Allison M. Dickson's Blog, page 11

2013 Miscellany: A STRINGS Sale, Eating Britain, and Chomping at the Bit

With roughly twelve hours left in 2013, it's time to get down to the brass tacks of what's left. I really should be writing a grocery list for the shopping trip I should have made three hours ago, but sometimes you can't do anything else until you've cleared the gunk out of your head, and right now I really need to clean out the last bit of 2013 brain sludge clinging to my neural pathways.







First, I hope everyone has a great celebration to round out the year, no matter how shitty the preceding months might have been. To me, this is the denouement. Make it worthwhile. Some people like to suck all the fun out of this holiday by reminding us that the calendar is a man-made construct and that time is ever on the same continuum, regardless of what day we think it is, therefore such things as resolutions and goals and celebrations are an impertinent waste of time.



I say screw that. The world is what we make it, and as a writer of stories I'm a big fan of things that have endings and beginnings and narratives. Every year, to me, is a story and 2013 was an overwrought mess that overstayed its welcome, like a Peter Jackson movie. I look forward to seeing what the Year of the Horse brings us.



Maybe it'll be this kind of horse.







That would be awesome.



Anyway, in order to help folks ring in the 2014 with some newness, I've set up some great bargains in my Kindle bookstore with some freebies for New Year's Day. Grab both of my short story collections and my pulpy detective robot book Colt Coltrane free of charge. I even managed to twist my publisher's arm to drop the price on STRINGS for the day. And because I threatened his family and all he holds dear, he even set up a Kindle Countdown Deal, so the book will be on discount all damn week, starting at $.99 on 1/1 and gradually rising back to $3.99 on 1/5. Thanks Jairus!







My New Year's Eve will be spent gaming with my awesome friend and Creative Commoners co-host Chris Armstrong, who will soon be striking out for his new life in Seattle, where I am sure he will prosper and morph gradually into the espresso-guzzling, flannel wearing hipster I always knew he could be. The following day is one largely considered a day of sloth in our family, and we will be living it up with a small Sherlock marathon leading to the premier of the new episode. We will round it out by noshing on some British faves. Tea sandwiches and scones for early in the day. Then some fish and chips and a sticky toffee pudding in the evening. I like themes. One year we did a Harry Potter marathon and I made butter beer and pumpkin pasties. It was awesome. Maybe I also have a bit of a British obsession.



Finally, I just want to say this. If 2013 has taught me anything, it's that nothing good can come from battening down your hatches to prevent yourself from experiencing pain. I took no risks this year. I gave up. I was hit hard by grief and I didn't get back up the way I'd intended. In short, I was miserable because I forgot to think big. 2014 will be the year of saying FUCK THAT to the idea of sitting still. Momentum is the only thing that makes living on this spinning rock worth it. Even if you can't leave your town, you can still step out of your comfort zone by learning something new, tasting something different, and challenging your body to do something you never thought it could do. NEVER accept anything as finished or settled. Nothing is set. Everything is in flux. I was on the way to new discoveries in the early part of the year, and then I lost it somewhere in the middle. Time to get it back and not lose it ever again.



No matter what year it is, may we all do our best to get out there and be awesome, to not be ruled by fear and misery. You can't change the world from the outside in. You can only change yourself and let that make the difference. And if a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity presents itself, you should damn well take it.



Now onto that grocery list.

The Christmas Light Personality Test

As an amateur psychologist wannabe, I have often felt comfortable (perhaps too comfortable) diagnosing people with all manner of mental pathology. It's gotten easier after a good bit of practice. All it takes is a very close examination of a person's tendencies and nuances and a knowledge of some clinical vocabulary. Psychologists employ many tools to help analyze the mind, from written tests to personality inventories to fancy ink splatters. But I'm here to present a more seasonally appropriate way to determine whether someone is suffering from a mental illness, and that is by examining the state of their Christmas light displays.



Now, of course, such a test comes equipped with certain drawbacks. For instance, there is not a single shred of scientific verifiability here. Like the Rorschach, the Christmas Light Personality Test (or CLPT as we call it in the pseudo-psychobabble trade) is vulnerable to the subjective interpretation of the test-taker. But don't let that stop you from making valuable insights about your neighbors. I'll provide you with a basic guide that will help you make the most accurate assessments possible as you drive through your neighborhood during the months of November, December, and January. For Christmas light displays between the months of March and October, that's a whole other level of mental pathology not covered in this particular test. Consider those citizens beyond help and promptly move.



Now let's get started, shall we?



1. The 40-Year-Old Virgin

The minimal, monochromatic display exhibits the decorator's repressed sexuality. If the homeowner is a woman, she likely wears her hair pulled back in a tight bun and pairs this with long skirts, support hose, and scratchy wool cardigans. The male is equally conservative and is likely repressing homosexual tendencies through the extensive use of color coordinated sweater vests. Expect to see an abnormally large number of cats and Amy Grant CDs inside this home.



