Vincent Zandri's Blog, page 15
July 7, 2011
ThrillerFest Report No. 1
The following blog is now appearing at The Vincent Zandri Vox: http://vincentzandri.blogspot.com/201...
I've never been a huge fan of organized travel tours.
You know, eat when you're told, sleep when you're told, get off the bus and shop when you're told, use the bathroom when you're told.
For me, most of the fun and adventure of travel is getting lost and emersing yourself in the customs and lifestyles of the foreign destination you've landed in.
The same can be said of writers conferences.
I generally avoid them because it's one of those things where you have to be "on" all the time and subject to a schedule. You know, kind of like hanging out at the in-laws for the weekend. Anyone who's ever been married or close to me knows that I abhor schedules. I haven't had a proper job in almost two decades and when it comes to being on-time or one of the go-with-the-flow guys during the weekend college buddy get-together-on-the-golf-course, I can be relied upon about as much as the location of the next funnel cloud. I don't golf. It's too boring.
Ok, that said, I am however looking forward to this year's Thrillerfest in NYC, ITW's featured annual event of some pretty heavy hitting thriller writers. Naturally some of the attraction is NYC itself. The concrete jungle is one of my homes. I'm going to be speaking on the panel for "Foreign Destinations" at 3:00PM on Saturday, and I have a lunch set up with an editor on Friday, plus my publisher will be there, but otherwise, I will look forward to hanging at the bar with a bunch of other cool writers, and taking in some awesome restaurants, like Deux Amis on 51st street and second ave tonight.
This is a great year of change not only for writers but publishers, agents and marketing people also. So no doubt there will be some pretty lively discussions about our future. Things are so hot right now in the industry I wouldn't doubt it if some tempers begin to flair. But I would imagine all arguments will be friendly. Unlike visual artists, writers always seem to be in competition with one another, but organizations like ITW (and believe me, I usually stay away from organizations or any kind, including religious, academic and political) have a real benign way of bringing everyone together for a good cause and good time.
So "solidarity" is the word of the weekend at this year's ThrillerFest!!!!
More to come tomorrow when I will no doubt be nursing one of several anticipated hangovers!
Ciao Ciao for now!
Concrete Pearl
I've never been a huge fan of organized travel tours.
You know, eat when you're told, sleep when you're told, get off the bus and shop when you're told, use the bathroom when you're told.
For me, most of the fun and adventure of travel is getting lost and emersing yourself in the customs and lifestyles of the foreign destination you've landed in.
The same can be said of writers conferences.
I generally avoid them because it's one of those things where you have to be "on" all the time and subject to a schedule. You know, kind of like hanging out at the in-laws for the weekend. Anyone who's ever been married or close to me knows that I abhor schedules. I haven't had a proper job in almost two decades and when it comes to being on-time or one of the go-with-the-flow guys during the weekend college buddy get-together-on-the-golf-course, I can be relied upon about as much as the location of the next funnel cloud. I don't golf. It's too boring.
Ok, that said, I am however looking forward to this year's Thrillerfest in NYC, ITW's featured annual event of some pretty heavy hitting thriller writers. Naturally some of the attraction is NYC itself. The concrete jungle is one of my homes. I'm going to be speaking on the panel for "Foreign Destinations" at 3:00PM on Saturday, and I have a lunch set up with an editor on Friday, plus my publisher will be there, but otherwise, I will look forward to hanging at the bar with a bunch of other cool writers, and taking in some awesome restaurants, like Deux Amis on 51st street and second ave tonight.
This is a great year of change not only for writers but publishers, agents and marketing people also. So no doubt there will be some pretty lively discussions about our future. Things are so hot right now in the industry I wouldn't doubt it if some tempers begin to flair. But I would imagine all arguments will be friendly. Unlike visual artists, writers always seem to be in competition with one another, but organizations like ITW (and believe me, I usually stay away from organizations or any kind, including religious, academic and political) have a real benign way of bringing everyone together for a good cause and good time.
So "solidarity" is the word of the weekend at this year's ThrillerFest!!!!
More to come tomorrow when I will no doubt be nursing one of several anticipated hangovers!
Ciao Ciao for now!
Concrete Pearl
July 3, 2011
Sunday Blog in Bed: The Eye of the Reader
The following blogs is "now appearing" at The Vincent Zandri Vox: http://vincentzandri.blogspot.com/201...
----------------------------------
This isn't the first time I've blogged about the new importance of book covers....E-Book covers that is...and I'm sure it won't be the last. Never before has a reader's initial impression of a possible read been more important. Everyday dozens (or is it hundreds? Thousands?) of new E-Books are uploaded and/or published and everyday those same books must attempt to catch the eye of the reader. Because in this day and age, you damn well can and in some cases, should be able to judge a book by it's cover.
The power of covers has never been so well demonstrated as it has been with the recent success of John Locke whose thriller series all sport a very recognizable set of sexy legs on the covers. What do these legs have to do with the story itself? Prior to having read his work, I simply wasn't sure. But I can tell you this: those legs did tempt me into buying a couple of his titles. And now, whenever I come across one of those leggy covers, even if it's a brand new one, I know precisely who the author is and that no doubt the book will be a major bestseller. That's what's commonly known in the business as "branding." As authors, we all are creating our own unique brand of writing. Readers will come to rely on that brand for it's particular qualities (Pay attention newly graduated graphic designers. There's a ton of new work out there for you).
Another writer whose covers have the power to draw me in towards that "BUY NOW WITH 1-CLICK" button, are those of J. Carson Black. Her covers are not only rich in color and texture but utilize photographs and words to convey the dark thriller within (So do the "dark" titles).
Darkness on the Edge of Town is one such thriller that is a runaway bestseller (Carson is currently smoking my sales numbers). What makes this novel enticing initially is the cover. Its depiction of a neon lit street corner screams noir. The image has depth and wickedness in it, and mucho suspense. Words appear floating over the image...words that appear to have been typed on an old fashion Smith Corona typewriter. The kind Dash Hammett might have used when writing The Maltese Falcon, or when typing up a grocery list for his mistress Lillian Hellman which no doubt included several bottles of gin.
One word in particular shoots out at the reader: "Girl12." That, combined with a great quote by T. Jefferson Parker and you have a cover that not only draws, it provides information and tells a story about the story you will no doubt be compelled to purchase.
I was shocked to learn the Black and her husband produce these covers on their own. I've spent the past year bragging about my own covers on my own books like The Innocent and The Remains and how instrumental they have been in making those books Amazon bestsellers. But then, I had no part in creating them. They were made for me by my publisher.
The only cover of mine I've never been quite sure of is Godchild, since it's so dark and mobsterish looking, when in fact, it is the sequel to The Innocent (the book is presently about to be repackaged and retitled to The Guilty...Please make a note of it). In any case, whether you DIY or publish traditionally, beware of getting the cover wrong since it risks sending off an unintended message. Covers these days must convey precision. The images and layout must be specific to the story or the reader will barely get through only a few pages before deleting it from his or her E-Reader or prematurely shelving the trade paper version. No one likes a bait and switch.
That's why I love Black's covers so much. You know what you're getting just by gazing into the image and reading her non de plume ("Black" is not an indiscriminate choice) . Her covers create a different reality for me that I can't wait to enter into. The same can be said for the covers of Aaron Patterson (especially Sweet Dreams), Joshua Graham, Dave Zeltserman, Charlie Huston, Simon Wood and so many others. You recognize a specific brand of writing when you look at their covers. You know what you're getting.
Of course the cover just gains you admission to the show. Inevitably, a good price, product description, and most of all, damn good writing, will mean the difference between a reader who reads only one of your novels and one who can't wait to read the mother load.
WWW.VINCENTZANDRI.COM
The Innocent
----------------------------------
This isn't the first time I've blogged about the new importance of book covers....E-Book covers that is...and I'm sure it won't be the last. Never before has a reader's initial impression of a possible read been more important. Everyday dozens (or is it hundreds? Thousands?) of new E-Books are uploaded and/or published and everyday those same books must attempt to catch the eye of the reader. Because in this day and age, you damn well can and in some cases, should be able to judge a book by it's cover.
The power of covers has never been so well demonstrated as it has been with the recent success of John Locke whose thriller series all sport a very recognizable set of sexy legs on the covers. What do these legs have to do with the story itself? Prior to having read his work, I simply wasn't sure. But I can tell you this: those legs did tempt me into buying a couple of his titles. And now, whenever I come across one of those leggy covers, even if it's a brand new one, I know precisely who the author is and that no doubt the book will be a major bestseller. That's what's commonly known in the business as "branding." As authors, we all are creating our own unique brand of writing. Readers will come to rely on that brand for it's particular qualities (Pay attention newly graduated graphic designers. There's a ton of new work out there for you).
