Matthew Wayne Selznick's Blog, page 11

Free Fiction By Subscription Coming Soon

Over the course of the last few weeks, I asked you to select which of three stories I would tell as a new serial free fiction-by-subscription offering to begin later this summer. “Walk Like A Stranger: Passing Through Home” earned 43% of the vote, squeaking by with 7% more votes than the runner up and twice as many as the last place selection.

“Walk Like A Stranger: Passing Through Home” is set in my wholly original fantasy storyworld, The Shaper’s World. Here’s how I described it last month:

All new priests of the Shaper of the World embark on a Walk, wandering the continent of Kaebrith “like a stranger,” observing and recording all they encounter to add to the repository of knowledge at the Library of Vale while gradually strengthening their own relationship with their god… and the formidable powers gained through that holy connection.

When his own Walk takes him through the village of his birth, can Tae Keb ignore the injustice and brutality of a local warlord, or will he abandon his god to save his home?

There are a few reasons I’m looking forward to this:

Itching To Get Back To Fiction

I finished the first draft of Pilgrimage four months ago to the day. It still took up a good bit of my creative energy thanks to editing, revising, and so on… and I still have ebook and paperback layout finishing touches to apply, so I’m not completely done. Never mind the marketing machine that’s about to rev up!

Still, it’s been four months since I’ve spent any creative energy on new fiction, and I really wanna.

The Technical Challenge

Before I started writing Pilgrimage, I embarked on a directed self-study of story structure, literary subtlety, and deliberate theming. My coursework was (and is) dramatic television, novels, films, and the very helpful Story Engineering by Larry Brooks. I think it paid off… and I think I learned even more in the actual process of writing the book. I’d better have, frankly!

“Walk Like A Stranger: Passing Through Home” will, I hope, continue my education. It’s time to see if a lifetime’s lessons at the school-by-osmosis in the field of episodic fiction — via dramatic television, soap operas, and the pinnacle of the form, Silver Age comicbooks — has sunk in.

The Distribution and Monetization Model

“Walk Like A Stranger: Passing Through Home” will be a free fiction-by-subscription serial released via email.

As some of you might recall, I tried a fiction-by-subscription project four or five years ago, but it was for-pay and involved a website, memberships, setting up limited access, and a whole host of upkeep and maintenance headaches.

To execute this free fiction by subscription distribution and monetization model, I’ll need a sign-up page and an Aweber account. Period.

Why Is This A Free Fiction Offering?

Because I want your email address, and the permission to, now and then, sell you products and services from myself and others.

I will have a pay-what-you-want option available if you want to be a patron of the project or give a tip for a specific episode that rocked your socks.

Also, once the 52-installment arc of “Passing Through Home” is complete, I’ll package it as a novel in various ebook and print formats — and subscribers will have the opportunity to purchase that collected edition at a substantial discount before it goes on the market. Of course, I’ll also (conceivably) earn income from the collected edition as it finds a new audience outside of my subscriber base.

So, while I’m not going to charge anyone to subscribe to this “free” fiction project, I do intend to earn an income from it!

Why A Subscription Instead Of Posting To A Website?

Because I want your email address, and the permission to, now and then, sell you products and services from myself and others. See above.

Why Email? Why Not RSS, Or An App?

Because I want your email address, and the permission to, now and then, sell you products and services from myself and others…

…and because email is ubiquitous.

You already have it. You won’t have to go anywhere you don’t already go, download anything you don’t already have, or use a specific device to access your subscription. Easy peasy, for you and for me.

The Storyworld

The Shaper’s World is a “wholly original” fantasy setting. That means no elves, no orcs, no re-skinned historical Earth culture, and no illogical monster ecology, economy, or geography.

That said, the characters in “Walk Like A Stranger: Passing Through Home” are (practically) humans, so you won’t be dealing with completely alien stuff — you’ll be able to root for, feel for, and hiss at the people you meet in the free fiction you read. The culture will feel familiar enough to not require a ton of exposition.

And there might be a little magic. But I promise to do my best not to put the characters through unnecessary hell so long as there are giant eagles that could get the job done in a minute, if you know what I mean.

The Shaper’s World is one of the first storyworlds I conceived (its roots go back as far as the proto-Sovereign Era I created in the eighties!) but I’ve yet to successfully bring it to life in a major work. I’m… well, stoked would not be too strong of a word to describe how I feel about playing with it now!

You Said I Should Do This!

Okay, granted, you didn’t all say I should do this, but no one said I shouldn’t, and enough of you seemed excited about the idea, and about “Walk Like A Stranger: Passing Through Home” in particular, that I’m pleased to be proceeding with the plan. I’m grateful for that!

The subscriptions for “Walk Like A Stranger: Passing Through Home” will open this summer. Please make sure you’re on my e-mail newsletter mailing list so you’re notified as soon as the free fiction project is live!

And thanks! This is going to be a bunch of fun.

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What’s Next?

Pilgrimage — A Novel of the Sovereign Era, the second volume of the Charters Duology and the third book of the Sovereign Era cycle, is in the hands of the copy editor. I’m done writing the thing; it’s all cleanup at this point.

The revised, expanded edition of Brave Men Run — A Novel of the Sovereign Era is likewise complete, with the paperback edition weeks away from hitting the market. It’s time for me to think about what’s next for me, creatively.

Astute readers will remember that I laid out my creative content plans for 2013 back in January. You don’t have to be particularly astute to recognize, however, that those plans have suffered the same fate the best laid plans oft do. A flu in February, the ever-present need to pursue freelance creative services gigs, editing going slower than I’d planned… when I’d laid out the year in January, this isn’t where I’d hoped to be in May.

I’m hitting re-set, and I’m looking for your input. First, the re-set:

What’s Next For The Rest of 2013

Here’s what I hope to accomplish in the rest of the year:

Next On Deck

In the immediate future we have…

Brave Men Run — A Novel of the Sovereign Era Revised and Expanded Edition Paperback

I’m shooting for a street date of May 28 or June 4. The paperback is designed and laid out; one more editing pass and I’ll be ordering a proof.

