Neil D. Ostroff's Blog, page 31

Exposure rules!

Got another interview posted. Please check it out.
http://anthonycardno.com/?p=264

Interviews, interviews, interviews

Lately, I've been getting into the interview thing. You'd be surprised how many bloggers are looking for material and are willing to give an interview with nothing in return. Of course, whenever I'm interviewed I promote it heavily throughout the web which drives traffic to their blog. It's a symbiotic partnership. Though I'm not sure how many sales these interviews generate, it does give me lots of exposure. And I have gotten some nice feedback by total strangers.
Here is a link to my latest interview.
http://motherofinsanityarewecrazyyet....

Will speech recognition programs make everyone a writer?

I’ve seen the commercials; a young child is telling a story as the computer automatically types it, fueling an imagination-laced story. The commercial makes it seem like anyone can be a writer. But by definition, what is a writer? I believe the term will soon be obsolete. Why? Because with speech recognition anyone can sit at a computer and talk into it, but it takes an artist to tell a story that fascinates. I do believe that soon millions of people will call themselves writers because they have talked into a microphone for a few hours and have a stack of neatly typed pages to prove it. But only the artist will have a stack of papers that can you where you’ve never been… in your mind.

hurricane wait!

And so the waiting begins. The hurricane is coming. It’s always strange the denial people feel before a disaster hits, especially a day like today. Here in Pennsylvania, it’s a sunny, beautiful day. But I’m not fooled. I’ve been watching the weather channel and I know it’s coming. I know in 36 hours my life will be significantly changed if the storm gives us a direct hit. I’m not saying I’m going to lose my house or anything like that, though we may get some pretty serious storm damage, I’m saying that my mother-in-law lives by the beach in New Jersey and now she’s staying with us because of the mandatory evacuations. The house she lives is old and sturdy and I’m not too worried about it getting destroyed, what I’m more worried about is that she won’t be able to get back in it for several days if not weeks. This could be worse than any storm damage. I’ll keep you posted as the storm rolls towards us.

Hurricane is coming!

By now most people are aware that a hurricane is coming our way here on the east coast. I’m pretty safe in Pennsylvania, but I sympathize with those along the shore. I know it’s going to be a rough ride.
Besides the wind, rain, hail, and destruction, there is something fascinating about watching Mother Nature unleash her wrath. It makes you think that with all our technology we’re still vulnerable when it comes to our environment. Perhaps, one day we will be able to control such storms and manipulate the weather, but for now that’s fiction. Or is it?
What will I be doing during the hurricane? Well, as long as the power stays on and I have light, I will be doing what I always do. Writing. Perhaps, even a little bit more inspired as the rain and wind buffet the house. After all, being in a hurricane when I was in Florida inspired the intense weather scenes in my novel DROP OUT. Maybe during the depths of this storm a serial killer or creature from the netherworld will be born and a new story will be written.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005FX0K7U

http://www.authorsden.com/neilostroff

Aging a story to perfection

Finished my newest middle grade sci/fi novel, INSECTLAND yesterday and now it’s off to get its cover. I am using my usual ebook cover person, Judy Bullard. This is a book I started in January of 1997 and have been tweaking ever since. It’s funny how some novels can be written in a few months while others, like this one, can take years.
Actually, I think I need to clarify something here. It didn’t take me this long to write the book, I actually wrote the book in four months back in 1997, it’s taken me this long to consider the book finished. I believe there is a big difference between finishing a book and a book being finished. Not much of the basic plot of this story has changed over the years it’s more the details, the characterization, and the cool little subplots that make a story hard to put down that I’ve changed. For me, saying a book is finally finished means I have no more desire to read it and look for corrections. And that’s huge, because I’m a perfectionist when it comes to telling a tale.
I sometimes let people read what I call my drafts, but some would definitely call completed novels, just to see how they react. If it’s mostly positive, I’ll continue and consider the manuscript a work in progress. Which means it could be anywhere from a few weeks to more than a decade before it’s available for sale. But as they say, stories, like fine wine, can take a long time to mature.

1.4 million dollars is all I need to keep my wife happy.

My wife and I live near a lake and every morning we take a long walk. Well, this morning my wife turns to me and says out of the blue; “You need to make 1.4 million dollars.”
“Done,” I replied.
“No really,” she pressed. “We need 1.4 million dollars.”
“Why that amount?” I asked.
She gave me this answer. 1.4 million dollars is the number she came up with that will allow us to retire; which sounded good to me since we’re both in our early forties. She came up with this number by figuring our debts, what we could pay off, and how much we’d have left over to invest and live off the interest. It wouldn’t be an extravagant life, but we’d be comfortable and happy. It all sounded very logical to me. After all, what better dream for a writer than to spend his days perfecting his/her craft instead of having to work a conventional job?
This sent my mind into a churning idea mill. How do I get the money? Options flooded my brain with pros and cons.
Option #1: Steal it or rob a bank.
Pro- Easy way to get the money.
Con-watched too many episodes of LOCK UP and fear jail and violence.
Option #2: Buy and sell drugs.
Pro-Once again, easy way to make the money.
Con-Once again, watched too many episodes of LOCK UP.
Option #3: Work three jobs twenty-four hours a day until the money is saved.
Pro-Legal way to acquire the funds.
Con-I’d be dead from exhaustion so what’s the point.
This lead me to the last option. The only feasible option: Write books that people want to buy and read.
Pro-Legal and enjoyable.
Con-Well, there really isn’t any.
Okay, so how do I go about this? Well, I’ve already written a number of books that are available for sale all over the world and I’ve gotten some very good reviews from independent readers. That part of the process is complete. Now, how do I get a million readers to agree to purchase my books? Believe it or not, that isn’t out of the realm of possibilities. Author’s sites GOODREADS and AUTHORS DEN have a combined membership of over six million people and a combined ‘unique hits’ of over fifteen million a month. Imagine if fifteen million people bought one of my books tonight. Now, I’m not saying that will happen, or even a small fraction of people will purchase my books, or even a smaller fraction of people look me up with any interest. What I’m saying is that it is a possibility. By placing this post on my blog and on the homepage’s of the multiple author’s sites that I belong to, I estimate it will generate at least a 100,000 hits. And if you’re reading this you’re one of them. That’s pretty incredible when you think about it. If just a small fraction of the readers purchase just one of my books I’ll be on my way to making and keeping my wife very happy and content. And isn’t that the goal of every husband?
Okay, I’d also benefit a bit, too.
http://www.authorsden.com/neilostroff

