Rachel Aaron's Blog, page 19
May 27, 2014
Why the Hachette vs Amazon Fight is Both Good and Terrible
A little housekeeping before we get started. I did two interviews last week, one where I interviewed Elizabeth Moon for Orbit (SQUEEE) (Here's where she interviewed me), and another really fun interview where I talked Devi (as well as hints of future Paradox books) with Not Yet Read. I had a blast with all of these, and I hope you enjoy them! Thank you to Orbit and Tabitha at Not Yet Read for having me!
Now, on to the controversy of the day.
As I'm sure many of you have already heard, Hachette Books, the behemoth international parent company of my own publisher, Orbit, is currently engaged in a very nasty round of negotiations with Amazon, the largest bookseller in the world. I, of course, am not privy to the substance of such high level power plays between corporate giants, but considering the entire reason Amazon and Hachette are at the table now is to renegotiate ebook pricing models after the US Department of Justice slammed Apple and the world's five largest publishers for colluding to fix ebook prices in 2012, it's not a big jump to guess that how much ebooks should cost, and who controls that price--the publisher or the bookseller--are the main bones of contention.
This is not a new fight. Amazon and publishers have been going around this same ring since ebooks were invented, and it probably won't be settled any time soon. With more and more of the world moving to ebooks as their primary book buying venue, the quarrel over who controls the prices for that market will only get dirtier and more contentious. What really has people up in arms this time around, however, is that Amazon, in an effort to flex their mercantile muscles at Hachette, has delayed the the shipment of paper copies of Hachette's new releases, and is now removing pre-order buttons from certain unreleased Hachette titles, thus effectively preventing those books from gathering any pre-release sales.
This is a pretty big deal. Though technically not a monopoly due to other booksellers like Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, and even Wallmart (plus indie shops and many other large, non-American chains), Amazon is hands down the biggest online seller, bigger than next dozen internet retailers combined. If they decide not to sell your stuff, then for all practical purposes, it ain't getting sold. Amazon knows this, and right now, they're using that enormous market power to squeeze Hachette into accepting their terms.
Some, like my fellow Orbit author Lilith Saintcrow, have called this type of behavior evil. Amazon supporters like Joe Konrath call it capitalism working exactly as it should. Personally, I think it's both. After all, the entire point of capitalism is to be more ruthless, clever, and efficient than the other guy. It's a system where the strong eat and the weak are meat, and, for the most part, I have no problem with that as it applies to the book industry. Modern publishing is a cobbled together mess of old, outdated business practices and assumptions. It needs to be shaken up, have a few bites taken out of it, before it collapses under its own ponderous weight. My problem with this fracas comes from where, and more importantly, whom Amazon decided to bite.
If you want to know just how much losing a preorder button hurts, consider the debut author. Imagine the following scenario: after years of rejection, you sell a series to a publisher. Hooray! Now, after a year and a half of edits, copy edits, cover designs, and so forth, your book is finally launching in July of 2014. You're racing around to get ready, doing blog posts and trying your best to get the word out. The marketing dollars your publisher has put into launching your book are in full swing--books are going out to reviewers, your cover is being featured on their site and twitter feed, and you're starting to see real buzz about your writing for the first time...and then, due to a dispute so far above anyone involved in your book, Amazon removes the pre-order button from your book's page.
Now, all that buzz you worked so hard to generate, the interest your publisher's marketing dollars bought, has nowhere to go. You can try to point people to other places to preorder your book--other stores, indies, all that good stuff--but you're not even published yet. Most people have no idea who you are. And those potential readers, the ones who read a good review of your book (on that same review site where your publisher sent your book as part of their pre-release promo) and decide to go check it out? They'll click over to Amazon and find no preorder button. Some, of course, will go to another site or call their local bookstore order that way, but most will decide not to bother. They'll go on about their lives and forget all about your book, and you'll never even know about them because no one but Amazon can track how many people visit a book's page and don't buy.
For an author trying to get their first foothold, this is a death knell. An under-performing debut can ruin an author's career before it begins. This is the real fallout of Amazon's tactics--not the publisher or the big sellers or even the midlist authors like myself who already have dedicated readers, but the new writers. People who are just starting their first series, or who only have one or two books out. These are the most fragile members of the traditional publishing ecosystem, the ones who can't easily weather this sort of disruption, and they're the ones whose careers will ultimately pay while all of this shakes out.
The most obvious solution to this of course would be to just get out of this all together and self-publish, but the authors this is happening to signed those publishing contracts two years ago. Even if they did decided to say screw it all and go publish their next work on their own, that doesn't save the book that's losing sales right now. Also, as I've already talked about, not everyone wants to self publish. That is their choice, and it is just plain awful that those authors who did everything right according to their publishing choice are getting bashed around by giant powers they have no control over. And yeah, I realize getting stepped on by massive forces you can't control is life, but we're not talking about tornadoes here. Tornadoes are unfeeling natural phenomenons. Companies, on the other hand, are made up of people. You can bet your bottom dollar that someone at Amazon, probably a lot of someones, knew exactly what their decision to employ these sort of tactics on Hachette would mean for these authors, but they did it anyway. They made the decision to be ruthless. That's capitalism, but it's also cruel and needlessly harmful to the very authors who write the books Amazon and Hachette are fighting over.
Long story short: I don't object to Amazon strong arming publishers. I actually think we'll end up with a better, more efficient ebook market once all of this shakes out. What I object to are the callous tactics being employed. There's always a choice in these things, and Amazon's decision to use Hachette's authors as hostages in their negotiations says a lot about them, most of it not good. We'll never know exactly how many sales were lost in all of this. It very well might be that I'm making a mountain out of a molehill, or it could be enormous, we simply can't know. But I stand firm on my belief while capitalism can and has done great things, it does not excuse bad behavior wholesale.
Just as freedom of speech does not mean freedom from criticism, good business decisions do not mean freedom from morality. I can't and wouldn't want to keep Amazon from doing business, but I can stand up and call it out when I think it's gone too far. This is the natural push and pull of society. And who knows? Maybe if we all make enough of a stink about it, even a giant like Amazon will think twice before pulling a stunt like this again.
Now, on to the controversy of the day.
As I'm sure many of you have already heard, Hachette Books, the behemoth international parent company of my own publisher, Orbit, is currently engaged in a very nasty round of negotiations with Amazon, the largest bookseller in the world. I, of course, am not privy to the substance of such high level power plays between corporate giants, but considering the entire reason Amazon and Hachette are at the table now is to renegotiate ebook pricing models after the US Department of Justice slammed Apple and the world's five largest publishers for colluding to fix ebook prices in 2012, it's not a big jump to guess that how much ebooks should cost, and who controls that price--the publisher or the bookseller--are the main bones of contention.
This is not a new fight. Amazon and publishers have been going around this same ring since ebooks were invented, and it probably won't be settled any time soon. With more and more of the world moving to ebooks as their primary book buying venue, the quarrel over who controls the prices for that market will only get dirtier and more contentious. What really has people up in arms this time around, however, is that Amazon, in an effort to flex their mercantile muscles at Hachette, has delayed the the shipment of paper copies of Hachette's new releases, and is now removing pre-order buttons from certain unreleased Hachette titles, thus effectively preventing those books from gathering any pre-release sales.
This is a pretty big deal. Though technically not a monopoly due to other booksellers like Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, and even Wallmart (plus indie shops and many other large, non-American chains), Amazon is hands down the biggest online seller, bigger than next dozen internet retailers combined. If they decide not to sell your stuff, then for all practical purposes, it ain't getting sold. Amazon knows this, and right now, they're using that enormous market power to squeeze Hachette into accepting their terms.
Some, like my fellow Orbit author Lilith Saintcrow, have called this type of behavior evil. Amazon supporters like Joe Konrath call it capitalism working exactly as it should. Personally, I think it's both. After all, the entire point of capitalism is to be more ruthless, clever, and efficient than the other guy. It's a system where the strong eat and the weak are meat, and, for the most part, I have no problem with that as it applies to the book industry. Modern publishing is a cobbled together mess of old, outdated business practices and assumptions. It needs to be shaken up, have a few bites taken out of it, before it collapses under its own ponderous weight. My problem with this fracas comes from where, and more importantly, whom Amazon decided to bite.
If you want to know just how much losing a preorder button hurts, consider the debut author. Imagine the following scenario: after years of rejection, you sell a series to a publisher. Hooray! Now, after a year and a half of edits, copy edits, cover designs, and so forth, your book is finally launching in July of 2014. You're racing around to get ready, doing blog posts and trying your best to get the word out. The marketing dollars your publisher has put into launching your book are in full swing--books are going out to reviewers, your cover is being featured on their site and twitter feed, and you're starting to see real buzz about your writing for the first time...and then, due to a dispute so far above anyone involved in your book, Amazon removes the pre-order button from your book's page.
Now, all that buzz you worked so hard to generate, the interest your publisher's marketing dollars bought, has nowhere to go. You can try to point people to other places to preorder your book--other stores, indies, all that good stuff--but you're not even published yet. Most people have no idea who you are. And those potential readers, the ones who read a good review of your book (on that same review site where your publisher sent your book as part of their pre-release promo) and decide to go check it out? They'll click over to Amazon and find no preorder button. Some, of course, will go to another site or call their local bookstore order that way, but most will decide not to bother. They'll go on about their lives and forget all about your book, and you'll never even know about them because no one but Amazon can track how many people visit a book's page and don't buy.
