Don't Get Mad, Get Writing

Credit to Cellar_Door_Films WANA Commons

Hey gang! Hope your weekends were fabutastic. Thanks to everyone who stopped by to wish the winners of my cover contest well! If you missed it, you can check it HERE.

This week, I want to talk about an 18 year old who just signed a six-figure publishing deal (yes, it's a vampire story), but first ...

New Adult Twitter Chat (#NALitChat) Update

Many of you know that I host a weekly Twitter chat, but there are some new folks following this blog so I thought I'd share a quick update...

For the uninitiated, New Adult is a category of literature aimed at the 18-26 year old demographic. The themes and characters tend to fall into that focus as well. Basically, if you're a fan of YA lit, and wondered 'what comes next?', you simply have to come hang with us. We do talk about a range of writing and reading related 'things', not just  New Adult, so I think there's a little bit of something for everyone. (And all are certainly welcome.) 

If you're feeling a bit naughty, this is the month to join in as we're starting our 'Risky Business' series in which we'll be chatting about sex in New Adult lit, taboos in New Adult lit, and much more steamy goodness. All from a writing and reading perspective. To take part in the chat, just jump on the Twitters every Thursday night @ 9 PM EST and use the #NALitChat hashtag in your Tweets.

For more info on the chat, check out the NA Lit Chat blog, complete with fancy calendar, HERE.

This Week's Good News!

Speaking of steamy, check the cover for this fabulous upcoming New Adult release!

I think my author-pal Carrie Butler is going to set the reading world (as well as a few eyeballs...) on fire when Strength debuts next March! Don't believe me? Check this epic blurb:

"When college student Rena Collins finds herself nose-to-chest with the campus outcast, her rumor-laced notions are shattered. Handsome, considerate, and seemingly sane, Wallace Blake doesn’t look like he spends his nights alone, screaming and banging on the walls of his dorm room. Hell, he doesn’t look like he spends his nights alone, period.

Too curious for her own good, Rena vows to uncover the truth behind Wallace’s madman reputation—and how two seconds of contact had left her with bruises. Of course, there are a few minor setbacks along the way: guilt, admiration, feelings of the warm and fuzzy variety…

Not to mention the unwanted attention of Wallace's powerful, supernaturally-gifted family.

They’re a bloodline divided by opposing ideals, two soon-to-be warring factions that live in secret among us. When Rena ends up caught in their crossfire, Wallace has no choice but to save her by using his powers. Now they’re really in trouble. With war on the horizon and Rena’s life in the balance, he needs to put some distance between them. But Rena won’t let go. If fighting is what it takes to prove her own strength and keep Wallace in her life, then that’s what she’ll do—even if it means risking a whole lot more than her heart."

Epic, right? You'll want to stalk Carrie to stay up on the Strength release shenanigans I'm sure she has planned, and you can find all of the details HERE.

My own good news! 

So, I somewhat stealthily added my book, Blood Fugue, to Goodreads recently. I did so to allow the folks who have received arcs to be able to review it in advance of release (later this month), and planned to officially announce that it was up when I posted about the epic launch blogfest I'm planning (in the coming days).

Well, I got my first review and decided to break out the announcement early. Why? Because the review was awesome! lol Super-duper-awesome author-blogger Eve (aka - The Desert Rocks), and recipient of a Blood Fugue arc, gave it five stars! You can read her full review HERE, and be sure to give her blog a follow. She's an absolute blast, and now on my holiday shopping list. :-)

Also, if you'd like to add Blood Fugue to your Goodreads list (and jockey for position on my holiday shopping list), you can check out the official listing HERE.

Don't Get Mad, Get Writing

An author I follow on Facebook posted this article about an 18 year old girl who recently signed a big book deal with a BIG publisher. She didn't share it as good news ...

The author who shared the story is, like 99.9% of published authors, solidly mid-list. Which is to say she has had to scrap for every ounce of respect, every smidgen of publicity, and every last cent given to her by the book publishing world. She works her tail off, and hopes each book she puts out moves enough copies to get her next story published, much less six-figures. As I said, that's life for most authors. 

I LOVE her books, by the way. They are unique, and beautiful--truly nothing else quite like them. That I've read, at least.

And I'll say this: Indignation over a fledgling adult, much less author, having an agent FIND HER, and getting a big contract for writing ANOTHER Twilight-inspired spinoff is certainly understandable, and probably justified. It's hard to process how one person can bust their ass for years--trying to get an agent, trying to write something good, trying to write something marketable, etc.--and not achieve the success of a first-time teenage author.

However, there is something the young woman in the article got right that I think many established (and otherwise) authors aren't figuring out: she wrote stories, and she shared them. From the age of 15, she was uploading chapters to various social writing sites. She eventually got enough exposure that an agent took notice. 

Now, I don't think I need to write another 'publishing has changed' post today. I think what I need to tell you is this: If people aren't reading your words, it's your fault. 

Go ahead, get pissed at me. Throw stuff. Quit following me... on second thought, let's not be hasty. You can stomp your foot, maybe even curse me under your breath, but you should keep following. I'll say something you'll like soon enough.

So if it's your fault, how can you fix it? Simple!

- You need an idea for a story. 

- You need to learn how to write. 

- You need to get better at writing. 

- And you need to be willing to put it out there.

These steps apply to EVERYONE. You want to go the traditional route with an agent, etc.? Great! Start getting your work out there. You want to be independent and do your own thing? Great! Start getting your work out there.

The lesson is this: There isn't an established author-process anymore, other than writing something awesome and fighting like hell to get it in front of readers.

