Hugh Howey's Blog, page 53

Wikify Me

Okay, this should completely exhaust my ingenious idea quota for the millenium, because I had a helluva good one tonight at the Boston meet-up. Kate Tilton brought up the unfortunate number of self-published books she’s read lately that had a ton of potential but were rife with distracting typos. And like a lightning bolt striking me in the brain (or maybe it was the one beer), I saw the next Kindle update, a magnificent Kindle update. By marrying Microsoft Word’s Track Changes feature and cloud storage, we would get the wikified e-book.

Here’s how it works: A reader is zipping along through their latest download. They come across a typo, or what they perceive to be a mistake in the book. Using the already-built-in highlight feature and on-screen keyboard, they mark this mistake and type in their suggestion for a fix, refinement, or improvement. They can even mark what kind of suggestion it is, like “typo”. Here’s the ingenious part: The author can pull up the current e-book on their computer and see all the track changes. They can view “all readers”, sort the track changes by date, by type, by reader, and so on. If they agree with the mistake and fix, they click a button, and the change is made. That change then propagates to the Kindle store, meaning the next person won’t see the mistake.

Here’s the next awesome bit: Any reader who suggested the fix automatically gets points (if multiple readers offered the same suggestion, they all get points). These points go toward buying e-books. This rewards the early-adopters who help clean up works as they read them, and it ensures that subsequent readers purchase cleaner material.

Now, this in no way would be a substitute for sound editorial practices on the part of the author. I don’t think readers will tolerate rough drafts being published, and they shouldn’t be expected to. But mistakes happen, both in self-published and traditionally published books. Readers have pointed out to me that the Random House UK edition of WOOL has a mistake in the header in a later chapter. What we are creating here is one more step in quality control, and why not? We have the technology to make it happen. Why not have a system that rewards those who happen to spot errors? Why not have a system that improves the user experience for future readers?

This sort of thing is already going on, but the process is laborious. I get emails about typos, and I know readers who notify publishers about typos. This allows the process to happen right there in the e-reader device, and it makes it simple and painless for the author to accept or deny a tracked change and implement the change inside the uploaded e-book. It’s the wisdom of the crowds applied to literature. It’s the wikification of novels. I expect you would have a reading subset that bought books close to release and took pride in the number of their suggestions that were accepted. Rank these readers the way reviewers get ranked. And let them enjoy the free e-books they pile up as reward.

That beer has totally worn off, and this still seems like a brilliant idea. Uncle Jeff, are you listening?

Listen to Yourself.

I just had a reader point out an ancient blog post of mine, and boy, does it make for an interesting read in light of the success of WOOL. A snippet:

Here’s what I was thinking: First, the books come out in a serial format, instead of one giant chunk. Each section would be around 30 pages (10K words) and have a basic beginning and end with a little hook to keep the reader enticed. At the end of ten sections, you have a completed work (and it just so happens, my first two books have this precise format).

 

You give the first section away on the Internet via your blog, scribd, etc. After that, each section is a mere $0.99. Half a cup of coffee. Two sticks of gum. One third a comicbook. The sections are released on your website with PayPal, cc, etc. and on the Kindle (their lowest price option is $0.99).

 

After 10 sections are released, you give away the epilogue (which hooks them for the next book) and they only have to wait another month to continue the journey! Meanwhile, that first book is bound and printed and sold via traditional means, on your website, at book conferences, in brick-and-mortar stores (if your book catches on enough) and to loyal fans that want a hard copy.

 

The constant micro-transactions replace traditional royalties. You stay connected with your reader year-round. It’s all about developing an excited fanbase that spreads the word. And at these prices, the entry can be an impulse-buy, not an agonizing internal debate.

 

With my first manuscript complete, and not yet turned into a book, I was thinking about publishing it in much the way that I would eventually publish WOOL. But all the advice I was given at the time was that I needed an agent and a publisher, that books must be books, and that you have to get into bookstores to have a career as a writer. I remember questioning these beliefs but being too scared and too aware of my own ignorance to take a chance and go with what made logical and creative sense to me.

