Mark Phillips's Blog, page 5

On the importance of Fans

First, I just want to let everyone know that my third novel, Re-Test, is available now. Here are the links: Amazon
Barnes & Noble

Maybe there comes a point when you get so many fans that you start taking it for granted? I hope that's not the case, but I've personally witnessed a few incidents of celebrities being rude to their fans.

Of course, it could just be that those particular celebrities were always dicks.

I don't have many fans right now, but there are a few of you out there. I've spoken with you through email or on Facebook and many of you have posted reviews to Goodreads and Amazon.

I thought I would take a moment to send a special thank you to all of my fans.

Writing is a private thing. I sit in my chair at my desk and I type words out on a screen. Only, I'm not really seeing the screen. What I'm seeing are the pictures in my head and what I'm hearing isn't the music blaring from the speakers it's the characters as they speak their lines and play their part. It's a private show that goes on in my head. A performance meant only for me.

Then the time comes to publish the book, and that show goes from an intimate performance to a public affair.

This is a nerve-racking time for any writer. I know that this is the time that I will be judged. This is the time that I will discover if all of my work paid off. In short, this is when I find out if you still like me.

I cherish all of my readers and I hate to disappoint anyone. Each new book is another chance to entertain you or to let you down.

And each time feels like the first time all over again. I'm not sure if that's how it is for writers who are more established than I am. Writers who have produced upwards of twenty books and been successful with all of them. All I know is that I find myself pacing the floor with each release.

You, my readers, keep coming back for more and that is the greatest gift that one person can give another. With each book you purchase you say to me that I am worth your time. That what I'm doing makes you happy for a little while and that's all I really want.

The relationship between a writer and reader is a special one. It has intimacy. It's different than how you feel about your favorite actor or director.

Each book is like a private note meant only for you.

What I'm trying to say is that I couldn't do this without you. Your continued reading is an oasis in the desert of solitary that is writing.

I just wanted to thank you all for your support and your kind words. I can say it as many times as I want and it will never be enough. Your support lets me know that my passion is appreciated.

Thank you all.

On the importance of Writing Process

Today is a little different than my usual blog. I was asked to participate in a blog hop by the wonderful writer Sarah Roberts.

She is the author of Rokula which is a fantastic read. Please check it out and learn more about her at Sarah Robert's webpage

A big thank you to Sarah for bringing me along for this.

Basically, the format is predesignated questions, which I will then answer. So here we go.

What am I working on?

Well I just finished by newest novel, Re-Test, which is due out in July. Right now I'm working on some short stories and preparing Re-Test for release. I'm also putting some final polishes on two literary novels that will be released in September. By the end of this week I plan on starting book one of a fantasy series that will likely run between five and seven books.

How does my work differ from other's in its genre?

Even though I write across a few different genres, I'm going to limit this answer to the thriller genre because both books I've published would be considered thrillers.

My first book, Beneath the Mask of Sanity, is a good deal more violent than many thrillers. What I believe really sets it apart, though, is the depth of character in regards to Bentley Grimes--the serial killer at the heart of the book.
He is a complicated person and someone who constantly asks the "big questions". Why do we exist? What does it all mean? Do we have a purpose or is life simply chaos?
His actions are murderous, but his thoughts are provocative and interesting.

Why do I write what I do?

Because I don't know how to do anything else. The only way in which I would consider myself like Bentley Grimes is in his questioning nature. I'm constantly looking for answers. The life of a writer is, first, internal and, second, external. We tend to live in our heads a lot and I am no exception.

When I find myself pondering a question that interests me I write about it, as much to pose it to you, my readers, as to discover what I think the answer is.

All that usually comes out while I'm writing, however, normally the reason I start a book is simple: an idea grabs a hold of me and I must get it down on paper.

I simply know no other way.

How does my writing process work?

The simplest answer is, one word at a time. It's pithy and it sums up the rambling rest of the answer that I'll type now.

I don't use notes and I don't outline books. I don't do character sketches or treatments. I'm not opposed to these things, it's just that my process doesn't work like that.