A couple of suggestions, if I may. 1) If your goal is to get a novel represented by a literary agent, and one day see your book in a real book store, write other stuff on the side and put it out there. 2) If you aren't sure what publishing direction you want to go in, write a bunch of stuff, and put some of it out there.

Note: This isn't me advocating throwing poop on the wall to see what sticks. Your dry runs are best kept in house, even now. You put out something before it's ready--before you're ready--and the cold Web-world will strike you down with a fiery vengeance. Besides, you owe it to your readers to be the best you can be, at whatever stage.

I'm simply advocating action. As silly as it sounds, the modern writer must write! We are in a content driven age. People want to read about everything, and they want to read about it now. That's truth.  

So the next time you read about some 'instant' publishing success story--or other affront to how you believe things are supposed to work--don't get mad, get writing.

~EJW~

Authors, Transform and Rollout

Howdy gang! I'd like to start this post by saying how much I really appreciated all of the words of encouragement left on my last post. Had some old, and very dear, blogging friends pop in to say, "atta boy"regarding my quasi-publishing announcement. 

I promised more specific details in the future, and there will be, but for now I'd like to talk about how I got to this point. I'd also like to discuss the transformation that, I believe, all authors go through. (The point of this post.) BUT FIRST ...

NA LIT CHAT IS THIS WEEK

The inaugural New Adult Twitter chat is this week! If you follow me on Twitter, you're probably sick of hearing about it. I've also mentioned it on this blog a couple of times. But just incase you aren't up to date, I'll give it a final shout-out here.

Basically, I'm teaming up with the wonderful ladies over at the NA Alley Blog (click to check them out, they rock) to facilitate a weekly Twitter discussion of New Adult literature. This week's topic is: The 5 W's of NA - What it is, who writes it, where it gets published, when it takes place in life, and why it's important.

So if you've ever wanted to know what NA is all about, this is the week to learn. It's also going to be a great place to meet folks who are writing and reading NA right now. 

I'll be hosting this THURSDAY, 9 PM EST, and the cosmically cool Bailey from NA Alley will be moderating. To join in the discussion, just search for #NALitChat on Twitter and use #NALitChat in your messages at the appointed time. 

If you want more info on what a Twitter chat is, and how to do it, be sure to check out the most recent post on the NA Lit Chat blog. There's also a calendar with upcoming chat dates and other FYI tidbits. Really hope you'll join us, and appreciate any tweeting or other types of promotion you might be able to do to help us get the word out. 

THE EVOLVING AUTHOR

Last week I announced that I'd been working with an editor on a story I plan to see published in the near-ish future. Basically, I was all panicky about digging into the revisions, but excited about moving forward with the project. 

You'll be happy to know, I quit being a coward and dove into the edits with my nose pinched shortly after I posted. (Your encouragement seriously helped me with that, btw.) I've made a ton of progress and can most definitely see it coming together now. Won't be long.

After reading some of the comments, it occurred to me that I probably ought to talk about where I'm at in my writing career or, more importantly, how I got here. Some of you have been with me since the Spring of 2010 when my first post went up, and I've changed my goals and priorities a bit since then.

I say "more importantly", because I think the changes I've gone through are the most relevant aspects to anyone else out there writing. 

IN WHICH I HAVE NO CLUE WHAT I'M DOING

Okay, I wasn't completely clueless. But close. I barely knew what a query letter was. I'd just begun to understand what a market was and how that impacted publishing. Agents were unicorns to be stalked and studied from afar. And all of my writing was in third person limited POV because that's what Harry Potter was written in. (You think I'm joking. I'm not.)  

I wanted to write fiction for teens (still do, btw) because that's what I enjoyed reading, and I'd worked with teenagers most of my adult life. I knew teenagers and could relate to them.

And I'm not talking about those awesome teens that have their poop together. I worked with the teens that struggled with life. The lost ones. The abusers and the abused. The fragile and the neglected. So I wanted to write things for them. Stories saved me as an early teenager, and I wanted to write things to save them. 

Not that what I was writing was anything momentous or life-altering. I wasn't writing about racism or cancer, after all. My stories had robots, crude humor, and whatever else geeky, normal kids preoccupy themselves with. I aimed to tell stories that provided an escape. Because that's what all of my favorite stories gave me growing up. 

I was a kid from small town Oklahoma who liked classical music, comic books, and drawing who wanted to pretend he was from anywhere BUT small town Oklahoma. Books let me do that. 

A WRITER WHO DOESN'T KNOW HOW TO WRITE

Isn't that how we all start? If passion and desire are all it took to write a great story, I'd be dictating this to my butler while sipping cold drinks on a yacht somewhere in the South Pacific. Instead, I'm in my pajama pants, gulping down a Diet Dr. Pepper, and trying to keep my playful dog from yanking out the computer's power cord. Again. And I'm blogging from South-Central Texas, where we'd love to see a little rain this time of year, much less have an ocean view. 

Good writers are great failures. I thought I understood that going in. I expected to struggle. In fact, I looked forward to it. This would be the most challenging thing I'd ever attempted. I'd declared myself to be "a writer" to my friends and family, and now my blog said so too. The clock had officially started. No more writing only on the weekends or vacation. I'd write every day. I'd set goals and have standards to live by. It wasn't IF I'd reach them, but when.

To be fair, I never dreamed I'd end up questioning my own intelligence. I never would've considered that I'd be stripped of every ounce of confidence and self-appreciation I had--sometimes daily. And I certainly wouldn't have believed that I'd get so lost and buried by it all that my dreams would no longer matter. Not sucking is all that mattered.

My wife has often told me, perplexed, over the last few years, "You're so confident in everything you do. Except writing." I think if she truly knew the number of hours I'd dumped into this only to reach a point where I can look in a mirror (most days) and honestly say, "I don't completely suck," she'd probably get it. 

