Stephen M. Holak's Blog, page 2
August 1, 2013
Big Announcements
I've launched a new author website, stephenmholak.com. Not only can you find everything about me and my works, if you click on the book cover on the rotating widget or the link on the "Writing" page under the book, you can download a huge chunk of the upcoming novel--over 120 pages!
The first 100 people who email me through the site's Contact page will be placed into a drawing for an autographed, advance copy of the print version of the book. **Those of you who send me the promo code (again, via the website's Contact page) found at the end of the sample will be placed into the drawing TWICE.** Those of you who also correctly answer the question on the contact page will be placed in *THREE* times!
Links to and info about my other works can be found there, along with a bio and links back to this blog, as well as the above-described Contact page.
The cover, back jacket blurb, front materiel and print formatting for The Winds of Heaven and Earth is wrapped. My editor and I are roughly halfway through the editing pass, and the sample posted on my site is about 60% of the final edited materiel. If we stay on pace, we're still looking at a September launch for both the print and Kindle versions of the book.
And speaking of my amazing editor, Rebecca T. Dickson, a big congrats: Her book, The Definitive Guide to Writing on Your Terms, Using Your Own, Honest-to-God, Gut-Wrenching Voice
has just hit #25 overall in Fiction and #1 in Writing Skills on Amazon. If you're a writer, you owe it to yourself to download this book. As of this writing, it's gathered 18 reviews on Amazon: 17 five-star and one 4-star. I'm pretty lucky to have an editor of her caliber, and the final polished product of the book will certainly reflect her skills and benefit you, the reader.
So do me a favor: checkout my site, read the sample, (and do yourself a favor--download the Beckster's book.) And be sure to get your name into the drawing for the free autographed copy of The Winds of Heaven and Earth.
September will be here before we know it.
The first 100 people who email me through the site's Contact page will be placed into a drawing for an autographed, advance copy of the print version of the book. **Those of you who send me the promo code (again, via the website's Contact page) found at the end of the sample will be placed into the drawing TWICE.** Those of you who also correctly answer the question on the contact page will be placed in *THREE* times!
Links to and info about my other works can be found there, along with a bio and links back to this blog, as well as the above-described Contact page.
The cover, back jacket blurb, front materiel and print formatting for The Winds of Heaven and Earth is wrapped. My editor and I are roughly halfway through the editing pass, and the sample posted on my site is about 60% of the final edited materiel. If we stay on pace, we're still looking at a September launch for both the print and Kindle versions of the book.
And speaking of my amazing editor, Rebecca T. Dickson, a big congrats: Her book, The Definitive Guide to Writing on Your Terms, Using Your Own, Honest-to-God, Gut-Wrenching Voice
has just hit #25 overall in Fiction and #1 in Writing Skills on Amazon. If you're a writer, you owe it to yourself to download this book. As of this writing, it's gathered 18 reviews on Amazon: 17 five-star and one 4-star. I'm pretty lucky to have an editor of her caliber, and the final polished product of the book will certainly reflect her skills and benefit you, the reader.
So do me a favor: checkout my site, read the sample, (and do yourself a favor--download the Beckster's book.) And be sure to get your name into the drawing for the free autographed copy of The Winds of Heaven and Earth.
September will be here before we know it.
July 31, 2013
Milestones
We're getting close, Peeps! The Winds of Heaven and Earth is about halfway through the editing process, and I'm wrapping up the formatting for the print version this week. Work on the sequel, The Dark Paths of the World--which stands at about 24,000 of the projected 150,000 words--is on hold while I put the finishing touches on WHE. We're looking at a September launch date for both print and Kindle versions.
My big news is: I'm launching a website tomorrow. It will be my Grand Central Station for all my online author presences, like this blog, my Facebook Fan page, Twitter, etc. But it will also feature showcases of my writing, a bio, contact pages, and links to where you can find my work--and most importantly, a showcase and samples from my books and novellas. I'll post again tomorrow with the website address.
I will be providing a link to a sample excerpt from WHE--more than 100 pages from the beginning of the novel, free, in a pdf format. If you like what you read, please start the buzz. September is just around the corner.
