I have Osiren’s Tears, and Prophecy by Barlight up on Kobo now. Give me time and I’ll have everything available there.
A prophecy taunts the proprietor of a little bar, until he can’t take it anymore. Mayhem ensues.
Prince Ashini must choose between the love of the beautiful goddess, Sekra, and duty to his own people.
It’s been a while since I did an “Around the Web” post, so I thought I should catch up.
In the news this week, the biggest thing is the protests in Turkey. Huge protests, with thousands of people marching against the police. There are amazing pictures coming out of Turkey, and a lot of chatter on Reddit from people who are actually there, and what is going on.
I hope they make some headway…
Now, for the rest of the news.
Hugh Howie talks about indie authors who make a living writing.
Hugh Howie also plugged an Anne Rice video on “how to be a writer.” Hint: Go WRITE!
Neil Gaiman talks about the book that made him.
Neil Gaiman’s speach, “Make Good Art”, is now in a book form.
George R.R. Martin wrote 250k words for The World of Ice and Fire.
An Anne McCaffery tribute book will be out soon.
John Green claims Penguin to be the most effective publishing house for YA.
And non writing related…
An old video of a 7-11 at 2am from back in the 80’s. I forgot people use to smoke inside stores.
For a moment of levity, Tim Burton inspired Pokemon.
Someone did a minecraft world simulation, 1:1500 scale.
When I first started publishing I was a little worried. Worried no one would like it, worried I would make a bad name for myself, worried I’d never sale one… etc. etc.
But it’s actually going better then I thought it would. Sure, I’ve only had 22 sales, and 48 freebies… but that’s 60+ people that read my book.
What’s even better, I have only 4 and 5 star reviews. That makes me think I’m on the right track, even if it is a slow track.
On that note… I’ll be putting out Small Bites 2 next week. Now that I have some momentum I want to keep that going. I am working on several projects at once so that I will (hopefully) be able to publish something new every Friday for a while.
Books will come out as 99 cents for the first weekend, and then go up, except the Small Bites series. They will stay 99 cents as they are really short.
Then, once all the Small Bites are out, I will stick them up as one set for 2.99 (which gets you one book for free). And I will also be working to put out a big book of all my short stories eventually. No idea what I will price it at yet.
But for right now… Small Bites 2, and we’ll worry about everything else later.
A friend called me up the other day and told me about this amazing sale. A book warehouse was selling everything, just $10 for one bag of books. And you brought the bag, any size.
Well, I had a rolling cart. I could fit a lot of books in that thing. Maybe even a couple hundred. Didn’t matter, she said. Ten bucks.
The warehouse was actually three buildings FILLED with shelves of books. The shelves were pretty close together, too.
Enough that I sometimes had to squeeze through to fit.
Books upon books, stretching out as far as you could see. All of them mixed together in no logical order.
We were hunting for hours to find any that we might like.
Many of them were romances. A lot of mystery. It took me hours to find some sci-fi and fantasy, or paranormal. But I eventually came away with a nice stack of books. I grabbed some Nora Roberts, who seemed to be one of the most prolific authors there, and a few Dean Koontz, and then a bunch of random books with interesting covers.
And you know what I discovered while crawling through those three buildings with thousands and thousands of books laid out before me? Mind you, I could throw as many as I wanted in my cart, and price wasn’t really an option….
Book covers are boring.
Nora Roberts, Dean Koontz, John Grisham, and more… all of them.. boring covers.
You have the authors name in HUGE letters, a boring picture, and not much else. Most of them just labeled them as “fiction” so I couldn’t even get a read on what kind of fiction it was. It was frustrating… three warehouses worth of books and not much time to pic out a book, and this is what I had to choose from.
I did manage to find a lot of books with good covers… but it was hard to find them. And a lot of them were meant for younger children.
I notice that Sci-fi and Fantasy are more likely to have expressive covers. Romance is likely to have two people kissing, or something like that. Paranormal will often have an expressive cover.
This is why I work so hard on my own covers. I want someone to be able to look at a glance, and get an idea of what’s inside the book. So far I think I’ve done alright… You be the judge.
