Steve Vernon's Blog, page 3
February 21, 2013
Bubba Buy My Book...
Okay - so here's a brand new (sort of) blog entry over at my YOURS IN STORYTELLING regular blog.
http://stevevernonstoryteller.wordpre...
I want to apologize to the blog-followers over here at Goodreads. I don't keep this blog much at all these days - but if you really want to keep an ear open for what I have to say you would DEFINITELY be ahead of the game if you followed YOURS IN STORYTELLING.
http://stevevernonstoryteller.wordpre...
I want to apologize to the blog-followers over here at Goodreads. I don't keep this blog much at all these days - but if you really want to keep an ear open for what I have to say you would DEFINITELY be ahead of the game if you followed YOURS IN STORYTELLING.
January 1, 2013
One Thousand E-Books a Month...
Okay - so if you want to catch the blog behind that title just hit the link and swing on over to Wordpress to read my regular blog - including today's entry "One Thousand E-books a Month"!
http://stevevernonstoryteller.wordpre...
http://stevevernonstoryteller.wordpre...
December 22, 2012
My most popular blog
My name is Steve Vernon and I have been unfaithful to my Goodreads blog.
I have been spending time with my Wordpress blog - "Yours In Storytelling".
I need to try and coordinate the two blogs somehow - but for now let me just post a link to my most popular blog entry - "Dealing With Discouragement".
http://stevevernonstoryteller.wordpre...
I have been spending time with my Wordpress blog - "Yours In Storytelling".
I need to try and coordinate the two blogs somehow - but for now let me just post a link to my most popular blog entry - "Dealing With Discouragement".
http://stevevernonstoryteller.wordpre...
June 21, 2012
FIGHTING WORDS
Max was just a thirteen year old nobody – until the fight.
He didn’t plan the fight. He didn’t even want the fight to happen – but after he stood up to Rodney freaking Hammerhead to protect his sort-of-best-friend Tommy – Max decided that fighting could be a good thing.
People looked up to fighters.
Girls liked fighters.
Now Tommy and Max have decided to create their own personal fight club.
It seemed like a good idea – but what can I tell you?
Sometimes stupid just gets in your eyes.
Fighting Words
He didn’t plan the fight. He didn’t even want the fight to happen – but after he stood up to Rodney freaking Hammerhead to protect his sort-of-best-friend Tommy – Max decided that fighting could be a good thing.
People looked up to fighters.
Girls liked fighters.
Now Tommy and Max have decided to create their own personal fight club.
It seemed like a good idea – but what can I tell you?
Sometimes stupid just gets in your eyes.
Fighting Words
April 18, 2012
How Do I Publish My Book???
Just recently I was asked an interesting question over on Facebook.
Somebody asked me – “Steve, I’ve been thinking about writing a book and I really want to get serious about it. How do I publish it? How much should I pay to get it published? I’d really rather not pay too much.”
So I answered that question and I’m going to airlift the answer from the Facebook page over to my blog – because we writers are unscrupulous recyclers.
I’m just changing the name of the person in the interest of privacy – but you know I’m talking about you Dean Koontz, now don’t you?
Hey Anonymous.
First thing, you ought to finish that book. Finish it right to the last period. It's very hard for a first-time writer to sell a "work-in-progress". A publisher wants to buy a finished product - so finish the book until it is done-done-done!
Then, you can start thinking about selling it to a publisher. If it is a good enough book, you will find somebody who wants to buy it.
I want you to get comfortable with those two words - "buy" and "sell" - on account of writing is primarily a business. You talk to ninety-five percent fo the publishers out there and they will tell you that they want a book that they can sell for a profit. So make sure you've written a marketable product. The best way to make sure is to read every damn book in the genre that you've chosen. If you're writing a mystery - read every damn mystery you can find in the library. Empty the mystery rack at the bookstore, while you're at it.
Read new stuff as well as old. Explore the medium. Find out what’s out there.
If you don’t really love to read then you’ve got no business trying to write.
