Christopher D. Schmitz's Blog, page 31

The Dreaded Holiday Special

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It’s Christmas! So you’re probably not reading this anyways, but I still feel compelled to write a holiday greeting while my family recovers from all of the sudden togetherness that the season demands.

Christian SF&F Bulletin

My friend across the sea, Adam Collings produces a monthly 5 min video highlighting faith-based Sci-Fi and Fantasy books (and points of interest for writers). He’s been going for a while now and I told him I’d begin to share as a random Friday post at Inside the Inkwell–interesting stuff!

Panic-Mode: I have a new cover, but Goodreads doesn’t allow changes… EVER.

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So if you’ve seen an older version of your Indie book on Goodreads with a dreaded early edition cover that you wisely changed at some point (maybe you had an error on the cover, upgraded a sub-par cover with a better version, or just plain wanted a change,) you will have likely realized that Goodreads does not allow cover art changes. It’s probably the biggest fly in the ointment as far as author tools go. When you put your book into the Goodreads library it has a warning about that restriction. You might not have ever seen it though—someone else may have put your book into the library (perhaps a reader or fan who really wanted to shelve your book and show it off to his or her friends.)

Never fear, there is a way around it! You can use what’s called an alternate cover edition. The above reasons are exactly what Goodreads’ help file describes. They also talk briefly about Advanced Review Copy books and note that some users might upload the cover from an ARC. The process for correcting is different for both instances (cover revisions and ARC entries.)

If you are updating your cover for any reason other than the current entry being an ARC cover you should manually enter the book into the Goodreads system (https://www.goodreads.com/book/new) and leave the ISBN fields on your new edition blank in the Description field; an ISBN can only be used once in the database. Llist the ISBN of the original cover edition and state that this new entry is an alternate cover edition. (You can also use the Librarian Note feature found near the top of the book edit page to attach a note to the book. This helps prevent the book from accidentally being deleted by a librarian who thinks it is an invalid entry. Do not use the edition field for information about alternate cover editions.) The publication date for an alternate-cover edition should be the date the book was released with the new cover, not the date the book with that ISBN or ASIN was originally published

If you need to alter an ARC or galley copy, delete the ISBN number from the ARC edition. Then add a Librarian Note stating that this is the ARC cover and the ISBN number is being moved to the published edition. You can then add the ISBN number to the published edition when manually adding the new version. Please note that this is the only case where an ISBN or ASIN should be removed from a published edition.

There’s usually a work-around for even the stiffest regulation. I would also recommend getting involved in a couple boards on Goodreads. It can often prove helpful to know a few folks who have Librarian status—sometimes it’s the only way to fix the issues that we Indies often make before we’re proficient with a system.

Review: Panther Across the Sky

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I started Panther across the sky by Lon Brett Coon with pretty high hopes. The story itself is pretty well written and there is a lot going for it. There were also a few things that didn’t work for me, too. To begin with, I’ll focus on some of the positives. Ever since graduating college nearly two decades ago I’ve worked with teens and nearly always worked with/near Native American youth. The opening scene with Makya felt very believable (kind of, more below) as he raged and acted out the anger welling up within him. Basically, he goes out and gets drunk with some total strangers who tell him a tale (the central story of the book) which makes the novel 1 part Everyman story, 1 part morality tale, and 1 part Native American Princess Bride… which is cool, but can rub many people the wrong way unless the story is well-wrapped in genre fiction (within religious tales and morality stories, however, the story-in-a-story motif can be common.)

The opening scene features some great skill by Coon in demonstrating intense language that demonstrates emotion and action. However, some of the details don’t make sense. Coon beautifully shows Makya’s poverty by referencing an older model television and clothing with holes… but then his mother Nengala comes and gives him a hug because her angry son was so upset that he busted the tv, mirror, and anything glass. Her actions defy the beautiful scene Coon setup—the proximity to our modern culture are what make some of those scenes unbelievable: it’s easier to lose the suspension of disbelief when we are already affluent with the culture. To be fair, when Coon writes the rest of the story—the historical fiction story of Tecumseh—the writing is much more on point. It’s easier to stay in the story and maintain the disbelief that the author asks us to buy into.

The reemergence of Makya at the end feels heavy handed, like the author finally shows his cards and tells us his message in explicit detail and so it didn’t work for me… an angry boy speaking words as if they were pulled from a Wikipedia post in preparation for a high school history exam felt more farfetched than that same boy being thrown back in time a few hundred years to experience a moral lesson from his people’s history. It kind of ruined the story in my opinion. Truly, my only problems were with the characters and scenes in the prologue and epilogue—which are basically disconnected to the rest of the story (except that it connects the moral lesson to a modern age).

The story is a solid tale—just don’t read the prologue or epilogue unless you want to feel talked down to and led towards the exact conclusions the author wants you to arrive at. This is Coon’s first story and it is a fine tale and otherwise well done; I’ve no doubt that he will learn a few things as he continues to write and that his next book just may be a perfect read.

