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Articles about craft.

read this b4 u publish :-)

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This article, by Max Leone, originally appeared on the Publisher’s Weekly site on 11/10/08.

A 13-year-old boy tells the industry what teens want.

I am of that population segment that is constantly derided as “not reading anymore,” and is therefore treated by publishing companies as a vast, mysterious demographic that’s seemingly impossible to please. Kind of like the way teenage boys think of girls.

The reason we read so little in our free time is partially because of the literary choices available to teenagers these days. The selection of teen literature is even more barren now that the two great dynasties, Harry Potter and Artemis Fowl, have released their final installments. Those two massive successes blended great characters, humor and action in a way that few other books manage. When they went for laughs, they were genuinely funny, and their dramatic scenes were still heart-poundingly tense, even after I’d read them dozens of times. 

And so, after weeks of brainstorming and careful consideration (three months of procrastinating and two hours of furious typing), I will now attempt to end this dark age of adolescent prose. I will start by stating the main problem with books aimed at teenage boys. Then I will give some examples of what teenage boys actually want to read.

The first problem with many books for teens is archaic language. Seriously. It is the kiss of death for teenage boy literature. Any book infested by it is destined to become an eternal object of derision around the cafeteria lunch table. It is a problem that applies not only to the “classics” (yes, I will use quotations whenever I use that word. Live with it.), but also modern teenage literature. “Methinks”? “Doth”? Really? So we are constantly ridiculed for “lol,” while these offenses go unnoticed? To all writers of books aimed at teenage boys, I beg you: please use only modern language, no matter what time period or universe your book takes place in.

Another giant, oily blemish on the face of teenage literature (that was entirely intentional) is whatever urge compels writers to clumsily smash morals about fairness or honor or other cornball crap onto otherwise fine stories. Do you not think we get enough of that in our parents’ and teachers’ constant attempts to shove the importance of justice and integrity down our throats? We get it. I assure you, it makes no difference in our behavior at all. And we will not become ax murderers because volume 120 of Otherworld: The Generica Chronicles didn’t smother us in morals that would make a Care Bear cringe.

And then there are the vampires and other supernatural creature that appear in many contemporary teen novels. Vampires, simply put, are awesome. However, today’s vampire stories are 100 pages of florid descriptions of romance and 100 pages of various people being emo. However much I mock the literature of yesteryear, it definitely had it right when it came to vampires. The vampire was always depicted as a menacing badass. That is the kind of book teenage boys want to read. Also good: books with videogame-style plots involving zombie attacks, alien attacks, robot attacks or any excuse to shoot something.

Finally, here is what I consider the cardinal rule of writing for young adults: Do Not Underestimate Your Audience. They actually know a lot about what’s going on in politics. They will get most of the jokes you expect them not to. They have a much higher tolerance for horror and action than most adults. Most of the books I read actually don’t fall under the “young adult” category. I can understand the humor in Jon Stewart’s or Stephen Colbert’s books as well as any adult.

Publishers can stop panicking and worrying that the teenage boy market is impossible to crack, that teenagers hardly ever read anymore, and that they have only a few years before books become obsolete and are replaced by holograms or information beamed straight into people’s minds. Okay, they probably do have to worry about that last one. But if they follow the simple rules I outlined above, they’ll be able to cash in on the four or five minutes each day that teenagers aren’t already spending on school, homework, videogames, eating, band practice and sports.

P.S. I have very good lawyers, so don’t bother trying to sue me if none of these suggestions work and your company goes out of business.

Author Information: Max Leone attends eighth grade in New Jersey.

The Future of Publishing, As Seen From The Future of Publishing

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This piece originally appeared on The Bookish Dilettante on 2/23/09.

Today – the Bookish Dilettante happily yields the floor to a new voice – Mr. Aaron Hierholzer. Aaron, a young gun in the publishing world, attended this year’s TOC conference, and has graciously offered up his observations. With no futher ado, Mr. Aaron Hierholzer…

Last November, former Collins publisher Steve Ross said, “It’d be absolutely terrifying to be starting out now, to be young and to not have the benefit of years, if not decades, of perspective . . . I would have seriously considered leaving book publishing." Days later, literary agent Esther Newburg said, “I would hate to be starting out in the [book] business.”

What’s a person with a passion for bringing books to readers to do when the old guard implies that running for the hills might be best? What’s one to do when you find out that neither MGMT, Diplo, nor a good chunk of your acquaintances even read books? What’s one to do when one could compile a lengthy volume of humorless “end of publishing” articles from the past four months, alone?

Attending "O’Reilly’s Tools of Change" conference isn’t a bad place to start. I got to go earlier this month, and the enthusiasm for the future of books both p- and e- was truly infectious, and helped dispel some of the gloominess I was feeling about Bookland.

Overall, TOC’s gloom-dispelling ability was directly proportional to its specificity: anyone who’s been paying attention knows that reading is increasingly a social act, that one can instantly access almost any fact on a mobile phone, and that Gutenberg invented the printing press in the 15th century. These harped-upon broad strokes grew tiresome, and when news that HarperCollins terminated its Collins division spread through the conference on Tuesday, it seemed there were more pressing questions to address. Questions like, "where’s the money going to come from when most of the knowledge of mankind can be found for free via Google?" Questions like, "should I run for the hills after all?"

Thankfully, many presenters did get to the nitty-gritty and the applicable, talking about things like how we’re going to get readers to value (and therefore be willing to pay for) digital content. I wish the “Success Stories and Failures in Digital Publishing” panel could have lasted all day—the skipped slides by rushed presenters were heartbreaking. Hachette’s Stephanie van Duin, Macmillan’s Sara Lloyd, and Lexcycle’s Neelan Choksi all talked knowledgably about the pricing and profitability of digital content, and about the fearlessness it will take to find a workable solution.

In nerve-wracking times such as these, staying focused on why we publish books in the first place is a good alternative to worrying about the end times of reading. And the point that kept striking me over and over was simple: readers come first. Publishers have got to treat the reader, the end user, with utmost respect. That can take any number of forms—not publishing absolute dreck; not treating the purchaser like a potential thief by imposing draconian DRM; not making digital offerings confusing, and frustrating, and messy, and overly expensive.

Read the rest of the article on The Bookish Dilettante.

Understanding Writer's Block

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This article, by Christopher Edwards, originally appeared on the Stillpoint Coaching website.  It’s primarily aimed at people who write scientific and academic pieces for journal publication, but the ideas presented here about the roots of writer’s block are equally applicable to any author.