Pre-orders will start very soon… stay tuned. If you are a patron of the Pilgrimage Kickstarter campaign, you’ll have the opportunity to order an autographed copy for 50% off the retail price. If you’re on my mailing list, I’ll have a pre-order deal for you, too!

Pilgrimage — A Novel of the Sovereign Era Ebook Pre-Order

As with the revised and expanded Brave Men Run, Pilgrimage will be available in ebook formats a few weeks before the print edition is out. I’m hoping to start pre-orders toward the end of May!

If you’re on my mailing list, you’ll have the opportunity to pre-order at a discount. If you’re a patron of the Kickstarter campaign, you’ll receive your patron questionnaire somewhere around the end of the month so I can get the ebook bundle to you if you’re eligible.

An Updated Brave Men Run Podcast

The free podcast edition of Brave Men Run — A Novel of the Sovereign Era was recorded and released between September of 2005 and May of 2006. It no longer reflects the revised / expanded edition of the book, and it’s not representative of the work. It needs to go.

I don’t think it’s worth the time it would take to re-record it. Instead, I’ll record new intro and outro material and re-package the existing audio content so that it’s clear to listeners that the podcast is, effectively, an abridged version of the novel.

This semi-new podcast edition will replace the existing version on Podiobooks.com if possible… if not, the Podiobooks.com version will go away and the free podcast will be available from this site.

The Abridged Free Podcast Edition of Pilgrimage

Similar to the revised, expanded edition of Brave Men Run, Pilgrimage is presented through the first-person point of view of Nate Charters and the third-person points of view of other characters. The podcast edition of Pilgrimage will be limited to the chapters told from Nate’s point of view.

I’ll start recording this in June. Hopefully it’ll be available by the end of that month, but that’s going to depend entirely on my free time.

Summer, 2013

I have a couple of small non-fiction projects planned for some time this summer, and I’d like to start a big, ongoing project as well. Let’s talk about the non-fiction stuff first. The big project… that’s the one I need your input on. Read on…

Reading The Amazing Spider-Man

The cover is done and all but the last few chapters of this critique of the first year of The Amazing Spider-Man comicbook (with an eye for writers and creators on how an endearing and enduring storyworld is created) are written.

The book covers the first twelve issues and the first annual and is based on the blog series of the same name. This will be released in ebook formats before the end of summer.

Crowdfunding For Indie Authors

As I’ve mentioned, I ran a successful Kickstarter campaign to produce Pilgrimage — A Novel of the Sovereign Era. I’ve officially and unofficially advised other writers and filmmakers on their own Kickstarter projects. This short book will outline my crowdfunding methodology and strategy in the hopes that others will find the information and advice useful in their own endeavor.

It’s outlined and about half written and the cover is done, and I’ll release it in ebook formats before the end of the summer.

Outline Daikaiju Planet

I really want to write a novel set in my Daikaiju Universe storyworld. I’ve got a trilogy worked out at the broad-strokes level. With Pacific Rim and the reboot of Godzilla on the horizon, it seems like a good time to flesh out the first volume. I’ll begin working on this in the summer. Ideally, I’ll start writing in the fall.

Fall / Winter

The last six months of the year will ideally be spent working on Daikaiju Planet and… well, we’ve come to it. The next is up to you. Let’s talk about that.

Free Serial Fiction: Help Me Decide What To Write

In a month or so, I’m going to start work on a serial fiction project. Each story arc will be presented in fifty two weekly installments of about a thousand words each, and distributed via email subscription.

The cost will be… whatever you feel like paying, beginning with and including nothing at all. I will ask for your email address and the permission to occasionally market other content, products and services to you.

That’s right. Weekly story content for a year, delivered via subscription, right to your inbox, for free if you want. After the annual arc is complete, I’ll package it up and offer it for sale in ebook and paperback formats and start a new free arc.

You Decide What Story I Should Tell

I have three different stories especially suited for presentation as a weekly serial. I’m equally fond of, and excited about, each one. And they’re as different as can be from one another.

So, taking a page from the playbook of my colleague, the indie author Jake Bible, I’d like to let you tell me which one I should do — and I’d like you to tell me what it is that excites you about your choice!

And your choices are:

Harry Turpin, Mystic Protector: Baby Blue

Exposed to the fact that magic is real, challenged by a legacy of duty… can regular guy Harry Turpin handle a dangerous responsibility and avoid the curse of insanity that runs in his family while facing down a vile threat to reality itself?

Set in my Protector storyworld, “Harry Turpin, Mystic Protector” is an urban fantasy / occult thriller with a hero who’s more like a much-less-dangerous Repairman Jack than a much-less-skillful Harry Dresden. But he’s the only guy for the job, all the same. You may have met Harry in my short story, “Cloak.”

Hazy Days and Cloudy Nights: How It All Got Started

On the edge of adulthood, a group of young friends is challenged with tragedy, betrayal, and the biggest choices of their lives while they figure out who they are and who they’re going to be.

Set in the Sovereign Era storyworld a year before the historic Donner Declaration and featuring Lina Porter, Carson Meunetti, and other characters from Brave Men Run and Pilgrimage, “Hazy Days and Cloudy Nights” is a New Adult retro drama for fans of Love and Rockets, Say Anything, or Ghost World. This serial will be a from-scratch re-boot of the previously unfinished version from 2009.

Walk Like A Stranger: Passing Through Home

All new priests of the Shaper of the World embark on a Walk, wandering the continent of Kaebrith “like a stranger,” observing and recording all they encounter to add to the repository of knowledge at the Library of Vale while gradually strengthening their own relationship with their god… and the formidable powers gained through that holy connection.

When his own Walk takes him through the village of his birth, can Tae Keb ignore the injustice and brutality of a local warlord, or will he abandon his god to save his home?

Set in my original fantasy storyworld The Shaper’s World, “Walk Like A Stranger” is a little like Kung Fu if Caine had wandered in Nehwon, or Westros, rather than the Old West.

What Sounds Good To You?

If you’d like to get new serial fiction installments from me every week for a year for FREE, I need you to tell me which of these three to write.

Rather than filling out a boring old poll, please leave your choice in the comments section… and know this: particularly impassioned comments might carry more weight than others… so don’t be shy about voicing your opinion!