It wasn’t until I saw how manuscripts are transformed into novels that I realized I could do this on my own or with a little one-time help. I ended up publishing with Nadene and NorLights—who I mention in that ancient blog post. It appears we hooked up a mere three days after I began querying Molly Fyde and the Parsona Rescue to agents and publishers. I learned a lot about writing and editing from Nadene (WOOL 2 was dedicated to her). And I watched NorLights Press employ print-on-demand technology that was open to anyone. I helped them get an ebook developed and published, and I saw that I could do this on my own. I became a little less ignorant and a little less afraid.

A year later, I started voicing ideas about where I thought the publishing world would go, and the more entrenched and expert my audience, the more vociferously I was told that I was crazy. Or just dumb. Or that I probably needed to work on my writing if I wasn’t making inroads with major publishers. I asked on a popular forum if agents would ever cull self-published books from the bestseller lists, and agents and fellow writers told me that this profession had better things to do with their time, that they were busy enough with slush piles. I suggested that authors might get better deals from publishers with an existing readership than they would with a promising manuscript, and I heard that this was what failed writers surely said.

The lesson here isn’t that I was right about anything. Anyone can get lucky. The lesson here is that I was afraid. I was cowed by those who purported to know better than me. In more than one case, I was practically bullied for thinking outside the box. Which is why I want to declare, right here, for those of you who email me or read my blog for tips, that I have no idea what I’m talking about.

Last summer, I was on a panel at WorldCon in Chicago about the changing publishing landscape. The moderator had us give introductions and make brief statements, and my opening remark was to tell a packed crowd that we were not experts up there on that panel. None of us are. I offered the position that everyone in that room was equally prepared (and unprepared) for the future of publishing, because the landscape is just changing so damn fast. The panel, then, should be thought of as a conversation, a collection of opinions and anecdotes, and those of us up on that dais have just as much to learn from the audience as the other way around.

At least a dozen people stopped me at some point over the next few days to thank me for this introduction. And I wanted to tell them that I know where they are coming from. They have bright ideas, new ideas, and they just aren’t sure about them. I urge you all to be braver than I was. Don’t sit on your dreams and ideas for two years before stumbling, luckily, down a path you spotted much sooner. Ask for opinions, but listen to your own.

Most of what I’ve learned in these last few years has been from other authors groping about alongside me. I found the Writers’ Cafe at KBoards, where people happily admitted that they were clueless or had problems, where they shared their experiences and their valuable data, and where authors help each other out. Where authors build each other up rather than tear each other down. Here was a place where new words were invented rather than the meaning of old words argued over.

At book conferences, I sat with rising stars at little tables off in the corner and listened more than I talked. I learned about audiobooks and metadata, about new outlets like Kobo; I studied other authors’ POD books and how they were paginated; and I kept reminding myself that I was just as dumb as everyone else. Which means maybe some of my ideas and thoughts might be as good as any other.

If you take anything away from this, it’s that you should listen to yourself. I didn’t, not nearly as well as I should have. But maybe you will. Maybe you’ll be the first person to act out a few scenes from your book with friends and post those scenes on YouTube. Or you’ll be the first person to spread the news of your novel with an album of music. Or you’ll go back to our roots and hand-sell your work to independent bookstores, one ARC at a time, one reader at a time. There is no idea that is wrong except the one not acted upon. There is no person who is wrong except the one who claims others are. Let’s flip this around: Why don’t I start emailing you all for advice? Or at least let me go back and read some of my old blog posts and be a little braver this time…

A Busy Week

All kinds of stuff going on this week. A quick round-up:

An interview with Jason Gurley is easily the most in-depth that I’ve ever done.

Another interview with Michael Bunker is easily the most serious I’ve ever done.

A great write-up on the Silo Thumb Drives with tons of reader comments.

Oh, and tonight is the reader meet-up here in Boston. Details below.

Get Ready, Boston!

This’ll be my first time in Boston. Ever. And it’s going to be an awesome time with all that Watertown Public Library has in store. Hope to see some of you at the meet-up or at the library. Check here for all the details.

E-mail of the week!

Hi, Hugh.

Today I’ve been sneezing and blowing the nose due to seasonal allergies.

My 11-year old daughter asked if I was all right.

Me: Yeah, it’s just dust and other stuff in the air.