Switching gears: I had the pleasure this past weekend to scuba certify (I'm a PADI intructor) local radio personality Preston Elliot and his family. Preston has been the anchor of the long-running morning show "Preston and Steve" on the iconic classic rock station WMMR (93.3 FM) in Philadelphia for a long as I can remember. On Monday morning. Preston and the other members of the show talked about his experiences and scuba for a good twenty minutes, and I got a nice plug.
You can hear the show's podcast here; the scuba discussion starts around the 1 hour 23 minute mark.
http://prestonandsteve.libsyn.com/daily-feed-07-29-13
See you tomorrow when I launch the website.
My big news is: I'm launching a website tomorrow. It will be my Grand Central Station for all my online author presences, like this blog, my Facebook Fan page, Twitter, etc. But it will also feature showcases of my writing, a bio, contact pages, and links to where you can find my work--and most importantly, a showcase and samples from my books and novellas. I'll post again tomorrow with the website address.
I will be providing a link to a sample excerpt from WHE--more than 100 pages from the beginning of the novel, free, in a pdf format. If you like what you read, please start the buzz. September is just around the corner.
Switching gears: I had the pleasure this past weekend to scuba certify (I'm a PADI intructor) local radio personality Preston Elliot and his family. Preston has been the anchor of the long-running morning show "Preston and Steve" on the iconic classic rock station WMMR (93.3 FM) in Philadelphia for a long as I can remember. On Monday morning. Preston and the other members of the show talked about his experiences and scuba for a good twenty minutes, and I got a nice plug.
You can hear the show's podcast here; the scuba discussion starts around the 1 hour 23 minute mark.
http://prestonandsteve.libsyn.com/daily-feed-07-29-13
See you tomorrow when I launch the website.
July 12, 2013
On the Road and Going Deep
Just a short post; in the North Carolina Outer Banks on the road to Beaufort, NC for a long weekend of wreck diving. For those of you who don't know--but could probably infer from my ubiquitous profile pic all over social media--I'm an avid scuba diver and a PADI instructor; I've been diving for over 25 years. (Yeah, since I was 10, right?) I love the thrill of seeing a wreck emerge from the gloom on a descent--it never fails to raise the hairs on the back of my neck. There's something about seeing a ship on the ocean floor and knowing the history behind her, and in the case of natural wrecks (there are many sunk deliberately as artificial reefs and scuba diver attractions), the story behind that particular ship's demise.
The Dark Paths of the World (DPW), the sequel to The Winds of Heaven and Earth (WHE), stands at 20,000 words, but I'm setting it aside for now. My editor, Rebecca T. Dickson, has started throwing chapter revisions for WHE back over the wall and I'm head-down on that incorporating her edits. We have 5 chapters in the can now (of 55), and I may post the first few chapters online in the near future as a teaser.
A publication date for WHE is hard to extrapolate, but a decent guess based on the current revision rate would put it around early September. I'll be doing a giveaway promotion for a free autographed paper copy (an Advanced Reader Copy, ARC) on Goodreads in the near future, so if you're not a Goodreads member, sign up for a free account. (The book will be available on Amazon in 6" x 9" trade paperback and Kindle eBook format.)
If you're a reader, Goodreads is a great site to get and give book recommendations and stay plugged in on updates and news about your favorite authors and genre, and it's also a social media site where you rub elbows with friends with similar interests.
Now time to blow bubbles . . .
Help me build my audience and readership. Please follow me on Twitter @StephenMHolak, and Like my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/StephenMHolak. For news about my releases visit my Amazon Author page https://www.amazon.com/author/stephenmholak and subscribe to the "Stay Up to Date" link in the right hand column; you'll be sent an email to notify you of new works as they're published.
The Dark Paths of the World (DPW), the sequel to The Winds of Heaven and Earth (WHE), stands at 20,000 words, but I'm setting it aside for now. My editor, Rebecca T. Dickson, has started throwing chapter revisions for WHE back over the wall and I'm head-down on that incorporating her edits. We have 5 chapters in the can now (of 55), and I may post the first few chapters online in the near future as a teaser.
A publication date for WHE is hard to extrapolate, but a decent guess based on the current revision rate would put it around early September. I'll be doing a giveaway promotion for a free autographed paper copy (an Advanced Reader Copy, ARC) on Goodreads in the near future, so if you're not a Goodreads member, sign up for a free account. (The book will be available on Amazon in 6" x 9" trade paperback and Kindle eBook format.)