2. The Anally Expulsive

The anally-expulsive decorator, in opposite polarity to the anal retentive one, exhibits elements of disorganization and carelessness caused by being allowed to use feces as a form of artistic expression during the toddler years. It is also possible that people who decorate this way have experienced traumas that forced them to regress to the age of five, when such a display would have been the pinnacle of winterland fantasy. Or, and this is the more likely explanation, this person is addicted to meth and strung up these lights in the midst of a four day ride on the dragon. As a precaution, do not light a match inside this home.



3. The Projectionist

Decorators of this variety will likely insist that you are a tacky individual who puts crappy, amateur Christmas decorations on your house when they are really just talking about themselves. The inflatable snowman is also representative of the ego or possible erectile dysfunction.



4. The Repressed Matrix

This decorator was presented with a red pill, which would extract him from a computer-generated mind program designed to enslave humanity, and a blue pill that would make him blissfully ignorant of the "real world." He chose the blue pill, but his subconscious mind continues to replay buried memories of his experiences fighting bad guys called Agents, and looking at the world through a cascade of computer code, which is manifested by the above light display.



5. The Compensator

Penis, stature, bank account. Just pick one. Or all of the above.



6. The Acrophobic

The untouched second story indicates that this decorator was loathe to install lights with the assistance of a ladder, likely due to a fear of heights. Either that, or the house is occupied by dwarfs. Dwarfs afraid of heights. Or dwarfs without a ladder.



7. The Dissociative Identity

The disproportionately large numbers of inflatable and light-up figures in this person's yard suggests a subconscious expression of the decorator's myriad personalities. The large snowman in the middle represents the dominant personality, suggesting that the person is rather cold-hearted, yet vulnerable to change.



8. Dashed Hopes

The decorator aimed high, yet encountered an insurmountable obstacle, rendering the once ambitious display incomplete. Or, maybe the decorator fell victim to a rickety ladder, and the surviving spouse decided to light the remainder as a tribute to the fallen.



9. Gender Confusion or The Compromise

The decorator of this home is very likely a transvestite. Here we witness the subconscious struggling with the masculine rigidity of the blue lights and the feminine flamboyance of the multi-colored festivity bedecking the window. Could also be the sign of a disagreement between spouses, where the wife let the husband hang his stupid blue lights around the door, but only if he promised to finally clean all the junk of the goddamn porch.



10. The Freud







Sometimes a palm tree light display is a palm tree light display, though I think it's prudent to go with the most obvious diagnosis here: Urolagnia.

2014 Will Be Amazing

Enough of this shit.

You can't predict how a year will go. I know this. But 2014 WILL be amazing. It will be amazing, because 2013 was so shitty that I am not going to accept anything less than a stellar and vast improvement, and I'm going to go to great lengths to ensure that it happens. I never really would have guessed that after a relatively mild 2012 that 2013 would have been so damn terrible. To me, it will always be the year my beloved cat Angus died suddenly from a respiratory illness. It will also be the year several of my friends and family members suffered unimaginable loss of loved ones or received horrible medical diagnoses or lost their jobs or experienced financial disaster or were victims of someone else's incompetence. While I know these things happen to everyone every year, they seemed particularly concentrated in my neck of the world in 2013. The level of negativity has at times been overwhelming.



But it wasn't all bad, of course. We got a sweet little dog in September who helped me find my laugh again after months of it being buried under grief and ennui. And while early in the year we were forced into a hasty and costly move because our previous landlord decided he wanted his shitty house back in the middle of February, we ended up finding a place that is bigger and nicer and much more of a pleasure to live in. And of course, things took a big turn when my debut novel STRINGS released on my birthday, and the book has so far been very well received. Word of mouth has been simmering about it in many circles and I feel like things are on the verge of reaching a full boil with it.



I also began work on book two in that particular franchise in November and feel pretty confident I can get the first draft finished sometime in late January or early February. I feel even more confident that this book is better than the first in every possible way and that people are going to love it. The publicity push for Strings will also begin in full earnest early next year as well. Due to the holidays and NaNoWriMo happening pretty much right after the release, it has been difficult to schedule events, but I'm ready to hit the ground running in January. I have one radio show booked for early February, and I'm looking to do several signings, concentrating my efforts in the tri-state region here and into Chicago (and eventually beyond), as well as a second blog tour. I will also be releasing a print version of my book COLT COLTRANE AND THE LOTUS KILLER in January and will be doing a signing circuit on that one as well, which will include the Gem City Comic Con in April with the cover's illustrator (and my dear friend) Justin Wasson. Finally, the folks at Hobbes End will also soon be starting the final production process for the next novel in the release queue, THE LAST SUPPER, which will be dropping in the spring. I'm particularly excited about that one.



Three short stories are on the burner for completion in early 2013. The first one is "The Red Lady: Kali's Story," a supplemental for Strings that will detail a little more backstory about the mysterious woman who lived in the Ballas mansion. That was supposed to be a  December project, but I was railroaded by illness and more than a pinch of burnout from the high pace of early fall. I also plan to finish "Love Feast," the conclusion to my "Consumption Trilogy" (which includes stories "Taste" and "Sweetness"). Finally, I have my story "The Jade Box" to complete for the Sekhmet Press anthology, WRAPPED IN WHITE, which is slated for release in March.