I got a copy of the book for free in exchange for an honest review. You can get a copy of it right here.

Stat of Writing

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I didn’t even open my laptop all weekend and my week was absolute chaos. I did lots of thinking about writing, but did none all week! (I did read a lot, however.) I barely even got to my blog and only just now turned on my computer (capped off all the business with my grandmother’s funeral after a bunch of travel and family time.)

Hopefully I can get to some writing this week. I still want to rework my rough notes and outlines for the stories I have scheduled to write in 2018 and I’ve got some writing-related business stuff to take care of this week. Also, I’m still rooting for myself to write a short story this week as a matter of principle.

10 Reasons Why Should You Attend a Writers Conference

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I’m not rich by any stretch of the imagination. I don’t have any hopes or dreams of becoming a 1%er. I don’t want to fritter my money away, but I don’t want to horde it like some kind of miser either. I try to invest smartly. As someone with high ambitions in my writing endeavors I am intentional about investing in myself. To that end, I try to attend at least one writers convention every twelve to eighteen months. I try to limit my travel expenses (I usually bank up free airline miles in order to reduce prices) but I do believe I get a great value in them.

Usually I come home from a conference with a journal full of notes—things I’ve learned, plans I’ve made, and people I’ve met. I don’t honestly think that I can digest all of that immediately… not really even in a year. I try to find one to three things that I can learn and implement over the next year in my writing, platform building, networking, marketing, and beyond. Dropping a couple hundred dollars is a strategic investment. It becomes easier to spend that on yourself when you believe in your future as a writer… understand this is not a quick fix or magic pill, but if you learn a few things at a convention or workshop and work to get better those dollars will pay off dividends in the future.

Here are 10 things you might gain or take home from a writers conference:

Networking with other writers
Meeting literary agents or publishing professionals
You will get energized and inspired
It can be a tax write off
You may get opportunities to pitch agents and publishers
Your expectations will become grounded in reality (for better or worse)
You will gain resources (notes, handouts, books, etc.) to use forever
You are likely to find something that was never on your radar (an underground community, a newly launching service or agency, a new outlook on some topic)
It transitions you from a hobbyist to a professional
Get updates on trends and how the publishing world is changing

Review: Sabotage in the Sundered Sky

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This is my third review for a different Ultimate Ending book which is a relatively new line of CYOA (choose your own adventure) books. I thought it had some pros and cons compared to the other titles (the first book I read in the series is still my favorite.)

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In Sabotage in the Sundered Sky, your name is Beckett and you are a machinery specialist. After disguising yourselves and sneaking past security, you and your brother are free to enjoy the luxury of the Kensington Airship in peace. But when disaster begins to befoul the trans-Atlantic blimp, you realize it’s up to you to figure out what–or who–is causing the chaos.

Something I liked about the book is that many of the choices had a more intricate mechanic for the “if you/then turn to” story. Some of it is tied to the gambling and casino aspect and it made for different sorts of puzzles rather than just two or three options and a page turn. These have been in other UE books, too, such as Tower of Never There.  They seemed somehow better in this version, but that’s a matter of opinion. I did notice that the gutter margins were pretty tight and so I was afraid I was going to ruin my cover in the early pages of the book. Not a big deal in the long term and it had no impact on the story.

In short, it’s a great addition to the UE series. As a kid I always thought airships were neat—we got to see them on film in some great cartoons and movies (like Indiana Jones) in my era’s childhood. Films like Up, Skycaptain, steampunk everything, and some episodes of modern Dr. Who have kept interest alive.

I got a few books from the publisher for free in exchange for an honest review over at Inside the Inkwell. Pick up your copy on Amazon.

State of Writing

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I was able to sit down on a rare, uncommitted Saturday and finish the outlines for the Secret Rings cycle. I will probably go back over them again soon and rehash all of them now that it’s done. I kind of started with a planetary view and now I have a 20,000 foot cruising altitude. For the sake of really knowing the story I hope to catalogue the minor characters and finish fleshing out the profiles for my main characters now that I know more about them in the context of the story. If I can take that overview down to a low-fly-over before the new year I will be happy—that will probably happen next week.

On the business side, I did a thing in Minneapolis called pop-up bookstore which was pretty cool. however, I didn’t have many books since I had such a banner day at a Christmas event and my replacement books haven’t arrived yet from publishers. I will have them shortly, though, so if anyone wants to send autographed paperbacks for the holidays, just contact me through my website and we can set it up!

This is my last week at work for the year and I need to spend a ton of time in the office so I won’t log much time at my computer (in the middle of an office move before my Christmas vacation starts and I’ve got to complete it… end of the year switches our contract to new facility, so I must be out or I can’t take a break.)  That said, I’m not setting any goals this week, though I’d like to write a short story and one or two flash pieces before the end of the year, but I’ll set those goals next week when I have time to actually write.