If you're a reader, Goodreads is a great site to get and give book recommendations and stay plugged in on updates and news about your favorite authors and genre, and it's also a social media site where you rub elbows with friends with similar interests.
Now time to blow bubbles . . .
Help me build my audience and readership. Please follow me on Twitter @StephenMHolak, and Like my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/StephenMHolak. For news about my releases visit my Amazon Author page https://www.amazon.com/author/stephenmholak and subscribe to the "Stay Up to Date" link in the right hand column; you'll be sent an email to notify you of new works as they're published.
July 8, 2013
A Good Week Had
As I mentioned in my Independence Day blog post on the 4th, writing a sequel is fun. The words keep pouring out of me--and I think they're good words. Despite working three full days at my real job, taking a day to do some diving, the usual holiday cookout and fireworks oohing and aahing, and watching 14 one-hour episodes of
Dexter
on Saturday and Sunday (seasons 1 and 2; I'm hooked), I pounded out over 15,000 words on the sequel to The Winds of Heaven and Earth, (titled The Dark Paths of the World), last week. I seriously doubt I can hold that pace, especially with a road trip to do some wreck diving off North Carolina starting late this week, but let me fantasize for a minute: at an average pace of over 2100 words per day, I could hit the word count I kicked out for WHE of 163,000 in just two-and-a-half months.
I fully expect all that to come to a screeching halt when my editor Rebecca Dickson kicks back (covered in red ink and strike-through font) the first manuscript draft of WHE I turned in to her a week and half ago, and I have to turn my attention back to that. But it's fun to dream about that four-book-a-year pace, isn't it?
I hope everyone had an enjoyable weekend. Now back to work, Peeps.
Happy Monday.
I fully expect all that to come to a screeching halt when my editor Rebecca Dickson kicks back (covered in red ink and strike-through font) the first manuscript draft of WHE I turned in to her a week and half ago, and I have to turn my attention back to that. But it's fun to dream about that four-book-a-year pace, isn't it?
I hope everyone had an enjoyable weekend. Now back to work, Peeps.
Happy Monday.
July 4, 2013
Independence Day
Just short posting this morning to check in, wave the flag a bit (yes, that was deliberate), and wish everyone a happy and safe holiday.
I sent the Winds of Heaven and Earth to my editor Rebecca Dickson last Friday, and took a few days break from writing overt he weekend to do some local diving.
The second volume in the trilogy (God, I hope it's a trilogy; I don't want to pull a Robert Jordan), is titled The Dark Paths of the World, and I had already spent some time a few months ago outlining it. On Monday I expanded the outline to scene-level, and started in. (The protagonist of WHE is Jordan Parish; Jordan is homage to the late Robert Jordan, author of the epic, and I mean epic, Wheel of Time fantasy series, a 14-volume story that entertained millions of readers and set a high bar for the rest of us writing in the genre.)
That mother is exploding out of me. I had no idea how much fun writing a sequel is. World building, character development, backstory not necessary; it already lives in the previous book and in the reader's mind. Just jump right in, im medias reis, (in the middle of things for those who think Latin is a dead language. Google it if you're stuck), and off we go. I've hammered out 2 to 3,000 words every day for the past few days, peaking yesterday at 3700 and scaling back for the holiday this morning with a quick 1,100 before calling it, well, a holiday. DPW stands already at 9,000-plus words and over 50 pages. DPW picks up about two-and-half months after the close of WHE.
Independence Day. I avoid the label "Fourth of July" because that conjures images of fireworks, burgers, and slow-cooked ribs. (Well, it does for me.) Take a moment today to contemplate what that phrase actually means. Do a little research and understand what happened on that day and how those events and ones that followed led to where we are today, one of the greatest nations that's every graced the face of this planet (yeah, we have flaws and warts, but who doesn't?) The good ol' USA didn't spring forth from the primal ooze, it took a lot of hard work and sacrifice to gain independence and build this country and then more of the same to defend it and grow to reach the state we're at now. Before you fire up the barb-y, take a few and learn something.
Have a safe and happy holiday Peeps.
Try to wake up Friday morning with all your fingers intact, OK?