Apart from the Strings sequel, the novel writing projects I have planned so far include:



1. The novelization of my short story "Dust."

2. The third book and final book in the current Strings arc

3. The prequel for Strings.

4. Completing my quirky crime novel, Static.

5. A novelization of my short story "Devil Riders."



I realize not all of these will be finished in 2014. It really will depend on a number of factors. If the Strings series manages to break through into the mainstream, that will obviously be my focus for the year. If Colt Coltrane takes off after it gets a bit more publicity, I'll start considering the next book for that as well.



And I don't doubt that there will be a whole slew of new projects and ideas slapping me in the face at inopportune times as I make my way through 2014. That's the nature of this changeable beast.



All I know is that 2013 was a year comprised largely of pain and negativity and inertia, and I'm ready for all that to end right now. I'm chomping at the bit to make some big changes and take some bigger risks. I'm ready to bite off a huge piece of the world and chew it up and say, "Hey, this world tastes amazing!" I've never liked sitting by the wayside and letting shit happen to me. That's never really been my bag and I'm not about to start. My motto has always been, "If shit sucks, do something different." It's time I get on that. I have a list of other goals I'm not listing here, but I plan on checking them off one by one.



It's only mid-December right now, but I figure I'm going to get a head start. Back to work on Strings II!





This is better

The Great Divide: A Disheartening Conversation Between Book Author and Bookseller

STRINGS released at the end of October, and I have yet to get a book signing arranged. There have been a few reasons for this, but one particular obstacle has been the dearth of independently owned bookstores in my area that might host a local small press author. There are a few, though, and I contacted one of them today to ask for more information on arranging an appearance. A lot of pins and needles happen in this process, at least if you're new at it (like me). It's one thing to build a persona and engage with readers online, but it's a whole other thing to test whether or not your own community will turn out for you or if local business owners would be willing to put out a welcome mat. In fact, it's the sort of thing that makes me want to hide or hire a wicked hot stunt double. But since I know that engaging with the public is absolutely necessary in the push to sell more books (and I don't know if there are any other women who would be a convincing enough stunt double for me), I know I have to bust my hump and bring my books to the a public forum myself.





I pick Charlize for my stunt double. We're the same height.


So today, I contacted a local purveyor of books to inquire about what it would take to set up a signing in their store. It didn't go as I'd hoped. In order to protect the innocent (self included) I will not reveal this business's name or that of its owner, because it is not my intent to disparage this person but to use this discussion as a launching point for a larger one. Here goes . . .


Me: Hi there! I am a local author and recently had a book published by a small press, Hobbes End Publishing. It's called STRINGS, and it is a psychological horror/thriller and it was released on 10/26. I would love to hold a signing at some local independent bookstores, and would love more information on how I might go about arranging one with you. You can read more about STRINGS here: (I leave the link to Amazon's product page as well as my phone #).



Bookseller: Good morning, Allison. Thanks your your message. We always lose money at author readings and signings, however. Me and my wife have decided to change our model a bit in that we’d like to request that each author guarantee putting at least 20 warm bodies in chairs (or pay for the service of renting the space, something along the lines of $40). Second, it bothers me and us that your book is available electronically. That hurts our feelings in a big way, as I’m sure you can understand. (I'm bolding this remark because this is when things kind of went in another direction).



Me (clarifying, because I can't actually believe I just read that): Does it bother you that I offer the electronic copies even though I also offer print?



Bookseller: Yes because electronic books hurt the small bookstore. (He goes on to discuss the evils of e-readers for a bit; I'm editing for brevity).





Me (jaw in my lap): While I appreciate anyone's passion for print books, as it is indeed one that I share, as an author who is intent on making a living selling books, I have to offer my work in mediums that the public will buy. As it turns out, the public overwhelmingly buys e-books, and this has allowed me to have a living doing what I love doing. If I chose not to offer this format, I would make nothing. I'm sorry if this offends your sensibilities. As for e-books making people dumb, I'll just leave that one alone. Although I will say that people reading, in whatever format they choose, is far more important to me. Thank you for your time, but I think we're done here. Best of luck to you.



Bookseller: I do appreciate your position as an author, I do—I’m an author myself—but what offends my sensibilities is not just the financial aspect (though e-books have put hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of bookstores out of business, as I’m sure that you know). Two things really come to mind: 1) the relationship of readers to texts has been at the very least greatly changed and in many ways severed altogether, and the relationship between readers regarding texts has altogether been severed; there is no longer the sharing, the borrowing, the receiving, the gifting, and the like, and that would include your book, too; 2) although studies show that people are reading, overall, far less than previously, it’s not that people aren’t reading any longer, that’s true, but the way that people read is greatly different, and ultimately that harms writers, too, because readers are reading in shorter bursts, with less discernment, with lesser comprehension, and with little if any appreciation for author, text, context, production, dissemination, and meaning.



I wish you could see how hard I’ve worked for years for local authors but without reciprocation. People come to readings with their smart phones, drink our wine, eat our muffins, and then download a copy . . .



So then I did this...

I knew at that point that we were at an impasse, but I did send one more message. I won't post it here, simply in the name of brevity, but I will elaborate on the message's same sentiments below.







