Nancy J. Cohen's Blog: Nancy's Notes from Florida, page 122

Job Skills

A recent news article said that more than one million people in Florida need a job, but many positions are not being filled because applicants don't have the proper skills. Employers want enthusiastic people who have a broad knowledge base along with cutting edge skills. Technology keeps changing. Applicants need to keep up with the times to be competitive.

How does this apply to the writer? Most communications today take place via email between editors, agents, and authors. We're expected to format our manuscripts according to publisher guidelines and know how to follow track changes in Microsoft Word. We're asked by publishers if we have a webpage, blog, Facebook fan page, and Twitter. It's great that we can save money by not having to copy and mail manuscripts anymore, but do we save time? Not when we have to keep up with the rapidly changing technology.

A writer can't get by without these skills nowadays. Never mind that all an author wants to do is write the next book. Too much involvement in these business activities can lead to burnout. One doesn't get tired of writing the story. One gets tired of the racing train that keeps going in circles, round and round the promotional track. The pressure to stay on top can build to a momentum that forces our creativity to derail. This wasn't the train we wanted when we got on board, but we're stuck with it now.

I'm about to get my first eReader device. After much consideration, I've decided to get a Kindle. Now I read that the next generation may have E-Ink Color, as opposed to LCD color. As for touch screens, there's two different types and one is supposed to be better than the other. Dedicated eReader, Tablet, or Smart Phone? Eventually all of these devices may be rolled into one of ideal size and technology to perform multiple functions with clarity and readability under all lighting conditions. But until then, we have to choose which device will serve the purposes we need. We have too many choices, when we should be focusing on word choice instead.

This blog appeared originally at the Kill Zone.

Epcot Food & Wine

As per our annual family tradition, we attended the Epcot Food & Wine Festival last weekend. The weather was perfect, delightfully cool in the morning and warming into the 70's in the afternoon. World Showcase opens at 11am so we arrived by lunchtime, turning left toward Mexico. For those of you not familiar with this event, each country has a little pavilion where they offer samples of food and drink for a fee.

    

Here are some photos from previous years. I didn't bring a camera this time; too busy eating.

We passed on the entries at Chile, Brazil, and Puerto Rico but stopped at Argentina for the grilled beef skewer with chimichurri sauce and boniato puree ($4.75 per portion) and a glass of Kaiken cabernet ($5.50). Delicious. Next came Mexico. They have a whole new area across from the pyramid with a dine-in restaurant and counter service café with outdoor seating under cover. Our kids got the taco at their festival pavilion. We went past Poland, then came to China and just had to get their barbecue chicken stick. This was a generous portion and very tasty. We skipped South Korea, although the honey ginger tea sounded good.

At South Africa, the seared beef tenderloin with mango barbecue sauce and sweet potato puree is a good choice. I had to taste the shrimp cake with noodle salad at Singapore next ($3.50 each). Another tasty dish. Am I making your mouth water yet?

By now I was full, so I strode by Germany, Italy, the U.S., Japan, Australia and Morocco. I'd had some of these foods at previous forays anyway. Belgium was new and there was a long line. The baked Belgium waffle with berry compote and whipped cream was to die for. Very luscious and reasonably priced at $2.75. The Godiva chocolate liqueur iced coffee was expensive at $7.25, but I had to try it. Lip-smacking good.

Too full to eat more, we passed by Spain, resisted the chocolate crème brulee at France and the warm chocolate lava cake at Ireland, even the maple glazed salmon at Canada. Would have loved to try the items at Greece or the lamb slider at New Zealand, but we'll save those for next year. My stomach always gets satiated halfway around World Showcase.

Harry Potter

We finally got to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal's Islands of Adventure in Orlando. The weather, cool and sunny, was a delight and perfect for entering Hogsmeade with the "snow-covered" rooftops. The village is quaint like in the stories. The tall buildings have slanted roofs with fake snow and chimneys and historical looking shop window displays. Some are real; some are not, like the old bookstore with Lockhart Gilderoy's (sp?) books on view. You can go into the candy shop, although there was a line the day we went. Prices are high for things like chocolate frogs, jelly beans, and such.