I have an idea in my head and a rough idea of where I'm going and I just sit down and write. One of the reasons that I work so quickly is because I'm always trying to keep pace with the story as it unfolds in my head. I normally fail and can see the ending just a little bit before it actually happens, but often it's not the ending I envisioned when I started the book.

Many times I have been surprised by the turn of events in my books. One of the things I love most is that moment of realization while I'm writing. I'll suddenly think back on something that happened earlier in a book (usually with no idea why it happened) and it clicks with what I am currently writing. It's like two giant jigsaw puzzles snapping into place in my head. It's a wonderful feeling and one that I would deprive myself of if I outlined my books.

Well there you have it. My writing process (more or less) explained.

I'm sure it's not overly exciting, but it's how I do what I do.

On the importance of Prolificacy

I don't think I need to tell anyone that times are changing in the world of publishing.

I have stated this sentiment many times in my blogs already.

Publishing is changing before our eyes in a myriad of ways, but I have only recently worked out another way it has changed.

I suppose I should be slightly embarrassed (and I am, but really only a little) but I am new to this whole process. A learning curve is to be expected. Still, I think this particular change should have been more obvious to me. Especially considering that the change started to happen even before the explosion of self-publishing ebooks.

The dictum used to be: Sell one or maybe two books a year to a massive amount of people.

That was the goal. That's what every writer wanted to be. The next Stephen King, John Grisham, Anne Rice or James Patterson. Sell roughly a million copies of one or two books a year and sit back in your mansion.

For a long time that worked. I mean, it worked for the less than one percent of authors that sold that many books. For the mid-listers who were still bound by the same stuffy rule (the market won't bear more than two books a year) they scraped by as best they could.

As famous as Stephen King was his creation of Richard Bachman was 1. to see if he could replicate his previous success, but also 2. Because his publisher simply didn't believe the market would bear him releasing so many books per year.

Now everything has changed. There are still a few authors who sell a massive amount of books per year, but there is no more "rule" that you can only release a certain amount of books per year.

The dictum now is: Sell a lot of books per year to a smaller group of dedicated readers.

This philosophy probably wouldn't have worked in the days before the internet. You know what, you can scratch that probably out. It definitely wouldn't have worked in the days before the internet. Because the publishers were right. Hardback books once cost between twenty and thirty dollars for fiction, depending on their size. Expecting a fan to shell out about a hundred dollars a year for your books was too much to ask. Considering that people who read rarely read only one author. Sure a hundred dollars a year for books doesn't sound like a lot of money, but now multiply that by the three or four or more authors that a single reader buys and you're talking about breaking into food and mortgage money to support your book habit.

Now maybe some of us have broken into those piggy banks to pay for our fiction addiction, but it's unreasonable to expect everyone to do that.

So yes, the publishers were right. That would have been too much to ask from the general public.

After the internet, things have changed. Books no longer cost thirty dollars. Even major authors with serious followings rarely price their ebooks more than twelve dollars for a new release. And there are many more who are below ten dollars.

For us independent authors, our books are normally under five dollars.

Five dollars per month equals sixty dollars per year. Or exactly the cost of two thirty dollar hardcovers per year.

Now I'm not advocating that you publish a book a month. I mean, if you can do it, more power to you, but I know I'm not that prolific. A book every two months? I know I could do that, with a little room to spare.

Prices have come down, cost of advertising has come down. Discoverability has gone up. Readers are getting more adventurous because there's gold in them there Amazon hills.

It's simple math really. The more books you publish the more books you sell. The more books you sell the more people discover you and the bigger your fan-base gets.

We live in a fast-paced world now. If you're out of the limelight for five minutes people are apt to forget you. It is more important than ever to be able to deliver a good product quickly and keep on delivering.

Those that thrive in this new world of publishing will be the ones who can keep up with demand.

Those who can't or won't will always be relegated to the slow lane, watching the industry pass them by.

On the importance of Trends

Who's to say what it's going to be: vampires, wizards, mommy-porn, ghosts, zombies, romance

Or mix and match from the above, zombie-romance anyone?

