Allison M. Dickson's Blog, page 23

Purging the News Feed

I've been in a bit of a mental fit the last few months, vacillating between moments of pure joy and moments where I feel like the world is a giant Ikea on a Saturday afternoon, and I'm about two feet high. Lost and overwhelmed, in other words. Feeling that old feeling I used to get when it was time to shake things up and do something drastic. I haven't always made the wisest decisions when I've felt this way, but I like to think experience has been my greatest teacher and I've decided to get to the root of these feelings and see what needs to be addressed before I resort to my old method of hooking a big block of C4 to my entire world, throwing the switch, and seeing what lands where.



I can only seem to narrow it down to one thing. You know those people who have managed to go through their adult lives over the last four or five years without even thinking of signing up for a Facebook account? In many ways, I envy those people. I envy that they have managed to lead productive, happy, friend-filled lives, without having their faces stuck in a screen. I used to be one of those people, and so did everyone else. Remember those days? I barely do anymore.



It isn't about not liking my friends or "Facebook drama" or anything like that. It's not like I'm having a classic "nobody likes me so I'm stomping off to get attention" melt. It's this inescapable certainty that Facebook has become more of a hindrance in my life, than the positive influence it normally is. And this is both personally and professionally. In fact, I am certain that a good bit of my brain is becoming diluted by an overdose of News Feed.



If I thought it wouldn't disturb and/or embarrass me, I would have tallied the number of hours a week I spend reading status updates, making comments, and checking for updates, but anyone who knows me knows it's probably enormous. I love sharing information with people. I love seeing how everybody in my life is doing. I get a lot of laughs and smiles and overall fulfillment from the amazing people I have met through social networking.



But I think it's gotten to the point where I'm pretty sure I can't control myself with it anymore. When I've  stopped writing in one of my stories in mid-sentence just to see if someone has replied to something I said fifteen minutes ago, I know I have a problem.



So I'm going to pull the plug and go back to the basics for a bit, at least as basic as I'm used to anymore. Let's just say we'll be resetting the clock back to 2005 or so. Back before Myspace. Back when Facebook was just a social experiment on Ivy League campuses and Twitter used to just be synonymous with birds in trees. Back when I had only a blog and a dream.



I'll update this site as necessary, and without Facebook, it might be pretty often. I will maintain my email, of course, and my cell phone will remain a permanent appendage. I have made my husband an admin on my Faceook Fan Page so that when I deactivate my account, that will remain open for anyone looking for me through there.



There is no real time limit on this sojourn. I'd like to say a month, but we all know how long a month can be with something like this. Let's just say we'll take it one day at a time, and if such a day comes when I feel like I'm over this little mental hump of mine, whether it be next Friday or three months from now, I'll be back on the ol' Blue and White again.



Besides, it's not like I'm really going anywhere. I have my places in the virtual world that aren't going anywhere. I've just had a bit too much at this particular joint lately, and it's time I cut myself off and call a cab home. I have books to write and sell. It's my hope that by refocusing my efforts and priorities, I'll be able to come out of this a more focused and successful person. Maybe I will make a whole bunch of new discoveries along the way. We can only hope. It's not like I'm the first person who's attempted to get this particular monkey off her back, so I'll probably see you tomorrow. ;)

A Words On Typos

No one likes to read a book or an article with typographical errors. They're the pieces of sharp rock you snag yourself on when you're floating serenely down a river of words. As the art of copyediting has entered its twilight, I've read hundreds of books, and thousands of news articles, all of which have contained at least a few small (and even a few big) errors. I've written for independent blogs, and the editing is largely left in the hands of the writers (because they can't afford copyeditors), which automatically puts quality at risk. But it doesn't matter how reputable the publication. Mistakes are more rampant now than they've ever been, not because writers have suddenly gotten lazier, but because there are fewer people out there to catch the errors that have been there all along. Imagine what Joan Rivers would look like without her makeup artist, and you suddenly get the state of the written word today. The ebook edition of Stephen King's third Dark Tower book has so many mistakes in it, you'd swear you were reading a first draft. That was especially irritating, because I didn't recall the paper version of the book having that problem, so something terrible happened with the transfer there, and no one bothered to catch it. And we're talking Stephen King here!



Self-published books are even more prone to this problem. Not because the writers aren't as good (in some cases anyway), but because the process is often subject to fewer pairs of eyes before it hits the market. Often times, independent writers are in the position of putting the final polish on their own work, and most of the time they succeed, but the work is still just shy of typographical expectations in many cases. Freelance editing isn't cheap. I should know, because I am a freelance editor. And I'm also a living and breathing example of why, if you can afford it, an editor is a damn good idea. That's because despite my Herculean efforts, there are still typos in my published work, and it bothers me probably even more than it bothers you readers.



You may wonder how someone who edits other people can't even catch typos in her own work. With that credential under my belt, my stuff should be squeaky perfect. Right?



Well, no.



