Jack Daniels Franchise and the 8 Hour Ebook Challenge

Color me impressed.

Earlier this month I blogged about franchising my intellectual property. In short:

1. Reaching out to new writers by having them do a Jack Daniels short story, teaming Jack up with a character from their series.

2. The writer writes the story, without input from me. If my wife likes it (she's my first reader and knows my universe better than I do), I'll do the rewrite and editing, pay for the cover art and proofing and formatting, and then publish the story through my agent, Jane Dystel. Jane will pay us monthly and provide royalty statements. She'll also seek out interest in audio and foreign rights.

The author and I split the profits 50/50, and then do the same thing with a novel (novels sell much better than shorts.)

3. If my wife doesn't like the story, the writer can self-publish it without me, changing the names of my characters. So Jack Daniels would become some other female cop, and the writer would have full rights to the story.

So far I've accepted seven short stories. I'm doing some rewriting/polishing on each, but overall I'm thrilled at the level of quality I'm getting. The goal is to get all of these live in September.

I'll soon be posting a copy of the collaboration agreement, with terms along these lines:

The copyright for the Work is shared equally.

We each own the rights to the characters we've created.

All rights and royalties for the Work are split 50/50, minus my agent's cut. She gets 10% for ebooks, and in exchange she does all of the uploading to ebook websites (Amazon, B&N, Kobo, Smashwords, iTunes) and also pays monthly and issues combined royalty statements. My agent is NOT the publisher. She's acting as a manager/accountant here.

If both me and my co-author agree, my agent can shop around the work to foreign and audio publishers. Neither can sell any subsidiary rights without the other's approval. And both authors must agree which venues the ebooks are published in (but I'm happy to let my co-author decide if they'd prefer Amazon KDP Select exclusivity or all ebook platforms--I don't care one way or the other.)

I pay for the expenses to publish (cover art, formatting, proofing, editing). I don't recoup these expenses. Meaning they are sunk costs I cover, and my co-author doesn't have to pay them back.

If, at any time, either party wants out of the contract, they can end it by submitting a written request. Then the book will be unpublished within 10 business days, and all rights will revert to the co-author for their original version (not the version I added to/edited/rewrote) provided the names of my characters are changed or removed. If there are outstanding subsidiary rights (say we sold a five year term to Germany) those will have to be honored per those contracts. But otherwise, if either of us wants to end it, we can end it.

My goal here isn't to screw anyone. It's to give a hand up to those looking for a wider readership and some extra money, and to make money on my intellectual property in a fair way.

I don't believe this fits the definition of joint authorship, but rather the efforts of two authors temporarily combined so long as both agree to continue working together. Once one of the parties wants out, the story will revert to the co-author as long as my characters are removed or my characters' names changed. Example, if you wrote a Jack Daniels story, and I reject it or you want out of the deal, just change her name to something else and you can publish it yourself. I'll have no claim to it. So I'd only share rights to the story if my characters are in it. Once they aren't, rights return to my co-author for the original version they've written (minus my editing/additions).

It's basically a risk-free way to piggyback on my name recognition and help your series character find a larger audience by teaming them up with my series character.

If I like the short story, the writer has the option to do a novel featuring Jack Daniels (or any of my IP characters/settings--for example, a sequel or spin-off to Afraid or Origin.) My short stories earn a few hundred dollars a month. My novels earn thousands of dollars a month. Novels are where the money is.

If anyone wants to submit a Jack Daniels story, reread the original blog post for how to do so. 

Which brings me to the 8 Hour Book Challenge from last blog post.

Holy cow. Over 70 people have beaten the challenge and emailed me. Congrats to all who did it, and I'm pleased to have inspired so many.

As promised, I'm going to post links to all the winners in an upcoming blog. Here's what I need from you in order to do this. Follow these directions EXACTLY or I won't post your link.

1. Email me the header 8 HOUR WINNER in all capital letters.
2. In the email include the Amazon link, a five sentence book description, and the price
3. Attach a jpg of the cover art.
4. Do this by midnight, August 29.

On August 30, I will post a blog featuring everyone who followed the above instructions. You might consider making your ebook free on that date in KDP Select, because the more freebies there are, the more traffic the post will get, and the more downloads you'll get.

I'm not doing any handholding on this. I appreciate that a lot of people have already sent me links, but I'm not going to send emails to 70 people asking for cover art and descriptions. This is already going to take me a few hours to put together, which is waaay more time than I expected to put into this. Who knew you guys could write so damn fast?

Anyway, congrats to all the ebook challenge winners, and to all my future collaborators.

Guest Post by Tim Myers

Joe sez: I'm going to be taking a blogging break during August, but I've got twelve guest posts scheduled this month, so they'll appear as slotted.

Today it's Tim Myers...

First things first.

My name is not Tim Myers.

Well, that’s not exactly true.  It’s just not my only name.

I’ve been writing mysteries for over two decades.  I’ve sold more than a million books in that time, and the main lessons I’ve learned are that the keys to having a career are telling the best stories that I can, never giving up, and nurturing a willingness to adapt.

I broke into NY publishing going against common wisdom from the start, writing cozy mysteries from a male point of view.  I grew up devouring Agatha Christie, and that’s where I stayed when I first started writing.  In a field dominated by women, I was one of the few men working regularly in that particular subgenre of what I like to think of as gentle mysteries.  After fifteen books and three series with one of the Big 6 publishers, because of my sales numbers I had to make a choice: pick a female pseudonym and start over, or give up on my dreams of being a long term career writer.  My numbers were good, my books sold through and I was making royalties on all of my titles, but they weren’t spectacular enough to merit more books in the eyes of my publisher.

So, in 2004, I became Elizabeth Bright.

I won’t lie to you; it was tough giving up my identity at first, but I was still being published, and that was what counted, right?  And really, what other choice did I have?  Back then, traditional publishing was the only option I had if I wanted to have a sustainable income.

So I did what I had to do to keep my career alive.

Over the years, I added Melissa Glazer, Chris Cavender, Casey Mayes, and other names I still can’t disclose.  One even made the New York Times Bestseller list.  Let me tell you something; it’s tough making that list and not being able to tell anyone which book, or even which name, broke through.

After over forty books with the Big 6, though, I started feeling uneasy about how much publishers were demanding in new contract negotiations, and how little they were willing to budge on terms that were important to me.

Finally, I couldn’t do it anymore.

In 2011 and 2012, I had two contract offers from different Big 6 publishers, and I walked away from both of them.  There were several provisions neither publisher would budge on, but one of the most important aspects for me was not being able to swallow the noncompete clauses that would handcuff me in my efforts to continue earning a living.  I’d already published much of my backlist, and I’d enjoyed the process, so it was time to put up or shut up.  I decided to wait out certain contractual restrictions until I could start publishing continuing novels on my own, and I started creating brand new series while I waited.

And I never looked back.

It was a risky move, giving up sure money for my independence, but it was something that I had to do.  I didn’t have any idea at the time, but going out on my own was the best thing I could have done for my career, and overall wellbeing.  Having no one else to answer to, I found a newly elevated level of happiness in my work, and in my life.  Writing has become a true joy again, and  I love the control I have.  In truth, I enjoy all aspects of my work these days, from writing to designing covers to formatting, but the thing I love most is that I can write what I want, when I want.

