Last Year in Review

Wow- it's been over a month since I last blogged. The trouble is, I usually get burned out in December, when the end of the year is nigh. Too many social engagements, too much left undone.

Last year was especially bad, and I was too depressed to write, due to the clown show that passes for government in this nation, from the treasonous, Russian-puppet, madman-in-chief, to his traitorous oligarch accomplices. They left the country to burn while they lined their pockets with bribes and stolen money amid their encouragement of racism and bigotry and hatred. The French peasantry had the right idea when their aristocracy went too far; too bad we can't have a dose of that here. There's a long list of villains I'd nominate for guillotine bait. But enough of that.

This last year was a busy one, but one in which I didn't publish a new novel. I wrote, but not enough. Worked on several novels, but only published a single new book of short stories, The Last Crooked Paths, and the collection of all three short books into one: All The Crooked Paths. Not as many stories out as in previous years. Am doing better this year, with over 15,000 new words in less than the first three weeks.

But still it was a banner year, with much going on. Here's some of what happened.
Don't let people tell you you can't be successful as an Independent author!
Attended book launches for friends, including Don Kaplan, Lee McIntyre, and Leslie Wheeler, and a group Noir at the Bar up in Maine.

Interviewed some pretty cool people, including Maine writer Dick Cass, local TV star reporter (and voice narrator) Josh Brogadir, forensic expert Geoff Symon, and journalist Dan Szczesny.
Attended Jeffrey Deaver's workshop, courtesy of the Mystery Writers of America.

Got featured on some awesome sites: the blog of top writer Carmen Amato, on Sci-Fi Saturday Night, on Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers, on the blog of fellow mystery author Dana King, and on Vlad Vaslyn's site, and a video interview by Kameel Nasr!

Gave workshops at the Derry, NH Author Fest and at the Lancaster, MA library, and did a talk at the Pelham, NH library. Sold books at the Boston Book Fair. Spoke on a panel about Sherlock Holmes at the Huntington Theater. Helped put on a Sherlock Holmes talk by Bob Fritsch, and a Christmas event for the Sisters in Crime.

It was a great year for bookstores (for a complete list of places that carry my books on their shelves, check out my website). We had a great signing at a Barnes and Noble in Conn. Got my books into new Indie bookstores in NH, CT, and MA. Thanks to new friends at Water Street Books, The Silver Unicorn, The Freethinker’s Corner Bookstore, and RiverRun Books.

And did book-signing events at my favorite local bookstore, the New England Mobile Book Fair, for Small Business Saturday, Independent Bookstore Day, and the fabulous annual Gala Mystery Night.

Sold books at some fun events, including the Chelmsford Farmer's Market, the Chelmsford Library, and the very cool Moxie Festival, up in Maine.

Lastly, I went to some awesome conferences. Crime Wave in Maine, Crime Bake in MA, Bouchercon, in FL (meeting the grandson of John D. MacDonald, Andrew, was an honor and a highlight), and best of all, Killer Nashville, in TN, where I got to meet a bunch of fun people, including one of my online idols, Indie guru JA Konrath, who is one cool and supportive writer.

So one wild ride last year. Going to be tough to top it, But this year have planned to publish three novels, and more stories. We'll see what the year brings.

Con Report on Killer Nashville

I’ve been to some great conferences for mystery/crime writers and fans: notably our local, beloved Crime Bake (which I’ve compared to Brigadoon), and the always wonderful Bouchercon. Add Killer Nashville to the list of cons that should not be missed. This recent one was so well run, with quality programming, top-notch Guests of Honor, terrific facilities, and the nicest people anywhere. The generosity and support evidenced by attendees was such a great experience. There were lots of fellow members of the Mystery Writers of America and the Sisters in Crime.

Hadn’t planned on going (funds being nonexistent), but they awarded me a free registration scholarship given in the name of Jimmy Loftin by his loving and generous family.

Fellow Jimmy Loftin Memorial Scholarship winner Alison A. Cirino (center)

Tough call for me when finances are a strain, but what’s more debt, after all? So I hit the road (or airplane) to Nashville, and discovered another magical kingdom. Heck, I even befriended a unicorn! It was none other than Guest of Honor J.A. (Joe) Konrath, who never goes to these events anymore, so sighting him was as rare as encountering a unicorn. 

It is said that one is always disappointed to meet one’s heroes, but it was not true in this case. I always wanted to thank Joe in person, because he blogged about becoming a successful Indie writer back when it was thought of as writing career suicide. His hugely influential blog, A Newbie’s Guide to Publishing, detailed his struggle, his path, and showed how other writers could, for the first time, have control over their career. He posted data, including numbers of sales and income figures, which wasn’t done back then. He was totally transparent, and took a lot of heat for his honesty. But some of us listened, and made informed choices.