Another writer whose covers have the power to draw me in towards that "BUY NOW WITH 1-CLICK" button, are those of J. Carson Black. Her covers are not only rich in color and texture but utilize photographs and words to convey the dark thriller within (So do the "dark" titles).
Darkness on the Edge of Town is one such thriller that is a runaway bestseller (Carson is currently smoking my sales numbers). What makes this novel enticing initially is the cover. Its depiction of a neon lit street corner screams noir. The image has depth and wickedness in it, and mucho suspense. Words appear floating over the image...words that appear to have been typed on an old fashion Smith Corona typewriter. The kind Dash Hammett might have used when writing The Maltese Falcon, or when typing up a grocery list for his mistress Lillian Hellman which no doubt included several bottles of gin.
One word in particular shoots out at the reader: "Girl12." That, combined with a great quote by T. Jefferson Parker and you have a cover that not only draws, it provides information and tells a story about the story you will no doubt be compelled to purchase.
I was shocked to learn the Black and her husband produce these covers on their own. I've spent the past year bragging about my own covers on my own books like The Innocent and The Remains and how instrumental they have been in making those books Amazon bestsellers. But then, I had no part in creating them. They were made for me by my publisher.
The only cover of mine I've never been quite sure of is Godchild, since it's so dark and mobsterish looking, when in fact, it is the sequel to The Innocent (the book is presently about to be repackaged and retitled to The Guilty...Please make a note of it). In any case, whether you DIY or publish traditionally, beware of getting the cover wrong since it risks sending off an unintended message. Covers these days must convey precision. The images and layout must be specific to the story or the reader will barely get through only a few pages before deleting it from his or her E-Reader or prematurely shelving the trade paper version. No one likes a bait and switch.
That's why I love Black's covers so much. You know what you're getting just by gazing into the image and reading her non de plume ("Black" is not an indiscriminate choice) . Her covers create a different reality for me that I can't wait to enter into. The same can be said for the covers of Aaron Patterson (especially Sweet Dreams), Joshua Graham, Dave Zeltserman, Charlie Huston, Simon Wood and so many others. You recognize a specific brand of writing when you look at their covers. You know what you're getting.
Of course the cover just gains you admission to the show. Inevitably, a good price, product description, and most of all, damn good writing, will mean the difference between a reader who reads only one of your novels and one who can't wait to read the mother load.
WWW.VINCENTZANDRI.COM
The Innocent
June 25, 2011
Big Advance Vs. Big Royalty Rate
The following blog is Now Appearing at The Vincent Zandri Vox: http://vincentzandri.blogspot.com/201...
My friends and colleagues, the cats over at StoneGate Ink, put up a post on the their FB page asking this simple question: As an author, do you prefer a high royalty rate or would you prefer a big advance.
If this were ten or even three years ago, I would have said, "Advance" without evening thinking about it. In fact, my reaction would have been more automatic then breathing. but all that has changed in the past year since having signed on with the Inkers for a 50% royalty per E-Book sold rate.
I come from that generation that for ages believed you went to writing school, then got an agent, then nailed a major contract with a legacy publisher. All of which has happened to me. In fact when I signed a contract with Herr Bertlesman worth close to a quarter million bucks back in 1999, I thought my life was set. The publisher would take the time to develop me, I would eventually sell out, and be offered a new contract every other year or so, all of which would boast more and more zeros.
But what I didn't know at the time, was that a first novel usually sells only moderately well. There are exceptions of course, but I ain't talkin' about Harry Potter here or Kitchen Confidential. I'm talking about the other 99.9% of us lucky enough to have landed a major contract or two. So when THE INNOCENT (As Catch Can), sold only so-so, and then GODCHILD its follow-up the did the same, the big boys in the Bertlesman Tower decided to pull the plug on Vincent Zandri, thriller writer. Lucky for me I was able to keep my advance without having earned it back. However, all marketing of the books ceased, what were left on the shelves were remaindered, and the bastards even hung onto my rights for eight more years, pretty much putting me out of business. In the words of my then editor: "They are preventing your from selling books!"
I had to head back to full-time freelance journalism.
Then came my new agent Janet Benry who beat my novel rights out of Random House. She wanted to strike up a deal with a new upstart publisher who was making its mark on the publishing world by re-publishing back-listed novels by some heavy hitters in the industry, and publishing some new novels as well. There wouldn't be an advance but the royalty rate would be staggeringly high and what was even better, the novels would come out within a couple of months instead of the usually one to two year wait.
Still, despite 5-plus tortuous years without a new contract, when Janet urged me to sign with this publisher, I honestly thought she might have been smoking a little too much of the Chinaman's pipe. But what the hell, I signed anyway.
Fast forward to a year later, and I've sold close to a couple hundred thousand E-Books, and well over 100,000 Kindle copies of THE INNOCENT alone. GODCHILD is a close second. THE REMAINS a close third. The past three months were so staggeringly good I got calls from The Wall Street Journal and USA Today ran a small piece about "Innocent's" success.
What's this mean for me?
It means the six figures I'm earning this year is real money. It means I am operating in the black. It means I am now involved in responsible publishing. It also means that there's a good chance that if Mr. B had believed in me and what I could potentially sell, instead of showing me the door after only two books, I would not only have earned the advance back, I would have made him a nice profit.
But instead the money I've earned is all mine. Sorry Random House, you had your chance. Serves you right for holding my rights hostage for 8 years!
Hmmmm, wonder if I should go for the 4 bedroom villa in Tuscany or the three bedroom with the in-ground pool? Decisions, decisions, decisions....
Concrete Pearl
My friends and colleagues, the cats over at StoneGate Ink, put up a post on the their FB page asking this simple question: As an author, do you prefer a high royalty rate or would you prefer a big advance.
If this were ten or even three years ago, I would have said, "Advance" without evening thinking about it. In fact, my reaction would have been more automatic then breathing. but all that has changed in the past year since having signed on with the Inkers for a 50% royalty per E-Book sold rate.
I come from that generation that for ages believed you went to writing school, then got an agent, then nailed a major contract with a legacy publisher. All of which has happened to me. In fact when I signed a contract with Herr Bertlesman worth close to a quarter million bucks back in 1999, I thought my life was set. The publisher would take the time to develop me, I would eventually sell out, and be offered a new contract every other year or so, all of which would boast more and more zeros.
But what I didn't know at the time, was that a first novel usually sells only moderately well. There are exceptions of course, but I ain't talkin' about Harry Potter here or Kitchen Confidential. I'm talking about the other 99.9% of us lucky enough to have landed a major contract or two. So when THE INNOCENT (As Catch Can), sold only so-so, and then GODCHILD its follow-up the did the same, the big boys in the Bertlesman Tower decided to pull the plug on Vincent Zandri, thriller writer. Lucky for me I was able to keep my advance without having earned it back. However, all marketing of the books ceased, what were left on the shelves were remaindered, and the bastards even hung onto my rights for eight more years, pretty much putting me out of business. In the words of my then editor: "They are preventing your from selling books!"
I had to head back to full-time freelance journalism.
Then came my new agent Janet Benry who beat my novel rights out of Random House. She wanted to strike up a deal with a new upstart publisher who was making its mark on the publishing world by re-publishing back-listed novels by some heavy hitters in the industry, and publishing some new novels as well. There wouldn't be an advance but the royalty rate would be staggeringly high and what was even better, the novels would come out within a couple of months instead of the usually one to two year wait.
Still, despite 5-plus tortuous years without a new contract, when Janet urged me to sign with this publisher, I honestly thought she might have been smoking a little too much of the Chinaman's pipe. But what the hell, I signed anyway.
Fast forward to a year later, and I've sold close to a couple hundred thousand E-Books, and well over 100,000 Kindle copies of THE INNOCENT alone. GODCHILD is a close second. THE REMAINS a close third. The past three months were so staggeringly good I got calls from The Wall Street Journal and USA Today ran a small piece about "Innocent's" success.
What's this mean for me?
It means the six figures I'm earning this year is real money. It means I am operating in the black. It means I am now involved in responsible publishing. It also means that there's a good chance that if Mr. B had believed in me and what I could potentially sell, instead of showing me the door after only two books, I would not only have earned the advance back, I would have made him a nice profit.
But instead the money I've earned is all mine. Sorry Random House, you had your chance. Serves you right for holding my rights hostage for 8 years!
Hmmmm, wonder if I should go for the 4 bedroom villa in Tuscany or the three bedroom with the in-ground pool? Decisions, decisions, decisions....