I’ll consider comments / votes through the end of the month. If the response is… lackluster… well, I’ll know my community isn’t interested in free serial fiction by subscription from me after all, and I’ll move on!

Let’s assume the best, though! Thinking positively, at the beginning of June, I’ll announce the winner and start outlining the fifty two installments!

That’s What’s Next!

Thanks for helping me, in part, decide what’s next for me in 2013. I’m counting on your opinion… and be sure to spread the word, too!

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He Made Wonders

Ray Harryhausen died today. The stop-motion animation master and Ray Bradbury had been best friends since they were teen-agers. I’ve talked about Ray Bradbury’s influence on my life and creative work before, but Ray Harryhausen got to me first, via a set of View Master disks that brought dinosaurs to life for me in glorious 3D. Those images were taken from Irwin Allen’s The Animal World. Here it is:

Ray H. got to bring some of Ray Bradbury’s vision to the screen in The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms. Look:

For me, Ray Harryhausen did the same thing for dinosaurs that his best friend did for Mars: bring the fantastic to beautiful, poetic, magical life. I like to imagine the two of them once again gleefully building wonders together, forever eighteen and forever enamored with movies and monsters.

Thanks, Ray!

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Now Available: Pre-Order Brave Men Run Revised and Expanded Edition Ebooks

I’m pleased to announce the .epub and .mobi formats of the revised, expanded edition of Brave Men Run — A Novel of the Sovereign Era has a public on-sale date of Tuesday, April 30, 2013. You can be among the first to get this edition in your hands (or in the e-reader in your hands, to be exact!) if you place a pre-order right now.

Check out the sales page for more information on how to pre-order Brave Men Run. If you’re hankering for the paperback edition, too, I’ll be running a pre-order on autographed copies of that in a few weeks.

More Sovereign Era News

Other than putting in place the infrastructure necessary for you to pre-order Brave Men — A Novel of the Sovereign Era revised and expanded edition .epub and .mobi formats, there’s more progress to report.

Pilgrimage

On the Pilgrimage front, developmental editor J. C. Hutchins delivered his comments and suggestions a few days ago, and I’m pleased to say the feedback is specific, detailed, and very useful. Pilgrimage will be a better book thanks to J. C.’s input.

In the coming week, I’ll be incorporating most of his suggestions into the manuscript. This will entail as much as an entire scene in one instance, but in most cases a line here or a phrase or carefully placed word there will be all that’s necessary.

Then, the manuscript will be in the hands of copy editor Cameron Harris for a bit. Once I get her corrections and adjustments back, I’ll begin the process of creating the ebook and paperback layouts. I’ll also being recording the abridged podcast edition around this time, too.

I anticipate that, similar to how I’m offering the opportunity to pre-order Brave Men Run, I’ll give folks a chance to do the same with ebook editions of Pilgrimage while the paperback is being crafted and proofed. I’ll repeat the pre-order process with the paperback (and fulfill the orders of all the patrons of my Kickstarter campaign) around that same time.

Brave Men Run

I’m putting the finishing touches on the ebook editions to make the Tuesday, April 30, 2013 on-sale date. Later this week, I’ll begin laying out the paperback edition.

Once I’m satisfied with the layout, I’ll wait for a proof to come back from the printer. Based on that, I’ll either have to make some corrections, or, with luck… I won’t! Either way, around the same time as I order the proof, I’ll open the pre-sale for the paperback.

I plan to offer autographed editions of the paperback for sale, as well, and if you were a patron of the Pilgrimage Kickstarter campaign, you’ll be able to buy that at 50% off the retail price.

The Sovereign Era: Year One and Other Stuff

My anthology, The Sovereign Era: Year One, as well as the individually sold short stories from that work, could use a fresh eye to polish out a few typos and editorial errors. I’ll probably get to that some time this year. I also plan on moving the paperback edition of The Sovereign Era: Year One from its current print-on-demand printer to Amazon’s CreateSpace, especially if, as I suspect, that move will save me a little money per copy.

And I might… might… make an unabridged audiobook edition of Pilgrimage available for sale. We’ll see how demand is for that.

But for now…

Please pre-order Brave Men Run — A Novel of the Sovereign Era revised and expanded edition in .epub or .mobi formats!

Thanks! And please… let me know what you think of all this stuff… in the comments!

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Eighth Day Genesis Featuring Matthew Wayne Selznick Nominated for Origins Award

I’m pleased to announce “Eighth Day Genesis — A Worldbuilding Codex for Writers and Creatives,” the essay anthology including my own “History For Story’s Sake,” has been nominated by the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design for a 2013 Origins Award in the Best Game-Related Publication category.

“Eighth Day Genesis” is a collection of essays on worldbuilding and subcreation for writers and gamers from nearly two dozen authors.

My own essay, “History For Story’s Sake, or, Why No One Cares Who The Emperor Was 500 Years Ago. Unless They Should,” explores why the historic details of your storyworld or role playing game setting can be an effective tool to enhance the story at hand, so long as you don’t go too far down the expository rabbit-hole.

About The Origins Awards

The Origins awards are among the most prestigious in the tabletop and role playing gaming community, so I’m very proud to be part of a project considered to be among the best in the industry!

Award winners will be announced at the Origins Game Fair in Colombus, Ohio on Saturday, June 15, 2013.

It would be neat if “Eighth Day Genesis — A Worldbuilding Codex For Writers and Creatives” won as the Best Game-Related Publication, but even if that doesn’t come to pass, it’s a great privilege to have participated in a nominated project.

Going To Origins? Vote for Eighth Day Genesis!

If you’re attending the Origins Game Fair, you can vote for the winners of the Origins Awards. I hope you’ll cast your vote for Best Game-Related Publication in favor of “Eighth Day Genesis — A Worldbuilding Codex for Writers and Creatives!”

You’ll be able to check the book out from Lending Library at the Origins Game Fair in order to review it, but I also hope you’ll consider purchasing a copy of the paperback or ebook editions from Amazon.com or directly from the publisher, Alliteration Ink. All of the contributing authors participated on a royalty-share basis, so we’ll each earn a small percentage payment from each sale.

Thanks!

