Dead Things is out!

Dead Things, my first paid, published poem, is out at Ghostlight: http://stores.lulu.com/glahw

It's a nice thing, because it happened by chance. I was submitting poems that my daughter had written to another magazine, and recalled that I'd written a few poems. This was first, and I sent it out and got a quick acceptance. So I polished up a few more and sent those to different places. Nothing suceeds like success!

Trouble is, they don't give contributor copies, and the magazine costs more than what they paid for the poem. I'm not supposed to lose money getting published!

Dennis Lehane in Chelmsford

Today I went to see Dennis Lehane give a talk here in Chelmsford. He's a witty and fun guy, and had a lot to say on writing.

I love his work, he's the real deal. Loved his crime books; now he's drifting away from that, but he's hit his stride and is very popular. Deservedly so, for he works hard and really captures life in different neighborhoods in Boston (and has no desire to write about other places) .

He loves gangster films-- think I'll send him the link when "Bootleggers" appears- he'd like it.

Pick up his books and give a read. Along with Parker and George V Higgins, he's one of Boston's Best.

First date!

I sent off a query to an agent, and actually got a response!
Not only that, it was back within the week!
Not only that, but she'd like to see 50 pages of my novel and a synopsis!

Woo-hoo! It's like asking out that nice person, and having them accept. It's only a first date, and nothing may come of it, but if I get my first 50 pages in front of a reader who knows mysteries, there's a chance. Heady stuff.

That's one of the cool things about writing, that any email you open can bring exceptionally good news, and change your fortunes for the better in an instant. You've got to be able to handle rollercoaster emotions, and not take rejection personally, but it's also wonderful to imagine that this could be the one.

So keep you fingers crossed, and hope she knows good stuff when she sees it!

Great Article

Great article on the New Myths website- Ten Science Fiction Novels to Give to Your Father-In-Law, by I.E. Lester (bio on the New Myths site).

Just reading the headline popped titles into my brain. The slant was trying to give great science fiction novels to someone who doesn't know the genre, with the idea of giving them such good stuff you make a fan out of them. Going from someone who sniffs at 'Rocket ships and bug-eyed monsters' to fan is quite a leap, but it can be done, and Lester has done it-- by having impeccable taste. I say that because I agree with much of his list-- they were the same titles that came up for me.

You have to know the person and what they will and won't like. You want to ease them into the field, without shocking them or giving them something they won't understand or be interested in. Or something too tough, like Dune.

So you have to choose carefully, and leave out some great books for later in the process. Many people don't know the field, thinking it's all Star Trek or Star Wars. They just don't know the rich heritage of classics that have made new fans over the decades.

Just reading the titles Laster had passed on made me smile with memories. In the pre-Amazon days, when I had no money, I had heard of this great alternate-history book called Bring the Jubilee. Couldn't find a copy anywhere. Finally located it at Shakespeare & Company, the ultra-cool bookstore in Paris, France. It was as good as I'd heard it to be, and stands as one of my favorites. In it, a slight change in timing throws a spin into the Battle of Gettysburg, and changes the course of the Civil War. The South wins the battle, and the war, which came very close to happening in real life. (Being from Maine, I'm a big Joshua Chamberlain fan-- he was the former Bowdoin Rhetorics professor who saved the Union at the Battle of Gettysburg. Jeff Daniels, an actor I don't usuallly care for, portrayed him brilliantly in the movie The Killer Angels.) Years later, Harry Turtledove, the grand master of alternate history, wrote Guns of the South, another take on the South winning.

Another old favorite is Flowers for Algernon, which I mentioned in my New Myths take on writing. And on and on-- but hey, read the whole article. He says it better.

Maybe we should all take on a project like this. Vow to make a convert in the coming year, with a book that'll blow their socks off. You never know when we could get another fan.

Audio at last

After overcoming a technical obstacle, I was finally able to get voice files recorded and exported as MP3 files. So I did a few samples, and the product is nice. As soon as I get some time (hah!), I'll be posting some audio files for your listening pleasure.

Eventually I'd like to record stories, poems, and books for you to download. Not just mine, but the work of other talented writers as well. Maybe some interviews, if folks would like to listen to them. Podcasting is a whole new field, which means wonderful opportunities. I'm certainly not the first to jump on this bandwagon, but hey, I'm a writer first, and there's only so many hours in a day.

If there's anything you'd particularly like to hear, let me know.

Another Dead Market

So I sent a story out to market months ago and hadn't heard back, despite a polite query. Today I found out the market was dead, the website name up for grabs, and my story was left hanging. AAAGGGHHH! Months gone by for nothing!