The magic shop didn't seem to have anything unusual either. Wands cost $28.95 in an assortment of styles. Scarves were popular in the cool weather, and I indulged in buying one myself. I got the red Gryffindor scarf, made in China, acrylic fabric, for around $30. You could buy a school robe for $99 if you need an expensive costume.

After waiting in line for over an hour, we entered Olivander's wand shop where the old shopkeeper himself chose a "student" from the crowd and matched her to a wand amid special effects. It was cool, and she got to keep the wand, but this was, like, a ten minute show after a very long wait.

We went into The Three Broomsticks for lunch. Here we entered another line to place our order wherein we were given a number and shown to a table. We ordered the platter for four, consisting of barbecued chicken and ribs, corn on the cob (with decorative husks still remaining), roasted potatoes and vegetables, and salad. It was a pretty good deal considering the feast we got, $49.99 for four. We all got Butterbeer with its white foamy top. You can get it with or without a souvenir plastic mug. It's like very sweet cream soda with maybe a hint of root beer. Too sweet for my taste.

I had Pumpkin Juice later, which comes in a cute plastic bottle topped with a little pumpkin. This was also heavy on the sugar with apple juice and pumpkin puree. Anyway, the décor in the restaurant is cool. There are very high slanted ceilings with wood staircases going in all directions like you see in the movies. Tables and chairs are all wood. You can almost imagine the dining hall where Harry and friends eat, except there weren't any floating candles in the air.

Hogwarts Castle is very imposing, a huge mountain of a fortress atop a fake hill, looking every bit as ominous as in the movies. We had no wait when we entered. There were two lines, one for people going on the ride (they had to wait inside as they wound around the premises) and one for people just wanting to tour the castle. Here we split up. I went into the latter line and followed the narrow passages inside the structure.

As you climb a staircase, figures in portraits on the walls talk to each other. In one room, you see Dumbledore's office as the headmaster addresses you from afar. Another chamber is like a great hall with a balcony at the far end. Standing on this balcony are holographic type images of Harry, Ron, and Hermione. They make snow fall and use their invisibility cloak. It's all very cool. Too bad it was dark inside and photos wouldn't come out. Inside one display case was a newspaper with a talking photo. That's all I remember. Our son said the ride was fun. You're strapped in and have to leave loose items in a locker. Your feet dangle and you twist and turn, sometimes on your back, but it isn't a roller coaster or a simulator. Sounds like a cross between Soarin' and the dinosaur ride in Animal Kingdom.

We enjoyed the food and the ambiance and the reality of this adventure, but it would be nice if there were more shops to explore with less crowds and perhaps some interesting merchandise beyond souvenirs. Since we're not thrill ride lovers, we didn't partake of much else in Islands of Adventure.

The Great Void

I finished the second book in my paranormal trilogy at 444 pages. This comes as a great relief but with one downside. It leaves me mentally floating in a void. I want to take a break and catch up on all the household chores left by the wayside the last few months, but my mind needs an anchor. That's usually a WIP. It's what I wake up eager to work on every day, a purpose, a calling if you will. But before I begin writing again, I need to develop the characters and the plot for the next story. Sometimes, this takes a while, because the characters have to brew in my head and the plot needs time to gel. I can tackle these stacks of papers in my office in the meantime, free of a daily writing schedule.

With vacant time, I can also turn to my final backlist book that needs conversion to digital format. It needs quite a bit of revision, not only sentence tightening, but adding a glossary and fixing paragraphs where I jump POVs. This task is likely to take me several months. Keeper of the Rings is 521 pages, a long book. But those characters are haunting me. A new generation of readers are waiting to discover Leena and Taurin's story. And I'd like to bring it to them. So I am working on this revision, while also spending time cleaning the office. It's a good time for a break with the holidays approaching, vacations coming, and relatives soon to visit.