A few years ago, he also offered an opportunity to guest post on that popular blog by donating to Tess Gerritsen’s charity. Talk about win-win! So I did a share with writer Vlad Vaslyn, and we were proud posters of Giving Our Way to Success. Prophetic, huh?

Not only was Joe gracious and friendly to everybody (including this starry-eyed fan), he was open and overwhelmingly generous- for example, he gave away 500 print books (among other things) at the con. His interview and panels were great. He invited fellow self-pub successes Christopher and Katherine Greyson onto his talk on self-pub marketing, and they rocked it. 

Considering the duo have turned Chris’s books into a multi-million-dollar business, Joe figured they knew what they were talking about. And they did! They deserve their success, too, for they’re warm and wonderful people. Be sure to check out the award-winning book Chris was flogging, The Girl Who Lived.

The few days were a whirlwind of meeting new people, sharing information, tips, ideas, and books. It started the first day, when I had lunch at the hotel restaurant/pub. Saw my first pair of cowboy boots, and heard “y’all.” Wasn’t in Boston anymore! That was my encounter with the irrepressible Linda Sands:

and friend Karin Patrice Husty, a mixed-media artist. We got to chatting, and Elizabeth Kuehne joined in, and thus was formed the nucleus of our con crew. We were later joined by 

more crazy characters, and boy, what a nice bunch of people! 

L to R: Mike Pettit, Cheryl Castela, Daniel Dark, Elizabeth Kuehne

L to R: Mike Faricy. Elizabeth, Gorman Reilly

(changeup!) R to L: Carmen Amato and Cathy Perkins

 

We even had Canadian visitors, like so-nice author A.J. McCarthy and hubby-- and even a fellow Maineiac from my old neck of the woods, Guy Cote.

Friday morning (after talking until 3 the night before) was my panel on Action/Adventure, and moderator Mike Pettit, my new adopted dad, had a plan. When we started, panelist Kathryn Lane gave a blood-curdling scream, 

and Charles Kowalski and I fought our way up the aisle, while arguing about Tom Cruise as the too-short Jack Reacher. We then calmly took our seats, and I asked the nervous audience if their blood was pumping yet. They responded with vigorous assent, and I said “THAT’S Action/Adventure!” And we launched into a great discussion.

L to R:  Mike Pettit (moderator), Phil Ribera, Stacy Allen, Kathryn Lane, Charles Kowalski, Margaret Mizushima

Learned so much in just a short time. And added some value along the way, passing along good tips I’ve picked up. Saturday night came all too quickly, and with it the awards banquet. I’d been asked for a short speech of thanks, and what writing means to me. I spoke of my appreciation for Clay Stafford, the organizer, the working staff (thanks, Liz!), and the family of Jimmy Loftin. I thanked an old writing teacher- Stephen King, you may have heard of him. And I thanked Joe Konrath for his inspiration and information, for all the good he has done for Indie writers. Doncha know he rushed the stage to give me a bear hug and whisper words of encouragement. I got a little stunned and teary, but finished strong, and left while walking on a cloud of air.

Did rather well for a guy who only knew two attendees when he got there. One is Cheryl Hollon, on the right here doing her panel with Susan Crawford and Christopher Greyson again.

I’ve got a raft of new stories, which I can share over beverages. Warned them that I’d go home and tell my Yankee buds how great the conference was, so they’d soon have a northern invasion. Highly recommended for any writer who wants to up their game and make new connections while learning a great deal. They gave great encouragement, too, using the motto of Galaxy Quest good for any writer: Never give up. Never surrender!

I’m linking to many writers here, and you’re definitely going to want to check out their work. Lots of legacy/traditionally-published authors, along with a fair number of self-pub millionaires. Yeah, you read that right. Apparently there’s money to be made in this biz if you do it right. 

The conference is not just for writers, but also for those who provide services. Here's Adam Woods of PublishDrive, a company that helps writers distribute their work. He got a public, glowing recommendation from Joe Konrath, pretty much the gold standard for a service.

 And here's talented (and super-nice) literary agent Claire Harris, with Daniel Dark lurking, as always.

 Cathy Perkins, who won a Claymore Award at the event for her work.

Caught in the Act (L to R): Unidentified, Carmen Amato, Mike Faricy

The legendary Otto Penzler, of the Mysterious Bookshop

Derek Cavignano and Alex Gates

Phil Ribera, Cathy, and Mike

Charles and Cheryl

Da crew! In the back R, with white hair and beard, is Charley Pearson, who let me fondle his Sliver Falchion Award medal from last year.

Joe hangs with da crew!

My two favorite, very inspirational guys from the con: one gave me free beer, bourbon, and advice, and one bought dinner. Both told great stories!

Other great people I didn't get shots of, but who helped make it a magical time: Ross Cavins, Beth Terrell, Bryan Robinson, Christine Wevik, Diane Sismour, Helen Bellamy, Todd Allen, Mary Adams-Belk, Jason Fort, Nancy Roe, Ross Carley

Thanks to those who made me feel welcome, and who stopped to chat and share.