For an author trying to get their first foothold, this is a death knell. An under-performing debut can ruin an author's career before it begins. This is the real fallout of Amazon's tactics--not the publisher or the big sellers or even the midlist authors like myself who already have dedicated readers, but the new writers. People who are just starting their first series, or who only have one or two books out. These are the most fragile members of the traditional publishing ecosystem, the ones who can't easily weather this sort of disruption, and they're the ones whose careers will ultimately pay while all of this shakes out.
The most obvious solution to this of course would be to just get out of this all together and self-publish, but the authors this is happening to signed those publishing contracts two years ago. Even if they did decided to say screw it all and go publish their next work on their own, that doesn't save the book that's losing sales right now. Also, as I've already talked about, not everyone wants to self publish. That is their choice, and it is just plain awful that those authors who did everything right according to their publishing choice are getting bashed around by giant powers they have no control over. And yeah, I realize getting stepped on by massive forces you can't control is life, but we're not talking about tornadoes here. Tornadoes are unfeeling natural phenomenons. Companies, on the other hand, are made up of people. You can bet your bottom dollar that someone at Amazon, probably a lot of someones, knew exactly what their decision to employ these sort of tactics on Hachette would mean for these authors, but they did it anyway. They made the decision to be ruthless. That's capitalism, but it's also cruel and needlessly harmful to the very authors who write the books Amazon and Hachette are fighting over.
Long story short: I don't object to Amazon strong arming publishers. I actually think we'll end up with a better, more efficient ebook market once all of this shakes out. What I object to are the callous tactics being employed. There's always a choice in these things, and Amazon's decision to use Hachette's authors as hostages in their negotiations says a lot about them, most of it not good. We'll never know exactly how many sales were lost in all of this. It very well might be that I'm making a mountain out of a molehill, or it could be enormous, we simply can't know. But I stand firm on my belief while capitalism can and has done great things, it does not excuse bad behavior wholesale.
Just as freedom of speech does not mean freedom from criticism, good business decisions do not mean freedom from morality. I can't and wouldn't want to keep Amazon from doing business, but I can stand up and call it out when I think it's gone too far. This is the natural push and pull of society. And who knows? Maybe if we all make enough of a stink about it, even a giant like Amazon will think twice before pulling a stunt like this again.
May 16, 2014
Tutorial: How to make your own fictional city using Google Maps!
So a few weeks ago, I discovered that you can use Google Maps to draw on existing cities and make custom maps of your fictional locations. Needless to say, I was EXTREMELY EXCITED. Being an author practically guarantees you will struggle with real life details like travel distance at some point in your book. If you're writing about a real city, the bar is even higher. Even if you're writing about your own city, a map can be a life saver just for keeping everything straight in your head.
For years now, I've had to draw those maps by hand, and let me just say: a cartographer I am not. Enter Google Maps. Let's say you're writing a story set in London. Going to Google Maps to look up a street map is obvious, but Google has given us tools to take that even further, allowing authors to draw new boundaries, set landmarks, and make notes right on a custom map that you can save! And best of all, it's free!! (Well, okay, there is a paid version that has more features, but for our purposes, the free version works perfectly well).
All that said, the Google Maps customization interface isn't exactly user friendly. Most people don't even know it exists (I found it by accident). This a crime! Something this useful should be known by all! Lots of people on Twitter agreed with me. So, by popular request, here is my guide to using Google Maps for world building.
WARNING! Lots of big pictures incoming!
STEP 1: MAKE YOUR MAP
Start by going to Google Maps and clicking on the gear in the lower right corner.
Select "My Places."
This will take you to the custom maps interface. When you save your maps, they'll appear in the list on the left hand side (as you see, I have one saved called DFZ). For now, though, we're going to make a new map, so click on the red "Create Map" button.
Congratulations! You are now in the Custom Map interface!!
You can name your map whatever you want by clicking where it says "Untitled Map" in the upper left. Also, your custom map will start at the furthest zoom possible, you go ahead and type in your desired location in the search bar. Since my new novel, Nice Dragons Finish Last (out in July!) is set in a future version of Detroit, I'm going to make my map there, but you can start anywhere you like.
Note: if your book is set in a completely made up place/fantasy kingdom, you can still use Google to make a useful map. Simply find somewhere in the real world that's roughly the shape/size you want (the British Isles, for example, or Japan) and start making it your own.
Okay, so now that we've got our map, it's time to start doodling on it! On to Step 2!
STEP 2: LAYERS
Just like Photoshop, the custom maps editor works in layers. If you got your map to a specific location by typing a place into the search bar, Google will have automatically generated a layer and a location point for you. I typed in Detroit, and as you see, I now have a "Detroit, MI, United States" location and a green indicator.
Don't you hate it when programs try to fill things in for you? Fortunately, map objects are very easy to create and delete. Everything is controlled from the box in the upper left, which I've marked up for you below.
The "Add Layer" button (red circle) does exactly what you'd think, it adds layers! Note that you only get 3 layers in the free version, so don't be afraid to load them up (more on how to do that in the next step.)
In green, you'll see the point Google added automatically. I don't want that nonsense, so I'll click the X (circled in green) to delete it. In addition to this initial location, there's also an Untitled Layer that generates automatically with every new nap. You can click the name (circled in blue) to rename this layer to whatever you want or click the little downwards arrow beneath it to delete the layer all together. You can also click the check box beside the layer name to toggle whether the layer is visible or not (very useful if you've got overlapping elements of your map and you want to work on one at a time).
Now, below this layer, you'll see an option to Import. If, for some reason, you have a list of specific addresses you want to appear on your map, you can put them in spreadsheet and upload all of them directly to your map in one go. That's pretty cool, but I've never needed to do that, so we'll just not mess with this feature for now.
Finally, at the very bottom of your list, you'll see the Base Map. You can always click on this to get back to the original Google Map below your layers. Also, see the box circled in pink? You can click that to toggle different map views. You can see your map as a satellite image, or a terrain map with elevations, or even just as landmasses (very useful if you don't want roads all over your map.) This is the COOLEST option! You can change your map view whenever you want at any point, and I highly suggest trying out a bunch of options to get several different looks at your chosen setting.
That's pretty much it for the layers, so it's time for Step 3. Pick a layer you want to work on, give it a name, and let's start drawing!
STEP 3: DRAWING ON YOUR MAP!
Time for the fun part! For this part of the tutorial, I'm going to use the map I made for my new novel Nice Dragons Finish Last! In this book, Detroit was washed under by a giant flood caused by events surrounding the return of magic. Now, the city and its major suburbs are an independent territory of the US called the DFZ, as illustrated below.
Tada! How did I draw this boundary? Easy, you see those boxes below the search bar? If you click on the one that has lines and dots (the fifth from the left), you'll get the polygon tool. This can be used to draw shapes all over your map. Simply click the button to select the tool (your mouse cursor will turn into a cross when it's active) and click the map wherever you want the first point on your boundary to be. After that, you'll have a line following your mouse. Click the map again to make another point and then another until you have the shape you want. If you accidentally set down a point you don't want, you can just click on it again to remove it. To finish your new shape, simply close the shape by clicking on your first dot again.
Once you've closed the shape, Google will ask you to give it a name. You can also add a description if you want. When you're done, click Save and voila! Your new area is done! You should now see your new shape under its appropriate layer in your menu box. (As you see in the screenshot above, I named mine DFZ OFFICIAL BOUNDARY).
Now, this is where things get REALLY COOL. Once you've finished your shape, click on it again to bring up its details.
See? Google automatically measured the area and border length of my selection (red arrows in the middle of the screen). HOW COOL IS THAT?! I can also change the color by clicking on the area's name in the left hand menu box and then clicking on the paint bucket that will appear to the right.
(Note, see the little Style, Data, and Labels buttons right under the layer name? Those apply to all the objects in that layer, letting you change everything at once if you want. That's cool, but a bit too hardcore for what we're trying to do. You can always change an object's color/name/details by just clicking on its name.)
Okay, so that's how you draw in a big area. What if you just want a single point?
To add a specific location, just click the Location button (to the left of the polygon tool, indicated by the red arrow above) and click where you want it on the map. Alternatively, you can enter an address or intersection in the search bar, and Google will place the marker for you. Once the location is set, you can edit it.change its colors it just like you did with your big areas above.
You can also change the shape of the indicator for easy grouping. Here, I have all the important locations from Nice Dragons Finish Last marked with pink stars (don't worry, no spoilers!), while locations from the second book in the series are shown as yellow diamonds (again, no spoilers). This lets me easily see how the travel in the books overlaps and where my characters are in the larger scheme of the setting. Cool, huh?
So, that's how you draw on your map! You can add up to 100 locations and areas for free to each layer, which is a LOT. More than enough than most books will ever need. Now, as you can see from the screenshot above, I've actually kept my other layers hidden for simplicity's sake. But what does my custom map look like when everything's marked?
STEP 4: MAKING YOUR MAP WORK FOR YOU
Here is my complete DFZ map as it looks today. I had to zoom out to fit it all in one screenshot, but I can zoom all the way down to the street level if I want and walk around the city using Google Street View. Or, I can zoom all the way out and look at my city on a national scale. I can see all the layers together to see how everything fits, or I can look at them one at a time. I can see how my borders line up with the topography by turning on the terrain map, or I can put it on satellite view to literally see my city from the sky.