I sent the Winds of Heaven and Earth to my editor Rebecca Dickson last Friday, and took a few days break from writing overt he weekend to do some local diving.
The second volume in the trilogy (God, I hope it's a trilogy; I don't want to pull a Robert Jordan), is titled The Dark Paths of the World, and I had already spent some time a few months ago outlining it. On Monday I expanded the outline to scene-level, and started in. (The protagonist of WHE is Jordan Parish; Jordan is homage to the late Robert Jordan, author of the epic, and I mean epic, Wheel of Time fantasy series, a 14-volume story that entertained millions of readers and set a high bar for the rest of us writing in the genre.)
That mother is exploding out of me. I had no idea how much fun writing a sequel is. World building, character development, backstory not necessary; it already lives in the previous book and in the reader's mind. Just jump right in, im medias reis, (in the middle of things for those who think Latin is a dead language. Google it if you're stuck), and off we go. I've hammered out 2 to 3,000 words every day for the past few days, peaking yesterday at 3700 and scaling back for the holiday this morning with a quick 1,100 before calling it, well, a holiday. DPW stands already at 9,000-plus words and over 50 pages. DPW picks up about two-and-half months after the close of WHE.
Independence Day. I avoid the label "Fourth of July" because that conjures images of fireworks, burgers, and slow-cooked ribs. (Well, it does for me.) Take a moment today to contemplate what that phrase actually means. Do a little research and understand what happened on that day and how those events and ones that followed led to where we are today, one of the greatest nations that's every graced the face of this planet (yeah, we have flaws and warts, but who doesn't?) The good ol' USA didn't spring forth from the primal ooze, it took a lot of hard work and sacrifice to gain independence and build this country and then more of the same to defend it and grow to reach the state we're at now. Before you fire up the barb-y, take a few and learn something.
Have a safe and happy holiday Peeps.
Try to wake up Friday morning with all your fingers intact, OK?
June 28, 2013
Postpartum Elation
There's a reason it's been over a month since I posted a blog entry: I've been head-down on The Winds of Heaven and Earth, shaping and redrafting and trying to get the thing to my editor Rebecca Dickson.
This afternoon, I shipped it. My mid-June target slipped, but not by too much in the novelist world: only about two weeks or so. I'm ecstatic. There's still a lot of work to be done as the Beckster and I cycle through revisions; but a big milestone has been passed.
It was hard. Really hard. Not as physically hard as training for and running a marathon, but it took a hellava lot longer. I started WHE in 2007, picked it up and dropped it a few times, and really ramped up in earnest in February of this year, where I expanded the core 30,000 words into a full-length manuscript that came in at 163,000 words. a half-million word trilogy is staring me in the face, but I couldn't be happier: the elephant is one-third eaten already.
I had braced myself for a range of emotions, from postpartum depression to table-dancing, but in the end it was simply a mouse-click and a stretch, and a feeling of deep satisfaction.
There's something for all those needing inspiration out there, in this milestone. I'm not a full-time writer. I have day job that takes me away from home for 13 hours each day, and I work long days and sometimes evening and the occasional weekend, and am on-call for issue resolution 24/7 x 365. On weekends in the summer I certify wannabe scuba divers. I steal writing time on the train, in the evenings, on weekends--where ever I can.
If I can do this, anyone can.
What's next on my plate? I'm starting in on the second volume, The Dark Paths of the World, as I wait for Rebecca's spankings and nail-pulling.
There's still a lot of the elephant left to eat, Peeps.
This afternoon, I shipped it. My mid-June target slipped, but not by too much in the novelist world: only about two weeks or so. I'm ecstatic. There's still a lot of work to be done as the Beckster and I cycle through revisions; but a big milestone has been passed.
It was hard. Really hard. Not as physically hard as training for and running a marathon, but it took a hellava lot longer. I started WHE in 2007, picked it up and dropped it a few times, and really ramped up in earnest in February of this year, where I expanded the core 30,000 words into a full-length manuscript that came in at 163,000 words. a half-million word trilogy is staring me in the face, but I couldn't be happier: the elephant is one-third eaten already.
I had braced myself for a range of emotions, from postpartum depression to table-dancing, but in the end it was simply a mouse-click and a stretch, and a feeling of deep satisfaction.