One of the first questions you'll need to answer is - what the hell am I writing? - on account of that is the first thing a publisher is bound to ask you. A writer needs to be able to sum up what he's written in a line or two. Think about all of those promo plugs that you used to read in the TV GUIDE. All right, so there isn't any TV GUIDE anymore - don't blame me if I'm older than the dirt that grows under dirt. Think about the movie DIE HARD. What's it about?
DIE HARD is a story of a divorced cop who fights his way through an entire skyscraper of bad guys lead by Severus Snape (Alan Rickman) to save his ex-wife.
That's it. That's the whole story. You want to be able to see your book that way - in one sentence or less. Once you've written the book boil it down to a single sentence and start thinking about things like SUBMISSION PACKAGES and QUERY LETTERS - which would take a whole other five or fifty-eight Facebook entries to explain.
Lastly, do not EVER, EVER, EVER pay to have your book printed - unless you're honestly only thinking about giving out a few copies to your Mom and Dad and Great Aunt Murbaline. Or, unless you a world-class public speaker who is already being asked to go and speak at dozens and hundreds of public gatherings about the "Ancient Shaolin Technique of Toe-Growing". If you are already a world-class expert on some field that people will pay to listen to - then - and only then - should you consider paying for a private printing to sell to all of those people who want to learn more about growing toes.
Finally, the other alternative you might look into is putting your work into e-book format - which is another ten or twelve Facebook entries worth of explaining. But first thing - finish that book. Everything else ought to come later.
(I purposefully did not go into this topic on the Facebook page because I've already talked a lot about e-book publishing elsewhere - and I wanted to keep this entry strictly focussed on one particular facet of the business. This is a danger of somebody like me who actively writes in both the traditionally-published field and the e-book field. It is a little like being multi-lingual. I might be going on and on in Swahili and suddenly spout out something about Doc Savage in old-school Mayan.)
Lord holy old jello-goggles but I am a windy old windsock...
yours in storytelling,
Steve Vernon
Somebody asked me – “Steve, I’ve been thinking about writing a book and I really want to get serious about it. How do I publish it? How much should I pay to get it published? I’d really rather not pay too much.”
So I answered that question and I’m going to airlift the answer from the Facebook page over to my blog – because we writers are unscrupulous recyclers.
I’m just changing the name of the person in the interest of privacy – but you know I’m talking about you Dean Koontz, now don’t you?
Hey Anonymous.
First thing, you ought to finish that book. Finish it right to the last period. It's very hard for a first-time writer to sell a "work-in-progress". A publisher wants to buy a finished product - so finish the book until it is done-done-done!
Then, you can start thinking about selling it to a publisher. If it is a good enough book, you will find somebody who wants to buy it.
I want you to get comfortable with those two words - "buy" and "sell" - on account of writing is primarily a business. You talk to ninety-five percent fo the publishers out there and they will tell you that they want a book that they can sell for a profit. So make sure you've written a marketable product. The best way to make sure is to read every damn book in the genre that you've chosen. If you're writing a mystery - read every damn mystery you can find in the library. Empty the mystery rack at the bookstore, while you're at it.
Read new stuff as well as old. Explore the medium. Find out what’s out there.
If you don’t really love to read then you’ve got no business trying to write.
One of the first questions you'll need to answer is - what the hell am I writing? - on account of that is the first thing a publisher is bound to ask you. A writer needs to be able to sum up what he's written in a line or two. Think about all of those promo plugs that you used to read in the TV GUIDE. All right, so there isn't any TV GUIDE anymore - don't blame me if I'm older than the dirt that grows under dirt. Think about the movie DIE HARD. What's it about?
DIE HARD is a story of a divorced cop who fights his way through an entire skyscraper of bad guys lead by Severus Snape (Alan Rickman) to save his ex-wife.
That's it. That's the whole story. You want to be able to see your book that way - in one sentence or less. Once you've written the book boil it down to a single sentence and start thinking about things like SUBMISSION PACKAGES and QUERY LETTERS - which would take a whole other five or fifty-eight Facebook entries to explain.