All of this is very very useful when you're an author. You can see in a glance how everything in your world fits together spatially. For my money, though, the most important tools of all are right here.
The red arrow is the Ruler, and it allows you to measure distances between points right on your map. But of course, these directions are as the crow flies. If you want to know how long it would take your protagonist to drive from one point to another on the existing roads, you just click on your starting location and click the Directions box (green arrow). Note that this option will only work if you have at least 1 layer free to hold the directions. If you do, though, clicking on the directions box will create a new "Directions Layer" that looks exactly like the Google Maps driving directions we're all used to. Simply click to fill in your destination, and Google will not only map out your route and give you a distance, it'll also tell you how long it will take to actually travel it via foot/car/bus/bike/subway/whatever option you pick!
IS THAT NOT AMAZING?!
Okay, so I know I seem perhaps a little too excited about this, but you have to understand how long I've spent calculating character travel distances by hand. To just be able to let Google do it for me blows my mind. Now, of course, Google Maps is most useful for authors writing in the real world, but let me tell you, I would have found a place to be the Eli world and made a map if I'd had this back when I was writing.
Long story short: if you're writing a book and you need a map (which is kind of redundant in my mind), Google Maps is a super powerful tool and I can not recommend it enough. I hope this tutorial helps you overcome some of the weirder interface issues and recreate the world of your books in a real and useful way. If any of this doesn't make sense, or if you see anything I've left out, please let me know in the comments below.
Thank you for reading, and happy map making!!
Yours,Rachel
For years now, I've had to draw those maps by hand, and let me just say: a cartographer I am not. Enter Google Maps. Let's say you're writing a story set in London. Going to Google Maps to look up a street map is obvious, but Google has given us tools to take that even further, allowing authors to draw new boundaries, set landmarks, and make notes right on a custom map that you can save! And best of all, it's free!! (Well, okay, there is a paid version that has more features, but for our purposes, the free version works perfectly well).
All that said, the Google Maps customization interface isn't exactly user friendly. Most people don't even know it exists (I found it by accident). This a crime! Something this useful should be known by all! Lots of people on Twitter agreed with me. So, by popular request, here is my guide to using Google Maps for world building.
WARNING! Lots of big pictures incoming!
STEP 1: MAKE YOUR MAP
Start by going to Google Maps and clicking on the gear in the lower right corner.
Select "My Places."
This will take you to the custom maps interface. When you save your maps, they'll appear in the list on the left hand side (as you see, I have one saved called DFZ). For now, though, we're going to make a new map, so click on the red "Create Map" button.
Congratulations! You are now in the Custom Map interface!!
You can name your map whatever you want by clicking where it says "Untitled Map" in the upper left. Also, your custom map will start at the furthest zoom possible, you go ahead and type in your desired location in the search bar. Since my new novel, Nice Dragons Finish Last (out in July!) is set in a future version of Detroit, I'm going to make my map there, but you can start anywhere you like.
Note: if your book is set in a completely made up place/fantasy kingdom, you can still use Google to make a useful map. Simply find somewhere in the real world that's roughly the shape/size you want (the British Isles, for example, or Japan) and start making it your own.
Okay, so now that we've got our map, it's time to start doodling on it! On to Step 2!
STEP 2: LAYERS
Just like Photoshop, the custom maps editor works in layers. If you got your map to a specific location by typing a place into the search bar, Google will have automatically generated a layer and a location point for you. I typed in Detroit, and as you see, I now have a "Detroit, MI, United States" location and a green indicator.
Don't you hate it when programs try to fill things in for you? Fortunately, map objects are very easy to create and delete. Everything is controlled from the box in the upper left, which I've marked up for you below.
The "Add Layer" button (red circle) does exactly what you'd think, it adds layers! Note that you only get 3 layers in the free version, so don't be afraid to load them up (more on how to do that in the next step.)
In green, you'll see the point Google added automatically. I don't want that nonsense, so I'll click the X (circled in green) to delete it. In addition to this initial location, there's also an Untitled Layer that generates automatically with every new nap. You can click the name (circled in blue) to rename this layer to whatever you want or click the little downwards arrow beneath it to delete the layer all together. You can also click the check box beside the layer name to toggle whether the layer is visible or not (very useful if you've got overlapping elements of your map and you want to work on one at a time).
Now, below this layer, you'll see an option to Import. If, for some reason, you have a list of specific addresses you want to appear on your map, you can put them in spreadsheet and upload all of them directly to your map in one go. That's pretty cool, but I've never needed to do that, so we'll just not mess with this feature for now.
Finally, at the very bottom of your list, you'll see the Base Map. You can always click on this to get back to the original Google Map below your layers. Also, see the box circled in pink? You can click that to toggle different map views. You can see your map as a satellite image, or a terrain map with elevations, or even just as landmasses (very useful if you don't want roads all over your map.) This is the COOLEST option! You can change your map view whenever you want at any point, and I highly suggest trying out a bunch of options to get several different looks at your chosen setting.
That's pretty much it for the layers, so it's time for Step 3. Pick a layer you want to work on, give it a name, and let's start drawing!
STEP 3: DRAWING ON YOUR MAP!
Time for the fun part! For this part of the tutorial, I'm going to use the map I made for my new novel Nice Dragons Finish Last! In this book, Detroit was washed under by a giant flood caused by events surrounding the return of magic. Now, the city and its major suburbs are an independent territory of the US called the DFZ, as illustrated below.
Tada! How did I draw this boundary? Easy, you see those boxes below the search bar? If you click on the one that has lines and dots (the fifth from the left), you'll get the polygon tool. This can be used to draw shapes all over your map. Simply click the button to select the tool (your mouse cursor will turn into a cross when it's active) and click the map wherever you want the first point on your boundary to be. After that, you'll have a line following your mouse. Click the map again to make another point and then another until you have the shape you want. If you accidentally set down a point you don't want, you can just click on it again to remove it. To finish your new shape, simply close the shape by clicking on your first dot again.
Once you've closed the shape, Google will ask you to give it a name. You can also add a description if you want. When you're done, click Save and voila! Your new area is done! You should now see your new shape under its appropriate layer in your menu box. (As you see in the screenshot above, I named mine DFZ OFFICIAL BOUNDARY).
Now, this is where things get REALLY COOL. Once you've finished your shape, click on it again to bring up its details.
See? Google automatically measured the area and border length of my selection (red arrows in the middle of the screen). HOW COOL IS THAT?! I can also change the color by clicking on the area's name in the left hand menu box and then clicking on the paint bucket that will appear to the right.
(Note, see the little Style, Data, and Labels buttons right under the layer name? Those apply to all the objects in that layer, letting you change everything at once if you want. That's cool, but a bit too hardcore for what we're trying to do. You can always change an object's color/name/details by just clicking on its name.)
Okay, so that's how you draw in a big area. What if you just want a single point?
To add a specific location, just click the Location button (to the left of the polygon tool, indicated by the red arrow above) and click where you want it on the map. Alternatively, you can enter an address or intersection in the search bar, and Google will place the marker for you. Once the location is set, you can edit it.change its colors it just like you did with your big areas above.
You can also change the shape of the indicator for easy grouping. Here, I have all the important locations from Nice Dragons Finish Last marked with pink stars (don't worry, no spoilers!), while locations from the second book in the series are shown as yellow diamonds (again, no spoilers). This lets me easily see how the travel in the books overlaps and where my characters are in the larger scheme of the setting. Cool, huh?
So, that's how you draw on your map! You can add up to 100 locations and areas for free to each layer, which is a LOT. More than enough than most books will ever need. Now, as you can see from the screenshot above, I've actually kept my other layers hidden for simplicity's sake. But what does my custom map look like when everything's marked?
STEP 4: MAKING YOUR MAP WORK FOR YOU
Here is my complete DFZ map as it looks today. I had to zoom out to fit it all in one screenshot, but I can zoom all the way down to the street level if I want and walk around the city using Google Street View. Or, I can zoom all the way out and look at my city on a national scale. I can see all the layers together to see how everything fits, or I can look at them one at a time. I can see how my borders line up with the topography by turning on the terrain map, or I can put it on satellite view to literally see my city from the sky.
All of this is very very useful when you're an author. You can see in a glance how everything in your world fits together spatially. For my money, though, the most important tools of all are right here.
The red arrow is the Ruler, and it allows you to measure distances between points right on your map. But of course, these directions are as the crow flies. If you want to know how long it would take your protagonist to drive from one point to another on the existing roads, you just click on your starting location and click the Directions box (green arrow). Note that this option will only work if you have at least 1 layer free to hold the directions. If you do, though, clicking on the directions box will create a new "Directions Layer" that looks exactly like the Google Maps driving directions we're all used to. Simply click to fill in your destination, and Google will not only map out your route and give you a distance, it'll also tell you how long it will take to actually travel it via foot/car/bus/bike/subway/whatever option you pick!
IS THAT NOT AMAZING?!
Okay, so I know I seem perhaps a little too excited about this, but you have to understand how long I've spent calculating character travel distances by hand. To just be able to let Google do it for me blows my mind. Now, of course, Google Maps is most useful for authors writing in the real world, but let me tell you, I would have found a place to be the Eli world and made a map if I'd had this back when I was writing.