You’re stuck, damn it. You can’t even imagine starting to write your grant or article without a twinge of terror or resentment. Even if you can manage to drag yourself to the computer, the words just don’t flow. At one time or another, most everyone who needs to write suffers from writer’s block. It’s a devastatingly painful experience, and it can kill a career.

I have known research professors who left academia for industry to avoid writing, professors denied tenure because they could not publish, and Ph.D. candidates who bailed out of graduate school because they could not write their dissertations.

However, both the scholarly literature and my own client work convince me that most scientists with basic language competence can overcome writer’s block. This article will identify some major sources of writer’s block, particularly the most harmful attitudes toward writing, and will suggest a few solutions. In a follow-up article, I will describe some detailed strategies one can apply to break or avoid writer’s block. I will also suggest instances in which writing coaches or even psychotherapists can be helpful.

Anxiety and boredom are two major emotional sources of writer’s block. As with other productivity problems, overcoming writer’s block requires that scientists work within the zone of emotional arousal where they are neither bored nor overly anxious, setting realistic goals they can accomplish with concentrated effort. Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, a productivity specialist at the University of Chicago, defines this zone as the dimension where people experience pleasure, productivity, and flow in their work.  As with laboratory work, success with writing depends upon having enough challenge to stretch one’s abilities, but not so much that one lives in fear of failing.

If you struggle with the task of writing, take a close look at unrealistic, crippling attitudes you may hold. Psychologist A.C. Jones concludes that writer’s block occurs when grandiose but fluctuating expectations of success combine with a vaguely planned project. Perfectionism may be the greatest of all attitudinal blocks. I have seen scientists labor over every single word of the first draft, crawling toward the end of each paragraph by constantly switching between writing and correcting.

If you lower your expectations about earlier drafts and stop editing while you write, you can raise your productivity. Outline the main ideas and use the first draft to test what you will include in the submitted work. A writer invites paralysis by expecting anything close to a finished product in early drafts. With scientific writing, as with other writing, there is never a perfect text. To paraphrase poet Paul Valery, an article is never finished, only abandoned.

Writer’s block can be a reaction to boredom as much as perfectionistic fear. Boredom can occur when scientists view writing as merely a mechanical transmission of their truly creative work. If one feels this way, the challenge is to create enough novelty and interest to finish the writing task. As writer Dorothy Parker quipped: The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity. 

Writing up research can be an interesting way of refining as well as communicating one’s science; if you can treat it as a challenge, it can sharpen your thinking. For example, I have watched scientists develop a better sense of the larger significance of their work through their writing, since composing and editing force one to confront what may be important for others, not simply oneself.

Task inflation can be another source of writer’s block. It occurs when one makes a project seem more daunting than it really is. Two types of task inflation can plague scientists when they write: overvaluing the importance of getting a current article published, and overestimating the role of one’s prose in the work’s acceptance for publication. No matter how important an article may be, it is only a limited communication of a portion of one’s lifetime scientific achievement.

Many excellent papers are published in Nature, Science, and Cell, only to be added to the list of hundreds of good scientific papers published each year. When one does publish in top journals, the writing is far less important than the science about which one writes. In reality, good journals accept even very poorly written scientific papers, if the science is novel and significant. One can conquer task inflation by learning to focus on the work one is reporting, instead of on imagined reactions to the paper.

When the above-mentioned attitudinal problems are combined with major misleading myths about writing, writing becomes a painful, frustrating bore of a chore. Three of the most debilitating myths, well described by Jerrold Mundis, are: writing should be fun and easy; one can only write when one is inspired or otherwise feeling enthusiastic about a manuscript, and writing requires some type of special genius. 

Scientists who write as a part of their jobs can learn something about the fun and easy myth from full-time writers. Many of the best professional writers dread writing. It is never easy. For many, the real pleasure of writing only comes with submission of the text – there is a sigh, a moment of relief from the tension of composing and revising that has been mounting for weeks, months, or years. Writing is lonely, hard work with few intermediate rewards. It can become more enjoyable over time, but only if one is willing to sit in front of the blank screen and plug away at a draft in the midst of fear or boredom.

Interestingly, the act of writing is rarely, on its own, the source of agony. Avoidance of the task, along with the cycles of fear and guilt that follow, is often the greatest cause of frustration.

Read the rest of the article at Stillpoint Coaching.

www.sustainyourspirit.com

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I am Jabez L. Van Cleef, a poet and human rights advocate in Madison, New Jersey.  All of my work can be accessed at: 

www.SustainYourSpirit.com

This site gathers foundational spiritual texts from all over the world and interprets them in the common language of poetry. We currently offer 37 titles and have several more in process.  The purpose of this site is to provide you with the spiritual resources that you will need to cope with a distorted, depleted and alienated world. We have brought together texts in six categories, as listed below. All titles are available in the following formats: 1)FREE spoken word podcast on Gcast, Garageband, or iTunes; 2) E-Book (Kindle book); 3) CD; and 4) publish on demand  book. The podcasts are free. The books can be purchased from Createspace (an Amazon subsidiary linked to our site), or from amazon.com. We hope you will take time to listen and immerse yourself in the spiritual power of the human voice. And, we would like to hear from you, so send us an email:

mailto:  jabez.vancleef@verizon.net

31 Ways To Find Inspiration For Your Writing

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This article, by Leo Babauta, originally appeared on Write To Done on 3/3/08.

“You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.” – Jack London

No matter how much you love writing, there will always be days when you need inspiration from one muse or another.

In fact, I would argue that inspiration is not just a desirable thing, it’s an integral part of the writing process.

Every writer needs inspiration to produce inspired writing. And sometimes, it can come from the unlikeliest sources.

I’ve compiled a list of some of my favorite ways of finding inspiration — some of them obvious, some of them less so. But it’s always good to have reminders, and if you haven’t used a few of these sources of inspiration in awhile (or ever), give them a go.

1. Blogs. This is one of my favorites, of course. Aside from this blog, there are dozens of great blogs on writing and every topic under the sun. I like to read about what works for others — it inspires me to action!

2. Books. Maybe my favorite overall. I read writers I love (read about my current loves) and then I steal from them, analyze their writing, get inspired by their greatness. Fiction is my favorite, but I’ll devour anything. If you normally read just a couple of your favorite authors, try branching out into something different. You just might find new inspiration.