Concrete Pearl
June 22, 2011
Sales, Slips, and Slowdowns...Oh My!
The following blog is now appearing at The Vincent zandri Vox:http://vincentzandri.blogspot.com/201...
There are reasons I don't get into publishing and this is the main reason why: Success is a guessing game more synonymous with luck than solid business practices or science.
My books took a bit of dip this month compared with rocket-propelled sales of the past three months in which I sold over 100,000 Kindle E-Books of one single title alone: THE INNOCENT. That book was purposely priced at $.99 for a period and we (meaning myself and my pub StoneGate Ink), believe that the special price propelled the sale initially. And then, once it reached a certain rank (say below 50, sales snowballed) It also served to expand my audience by enormous numbers.
However, when you price a book that cheaply you also pretty much give away the store. Even so, I made a personal profit of over $15,000 for that one book. Not bad change. But in May, when we changed the price to a more realistic and reasonable $3.99 and later, $2.99 (remember folks, I am traditionally published and receive only a 50% commission for which an agent takes 15%), we then earned a very reasonable profit from a book that was once acquired by Delacorte Press and blurbed by the likes of Harlan Coben and Don Winslow. We sold something like 13,000 copies during May which we were happy about. The irony? If Random House had held onto the E-Rights for both THE INNOCENT and GODCHILD (which also hit the Top 30), I would have finally earned out my mid-six figure advance with them. Bad timing on their part, great timing on mine.
The final sales strategy analysis? According to indie publisher and bestselling author Aaron Patterson (who is also my publisher) "The end result was about a 5k increase to the bottom line, but a hugs loss on the people reached. The question is: Is it better to reach a huge amount of people for a time and give up sales, or try to make as much as you can no matter how many sell? I believe in both. Put books on sale, test the market as each author will have different stats. Some will sell well at a buck and others it wont matter. I have one author that sells just as good at 2.99 as she does at 8.99. So we keep it at 8.99. "
Then came June, the Amazon Summer Sizzler thing, the tag debacle and who knows what else, and sales dropped off significantly no matter what the price. Apparently, a lot of indie authors and no doubt, legacy published authors as well, began scratching their heads as early as June 2nd at the virtual tanking of their ranks. Since this was an across the board phenomenon much has been written and speculated about what happened. Indie expert and bestselling author Joe Konrath addressed this issue yesterday in his blog by pointing out the following:
"Summer is slow. But once the holiday season comes around again, there will be another boost in sales across the board. This year should be bigger than last year, as ereader prices come down and move from early adopters into the mainstream. In other words, no one needs to panic. No business has constant, unstoppable growth. Sales fluctuate. This is normal."
This a is a rapidly changing and emerging business. Which is why I'm a full-time writer and not a publisher. E-Books are still in their infancy, and for any of you who have children, you know how everyday can be an adventure when you have a baby hanging around. One minute the cuddly little kid is cooing in your arms, snuggled up all warm and cozy in the nape of your neck, and next, he's projectile hurling chunks all over your new gaberdine suit.
So what to do?
Listen the experts when they tell you not to worry about minute-by-minute sales. Like Konrath says, this is "a marathon not a sprint." It's E-Books. Our books aren't about to be removed from the shelves anytime soon. Like Patterson says, keep experimenting with prices until you find that "sweet spot." You don't have to be in the Amazon Top Ten in order to make a good living (although it is rush for the ego, believe me..., but again quoting Joe, "what goes up must come down").
But also listen to your heart...Your writing heart that is. No doubt it will tell you to write more books, and to write them as well as you are humanly capable. There is no better way to guarantee excellent sales than by introducing a new book to your fans and future fans.
Concrete Pearl
There are reasons I don't get into publishing and this is the main reason why: Success is a guessing game more synonymous with luck than solid business practices or science.
My books took a bit of dip this month compared with rocket-propelled sales of the past three months in which I sold over 100,000 Kindle E-Books of one single title alone: THE INNOCENT. That book was purposely priced at $.99 for a period and we (meaning myself and my pub StoneGate Ink), believe that the special price propelled the sale initially. And then, once it reached a certain rank (say below 50, sales snowballed) It also served to expand my audience by enormous numbers.
However, when you price a book that cheaply you also pretty much give away the store. Even so, I made a personal profit of over $15,000 for that one book. Not bad change. But in May, when we changed the price to a more realistic and reasonable $3.99 and later, $2.99 (remember folks, I am traditionally published and receive only a 50% commission for which an agent takes 15%), we then earned a very reasonable profit from a book that was once acquired by Delacorte Press and blurbed by the likes of Harlan Coben and Don Winslow. We sold something like 13,000 copies during May which we were happy about. The irony? If Random House had held onto the E-Rights for both THE INNOCENT and GODCHILD (which also hit the Top 30), I would have finally earned out my mid-six figure advance with them. Bad timing on their part, great timing on mine.
The final sales strategy analysis? According to indie publisher and bestselling author Aaron Patterson (who is also my publisher) "The end result was about a 5k increase to the bottom line, but a hugs loss on the people reached. The question is: Is it better to reach a huge amount of people for a time and give up sales, or try to make as much as you can no matter how many sell? I believe in both. Put books on sale, test the market as each author will have different stats. Some will sell well at a buck and others it wont matter. I have one author that sells just as good at 2.99 as she does at 8.99. So we keep it at 8.99. "
Then came June, the Amazon Summer Sizzler thing, the tag debacle and who knows what else, and sales dropped off significantly no matter what the price. Apparently, a lot of indie authors and no doubt, legacy published authors as well, began scratching their heads as early as June 2nd at the virtual tanking of their ranks. Since this was an across the board phenomenon much has been written and speculated about what happened. Indie expert and bestselling author Joe Konrath addressed this issue yesterday in his blog by pointing out the following:
"Summer is slow. But once the holiday season comes around again, there will be another boost in sales across the board. This year should be bigger than last year, as ereader prices come down and move from early adopters into the mainstream. In other words, no one needs to panic. No business has constant, unstoppable growth. Sales fluctuate. This is normal."
This a is a rapidly changing and emerging business. Which is why I'm a full-time writer and not a publisher. E-Books are still in their infancy, and for any of you who have children, you know how everyday can be an adventure when you have a baby hanging around. One minute the cuddly little kid is cooing in your arms, snuggled up all warm and cozy in the nape of your neck, and next, he's projectile hurling chunks all over your new gaberdine suit.
So what to do?
Listen the experts when they tell you not to worry about minute-by-minute sales. Like Konrath says, this is "a marathon not a sprint." It's E-Books. Our books aren't about to be removed from the shelves anytime soon. Like Patterson says, keep experimenting with prices until you find that "sweet spot." You don't have to be in the Amazon Top Ten in order to make a good living (although it is rush for the ego, believe me..., but again quoting Joe, "what goes up must come down").
But also listen to your heart...Your writing heart that is. No doubt it will tell you to write more books, and to write them as well as you are humanly capable. There is no better way to guarantee excellent sales than by introducing a new book to your fans and future fans.
Concrete Pearl
June 19, 2011
Write What You Know (A Father's Day Blog!)
The following blog is Now Appearing at The Vincent Zandri Vox!:http://vincentzandri.blogspot.com/201...
___________________________________
What's the first thing you learn in Creative Writing 101?
"Write what you know!"
For young authors who haven't yet experienced a whole lot of life, that can be a rather daunting idea. but for those of us who have been around the block a few times, there's always a story or two we can write about, such as the night I spent alone in a Sing Sing prison cell, or the time I was stranded in the jungle in Benin, Africa, after our 4X4 bit got stuck in a swamp.
But then, sometimes you don't have to look too far in order to tap into a life experience. Sometimes you just have to take another look at the way you were raised. In my case, I was raised in a family of construction workers. And by the time I reached puberty, my dad's business had taken off to a level where he went to work in pressed trousers and button-down oxford instead of jeans and workboots. In fact, my dad's business began doing so well, he groomed me for taking over the business one day.
Truth be told, the grooming began very early on. I helped my dad lay out a new church he was contracted to build at age 5. I still recall holding the tape measure for him while he recorded the measurements in his notebook. At around age 12 I was in charge of recording telephone quotations should he be bidding a big job during my summer vacations. At 15 I worked on my first job-site and stepped on a sixpenny nail that impaled itself through my foot. At 20 I was assigned to the office where I read blueprints and helped expedite projects. By 23 I was managing construction jobs worth $6 million or more. That's when I quit to become a full-time writer.
My dad was heartbroken, but not disappointed. After all a dad only wants his kid to be happy, right? And he was happy for me that I'd found something to be as passionate about as he was his business. All he worried about was my being able to make a living, so when books like THE INNOCENT and THE REMAINS became bestsellers, he jumped for sheer joy higher than I did.