Long story short: if you're writing a book and you need a map (which is kind of redundant in my mind), Google Maps is a super powerful tool and I can not recommend it enough. I hope this tutorial helps you overcome some of the weirder interface issues and recreate the world of your books in a real and useful way. If any of this doesn't make sense, or if you see anything I've left out, please let me know in the comments below.
Thank you for reading, and happy map making!!
Yours,Rachel
May 8, 2014
The loudest sound in the world is a bigot screaming that he's being silenced
I didn't want to write this post.
Wait, that's not honest. I wanted to write this post with the burning fires of righteous rage, but I've held off for a long time because I didn't want to give these idiots any more of the attention they clearly require to continue existing. But then this happened, and I'm afraid my anger has finally overridden my common sense.
Warning: Rant Ahead
For those of you who don't want to read a whole OpEd of a middle-aged white man pining for the Good Old Days when SF fans were "real" and didn't get offended over every little sexist/racist thing (or at least didn't make a fuss about it where he could overhear), the general gist of the article is exactly what you'd imagine. "Oh woe! Science Fiction is under siege by whiny minorities and fun-killing feminists! It's a leftist conspiracy! The PC police are silencing our voices! Won't the Real Science Fiction fans stand up and take back our genre?!"
You get the idea.
Now, I could go in and rip this apart, but I'm not going to because 1) take downs aren't in the spirit of my blog, and 2) Foz Meadows already did a way better job. But I do want to take a moment and talk about idea of genre communities "silencing" writers.
Authorship is an opinionated business. The very act of writing puts your core values and world view front and center. Your characters, your plot, your moral conundrums, the way you build your world--these are all reflections of you, the writer behind the curtain. If you hold and put forth opinions in your writing that other people find repugnant or offensive, they're going to offended. And since you, the author, put those opinions in a public medium widely distributed and sold for money, otherwise known as bookselling, these offended people are going to criticize your work publicly. They're going to say that these stories don't deserve awards and/or public recognition because of the ideas espoused therein, they might even band together to get you booted out of your genre organizations, publications, and/or fan groups so they don't have to put up with your crap anymore.
I'm sure you think that sucks. I'm sure you think that the mob is turning against you, silencing your voice and robbing you of your right to free speech. And while that all sounds very dramatic, it's just not true. You're not being silenced. You're still yelling as loudly as ever, we're just choosing not to listen.
Genre is not a government. It's not even really an organization. It's just a bunch of people who like the same sort of things. Sometimes this means a rich community of fans and conventions and critique, other times it's as simple as knowing what part of the bookstore you like best. Personally, I think that's great, because it means genres like SFF belong to everyone and no one at the same time. The whole process of grouping creative works into categories is one we create as a culture. Genre is what we make of it, and that's why it's so important for those of us who want our genre to be bigger and better and more fun for everyone to speak out when we see other people messing it up--sort of like yelling at a drunk when you see him taking a shit on the slide in your community park.
Did you write a book where women are nothing but sex objects and rape victims? I'm going to call that shit out. I'm going to say you're sexist, and I think your book is sexist, and I don't care how good it is. I don't care if you wrote the freaking War and Peace of sexist rape books, I'm not going to read it, I'm not going to vote for it for awards, and I'm going to tell other people to stay away as well if they don't want to read sexist garbage.
Now, that might seem unfair. What about the story? What about the context?! But deciding I don't want to read yet another sexist book full of women being violently raped for plot is my right as a reader, as is calling those books out publicly for what they contain. The same goes for racist books or homophobic books or any other form of bigotry, because I don't want that poison in my genre. I don't want it in my world, period. I can't stop you from writing it or thinking it--that's your right, your free speech--but just because you wrote it doesn't mean we as readers and fans and members of the genre (which, by the way, belongs to all of us, not just those you anoint as "real fans") have to read it or take it seriously.
It is an author's right to set forward his or her opinions in their own works. If Orson Scott Card wants to be giant homophobe, that is his prerogative, but I am under no obligation to agree with him or buy tickets to his movie. That's not silencing his voice or even belittling his talent, that's simply choosing not to support what I consider a very hurtful, hateful, and backwards way of thinking. When SFWA ousted Theodore Beale (aka Vox Day) for continuously posting sexist and racist messages, including a personal attack on fantasy author N.K. Jemisin, they were not silencing him. They were responding to the overwhelming outrage in their community and removing his ability to, if I may reuse a metaphor, shit on our slide.
If Vox Day wants to call a very successful black female SFF author a "half ignorant savage" or any of the other awful racist BS that I'm not going to repeat because just copy pasting it makes me want to Clorox my keyboard, he can (and has) post it on his own blog or twitter or any of the thousands of other places he can make his voice heard. He does not, however, have the right to force anyone else to give him a platform. That's what's really happening here. Racists and bigots and sexists are not being silenced, they're simply losing their megaphones. As SFF becomes more diverse and accepting and generally moves into the modern area, all of these bigoted voices are finally falling back down to the volume of everyone else's, and as such, they're finding themselves drowned out by the tide of people who want acceptance and inclusion and respect, and I think that's god damn beautiful.
What makes me the angriest in all this is the fact that SFF, at least in terms of its major publishing side, does have a history of systematically silencing voices. You don't have to look too far back to find a time when books were rejected for no other reason than the author's name was female, or the main character was of a race/sexual orientation other than white straight male.
This is entirely different than writers getting pushback for what they say. What I chose to put on a page or on my blog is my responsibility, my gender is not. That's actually one of the core values of feminism and all inclusive movements: that we are judged on the merit of what we say and do, not for our skin color or sex or orientation or anything else we can't control. What's really amazing, though, is that even under this enormous handicap, minority SFF authors still found ways to tell their stories, publishing through small presses and even independently despite the bigots (or as Mr. Wright calls them, "real" SF fans) trying their best to keep the the doors shut. But you can't fence in an idea, you can't close out a genre, because it doesn't belong to you. SFF belongs to all of us, and thanks to the internet and the tireless work of marginalized fans and creators who steadfastly refused to give up on the genre they loved just because some bigots didn't want to share, SFF is more diverse and open than ever. That's a pretty big change for small minded people who don't like that they're now having to defend their indefensible and terrible ideas, but just because you're no longer the loudest voice in the room doesn't mean you're being silenced.
Now, of course, all of this is just my opinion, and you are not obligated to listen to me any more than I'm obligated to listen to you. Still, I would encourage self proclaimed free thinkers and futurists like Mr. Wright who feel they are being silenced to consider the possibility that, if a vast majority of members in a large and respected group of professionals such as, say, SFWA, feel you're being such a giant jerk that they have no choice but to kick you out, then maybe, just maybe, you're actually being a giant jerk. If you post an impassioned article about how you and your fellow authors are being systematically silenced by the leftist boot of an overzealous liberal shadow organization that has infiltrated the highest levels of SFF like some kind of nerdy Hydra, and the internet explodes with otherwise mild mannered authors recklessly taking time out their busy writing schedules to compose giant posts about how you are wrong and all your examples are noted homophobs and racists, then maybe, just maybe, you're on the wrong side of things. Or maybe incurring such responses and the attention they bring was your entire plan right from the start, in which case, bravo, sir! Job well done! You're still wrong.
And thus concludes my rant budget for this month. Thank you all for putting up with my outrage. Normal writing posts will resume shortly. Until then, I remain yours always,
Rachel
ETA: I wrote a far more eloquent and less ranty post about almost this same topic over at the Book Smugglers for their Conversations in SFF series called Upsetting the Default. It probably has fewer rage induced typos as well, so if you skimmed this post, I recommend going over there for a more civilized and nuanced conversation.
Wait, that's not honest. I wanted to write this post with the burning fires of righteous rage, but I've held off for a long time because I didn't want to give these idiots any more of the attention they clearly require to continue existing. But then this happened, and I'm afraid my anger has finally overridden my common sense.
Warning: Rant Ahead
For those of you who don't want to read a whole OpEd of a middle-aged white man pining for the Good Old Days when SF fans were "real" and didn't get offended over every little sexist/racist thing (or at least didn't make a fuss about it where he could overhear), the general gist of the article is exactly what you'd imagine. "Oh woe! Science Fiction is under siege by whiny minorities and fun-killing feminists! It's a leftist conspiracy! The PC police are silencing our voices! Won't the Real Science Fiction fans stand up and take back our genre?!"
You get the idea.
Now, I could go in and rip this apart, but I'm not going to because 1) take downs aren't in the spirit of my blog, and 2) Foz Meadows already did a way better job. But I do want to take a moment and talk about idea of genre communities "silencing" writers.
Authorship is an opinionated business. The very act of writing puts your core values and world view front and center. Your characters, your plot, your moral conundrums, the way you build your world--these are all reflections of you, the writer behind the curtain. If you hold and put forth opinions in your writing that other people find repugnant or offensive, they're going to offended. And since you, the author, put those opinions in a public medium widely distributed and sold for money, otherwise known as bookselling, these offended people are going to criticize your work publicly. They're going to say that these stories don't deserve awards and/or public recognition because of the ideas espoused therein, they might even band together to get you booted out of your genre organizations, publications, and/or fan groups so they don't have to put up with your crap anymore.