Lastly, do not EVER, EVER, EVER pay to have your book printed - unless you're honestly only thinking about giving out a few copies to your Mom and Dad and Great Aunt Murbaline. Or, unless you a world-class public speaker who is already being asked to go and speak at dozens and hundreds of public gatherings about the "Ancient Shaolin Technique of Toe-Growing". If you are already a world-class expert on some field that people will pay to listen to - then - and only then - should you consider paying for a private printing to sell to all of those people who want to learn more about growing toes.
Finally, the other alternative you might look into is putting your work into e-book format - which is another ten or twelve Facebook entries worth of explaining. But first thing - finish that book. Everything else ought to come later.
(I purposefully did not go into this topic on the Facebook page because I've already talked a lot about e-book publishing elsewhere - and I wanted to keep this entry strictly focussed on one particular facet of the business. This is a danger of somebody like me who actively writes in both the traditionally-published field and the e-book field. It is a little like being multi-lingual. I might be going on and on in Swahili and suddenly spout out something about Doc Savage in old-school Mayan.)
Lord holy old jello-goggles but I am a windy old windsock...
yours in storytelling,
Steve Vernon
April 17, 2012
On corn...
A fellow could do a lot worse than to watch this little video every morning or so before he gets out of his own way and starts getting things done.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2g0Pk...
I’ve posted this here once before but tripped over it this morning and thought I’d repost.
It puts me in mind of something that happened to me about a month ago. I said something out loud to somebody – said something that was of those old proverbs – said it and meant it – and somebody said “Well that’s awful corny.”
Let me tell you – people live off of corn. They eat it and they survive and there are a lot worse things in this world to go believing in than pure honest-to-god downhome corn.
Some body remind me tomorrow and I’ll post my recipe for corn chowder.
Believe it!
Yours in storytelling,
Steve Vernon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2g0Pk...
I’ve posted this here once before but tripped over it this morning and thought I’d repost.
It puts me in mind of something that happened to me about a month ago. I said something out loud to somebody – said something that was of those old proverbs – said it and meant it – and somebody said “Well that’s awful corny.”
Let me tell you – people live off of corn. They eat it and they survive and there are a lot worse things in this world to go believing in than pure honest-to-god downhome corn.
Some body remind me tomorrow and I’ll post my recipe for corn chowder.
Believe it!
Yours in storytelling,
Steve Vernon
Great news!!!
Okay, so I've been a bad blogger.
Bad blogger. Bad, bad blogger!
But let me share some good news I just recieved.
[image error]http://www.onspec.ca/sites/default/fi...[image error]
My story, "Harry's Mermaid", which appeared in issue #84 of ON SPEC magazine - has been honorably mentioned in Ellen Datlow's Year's Best Horror and Fantasy for 2011. This isn't the first time I've had stories mentioned in the list - but it doesn't happen nearly often enough for me to even PRETEND to be perpetually jaded. I am darned proud and pleased to see a tale of mine mentioned in that list.
yours in storytelling,
Steve Vernon
Bad blogger. Bad, bad blogger!
But let me share some good news I just recieved.
[image error]http://www.onspec.ca/sites/default/fi...[image error]
My story, "Harry's Mermaid", which appeared in issue #84 of ON SPEC magazine - has been honorably mentioned in Ellen Datlow's Year's Best Horror and Fantasy for 2011. This isn't the first time I've had stories mentioned in the list - but it doesn't happen nearly often enough for me to even PRETEND to be perpetually jaded. I am darned proud and pleased to see a tale of mine mentioned in that list.
yours in storytelling,
Steve Vernon
April 16, 2012
Critical writing advice!
Read, write and rinse.
Read, write and rinse.
Repeat, as often as necessary.
Do I really need to spell this out to you?
yours in storytelling,
Steve Vernon
Read, write and rinse.
Repeat, as often as necessary.
Do I really need to spell this out to you?
yours in storytelling,
Steve Vernon
Just in time for the hockey play-offs...
Just in time for the play-offs!
I know, I know - this is just another vampire/hockey novelette. But I am big-time excited to see SUDDEN DEATH OVERTIME begin to move this month after a March of gentle stagnancy. There have been a couple of VERY visible reviews and the right people have begun to talk.
