Vincent Zandri's Blog, page 14
August 5, 2011
How Art Changes Life
The following blog is "Now Appearing" at The Vincent Zandri Vox: http://vincentzandri.blogspot.com/201...
I have been noticing subtle changes in my son Harrison (Bear) as time moves forward during our month-long stay in Florence, Italy. He is not only paying attention to the art and architecture he views for the first time...David, Hermes Slays Medusa, the Duomo...he is trying to make sense of it all. He finds that the "classic" art has been able to capture the essence of its meaning and in most cases, it is devoid of abstraction. Not a band interpretation for the would-be writer.
Harrison has grown up in a post-post-modern world and is so used to viewing art as an abstraction. Now he is viewing murals and wall paintings that depict "nightmares" so accurately, it's as if he is experiencing them himself.
Today he will see the Uffizi Gallery, the world's most precious collection of Italian art in the world. Giotto, Leonardo, Rubens, Titian, Carravaggio and other masters will peer into Harrison and he will peer into them and his life will be changed even more.
In the process, I get to see how my greatest work of art...my son...will continue to grow and evolve.
Concrete Pearl
I have been noticing subtle changes in my son Harrison (Bear) as time moves forward during our month-long stay in Florence, Italy. He is not only paying attention to the art and architecture he views for the first time...David, Hermes Slays Medusa, the Duomo...he is trying to make sense of it all. He finds that the "classic" art has been able to capture the essence of its meaning and in most cases, it is devoid of abstraction. Not a band interpretation for the would-be writer.
Harrison has grown up in a post-post-modern world and is so used to viewing art as an abstraction. Now he is viewing murals and wall paintings that depict "nightmares" so accurately, it's as if he is experiencing them himself.
Today he will see the Uffizi Gallery, the world's most precious collection of Italian art in the world. Giotto, Leonardo, Rubens, Titian, Carravaggio and other masters will peer into Harrison and he will peer into them and his life will be changed even more.
In the process, I get to see how my greatest work of art...my son...will continue to grow and evolve.
Concrete Pearl
August 2, 2011
Travels with Myself and Another
The following blog is "now appearing" at the Vincent Zandri Vox: http://vincentzandri.blogspot.com/201...
I don't often get to travel with my sons. Most of the time, I'm either on assignment or, more accurately, used to be on assignment before I pretty much started back on fiction full time. Or I'm looking for an escape in order to gather inspiration for a new novel. Or I'm simply looking to get the hell out, which is not uncommon for a guy like me who is always itchy (I think I've mentioned before that I never sit down and watch TV, and it's tough to get me to a movie).
So when the opportunity arose to bring my 17 year old son Harrison (we call him Bear) with me to Italy for the month of August for which I've rented an apartment in Florence, Italy, he and I both jumped at the chance. As some of you already know, Harrison is hoping to become a writer and for now anyway, he has traded in his traditional education for one of being self-taught and simply reading and writing (while he pursues a GED).
He also seems to be in search of the meaning of life these days and asking himself questions that many of us either choose to ignore or run away from because they are so dangerous, the most obvious of which is: Am I really happy?
I may not always appear to be the best father to some people, but I know to others I am an exceptional father. I guess I fall somewhere in the middle. My life in unconventional at best but the love I have for my kids can't be defined in terms of convention of mandates, rules, mores or otherwise. It's simply an unconditional love no matter how often or not-so-often I get to see them.
Harrison and I will be living close quarters for the next month in a second floor downtown Florence apartment in a four-hundred year old building, that's spacious and breezy, with plaster walls, exposed wood ceiling beams, tile floors, french windows and doors, and a large terrace that supports an arbor. I will be writing my new novel and reading over the galleys for Moonlight Rises and Scream Catcher while outlining a new romantic suspense novel based upon one of my most anthologized and translated short stories. We will head to Rome, Pisa and Venice, and we will see the museums and eat the food and drink the drink. But mostly we will spend time together, getting to know one another, as father and son, and as writers.
(To be continued...)
Concrete Pearl
I don't often get to travel with my sons. Most of the time, I'm either on assignment or, more accurately, used to be on assignment before I pretty much started back on fiction full time. Or I'm looking for an escape in order to gather inspiration for a new novel. Or I'm simply looking to get the hell out, which is not uncommon for a guy like me who is always itchy (I think I've mentioned before that I never sit down and watch TV, and it's tough to get me to a movie).
So when the opportunity arose to bring my 17 year old son Harrison (we call him Bear) with me to Italy for the month of August for which I've rented an apartment in Florence, Italy, he and I both jumped at the chance. As some of you already know, Harrison is hoping to become a writer and for now anyway, he has traded in his traditional education for one of being self-taught and simply reading and writing (while he pursues a GED).
He also seems to be in search of the meaning of life these days and asking himself questions that many of us either choose to ignore or run away from because they are so dangerous, the most obvious of which is: Am I really happy?
I may not always appear to be the best father to some people, but I know to others I am an exceptional father. I guess I fall somewhere in the middle. My life in unconventional at best but the love I have for my kids can't be defined in terms of convention of mandates, rules, mores or otherwise. It's simply an unconditional love no matter how often or not-so-often I get to see them.
Harrison and I will be living close quarters for the next month in a second floor downtown Florence apartment in a four-hundred year old building, that's spacious and breezy, with plaster walls, exposed wood ceiling beams, tile floors, french windows and doors, and a large terrace that supports an arbor. I will be writing my new novel and reading over the galleys for Moonlight Rises and Scream Catcher while outlining a new romantic suspense novel based upon one of my most anthologized and translated short stories. We will head to Rome, Pisa and Venice, and we will see the museums and eat the food and drink the drink. But mostly we will spend time together, getting to know one another, as father and son, and as writers.
(To be continued...)
Concrete Pearl
July 30, 2011
Author CJ West Goes Mano E Mano with Hollywood
The following blog is "now appearing" in slightly different form at The Vincent Zandri Vox: http://vincentzandri.blogspot.com/201...
Whenever I think about Hollywood I can't help but be reminded of that old Looneytoon cartoon where the desperate construction worker discovers a singing frog locked inside a "Pandora's box" buried in the rubble of a demo'd building. After he opens the box, the frog appears. It dons a top hat, cane, and starts belting out a version of "Mammy" that would bring tears to your eyes. The construction worker literally sees dollar signs floating around his brain. He quits his job and takes the frog to every agent and producer in town. Problem is, the frog just won't sing for anyone but the construction worker. In the end, the guy gets drunk, and ditches the frog. So much for the dream of getting rich and famous in Tinseltown. But hey, that's showbiz folks.
Like my guest blogger today, bestselling indie author and all around super-talented young man, CJ West, I too have had my share of Hollywood close shaves. The first came when my novel As Catch Can (now THE INNOCENT) was first published by Delacorte Press back in 1999. It got reads from Clooney, Dustin Hoffman, DeNiro, and other top tier actors. The most promising reads however were coming from DreamWorks who read the original script, then the galley and finally the finished book. My agent at the time told me to "keep you phone on you all weekend, bro, cause we're gonna get a deal." I did keep the phone on. It didn't ring. DreamWorks never made an offer. Life went on.
