Ryan Field's Blog, page 514
December 12, 2011
Something Different Coming Soon
I've begun work on edits for a new release that deals with a subject/fetish I've never explored before in m/m fiction/romance...as an author or a reader. I don't know the exact release date. But I do know I will be working with my editor at loveyoudivine until I think it's as close to perfect as I can get it.
The subject deals with foot fetish. And I've never done anything like it before because I don't know much about it. But I've always believed that if you write fiction you should be able to write on any topic...I've also never been a fan of that school of thought that says, "Write what you know." I think if all authors wrote what they knew, we'd have a lot of boring, sucky novels around. For me, I'd rather explore things I've never done before and don't know about. It keeps me moving forward as an author and, I hope, keeps my work fresh. I also think the market for foot fetish readers is larger than most people would imagine. It's still a minor sub-genre, but there have to be people interested in reading it.
This is just one more reason why I love working with a publisher like loveyoudivine so much. They allow me the freedom to do this without asking any questions. Sometimes, when I submit something to them, I'm not sure how they will respond. But when I do hear back, it's always something positive and encouraging. And we move forward with the project.
I'm going to post about a few changes I'm going to be making in the coming new year. Like I said, as an author, there's nothing worse than not having the ability to move forward and venture into new areas you haven't been before. This may very well be my first and last foot fetish story, but that doesn't mean there won't be a lot of new things happening in the future.
The subject deals with foot fetish. And I've never done anything like it before because I don't know much about it. But I've always believed that if you write fiction you should be able to write on any topic...I've also never been a fan of that school of thought that says, "Write what you know." I think if all authors wrote what they knew, we'd have a lot of boring, sucky novels around. For me, I'd rather explore things I've never done before and don't know about. It keeps me moving forward as an author and, I hope, keeps my work fresh. I also think the market for foot fetish readers is larger than most people would imagine. It's still a minor sub-genre, but there have to be people interested in reading it.
This is just one more reason why I love working with a publisher like loveyoudivine so much. They allow me the freedom to do this without asking any questions. Sometimes, when I submit something to them, I'm not sure how they will respond. But when I do hear back, it's always something positive and encouraging. And we move forward with the project.
I'm going to post about a few changes I'm going to be making in the coming new year. Like I said, as an author, there's nothing worse than not having the ability to move forward and venture into new areas you haven't been before. This may very well be my first and last foot fetish story, but that doesn't mean there won't be a lot of new things happening in the future.
December 11, 2011
Another Self-Publishing Success Story...Darcie Chan
As the story goes, an author hawked a manuscript to about 100 literary agents and was rejected by each one. Here's the entire piece.
The author, Darcie Chan, finally landed agent Laurie Liss, of Sterling Lord Literistics, formally of the Harvey Klinger Agency. For those who don't know, Laurie Liss, is somewhat infamous for finding bestsellers. Other big books she's found have an almost urban legend feeling, and I don't need to repeat them here. Allegedly, Ms. Liss shopped Ms. Chan's book and no publishers were interested.
Evidently, Laurie Liss was right about Ms. Chan and the publishers missed out once again. According this this article, after the book was self-pubbed, to this date, Ms. Chan's book has sold over 413,000copies.
It makes you wonder what over 100 literary agents missed in Ms. Chan's manuscript that Ms. Liss spotted. It makes you wonder even more why Ms. Liss couldn't find a home for this manuscript and the author had to shelve it for five years and then self-publish it. I applaud Ms. Chan for this. It shows she's tenacious and determined to be an author. And she didn't let over 100 wrong opinions get to her.
But, aside from this self-publishing success story, regardless of how much we keep hearing about them, I thought this was an interesting comment in the article itself:
Digital self-publishing still has serious drawbacks. Though e-books are the fastest-growing segment of the book market, they still make up less than 10% of overall trade book sales, according to the Association of American Publishers. Book reviewers tend to ignore self-published works, and brick-and-mortar bookstores have long shunned them. And very few authors have a marketing and advertising budget equal to a publisher's.
I'm not making any comments on this statement. I'm just going to save this link and refer back to it a year or two from now to see what the percentage of digital books is that makes up the overall book market. Three years ago, e-books were less than 1% of the market. I'd say almost 10% is quite a jump (if this is accurate...I think it's higher) in such a short amount of time. I had an employee in my art gallery about ten years ago who wasn't into reading. I turned her on to Nicholas Sparks and she couldn't get enough. I just read on facebook my former employee is now reading all her books on a kindle fire and loving every minute of it.