3. Overheard dialog. If I’m anywhere public, whether it be at a park or a mall or my workplace, sometimes I’ll eavesdrop on people. Not in a gross way or anything, but I’ll just keep quiet, and listen. I love hearing other people have conversations. Sometimes it doesn’t happen on purpose — you can’t help but overhear people sometimes. If you happen to overhear a snippet of interesting dialog, jot it down in your writing journal as soon as possible. It can serve as a model or inspiration for later writing.

4. Magazines. Good magazines aren’t always filled with great writing, but you can usually find one good piece of either fiction or non-fiction. Good for its writing style, its voice, its rhythm and ability to pull you along to the end. These pieces inspire me. And bad magazines, while perhaps not the best models for writing, can still be inspirations for ideas for good blog posts. These magazines, as they don’t draw readers with great writing, find interesting story angles to attract an audience.

5. Movies. Sometimes, while watching a movie, a character will say something so interesting that I’ll say, “That would make a great blog post!” or “I have to write that in my writing journal!” Sometimes screenwriters can write beautiful dialog. Other times I get inspired by the incredible camera work, the way that a face is framed by the camera, the beauty of the landscape captured on film.

6. Forums. When people write on forums, they rarely do so for style or beauty (there are exceptions, of course, but they’re rare). Forumers are writing to convey information and ideas. Still, those ideas can be beautiful and inspiring in and of themselves. They can inspire more ideas in you. I’m not saying you have to read a wide array of forums every day, but if you’re looking for information, trawling some good forums isn’t a bad idea.

7. Art. For the writer aspiring to greater heights, there is no better inspiration that great art, in my experience. While it doesn’t compare to the experience of seeing the art in person, I like to find inspiring works of art and put it on my computer desktop for contemplation (Michelangelo’s Pieta is there right now). It doesn’t have to be classical works, though — I’ve found inspiration in Japanese anime, in stuff I’ve found on deviantart.com, in local artists in my area.

8. Music. Along the same lines, it can be inspiring to download and play great music, from Mozart to Beethoven to the Beatles to Radiohead. Play it in the background as you write, and allow it to lift you up and move you.

9. Friends. Conversations with my friends, in real life, on the phone or via IM, have inspired some of my best posts. They stir up my ideas, contribute ideas of their own, and they fuse into something even more brilliant than either of us could have created.

10. Writing groups. Whether online or in your community, writing groups are great ways to get energy and motivation for your writing. My best short stories were done in a writing group in my local college (a great place to look for such groups, btw), as we read out our work to the group, critiqued them and made suggestions. The work of the other writers inspired me to do better.

11. The Pocket Muse. A book full of writing inspirations. Can’t beat that!

12. Quotes. I don’t know why it’s so, but great quotes help inspire me. I like to go to various quote sites to find ideas to spark my writing, turns of phrase that show what can be done with the language, motivation for self-improvement. Try these for a start: Writing Quotes and Quotes for Writers.

13. Nature. Stuck for ideas? Go for a walk or a jog. Get away from sidewalks and into grass and trees and fields and hills. Appreciate the beauty around you, and let the inspiration flow through you. Sunsets and sunrises, of course, are two of my favorite uplifting scenes of nature, and anything involving water is also awesome (oceans, rivers, lakes, rain, rivulets, even puddles).

14. History. It can be unexpected, but great people in history can inspire you to greatness. My favorites include Benjamin Franklin, Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln, Helen Keller, Leonardo da Vinci, and other greats.

15. Travel. Whether it be halfway around the world, or a day trip to the next town or national park, getting out of your usual area and discovering new places and people and customs can be one of the best inspirations for writing. Use these new places to open up new ways of seeing.

Read the rest of the article at Write To Done for 16 more terrific ideas, and feel free to share your own via the comment form below..

Putting The Fun Back Into Writing

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This piece, by Jesse Hines, originally appeared on his Robust Writing blog on 1/29/09.

Be honest: do you still have fun when you write?

It wouldn’t surprise me if many of you don’t derive much pure, raw enjoyment from writing anymore, given so much of the writing advice we constantly read in the blogosphere.

You know: post after post on how to improve your writing skills, how to write in a way that attracts more blog subscribers, how to write such that you provoke powerful calls to action, how to write to increase your sales, how to write posts on Twitter to gain more followers, how to write with flawless grammar and punctuation so that people respect you, how to write for the way people actually read on the Web, etc.

I’ve done a few posts like that myself…

But it’s all so much work, isn’t it? We know that all work and no play makes us dull bloggers.

Absolutely, there are plenty of reasons to learn how to write “better”; who wants to read bad, stale writing? And if you’re making money (or trying to) from your writing, it’s wise to improve your writing skills whenever possible.

I’m Bringin’ Fun Back

I majored in English, and I got to read fascinating stories by fascinating authors. Chaucer. Milton. Shakespeare. William Carlos Williams. Flaubert. Dostoevsky. To name but a few. That was fun. And writing papers analyzing those authors and their stories was also fun.

The power, creativity, and enjoyment of story-telling came barreling back to me this past weekend as I watched the new (and superb) film, The Wrestler. I’m not a wrestling fan, but the movie’s themes of haunting loneliness and fleeting redemption powerfully affected me. It was sad but inspirational, evoking real emotion. And Marisa Tomei…what can I say?

The Wrestler is a powerful story that displays the consequences of a life lived in almost exclusionary devotion to one’s passion, while neglecting the important people in one’s life. Sometimes, it really is too late to change–both who we are and the results we’ve brought on ourselves. That’s real life, and a good story conveys that.

My point is, writing, for any true writer, at its core, is fun, and an opportunity to be creatively unique, expressing happy or sad or humorous or grandiose ideas. As I alluded to earlier, writing effective sales copy (or learning how to) is important if you’re trying to sale something. But, sometimes, writers just want to have fun–it’s why we started writing in the first place, right?

Try this Fun and Creative Writing Exercise. Hemingway Did

In that spirit, I’ll be introducing you to some cool writing exercises over the next few posts–fun and creative ways to both express yourself and improve your ability to write concisely and effectively. It’s about putting the fun and creativity back into writing.

Read the rest of this article, which includes Jesse’s first suggested exercise, Six Word Stories, on his Robust Writing blog.  And check back in over there from time to time for more exercises to put the fun back in your writing.