What makes these stories popular? What is it that hits a nerve with the reading public?

No one knows.

That's pithy and probably not what anyone wants to hear, but it's also the truth.

Luck plays a big factor, to be sure, as does word-of-mouth and quality of the writing. In the end, no one really knows though. There is no magic formula, no secret recipe to what makes a novel transform from a book to a phenomenon.
Of course that doesn't stop people from trying to find it. There are many who try and chase the trends, to capitalize on the "next big thing". Such people are the literary equivalent of ambulance chasing lawyers. Also destined to be right behind the curve.

Writers don't like to hear this. It strikes them as horribly cruel, and maybe it is. I, for one, hate the idea that the ultimate success or failure of my chosen profession has been left up to random chance. There are things you can do to increase your chances. You can write a great book, you can spread the word through a few marketing strategies. Those things will increase your odds a bit, but it doesn't guarantee success.

Human beings are different in certain ways, but in so many others we are the same. People react to things in surprising similar ways. That's how trends start in the first place, but there is no way to know what ideas will entrance people and what ideas will leave their heads as quickly as the came.

Chasing trends is the wrong approach, trying to predict them is even worse.

The best that any writer can hope for is to love what they write. To treat each book like a beautiful orchid. Water it, nurture it and hope that it grows big and strong. They may never talk about your orchid on Good Morning America, but hopefully it will provide you with enough fruit to eat.

On the importance of Help

No book gets written alone. That's just a fact of life. Writing is a lonely job, but it isn't really a solitary job. There's the support of your family and friends and their helpful (and gentle) comments about your manuscript. There's the beta readers that you met on a writing website who point out (not as gently) the flaws in your writing. Possibly, there's a cover artist who helps you put on your best face. Then there's the big one, the editor.

Even the best of us (which I am not) needs a good editor. It's difficult to turn off your writer's brain and turn on your editing brain. Many times, writers just end up glossing over some mistakes; our brains refuse to see them. This doesn't happen because of arrogance or stubbornness. It happens because our brain is really great at filling in information. We know what we want to say and we see it on the page, even if it isn't there.

The great thing about being a traditionally published writer is that an entire team is provided for you. Including an editor. Self-published authors have to find their own team.

As indie authors we are forced to don many hats, but the one thing it is a mistake to do for yourself is editing. You can be your own first editor, but you can't be your last editor.

The problem is that editors cost money. Indie authors very often don't have much money. Indie's find it difficult to shell out $2,000 when they're working a 9 to 5, writing in the evening and spending whatever free-time they have marketing the book.

I wish there was a solution, but there isn't. You've got to find an editor. Someone who knows what they're doing. If you're serious about writing, there is no other choice. Shop around, get a friend who's an English major, find some way to do it, because if you don't, you'll find out the hard way (like I did) that a self-editor has a fool for a client.

On the importance of Revolution

A number of years ago, a man named Steve Jobs introduced a device called an Ipod. This tiny little device wielded the power to bring the music industry to its knees.
Now, of course, it wasn't all Jobs. The rise of the internet had to do with it, as well as Napster, but that's not what we came her to talk about or to think about.

There was a time when albums were released as records. You had to buy all the songs (not always a bad thing) they were big and hard to store (who remembers plastic milk crates?) and they weren't portable.

The industry changed, tapes came out. Portability. Then cds, better quality.

Then Steve Jobs gave us the Ipod. Suddenly, quality and portability were better than ever. You didn't have to lug around twenty cds to listen to your music. Also, you didn't have to buy the whole album, just the songs you liked. You could create your own Frankenstein album and fill it with Van Halen, AC/DC, Green Day, Coldplay, whatever you wanted.

The music industry was not ready for this. Not by a long shot. Their first reaction was to try and fight back in some way. They way they had done business for so long was being destroyed. They were accustomed to making the rules, but the internet and the Ipod, put the power of rule-making into the hands of others.

A few artists fought bitterly against the change-mostly to their own destruction-but most of the smart artists and smart music executives decided to take this potential crisis and turn it into an opportunity.

They listened to the people. They changed the way they marketed bands and albums. They found a way to plug-in with the new market.