Some months later in NYC, said agent tossed a copy of Variety or some sort of Hollywood rag in my face. "Hey bro," he says, "Oh ah, I've been sort of writing my own script on the side and jeeze, wouldn't you know it, I scored big. And ah, hope you don't mind, but I used one of your titles!" My own agent sold his own freakin' script for 600K to Kevin Spacey when I was paying him to sell mine, and the SOB had the coyones to lift one of my titles. I almost decked him right there in his Broadway office. Oh well, later on the deal fell through and the option ran out and so did said agent. Word up is he's on the run from the FBI for extortion. Hey, you can't make this stuff up if you were writing a grade B script for...well...you know the town...
But that's show biz folks.
Here's how CJ West is about to make his mark on the movie scene, and it's got nothing to do with slick agents and false promises. It's got everything to do with his talent:
My Hollywood Rollercoaster Ride
In October 2008 I received a Myspace message that made me stand up, pace around my office, and consider that my writing life had changed forever. I Googled “Marla Cukor” and discovered she was an award-winning journalist who worked for In Touch Weekly and wrote short films that starred actors whose names I knew.
You might think I’m easily excited and you might be right, but this was big news.
By the time Marla optioned my book Sin & Vengeance for film, I had been writing every day for nine years. I wrote because I was addicted to the sheer joy of writing. Bestsellerdom was beyond my wildest expectations, but suddenly the idea of writing success was thrust upon me. What if the movie was made?
Marla’s offer to write a script that could bring my book to the big screen ratcheted me up the first hill on my rollercoaster ride one clink at a time, but the drop came quickly. Once the paperwork was signed, we talked about how the book would be adapted to the screen. The uninitiated might think the screenwriter simply takes the book and reformats it for the actors. (If you are curious about the process, I plan to blog about my experience sometime soon.) I wasn’t that naive, but I had no idea what Marla had planned until she started asking questions like, “What happens if we get rid of the money?” The money in Sin & Vengeance is a major subplot that ties much of the book together. I felt queasy after our first consultation. I owned the book, but Marla owned the screenplay. There were going to be changes. Big changes.
Luckily Marla wanted the screenplay to be true to the book and went to great lengths to capture the relationship between Randy Black and Charlie Marston. She dialed in while I visited two book groups so she could ask what elements of the book the women wanted to see on the screen. One of the book club members came up with an idea for a scene that is still in the script.
When Marla was done with her second draft, we brought together a focus group of readers who loved the book and were curious about the movie. They read the screenplay and came to my home with pages of notes. Marla listened to their ideas and the screenplay reached a new high.
The next hill came when we “went out” in Hollywood and got immediate interest. We waited and waited but the phone didn’t ring. Finally after a few months Marla told me about the owner of a small production company who previewed an early version of the script and loved it. I met with their director and approved an option to send the film into development. They weren’t a big Hollywood studio that could bring high impact special effects to my story, but they truly loved the script. A few months later they called to tell me they’d upped their budget from $1 million to $3.5 million. That meant better special effects, better actors, a better film. I was jazzed. All we needed was an investor with $3.5 million and I could watch a film based on my book.
Over the next two years we had a few close calls. Marla and I were asked to prepare material for interested investors. Respected directors expressed interest. Actors wanted to play Randy Black. With the film on the edge of being made, each piece of good news got my blood pumping, but in the end the pieces never came together and the option expired. Even though my ride had come to an end, the experience transformed the way I think about my writing. So many people invested their time and money in this project that I can’t help but be proud of what I created in Sin & Vengeance and hopeful that one of my future books may make the leap to the screen or even better, the bestseller lists.
A few weeks ago I got a call to let me know an “important” Hollywood producer was reading the script. It seems once you get on this ride you can’t get off, you’ve just got to learn to enjoy the breeze.
Concrete Pearl
Whenever I think about Hollywood I can't help but be reminded of that old Looneytoon cartoon where the desperate construction worker discovers a singing frog locked inside a "Pandora's box" buried in the rubble of a demo'd building. After he opens the box, the frog appears. It dons a top hat, cane, and starts belting out a version of "Mammy" that would bring tears to your eyes. The construction worker literally sees dollar signs floating around his brain. He quits his job and takes the frog to every agent and producer in town. Problem is, the frog just won't sing for anyone but the construction worker. In the end, the guy gets drunk, and ditches the frog. So much for the dream of getting rich and famous in Tinseltown. But hey, that's showbiz folks.
Like my guest blogger today, bestselling indie author and all around super-talented young man, CJ West, I too have had my share of Hollywood close shaves. The first came when my novel As Catch Can (now THE INNOCENT) was first published by Delacorte Press back in 1999. It got reads from Clooney, Dustin Hoffman, DeNiro, and other top tier actors. The most promising reads however were coming from DreamWorks who read the original script, then the galley and finally the finished book. My agent at the time told me to "keep you phone on you all weekend, bro, cause we're gonna get a deal." I did keep the phone on. It didn't ring. DreamWorks never made an offer. Life went on.
Some months later in NYC, said agent tossed a copy of Variety or some sort of Hollywood rag in my face. "Hey bro," he says, "Oh ah, I've been sort of writing my own script on the side and jeeze, wouldn't you know it, I scored big. And ah, hope you don't mind, but I used one of your titles!" My own agent sold his own freakin' script for 600K to Kevin Spacey when I was paying him to sell mine, and the SOB had the coyones to lift one of my titles. I almost decked him right there in his Broadway office. Oh well, later on the deal fell through and the option ran out and so did said agent. Word up is he's on the run from the FBI for extortion. Hey, you can't make this stuff up if you were writing a grade B script for...well...you know the town...
But that's show biz folks.
Here's how CJ West is about to make his mark on the movie scene, and it's got nothing to do with slick agents and false promises. It's got everything to do with his talent:
My Hollywood Rollercoaster Ride
In October 2008 I received a Myspace message that made me stand up, pace around my office, and consider that my writing life had changed forever. I Googled “Marla Cukor” and discovered she was an award-winning journalist who worked for In Touch Weekly and wrote short films that starred actors whose names I knew.
You might think I’m easily excited and you might be right, but this was big news.
By the time Marla optioned my book Sin & Vengeance for film, I had been writing every day for nine years. I wrote because I was addicted to the sheer joy of writing. Bestsellerdom was beyond my wildest expectations, but suddenly the idea of writing success was thrust upon me. What if the movie was made?
Marla’s offer to write a script that could bring my book to the big screen ratcheted me up the first hill on my rollercoaster ride one clink at a time, but the drop came quickly. Once the paperwork was signed, we talked about how the book would be adapted to the screen. The uninitiated might think the screenwriter simply takes the book and reformats it for the actors. (If you are curious about the process, I plan to blog about my experience sometime soon.) I wasn’t that naive, but I had no idea what Marla had planned until she started asking questions like, “What happens if we get rid of the money?” The money in Sin & Vengeance is a major subplot that ties much of the book together. I felt queasy after our first consultation. I owned the book, but Marla owned the screenplay. There were going to be changes. Big changes.
Luckily Marla wanted the screenplay to be true to the book and went to great lengths to capture the relationship between Randy Black and Charlie Marston. She dialed in while I visited two book groups so she could ask what elements of the book the women wanted to see on the screen. One of the book club members came up with an idea for a scene that is still in the script.
When Marla was done with her second draft, we brought together a focus group of readers who loved the book and were curious about the movie. They read the screenplay and came to my home with pages of notes. Marla listened to their ideas and the screenplay reached a new high.