Hope to see a lot of you next year!

Latest News- new audio out, new interview, new bookstores, new trips

So- it's been a quiet time here on the old blog, though life has been far from that.
Here's some of what's been going on.

As part of my job, we went to the Portsmouth Regional Hospital and toured for four days, seeing what a great job nurses and providers do in healthcare. Here's our team at the nearby U.S.S. Albacore.



While there, I dropped in on the Portsmouth Writer's Night Out, part of the NH Writer's Project.
Met some new people, and saw a few I knew, like Jeff Deck and James Patrick Kelly, both of who have new books outs.

Also stopped by RiverRun Books and got the first of the Zack Taylor series, A Memory of Grief on their shelves.

Another new Indie bookstore that carries my books is The Silver Unicorn in Action MA. Drop by when you're in the area and check them out.

My latest audio book is now out: The Last Crooked Paths: A 5-story collection of crime and mystery short stories.
Narrated by George Kastrinos, it's a great listening experience for only a few bucks.

And soon I'm off to Killer Nashville, a mystery conference down in Tennessee, where I'm on a panel talking about Action/Adventure. They've also got my mug up as a Winner of the Jimmy Loftin Memorial Scholarship.

There I'll be seeing J.A. Konrath, the Indie superstar, whose blog I had a guest post on several years ago. More on all this when I return!

Oh yeah- check out my guest stint on Sci-Fi Saturday Night, talking about my work.

The New Cinderellas- A Modern Fairy Tale of Writing and Publishing

Let me tell you of a kingdom that possessed many small magical items of bound paper. These items contained stories, and had been produced for hundreds of years, and there were more of them than a person could look over in a lifetime. Some items could be used for knowledge, some for entertainment. Not everyone used the magical items, but those who did and used them wisely enjoyed them and had their lives enriched.

These items were created by men and women who crafted the items and tried to sell them for gold so they could have more time to create even more magical items. And though people could get many of these magical items for free, still they paid for some. 

For many years, the sale of magical items was done mostly to shops throughout the land, and was controlled by the city of Kroywen. The shops would then sell to those who wanted the items. There were many factions in Kroywen directing the lives and careers of those who produced the magical paper items. Many of these controllers cared about well-crafted items and the folk who produced them.

Then came The Time of Consolidation, when factions rose and fell, until there remained only five large factions of controllers. Though most were owned by foreign kingdoms, these factions built ornate palaces in Kroywen, and entertained themselves with rich banquets and lavish lifestyles. They had huge staffs to support the controlling of items. But they began to care more about the gold the items brought in than the items themselves, the ones who made them, or the ones who bought them. They made great sums of gold from tales of sparkly, blood-drinking, romantic, creatures, or tales about creepy, rich, older men tying up and seducing young women, but all the while they insisted that they were the arbiters of taste. They grew haughty and proud, and no longer wished to have those who made the items to approach them directly.

So they determined that item-makers must use Fairy Godmothers, who would screen all magical items, and only send a small portion of those to the palaces for perusal and possible purchase. The Fairy Godmothers would now be the deal-brokers-- and by default, the judges of what would sell. For this, they would take a goodly share of the gold that the items sold for. Some Fairy Godmothers had worked in the palaces and could bargain well in an item sale, and procured a larger share of gold for the item-makers. But anyone could set up as a Fairy Godmother, and some made horrible deals that cost the item-makers much gold, and even careers.

To sell an item, a maker had to send a carefully-written scroll to the Fairy Godmothers, describing the item. Then the maker must wait for long periods of time, in hopes that the Fairy Godmothers might read the scroll and ask to see the item. Those the Fairy Godmothers deemed that had potential to make much gold they passed on to the palaces, and there was rejoicing when items were sold, and all shared in the gold. After another long period of time, the items went to the shops, where the people of the land might come and buy.

The item-makers whose items sold well were elevated as princes and princesses by those who lived in the palaces. The top makers were exalted and showered with honors and riches, and were said to be anointed and above the common folk, true nobles of worth. For their items provided those in the palaces with fine lives.

Many item-makers throughout the kingdom dreamed of making an item of true worth, and being noticed by the palace people, and maybe even becoming a prince or princess. They were Cinderellas, waiting for a Fairy Godmother to come pretty them up and stamp them with approval to prepare them to meet a rich, powerful, noble of the palace who would snatch them from a life of drudgery. So they made items and wrote scroll after scroll to the Fairy Godmothers, who had such a backlog of scrolls to read, they sometimes never responded to many of the petitions. And thousands of fine magic items went unbought by the palaces, and unsold to folk who would delight in them.