TRANSFORMATION

At some point in the last year and a half, something clicked. That's the simplistic way of saying it. The more complex version would included something about me seeing a bigger publishing picture. It might cover how I decided that I didn't have to be just one thing. Perhaps, the lengthier version would even mention how I discovered the key to getting my "voice" into my writing was to switch to first person POV. 

There were a billion little steps in the transition from what I thought writing--and subsequently becoming an author--was, and what it REALLY is. And I'm not even quite there yet.

Undoubtedly, the massive changes sweeping over the publishing industry have shifted my goals and expectations. Everyone is adapting on the fly these days it seems. 

When I began, I thought I wanted to know that my book was on a shelf at the local Barnes & Noble. It took me a while to figure out that what I really wanted was to know that my book was in the hands of a reader. And I cared very little about how they got it.

Initially, I was consumed with learning about the business. That seemed like the biggest obstacle in my mind. How to talk to an agent, what's attractive to publishers, could I say "shit" on my blog and still write YA ... On and on it went, and I got further and further away from what mattered. The writing.

In the beginning, I wanted to write what I thought I was SUPPOSED to write, and write it how it was SUPPOSED to be written. Now I write the only way I know how to write, and have resolved to let readers determine if I've done it correctly. 

This isn't some big FU to the establishment or conventions, btw. I have a book on craft on my bedside table in perpetuity. I draft and revise until the blood seeps from my fingers and eyes, then revise some more. I still keep up with agents, and listen when they say something is important. Entertaining readers and getting better with each story is still # 1 in my book. Lastly, I'd traditionally publish in a minute if the situation was right, AND I fiercely support independent authors. (Yes, you can say both.)

I've transformed my reality is all. And ultimately, I believe that's what being an author is truly about. Whether we're adapting our ideas to write the best story possible, or adjusting our professional aspirations and tactics to reach readers, the ability to change, to push for more, is what's going to determine our success.

What about you? Has your writing style changed? Has your career trajectory altered any from what you once thought it would be? Are you happy about it?

I think this song pretty well sums up my personal experience:




~EJW~

Tips for Podcast Easy Listening

Hey all! Sorry I didn't get around to posting this in the second half of last week as planned. See, there was a holiday thing, and then another, and then there was this woman. Don't get the wrong idea, she and my wife are very close. (Okay, REALLY don't get the wrong idea now. :)

She's a great woman, let me tell you. I'd drop anything for her, and that hasn't changed in 10 (plus now) years. All this writing/blogging/stuff I do? She's totally into it. In fact, she encourages it. (Probably so I'll leave her alone.) There really isn't much I do that she doesn't support.

No, we aren't a perfect match or anything. We're a little competitive with one another. Don't ever ask one of us who loves the other more. She'll say I'm better at showing and saying it, and I'll say she's better at simply doing it.

Also, she's a dessert person and I favor a second helping. Plus there's the civil war we had over oaked wine. She loves a heavy oaking, while I tend to like to drink my wine, not chew on it.

Still, I'd say we do a fine job of living and loving together. And we keep the knife fights to a minimum.

Anyway, wedding anniversaries are always special, but I had to make the big 10 something we'd remember. That devoured my blogging (and anything, really) time. Mia culpas all around.

As for what I promised, last week I recommended a couple of writing podcasts for your listening pleasure. I also promised some quick tips for listening, as I found out it can be somewhat cumbersome if you simply want to listen to several in a sitting (or working). Useful for the short casts (which I favor). So here goes:

1) Download iTunes

A lot of folks responded to my last post lamenting their less-than-awesome Internet speeds. Pocasts are typically very minimal in terms of size--a one hour cast is somewhere around 25 mb. For the sake of comparison, the song Rolling in the Deep by Adele is 7.7 mb. Still, if your Information Superhighway is congested there are some ways to avoid the inevitable forehead bruises induced by buffering-face-desk episodes.

The first thing to do is download iTunes. Virtually every significant podcast is available through the iTunes store. Better still, they're all F.R.E.E. Better, better still you can search for what you're looking for.

Once you click on the 'PODCAST' tab in the store it'll take you to the podcast storefront. There's a little empty box in the upper righthand corner. Type "writing" (for instance) in that little box and watch every writing related podcast pop up. Easy peasy.

Once you find your cast, click the subscribe option and iTunes will keep it in a list of your favorite podcasts. Here's the 411 on listening to podcasts in iTunes.

How is all of this going to help with your slow Internet connections? You see, iTunes doesn't just download all eleven billion Cat Tips podcasts at once. It let's you pick and choose when and what you want to listen to. 

So here's the solution: Before you go to bed, select the podcasts you want to listen to on the morrow, click "GET" and let the Web fairies do their magic while you slumber. Now you can play Farmville and listen at the same time.

2) Create a Playlist

So you've gotten iTunes installed on your death machine (AKA computer of choice), now what? Start listening of course! Problem: iTunes doesn't jump to the next podcast in the list once one has finished. Meaning you have to get back to your machine and click play again. 

Yes, you have to actually click stuff to keep 'em coming. Not a big deal if you're listening to hour-long podcasts, but many of my faves are less than 20 minutes. And if I'm cleaning, exercising or whatnot I don't want to stop and go find the next one.

Seriously, did George Orwell design this thing for future people who can replicate themselves or are the living supposed to use it? And yes, future me would totally create a replica just to sit in front of the computer and click play. It's maddening! Anyway, there's a workaround. Create a playlist.

Here's a detailed walkthrough. Basically, you make it like you would any music playlists. You give it a clever name, like "EJ's Anti-Roadrage Mix" or "Podcasts" then start dragging and dropping podcasts into the list. Simple. 

