop them an e-mail since they probably don’t read this). I’d much rather read and archive issues of WD on my Kindle.
Come on, WD—get with the times! You’re not only killing forests and trying to keep legacy publishing going with your out-of-date emphasis on query letters, agents, and what not—you will lose subscribers. Moreover, with the new eReaders like Fire and the latest Nook, there’s no reason those coffee table books with all those glossy pictures can’t find a home in the eZine world. I’m not sure I’m ready to read 1001 Arabian Nights and hear Korsakov’s Scheherazade, but that’s a possibility too.
#38: Working with Donna Carrick on the cover of Evil Agenda and its chapter separators brought to my attention a question I’ll throw out here: If I go to the manufacturer’s page and copy, say, a picture of a Beretta, do I have to pay the manufacturer royalties? Or, conversely, does he have to pay me royalties for advertising his product? Or, is this just a no-no in general, either way? (This seems like one internet service we need—see the last post in this blog—a legal service website for authors that handles questions like these.) Please respond if you have any answers to these burning questions. (I’m not holding my breath, considering the response I had about writing reviews of anthologies, but you never know.)
#39: Ancient and modern societies frowned and frown upon incest respectively, yet we writers seem to revel in it. We jump into the latest genres and subgenres, hoping to cash in on the fads created by our older brothers and sisters (i.e. the trailblazers)—for example, the plethora of books on eBooks on vampires and werewolves, elves and goblins, and magicians and magic reflect fads that are overly saturated (“plethora” is used in its pejorative sense of “way too many”). Readers rule, and they will move on to something else before you can finish writing your latest vampire romance.
That’s one form of literary incest and I believe it’s self-correcting (over saturating a genre means that readers will get sick of it, eventually). On the other hand, I have seen quite a few writing forums, whose members are mostly writers, get off topic as almost every forum post becomes an ad for a new book or eBook. Let me say what I do with such ads: I scan them when I feel generous, then do a massive delete; or I delete them one-by-one if I get really annoyed (I generally echo my forum participation to my e-mail).
I won’t mention names of forums here or egregious authors either, but simply warn authors that it is a big mistake to try to sell to fellow authors. Again, readers rule. Personally I’m not concerned about sales but I am concerned about reaching readers (see #40). Many authors want to do both, of course, but it’s hard to do if you’re just spamming fellow writers—presumably there are many more readers than writers—otherwise, this whole publishing thing is a waste of time.
I would suggest that if you belong to a writers’ forum, don’t spam the other members with ads about your book. A forum on book marketing, for example, can be very educational since it allows you to learn different ways to reach readers. A forum on character building can be useful for improving your writing skills. Don’t ruin the forum by plugging your book.
On the other hand, every writer should be an avid reader. I have learned some tricks of the trade by belonging to writing forums and chewing the fat with fellow authors, keeping an eye out for topics related to my weaknesses (I’m what is called a “lurker”), but I have learned much more from just reading and seeing what works for other authors from the readers’ perspective (this is one reason why I also review books). When I was trying to figure out how to write a YA novel, for example, I visited forums and read and browsed through YA novels already published (avoiding the vampires and werewolves, of course).
#40: Platform building versus book sales? Friends whom I’ve told that I’m going completely eBook have asked how I’m going to avoid cheap knock-offs in other countries. I suppose it is easier to do that with an eBook. I’m almost certain Amazon puts their DRM on eBooks they sell for Kindle (can anyone confirm?), but I’m not sure what Smashwords does when distributing to B&N, for example (or maybe B&N does their own DRM too—anyone know?).
I’m not too excited about receiving answers to the above questions since knock-offs will still build my platform. The Brazilian author Paulo Coelho once made a similar comment. “Platform” to me mostly means name recognition. If you steal my eBook, I’ve won because you had to recognize my name or liked what the book was about. After you read the eBook and pass it on or recommend it to friends, I’m even happier. Readers rule…and I want to be read. I’d give the damn books away, but I have to recover costs. (In fact, I have given them away—Evil Agenda first appeared as a serialized novel; with the revised and expanded eBook version, priced at $2.99, you’ve got a great deal that allows me to recover the costs of eBook production.)
So, steal my books, if you can get away with it. I encourage you to do so. Inside my eBook you will find a plea to not do so…something about my hard work. Yes, writing is hard work (especially the editing and marketing) and it would tickle me pink to get paid for it. However, I think my eBooks are like computer shareware…get them, read them, and send me money and recommend them to friends, if you like the product and you haven’t already paid for them.
I don’t have infinite resources. I’m just one of the 99%—living a comfortable but meager existence if I stick to my budget. If readers paid for my eBooks, I might be able to enter a few contests and at least re-invest that money in the release of more stories for your reading pleasure. The beauty of the new digital publishing revolution is that both readers and writers win, not the huge publishing houses. Support indie writers by becoming a paying indie reader. I’m one—you should be too.
In libris libertas…
