Alex Laybourne's Blog, page 105

A Publisher My Kingdom For A Publisher

As those of you who follow me on Twitter and my new author Facebook page may know, I am busy preparing myself for the publication of Highway To Hell. So I am asking myself, what is the best way to move forward with the publication.

Currently, my plan is to publish in paperback using Createspace.com and then in eBook via Smashwords.com I know these two companies, and I know many people who have used them. However, I cannot help buy wonder.

What else is out there?

One such company that I would love to try is Pubit.com however, rather unfairly I find myself unable to use this publishing outlet for the simple fact that I am not a US citizen. You can only use their services if you have a US Bank account etc. I can understand this to an extent, but then again find myself question why this is so? and Are there any steps being taken to rectify this?

Another company is Lulu.com who again I have heard very good things about. Although the opinion of Lulu's services seem somewhat more divided than those of Createspace users. Does anybody have any experience on these two sites?

At the end of the day it is a question making the most of what is available to me, and for that I guess I will stick with Createspace and Smashwords, unless I stumble across a POD company that just screams to me.

What companies have you gone through to publish your work and what did you think of their services? There must be more outlets than just the few I have mentioned above, and I would love to learn about them all.

The biggest issue I have is really with the paperback publishers. I have no issue with using multiple eBook companies, however with Paperback I am sure it poses a much larger problem, not to mention the fees for distribution etc.

With Createspace, while it is easy to use and the entire process is very quick, and the results more than impressive, I find the cost to be rather high. My novel will be approx 320 pages of text, plus the covers, dedications etc, say 330 pages in total. According to Createspace this means I have to charge approximately $11 per book just to break even. $12.50 to break even on Amazon sales. Now that means I will need to charge at least $13.00 per book, to make even a little bit of money, and let's be honest, I will be hoping to earn a little more than 50 cents per sale. I find that a rather large fee for an unknown writer. Not to mention in the current economic climate I am concerned that it is just too much. Many famous author's books cost less  than that and here I am with no following at all.

Am I best to stick solely with eBook distribution to start with? I love the feel of a real book, the smell and the satisfaction of turning that last page and placing it back on the shelf. But am I just living in a time gone by?

What opportunities are out there for paperback Indie publications?

ROW80: Limbo

Well, the first half of my ROW Round 3 goal is complete. The recommended adjustments have been made on Highway to Hell, and it has been sent away to the editors once more. I actually cut 9,000 words from the one section I needed to review. The total is now 96,000 words, and I will admit I actually feel better about now.

My editor says it will take about a week to go through it, in which time I want to get the plot ironed out for book 2. It is here that everything really starts. Highway is more an introduction to the characters rather and the set up of the main plot.

I haven't really had time for much else writing or reading this week. Work was crazy busy… but oddly enough in a good way, and almost enjoyable at times. (Checks pulse and feels forehead)

I am currently reading two books. Stephen King's Full Dark No Stars, and also an English horror novel Shredder by Gary Charles (on the Kindle). Hopefully I can make some inroads into both this weekend.

Are Books Made For TV?

Having a book made into a film is a big thing. Selling the movie rights to your novel is another one of those road markers that let you know that you are heading in the right direction. Or are you?

I have been thinking about this a lot recently. Not because I expect my book to be made into a movie or anything, but simply because it struck me and the notion won't leave.

How many times have you seen a read a book, then seen the movie and walked away feeling cheated. The movie just didn't capture the mood of the novel or the depth of the characters. Their backgrounds just glossed over to keep the movie moving forwards.

One example that always springs to my mind is The Shining. I loved the book, I read it in a couple of days I just couldn't put it down. Yet it took me several years and many failed attempts to watch the movie. (I hear many of you movie lovers GASP… how could I criticize Kubrick like that?)

I am not saying that the movie was badly made, or that the acting was poor, but I simply thing as far as book adaptations go it is terrible.

A bold statement you may say…

.

Answer me this, where in the novel are we told about Johnny's old drinking issues, from before they came to the overlook? Where do we learn about him breaking Danny's arm, or even that he was once a well-respected and wall paid lecturer.