For hundreds of years, the magic items were made of paper. But then the koobe was created, and magic paperless items could be sold to everyone, even to those who lived in faraway huts, without access to a shop that sold magic items. It was a thunderous change, and caused a great turmoil in the land. Still, the old ways were best, and continued much as they had. Those who lived in the palaces sneered at the new way, and knew their grip on paper items was eternal. And since the shops that sold magical items refused to sell items not blessed by the palace seals of approval, it seemed true.

But a wizard named Sozeb opened a shop that sold magic items, both of paper and of the new way. He called it Nozama, and would sell any magic item from any maker, to all parts of the kingdom, a shop that was always open to all. He would even have the item delivered: without paper, one could use it instantly, and even the paper items were brought to one's door in mere days. And many of these items sold for far less than palace prices. The folk of the land embraced this new way, and much gold flowed to Nozama, causing the palace folk to wail and gnash their teeth and rant against the wizard Sozeb and his creation. For each piece of gold that went to him for items was one that did not go into the coffers of the palaces. Yet though they cursed him and his shop, the palaces still sent him their items to sell, a curious thing.

With the popularity of Nozama and other shops like it, the item-makers realized they now had a way to sell magic items to people without great expense. They no longer needed the palaces, whose doors were mostly closed to them anyway. Nor did they need the Fairy Godmothers, and the long wait to get one. They took joy in this new way, for Sozeb and his shop paid them more for each item sold than even the palaces did. They did not care to deal with the palace people, many of whom looked down upon item-makers as cattle of the field. The palace people scorned the small amounts of gold earned by independent item-makers, not understanding that to these Cinderellas, some gold was far better than no gold.

Some independent item-makers even grew rich and told many others of the new way. A maker called Htarnok even said that paper items were not as important as the koobe, that his wealth came from Nozama and the new paperless items. He taunted the people of the palaces, who issued many foolish proclamations.

Those who had been treated well by the palace people refused to consider the new ways. They enjoyed being royalty, and saw no reason to change. A famous Prince, Izlacs by name, proclaimed that he was being offered a mountain of gold for ten years of service and thirteen magic items. This was wonderful news for him and for all item-makers, but some said that if Izlacs had left the palaces, he could have made two mountains of gold if he had done as they counseled. They said he should not be happy with a mere mountain of gold. Izlacs, who had won the palace game, laughed all the way to the counting house.

But even some princes and princesses who had lived long in the palaces were troubled. The new palace model was to go big, or go away. There was far less gold being paid for each item, and many makers were banished from the palaces because their items had not earned enough. They craved the boon of staying to rub elbows with the glittering palace nobles, but now they would have to go to the markets and hawk their items, just like the independent makers. Many of the lesser princes and princesses were being offered so little for their items, they found that astonishing numbers of the village makers earned more gold. And they were stunned to find that they themselves might make more gold away from the palaces. This was magic indeed.

In the village marketplace, the item-makers had no servants, just temporary helpers they would hire to assist them in making and selling magic items. Many helped each other, and saw the way of mongering as cooperative, not competitive. They found new ways to sell their wares, and shared this information with other sellers. And some prospered. Most found it worth their while to keep making and selling items, which was better than before, when they could sell nothing.

Some did not do well, of course, with items of poor quality and worse selling techniques, and these were the ones the palaces seized upon as examples and denounced as typical of non-palace goods and sellers. The palaces and their sycophants paid heralds to cry out against the new ways, the independent item-makers, and most of all, the wizard Sozeb and his successful shop. But it was like shouting against the incoming tide. Villagers would pay for good magic items and did not care where the item was made, or which noble of which palace had blessed it with approval. Without a palace to support, the independent makers could sell their items for less than the palaces charged, which meant people could buy more of them. And this made everyone but the palace nobles happy.

Don't you just love a happy ending?

Cool- another guest spot- Susan Kaye Quinn

Can fame and fortune be far behind? :-)
First we guest on the site of Joe Konrath, prominent Indie guru:
http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2014/04/guest-post-by-dale-t-phillips-and-vlad-v.html

Today we're guesting on the great blog of Susan Kaye Quinn-- Innovation: Four Indie Authors, One Small Cooperative:  http://www.susankayequinn.com/2014/06/innovation-four-indie-authors-one-small.html

She's written the Indie Author Survival Guide, listed on my Writer's Bookshelf resource page as a necessary book for writers to absorb.

Tomorrow I'll be selling books at the Town of Fremont, NH 250th celebration.

And a week from Sunday, I'll be at Noir at the Bar in Boston, hobnobbing with cool mystery writers.

Amazon and Hachette- Godzilla vs. Mothra

With so much stupid in the world and on the Internet- even more so lately- it's tough to pick out just one thing to comment on. But here goes.
It's a long one, because The Stupid, like The Force, is strong in this one.

Many folks are up in arms because a Big Publisher (Hachette) is engaged in a business struggle with Amazon. Two multibillion-dollar corporate giants duking it out to see who gets a bigger piece of future pie. So what? You might say.