As I've been telling people for years, self-editing is a very tricky thing. Your eyes will never be as fresh on your own work as they are on someone else's. I wish I was a better self-editor. I know all the "tricks" to making a better go of it, but errors still slip through the cracks. I've been reminded of this by a few incensed reviewers, and I'm always left feeling terrible, because I just want people to know that every attempt is made on my part to catch mistakes. I read and re-read and re-read some more. To the point where I could recite most of my stories by rote. And just when I think I finally have something perfect, I find a new issue months later.





I have several beta readers who also do their best to catch those occasional mistakes. If I had thousands of dollars at my disposal, I'd have each piece edited by a top-notch professional, but that's just not possible at this juncture. And obviously, if I had a book deal and in-house editors with their gimlet eyes, my work would  shine. A lot of writers will be able to get this, but that doesn't matter. Readers don't get it. They expect perfection, and they don't know that even poorly edited work has likely been vetted to the best of someone's abilities. And really, that's okay. I expect perfection in my written products too.



But after working the writing side and the self-publishing side and the freelance editing side of this business, I "get" the whole typo thing now. I get that there are writers who will naturally produce near-perfect copy on the first draft, and there are others who are a little on the sloppier side (hi there!). There are also writers who are excellent at catching their own mistakes, just as there are writers who are a bit more absentminded (hi there again!). There are also people who pay for editors, but who still wind up with manuscripts full of errors (I've done a number of "second edits" for such people). There are also books written by immensely successful and competent writers at the top of the bestseller lists that still have typos in their books, and there are typo-laden news articles in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, and probably even in the friggen Bible. Undoubtedly, you've already found a few in this here blog.



The point is, I've made a lot of mistakes as a writer. And I've made every effort to catch those mistakes, and I have every reason to believe that most other writers are just as desperate to catch those mistakes before they're reminded of them by readers. And as annoyed as you are when you find typos in my stories, I can guarantee you that I'm at least three times as embarrassed. It isn't lack of knowledge about the English language. It isn't because I'm a bad writer or because I'm lazy or dumb.



It's because I fucked up, and in the course of (and in spite of) my tireless efforts to polish my work and make it perfect, I still missed a few things. And for that, I am deeply sorry. You have every right to cross me off your to-read lists, but I hope you stick with me.

Creative Deep Freezes and Dead Trees

Not yet, Egon. Not quite... 

Try as I might, but the month of December is usually the time when my writer brain goes into hibernation. I think it's equal parts post-NaNoWriMo letdown and Christmas baking. I look forward to all of the culinary events of the holidays, and I'm fine taking a short break from the screen and keyboard.



However, I am beginning to wonder if NaNoWriMo is really a wise thing for me to continue doing anymore. While I'm grateful for the challenge it presents, and the opportunity to start something new, I can't get past the fact that the recovery period is awfully long for me, and it winds up putting my other projects even further behind. October was an incredibly productive month, and I can't help but wonder if that productivity might have extended into November and beyond without the self-imposed craziness of NaNo and the inevitable burnout that happens afterward. Besides, I've won four times. I no longer feel like I have to prove to myself that I can do the challenge.



Anyway, things will likely pick up in early 2012. In fact, they must, because I'm hoping to enter The Stargazers into the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award competition that starts at the end of January. And I won't be able to do that until I've put it through one last revision. Fingers crossed I can get it done in time, especially since I'll be going back to work here very soon. But if not, I have a small list of publishers I intend to submit it to before I take the self-publishing route. At any rate, I think I need to release something soon in the ebook store before my tiny legion of fans starts pounding on my door.



Finally, just because the word factory is on temporary hiatus, it doesn't mean there isn't anything new happening in Writerland. My novel, SCARLET LETTERS: THE TALE OF THE VAMPIRE MAILMAN, has just been released in print! My friend Jeff Fielder designed the cover and the layout for it, and it looks fantastic. I'm very impressed with the quality of the CreateSpace printing. You can grab it for $11.99 through Amazon or CreateSpace directly. I have to say, there are few things that make one feel like an author more than seeing your work in print. And seeing people buy it in print? Well, that just makes me all kinds of ecstatic! Besides, all the people I've heard tell me that they would buy it, but they don't have a Kindle or Nook no longer have an excuse. Trees are waiting to be slaughtered for you Luddites, so hop to it!

Holy Superhero! The JUST CAUSE LIVE Blog Tour Stops Here!

Proof of his actual existence!

Ian Thomas Healy is not only one of my best friends. He's my closest professional colleague and contemporary, and really the best one any writer can have. We're familiar enough with one another's work that we speak in a sort of "shorthand" when we edit each other's things, and some of the dialogues we've had could have ended weaker friendships, but it's only made ours stronger. I know that whatever Ian says about my work is 100% the truth. He isn't going to blow smoke up my ass; therefore, I wouldn't do the same disservice to him. I guess you could say we're writer twins with our own special language or something, and now he's on his very first blog tour and I'm thrilled to be among the stops he's making around the interwebs!