A Self-Publishing Diary

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This diary, by The Lulu Book Review founder Shannon Yarbrough, traces Shannon’s process and experiences in self-publishing his book, Stealing Wishes, from manucript formatting through publishing with Lulu, making the book available for the Kindle, and beyond, including a look back at his expenditures and net profit in the first year. The diary is from The Lulu Book Review.

From May to August of 2007, I wrote a novel and edited it twice then had no idea what to do with it because I was already thinking of a new project to write next. It was part romance, part comedy, and I didn’t know which market to shop it to. So, I let it sit.

In October, Amazon.com announced its ABNA contest to find the next breakthrough novel. I decided to polish my finished book and submit it as an entry. I made it into the contest, but was cut in the second round in January of this year.

So, there I sat with a finished novel. In December, I finished the second project I had started. Now…TWO finished novels! I got an idea on how to improve the first one, so I began rewriting and editing it again! I began shopping them to publishers and agents. I sent the first one out less because I thought the second one would appeal to a wider market. Rejections began to roll in. But I really wanted to publish that first novel, now entitled Stealing Wishes, because I had put so much time and effort into it. So, I have since decided to use Lulu to do it.

This page will serve as a diary of my publishing process to hopefully be a good resource for others who frequent this site often and may be looking for suggestions or advice. Feel free to ask questions or make comments, or share your own ideas if you have them.

Here’s where we are so far…

Three weeks ago: I began formatting my Word document manuscript to a 6×9 page size. I changed the margins and added page numbers. I added the blank pages at the beginning and end like you find in regular novels, and which Lulu requires for ISBN assignment. I added a copyright page (also required), a title page, and a dedication page..consulting other traditional books I own for alignment suggestions and for what the copyright page should say.

I added necessary pages so that my chapters always begin on the right side. I’ve noticed some traditional books do this and some don’t. Some more recent titles I looked at go straight through with no blank pages, chapters starting on the left or the right. But I did find some with blank pages so that the chapters always begin on the right. Any thoughts? I like the right side format so I went with that. I also “fully aligned” my words so I have that crisp straight line down the right page. I also added a picture to appear on my title page between the title and my name.

Two weeks ago: I started a new project on Lulu.com but kept it private. I uploaded my manuscript and examined the created PDF file to see if it was to my liking. It was, so I began working on a book cover.

The Book Cover: For the idea I had in mind, I grabbed a camera and set up a photo shoot using props I wanted on the cover. These were old photos, a cup of coffee, and some lose change. After several snapshots and different angles, I uploaded my photos to my computer and chose the best one. I played with color variation a bit, using Adobe Photoshop Manager, and finally had something I liked.

Using the Paint program on my computer, I created a 7×10 file which would serve as my cover. The reason for the slightly larger size is for the bleed over when you start creating your cover on Lulu. I chose a blue background for the entire cover, then I stretched my photo across the middle from the left edge to the right. After choosing a font and size, I typed my title across the top and centered it between the top of the book cover and the image, and then did the same with my name below the image. After a few adjustments, I had a nice cover. Well, I thought it looked nice. Keep reading.

I quickly uploaded it to Lulu and then used Lulu’s cover design to do the spine and the back cover. I chose a slightly different shade of blue for the spine. I put the title and my name in white, and chose not to print the Lulu logo on the spine. For the back cover, I used Lulu to color the back cover all black. Then in white, I typed in my blurb description of the book. I could not find a way to make it fully aligned down the right side for a nice crisp straight line. If anyone knows how to do this, let us know. I even tried typing my blurb in Word and doing a full alignment, and then copied and pasted it into the Lulu screen, but it didn’t work. Oh well, this would not be my final product anyway, so I left it as is for now.

The Sample Copy: After a few minor adjustments and some spell checking, I ordered a sample copy on Saturday, May 3rd. My cost for the book was $9.99. Shipping was $7.44 for Priority Mail. The book shipped from New York on Tuesday, the 6th, and arrived at my home in St. Louis, Missouri, on Thursday the 8th. Wow! Excellent shipping time! (Note: Media Mail would have been cheaper, but would have also taken a few days longer to receive. Also, Lulu does not offer any tracking for media mail, so if the package is lost in transit, you are out of luck.)

No, I didn’t have to buy a sample copy, but I believe it helps to have the book in hand to get a feel for it. How is it going to look to the reader? It really helps to step away from the monitor and spend time with the book during this process, so I highly recommend taking the time and money to do this. I spent $1.99 on some red ink pens so I could immediately begin revising the text which is what I am still doing at this time.

Click to view larger and in higher resolutionThe Book Cover: I hate it. The lettering on the cover is fuzzy. My photo looks great and the quality is excellent, except there is an orange shine in the top corner, which probably came from a vase which was sitting on the table where I photographed the image. There’s also a glare in the bottom right corner which I didn’t notice before, and the collage placement of my photographs is not very good on the top right side. Back to the drawing board.

The Interior: Wow! The inside looks great. The gutter, that space down the middle between the pages, is a little tight and I found myself having to open the book wider to be able to read it. So, I’ll have to fix that margin. Also, the page number at the bottom is too close to the text. I will bump it down. I also think the top margin is too wide, so it may need to be adjusted as well. I am still currently reading the text, but so far, my spelling and grammatical errors have not been too bad. My red ink pens are getting some use though!

Marketing Investments: Yay! My economic stimulus package arrived via direct deposit on May 6th. I’m using most of it to pay bills, but I decided to treat myself to a few helpful books I’ve been wanting. They are: Jeremy Robinson’s POD People and Janet Elaine Smith’s Promo Paks. I immediately began reading POD People and highlighting ideas in it. It has been a great motivator. I even posted about it in LLBR as being a valuable resource. Total investment: $25.93. I haven’t read Janet’s book yet, but I will post more about it when I do. By the way, just an aside that doesn’t really matter but Jeremy’s book contains spelling and grammar mistakes. See…no one is perfect! 

Read about the rest of Shannon’s experiences with Stealing Wishes at The Lulu Book Review.  

Publetariat Resource Lists

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Publetariat is in the process of adding resource lists to all applicable departments.  These lists of links to free resources will appear at the top of the list of articles within each department, so that when you click on ‘Design’, for example, the first item listed will be the Design Resources List. Resource lists are now posted in the Think and Write departments. 

The Think resources list features blogs and sites offering insightful opinion pieces on broad-ranging topics that all fall under the umbrella of self-publishing.  For example, in his blog, Mick Rooney offers reviews of self-publishing service providers, and PMI Books’ The Populist Publisher analyzes just about every issue you can think of related to self-publishing. 