It's worked for them, the music industry is more successful now than it's ever been (with the possible exception of the late '50's and early '60's.)

Publishing was late to the digital game, but they are squarely in it now.

I was a dyed-in-the-wool traditionalist when it came to physical books. I once thought that they'd have to pry them away from me. I thought I'd never go digital.

But I did.

Nor and I alone. Ereaders are making up an increasing market share of purchased books and that's only going to go up as the years progress. I don't believe physical books will ever truly die, but I think they'll get scarcer and scarcer.

It makes sense for publishing for the same reason it made sense for the music industry. Books are a lot more cumbersome to store and carry around with you than cds are. A tablet allows you to carry literally thousands of books with you everywhere you go. Storage isn't an issue. With the powerful back-light on the tablets, you can read them in bed without the lamp on. As a married man, I can tell you that's a huge selling point right there. Hard for the wife to get to sleep when you're nose is buried in the latest Stephen King and the lamp is on.

Most important of all is the price. Ebooks are loads cheaper than hardcover books, and most of them are cheaper than their paperback counterparts. They take up no, actual physical space and they don't use paper or cardboard or glue or ink. Their production cost is pretty much nil.

So how is the publishing industry reacting to this rise in online authorship? In much the same way the music industry reacted in the beginning of the digital music revolution. Because, this is the beginning for the publishing industry.

The game has started to change, but the rules aren't fully written yet. The changes are rapid and ever expanding. The advantages for the consumers are just too great to ignore. Digital publishing is already the wave of the future, soon it will dominate the market.

If the publishing industry is unwilling or unable to keep up with the changes, they will soon find themselves on the outside looking in.

Beyond the Mask- May 10th

Beyond the Mask (sequel to Beneath the Mask of Sanity) will be released on May 10th.
It will be available on Amazon and Smashwords (and all the affiliates that come with Smashwords: Barnes and Nobel, Ibooks, Kobo, etc...)I hope you check it out.

http://www.amazon.com/Mark-Phillips/e...

On the importance of Diversity

If you haven't read The Bird Eater by Ania Ahlborn you really need to. Go ahead, I'll give you a minute.

*checks watch*

Wasn't that a fantastic book?

I don't give many recommendations (I'm not a literary critic, I'm a writer) but there are few books that deserve praise more than The Bird Eater.

There's a deeper issue, though. The Bird Eater is a symptom, not a cause.

Would The Bird Eater have been published ten years ago? I would like to think so. I'd like to think that great writing (it is) and a fantastic story (it most certainly is) would be enough to break through into the publishing world. The thing is, I don't know that it is. I don't know if The Bird Eater would have been published ten years ago.

For more than a decade, the publishing world has be deluged by paranormal romance books aimed at young (and not so young) girls. Publishing became less about finding great writers are more about finding great sellers. That's not an unreasonable position for the publishing industry to take. After all, if they don't sell books, they die out. Somewhere along the line, in our world of text-speak and incomplete grammar, quality started to fall off while sales continued to go up.

Then something changed. The internet found a way to give unknown markets a voice. Geek started to be cool. Comic books made a resurgence. Suddenly, everyone who ever had a hobby that wasn't mainstream and safe was given, not only a voice, but a way to connect with others who shared the same obsession. Specialization developed. Marketers are great at finding trends and they certainly didn't miss this one.
Television moved faster (it usually does) and we got shows about zombies, shows about superheros, shows about fairy tales, shows about science geeks.

Writers started to realize that they too could have a voice. Smashwords and Amazon, and a host of others, gave them a voice. Sure, there was still a lot of paranormal romance but there was a host of other things as well. Different kinds of writers, from diverse backgrounds, writing about their experiences and their passions.

Now we have The Bird Eater. A terrifying and satisfying novel that delivers all the way through. It's a book that the publishing world needs right now. It's a book that the horror genre needs right now. The difference between schlock and great horror is honesty. Honesty is key in all writing (I believe I've mentioned that before) but it's especially key in horror. The monsters are never real and we know that going in. The people are real though, and their problems are real. Great horror tells us more about ourselves and our real fears than any other genre.