There's something for all those needing inspiration out there, in this milestone. I'm not a full-time writer. I have day job that takes me away from home for 13 hours each day, and I work long days and sometimes evening and the occasional weekend, and am on-call for issue resolution 24/7 x 365. On weekends in the summer I certify wannabe scuba divers. I steal writing time on the train, in the evenings, on weekends--where ever I can.
If I can do this, anyone can.
What's next on my plate? I'm starting in on the second volume, The Dark Paths of the World, as I wait for Rebecca's spankings and nail-pulling.
There's still a lot of the elephant left to eat, Peeps.
May 21, 2013
A Step Forward, a Step Back: On Stephen King's New Non-eBook
The publishing industry continues to change. The ebb and flow of that change is nicely showcased in a few headlines lifted from today's Digital Book World's daily newsletter.
A step forward: Big-Sixer Simon and Schuster hired an ex-AOL-er to fill the newly created position of head of eBook business development and strategy. Hard to criticize that move; it's an acknowledgement of the landscape change and an effort to get in step--or even ahead of--the paradigm shifts that digital publishing technology has triggered. This is the same company that gave self-published dystopian science fiction writer Hugh Howey of Wool fame a print rights contract while allowing him to keep his eBook rights, a hybrid trend that's continuing to grow, but an admirable and forward-thinking step for one of the industry stalwarts. I'll take one small potshot here: the digital publishing wave broke . . . when?
A step back: Stephen King announced in the Wall Street Journal that his new book, Joyland, will *not* be available as an eBook. This is presented as "an attempt to drive traffic to brick-and-mortar bookstores." I watched the WSJ newscast on the topic, and buried in the dialog is what appears to be a more valid reason: the book is published by a small crime and mystery press, and by Steve signing with them for this release, he can give a little guy a welcome shot in the arm.
Come on, Steve. Nixing the digital version of the book in an effort to help bookstores is like buying tapes instead of DVDs or digital downloads in an effort to keep VCRs alive. King is a big gorilla, but he's not going to save B & N or Mom and Pa's Books with this gesture. The changing business model will force a marched evolution on those businesses; those that adapt will survive, if any survive at all.
This is coals to Newcastle, buddy.
And on the small-press-only gesture? Admirable . . . but hey, don't you think they would reap enormous benefits if they went through the not-very-complicated effort of publishing a digital version of the book? Help me out, Peeps; I'm scratching my head here.
On the home front: as I alluded to in my last post, I've settled on an editor for The Winds of Heaven and Earth. This morning I ended my search and signed a contract with Rebecca T. Dickson, aka "the Beckster." The feedback I received from the client list she supplied me with sealed the deal: not just high praise for her technical competence and vision, but how she brutally, honestly, relentlessly kicked their asses and forced them to dig deep and not just produce a better book, but to become a better writer while preserving each author's unique voice. As I told the Beckster when I signed, I'm looking forward to our association like one looks forward to a visit to the dentist for a root canal: I know I'll be much better off afterwards . . .
I'm about halfway through the second draft now; I expect to ship it off for the first editorial pass in about three weeks. Stay tuned.
Help me build my audience and readership. Please follow me on Twitter @StephenMHolak, and Like my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/StephenMHolak
A step forward: Big-Sixer Simon and Schuster hired an ex-AOL-er to fill the newly created position of head of eBook business development and strategy. Hard to criticize that move; it's an acknowledgement of the landscape change and an effort to get in step--or even ahead of--the paradigm shifts that digital publishing technology has triggered. This is the same company that gave self-published dystopian science fiction writer Hugh Howey of Wool fame a print rights contract while allowing him to keep his eBook rights, a hybrid trend that's continuing to grow, but an admirable and forward-thinking step for one of the industry stalwarts. I'll take one small potshot here: the digital publishing wave broke . . . when?
A step back: Stephen King announced in the Wall Street Journal that his new book, Joyland, will *not* be available as an eBook. This is presented as "an attempt to drive traffic to brick-and-mortar bookstores." I watched the WSJ newscast on the topic, and buried in the dialog is what appears to be a more valid reason: the book is published by a small crime and mystery press, and by Steve signing with them for this release, he can give a little guy a welcome shot in the arm.
