Peter W. Dawes's Blog: The Man Behind the Curtain, page 7

PayPal, Credit Cards, Transgressive Fiction, and The New Day

There are many things we take for granted, and the typically unscrupulous greed of capitalism is one of them. However, the capitalists, specifically those of the credit card industry, and according to some sources the banking industry as a whole, have just leveled an ultimatum at the publishing world.

They say they can police the content of our books.

I say they can try.

And someone ought to point out to them that it's discrimination.

PayPal and one or more unspecified credit-card companies, banks, and/or credit unions (hereafter referred to inclusively with PayPal as "the companies") have initiated a spectrum of censorship against a very specific genre of literature called transgressive fiction. While the topics dealt with in this type of literature are certainly not suited to everyone, the portrayal of them in fiction is not illegal. The law states that only material deemed to be "obscene", specifically meaning that it has no artistic merit, is illegal.  Miller v. California defines "obscene" as of 2003, and is what is upheld through present day. Erotic fiction has always toed that line, but rather than policing individual books or even individual publishers, "the companies" seem to be operating in this legal gray-area to maliciously initiate a purge through the entirety of erotic fiction available for purchase.

And they've done it almost over night.

Since we only have direct dealings with one distributor, I'm not one-hundred percent certain where the purge began. There is a very extensive blog post by an erotic writer who goes by the name Selena Kitt that gives her first hand experience. The first we at Crimson Melodies received notice this was going on was in an email from Smashwords.com last Friday. Mike Coker, the founder of Smashwords, has just today added a second email in an attempt to clarify his stance on PayPal's ultimatum, where it came from, and what this means for the future. I highly recommend reading that second email because I found this section of it very telling:

Over the weekend, many Smashwords authors and publishers demanded we abandon PayPal and find a new payment processor. It's not so simple, and it doesn't solve the greater problem hanging over everyone's head. PayPal is trying to implement the requirements of credit card companies, banks and credit unions. This is where it's all originating. These same requirements will eventually rain down upon every other payment processor. PayPal is trying to maintain their relationships with the credit card companies and banks, just as we want to maintain our relationship with PayPal. People who argue PayPal is the evil villain and we should drop them are missing the bigger picture. Should we give up on accepting credit cards forever? The answer is no. This goes beyond PayPal. Imagine the implications if credit card companies start going after the major ebook retailers who sell erotica?

There was also a very articulate reply from an erotic author who goes by the handle Remittance Girl to Mike Coker's initial email that resounds with every bit of personal pride I possess as someone who disagrees with censorship, especially the kind coming from a moral standpoint being forced onto others. And I know there are many more who think that.

However, while this is, in my opinion and the opinions of others, unarguably a matter of censorship, the companies like PayPal, Smashwords, and other financial institutions have the right to deny service to anyone. And although this certainly effects authors' ability to sell their works for a profit, it does not, in fact, prohibit them from creating or distributing them through other means without using a credit card, bank account, or other method of payment. But "the companies" reasons for their denial of service to a select portion of their users and consumers is, from my understanding of the definition and how it is applied regarding the law, discrimination, which could be a basis for pursuing someone in court to benefit authors.

I can't help but compare this to issues of previous meddling in places like IsoHunt, Napster, and other torrent sites – someone is essentially telling all publishers and distributors that they are responsible for things beyond the functionality and scope of their business, that they need to care about the content of the files put onto their sites. The difference here is that, again, there is nothing illegal about writing, posting, and offering for sale, literature of a transgressive nature (with the sole exception of pedophilia, but I somewhat hope that did not actually need to be expressly mentioned). "The companies" would have to take individual titles to court and subject them to the Miller test  (linked above) of the presiding judge in order to ban or set a precedent regarding the legality of transgressive erotic fiction.

"The basic guidelines for the trier of fact must be: (a) whether 'the average person, applying contemporary community standards' would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest, (b) whether the work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by the applicable state law; and (c) whether the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value."

From Obscenity and Pornography:

…Literary works that deal with sexuality are strongly protected, and magazines likePlayboy and Penthouse are substantially secure from constitutional attack.

Beyond the issue of whether or not what PayPal and Smashwords are doing is legally discrimination or legally their right to decide how to conduct their business, my feeling is that even if a court could be moved to force them to change their policies, there should be another option. This is where my background in the tech industry comes in handy. There are many reasons for people to want alternatives to PayPal, and credit cards, and the start-up industry has not been idle in exploring these avenues. While I don't know any of them personally, they do have published methods of contact that I intend to pursue to ask the question of how they would handle the crack of the whip from a financial institution to police the content of the transactions they conduct (the TOS of every company I looked into specifically stated they are not liable for the content of the items purchased, but there is always the question of if a credit card company would squeeze them anyway and thus what they would do if it happened).

If a small start-up in Iowa can get itself into a room with an executive of a sizable bank to pitch, and subsequently get funding for, the expansion of their non-credit card sales system to a nationwide service, surely there is someone out there that can pitch an idea to the right developer, the right angel investor, and make their own path forward.  There is no reason the authors of erotica and transgressive fiction couldn't pursue their own avenue of breaking away from the oppression suddenly thrust onto them.

Before the end of March 2012, the close of the first quarter and end of the Smashwords billing cycle, Crimson Melodies will be seeking out and exploring alternative payment options for the e-book stores that we are currently present in. I am thankful I have the freedom to do so, because censorship in any form is not something we should stand by and watch happen. Unless Smashwords finds an alternative to PayPal, or has proven that it is in the process of fighting for the rights of its authors, I will no longer be comfortable submitting Crimson Melodies works to their catalog and contributing to their company's financial gain.

Read Selena Kitt's follow up post for more regarding the state of things and how this all happened so quickly.

I can tolerate the "live to fight another day" mentality only for so long – when we reach the aforementioned "other day" it will be revealing if there is no fighting. Ultimately, this is why we're exploring alternatives to PayPal. I don't want to do business with someone who is going to stand by and watch as the rights of authors and readers are so clearly violated, and worse, participate in the oppression. When it comes time to make a final decision on how to proceed with our business here at Crimson Melodies, I hope the time and research in between reveals a viable alternative.