Her: Like Wool and Shift?

Me:

One Lucky Gringo

CreativeLIVE Questions

We had a ton of questions pouring in from CreativeLIVE viewers and not enough time to go over them all, so I asked that people pose their questions on Twitter with the #hughlive tag and I would respond. Since 140 characters isn’t enough space to do this properly, I thought I’d make a running blog post with the questions and answers. Maybe they’ll help someone else out as well. I’ll be updating this post throughout the day until my flight back home.

@kayladawnwrites It seems expensive to self-pub by the time you do cover art and editing. Thoughts on keeping cost down and quality up? #hughlive

How much it costs to self-publish is entirely up to you. Yes, you can get higher quality if you’re willing to pay, but most authors starting out can’t afford this luxury. I think e-book formatting is one place it makes sense to spend $50 and get a professional file. Cover art can be had for $50 – $1,500. Editing can run over a thousand bucks. If you see this as a hobby, do as much as you can yourself and have fun with it. Trade for services (writing workshops and critique groups are an excellent resource). However, if you see this as a serious career, keep in mind that a $2K or $3K investment in the best product possible is very cheap compared to most business start-up costs. It’s no more than other people spend on their hobbies (like a new camera or musical equipment). I spent zero dollars on my book production until after I was already a bestseller. But that’s because I was willing to pour a ton of time and energy into the process.

Patrice Fitzgerald ‏@PatriceFitz #HughLive Fantastic interview on creativeLIVE! I was reading, writing, listening, chatting. Q: Have you published anything you regret?

No. All my regrets are over the things I didn’t finish, that I didn’t write, that I didn’t publish. I have a lot of those.

Nomadic Park ‏@NomadicParkBlog Were you always able to churn out novels in 3mos? Or is it a skill that comes with writing daily? #hughlive

I used to write even faster. Participating in NaNoWriMo every year really helps. I think the quality is much higher for books written in short order. You stay in the flow, in the voice, and keep all the details of the story straight. When I read, the books I consume in a few days are the ones that stick with me. The books I read over a six month period fall apart. If you can manage 2,000 words a day, you’ll write a book in a single month. That’s what I aim for. Revising and editing account for the rest of that time.

Tabitha Garrido ‏@TabithaGp #hughlive With an established brand in sci-fi, do you feel freedom to explore other genres? Would you remain @hughhowey or brand a new name?

I do and I have. I’ve written a regular fiction story, a horror novel, young adult science fiction, and post apocalyptic. I’ve written short stories and sagas. I have all kinds of books planned, and I’ll write them under the same name. I don’t understand the use of pen names. Readers can check the description of a book and see if it’s right for them. For those who want to follow my writing wherever it takes me, it only seems fair to be open and honest about what I’m producing. This is one of those instances where publishers don’t understand readers very well. Most readers are far more adventurous with their reading than they are given credit for.

Van Clayton Powel ‏@vanclaytonpowel #hughLIVE Great insights on cLive. Thx! Wondering what system you’re using to prevent Spam on your Blog? Thx again!

I don’t have a very good system for it. I have it set up where I need to authorize each user’s first comment. So I do get spam, I just mark it as spam. I think you have to be logged on to comment as well, which helps. It’s such a nuisance for everyone. Spamming blogs would’ve been a hangable offense a century ago.

Adam Poe ‏@AuthorAdamPoe #hughlive A lot was talked about on the merit of an initial spark to ignite word of mouth. How do you better the odds at getting that spark?

I don’t think there’s anything better than writing that next book. And making sure that every book you write is buzz-worthy. What risks are you taking? What are you doing that no one else is? Each book you write and each risk you take increases your chances of being discovered. Be creative in your social media presence. Ask yourself what other talents you have. Are you an excellent photographer? Post pictures with a link back to your book landing page. Send free copies to influencers. Most of all, though, write that next work and get it out there.

PBS Podcast on Author Entrepreneurs

Aliens: Slobbering Geniuses.

Here’s something that drives me nuts: Aliens that have mastered technology, have built starships, have traveled all across the galaxy, and yet they run around naked, slobbering on themselves, with zero communication skills. What’s up with that?

Dust Hardbacks!

In the UK, anyway.