I'm sure you think that sucks. I'm sure you think that the mob is turning against you, silencing your voice and robbing you of your right to free speech. And while that all sounds very dramatic, it's just not true. You're not being silenced. You're still yelling as loudly as ever, we're just choosing not to listen.
Genre is not a government. It's not even really an organization. It's just a bunch of people who like the same sort of things. Sometimes this means a rich community of fans and conventions and critique, other times it's as simple as knowing what part of the bookstore you like best. Personally, I think that's great, because it means genres like SFF belong to everyone and no one at the same time. The whole process of grouping creative works into categories is one we create as a culture. Genre is what we make of it, and that's why it's so important for those of us who want our genre to be bigger and better and more fun for everyone to speak out when we see other people messing it up--sort of like yelling at a drunk when you see him taking a shit on the slide in your community park.
Did you write a book where women are nothing but sex objects and rape victims? I'm going to call that shit out. I'm going to say you're sexist, and I think your book is sexist, and I don't care how good it is. I don't care if you wrote the freaking War and Peace of sexist rape books, I'm not going to read it, I'm not going to vote for it for awards, and I'm going to tell other people to stay away as well if they don't want to read sexist garbage.
Now, that might seem unfair. What about the story? What about the context?! But deciding I don't want to read yet another sexist book full of women being violently raped for plot is my right as a reader, as is calling those books out publicly for what they contain. The same goes for racist books or homophobic books or any other form of bigotry, because I don't want that poison in my genre. I don't want it in my world, period. I can't stop you from writing it or thinking it--that's your right, your free speech--but just because you wrote it doesn't mean we as readers and fans and members of the genre (which, by the way, belongs to all of us, not just those you anoint as "real fans") have to read it or take it seriously.
It is an author's right to set forward his or her opinions in their own works. If Orson Scott Card wants to be giant homophobe, that is his prerogative, but I am under no obligation to agree with him or buy tickets to his movie. That's not silencing his voice or even belittling his talent, that's simply choosing not to support what I consider a very hurtful, hateful, and backwards way of thinking. When SFWA ousted Theodore Beale (aka Vox Day) for continuously posting sexist and racist messages, including a personal attack on fantasy author N.K. Jemisin, they were not silencing him. They were responding to the overwhelming outrage in their community and removing his ability to, if I may reuse a metaphor, shit on our slide.
If Vox Day wants to call a very successful black female SFF author a "half ignorant savage" or any of the other awful racist BS that I'm not going to repeat because just copy pasting it makes me want to Clorox my keyboard, he can (and has) post it on his own blog or twitter or any of the thousands of other places he can make his voice heard. He does not, however, have the right to force anyone else to give him a platform. That's what's really happening here. Racists and bigots and sexists are not being silenced, they're simply losing their megaphones. As SFF becomes more diverse and accepting and generally moves into the modern area, all of these bigoted voices are finally falling back down to the volume of everyone else's, and as such, they're finding themselves drowned out by the tide of people who want acceptance and inclusion and respect, and I think that's god damn beautiful.
What makes me the angriest in all this is the fact that SFF, at least in terms of its major publishing side, does have a history of systematically silencing voices. You don't have to look too far back to find a time when books were rejected for no other reason than the author's name was female, or the main character was of a race/sexual orientation other than white straight male.
This is entirely different than writers getting pushback for what they say. What I chose to put on a page or on my blog is my responsibility, my gender is not. That's actually one of the core values of feminism and all inclusive movements: that we are judged on the merit of what we say and do, not for our skin color or sex or orientation or anything else we can't control. What's really amazing, though, is that even under this enormous handicap, minority SFF authors still found ways to tell their stories, publishing through small presses and even independently despite the bigots (or as Mr. Wright calls them, "real" SF fans) trying their best to keep the the doors shut. But you can't fence in an idea, you can't close out a genre, because it doesn't belong to you. SFF belongs to all of us, and thanks to the internet and the tireless work of marginalized fans and creators who steadfastly refused to give up on the genre they loved just because some bigots didn't want to share, SFF is more diverse and open than ever. That's a pretty big change for small minded people who don't like that they're now having to defend their indefensible and terrible ideas, but just because you're no longer the loudest voice in the room doesn't mean you're being silenced.
Now, of course, all of this is just my opinion, and you are not obligated to listen to me any more than I'm obligated to listen to you. Still, I would encourage self proclaimed free thinkers and futurists like Mr. Wright who feel they are being silenced to consider the possibility that, if a vast majority of members in a large and respected group of professionals such as, say, SFWA, feel you're being such a giant jerk that they have no choice but to kick you out, then maybe, just maybe, you're actually being a giant jerk. If you post an impassioned article about how you and your fellow authors are being systematically silenced by the leftist boot of an overzealous liberal shadow organization that has infiltrated the highest levels of SFF like some kind of nerdy Hydra, and the internet explodes with otherwise mild mannered authors recklessly taking time out their busy writing schedules to compose giant posts about how you are wrong and all your examples are noted homophobs and racists, then maybe, just maybe, you're on the wrong side of things. Or maybe incurring such responses and the attention they bring was your entire plan right from the start, in which case, bravo, sir! Job well done! You're still wrong.
And thus concludes my rant budget for this month. Thank you all for putting up with my outrage. Normal writing posts will resume shortly. Until then, I remain yours always,
Rachel
ETA: I wrote a far more eloquent and less ranty post about almost this same topic over at the Book Smugglers for their Conversations in SFF series called Upsetting the Default. It probably has fewer rage induced typos as well, so if you skimmed this post, I recommend going over there for a more civilized and nuanced conversation.
April 22, 2014
HEAVEN'S QUEEN releases today!
It's finally here! HEAVEN'S QUEEN IS officially out! Buy it now from Amazon US | Amazon UK | B&N | iBooks | Google Play | IndieBound and many many more! Wooo!
I'm not posting the blurb because it contains mild spoilers for the first two books. Of course, if you haven't read FORTUNE'S PAWN yet, why not see what all the fuss is about and try the first chapter free?
Seriously, though, what a wild and crazy ride this series has been! I honestly never thought it would be such a success, and I can't thank all of you enough for the support and love you've shown for Devi and her series. Thank you all so much and I sincerely hope you enjoy HEAVEN'S QUEEN!
Yours always,
Rachel
I'm not posting the blurb because it contains mild spoilers for the first two books. Of course, if you haven't read FORTUNE'S PAWN yet, why not see what all the fuss is about and try the first chapter free?
Seriously, though, what a wild and crazy ride this series has been! I honestly never thought it would be such a success, and I can't thank all of you enough for the support and love you've shown for Devi and her series. Thank you all so much and I sincerely hope you enjoy HEAVEN'S QUEEN!
Yours always,
Rachel
April 18, 2014
Tapping the Reader Mind to Improve the Writer Mind
Sorry I've been MIA this last month. I've been writing like crazy on a new project that's very different from the ones I've done (shocker, right? At this point I think the real surprise would be if I actually wrote two series in the same genre o_o). ANYWAY, in between this new story and doing my research to get ready to enter the self publishing side of the pool this summer, I stumbled over another of those wonderful, headsmackingly obvious yet brilliant writing ideas, and I wanted to share.
But first! The final Devi Morris book, HEAVEN'S QUEEN, comes out April 22! Woo!
"The only game that matters is the end game" is my favorite tag line of the whole series! Go get'em, Devi!
Anyway, on to writing!
So there's a common bit of writing wisdom that goes "Write the book you want to read." This is a very good piece of advice, but it's also a deceptively simple one. Of course I'm writing the book I want to read. If I didn't find my book interesting, then I wouldn't be writing it in the first place, right?
Well, yes and no.
I've written a lot of books at this point (13 between all my pen names and trunked titles), but I'm still discovering new, stupidly obvious truths about my process. Things I really should have noticed back on book #2 rather than #14. But writing is a tricky business, and its easy to miss parts of the process precisely because they seem so obvious.
For example, I engage books different as a reader than I do as a writer. I've long known that the reader side of me, we'll call her Reader Rachel, likes a lot of books that Writer Rachel can't stand. Take The Black Dagger Brotherhood paranormal romance series, for example. Writer Rachel can bitch for hours about how those books are constructed--the ridiculous world building, the fact that all these ancient warriors never seem to actually employ tactics against their enemies, the weird and awkward side plots that have nothing to do with the current story and only exist to set up future books, the endless product placement, the god damn names (OH GOD THE STUPID NAMES).
And yet, for all these obvious flaws, Reader Rachel ate that shit up. Zadist (I warned you about the names) and Bella's book, Lover Awakened, is probably my favorite romance novel ever, and while I gave up on series when she hooked Rehvenge (THAT NAAAAAAME) up with a goody-two-shoes selfless vampire nurse (gag), the fact remains that I still paid freaking $5.99-$9.99 for each ebook and read them all.
There are a number of other series Writer Rachel scoffed at and Reader Rachel adored, but you get the idea. For years, though, I ignored this dichotomy outright. I didn't even question what drove me to obsessively read these books that I knew were...kind of schlocky, honestly. But that was a huge mistake. By dismissing my own reading preferences, I was cutting Reader Rachel out of the picture all together. Writer Rachel was calling all the shots with my stories, which meant that even though I was (and am) very proud of the work I produced, I was disobeying one of the most fundamental rules of story telling. I was writing the books I wanted to write, not the books I wanted to read.