But all is not lost on my having essentially experienced an entire career in the commercial construction business. I put it to use in my new thriller, CONCRETE PEARL, starring brassy but bold construction business owner, Ava "Spike" Harrison. How did she get the nickname Spike?
Well she stepped on a sixpenny nail of course, first day out on a real construction job-site. When it comes to writing what you know, the apple should not fall far.
But I appreciate all that my dad did for me when I was growing up and trying to find my way, the least of which is giving me a real insiders look at a world of builders, designers and architects that remains fascinating to me, even if I no longer carry a hammer or work on blueprints. Oh, and as for Spike, she's not only a builder, she's an amateur woman sleuth who carries a framing hammer as an equalizer instead of a gun...you might want to kiss her, but you sure as hell don't want to mess with her.
Happy Father's day Dad! Oh, and thanks!!!
WWW.VINCENTZANDRI.COM
Concrete Pearl
___________________________________
What's the first thing you learn in Creative Writing 101?
"Write what you know!"
For young authors who haven't yet experienced a whole lot of life, that can be a rather daunting idea. but for those of us who have been around the block a few times, there's always a story or two we can write about, such as the night I spent alone in a Sing Sing prison cell, or the time I was stranded in the jungle in Benin, Africa, after our 4X4 bit got stuck in a swamp.
But then, sometimes you don't have to look too far in order to tap into a life experience. Sometimes you just have to take another look at the way you were raised. In my case, I was raised in a family of construction workers. And by the time I reached puberty, my dad's business had taken off to a level where he went to work in pressed trousers and button-down oxford instead of jeans and workboots. In fact, my dad's business began doing so well, he groomed me for taking over the business one day.
Truth be told, the grooming began very early on. I helped my dad lay out a new church he was contracted to build at age 5. I still recall holding the tape measure for him while he recorded the measurements in his notebook. At around age 12 I was in charge of recording telephone quotations should he be bidding a big job during my summer vacations. At 15 I worked on my first job-site and stepped on a sixpenny nail that impaled itself through my foot. At 20 I was assigned to the office where I read blueprints and helped expedite projects. By 23 I was managing construction jobs worth $6 million or more. That's when I quit to become a full-time writer.
My dad was heartbroken, but not disappointed. After all a dad only wants his kid to be happy, right? And he was happy for me that I'd found something to be as passionate about as he was his business. All he worried about was my being able to make a living, so when books like THE INNOCENT and THE REMAINS became bestsellers, he jumped for sheer joy higher than I did.
But all is not lost on my having essentially experienced an entire career in the commercial construction business. I put it to use in my new thriller, CONCRETE PEARL, starring brassy but bold construction business owner, Ava "Spike" Harrison. How did she get the nickname Spike?
Well she stepped on a sixpenny nail of course, first day out on a real construction job-site. When it comes to writing what you know, the apple should not fall far.
But I appreciate all that my dad did for me when I was growing up and trying to find my way, the least of which is giving me a real insiders look at a world of builders, designers and architects that remains fascinating to me, even if I no longer carry a hammer or work on blueprints. Oh, and as for Spike, she's not only a builder, she's an amateur woman sleuth who carries a framing hammer as an equalizer instead of a gun...you might want to kiss her, but you sure as hell don't want to mess with her.
Happy Father's day Dad! Oh, and thanks!!!
WWW.VINCENTZANDRI.COM
Concrete Pearl
June 16, 2011
Some Days You Just Gotta Write...
The following blog is "Now Appearing" at The Vincent Zandri Vox: http://vincentzandri.blogspot.com/201...
____________________________________
...And today is one of those days.
After a week of events, marketing ops, meetings with agents and pubs and even Amazon and Google, I have a novel to complete, or let's face it, I'll be out of a job.
Which brings up a HUUUUUGGGGEEEE point (that HUGE thing is me imitating car salesman and villain, Billy Fuscillo, in my digital short, MOONLIGHT MAFIA)...despite the blogs, despite the social networks, despite the virtual tours, despite your Amazon rank, despite the Iphone or Blackberry, despite everything that has everything to do with your books but that also keeps you away from your craft, you must eventually sit down and write.
Which is what I need to do today and tomorrow in order to complete MURDER BY MOONLIGHT...
I hope you decide to work as hard as you can at your writing too...And if you're not a writer, I just hope you plain work hard and enjoy it as much as I do.
Cheers,
Vin
P.S. THE INNOCENT is back on sale all month long...Grab the Top Ten Amazon Bestseller Today!
The Innocent
____________________________________
...And today is one of those days.
After a week of events, marketing ops, meetings with agents and pubs and even Amazon and Google, I have a novel to complete, or let's face it, I'll be out of a job.
Which brings up a HUUUUUGGGGEEEE point (that HUGE thing is me imitating car salesman and villain, Billy Fuscillo, in my digital short, MOONLIGHT MAFIA)...despite the blogs, despite the social networks, despite the virtual tours, despite your Amazon rank, despite the Iphone or Blackberry, despite everything that has everything to do with your books but that also keeps you away from your craft, you must eventually sit down and write.
Which is what I need to do today and tomorrow in order to complete MURDER BY MOONLIGHT...
I hope you decide to work as hard as you can at your writing too...And if you're not a writer, I just hope you plain work hard and enjoy it as much as I do.
Cheers,
Vin
P.S. THE INNOCENT is back on sale all month long...Grab the Top Ten Amazon Bestseller Today!
The Innocent
June 12, 2011
Sunday Guest Post: Author David H. Fears Talks Marketing vs. Writing
The following blog is now appearing at The Vincent Zandri Vox: http://vincentzandri.blogspot.com/201...
___________________________________
David H. Fears is a writer. A short story writer, a novelist, an essayist, and all around lover and master of the craft. More than that, he is respectful of the craft and as his guest post will attest, alarmed at how many indie authors, never mind me, are losing track of what's important in the writing game. Namely, the writing. Have we all become so obsessed with checking on our Amazon ranking, hour after hour after hour, that we've begun to compromise what should be of paramount importance to us? Again, the writing.
As David will point out, a whole lot of our efforts nowadays are more about who can make the most racket on Facebook, Kindleboards, Twitter, Myspace, and God knows where else, when it should be the writing that's doing the speaking for us. And when all this self-promotion doesn't result in sales, we drop our prices to $.99 in hopes that we will shoot to the top of the charts.
But does dropping your prices for a time de-value your work?
I believe that it doesn't, so long as it's a temporary measure designed to increase your audience. I also believe that an author should have a variety of books offered up at a variety of prices. In my case, I always have something available at $.99, while my other books are usually priced around $2.99, and some even at $4.99 and $5.99.
In the end, the pricing of E-Books remains an inexact science. But what is apparent for many writers like Fears and myself, is that, if we begin to shift from being full-time writers to full-time ego-obsessed marketers, we will destroy not only our talents, but we will demolish our careers as we know them.
That said, never fear, for David H. Fears is here:
YOU’VE GOT TO (fill in the blanks _________________________) TO BE SUCCESSFUL.
My mother taught me not to brag. That it was low class, boorish, etc. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
Back when the world was young and the Internet was still the Defense Department’s ARPANET, I used to buy and devour books on the writing craft. I tried to get just one good tip out of every book, and usually I found at least one. You see, I had several decades of stories in me that were clamoring to get out, but mastering the craft (okay, near-mastering) was like trying to have an erotic date with a reluctant bulldog. So I immersed, parsed, filtered, microscoped, and fumbled my way to many short stories written and submitted, because YOU’VE GOT TO BE PUBLISHED, as they would say over and over.
My first winner got published on the outside of a coffee can, with the balance of the story inside. It was a real grind, that story! I once was sent $100 for a story by some obscure Southern magazine no one outside of Tulsa has ever heard of. I hung around writing sites online where every ego bigger than a June bug was pissing in the wind to get published in obscure journals in such popular places as Lichtenstein. All in all I penned more than 100 short stories, and “critted” many times more. I became a college writing instructor for a couple of years just to learn all 29 rules for commas. All through this period what stuck with me was, “YOU’VE GOT TO WRITE A MILLION WORDS BEFORE YOU CAN WRITE ANYTHING WORTHWHILE.”