If you're listening on an iPod, etc. make sure your podcast playlist is set to sync or you're going to be running to Billy Joel again and not Car Talk. 

3) You Want to Listen on Shuffle 

(i.e. You Aren't a Boring Fun-Eating Troll)

Trolls!!! Told you.

You've loaded down your podcast playlist with enough podcasts to get you through the impending apocalypse. Good job! What, you don't want to listen to 400 consecutive episodes of green energy tips? 

George Orwell rears his ugly head again! Podcasts in iTunes are automatically set to 'skip' in shuffle mode. Speaking of Orwellian, can we reanimate Steve Jobs already? He'd get this worked out ...

Thankfully, we won't need to wait on science--or zombies--to get around this. In your created podcast playlist:

• Highlight the podcasts you'd like to be included in the shuffling. 

• Right click on your mouse-pointer-thingy.

• You'll see the options list pop out. Now click "Get Info". 

• Another pop out box! *confetti* Click the "Options" tab. 

• Under "Options" make sure the box next to "Skip when shuffling" is checked and that the drop down list next to that says "NO"

Now you're golden! Click play and the voices in your head will have some company.

What say you? Have any great tips for podcast listening? Do you use something other than the direct site or iTunes? If you checked out any of my previous recs, did you enjoy them? Why/Why not? 

Also, a warning: My next post is going to be a serious discussion. (I know, dad's got another lecture, right?) Been reading a lot about Internet thievery and plagiarism, and I think it's a growing concern for authors. Both as would-be criminals and victims. 

Until then, via con a story on your mind and a song in your heart.

~EJW~

For The Believers

Watch until the end ...



now go write something. :)


~EJW~

Book Pricing - How Do You Feel?

Hey gang! Thank you to everyone who offered up comments on Wednesday's author interview with Alyson Burdette. 


(MASSIVE APOLOGY TO ALYSON - Just realized I'd misspelled her name in the title of the post. Copy/paste cut off the last two letters of her name, and I seriously can't apologize enough!) 


I know it means a ton to her, and frankly I think it's (supporting authors) one of the most important things we can do. 


In the digital age, it's far too easy for authors to get swept away in the tsunami of content that hits the Web every second. Word of mouth has always been, and will continue to be, the best way to sell books. 


So the next time a friend on Facebook asks for a book recommendation (I see at least three a week on my personal Facebook feed), I hope you'll consider offering up a new author/name instead of (or along with) James Patterson, Steve King, Steph Meyer, etc.





Speaking of the digital age, I kept thinking the kerfuffle over e-book price fixing would die down. I was wrong. 


It's only building steam as publishers, agents, authors--well, everyone really--are beginning to take sides.


Seriously, this is shaping up to be a veritable Holy War within the world of publishing. We've had skirmishes before. Border disputes, if you will. But this could be the BIG ONE.

Why? Reading between the lines, I'm guessing this is one last big stab at keeping the book industry at least partially anchored in the traditional system. A system in which a few large publishers are responsible for the majority of the content and profit generated by the book industry.

Look, I'm not saying it's bad--I leave that kind of opinion to folks who've had direct dealings with all of it. I'm saying it's the way it is. 6 major publishers are responsible for most of the books you see at Barnes & Noble, and virtually all of the books that pop up on traditional bestseller lists. 

Former literary agent, current author and eternal blogger, Nathan Bransford, had this to say on his blog this week: "In the old era, only major publishers had the infrastructure to get books to readers. You had to go through them to reach readers in large numbers." 

He spoke in the past tense for a reason. 

Like an invasive species, Amazon and e-books are taking over the ecosystem. Like with any invasive species, the existing species  must eventually make the decision to fight or assimilate. 

Big publishers and the folks who work for them (authors, agents, etc.) are lacing up their boxing gloves as I type.

Earlier this week, the Association of Authors Representatives (AAR) sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice voicing their support of the agency pricing model which lead to the collusion charges levied against the big publishers (among others) linked to above.

Essentially, that means the AAR, its supporting members and the "tens of thousands of authors they represent" are in favor of allowing the major publishing entities the right to force retailers into a uniform pricing model. (To be clear, that doesn't mean the price a retailer has to pay for the rights to distribute--or wholesale price. It means the sticker price the customer pays.) 

Not all of the authors represented by the group are terribly excited about the letter. Seems some of these authors are perfectly happy with Amazon, the company the agency model was aimed at attacking, and the company with the most to gain by a successful DOJ anti-trust suit. CLICK THE PRECEDING LINK TO READ SOME OF THE REASONS. 

Furthermore, it seems not even everyone within the traditional publishing system can agree that anit-Amazon is best for books and readers. Today, traditional-gone-independent author J.A. Konrath shared an anonymous response to the mess courtesy of someone within one of the big publishing houses. YOU CAN READ IT HERE, but to suffice to say their Christmas bonus might be on hold if their name ever gets out.

There are compelling arguments on both sides. 

Sadly, we might have to make a decision between two potential evils: an Amazon monopoly or the exclusivity and high e-book prices of big publishing. 

Which brings me to the question: Do you care? 

As a reader, does it matter to you that the newest Sookie Stackhouse (True Blood) book by Charlaine Harris will cost you $15.15 for a hardcover/paper copy or $14.99 for the e-book?

As an author/writer, would you be okay with getting the same revenue share (or cut) from either purchase, knowing the cost to produce the two on the publishing side aren't remotely similar? (Don't listen to anyone who says otherwise; Amazon doesn't charge XYZ publisher any more than they do you or me to upload a digital book.) As unusual as it sounds, I am afraid they're connected. 