Well, their struggle is affecting others, most notably the writers who signed contracts with Hachette. These voluntary indentured servants are now screaming that Amazon is evil and mean, and the poor writers won't be able to pay their mortgage anymore, and the world will perish in flames.

Well, maybe not all of that last part. But pretty close to it.

And the media hops on the Amazon-bashing bandwagon, with more stories echoing the lies and distortions. And people who get paid big bucks by the huge publishing conglomerates speak out against Amazon with ever-greater hyperbole and mouth-frothing, which also gets echoed, since the big publishing corporations have big media mouthpieces. They shriek that Amazon is killing literature, culture, and democracy, Jeff Bezos is running the Death Star, and we're all going to die, because Amazon kills books (and possibly writers)!

The stupid... it burns!!!

Not exaggerating much here. Go ahead and Google Amazon- Hachette and start reading. Site links at bottom, just as a starting point, where you can find further links and commentary.
But bring plenty of popcorn, because it's a dumbfight of epic proportions.

Much of this stems from a malady called Amazon Derangement Syndrome (ADS), in which the sufferer feels their livelihood is threatened by a popular e-commerce site open to all. So they go a wee bit crazy denouncing the evil Zon and everything they do (like giving convenience, lower prices and a chance for publication to many).

So let's explore the current situation. Hachette and the other Big Publishers failed in a previous attempt to force Amazon to raise their prices-- the Department of Justice took a dim view of that little failed collaborative coup. Search on DOJ- Agency model.

Hachette is now trying a new tactic, kind of like a 98-pounder trying to out-muscle a Sumo wrestler. We don't know all the details, but Amazon responded by removing the pre-order buttons from some listed Hachette books. And set the online price of some Hachette books to the actual price on that book! Heavens!

Cry Havoc, and let slip the dogs of war...

Some Hachette authors went publicly bananas. Because with the Big Publishing model, an author only has a few weeks to make a splash with a new book. A pre-order (popularized by Amazon, how about that) is thought by some to be an important tool to garner sales velocity for a new release. So they thought their book was impacted. And since the model of Big Publishing is to pay for a book based on sales on the last book by that author, these authors rightly figured they'd get paid less for future work.

Paid less by their publisher, for something that was the publisher's fault... but they're blaming Amazon. Huh?

It gets worse. A couple of them even went so far as to say their living was imperiled, and one implied he wouldn't be able to produce any more books. Sniff...

Yet between two of the most vocal Hachette advocates, they've got over 70 published books.
Over 30 books each, and they won't be able to pay the mortgage? WTF?

Welcome to the world of Big Publishing, who give nothing but peanuts to most of their signed authors. If either of these two authors went Indie and had even half of that published list under their control, they'd be laughing from atop their yacht.

Instead, they would rather work as fearful indentured servants who can be cut loose at any time if their latest book doesn't sell enough, for whatever reasons.
And one missing button can sink their career!

Normally, I'm on the side of authors, but not when they scream and do stupid stuff...

So is Amazon hurting authors? Their response was to make a huge, generous offer. Figure out the author losses, and Amazon would pay half, if Hachette would pony up the other half. Few million bucks worth of goodwill. Since Hachette doesn't really give a crap if their authors make money, they issued a weasel-worded release that pretty much indicated they weren't interested.

Are their authors publicly mad at them for refusing author money?
Nope, somehow Amazon is still the bad guy.

Someone likened this type of behavior to Stockholm Syndrome, where a kidnapped victim overly empathizes with their captors to the point of madness, refusing rescue and saying the captors are in the right.

So a lot of Big Publishing shills and spokespeople have gone public with blood-and-thunder speeches that remind one of Old Testament prophets. Trouble is, they're talking out of their ass. And even when corrected, they ignore the reality and spout their nonsense in the hopes that The People will rise up and fight for Big Publishing profits. The mighty mouth James Patterson, who puts his name on books written by other people, has taken to the pulpit once again to protest for Real Important Literature.

Q: When did ghost-written formula become Real Important Literature?

We get it- if Big Pub puts food on your table (no matter how rich or meager the fare), you hate and fear Amazon, which is the current market reality.

But to the rest of the world, your ranting is silly.
And if you really feel they are truly EVIL, put your money where your big mouth is and pull your damn books from Amazon- you don't have to do business with them, you know.
I don't support companies I feel are evil- why do you? Does sound a bit hypocritical of you...

How can you keep saying that when Amazon sells a book at lower prices, they're evil, but when they raise the price on that book, they're still evil? Seriously?

So-- let's blow up a few of these Big Pub talking points, shall we?

Big Pub dumb point #1- Fight the Amazon monopoly, they say.

In the words of Inigo Montoya, "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."
For the millionth time, dumbasses, Amazon is NOT a monopoly. Look it up, if you have to.
Just stop using that word, and that argument.

Big Pub dumb point #2- Sure, Big Pub abuses the hell out of authors and readers now, but that's okay, and you should instead be afraid that at some point in the future, Amazon may get worse!