The next hill came when we “went out” in Hollywood and got immediate interest. We waited and waited but the phone didn’t ring. Finally after a few months Marla told me about the owner of a small production company who previewed an early version of the script and loved it. I met with their director and approved an option to send the film into development. They weren’t a big Hollywood studio that could bring high impact special effects to my story, but they truly loved the script. A few months later they called to tell me they’d upped their budget from $1 million to $3.5 million. That meant better special effects, better actors, a better film. I was jazzed. All we needed was an investor with $3.5 million and I could watch a film based on my book.
Over the next two years we had a few close calls. Marla and I were asked to prepare material for interested investors. Respected directors expressed interest. Actors wanted to play Randy Black. With the film on the edge of being made, each piece of good news got my blood pumping, but in the end the pieces never came together and the option expired. Even though my ride had come to an end, the experience transformed the way I think about my writing. So many people invested their time and money in this project that I can’t help but be proud of what I created in Sin & Vengeance and hopeful that one of my future books may make the leap to the screen or even better, the bestseller lists.
A few weeks ago I got a call to let me know an “important” Hollywood producer was reading the script. It seems once you get on this ride you can’t get off, you’ve just got to learn to enjoy the breeze.
Concrete Pearl
July 28, 2011
The Rock Under Which We Live
The following blog is "now appearing" at The Vincent Zandri Vox: http://vincentzandri.blogspot.com/201...
Yesterday was a banner day for running into people asking me where they can find my new books. I've decided to categorize these kinds of folks and create a blog around them for your viewing/reading entertainment. So here goes:
THE SKEPTICAL SUBURBANITE:
This guy married rich, likes his clothes, sells real estate, smokes but doesn't consider himself a smoker, drives one of those enormous SUVs that cost more than his boat to fill up, and he pastes stickers on the back windshield so that everyone who tailgates knows he spends time in Cape Cod or Martha's Vinyard or somewhere like that...one of those old friends who sort of used to be a really cool best friend, but who became more like someone your dad would hang out with once he got married and took up residence in a suburban McMansion.
I spot him outside a coffee shop and through the rolled down window of his SUV he smiles a Pepsident smile and says, "I went to Borders to find Concrete Pearl. And it wasn't there."
Well, first of all old friend, Borders is caput. Done. Dead. Gone. Liquified...And even if they were alive and still thriving, Pearl wouldn't be there yet since it's out in E-Book first, and later in trade paper.
He responds with, Well, I tried to download the Sony version to my iPhone.
Ok, fair enough there, but we (meaning my pub, StoneHouse/StoneGate) avoid Sony like the plague since they indiscriminately drop the prices on their books. How about a Kindle.
He tells me, he doesn't have a Kindle.
I tell him, you can download a Kindle reader for free to your computer or Smartphone.
He shakes his head.
I say, Tell you what, I'll email you the galley for free.
He tells me he's not trying to be be cheap.
Huh? Where did that come from?
Finally, I just shrug my shoulders.
Now this dude is perfectly aware that I've sold hundreds of thousands of EBooks of The Remains, The Innocent, Moonlight Falls, etc, because it's gotten a bunch of press in both local papers and even USA TODAY. But he gives me this look like, My mom always warned me about hanging out with your type. He drives off. I'm glad.
THE TRADITIONALIST
I run into her in my dad's office, where I'm sending out some paper copies of my books to some fans who requested signed copies. She's accounts payable, about 50, married once and divorced, but would like to find another partner soon. Pictures of her kids taped to the wall beside her desk. Sweet but sad, and at times funny and always watching her weight. Likes classic rock and American Idle.
She says, "When can I get a copy of you new books?"
I give her the EBook speech.
I could never do that, she explains. I need to feel the book in my hand, smell the paper, put it on my shelf. I could never read electronic print, because it would hurt my eyes.
Me, shrugging my shoulders. Looks like you're SOL ...
But then she explains how her 20-something daughter bought a Kindle and loves it.
That should tell her something right there.
A call comes in. She takes it. I leave.
THE "CALL ME OLD FASHIONED" GUY
Guy's good looking, maybe an engineer but a secret wanna-be rock star. 40-something, lives in the burbs, a couple of kids, defying the odds by still being married to the same girl after 15-plus years. Hard worker. Saves his money. Rarely takes a vacation. A good guy. Kind of guy you like to stop and chat with at the gym, and who you might have played with everyday during your summer vacation if you grew up in the same neighborhood.
But he's also the kind of guy who calls himself, "Old fashioned," even though he listens to the newest alternative music being released every other day. He's on Facebook and Twitter and Myspace, and he knows more about you than you realize so that when you run into him he says, "Jeeze, you've got another book coming out?" It's followed with a giggle and a semi-disbelieving glare.
You try to give him the short of it with the "all my back list books are now being published for the first time, or republished," and he sort of shakes his head. He asks you when they'll be available in paper and you have to go through that speech too. But in order to stress your point you mention how he doesn't buy his music at record shops anymore, or go to the Blockbuster or for that matter, the local Borders.
He smiles, nods, and says, Well looks like you got into the EBook market at the right time.
You nod, smile, and hahahaha...yeah, I know. What the else you gonna say cause you just want to get the hell away from the conversation. You politely tell him you gotta run.
But before you go he says, I hope the good luck lasts.
Thanks for the warning buddy. You know precisely what he means. I hope the EBook "fad" doesn't fade anytime soon and you're back to looking for real work.
I usually finish by telling this kind of person, the fad will end only when it's the end of the world and the power supply is gone and we are back to writing on cave walls. But I'm not sure he would understand this kind of forward thinking.
He's too old fashioned.
Concrete Pearl
Yesterday was a banner day for running into people asking me where they can find my new books. I've decided to categorize these kinds of folks and create a blog around them for your viewing/reading entertainment. So here goes:
THE SKEPTICAL SUBURBANITE:
This guy married rich, likes his clothes, sells real estate, smokes but doesn't consider himself a smoker, drives one of those enormous SUVs that cost more than his boat to fill up, and he pastes stickers on the back windshield so that everyone who tailgates knows he spends time in Cape Cod or Martha's Vinyard or somewhere like that...one of those old friends who sort of used to be a really cool best friend, but who became more like someone your dad would hang out with once he got married and took up residence in a suburban McMansion.
I spot him outside a coffee shop and through the rolled down window of his SUV he smiles a Pepsident smile and says, "I went to Borders to find Concrete Pearl. And it wasn't there."
Well, first of all old friend, Borders is caput. Done. Dead. Gone. Liquified...And even if they were alive and still thriving, Pearl wouldn't be there yet since it's out in E-Book first, and later in trade paper.
He responds with, Well, I tried to download the Sony version to my iPhone.
Ok, fair enough there, but we (meaning my pub, StoneHouse/StoneGate) avoid Sony like the plague since they indiscriminately drop the prices on their books. How about a Kindle.
He tells me, he doesn't have a Kindle.
I tell him, you can download a Kindle reader for free to your computer or Smartphone.
He shakes his head.
I say, Tell you what, I'll email you the galley for free.
He tells me he's not trying to be be cheap.
Huh? Where did that come from?
Finally, I just shrug my shoulders.
Now this dude is perfectly aware that I've sold hundreds of thousands of EBooks of The Remains, The Innocent, Moonlight Falls, etc, because it's gotten a bunch of press in both local papers and even USA TODAY. But he gives me this look like, My mom always warned me about hanging out with your type. He drives off. I'm glad.