As an author/writer, are you more comfortable with the fate of our industry in the hands of a giant retailer (what Amazon is), or a publishing business that has done nothing but books forever and ever? A publishing industry FULL of people who love books, readers and the folks who write them. 

These questions are not posed lightly, and I've got no answers. Just opinions, which I'll gladly share if you supply the beverages and a comfy chair.

~EJW~

Amazon KDP Select: Good, Bad or Ugly? Pt. 2

Welcome back! Hope everyone had a restful weekend, and also hope some of you are getting to enjoy the holiday away from work.


We left off Friday with an opening discussion of the Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing Select program as part of my new (and ongoing) N00B VIEW take on publishing whathaveyous.


YOU CAN CHECK IT OUT HERE.


It was more of a 'leading up to' account of how we got to this point, so if you're not familiar with what's been going down in electronic publishing (particularly as it pertains to Amazon shenanigans) it might be worth a read. I included a number of links within the article just in case you want to skip the shower and plunge into the deep, murky water head first.


Also, there were a number of tremendous comments I'd encourage you to read even if you don't have time to get to the entire article. Lots of smart folks chiming in!  Looking forward to more discussion as we wrap this up.


N00B VIEW: AMAZON'S KINDLE DIRECT PUBLISHING SELECT PART II

"You think these'll give you cancer? Just wait 'til I explain this publishing stuff..."

To understand KDPS we first need to wrap our noggins around the Amazon Kindle Owner's Lending Library (KOLL). Announced in September of last year, KOLL was to be a program for books akin to what the Netflix streaming service is to movies. 

Pretty ingenious from a reader's standpoint, right? Who wouldn't like a steady supply of electronic reads for one monthly or annual price, after all? Especially those of us who read multiple books in a month. Score one for the Amazon! Er, maybe... 

Amazon eventually launched the program late last year. Basically, if you enrolled in the Amazon Prime program ($79 US per year) and owned a Kindle device (NOTE: Doesn't work with Kindle applications on iPad, etc. from what I've read.), you could 'borrow' one book a month so long as the book was enrolled in the KOLL program. The KOLL program was to run in conjunction with other Prime benefits (like video streaming and free shipping for many Amazon products). 

So it wasn't the open barn door to reading Nirvana many had imagined, but definitely a step in an interesting new direction for book lovers.

For folks in the publishing business, however, it was tantamount to landing on a big, dark and scary moon. A foreign world was opening up, a world in which Amazon was making the rules. Independent authors were quickly welcomed into this unusual new landscape as well, so long as they followed those rules.

What the heck is Kindle Direct Publishing Select (KDPS), and why do we care?

The easiest way to conceptualize the KDPS program is to think of it as 'the independent author's' side of Amazon's Kindle Owner's Lending Library. The afore mentioned rules, as it were, for enrolling your work in the  KOLL.


Here's the dirty: Independent authors (trad authors are bound by their agreements with publishers; i.e. don't do anything without asking your agent, publishers and the Good Lord first) can opt to enroll either new or existing eBooks published via the Kindle Direct Publishing program in the KDPS program. You don't have to. You can simply upload your Kindle versions or leave them be if they're already up. Once they are enrolled (and published), your books (s) can then be borrowed by KOLL users. Easy as gettin' wet in a thunder storm. 

(I know those of you familiar with KDPS are screaming, WHAT ABOUT THE FLIPPING GINORMOUS CATCH, EJ?! Wait for it...)

After reading the above, (assuming you're an author-type) you have to be a little curious as to what the author gets out of this book lending stuff. I know I was! Here it is: 

1) Publicity: You get the relatively undivided attention of oodles of Amazon Prime members. Well at least the ones that own a Kindle... Well, at least the ones that own Kindles and read on them. (Hint - the new Kindle Fire is more of a tablet than an eReader, which translates to lots of people using them to do stuff other than read.) Furthermore, the program is in its infancy so there aren't THAT many books available. Yet.

2) Money! That's right, this ain't your grandparents' library with all the smelly sofas, burnt coffee and AA meetings. Folks pay for Amazon Prime, and the Big A was at least foresighted enough to know that authors would want their slice of cheese for playing along. Amazon has allotted a designated amount of funds to pay as royalties to all independent authors who have books enrolled in the program. Straight from the mouth of the giant commerce horse:

"Earn your share of at least $6 million throughout 2012 when readers borrow your books from the Kindle Owners' Lending Library."

The following is excerpted from an e-mail sent by Amazon to KDP authors:

(…)Your share of the monthly fund is based on your enrolled titles’ share of the total number of borrows across all participating KDP titles in the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library.


For example, if total borrows of all participating KDP titles are 100,000 in December and your book was borrowed 1,500 times, you will earn $7,500 in additional royalties from KDP Select in December.


Enrolled titles will remain available for sale to any customer in the Kindle Store and you will continue to earn your regular royalties on those sales. (…)


As near as I can tell the amount of funds available to KDPS enrollees is going to fluctuate based upon the number of books being downloaded, Prime Memberships, and Agnes knows what else. (If you are enlightened to the exact formula, please enlighten the rest of us.) 


The monthly 'allotment' of money to be divvied up in December was $500,000 US, and they've raised the kitty to $700,000 for January. 

3) Open and Constant Data Feedback: Amazon promises to allow you to see all the numbers on how often your book is downloaded, etc. at any time. Additionally, your 'borrowed' books will count toward your overall sales rank. And we all know how important it is from a marketing standpoint for your books to be ranked high in genre sales lists. (We all know that, right?)