Turn the clock forward a decade, after four mystery novels, ebooks, two short story collections, one in print, and four historical print reference books of about 1,200 pages each snapped up by every true Mark Twain fanatic from Portland, Oregon to Piscataway, Joizey—not to mention some humble educational institutions like Harvard, Yale (boolah!), Cornell, Princeton, and some bigtime libraries like the Newberry in Chicago, SF Public, Detroit Public, Nevada Historical, yada yada—I figure I’m at about two million words. Still when I read a few of my stories I wrote a decade ago, before a million words, they seem cleaner, fresher, more appealing. I don’t want to change a thing with many of them. I don’t want my writing to get old—hell, I don’t want to get old, which I tell the wife is why I still drive like I’m 18.
All of this is prologue (readers hate prologues, but don’t worry, no novel will follow this), to the current day—today’s always in-flux, chaotic publication and marketing of ebooks, trade books, blogs, twitters, Facebook pages, and on and on. Today it’s YOU’VE GOT TO MARKET TO BE SUCCESSFUL. Of course this dictum overlooks that success, like sexual attraction, is highly subjective, if intoxicating. There’s no one thing that usually brings success, which answers for their next dictum YOU’VE GOT TO DO THEM ALL TO BE SUCCESSFUL.
When I look at the man in the mirror, I ask him if he is successful, and I always trust his answer. I don’t look for validation in any other voice or set of voices. Whether my Mike Angel hardboiled detective novels, sprinkled with romance, seduction, sarcastic humor and complex inside-out plots ever sell a million copies or not, that mirror guy won’t keep checking his sales numbers in order to tell me if I’m successful. He knows that if a man’s blessed, he’s successful. No one will likely ever have on his tombstone, “He sold 100,000 ebooks after lowering his price to 99 cents,” or “When she died she was # 12 in the Amazon Romance category.”
So, What about this MARKETING MANIA and the RACE TO THE BOTTOM OF PRICE? No, one doesn’t have to market, if you mean “shameless self-promotion,” endless posting of links to Amazon Kindle for your books, twitter and flitter and glitter to gain “followers” like lemmings after a Cinnabon, or pontificating on some blog to show you’re not an idiot (but ironically proving same). Momma taught me a better way. Bragging makes you self-conscious and weak. Confidence—true confidence never needs to brag. A great cover only means a great cover and a few fools fooled if you have a poor novel.
Writing time doesn’t have to swallow your day, although when in heat it’s best to go with the flow. Neither should “marketing” (which really is just bragging on your own sweet self) be the focus of your life.
Here’s my simple, short & sweet advice: Write a novel (they want novels; unfortunately because a great short story is harder to write); make it the best you can make it, which should include other pairs of “test” eyes, reading it aloud, and every other trick you can grab that works. Revise, revise, revise. That means, in Latin, “re-seeing, or seeing again.” Editing is just picking all the nits off. TIME is important in revision—your story won’t look the same a week, month, year later, so include some gestation time. Your mileage may vary but a novel takes at least a year to do—a good one. Great ones maybe much longer (Huckleberry Finn took Sam 9 years to write).
After watching all these indie writers go nuts on message boards, FB pages, blogs, twitters—you know the angles, dangles of freebies, and marketing finagles I mean—I got the fan-tods trying to keep up. So one day I thought—this is moronic. If I’m a marketing whiz I might steer hundreds or even thousands to my books—but if they don’t catch on it’s only short term gains. On the other hand, If I put the book in say 100 hands though it take a year or two to do so, if my book is popular with the unwashed masses, they’ll market FOR ME. I might even sell a few to those washed masses as well.
Now & then I read of some indie writer who sells hundreds or thousands without ANY marketing. I see writers jumping all over themselves because of the whispering shifting sands of their Amazon “rating numbers.” I enjoy poking these folks, and it’s resulted in a few FB page bannings. Once I posted, “Oh, you mean, LOOK AT ME! LOOK AT ME! I’M HOT STUFF AND THEY REALLY, REALLY LIKE ME!”—apologies to that flying nun dame who has osteo so bad all she can do these days is appear in commercials with her dog. I also see damned good writers with damned good books putting them down at 99c, which is what I call DEVALUING the product. In Vegas, it’s called “playing the come line” in craps, which is just what these writers are shooting. Just because some Joe Blow gets wildly popular and sells a dumpload of ebooks at 99c (where you have to sell SIX to earn the same amount as ONE for $2.99, thanks to Amazon’s perverse royalty break), doesn’t mean YOU should jump off the bridge (remember Momma saying that? She was right).
My kind of marketing is simply just being me on my limited Facebook or message board time. My humor is reactive humor. I can’t do stand up. I can react to the dumb (excuse me, erudite) musings of those who market first last 24/7 in their underwear on major holidays. So thanks Mom—I will never make ANY claim about the quality of my writing, because I’m a firm believer in:
YOU’VE GOT TO BE YOU TO BE SUCCESSFUL.
David H Fears
Psst! You there! Wanna buy a great gumshoe novel and series? hahahahah.
WWW.VINCENTZANDRI.COM
Concrete Pearl
___________________________________
David H. Fears is a writer. A short story writer, a novelist, an essayist, and all around lover and master of the craft. More than that, he is respectful of the craft and as his guest post will attest, alarmed at how many indie authors, never mind me, are losing track of what's important in the writing game. Namely, the writing. Have we all become so obsessed with checking on our Amazon ranking, hour after hour after hour, that we've begun to compromise what should be of paramount importance to us? Again, the writing.
As David will point out, a whole lot of our efforts nowadays are more about who can make the most racket on Facebook, Kindleboards, Twitter, Myspace, and God knows where else, when it should be the writing that's doing the speaking for us. And when all this self-promotion doesn't result in sales, we drop our prices to $.99 in hopes that we will shoot to the top of the charts.
But does dropping your prices for a time de-value your work?
I believe that it doesn't, so long as it's a temporary measure designed to increase your audience. I also believe that an author should have a variety of books offered up at a variety of prices. In my case, I always have something available at $.99, while my other books are usually priced around $2.99, and some even at $4.99 and $5.99.
In the end, the pricing of E-Books remains an inexact science. But what is apparent for many writers like Fears and myself, is that, if we begin to shift from being full-time writers to full-time ego-obsessed marketers, we will destroy not only our talents, but we will demolish our careers as we know them.
That said, never fear, for David H. Fears is here:
YOU’VE GOT TO (fill in the blanks _________________________) TO BE SUCCESSFUL.
My mother taught me not to brag. That it was low class, boorish, etc. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
Back when the world was young and the Internet was still the Defense Department’s ARPANET, I used to buy and devour books on the writing craft. I tried to get just one good tip out of every book, and usually I found at least one. You see, I had several decades of stories in me that were clamoring to get out, but mastering the craft (okay, near-mastering) was like trying to have an erotic date with a reluctant bulldog. So I immersed, parsed, filtered, microscoped, and fumbled my way to many short stories written and submitted, because YOU’VE GOT TO BE PUBLISHED, as they would say over and over.
My first winner got published on the outside of a coffee can, with the balance of the story inside. It was a real grind, that story! I once was sent $100 for a story by some obscure Southern magazine no one outside of Tulsa has ever heard of. I hung around writing sites online where every ego bigger than a June bug was pissing in the wind to get published in obscure journals in such popular places as Lichtenstein. All in all I penned more than 100 short stories, and “critted” many times more. I became a college writing instructor for a couple of years just to learn all 29 rules for commas. All through this period what stuck with me was, “YOU’VE GOT TO WRITE A MILLION WORDS BEFORE YOU CAN WRITE ANYTHING WORTHWHILE.”
Turn the clock forward a decade, after four mystery novels, ebooks, two short story collections, one in print, and four historical print reference books of about 1,200 pages each snapped up by every true Mark Twain fanatic from Portland, Oregon to Piscataway, Joizey—not to mention some humble educational institutions like Harvard, Yale (boolah!), Cornell, Princeton, and some bigtime libraries like the Newberry in Chicago, SF Public, Detroit Public, Nevada Historical, yada yada—I figure I’m at about two million words. Still when I read a few of my stories I wrote a decade ago, before a million words, they seem cleaner, fresher, more appealing. I don’t want to change a thing with many of them. I don’t want my writing to get old—hell, I don’t want to get old, which I tell the wife is why I still drive like I’m 18.
All of this is prologue (readers hate prologues, but don’t worry, no novel will follow this), to the current day—today’s always in-flux, chaotic publication and marketing of ebooks, trade books, blogs, twitters, Facebook pages, and on and on. Today it’s YOU’VE GOT TO MARKET TO BE SUCCESSFUL. Of course this dictum overlooks that success, like sexual attraction, is highly subjective, if intoxicating. There’s no one thing that usually brings success, which answers for their next dictum YOU’VE GOT TO DO THEM ALL TO BE SUCCESSFUL.