THE TRADITIONALIST
I run into her in my dad's office, where I'm sending out some paper copies of my books to some fans who requested signed copies. She's accounts payable, about 50, married once and divorced, but would like to find another partner soon. Pictures of her kids taped to the wall beside her desk. Sweet but sad, and at times funny and always watching her weight. Likes classic rock and American Idle.
She says, "When can I get a copy of you new books?"
I give her the EBook speech.
I could never do that, she explains. I need to feel the book in my hand, smell the paper, put it on my shelf. I could never read electronic print, because it would hurt my eyes.
Me, shrugging my shoulders. Looks like you're SOL ...
But then she explains how her 20-something daughter bought a Kindle and loves it.
That should tell her something right there.
A call comes in. She takes it. I leave.
THE "CALL ME OLD FASHIONED" GUY
Guy's good looking, maybe an engineer but a secret wanna-be rock star. 40-something, lives in the burbs, a couple of kids, defying the odds by still being married to the same girl after 15-plus years. Hard worker. Saves his money. Rarely takes a vacation. A good guy. Kind of guy you like to stop and chat with at the gym, and who you might have played with everyday during your summer vacation if you grew up in the same neighborhood.
But he's also the kind of guy who calls himself, "Old fashioned," even though he listens to the newest alternative music being released every other day. He's on Facebook and Twitter and Myspace, and he knows more about you than you realize so that when you run into him he says, "Jeeze, you've got another book coming out?" It's followed with a giggle and a semi-disbelieving glare.
You try to give him the short of it with the "all my back list books are now being published for the first time, or republished," and he sort of shakes his head. He asks you when they'll be available in paper and you have to go through that speech too. But in order to stress your point you mention how he doesn't buy his music at record shops anymore, or go to the Blockbuster or for that matter, the local Borders.
He smiles, nods, and says, Well looks like you got into the EBook market at the right time.
You nod, smile, and hahahaha...yeah, I know. What the else you gonna say cause you just want to get the hell away from the conversation. You politely tell him you gotta run.
But before you go he says, I hope the good luck lasts.
Thanks for the warning buddy. You know precisely what he means. I hope the EBook "fad" doesn't fade anytime soon and you're back to looking for real work.
I usually finish by telling this kind of person, the fad will end only when it's the end of the world and the power supply is gone and we are back to writing on cave walls. But I'm not sure he would understand this kind of forward thinking.
He's too old fashioned.
Concrete Pearl
July 23, 2011
So What are You? Indy or Anal
The following blog is "Now Appearing" at The Vincent Zandri Vox:
If I had a nickle for every time I got asked the question, "Are you a seat-of-the-pants kind of writer or a planner?" In other words, am I bull who just barrels ahead without mapping out my scenes ahead of time in the hopes of allowing my story to form naturally or what all the no-gluten-professor geeks at writing school call, "organically?" Or do you actually write up character sketches that include everything from place of birth to bathroom habits, and then map out each chapter detail for detail?
The answer I give is not really an answer.
"It depends on the book," I tell them. "And it also depends on the character."
If I'm writing a book like THE REMAINS that's intended to be stand-alone literary thriller that contains subject matter such as identical twins, modern art and autistic savants and that is also told from the P.O.V. of a women, you can bet your bottom ten-spot that I'm gonna plan it out ahead of time. I'm also going to do some meticulous research so that those Brown Shirt sabotage reviewers on Amazon don't try and crucify me yet again (Screw 'em!). In the end if I've done my job right and the writing is convincing enough, I just might have a bestseller on my hands. And THE REMAINS has been just that. A bestseller for over a year (And many thanks to those who have reviewed responsibly and spent precious time writing mature and critically appreciated reviews. I love you!)
But if I'm writing a novel like one of the Dick Moonlight Serials, now that's another story altogether. The Richard "Dick" Moonlight of MOONLIGHT FALLS, MOONLIGHT MAFIA, and the forthcoming MOONLIGHT RISES and MURDER BY MOONLIGHT is a total train wreck of a guy. He's got a little piece of .22 caliber bullet lodged inside his brain from a failed suicide attempt. The piece has lodged itself right beside his cerebral cortex causing him the occasional short term memory lapse and lack of judgement, especially under times of stress, which is usually always. He drinks too much, and he can also pass out at any time or even suffer stroke, coma and death. In a word, Moonlight has no clue if he'll be alive from one minute to the next. So his relentless search for right over wrong is always an unplanned adventure. Since he narrates all of his own stories, I feel the best way to write his books is to do so by the seat-of-my-pants. And thus far anyway, you loyal readers of mine (you know who you are), have sort of fallen in love with the dude. And that's a cool thing since he's the character who is most like me.
So what's the best way for you to write your book?
Remember when you'd ask you mom or dad what was for dinner, and not having decided on anything yet, they might ask you in return, "Well what do you feel like?" A lot of what we decide to put in our body is based not only on a craving but more so on what our bodies are lacking at that time. If we're protein starved we want meat or chicken. If were worn out and carb poor, we want pasta or even pizza.
It's the same with writing. Listen to you body and your brain, but most of all listen to your gut. Not your gut mind you, but the gut inside your main character. Is he or she someone who will want to be guided and reigned in? Or is he or she someone who won't plan for the next five minutes much less two afternoons from now?
Just remember, writing is a personal venture and there is no right or wrong way to do it. There is only just doing it.
Visit Vincent Zandri (that's me!) at Amazon's Author Central: (they asked me to say that!)
Concrete Pearl
If I had a nickle for every time I got asked the question, "Are you a seat-of-the-pants kind of writer or a planner?" In other words, am I bull who just barrels ahead without mapping out my scenes ahead of time in the hopes of allowing my story to form naturally or what all the no-gluten-professor geeks at writing school call, "organically?" Or do you actually write up character sketches that include everything from place of birth to bathroom habits, and then map out each chapter detail for detail?
The answer I give is not really an answer.
"It depends on the book," I tell them. "And it also depends on the character."
If I'm writing a book like THE REMAINS that's intended to be stand-alone literary thriller that contains subject matter such as identical twins, modern art and autistic savants and that is also told from the P.O.V. of a women, you can bet your bottom ten-spot that I'm gonna plan it out ahead of time. I'm also going to do some meticulous research so that those Brown Shirt sabotage reviewers on Amazon don't try and crucify me yet again (Screw 'em!). In the end if I've done my job right and the writing is convincing enough, I just might have a bestseller on my hands. And THE REMAINS has been just that. A bestseller for over a year (And many thanks to those who have reviewed responsibly and spent precious time writing mature and critically appreciated reviews. I love you!)
But if I'm writing a novel like one of the Dick Moonlight Serials, now that's another story altogether. The Richard "Dick" Moonlight of MOONLIGHT FALLS, MOONLIGHT MAFIA, and the forthcoming MOONLIGHT RISES and MURDER BY MOONLIGHT is a total train wreck of a guy. He's got a little piece of .22 caliber bullet lodged inside his brain from a failed suicide attempt. The piece has lodged itself right beside his cerebral cortex causing him the occasional short term memory lapse and lack of judgement, especially under times of stress, which is usually always. He drinks too much, and he can also pass out at any time or even suffer stroke, coma and death. In a word, Moonlight has no clue if he'll be alive from one minute to the next. So his relentless search for right over wrong is always an unplanned adventure. Since he narrates all of his own stories, I feel the best way to write his books is to do so by the seat-of-my-pants. And thus far anyway, you loyal readers of mine (you know who you are), have sort of fallen in love with the dude. And that's a cool thing since he's the character who is most like me.