Every author, no matter what their genre, should be doing the same.

As always, thanks for reading,

JR Wesley

"[Even if] I disapprove of what you say, …I will defend to the death your right to say it" – Hall

"We must all fear evil men. But there is another kind of evil which we must fear most, and that is the indifference of good men." – Boondock Saints

 

As a matter of curious reading, I found this rather humorous article while conducting research for this post: Why Prostitution is Illegal and Pornography is Not

 

 

On Editing – Author’s Voice

It is extremely difficult to edit your own work, especially if you wrote it days or only hours earlier. Even waiting a few weeks to a month may not be long enough to fully detach yourself from the writerly flow to be an effective self-editor. There is a mystical process between muse->brain->keyboard (or pen or pencil, depending on your particular flavor of this mythos) that is far too personal a communion to be able to step back and look at the entirety of “the big picture” – tiny facets of it, yes, because all authors should be able to edit grammar, mechanics, and make certain their intentions are carried through loud and clear. But a story needs more than just flashes of brilliance and overall coherence that every author should be able to impart. It needs consistency, and a high-quality with an eye on the audience that simply can’t be achieved to the fullest potential in a self-edit.

Which is why I feel it’s important for a book to be edited by someone who can not only see that “big picture” while the story is in draft form, but can help get it there without costing the author their voice. And no, not a friend who “took some writing classes”, not a loved-one who ”wants to help”, not the businessman that has you house sitting or walking his dog, and not even “the friend who got published” because there are certain things an editor will do better than even a fellow writer. Every author who is serious about their craft learned long ago that first drafts are little better than toilet paper when it comes to evaluating them as being publishable right now. It can sometimes even be difficult to convince an agent, publisher, or even editor, that a story is publishable at all – or at least that that it’s worth the time to get it into publishing shape. So what really matters is showing a story’s potential, and then being pushed to make that potential become a reality.

I say this because every story I’ve ever read has always had some redeeming quality. People who decide to write do so for reasons more numerous than number of words in the longest book ever written, but the most common thread between all of them is having a gem of an idea (or a character, or a scene) that made them not just want to write, but actually put out the words.

There’s a lot that can be said about editing in general, but today I want to focus on author’s voice.

Every author has a voice. Some are more well defined than others, usually because they’ve been writing for a longer amount of time, but even the greenest writer has some level of voice developed. The thing about editors is that they can, in an effort to clarify or bring out a part of a story’s potential or shift it into a more genre-sympathetic method of phrasing, overwrite the author’s voice with their own. In the case of a young writer, they might not know how to interpret this sort of change to their prose, or not know what the end-goal of edits should be – they’re not just to make certain all the i’s are dotted and all the t’s are crossed, but to produce prose that conveys, to the intended reader, the simplest and clearest images of the story, the characters, and the facets of a single scene that are important for that “big picture” I’ve been mentioning. The individual importance of each of those things will often vary from scene to scene, adding another layer of mystery to the whole editing process that can be just as difficult to explain as a writer’s communion between muse->brain->keyboard.

And it’s important to know that not all editors are created equal. Neither are authors, but that is often less of a dispute when it comes to the business of writing. Editors spend a great deal of time perfecting their craft, just like authors, but in very different ways than authors do. Editors need to know what the standard practices are in a given genre, such as how readers are familiar with visualizing prose, as well as a more-than-general knowledge of grammar and mechanics currently being used in the industry. They also need to have an in-depth appreciation of how a reader will “hear” and then “see” the things being conveyed by the words in a story. (Authors can be knowledgeable about all of those things too, but reference the first sentence of this post for why it is important to have editors too.) Editors especially need to be able to see any inconsistencies the intended audience will see, and then have the knowledge of how to actively address the problems before readers are given the story. Authors, when receiving edits, need to know the difference between an edit given for clarification, an edit given for grammar, and an edit given because there was something that needed to be changed so a reader can see what that particular moment of the story needed them to see.

For an example of editor vs. author regarding something that was not mechanical or grammatical in the sense of classroom learning: In EotS, I had a difficult time convincing Peter that a hyphen, not an ellipsis, was the standard notation for a line of dialogue being interrupted harshly. Whenever I changed an individual instance, it would come to me in the next draft altered back to the ellipsis. Eventually, I told myself I’d get to them when we were done with the damn thing so I didn’t lose any sleep over something so small. It was a shame, because I think a few of the hyphens are still incorrectly done as an ellipsis even in the final version – something that could have been avoided had I been able to explain the importance of the notation in a way that convinced Peter to stop altering them back. My failure as an editor was to let myself get into that position, which I now know for next time. (Different kind of learning.)

On the plus side, Peter’s voice is entirely intact throughout the book. If you read through EotS, I doubt you’d be able to tell which sections I rewrote. It’s one of the things I learned while editing that I’m rather pleased to be able to brag about – I hardly ever alter the author’s voice, preferring, and able, to work within what was given to me. If I can’t, and I start seeing my voice in the prose, I stop editing and simply ask for a rewrite to address the issue(s) I’d been trying to work through. The edits that matter most are often not about the delivery of a single sentence, but are about the delivery of the sentence before and the sentence after effecting how the reader will “hear” the sentence in question within their mind. Editors need to be careful they don’t put their own voice into the mix and accidentally add another layer of “fog” to how a reader will hear the entirety of the paragraph or scene. It can easily ruin the story – the opposite of helping it like an editor should do.

So, authors, you need to find an editor that can compliment your voice, but you definitely need an editor. When you find one, if you aren’t comfortable with how your words are being changed, then speak up and ask questions. The more you know about why editors do what they do is more that you can improve as an individual writer. Those sorts of improvements will reduce the amount of things editors need to rewrite in your future work, and thus can avoid the most common instances of unintentional voice-mixing. This will also leave the editors more time to focus on how to bring your story to its full potential in regard to “the big picture”.

As an excercize, if you want and because I think it could be fun: Write a [short] scene about someone being in a place they’ve never been before. The challenge: you cannot use the words “has not been there before” (or any variation thereof) to convey that fact to the reader. Post it in the comments here and I’ll offer feedback.