Congratulations, a Publisher Signed You—now wait for the other shoe to drop

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That moment that a publisher says yes is an emotional moment. You’re probably riding on cloud nine… even if it’s not a well-known publisher, it’s a deeply validating thing to be told “yes, we want you.” Some less than scrupulous “publishers” take advantage of that sentiment and offer really bad contracts. This is the very reason that literary agents are a thing, or at least part of the reason.

I signed with a traditional publisher and negotiated some better terms for myself, a better royalty rate and some nuances of the audio rights. I went through the contract in detail, knowing a few things about both contracts and sales from previous non-publishing experience. Shortly after signing, the company restructured some of their sales stuff, blah blah blah, and they wanted all authors to sign a contract addendum that promised to make them much more money. I did all the math on my original contract and liked where we’d arrived. I should have looked much closer at the addendum—I actually lost more than 50% of my royalties because I didn’t do the math—it only made me lots of money if books were purchased through the publisher’s website (who does that!? Nobody goes to the Simon & Shuster website to buy books—they go to a retailer’s site). Lesson learned: never take someone’s word for it—always double check. I now make about twenty-five cents per book sold.

The school of hard knocks is brutal. But at least I can make a bunch on person to person sales, right? Well… almost. My Indie books cost me about five bucks to produce and so I make about ten bucks each sale. My traditional publisher gives a smaller than normal discount. Unless I’m buying in bulk I do not get the market-norm of a 40-50% discount off retail price. I got 30%… plus shipping is high. Watching your bottom line on details like this is critical—but very easy to slip into the background. My $16.99 book (which cost’s less than $4 to print) cost me $11.87 to buy, plus a buck and a half to ship. My books cost me about thirteen and a half dollars apiece.  In the end, I felt like Lando Calrissian in Empire Strikes Back: “This deal is getting worse all the time.” I wanted to sell them for $15 each, but with a booth fee of $150 plus travel expenses, I’d have to sell more than a hundred books to break even. (This is the reason I always push my Indie titles at the same table… that number is more like 15 books, which is manageable.

Always do the math. Always read the fine print. If you have been offered a contract, many literary agents are willing to sign someone for a one-time, quick deal (although those bad publishers may put a short time limit to sign, making authors cave early under the false sense of urgency).

Following are some bad contract clauses that you should be on the lookout for in the event that you are offered a publishing deal. (I am not a literary agent nor a professional, so don’t take this as legal advice—but all contracts are negotiable, and these are aspects that can do you more harm than good, so beware!):

The contract is forever (until you die+70 years)
Right of first refusal on your next book (unless it’s a series—obviously)
The option to match any other publisher’s bids on subsequent manuscripts (good luck ever getting published elsewhere!)
A “net” royalty agreement/structure (that thing I signed in the above, tragic tale)
Any requirement that an author purchases books
Any requirement that the author purchase paid services from the publisher
Author’s discount for personal copies is less than 40%
Any mandatory marketing fees
A Kill fee clause
Clauses that make your contract automatically renew
Noncompete clauses which
Advances that must be paid back (how about we sign you up for this nice loan while we publish your book?)
Royalty rates that drop when sales dip below a benchmark
Indemnity clauses that mean only an author can be sued (and not the publisher)
Copyright reservation is retained by the publisher and not the author (publisher usually registers them in author’s name and then gains specific rights for a specific time period.)

Review: Song of the Dark Crystal

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The Song of the Dark Crystal picks up where book 1 (Shadows of the Dark Crystal) leaves off: Naia and Kylan are traveling with Tavra and finally find Riann as they pursue a few goals, each in an effort to warn their kind of the Skeksis’ betrayal.  As with the book before it, the reading level closely matches the audience of Henson’s original film placing the book somewhere on the upper MG and lower YA spectrum.  Keeping that in mind, Lee writes masterfully and really drew me back into an earlier time when I was a young teen book enthusiast. His pacing, style, and the themes in the lives of the traveling companions threw me right into the grips of nostalgia. His story is on point—especially beginning about a third of the way through the book when I could no longer put it down, and I hadn’t read an honest-to-goodness page-turner in several months (I try to read a book a week, so that’s saying something.)

Compared to book 1, I actually liked this book even more. The themes and feelings Lee draws out through writing more from Kylan’s perspective hit home in a big way. JM Lee does a phenomenal job making you feel for the characters and connect to them emotionally; you might forget that this whole adventure takes place in a fictitious land and that the main characters aren’t even human. He also excels at the situational world-building—I was enthralled by the adventure in the cave of Grot and I’m sure you will be, too.

I was pretty happy to find The Song of the Dark Crystal at a launch event coordinated by a metro area comic book store and a comic convention so I got the book autographed which is super cool, especially since I was a fan of the first book in what promises to be a trilogy(you can read the other review and a funny story on how I stumbled onto the series via my blog, Inside the Inkwell.)

I would certainly recommend this book for anyone who is a fan of Henson’s unique world and I couldn’t help but imagine how the book will fit into the upcoming Netflix original series. Pick up both of these books—you won’t regret it!