First, I want to say that I can respect the bookseller's position to a point. Authors are often clueless about marketing and they don't know how to foster a good following and to encourage them to turn out at local events. I get that. Furthermore, it has become increasingly difficult for small business owners to compete against big fish like Amazon, and I can sympathize with how difficult it can be for bookstores to stay competitive. Obviously this person loves his bookstore to pieces, and I would have loved the opportunity to do whatever I could to bring a little business his way, because as it so happens, I love bookstores too and so do many of my local friends who would have GLADLY shown up not only to have me sign their books but also to peruse this place's offerings. To assume that 1. I wouldn't have gone to every effort to have people turn out at my own signing or 2. That I would have foisted any additional expense for things like food and beverages upon them without first paying for it myself was just a very bad way to handle things. And that's before we even get into the whole debate about the value of ebooks (or lack thereof).




That's the classic debate now, isn't it? I have spoken to several author friends who have held signings in small bookstores, and they have never been accosted in this way with "hurt feelings" for offering electronic versions of their work, but I can't help but wonder if it's a sentiment most of these folks just keep to themselves. Small bookstores have been losing business to big bookstores for decades, and now big bookstores are losing business to online bookstores and ebooks. But should an author be guilt-tripped for being a part of that system? I don't think so.





Cold...dead...hands

Authors, or any other creators of digital media for that matter, should not be branded as offensive simply because they have released their work in an outlet that is friendliest to their needs, and it shows a huge disconnect between retailers and creators whenever a store owner refuses to accept the hurdles that many independent producers face when they try to get their work into a retail market. Of COURSE we're going to offer it electronically! You want to sell books, you put them in to every potential place where buyers exist. That's not intended to be a personal slight against bookstores. It's BUSINESS. It would be absolutely foolish to do otherwise. Should I be forced to take a hit to my revenue stream in order to protect an increasingly outdated business model owned by someone who would probably never carry my work in the first place if I'd had it printed myself, or who refuses to get with the 21st century and find new ways to cater to readers who have drifted on to new platforms? People all over the country who own small bookstores are changing up their establishments to appeal to readers in whole new ways. Check out Powell's Books, who partnered with Kobo ebooks, or Politics & Prose with their nifty Espresso book machine. This is how you usher your bookstore into the new age. Not by tearing down local authors whose only sin was to write a book that they wanted to get into the hands of as many people as possible.





How about some Espresso with that bookstore?


And there is also another niggling observation I can't help but make, but this person also happens to be in the business of selling USED books, a market which does absolutely nothing to directly benefit authors. Unless it can be guaranteed that someone buying a used copy of a book would then go out and buy new copies of that author's work, his business would potentially harm the bottom lines of hundreds of authors. At least if someone buys my book from Amazon (Kindle or print), both I and the retailer benefit from this transaction.




But would I begrudge him that? No. I happen to like used bookstores for the same reason I have freely given away thousands of copies of my short stories over the years. I want to reach as many readers as possible, because readers talk, and it's talk that sells books. And if you can get that one passionate reader who loves your book, even if they borrowed it or downloaded it for free or bought it in a used bookstore, and they told everyone they knew about it, the domino would fall, the tipping point would be reached, and then the sky would be the limit. That is why I believe a generosity of spirit is far more conducive to good business than desperately and bitterly pinching pennies in the corner when someone comes to you to inquire about your services. If a used copy of STRINGS ever makes it into this person's establishment, I certainly hope someone picks it up and reads it and enjoys it and shares it.








And I also hope this person finds an innovative way to embrace the future instead of blaming advances in technology (or lazy authors) for slowing down his business. There is no excuse for myopia. I look forward to meeting with other booksellers who are more receptive to a plethora of book platforms and working with an author who would go out of her way to make sure to generate her share of traffic and sales. I don't consider myself any big shot, but I'm not a chump either.

November Post-Mortem and Some New Thoughts on NaNoWriMo

It's December 1st and I have lived to tell the tale of November, which was, on the professional front, the busiest one I've had all year and probably will have for a long time. You can get a sense of all that from the blog I wrote for my publisher Hobbes End. Check it out if you like.








The biggest note underlying all the craziness of November was of course National Novel Writing Month, the yearly shindig where writers of all stripes sit down to churn out 50,000 words in 30 days. I've struggled a lot over the years regarding my feelings for this time of year, but amid all the internal conflict, I invariably find myself participating. I don't exactly know why. I mean, I write every day as a matter of course. It's my job. What's the point of novel writing month when you're working on a novel EVERY month? I've theorized that I enjoy the camaraderie, but I think there is something more internal motivating me I haven't quite figured out yet. The truth is I usually end up hating the whole process by the end. If anything, this month tends to accelerate my creative burnout rather than fostering anything positive, and I wind up ending it with a great need to take about three months off of writing entirely. Not a particularly good thing given the fact that my completion rate on books started during NaNo is less than 1%. So I burn myself out for nothing. After a lot of ruminating and pontificating, I have come to the following conclusion about this particular event:




Most of what gets written at such a frenetic pace is crap, particularly if you're pounding out an average of 5000 words or more a day all so you can be done by mid-month and strut yourself in front of your jealous writer friends who are still slogging away. And while that's not true of ALL participants, I would say it's true of a great lot of them. And the crap in these drafts isn't even the good kind of first draft crap that one can go back to easily enough and edit into something readable. Instead, most of what people churn out during NaNo is just plain unfixable word puke that doesn't belong anywhere else but on the writer's hard drive. If nothing else, I find this whole event to be one giant brain purge that cleans out our creative systems and makes it so we can head into the new year with our minds clean to produce quality work again.