It’s been an added bonus that I’m making more now than I ever have before, but even if that weren’t the case, I know that I would still make the same decision today.

For me, striking out on my own was the only real choice that I had, and I couldn’t be happier about it.  I’m grateful every day for something a lot of new writers take for granted, the fact that I even have a choice.

The only way that I’ve been able to have a career this long is by telling the best stories I can, never giving up, and being willing to change when the circumstances have dictated it.

Thanks to Joe for this opportunity to share a little of my story, and to Tess for championing such a worthy cause.

Joe sez: Tim's book Slow Cooked Murder is $3.99 on Kindle. I congratulate him on his success, and salute him for being the shortest guest blog post in the history of A Newbie's Guide to Publishing. Go buy Slow Cooked Murder, right now.

Two things struck me about his brief but on-point post. First, the number of pen names he's had, and second, him talking about writing being fun again. Both of those hit home with me.

I had eight books with legacy publishers before calling it quits. And I only had four pen names (two are still secret, and one, like Tim, is female.)

None of it was fun.

I originally went with J.A. Konrath instead of Joe Konrath because I was writing a first person female protagonist, and I thought readers would be more accepting of the books if they thought the author was a woman. The first copies of Whiskey Sour made no mention that I was a dude. It was my idea, and maybe it helped me sell a few more books, but I'm not J.A., I'm Joe.

Then I became Jack Kilborn because my publisher dropped their mystery line during my second contract, and really messed up the releases of my last three books, causing a sales dip (even though two of those three went into second printings in hardcover). So when I switched to horror, I went with a pen name so I'd have a larger bookstore pre-order than my last J.A. Konrath title.

It worked, and Afraid became my best selling title. Then I had a falling out with my publisher. In the meantime, I did a sci-fi book, and figured new genre, new name. So I became Joe Kimball for Timecaster. But about that time I was starting to sell well in Kindle, and I suggested going out with Joe Konrath on Timecaster. They didn't go for it, and Joe Kimball was a dismal failure.

Then I really started making serious money on self-pubbed ebooks, and many claimed it was my name recognition (courtesy of my legacy publishers) that was responsible for my success. So I wrote some books under a pen name, and made a ton of money, just to prove to myself that I could.

No, I'm not going to reveal that pen name. 

But I shall now reveal my newest pen name. Here's the story...

These four titles were part of a super-secret experiment I've been conducting.

I wanted to see if it was possible to completely write, format, make my own cover art, and publish an ebook, in less than an hour. While drunk.

Well, I did it. Four times.

In four drunken hours on four separate occasions (I love beer), I published four ebooks.

And I'm proud to say that these four titles earn me about $10 a week.

That's right. You don't need great cover art to sell ebooks. You don't need a household name (ask Robert Galbraith.) You don't need lots of words.

You can make money, right now, with almost no effort. And who needs a degree in art or a mastery of Photoshop? With no talent at all, and very little time, you can create covers like these:


You might say, "But Joe, these are only making you $50 a month. That's really bad!"

That's what it looks like to the casual observer. But you need to envision the big picture.

$50 a month is $600 a year. In ten years, that's $6000.

Have you ever made $6k in only four hours, drinking beer?

Now I'll take some questions.


Q: This is a joke, right?

A: Do you remember back when you were a young writer, and you wrote for the sheer joy of it? No worry about craft or structure. No concern over marketability. No angst over if you were good enough.

I became a writer because I enjoyed amusing myself. When I was a teenager back in the 1980s, I would actually print up stories on my Brother Word Processor, head out to Kinko's, and spiral bind copies for my extremely tolerant and amazingly supportive family and friends. Few things in my career have ever equaled watching a loved one laugh at one of my stupid story compilations.

Surely I'm not the only young writer that did that.

But ever since treating writing as a profession, I've lost some of that joy. Writing became work. The act of creation is a bankable skill that requires a lot of effort to hone into something salable.

That's what this experiment was about. Doing it just for fun.

So I popped open some cold ones and went wild with dumb jokes, writing and giggling like an idiot, luxuriating in the pure, unadulterated glow of creation. But instead of Mom putting them on the fridge when I was done, I went ahead and self-published.

And I'm making money. Not a lot, but enough to amuse me. And maybe a few others.

In fact, some people are even giving these ebooks good reviews. Though the bad reviews are a lot funnier. I'm highly amused when people don't get the joke. It's the rascal in me.

Now I'll take some questions.

Q: This is really for real?

A: Each ebook is 99 cents, and takes about five minutes to read. Here are the links:

How to Stop Farting
How to Give Good Sex
How to Get Rich 
How to Attract the Opposite Sex

Q: Aren't you just encouraging people to publish crap and rip readers off?

A: Actually, I'm satirizing self-pubbed crap, and parodying self-help books.

I also don't think these are a rip-off.

If you have a sense of humor, you should find a few laughs in these. If you wouldn't pay 99 cents for a few laughs, don't buy them.

And those who buy them thinking they're real? Well, that's just plain funny as hell. Anyone who looks at the cover and reads the description should know they're a joke.

Q: OMG! I clicked on the link and those ebooks really exist! Are you really Doctor Hans Uberass?

A: As far as you know.

Q: So why didn't you put them under your own name? Maybe your fans would like these.

A: I didn't write them for my fans. I wrote them for fun, as a joke. Some people will get the joke. Some won't. The goal wasn't to sell a bunch. Hell, the goal wasn't to sell any at all. It was to create something that amused me, simply because I could, and then tell my close friends and family about them so they could share the laugh. Just like when I was a teenager.

Q: That's wrong! Writing is a serious profession! You're making a mockery of it, and hurting readers in the process! This is why self-publishing is a pox on the world!

A: I know that a lot of people are wringing their hands, worried that the self-publishing revolution will produce a lot of crap.

They're right. It will.

But that's okay.

One of the wonderful things about being human is our creativity. We like making stuff. Sometimes the stuff is good and will benefit a lot of people. Sometimes it's only good enough for Mom to hang on the refrigerator.

There's room for everybody.

Amazon has given writers the greatest gift imaginable. They've allowed us to satisfy our innate, creative desires, and reach readers.

If your ebook sucks, it won't reach many readers. But you can still have fun with it. And perhaps learn from it, continue to grow as an artist, and maybe one day you'll write something that doesn't suck.

We're all so concerned about making money and being successful.

But no poet ever wrote to make money. No amateur painter ever expected to have his work hung in the Lourve. You don't throw a pot hoping for fame, and you didn't take piano lessons because you have aspirations to play Carnegie Hall.

You do those things because you want to.

Q: But... but... but... if there are no quality standards, no minimum talent requirements, then how will readers know what ebooks to buy?

A: That's why I'm selling my backlist to a legacy publisher. Their gatekeeping abilities will serve as imprimatur, directing readers to the good stuff that has been professionally vetted.

Q: But you just said...

A: Kidding.

Lighten up, laugh a bit. Life is so much better that way.

And support Doctor Hans Uberass on his Epic Quest to Make Self-Publishing Not So Serious.

Q: How can I support Doctor Hans Uberass on this Epic Quest to Make Self-Publishing Not So Serious?