When I look at the man in the mirror, I ask him if he is successful, and I always trust his answer. I don’t look for validation in any other voice or set of voices. Whether my Mike Angel hardboiled detective novels, sprinkled with romance, seduction, sarcastic humor and complex inside-out plots ever sell a million copies or not, that mirror guy won’t keep checking his sales numbers in order to tell me if I’m successful. He knows that if a man’s blessed, he’s successful. No one will likely ever have on his tombstone, “He sold 100,000 ebooks after lowering his price to 99 cents,” or “When she died she was # 12 in the Amazon Romance category.”
So, What about this MARKETING MANIA and the RACE TO THE BOTTOM OF PRICE? No, one doesn’t have to market, if you mean “shameless self-promotion,” endless posting of links to Amazon Kindle for your books, twitter and flitter and glitter to gain “followers” like lemmings after a Cinnabon, or pontificating on some blog to show you’re not an idiot (but ironically proving same). Momma taught me a better way. Bragging makes you self-conscious and weak. Confidence—true confidence never needs to brag. A great cover only means a great cover and a few fools fooled if you have a poor novel.
Writing time doesn’t have to swallow your day, although when in heat it’s best to go with the flow. Neither should “marketing” (which really is just bragging on your own sweet self) be the focus of your life.
Here’s my simple, short & sweet advice: Write a novel (they want novels; unfortunately because a great short story is harder to write); make it the best you can make it, which should include other pairs of “test” eyes, reading it aloud, and every other trick you can grab that works. Revise, revise, revise. That means, in Latin, “re-seeing, or seeing again.” Editing is just picking all the nits off. TIME is important in revision—your story won’t look the same a week, month, year later, so include some gestation time. Your mileage may vary but a novel takes at least a year to do—a good one. Great ones maybe much longer (Huckleberry Finn took Sam 9 years to write).
After watching all these indie writers go nuts on message boards, FB pages, blogs, twitters—you know the angles, dangles of freebies, and marketing finagles I mean—I got the fan-tods trying to keep up. So one day I thought—this is moronic. If I’m a marketing whiz I might steer hundreds or even thousands to my books—but if they don’t catch on it’s only short term gains. On the other hand, If I put the book in say 100 hands though it take a year or two to do so, if my book is popular with the unwashed masses, they’ll market FOR ME. I might even sell a few to those washed masses as well.
Now & then I read of some indie writer who sells hundreds or thousands without ANY marketing. I see writers jumping all over themselves because of the whispering shifting sands of their Amazon “rating numbers.” I enjoy poking these folks, and it’s resulted in a few FB page bannings. Once I posted, “Oh, you mean, LOOK AT ME! LOOK AT ME! I’M HOT STUFF AND THEY REALLY, REALLY LIKE ME!”—apologies to that flying nun dame who has osteo so bad all she can do these days is appear in commercials with her dog. I also see damned good writers with damned good books putting them down at 99c, which is what I call DEVALUING the product. In Vegas, it’s called “playing the come line” in craps, which is just what these writers are shooting. Just because some Joe Blow gets wildly popular and sells a dumpload of ebooks at 99c (where you have to sell SIX to earn the same amount as ONE for $2.99, thanks to Amazon’s perverse royalty break), doesn’t mean YOU should jump off the bridge (remember Momma saying that? She was right).
My kind of marketing is simply just being me on my limited Facebook or message board time. My humor is reactive humor. I can’t do stand up. I can react to the dumb (excuse me, erudite) musings of those who market first last 24/7 in their underwear on major holidays. So thanks Mom—I will never make ANY claim about the quality of my writing, because I’m a firm believer in:
YOU’VE GOT TO BE YOU TO BE SUCCESSFUL.
David H Fears
Psst! You there! Wanna buy a great gumshoe novel and series? hahahahah.
WWW.VINCENTZANDRI.COM
Concrete Pearl
June 10, 2011
Flawed P.I.s, Gotta Love 'em: A Guest Post by Crime Author Benjamin Sobieck
The following blog is now appearing at The Vincent Zandri Vox: http://vincentzandri.blogspot.com/201...
________________________________________
I've been lucky with my invented PI characters.
First there's Jack "Keeper" Marconi, former prison warden turned private dick who specializes in chasing down escaped convicts, especially the ones who like to murder cops in cold blood, like in THE INNOCENT, or the bad guys who murdered his wife in GODCHILD.
Then there's MOONLIGHT FALLS and the forthcoming MOONLIGHT RISES from StoneGate Ink. Richard "Dick" Moonlight is a former cop and suicide survivor who has a little piece of bullet lodged inside his brain, right smack up against the cerebral cortex causing him at best the occasional blackout or memory loss (especially during times of stress...in other words, all the time), but at worst, the very serious possibility of coma and/or death should the bullet shift. He also always seems to be making the wrong decisions, more often than not, when it comes to women. In a word, he's an easy lay.
What's my point?
When it comes to the PI thriller market, you can't dish up the same old/same old anymore. You've got to give the reading audience a character who will stick out from the crowd and at the same time be believable in all his or her, unbelievableness...if that makes even an ounce of sense.
Up and coming crime fiction star and CLEANSING EDEN author, Benjamin Sobieck, follows the line of the fallible PI pretty closely in the form of Maynard Solomon in a short he did with famous blogger and blog talk radio host Giovanni Gelati for Gelati's ever growing Trestle Press. "Who Whacked the Blogger" is fun, violent, warped, and just plain funny. It's also crafted by two dudes who love their work and make it show. Check out the story anywhere where E-Books are sold.
Mr. Ben...It's time to give us the low-down on Maynard...
11 reasons to enjoy Maynard Soloman
Now before you roll your eyes and say, "Another serialized PI? Puh-leez," I want to tell you why Maynard Soloman is different. I, too, had read a million incarnations of Sam Spade. Maynard Soloman might've worn a fedora, but that's where the similarities end.
Here are 11 reasons Maynard Soloman is worth a look.
1) He was forced into retirement from his career as an investigator for the Obscenities Division of a local police force. He got stiffed on some medical bills, so he has to keep working. Which is why he...
2) Bought a Winnebago. Not only can he see the country (a staple of any retiree's dreams), he uses it as a...
3) Mobile office. He bought a police scanner and spray painted the words "Maynard Soloman Investigation Services" on the side. He's not too worried about the 'bago looking junky because...
4) The Winnebago takes a beating in every story. In "Who Whacked the Blogger?" he had to outrun a competitor when chasing an ambulance containing a potential client. In "Maynard Soloman Solves the War on Drugs," some punks break windows and spray paint graffiti on the side panels. That had Maynard...
5) Cursing in his own special way. A typical Maynard line would be, "Some punk-ass fruit bats spray painted the 'bago with a gal-damn penis." He's got a potty mouth rooted in a mix of early 20th Century cuss words and his own inventions. "Fruit bat" is someone who is both fruity and bat-shit insane. He also invented...
6) The 'nard Bag. As he can't afford an extra large sleeping bag, he invented the 'nard Bag. Simply pick out a pair of the largest sweatpants you can find. Cut the legs and sew them together so there is only one leg. Says Maynard, "It's pure mollycoddling." He enjoys stretching out, especially when...
7) He has health problems. It's an overarching theme across the stories. It's not clear yet what they are, but Maynard knows he can't outrun time. Speaking of time...
8) Maynard is clueless about technology. It's always baffled him. In "Who Whacked the Blogger?" his client runs a blog. Maynard spends most of the time trying to figure out what that means. He's also behind on...
9) Crime trends. In "Maynard Soloman Solves the War on Drugs," he is solicited by a teen to buy some cold medicine for him. Maynard becomes suspicious when he hears the medicine must contain pseudoephedrine. "Sounds like a fake drug to me. Are you trying to play a prank on me?" Maynard says. Of course, readers know pseudoephedrine is kept behind the counter because it's used to make meth. But the clueless Maynard Soloman thinks he...
10) Knows everything. He's absolutely convinced the world is much stupider than he. It's the big dumb world's fault he can't walk up to a drive-through and place an order. He can see the obvious answers when no one else can. That's why he can be so bold as to proclaim he's solved the War on Drugs in, "Maynard Soloman Solves the War on Drugs." But he's not so bold as to...
11) Use weapons of any kind. He was denied a concealed carry permit, probably related to the messy forced retirement situation. But he says the real reason is, "I cross too many state lines in the 'bago. Don't want one of my old police buddies to throw me in the slammer."
I hope you'll check out Maynard Soloman. I had a ton of fun writing him. More adventures are on their way. In the meantime, check out "Who Whacked the Blogger?" and "Maynard Soloman Solves the War on Drugs."
