Derek Blass's Blog, page 6

"All Eyes on Amazon Publishing"–Changing Landscape of Publishing

Another article on the changing landscape of traditional publishing houses: http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/48259-all-eyes-on-amazon-publishing.html

 

 

The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell

I asked for book recommendations on Facebook, and this was one of 'em.  The last one having been so damn good (City of Thieves by David Benioff), I was eager to get into this one as well.  First things first, I had no idea what this book was about.  Just bought it on the recommendation.  The Sparrow sounds like literary fiction, something that's gonna be introspective, philosophical, etc.  And…it was.  But, it was also a science fiction book.  I'm not gonna spoil things for ya, but there's another planet, with aliens.  I hadn't read science fiction or fantasy since I geeked it out in elementary school (and just to be clear, I still geek it out, just not with science fiction or Halo 3 anymore).  Worth a shot though.  As they say, "Wrote a song about it…wanna hear it?  Here it go."

The story's main character is a Jesuit priest named Emilio Sandoz.  Okay, that could be interesting.  He is seriously messed up because of a voyage he made to the aforementioned alien planet.  Go on.  The story takes place between the past, which involves discovery of the planet and the ultimate trip there, and the present (which is set far in the future–it takes time to travel to planets, aight?), when Father Sandoz has returned.  In the present, the characters around Father Sandoz are trying to help him recover from what happened to him on the alien planet.  That's all I'm telling ya, no spoiler.  In the past, Father Sandoz and a crew of several other voyagers, ranging from a doctor (who is a splendid character) to an artist, collectively brave the new world.

The build up to the actual voyage was lengthy, borderline tedious.  Russell certainly developed her characters, but there wasn't much going on in the way of action to sustain tension.  Once the characters got to the alien planet, there was certainly a period of time that the story became extremely interesting.  Now, we were witness to a world created in Russell's mind.  The alien residents are intriguing, and are essentially separated into two groups–predator and prey.  Russell's prey group is interesting for a time, but their inherent simpleness makes them dull after too much time.  On the other hand, her predator group is very intriguing.  Unfortunately, we do not get to see much of them until the end of the book.  Even at that point, we don't get to spend nearly as much time with them as we did with the prey group.

The primary suspense in the story was what Father Sandoz did on the alien planet, and was what done to him, that was so disgraceful.  This is literally what takes up the entire part of the "present" time story line, along with Father Sandoz's struggle to reconcile what happened to him and his faith.  Honestly, once I reached the point of what happened to him, it was a bit underwhelming.  Maybe because I've grown up in a generation exposed to Faces of Death, or maybe I just shot too many people in first person shooters, but I was like, "meh," when it all went down.

I was also distracted by Russell's habit of saying her piece through her characters.  And, to be fair, she didn't use diatribes.  Taking a step back, this is a book about religion, and struggle with faith.  Wrapped up as it may be with aliens and romance and asteroid spaceships, bottom line is that struggling to understand God was front and center.  So, while Russell didn't try to push a certain point at all, and she did a good job of presenting multiple types of faith, at times the characters would start ruminating about God and faith when all you wanted was for them to do something.  Or, to have something done to them…

In all, this book didn't inspire me to think differently, although I felt it could have.  The book wasn't a page turner, because action and suspense was relatively sparse.  And, being a long book, it was unfortunate to combine that with not being a page turner.  If you're gonna take the time to read something this substantial, there are other options.  For instance, City of Thieves by David Benioff, which I will review in full shortly, and which was (by far) the best book I've read in quite a while.

GRADE: C

Book Reviews

If you're writing, you better also be reading.  I usually am.  Figured I would add a section to this blog that reviewed the books I read, and whether they go in the crap pile or whether they are enshrined on the tank behind my toilet.  That, as you know, is the ultimate location of reverence.

Branding, and Why you Write

If you write for yourself, you're gonna be alone.  And, you probably aren't gonna sell more than 15-20 books, to poor souls who feel compelled to read it because of a close relationship.  Now, perhaps you're someone like Denise Richards, who has a fabulous self-story to tell that derives from your amazing aesthetic appeal and your ability to perform hot lesbian scenes in big Hollywood movies.  If that's you, get out of here and leave us alone.