A: I'm glad you asked.

I realize an hour is probably not enough time for most people to write and publish an ebook. And truth told, with the proof-reading and tweaking and editing, it probably took me a bit more than an hour each for these. Maybe an hour and fifteen minutes.

But there is no reason why an ebook can't be written and published in a few hours. And there's no reason you shouldn't try.

Your assignment, should you choose to accept it, is to write, edit, format, create your own cover, and publish an ebook in an eight hour period.

If you do that, I'll do a blog featuring your ebook, so the whole world can learn what a speedy little creative dynamo you are.

I'll be honest. I don't think most writers will be able to do this. The Uberass ebooks are between 1500 and 2500 words, and the jokes aren't all bad. The covers, done in Microsoft Paint, look terrible, but actually had some thought put into them (they're readable as thumbnails and grayscale, have a distinct brand look, and are hopefully funny.)

Are you faster and better than Konrath?

If you're up to the challenge, publish your ebook, then email me the link with ONE DAY EBOOK CONTEST in the header. I will blog about everyone who manages to complete the challenge. No joke, no trick. If you can do it, I'll blog about it.

Now have at it.

Patrice Fitzgerald Interviews Hugh Howey

Joe sez: I'm going to be taking a blogging break during August, but I've got twelve guest posts scheduled this month, so they'll appear as slotted.

Today it's Patrice Fitzgerald and Hugh Howey...

Kudos to author Tess Gerritsen for creating the Alzheimer’s fundraiser and to Joe for encouraging us to support it by offering guest blog spots.  I asked Hugh Howey, self-publishing pioneer and author of the bestselling dystopian trilogy that starts with WOOL, to join me for an interview. 

http://www.amazon.com/Wool-Omnibus-Edition-Silo-ebook/dp/B0071XO8RA

Patrice:  So you've gotten a million questions around the topic "how does it feel to be a big name author?" But, practically speaking, how has it changed you as a writer… or has it… to know that your next book, DUST, has been preordered in the thousands--I'm guessing--and is being highly anticipated by fans?  Does that spur you on or keep you up at night?  And do you get better tables at restaurants Recognized on the street?  Hounded by book groupies?  Tell the truth!

Hugh:  Ha! Recognized on the street! I'm not one of those authors like Harlan Coben whose face takes up the entire back jacket of his hardbacks. Which is a good thing. For all of us.

I don't think about the pressure of a vast audience. I write the stories I care about. If I was going to succumb to pressure, I would have written WOOL 6 and 7 and 8. Instead, I left my bestselling novel on an island and wrote something way off in left field. And then I did very little to promote this new work. I don't put links at the end of my books to urge people to purchase the next one. I just convince myself that I'm still writing for an audience of none, enjoy what I'm doing, and publish as quietly as possible.

http://www.amazon.com/Shift-Omnibus-Edition-Silo-ebook/dp/B00B6Z6HI2

Patrice:  You're a little bit controversial (though not, perhaps, as much as our esteemed host, Joe) for your outspoken views about self-publishing.  Clearly, 99.9% of writers of any stripe will not reach the level of success you've had with WOOL. Yet, you maintain that there is little downside to jumping in and publishing one's own book.  Do you believe that everyone is better off doing that first?

Hugh:  Yes, and I've been very careful to distance my anecdotal and outlying success with the reasons I give for self-publishing. I made a conscious decision to self-publish my second novel, despite having a contract and offer from a small press. Before WOOL took off, I was posting on writing forums that we are better off owning our material for all of time, that these works will never go out of print, and that going directly to the reader is better than applying to editors and their slush pile shovelers. I was mocked for this philosophy. When I suggested that agents would one day approach self-published authors, I was told I was crazy. Maybe this is why I look up to Joe so much. He shows us every day that logic trumps experience. The people who tell you that they have twenty years of experience in this industry? Back away from them slowly. This business is changing too fast for any of us to pretend to be experts.

As for the 99.9% who won't see my level of success, I would point out that 99.9% of those who submit material to the traditional machine will never see a similar level of success. It isn't like our option is to self-publish OR see how well our novel does fronted out on an endcap in a bookstore. Our options are to self-publish OR spend a few years landing an agent, another year selling the book to a publisher, a year waiting for that book to come out, and then three months spine-out on dwindling bookshelves before you are out of print and nobody cares about you anymore. If you're lucky. Most likely, you'll never even get an agent. Because you aren't Snooki.

http://www.amazon.com/Dust-Silo-Saga-ebook/dp/B00CYNGPTG

Patrice:  You have a traditional print publishing deal with Simon & Schuster in the U.S. and Random House in the U.K., as well as publishing arrangements in twenty-something other countries for translated versions. Yet you still publish your own ebooks and sell print copies to fans out of your house, at least for the U.S. editions. Did that take some fancy contract drafting?  Or did you just say, "I want to keep doing what I'm already doing successfully" and they rolled over and said, "Okay, Hugh Howey, but only for you..." ?   

Hugh:  It takes a whole lot of not caring to get away with what I do. It takes that, and it takes an incredible and tolerant agent like Kristin Nelson. We've been in contract negotiations, and someone will put forward a clause that runs counter to my publishing philosophy, and we'll both just say that it's a deal-breaker. We've walked away from multiple seven-figure deals without breaking a sweat. It helps when you're totally fine doing things your own way. I still self-publish everything I write from the get-go. If anyone wants to make an offer afterward, I'm always open. I love having those discussions. But as soon as the deal doesn't make sense for the reader (like higher e-book prices, windowing, limiting the number of works I can publish), the deal is off. My attitude is that publishers need writers far more than writers need publishers. If we can work together, awesome. But the days of dictating unfair deals to us are dwindling, and fast.

My success has largely come from putting the reader first, and that's what I demand from any publisher I work with. Simon & Schuster and Random House UK have both demonstrated to me over and over again that they care about the reader. S&S agreed to a simultaneous paperback and hardback release. Who does that? Random House UK did a paper-on-board hardback for under ten pounds. They've done some incredible giveaways, and they allowed readers in on the process with some awesome contests, all the sorts of things I think publishers should do more of. It's why I love working with both of these houses. And I love that they tolerate me doing the things I enjoy doing.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00C0G25AA

Patrice:  You've taken the unusual step of allowing others to write and charge for books set in your world, otherwise known as the "WOOLiverse."  Full disclosure:  I'm one of them.  Why are you doing this Aren't there risks?   

Hugh:  It doesn't occur to me not to allow this. Someone asked if they could write in my world. Who would I be to tell them no? I value freedom above all else. I value creativity, art, and artists. I can't imagine telling someone that they aren't allowed to write about my characters. All I feel is flattered and honored by the suggestion. And I can't imagine asking someone to give away their hard work. I believe artists should get paid if at all possible. As foreign as my stance is to others, any other stance would be foreign to me.