As always, thanks for reading.

J.R.

 

On Editing – Author's Voice

It is extremely difficult to edit your own work, especially if you wrote it days or only hours earlier. Even waiting a few weeks to a month may not be long enough to fully detach yourself from the writerly flow to be an effective self-editor. There is a mystical process between muse->brain->keyboard (or pen or pencil, depending on your particular flavor of this mythos) that is far too personal a communion to be able to step back and look at the entirety of "the big picture" – tiny facets of it, yes, because all authors should be able to edit grammar, mechanics, and make certain their intentions are carried through loud and clear. But a story needs more than just flashes of brilliance and overall coherence that every author should be able to impart. It needs consistency, and a high-quality with an eye on the audience that simply can't be achieved to the fullest potential in a self-edit.

Which is why I feel it's important for a book to be edited by someone who can not only see that "big picture" while the story is in draft form, but can help get it there without costing the author their voice. And no, not a friend who "took some writing classes", not a loved-one who "wants to help", not the businessman that has you house sitting or walking his dog, and not even "the friend who got published" because there are certain things an editor will do better than even a fellow writer. Every author who is serious about their craft learned long ago that first drafts are little better than toilet paper when it comes to evaluating them as being publishable right now. It can sometimes even be difficult to convince an agent, publisher, or even editor, that a story is publishable at all – or at least that that it's worth the time to get it into publishing shape. So what really matters is showing a story's potential, and then being pushed to make that potential become a reality.

I say this because every story I've ever read has always had some redeeming quality. People who decide to write do so for reasons more numerous than number of words in the longest book ever written, but the most common thread between all of them is having a gem of an idea (or a character, or a scene) that made them not just want to write, but actually put out the words.

There's a lot that can be said about editing in general, but today I want to focus on author's voice.

Every author has a voice. Some are more well defined than others, usually because they've been writing for a longer amount of time, but even the greenest writer has some level of voice developed. The thing about editors is that they can, in an effort to clarify or bring out a part of a story's potential or shift it into a more genre-sympathetic method of phrasing, overwrite the author's voice with their own. In the case of a young writer, they might not know how to interpret this sort of change to their prose, or not know what the end-goal of edits should be – they're not just to make certain all the i's are dotted and all the t's are crossed, but to produce prose that conveys, to the intended reader, the simplest and clearest images of the story, the characters, and the facets of a single scene that are important for that "big picture" I've been mentioning. The individual importance of each of those things will often vary from scene to scene, adding another layer of mystery to the whole editing process that can be just as difficult to explain as a writer's communion between muse->brain->keyboard.

And it's important to know that not all editors are created equal. Neither are authors, but that is often less of a dispute when it comes to the business of writing. Editors spend a great deal of time perfecting their craft, just like authors, but in very different ways than authors do. Editors need to know what the standard practices are in a given genre, such as how readers are familiar with visualizing prose, as well as a more-than-general knowledge of grammar and mechanics currently being used in the industry. They also need to have an in-depth appreciation of how a reader will "hear" and then "see" the things being conveyed by the words in a story. (Authors can be knowledgeable about all of those things too, but reference the first sentence of this post for why it is important to have editors too.) Editors especially need to be able to see any inconsistencies the intended audience will see, and then have the knowledge of how to actively address the problems before readers are given the story. Authors, when receiving edits, need to know the difference between an edit given for clarification, an edit given for grammar, and an edit given because there was something that needed to be changed so a reader can see what that particular moment of the story needed them to see.

For an example of editor vs. author regarding something that was not mechanical or grammatical in the sense of classroom learning: In EotS, I had a difficult time convincing Peter that a hyphen, not an ellipsis, was the standard notation for a line of dialogue being interrupted harshly. Whenever I changed an individual instance, it would come to me in the next draft altered back to the ellipsis. Eventually, I told myself I'd get to them when we were done with the damn thing so I didn't lose any sleep over something so small. It was a shame, because I think a few of the hyphens are still incorrectly done as an ellipsis even in the final version – something that could have been avoided had I been able to explain the importance of the notation in a way that convinced Peter to stop altering them back. My failure as an editor was to let myself get into that position, which I now know for next time. (Different kind of learning.)

On the plus side, Peter's voice is entirely intact throughout the book. If you read through EotS, I doubt you'd be able to tell which sections I rewrote. It's one of the things I learned while editing that I'm rather pleased to be able to brag about – I hardly ever alter the author's voice, preferring, and able, to work within what was given to me. If I can't, and I start seeing my voice in the prose, I stop editing and simply ask for a rewrite to address the issue(s) I'd been trying to work through. The edits that matter most are often not about the delivery of a single sentence, but are about the delivery of the sentence before and the sentence after effecting how the reader will "hear" the sentence in question within their mind. Editors need to be careful they don't put their own voice into the mix and accidentally add another layer of "fog" to how a reader will hear the entirety of the paragraph or scene. It can easily ruin the story – the opposite of helping it like an editor should do.

So, authors, you need to find an editor that can compliment your voice, but you definitely need an editor. When you find one, if you aren't comfortable with how your words are being changed, then speak up and ask questions. The more you know about why editors do what they do is more that you can improve as an individual writer. Those sorts of improvements will reduce the amount of things editors need to rewrite in your future work, and thus can avoid the most common instances of unintentional voice-mixing. This will also leave the editors more time to focus on how to bring your story to its full potential in regard to "the big picture".

As an excercize, if you want and because I think it could be fun: Write a [short] scene about someone being in a place they've never been before. The challenge: you cannot use the words "has not been there before" (or any variation thereof) to convey that fact to the reader. Post it in the comments here and I'll offer feedback.

As always, thanks for reading.

J.R.

 

Crimson Melodies Publishing, LLC

Crimson Melodies is announcing its intention to make an official foray into the wide world of publishing, as Crimson Melodies Publishing, LLC. We haven't filed our articles of organization just yet, but this announcement is our way of getting the word out there because…

We need writers.