Realizing this was a headslap moment for me. Going back to our initial example, The Black Dagger Brotherhood books are international best sellers despite their flaws. Readers aren't stupid. If a book is that popular, it must be doing something right, and I was the one being stupid one for dismissing that. By ignoring what delighted my reader self, I was ignoring the instincts that made me a writer in the first place. I actually think one of the reasons the Devi books have been so popular was because I wasn't falling into this trap. The entire raison d’être for Fortune's Pawn was that I wanted to read an action packed SF romance and I couldn't find one. It was the essence of writing the book I wanted to read, and I think we can all agree the results were great.
Once I'd realized this truth, the obvious question became how could I do it every time? After all, if the caps lock of doom above wasn't a hint, Reader Rachel and Writer Rachel don't always agree. Fortunately, they don't have to, because I'm not writing Black Dagger Brotherhood or any of the books I like to read. I'm writing my books, only now I'm inviting Reader Rachel to play as well by making the following adjustments to my writing process:
1) I approach my scenes like a reader
I've long said that a scene should do three things: advance the story, reveal information, and pull the reader forward. That's all still true, but now when I sit down to plan a scene, I invite Reader Rachel to join in by asking "If I was a reader, what would I want here?" For a moment, I forget everything I as a writer need the scene to do and just think about what would be awesome. If I was reading this in someone else's book, what would I find exciting or thrilling or romantic? What is the pathos here, where's the emotion? What does Reader Rachel want to see?
When you put it that way, these questions all sound really obvious, but for years now, I wasn't doing this. I always considered building fun and excitement into my work as part of the planning process (and an important cornerstone of fast writing), but even then it was a tool to help me write faster. The improvement to the audience was a side benefit, and that's wrong. Improving the reader experience should have been priority #1. Fortunately, my own innate love of overly dramatic things carried me, but I missed so many opportunities to make my scenes even more awesome. It's the classic "can't see the forest for the trees" problem. I let myself get too caught up in the writing process to remember that the reading experience is the entire point of this whole operation.
2) I pay attention to what makes me read
It's not exactly revolutionary to say that reading widely is a vital part of writing. For a long time now, though, I've been subconsciously dividing my reading into "work" reading (books that make me a better writer) and "fun" reading (books I read on the couch while my kid watches Sponge Bob). Like most divisions, this was wasteful and stupid.
Source material is irrelevant. If I like something, I (and probably a lot of other people) like it for a reason, and understanding that reason lets me use it in my own work. So now, when I encounter something cool in my reading, no matter what I'm reading, I make it a point to stop and figure out why? Why do I like this so much? Why is it cool?
Even if I can't actually answer the question, just the act of asking has made me a better writer. The more I learn about writing, the more I realize that so much of storytelling is about awareness. Understanding the mechanical aspects of what makes a good tale, noticing and studying the details other people take for granted, and then practicing and experimenting with what we've seen in our own work--these are the things that make us better writers regardless of genre or experience.
3) I never forget what I'm writing
This one might seem silly, but bear with me. Reading a standard length book (80k-150k words) usually takes anywhere from six hours to twenty hours depending on length, narrative complexity, and individual reading speed. These hours can be shotgunned in a single session or spread out over many days, but either way it's a relatively short experience, especially compared to how long it takes to write a book. Now, during that reading time, you are immersed in the feel of the book--building terror for horror, rising excitement and wonder for fantasy, anxiety for a thriller, etc.
These intense feelings are the hallmark of good fiction and one of the major reasons people read. When you're writing, though, the relative timeline of the story experience is exponentially expanded, and it's very easy to lose sight of the feelings you want your book to spark. The result can be a book that makes narrative sense, but still feels disjointed, or never develops any sense of gripping emotion at all. Fortunately, involving your reader mind in the writing process neatly avoids this problem.
Your reader mind knows what to expect for your book even if your writer self hasn't quite figured it out yet. If you're writing in a genre, you've read that genre before, and your reader brain knows what to expect emotionally. All Writer You has to do is listen. For example, we've all had times when we get stuck on one paragraph for two hours, but one of the ways to fight that is to ask your reader self "how does this need to feel? If I was reading this paragraph in another book in this genre, what would it say?"
I'm amazed by how often this trick works, but I shouldn't be. Reader Rachel has read more books than Writer Rachel will ever write. She knows a lot about how this stuff works, and if I can disengage my analytic, obsessive writer brain long enough to actually tap into that knowledge, the answer is usually sitting right there. It's all about knowing what you're trying to write on a high level and then using your reader experience and expectations for that genre (or even better, playing with and subverting those expectations) to keep your writing united toward the common goal over the long haul of crafting a book.
These are just a few of the changes I've implemented to bring my reader self in my writing process, but the results have already been amazing. I feel like I'm learning to write all over again, but then, writing is a constant process of reinventing ourselves. We are always rising from our own ashes, and it is this constant process of learning and examining and changing that makes us grow. There's no such thing as the top of our game, and that is wonderful, because it means we can always go higher if only we keep looking for new ways to climb.
Whew, that post got long! Anyway, I hope these insights help you with your writing. Thank you as always for reading and I hope you'll check out HEAVEN'S QUEEN when it launches next week!
Happy writing!
- Rachel
But first! The final Devi Morris book, HEAVEN'S QUEEN, comes out April 22! Woo!
"The only game that matters is the end game" is my favorite tag line of the whole series! Go get'em, Devi!
Anyway, on to writing!
So there's a common bit of writing wisdom that goes "Write the book you want to read." This is a very good piece of advice, but it's also a deceptively simple one. Of course I'm writing the book I want to read. If I didn't find my book interesting, then I wouldn't be writing it in the first place, right?
Well, yes and no.
I've written a lot of books at this point (13 between all my pen names and trunked titles), but I'm still discovering new, stupidly obvious truths about my process. Things I really should have noticed back on book #2 rather than #14. But writing is a tricky business, and its easy to miss parts of the process precisely because they seem so obvious.
For example, I engage books different as a reader than I do as a writer. I've long known that the reader side of me, we'll call her Reader Rachel, likes a lot of books that Writer Rachel can't stand. Take The Black Dagger Brotherhood paranormal romance series, for example. Writer Rachel can bitch for hours about how those books are constructed--the ridiculous world building, the fact that all these ancient warriors never seem to actually employ tactics against their enemies, the weird and awkward side plots that have nothing to do with the current story and only exist to set up future books, the endless product placement, the god damn names (OH GOD THE STUPID NAMES).
And yet, for all these obvious flaws, Reader Rachel ate that shit up. Zadist (I warned you about the names) and Bella's book, Lover Awakened, is probably my favorite romance novel ever, and while I gave up on series when she hooked Rehvenge (THAT NAAAAAAME) up with a goody-two-shoes selfless vampire nurse (gag), the fact remains that I still paid freaking $5.99-$9.99 for each ebook and read them all.
There are a number of other series Writer Rachel scoffed at and Reader Rachel adored, but you get the idea. For years, though, I ignored this dichotomy outright. I didn't even question what drove me to obsessively read these books that I knew were...kind of schlocky, honestly. But that was a huge mistake. By dismissing my own reading preferences, I was cutting Reader Rachel out of the picture all together. Writer Rachel was calling all the shots with my stories, which meant that even though I was (and am) very proud of the work I produced, I was disobeying one of the most fundamental rules of story telling. I was writing the books I wanted to write, not the books I wanted to read.
Realizing this was a headslap moment for me. Going back to our initial example, The Black Dagger Brotherhood books are international best sellers despite their flaws. Readers aren't stupid. If a book is that popular, it must be doing something right, and I was the one being stupid one for dismissing that. By ignoring what delighted my reader self, I was ignoring the instincts that made me a writer in the first place. I actually think one of the reasons the Devi books have been so popular was because I wasn't falling into this trap. The entire raison d’être for Fortune's Pawn was that I wanted to read an action packed SF romance and I couldn't find one. It was the essence of writing the book I wanted to read, and I think we can all agree the results were great.
Once I'd realized this truth, the obvious question became how could I do it every time? After all, if the caps lock of doom above wasn't a hint, Reader Rachel and Writer Rachel don't always agree. Fortunately, they don't have to, because I'm not writing Black Dagger Brotherhood or any of the books I like to read. I'm writing my books, only now I'm inviting Reader Rachel to play as well by making the following adjustments to my writing process:
1) I approach my scenes like a reader
I've long said that a scene should do three things: advance the story, reveal information, and pull the reader forward. That's all still true, but now when I sit down to plan a scene, I invite Reader Rachel to join in by asking "If I was a reader, what would I want here?" For a moment, I forget everything I as a writer need the scene to do and just think about what would be awesome. If I was reading this in someone else's book, what would I find exciting or thrilling or romantic? What is the pathos here, where's the emotion? What does Reader Rachel want to see?
When you put it that way, these questions all sound really obvious, but for years now, I wasn't doing this. I always considered building fun and excitement into my work as part of the planning process (and an important cornerstone of fast writing), but even then it was a tool to help me write faster. The improvement to the audience was a side benefit, and that's wrong. Improving the reader experience should have been priority #1. Fortunately, my own innate love of overly dramatic things carried me, but I missed so many opportunities to make my scenes even more awesome. It's the classic "can't see the forest for the trees" problem. I let myself get too caught up in the writing process to remember that the reading experience is the entire point of this whole operation.