You might also be a friend of Ian's, and you might also say you understand what he went through to get his first book published, and sympathize with a lot of the challenges: signing with two agents who both retired before they could complete a successful sale for him, not to mention the heaps upon heaps of rejections from other agents and publishers for his otherwise quality work. But I had an insider's view of much of it, and I can say without a doubt that are few authors who have worked as hard and as tirelessly as Ian has to get published. And although I think the trials and tribulations have jaded him somewhat (understandably enough), when I feel like complaining about my unsuccessful query processes, I think of what he's been through and shut my trap.





Smashing cover art!

Sometimes I fear he works too damn much, and I've urged him to, you know, branch out a bit and maybe take up bowling or something (though he does watch hockey, so at least there's that). But he's about as stubborn and determined as any of the superheroes in his books, and so I know I'm wasting my breath. And even if he is a workaholic, it has paid off. I've watched his craft improve to the point where his first drafts look like most people's finals. He's challenged himself with a wide variety of genres from hard science fiction to western to steam/cyberpunk to high fantasy to mainstream YA, and he's done remarkably well with all of them. And while he's built an expansive library of self-published e-books, all his hard work has finally come to fruition with the publication of his brainchild, JUST CAUSE (and three other books in that series, still to be released) by New Babel Books.



I did not read JUST CAUSE in its original "epic" iteration. By the time I got around to it, he'd put it through a severe makeover, the process of which he detailed on another guest post on Monday at Gae Polisner's blog. The book I read was much like the one you would purchase (and why wouldn't you?) today. The main heroine, super speedster Mustang Sally, has just turned eighteen and is joining the prestigious superhero team Just Cause, a parahuman force that works in tandem with the U.S. government to help stop other parahuman threats. But a lot of challenges have been thrown her way, not the least of which is confronting the man who killed her father, and experiencing first-time love and all that fun stuff. We also meet a very colorful cast of characters in a universe so richly detailed, you quickly start to understand why Ian likes to spend so much time there. The book is a smash to read, and it's a great introduction to a universe that starts to feel like home in no time. I've had the pleasure of reading the current drafts of the other Just Cause Universe novels, and I can tell you you're in for a real treat with all of them. But again, that's another blog for another day.



I posed a few questions to Ian about the nature of his universe, both the real one and the fictional one, and I'll just let him take over from here.



Congratulations, Ian! You're finally published! What are you going to do now?





Not too busy to look like a cowboy, though

I'm going to sit back on my laurels, drink a lovely beverage, and watch my royalties roll in like the tide on a summer evening.



Yeah, right.



When have you ever known me not to have irons in the fire? I still have three more books under contract with New Babel, and at some point we will start working on the release of THE ARCHMAGE. I also have my self-publishing business to run, and I'm planning to put out at least two collections of short stories during the first quarter of 2012--one with Weird West tales about the fascinating little burg of Muddy Creek, and the other a collection of Officer Harry Blaine stories. He's a parahuman cop in the Just Cause Universe who doesn't want to put on tights and save the world; he just wants to do his job and go home to his family at the end of the day.



I have three NaNoWriMo books to edit and either release myself or send off into the industry (STARF*CKER, ROOFTOPS, and PROPANE JOCKEYS). I'm still working on getting my mainstream YA book THE GUITARIST out there into the hands of agents and publishers.



Finally, I have my new original writing to do in the upcoming year as well. That includes completing the sixth JCU novel, CHAMPION, which completes what I'm calling the Mustang Sally trilogy. Also on tap is a sequel to my ebook PARIAH'S MOON called PARIAH'S WAR. I will, of course, be participating in NaNoWriMo 2012, perhaps with the sci-fi murder mystery I've been toying with for a couple of years. And at last, there's this little steampunky piece of joy that I'm working on with a dear friend called THE OILMAN'S DAUGHTER.



And with my free hand...



What lessons have getting this book to market taught you as an author?



The biggest thing is learning to be patient. Being an experienced self-publisher of ebooks and a prolific producer of fiction has made me used to seeing a lot of my material get completed, edited, and released for sale in a fairly short turn-around period. JUST CAUSE was acquired at the beginning of May this year and released at the end of November, so just over six months from acquisition to release. At times, that has felt like an interminable waiting period, even though I know that in the world of publishing, a six month release is a blisteringly fast pace. I'm working on keeping that patience with my publisher. They're a small company and like me, they have other obligations besides just their books, and I am trying to keep that in mind. I keep telling myself "they wanted your work" and that helps a lot. There haven't been a lot of people in the industry who HAVE wanted it, so when someone does, it feels very much like a vindication of my years of strife.



I've learned that not only do things not happen nearly as quickly as I might want them to, but when they do happen, they happen very fast. That might seem like a bit of a contradiction, but when your turn comes up to get something done, the publisher has a small window and you'd better be ready to jump through it.



Tell us a little bit about your book. What would you say makes Just Cause different from other famous superhero teams like the X-Men or Justice League?



The story of how JUST CAUSE came to be is long and convoluted, and goes all the way back to my immediate post-college years when I was involved heavily in a role-playing game group. That was when Just Cause the team was first created. I haven't used any characters created by those players, but that was the era when I developed all the core teams of the JCU, including Just Cause, the Just Cause Second Team, the Lucky Seven, the New Guard, Divine Right, and the Young Guns.