The Write resources list highlights sites with helpful tools you can use when dealing with issues related to craft.  For example, Get Into It can help you work through writer’s block, the Internet Public Library offers a list of basic plot outlines, and Rick Walton maintains an extensive collection of brainstorming ideas and lists for authors of books, stories and poems for children (i.e., lists of common proverbs, first lines of kids’ songs, summaries of popular fairy tales, etc.) .

Additional resource lists are planned for the Design, Publish, Sell and Imprint departments, and will be announced when they’re ready. Check back from time to time because new links will be added periodically. 

Feel free to use the Contact Us form to recommend relevant links. Recommended links should primarily offer information, opinion, instruction or downloadable resources of interest to indie authors and small imprints. Links to sites that only offer goods or services for a fee will not be added. 

Facebook: How authors can use it for book promotion

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 Facebook has more than 175 million active users worldwide. If Facebook were a country, it would be the eighth most populated in the world, just ahead of Japan, Russia and Nigeria. The fastest growing demographic is those 30 years old and older (and you can bet a whole lot of them read books!).

It can therefore be a powerful place to promote your book and yourself as an author. Here are 5 ways you can use it for book promotion: 
 

  1. Set up your own personal profile and start making some friends. If you are a complete beginner, check out these “How to use Facebook videos” on YouTube. You can find my personal profile page and friend me here http://profile.to/joannapenn    

     

  2. Set up a Group. You can set up a group for your book or for yourself as an author here. You can also get a memorable URL instead of the incomprehensible one Facebook gives it.

Here are some related groups to check out:

 

For the other 3 ways to use Facebook for book promotion – check the original post out here. 

Building and Curating Your Community, Part I

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With all of the negative news of late about the collapse of the publishing industry and the "death of print", combined with the report that Captain America, Chesley Sullenberger, "scored a $3.2 million two-book deal with HarperCollins’ William Morrow imprint" for a memoir and a book of inspirational poetry, one might understandably think that jumping into the publishing game right now would be like investing in Ruth Alpern’s new hedge fund based on the advice of Jim Cramer, no?

Actually, no; not at all.

While the major publishing houses continue their suicidal death spiral, and being a mid-list author or aspiring newbie at one of them is less appealing than it’s ever been, this is arguably the proverbial moment of opportunity in a time of crisis for indie authors and publishers.

As I’ve noted previously, self-publishing is becoming an increasingly viable option for non-fiction writers and poets, as well as for ambitious genre fiction writers who understand that, no matter who their publisher is, they’re going to have to bust their ass to market their book and hand-sell it to as many people as possible, one copy at a time, in person and online. These savvy authors know that they have to build a platform for themselves over time — something almost every major publisher requires these days — and know how to use it, attracting a loyal tribe and continually nurturing it.

This exact same opportunity exists for indie publishers who can identify an under-served genre or topic of interest, carve themselves a niche and build a platform around it, and produce quality content that attracts a following that they can then nurture into a passionate community, or tribe.

Back in the late-90s, I founded a poetry reading series here in New York City called "a little bit louder" (now known as louderARTS) that you can read about in Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz’ definitive history Words in Your Face: A Guided Tour Through Twenty Years of the New York City Poetry Slam, published by Soft Skull Press last year, themselves about as interesting a case study in indie publishing as you could ask for. In the four years I ran the series — as curator, host, accountant, and occasionally even poet — I learned a lot about community organizing, and most of that experience is directly transferable to indie publishers looking to build their own community.

Here are four fundamental tips for curating a thriving community, or tribe, that every indie publisher (and author) needs to keep in mind:

1) It’s not about YOU, it’s about the tribe. Probably the most simple and straightforward point, and yet one that is completely missed more often than not. The strongest tribes share something in common, and it’s rarely the glorification of a specific individual, brand or distribution model. Barack Obama made his Presidential campaign about our hopes for America, while Hillary Clinton’s was all about her until it was too late. Avoid the vanity of a ReganBooks and choose a name that means something to the community you’re looking to become an integral part of.

2) Professionalism is important, but the tribe must have an equal voice. Social media and user-generated content are all the rage right now, and getting the balance right is tricky, but crucial.  It’s what the major publishers have failed miserably at, positioning themselves as unfallible arbiters of taste and opening the doors to the indie revolution. Don’t stumble lazily through those doors; take the best of what they do (editing and design), jettison the worst (high advances, minimal marketing support, no interaction), embrace new distribution models, and add real value to the process by plugging in directly to the community you’re looking to serve and becoming a valued member.

3) "Location, location, location"…isn’t nearly as important as it used to be. Thanks to the internet and digital technology, New York City is no longer the home of the publishing industry, major industry events like BookExpo America are less important than ever, major retailers have less control over distribution, and elite reviewers have less authority than ever before. The only "location" that counts these days is your position within the tribe, and there is no middleman standing in the way of your positioning yourself properly and, more importantly, authentically.

4) Be authentic. Any community worth being a part of is one that is bound by a common interest, cause or goal. In the age of the internet, there are no hiding places and fakers will eventually be exposed. Seriously. A friend of mine, a young woman in her early 20s, recently tweeted the following instructive bit of advice: "to all you marketers on twitter trying to follow us 18-24 yr olds to see what is hip. F*** you.You’re all blocked"

While building and curating a community is incredibly important, the single most critical step comes at the beginning of the process: understanding the reason you’re doing it and managing your expectations on how it will play out.

"Community leads to sales, not necessarily vice versa."

In part 2 of this series, I’ll look at the community=revenue mindset that’s driving a lot of new initiatives in the publishing world these days, and explore the right way to go about turning a loyal community into paying customers.

 

Guy LeCharles Gonzalez is the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Spindle Magazine. He’s won some poetry slams, founded a reading series, co-authored a book of poetry, and still writes when the mood hits him and he has the time. Follow him on Twitter: @glecharles

Self-Publish And Be Doomed? UK Author Norman Giller Regrets Censoring His Book To Please Booksellers

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This article, by Norman Giller, originally appeared on the Sports Journalists Association (SJA) site on 2/27/09.

I sold my journalistic soul this week, and I am ashamed of myself. As a self-publisher, I over-ruled myself as the writer and agreed to allow my book, The Lane of Dreams, to be censored.

Before they would consider stocking the book, a history of White Hart Lane, Tottenham asked to see a copy. Back came the response: “In view of some of the content, we are unable to sanction it.”