Are there risks? I don't see any. I have one more work coming out in this universe, and then I leave it to others. The greatest thing that has happened to me in the past few years has been the opportunity to connect directly with so many readers. The second-greatest thing has been seeing talented writers such as yourself connect with those same readers! Contrary to what many writers seem to think, we aren't in competition with one another. We need each other. If someone can write in my world and entice readers away to their own works, I'll cheer them on until I'm hoarse.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CJYAEXS

Patrice:  Amazon's newly-launched Kindle Worlds programs makes formal the arrangement you've already had with some other writers to allow them to jump into the WOOLiverse and write "Silo stories."  How do you see this as different from what is already happening, and what new opportunities do you think this program will bring to writers and fans?  

Hugh:  My hope is that Kindle Worlds will give these stories greater exposure. There is so much room for exploration in the Silo Saga. I can't possibly cover it all. And fans have shown an incredible thirst for more adventures.

The most exciting prospect is that dabbling in a beloved world will turn readers into writers. There’s a misconception out there that fan fiction is lazy. The truth is that the world building is the easiest aspect of writing. The challenging bit is the plot, the dialog, the believable characters, the twists and turns and satisfying conclusion. If coming up with the world was the difficult part, it would be easy for anyone to write a story in the world we live in and know, or a story set in historical times. Fan fiction provides an opportunity for aspiring writers to discover their own talents and hopefully graduate to their own works. And the more people we have writing, the larger the pool of talent, the better this industry is for everyone.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CXYTWQY

Patrice:  Okay… advice to writers time.  What would you tell someone reading this who has an idea, or a book, and wants to get eyeballs on his or her words as quickly as possible.

Hugh:  Start with the first sentence. Make it so incredibly compelling that readers have to read the next sentence to see what happens next. Repeat until you reach the end of the story.

Possible first sentences:

Losing my virginity to a ninja was not what I had in mind on my eighteenth birthday.

I've always wanted to know what it felt like to kill a man, and now I know.

If you are reading this, you have exactly three days left to live, and I am already dead.

Maybe those aren't the best examples, but I put all of two minutes into coming up with them. I'm already thinking of the books I would write to go along with these openings. I think I could entice readers to stick with me for a page or two. If I can do that, I can give these lines away in a Tweet or a Facebook status and gain a reader. I could give the first pages or even an entire book away and trust that they'll tell others or come back for more.

The misconception out there is that writing requires a mastery of language, but nothing could be further from the truth. We don't need perfect prose to launch a writing career; we need entertaining storytelling. Story is king and prose is pawn. Knock readers' socks off. Shock them. Wow them. Give away your work and wow them some more. Basically: Ninjas + Sex, and you can’t go wrong.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DN6QQ1U

Patrice:  And what about that movie deal… are you and Ridley Scott buds now?  

Hugh:  I wish! Ridley enjoyed my work and is pretty sure that he can make a mediocre book into an amazing film. And I hope he's right. I get asked all the time how much involvement I would have in the film, and the answer is that I don’t want any part of the project. I would just hamper the development. The producers were kind enough to fly me out to Hollywood to meet the screenwriter and go over some ideas, and that was more than I asked for. Nothing will change the book I wrote. That’s the part I can control. I’d rather stay out of the way and be surprised by what they come up with.

Patrice:  Now that all your wildest writing dreams have come true, what do you still wish for, Hugh?  

Hugh:  For Ridley Scott to be my bud, obviously. 

Also, to be able to come up with something to write tomorrow. And the next day. Because it still feels like magic and something I'm not capable of. I feel like I'm bumbling along and faking it most of the time. I hope I can keep faking it. Because it's fun to look back at the things I write that feel a whole lot smarter than I know myself to be.

Patrice:  Many thanks to Hugh for answering my questions, and to Joe for hosting us.  I'm watching the phenomenon that is WOOL continue to spread around the world, and I'm thrilled that I was invited to play in Hugh Howey's universe.  Now, if you haven't read them already, grab WOOL and SHIFT so that you'll be up to speed when DUST comes out on August 17^th.  There's nobody more excited than I am to find out how the story ends...!

(And then you'll be all set to read my Silo stories….)

Guest Post by Larry A. Winters

Joe sez: I'm going to be taking a blogging break during August, but I've got twelve guest posts scheduled this month, so they'll appear as slotted.

Today it's Larry A. Winters...

X-Rated Research

First off, a big thanks to Joe for helping a good cause, and for providing an opportunity to contribute to his blog.  I’ve been an avid reader for many years.  Joe, you’re awesome!

Now, to business.

As a reader, I like to learn something from a book.  I am a big fan of writers like Michael Crichton, Joseph Finder, and Tom Clancy, who ground their stories in solid research.  I attribute a lot of Dan Brown’s appeal to the way his thrillers offer readers insights into art, history, and religion.

As writers, especially self-published writers, we can feel a pressure to produce material quickly.  There is a common belief that the more titles a writer has on his or her virtual bookshelf, the higher visibility and sales he or she can achieve.  And that’s almost certainly true.  But even so, I would caution that skimping on research—or worse, skipping it entirely—is a mistake.  Imagine if Crichton wrote Jurassic Park without bothering to study dinosaurs, genetic engineering, or chaos theory.  The result would probably have been a fun monster story, but a much less textured, less nuanced, and—perhaps most importantly—less convincing novel.

My novel Hardcore is a mystery set in the multi-billion dollar porn industry.  I know, it’s like a bad joke:  You wrote a book about porn?  I bet you did a lot of research!  Well, in my case, that’s true.  I knew I wanted the story to feel authentic, to expose the reader to an unfamiliar milieu, and, like the novels mentioned above, to make the reader feel like the book expanded his or her knowledge.  I spent months consuming nonfiction books, industry newsletters, insider blogs, interviews, documentaries, behind the scenes footage, and other resources.  Was some of this research fun?  Of course.  If you’re writing about a subject that interests you, the research should not be a chore.

And in my experience, the research was critical.  Knowing the real life problems and concerns of people in the industry enabled me to craft believable characters and realistic settings.  It opened my mind to plot twists that otherwise would not have occurred to me.  It helped me to avoid stupid mistakes that might have broken a knowledgeable reader’s suspension of disbelief.  Research impacted just about every aspect of the book, and made it better.

But don’t take my word for it.  In honor of this blog post, I’m discounting the ebook version of Hardcore to 99 cents until August 20.  Check it out for yourself.

Before I sign off, a word of warning:  Research can be taken too far.  Don’t let it become an excuse to delay writing.  (This is a dangerous temptation.  Reading is easier than writing, and we’re all here because we love to read.)  Also, resist the urge to pour all of your research into the book.  Otherwise you risk too much exposition (aka “infodumps”) and irrelevant details that distract from, rather than enhance, the narrative.  Let your research inform the book, but not overwhelm it.

To shamelessly use my own book as an example again, Hardcore isn’t a treatise on the dirty movie business.  It’s a story about a former porn star who returns to the industry because she doesn’t believe her sister’s death was really a suicide, and she’s determined to find the killer.  Research is not an end in itself.  It provides the details that bring the setting to life.

I hope you found this blog post helpful.  Visit my webpage, and please check out Hardcore at its limited time special price.

Good luck with your writing.  I hope to read you soon, and learn something!

Joe sez: I gave my opinions of research on Laura Nance's guest blog on August 5, but Larry touches on something else that's important in writing.

The hook.

Hooks aren't really plot or theme. Hooks are ideas that grab a reader's attention.