I’m going to be moving some of my books to Kobo, and possibly other platforms. That will make them available in a wider area, and give people more options.
It’s going to take a little while to get everything up and running, but hopefully I will have “Prophecy by Barlight” and “Small Bites 2” out by then.
“Twilight Tales” will be free until the 27th. Because I put it though KDP select that means I won’t be able to put it up on any other platform for a while. But… that’s okay. Eventually I may make it permanently free just to give people a taste of my writing. But that won’t be for at least three months.
BUT, that gives me time to work on some other projects.
I really like how “Footprints” is going. It is a first person story in which a man goes to his family’s cabin to deal with the death of his father. And while there something strange happens.
“Small Bites 2” should also be out soon. It has three more flash-fic stories. Each dealing with curiosity, and what happens when it bites back. “Scarecrow“, which is available in Twilight Tales, “Carmine” which is about a telepath and a vampire, and “Price of a Book” about a woman who finally fights back.
Look for each of these toward the end of the month.
The big news right now, or course, is the bombing in Boston. But I can’t add to the conversation on that except to say that I am glad the news is acknowledging that this is not just about us here in the states. It was an international marathon, one of several in the world. And while it was a sad tragedy, I hope that it is used to bring us closer together, not push us farther apart.
Now… some things from the writing side of life.
Amazon and Publishing Royalties (I love that Amazon is listening tot heir writers! Let’s hope they keep listening.)
27 Wacky Ways to Cure Writers Block (some interesting, and unusual ideas I’ve never come across before.)
Writers Club ultimate resource list…. Just.. ya, go look.
Interview with R.A. Salvatore at Comic Con
Perspectives…. Author vs Director
This is a really common question of new writers. They want feedback from other writers, but they are afraid some other writer will steal their idea.
The truth is there is a chance someone can take your idea, or use that name for their book, or have a similar protagonist. All of these can happen.
But it isn’t as important as some seem to think.
The truth is:
1. Someone already did it.
Think about the plot pieces that make up your story. Lost soul? Broken heart? Artifact? Magic stone?
Now think of all the movies, TV shows, music pieces, paintings, games, books, comics, and other media out there with the same theme, plot, story, or character type in it. A lot of them, right?
Very little comes out that is completely new and original. Many of the best movies are re-imaginings of past ideas, or franchises. Even “Avatar”, a block buster, was criticized for being a rip off of “Dances with Wolves”. “Titanic” drew from the sinking of a real ship, and the old “boy meets girl of a different class, can’t have girl cause someone else is in the way” story line. They just tweaked the stories, gave them beautiful backdrops, and let them go.
2. Writers already have their own ideas.
I have 7 novels, and 12 short stories planned for this year. That doesn’t include the others that are waiting for next year. I don’t need yet another idea to stack on top of all the others. And I bet most, if not all authors that bother with publishing, have a drawer full of ideas just like me. Why, then, do they need your idea?
3. Your stuff isn’t worth stealing… yet.
Okay, there is a chance that your prose are amazing, awesome, inspiring, and will bring readers to tears, encouraging them to shoot you to the top of the charts. But more then likely you need to hone your craft. Find all the glitches. Clean up the prose, spelling and grammar. And then, MAYBE, after all of that is done, then you might be ready for the big time.
If you are one of those rare people who have uber-amazing stories that are worth stealing, then why aren’t you publishing right now?
Lets be honest. It takes time to learn to write well, and not only technically speaking, but also to write stories worth reading. Worth stealing? That is a whole new level of greatness.
4. Art is Stealing
Romeo and Juliet has been remade, rewritten, and re-conceptualized, so many hundreds of times that each of us knows the story without ever actually reading the original work. Most of the adaptations don’t even bother to say “this is a rip off of Romeo and Juliet” anymore. We just know.
Why is this a good thing? Because it means you can do the same thing. Remake red riding hood, or some Greek myths. Re-imagine Aesop’s fables, or a 100 year old opera. Go to museums and make up stories to go with pictures you see. Write to music, art, etc. Etc.
