Super Summer Sale!

For a limited time, my publisher, Briona Glen, is offering the ebook version (in all formats) of "A Memory of Grief" for only $2.99.

Go to the following link, and when buying, enter the Coupon Code SE86U: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/59556

Another great response by Joe Konrath, to a rather silly article in the Guardian, Are Books Dead, and Can Authors Survive?

Well, to answer the twit who wrote the Guardian article, NO to the first, and YES to the second. Just not in the way of the past. Yeah, it's going to change, but article-typists like this bozo think change means death.

Ya gotta love it when these nitwits opine with unsupported claims about the future of working writers-- without quoting any working writers...

According to them, the changes in many industries means artists can't make a living anymore. Wow. In the world of dumbass claims, that's gotta rank right up there.

Konrath slices and dices the article in his usual style, exploding the fallacies. Good reading.

Editing, Writing Blog Notes

Have spent this hurricane-y day doing deep editing on "A Fall From Grace," the follow-up book to my mystery novel "A Memory of Grief."

Writing well is hard work. No matter how good my drafts are, there are many ways in which the final can get better. My critiquers are superb, though. Every time I took a shortcut or didn't do the best on the draft, they noted it on the manuscript. So I have to go through line by line and make everything shine.

Tough work. But worth it, when I get comments like the one from last night. I'd sold the novel to the guy at around 4 yesterday afternoon, and he'd finished it before midnight-- and said it was a great read.

************

In other news, the battle still rages between ebooks and print lovers:
Joe Konrath has a couple of postings with some cogent comments:

http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2011/08/end-is-nigh.html

http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2011/08/who-wants-whom-dialog-between-ja.html


And from NY Times ebook best-seller Debbi Mack:

http://midlistlife.wordpress.com/2011/08/24/careful-what-you-opine-upon/

Distribution News

So yesterday someone was trying to buy the ebook version of my novel on Smashwords, but a search on both my name and the title yielded no results. When it had worked wonderfully up until then. So I tried, and still no results.

Finally figured out that their stupid "Adult Content" filter keeps getting flipped to on, which means you get nothing but kids books, and it won't show books that are for sale on the site.

Aw, fer cry-yi, folks, at least put the thing where this crap won't happen! I almost lost a sale because of this. What a PITA. Your site is less than useless with this filter on.

And I got great advice from the NY Times Best-Seller writer Debbi Mack, who said that I should get my book up on the Kindle store and through PubIt. I checked, and it was available on the Nook store, but not on Kindle, although you can get a Kindle version by going through Smashwords (and all other formats as well).

So I sent word to my publisher, and Director of Operations Dana Blythe
leaped to the rescue. As of today, the Kindle store now sports "A Memory of Grief ."

So Dana is The Heroine of the Day! And my Best Friend for the day.

Now In Bookstores

Yesterday I was in one of my favorite places, Portland, Maine, and approached my first bookstores, with new novel in hand, new press kit, an invoice agreement, snappy business cards, and a carload of hope, to see if they'd be willing to stock copies of my new mystery, "A Memory of Grief."

Yowza! When they heard I'd been a resident of that lovely city, and the novel itself was set there, they went for copies like Summer tourists go for lobster!

The first place was Nonesuch Books, and turned out to be such a charming, cozy place, I wanted to spend the rest of the afternoon there reading. You instantly feel welcome and comfortable-- maybe they've figured out some way to permeate the place with endorphins.

Then we went downtown, to the heart of Portland, to Longfellow Books. This is a real urban bookstore, full of funky character. You walk in and instantly feel smarter, knowing there's some solid reading material surrounding you, and books that are old friends. Once again, I'd have stayed and browsed and bought, if I hadn't had a prior engagement.

Am happy to work with some great indie bookstores, since they've got nice people in charge, and they're terrific places. I'll return to both, just because they're very cool places to be.

There are lots of reasons for doing your shopping at an indie bookstore, rather than at a chain or online-- not just to get my book, but for all the other ones they stock. They support whole communities, and the money you spend stays local, to help the area, rather than go off to some foreign corporate office. There are connections to be made-- people who smile and can recommend good reading for you.

Simon Wood and the Rocky Road

Great guest post by Simon Wood on the influential blog of JA Konrath today.

Simon had quite the rocky road of publishing, depsite going the old legacy traditional method. Publishers falling apart, insufficient print runs, all kinds of issues that kept him from breaking out for years.

Ebooks have given him a second chance, and he now seems to be coming into his own. I'm going to be checking out his works.

Words of Inspiration

Today I'm posting someone else's words, not because I'm lazy, but because she says it better.
This is from Holly Lisle, one of the hardest-working writers today, and one pushing for a higher quality of writing and for writers to feel better about writing.

Read this, and you'll know why I love her.

"The economy sucks. We know this.

But did you know that if you're a writer---even if you're
a kid sitting at home writing your first novel by
hand in a three-ring binder---you are a positive
force for good?

Today? Right now?

That the FACT that you are a working writer, even if
you've never sold anything, matters to people you will
never meet?

You need to know.

You matter BECAUSE you're a writer.

In the new article on my site, I demonstrate what
writers from beginner to successful indie and commercially
published writers do to create jobs, feed people, and
undo some of the damage being done in other parts of
the economy."

Money From Nothing: The Economic Value of Writing
Original Fiction

http://hollylisle.com/money-from-nothing-the-economic-value-of-writing-original-fiction/?awt_l=HumRE&awt_m=IgCBudIb5m.TgP