A well-researched thriller about the porn industry? The hook there is obvious. As mainstream as porn has become, it's still considered shameful. We don't talk about porn. In fact, we hide it from others.

So who wouldn't want to read about the industry without having to go into an adult bookstore and feel like a pervert?

Hardcore has a really smart hook, and as much as Larry's post was about research, it was also a clever way to get people interested in reading the novel. I downloaded my copy. I expect others will as well.

Look at the big indie bestsellers. The ones that hit #1 and get optioned for Hollywood and auctioned off to the Big 5. Most of them have big hooks. Something that can be stated in a sentence. Something readers "get" instantly. 

What hooks to you use to reel in readers? How are you enticing them to plunk down a few bucks for your ebook? 

Guest Post by Mary Louisa Locke

Joe sez: I'm going to be taking a blogging break during August, but I've got twelve guest posts scheduled this month, so they'll appear as slotted.

Today it's Mary Louisa Locke...

On Second Chances and Role Models: A Tribute to my Father

This is a re-edited post I wrote May 2, 2010, three year ago, about my father, Joseph H. Locke, who had Alzheimer's, and the profound effect he had on my writing career.

I have just returned from the melancholy task of moving my father into the "memory care" wing of an assisted living facility. My Dad was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s about eight years ago and caring for him has been increasingly difficult for my step-mother.

My father is a remarkable man. I watched him struggle to find something about his new situation to feel good about. He discovered that if he sang old WWII songs, almost everyone responded in some fashion, some of the residents actually singing along. When he quoted poetry, people smiled. One staff member said, "He just lifts your heart being around him."

What I want to write about today in this post is the role model he has been for me, and the lesson I learned from him about second chances––a lesson that many of my fellow indie authors are learning.

My father's dream as a young man was to get a doctorate in sociology and become a college teacher. Instead, after obtaining a masters degree in social work in the late 1940s, he joined the corporate world of U. S. Steel in his hometown of Pittsburgh. He had a wife who had rheumatic heart disease, which required very good health care benefits, so he sacrificed his dreams. He worked for U.S. Steel for nearly 30 years. Although there were aspects of his career as a middle manager that he was proud of, he never felt he fit in, and the conservative corporate environment stifled him.

Finally, in the late seventies, when old rust belt industries no longer could compete, U.S. Steel gave him a "golden handshake." At the age of 58, he was forced to retire, but he was not ready to quit working. Until Social Security kicked in he supplemented his pension by teaching business sociology at a local community college––finally getting a second chance to fulfill his dream. Then, in his early sixties, he retired completely. He and my mother moved to Florida for her health, and there he pursued another secret dream and joined a local poetry group. Eventually, he began to win contests and even get some of his poetry published. My mother died in 1987, when he was only 66, and a year later he met, wooed with his poetry, and married my step-mother, who was a poet herself.

The next decade was a wonderful one for him, with all sorts of second chances––a new marriage and a productive second career as a poet. Then in his early eighties, the confusion and memory loss of early Alzheimer's began to set in. One of the saddest aspects of this period for me was when he began to mourn what he saw as the missed opportunities of his past and express an anxiety about not having "been successful, made a mark."

From my perspective, however, he had been very successful––particularly successful in providing me a role model that has helped me embrace second chances in my own life. First of all, while I always understood the economic necessity of his choice to work for US Steel, the message he gave to me, a young woman growing up in the patriarchal suburban middle class of the 1950s, was that I should follow a career that fulfilled me.

That had a lot to do with my decision to push forward and get a doctorate in history at a time when only about 32% of college faculty in any discipline were women and only 17% of college history professors were female. That doctorate got me my teaching position––in a Texas University that was very hostile to women. Taking my father's message to heart about not sticking in a job I hated, I did something unheard of: I quit a tenure track job.

Eventually I got a second change at a career, and I loved that I got to follow in his footsteps by embarking on a successful twenty year career teaching at a community college. But, like my father, I had my own deferred dream––to get the historical mystery I had written years earlier published. And my father's post-retirement career as a poet again provided a role model for me. I began to tell people that when I retired that, like my father, I would make writing my "second career."

At the age of sixty, upon retirement, I got that second chance to reinvent myself. I investigated the rise of the ebook and indie-publishing; I set up a blog, learned to use twitter and facebook, conquered formatting for ebooks and print, and I self-published Maids of Misfortune, the first of my Victorian San Francisco Mystery series in December of 2009. My father, despite the ravages of Alzheimer's, was very proud of my achievement, and I felt I had made the best of the lesson he had taught me, that it is never to late to start over.

My father died two years after this post was first written, but he got to hold both of my published books in his hands, and I like to think he understood what that meant. I do know what it has meant to me. This second chance at a career has been unbelievably rewarding. The first year, Maids of Misfortune earned me $5,500, a nice supplement to my pension and part-time teaching. The second year I earned $25,000, enough so I could retire completely and write full-time. Last year I made $75,000, more than I made in any year as a full time history professor, and this morning, Maids of Misfortune, and the sequel,  Uneasy Spirits, are still chugging along as bestsellers in numerous categories in the Kindle store.

I know that one of the reasons I began to read Joe Konrath's posts on self-publishing in 2009 was that he shared the same first name with my father. However, it was Konrath's willingness to lay out the data on his own book sales that gave me the courage to turn by back on the traditional publishing route and give self-publishing a try. Konrath, like my father, has steadfastly promoted the idea of second chances­­––for authors and their books––and I hope that other writers will be encouraged in turn by my success. 

Joe sez: Learn what you can. Pass along what you've learned. Have as much fun as possible. Then leave the world a better place because you lived in it, through the things you've done and the people you've touched.

Success isn't about fame, or money. Success is having someone write what Mary did above, about you.

Be that person.

Guest Post by Paul Comstock

Joe sez: I'm going to be taking a blogging break during August, but I've got twelve guest posts scheduled this month, so they'll appear as slotted.

Today it's Paul Comstock...

My name is Paul Comstock and I'm an author.  Thanks to Joe and his kind offer to extend guest Blogs to anyone donating $100 to Tess Gerritsen's fight against Alzheimer’s, a very worthwhile cause to deal with a very insidious disease, I am able to bring you some of my thoughts on Joe's site.

I have just released my first novel, The Technologia, self-published on Amazon as an ebook.  It's a fast-paced, action thriller taking the reader on a journey into a secret, fictional organization many fear could really exist.  Nanotechnology, cyborgs, advanced robotics, quantum computers, high-tech weapons, advanced medical technology and machinery, make for an action-packed read.  If you'd like to check it out, it'll be free for five days to coincide with this Blog post.  If you do read it and feel the desire to review it, that would be great, but only honest reviews, please.  All feedback is welcomed.

Before I go into my thoughts, I'd like to extend my thanks to Joe for this Blog and all his sage advice, and for all the great guest Blog posts as well.  They are all well worth the time for any author to read.  I love learning from other's mistakes and experiences, especially Joe's.  While Joe can be a cantankerous blowhard at times, his posts have been full of worthwhile advice that merit consideration and thought.   You can't help but like Joe.  He's like that best friend who tells you to your face that you're full of crap even when it's not what you want to hear.  Honest, direct advice and comments, something this world needs more of, in my opinion.  His words on this Blog have helped me to adjust my mindset on the state of the publishing industry, where I see it going, and my future in it as an older, aging, aspiring author.  The remainder of this post will contain some of the things I have discovered.