[image error]With the world of digital publishing continuously opening new doors, the only real limit to what's being done is what can be imagined. Crimson Melodies is a genre environment – specifically urban fantasy, dark fantasy, paranormal, supernatural and just a hint of romance dealing with any of the above. There are teeming masses of these kinds of stories being released every day, and our intention is to continue producing our own additions of unique and quality works.

New for this year, we'd like to introduce Bloodtide.

It's not a novel. Or at least, it's not just one novel.

It's not an anthology. Or at least, it's not just any anthology.

Digital books are now mainstream. This would be a digital magazine, akin to a pulp magazine in digital format.

It's called an Ezine. There's no real formula to how to make or offer an Ezine because it's a specific territory of e-publishing that hasn't been completely explored yet.

Here at Crimson Melodies, we have ideas a-plenty about presenting an Ezine that will be welcoming both to readers and the writers that contribute to it. There will be a website. There will be Kindle format. There will also be B&N, Apple, Sony, Kobo, Diesel, and Smashwords distribution. There will be promotions, and circulation, and possibly even an annual, or semi-annual, print edition.

But what it really will be is a collection of stories from talented writers who author fiction of the urban fantasy, dark fantasy, paranormal romance varieties. Some of the content will be serialized novels that span across several issues of the Ezine, others will be serial short-stories that readers can look forward to every month, and the rest… well, that's where we're hoping to solicit interest beyond our already established contacts.

If you'd like to know more about Bloodtide,  follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, or add our RSS feed to your favorite reader. More announcements will follow as we work out concrete details with the authors who have already agreed to contribute.

Writers, if you think you might be interested in being a part of Bloodtide, please check out our submission guidelines.

We're also looking for contributors to an untitled short-story anthology slated for 2012 publication. More details can be found on the submission guideline page.

on writing

greetings, strangers.

ah, my first blog post here. i apologize for not contributing sooner, but the life of a writer is a busy one, especially when one is a vampire seer. i would say more about what i have been up to these days, but… you know…

spoilers.

rest assured you shall read about it eventually.

formalities aside, what brings me here is a blog post i happened upon recently which inspired me to muse upon the literary process. you can read it here, but suffice to say the author had a few opinions centered around ten canards seasoned writers offer to aspiring writers. pause for a moment to take a look at it. i shall wait.

finished? very well, then. you can see the author makes a set of his own points to counter the bits of (in his opinion) not-so-sage advice presented to the masses. it is humorous, but in the place where i stumbled upon this link, the first bits of commentary from their writing community could be best summed up as 'fuck the establishment'. others went on to have more helpful things to offer and while my comments echo some of theirs, i still felt obliged to weigh in.

now, i consider myself something of a bohemian, and thus chuckle at the "fuck the rules" mentality, but the rules often exist for a reason even if they are misguided. in several of the blog author's points he makes just as broad-sweeping of an assertion as the people who have determined these canards should be in place, which goes to show one that writing is a personalized venture with few consistencies outside of proper grammar and spelling.

i hope this does not prove to be too long-winded, doing a point by point evaluation. humor me a trifle.

point 1: "some people should give up. most people should give up."

i appreciate the fact that he clarifies his objection, and in fact, he gives a rather valid piece of advice. "consider your audience." advice on any topic is not 'one size fits all' and neither should it be for writing advice. no, not everybody should do this. and assuredly most people should not. those of us who have toiled over the fifteenth draft of our manuscript weeping bitter tears over the fact that we still cannot fix chapter seven would spare anybody that agony. especially when we are doing it in the wee smalls trying to make a deadline.

but this does not mean we brush aspiring writers off nonchalantly either. some writers are rougher than others at first. some need a few classes and a swift kick in the ass to get started. some need a mentor who can patiently show them the tricks of the trade and help them hone their skills. sometimes it truly does take writing every day for years before you become a clever wordsmith. the dividing line in this is: how much effort are you willing to put into being a writer? warn the pilgrims of the dangers which lie in wait and do not be the arbiter of if and when they should give up.

point 2: figure out when to show and when to tell

yes, very true, however the canard of "show, don't tell" does not exist to be a universal rule. i have never seen a professional argue as such, and when i catch amateurs doing it, i nod politely and go back to what i was doing.

as the song goes, you have to "know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em". to say either suggests there is an appropriate time for one and while the author here admits as such, the canard is a response to the natural inclination we have to hand-hold our readers. the best stories are the ones where most things are implied, where the soft brush of a hand and the warmth of a touch is better stated than the explanation that one is feeling the first stirrings of love.

assuredly, this is one canard i beat myself up regarding, because it is the "rule" i need to hone most at the moment.

point 3: if you have to tell someone to stop over promoting themselves, chances are they are beyond hope

god bless twitter. *sighs* yes, this is one where i am inclined to agree with him, because i witness it every bloody day. i see more promotional tweets from my fellow wordsmiths than i do anything else which indicates they are a human being who has some interest in anything other than their latest novel, now available on kindle. it may or may not increase their sales, but they come off as a used car salesman more than they do a fellow traveler.

needless to say, i shall not be tossing myself on any grenades for their benefit.

this is not to say any self-promotion is a bad thing. we do need to market – traditionally published and self-published alike. if you are little more than a canned joke and an advertisement, though, know i am tuning you out.

point 4: you do not have to be so careful about what you say online.

i do not post nude photos of myself, but i agree that people can be too overcautious. this is the salesman mentality again, suggesting you do not wish to alienate any potential customers.

i am a vampire author and poet. obviously, i do not lose sleep over what i say.

point 5: aim for the top of what?

my amendment to the canard: set goals for yourself. make them realistic, avoid arbitrary milestones, and do not be afraid to build upon them. and whatever you do, do to the best of your ability. i see so many people settle for half-assed mediocrity and just as many aspire for greatness without learning what it even means to be great.

point 6: "it's all intersubjective"

well, at least this is a step above existentialism.

point 7: "lots of people don't revise and do just fine"

and some people do not revise enough.

the world of self-publishing has a bad name right now because of how few people give a damn about proper editing and maintaining a modicum of professionalism. if you cannot be bothered to learn these things, you should stay the course of traditional publishing, where there will be quality control checks along the way.

but, i digress.