Is The Bird Eater an entertaining and frightening story? Yes it is. But it does more than that. Ania Ahlborn goes further. She penetrates into the psyche of everyone reading her book. She shows you the symbolic fear and she shows you the real fear. She understands people. She gets it.

I am very glad that we live in a world where that kind of story can not only be told, but can flourish. The horror industry needs it. Publishing needs it. You need it. Go buy the book. I'll just be here looking at my watch.

On the importance of Love

I'm not a judgmental guy. I don't like to sit around and point fingers. Part of that is probably out of fear, so often what you're criticizing others for is something you're guilty of yourself.
Then I read some of the books that are being self-published on the internet, and I realize that I can't keep my big mouth shut.
I'm not going to name any titles or authors, but if you've read even a handful of self-published books you know what I'm talking about.
Imitation is inevitable in all forms of media (there's a reason why Deep Impact and Armageddon came out in the same year) and publishing is no exception. Twilight was popular and vampires abound, 50 Shades of Grey sold roughly a trillion copies and erotica is the next hot thing. Traditional publishing is far from immune to this disease (it is, in fact, patient zero) but self-publishing is dying from it.
Imitation is holding back self-publishing. We live in an age of independent productions, a myriad of voices and free artistic expression. Self-publishing is poised to not destroy, but rather, hold hands with traditional publishing to usher in a new age of literature. But that can't happen, unless writers are serious about writing.
I see the flood of romance and dystopia and I can only conclude one thing: these writers are looking at self-publishing as a get-rich-quick scheme. Writing is not a get-rich-quick scheme. Writing isn't a get-rich-very-very-very-slowly scheme either, unless you're one of the fewer than one percent of writers who consistently sell millions of copies of their books. Now this is certainly not an attack on all self-published writers. That would be foolish and wrong-headed. I am speaking about people who are trying to jump on "the next big thing". Maybe they read Harry Potter, or Twilight, or Divergent and think, "I can do that."
You can't. Stop trying.
I know that sounds harsh, but there are people out there, armed with a computer and a thesaurus who think they can cram a lifetime of reading and writing into a few weeks pecking at their keyboard. This angers me because it's more than dishonest, it's an insult to the craft of writing and the joy of reading. Writers need time to find their voice, they need time to grow and mature, they must study their craft, they must read in their spare time. Writers who are serious are willing to put in the work, because there are no shortcuts to good writing. There is no magic formula. You can't imitate a writer's voice and work in the same genre, with the same themes and expect to become successful.
Seventeen years ago, I sat down in front of a computer for the first time with the idea that I should write a novel. I was eighteen-years-old and full of brash, eighteen-year-old confidence. There was no question of whether or not I could actually write a book (after all I'd been writing short stories for about five years) the only question was how much money was I going to make on the book.
The book was bad. You probably guessed that. Only, I didn't know that at the time. I read the book about a week after I wrote it and I thought it was just the most enchanting thing I'd ever seen. I loved that book. I had read so many books over the years and I just intuitively knew how to write. That's what I thought at the time. I was wrong.
I learned how wrong I was when I looked at the manuscript years later. This was after I'd written six more novels, none of them published. The amateur nature of the writing was clear when I read it again, because I had grown as a writer. I had read more and wrote more, and that was part of it, but I had also learned to use a more critical eye with my own work. That's another lesson that comes with time and is invaluable.
None of my early novels will ever make an appearance on Amazon or Barnes and Nobel or Kobo. I love my early work because it was part of a learning process that helped me hone my skill, but they are not worthy to be published. Put simply, they just aren't any good.
I shudder to think what would have happened if self-publishing on the internet had been a possibility (remember this was the dark days of dial-up) and if I would have become one of the authors I'm talking about. I fear the answer to that question is yes. And that's part of what's happening, I believe. Writers are self-publishing the first things they've ever written, and it shows.
Your first attempts are always pale imitations of the writers you like to read, and that's okay, that's part of the process. The problem is, no one but your best friends should ever see these books. They aren't ready, you're not ready. Everyone thinks they can be Christopher Paolini or S.E. Hinton. You can't be. They are freaks of nature. Most people need time to mature and time to develop skills as a writer.
If you love the craft of writing, you will take writing seriously and while you may think of the money you can make from writing, money won't be your number one goal. Your number one goal will be love. The love of the written word and a desire to put your own stamp on it.
The reason that the imitators are so dangerous is because they weigh serious self-published writers down. They flood the market with tripe and poison the minds of would-be customers. Imitation is the reason why the USFL and the XFL failed. People didn't watch because it was viewed as a less-talented imitation of the NFL, and that observation was correct for the most part. Yet there was talent there. He Hate Me (Rod Smart) got a shot in the NFL and even played in the Super Bowl. Steve Young started his career in the USFL and did pretty well when he made the move to the NFL.
Likewise, there is talent in the self-publishing pool. A lot of talent, actually, but it's being held back by the imitators-the writers who aren't good enough or aren't ready to be published.
Just because something is easy, doesn't mean you should do it. Just because the internet gives you an opportunity, it doesn't mean you should take it.
Don't do it for the money (or not only for the money, anyway) do it for the love. Besides, it's a good bet the money isn't coming. Fan love? It won't buy you a new car, but it's better than any car you could buy anyway. Cars break down, get old. Fan love never does.