Where do we see the fragile nature of his marriage? These are all things that the book captures, but the movie overlooks as it needs to focus on what is happening rather than what has happened.

I get it… I really do. I can even overlook the totally different ending between the film and book and leave this down to creative influences, budget constraints or whatever you like, but the basic background information needed to be brought into the movie. Sure Johnny was a freaky villain, but the character before the 'turn' was in my view 2 dimensional and unbelievable. It is only because I had read the book and knew his background that I understood some of his (and his family's) reactions to certain situations.

Now this is by no means limited to The Shining, which for the record I do think is a well made movie in its own right, just not when compared to the book.  I can think of countless times where I have seen a movie and thought the book was by far better, not just because the imagination is much better than any other medium, but simply because of the level of detail. Another example that has just sprung to my mind is the movie Needful Things. Ok it wasn't on such a grand scale as The Shining, but my base premise remains the same. So much of the novel was left out that the movie (in my opinion) held almost no resemblance to the novel.

This now brings me nicely to the real point of my post. As writers, we strive to create a detailed world filled with realistic and believable characters, yet we are all too eager to sell our ideas to Hollywood for big budget movies to be made, when surely we would be better served to change our perspective and insist that TV series and or mini-series are made of our work. This will give both creators, actors and audiences a chance to see the characters to a more appropriate level of detail. Just look at The Stand or IT. (I know that all my examples have been Stephen King novels, but they just seem to fit perfectly) these were great books and were made into great TV Pieces because they were serialized and not turned straight into movies.

Imagine the Vampire Diaries or True Blood had they been bought by Hollywood. You could easily create a script for the first season of each show that would cover everything and get to the same end conclusion in the time of a modern film. (Say 120 minutes) but would you feel as satisfied? I don't think I would have been.

 

ROW80: A Work-Write Balance

Well I headed back to work this week and once again my writing world was thrown upside down.

Two weeks of holiday, including a whole week away from writing, the web and pretty much all forms of social contact that I have was the best thing for me.

The problem is that last week I spent my evenings writing. The house was quiet, the day was over. My wife and kids were in bed and I had all the time I wanted to get into the groove and write to my heart's content. Now I am back to 5am starts and trying to write a few words before my kids are up. They too seem to find it fun to wake up at 05.15 only to spend the next hour bitching about how sleepy they are.

I have to get back to finding that work write balance.

That being said I have managed to be consistent with both my morning schedule and my lunch half hour the last two days and now have only another 7 pages of work to go through until I can send the third draft back to my editors.

When I first read my editors advice about deleting words I was tentative. I didn't like the idea of destroying what I had written, but now that I am almost at the end of section that was highlighted to me, I realize that it was just what was needed.

The real problem that I have found myself faced with is that age-old demon… doubt. I keep hearing this little voice whispering to me that this is weak that is weak… it's just not good enough. The same old same old that I am sure creeps into the mind of every writer.

I am ignoring the voice as best I can, as I was happy with the novel the first two times a read it, and if I get myself caught up in these thoughts I will never get around to publishing it. Plus there is still plenty of time for me to gather people's thoughts and feelings and make changes should it be necessary.

All in all I am confident that by the time I come to write my next update I will ready to send Highway away and turn my attentions back to planning out the finer points of its follow-up novel.

Now however, it is time for me to get back to the real work. Thank you for reading and I apologize if the post feels a bit disjointed tonight, but it was such a busy day my head is still spinning.

 

Slow and Steady Wins The Race.

I cannot remember the last time that I saw a TV show that had me hooked from the very first episode. I love TV series, I enjoy watching them more than movies currently, because I love seeing the way the characters develop. Which actually makes me think of a post for tomorrow. About writers being more like series than movies.

I love Vampire Diaries, Supernatural, Fringe – ok I haven't seen this series from the first episode, but it still took me a while to get into it – House, CSI's and Law and Orders and even Gossip Girl (only the first season) and Gilmore Girls. I will admit to the last two proudly and happily, as I think they are well written, especially the latter of the two.