The original Just Cause novel was a convoluted, multi-layered plot that stretched over sixty-odd years. After receiving well over a hundred rejections, I shelved it for over a year. Eventually when I pulled it back out, I ultimately cut all of the "flashback" sequences (which have since become plot seeds for future JCU novels), which stripped about forty thousand words from the original manuscript. I wrote twenty thousand new words and, following multiple rounds of revisions, wound up with the story that NBB acquired.



The Just Cause team is sort of a synthesis between both DC and Marvel universes (and I'll admit to being unabashedly a DC guy). Just Cause is a public organization, like the Justice League, supported by the government (in fact, during the Mustang Sally era, they're an arm of Homeland Security). The characters' identities are generally well-known, and they're not working outside of the law. On the other hand, they don't have the "cosmic" levels of power which many DC heroes have; instead, their abilities are more reasonable in scope, like among the X-Men. Nobody on Just Cause is going to reverse the flow of time or fling an errant asteroid into the sun or battle the gods themselves. Despite their abilities, they're very much "human."



What makes Just Cause different than the flagship teams from DC or Marvel is that they're accessible to newcomers. The Justice League has some sixty years of history backing them up, and the X-Men fifty. Although Just Cause has existed in my own setting since World War II, those stories haven't yet been told. Readers can get in on the ground floor and get to know these characters for the first time, something which can only happen in DC and Marvel when they reinvent the teams every few years. But even so, there's the constant weight of all that history which can intimidate potential new readers. Just Cause doesn't have that (yet). Right now, it's all still magical and new.



We all write from life in some respect. Which character in the Just Cause team would you say is the most like you? What is it about the Just Cause Universe that most makes you want to keep coming back to it?



I'd have to say Crackerjack. He's got my kind of attitude, if shorter hair. I find him to be a fascinating character. What would you be like if you could never be harmed? I rather suspect I would be a wiseacre like he is, and so in many ways, he is me. Along those same lines, writing a story with him as the main character would be very difficult for me, because I don't want to make him a Mary Sue (reference tvtropes.org for that), and as a writer, I'm more comfortable sitting off to one side, observing and recording and reporting what the other characters do instead of being on the front lines myself.



I keep coming back to the JCU because I really do love these characters. There are so many stories I want to tell, and so many characters I want to give their due and their moment in the spotlight. I've been reading comic books regularly now for more than twenty-five years, and there's something about superheroes that I can't just set aside for more "grown-up" fare.



Mustang Sally, a super speedster, is the main hero of this book. What do you think makes her a great hero? Is there a reason you imbued her with that particular power?





Another iteration of Mustang Sally,

 by Jeff Hebert

Mustang Sally is a great hero because she does what she must, even when she doesn't want to, even when she's afraid to, and even when she can't. She's humble, despite the fact that in the JCU, she's one of the first parahumans to approach the "cosmic" power levels with her ability to exceed the speed of sound on foot (read about that in my short story Graceful Blur, available from all fine ebook retailers). She responds to stresses like any human, and that makes her accessible to readers. When they read how she's unsure of herself, and afraid of the consequences of her actions or inaction, that makes her seem real, because we as readers can relate to her. I gave her super speed because I think it's a fun and recognizable power. Even people who have never read comic books can instinctively grasp the concept of super speed, and approaching it from a bit more of a hard science fiction angle makes it seem more realistic, despite its fantastic nature.



For me, the most important thing about writing a superhero is not her powers, but who she is beneath the costume. Whether the book is about a young man imbued with the ability to jump real high, or a prison guard who can generate a candle-flame at her fingertips, or a frightened girl who can create vacuum pockets, what matters is making them living, breathing characters with loves and goals and problems that define them instead of letting their powers make them into caricatures.


***


Ian's ebooks can be found at all major online retailers, and you can purchase your brand spanking new copy of JUST CAUSE direct from New Babel Books or Amazon. You can also download it through Smashwords in your preferred format! 

On Being Pursued

I have a tendency to rush through my life. I utter more cuss words behind slow drivers than many people utter in a year. People walking slowly in front of me in a grocery store often make me imagine intense "hit and run" cart scenarios. I've broken countless glasses and bowls washing dishes, because any unnecessary second spent doing that chore is a crime punishable by death.





For whatever reason, I just don't like being "slowed up." I become anxious. I often feel like I'm being dragged through life by an invisible leash, held by an impatient creature on a mission who will make me pay dearly if I dither too long. I don't know what its mission is, only that I must keep going, for something "in the future" awaits, and I'll never know what it is unless I keep...on...moving.   




When I was pondering this blog, lines from a famous poem kept occurring to me. It's a piece by Stephen Dobyns, entitled "Pursuit:" 

Each thing I do I rush through so I can do

something else. In such a way do the days pass -

a blend of stock car racing and the never

ending building of a gothic cathedral.

Through the windows of my speeding car, I see

all that I love falling away: books unread,

jokes untold, landscapes unvisited. And why?