(insert dramatic music here)
Like it, tag it, buy it, review it. Read it to your cat. Carve SUDDEN DEATH OVERTIME upon the bark of the oldest tree in the forest - and then apologize to the tree for defacing it's grainy squirrel-ridden epidermis - and then buy and sacrifice 117 (a holy number in certain nameless sects) copies of SUDDEN DEATH OVERTIME to the gods of random Amazon statistics.
Turn a rock over in your garden and whisper "sudden death overtime" to the fattest earthworm you unearth.
(hey, oligochaeta have e-readers too...)
"Steve Vernon gets it right. SUDDEN DEATH OVERTIME hit all the right notes with me. A wonderful cast of characters, great dialogue between the characters and an evil bus full of vicious vampires. Reading SUDDEN DEATH OVERTIME brought back so many memories of my childhood and our backyard skating rink that our father would painstakingly work on for hours. We would spend hours out there in the winter playing hockey. Of course, we didn't have a bus load of vampires to fend off...unfortunately." - Famous Monsters of Filmland
"With SUDDEN DEATH OVERTIME, Vernon perfectly captures the dark heart of a Canadian Winter and the lifetime passion surrounding the game of hockey. He takes a group of old friends who never backed down from a fight on the ice when they were younger and still refuse to do so even when they're old enough to know better. Toss on the rink some memorable characters, truly great dialogue, a bus load of nasty vampires, and a shocking surprise ending that you won't see coming and you've got yourself a story that's sure to be a winner." - Gord Rollo - author of VALLEY OF THE SCARECROW
"Steve Vernon was born to write. He's the real deal and we're lucky to have him." - Richard Chizmar
What are you waiting for? Order a copy today.
"This novelette reads like a bottle of very cold beer - goes down smooth and fast with very little after-burpage!" - The Hanson Brothers
yours in storytelling,
Steve Vernon
I know, I know - this is just another vampire/hockey novelette. But I am big-time excited to see SUDDEN DEATH OVERTIME begin to move this month after a March of gentle stagnancy. There have been a couple of VERY visible reviews and the right people have begun to talk.
(insert dramatic music here)
Like it, tag it, buy it, review it. Read it to your cat. Carve SUDDEN DEATH OVERTIME upon the bark of the oldest tree in the forest - and then apologize to the tree for defacing it's grainy squirrel-ridden epidermis - and then buy and sacrifice 117 (a holy number in certain nameless sects) copies of SUDDEN DEATH OVERTIME to the gods of random Amazon statistics.
Turn a rock over in your garden and whisper "sudden death overtime" to the fattest earthworm you unearth.
(hey, oligochaeta have e-readers too...)
"Steve Vernon gets it right. SUDDEN DEATH OVERTIME hit all the right notes with me. A wonderful cast of characters, great dialogue between the characters and an evil bus full of vicious vampires. Reading SUDDEN DEATH OVERTIME brought back so many memories of my childhood and our backyard skating rink that our father would painstakingly work on for hours. We would spend hours out there in the winter playing hockey. Of course, we didn't have a bus load of vampires to fend off...unfortunately." - Famous Monsters of Filmland
"With SUDDEN DEATH OVERTIME, Vernon perfectly captures the dark heart of a Canadian Winter and the lifetime passion surrounding the game of hockey. He takes a group of old friends who never backed down from a fight on the ice when they were younger and still refuse to do so even when they're old enough to know better. Toss on the rink some memorable characters, truly great dialogue, a bus load of nasty vampires, and a shocking surprise ending that you won't see coming and you've got yourself a story that's sure to be a winner." - Gord Rollo - author of VALLEY OF THE SCARECROW
"Steve Vernon was born to write. He's the real deal and we're lucky to have him." - Richard Chizmar
What are you waiting for? Order a copy today.
"This novelette reads like a bottle of very cold beer - goes down smooth and fast with very little after-burpage!" - The Hanson Brothers
yours in storytelling,
Steve Vernon
January 12, 2012
FRIDAY 13th KINDLE KONTEST GIVEAWAY!!!
Read all the details in my latest blog entry.
http://stevevernonstoryteller.wordpre...
yours in storytelling,
Steve Vernon
http://stevevernonstoryteller.wordpre...
yours in storytelling,
Steve Vernon