Or I may zero in on a target book depending on my agent's advice. Part of me wants to lounge around for a few months and part of me doesn't. Can a writer ever be happy? We're damned if we do and we're damned if we don't. We can't wait to finish a book and have time to relax but then our mind stretches for a new challenge.

Get Rich Self-Pubbing

Get Rich Self-Pubbing Your E-books with J.A. Konrath

 

"Brainstorming on the Beach" Conference with Novelists, Inc.

Here are my notes, keeping in mind this is what I heard and my interpretation.           

 

Self-publishing eBook guru J.A. Konrath shared his experiences with us at the Ninc conference in St. Pete Beach. His sales figures are impressive and I'm not going to repeat them here. You can follow him on his blog, http://jakonrath.blogspot.com

Joe suggests making your website "sticky", i.e. give people a reason to stick around. Content should be informative and entertaining. For example, you might offer an unsold book online for free as a pdf download. Joe calls this a "gateway drug" because these readers will go on to buy your print books.

Publishing houses still provide editorial services, cover design, and distribution, plus they serve as  gatekeepers between the author and readers via bookstores. But should we pay for these services forever, or one time only?

If you are self-publishing, the cover art should be professional, even if you have to hire your own artist. Be sure to get the rights to use your cover design for any promotional purposes and also possibly if your book goes into print someday. Make sure your work is edited, error free, and correctly formatted so it looks professional. You'll need to write the blurbs and back cover copy and get reviews and quotes. You'll want the free preview option and no DRM.

Joe suggests doing a Kindle Nation ad but not necessarily a Facebook ad to attract readers. Participate in the kindleboards and social networks.

When self-pubbing, if you start out at Smashwords, you'll get an ISBN there. You can opt out of the Kindle and Pubit (for B&N) and do those yourselves.

If you have an agent, think above having him sell the subrights to your eBooks, i.e. audio, foreign, film.

Books no longer have a shelf life. "This is infinite. It is forever…It's a buffet mentality. We're not going to have a saturation."

Author Collectives

AUTHOR COLLECTIVES

"Brainstorming on the Beach" Conference with Novelists, Inc.

Multi-published authors are looking for a way to distinguish their epubbed books from the multitude.  In some instances, they've banded together to form cooperatives.  Here are three that presented to us at the conference.  Again, these statements are from my notes and subject to my interpretation.

A Writer's Work

This site is for authors who have had at least two commercially published works. They sell direct to readers. Books may be original or previously published.  There is no exclusivity.  The author can put it up elsewhere or pull it down at any time.  The author gets 70%.  Then 25% goes toward maintaining the website and the other 5% for Paypal fees. So far they have 18 multi-published authors participating.  http://www.awriterswork.com/

Backlist EBooks

This site is for authors who put their previously published backlists up for sale themselves. They can list the titles here.  This site does not put the books up for sale directly.  There's a small fee for website upkeep. Each author will have their own page and links to their sites. http://backlistebooks.com/

http://www.facebook.com/BacklistEbooks?v=wall

Book View Café

Membership in Book View Cafe is limited to authors who have had at least one novel published with a traditional advance and royalty-paying print publisher. Author members may sell original works as well as backlist titles through this website direct to readers.  They offer free fiction as well.  These authors have varied amounts of experience in epublishing and help each other format and prepare their work.  They can help with cover design, publishing, and promotion.  http://www.bookviewcafe.com/

Someone said that ePub and pdf are the two most requested formats.

I imagine we'll see more cooperatives by career authors who want to distinguish their body of work from the uninitiated masses.  If publishers are the gatekeepers, then these authors have already passed through the gate.

Nancy's Ramblings

I thought I'd pause in my conference reports to see if a) anyone cares for me to continue, and b) bring you up to date on what's going on.

Basically, I've been working nose to grindstone, if that's the proper expression, polishing my WIP. This is book two in my proposed paranormal trilogy.  When this revision is done, I'll work on the plot for the next story.