So I fired up Duotrope and looked for another market. This is a tough one to place, a flash piece (under 1000 words) based on a situation I once heard about. It's a good piece, a mainstream work, not for one of my familiar genre markets. So I'm breaking new ground here, a good thing. And off my little piece went, into the void, hoping to find a home.

It's been a busy month and a busy day. Today also sent out another poem and worked on a new novel, and did research into podcasting and grant writing. That's what I do on a day off! Having two careers is a lot of work.

Persistence is the key in this game. One of my stories went to almost 30 markets before finding the right home, despite many editors saying they loved it and it was well-written. And some have sold on the second attempt. You just never know. But you keep writing them and submitting them, and hope for the best.

I used to keep a morgue of magazines and websites that had turned down a story of mine, that were no longer in business. Grew so big I couldn't keep up. They're gone, I'm still publishing. Perseverance.

Publishing Article

Noted author and raconteur Garrison Keillor has an article out
(http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2010-05-25/news/bs-ed-keillor-writing-20100525_1_mary-pope-osborne-magic-tree-house-books-read/1),
about the publishing biz nowadays. He laments the passing of the old way, the traditional method of publishing.

He is aptly fit to pass sentence, having been an outstanding performer in different media, and has promoted and supported good books and good writers. He's also right, and it is a sad thing. Sadder yet is how the publishing industry is pulling on the lid of their own coffin, and sealing it from the inside.

Awhile back, publishing companies loved books and put them out because they mattered, and sometimes they made money doing it. That model gave way to greed and stupidity, where companies went into publishing solely to make money, as if books were any other commoditized product, like oven mitts or widgets. They consolidated from many companies into the handful that now represent the majority of published books in the country.

What's been the result? Walk into a bookstore and look at the shelves full of crap that get published nowadays. I was in one last night, and felt disgust and despair. Any idiot celebrity gets a six-figure book deal to get their kisser on dozens of books, most of which are badly written by ghostwriters. About half the fiction I pick up these days is downright bad or boring, and I wind up tossing the book without finishing (years ago, I never used to do that, because there might be something of value).

There used to be editors, who worked on books so they wouldn't look bad when they went out. They've been replaced by marketing “experts,” who care nothing about quality, only sales. Few publishers accept manuscripts now, preferring to let agents screen for them. They claim it's not cost-effective to look through “over-the-transom” manuscripts. Horse poop. There are many readers in this country who would be willing to offer a thumbs up-or-down on a manuscript, if asked. A company could send an electronic version out to say, ten people, and if enough said yes, it would go up to the next level. And the company would soon figure out who were the good screeners, and reward them.

But agents work on commission, and many are reluctant to accept new unproven writers, knowing they'd get less than $500 on average for developing a first book from a new writer. They're chasing the big fish, just like the publishers. But you have to go through them now for everything first.

Garrison, in the article, talks about mailing off a manuscript to a publisher and getting it read and accepted. That seldom happens that way anymore, your chances are better of winning the lottery. Most writers of the past couldn't get read or published today, because the authors weren't famous enough or have an opening “hook.” But if they did, they'd still get read, because there is still a market for good fiction.

For years, the publishers took advantage of writers, screwing them out of money through creative, sometimes illegal, accounting practices. Nowadays, it's mostly up to the writer to do their own marketing and selling anyway.

So why shouldn't writers go with the new model? Publishers claim that their business is expensive, but Print On Demand has made it less so, and someone won't have to wait years for their accepted book to see the light of day. Here's my own example: with three good novels written (and the one I'm sending around was deemed good and salable by industry pros), it'll still take about three years for the book to hit the shelves, even if it's picked up right away. Their lag time is ridiculous. And it would take a couple of years for the next one to come out, because they'd be waiting to see how the first sold. So in the next five years, I could have one book out. But with Print On Demand, I could have about 6 out in the same time. Hmmm.

Now publishers will whine about ebooks, fewer readers, and many other things to explain why they're in trouble. But few will admit that it's partly their fault, that for years they kept strangling the geese that laid golden eggs. Now they're standing around in dead birds, looking for someone to blame.

Many publishers wouldn't know a good book if it bit them. They want blockbusters, not quality. There are countless tales of rejected books finally getting out to a hungry public and selling millions, and/or winning prestigious literary awards. One such author won a major award for a book, and resubmitted it under another name. It was rejected- by the same place that had published it!

Let's put out the same challenge to Mr. Keillor-- take out anything that would identify you or the work, and submit your next book to publishers under a pen name, and say you're a new writer. Let's see how long it takes to get published.

There are plenty of good works waiting to be published. But too often the big guys won't seek them out. And yes, there are fewer readers, and more competition for eyeballs. So you'd think they'd change, but they keep their outdated model, and ignore good writers in favor of blockbusters. Thus pass the dinosaurs.