So what's the best way for you to write your book?
Remember when you'd ask you mom or dad what was for dinner, and not having decided on anything yet, they might ask you in return, "Well what do you feel like?" A lot of what we decide to put in our body is based not only on a craving but more so on what our bodies are lacking at that time. If we're protein starved we want meat or chicken. If were worn out and carb poor, we want pasta or even pizza.
It's the same with writing. Listen to you body and your brain, but most of all listen to your gut. Not your gut mind you, but the gut inside your main character. Is he or she someone who will want to be guided and reigned in? Or is he or she someone who won't plan for the next five minutes much less two afternoons from now?
Just remember, writing is a personal venture and there is no right or wrong way to do it. There is only just doing it.
Visit Vincent Zandri (that's me!) at Amazon's Author Central: (they asked me to say that!)
Concrete Pearl
July 20, 2011
Steve DeWinter is a Hot New Indie Author
The following blog is "Now Appearing" at the Vincent Zandri Vox:
His name might literally mean "of Winter" but this bestselling indie author is becoming hotter and hotter with books like Inherit the Throne. I met Steve DeWinter in person at the recent ITW Thrillerfest in NYC and we hit it off smashingly as they say in Londontown. We tipped a few, cruised into the heart of Hells Kitchen for some Asian along with my girlfriend and publisher Aaron Patterson, and just generally laughed a lot at some silly stuff. Oh, did I tell you that despite his serious talent, dude's as silly as I am?
Ladies and gentlemen I'm happy to introduce to you for the very first time, Steve DeWinter:
Publishing is a lot like baseball.
There are seasoned professionals who have been playing the game for a long time and then there are the rookies who are just starting out. The same can be said for published authors.
For the sake of argument, let’s consider those authors who go through publishing houses as seasoned professionals. Now before you get your panties in a bunch, let me just say that the reason I have put authors who have signed on with traditional publishers (and a growing number of indie-publishers like StoneHouse Ink) in the professional category, is that these publishers invest in the books they publish. Money has been spent, prior to publishing the book, to ensure that all the spelling, punctuation, grammar and word usage (hear vs here) errors have been vetted and eradicated. These books are put through a rigorous editing and proofing phase before they are released for public consumption.
Now that I have qualified the professionals, I'm sure we can all guess who the rookies are? I'm not saying that a rookie author can't write a great story, but if you are the type of reader who is jarred by the occasional misspelling, and cannot enjoy a book because of it, you will want to stick with the professional authors. But here is your quandary. With online retailers like Amazon and Barnes & Noble opening up the floodgates and letting just anyone publish their eBooks for Kindle and Nook, how can you, the reader, tell the difference between the seasoned professional and the rookie?
By the editing.
There are two forms of editing that can be done for a book. There is objective editing and subjective editing. What’s the difference you might ask, editing is editing. Not quite. Objective editing is based on hard and fast rules of spelling, punctuation and grammar. As an author, you will never find yourself arguing with an editor over the spelling of a word. There is only one way a word is spelled correctly; and that is that. It is the subjective editing that pits author against editor all too often. Subjective changes (story flow, funnier dialogue, etc.) are changes that all boil down to a matter of personal taste. And these changes are not necessarily improvements, just changes.
If an author has done their homework and learned the craft of writing, all they really need is an objective edit by a proofer. Someone who will check to make sure that the spelling, punctuation and grammar (the objective and unquestionable changes) is perfect in their book. Everything else is subjective.
But what if I don’t want to waste my money on a rookie author’s book filled with spelling and grammar errors, what do I do? One of the easiest ways is to read the comments written by other readers and reviewers. Don’t worry about how many stars someone gave in their rating, which is all subjective anyway, just read the comments. All the comments. Even the comments on the comments.
And here is what you are looking for: Feedback about spelling and grammar. Look for this type of feedback even in the five-star reviews. I can guarantee that if there are no mistakes, it will not be mentioned. Nobody ever puts in their review, "I was pleased to find that every word in this book was spelled correctly."
In baseball, it takes years of practice for the rookie player to become the seasoned professional.
Thank goodness publishing is not exactly like baseball.
After being dinged by reviewers early in my published career for the handful of spelling and grammar mistakes in my debut thriller, I realized I needed to elevate myself above rookie status and invest in my books. I needed to be more than self-published; I needed to be a self-publisher. By hiring a solid objective editor (a proofer), I would propel myself out of the ranks of being another rush-to-self-publish rookie and into the professional category of authors.
And do you know who really wins? My readers!
I want to write the best stories possible, but I don't want to make it hard for my readers to enjoy my books by publishing them filled with rookie mistakes.
Concrete Pearl
His name might literally mean "of Winter" but this bestselling indie author is becoming hotter and hotter with books like Inherit the Throne. I met Steve DeWinter in person at the recent ITW Thrillerfest in NYC and we hit it off smashingly as they say in Londontown. We tipped a few, cruised into the heart of Hells Kitchen for some Asian along with my girlfriend and publisher Aaron Patterson, and just generally laughed a lot at some silly stuff. Oh, did I tell you that despite his serious talent, dude's as silly as I am?
Ladies and gentlemen I'm happy to introduce to you for the very first time, Steve DeWinter:
Publishing is a lot like baseball.
There are seasoned professionals who have been playing the game for a long time and then there are the rookies who are just starting out. The same can be said for published authors.
For the sake of argument, let’s consider those authors who go through publishing houses as seasoned professionals. Now before you get your panties in a bunch, let me just say that the reason I have put authors who have signed on with traditional publishers (and a growing number of indie-publishers like StoneHouse Ink) in the professional category, is that these publishers invest in the books they publish. Money has been spent, prior to publishing the book, to ensure that all the spelling, punctuation, grammar and word usage (hear vs here) errors have been vetted and eradicated. These books are put through a rigorous editing and proofing phase before they are released for public consumption.
Now that I have qualified the professionals, I'm sure we can all guess who the rookies are? I'm not saying that a rookie author can't write a great story, but if you are the type of reader who is jarred by the occasional misspelling, and cannot enjoy a book because of it, you will want to stick with the professional authors. But here is your quandary. With online retailers like Amazon and Barnes & Noble opening up the floodgates and letting just anyone publish their eBooks for Kindle and Nook, how can you, the reader, tell the difference between the seasoned professional and the rookie?
By the editing.
There are two forms of editing that can be done for a book. There is objective editing and subjective editing. What’s the difference you might ask, editing is editing. Not quite. Objective editing is based on hard and fast rules of spelling, punctuation and grammar. As an author, you will never find yourself arguing with an editor over the spelling of a word. There is only one way a word is spelled correctly; and that is that. It is the subjective editing that pits author against editor all too often. Subjective changes (story flow, funnier dialogue, etc.) are changes that all boil down to a matter of personal taste. And these changes are not necessarily improvements, just changes.
If an author has done their homework and learned the craft of writing, all they really need is an objective edit by a proofer. Someone who will check to make sure that the spelling, punctuation and grammar (the objective and unquestionable changes) is perfect in their book. Everything else is subjective.