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How To Reinvent Brick and Mortar Bookstores And Finally Realize The Third Place

I have an idea how an enterprising, book-loving entrepreneur can reinvent brick and mortar bookstores and revitalize the concept of the elusive “third place.” While I’m sure I’m not the first person to conceive of this idea in some form, today I was inspired to finally share it.

Why I Want To See Someone Reinvent Brick and Mortar Bookstores

I spent half my life working in media retail. More than half of that time, I was a bookseller. In particular, I worked at two bookstores that aimed to establish the bookstore as a viable Third Place:- that anchor of community life separate and distinct from, but informed by, the workplace and the home.

Reinvent brick and mortar bookstores and make Ray Bradbury happy!

Fahrenheit 451, the landmark Laguna Beach, California bookstore / coffeehouse P.D. James called her “perfect idea of a bookstore” and the only bookstore to carry that name with the blessing of Ray Bradbury himself, was the kind of place where movie stars, recording artists, tourists, and “townies” browsed and conversed side by side. Through the years, each of Fahrenheit’s owners actively encouraged the idea of the store as a cultural focal point by supporting local craftspeople and artists and hosting seminars, author events, and local music.

Despite unwavering support from the community, the store’s twenty five year run did not survive the devastating damage of an employee’s embezzlement scheme, and they closed their doors for good in 1994. I worked there from the grand opening of their expanded location in 1991 for about a year or so — a short, but formative time.

Borders Books and Music, as it will always be known to me despite the many adjustments of its name over the years, was a “big box” chain one wouldn’t ordinarily think existing in the same context as a scrappy indie bookstore like Fahrenheit 451. However, Borders began as an indie just three years after Fahrenheit 451 first opened its doors, and carried a very local-centric attitude well into the 1990s. When I joined the company in September of 1995, each store had a great deal of autonomy and a mandate to serve their local community that was reflected in the stock and an active commitment to local events, authors, music, and art.

By the turn of the century, Borders Group, Inc. had bowed to stockholder pressure and became increasingly homogeneous, centralized, and faceless. Several missed opportunities and revolving door of four CEOs in it last five years eventually brought the chain, once consider the envy of the industry, to liquidation. I worked at Borders for ten years and one month. I held many positions, but the one I performed longer than any other was the best job in bookselling: trainer.

With the demise of Borders, all we’re really left with in the United States is Barnes and Noble… and for a very long time, their primary mission has been to sell memberships, not books, and a commitment to the establishment of a Third Place doesn’t seem to be on the minds of anyone in charge there.

Despite the ubiquity of Amazon.com and the easy, once-removed connection provided by online social networks, I think there’s still plenty of room for a brick and mortar bookstore that is also a Third Place. I’d love to see it happen. Heck, I’d love to help see it happen, under the right circumstances and with the right people.

Here’s how I see it.

How To Reinvent Brick and Mortar Bookstores

The key to realizing a viable reinvention of the bookstore and establishment of a Third Place is to swap the priorities. Rather than a bookstore where people can also drink coffee, eat dessert, and hang out for hours, approach it the other way.

Build a place where people are encouraged to eat and drink and hang out for hours… and buy any book that strikes their fancy.

“So, what,” I hear you say, “a ‘coffehouse / bookstore’ instead of a ‘bookstore / coffeehouse?’ That’s the big idea?”

Not A Coffeehouse

I’m not talking about a coffeehouse model. Coffeehouses aren’t truly designed to be effective, encouraging Third Places. The seating is (intentionally) uncomfortable. The tables are small.

I’m talking about a floorplan designed to keep people there for hours… and get them talking with each other; engaging with one another.

Seating is a big part of this. Rather than small tables with uncomfortable chairs and big comfy chairs with inadequate tables (the standard coffeehouse arrangement), how about this:

Individual “workstation” setups — small tables with one or two chairs — are available, but there aren’t too many of these.
There are lots of large round tables surrounded by sensible, comfortable chairs. The tables have outlets and charging stations, so you can work and hang out forever if you want, but you’ll do it next to, and across from, other people doing the same.
Booths exist, as do small conference rooms, for a more intimate engagement with the people you bring, or the people you meet. Book clubs and other meet ups can happen here, too.
There’s a bar. Whether or not the place serves alcohol is an open question, but darn it, there’s a bar. Get to know your barista and the person on the next stool.
A large space, with a sound system, small stage, and rows of seating, exists off of the main room. While spontaneous conversations happen elsewhere, this is the place where seminars, concerts, small plays, readings, and comedians and performance artists do their stuff. And they can happen without disturbing folks who didn’t necessarily plan on being entertained when they showed up… and, of course, the entertaining can happen in a setting where the coffee machine isn’t interrupting every five minutes.

One more thing about seating: at the reinvented bookstore, you don’t seat yourself. You’re seated according to the size of your party, your reason for being there, and the availability of seating. The host who knows their store and clientele very well (something that won’t take long at the hyper-local reinvented bookstore of the twenty-first century) will even seat people according to temper and tastes. It’s all about encouraging and even engineering community — a Third Place by design, driven by intent.

What About The Books?

Instead of a huge inventory of product constantly being churned by the wasteful, outdated twentieth century returns cycle, there will be very, very few books in the reinvented bookstore. A few cases of bestsellers, local interest titles, and works by local authors, plus perennial classics and whatever’s on the local schools’ required reading lists. A magazine rack, maybe. That’s it.

However, at the reinvented bookstore, nearly any book in print can be found and ordered through the in-store network and a couple of kiosks… and nearly any book in print, once purchased, will be printed on-site, made to order, through the use of Espresso Book Machines.

What’s to stop people from ordering books on their phones and tablets from Amazon or wherever? Not a thing… but prominent signage (and on-screen reminders when you log in to the wifi) encourages people to either use the in-store system or, if they must use Amazon or Barnes and Noble.com, to please use the store’s affiliate links. The beauty of the affiliate link, of course, is that the customer might continue to make money for the store through Amazon purchases, even after they’ve gone home!

How To Reinvent the Brick and Mortar Bookstore Business Model

So… how does the reinvented bookstore make money?