What treasure do I expect in my future?

Rather it is the confusion of childhood

loping behind me, the chaos in the mind,

the failure chipping away at each success.

Glancing over my shoulder I see its shape

and so move forward, as someone in the woods

at night might hear the sound of approaching feet

and stop to listen, then, instead of silence

he hears some creature trying to be silent.

What else can he do but run? Rushing blindly

down the path, stumbling, struck in the face by sticks;

the other ever closer, yet not really

hurrying or out of breath, teasing its kill.

If ever there was a poem that personified me in a most basic way, it is that one. And sadly, my tendency to "rush though so I can do something else" carries into my fiction, where I feel that if I or my characters stand in one place too long, they'll be eaten. Only, in the story, the thing holding the leash is a hungry and impatient plot.



Many people who have read my stories say I'm good at pacing. Others say things feel too "rushed." I tend to agree with both of them. I think for people like me, they prefer things to go at a good clip. They're looking for a quick thrill, something to am up their pulses a couple notches and keep things interesting as they continue to be pulled through life. For people who aren't being "pursued," they like to take time to soak in all of the surroundings and feelings available to them in that particular moment. They want full immersion. They're in no hurry, because they have full control over their minds and their sense of time and place. There is no leash. For them, there is no monster.



My brain understands the former, but my heart wants so badly to write for the latter. It's my dastardly brain that insists on "speeding things up a bit," that life is something so full of mundane shit anyway so 90% of it can be skimmed over. This tug of war rages in my head through every novel I write. But in my NaNoWriMo project, THE SHIVA PARADOX, I'm telling my brain to go take a flying fuck at a rolling donut. I'm only using it insofar as I need it to help me with the "sci" in the "sci-fi." But the rest, I'm taking my time on. Because Bravo is probably my favorite long fiction character I've ever written. And I want to get into his head and his life.



Yes, I can hear distant plot points starting to murmur nervously, shuffle their feet, sigh. Soon, they might even be cussing up a storm. "You're fucking doing it wrong, Dickson! WRONG, I tell you!"



However, I find if I listen to the music loud enough, I can drown out that voice and keep going. With it, I can lull that pursuing monster to sleep, stand in the moment and just be. Because you know what? Whoever said you have to hurry through life, even the mundane part of it, is full of shit. There isn't anything up ahead but more open road, and the only destination is death. Most people who think they have to rush, who think they're being pursued, will spend the rest of their lives viewing life through the rearview mirror, wishing they had slowed down, even once, and dared the monster to to eat them.

Update on the Amazon Free-For-All

A couple months ago, I didn't realize I was setting myself up for having a series of free ebooks available on Amazon. In fact, I didn't even know I would be able to do something like that (Kindle Direct Publishing doesn't allow you to set your prices below $.99) until I logged into my sales page one day to find my short story, Under the Scotch Broom, had spiked in downloads by a couple thousand copies after Amazon price matched Barnes & Noble.



The following week, another of my stories, Aria, went free as well. I'd made both stories free on Smashwords after a summer sale back in July, and decided to keep them that way. Eventually the prices proliferated through Smashwords' distribution channels and Amazon got the memo.



While Aria didn't perform quite as well as Scotch Broom (about 8500+ downloads to Scotch Broom's 14000+), it was receiving solid reviews, and both are still seeing steady activity after their initial peak. It was also helping to sell copies of my short story collection Dead Wives Tales, because I had included it in there with its original ending as bonus material. I think people were curious enough to pay a buck to check it out. At that point, I was starting to see a real discernible bump in paid sales.



Two weeks ago, my shorts Vermin and Dust went free. A Concealed Hand went free a couple days ago and is performing on par with the others. While Dust hasn't been quite as popular (it's been a tougher sell, but it's received excellent reviews), it hasn't been exactly a slouch either -- about 3500 downloads in the last two weeks. Vermin has been very hot, though. Probably more overall than Scotch Broom, especially given its classic horror stylings and the fact that people were probably downloading a lot of horror for Halloween. It also got the attention of some Vine/Top Reviewers on Amazon who have since downloaded and reviewed nearly my whole catalog. Paid sales have increased tremendously ever since then.



In the meantime, I've been getting a lot more Twitter mentions as well as GoodReads and Shelfari activity. There have been a few blah reviews now and then, but that's to be expected and I don't let it get me down. Overall, people have been very positive about my work, much to my pleasure and (I won't lie) surprise. So I decided after some thinking to make all of my individual short stories free on Amazon (provided they allow it--there are a couple that they haven't marked down yet), and see if people would keep coming back for more.



And they have. No, I'm not making Amanda Hocking dollars by any stretch, and my husband isn't anywhere close to being able to quit his day job, but I'll put it this way:



Prior to having a wide selection of free titles available on Amazon, I wasn't really selling ANYTHING. And now I'm selling books every day. My list had more dust on it than your mom's 8-track collection. When I first started selling, it took several months before I received my first royalty check, because Amazon doesn't send them out until 60 days after you've accrued more than ten bucks on your balance. Sure, I was getting a few downloads here or there, and I did have one decent month over the summer, but it was easy to tell that most of my business was from friends or people associated with me in some way. Now that has changed.