I tracked down John Fennelly, their Head of Publications, who told me politely but firmly: “We do not consider it appropriate to offer for sale in our store a book that is critical of our chairman.”

Here’s just a little taster of what Tottenham objected to:

If in 2007 you were a reader of London’s only paid-for evening paper, the Standard, you would have discovered that the depth of feeling against the Daniel Levy-style of leadership could be measured in fathoms. It reached the point when the newspaper and all its reporters and photographers were banned from White Hart Lane after a series of searing columns by confessed Spurs fan Matthew Norman.

Armed with a lacerating vocabulary that would have led to many challenges back in the duelling days, Norman wrote in one Levy-levelling column: “He can act like an imbecile of a very rare order indeed.”

Now that is going for the jugular, and the sort of crippling criticism I dare not put my tongue or pen to. You must weigh for yourself if the criticism was justified, but one thing for certain is that Tottenham showed poor judgment in banning the newspaper.

For this old hack with traditional Fleet Street principles, freedom of speech and freedom of the press is much more important and vital to our society than anything that happens on a football field.

I think I deserve your applause and appreciation for being such a principled and noble defender of our hard-earned freedoms.

But you won’t find a word of it in the book.

The Norman Giller I used to be would have told Tottenham that there was no way in a million years that I would alter a single syllable. I would rather have faced a Dave Mackay tackle.

But I called a meeting with myself, and the publisher in me told the writer: “It will make no economic sense for us to have the book banned by Tottenham. We need the sales that the club shop will give us. Easing out about 100 of the 85,000 words will not devalue the book in any way.”

Weakly, meekly the writer in me gave in, and the book – the censored book – will go on sale in the Spurs store. Humble apologies to Voltaire (“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it”). Don’t blame me. Blame my publisher.

Publish and be damned? (Duke of Wellington). Publish and be doomed, more like.

The Lane Of Dreams has become part of a great adventure that includes a head-to-head sales war with the redoubtable Harry Harris.

I have known, liked and respected Harry since his local newspaper days, before he developed into arguably the greatest football news gatherer of his generation. I was chief football reporter on the Daily Express when he first came into the business, and I am glad I had got out before he started shovelling scoops by the lorry load.

We have come out with identically themed books, and Harry launched his Down Memory Lane at a Mayfair bash on Wednesday. His Green Umbrella Publishers are orchestrating a vigorous promotion campaign, but I am going to try to hang on to their coat tails.

I tried to spike the launch by almost giving away my book as a £2.99 try-before-you-buy download, with everybody purchasing it getting my £18.95 book in electronic form before it’s traditional paper-and-ink publication at the start of next season.

Fighting dirty, I leaked gossip of the “book war” to another of the outstanding newsmen, Charles Sale at the Daily Mail. I was following the dictum of old boxing promoter Jack Solomons: “All publicity is good publicity, provided they get your name right.”

But Harry has got off to a flier, and his book is already showing in the best seller lists while I am still in the starting blocks.

For anybody out there interested in going down the self-publishing road, be careful, be diligent and plan every step well in advance of publication.

Read the rest of the article at SJA.

BelleBooks, Inc.: Ringing Them Bells

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This profile of BelleBooks, by Joyce Dixon, originally appeared on the Southern Scribe site in 1999.  Now that BelleBooks is an established and successful independent press, this backward glance provides valuable insight into the beginnings of a winning start-up.

Sharing stories of their southern roots was the dream of six veteran authors, and last year that dream became reality with the partnership of BelleBooks, Inc.

The authors, each successful in her own right, include: Debra Dixon, Sandra Chastain, Deborah Smith, Virginia Ellis, Donna Ball and Nancy Knight.

One of the nice surprises since forming BelleBooks, says Virginia Ellis, “… has been the response of people to six women sticking their necks out and forming a small press. Everyone is so excited for us and that has translated into sales. I got the feeling that we were out doing something that many people dream about–starting our own company and writing what we love.”

The idea of publishing was born in Donna Ball’s Tennessee cabin, which has become a writers retreat for the group. Debra Dixon explains, "As we began discussing exactly what type of project our first title would be, we found ourselves trailing off into stories of growing up Southern. We had tears in our eyes from laughing and lumps in our throat from emotion. After that particular brainstorming session, there wasn’t much question as to what kind of project the launch would be."

"In the process," adds Virginia Ellis, "we discovered our ability to work together. This ability naturally found a creative outlet in planning a book in which we could all participate–separately but together."

The decision to form a small press over submitting their anthology to established publishing houses could be summed up in one word — control. "Both artistic and marketing control." Debra Dixon continues, "We each have agents and New York publishers and editors, not to mention the marketing departments of the big houses. Book publishing at that level is about sales, about very commercial work.

"Big publishers are leery to let an author ‘out’ of her niche. They often fear disappointing readers by not publishing more of the same. The prevailing philosophy is, ‘Readers want what they want and don’t give them anything else.’ Creative people find that very limiting. Forming a publishing house gives us control over work that doesn’t mesh with the New York publishers’ views of our niche. Control of the work allows us to experiment with cover design, marketing and voice. The entire concept is very appealing. Producing the launch title only whet our appetite for the opportunities and possibilities that exist."

There is also the element of independent southern women and a dash of pioneer spirit within these authors. Virginia Ellis speaks to this nature. "Forming our own small press seemed to be the answer to our quest to write from our hearts, not by ‘house rules.’ Also, we, the six of us, write for different mainstream publishers and have different agents. The chances of selling an anthology or any other collaborative work with so many hands on the project are pretty slim."
 

Each partner in BelleBooks brings their own talents and business experience to the group. Yet forming a small press can be daunting for anyone. "It’s a fulltime job!" states Deborah Smith. "Even with six of us sharing the duties, there’s a tremendous amount of work involved in doing it well. The paperwork, the cover art, the book design, editing, marketing, warehousing the printed books—all these things take a lot of time and effort."

"We’ve had to step out of our comfortable offices and rush out into the world with our ‘baby book’ in our hands," adds Virginia Ellis. "Working the production side, I have to deal with the actual building of our ‘widget,’ an entirely different process from writing."

Former business consultant Debra Dixon keeps the group grounded. "As President of this rowdy bunch of creative souls, my task has been the difficult one of dragging feet back down to earth. There is a real tendency when reality exceeds your expectations to take on too much, too soon. It’s human nature. So, we’re learning how to reach for the stars while taking the tiny baby steps that build a secure foundation for the company."
 