It doesn't always have to be this way, though. I think the key to making this month work for more than just being a creative barf fest is to not rush it. Work at a steady and natural pace. Don't burn yourself out. Write only what you love and what you believe in. Always produce your best work. And if you find yourself slipping behind a little bit, don't sweat it, because if you burn even more energy rushing to catch up, you're only going to be writing more crap that has to be cut out later. It's very easy for the month of November to be one of self-sabotage for those who fancy themselves writers. Don't become one of those casualties by cocking it up with quantity over quality bullshit.




I managed to cross the 50K line with about three hours to spare. It was the closest I've ever cut it, but the good thing is I woke up this morning with the desire to keep going right where I left off, and that's the first time I've ever felt that way after NaNoWriMo. Maybe it helps because the project I'm working on is a "career" book. It's the follow-up to my novel Strings and I have a lot riding on getting this done right. But it also helps that I threw away the whole notion of a "race" and just wrote for the love of it. And in that, it was like any other month of the year.









Maybe for those of us who see little value in killing ourselves to meet some arbitrary word goal (even if we do it every stinkin year), November would be best used to reflect more closely on why we do what we do and embrace the awesome power of creating these awesome, multi-dimensional, life-affirming, soul crushing things we call books. And whether or not you make the 50K or some other goal you've set, pat yourself on the back if you managed to get up every day and write something. A few pages, a few paragraphs, a few sentences, whatever. Because this job isn't easy and it shouldn't be taken lightly. It only looks easy to some because the author spent plenty of time bleeding on the other side. Just make sure if you're writing in November to bleed for the right reasons. Getting 50,000 words in 30 days should not be one of them.

Introducing Colt Coltrane...

Original Illustration by Justin Wasson


This city gets to a man. Maybe it’s all the busted dreams and the way they seep into the pavement like acid rain, bleaching the color out of things and making them dirty. You either come out here to make it big or die in the gutter. There ain’t much of a middle ground in the City of Angels. It wasn’t always so filthy here, but the Talkies and the War changed everything. They brought the real money, and the money eventually brought the bots. Nowadays, when a man needs a finger or two of scotch to cut through the grime of a tough day on the job, it’s served by a bucket of bolts that can ask you how your day went, even if it doesn’t have the brains to listen. Most of the time, that’s okay. When I was on the force, they had head shrinkers for that sort of thing, but I prefer the bots because they don’t talk back, or give sympathetic nods while counting away the minutes on the clock and scribbling gibberish in their notebooks. The bots don’t think they can fix you. If there’s one thing my old days on the homicide beat ever taught me, it’s that some men can’t be fixed.



AVAILABLE ON AMAZON

It pleases me greatly to bring this book into the world after so many years of dreaming about it. Colt Coltrane is a little different from your average dimestore throwback pulp story. It's a thrilling mix of the past, present, and future, combining all the elements of storytelling I hold most dear to me. There will be more media and news about Colt as time rolls on, including more artwork and of course more volumes to the story. In the meantime, I hope you'll take a stroll through my grungy Golden Age world where and down on his luck gumshoe and his pet robot have a grisly string of murders to solve, and let me know what you think about it. Thank you, as always, for walking with me.

--Allison

The Art of the Facebook Launch Party

There is a lot an upcoming author can do to promote their books (guest blog posts, giveaways, paid advertising, etc), but I truly believe the most effective methods are the ones that instill a sense of excitement among your readers and get them talking. The best way to do that I've found? Throw a freakin party! Of course, it's not always easy to throw one in person. When your friends, family, and reader network are scattered all over the world, it's impossible to physically get everyone together in one location, and why should so many people get to miss out on the fun? Enter the Internet. Namely, Facebook (although these same methods could just as easily be applied to other social networks and forums like Google+/Hangouts and Twitter).



Being the member of a very tight and friendly network of horror and fantasy writers, I've been to several of these launch parties over the last few months and they are an absolute blast. It's not only a great way to generate enthusiasm about your book, but you meet a lot of new people (readers and writers alike) and in the world of small press and indie publishing, expanding your network and having as many people in your corner as possible is essential. The launch party I had for STRINGS is, I think, a great part of the reason why my opening day numbers were as good as they were. But that wasn't even the best part of the party. It gave me the chance to do something that I have wanted to be able to do for a long time, and that is to give back to the people who have given so much to me by either supporting me or my work. Since this trend really appears to be catching on with people, I'm going to make a list of tips to help writers ensure they are throwing the best and most successful virtual book launch party.