Meanwhile, I'm excited that my favorite sleuth, Marla Shore, will be revisiting your homes once against when Five Star releases her next story in January 2012.  It's a long wait but during this time will be line edits, copy edits, art department meetings, etc. so the publishing process takes a while. It'll be worth the wait to finally join Marla and Dalton at an exciting upcoming event in their lives.  I am most grateful to my readers whose comments and encouragement inspired me to complete this story. 

The holidays rapidly approach, and I've put out our meager Halloween decorations: a few pumpkin thingies, candles, and some gold tinsel. I love the fall colors, the reds and oranges and yellows.  And Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday, and not because it's also my birthday. 

It would help if our weather would cool down a bit.  The humidity has dropped but it's 86 degrees out today.  All our landscaping looks great. Our gardeners took some bromeliads that were overgrowing our pool and planted them around a tree in front. With new mulch, everything looks much better.

We have another cruise coming up before the end of the year.  This will be a ten day voyage to the Southern Caribbean.  I'm especially looking forward to visiting the spice farms on Grenada.  Before then, we'll be doing the Epcot Food & Wine Festival and visiting Universal's Islands of Adventure for the Harry Potter attractions.  So that's what is going on here.

Now, do you want me to continue with reports from the Ninc conference or stick to my own ramblings hereafter?

 

Publishing Concerns

"Brainstorming on the Beach" Conference with Novelists, Inc.

Publishing Concerns with Carolyn Pittis, Senior VP, Global Author Services, HarperCollins

Carolyn reviewed the progress of publishing from the first cave drawings to the printing press to our current Digital Age.  The pain over the digital media transition is caused by firms trying to hang onto their legacy business, the struggle to prevent piracy, and the fret over uncertain outcomes.

Media is digitized in the order of least resistance (i.e. newspapers, magazine, music, film, etc.) so books are last.

Carolyn predicts increased consumption by readers but less time with any one book or author, because readers have too many distractions.

Bloggers are the current reviewers.  Reviews matter more than social media in terms of selling books.  However, authors who are not engaged in social networking are at grave risk.

Issues in the digital ecosystem: advances, royalty rates, territoriality.  The old business model is losing scale.  There are reduced barriers to entry for new writers. Everyone is trying to figure out how to make money under the new model.

These five forces conspire to drive profitability out of the business:

Bargaining power of suppliers (writers)

Bargaining power of customers (readers)

Threat of new entrants

Threat of substitute products (products other than books)

Competitive rivalry within the industry

Considerations in the publishing world include Content Development, Production and Packaging, Marketing and Merchandising, and Distribution.

Content + Editorial + Distribution + Marketing + Product = Sales $$

C = E-D-M-P = $$     If self-publishing, the author will have to do the E-D-M-P herself or hire someone to do it.

Carolyn distinguishes between Word Writers and Word Brands.

Word Writers need an advance, have low tech knowledge, have a small to medium fan base, and want a support system.  

Word Brands don't need cash up front, have other businesses, are confident in their abilities, possess tech knowledge and a marketing platform, and can hire people to complement their skills. 

Which one are you?  Which one do you think better leans toward self-publishing?

Ideally, a publisher's role should be to grow an author's reach in this manner:

 Fund:  Advance, royalties, subrights

Create: Edit, design, distribute

Defend: Protect intellectual property

Inform: Collaborate, communicate, integrate, lead, and advise

Amplify: Market, raise awareness and acclaim

Focus: Support creative renewal

***Don't you wish all publishers would do these things for us?

Writing for Worldwide Distribution

"Brainstorming on the Beach" Conference with Novelists, Inc.

 Here are my notes, keeping in mind this is what I heard and my interpretation.  This panel was geared toward Harlequin Enterprises.

Writing for Worldwide Distribution with Marsha Zinberg, Executive Editor, Harlequin Enterprises and Author Vicki Lewis Thompson

 Marsha:  A breakdown on what's popular with readers shows that cowboys, weddings, babies, and Texas remain favorite themes. The Presents line features the power dynamics between a hero and heroine.  A new line is coming, HQ Heartwarming with wholesome stories.