Yet none of these shows held me captive from the first scene. I didn't finish the first episode and sit there drooling for more. While others would sit and rave about the great new series I would always be the one sitting there thinking… mwah, it was alright.

It normally takes me three or four episodes to get into something. Carnivale took me about 6 or 7 before I finally got into the mood of it, and that is one of my favourite shows of recent years. I am still gutted that it got cut, as it was part of a multiple season story arc and so the ending will never be as fulfilling as you hope. Jericho being another perfect example of wasted potential. Flash Forward too. Now there is a show that had me hooked after episode 2!!

I now find myself in the same position with True Blood. I started it the other day, and watched the first three episodes back to back. (I know I'm behind in the times, but it still hasn't come to TV in Holland, so I finally got bored waiting and downloaded it.) At the moment I am totally indifferent to it. I cannot see what the hype is about. Now knowing myself as I do, this must mean that it is going to be a great show. I think that maybe I have Vampire Diaries in my mind, and keep making all manner of assumptions, when the very premise of the two shows (as far as I can gauge after just 3 episodes) couldn't be more different.

I am not concerned by this, and am willing to be as patient as ever… It has once taken me a whole series before I truly got hooked on a show.

What has been playing on my mind is why does it take me so long to get into shows. My wife is the sort of person who is either hooked on a show from the start, or she looses interest and watches just because I want to see it.

I think that being a writer doesn't help in my appreciation of series, in the same way that it eventually helps me love them even more. The complexity of character, the detail in their lives and the image of who they are just isn't visible in the beginning. Especially in the Pilot episode where everything is just thrown together to try to make the overall sale.

There is only one show that I have ever seen which hooked me from the start and that is the truly fantastic The Shield. I love this show more than anything, and yet oddly enough it is the only show I have not seen all the episodes of. It was stopped on TV mid way through the third season, and never came back. I know what I am now off to do.

What are your favourite shows, and how long did it take you to get hooked?

Why Not Enjoy Some Mongrel TV.

There isn't really any way to phrase my opening statement that doesn't paint me in a certain (inaccurate) light… so here goes.

I watch a lot of TV. It used to be movies that held my attention. I had about 1600 DVD's at one point in time. Now however, I find myself getting more and more into TV series. My wife and I spend our evenings… what sort ones we have after the kids are in bed, house is tidied and my daily dose of writing has been done, watching series from Episode 1. We have worked our way through Buffy, Bones, Carnivale (Season 1) Flash Forward, Supernatural, Big Bang Theory…. well, the list goes on but I am sure you get the idea.

There are also many that we have been watching just on TV, but the scheduling is Holland is  so appalling that you easily lose track. The swap from new episodes to repeats without warning. They advertise new episodes, put on repeats and then have one new episode every now and then. So we lost touch with several others shows such as House and Grey's Anatomy, but we are up to date enough to be able to say we have seen it.

What has been playing around in my mind recently is something that seems painfully obvious, and yet I don't think has ever truly been attempted or achieved. At least not attempted with much belief.

Imagine it, you are watching an episode of Greys, there is a Patient who just keeps getting sicker, what do you do?  Call up Dr House of course, or give him a call for a consult at least. Why not have the vampires from Vampire Diaries pass through Louisiana and bump into Anna Paquin one Sunday afternoon.

or..

to put it in British Terms, why do none of the Coronation Street cast every take a nice relaxing holiday at the B&B in Emmerdale?

You don't even have to worry about the show's story lines being ruined,  mean, Supernatural have done more than enough 'random entertainment' episodes to prove this point.

I know that Grey's and Private Practice have done this, but that doesn't count as they are one and the same. I realize that the answer to my question can be given in one word… Contracts, but indulge me for a moment and think of this untouched well of possibility.

Long distance, cross show relationships… I mean if that isn't a hive of opportunity, then I don't know what is.

ROW80:Light at the end of the tunnel

Well, it is time for a check-in, and while it doesn't feel like I have gotten much done, I am sure it is the opposite.