Some authors think it isn't fair to allow borrowed books to count towards sales rank as it can perhaps create some skewed data. They also believe that it's Amazon's way of allowing/encouraging Indies to price their work for free so long as they do it the Amazon way. Note: Amazon doesn't allow you to price (strictly speaking) your regular Kindle Direct works for free--a common practice by authors on other eBook retail sites to generate buzz.

4) Other Stuff: Amazon is also promising some kind of snazzy Promotions Manager tool that will allow you to control the pub for your free books. Not sure how it works, but I do know there has been some clammer from Indies for additional advertising perks from Amazon for a while. We'll have to wait and see if this helps.

The BIG FREAKING CATCH-22 

Sounds okay, doesn't it? So why are there so many authors with their drawers all knotted up? Directly from Amazon:

"When you choose KDP Select for a book, you're committing to make the digital format of that book available exclusively through KDP. During the period of exclusivity, you cannot distribute your book digitally anywhere else, including on your website, blogs, etc. However, you can continue to distribute your book in physical format, or in any format other than digital. See the KDP Select Terms and Conditions for more information."

What is the "period of exclusivity" you ask? 90 days. For 90 days you cannot offer your book in electronic form on iBooks, Smashwords, Barnes & Noble, your blog, your news letter, your dogs fun electronic banner collar you bought at Sharper Image (well, maybe that)--you name it. 

Amazon is basically telling you where, when and how you can use your work, which is something they've avoided like the plague up to this point. That kind of strong-arming was supposed to be how the big paper publishers worked, not the autonomous communal collective of the Wild Wild eWest. So 2008, Amazon! Hadn't we left that kind of neanderthal thinking behind? Maybe not...

Not sure it goes all the way to Neo-McCarthyism, but at best it's a glaringly obvious grab for power in the electronic reading arena, and many folks think it is out and out corporate bullying. 

So is it good, bad or ugly? 

As alluded to in part I of this discussion, I believe the modern independent (indie) author owes a tremendous debt of gratitude to Amazon. No matter what grievances have arisen since, this much is certain: Without the introduction of the Amazon Kindle to the general populous and the subsequent allowance of Kindle Direct Publishing (basically, the program that allows authors of any renown to upload their work for purchase on the Amazon site at no upfront cost), being an Indie would still mean vanity presses, eye-of-a-needle small print runs and local (if you're lucky) exposure. 

The popularity of Amazon as a book vendor and their strong longterm reputation as an Online merchant and innovator is why we can even have this discussion with a straight face. They and, to a lesser degree, folks like Smashwords have placed a tremendous amount authority back in the hands of the creators. For that, I think all authors, both traditional and independent, should be at least somewhat appreciative. 

Moreover, authors are already reporting some serious financial bumps from taking part in the KDPS. (Click for details and jealous convulsions.) Whether it be from their cut of the lending funds, or from the sales bump the rest of their 'pay' works are getting because of the exposure, there seems to already be some juice in the program. And we're barely a month in! So at the very least, Amazon seems willing to share at least some of the wealth with the authors filling out that robust Kindle library with content.


On the other side of things, I certainly think authors have a right to make their displeasure known to Amazon. The KDPS program DOES seem like a step toward Amazon taking control away from authors. Granted, at this point it's completely optional, but that's how most non-optional things start. No, I don't fault anyone for not getting involved with KDPS based upon principle so long as they can afford it. (The real question, perhaps, in all of this is just how long can they afford to hold out? The program seems to be off to a good start with readers, and that's ultimately who Amazon is going to cater to.)

If it were me, I'd probably not enroll my one and only book in the program. However, if I were an author with a large catalogue, I'd probably give it a shot on a few titles here and there. Or, if my one and only book had been out for a time, I'd consider enrolling it on a temporary basis to generate some new interest perhaps. 90 days isn't forever. (I certainly welcome any other thoughts and points I might have missed in the comments.)


In the end, I have to point to a recent blog post from celebrated independent author, J.A. Konrath. There's been a ton of pub lately about how he earned out $100,000 in three weeks just from his Amazon offerings. The post I'm referencing (and linked to above) he debunks some myths about how he accomplished it, and also reiterates two valuable points: 1) Only hard, hard work is going to make you successful--at anything. 2) You have to understand how the system works and keep practicing to find what works best for you. 

Ultimately, that's what this N00B VIEW series is going to be about: learning new ways to be successful, and trying to understand how it all works.  Hope you've enjoyed the first installment! Now go get to work...


~EJW~

Amazon KDP Select: Good, Bad or Ugly?

N00B VIEW: Amazon's Kindle Direct Select Publishing 
PART I

Just trying to wrap my head around all of the twists and turns in publishing of late usually leaves me with a swollen and aching brain. Things are moving that fast!

I know, I know. Just saying things are moving quickly in the publishing world makes me sound crazier than that ONE guy, from that ONE giant Southern state, who thought he could be President. (Silly Hillbilly, politics are for quasi-sane people.) Alas, it is unfortunately true, friends. Major changes to how words become books and writers become authors are happening daily. 

Why? Pretty simple really. In a night of careless frivolity even the Bieber could admit to, reading and technology hooked up and made a crazy touch-enabled, instant download, content devouring, everyone-is-doing-it lovechild. That child quickly grew into a monster known as electronic reading and, knowing only a monster could properly care for another monster, Amazon adopted it. 

Here we are millions of downloads later, and we're nowhere near seeing the end of all of it. Don't mind telling you, as a publishing newbie that's scary as hell. So, in an effort to help other newbies (a newbie brain-trust we shall be!), I'm starting another new 'feature' on my blog called the N00B VIEW. 

Each N00B VIEW will take a look at different aspects of what's going down in publishing, mostly as it pertains to the new guys and gals. I hope to make it plain-speak, or as plain-speak as I'm capable of making it, and angle-free. I've got no ax to grind. Or, as Coolio might say, "If you got beef, eat a pork chop."