Naturally, there’s money to be made in the sales of drinks and food, sales of books and periodicals, and affiliate sales. The mark-up on drinks and food is tremendous. With nearly no returns and very few up-front orders of books and periodicals, the only investment in that area is in supplies and maintenance of the Espresso Book Machines and attendant technology. And affiliate sales are, of course, pretty much entirely profit.

But the real money to be made lies in the value of the reinvented bookstore as an active, engaged, user-friendly Third Place.

Engagement As A Service Worth Paying For

How often have you been to a big-box bookstore for a book club, a Toastmasters meeting, a children’s story time, maybe a writer’s critique group, or to see a guy with an acoustic guitar? When you were there, how often did you spend any money in the bookstore? The attached Starbucks doesn’t count.

Probably not very often… and yet, that’s exactly why big box bookstores open a portion of their sales floor to free events. It’s also why there are fewer and fewer of these events at big box bookstores in general… and fewer and fewer big box bookstores, come to think of it!

The reinvented bookstore of the twenty-first century will understand that a really great place to engage with the community is worth paying for. Not much, mind you, and it will always be free to just come in and hang out in the big common area… but if you’re there for a seminar, a singer-songwriter, a comedian, or you want to use a little room for your meetup, karaoke party, or what have you… you will be expected to pay.

And here’s an idea: the venue shares the take with the musician, seminar teacher, host of the meetup, etc. The reinvented bookstore of the future will never ask a musician to pay for “exposure.” The bookstore of the future understands that the relationship between venue and artist must be treated as symbiotic.

Put a price on an event — even a buck to listen to the guitar guy do his sappy original music and seventies covers — and suddenly it’s an event — not just something happening, kinda half-assed, over in a corner.

The reinvented bookstore of the future puts a value on the educational, social, and entertainment to be found in the local community, and makes money from that commodity.

Can Your See It?

Does my vision for how to reinvent brick and mortar bookstores make sense to you? Can you see the place I’ve described? Would be hang out there, give it your custom, if such a place existed in your community? Would you make it your Third Place?

I think it makes sense, and I think the business model is viable. Of course, I haven’t run any real numbers, but it certainly feels like it makes sense, especially in the right markets. Someone with an MBA tell me I’m right. Or tell me I’m wrong.

Explain why, in either case… and use small words, please. Share your thoughts on how to reinvent brick and mortar bookstores in the comments section, and please, do share this post with your social networks… let’s keep this idea on the fire until someone cooks something with it!

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Indie Authors, Stop Trying To Build An Audience

Among indie authors and those interested in self publishing, there’s a lot of discussion and debate about how to best build an audience. Without an audience, the thinking is, you simply don’t sell any books. Without an audience, conventional wisdom insists, you’ll never attract the interest of a traditional publisher, if that’s your goal.

People (try to) make careers teaching writers and other creators how to build an audience. Heck, I’ve taken a paycheck or two in return for relating my own experience in that regard.

Even so: It’s time for all of us to stop trying to build an audience. And it’s time to stop listening to people who advise you to build an audience. Right now.

What Is An Audience?

Misha Gordin – Faceless Crowd

Think about what you’re saying when you talk about “an audience for your work.” Think about what an audience is, and does:

Consider the audience at a music concert at a big arena rock show.

The musicians have what just about any creator hopes for: thousands — tens of thousands — of people willing to trade money for the opportunity to experience their creative endeavor.

But the audience at a concert is separated from the musicians, often by great distance. Sometimes the audience is so far from the performers, they have to watch them on giant television screens… another wide gap, another degree of isolation between the consumer and the creator.

Sure, some brave, daring soul might make it through the barriers and security guards and crawl up on the stage, but what happens to them? They’re dragged away as quickly as possible.

Sure, once in a while the musicians might invite an audience member on stage for a moment. As special as those few minutes might be for the fan, it’s probably a one-time thing. The musicians probably wouldn’t recognize that fan if they ran into them on the street a week later. And the rest of the audience? A vicarious, “could have been me,” experience.

The audience receives what the creator chooses to deliver. The audience, more likely than not, knows the creator only through the lens of their creations.

If you’re trying to build an audience, you’re really only building something to broadcast to. You’re creating a body of recipients for your creative endeavors.

And those recipients? They will never truly know you, or what you’re trying to say with your art. They will never be as connected to you… as invested in you, your work, and whether you succeed or fail… as they could be.

What a waste. What a tragic, missed opportunity for indie authors… and creators of all types.

A Conversation Age Alternative To Building An Audience

The Information Age, Wikipedia tells us, is “characterized by the shift from traditional industry… to an economy based on the information computerization.” It was symbolized by the ease with which information was accessible to a much larger portion of humanity than ever before.

It wasn’t long — an eyeblink of history, really — before the same tools that enabled the Information Age ushered humanity into another period in our ever-more-rapid development: The Conversation Age.

What Is The Conversation Age

Step into the wayback machine with me as I meander through an explanation of the Conversation Age. It’ll all come around to why focusing on building an audience is stupid and you shouldn’t do it; I promise.

We’re social primates whose earliest connected groups were at the family / clan level. The radius of our world was the distance we could walk in a day, except perhaps for semi-regular excursions to meet with other clans and trade goods, genetic material… and stories.

For most of human history, our traveling speed matched our communication speed. When a journey to another continent took months, human communication was still, essentially, a local thing, and slow.

The telegraph and telephone shortened the effective distance and increased the effective speed, but those communication methods were still restricted by resources. Remember per-minute long distance charges?

Now, though! A sizeable portion of the human race is connected at the speed of light. With the click of a button, I can communicate in real time, face to face, with any number of people, on seven continents, at the same time. And the cost of that experience is so low as to be essentially free.

Now! We can, if we choose, define our family, our clan, our tribe, as the people who share our passions, our interests.

The village is everywhere at once, as close as thought.

We’re in two-way conversations, unrestrained by distance or time, with people whose connection to us enriches and adds value to our lives.

We’re engaged.

It’s Better To Converse Than Simply Consume

An anecdote: I saw the band U2 on the first leg of their tour supporting the album “The Unforgettable Fire.” During the show, Bono invited a guy on stage and handed him a guitar. The dude got to play with the biggest band in the world for four minutes, and it was undoubtedly awesome for him — seemingly, a moment of honest, real engagement, a conversation, of sorts, with people who were otherwise unreachable to that fan.