For more on Benjamin Sobieck: http://www.crimefictionbook.com/
WWW.VINCENTZANDRI.COM
Concrete Pearl
The Innocent
________________________________________
I've been lucky with my invented PI characters.
First there's Jack "Keeper" Marconi, former prison warden turned private dick who specializes in chasing down escaped convicts, especially the ones who like to murder cops in cold blood, like in THE INNOCENT, or the bad guys who murdered his wife in GODCHILD.
Then there's MOONLIGHT FALLS and the forthcoming MOONLIGHT RISES from StoneGate Ink. Richard "Dick" Moonlight is a former cop and suicide survivor who has a little piece of bullet lodged inside his brain, right smack up against the cerebral cortex causing him at best the occasional blackout or memory loss (especially during times of stress...in other words, all the time), but at worst, the very serious possibility of coma and/or death should the bullet shift. He also always seems to be making the wrong decisions, more often than not, when it comes to women. In a word, he's an easy lay.
What's my point?
When it comes to the PI thriller market, you can't dish up the same old/same old anymore. You've got to give the reading audience a character who will stick out from the crowd and at the same time be believable in all his or her, unbelievableness...if that makes even an ounce of sense.
Up and coming crime fiction star and CLEANSING EDEN author, Benjamin Sobieck, follows the line of the fallible PI pretty closely in the form of Maynard Solomon in a short he did with famous blogger and blog talk radio host Giovanni Gelati for Gelati's ever growing Trestle Press. "Who Whacked the Blogger" is fun, violent, warped, and just plain funny. It's also crafted by two dudes who love their work and make it show. Check out the story anywhere where E-Books are sold.
Mr. Ben...It's time to give us the low-down on Maynard...
11 reasons to enjoy Maynard Soloman
Now before you roll your eyes and say, "Another serialized PI? Puh-leez," I want to tell you why Maynard Soloman is different. I, too, had read a million incarnations of Sam Spade. Maynard Soloman might've worn a fedora, but that's where the similarities end.
Here are 11 reasons Maynard Soloman is worth a look.
1) He was forced into retirement from his career as an investigator for the Obscenities Division of a local police force. He got stiffed on some medical bills, so he has to keep working. Which is why he...
2) Bought a Winnebago. Not only can he see the country (a staple of any retiree's dreams), he uses it as a...
3) Mobile office. He bought a police scanner and spray painted the words "Maynard Soloman Investigation Services" on the side. He's not too worried about the 'bago looking junky because...
4) The Winnebago takes a beating in every story. In "Who Whacked the Blogger?" he had to outrun a competitor when chasing an ambulance containing a potential client. In "Maynard Soloman Solves the War on Drugs," some punks break windows and spray paint graffiti on the side panels. That had Maynard...
5) Cursing in his own special way. A typical Maynard line would be, "Some punk-ass fruit bats spray painted the 'bago with a gal-damn penis." He's got a potty mouth rooted in a mix of early 20th Century cuss words and his own inventions. "Fruit bat" is someone who is both fruity and bat-shit insane. He also invented...
6) The 'nard Bag. As he can't afford an extra large sleeping bag, he invented the 'nard Bag. Simply pick out a pair of the largest sweatpants you can find. Cut the legs and sew them together so there is only one leg. Says Maynard, "It's pure mollycoddling." He enjoys stretching out, especially when...
7) He has health problems. It's an overarching theme across the stories. It's not clear yet what they are, but Maynard knows he can't outrun time. Speaking of time...
8) Maynard is clueless about technology. It's always baffled him. In "Who Whacked the Blogger?" his client runs a blog. Maynard spends most of the time trying to figure out what that means. He's also behind on...
9) Crime trends. In "Maynard Soloman Solves the War on Drugs," he is solicited by a teen to buy some cold medicine for him. Maynard becomes suspicious when he hears the medicine must contain pseudoephedrine. "Sounds like a fake drug to me. Are you trying to play a prank on me?" Maynard says. Of course, readers know pseudoephedrine is kept behind the counter because it's used to make meth. But the clueless Maynard Soloman thinks he...
10) Knows everything. He's absolutely convinced the world is much stupider than he. It's the big dumb world's fault he can't walk up to a drive-through and place an order. He can see the obvious answers when no one else can. That's why he can be so bold as to proclaim he's solved the War on Drugs in, "Maynard Soloman Solves the War on Drugs." But he's not so bold as to...
11) Use weapons of any kind. He was denied a concealed carry permit, probably related to the messy forced retirement situation. But he says the real reason is, "I cross too many state lines in the 'bago. Don't want one of my old police buddies to throw me in the slammer."
I hope you'll check out Maynard Soloman. I had a ton of fun writing him. More adventures are on their way. In the meantime, check out "Who Whacked the Blogger?" and "Maynard Soloman Solves the War on Drugs."
For more on Benjamin Sobieck: http://www.crimefictionbook.com/
WWW.VINCENTZANDRI.COM
Concrete Pearl
The Innocent
June 7, 2011
"YOU CAN WRITE ON THE SIDE!"
The following blog is now appearing in The Vincent Zandri Vox: http://vincentzandri.blogspot.com/201...
_________________________________________
I just read a great blog by bestselling thriller author Aaron Patterson, who also happens to be my publisher at what might arguably be the most successful indie press in business right now: StoneHouse/StoneGate Ink. In his blog he talks about WORK, and how there's no real magic bullet when it comes to sales other than old fashioned hard work, the ability to adjust to new trends and circumstances, and personal character development that will allow you to ride out storms and low periods with a certain grace. Because after all, publishing is a cyclical business of terrific bursts of sales in which it seems the whole world is buying up your novels, and other periods of relative disinterest where you can't even get your mom to purchase a copy.
This afternoon, I will have a meeting with my agent to discuss interest from the major publishers in my new novel or novels. As many of you know I've published with the majors before, and recently, two of those novels, THE INNOCENT and GODCHILD have gone on to become major Amazon Kindle E-Book Bestsellers, both having hung out in the Top 100 for more than two months, and the former in the Top 10 for an equal amount of time. In fact, in three months time, I've moved around 200,000 of these E-Books. Which of course makes me, Vincent Zandri, Inc. register, or in this case re-register, on the radar of the biggies.
As many of you know, I believe that an author is best served by maintaining a mix of both indie press published books, self-published books, and traditional legacy published books. It seems to me the best way to maximize your sales and marketing potential while assuring you a nice financial cushion to rest your laurels on while you write. But the only thing I will be wary of when talking to my agent about a major deal is this: how long will my rights be tied up for? How much of an advance can I expect? What would be the advantages of a traditional deal over that of the deals I've struck up with my present publisher? What kind of lag time will there be between a contract offer and date of publication? What kind of royalty can I expect on E-Book publication? And how much will a traditional publisher charge for said book? (WARNING: I can name at least two very successful indie authors who signed with the biggies and who now, do not sell!!! Yikes!)
As I write this I can't help but think of those horrible couple of years I endured during the middle part of the last decade, when I couldn't get a book published if I pressed a pistol barrel to an editor's head. I was living in a big house in a suburb of Albany (my father in-law put up the down payment) with a woman I loved but who could no longer bear the writer's life, such as it was. Her parents were practically yelling at me to get a job or go back to work in my dad's construction business. "You can write on the side!" they insisted, with scowls on their faces. Even my wife insisted that I was selfish. And when she looked at me coldly and said, "I'm sorry the writing thing didn't work out," I knew that the time had come for me to get back to work writing the best book I could, even under circumstances that were pure domestic hell.
Even though my choices cost me my marriage, I've never regretted making the decision to remain a writer. In a real way, I don't feel that I had a choice but to remain a writer. For me, there is no other way to be; no other way for me to identify with myself. And today, I'm back to making a great living not only as a journalist, but mostly as a novelist. Now it's possible I'll be publishing with a major outfit once again. Of course, nothing here is a sure bet, and for all I know, the renewed interest in my work from NYC will fade away.
But somehow, I don't think so.
Somehow I believe I'm going to have to sit down with my friends God and Conscience and do some serious soul searching over the next few weeks. In any case, one thing will be for certain: I will continue to publish with my family at StoneHouse/StoneGate Ink for as long as they will have me , and I will one day (I know, I know, I keep saying it...) take the plunge and self-publish one or two of my novels. And, who knows, one day soon, I might sign on with a traditional publisher once again, for a book or two. If I do that, I will have come full circle.
Oh, and by the way, I ran into my former in-laws this past weekend at a play my six year old daughter was in. They are very nervous in front of me these days, and they can't find the strength to look me in the eye. As we exited the theater, I happened to mention about how I'd worked on the building many years ago "back when I was in the construction business." "Thank God I don't have to do that kind of work anymore," I added with a laugh. I guess I kind of expected a response. But they both just put their heads down, and walked quietly away.