Wow- the Stupid meter goes off the scale on this one. Fear what might happen, rather than what IS happening right now...

Say you walk a route to school, but a bully beats you up every day and takes your lunch money.

One day, someone offers you a different route for a small price, and lets you keep enough for lunch, without the beatings.
But the bully insists that you should stick with the beatings route, because you never know what the other guy might do...
And it's not fair if you take the bully's source of income away...

Big Pub dumb point #3- Higher-priced books are better for Big Pub, and therefore the way to go.

Yeah, we all know you charge too much for an ebook file, because you hate the competition for print books. You overcharge libraries especially, and you love your profits.
But we readers like lower prices, and you know who makes that possible?
Yeah, the one you keep calling the bad guy.

Big Pub dumb point #4- Big Pub are the Guardians of Culture and Literature, and only they should be allowed to judge what is worth reading. Because they're all about quality, and anything that doesn't go through them is nothing but swill.

In recent years, we've seen ever-worse examples of embarrassing, popular best-sellers put out by Big Pub that made them a ton of money. The books were horribly-written crap, that could have been made better with even a minimum of editing. Whereas there are countless examples of good books NOT getting published because they weren't thought commercial enough.
With limited exceptions, Big Pub relies on junk formula and imitative knockoffs.
And some self-published and Indie-published work is quite good, despite the snobbish sniffs from the self-appointed tastemakers. Can't find it if you don't look, however.
And there are thousands of books now making decent to great money that were refused publication by the Guardians. So I guess readers want what they want, huh? Go figure...

Big Pub dumb point #5- Amazon is killing bookstores! No it's not.

Bookstores are making a comeback. But back in the 90's Barnes and Noble helped to kill many independent bookstores with megastores and deep-discount pricing. Oh, look, now B&N is the darling of Big Publication! Because when B&N goes under, Big Pub won't be far behind.

And anybody remember when B&N was having their little tiff with Simon and Schuster, hurting author sales, very much like what is happening now with Hachette and Amazon?

So now B&N are the good guys? How very Orwellian...

Big Pub dumb point #6- Amazon just doesn't play fair! And that costs us money!

Your crappy, stupid business practices lose you money. You've had years to adjust, and you've done nothing but react badly and blame others for your lost market share.
Amazon is constantly adapting. They're smarter, more flexible, and treat readers and writers like customers they want to keep. You treat writers like a red-headed stepchild who should be grateful for the whippings you give them, because it shows you care.
And you act like you're entitled to forever massive profits for doing nothing.
You are a failing business model, so stop complaining that business isn't fair.

Darwin and Spencer made it pretty plain. Adapt or die off.

And please, stop whining.

Great sites talking about this- and read the comments!:

http://www.thepassivevoice.com/ (a number of posts on this and related)

http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/

http://davidgaughran.wordpress.com/2014/05/26/amazon-v-hachette-dont-believe-the-spin/

Another Story Sale! Our view confirmed! Big BBC Sci-Fi Show Coming!

Well, I've just sold my story "Dead Man's Hand" to a publication on my third continent! Voluted Tales, out of Australia, joins publications in North America and Europe as places that have accepted my stories. The remaining ones may be tougher to get into...
Should be up within the next month- will send out the link.

In other news, our guest post on Giving Our Way to Success on Joe Konrath's influential publishing blog gets confirmed on another big blog from Joanna Penn today, on Why Indie Authors Need A Team. Absolutely right, and one of the things we were pointing out in our post. Joanna Penn is one of the people we give a shoutout to in the post as one who helps other writers with her information sharing.

And this Saturday, the BBC America channel is showing The real history of science fiction, a 4-part series. I believe it starts at 10. Check it out- looks awesome!

The Big Time

Great news today- I'm featured on the prominent website of Joe Konrath, one of the gurus of self-publishing. I've got a co-written guest post with Vlad V. and we discuss how to give your way to success as an Indie writer. Check it out, and feel free to leave a comment. Oh yeah- there's some special deals for you for checking it out...

This is The Big Time- like getting an at-bat in the Major Leagues. And we knocked it out of the park.

We've got some excellent comments already, and people have found value in our message. The idea of joyous cooperation and collaboration, rather than fearful competition (fostered by Big Traditional Publishing) is resonating with more and more people.

Everybody does better when everybody does better (saying of Jim Hightower)

We've got a lot of people we work with. Folks like Chris Obert of Pear Tree Publishing, who puts together author signings and the New England Author's Expo. The owners of Books and Boos bookstore in CT, where they host author signings and include them at their showcase table at conventions. The New England Horror Writers. The Sisters in Crime. Librarians. Reviewers. Independent bookstore workers.

It's a great New World of Publishing, and savvy writers are working together to make things better for everyone. Viva La Revolution!