The author, Darcie Chan, finally landed agent Laurie Liss, of Sterling Lord Literistics, formally of the Harvey Klinger Agency. For those who don't know, Laurie Liss, is somewhat infamous for finding bestsellers. Other big books she's found have an almost urban legend feeling, and I don't need to repeat them here. Allegedly, Ms. Liss shopped Ms. Chan's book and no publishers were interested.
Evidently, Laurie Liss was right about Ms. Chan and the publishers missed out once again. According this this article, after the book was self-pubbed, to this date, Ms. Chan's book has sold over 413,000copies.
It makes you wonder what over 100 literary agents missed in Ms. Chan's manuscript that Ms. Liss spotted. It makes you wonder even more why Ms. Liss couldn't find a home for this manuscript and the author had to shelve it for five years and then self-publish it. I applaud Ms. Chan for this. It shows she's tenacious and determined to be an author. And she didn't let over 100 wrong opinions get to her.
But, aside from this self-publishing success story, regardless of how much we keep hearing about them, I thought this was an interesting comment in the article itself:
Digital self-publishing still has serious drawbacks. Though e-books are the fastest-growing segment of the book market, they still make up less than 10% of overall trade book sales, according to the Association of American Publishers. Book reviewers tend to ignore self-published works, and brick-and-mortar bookstores have long shunned them. And very few authors have a marketing and advertising budget equal to a publisher's.
I'm not making any comments on this statement. I'm just going to save this link and refer back to it a year or two from now to see what the percentage of digital books is that makes up the overall book market. Three years ago, e-books were less than 1% of the market. I'd say almost 10% is quite a jump (if this is accurate...I think it's higher) in such a short amount of time. I had an employee in my art gallery about ten years ago who wasn't into reading. I turned her on to Nicholas Sparks and she couldn't get enough. I just read on facebook my former employee is now reading all her books on a kindle fire and loving every minute of it.
LGBT Friendly Senior Housing Complex in Philadelphia
For those who don't know, the Philadelphia Gay News (PGN) has been around for a long time and they are still going strong online. It's one of the most respected papers in the country for the LGBT community.
You can get there from here.
I don't get the print paper anymore but I do read them online faithfully.
This article, here, about LGBT friendly senior housing is very interesting. I've been told by a real estate friend that it's allegedly illegal (and not ethical) to say "LGBT Senior Housing" because that would be alleged discrimination. So I guess if they use the word "friendly" it's safe? I don't know the details.
Either way, it's nice to see something like this happening, and in a place not too far from where I live. I've seen many LGBT seniors placed in facilities that weren't LGBT friendly, and it was like putting them in prison. This I've seen first hand. It's not hearsay.
You can get there from here.
I don't get the print paper anymore but I do read them online faithfully.
This article, here, about LGBT friendly senior housing is very interesting. I've been told by a real estate friend that it's allegedly illegal (and not ethical) to say "LGBT Senior Housing" because that would be alleged discrimination. So I guess if they use the word "friendly" it's safe? I don't know the details.
Either way, it's nice to see something like this happening, and in a place not too far from where I live. I've seen many LGBT seniors placed in facilities that weren't LGBT friendly, and it was like putting them in prison. This I've seen first hand. It's not hearsay.
How Mom and Pop Retail Shops React to Amazon Promo
I posted about the promo Amazon was doing here, earlier this week.
And I read something interesting in a fairly local newspaper about how Doylestown, PA, mom and pop retails shops are reacting to the Amazon promo. Here's the lnk. I find the reactions interesting, especially because I did ALL my holiday shopping online this year.
One shop owner said this:
Ellen Mager, owner of the children's bookstore, Booktenders' Secret Garden, isn't planning to let anyone send information to Amazon from her store.
"It's disgraceful, and if anybody comes into my store and tries to do it, they're getting bounced," she said. She added that she would first ask people to stop and then request they leave if they do not comply.
Mager said it would be a slap in the face if a customer tried using Price Check to send information to Amazon. That's "paying somebody to hurt somebody else," she said.
As a preemptive strike, Mager said she also plans to put a sign on her front door saying, "Due to past incidents, this is a no cell phone zone."
Personally, I wouldn't be brazen enough...nor do I have the time...to hop from shop to shop in Doylestown to check prices this way and send info to Amazon. When I shop in small towns like Doylestown, I do it because I enjoy the experience, not because I'm trying to put them out of business. When I want something on Amazon, I simply click on over to Amazon.com, on my computer, tablet, or iPhone, and order what I want directly from the web site.
But if I were to go shopping in Doylestown, and a shop owner told me I wasn't allowed to bring my cell phone in, I'd be insulted and I'd leave. And I wouldn't go back again.