But what if I don’t want to waste my money on a rookie author’s book filled with spelling and grammar errors, what do I do? One of the easiest ways is to read the comments written by other readers and reviewers. Don’t worry about how many stars someone gave in their rating, which is all subjective anyway, just read the comments. All the comments. Even the comments on the comments.
And here is what you are looking for: Feedback about spelling and grammar. Look for this type of feedback even in the five-star reviews. I can guarantee that if there are no mistakes, it will not be mentioned. Nobody ever puts in their review, "I was pleased to find that every word in this book was spelled correctly."
In baseball, it takes years of practice for the rookie player to become the seasoned professional.
Thank goodness publishing is not exactly like baseball.
After being dinged by reviewers early in my published career for the handful of spelling and grammar mistakes in my debut thriller, I realized I needed to elevate myself above rookie status and invest in my books. I needed to be more than self-published; I needed to be a self-publisher. By hiring a solid objective editor (a proofer), I would propel myself out of the ranks of being another rush-to-self-publish rookie and into the professional category of authors.
And do you know who really wins? My readers!
I want to write the best stories possible, but I don't want to make it hard for my readers to enjoy my books by publishing them filled with rookie mistakes.
Concrete Pearl
July 18, 2011
Is Indie Publishing Dead?
The following blog is "now appearing" at The Vincent Zandri Vox: http://vincentzandri.blogspot.com/201...
Bestselling indie Scott Nicholson most definitely falls into that, "If we lived in the same town we'd be steadfast buds" category. Or maybe my association with him, although limited to internet, runs even deeper in a sort of cosmic, old soul sense. We've got more things in common than I did any of my ex-wives before I married them (don't get nervous Scott...). Like me he's journalist, a musician, a lover of adventure and history, and maintains an intense passion for creative writing and genre fiction. He's into some great bands too, like XTC, Elvis Costello and The Beatles. No wonder he's made quite a splash on the Indie scene. Like most successful dudes however, he comes equipped with well honed built-in shit detector which allows him to be realistic about what the future holds for authors and publishing. Like his guest post will reveal, what seems like a great independent publishing opp right now can soon turn into something that won't be indie at all anymore. That is, once the big houses pick up on all that we are teaching them about selling books.
But then, judge for yourself. That's what Scott does.
Take it away Scott:
Indie Publishing Is Dead
By Scott Nicholson
http://www.hauntedcomputer.com
Nobody wants to read yet another blah-blah-blah indie author post unless it’s controversial. So how about this one: indie publishing is dead.
Does that work for you? Or are you an author whose personal identity is somehow tied up in a specific outcome? You know the drill: the NY author under contract who insists NY publishing is the way to go, or the indie author who got rejected a hundred times by NY who says indie is the way to go because NY sux, or the suddenly-hip “hybrid author” who is “taking advantage of both opportunities,” usually because they have a lot of dead backlist but are still stuck in indentured servitude and have no real choice.
Yes, it’s great fodder for forum flame wars, except we all have to mutually agree or risk somebody slamming us with an anonymous one-star review or declining to retweet our hot sales link. So we only hang out where everyone has the same opinions as ours, because we’d rather be validated than right.
We are all equally right and wrong. I’ve been big pubbed, small pubbed, self pubbed, and soon to be pubbed in ways that are only now coming into existence. And all the words are roughly the same, the talent level is the same, the storytelling style is the same. And while the fracturing of publishing methods continues, it will also slop over, in much the same way all the distinct genres of music eventually get lumped into “rock ‘n’ roll” once they lose their freshness.
Indie publishing is dead because we, the current crop of indie authors, are teaching New York how to publish books. I know, that seems crazy, but publishing has always been a crap shoot, with a lot of money backing almost every bestseller and nothing but luck and the author’s tireless marketing backing the other infrequent successes. But corporations aren’t just nabbing superstar indie authors. They are paying attention to how books are presented, where they are priced, what readers really want instead of following outdated Bookscan reports that serve to reinforce the perception that publishers were—surprise!—geniuses at turning bestsellers into bestsellers.
Heck, even agents are rushing to learn the skills we indie authors were forced to develop as survival mechanisms. It’s truly ironic that NY strengthened the enemy by thrusting marketing upon the authors—and marketing is the only skill of value in the world of digital publishing! All else can be purchased cheaply and easily and operated with no overhead but time.
Yes, we are teaching our competition, as we always should. Not that we could help it. If they aren’t watching and learning, they aren’t competition anyway, because they are out of the game. As soon as indie and trad and small press slop together, as they inevitably will, then indies will lose many of their advantages—low pricing, rapid response to changing conditions, innovative marketing that connects with real readers, and the ability to reach niche audiences with narrative voices that have been long suppressed because New York behemoths couldn’t run on niche audiences. Soon, they can, and the niches can look pretty darned big when they are merely one click away, and staff and overhead has been trimmed, and the corporations consist of a half-dozen tech geeks clicking buttons and raking in cash (of course, they will still have a 60-member board of executives and numerous shareholders at the trough, but still….).
I’m not worried, because I plan on staying one step ahead of everything, even if no solid ground is there, even if it means flying on faith without a parachute. Everyone out there buzzing about John Locke, John Green, J.K. Rowling, J.A. Konrath, or Amanda Hocking has zero chance of duplicating what were outlier successes that defied chance. Buy all the how-to books and diligently copy them and you still won’t be them, because 10,000 people are already doing it. We don’t need a “next Locke” or “next Hocking” anyway. Why not be the first you?
The First You is the one who doesn’t care if indie wins or New York wins or if so-and-so was right. The First You is already right, if you trust it. There are only three questions that matter:
(1) What is the next impossible thing I want to do?
(2) How do I get there first?
(3) How do I inspire people to meet me there?
---------
Concrete Pearl
Bestselling indie Scott Nicholson most definitely falls into that, "If we lived in the same town we'd be steadfast buds" category. Or maybe my association with him, although limited to internet, runs even deeper in a sort of cosmic, old soul sense. We've got more things in common than I did any of my ex-wives before I married them (don't get nervous Scott...). Like me he's journalist, a musician, a lover of adventure and history, and maintains an intense passion for creative writing and genre fiction. He's into some great bands too, like XTC, Elvis Costello and The Beatles. No wonder he's made quite a splash on the Indie scene. Like most successful dudes however, he comes equipped with well honed built-in shit detector which allows him to be realistic about what the future holds for authors and publishing. Like his guest post will reveal, what seems like a great independent publishing opp right now can soon turn into something that won't be indie at all anymore. That is, once the big houses pick up on all that we are teaching them about selling books.
But then, judge for yourself. That's what Scott does.
Take it away Scott:
Indie Publishing Is Dead
By Scott Nicholson
http://www.hauntedcomputer.com
Nobody wants to read yet another blah-blah-blah indie author post unless it’s controversial. So how about this one: indie publishing is dead.
Does that work for you? Or are you an author whose personal identity is somehow tied up in a specific outcome? You know the drill: the NY author under contract who insists NY publishing is the way to go, or the indie author who got rejected a hundred times by NY who says indie is the way to go because NY sux, or the suddenly-hip “hybrid author” who is “taking advantage of both opportunities,” usually because they have a lot of dead backlist but are still stuck in indentured servitude and have no real choice.