My goal for this round is to get the final revisions finished on my novel Highway to Hell, and start the second book in the series.

The novel is complete, and I have gone through several rounds of editing which have left me very satisfied as to the tightness of the plot and the initial journey the characters take, not to mention the relationships (Not all sexual) seem to have arisen between them. None of these relationships were in my mind as I wrote the first draft, but rather seemed to appear in the pages as I read it through. I think we will all agree that these are the best fiction relationships, as we have not had to force them together because we think they would have great imaginary kids together.

The remaining changes are only minor, and are upon the advisement of my editor Nick Ambrose at Everything Indie.

The book is rather long at 105,000 words, and as I spend time at the start introducing the 6 main characters, he felt that the 'second round' of introductions; their initial descent into the chambers of hell was too long. Not badly written but rather a bit too descriptive and gore filled. He suggested that to keep the reader's attention I would be better to cut some words from each characters 'chamber' to keep the reader interested, to stop things from getting repetitive and also to keep things creepy. I understand what he means, as I can lean towards being rather wordy and overly descriptive at times. Yet I know the main appeal of books to me is that freedom of imagining how the heroes, villains and towns look.

There are six characters, and I show the reader what happens to five of them in their judging chambers. We have already met each character once, as they died. So having introduced their lives in a basic overview, I used the chambers of Hell to introduce their pasts, who they were on a much broader scale. This initially caused some discussions with my editor, as it seems for the first part that the novel is just about torture scenes with random characters. Once I clarified that these introductory torture scenes are the only ones in the book, and merely my chosen way of introduction things all fell into place.

My current task is to cut around 2000 words from each characters time in Hell. To shorten it and keep the action flowing and hold the reader's attention so that once the real plot of the series is introduced, the readers are still interested in what is in store.

In other first novel related issues, my cover art is complete. My brother-in-law has created it for me. He is a graphic designer by trade and offered his services. I jumped at this chance of course, and am delighted with the result. I would love to upload an image, but it is a pdf and I am struggling to convert it to an uploadable file. (Watch this space)

My plans and plot outline for the second novel are also coming together nicely. I have obviously been building towards this novel since the beginning. I would be foolish therefore not to have any idea about what will happen.

I have outlined the relationships I saw develop and have listed several ideas on how I would like them all to pan out. Giving myself some freedom once again and escaping the problem of forcing relationships. I also have an idea of what will happen. There will be a branching of the story, as is set-up in book 1. This will become more pronounced and I am busy planning how these two 'fractions' (I use fraction rather than faction due to their split being accidental – and unavoidable – rather than dissentient) will eventually come back together again. Although I think that will be in book three. I have a point in my plot which is set down to be one of the 'challenges' which must be overcome, but I now think that this will become the climax and set-up for the third (and currently final) installment.

Regardless, while I leave my brain to percolate this and all the other possibilities that I know lie in wait, I have to finish Highway first. I don't see these revisions taking my too long. I have missed the initial holiday rush in terms of sales anyway, but that doesn't bother me.

Thanks for reading, and I wish you luck on your ROW80 adventure.

Hard Work is Good Work

In my ongoing spirit of honesty I am going to share something with you all.

I know nothing about being a writer. I have no official training or qualifications, other than high school. I never have time to read more than a handful of pages a week and know very little about other Indie authors. And until recently I had very little understanding about how  novel is made. How the editing process shapes and re-moulds it over numerous stages.

Now this is nothing but my own ignorance and is not meant to be an excuse or even an apology, for I do my best. Or at least what I thought of as being my best at the time.

I get an idea, it brews in my head and I have to write it down. That is how writing started for me. Although I have written stories ever since I was a child. Eventually I had an idea that turned itself into a novel. I was only 16 and when I look at it now I cringe, but still it was 70,000 words and made sense in a childish sort of way.

I didn't edit it at all, but then I never really had aspirations of publishing it.