Their debut anthology, Sweet Tea and Jesus Shoes, followed the normal editorial rules known so well by these authors. Debra Dixon describes the experience, "We had discussed the kinds of stories we wanted and the areas of growing up Southern that we felt should be included in the book. Authors who felt they had a story that fit volunteered. However, since BelleBooks–even for the company founders–has an editorial protocol to be followed, stories were submitted to the editor and each author worked the process much the same way one works with the big publishers. The editor had ultimate responsibility for guiding the collection once the concept and general story ideas where hashed out. Editorial and production worked on placement of stories, etc. to create a "read" of which we are very proud."

Sweet Tea and Jesus Shoes was published in May 2000, and in that short time these authors have discovered sweet memories. Deborah Smith is touched by "the depth of appreciation for nostalgic fiction. People appreciate the stories because they recreate childhood memories."
 

Debra Dixon is naturally impressed by the business success. "In just a few short months we’ve climbed more than 2/3’s of the way to our 12 month sales goal. Reviews have been staggeringly positive. Being selected for review in Today’s Librarian and having the collection mentioned in Publishers Weekly "Fiction Notes" were definite high points. We’ve met our distribution goals in the number of accounts opened.

"We’re delighted to be an open stocking vendor for Baker & Taylor, and to be selling well through bookstore special orders with Borders, Barnes & Noble, Amazon and B&N.com. Independents have been very supportive. Virtually Southern books sold over 130 copies of the book at our launch booksigning and I believe their sales now top 200 copies. The most amazing thing is that even with all of this ‘good’ news, we’ve barely scratched the surface of distribution and book placement."

"The readers of Sweet Tea and Jesus Shoes consistently said one thing, ‘We want more!’" beams Virginia Ellis. "So, we have come up with a town they can visit anytime when they want a vacation from work or just a smile to get them through the day."

The next BelleBooks offering will be a series of books set in Mossy Creek, Georgia. Deborah Smith describes the project, "We’re very excited about Mossy Creek. Fans of Mayberry, Lake Wobegone, and Jan Karon’s Mitford series should really love this warm-hearted series. The books are set in fictitious Mossy Creek, Georgia, a mountain town whose pioneer founders proudly proclaimed, ‘We ain’t going no where, and don’t want to.’ The first book will introduce wonderful characters such as the gun-cleaning mayor, Bob the back-luck chihuhua, the sexy town police chief and his overzealous female officer."

[Publetariat editor’s note: there are now six books available in the Mossy Creek series.]

"There is something immensely satisfying when you’re not only the creator of a product but also the publisher," explains Debra Dixon. "There is no agonizing wait to find out if an idea will be picked up for a series or if those secondary characters begging for more page space will ever be given it. As a publisher, you are in a position to evaluate the project immediately and give the writers the assurance that they can build all the richness into the stories that they would like without fear. There will be more Mossy Creek books.

"At our recent board meeting in Atlanta, the most important item on the agenda was setting the ‘drop dead dates’ for final editorial revisions, production and galleys. We are delighted to report that Mossy Creek will launch Spring 2001. The reason this date is so amazing is that we’re bringing out our second title less than a year after the launch of Sweet Tea & Jesus Shoes."

There are plans for BelleBooks to publish individual works from within the group of owners. Debra Dixon points to other contract obligations, "we have to find a way to shoehorn in the writing time for a full-novel. But we hope to see an individual title in the near future."

BelleBooks is not to be confused with self-publishing. The small press plans to accept queries from writers in 2001. The editorial guidelines can be found under "for writers" on the website,  www.BelleBooks.com. Debra Dixon advises, "While I hate to repeat that oft heard phrase from NY publishing, the best way to know the kinds of voices we are looking for is to read the short story collection. And to take a good look at Mossy Creek this spring. The editorial process on Mossy Creek was quite demanding, and is probably best representative of the kind of longer fiction we’d like to see. We are contemplating a ‘best new voices of the South’ collection, but that is in the very infant stages of concept development."

Visit BelleBooks to learn more about BelleBooks and buy BelleBooks titles.  Visit  Southern Scribe for more information about Southern Scribe and resources geared toward working writers in the southern region of the U.S.

Write Resources List – where to get help with craft

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Inkalicious Writer’s Cheat Sheets – from plotting to writing sex scenes, from editing to pitching, it’s all here

Lightning Bug – helping you write a story from beginning to THE END

Caro Clarke’s Writing Advice articles – character, dialog, pacing and more

Juiced On Writing – the writing process: tips, techniques & how-tos

Archetype Writing – writing essentials

Grammar Girl – for those times when you’re not sure whether to use "then" or "than", "who" versus "whom" and the like

Rick Walton – children’s writers’ brainstorming lists

Using English – dictionary of English idioms

Daily Writing Tips – list of frequently misused words

Writer’s Fun Zone – Reach for the stars.  Play like a child.  Write like a fiend.

The Writer’s Site – How to write/writing tips

Biographical Dictionary – this wiki offers thousands of free bios

Cliche Site – use them purposefully, or keep ’em out!

Internet Public Library – encyclopedia of basic plots

Get Into It – Help dealing with writer’s block

The Story Starter – random idea generator for short stories, novels, scripts, plays, poems, or just for fun

LitDrift – a new blog, resource, and community dedicated to the art & craft of fiction in the 21st century

Andrew Keen Could Learn A Thing Or Two From Us Monkeys

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In his book, The Cult of the Amateur: how today’s internet is killing our culture, author Andrew Keen argues that Web 2.0 (content for media consumers created by media consumers) will soon spell the death of Western media culture as we know it. I don’t disagree with him, but unlike Mr. Keen, I don’t think that’s a bad thing.

Mr. Keen likens the worldwide community of bloggers and indie artists to "infinite monkeys…typing away". He says that where the web and media are concerned:

"…democratization, despite its lofty idealization, is undermining truth, souring civic discourse, and belittling expertise, experience and talent…it is threatening the very future of our cultural institutions."

"Moreover, the free, user-generated content spawned and extolled by the Web 2.0 revolution is decimating the ranks of our cultural gatekeepers, as professional critics, journalists, editors, musicians, moviemakers, and other purveyors of expert information are being replaced (‘disintermediated’, to use [an O’Reilly] term) by amateur bloggers, hack reviewers, homespun moviemakers, and attic recording artists. Meanwhile, the radically new business models based on user-generated material suck the economic value out of traditional media and cultural content."