Come on, Steve. Nixing the digital version of the book in an effort to help bookstores is like buying tapes instead of DVDs or digital downloads in an effort to keep VCRs alive. King is a big gorilla, but he's not going to save B & N or Mom and Pa's Books with this gesture. The changing business model will force a marched evolution on those businesses; those that adapt will survive, if any survive at all.
This is coals to Newcastle, buddy.
And on the small-press-only gesture? Admirable . . . but hey, don't you think they would reap enormous benefits if they went through the not-very-complicated effort of publishing a digital version of the book? Help me out, Peeps; I'm scratching my head here.
On the home front: as I alluded to in my last post, I've settled on an editor for The Winds of Heaven and Earth. This morning I ended my search and signed a contract with Rebecca T. Dickson, aka "the Beckster." The feedback I received from the client list she supplied me with sealed the deal: not just high praise for her technical competence and vision, but how she brutally, honestly, relentlessly kicked their asses and forced them to dig deep and not just produce a better book, but to become a better writer while preserving each author's unique voice. As I told the Beckster when I signed, I'm looking forward to our association like one looks forward to a visit to the dentist for a root canal: I know I'll be much better off afterwards . . .
I'm about halfway through the second draft now; I expect to ship it off for the first editorial pass in about three weeks. Stay tuned.
Help me build my audience and readership. Please follow me on Twitter @StephenMHolak, and Like my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/StephenMHolak
May 14, 2013
Another Fist Pump--and an Editor
According to numbers complied by Digital Book World this week, not only are 6 of the top 10 bestselling eBooks in the .99 to 2.99 category self-published, 6 of the top 25 of *all* eBook price categories are self-published. The landscape continues to evolve, and I predict that by this time next year 80% of the eBooks under 3.99 will be self-published, and perhaps a third of the overall digital bestsellers will be as well. And I may be underestimating.
On the home front, revision work on The Winds of Heaven and Earth is still progressing smoothly, with about 40% of the first edit / second draft completed (which is also why my blogs are getting shorter and less frequent; I don't have any deadlines, other than a self-imposed one, but I'm in serious crunch mode.) The manuscript is still hovering at around 160,000 words, but I expect that to change in the downward direction after another revision and a pass through professional editing. Maybe.
Which leads me to the next item:
What I am really excited about is that I may have found my editor. We're still discussing and feeling each other out, but I've been looking for the right person for a while, a person who was not just a copy editor, but someone who understood my writing, who let me keep my voice, but at the same time saw the trees and the forests and would push me for not just a better book but to be a better writer. And someone who I could work with for an entire career.
Serendipitously I stumbled across a gem, highly recommended by clients, and I reached out the other day and got a sample edit of my opening scene. Bingo. I'll release the name and more detail after we close the deal, but again, I could not be more excited over my discovery.
Later, Peeps, film at 11, all that.
Regards
Steve
On the home front, revision work on The Winds of Heaven and Earth is still progressing smoothly, with about 40% of the first edit / second draft completed (which is also why my blogs are getting shorter and less frequent; I don't have any deadlines, other than a self-imposed one, but I'm in serious crunch mode.) The manuscript is still hovering at around 160,000 words, but I expect that to change in the downward direction after another revision and a pass through professional editing. Maybe.
Which leads me to the next item:
What I am really excited about is that I may have found my editor. We're still discussing and feeling each other out, but I've been looking for the right person for a while, a person who was not just a copy editor, but someone who understood my writing, who let me keep my voice, but at the same time saw the trees and the forests and would push me for not just a better book but to be a better writer. And someone who I could work with for an entire career.
Serendipitously I stumbled across a gem, highly recommended by clients, and I reached out the other day and got a sample edit of my opening scene. Bingo. I'll release the name and more detail after we close the deal, but again, I could not be more excited over my discovery.
Later, Peeps, film at 11, all that.
Regards
Steve
May 7, 2013
Short and Sweet
Just checking in with a WIP update and a few comments on the industry.
The Winds of Heaven and Earth is coming along nicely, although at times I vacillate between "this is shit" and this is pretty good stuff." I'm about a third of the way through editing the first draft into a second, and I'm busy in parallel with re-writing the first chapter; I was never completely happy with it. I think the release date is going to slip from June to July, but that's OK--it'll be ready when it's ready.