It's hard to make yourself visible in such a huge pool, and a lot of it is luck. But in many cases, you have to make your own luck, even if that means you're giving away something you think is worth more because you worked hard on it. However, it's important to keep this in mind: there are thousands of people out there who have Kindles specifically because of the access it gives them to free books. And there are people who take those authors just as seriously as any traditionally published author. And if they like what you write, they will take you seriously as an author and review you and treat you every bit as well as their NYT Bestseller heroes. And if they really, REALLY like you, they'll even invest a few bucks in you and buy your paid work and review that too. And maybe some of the people who trust those reviewers will take their word on it and make a purchase, and so on and so forth.



Everything that happens after that can all be traced to the fact that you took a risk that your work was good enough to serve as its own promotion for the product that you're actually selling: you. And once you have that momentum, it's good to capitalize on it and keep putting things out. In that vein, I'll soon be putting together another collection of short stories called Obsessions & Compulsions. At least one of those stories will be made available as a free stand-alone download. Hopefully I'll have another novel up there sometime next year.



So yes, it pays to make your work free. In fact, in my experience, it can be one of the best things you can do for yourself as a self-publisher. Some people start making money off the bat. Some people really are just that lucky. But in most cases, you have to get the recognition before you get paid.

A Short Missive on Short Stories

Dear Readers,



While I'm incredibly grateful for those who have found and downloaded my work from the internet in recent months and have taken the time to review it -- even if some of the reviews haven't exactly been favorable (it comes with the territory), I have come away from reading some of the feedback feeling a little torqued over one particular criticism: my work is "too short."



Anyone who knows me, who has read my blogs or listened to me speak (either personally or on the Creative Commoners podcast) knows that brevity is not my strong suit. To be then criticized for being brief is a strange thing indeed.



Maybe I'm from a different school of thought, but when one writes short stories (and when one reads them), the idea is that the work will be short. No, that's not to say uninteresting or lacking in detail, character development, or plot. That's the trick of writing short fiction, and why it's harder than it looks. A short story is supposed to be as interesting and compelling as any longer piece, but it's supposed to accomplish that feat in (typically) less than 10,000 words. Or, by some guidelines, 7500. Any longer, and you start getting into novella territory, which is fine, but as of this writing, I have not released a novella into the ebook marketplace and I have no plans to. I either go short or I go all the way. That's just how I roll.



Most of my short fiction falls anywhere between 4500 and 7000 words. That's roughly 20 pages, I guess, and in my opinion, it's a fair length, and even longer than some. A lot of short story publishers don't want fiction over 3500 words, and that's one reason a lot of my stuff has not been circulated by other markets. UNDER THE SCOTCH BROOM, on its last draft, was a little over 7500. I have one piece of flash fiction available online -- SINGULARITY -- and by some standards, it's a bit too long for that category at 1400 words. At any rate, it's the shortest short I've written. Again, I'm not good at the whole brevity thing.



I've done my best to alert readers to the fact that they're purchasing short fiction. Almost all of my covers have "a short story" below the title. I also make sure I put the fact that it's a short story in the metadata (tags, product info, category selection, and such). And yet, I think this must be too subtle, because people keep complaining that my short stories are too short.



So now I'm trying to figure out what exactly people are intending to say when they say a short story is short. Do they mean that it was poorly developed? That it was too "thin" story-wise? Perhaps they liked it so much, they didn't want it to end (a great thing to say to any writer, but since this criticism usually appears in negative to middling reviews, that probably doesn't fly).



All I can figure is that the art of reading the short stories is lost on many readers. They don't know what defines the short or what it's supposed to accomplish because they're used to reading fiction in longer forms. They don't know how to appreciate the artform, because it has been dying for a number of decades, and only relatively small number of authors are trying to keep it alive.



At any rate, it's just a disappointing thing to see. I like to think my short stories are actually a very healthy length. I'm a slow reader, so I'm not the best one to gauge this, but most of them can be read in about twenty minutes or so, and I think that's more than fair. And since nearly ALL of my individual short stories are now free downloads, I'd say that's as fair as fair can get. If you got a short story that had a beginning, middle, and end, and you didn't have to pay for it, then I'd say you got a pretty good deal.



If you didn't like it for other reasons, then I'm more than happy to hear those reasons. Or just accept the fact that I'm not a universally loved author and move on with my life and keep writing for the people who dig what I do. Maybe some people think I'm shallow. Maybe they want more depth from my characters. Maybe there were a few too many typos (I try to catch them all, really I do). I only ask that I'm not berated me for the one part that I did manage to get right, and that was adhering to standard short story length guidelines.

Potpourri of Awesomesauce: Part I

This ain't your grandma's potpourri. This kind smells like sex, cake, and robots.

It's been very difficult to focus on writing a new blog lately. Lots of potential topics have flown through my head, but nothing's really stayed long enough to roost. When that happens, that usually means it's time to do a "Randomness" post. But I think that title is a little blah, so Potpourri of Awesomesauce it is.