For the rest of us, that want some modicum of success in selling our stories, we need to write what we are passionate about, but also with our readers in mind.   To get these points across, I'm combining two interrelated topics: (1) why you write, and (2) branding.

WRITE WHAT YOU LOVE, WHILE ALWAYS BEING RESPECTFUL OF YOUR READERS

Let's dispel something right off the bat.  I'm not suggesting you should write what you think other people will like.  You should write about what you love, and in a genre that feels like home to you.  If you see steamy romance in your head, then please, take us into your boudoir.  If you crave the life of a spy, then 007 us!  But, while actually writing, you need to always be mindful of and respectful to your readers.  Specifically, what does that mean?  Here are some examples of what to avoid:

Excessive use of big words only shows you're a Delta Bravo.  No one is reading a book to see how many words you know.

Meandering, flowery and overly descriptive prose.  No one cares if you can describe the minutea of the entryway to a plantation.  As Hemingway said, "My aim is to put down on paper what I see and what I feel in the best and simplest way."

Too much character development.  I saw this in a book I recently read, and it killed the flow of the story.  Remember elementary school?  Show AND tell.  So, tell us some of the aspects of your characters through narrative, but don't forget to show us the personalities, traits and characteristics of your characters through action.

Get off the soapbox.  Another example from the same book I just referenced.  With some frequency, the author seemed to venture into her own thoughts and beliefs, and to force them out through the mouths of her characters.  Nothing is so disruptive, and correspondingly rude, to your reader than forcing them to hear your beliefs.  If your characters don't believe it, don't write it.

These are just a few examples, with the thrust being that you need to build trust with your readers through respectful and straightforward writing.

Part of building that trust is also respecting the fact that your readers will come back for more because of the brand you develop.  Do you have a series with a main character?  A series with a main world?  Do you have a specific, and unique, style of writing?  Think Jose Saramago with his lack of punctuation (which drives me nuts, but it's certainly central to how he writes).  If you do, this is a large part of what will ultimately become your brand.  If you don't, you may want to consider the fact that most successful authors have a niche genre or an identifiable set of characters that they stick with over a series of books, or their entire career.  Sticking with your brand, and in doing so, sticking with what people have come to trust you to write, is central to success.

I got the next analogy from a recent concert by a rock band called Soundgarden.  They were wildly popular in the 1990′s, but largely fell off the radar for the last decade.  Their falling off (with fans at least) can be attributed to two things, in my opinion: (1) they changed their "sound," becoming more mellow on their last album, and (2) when asked about the band and touring, Chris Cornell (the lead singer) replied, "We really enjoy it to a point, and then it gets tedious, because it becomes repetitious. You feel like fans have paid their money and they expect you to come out and play them your songs like the first time you ever played them. That's the point where we hate touring."  Guess what though Chris, that's just the point.  And, it leads to our second rule:

ALWAYS BRING IT AS HARD AS THE FIRST TIME

We expect our favorite musicians to bring it like the first time they ever brought it.  Why?  That's why we first fell love with them.  Can the love evolve?  Sure.  But, the passion and same general sound needs to remain.  When that passion fades, or even diminishes in the slightest, people can sniff it out like fresh dog crap on their shoes.  Same goes for all of us as writers.  One of the greatest example of having a brand, and then sticking to it and bringing the noise just like the first time, is Stephen King.  Brand?  Horror.  Then, in pretty much each book he writes, King brings the horror with the same ferocity as he has his entire career.  Getting back to Soundgarden, what about that concert I just saw?  It was amazing.  The venue was in a frenzy for two hours.  People were stomping, pounding the air with their fists, and intermittently turning to strangers and their friends with ear-to-ear grins.  Why?  Soundgarden brought it like the first time, and they won each of us back for that night.

An implied part of the discussion so far is time.  A brand does not come overnight.  Soundgarden developed its sound over time, and their brand really came to fruition when grunge became popular in the early 1990′s.  Likewise, it was only after countless novels that we knew King was a master of horror, or that we knew Koontz was a master of suspense thrillers, or that Ludlum could deliver a spy story like no other.  On to the final rule!