Why I Love the Writing Game- Further Adventures

Was having a rotten day yesterday, and was feeling depressed. Re-read the JA Konrath timeline of the work he was doing when he was breaking out as successful. Few have worked that hard to make a success, and yet, as he says, there was a lot of luck.

Then I got home, and my mood got better rather quickly. For awaiting me were two checks for stories I'd sold. Don't think that's ever happened, two checks at once. Also there was the inaugural issue of Trysts of Fate, with my story KillerElla listed on the cover. And a sales report from Audible on my audiobook sales for January.

Wow. When you're feeling low, to have such a shot in the arm is magic. Gives you hope and makes you keep going. Now have to write more stories and send them out. Just to keep the checks coming.
It may not be big bucks, but it was sorely needed.

Did you ever have a time when things were bad, and you got a piece or two of great news?

The Big Publishing Kerfluffle

There is a revolution going on in publishing, where, for the first time in history, writers can choose how to control their career. Some believe there are only two choices- the traditional model of submitting to big New York publishers- that was the only real way until about 4 years ago, or self-publishing. So some folks pick a side and fight, viewing it as an ideological struggle, or even a religious war, Tradpubs vs. Selfpubs. The battles are waged on internet sites and in the media.

Each side claims dominance in the publishing field, saying they are the better path for a writer. Each points to numbers supporting their opinion, and bitterly attacks any who even hint that they might be wrong.

The well-reasoned voices say that there is no war, only personal choice, and that a writer should self-educate. But whatever they say gets twisted and savaged by one side or the other. For the record, I believe in choice, even when the data and real-life experience shows that one path is truly better for a greater number of writers than the other.

Note that outstanding success with any path of writing and publishing is a matter of luck. Hard work and persistence will improve your chances, but there are no guarantees of success. The trouble is, when a person has succeeded in publishing, they want to attribute the success to their choices, hard work, and persistence. So they naturally tell others "do it my way to succeed!" Any success stories from the other perspective are dismissed as "outliers," statistical anomalies that do not correlate to any other person's chances. They are somewhat correct, but it's not a full picture. Good data is required, but sadly lacking.

In recent events of note, important figures in the Tradpub world have gone public with views on this issue, how they are the True Path of Quality and Success. More often than not, they have come across as uninformed, arrogant, one-percenters who view all self-publishers as unwashed masses who produce nothing but Crap that Will Never Sell, hinting that most Selfpubs deserve a miserable fate of failure and justified poverty. It's really laughable, except when they reveal their true face and insult Selfpubs and others- one noted power-agent referred to writers as cattle. Yup, he did, and most in his world seem to share his views. In all their arguments of what is best, the writer and reader are supposed to be at the bottom of the pyramid, with them on top, culling the herd for the prize cattle to make themselves rich.

Ouch. As you can guess, this showing of true beliefs didn't sit well, even with people not in the fight. So the response got pretty heated, as most people don't like being insulted, even (especially) writers.

:-)

This resulted in a series of public takedowns, where the spouters got shredded, sometimes refuted line by line, for their words and views. Their response was mostly shock. For one, they don't seem to understand this whole Internet thingie. And they shook their heads and said how sad it is that the Selfpubs are so angry, when Tradpubs were always so reasonable. Sigh. For the record, writers do not wish to be taken advantage of for someone else's profit, do not wish to be lied to and manipulated, or cheated, or even insulted. A few Tradpub bigwigs shot off a series of steaming piles of pony poop, and got called on it. They weren't happy, and mostly scuttled back to their castles to calm themselves by counting their profits earned from writers. The peasants were revolting! Forgive the snark, but you really have to read for yourself how they responded when their idiotic posts were attacked. They dug themselves in deeper and pulled the dirt in after. It's as if they hate and despise the writers who make them rich. Odd.

So Tradpub got a boost from a "survey" that showed Tradpub writers overall do better financially than Selfpub writers. (See the Digital Book World postings) HAH! Take that, Selfpubs, we win! And the survey creators wanted almost $300 a pop for this golden data. Except that it was another less-than-useless pile of pony poop, comparing apples to office furniture. Their survey apparently included a large amount "data" from people that hadn't even published a book yet! Just focus on that, and you get the picture. Of course they hadn't made money yet! It also compared Tradpub winners to ALL Selfpubs. Dumbest thing ever, but Tradpub apologists used this as evidence to support their views, once again looking really clueless. More snickers and heated response from the other side. Much Sturm und Drang.

The real bombshell hit last week. Hugh Howey, successful author, spent his time, energy, and money to pair with a data-cruncher, and they scraped some Amazon numbers and published them (for free), along with a list of caveats. The numbers indicated that a larger number of self-published works were doing way better than the Traditional Publishing Industry wants to believe, pointing toward the concept that a new writer might be better off Selfpubbing. Hugh was honest and said that these numbers are just a start, pointed toward the raw data, and said to pull it part and discuss.