For the rest of us, it was apparently an electrifying moment of community.

Except that it wasn’t.

This was something the band did nearly every show that tour. It was a planned part of the evening. Bringing a fan onstage with the band wasn’t a spontaneous conversation. It wasn’t an organic expression of community. It was theater, a manufactured experience that degraded the core sentiment into something like a lottery.

Once you knew that, you were no longer part of a conversation with the band. You, and everyone else, was relegated to audience. Consumers, not community.

I’d been a fan of U2 since 1979, but that was the beginning of the end for me. There was no real connection there. A real connection requires sincere connection from both sides.

Another anecdote: When I worked at Mahalo.com in Santa Monica, California, it wasn’t uncommon for the CEO to bring actors, writers, entrepreneurs, and celebrities around to show them what we were doing and hang out with us for the day. I met Matthew Modine that way, and because he was just getting into Twitter, he invited us all to follow him, and he followed some of us back.

Let’s be clear: we’re not best buds or anything. But I appreciate how he uses Twitter as a tool to communicate, to express himself, and, perhaps because he recognizes his platform and ability to reach others, I give him props for promoting the tweets of others much more often than he promotes himself. Sure, there’s no correct way to use Twitter… but he is.

It was through Matthew Modine’s tweets that I learned of animator Ralph Bakshi’s Kickstarter project to make his first film in many years, “Last Days of Coney Island.”

Bakshi’s work was a formative influence on me: when I think of “The Lord of the Rings,” it’s images from his adaptation, not the books or the Peter Jackson films, that fill my head. And “American Pop” showed me the deep vein of lifeblood music carries through American history, and infused in me a strong desire to be part of that flow through my own creative endeavors. I pledged my support and promoted the project as often as I could without becoming a pain in the ass.

When “Last Days of Coney Island” Kickstarter campaign exceeded its goal, I felt a strong sense of pride. Community pride. Equally, I feel as though I’ve given back to Ralph Bakshi; a small, reciprocal act to thank him for his contribution to the richness in my life.

This is the result of real, authentic connections between creators and consumers. And of course, when you have authentic connections between creators and consumers, it goes beyond creators trying to build an audience.

So? What should creators be doing, if not trying to build an audience?

Build A Community, Not An Audience

With thirteen hundred words behind us, the point should be obvious: Trying to build an audience is half-assed. It’s last century thinking unworthy of Conversation Age creators like ourselves.

If you want to succeed as an independent creator, you must build a community.

What Does It Mean To Build A Community?

It’s simple, really. But that doesn’t mean it will be easy for all of you. It requires a shift of perspective.

In Michael W. Dean’s documentary “DIY or Die,” bassist Mike Watt said…

“Y’know, you get a kink in your neck looking up at people or looking down at people, but if you look right across your shoulder, you know, right at your peers… there’re no kinks.”

That’s really all you need to do: recognize that the people consuming your art are not some distant, silent “audience,” not if you’re willing to let them be more. Not if you’re willing to do more.

They’re your peers. They’re important — in fact, they’re essential. They deserve to be treated with respect.

They deserve your engagement as much as you desire theirs.

Here’s a fact: your creative endeavor — your book, your art, your movie, whatever — is utterly without worth until it’s experienced by someone else.

As creators, what we do is entirely a partnership with the people who experience our creations. Doing it yourself means never going it alone. These people: they’re your community, ready-made.

It doesn’t matter what tools you use. Blog, email list, Facebook page, Twitter account, forum, podcast, Google Hangouts… those are conduits. It’s what you put into it that matters, and what you accept from the people who want to know you.

Wonderland USA — Zoe Beloff

But Matt, I Just Want To Write!

Great! You go ahead and write.

But if you want to be an author — or, put more broadly, if you want people to experience the art you create… if you want people to be truly engaged with your work and committed to your success… you have a much better chance of that as part of a community that cares about you, and knows you care about them.

If you’re satisfied with simply having an audience… if you’re more comfortable staying on the stage and keeping your readers on the other side of the barricade… so be it. You might still have sales. Heck, you might have a lot of sales, especially if you pound out content in a genre full of folks interested in quick, disposable reads.

That’s great. If you’re satisfied with being a disposable author.

Your Community Is Waiting For you

Engage with them.

Be open to them.

Be open, period.

Let them know you need them.

Trust them.

Love them. As people. As individuals

You’ll know how to do it. Start with a conversation.

A little nervous? Scared?

Good.

Your art should challenge you. Remember?

Will You Stop Trying To Build An Audience and Build Community Instead?

Indie authors, indie creators… will you start building community around your creative endeavors? Let us know how you’re going to do it… or ask this community if you need help.

Are you already building your community? Share your stories.

Do you think I’m asking too much; being too naive, or too idealistic? Let’s talk about it.

I’m looking forward to your comments. In fact, I need them, if this is to be a conversation. Let’s make it one.

Are there folks you think should be part of this conversation but might not know about my site? Please share this post with them, too.

Thanks!

This is a post from Matthew Wayne Selznick. Thanks for reading Indie Authors, Stop Trying To Build An Audience -- please click through and comment, and share with everyone you know!

Hey There, Folks

Hey there! Seems like there’s about an 80% chance that if you’re reading this, you’re a brand new visitor to this site. You may have come from New York Times bestselling author Tracy Hickman’s Scribe’s Forge, or from the Indie Author Marketing Info group on LinkedIn, or from Twitter or some other social media site… no matter what, I’m glad you’re here!

Who Is Matthew Wayne Selznick?

Short version: I’m an author and creator working with words, music, pictures, and people. I’m the creator of the popular Sovereign Era storyworld, which features the novels “Brave Men Run” and “Pilgrimage” (Spring, 2013) as well as the anthology “The Sovereign Era: Year One” and a few short stories.

Feeling very curious and want the long version? The About Page should get you deep enough down the rabbit hole to keep you busy for a while!