DEVELOPING YOUR BRAND WILL TAKE EQUAL PARTS CONSISTENCY AND PATIENCE

McDonald's (which I could devour right now, or just about anytime for that matter) is the quintessential example of branding in our country, if not the world.  The golden arches.  If you need a dollar menu, or a cheeseburger, or a place to hit the head, you look for the golden arches.  Driving through even the remotest parts of the country, you know what you're in for if you see the golden arches.  Similarly, people need to be able to know, and trust, your writing.  Building your own brand is going to take time (McDonald's started in 1955) and consistency (think, Big Mac–nothing more consistent than that burger).  But, a commonality with nearly every successful writer is a brand.

In short, if you can combine writing that respects your reader, while at the same time respecting why your reader loves you in the first place (i.e. your brand), then success is just around the corner.

[This blog isn't a vacuum.  Take the opportunity, if you're a writer or an aspiring writer, to leave a comment as to the reason(s) why you write!]

"The End of Borders is a Win for Technology, Authors and Readers"

My favorite quote from the article: "A recent blog post from editor Alan Rinzler details why now is the best time to be a self-publishing author and it's all about the ability to create buzz."

http://singularityhub.com/2011/07/26/the-end-of-borders-is-a-win-for-technology-authors-and-readers/

Get on board people!

 

Advanced Marketing for Your Book (Getting Media Coverage)

Let's go back to the analogy we started with…building a book is akin to building a house.  You picked a lot, put the foundation in, framed from there, put the sheathing, siding and roof on, drywalled the interior and then beautified the interior with tile and other acoutrements.  (I will disclose that I was very happy to just use that word.  So much so that I used italics.  The small pleasures.)  All right, to get colloquial, the crap's in place, but all you've got is a beautiful house on a piece of land.  Same with your book.  Actually, probably worse with your book, because your book is just one in a sea of flotsam.  And, you've got to get people to pick your flotsam out from the rest.  Time to let people know about it.  There are hundreds (if not thousands) of ways to do this, but a good one is your local press.  How to get to those buggers though…

PRESS RELEASE FOR DUMMIES

First of all, you need one.  Don't just send an email to a reporter or editor saying, "Yo, Adrian, got my book, wanna cover it?!"  The press release is what the reporter or editor will use to: (a) get hooked on your story; (b) get information about you; (c) get information about where they can research your story further.  I'm not claiming to be an expert in PR, but here is an example of what I successfully used for an upcoming release/signing party:

DENVER, COLORADO – July 19, 2011 — Rogue Books, LLC will host a release party and book signing on Wednesday, July 27, 2011 from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. to celebrate the publication of Derek Blass's novel entitled "Enemy in Blue." The book release party will take place at the Ice House Tavern Lodo, 1801 Wynkoop Street, Denver, Colorado.

Derek Blass will sign copies of "Enemy in Blue," a timely and intense cop thriller. The story begins with the videotaped murder of an illegal immigrant by an allegedly racist police officer. The murder draws Cruz Marquez, a young lawyer, into an action-packed journey to preserve the evidence. His success depends on surviving the Chief of Police's sinister plotting, assassination attempts by a deranged hit man, and the raw force of Sergeant Shaver—his enemy in blue.

About the Author:

Derek Blass lives in Denver, Colorado. He studied English and Economics at Duke University and earned a J.D. from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law. He received the "2011 Outstanding New Hispanic Attorney Award" from the Colorado Hispanic Bar Association and has been designated as a "Colorado Rising Star" by Super Lawyers Magazine since 2009. He was elected to serve on Mayor John Hickenlooper's Denver Latino/a Commission for four years, two of which he was a co-chair. He was recently asked to help start the Denver Chapter of the Colorado Latino/a Forum, a powerful Colorado-wide Latino/a organization.

Get the picture?  Short, sweet, and everything a reporter/editor would need to know on one page.  