 Mini-series and connected series are always hits.

Direct to Consumer: No paranormals. Heroines should be focused on home not career.

Overseas: Fantasy and romance are welcome but not paranormal. Ugly Duckling, Cinderella, forbidden love, millionaires, and secret babies are themes that work.  The romance should be the focus of the story.

When you, the author, are doing your fact sheet, keep in mind that overseas editors read them so make your universal theme evident right away.  The synopsis shouldn't be overly long or complicated since English may not be their first language.

Topics to avoid: Casinos and gambling, ballroom dancing, post-war traumatic stress disorder.

Medical sells well overseas but not in North America.

Be prolific to create your author franchise.

Time sensitive issues and brand names may date a book so be wary of using these.  Ditto for technology and politically correct terms.

Vicki:  Know what is selling but don't always follow trends.  Focus what you do well and write often.  Be a pro regarding deadlines.  Challenge yourself as a writer and take a chance on special projects.

Refilling the creative well implies that you drain your energy when you write. Instead, think of writing as recharging your batteries.  The more you write, the more you want to write. 

Coming Next: Sharing Concerns with Carolyn Pittis, Senior VP, Global Author Services, HarperCollins

Digital Rights

DIGITAL RIGHTS

"Brainstorming on the Beach" Conference with Novelists, Inc.                                                   

Lunch Break

Panelists

Lucienne Diver, Literary Agent

Angela James, Executive Editor, Carina Press

Brian O'Leary, Magellan Media Partners

Sue Lange, Book View Café

Barbar Keiler, Author

Chris Kenneally, Copyright Clearance Center

Lou Aronica, Publisher, The Story Plant

J.A. Konrath, Author & Blogger

Here are my notes, keeping in mind this is what I heard and my interpretation.

Lucienne:  Unless you have an audience or a platform, you need a publisher.  And to reach the broadest possible audience, you need a publisher to put your book into the different formats.

Chris:  Digital publishing offers you a chance to experiment with a novella or a short story. 

Google editions may discourage piracy because people won't share their Google accounts.

Lou doesn't advice just putting your book up on Amazon.  They don't put effort into marketing individual books.  Plus with so many formats, going with a publisher is better.

Joe Konrath believes consumers feel less toward digital copies than toward works in print. 

Agency Model: Publisher gets 70%, Amazon gets 30%, publisher sets price.  Out of the publisher's share, the author may get 25%  and their agent gets 15% of that money.

Barbara:  How will mobile phones affect the art of writing?  Will readers have patience for paragraphs longer than 3 lines?  Will description be tolerated or will it be replaced by a video clip?  Will the Twitter novel become popular?  How about turning off your cell phones on airplanes? Does this mean you can't read during takeoffs and landings?  People with shorter attention spans will want shorter books.

Brian:  Re contract clauses and reversion of rights and subrights, try for a shorter term, like 3 to 5 years, after which these items are negotiable. 

Publishers have to agree on terms of sale with eReader device providers in order to offer their stock in that format.

"Windowing" is when a hardcover comes out then the eBook comes out xx weeks later.  You have to market the book twice when this happens so it causes the author more work.  This also may happen with books that release in the U.S. market and later in the foreign markets.  You lose sales momentum.

Final Advice:                                                           

Nancy Cohen and Five Star Editor Denise Dietz

Write more good books and write quickly.

Don't be overwhelmed by the marketing aspects.

Spend time selling your book.  Work it into your calendar.

You don't need an entire social media strategy.  Start with just one thing.

You can reinvent yourself.  Don't be frightened by the prospect; be excited by it.

Be transparent for your readers; let them see who you are.

You can find a smaller, devoted audience without a blockbuster mentality.  This can be artistically liberating for writers.

Follow you own path while keeping in mind all your options.

Enjoying Lunch

Coming Next: Writing for Worldwide Distribution