1.  Writing gets harder as a person gets older.

There's a lot of reasons for that, some obvious, while others not so obvious until they are personally experienced.  Some things are universal, while others are very personal, like a person's health and the health of their loved ones.  Whatever, life has a way of piling up on all of us and can make it more difficult to write creatively and proficiently, but only if a person lets it.  You can make it a career at any age, through any challenge, if you want it bad enough.  

2. Anyone can find the time to write.

I don't know how many times I've heard of authors getting up at the crack of dawn, or before, just to get an hour or less of writing in before life intrudes.  Or writing while commuting, or sneaking in fifteen minutes anywhere they can, like lunch breaks.  I've also heard the tired old complaints of those who don't get it, the ones who claim they don't have the time.  What they really mean is that they are not committed enough to sacrifice something else to be able to write.  After all, if you can create at an average of twenty words a minute, an hour should get you 1,200 words a day, or over 430,000 words a year.  That's three fairly good sized novels, or more, for some genres.  There's always something that can be given up to get that hour.  A TV show, a round of golf, a night out with the guys or girls, sleep (well, maybe not that).  Just make the time to write.

3. Time is not infinite.

I know, that sounds like a contradiction to what I just wrote, but it's not.  One involves finding time on a daily basis, the other to the long term.  The simple fact is that time grows shorter as we age.  At twenty, the world is ahead of us, and seems long.  At thirty, it's not much different, but what we don't realize is that ten years passes us by in the blink of an eye.  One blink and we're thirty, the next, we're forty, then fifty and thinking of retirement and that our opportunities have passed us by.  While that is far from the truth, that mindset can be a killer.  Too much of the time, we are planning for our future while our present passes us by.  If anyone wants to be a successful author, the time to become serious is right now, this minute, this second, no matter what your age or point in life.  Don't wait for this or that to happen.  Don't wait for that perfect job, or a promotion, or the kids to get older, or personal challenges to get easier.  Don't wait for retirement age, thinking that'll give you time to write.  The reason is that when we get one thing in line, two more things will come up to replace it.  Life piles up, and time passes us by.  Count on it.

4.  Writing is work, and work is a four-letter word.

Writing on a committed level is work.  It isn't something you can do successfully without some sacrifice of time, but it doesn't have to be that much.  Sometimes it's not easy, but don't give up.  Sometimes it means giving up things you really want to do to make it work.  It's also not something that comes quickly, no matter whether you go with traditional publishing or self-publishing.  It can, and most likely will, take years.  Joe can attest to that.

5. The old idea of print publishing is dying.

The written word has existed for centuries and the printed word along with it.  While the written word will go on for some time, perhaps forever (though I wouldn't count on it), the distribution of those words in printed form is changing and changing fast.  Writing is not dying, just the way it's distributed.  Looking back at history and how technology changes the way we do things, it shouldn't be a surprise.  Automobiles heralded the end of the horse and buggy.  Computers and printers have replaced typewriters, so why shouldn't ebooks replace printed books?  It's inevitable when you think about it.  The technology is here now to make it happen, and it will.  When it becomes time to railroad, we railroad.

6. Since the Big Six fail to adapt their business model to the changing times, they are destined to fade away.

It's too bad really, because they have a lot to offer if they'd only see the light, but I fear they never will.  They have a wealth of knowledge and experience that could give them an advantage for the upcoming future of publishing.  Not only are they failing to adapt to a changing world, they are alienating the majority of authors who are their bread and butter through bad contracts and lack of support and marketing.  The only authors they are treating well are a handful of top authors.  Unfortunately, this will only result in those authors being all they have left at some point.       

7. The future is ebooks, not print publishing.

It may take some time yet, but less than most people think, especially those in the Big Six.  The beginning of the end is coming, and it will hinge on how long Barnes and Noble manages to stay in business, I think.  That may be sooner rather than later, as the new CEO has already said they are dropping the Nook.  They said they are still going to make basic readers, but not the ones most people are buying now that can do more, like the Nook Color and Kindle Fire.  Barnes and Noble might surprise me by adapting, but I just don't see it happening.  They have to contend with competition from Amazon and Walmart and other places where books are just another item of thousands they sell.

8. Publishers will seek out self-published authors more and more.

What this means, I think, is that there will be a reversal of sorts going on in the publishing world.  Publishers will slowly see submissions of quality work to them drop off.  Serious authors will move away to new publishing businesses that embrace ebooks and have a different business model, or will self-publish.   Because of that, print publishers will start to shop for self-published authors who are popular and sell, seeking them out rather than waiting for submissions to them.  What that means is that self-publishing ebooks will actually become a better way to succeed and even get published in print if that's an author's goal. 

               

9. If you self-publish, and you don't know how to do everything necessary to put out a quality ebook, hire those that can do it for you.

Basically, invest in yourself and your work.  It pays off.  One of the secrets to being a successful author is to produce quality work.  Just because you're not a graphic designer doesn't mean you can't hire one for your cover, or buy a great cover.  The cover for my novel, The Technologia, for example, was purchased from Carl Graves, Joe's cover designer, for the very reasonable price of $200.00.  It was money well spent.

The same goes for editing.  It often pays to have a piece of work professionally edited, or at the very least, read by several people before publication.  A good editor can turn a good book into a great one.

Another thing worth investing in is the converting of the writing into ebook format.  Learning how to convert say, a word document, into ebook format can be a very daunting and demanding task that takes knowledge, skill, and hours of time to do well.  The difference between a well-formatted ebook and one that used one of the numerous converting programs is very obvious to readers, and affects sales greatly.  Poor formatting screams poor quality, even if it isn't so.

Well, that's it for my guest Blog post.  There's lots more I've learned, but these are some of the things I thought might help other authors.  I know, I'm preaching to the converted and most of what I wrote is something you probably have heard before, so consider it a refresher. The most important thing is to believe in yourself and your work, and never give up.  Also, don't worry about your age or when you start your career.  Just do it and be committed to it.  Every completed quality work will generate additional income.  If an author produces two novels a year, in a decade or less, it is possible to make a good living at it, but it won't happen without hard work and effort.  You'll get out of it what you put into it, and like Joe says, ebooks are forever.

For me, self-publishing ebooks seems like a no-brainer, but everyone has to choose their own path.  All I can say is that what I see coming is that ebooks will become the preferred method of distribution.  It's like a wave, and like the surfer who wants to ride it, I'd rather be riding the front of the wave rather than letting it pass me by, trying to catch up or waiting for the next one that might never come. 

Good luck and good writing!

Joe sez: It is never too late to start, but the sooner you start, the sooner you'll be on your way to a career.

It is also never too late to stop.

Yep, you heard me.

I've heard lots of writers complain about how they aren't making as much money as they want to, or about how hard it is to sell ebooks, or about the good old days of 2012 when a freebie promotion had a sales bounceback.

No one is holding your children hostage, forcing you into this career. If it brings you unhappiness, quit. Life is too short to be miserable. Do something else productive with your time.