I will admit, that on regular occasions, I sit behind my computer, or lie awake in bed at night thinking about how long it has taken me to get to where I am with my novel, and how much still needs to be done, and I feel lost. I feel exhausted and ask myself how much time have I invested in this when I could have been doing something else.

But then I always hear a saying my grandfather told me when I was a teenager.

There are two types of people in the world. Those who do something because they are supposed to, and those who do it because they love it. That is the difference between a champion and the rest.

His analogy was that of a runner. He said if you look outside on a wet and windy day and see someone out for a run, you know that they are doing it because they love it, because they have that champion mentality, and not just because the doctor told them to run because it is good for them.

I repeat this to myself and every time it works, because I am not writing just because it relaxes me, but because I love it, because I have the champion mentality and will achieve everything I set out to do. I will sit in the rain and write, nothing will stop me.

That is what separates us, from the rest of those writers out there. We know that there is a lot of hard work ahead, but we refuse to back down or shy away.

Show me the Money!!

It looks – pending the official diagnosis – as though our youngest son has Autism. He shows all of the 'classic' signs and has been observed by a specialist who has advised us the same.

For my wife and I this came as not real shock as we had been expecting it, and we are level-headed enough to not only see that there is a problem, but to acknowledge that it needs to be dealt with in a certain way. All the same, hearing it still carries a weight that falls directly onto your shoulders.

You can imagine the frustration we then feel when, having advise our English relatives and friends of this diagnosis that the first thing they all seemed to say was..

"Oh, that's a shame… You can get benefits for that."

This links to my post earlier this week where I criticised the state of England. This rather pointless addiction that Britons seem to have for claiming money from the government sickens me. It really does.

Ok, my son will need special 'treatment' and I use this word with a cringe in my soul for how harsh it sounds. He will require speech therapy, he will be observed two morning a week at a specialist 'facility' - again Cringe – but all of this is covered either by our insurance or the government. Therefore there is no need to us to even consider taking benefits, other than because it is an extra income that would not be spent on my son because of his autism but just because we have it.

That is not who I am. Sadly, this puts me and those of you who discussed my previous post on this issue in the minority.

The other thing that really gets me riled up is the way people look at you on the street. I am 27 and my wife is 25, yes we are young, and we have 3 children, but that is what we planned. And whether it is related to his Autism or not, my 2.5 year old son does not like shops, or crowded places. He gets agitated, and so cries a lot when we are in shops. I know this, so there is not need to stand and look at us as if seeing a child cry is the strangest thing you have ever seen.

This was once again most prevalent in the UK where at one point I was forced to confront two women who were standing and blatantly discussing my child and his 'behaviour' whilst their own child – who was at least 5 if not 6 – who was sitting in the baby chair… yes baby chair not even the normal child seat of the shopping trolley, with a dummy in his mouth.

Now either, their child has a disability, in which case I would appreciate or even expect a little bit of understanding of courtesy, or… well there isn't really an acceptable alternative. Not one that shines them in a positive light at least.

While I do not mean to come across as attaching England, my recent week there has certainly inspired me to highlight the issue.

I will not pimp out my son for benefits, whether we are entitled or not, simply because it is just another way to play the system and scheme more money out of the government, which ultimately I am paying for with higher taxes anyway.

ROW80: A Late Runner

I missed the first week of this round as I was on vacation, but I am back now, and armed with a critique from my editor, and so have plans to dive right in and get these small changes made so that my novel: Highway To Hell is even stronger.

It won't take me the entire round, but I also will be dedicating some time to formatting for both Createspace and Smashwords, along with chasing up on the cover art.

I guess, to summarize my goals this round are to finish Highway to Hell completely and the make a start on Part 2.

I already have the backbone of the plot lined out, broken down into the three chapter arc that I have been reading about, and the characters are there of course as it is a follow on from Book 1.  I actually have a much better idea of where Book 2 is going than I did at this stage of Book 1. Then again I have been building everything up to this Book 2 and so I guess it makes sense that I know where this is heading.

Anyway, only a short post today, and nothing as loud as yesterdays, but these are my goals for the next 80 (-10) days. I hope you will join me on my journey.