Stephen’s Comments (group member since Nov 27, 2010)

Stephen’s comments from the Q&A with Stephen Goldin group.

My book is featured today on the Quackers & Tease blog...sorta appropriate, since Polly is one of the biggest teases around. The blog has a blurb and an excerpt from the book.

The site's running a contest: a free ebook copy of Polly! to the best commenter. Check it out.

When writers act like decent, caring human beings, they deserve all the support they can get. Go for it! I hope I didn't give the impression I was being jealous or anything.

And yes, Polly is very inscrutable (though not, as she herself admits, ineffable).

Kelly: It is indeed a great cause, and I hope Mr. Lowe is able to raise a fortune for it. I also hope that there'll be room in your heart for Polly, even though she's a very different character from Jade.

Sarah: Boy, you can say that again!

wally wrote: "neato...so, is there a chapter devoted to that angle?

No, the original book came out long before the current revolution in self-publishing and ebook publishing. The new edition should have a substantial section on it, though.

Rachel wrote: "I use Smashwords and Amazon DTP for ebooks, and CreateSpace for paperbacks. Most of my sales come directly through the Kindle store (so far at least) although there still seems to be a market for s..."

I use the same 3 companies. As long as you know what you're doing, you get excellent service and can't beat the price. (Just got a newsletter yesterday that DTP has changed its name to Kindle Direct Publishing.)

Misfortunately, a large backlist doesn't seem to guarantee much of anything. As you ladies keep telling us guys, size doesn't matter....

Independent ("indie") authors are already doing that. Smashwords.com is the best place to go, and you can also sell on Kindle machines directly through Amazon. (The service used to be called Digital Text Platform; they've just changed the name to Kindle Direct Publishing.) These services get rid of the middlemen; I use both of them, and I'm pretty happy with each. Each has its own set of pluses and minuses, but they're both wonderful assets to indie writers.

Thank you so much. That's wonderful.

That's my feeling exactly. I've already proved I can sell things to editors at traditional publishing houses. I don't need to prove anything else. While I'd love to get the distribution and notice they could give me, my independence counts for something, too.

A writer has to have an ego so big that he's sure what he has to say is so important that people will pay him just for the privilege of reading it.

Could I ask a favor of you, Rachel? Could you post a review on the site where you downloaded it? (Smashwords, I presume.) Nothing phony, just basically what you said here. Every little bit of good PR helps.

It's mutual, Rachel. And it's my considered opinion that most SFF fans are also lovers of mysteries, because we love intellectual puzzles and games. We love having our minds challenged and teased. Mysteries do that every bit as well as SFF, just in slightly different directions.

If you like weird stories, I'll point with some pride to Polly!. It definitely goes beyond realism.

There has to be some dividing line in the writing circle. Some people, no matter how hard they try, will never be writers. But there has to be someplace where they can go to learn their craft and get guidance from Those Who Went Before.

I've been in a neighborhood association in southern California. Makes me shudder, let me tell you.

That "writes weird stories" line...did you mean me or you? (No offense taken either way. Just curious.)

That one doesn't strike me as pretentious, as many of the "good for you" books tend to be.

Kelly wrote: "You know me from previous discussions but I'll sum up for anyone else who cares:

I'm a therapeutic foster parent.
I provide hospice for elderly dogs.
I read a lot. (Big shocker there.)
I love scie..."

SFWA started as the Science Fiction Writers of America. After about 20 years the fantasy writers (who were always members) decided they were getting short shrift, and argued for the name change to Science Fiction and Fantasy... However, the logo had always been the interlocked SFWA, and that's how it was always known, so, with some mental gymnastics (about the only kind its members regularly partake in), it became sorta the Sciencefiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Or, to use a Hugo Gernsback term, the Scientifiction and Fantasy... or maybe we could be the Speculative Fiction Writers of America...

Or, as Mad Magazine always put it, the usual gang of idiots.

So am I. Dan's been researching a lot of the new stuff, and I'm hoping to learn a lot, myself.

Kelly wrote: "Stephen wrote: "It's certainly a change of pace from Faulkner!"

That it is. I keep looking at that Faulkner book and willing my hand to pick it up and then I pick up the Nook instead."

I know just what you mean. I have a terrible(?) tendency to avoid reading books that are supposed to be "good for me" in favor of those that are just plain fun.

Kelly wrote: "Now you tell me! I'm reading it now. Breaking in my new Nook!"

Well, I hope you find it an enjoyable piece of Nookie.

James Farley, the personal assistant to FDR, used to keep a file of 3x5 cards with pertinent information about everyone the president might meet, so he could always keep the president up-to-date on personal information about people. For a politician, it's invaluable to seem personally interested in the details of people's lives. This sort of information has become known as a Farley file. Everyone who deals with many people has to keep one, in some form or other.

I'm glad you enjoyed the sample of Scavenger Hunt. I hope you'll give the full book a chance. There's a lot more fun to come.

I've posted the opening chapter on my writings page. Please check it out when you get a minute.