my need to revise varies on a day by day basis. sometimes i write brilliance with my first attempts and sometimes i write garbage. better point to make: sometimes you do not have to jettison everything and start over again. sometimes rewriting is not the answer. and sometimes it is. sometimes chapter seven simply needs to "die in a fire" and be reborn as something else entirely, especially if it is not working by the fifteenth draft. and sometimes all it needed was an extra sentence at the end of the fifth paragraph.

this is all part of the "spooky art."

point 8: "lots of people don't write everyday and do just fine"

we writers are a superstitious lot sometimes. where sports players have their lucky jock strap and unwashed socks, we have our favorite pen and the notebook we use for this book and our customary cup of coffee served at precisely nine a.m. there is no magic in the items themselves.

the magic is in the ritual.

this is what we thrive in. ritual. some writers do need to write every day in order to maintain their focus. Some of them have a hard time getting back on track after spending too much time away. the important point to this canard: no matter how many times you try to teach a writer how to write, they still have to go and do it themselves to get better.

practice, practice, practice.

and yes, you do have to practice. if you are one of the lucky bastards who was birthed knowing how to not only tell an engaging story, but properly pen it, then i have two words for you:

fuck you.

most of us need to work at it.

point 9: arbitrary goals are nonsense

yes, i do agree. as he pointed out in his experience, the lady who kept sending in half-formed garbage not only wasted her time, she wasted his. set goals for yourself, yes, but as i stated above, make them realistic and meet them with your best effort. if you cannot produce a quality story every week, then figure out how long it takes for you to actually craft a tale worth consideration and do it. period.

george r.r. martin took how many years to finish a dance with dragons? granted it might have been one or two too many, but it was better than him meeting an arbitrary deadline with crap. charlaine harris of sookie stackhouse fame publishes one book a year as part of her contract and the last few books have been horrible, in my opinion.

point 10: writing is like writing. period.

amen to that.

Closing in on the End of the Year

Crimson Melodies has now been around for over a year. We first established ourselves as a (soon-to-be-made-official) small press / publishing outfit last June, just before the Philadelphia Comic Con where we exhibited with copies of an ARC version of Eyes of the Seer and a scattering of poetry offered as prints and magnets.

We've still got a box of goodies from last year, including 2 ARC copies of EotS that we're trying to figure out what to do with. Expect giveaways to be announced in the near future.

This year we've got a new face on our website, an (almost regularly) active blog, and a social media presence that includes the heavy hitters of Twitter and Facebook. We've got another box of goodies containing new poetry prints, as well as a few character portraits we had done for our cast of miscreants. (Again, expect giveaways soon.) Oh, and a completed book. Yep, you heard it folks! EotS has officially been shelved – IOW it is no longer a WIP. 11 blog posts since June, 4 new poetry prints, and a book isn't bad for a year's work. And we're setting even higher goals for next year.

What precisely is on the docket?

1) Rebirth of the Seer, the second book of the trilogy, is to be released in 2012 in all eBook formats followed by print. Dates TBA

2) A short-story anthology – a companion to Eyes of the Seer containing stories about Flynn, Michael ("Robin"), Matthew, and a few other characters that were introduced to you in the first book of The Vampire Flynn Trilogy.

3) A few more freebie short-stories, TBD, as bimonthly offerings.

4) More poetry / knick-knacks, and other paraphernalia  for the books. (We know you all love the kitchy stuff)

There are a few other projects on our plate that we're working on ironing out the details. And obviously we'll continue experimenting with our marketing efforts for EotS via social media, freebie stories, and even a giveaway or two. We are actively seeking out reviewers for EotS! If you're interested in obtaining a review copy, send an email to info@crimsonmelodies.com.

And now, the anticpated sales / review figures for November, as well as a more clear display of those from the past months. Next month will be the closing of 2011, and you can expect to see a page dedicated to the figures rather than blog updates containing old data.

To read, the numbers in each row / column should be self explanatory -

XX | xx – where XX is the number of copies sold / downloaded and xx is the number of reviews.

Smashwords Distrubution accounts for sales via Barnes & Noble, Diesel, Sony, and Apple.

 

Month
Amazon
Smashwords Direct
Smashwords Distribution
Monthly Total


Eyes of the Seer
Aug/Sept
7 | 0
8 | 0
3 | 0
18 | 0


October
5 | 0
0 | 0
3 | 0
8 | 0


Nov
4 | 0
1 | 0
2 | 0
7 | 0


Channel Total
16 | 0
9 | 0
8 | 0








Month
Amazon
Smashwords Direct
Smashwords Distribution
Monthly Total


A Vampire's Game
Aug/Sept
2 | 0
3 | 1
1 | 0
6 | 1


Oct
2 | 0
0 | 0
3 | 0
5 | 0


Nov
3 | 0
0 | 0
0 | 0
3 | 0


Channel Total
7 | 0
3 | 1
4 | 1








Month
Amazon
Smashwords Direct
Smashwords Distribution
Monthly Total


To Sir, With Love (free)
Aug/Sept
2500 | 3
803 | 3
63 | 1
3366 | 7


Oct
631 | 0
100 | 0
18 | 1
749 | 1


Nov
519 | 1
143 | 0
17 | 0
679 | 1


Channel Total
3650 | 4
1046 | 3
98 | 2








Month
Amazon
Smashwords Direct
Smashwords Distribution
Monthly Total


Hunting on Halloween (free)
Oct
1421 | 0
80 | 1
279 | 2
1780 | 3


Nov
1273 | 0
81 | 0
160 | 2
1514 | 2


Channel Total
2694 | 0
161 | 1
439 | 4

That's all for now folks. As always, thanks for reading.

~Jesi

KDP Select – Fool Me Once

Crimson Melodies News

Eyes of the Seer is now available in print, via Amazon.com. Look for it at other retailers soon!