2) I pay attention to what makes me read
It's not exactly revolutionary to say that reading widely is a vital part of writing. For a long time now, though, I've been subconsciously dividing my reading into "work" reading (books that make me a better writer) and "fun" reading (books I read on the couch while my kid watches Sponge Bob). Like most divisions, this was wasteful and stupid.
Source material is irrelevant. If I like something, I (and probably a lot of other people) like it for a reason, and understanding that reason lets me use it in my own work. So now, when I encounter something cool in my reading, no matter what I'm reading, I make it a point to stop and figure out why? Why do I like this so much? Why is it cool?
Even if I can't actually answer the question, just the act of asking has made me a better writer. The more I learn about writing, the more I realize that so much of storytelling is about awareness. Understanding the mechanical aspects of what makes a good tale, noticing and studying the details other people take for granted, and then practicing and experimenting with what we've seen in our own work--these are the things that make us better writers regardless of genre or experience.
3) I never forget what I'm writing
This one might seem silly, but bear with me. Reading a standard length book (80k-150k words) usually takes anywhere from six hours to twenty hours depending on length, narrative complexity, and individual reading speed. These hours can be shotgunned in a single session or spread out over many days, but either way it's a relatively short experience, especially compared to how long it takes to write a book. Now, during that reading time, you are immersed in the feel of the book--building terror for horror, rising excitement and wonder for fantasy, anxiety for a thriller, etc.
These intense feelings are the hallmark of good fiction and one of the major reasons people read. When you're writing, though, the relative timeline of the story experience is exponentially expanded, and it's very easy to lose sight of the feelings you want your book to spark. The result can be a book that makes narrative sense, but still feels disjointed, or never develops any sense of gripping emotion at all. Fortunately, involving your reader mind in the writing process neatly avoids this problem.
Your reader mind knows what to expect for your book even if your writer self hasn't quite figured it out yet. If you're writing in a genre, you've read that genre before, and your reader brain knows what to expect emotionally. All Writer You has to do is listen. For example, we've all had times when we get stuck on one paragraph for two hours, but one of the ways to fight that is to ask your reader self "how does this need to feel? If I was reading this paragraph in another book in this genre, what would it say?"
I'm amazed by how often this trick works, but I shouldn't be. Reader Rachel has read more books than Writer Rachel will ever write. She knows a lot about how this stuff works, and if I can disengage my analytic, obsessive writer brain long enough to actually tap into that knowledge, the answer is usually sitting right there. It's all about knowing what you're trying to write on a high level and then using your reader experience and expectations for that genre (or even better, playing with and subverting those expectations) to keep your writing united toward the common goal over the long haul of crafting a book.
These are just a few of the changes I've implemented to bring my reader self in my writing process, but the results have already been amazing. I feel like I'm learning to write all over again, but then, writing is a constant process of reinventing ourselves. We are always rising from our own ashes, and it is this constant process of learning and examining and changing that makes us grow. There's no such thing as the top of our game, and that is wonderful, because it means we can always go higher if only we keep looking for new ways to climb.
Whew, that post got long! Anyway, I hope these insights help you with your writing. Thank you as always for reading and I hope you'll check out HEAVEN'S QUEEN when it launches next week!
Happy writing!
- Rachel
April 12, 2014
Love and the Science Fiction Action Heroine
I'm over at Fantasy Cafe today to take part in the always awesome Women in SFF month! As you might surmise from the title, I'm taking on the subject of romance in Science Fiction and the Devi books in particular. Here's a sample...
- R
"There’s a deeply rooted belief in our culture that falling in love and admitting it makes a person weak. I can understand the logic. Loving makes us deeply vulnerable, and even the euphemisms for it—softer feelings, going mushy, melting for someone—are all in the language of surrender. That’s scary stuff for a character like Devi who is so invested in being strong and invulnerable, and I understand how a reader could view my decision as an author to have Devi succumb to these softer emotions as a betrayal. It doesn’t help that falling in love is also seen as a stereotypically female weakness, making it a double punch to my strong leading lady. So yeah, I get it. I also think it’s wrong."Fun huh? Go on over and read the whole post! To celebrate, Orbit Books is also giving away a full set of the Paradox trilogy, so head on over for your chance to win, and I really hope you enjoy the post!
- R
April 9, 2014
Part 1 of my interview with Elizabeth Moon is up at Orbit!
Soooooo this is where having a publisher is AWESOME. Orbit books set me and my ultimate author heroine Elizabeth Moon to do an interview series together. In between me being like...
I somehow also managed to actually type responses! They make sense and everything!
So if you want to see me and Elizabeth Moon talk some shop, head on over to Orbit's site and read away! Part 2, where we switch seats and I interview her, will be up closer to the April 22nd release of HEAVEN'S QUEEN!
SO EXCITED!!
I somehow also managed to actually type responses! They make sense and everything!
So if you want to see me and Elizabeth Moon talk some shop, head on over to Orbit's site and read away! Part 2, where we switch seats and I interview her, will be up closer to the April 22nd release of HEAVEN'S QUEEN!
SO EXCITED!!
March 14, 2014
Success, Change, and Choice
Since I did IndieReCon last month and generally came out to the public about my self publishing intentions, (Nice Dragons come out in July!) I've been hearing from a lot of other writers asking for advice if they should try self publishing or start querying for traditional publishing. To these people, I always say the same thing: what's right for you depends on your definition of success.
Warning: lengthy discussion about the nuances of the self publishing/traditional publishing choice ahead! If that's your thing, then dive right in. If not, here's a picture of a baby turtle eating a strawberry as an apology for wasting your time.
Let's say your definition of success is to see your book on shelves in a bookstore. This is a classic author dream, and if this is your goal, then traditional publishing is the obvious choice. Now, let's say your dream is to quit your job and make a living off your books. This is also a very classic writing success story. Who doesn't want to quit the day job? For this person, I would suggest self publishing, because for a little bit up cash upfront, you can get up more books more quickly and earn a decent living on far fewer sales thanks to self publishing's elevated royalty rates.
Again, I'm not trying to make an argument one way or another. No one's dream of success is better or more valid than anyone else's, and there are horror stories and great ballads of triumph on both sides of the publishing fence. My concern is author happiness. Because just as everyone writes differently, everyone has different dreams for their careers. Telling the author whose great dream is to see her books on shelves that she can make more money per sale via Amazon isn't actually helping her get what she wants. Likewise, gushing that your publisher set up an interview for you with Elizabeth Moon (I DID THAT! COMING SOON OMG OMG OMG!) isn't going to mean as much to the author who's great dream is to make a living doing what she loves.
(And for the record, there is absolutely nothing wrong with doing this for the money. I would not write if I was not getting paid. Writers have families to support just like everyone else, and anyone who says we're greedy hacks for wanting to be paid fairly for our work doesn't understand how this whole selling books thing works.)
All of this is a very long winded way to say that the answer to the question of whether you should choose traditional or self publishing is one of personal preference. If your dreams of success involve widespread professional acknowledgement, calls from your editor, guest spots at conventions, and finding your book at the mall bookstore, then self publishing would probably be a very frustrating path. On the other hand, if you're someone who is entrepreneurial, has a firm idea how your book should be presented and marketed, cares very much about the difference between an ebook royalty that is 25% of net and one that's 70% of cover price, hates having other people make decisions for them, and is bothered by the idea of waiting upwards of a year and a half for your books to come out after you turn them in, then traditional publishing will probably drive you crazy. And if you're like me, and you care about all of these things, then you can always try being a hybrid who does some books traditionally and self publishes others (which is a whole other kettle of fish).
I've been a full time professional writer since 2009, and in that time, I've seen enormous change sweep through our industry. If I was a brand new author who'd just finished polishing her first book today, I don't actually know which path I'd choose, because while I love the modern idea of self publishing, the writer I am today was enormously and very positively shaped by the traditional publishing system. Specifically, I am a much better writer because my agent and editor had the leverage to demand changes that I did not want to make at the time, changes that ended up making my books, and me, fantastically better. Could I have achieved that sort of growth with an editor I'd hired? I honestly don't know.
What I do know, though, is that the question of whether an author should self publish or stick to the old ways isn't a simple one. It's a complex business decision that requires a lot of research and personal thought and should be approached with maximum caution, because once you hit self publish on that sucker, it's very hard to impossible to change your mind, take it down, and try to resell it to a publisher. Similarly, if you sign a book deal and then decide you'd be better off on your own, tough luck. You're stuck now.
This sort of thing is why, when I see people like Joe Konrath saying "Write, Edit, Self Publish, Repeat," I get a little ticked off, because that sort of reductionist phrasing doesn't take into account differences in writer temperament. Similarly, I get pissed when I see people in traditional publishing openly bashing those who choose to self publish as losers who couldn't cut it in "real publishing," because it's not like that, and saying it is only reinforces the stereotype that people in traditional publishing are all entitled snobs who can't see the waves of change coming even when they're already washing the foundations out from under their feet.
So if you're a writer of any stripe and you're wondering which way to go, good for you. You should be wondering and asking and thinking and doing research on that question, because not only is it going to be one of the defining choices of your career, but the opportunity costs of going one way or the other are literally changing every day. Any way you decide--total self pub, total traditional, or trying to do both as a hybrid--will have frustrations and pitfalls and things you'll have to give up, and it's up to you to decide which of the upsides will make the downsides most bearable for you.