If you can't quit, then stop whining. You're doing this to yourself.

You need luck to succeed. You also need talent, hard work, and perseverance. But you also need the right attitude. Without the willingness to embrace the obstacles, the rough times, the hardships, and without the ability to visualize the light at the end of the tunnel, all you're going to do is make yourself and those around you miserable.

Here's a big fistful of truth: You have NOT worked harder than I have. No writer alive has worked harder than me. If you really think you paid your dues, go back to the beginning of my blog and start reading.

And I STILL feel that I don't deserve success. I have no sense of entitlement. I treat each day as the gift it is. Because I got really lucky.

If you can't grin and bear it until you get lucky, quit.

So I'll add a number 10 to Paul's list, because it is something he obviously embraces.

10. Stay optimistic.

The fact that you even have the opportunity to self-publish is a huge streak of luck. Anything beyond that is icing on the cake.

Guest Post by Kevin Blackmore

Joe sez: I'm going to be taking a blogging break during August, but I've got twelve guest posts scheduled this month, so they'll appear as slotted.

Today it's Kevin Blackmore...

First, thanks for Tess for starting the fundraiser––I lost a grandfather to the disease, and like many, know firsthand how cruel Alzheimer’s is.

And thanks to Joe for allowing me to post.

I’m another one of the silent readers who’ve pondered over Joe’s escapades into digital publishing, and made notes accordingly as he’d gone along. If it wasn’t for finding “A Newbie’s Guide…” well, I know I wouldn’t be posting today.

I’d still be overseas. Working the day job, writing in the evenings (and on the weekends, sometimes to my friends’ and girlfriend’s ire) and submitting what I could to publishers who wanted submissions in paper and, if I hadn’t heard from them within 4-8 months, I could assume my book didn’t meet their requirements. But try again. Sometime.

Because of Joe’s blog, I finally made the jump from day job to dream job in early 2011, and after twenty years of trying to get published, I started publishing on my own.

Looking back, the whole experience was as exhilarating as it was frightening. I was living off my life savings, writing full time, before finances or readers bitch slapped me with the reality mallet. If my books didn’t sell, if they sucked, well… truthfully, there was no Plan B.

My torpedo was, for all intentional purposes, in the water.

Started out with 4 titles back then. My main genres are fantasy and horror, so I released one for each, as well as a children’s story and a non-fiction “How-to” book. Nothing really sold well, and monthly tallies were usually in low double digits. Released a SF novella (the Bear that fell from the stars) and a short collection of horror short stories (Cauldron Gristle). The short story collection didn’t do much—though the SF book, about a ninja who gets abducted by a bunch of anal probing aliens, did managed to sell around 5,000 units. However, at only .99 cents, it wasn’t anything to scream about, and it was SF… a little outside of what I usually write. Crossover readers were few.

However, in the horror collection, there was one story with potential for something more. A little number called “The Hospital.” My first PA zombie story.

Yeah. Zombies.

Got to work on my first full blown zombie story late in 2011. Finances were low then, and even though I didn’t want to, I came up with an exit strategy, just in case. But there was a chance. The zombie genre was just exploding back then, and I wanted to release something to take advantage of a hot genre and the upcoming holiday market. So I released the first half of my undead novel and hoped that it sold, and sold enough. Enough to keep me at the keyboard for another little while.

Well, that book was Mountain Man.

And that 200+ page story, about a PA Robinson Crusoe type alcoholic scrounging about and evading dead things, kept me alive. It was Christmas and I got my second wind.

The “sequel” (in my mind it’s still one book chopped in half) did even better business, and the third book, well, I’m still here… and we’re halfway through 2013. Even more newsworthy, MM recently became optioned for film (and not the first work of mine to be eyeballed by Hollywood). Now, I’m not placing my hopes on the book ever becoming a movie (my writer colleagues set me straight on that), but it is a professional pat on the back.

And none of this would have happened if I hadn’t stumbled upon Joe’s blog about self-publishing. That it could be done.

I’d still be working the day job, slowly self-immolating, spending my free time punching out stories for a very cold, very indifferent industry apparatus, hoping that one day it’d would notice.

Now?

Now I don’t give a shit what it does J. I’ve got work to do.

These days, I’m concentrating on a new fantasy series. The cash from MM will keep me alive just a little longer, just to see if readers take to the fantasy line. I hope they do as I have more stories in that genre than the horror. I’m not out of the woods yet, and certainly not financially stable. I’ve made mistakes over the last two years (not starting on a series right away is the main one), but I’ve got an extension on my dream career, and I’m going to do what I can with the time remaining. Things are good.

So thanks, Joe. ‘Appreciate it.

Joe sez: I've said time and again it isn't name recognition or marketing that makes a book successful. It's luck. The right book released at the right time with the right cover and rights description and right price. If it catches on with readers, it will stay on the bestseller lists, remaining visible, for a long time. 

My first published novel, Whiskey Sour, was available for nine years through my former publisher, and it sold modestly. I got the rights back in February, changed the cover, the description, and lowered the price, and it and my other five Jack Daniels novels have sold over 150,000 copies in six months.

If you aren't selling well, try something different. If changing covers and prices and descriptions don't work, write in a different genre.

No one knows what is going to succeed. But I'm pretty sure you won't succeed if you don't keep trying new things.

This is a business. Treat it like the hard work it is. Then keep at it until the world can't ignore you anymore.

Guest Post by Mark Edward Hall

Joe sez: I'm going to be taking a blogging break during August, but I've got twelve guest posts scheduled this month, so they'll appear as slotted.

Today it's Mark Edward Hall...

One Writer’s Journey: Adventures in Publishing

This sounds strange to most writers when I talk about it, but I have never actively pursued a traditional book deal. I mean that. Never in my life. Unlike writers like Joe who in the beginning sent manuscripts to hundreds of publishers, I’ve never sent one.

Most of my career was spent on the road as a musician/singer/songwriter, and although I’d always longed to write fiction, I simply did not have the time. I’d always been an avid reader and was especially influenced by a young writer I’d gone to grammar school with by the name of Stephen King. That’s right, we both hail from the small town of Durham, Maine. He was a year ahead of me but we knew each other and played together as children. Later we attended different high schools and went our separate ways.

When I read Carrie I was flabbergasted that it had come from the pen of an old schoolmate, and very proud of him. And of course I was more than a little bit envious. Then came Salem’s Lot, and well, you know the rest of the story.

So, I continued to play my music and write songs and live life on the road. By the time I reached my late thirties and had not seen any major success with my music, my wife Sheila and I decided to return to Maine, settle down and become antique dealers. I still played music part time but now I tried to keep it local.
I’d been talking increasingly about writing a novel, and finally one day Sheila said, “If you’re going to do it, you’d better get started. You’re not getting any younger.”

She was right of course, and that was just the motivation I needed.