1. Build Buzz Early: Get people excited by scheduling your Facebook Event 2-3 weeks in advance. Over that time, you can post pictures of your cover, trailers, blogs you've written, and things you're giving away to tease it. If your book is an anthology with multiple contributors, use the Event page to talk about your other authors and their work and share any other news that is pertinent to the upcoming release.







2. Set a Firm Start and End Time: It might be the internet, but this is not supposed to be an all day event. Guests like firm schedules so they can plan to attend accordingly. Most launch parties take place over the course of a couple hours during a time of the day that isn't too busy, like from 1-3 or 2-5 or something like that. Since there are a lot of activities going on (I'll get to those in a second), you will want to devise a rough itinerary and schedule to keep things on track and get help, which brings me to my next tip.







3. Have Someone Else Host: I didn't understand how essential this was until my own party. There is a LOT going on at these things (if you're doing it right). The author should be able to spend time interacting with guests while the host stages the activities and helps keep track of who is winning what. I was so lucky to have two lovely ladies volunteer to help me. We kept a running chat window in the background so we knew what was going on and although it FELT chaotic and exhausting, the guests were all having so much fun, they didn't realize it, and that was exactly what we wanted to have happen.







4. Make a Budget: Yes, it's on the internet, but that doesn't mean you won't be spending money. Think of the amount you would spend on an in-person gathering paying for food and drinks and other party favors and apply that to your virtual gathering. You don't have to go crazy, but it's important to plan on spending a little. For my STRINGS launch I set a budget of $50 and I'm going to do the same for the COLT COLTRANE party. I'll go into what you can spend all that on below.









5. Don't Make it All About You: If you turn it into a platform for self-worship, people are not going to want to come. It may be your party, but like any celebration be it a wedding or a baby shower or a book party,  this is not about you . It is about your guests, and guests like fun and variety. A virtual launch party is your chance to give back to your readers and your community of fellow creatives by giving away prizes and promoting things that aren't just your book. People will walk away not only remembering your book, but your generous spirit, and I can guarantee they will remember the latter even longer than the former. Yes, you DO want to give away your book. In fact, make that the grand prize if you want. A signed copy with a custom bookmark is always good (that's what I did for STRINGS and will be doing it for the Colt party too), but there is so much more you can do. Over the coming weeks leading up to your party, tap your network of fellow writers. Ask if you can give away a Kindle copy or a print copy of one of their books (you can easily gift them to winners through Amazon). Does your cover artist do other freelance work? Maybe he or she would like to give away a signed print of one of their pieces. Do know any crafters who can make a custom piece for you or donate something from their collection? At my STRINGS party, I gave away Kindle copies of several available Hobbes End Publishing titles as well as a Kindle copy of Sekhmet Press's new anthology, Wrapped in Red. I also gave away three $5 Amazon gift cards that people could use to purchase whatever they wanted (though I hear tell some of them purchased my book, which is always a bonus). For Colt Coltrane, I'm currently working on securing more titles from my network of authors/publishers as well as a deck of Story Forge Cards and a handmade origami lotus flower made by my wonderful crafty mother. My friend Stacy Overman Morrison is giving away a Kindle (which I really wanna win) at her release party for her women's fiction book Comfort of Fences! Whatever prizes you pick, this is what your party budget is for. Use it to lift other people up and build excitement.







6. Come Up with Fun Activities: It doesn't do a lot of good to get a bunch of prizes if you're not going to have any games for people to play so they can win them. The most popular ones I've seen so far are:




Caption Contests -- Post a funny picture and have people caption it. The funniest one wins, or you can enter names into a random name drawing and award them. It's good to let the caption contests run for awhile so they can accumulate entries while you introduce the other activities.
Trivia Questions -- This can be about your body of work or things related to it. Did you write a vampire book? Vampire trivia is a natural choice. First correct answer wins. You can add a twist to this by doing picture trivia. Show a freeze frame of a movie or an actor or character and have people guess who/what it is.
The Sharing Game -- It's a good idea to save this one for your grand prize, but it's pretty easy. Have everyone share the purchase link to your book on their favorite social networks (Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Instagram, Pinterest), and have them report back in the thread where they shared. They get entered into a drawing. You can add a twist where the folks who entered in more than one get an extra entry into the hat.


The sky is the limit on games, and you might be able to think up more that would work for this particular forum. I'm tinkering with an Exquisite Corpse or Taboo idea for the Colt Coltrane party. The way it's normally structured is you post the event and then the winner is announced in a separate post with the picture of what they won, congratulating them. Another good reason to have a host.









7. Post a Video Reading or Video Message: This is something I kind of failed at with my Strings party. I didn't plan ahead enough so I didn't get my reading video done the way I wanted to. But if you can record yourself reading a passage from your book or addressing your guests, it's a lot of fun. I recorded mine through Google +, but you can also use your phone camera or web cam. You can also use it for future promotional material.









8. Be Random: Yes, you want to keep to a schedule, but you also want to keep it fun. Don't forget to post random pictures and memes and links to keep people entertained. Of course, you might not have to do that yourself. If your guests are having fun, they will likely be doing the same.