Maybe we can figure it out together? Maybe we'll all go blind from eyestrain and the robots will read to us out of the goodness of their tiny tin hearts? In my bleak book, a win either way.

This is part one of two articles examining Amazon's new book lending program (think Netflix for books) and what it means for authors. The second article will run right here on Monday, mostly because I thought we needed to have a little history lesson on the and the post just got too dang long.

Let's get started!

AMAZON - BULLY OR PUSHY BEST FRIEND?

Oh, what sad times are these when passing ruffians can say Ni at will to little old authors. There is a pestilence upon this land, nothing is sacred.

Amazon has been called many things by many authors. Savior. Greedy, sharp-toothed, dirty greedy bastards. You name it. Honestly? I think they've earned every slur AND every complement. 

In one respect, Amazon almost single handedly took the publishing game out of the exclusive, corporate, freaking huge hands of New York publishing by pushing the Kindle and ePublishing. In the same move they put the game in the many grimy hands of the little people (see readers and writers--US). Yay Amazon!

Even before things got all techno-wild, Amazon was delivering paper books to your door at PRICES SO LOW THEY MUST BE CRAZY!! Consumers and fans of capitalism rejoiced!

On the other side of things big box stores, bean counters at Simon and Schuster and local bookstores moaned.  You see, here is the paradoxical female dog of it all: You can rarely accommodate everyone in business endeavors. If consumers are happy, businesses are probably losing money. If businesses are happy, consumers are left feeling fleeced. Not always, but usually. 

Before the Kindle ever caught fire, Amazon held a few too many cards for the tastes of many people in the publishing industry. Already a global giant in the paper book retail game, Amazon began acting as publisher as well with the eBook craze. Then, last year, they really peed on the campfire when they announced they were getting into paper book publishing as well. The tug of war between Amazon and traditional publishers began in ernest.

You can understand the dilemma faced by the trad pub folks: Your largest retail vendor is also trying to run you out of business. (Amazon denies that last bit, by the way.) They need their books to be sold on Amazon, but they also don't want Amazon (now a competitor in their business) to dictate terms.

Meanwhile, traditional publishing ex-pats and DIY authors flocked to Amazon to take advantage of the opportunity. Never before had an author been able to get her work in front of millions of consumers without signing 'Hurt So Good' contracts and/or mortgaging their creative properties. The filters were off, so to speak, and lots of previously struggling (or non-existant) authors started making money. Good money, and in some cases GREAT money.

However, a few nervous nellies (AKA - skeptical authors and agents) were cautioning about Amazon being the cow with the golden teat. (Okay, I just made that up, but it sounded like a cool name for a cautionary tale.) Once Amazon held all the cards, they said, they'd get all heavy handed and cut the purse strings. It would no longer be an open market, and you'd publish on their terms or not at all. Just like the old way of doing things, but maybe at an even higher cost, with even fewer people who really 'love' books in charge of things. 

Hogwash? Many thought so, until Amazon announced the Amazon Kindle Owner's Lending Library at the end of last year. The Kindle Direct Publishing Select (KDPS) agreement for independent authors soon followed. For the first time, Amazon began using words like 'exclusivity' and other nasty terms that make the ears of the artistically free bleed. 

So is it a good deal for authors or not?

HOPE YOU'LLL JOIN ME BACK HERE ON MONDAY FOR PART II AND AN IN DEPTH LOOK AT THE KDPS PROGRAM!

~EJW~

*UPDATE* I inadvertently left the word "SELECT" out of the title of this post and the references I made to the Kindle Direct Publishing Select program. Please note that Kindle Direct Publishing differs from Kindle Direct Publishing Select and that (for the purposes of this discussion) my intention was to discuss KDPS. I apologize for any confusion, and really (REALLY) appreciate the folks who pointed out my omission. 

An Observer's Tale - 10 Things I've Learned About ePublishing

As we race toward 2012, I thought it would be a good time to share my observations on e-Publishing. The publishing world is evolving at lightening pace. A bevy of attractively priced new reading gadgets *cough* KINDLEFIRE *cough* and a huge commercial push promises to make 2012 the year of the eBook.

I keep up with tons of self-published (and otherwise) authors on the Twitter, Facebook, blogs and the like--trying to learn what I can. As such, I thought it would be appropriate for me to regurgitate my knowledge in the form of An Observer's Tale - 10 Things I've Learned About ePublishing  

This is by no means intended to be a comprehensive tutorial on the process, nor should it be taken as gospel. Just my take.

1. eBooks are like so hot right now: 

 This might be the understatement of the decade, but this digital media stuff is a big deal. In the last ten years we've witnessed the digitization of every major form of entertainment from music to movies. Now it's time for written entertainment to share the stage. Some have labeled it a fad, some a revolution. Whatever your take, I think we can all agree that this is now at the very least a movement--a shift--to a new way of "doing" books. Who knows if paper and pixels will be able to coexist, but I'd bet the family farm that the pixels aren't going away.  

 2. Fit and finish don't just apply to car shopping: 

Hop over to your local online monster retailer and browse the eBooks. Do it like you would browsing for cars at the auto dealership. Why? You'll quickly get into the head of the average book shopper, that's why. It's the shiny exterior (i.e. the cover) that draws them in, the awesome stereo and smooth interior (blurb or back jacket verbiage) that gets their imagination going and the salesperson (reviews) that seal the deal. In an increasingly cluttered book market, presentation makes the difference. 