In 2001 I sent my first novel, The Lost Village, (along with four-hundred dollars) to the Scott Meredith Literary Agency in New York. It was something they called their Discovery Program and promised that the work would get an objective opinion and a speedy response. A nice editor got back to me within a month and commended me on the ambitiousness of my novel, said I was a promising writer and that The Lost Village was actually a great book, but, no one would publish it because it was too long. 258,000 words. He told me there wasn't a publisher in the land that would touch a first time author with a book of that length. He qualified that and said that if I was a celebrity author like King or Patterson it would be fine, no problem, I could publish my laundry list and it would probably sell. But I wasn’t King or Patterson, I was an unknown. And publishers wanted nice tidy little eighty to one-hundred-thousand word books from unknown authors. Please send something else along that's at a more appropriate length, (along with another four-hundred bucks, of course).

Well, that was that, thank you very much. I never sent another thing to that agency or any other agency, for that matter, nor was I interested in legacy publishers. Maybe I’ve got a thin skin, but I was not interested in what the establishment had to say about my books. I was keenly aware of the statistics, of how many manuscripts ever made it to an editor's desk. One writer friend of mine had been rejected so many times he was on the verge of suicide.

So, I did the unthinkable. Way back in the dark ages before Kindle and Nook and all those other reading devices we now take for granted were invented, I decided to self-publish my magnum opus. This was before Amazon or any of the other booksellers were selling ebooks. If you wanted to self-publish a book you needed to go through one of those “vanity” presses that charged for services. So that’s what I did. I brought The Lost Village out in hardcover and trade paperback and sold downloadable copies from my website to those willing to read an enormous book on their computer screens. The book actually came out pretty well. It was formatted nicely, had a good cover. My wife, who had worked as a newspaper editor, did a fine job editing the book.

I signed up with the New England Horror Writers, did some group signings, made some friends, and, to my amazement, the book began to sell. Not in great numbers, but sell it did. I will say that initially I was shunned by some of the other members of the NEHW who were almost all legacy published, but when the line in front of my table was consistently longer than the lines at theirs, some got curious and actually bought my book. Before long I was receiving some nice reviews from fellow authors as well as readers, and low and behold I found out that several ‘respectable’ authors with ‘real’ published books had recommended to the HWA ( Horror Writer’s Association) that The Lost Village be nominated for a Bram Stoker Award.

This was very exciting news, but of course it wasn’t nominated. Back then, and even now, the HWA has a very hard time recognizing anything self-published. They love their legacy publishers, and if your work isn’t sanctioned by one of them, well . . . They claim they consider all published works, and I believe they do, but it’s been my experience that very few independent books ever get much consideration. No matter, I believe they are for the most part, a good and beneficial organization, and their current president, Rocky Wood, is a super nice guy. But I also believe in my heart (and this is just my opinion) that if they continue on their present course, they will one day become as irrelevant as bookstores and legacy publishers are becoming.

The Lost Village sold reasonably well without the benefit of being sanctioned by a legacy publisher, or being recognized by the  Horror Writer’s Association.

In the meantime I wrote several other novels and was doing okay selling short stories to various magazines and anthologies.

Then, a little more than three years ago, on invitation, I sent my novella, The Haunting of Sam Cabot to a brand new small press publisher, Damnation Books. Now this is the important part. It was the first time in my writing life that I had ever sent a manuscript to a book publisher and I sent it only because they queried me. At the time, Kindle was a brand new concept and I had never heard of it. Damn my error. Well, I heard right back from Damnation Books that they wanted to publish my book. Wow! First time. Couldn't believe it. They subsequently published two more of my books including a re-issue of The Lost Village. I signed five year contracts for each of those books. Stupid me. It was just about the time Kindle exploded on the scene and I was suddenly tied to a publisher who priced my books much too high to sell well on Kindle. And oh my lord, the formatting! It was atrocious. Still is, and my publisher is so arrogant they refuse to fix the problems. If you check sample e-versions of both The Lost Village and The Holocaust Opera (the latter which has a wonderful introduction by Bram Stoker Award winning editor Vince Liaguno) you will see that the text of both books is entirely in italics. E-gads! It’s downright embarrassing.

And, to my utter chagrin they priced the Kindle version of The Lost Village at $9.95. Celebrity authors can get away with selling e-books at that price, unfortunately nobody else can. Try telling that to my publisher. I know in my heart that if it had been priced at $2.99 or even $3.99, where it should be, it would have been a Kindle bestseller by now. I begged and pleaded with my publisher to just try it but they wouldn't budge. Too bad for them because they have lost me as an author. I am presently in the process of fighting to obtain the rights back to The Haunting of Sam Cabot. The other two will be next. It's going to take some legal wrangling, but it will happen. Not that they should care, They have what seems to be a massive stable of authors now, most of whom seem quite satisfied to live with poor formatting and earn 17.5% of the list price instead of the 70% they could earn as independents. Go figure. I guess for some the prestige of having a REAL publisher outweighs everything else including earnings.

Last year at this time I self published Apocalypse Island, not a horror novel like most of my others, but a crime thriller with some supernatural and science fiction overtones. Some writer friends were kind enough to read and review, and in the first year I garnered a whopping 28 reader reviews and sold a respectable amount of copies. Then, through Joe’s blog, I heard about an email blast service called Bookbub and decided to give it a try. Apocalypse Island went free on April 8th of this year and by that first evening it held the number one free spot on Amazon. When the promo ended five days later I’d given away nearly 100,000 copies. The next day it catapulted into Amazon’s top twenty paid and stayed there for more than a week.

The book continued to sell well for nearly two months making me more money than I’ve ever made with my writing, more money than I make in a year playing music, and garnering nearly 150 reader reviews, the vast majority of which are positive. I’m stunned and very grateful to all those who downloaded and reviewed my book so positively.

I have a new novel, Lion of God, in the editing stages which will be released before the end of the summer. It is a sequel to Apocalypse Island. I am planning on releasing it as a free ebook for the first five days, and if Joe doesn’t mind I’ll announce it in the comments section of one of his blogs.

As you’ve probably surmised by now, I’ve been around awhile. Nevertheless, I’m fit and healthy and determined to write many more books before I throw in the towel.

Apocalypse Island will be free from August 6th thru August 10th. Hope you all download it and give it a read. I will announce the release of Lion of God just as soon as I have the release date.'

I wish to thank Joe for his kindness and generosity. I’m a frequent visitor to his blog, usually reading all of the guest posts and most of the comments. I especially enjoy the pinhead comments.J Mostly I just lurk,
posting only if I have something relevant to add.

Joe, you’re a prince. Thank you for your inspiration and generosity. 

Joe sez: More and more legacy publishers are going to be plumbing indie authors for their rights. They'll have no choice, because more and more legacy authors are going to leave because they're fed up with being unfairly treated.

Now's a good time to go over some rules when approached by a publisher.

1. Don't ever pay any editor, publisher, or agent, for anything. Ever.
2. If you sign a deal, don't ever expect to get your rights back.
3. If you have any leverage, don't sign over your ebook rights, unless you're getting a huge amount of money.
4. If you get an offer, have an agent or entertainment lawyer look it over and explain it to you before you sign.
5. Some clauses to be careful of are non-compete, which says you can't publish anything else while under contract, and next work option, which says the publisher gets first chance at the next thing you right. Both of these are unfair.
6. Don't ever take an ebook only deal. A publisher's only advantage over an indie is their ability to get paper books onto store shelves. An indie can reach the same amount of readers with an ebook than a publisher can.

Anyone have anything to add?