CUSTOM TAILOR ALL OF YOUR TRANSMITTING EMAILS

Every publication or media outlet you will send your release to has a different mission.  Some may be edgy and avant-garde (I'm gonna burst at the seams if I can think of a third fancy word/phrase to use in this blog).  Some may be conservative.  Every one of them focuses on a certain target audience.  What's that mean to you?  Custom tailor your pitch to them.  It's just like when you apply to jobs, or in writing, submit queries to agents and publishers.  You can write a general cover letter/query, and you can correspondingly get back a bunch of rejections.  Or, you can do your research to better understand the job or agent/publisher, and then tailor your correspondence to them accordingly.  Which one do you think works better?  No-brainer, huh?  It's the same thing with press.  Do your research on what the media outlet writes about and looks for in terms of stories, and then tailor the email transmitting your press release to parallel your research.

NUMBERS GAME..AGAIN…AS ALWAYS

Bombard is probably the correct term.  Imagine a bomber in WWII dropping its payload.  That's you.  Here's where the commitment lies, because if you agreed to research each media outlet to tailor your transmitting email, and you agree to bombard, well, you've wittingly or unwittingly agreed to do a healthy amount of work.  That's what it takes though.  One week a media outlet may be in production, the next week they may be looking for stories.  One week your topic may not be relevant to a certain media outlet, but that may all change in two months.  These are just a couple reasons why you need to bombard, and not just pick and choose.

To sum it up, draft a concise, informative press release, research who you are sending it to and custom tailor a transmitting email to them, and then let loose with your payload!

Sometimes You Gotta Eat Crow–Comments re: Editing

On May 24, 2011, I posted a blog regarding editing.  In that post, I stated, "No one's gonna take it seriously if it ain't edited."  Let's fast forward about a month, when my novel Enemy in Blue, released.  A week later, I got an amazing call from one of my new readers.  First, she said, she had to put the book down or she wouldn't get to sleep that night.  Awesome!  Elation!  Someone is enjoying my story!  Really, what more could you ask for as I rode a flaming chariot up to the heavens?  Then, she sucked me down to the depths of hell just as quickly.  "I am finding some errors though."  Gulp.  Honestly, it was like Mike Tyson punched me in the stomach and  bit a piece of my ear off at the same time.

I've told people that two nightmares existed with respect to this book: (1) people aren't going to like it; and/or (2) there are going to be errors.  #2 came true.

Just to give some context, I didn't blow hot air up all of your collective arses in that May 24, 2011 post.  I did do multiple edits of the book on my own.  I did send the manuscript to readers to get fresh eyes on it.  And, I did pay a copy editor to review the manuscript after incorporating the fixes from my readers.  All that, and there are still errors.  What's a boy to do then, huh?

This is where the beauty of self-publishing comes into play.  My book is simply two PDF files on Createspace.  An interior file, and an exterior/cover file.  This allows me the freedom to make the corrections being discovered right now, and upload a new interior file as soon as possible.  The book will be down for 2-3 days, but that's a small price to pay to get closer to a perfect product.

What lessons were learned?  I rushed through the proofs.  Don't do that.  Honestly, it's difficult.  You get your book, you say holy shit I'm holding this thing, and the last thing you want to do next is read it again and then wait for another proof to come (I did go through three proofs).  Bottom line though, it's worth the extra few days to read through the book again and catch any mistakes.   Second lesson, and something I fortunately did, wait to send your book out for reviews and more "formal" analyses until you've had some people read through the book.  That way, people who are more inclined to be gentle with you are catching the errors.  You can have the story polished to a shiny, impenetrable stone by the time you start sending it to the real critics!

There you go, lessons learned, some crow eaten.

"Eight Things Readers Want from Self-Published Writers"

Most important on this list, and something I'm about to blog about, is editing.  Check out this short list and do your best to comply with them!  "Eight Things Readers Want from Self-Published Writers"

"How to Become a Top Ranked Book in Amazon's Kindle Store"

Some great tips from an author that is finding success on Amazon, and helpful resources for marketing at a low (or no) cost:

http://www.bookbuzzr.com/blog/author-interviews/how-to-become-a-top-ranked-book-on-amazon%E2%80%99s-kindle-store/

How to Pitch Your Story–Upper Level Marketing

Let's get into the higher level marketing courses, the elective courses if you will.  Check out this blog (written quite a while ago, but certainly still relevant) on how to deliver a pitch of your story.

http://www.bookbuzzr.com/blog/book-marketing/a-perfect-pitch-a-sure-strike-out/