What would really happen if you hit it big as a writer?

For years and years, I dreamed of hitting it big as a writer. That dream kept me going through twelve hour days slaving in a corporate kitchen, through hard financial times, and even through bad relationships. The dream got closer when I signed with a top NY agency and even closer when editors of big publishing houses were requesting my stuff. But alas, the big viral hit still hasn’t happened. The books are written and being written, and quite a few are available for purchase and have sold. But, the dream still eludes me.
But, thanks to Kindle and all the other ereaders that dream seems more attainable than ever. So, what would really happen if I woke up one morning and my sales were through the roof? Would I immediately quit my job, sell my house, and move to the Florida Keys to write my days away? Would I go get insanely drunk? Would I buy a new car? Would I announce to the world that I’ve made it? Hard to say. But the one thing I would never stop doing is writing books. I think that’s what separates real writers from wannabe’s. No matter how much fame and fortune may come my way, always the writing must come with it. If I hit it big tomorrow (hopefully, prayerfully) not much is going to change inside me, but a Hell of a lot is going to change around me.

Forget Mainstream Publishing And Write What You Want

My latest novel, PULP is a prime example of a book that would never see the light of day in commercial publishing yet still manages to capture a large indie audience with its strange, off-the-wall storyline. Originally rejected because of its “extremely bizarre content” by several major publishing houses who had requested partials, the book is now running strong in the online community.
Though it just went live a few days ago, hundreds of copies have already been sold due to an intense online marketing campaign. The internet allows the author to connect with like-minded readers from everywhere around the globe. Odds are, there are thousands, perhaps millions of people out there who think just like you. So write what you want.
The comments I’ve been getting over PULP fuels my passion to continue writing novels on the edge of the extreme. Here’s a short summary. You be the judge.
Struggling thriller writer Kevin Turner just received a panicked call from his ex-girlfriend Tina, a self-proclaimed clairvoyant prostitute. One of her clients, the mayor’s married son, died in her bed and she needs Kevin’s help to dispose of the body. As if Kevin doesn’t have enough problems. His current girlfriend is the spouse of the gay woman who signs his meager paycheck, his sixth credit card has hit its limit, he received word that his eight-month wait for his second advance check was being withheld by Gotham Publishing until he made the absurd changes in his manuscript that they wanted, and he just discovered his recently deceased father, who Tina claims she’s in contact with, owes ten grand from an internet gambling debt, which Kevin would now have to figure a way to pay. When Kevin discovers Tina’s psychotic brother has chopped up the body, and the police are finding the pieces spread across the suburbs, it sets off a chain of events more bizarre and horrifying than the plot of one of Kevin’s own novels.

Selling books in today's marketplace

It used to be that to become a published author (besides just writing a really good book) you had to also spend countless hours writing and addressing query letters, waiting patiently for agent’s responses (months), and then miracle upon miracles, you get signed to a LEGITIMATE agency. That’s only the beginning. Now, it’s up to the agent to make that one-in-a-hundred sale as opposed to the one-in-a-million chance an un-agented author had. And again, miracle upon miracles, it gets sold. Then comes the marketing and promotion, the book signings, the hope and praying that it stays on the shelf long enough to acquire an audience. And, if three weeks later it isn’t selling, it’s gone for good.


But today… things have changed. Some say it’s bad for the writer but I say they’re wrong. Since the industry changed, writers are now able to bypass all that other stuff and get their books out there to sell literally after placing “the end” at the bottom of the last page. It’s not all peaches and cream, however. The ability for pretty much anyone who’s ever scrawled a story to put it out there and sell opens the playing field to a lot of garbage, but like carousing a bookstore, you just need to take your time to find the perfect book.


I’ve sold more books in the last year than in the last fifteen years all due to publishing through iuniverse and Kindle, which has unlimited shelf life. I will admit to spending a huge amount of time marketing and promo, but I’d be doing that anyway if I’d been published traditionally. And I get a seventy percent royalty instead of twenty percent.


I write this note from personal experience. I had an agent from a top agency and after three years with no sales he eventually dropped me due to what he said is a quickly shrinking professional marketplace. Judging from the soaring sale of ereaders, I tend to agree.