Yes, it’s great fodder for forum flame wars, except we all have to mutually agree or risk somebody slamming us with an anonymous one-star review or declining to retweet our hot sales link. So we only hang out where everyone has the same opinions as ours, because we’d rather be validated than right.
We are all equally right and wrong. I’ve been big pubbed, small pubbed, self pubbed, and soon to be pubbed in ways that are only now coming into existence. And all the words are roughly the same, the talent level is the same, the storytelling style is the same. And while the fracturing of publishing methods continues, it will also slop over, in much the same way all the distinct genres of music eventually get lumped into “rock ‘n’ roll” once they lose their freshness.
Indie publishing is dead because we, the current crop of indie authors, are teaching New York how to publish books. I know, that seems crazy, but publishing has always been a crap shoot, with a lot of money backing almost every bestseller and nothing but luck and the author’s tireless marketing backing the other infrequent successes. But corporations aren’t just nabbing superstar indie authors. They are paying attention to how books are presented, where they are priced, what readers really want instead of following outdated Bookscan reports that serve to reinforce the perception that publishers were—surprise!—geniuses at turning bestsellers into bestsellers.
Heck, even agents are rushing to learn the skills we indie authors were forced to develop as survival mechanisms. It’s truly ironic that NY strengthened the enemy by thrusting marketing upon the authors—and marketing is the only skill of value in the world of digital publishing! All else can be purchased cheaply and easily and operated with no overhead but time.
Yes, we are teaching our competition, as we always should. Not that we could help it. If they aren’t watching and learning, they aren’t competition anyway, because they are out of the game. As soon as indie and trad and small press slop together, as they inevitably will, then indies will lose many of their advantages—low pricing, rapid response to changing conditions, innovative marketing that connects with real readers, and the ability to reach niche audiences with narrative voices that have been long suppressed because New York behemoths couldn’t run on niche audiences. Soon, they can, and the niches can look pretty darned big when they are merely one click away, and staff and overhead has been trimmed, and the corporations consist of a half-dozen tech geeks clicking buttons and raking in cash (of course, they will still have a 60-member board of executives and numerous shareholders at the trough, but still….).
I’m not worried, because I plan on staying one step ahead of everything, even if no solid ground is there, even if it means flying on faith without a parachute. Everyone out there buzzing about John Locke, John Green, J.K. Rowling, J.A. Konrath, or Amanda Hocking has zero chance of duplicating what were outlier successes that defied chance. Buy all the how-to books and diligently copy them and you still won’t be them, because 10,000 people are already doing it. We don’t need a “next Locke” or “next Hocking” anyway. Why not be the first you?
The First You is the one who doesn’t care if indie wins or New York wins or if so-and-so was right. The First You is already right, if you trust it. There are only three questions that matter:
(1) What is the next impossible thing I want to do?
(2) How do I get there first?
(3) How do I inspire people to meet me there?
---------
Concrete Pearl
July 14, 2011
NYT "Indie" Bestseller Breaks Down Barriers
The following blog is now appearing at The Vincent zandri Vox: http://vincentzandri.blogspot.com/201...
Debbi Mack has hit the New York Times Bestsellers list not once but twice this past spring with her novel Identity Crisis. What makes her story amazing is that she is an entirely self-published author. In her blog of July 13 at her popular blog site, My Life on the Mid-List, she points out that even after landing what is arguably one of the most coveted achievements any writer can hope for, she sent a press release about the event to Mystery Writers of America fully assuming they wouldn't acknowledge it since she is an indie. As many of you know, indies aren't recognized by the organization. Technically speaking anyway.
But to her surprise, the MWA not only made mention of her barrier breaking achievement, they even extended a heartfelt congratulations. As Debbi astutely points out, they congratulations showed real "class."
Here's Debbi's blog in its entirety:
A great deal of criticism has been directed at certain writers organizations for holding outdated views about self-publishing and the appropriate way to start a career as an author.
I, myself, have directed such criticisms. Now, without changing my position, I’d like to acknowledge that not all such organizations are completely blind to my achievements as a self-published author.
Let me start off by explaining that when my novel IDENTITY CRISIS hit the New York Times bestseller list, I sent out press releases that were largely ignored. I found this a bit bewildering, but hey … whatever, I figured I had to move on and keep writing and doing other things. One of the publications I notified was the newsletter for the local chapter of the Mystery Writers of America (MWA). However, knowing MWA’s position on self-publishing, I submitted my news item and pretty much forgot about it.
So, needless to say, it came as a happy surprise to see the following announcement run in the member news section of the latest edition of “Capitol Crimes” the Mystery Writers of America, Mid-Atlantic Chapter newsletter, which I received today:
Debbi Mack’s self-published debut novel Identity Crisis recently hit the New York Times eBook bestseller list. Twice! First, on March 28, then again on April 3. Congratulations, Debbi!
Now … say what you like. That’s not just nice. That shows real class.
Thank you very much, MWA Mid-Atlantic Chapter! That was very kind. :-D
Having just returned from the ITW Thrillerfest where I was treated with a similar respect afforded Mack (and not because I've published with the biggies, but because I'm treated like a real writer and bestseller), I can most definitely see the barriers and walls being demolished, as indie authors and presses become a viable publishing alternative not only for newbies, but for legacy writers who, like me, have been around the block a few times. In the end, I believe the reader really doesn't care who the hell publishes your book so long as it's good and they feel they've gotten their money's worth and more.
Perhaps organizations like MWA and ITW are beginning to feel the same way.
Congrats Debbi, you deserve it.
WWW.VINCENTZANDRI.COM
Concrete Pearl
Debbi Mack has hit the New York Times Bestsellers list not once but twice this past spring with her novel Identity Crisis. What makes her story amazing is that she is an entirely self-published author. In her blog of July 13 at her popular blog site, My Life on the Mid-List, she points out that even after landing what is arguably one of the most coveted achievements any writer can hope for, she sent a press release about the event to Mystery Writers of America fully assuming they wouldn't acknowledge it since she is an indie. As many of you know, indies aren't recognized by the organization. Technically speaking anyway.
But to her surprise, the MWA not only made mention of her barrier breaking achievement, they even extended a heartfelt congratulations. As Debbi astutely points out, they congratulations showed real "class."
Here's Debbi's blog in its entirety:
A great deal of criticism has been directed at certain writers organizations for holding outdated views about self-publishing and the appropriate way to start a career as an author.
I, myself, have directed such criticisms. Now, without changing my position, I’d like to acknowledge that not all such organizations are completely blind to my achievements as a self-published author.
Let me start off by explaining that when my novel IDENTITY CRISIS hit the New York Times bestseller list, I sent out press releases that were largely ignored. I found this a bit bewildering, but hey … whatever, I figured I had to move on and keep writing and doing other things. One of the publications I notified was the newsletter for the local chapter of the Mystery Writers of America (MWA). However, knowing MWA’s position on self-publishing, I submitted my news item and pretty much forgot about it.
So, needless to say, it came as a happy surprise to see the following announcement run in the member news section of the latest edition of “Capitol Crimes” the Mystery Writers of America, Mid-Atlantic Chapter newsletter, which I received today:
Debbi Mack’s self-published debut novel Identity Crisis recently hit the New York Times eBook bestseller list. Twice! First, on March 28, then again on April 3. Congratulations, Debbi!
Now … say what you like. That’s not just nice. That shows real class.