On the importance of J.K. Rowling

Not too long ago, Lynn Shepherd wrote an article advocating that J.K. Rowling give up writing.

Her point was that writers like Rowling were dominating a shrinking market and that no new voices could break through.

I respectfully disagree with my colleague, Ms. Shepherd, but I understand where her frustration came from.

The problem is, her premise is flawed by two fundamentally false assumptions.
1. That readership is dwindling
2. That readers will only stick with one author

I'm not sure where the perception that readership is down came from, but nothing could be farther from the truth.

It's true that book sales dropped slightly in 2013 according to Nielsen Bookscan (which is a product by the Nielsen company-of television fame-that tracks how many books are sold from year to year) but Bookscan has a history of under-reporting sales numbers. Also, their total sales numbers were just below 550 million copies sold. 550 million, or just above half a billion books sold. That is a staggering number. Since 2005, book sales in the United States have been robust and healthy. Stronger, even, than that "golden age" of reading in the 1950's.
There are several reasons for this: literacy is up, the population is up, there are more types of books.
One of the biggest reasons, though, is J.K. Rowling.
Harry Potter created a revival in children getting excited about reading books. Those children are growing up, and while their tastes may have slightly changed, their love of reading is still alive and well. Because here's the thing, when you love reading you don't just stick with one author. In the same way that you don't just watch one kind of movie or listen to one singer.
I was introduced to the world of literature by The Hardy Boys. I read all of those books and I loved them. Do I still read Hardy Boy books? No, I didn't end my reading maturation there and I didn't end it after I read Stephen King. King was my first brush with fiction meant for adults. I fell in love with that writing in the same way that I did with the Hardy Boys. I still read Stephen King, but now I also read a myriad of other writers, including a great many indie writers.
And that's the point. J.K. Rowling was a gateway writer to a whole generation of potential fans. And children and adults alike continue to discover her books and are ushered into the world of literature.
So why do so many indie writers struggle? Well, there are a lot of indie writers out there today. Some of them are god-awful. I don't say that trying to be mean, that's just a fact. Bad writing, repeated phrases, poor sentence structure.
But there are so many hidden gems out there too. So many books that are wondrous and beautiful. You must have the conviction to keep searching out new and better books, even if you've been burned in the past. That way, the good writers will make money and continue to publish and the bad writers won't make much money and fade off into obscurity.
A type of social Darwinism is going on in the indie community right now. Things are still new and fresh and people are still elbowing around, trying to get in.
If readers are sufficiently adventurous and seek out new voices and new books, then the voices who deserve it will flourish.
This is an important time. Things are changing rapidly in the publishing world. We aren't too long from seeing the birth of many wonderful writers who will entertain us for years to come. If you have a story, you could be one of them.