And because I'm a walking contradiction, I'm going to make this potpourri into a numbered list. But because I'm not THAT much of a contradiction, the numbers are not going to be in sequential order. Take that, OCD. Oh, and the swear filter will be off for this post. If you don't like it when I talk dirty, fuck off.



3. Tomorrow, I turn 32. I'm no longer kissing the threshold of my thirties. I'm in fully inside that hooptie. Or, more appropriately, that minivan. Because I think the 20s are the hooptie. The minivan exudes a sense of stability and perhaps a little bit of safe vanilla-ism. I'm not afraid to admit I have next to no social life anymore. Many of my friends live in my computer, but I'm happy in my domestic bliss and I have a well-stocked liquor supply. No, I'm not going to reflect morosely on the things I haven't accomplished that I'd hoped to by the time I reached this age. Namely because fuck you. What's the point of that emo bullshit, anyway? Have you read your Facebook News Feed lately? The world fucking sucks right now. It doesn't need a "Whaaa, it's my birthday and I'm an old loser" diatribe. But second, I'm actually pretty damn happy with where my life is and where it's headed. In fact, I feel more optimistic about life right now than I have in a very long time. And that's not (just) the booze talking.




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Cover Design by Yours Truly

17. In case you haven't read my Facebook page and my constant bleating about it, NaNoWriMo is just days away!! And I've got a book idea that I'm pretty sure is going to make me famous. Okay, I say that about EVERY book, and it hasn't happened yet. But this one is pretty damn epic, if I do say so. And heavy on the stupendous. And sci-fi. And I'm not trying to be an egotistical douche. I'm just feeling very thankful for the Idea Fairies that have planted this idea in my brain, and I only hope I don't disappoint them like I have in the past. Have I ever mentioned that my biggest dream as an author is to write a science fiction story that people talk about and continue to read years from now? Maybe it won't be this book, but maybe it will. I just really really really want to write that book, and if nothing else, I hope this story gets me a bit closer. Here's the blurb:

In a future where humans are colonizing distant planets following the near destruction of Earth, biologically augmented humans called Advance Decontamination and Asset Managers (or ADAMs) are sent to prepare each planet for occupation by eradicating native populations with a specialized virus.  

But one particular ADAM goes astray during a mission when he enters a time rift, sending him to present day Earth. There he suffers an awakening to the atrocities he's orchestrated over the centuries, and he feels compelled to save civilization before it succumbs to the events that led to his creation. The only problem is, his mere presence--and the cataclysmic virus that he carries inside him--may bring his home planet to the same terrible fate.

-276. I'm really looking forward to applying zombie makeup to my face for Halloween. I haven't done it in a very long time, and I hope I can pull it off. Considering how I look when I wake up every morning (see #3), it shouldn't be too much of a stretch. Same with the zombie walk. I've really got that one in the bag.




4. These chocolate cookies I'm eating are amazing.



77. I've really been enjoying the new fall season of television this year. So far, my favorite new show is American Horror Story. It's like if you read a Stephen King book while tripping on acid and being donkey punched by a nun. If you haven't seen it, get thee to your nearest FX channel or website and watch it. Now.



12. Speaking of scary stories, I've implemented a new pricing structure for my ebooks. All individual short stories have been marked down to the very low price of FREE. That's right. Free. Now, they are free on Smashwords right now, and will eventually all proliferate from there to the other ebook retailers over time. As for Amazon, it will really depend on if their price bots decide to match Barnes & Noble's prices, like they did with ARIA and UNDER THE SCOTCH BROOM, both of which went free in the Kindle store last month and received many thousands of downloads a piece. At any rate, if the shorts aren't free through Kindle and you still want a free copy, download the file from Smashwords. As for my longer works (novels and short story collections), those will all be priced at a (VERY FAIR) $.99. After a lot of experimenting with pricing, I've come to the conclusion that pricing something at a number I think my work is worth is not necessarily the best recipe for sales. Pricing them at a price someone is willing to download them for is the way to go. And even royalties on a $.99 sale are more than I would get from a traditionally published book sale.





Nat and her Pa with her first bass.

62. Recently, our family went camping with my parents, and we took the kids fishing for the first time. They loved it, and I myself had a grand time. I hadn't been fishing since catching blue gill out of the pond as a kid in Michigan. The kids caught a number of those, but both Nat and I managed to grab ourselves some bass too. It was an exhilarating experience to interact with nature that way again. Also very relaxing and meditative sitting out by that remote lake with all the autumn leaves falling around us like flecks of gold and bronze.



41. Also in the department of fun discoveries, I went frisbee golfing for the first time. My in-laws, who were in town for a visit last month, are avid fans of the sport, and I finally got a chance to try it. Great exercise, beautiful day, and I discovered that I actually kinda know how to throw a frisbee. Sometimes. And short distances. I'm very glad we didn't keep score.