Thank you very much, MWA Mid-Atlantic Chapter! That was very kind. :-D
Having just returned from the ITW Thrillerfest where I was treated with a similar respect afforded Mack (and not because I've published with the biggies, but because I'm treated like a real writer and bestseller), I can most definitely see the barriers and walls being demolished, as indie authors and presses become a viable publishing alternative not only for newbies, but for legacy writers who, like me, have been around the block a few times. In the end, I believe the reader really doesn't care who the hell publishes your book so long as it's good and they feel they've gotten their money's worth and more.
Perhaps organizations like MWA and ITW are beginning to feel the same way.
Congrats Debbi, you deserve it.
WWW.VINCENTZANDRI.COM
Concrete Pearl
July 12, 2011
The Future of Publishing: An Insider's Scoop
The following blog is "now appearing" at the Vincent Zandri Vox: http://vincentzandri.blogspot.com/201...
Just back from Thrillerfest sponsored by ITW, and my head is spinning with all that I learned "behind the scenes" from some pretty heavy-hitting insiders. I'm not going to name names or anything like that because most of what I'm about to tell you you already know or have surmised in your thoughts. But to hear these things spelled out and confirmed by some heavy-hitting legacy authors, editors, and agents hits home.
1. The mass-market paperback will become extinct in 2012. It will give away to the more popular E-Book.
2. Legacy publishers are smartly acquiring the E-Rights to their author's back-lists.
3. Many legacy publishers will be publishing E-Books beginning in 2012 at an average price of $2.99 in order to make them better able to compete in the marketplace. These E-Books will effectively replace mass market paperback.
4. More agents will become E-Book publishers in 2012
5. More agents will drop out of the business altogether in 2012
6. Many legacy editors who have been working in the business for 20 years or more, will become freelance editors.
7. Google E-Books will be the one online store to give Amazon Kindle some serious competition (maybe).
8. Barnes and Nobles will close more stores.
9. More traditionally published authors will explore both indy and self-publishing via E-Book in order to increase their bottom lines. At the same time, they will be reluctant to hand over E-Book rights to the legacy publishers.
10. The 2012 book signing phase of ThrillerFest will include technology that will make it possible for authors to sign E-Books.
11. E-Book Kiosks will soon become as common as Coke machines.
Well, that's just of a few of the changes coming down the pike. Like I've always said however, I believe it's in an authors best interest to engage in a variety of publishing. 1/3 legacy; 1/3 indy; 1/3 self. In a perfect world, that is. I'm still heavy on the traditionally based indy, but I remain open to the future of publishing and the tremendous opportunities that will be available to us as full-time authors.
Concrete Pearl
Just back from Thrillerfest sponsored by ITW, and my head is spinning with all that I learned "behind the scenes" from some pretty heavy-hitting insiders. I'm not going to name names or anything like that because most of what I'm about to tell you you already know or have surmised in your thoughts. But to hear these things spelled out and confirmed by some heavy-hitting legacy authors, editors, and agents hits home.
1. The mass-market paperback will become extinct in 2012. It will give away to the more popular E-Book.
2. Legacy publishers are smartly acquiring the E-Rights to their author's back-lists.
3. Many legacy publishers will be publishing E-Books beginning in 2012 at an average price of $2.99 in order to make them better able to compete in the marketplace. These E-Books will effectively replace mass market paperback.
4. More agents will become E-Book publishers in 2012
5. More agents will drop out of the business altogether in 2012
6. Many legacy editors who have been working in the business for 20 years or more, will become freelance editors.
7. Google E-Books will be the one online store to give Amazon Kindle some serious competition (maybe).
8. Barnes and Nobles will close more stores.
9. More traditionally published authors will explore both indy and self-publishing via E-Book in order to increase their bottom lines. At the same time, they will be reluctant to hand over E-Book rights to the legacy publishers.
10. The 2012 book signing phase of ThrillerFest will include technology that will make it possible for authors to sign E-Books.
11. E-Book Kiosks will soon become as common as Coke machines.
Well, that's just of a few of the changes coming down the pike. Like I've always said however, I believe it's in an authors best interest to engage in a variety of publishing. 1/3 legacy; 1/3 indy; 1/3 self. In a perfect world, that is. I'm still heavy on the traditionally based indy, but I remain open to the future of publishing and the tremendous opportunities that will be available to us as full-time authors.
Concrete Pearl
July 8, 2011
ThrillerFest: Day 1.25
The following blog is Now Appearing at the Vincent Zandri Vox: http://vincentzandri.blogspot.com/201...
Landed in NYC late last evening, but managed to crash the opening cocktail reception on the ballroom floor of the Grand Hyatt Hotel beside Grand Central Station. Authors Steve DeWinter and Rebecca Holdsworth were already working the crowd. I bumped into...literally...Mysterious Bookstore Owner, publisher, and all around man-about-town Otto Penzler. When I said, "Hey Otto," he searched for a nametag on my person, but I hadn't yet registered. Finished the reception by chatting it up with Cosmo Editor in Chief and bestselling novelist Kate White, who hails not far from my hometown. What an awesome person.
My publisher and stud man, Aaron Patterson showed up at the hotel bar, and we downed a few while speaking about world domination for our StoneHouse/StoneGate titles. My own THE REMAINS jumped 3000% that afternoon to break the Amazon Top 100 Bestselling Kindle E-Books for the second time this year. Serendipity? Divine Providence? Freaking luck? Hard bloody work? Who knows...Probably all of the above.
Awesome steak frit and red wine at Deux Amis last evening in Hell's Kitchen.
Today, lunch with Abby Zidle of Simon and Schuster at 12:15, and from there, the Photographic Museum which is not far from here. Photo-journalism's home...
I'm hot...I'm on fire...It's my time....Or so I keep trying to convince myself...But that's just silly.
Mostly I'm just humbled by the collection of talent at this thing. Makes me want to write harder...
More to come....
Ciao Ciao
VZ
The Remains
Landed in NYC late last evening, but managed to crash the opening cocktail reception on the ballroom floor of the Grand Hyatt Hotel beside Grand Central Station. Authors Steve DeWinter and Rebecca Holdsworth were already working the crowd. I bumped into...literally...Mysterious Bookstore Owner, publisher, and all around man-about-town Otto Penzler. When I said, "Hey Otto," he searched for a nametag on my person, but I hadn't yet registered. Finished the reception by chatting it up with Cosmo Editor in Chief and bestselling novelist Kate White, who hails not far from my hometown. What an awesome person.
My publisher and stud man, Aaron Patterson showed up at the hotel bar, and we downed a few while speaking about world domination for our StoneHouse/StoneGate titles. My own THE REMAINS jumped 3000% that afternoon to break the Amazon Top 100 Bestselling Kindle E-Books for the second time this year. Serendipity? Divine Providence? Freaking luck? Hard bloody work? Who knows...Probably all of the above.
Awesome steak frit and red wine at Deux Amis last evening in Hell's Kitchen.
Today, lunch with Abby Zidle of Simon and Schuster at 12:15, and from there, the Photographic Museum which is not far from here. Photo-journalism's home...
I'm hot...I'm on fire...It's my time....Or so I keep trying to convince myself...But that's just silly.
Mostly I'm just humbled by the collection of talent at this thing. Makes me want to write harder...
More to come....
Ciao Ciao
VZ
The Remains