For the holidays, if you're looking for a unique gift idea for someone who likes poetry, check out our Etsy shop. We're currently updating it with our latest visual poems. Orders ship from the Philadelphia area via First-Class USPS. CrimsonMelodies on Etsy

Last week Amazon announced its newest twist on their Kindle lending program, KDP select. This differs from their lending program in a couple of major ways, mostly pertaining to the rather largely printed splash across Amazon's main page about a $500,000 fund for paying authors who offer their book through the option. There's a lot to take in regarding the terms and conditions of the program, so lets go through the basics.

One, the Kindle Owner's Lending Library is Amazon's reader-counterpart to the author/publisher KDP Select program. It's available as part of Amazon Prime, and only Amazon Prime members with a Kindle device (not app) gain access to it. Enrolling a book in the KDP Select program makes it available in the Lending Library for Prime members via their Kindle devices. Simple so far.

Two, there are a lot of conditions that should make you stop and think. Mike Coker, the founder of Smashwords.com, posted his concerns about the new KDP select program, and while I found them a little over-inflated regarding ebook retailer market competition (he references the Irish potato famine…), his author concerns parallel a lot of my own thoughts. It should be noted that of all the major ebook retailers, Amazon is noticeably absent from Smashwords distribution channels – because, as Mike notes in the final words of his post, Amazon has refused to offer them "agency terms". You can read the post for more information, but it boils down to this: Amazon likes its pond and doesn't see the need to play well with others.

Three, Amazon is arguably the industry leader in ebook distribution, which means their program needs to be considered seriously. Here at Crimson Melodies, we've got our own data supporting the facts of ebook traffic. Amazon has a larger reach than any other site, and while we've been enjoying equal levels of sales across multiple distributors, it's still Amazon that sees the largest movement of our stories. Compare 12 copies of EotS sold solely on Amazon over 3 months to 14 copies via COMBINED purchases through Smashwords and its distribution sites (Apple, Sony, B&N, Diesel, etc) over those same three months. Amazon, by itself, matches them. And exceeds them, hands down, with our free stories. (Over 4,500 downloads of our free stories on Amazon versus 1,243 on Smashwords & co. in the same amount of time.)

Whether or not anyone wants to hear it doesn't make it any less true. Amazon is the place to be – but that DOESN'T mean you should be there and only there. Because even if it takes multiple distributors to match the sales power of Amazon, those are still sales. And it would be stupid to cut yourself off from them by having your book only on Amazon where fans of other ebook retailers aren't likely to be shopping for ebooks.

Four, Amazon KDP select terms and conditions demand exclusive Kindle content. You can't even publish your work, or portions of your work that could fall under the broad sweeping categorization of "content that is reasonably likely to compete commercially with your Digital Book, diminish its value, or be confused with it" on your own website while it's enrolled in the program.

The first two of Mark Coker's "Impact on Authors" statements are ones I agree with 100%. It would be foolish to remove your book from distribution channels other than Amazon just to enroll it for an undetermined return on investment with the new KDP select program. We certainly won't be removing Eyes of the Seer from any of them, and thus won't be making it eligible for participation.

BUT….!

Five, Amazon requires a term agreement of 90 days (3 months) while your book is enrolled in the KDP select program. This agreement automatically renews every 90 days unless contacted by the publisher (or they find you to be in violation of their terms and conditions). During those 90 days, you can promote your book at a price listing of FREE for 5 of those 90 days to the general public – ie not just Prime members with access to the free Lending Library – something that is otherwise impossible on Amazon by itself (…without manipulation of their "report a lower price" option, anyway, and then there's been mixed reports about being able to reverse the reduction).

With Amazon's notation that they have 6 million dollars committed to the KDP select program for next year – which translates to $500,000 a month, matching their initial $500,000 for December of 2011 – there may be a gray area for whether or not the program is a good thing. And here's where indie authors MIGHT not want to immediately run away screaming against dependence on Amazon (which, again, would definitely be a bad thing in the long run. but…)

Newly released books could potentially benefit from an initial period of exclusivity on the Kindle via Amazon. It wouldn't require removing / destroying any accumulated sales movement and reputation on other distribution channels because there is no sales movement or reputation to destroy. There is no "loss" to you as an author / publisher other than the potential sales on those other channels for the three months of the agreement.

Yes, I'm still using the word "loss" for those potential sales. You would be choosing to lose them for a potential return from offering Amazon exclusive (ultimately temporarily exclusive) rights to your content.

The potential gains of course need to be weighed again those potential losses, and there's obviously no real data yet on this front. Numero uno of those gains, though, is the possibility to put your book/story into a lot of hands, thus generating future sales even after the three month period is up as people who read a book for free via the Lending Library leave reviews, tell friends about it, etc. A quick reference back to our free download numbers: if even 10% of those people are Amazon Prime members and own a Kindle (a number I'm completely pulling out of thin air because I don't know, on average, how many people are Prime members versus non-Prime users, nor how many of them actually own a Kindle device), that means 450 people could have "borrowed" our book versus the 12 who bought it, or maybe a more reasonable estimation would be that only 10% of Prime members own a Kindle and so only 45 people could have borrowed our book. That is still almost a 400% increase in readership. (Note: The other unknown factor here is how many of those people would still have downloaded our book for free if they were restricted to only one a month, as with the Lending Library.)

Even if we're paid pennies on the dollar versus a copy that could have been purchased directly, we'd still be getting paid and not having to lift a finger running giveaways or blog tours or anything else time consuming (that takes us away from more writing) to get our book into the hands of readers. I'm also assuming that while all of the borrowing is going on, Amazon's marketing machine will be doing its thing tracking "purchases" for their customers who like this may also like that marketing they're known for.

It's potential exposure. And considering how often that particular opposition to an indie author's career is wrestled with, I'd say that makes the KDP select program worth considering in the future. Not as a substitute for offering your book on multiple distribution channels, which I firmly believe is the ultimate best thing to do in the long run, but as a supplement that compares to a giveaway.

Things that I plan on researching before making any commitments (since their link to further details in section 2.2 of the KDP Select Benefits seems to be broken at the moment):

1) If a Prime member borrows the book via a Kindle device, are they able to lend the book via the Kindle lending program to a non-Prime non-Kindle member/owner?