What I’m Up To Right Now

February, 2013 has me occupied with the following:

First-pass on-paper edits of my next book, “Pilgrimage — A Novel of the Sovereign Era” before turning the manuscript over to my content and copy editors.
Writing the first draft of a short non-fiction instructional e-book related to one specific area of indie author marketing.
Revising and expanding my first book, “Brave Men Run — A Novel of the Sovereign Era” for a new paperback edition (creating a matched set with “Pilgrimage”).
Plotting and outlining an upcoming serial fiction project.
Working with an energy efficiency non-profit and a healthcare industry authority marketer to improve their websites and brands.
Writing the next two installments of my critical blog series, “Reading the Amazing Spider-Man.”
Struggling, alas, to get over a chest cold.

Stay Up To Date

Now that you’re here, I hope you’ll stay in touch!

My favorite way for you to do that is to sign up for my free e-mail newsletter. I only send you stuff when I have something important to share — a new creative product like a book, short story, or work of non-fiction, a discount or deal on my creative services, or something else I think you’ll enjoy or find value in — so that means you might go a while without hearing from me. Still, it’s the most sure-fire way to reach you when I need to… and sometimes my e-mail subscribers get opportunities I don’t share anywhere else. Sign up for free!

If you’re mostly interested in my blog posts, you can subscribe via RSS or email — check out the sidebar on any page of mattselznick.com for details.

Finally, I encourage you to “Like” my Facebook page or follow me on Twitter. Be sure to read my Social Media Policy!

Where’d You Come From?

How’d you find yourself at my site? , and thanks for dropping by! I’ll see you again soon.

This is a post from Matthew Wayne Selznick. Thanks for reading -- please click through and comment, and share with everyone you know!

On The Made-Up International Don’t Pirate My Book Day

Chuck Wendig, a creator I don’t personally know but with whom I share oodles of Facebook friends, decided today, February 6, 2013, is something called “International Don’t Pirate My Book Day.” It’s meant to provide a forum, “where authors and writers and creatives of all types hop online to share their thoughts about piracy.”

Well, then, why isn’t it called “International Authors Talk About Book Piracy Day?” Why is a hard-line position taken in the very name of the thing, especially when Wendig himself acknowledges that the issue is not at all black and white?

Probably because nice declarative headline-level statements of position make for better search engine fuel. Can’t blame a guy for that. Gotta get those unique visitors, after all. I’ve done the same thing.

Heck, in the same spirit — and since its been a while since I’ve written on the subject — I’ll join the band and jump on the wagon to share my thoughts about “piracy.”

First, Stop Calling It Piracy

Piracy is an act of robbery. Robbery is defined as “The felonious taking of personal property from someone using force or the threat of force.”

(Another definition is “Unashamed swindling or overcharging.” Looking at you, entertainment industry in all its forms!)

Making a copy of a digital file against the wishes of the creator / rights holder of that digital file is not robbery. Personal property hasn’t been taken, by force or otherwise. The duplication of a digital file doesn’t invalidate anyone’s possession of that property, or remove anyone’s ability to use that property.

Calling the unauthorized duplication of a digital file “piracy” is worse than an over-simplifying soundbyte. It’s an overblown attempt at vilification.

So stop it.

Art Has Value

I believe a creation is not art until that creation is made available to be experienced by someone other than the creator.

I’ve been making art — in the form of music, zines, stories, novels, and other stuff — since 1985. I’ve been making art on the Internet since 1998.

I believe art is a kind of transaction. The creator provides an experience, usually packaged as some kind of media, and the consumer takes that media and experiences it. Usually, this results in some kind of emotional response on the part of the consumer.

In return for that experience, I believe the consumer should compensate the creator in whatever way the creator indicates they prefer. Often, but not always, this compensation takes the form of money because the creator requires money to exist in the world and, ideally, make more stuff to be experienced.

Based on those beliefs, I would like people who experience my art to compensate me for that experience. Usually — almost always — that means “give me money equal to the cost I have assigned to the thing.” Sometimes, it means “give me permission to contact you.” Sometimes, it means, “tell other people about the things I make.” These are all forms of compensation for the art.

The De-Valuing Argument

Chuck Wendig thinks “file-sharing expresses the value of… art at baseline of almost zero.”

I think that’s bullshit.

Generally speaking, if I were to put myself in the head of a person who actively shares digital files without the permission of the rights holder, I think I’d only share the things I think are valuable. Why would I waste my time and take the effort to share things I think are worthless?

Chuck says file-sharing is “simple, so effortless, even careless it feels like it dismisses the entire thing we do.”

Nonsense. Compare these two activities:

1) Buy a Chuck Wendig e-book from Amazon.com and start reading:

Visit Amazon
Search “Chuck Wendig”
Find “250 Things You Should Know About Writing“
Click “Buy Now”
Read right now on my desktop computer, Kindle device, or any device with the Kindle reader app installed.

I just did it (you’re welcome, Chuck). It took longer to type the steps than to actually get the product and start reading “The Internet is 55% porn, and 45% writers…”

2) Find an unauthorized duplicate of a Chuck Wendig e-book and start reading:

Visit Google
Search “Chuck Wendig” and “torrent”
Browse the results. Note that one result has been removed by Google after a DMCA request
Click “chuck wendig torrents” at the Pirate Bay.mk
Wait. No, seriously, as I type this, I’m waiting for the site to resolve. It’s taking forever.
Give up and go directly to http://thepiratebay.se/
Type “chuck wendig” in the search box
No results found.

Damn, this file sharing business is, like, the farthest thing from simple and effortless! Who knew? It’s a lot of work! If I was billing for this time, I would have cost the client, like, five bucks! You know: five times the cost of the book.

Let’s assume I wanted to make unauthorized digital copies of the e-book I bought from Amazon and distribute it on a torrent site. Do you think that’s a simple thing?

Guess again.

Thanks for working through that little exercise with me. My point, of course, is that you have to really think something is worth sharing to get an illegal copy of it and try to share it. It’s (comparatively, usually) much easier and more cost effective to simply buy a copy.

So it’s likely that the people who are actively participating in file-sharing are doing so because they see the value in the thing they’re sharing.

Is that the best way for the file-sharer to support the creator? Certainly not. But I don’t think the idea that file-sharing diminishes value holds any kind of water.