On the publishing front, I Tweeted a fist pump last week about the state of the top ten digital titles, but never followed up with a blog post: five of the top ten titles were self published. Take that, gatekeepers!
This week, Digital Book World reports that six of the top twenty titles are self-published, still an amazing accomplishment, and something not many people would have bet on even a year ago (except for maybe Joe Konrath); that's hugely encouraging for writers toiling away on current projects. Only a select few will have a shot at that measure of success, but that's true for any profession or endeavor. The real take away is that the barriers formerly imposed by the Big Six no longer matter, and that readers are free to make their own judgements about the merit of your work. More and more readers and writers are discovering that the supposed value-add of the gatekeepers of the Big Six is nothing more than an illusion; authors create the product, not the industry.
You can't win if you don't play. Get cracking.
The Winds of Heaven and Earth is coming along nicely, although at times I vacillate between "this is shit" and this is pretty good stuff." I'm about a third of the way through editing the first draft into a second, and I'm busy in parallel with re-writing the first chapter; I was never completely happy with it. I think the release date is going to slip from June to July, but that's OK--it'll be ready when it's ready.
On the publishing front, I Tweeted a fist pump last week about the state of the top ten digital titles, but never followed up with a blog post: five of the top ten titles were self published. Take that, gatekeepers!
This week, Digital Book World reports that six of the top twenty titles are self-published, still an amazing accomplishment, and something not many people would have bet on even a year ago (except for maybe Joe Konrath); that's hugely encouraging for writers toiling away on current projects. Only a select few will have a shot at that measure of success, but that's true for any profession or endeavor. The real take away is that the barriers formerly imposed by the Big Six no longer matter, and that readers are free to make their own judgements about the merit of your work. More and more readers and writers are discovering that the supposed value-add of the gatekeepers of the Big Six is nothing more than an illusion; authors create the product, not the industry.
You can't win if you don't play. Get cracking.
April 25, 2013
Ball of Confusion
Even though the horse is still dead, I'm continuing to beat the hell out of it. I'll keep this short, (or maybe not, come to think of it) because it's just a minor variation on the theme that J.A. Konrath, (in fact, he posted on this same subject this morning) Kristen Lamb, and a host of others have been bleating for a while: not only are legacy publishers getting hammered by the wave of change sweeping the book publishing industry, the best-selling name authors who are their bread and butter are clueless as well--panicked and out of touch with the reality that the midlist and Indie writers experience down in the trenches. They are more concerned with protecting themselves and the publishers that feed them than they are in helping or supporting their fellow authors. They're well-fed and fattened, and what they want most desperately is to turn back the clock to the status quo that existed for so long, a return to the days where the Big Six were the gatekeepers and books existed only on paper. And maybe getting rid of that Internet thing that seems to be causing everyone a lot of trouble too. Where did the god damned cheese go? I want it back.
In Salon yesterday morning, best-selling author James Patterson was interviewed about his call for a government bailout of the book industry. He doesn't seem to understand the issues; more than anything, he appears completely dazed and confused over what is going on. I'll let the article, which centers around the desperate ads Patterson placed in the New York Times Book Review and Publisher's Weekly last weekend, speak for itself.
What struck me was the sheer desperation of his plea. But what struck me the most was this: he has no idea of what to ask for. He has absolutely no solution, and he admits this several times in his post.
Dig this: "E-books are fine and dandy, but it’s all happening so quickly, and I don’t think anyone thought through the consequences of having many fewer bookstores, of libraries being shut down or limited, of publishers going out of business — possibly in the future, many publishers going out of business."
"I haven’t thought about it but I’m sure there are things that can be done. There might be tax breaks, there might be limitations on the monopolies in the book business. We haven’t gotten into laws that should or shouldn’t be done in terms of the internet. I’m not sure what needs to happen, but right now, nothing’s happening."
And the most pathetic piece: "My solutions to this point are the other things i’m doing, and it’s a lot. In terms of the big picture, yeah, if I’m gonna see Obama tomorrow — if i could see the president, I’m not sure what I’d say — because he’d say what do you want me to do? I think that’s the stage we’re at. The stage we need to get to, something needs to get done. Let’s go the next stage."
He states he believes it's the publishing industry that produces "enduring classics," (ironically forgetting the author), and says that "its power will be gravely foreshortened, and the number of classics limited, by attenuated publishing and bookselling industries . . . I don’t think we can be the country we’d like to be without literature."