Mr. Keen is apparently unaware of the possibility that the public at large doesn’t feel our culture, or access to it, requires “gatekeepers”. He also fails to acknowledge the reality that those “gatekeepers” have abused our collective trust with such regularity, we no longer recognize their status as arbiters of anything other than what stands to make their industries and corporate backers the maximum quantities of money in a minimum quantity of time. Whether we’re talking about big publishers with their ‘celebrity novels’, journalists with their ‘infotainment’, or TV executives with their so-called reality programming, the gatekeepers are now known to us primarily as experts in misdirection, hype and obfuscation.

It goes without saying that there are many honest, hardworking people in all branches of media who are doing their level best to deliver accurate, incisive content, but these are the minority voices in the cacophony of a vocal majority with less lofty goals.

Keen says, "The value once placed on a book by a great author is being challenged by the dream of a collective hyperlinked community of authors who endlessly annotate and revise it, forever conversing with each other in a never-ending loop of self-references."

And the problem here is…what? As an author of both fiction and nonfiction, I would be very happy to have an audience so engaged in what I’ve written that they’re moved to discuss it in groups. Isn’t that what literary study and criticism is all about? Keen seems to be suggesting that once a manuscript is bound between two covers, it should be laid to rest with no further analysis or study on the part of its readership. But isn’t it—and hasn’t it always been—the mission of great literature and nonfiction to spark thought, public discourse and debate?

Keen implies the author should always have the final word where his work is concerned, but I disagree. In my view, the author gets to open the discussion, but readers get to have the discussion. And that’s not a bad thing.

Keen goes on to talk about how free online content is stealing the very money out of the pockets of hardworking businesses and corporations. For example, Encyclopedia Brittanica has steadily lost marketshare to online compendia such as Wikipedia. But lest we feel little sympathy toward corporate behemoths like Brittanica that have been slow to get on the technology bus, or perhaps even feel some of those behemoths are about due for extinction, Keen trots out the story of the archetypal ‘little guy’:

"Then there’s Guy Kawasaki, author of one of the fifty most popular blogs on the internet…And how much did Kawasaki earn in ad revenue in 2006 off this hot media property? Just $3,350. If this is [Wired founder] Anderson’s long tail, it is a tail that offers no one a job. At best, it will provide the monkeys with peanuts and beer."

As it turns out, Guy Kawasaki is no ‘little guy’ at all. Keen neglects to mention the fact that Kawasaki has 10 bestselling nonfiction books in print. Hmmm…you don’t suppose Mr. Kawasaki’s blog has increased his book sales at all, do you?

The central failure of Mr. Keen’s book is his base assumption: that our culture needs gatekeepers and professional arbiters of quality in media, that people need to have their tastes, thoughts and opinions carefully formulated and shaped for them, that we lack the ability to make intelligent choices for ourselves. In addition to the snobbery inherent in his arguments, Keen’s scorn for the common man is evidenced by his repeated references to bloggers and indie artists as “monkeys”.

 
If Mr. Keen and his compatriots among the media elite knew anything about history, they’d know that every major step forward in human culture has been brought about by the dismantling of—wait for it—the then-powerful media elite.  From the French Revolution to the American Revolution, from Martin Luther pinning a note on a church door to Martin Luther King Jr. leading a march on Washington D.C., from the literature and art of The Age of Enlightenment to the Cinema Verite movement of the 1970’s, whenever the controlling forces in our culture overreach or come to scorn the very public they claim to serve, that public will rise up in an overthrow and the outcome will be cultural progress.

 
Mr. Keen, the cheese has moved. You are welcome to join the cheese in its new location or to seek out new cheese on your own, but it’s pointless to keep demanding that all the people you think are beneath you bring the cheese back to you, because they are all quite happy with the cheese in its current location and you haven’t done anything to earn their affection or respect. Your whining diatribe of a book may be very popular among your peers in the media elite however; you might be able to launch a cheese-finding expedition with them, were it not for the fact that they have no idea how the cheese got away either, and like you, are not terribly welcome in the monkey house.

Mur Lafferty and "New Media"

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This post, by Edmund Schubert, originally appeared on his Side-Show Freaks blog, and features a guest post from author Mur Lafferty.

A few weeks ago I posted an essay about achieving success in the publishing industry that included a link to an article posted on Time Magazine’s website. One of the people quoted in that Time article was a friend of mine named Mur Lafferty, a fiction and non-fiction author who has built her career on using new and open media.

She can be found on Suicide Girls as a regular columnist, on Tor.com as a blogger, or on her home page, murverse.com. Her first novel, Playing For Keeps, is available via print and free audio podcast (and was reviewed on IGMS by James Maxey). She graciously agreed to write more about the subject of new media, for which I am grateful. I’ll let her take it from here…

Edmund posted recently on this blog about podcasters getting publishing contracts. He then invited me to guest blog here, and I wanted to discuss this in more detail.

I am a podcaster who built an audience of over 40,000 via free giveaways of audio podcasts and PDF podcasts, so you can guess I’m rather gung-ho about new media. Podcasting my book led directly to it being picked up by a small press and released in print.

Yes, print publication, or "old media" is my ultimate goal. Giving work away for free is not a way to directly make money, obviously. But new media allowed me to connect to an audience, make them care about my work, and then ask them to help me with the marketing of the small press book. Many bought copies of the book for themselves and to give as gifts. I received one email from a woman who appreciated the free podcast so much that she promised to buy several copies for Christmas gifts.

I’m never clear on what number makes a small press book a success, but I earned out my advance and had a strong showing on Amazon for several weeks after the release, so I’m pretty pleased with the sales numbers of a book that never hit the bookshelves.

New media is not a fad or a gimmick. It’s not a pipe dream or a crazy idea. It’s a way to connect directly to an audience in a way that just a website will not do. Established authors with existing audiences can afford to look down on new media, but new authors with no audience would do well to consider audio or ebook releases of their work.

The relationship with the community is what it’s all about. What I’ve discovered from the listeners who hear my voice talking to them in intros and read me on blogs and Twitter, is that they want me to succeed. I’m not an author in an ivory tower to them, I’m a person trying to climb a pretty big mountain and can’t do it alone. (Yeah. Sometimes I mix metaphors.) When these people see my book, they don’t think, "Oh, a superhero novel by that author I heard of once." They think, "Mur’s book came out! Awesome!"

I had a man approach me at DragonCon last year. The conversation went something like this:
 

Read the rest of the post at the Side-Show Freaks blog.