And that's really the gist of the Facebook Launch Party! I warn you, they can be a little exhausting if you have a high participation rate, and after they are done you will feel like you have been to a real party, but that's what makes them special. You have to be on your game and get your typing fingers ready. But man, are they a blast. I had people still hanging out at my Strings party page days after it was over. It was easy to imagine a trashed party room with folks walking around, surveying the mess. The best part is, you don't have to clean any of it up.

Crazy November!

Coming up for air on the nuttiness of NaNoWriMo to bring you the following tidbits of news about changes to my Amazon library, the winner of my Pseudonym Press logo contest, and other things in store for the end of the month.





On Condensing the Bibliography






For awhile, I was becoming increasingly jittery regarding the size of my Amazon bibliography. It's far too big, packed with far too many individual short stories, many of which just weren't selling while others hogged the spotlight. I worried too that new people coming to my author page after reading STRINGS (you have read it, haven't you? Well you should... /shamless plug) would be a little too overwhelmed by the selection of stuff there. Sometimes less is more. And since I do have more work coming out over the next several months, it was only going to get worse.




So I took down all but four of my current offerings (Dust, Vermin, Devil Riders and Phantasmic Flashes remain up for $.99), and divided all of them up into two collections of 9 stories each. The first one, WICKED BREW, just released for $2.99. The second one, AT THE END OF THINGS, will release in the second week of November, all just in time for Christmas shopping! From this point on, I plan to release two more indie-produced shorts. One of them is the conclusion to the "Taste" trilogy called "Love Feast" and the other is a short story from the POV of Kali, one of the more mysterious characters in STRINGS (which you would probably really love to read after you read the novel... okay, I'm done plugging). The way I envision my future for short stories is that I plan to still keep writing them, but I will be trying to find homes for them in magazines and anthologies again. This is namely as a way to try to change the level of exposure I'm getting in light of the whole published novel thing, but also because I actually do kind of miss the challenge of submitting to and interacting with publishers. It's a good way for me to make sure I'm not becoming lazy. So while you may be seeing fewer of my short stories on Amazon, you will hopefully be seeing them appear elsewhere, and I will update everyone as to when and where those things will be happening. And as rights to those stories become available after their publishing runs, I will assemble them into more collections and anthologies for folks to download and enjoy.



And speaking of anthologies, I'm getting off to an AWESOME start with things by being invited to contribute to the upcoming ghost story anthology WRAPPED IN WHITE by Sekhmet Press! They just  released the hugely successful WRAPPED IN RED anthology featuring stories of the vampire persuasion. I'm so excited about this.










And the Winner Is... 






Back in September I set up a logo contest for my forming publishing imprint, Pseudonym Press, and I got some wonderful entries! After letting people convene and vote, a clear winner emerged. Congratulations to Rachel Madsen! A final draft of the logo is currently in progress, but you can see the winning entry here. I can't wait to see everything up and running and the logo gracing the cover of COLT COLTRANE AND THE LOTUS KILLER. Which brings me to...




Robots, Dames, and Murder in the City of Angels




The Kindle release of COLT COLTRANE is still on track for 11/22. Print will likely follow in January, though I plan to keep everyone posted. I'm very excited to bring this story out into the world and plan to have a launch party on Facebook on 11/23, where I will be giving away all kinds of prizes, including copies of the book, signed prints by the cover artist and much more! Anyone who showed up to the party for STRINGS back on 10/26 knows that these things can be a chaotic blast. If you're on Facebook, you definitely want to come to it.









So those are the haps that are happening in the ever busier world of AMD. I must now dive back into my manuscript for the follow-up to STRINGS, which is going pretty damn well I have to say. The response I've been getting from the book has been very positive so far, and it has been galvanizing me to make the sequel even better. I'm looking forward to hitting the road in the coming months to spread the word on the book and to meet readers from all over.

VOTE NOW for the Pseudonym Press Logo!

In late September, I decided to hold a contest for folks to help with the logo design for my publishing imprint, Pseudonym Press. I provided the basic typeface and my preferences for a clean or minimalist black/white/red theme that reflects the sort of macabre nature of the work I hope to publish through the imprint. I got some great entries.



First, here was my blank typeface for reference:







Now is the time to open the floor for voting. Votes are intended to help influence my final decision, which means that even if someone receives the majority of the votes, I may decide to go with a different design if I feel it best suits the vision I have in mind. Regardless, the person who receives the most votes will win a Kindle copy of their choice of my novel STRINGS or the upcoming flagship Pseudonym Press title, COLT COLTRANE AND THE LOTUS KILLER, releasing on 11/22/13. Also, the creator of the chosen design will be credited on the Pseudonym Press website, once it's up and running.



You may vote in the comments section by choosing the number of the entry you like best. I will announce a winner on Friday, November 1st!



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The Pumpkin that Became a Coach

My novel STRINGS released yesterday to much fanfare, most of which I was not prepared for and am still trying to wrap my mind around. Sales have been fantastic so far. The paperback, which released inexplicably about five days early, had been performing well all through the month with pre-sales and then it saw a nice surge near the end of the week. As of right now. the book is nearly sold out on Amazon.