2)  If someone currently is borrowing your book and you opt of of renewing the 90 day terms and conditions of the KDP Select program, what happens to the book? …will they find you in violation of the terms and conditions if you submit your book to other distribution sites with outstanding "borrows" from the Lending Library after requesting removal from the program? …with no due-dates in the Lending Library, are there any additional conditions for removing a book from the program before being able to distribute elsewhere?

I'm sure I'll come up with more questions over the next few months before we have a new book to release - Rebirth of the Seer is our current WIP on that front, and we're aiming for a May or June digital publication date.

One other final note on this, to all the author's reading this: Don't forget, if you've published on KDP and are taking a 70% royalty, your book is enrolled in the Kindle Lending program (not the KDP Select) by default – meaning there's an infinite number of people who can "borrow" your book (for two weeks at a time) as a result of only one purchase. The KDP Select program means there's less of a "who you know" in the borrowing of books, but you'd also be paid for it. Even if it is pennies on the dollar.

I'll be keeping my ear to the ground for more info, but right now there's enough possibility here that I'd be willing to let Amazon fool me once into a 3 month flirtation with their KDP Select program for a new release. But you know what they say about "fool me twice" – definitely keep track of your numbers to weigh whether or not it would be worth experimenting with again if you do decide to entertain KDP Select.

Right now, it's all speculation, and I prefer looking toward the potential.

As always, thanks for reading,

~Jesi

Our First Review

Crimson Melodies News

Our second set of proof copies for the print version of Eyes of the Seer are expected to arrive on monday, December 12th. If we like them (and we should!) there will be an announcement on how/where you can buy it. Stay tuned!

For the holidays, if you're looking for a unique gift idea for someone who likes poetry, check out our Etsy shop. We're currently updating it with our latest visual poems. Orders ship from the Philadelphia area via First-Class USPS. CrimsonMelodies on Etsy

Reviews are important. Reviews are the force that spur more sales because any review, positive or negative, is a chance to make someone else curious enough to purchase your story. It's the new "word of mouth" and there really isn't any substitute for it. Marketing and publicity are really just flags being waved at potential readers to get them to the places where they can buy your book. Reviews are what can convince them to make that final click to buy.

Good reviews, not necessarily positive ones, are honest reviews. The best kind of reviews are ones that are honest and thoughtful. Every reviews is, at its simplest, feedback. And they are priceless because of all the little things they can tell you about how your work was received and perceived, albeit when listened to carefully.

Our first review falls both in and outside any of the above because it is the kind of review you dream about. It's encouragement, validation, empowerment, and, for lack of a better phrase, kicks ass. Why? Because it reflects success. Not just in making a sale, or in keeping a reader interested enough not only to finish the book and to review it, but success that our vision of what we wanted to create was exactly what we created.

From Amazon.com: 4 stars

I originally got this book because I read Dawes' Hunting on Halloween novela and it really intrigued me. This book proved to be equally intriguing and mysterious.

The basic concept of the book is that Dr. Peter Dawes, an overall great guy who is a compassionate doctor, becomes a vampire by choice. It turns out he has an extra-sensory gift of "sight" – basically a psychic sense that works to his advantage. He becomes an expert with swords and knives and turns out to be a completely heartless, ruthless killer of both humans and vampires. He's lost his humanity completely, until he meets Monica, a "watcher", who we find out later, was sent to "save" him.

I won't give away any more. I found this book to be extremely well-written and edited, great use of the English language with plenty of character development and descriptive scenes. I will say, the book is a bit disturbing with all the violence, and if you are looking for a love story, keep searching because you won't find any of it here. Perhaps in the sequels that follow the book (I plan on reading) there might be some romance. I suspect men will enjoy this book more than women. I love anything vampire, especially the violent ones, so I enjoyed this. If I had to "compare" the vamps in this book, I would say they are somewhat parallel the ones on the True Blood series on HBO.

I think, perhaps, the most disturbing part of this book is that the author named the main character after himself, as if writing an autobiography or story about himself. Things that make you go, "hmmm"……

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Really, a dream. There wasn't anything missed. Yes, the vampires are dark and violent. Yes, we worked incredibly hard on the writing and editing (and are stoked to hear that it really was as good as we hoped/thought/crossed-our-fingers it was to someone other than ourselves). Yes, it isn't a love story, but there are elements and possibilities of one in a future book. Yes, the main character is listed as the author, and we want it to make you go "hmmm……"

That four star review is worth more to us than a million 5 star versions of "I love it, where's the next one?" (Believe me, we've gotten plenty of those through all the edits and versions EotS has been through.) We want people to like what we're doing, and to come back to us looking for more of exactly that, but to put our stuff through its paces in the meantime. This review means we did exactly what we set out to do – we told a story of dark decadence that, if it's your thing, will make you want to read the next one.

We're so stoked about this that we're trying to figure out how to thank the reviewer. It wasn't a solicited review (and we're so glad to see that what we thought would work did indeed work – someone read one of our free short-stories and it lead them to buy the book). If you happen to be that person, thank you!! This review made our year.

Our goals for next year just got even higher, and we've got projects that have roll-out dates and everything. But just as important as our commitment to our work and future publications, we want to find more people who like it under our umbrella. Because, odds are, they're our kind of people – the ones who promise they don't bite hard, and who we promise that we don't bite much. Or vice versa. We're flexible.

As always, thanks for reading.

~Jesi

Coming Soon: Crimson Melodies is looking to the new year with a few ideas. Short-story anthologies, an ezine, and the next installment of The Vampire Flynn Trilogy are on our plate. Curious? Might want to contribute? Keep an eye out for updates!

Author Royalties on Smashwords and Amazon

Last month, on October 7th, we released our sales numbers from June-September for public consumption. Seems only right to do the same for the last month, to keep everyone up to date with our methods and how they're working.

Our marketing efforts in the last month or so have been minimal. We've been keeping a presence on Twitter and Facebook, and put out one new, free short-story at the beginning of October.