 3. It's a slow burn, baby:

That tune doesn't apply to ePublishing. There are no golden tickets. Much like in traditional publishing, there is a constant effort to figure out the purchasing habits of fickle readers.  eAuthors are scrambling to try to figure out how Amanda Hocking, John Locke, etc., etc. managed to become Kindle millionaires seemingly overnight. 

I follow both of the afore mentioned authors on Twitter and blogs (One of them follows me, but I'm not namedropping or anything... OK, it's JL and I nearly blew a gasket when I saw his name pop up as a new Twitter follower! Name. Dropped.) and I can tell you neither of them truly claims to know exactly how it all happened. One thing both say: it took some time and they worked hard to promote their stuff. They didn't instantly sell 10,000 books a month. Word of mouth had to build. The Interwebs had to weave its magic. Just like in traditional publishing, expect to have to pay your own dues before you get much payment in return.  

4. Skinning cats and publishing electronically have a lot in common:

There are many, many ways to get a book published electronically, and many more yet to come. 

Total DIY: You can study Kindle/Apple/Barnes & Noble/WhatHaveYou and learn to format and upload yourself. You can get free pictures online and create your own covers with free photo editing software. It's not rocket science, but it's also not without frustration. If budget is a concern, you can definitely do it on your own. Knowing your limits is important, however...

Hire out some of it: Don't have an artistic eye? Cool. There are oodles of folks online that will design a good cover for you. Got a great cover, but don't care to format? Cool. Lots of folks out there will format your book so it reads nice and pretty on the nook, iPad, Kindle, Kobo reader things. See # 2 if you're not sure why it matters.

Hire out all of it: Specialty ePublishing companies are ALL freaking over the place. Go to any online writing community and you'll see their ads. Hangout in the writing dens of Twitter and you'll get a half-dozen follows a day from someone offering to publish your book for a fee. (That and maybe a few unwholesome offers, but I digress ...) Heck, some of them even promote your book in various places. Prices vary. Quality varies. Choose wisely.

5. One is fun, but 8 is great:

Only got one great story in you? I'm sorry to inform you that self-publishing isn't going to pay your next electric bill. Nor will it likely pay any electric bill. Ever. Here's the thing, just like in traditional publishing you have to build a readership in the eWorld. That typically doesn't happen with one great book. It takes several. It takes building a reputation. 

eReading is like any other electronic media thing, which is to say it's about consumption. Unlike Sam the Business Man who buys one non-fiction book every year at the airport to read on layovers, the owner of that Kindle plans on getting her money's worth. When she finishes one book, she's going to immediately jump into another. If you only have one book in the store, she can't buy your next. It's science--or math--or something. 

The best anecdote I've read on the subject relates virtual shelf space to actual store shelf space. The more space you occupy the better chance someone is going to 'find you' and buy you.    

6. Traditional rules don't necessarily apply...:

Suburban cat vampire fantasy doesn't sell you say? WRONG! There are no hard rules when it comes to ePublishing. All those agents and editors in the traditional world aren't wrong (just aggravating) when they shoot down your 'Hamster Falls In Love' picture book idea. In the paper world there are all kinds of upfront production costs that force the publishing machine to make hard choices about what they invest in. That doesn't exist online. If you want to publish it, you can. If you can connect with the people who are interested in what you've written, you'll probably even sell a few copies. And unlike a paper bookstore, even if you're only moving 6 copies a month it'll stay on Amazon's shelf forever.

Heck people are even publishing poetry again. That should really be all you need to hear to understand that up is now down, and that cats now sleep with the dogs.  

7. Well, except for these:

Don't read 6 and assume everything has changed. These basic principals must be observed for any kind of publishing success:

You must have a great story.

It must be extremely well-written.

It must be gleamingly edited. And edited. And edited. And edited ....

You can never shortchange a reader with a poor product. Readers will drop you like a bad habit, even if your book is only .99 cents. 

8. Merchandising! Merchandising! Merchandising!

I'm not talking about action figures (but that would be AWESOME!); I'm talking about selling your story and yourself. Understand where your story fits in terms of genre. Make sure your cover looks better than those 'other books' that pop up in the product search. Know where your readers hangout online--go to them. Use Twitter, Facebook, etc. to their full potential. Learn and heed the rules of responsible, non-D-Bag marketing. Make friends by promoting other authors more than you promote yourself. Make sure your story is available to every kind of reader for every kind of reading device. Make sure your website, Twitter page, Facebook, etc. say, "I'm a pro, not a schmo." 

Self-publishing means you're now a small business owner. That business will sink or swim based upon your effort and nothing else. 

9. All the cool kids are doing it:

ePublishing isn't just a game for the little guys to dabble in. J.K. 'I could buy your country' Rowling is self-publishing her Harry Potter books electronically. So too are many, many highly successful traditionally published authors. Some are completely abandoning the traditional route, others are simply supplementing their paper efforts, using it as a vehicle to explore things that wouldn't normally fly in the trad-world. Regardless of the reasons, don't assume that your too big or too small to make a go of it. It sure looks like there's room for everyone.

10. No one has THE answer:

There is a lot of advice from super-helpful authors out there. They might tell you to Tweet this way, never pay for XYZ, or never use XYZ font--you get the idea. They're all right to an extent. ePublishing is still very much a baby in the grand scheme of things. As such, each individual experience is a valuable learning tool. However, I've learned you'll find more conflicting answers than definite methods of success. Does this mean you should tune them all out? Absolutely not. Just understand that the path to success seems to be different for just about everyone. 

Keep your ear to the ground and be willing to adjust your expectations and tactics as needed. That should keep you on track at least until next year. :)

~EJW~ 

BTW, big WAY TO GO for all of you who reached your NaNoWriMo goals! I'll buy you the frosty beverage of your choosing should we ever cross paths! :)