(TO BE CONTINUED...)
Concrete Pearl
_________________________________________
I just read a great blog by bestselling thriller author Aaron Patterson, who also happens to be my publisher at what might arguably be the most successful indie press in business right now: StoneHouse/StoneGate Ink. In his blog he talks about WORK, and how there's no real magic bullet when it comes to sales other than old fashioned hard work, the ability to adjust to new trends and circumstances, and personal character development that will allow you to ride out storms and low periods with a certain grace. Because after all, publishing is a cyclical business of terrific bursts of sales in which it seems the whole world is buying up your novels, and other periods of relative disinterest where you can't even get your mom to purchase a copy.
This afternoon, I will have a meeting with my agent to discuss interest from the major publishers in my new novel or novels. As many of you know I've published with the majors before, and recently, two of those novels, THE INNOCENT and GODCHILD have gone on to become major Amazon Kindle E-Book Bestsellers, both having hung out in the Top 100 for more than two months, and the former in the Top 10 for an equal amount of time. In fact, in three months time, I've moved around 200,000 of these E-Books. Which of course makes me, Vincent Zandri, Inc. register, or in this case re-register, on the radar of the biggies.
As many of you know, I believe that an author is best served by maintaining a mix of both indie press published books, self-published books, and traditional legacy published books. It seems to me the best way to maximize your sales and marketing potential while assuring you a nice financial cushion to rest your laurels on while you write. But the only thing I will be wary of when talking to my agent about a major deal is this: how long will my rights be tied up for? How much of an advance can I expect? What would be the advantages of a traditional deal over that of the deals I've struck up with my present publisher? What kind of lag time will there be between a contract offer and date of publication? What kind of royalty can I expect on E-Book publication? And how much will a traditional publisher charge for said book? (WARNING: I can name at least two very successful indie authors who signed with the biggies and who now, do not sell!!! Yikes!)
As I write this I can't help but think of those horrible couple of years I endured during the middle part of the last decade, when I couldn't get a book published if I pressed a pistol barrel to an editor's head. I was living in a big house in a suburb of Albany (my father in-law put up the down payment) with a woman I loved but who could no longer bear the writer's life, such as it was. Her parents were practically yelling at me to get a job or go back to work in my dad's construction business. "You can write on the side!" they insisted, with scowls on their faces. Even my wife insisted that I was selfish. And when she looked at me coldly and said, "I'm sorry the writing thing didn't work out," I knew that the time had come for me to get back to work writing the best book I could, even under circumstances that were pure domestic hell.
Even though my choices cost me my marriage, I've never regretted making the decision to remain a writer. In a real way, I don't feel that I had a choice but to remain a writer. For me, there is no other way to be; no other way for me to identify with myself. And today, I'm back to making a great living not only as a journalist, but mostly as a novelist. Now it's possible I'll be publishing with a major outfit once again. Of course, nothing here is a sure bet, and for all I know, the renewed interest in my work from NYC will fade away.
But somehow, I don't think so.
Somehow I believe I'm going to have to sit down with my friends God and Conscience and do some serious soul searching over the next few weeks. In any case, one thing will be for certain: I will continue to publish with my family at StoneHouse/StoneGate Ink for as long as they will have me , and I will one day (I know, I know, I keep saying it...) take the plunge and self-publish one or two of my novels. And, who knows, one day soon, I might sign on with a traditional publisher once again, for a book or two. If I do that, I will have come full circle.
Oh, and by the way, I ran into my former in-laws this past weekend at a play my six year old daughter was in. They are very nervous in front of me these days, and they can't find the strength to look me in the eye. As we exited the theater, I happened to mention about how I'd worked on the building many years ago "back when I was in the construction business." "Thank God I don't have to do that kind of work anymore," I added with a laugh. I guess I kind of expected a response. But they both just put their heads down, and walked quietly away.
(TO BE CONTINUED...)
Concrete Pearl
June 5, 2011
Amazon Tags: The Good News & The Good News
The following Blog originally appeared at The Vincent Zandri Vox: http://vincentzandri.blogspot.com/201...
________________________________________
Some of us took it on the chin last week. Us authors published by indie outfits like StoneHouse/StoneGate Ink and some of you self-pub'd authors, that is. Amazon decided to remove the tags that can lead readers to our books whenever they search for a certain type of read, be it hard-boiled or romantic suspense or a book that's a lot like James Patterson's books for that matter. Combine that with some sales reporting glitches and a summer special concocted by Amazon in which they selected 600 novels (most of which are published by the major houses in New York), discounted them to $2.99 or less to make them as attractive as indie books, and it all came together to create a major slowdown in our sales.
I did some blogging on the tag topic last week and received more comments than ever before. Tagging, although not essential for selling novels is nonetheless, a valuable tool in helping potential readers and hopefully would-be fans find your work. One of the comments by a fellow indie pub'd author was quite revealing and came as a bit of a relief. He pointed out the fact that the tags are not gone at all. They are just no longer posted beneath a particular book's product description. Which means Amazon has decided that only books that you purchase can be tagged. What this will do for them is cut down on the amount of "gaming" abuse that can occur with tags, and perhaps put a halt to what they and the the Big Six Legacy Pubs consider the worst tag of all: "Boycott $9.99" Kindles."
So, if you want to find your tags, here's what you do:
-Go to your Customer Account (not your Author Central Account)
-Scroll down to "Improve Your Recommendations"
-BAM! Your tags will appear for you in the form of books you have purchased.
So that's it, for now.
Word on the street from some of my other blog readers is that Amazon Support has promised that the tags are to return to the main Kindle E-Book pages and that what's happened is in fact, a glitch in the system. But considering the timing of the "600 Kindle Titles Special," I don't know if I'm buying it.
The good news is that all games aside, the indie titles are slowly gaining back the ground they lost last week, and even re-entering the "Movers and Shakers" list. Which means that no matter what kind of battles the head honchos of the Big Six and stores like Amazon decide to wage against us indies, the overall war will be won by us.
Why?
Because we can offer great work for an affordable price and we can do it forever and ever, Amen.
_______________________________________
To buy Zandri's Top 100 Bestselling Kindle E-Books like THE INNOCENT and GODCHILD (both only $.99 for a limited time) head on over to WWW.VINCENTZANDRI.COM
The Remains
________________________________________
Some of us took it on the chin last week. Us authors published by indie outfits like StoneHouse/StoneGate Ink and some of you self-pub'd authors, that is. Amazon decided to remove the tags that can lead readers to our books whenever they search for a certain type of read, be it hard-boiled or romantic suspense or a book that's a lot like James Patterson's books for that matter. Combine that with some sales reporting glitches and a summer special concocted by Amazon in which they selected 600 novels (most of which are published by the major houses in New York), discounted them to $2.99 or less to make them as attractive as indie books, and it all came together to create a major slowdown in our sales.
I did some blogging on the tag topic last week and received more comments than ever before. Tagging, although not essential for selling novels is nonetheless, a valuable tool in helping potential readers and hopefully would-be fans find your work. One of the comments by a fellow indie pub'd author was quite revealing and came as a bit of a relief. He pointed out the fact that the tags are not gone at all. They are just no longer posted beneath a particular book's product description. Which means Amazon has decided that only books that you purchase can be tagged. What this will do for them is cut down on the amount of "gaming" abuse that can occur with tags, and perhaps put a halt to what they and the the Big Six Legacy Pubs consider the worst tag of all: "Boycott $9.99" Kindles."
So, if you want to find your tags, here's what you do:
-Go to your Customer Account (not your Author Central Account)
-Scroll down to "Improve Your Recommendations"
-BAM! Your tags will appear for you in the form of books you have purchased.
So that's it, for now.
Word on the street from some of my other blog readers is that Amazon Support has promised that the tags are to return to the main Kindle E-Book pages and that what's happened is in fact, a glitch in the system. But considering the timing of the "600 Kindle Titles Special," I don't know if I'm buying it.
The good news is that all games aside, the indie titles are slowly gaining back the ground they lost last week, and even re-entering the "Movers and Shakers" list. Which means that no matter what kind of battles the head honchos of the Big Six and stores like Amazon decide to wage against us indies, the overall war will be won by us.
Why?
Because we can offer great work for an affordable price and we can do it forever and ever, Amen.
_______________________________________
To buy Zandri's Top 100 Bestselling Kindle E-Books like THE INNOCENT and GODCHILD (both only $.99 for a limited time) head on over to WWW.VINCENTZANDRI.COM
The Remains