Well, that's enough for now. There are other things I can mention here, but I need to save some things for the next batch of potpourri (which will likely smell like victory and Christmas cookies). In the meantime, Happy Halloween everybody, and Happy Birthday to me. It's been a good year, and I'm looking forward to even more awesome things around the next bend.

Nowhere to Hide Now: A Writer's Paranoia

There comes a feeling of anxiety, usually late at night when I'm having trouble sleeping, when I realize that I've opened Pandora's box and there's no closing it again. The toothpaste has been let out of the tube.



I can no longer live in the cozy confines of my brain with my small and friendly social network, my helpful, warm, and lovely cheerleaders who all believe in me and want me to succeed. I love them dearly, and I believe them when they say they like me, but it doesn't quiet those ugly vapors, that paralyzing stage fright, from taking hold from time to time.



We pine so hard to get an audience, so it's a little bit of a bummer that when the audience shows up, all we want to do is cower. Most of the time, knowing large numbers of people are reading your work is exciting. Exhilarating. It's the feeling that keeps you going. But there are some nights when that knowledge is a little like finding out a large group of strangers is rooting through your underwear drawer when your back is turned. I mean, shit, tonight I found that someone had filled in character names and setting info on Under the Scotch Broom's Shelfari page. I have no idea who did that. It was both cool and scary to find, because it means someone has made themselves as intimate with my story as I have.



Now's the time when the judgments are going to start rolling in, and they're not all going to be kind and supportive. Now's the time when I'm going to have the opportunity to be evaluated by the very readers I've worked so hard to reach. And some of them are going to lob rotten fruit at me, and I'll get to decide how much I'm going to believe them or not.



Now's the time when people are going to see that I'm a hack and a fraud. That there is nothing even remotely unique about my voice and talent. I'm an unmemorable middle-of-the-roader that people will forget. I won't be able to erase my stories from their Kindles and pretend like this never happened, either. Even if I swear off writing and take the stuff down from every ebook store out there, people are going to have my work, and they're going to judge me by it.



But that's just the paranoia talking, the ugly cacophony that lives just beneath the happy chorus of joy that happens in my heart when I find a new review or a big chunk of downloads on my sales page. If I keep moving, I don't notice it as much. But if there ever comes a moment of inertia similar to what I've been having the last few days, that's when the doubt starts to trickle in. The certainty that I'm a complete and utter tool, on display for everyone to see.

On Reaching Out, Saying Thanks

Is this adoring audience for me or Jay-Z? That's okay, you don't have to answer... 

I decided the other day to do something that will either make me look grateful or desperate. Whenever I receive a review on Amazon or GoodReads, or a mention on Twitter for one of my stories, I will personally reply to the reviewer and thank them. I would do the same on Smashwords and Barnes & Noble, but their systems aren't set up for leaving comments on reviews just yet. When they do, I'll provide the same service. I'll do this for as long as I am able.



I have long bemoaned the lack of personal attention people receive in this industry, with its quick form rejections (if you're lucky enough to even GET a rejection these days; the new paradigm seems to be more along the lines of, "if you don't hear back in a few months, it means no") and authors who are often too busy to answer fan mail.



No, I'm not demonizing them. Not at all. I understand the workloads some people are under. I know many of them regret not being able to connect personally with fans or prospective clients. In the name of remaining productive, sometimes it's just impossible. But I'm going to try anyway, for as long as I can. I believe, especially when starting out, that when you're sowing the seeds of future fandom and good will, it's a good idea to keep your head down and give thanks to anyone who is willing to give you a chance, even if they are just downloading a free story you wrote.





Currently #2 short story on Kindle!
Thanks to you.

What I've learned is this: reviews are very hard to come by. Between UNDER THE SCOTCH BROOM and ARIA, I've had over 20,000 downloads. Out of that, I've had about ten reviews on Amazon and a handful of positive mentions on Twitter. A couple dozen people have rated it or added it to their queues on GoodReads. That kind of math tells me that when you do get a review, especially a review from a complete stranger who doesn't have the added benefit of knowing you personally and wanting you to succeed, it's an occasion that should be cherished and celebrated. And yes, thanked.



I can only use conjecture here, but since I've started thanking people on Amazon, I've seen about a two-fold increase (or greater in some cases) on my paid work. When I've mentioned to them that an alternate ending for ARIA exists in my collection DEAD WIVES TALES, I've seen corresponding sales of that collection. One reviewer seemed touched by my thanks, which tells me he or she probably isn't accustomed to hearing from a writer when they post a review. Later on, that person downloaded Scotch Broom and also posted an excellent review. I do not know who this person is, but my hope is I've gained a fan who will stick with me down the road. And who knows, maybe that one person will mention my work to a friend or two, and those friends will mention my work. And so on and so forth.



So I'm going to do this for as long as I can. If a massive floodgate opens on my work and reviews start pouring in by the dozens (a girl can dream, can't she?), it might be harder to do. I might have to limit my time to once a week. Maybe once a month. I might have to come up with another plan altogether to touch base personally with my readers so they know that yes, I'm listening. And I'm very, very grateful that they've given me a chance. Even if they think I suck.