And if I were a shop owner and I found out amazon were selling something far cheaper than I was, I'd lower my prices damn fast. In other words, instead of hanging out a sign that reads "no cell phone zone," my sign would read, "we compete with all Internet prices. Come in and talk to us."
I'd also be looking into ways to build my business online, because the Interwebs are not going to disappear. More people like me are going to do all their shopping online. And that's a fact you can't blame on Amazon.
And I read something interesting in a fairly local newspaper about how Doylestown, PA, mom and pop retails shops are reacting to the Amazon promo. Here's the lnk. I find the reactions interesting, especially because I did ALL my holiday shopping online this year.
One shop owner said this:
Ellen Mager, owner of the children's bookstore, Booktenders' Secret Garden, isn't planning to let anyone send information to Amazon from her store.
"It's disgraceful, and if anybody comes into my store and tries to do it, they're getting bounced," she said. She added that she would first ask people to stop and then request they leave if they do not comply.
Mager said it would be a slap in the face if a customer tried using Price Check to send information to Amazon. That's "paying somebody to hurt somebody else," she said.
As a preemptive strike, Mager said she also plans to put a sign on her front door saying, "Due to past incidents, this is a no cell phone zone."
Personally, I wouldn't be brazen enough...nor do I have the time...to hop from shop to shop in Doylestown to check prices this way and send info to Amazon. When I shop in small towns like Doylestown, I do it because I enjoy the experience, not because I'm trying to put them out of business. When I want something on Amazon, I simply click on over to Amazon.com, on my computer, tablet, or iPhone, and order what I want directly from the web site.
But if I were to go shopping in Doylestown, and a shop owner told me I wasn't allowed to bring my cell phone in, I'd be insulted and I'd leave. And I wouldn't go back again.
And if I were a shop owner and I found out amazon were selling something far cheaper than I was, I'd lower my prices damn fast. In other words, instead of hanging out a sign that reads "no cell phone zone," my sign would read, "we compete with all Internet prices. Come in and talk to us."
I'd also be looking into ways to build my business online, because the Interwebs are not going to disappear. More people like me are going to do all their shopping online. And that's a fact you can't blame on Amazon.
December 10, 2011
Christmas Ideas: Kobo e-ink Reader...Can E-books Be As Personal As Print Books?
Since I posted about the Nook, I figured I'd provide a link for the Kobo e-ink reader.
I do own one of these and I love it. I have no complaints. It's simple to use and for me it provides a very personalized digital reading experience. In fact, this comfortable, personal "feeling" was the last thing I expected when I bought this e-reader.
The personal aspect is something readers don't hear about often. We read books, for the most part, for entertainment and comfort. And I think it's important to mention this part of the experience when making the switch from print books to e-books. I know I hesitated about e-books for a long time because the concept of reading digital books seemed so impersonal. When my first Kobo e-ink reader came in I left it sitting on the desk for almost two weeks.
But when I finally sat down and started reading, I actually found the reading experience itself to be personal and comfortable. I now prefer it to print books because it's more comfortable, and can't imagine going back to reading print books unless it is absolutely necessary.
December 9, 2011
Christmas Gift Ideas...
I love Amazon, but I don't get paid by them...or anyone else...to endorse products, so I'm linking to the Barnes & Noble web site right now so people can check out the Nook e-readers. I'm doing this because some people are still curious about e-readers and don't know where to find basic advice.
I don't own any Nook/Sony products. I have two Kobo e-readers, which I recommend highly. And I have a Kindle and a NextBook tablet, which I recommend highly.
But I have heard good things from people who do own a Nook. So if you're wondering what to get someone for Christmas, check them out here.
If you're just starting out and you're just getting into e-readers, I would suggest you begin with the simple Nook for 99.00. It's a "basic e-ink reader," and you'll find the transition from print books to digital books far more comforting this way. I have a color reader, an Iphone, and a tablet now. But I still find the reading experience more comfortable...intimate...with a basic e-ink reader. It's just reading; there are no distractions. And in a weird way, there's actually something old fashioned about it that's hard to explain.
Let's face it, some day, 50 years from now, when most of us are gone, these e-ink readers are going to be historic, nostalgic, and as collectable as old radios from the 1920's. By then, I can only imagine what people will be reading on...but I doubt it will be something in print they bought at a "brick and mortar" bookstore.
If You're a Blogger, You Should Read This
An Oregon blogger was recently sued for defamation, for 2.5 million. You can read all about it here.