My gut reaction to all this isn't anger, but embarrassment and pity. The poor Luddite somehow equates technology advance and the publishing industry paradigm shift to the end of literature of we know it.
The numbers show otherwise. More people are reading today than ever before, and the recent best-selling successes of self-published authors shows what can happen when self-imposed gatekeepers get out of the way and let authors write what they want and connect to audiences that embrace what they have to say.
Coming on the heels of Authors' Guild president Scott Turow's idiotic and widely-panned Op-Ed article in the New York Times last week, it simply shows how insulated from reality the authors at the top of the food chain are.
I'll say it again: all the noise coming from the industry Big Names are in defense of the status quo that has taken care of them for so long; there isn't a single sincere note sounded anywhere by any of them supporting the authors outside of their exclusive country club.
Wanna take a guess on how much Jimmy-boy earned last year from his buddies in the ivory tower?
Try $94 million. You think he has skin in the game? Yo, James: why don't you fork up some dough to bailout your bed partners?
A government bailout? Please. James, you want to bail out a short-sighted, greedy self-serving industry that shows not only a history of myopic behavior, but one that still refuses to get its head out of its ass?
Maybe the problem is that there are too many heads stuck in that ass to remove, without some serious surgery.
Dude, get an Internet connection, will ya?
In Salon yesterday morning, best-selling author James Patterson was interviewed about his call for a government bailout of the book industry. He doesn't seem to understand the issues; more than anything, he appears completely dazed and confused over what is going on. I'll let the article, which centers around the desperate ads Patterson placed in the New York Times Book Review and Publisher's Weekly last weekend, speak for itself.
What struck me was the sheer desperation of his plea. But what struck me the most was this: he has no idea of what to ask for. He has absolutely no solution, and he admits this several times in his post.
Dig this: "E-books are fine and dandy, but it’s all happening so quickly, and I don’t think anyone thought through the consequences of having many fewer bookstores, of libraries being shut down or limited, of publishers going out of business — possibly in the future, many publishers going out of business."
"I haven’t thought about it but I’m sure there are things that can be done. There might be tax breaks, there might be limitations on the monopolies in the book business. We haven’t gotten into laws that should or shouldn’t be done in terms of the internet. I’m not sure what needs to happen, but right now, nothing’s happening."
And the most pathetic piece: "My solutions to this point are the other things i’m doing, and it’s a lot. In terms of the big picture, yeah, if I’m gonna see Obama tomorrow — if i could see the president, I’m not sure what I’d say — because he’d say what do you want me to do? I think that’s the stage we’re at. The stage we need to get to, something needs to get done. Let’s go the next stage."
He states he believes it's the publishing industry that produces "enduring classics," (ironically forgetting the author), and says that "its power will be gravely foreshortened, and the number of classics limited, by attenuated publishing and bookselling industries . . . I don’t think we can be the country we’d like to be without literature."
My gut reaction to all this isn't anger, but embarrassment and pity. The poor Luddite somehow equates technology advance and the publishing industry paradigm shift to the end of literature of we know it.
The numbers show otherwise. More people are reading today than ever before, and the recent best-selling successes of self-published authors shows what can happen when self-imposed gatekeepers get out of the way and let authors write what they want and connect to audiences that embrace what they have to say.
Coming on the heels of Authors' Guild president Scott Turow's idiotic and widely-panned Op-Ed article in the New York Times last week, it simply shows how insulated from reality the authors at the top of the food chain are.
I'll say it again: all the noise coming from the industry Big Names are in defense of the status quo that has taken care of them for so long; there isn't a single sincere note sounded anywhere by any of them supporting the authors outside of their exclusive country club.
Wanna take a guess on how much Jimmy-boy earned last year from his buddies in the ivory tower?
Try $94 million. You think he has skin in the game? Yo, James: why don't you fork up some dough to bailout your bed partners?
A government bailout? Please. James, you want to bail out a short-sighted, greedy self-serving industry that shows not only a history of myopic behavior, but one that still refuses to get its head out of its ass?
Maybe the problem is that there are too many heads stuck in that ass to remove, without some serious surgery.
Dude, get an Internet connection, will ya?