The Kindle edition opened right on time just before midnight Saturday. And then people started buying them. And I guess they kept buying them, because it was around 1:00 when I'd cracked the Top 100 in horror suspense. And it kept climbing after that. At some point, people started informing me that I was at #64. Then #57. The party was hopping on Facebook where dozens of people had turned out to the "Official Virtual Release" event to participate in games and festivities and well-wishing. All during it, I was so busy and so engaged in the present moment (the virtual party really was about as lively and exhausting as a real life party) that the reality hadn't really sunken in that my book was out in the world and that people were buying it. This event I'd been waiting so long to actually happen had... happened.




It really hasn't sunken in, to be honest, but I'll get to that in a second.




After the Facebook party wrapped up, Ken and the kids and I headed over to celebrate my actual birthday with my mom and dad, something that, after all the fanfare of the day, was a very welcome time of quiet and relaxation. We enjoyed my mom's awesome pulled pork and a Strings-shaped cake and a ton of laughs.





Thanks to Ele Cake Company, who was so excited to make this cake!


Then I received word from several people (again, the fact that so many, not just my publisher but my amazing friends, were as excited to track the book's sales rankings as I was is so touching to me) that the book had hit #38 in the horror category, passing up Stephen King's 11/22/63. Then I started to feel a stirring that maybe something was happening. That it wasn't just nice friends and family buying my book, but maybe other people too. It was still muted, but it was there.





Thank you Jennifer Greene for making all the graphics look pretty!


Exhausted beyond all reckoning, I was in bed by 10 that night, but news continued to pour in. I peaked overnight at #35, I'd sold a few more print copies. I kept waiting for that coach to turn back into a pumpkin, but after a very restless night I woke up to find that it was still a coach. The book had moved up and down a few slots, and it's currently resting at #43. I also discovered the book had made the Hot New Releases category at #3 for horror suspense, sharing a row with Dean Koontz and Dan Simmons. In general horror, it was at #38 (I'll take it!).





So yeah, that happened.


I think that was when I finally started to recognize that maybe this was for real. People are visiting Amazon looking for something to read, and they are seeing my book in much same way that if they'd walked into Barnes & Noble, they might see one of my books on a table or an endcap. Yes, shoppers have seen my books before, or rather they have seen my short stories. But this is a whole different universe of exposure, and I am alternating regularly between excitement and denial and fright. My publisher tells me this is only the beginning. We have a lot of work to do to keep enthusiasm up and get people buying and reading (and most importantly, reviewing). Hell, I'll be doing this again in just a few months when The Last Supper releases, only I think by the time that happens, it will be at a level that dwarfs this.





It's hard to describe the insular landscape of a writer's brain. The most we ever feel alive is during the raw creation process. Everything else that happens afterward is like a rocket booster separating from its payload as we push that book further and further out into space and then fall back to earth. Up until now, I'd detach from my little literary satellites, my short stories, and only a few people and I would notice them. I could handle that. It was easy to control. Expectations were never going to be that high. Enthusiasm was at a manageable level, and if I sold 40 or 50 copies a month, I was happy with that.






Guess I should stop worrying and enjoy the bomb


Now the satellite feels so much bigger than me and I realize that I can't really control it. The only thing I can do is just gaze at its trajectory and accept that it could fall out of orbit and burn up in the atmosphere (which is what I expect it to do, but that's all in managing my own disappointment so I can keep working). However, I also have to acknowledge it could go further than I ever dreamed. It's not likely, but it's possible. Other people believe in that latter outcome far more than I do. I'm not sure if it's wise for me to share it, at least yet. While a journey for Strings and my little writing career started yesterday, and I'm just staring up at the sky with my mouth hanging open, pretty soon I'm going to have to stop staring and stop guessing about where it's going to end up so I can get back to the work that brought me there. Maybe in a couple months, when I get my first royalty check, I can take a few minutes and really enjoy my accomplishment.




But I think the best part of the whole event yesterday was not about the book at all. It was about the rally. I have no earthly idea what I did to earn such an amazing group of supporters through all of this. From the wonderful people of Hobbes End, to my friends old and new, to people who discovered my work awhile ago, to people who only just discovered it yesterday at another friend's urging and came to the party and had a blast, I have an eternal sense of gratitude flowing through me right now. Even if you just stopped by to say hi, or if you shared a link, please know that I am so very thankful. Because I don't feel I deserve this. Because I feel like what's happening to me is a giant cosmic accident. Because while I have worked hard to get this far, a lot of it was just plain dumb luck. You do all these things, plant all these seeds either knowingly or unknowingly, write the words, edit the words, submit the words, polish the words, package the words...but you don't really expect that people are going to buy the words or LIKE them. At least that's how it feels to me. Yes, I have also experienced some negativity through this process. I have noticed people distancing themselves or expressing jealousy or bitterness, but that has been greatly outweighed by the good. And that's the way it always is, isn't it?





A small collage, but not the final one. There are more pictures to add still.


For the last 24 hours, the only words that have been shooting through my head are, "I am not worthy. I am not worthy. I am not worthy." But also, and most importantly and most deeply and most profoundly, it has also been, "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you."




Now let's see where this thing goes, shall we?