We're on two distribution sites right now – Smashwords and KindleDirectPublishing (KDP). Why them and not anyone else? Mostly because the only other site we'd consider distributing directly from is Barnes & Noble, which you have to register as a publisher to do so and we're not quite ready to take that step into the wide world of small business just yet (although it is on our plate for January). With Smashwords, we have access to sales on B&N, Diesel, Apple, and a few other ebook sites. Smashwords distribution nets 60% of the list price as royalties. And with all the ebook sale sites putting a $10 minimum payment on royalties – meaning that until you sell $10 worth of product, they won't pay you – it makes more sense to let that money accumulate on one site so you get paid more regularly in the future.

A quick breakdown of how Smashwords and Amazon pay out – Smashwords pays by the quarter with a one month delay and Amazon pays by the month with a two month delay. So with Smashwords, as long the $10 threshold is crossed by the end of the quarter – March, June, September, December – you'll see money at the end of April, July, October, and January. With Amazon, you'll see a payment 60 days after the end of the month you reach the $10 mark, which means that if you start selling more than $10 worth of books every month, you'll be paid every month. Just keep in mind there's a delay, so selling $10 in January means you'll get paid in March – but if you've also sold $10 in February, you'll get paid again in April, etc.

Also, the $10 minimums are for Electronic Fund Transfers – Amazon requires you to have a US Bank Account and Smashwords requires you to provide a PayPal account. If you choose to receive payments by check, there's another set of rules and payment dates that you'll need to look into.

And a word to the wise – Amazon KDP offers a chance to sell on their UK, German, and French sites as well as their US one. On the US site, you have the option of pricing your book at $2.99-$9.99 to qualify for a 70% royalty. On all the other sites, no matter what price you set, they only offer a 35% royalty. On top of that, the $10 threshold is calculated for each site individually. IOW, until you sell $10 worth of books just in [the UK / France / Germany] by itself, you won't see any royalties. And the two month delay still applies.

And now for the brass tacks of the post: our sales and review numbers

(Why review numbers? Because sales reflect the chance people took with their hard earned money and reviews show how they felt afterwards about their purchase and/or the time they spent reading. Of the reviews listed, only 2 for To Sir, With Love on Amazon were solicited/personal reviews.)

As of September (reported on our site 10/7/11)



Through KDP (US only) [August-September]

2 copies of A Vampire's Game (99-cents)         – 0 reviews

7 copies of Eyes of the Seer (2.99)                      - 0 reviews

(free) ~2500  downloads of To Sir, With Love  - 3 reviews (avg. 4 star rating)

Through Smashwords (direct sales) [June-September]

3 copies of A Vampire's Game (99-cents)      - 1 review (3 star rating)

8 copies of Eyes of the Seer (2.99)                  - 0 reviews

(free) 803 downloads of To Sir, With Love    – 3 reviews (avg. 4.6 star rating)

Through Smashwords (distribution channel sales) [June-Septemeber]

1 copy of A Vampire's Game (99-cents)        - 0 reviews

3 copies of Eyes of the Seer (2.99)                  - 0 reviews

(free) 63 downloads of To Sir, With Love      – 1 review (2 star rating on B&N)

Month of October (one month data)

Through KDP (US only)

2 copies of A Vampire's Game (99-cents)                       – 0 reviews

5 copies of Eyes of the Seer (3 @ 99-cents, Oct Sale)   – 0 reviews

(free) 631 downloads of To Sir, With Love                      – 0 reviews

New!(free) 1421 downloads of Hunting on Halloween  – 0 reviews

Through Smashwords (direct sales)

(free) ~100 downloads of To Sir, With Love                   - 0 reviews

New!(free) ~80 downloads of Hunting on Halloween   - 1 review (4 star rating)

Through Smashwords (distribution channel sales)

3 copies of A Vampire's Game (99-cents)                   – 0 reviews

3 copies of Eyes of the Seer (2.99)                                - 0 reviews

(free) 18 downloads of To Sir, With Love                    – 1 review (avg. 3 star average on B&N)

New!(free) 279 downloads of Hunting on Halloween   - 0 reviews

We've had a couple sales through KDP in other countries, but mostly we're focused on our US presence. It should be noted, though, that one of our Smashwords distribution sales was through Apple, to a country outside the US – we counted it here because it added toward our Smashwords royalties just like any other sale.

Our stuff on Goodreads (lifetime data):

A Vampire's Game - 0 reviews

Eyes of the Seer - 4.83 stars (6 ratings)

To Sir, With Love - 4.08 stars (12 ratings)

Hunting on Halloween -  3 stars (3 ratings)

 

To sum up, it's been a good month. You can look forward to another progress report in November, just to see how we're still coming along. All in all, what we're most proud of is our reader's response to what they've been reading / downloading because the bulk of our reviews are ones left by people we don't know, who came across our works on their own, and who not only spent their money and/or time reading our stuff, but also to leave us feedback. It's been said that the key to making it as an indie author is to write something "good" and that seems to be holding true. We're only halfway through November, and we're already looking at some pretty awesome sales / downloads figures. (TSwL popped its 1k total download cherry on Smashwords, finally, and on KDP just from November 1st to now we're over 1k downloads for Hunting on Halloween. We've sold 3 copies of EotS on KDP alone, and a few copies of A Vampire's Game too.) Can't wait to see how the month rounds out.

Cheers. And as always, thanks for reading.

~Jesi

NaNoWriMo

November is National Novel Writing Month, more commonly referred to as NaNoWriMo, or simply NaNo. What is it, you might be wondering?

You can find out more specifics on the NaNo website, but the basics are this: every participant is challenged to write a brand new manuscript totaling a minimum 50,000 words by the end of November.

Both Jules and I are participating this year. She has her profile much more completed than I do, but you can find us here -

TheMortalPoet *spoiler warning* Jules is writing the sixth of Peter's novels this year. Only the first novel is published, but the second will be coming out next year. So consider yourself warned if you keep up with her updates.

Jesiryu *small spoiler warning* Mostly original characters, but will make use of one of the characters introduced in Jules's novels. I might change his name so you don't know who he is.

If you follow us both on twitter, expect to see lots of comments about lack of sleep, coffee dependency, and fighting with our muses as we try to hit the ~1.6k required per day to stay on track.

Good luck to everyone participating! If you want more details on Jule's project, check out her blog post about it.