For more on this go read Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative
5. Ideas are a dime a dozen.
Here, have some:
Seven ideas. All of which have been featured in several movies/books/poems/songs/etc.
Ideas are a dime a dozen, and you can’t copyright ideas. In fact you can go watch a movie, write down the key points, and create your own story out of it.
Basic story: Guy finds out he’s actually meant to save the world. Doesn’t believe it, but when he finally does amazing/horrible things start happening. This is the plot to “The Matrix”, “LOTR”, and “WoT” books, as well as several other franchises.
Now redefine a few things. Who is “the guy”? How will he save, or destroy the world? Why doesn’t he believe? What makes him believe? What can he do once he believes? Now you have a story all your own.
What does this all mean?
Stop worrying about your stuff getting stolen and go on with your life. Get on with making art.
Here is a real world example. Fashion designers can not copyright their designs because clothing is a utilitarian item. Here is a great article on how lack of copyright has actually made fashion design better.
And here is EA… SimCity, a great game. Suffering under 2800 one star reviews because they are so paranoid about copyright that they are killing their own game.
Here is what matters:
Make good art.
Make a lot of it.
Make it available.
Give it a fair priced.
Engage your readers.
If they like you, and your writing, then they will want to give you money so that you will keep making more stuff.
If you are so afraid someone will steal your stuff, then you’re not going to meet the fans who will love your work, either.
A lot has been happening this month. Penguin is pushing Authors Solution. Amazon is discouraging free book sites. And interviews all over the place! Here is a look at what’s been going on around the web.
Amazon HEAVILY discouraging websites that focus on free books. (The guys over at SPP are probably going to be talking about this on the next episode, so keep an eye out for that.
Tips on recovering from Writers Burnout
Penguins Solution for Writers: One Racket to Rule Them All (I liked that title too much to paraphrase.)
60 Years of interviews with authors from The Paris Review
We had the review scam a few weeks ago, now authors are paying for their spot on the best seller list.
Breaking Dawn, Part 2 wins 7 Razzie Awards
Barns and Noble may cut back on Nooks and some more about that from NY Times.
The internet is kickstarting a teen poetry revolution.
Shut the *** up and Create, an article by one of my favorite new authors. (Language)
I don’t mean literally, of course. But have you sent them a note? A tweet? A virtual high five?
One of the best things about this day and age is how easy it is to contact people and let them know how amazing you think their work is.
When I was little I read “Dragon on a Pedestal” by Piers Anthony. I absolutely fell in love with Xanth, the magic, the creatures and the puns. But when I got to the end of the book and found the authors note where he acknowledged his fans, their contributed puns, and said he answered every single fan letter that he could… As a little girl I couldn’t write to him. I didn’t have access to stamps and delivery boxes, and I had no idea where to send it.
Last year I finally wrote to him. It was an email, and I had a reply in less then a week. Something that could never be done when I was a little girl.
I follow a lot of my favorite authors on Twitter, Tumbler, blogs and goodreads. I’ve sent them quick tweets, gotten replies, and sometimes conversations. I feel like I know many of them as individuals. And it just makes me want to read their books even more.
The best way to give your favorite author an internet hug is to give them a nice review on their book so others can find them as you did.
And if you are a writer, artist, photographer, filmographer, etc. Show your fans some love, too. It can only help your career.
A lot of things going on since the last time I posted one of these. A few articles, and several videos.
Jessica Blair, Author of 22 romance novels, is actually 89 year old war vet, Bill (Proof that pen names to hide your sex works both ways.)
Why the US internet is so slow and expensive (Vimeo) (YouTube) This is important to anyone in the US. For writers and creative types who do a great volume of work online, it matters.
6 Publishing trends that will benefit readers and writers.
148 audio podcasts from Joanna Penn
4 ways to amplify your creativity.
Making your fantasy world more relate-able.
Google+ communities for writers (Youtube) from Books and Beer
Ira Glass on Storytelling (Vimeo) (YouTube) (I might have posted this before, but I love it.)
Author Crissy Moss 