In Oregon, and I would assume many other places, bloggers who are not employed by an official media establishment are not considered journalists. Therefore, they do not qualify for shield-law protection.
The article will explain what shield-law protection is, along with a more in-depth explanation of what happened to the blogger.
But I think it's important for all bloggers to take heed and pay very close attention to what they post online. These days you never know what can happen. The law is, as they say, the law.
In Oregon, and I would assume many other places, bloggers who are not employed by an official media establishment are not considered journalists. Therefore, they do not qualify for shield-law protection.
The article will explain what shield-law protection is, along with a more in-depth explanation of what happened to the blogger.
But I think it's important for all bloggers to take heed and pay very close attention to what they post online. These days you never know what can happen. The law is, as they say, the law.
New Release: THE COMPUTER TUTOR, a New Adult Christmas Novella
It feels like it's taken forever to get this book launched, but it's finally out and you can check it out here.
I'm sure it will be on 1placeforromance.com very soon, along with most other online e-book retailers that sell m/m romance. Here's the Amazon link.
For the first time in young Drew's life, he can't wait to go home for the holidays as an adult instead of a college kid. He's just started a new job, working as a veterinarian at a 24 hour emergency care clinic. But his boss at the animal clinic tells him he has to work Christmas Eve and a good part of Christmas Day because the other ER vet broke her leg. Then it starts to snow on Christmas Eve and Drew's assistant asks if she can go home to set up gifts for her children, leaving him all alone in the clinic with two older dogs who are recuperating from surgery. Drew is bored out of his mind, feeling sorry for himself because he's all alone on Christmas. But it all changes fast when a handsome young man with black hair storms into the clinic with a basket full of newborn puppies in his arms and he begs Drew to save the mother's life.
Amazon News
I think this is interesting. Amazon bought a list of high quality children's books and it's making news everywhere on the Interwebs.
Amazon also decided to run a new promotion for the holidays, where they want readers to go to bookshops, choose books they might be inclinced to purchase, and scan the bar code with an Amazon app in order to receive five bucks off an amazon purchase. The title of this post reads: "Amazon Will Pay Shoppers $5 to Walk Out of Stores Empty-Handed."
I'm not sure exactly how this promo works. But you can read all about it here. And you can check out the actual Amazon promotion here.
So far, in all the publishing blog posts I've read about this promotion, I'm only one of a select few who is actually linking to Amazon and letting readers know about the promotion. The rest have all been tongue in cheek posts, with sardonic remarks that sound a lot like sour grapes from people who haven't been paying attention to what readers want.
Like them or not, aside from all the issues, Amazon has been, and remains to be, on top of their market and they seem to know what they are doing. And when people in publishing were laughing at the possibility of a digital market not longer than five years ago, Amazon was gearing up with technology and ready to go.
And you can't fault someone for being right. You also can't fault them for having a little fun when they are right.[image error]
Amazon also decided to run a new promotion for the holidays, where they want readers to go to bookshops, choose books they might be inclinced to purchase, and scan the bar code with an Amazon app in order to receive five bucks off an amazon purchase. The title of this post reads: "Amazon Will Pay Shoppers $5 to Walk Out of Stores Empty-Handed."
I'm not sure exactly how this promo works. But you can read all about it here. And you can check out the actual Amazon promotion here.
So far, in all the publishing blog posts I've read about this promotion, I'm only one of a select few who is actually linking to Amazon and letting readers know about the promotion. The rest have all been tongue in cheek posts, with sardonic remarks that sound a lot like sour grapes from people who haven't been paying attention to what readers want.
Like them or not, aside from all the issues, Amazon has been, and remains to be, on top of their market and they seem to know what they are doing. And when people in publishing were laughing at the possibility of a digital market not longer than five years ago, Amazon was gearing up with technology and ready to go.
And you can't fault someone for being right. You also can't fault them for having a little fun when they are right.[image error]
December 8, 2011
Reminder: Link to Contest
I post on this blog often, whenever I see something interesting.
So I don't want people to think the free e-book contest got lost. It's still going on and you can get there from here and read the directions.
So far, one reader won a free copy of THE COMPUTER TUTOR.
The contest will go on indefinitely until four more people comment and e-mail me with the correct answer.
And I'll keep posting quick reminders like this until the fifth person comments.
So I don't want people to think the free e-book contest got lost. It's still going on and you can get there from here and read the directions.
So far, one reader won a free copy of THE COMPUTER TUTOR.
The contest will go on indefinitely until four more people comment and e-mail me with the correct answer.
And I'll keep posting quick reminders like this until the fifth person comments.