I know this post has been kind of a downer, but the point of this blog has always been to give you a look at what it's like to be a professional working writer, and these are the issues that I worry about on a daily basis. Ideally, the choice of what you do with your book shouldn't even be one of public notice, but with so much anger and investment currently surrounding the traditional vs. self pub debate (and let's be honest, there's a LOT of anger going on here on both sides), I feel that it's more important than ever to step back from the hype and really think about what you want out of your career Because it's your future, your money, and your happiness on the line here, and that, not what someone on the internet thinks you should have done, is what truly matters.
Warning: lengthy discussion about the nuances of the self publishing/traditional publishing choice ahead! If that's your thing, then dive right in. If not, here's a picture of a baby turtle eating a strawberry as an apology for wasting your time.
Let's say your definition of success is to see your book on shelves in a bookstore. This is a classic author dream, and if this is your goal, then traditional publishing is the obvious choice. Now, let's say your dream is to quit your job and make a living off your books. This is also a very classic writing success story. Who doesn't want to quit the day job? For this person, I would suggest self publishing, because for a little bit up cash upfront, you can get up more books more quickly and earn a decent living on far fewer sales thanks to self publishing's elevated royalty rates.
Again, I'm not trying to make an argument one way or another. No one's dream of success is better or more valid than anyone else's, and there are horror stories and great ballads of triumph on both sides of the publishing fence. My concern is author happiness. Because just as everyone writes differently, everyone has different dreams for their careers. Telling the author whose great dream is to see her books on shelves that she can make more money per sale via Amazon isn't actually helping her get what she wants. Likewise, gushing that your publisher set up an interview for you with Elizabeth Moon (I DID THAT! COMING SOON OMG OMG OMG!) isn't going to mean as much to the author who's great dream is to make a living doing what she loves.
(And for the record, there is absolutely nothing wrong with doing this for the money. I would not write if I was not getting paid. Writers have families to support just like everyone else, and anyone who says we're greedy hacks for wanting to be paid fairly for our work doesn't understand how this whole selling books thing works.)
All of this is a very long winded way to say that the answer to the question of whether you should choose traditional or self publishing is one of personal preference. If your dreams of success involve widespread professional acknowledgement, calls from your editor, guest spots at conventions, and finding your book at the mall bookstore, then self publishing would probably be a very frustrating path. On the other hand, if you're someone who is entrepreneurial, has a firm idea how your book should be presented and marketed, cares very much about the difference between an ebook royalty that is 25% of net and one that's 70% of cover price, hates having other people make decisions for them, and is bothered by the idea of waiting upwards of a year and a half for your books to come out after you turn them in, then traditional publishing will probably drive you crazy. And if you're like me, and you care about all of these things, then you can always try being a hybrid who does some books traditionally and self publishes others (which is a whole other kettle of fish).
I've been a full time professional writer since 2009, and in that time, I've seen enormous change sweep through our industry. If I was a brand new author who'd just finished polishing her first book today, I don't actually know which path I'd choose, because while I love the modern idea of self publishing, the writer I am today was enormously and very positively shaped by the traditional publishing system. Specifically, I am a much better writer because my agent and editor had the leverage to demand changes that I did not want to make at the time, changes that ended up making my books, and me, fantastically better. Could I have achieved that sort of growth with an editor I'd hired? I honestly don't know.
What I do know, though, is that the question of whether an author should self publish or stick to the old ways isn't a simple one. It's a complex business decision that requires a lot of research and personal thought and should be approached with maximum caution, because once you hit self publish on that sucker, it's very hard to impossible to change your mind, take it down, and try to resell it to a publisher. Similarly, if you sign a book deal and then decide you'd be better off on your own, tough luck. You're stuck now.
This sort of thing is why, when I see people like Joe Konrath saying "Write, Edit, Self Publish, Repeat," I get a little ticked off, because that sort of reductionist phrasing doesn't take into account differences in writer temperament. Similarly, I get pissed when I see people in traditional publishing openly bashing those who choose to self publish as losers who couldn't cut it in "real publishing," because it's not like that, and saying it is only reinforces the stereotype that people in traditional publishing are all entitled snobs who can't see the waves of change coming even when they're already washing the foundations out from under their feet.
So if you're a writer of any stripe and you're wondering which way to go, good for you. You should be wondering and asking and thinking and doing research on that question, because not only is it going to be one of the defining choices of your career, but the opportunity costs of going one way or the other are literally changing every day. Any way you decide--total self pub, total traditional, or trying to do both as a hybrid--will have frustrations and pitfalls and things you'll have to give up, and it's up to you to decide which of the upsides will make the downsides most bearable for you.
I know this post has been kind of a downer, but the point of this blog has always been to give you a look at what it's like to be a professional working writer, and these are the issues that I worry about on a daily basis. Ideally, the choice of what you do with your book shouldn't even be one of public notice, but with so much anger and investment currently surrounding the traditional vs. self pub debate (and let's be honest, there's a LOT of anger going on here on both sides), I feel that it's more important than ever to step back from the hype and really think about what you want out of your career Because it's your future, your money, and your happiness on the line here, and that, not what someone on the internet thinks you should have done, is what truly matters.
March 10, 2014
My interview with Lytherus!
So this weekend was my birthday, and I was so busy drinking and running around and generally trying my best to slow the ever onward march of time that I didn't get a chance to post about the absolutely awesome piece online SFF magazine Lytherus did on HONOR'S KNIGHT!
First off, we have a very nice review of the book itself and, if you'll excuse me putting on my Pretentious Author Cap for a paragraph, I really like it not so much because they liked the book (though don't get me wrong, I'm over the moon that they liked it), but because they really got what I was trying to do with Devi and the multiple levels of information in the books. I can't even count how many hours I spent on this aspect of the story making sure I was keeping the reader guessing just as much as Devi about what was really going on, who her allies were, and who she should trust. Unfortunately, this is the sort of work where, if you do it right, the end result should be invisible, which makes it kind of a hard achievement to brag about. To actually read about it in a review is just amazing and I am so so so happy. Thank you, Lytherus!
There's also a chance to win a copy of HONOR'S KNIGHT for yourself at the bottom, so stop by for that at least! Free stuff!
Finally, I also did an interview with them about the Devi series and writing in general, and the questions were awesome. It's generally spoiler free, so if you're hungry for inside information about the Paradox books and what's in store for Devi, head on over!
Thank you and enjoy!
- R
First off, we have a very nice review of the book itself and, if you'll excuse me putting on my Pretentious Author Cap for a paragraph, I really like it not so much because they liked the book (though don't get me wrong, I'm over the moon that they liked it), but because they really got what I was trying to do with Devi and the multiple levels of information in the books. I can't even count how many hours I spent on this aspect of the story making sure I was keeping the reader guessing just as much as Devi about what was really going on, who her allies were, and who she should trust. Unfortunately, this is the sort of work where, if you do it right, the end result should be invisible, which makes it kind of a hard achievement to brag about. To actually read about it in a review is just amazing and I am so so so happy. Thank you, Lytherus!
There's also a chance to win a copy of HONOR'S KNIGHT for yourself at the bottom, so stop by for that at least! Free stuff!
Finally, I also did an interview with them about the Devi series and writing in general, and the questions were awesome. It's generally spoiler free, so if you're hungry for inside information about the Paradox books and what's in store for Devi, head on over!
Thank you and enjoy!
- R
February 25, 2014
I'm everywhere today!!
First up, happy book birthday to HONOR'S KNIGHT, which is out today!!
I don't think it's spoiling anything to say Devi has a rough time of it this go round. Gotta have lots of juicy problems to shoot for the third and final book, HEAVEN'S QUEEN, coming April 22, 2014!
To celebrate the launch, I've written a piece for Orbit about why powered armor is the best, so if you're here for real content, go check it out!!
And finally, I'm a guest at IndieReCon this week. I've got a new post for them called "Words Are Cheap" about what I've learned since writing my "How I Went From Writing 2,000 Words a Day to 10,000 Words a Day"post in 2011.I'm also doing a live chat on their site at 5:15 EST today. It's a good time and it's free, so I hope you'll drop by and say hello!
Whew, okay, I think that's enough crazy for one day. Thank you everyone for helping me make the launch of HONOR'S KNIGHT such an awesome success. And if you enjoyed the book, please consider leaving a review! They really really REALLY help :D
Thank you everyone, and I hope your Tuesday is as awesome as mine!
- R
I don't think it's spoiling anything to say Devi has a rough time of it this go round. Gotta have lots of juicy problems to shoot for the third and final book, HEAVEN'S QUEEN, coming April 22, 2014!
To celebrate the launch, I've written a piece for Orbit about why powered armor is the best, so if you're here for real content, go check it out!!
And finally, I'm a guest at IndieReCon this week. I've got a new post for them called "Words Are Cheap" about what I've learned since writing my "How I Went From Writing 2,000 Words a Day to 10,000 Words a Day"post in 2011.I'm also doing a live chat on their site at 5:15 EST today. It's a good time and it's free, so I hope you'll drop by and say hello!
Whew, okay, I think that's enough crazy for one day. Thank you everyone for helping me make the launch of HONOR'S KNIGHT such an awesome success. And if you enjoyed the book, please consider leaving a review! They really really REALLY help :D
Thank you everyone, and I hope your Tuesday is as awesome as mine!
- R