Well, you can guess what happened. The world had turned upside down, and the pub posting world went completely batshit. Tradpub defenders turned on the Giant Crap Machines and tried to bury the report in another mountain of pony poop, lies, and distortions. But a lot of them don't seem to have read the whole report, or be able to understand simple math, or maybe just don't want to believe it. Understandable, because it shows better numbers than Tradpub has ever produced (why's that?), and only shows a portion of the big picture. But what it does show is that Tradpub is in Very Big Trouble- something a lot of folks have been saying for the last few years. Tradpub wants to protect the vanished world, to do business as they've always done it, and refuses to accept the fact of the Revolution. Their hysteria was evident.

Sadly, even reasoned voices who took their side to crap on the report got severely bloodied. Mike Shatzkin is a Tradpub industry consultant, and he's often got a keen, perceptive view of what's happening. On this issue, he publicly shot himself in the foot, reloaded, shot the other foot, and kept alternating. It wasn't pretty when Joe Konrath blew him out of the water.

And one of my writing heroes, Chuck Wendig, waded into the fray with his Mega Balls of Steel. He does nothing but help other writers, and is a source of wisdom, motivation, and good feelings for writers. Even his rhino-hide got mauled, and he ran from the fight after firing one more cannon blast into the discussion. Hope it's okay to continue to worship your heroes, when they're dead wrong on an issue.

There were Trolls on both sides of the holy war. But we should all get along- we're writers!

Writer Michael Bunker had a post which puts brilliant perspective on what the numbers indicate. Forgive the paraphrasing, but here's a thought experiment, with my additions. These numbers are probably an indication of how things would go, given the last 4 years, except that a huge number of folks on the Tradpub path would abandon it and finally find another path after years of rejection, But we won't count those here.

Take 2000 genre writers with a novel or two done and ready.

1000 begin the the querying process to Tradpub.

1000 begin the self-publishing process.

*Let's assume that Barnes and Noble and Amazon (or someone like them) remain with their current market share and writer-profitability.

One year later- 0% of the Tradpub group has a book published. As a group, a thousand of them have been rejected in toto, some several times. Ah, but think of that golden future!

The self-pub group has a 100% publication rate. Most, if not all, have sold copies. They can all have print versions of their work in hand. Many have published more books already. Of course, this is not "success" by Tradpub standards, because it has earned Tradpub not a penny, and is only further competition for their offerings.

Year 2- for the Tradpub group, outstanding success! 10 people have received acceptance offers (yeah, this is a fantasy). 3 of those actually had the business sense to have their contracts vetted by an outside IP attorney, and realized they'd be better off not signing. For the other 7, the dream is happening- they've been accepted, they're on their way.

Still not a single book of the 1000 writers is up for sale yet, but just you wait!
"Success" rate of 1%, meaning "they were considered for the Golden Fold."

Meanwhile, the Selfpub group has over 3000 books up for sale. 3000 vs zero for the other team. As per the fears of the wannabe gatekeepers, many of these books are crap. Say 90%, following Sturgeon's Law, meaning "only" 300 or so okay ones or better are out. Oddly, though, even some of the crap ones are selling. Most writers have made some profit.

Year 3, Tradpub. Outstanding! 5, count them, 5 writers now have a single book out!

PW, Kirkus reviews for one of them, for another, a nomination for an award! One signed a 3-book deal! (More best-case fantasy) And those still submitting are still smilingly determined to join their golden brothers and sisters in the magical land.
And their advances- $500 for one, $1500 for another, $3000-5000 for two more, and a whopping $10,000 to the lucky 3-book winner! Now that's real money! Even when divided by 3 years, right?

Year 3, Selfpub. Over 5000 books published. 500 writers have made over $1000.

5 have made over $10,000.
Ouch. It just gets worse...

By Year 10, there is one Tradpub author who makes a living writing books. One.

5 others have made 5-figure deals. There have been 100 books published, 20 are ok or better (since Tradpub really knows quality).
900 of those who started are no longer trying to create new stories for publication.
Success rate: Less than 1%.

Year 10, Selfpub. Over 15,000 books published, over 1500 of those are good or better, since so many writers continue to practice their craft and get paid for it.

500 writers still produce stories for publication, and over half of those are making 5 figures or better per year. Because they kept publishing, got better, got their name out year after year, there are that many writers doing well.

Like I said, just a thought experiment. Fiddle the numbers how you wish, but Tradpub is a lottery that may never pay off a penny, let alone a living wage, and the time scale is atrocious. You may never get your book in front of a reader. But you have a 1-in-many-million shot to win an award, and you may get a Pat on the Head from the Anointed Ones.

Selfpub gives you success the day you hold your novel, or the day of your first sale.

If you took any professional care in the content, cover, price, and promotion, you will make some money from it and the others to follow. You have won. You will write more, and one day have a real shot at bigger things, if readers like you.

By all means, investigate for yourself and see what you think. Choose your own path.