The Convenience Hypocrisy

Art has value. All artists — all creators — deserve to be compensated for the art they provide. Period.

In response to Chuck’s post, I saw a comment from Luke Turpeinen on Facebook. Luke says:

Book piracy is odd to me. While I have no qualms pirating software needed for side projects or freelancing (I don’t have $3000 laying around for that specialty program), I do have $6 for a paperback or e-book. Finding and buying books authentically is easier and more convenient than pirating (which are other reasons people pirate games, software and movies)… I just see no reason to pirate books.

In other words, it’s okay to not compensate a creator if you don’t have the money but really, really need the creator’s work so you can make money as a freelancer. But, hey, I’ll drop six bucks on a book any day of the week, so long as it’s more convenient than pirating.

Hey, Luke, it looks like you’re a 3D artist. Y’know what, I could use some 3D art right now. It’s a big job — probably take you hundreds of hours. I can’t afford your rates, whatever they are, but I need you to do this stuff for me right now so I can turn around and sell it. I’m sure you’ll be fine with that. Looking forward to your contacting me.

Also, fuck you.

Now, some folks will complain that they really want a certain video game, or the ability to watch a TV show, and that they would gladly pay money for it, but due to licensing, digital rights management, territorial restrictions, or some other bar put in place by the content creator or their distributors, it’s impossible or very difficult to do so. They will turn to an unauthorized digital copy to consume that work.

I’ve done this. In the past.

Really, though, if one really wants to send a message to content creators about the inherent anti-consumer nature of DRM, the ridiculous and arbitrary practice of regional restrictions, and so on, the best practice is to not consume the thing at all. That’s how capitalism works, pretty much.

So do that.

My Position On Unauthorized Digital Duplication and File Sharing

If you were to buy one copy of everything I have available for sale at, say, Amazon.com, as of this writing it would cost you less than $75.00 for 17 books, ebooks, CDs, and mp3s created, written, performed or edited by me.

My gross earnings from Amazon.com in 2012 were $1057.94. A drop in the bucket, you might think… but I’m here to tell you that income was critically important to me last year. 2012 wasn’t what you’d call a feast or famine kind of year of me… no, it was more like “barely sustainable or famine.”

Small though it might be, I could not do without the money I make from my creative endeavors.

So I prefer that, given the choice, you purchase my digital content and not obtain it in an unauthorized fashion. Buy my stuff. You make a difference in my life when you do; no exaggeration.

But!

If you do acquire my digital works through an unauthorized source… so it goes. Apparently you wouldn’t have spent the money anyway, because my stuff is super easy to get and isn’t restricted by DRM. So it’s no loss for me.

Do me a favor, though: write a review, or Tweet about it, or spread the word about my works in whatever way you see fit. Maybe your evangelism will result in someone else exchanging their money from my effort.

At the End of the Day…

Look, unauthorized file sharing doesn’t hurt me. It doesn’t help me in the ways I most need the help, either. It’s a zero-sum game at worst.

That’s why I don’t really worry about it when it comes to my own work. So long as I’m making stuff people want, and I’m providing that stuff at a reasonable price with no unreasonable restrictions, in a way that is easy to acquire, I’m doing everything I can.

Fretting over unauthorized file sharing is more trouble than it’s worth.

What Do You Think About International Don’t Pirate My Book Day?

I’m eager to talk about this with creators and consumers alike. Let yourself be heard in the comments!

This is a post from Matthew Wayne Selznick. Thanks for reading On The Made-Up International Don’t Pirate My Book Day -- please click through and comment, and share with everyone you know!

My Second Novel is Written

So this is what 94,500 words looks like! 2.25″ and 519 pages tall.

The first draft of “Pilgrimage — A Novel of the Sovereign Era,” follow-up to my 2005 book “Brave Men Run,” is finished.

I got a little teary when I wrote the last nineteen words. I got a little giddy when I told my girlfriend I was done.

This draft runs 94,500 words, give or take. Five hundred nineteen manuscript pages. It took forty five minutes to print, even with the printer on draft mode.

After editing passes by me, J. C. Hutchins and Cameron Harris, I suspect it will be shorter. No matter what, it’s still the largest single piece I’ve ever written. That feels pretty good.

Pilgrimage Statistics, Words and Numbers

I started writing the first draft of “Pilgrimage” on September 7, 2012. Four months, twenty three days, twenty two hours and thirty nine minutes later, on January 31, 2013, I wrote “THE END.” My first novel took one year, six months and twenty three days to write. “Pilgrimage” was written in a quarter of the time it took me to write “Brave Men Run.”

Does that mean my productivity will continue to improve at that rate and my next book will be written in 37 days? Not likely… but there is room to improve, as we’ll see:

The book’s sixty five scenes were written across 84 writing sessions, which means I wrote on just over 57% of the 146 days between the start and finish. My writing speed was, on average, 940 words per hour. My most productive speed was 1,550 words per hour; my least, 256.

Fully one third of the book — almost 32,000 words — was written in the month of January, when I wrote on every day save two. The least productive month was October, when just 12% of the total was completed. “Butt in chair” is not a lie, my friends. Except when you mostly write standing up, like me, of course.

What’s Next In Pilgrimage Progress

On Sunday, I’ll begin to go through the printed manuscript and do an editing pass for content, brevity, and clarity. Then, I’ll incorporate my edits into a new draft. I expect that to take about a week.

Then, the manuscript goes off to the content editor. He works his magic, I review his suggestions and incorporate the edits into a third draft.

Finally, the copy editor gets her shot at it. Once I get it back, once again it’s time for me to review and incorporate.

Once the manuscript is locked, the process of creating paperback and e-book layouts can begin. I can also begin recording the abridged, free, podcast edition. And generally get this baby ready for the world.

All The While…

While all of that’s going on, I’ll still be writing. I have a short non-fiction e-book to finish. The revised, expanded edition of “Brave Men Run — A Novel of the Sovereign Era.” And a new serial fiction project to begin plotting.

It’s great to be done with the first draft of “Pilgrimage.” But there’s still a whole big pile of work to do!

This is a post from Matthew Wayne Selznick. Thanks for reading My Second Novel is Written -- please click through and comment, and share with everyone you know!