Beem Weeks's Blog - Posts Tagged "indie-books"

I always imagined writing a novel would be the most difficult step to becoming an author--published or not. That isn't the case, though. Selling the finished product to a reading public is proving to be even harder than the arduous task of creating it.

Getting published is simple in this era of online publishers. But making a book-buying public aware of your work is such an odyssey--a thankless one at that. It's out there, among the millions of other novels clamoring for attention. Having a PR person chasing down reviews and interviews would be a wonderful blessing--which a starving artist can scarcely afford.

The dream of being a full-time writer has all but collapsed. I've seen those slick ads for this method of sales or that shiny new idea, each touting promised customers--in theory. But in reality, these are designed to separate the author from his/her hard-earned money--with little or no return on the investment.

Frustrating as it is at times, I'm still a published author. If it doesn't pan out, well, at least I can pull out my book and say, "I made it this far." I want more, though. I want an audience who reads my work and lets me know that they enjoy it or they despise it. It's here, this story called Jazz Baby. It's available worldwide at tinyurl.com/bbj4my7 among other sites.

But if my voice isn't getting heard, well, I'm just talking to myself. I'm extremely grateful for places like Goodreads, Koobug.com, and Twitter. These have helped me move a few more copies than I would have otherwise.

I know I'm ranting. But sometimes we all need to do that. Now, I'll reset myself and try again in this new year. Here's to writing! Cheers!

You've finished writing your book, allowed an editor to comb through it, even invited a few trustworthy colleagues to proofread the manuscript. Everything checks out. You send it to the publisher. It's only after it's been published, made available through Amazon, and been reviewed by a site or two, that you suddenly realize the world didn't have laptops back in 1969!

Sounds silly, right? Everybody knows laptops are a recent creation. But what about other inventions, simple items we take for granted, like car radios? Here's the thing: I read a great novel from a really good writer several years ago. The story took place in 1928. The main characters spent a lot of time tooling around those dusty roads in various automobiles of that particular era, listening to the radio, singing along to the songs of the day. Then it happened. A month or so later, while watching a documentary on the History Channel, I found the truth of the matter. Automobiles didn't begin to have radios until 1932.

Hmmm! I hadn't known that while reading the book. It really stands out now. The point of this posting is all about researching a subject, an era, or a person before you set pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard). Nothing can kill a great story quicker than inaccuracy.

Younger authors today, those who are 20 or 25 years of age, can't comprehend that not-too-long-ago time when the internet was merely a nerd's ideal dream. The olden days saw pay phones on every corner, in most parking lots, and any other place the public might congregate. Why pay phones? Because cell phones didn't exist!

Imagine a 20-year-old author setting his/her story in, say, 1977. Not that long ago, really. The plot concerns the woman who found Elvis slumped on the throne. She tries to wake the king, gets no reaction; what does she do? She reaches into her pocket, snatches hold on her smart phone, snaps a picture, uploads it to her YouTube account, texts a message to the local paparazzi, and then finally calls 911. Sounds like a fine story--to a 20-year-old who failed to research the era. Most people will know that smart phones didn't exist in 1977. Neither did YouTube. 911 began it's life back then, but wasn't in every community at that time. Some cities had seven digit numbers for police, fire, ambulance.

When preparing to write my novel, Jazz Baby, a historical fiction piece set in 1925, I took a great deal of time researching the 1920s, Mississippi, New Orleans, Jim Crow racial relations, speakeasies, automobiles, the laws of prohibition, and many other relevant issues of the day. My protagonist, Emily Ann, is 13 years old in the Roaring Twenties--which is quite different from being 13 years old in, say, 2013. In 1925, a girl could be married off. College wouldn't likely have been an option. Careers for girls just didn't exist.

The world has changed a great deal over the past 88 years. Understanding what came before is key to writing a good, solid story. If I put Nike running shoes on the girl's feet, had her dreaming of owning a shiny Corvette, and tucked an iPod into her hip pocket, most readers would dump the book in the trash can after--or even before--the end of the first chapter. Why? Because if there are glaring inaccuracies afoot, it kills even the most entertaining of stories.

And even little things like lingo can detract from your novel. Emily Ann wouldn't greet a friend with, "'Sup, fool? Yo, peep this: Dog says Micky D's running a two-for-one on Big Macs. Wanna go get our grub on?" It's an awful lot of work to research such matters. But time and effort will be rewarded. Serious readers appreciate a solid read. Don't scrimp when it comes to getting the scene and the story right.

I love a well-written story. There are certain authors who possess special God-given talents for telling tales of the fictional sort. Daniel Woodrell owns an amazing skill with the narrative voice. Read Winter's Bone and tell me he's not brilliant. Stephen Geez operates in another realm when it comes to plotting and dialogue.

But what about emotion? Who are those masters that are able to translate honest emotion onto pages? By honest emotion I mean, a story so real and so raw, the reader is powerless to hold back tears or anger or that laugh-out-loud moment that draws attention to self. With movies it's easier. A good actor becomes that emotion and draws the audience in, daring them not to cry or be filled with righteous indignation. See Sean Penn in Mystic River when he finds out his daughter is lying dead in the park.

A novel or short story, well, that's a difficult thing--making a reader cry. Words are indeed strong enough to jab and scar and hurt. But the author must be skillful in pulling it all together to be worthy of my tears.

Every so often I find a story that holds a scene or two that puts a lump in my throat and has me reaching for the Kleenex box. Barbara Kingsolver got me with her masterpiece The Poisonwood Bible. The scene involves the death of the youngest daughter in a missionary's family doing the Lord's work in 1950s Congo. The five-year-old, narrating the moment in her own words, is bitten by a black mamba. Kingsolver skillfully lures readers in, introduces us to this family, allows us to grow fond of this little girl, before snatching her from the very pages of her book. We mourn with the mother as she lovingly washes her baby's body, preparing her for burial. It's heartbreaking--even without film footage, photos, or illustrations. Those words are powerful. This is the skill I'm talking about.

So rare are those types of talents, coming along only every-so-often. And that doesn't mean you're great when and if you can make readers cry. There are plenty of amazing authors worthy of highest praise. It's going that extra mile, though, that raises a story into rarefied air, lays separation between it and other fine tales. Alice Sebold grabbed me with The Lovely Bones when Susie Salmon, the dead girl narrating her life and death, laments the loss of first love, senior prom, her wedding, or the birth of her own children. The reader, in only a handful of sentences, feels every one of those losses. It takes a special talent to pull this off.

I've not accomplished this yet. I'm still learning, still trying. And I'm still looking for that next novel to come along and make me angry or make me cry or make me laugh out loud. Emotion is a hallmark of brilliant writing. Aim high, writers. Don't cheat your readers. Don't cheat yourselves.

They might be the least thought-about aspect of a story, but they are quite important. I'm talking about names. Characters, to be fully developed and memorable, must have distinct names.

Think about some of the great characters in fictional writing and surely you'll recall those names: Atticus Finch, Boo Radley, Jem and Scout Finch, Dill; these are not simple, common names. They're easily recognizable, though--to those who've read To Kill A Mockingbird. But even the simple, common names can carry weight in the literary world. Just speak on the ghost of Tom Joad, and surely intelligent readers will recognize the hero of Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath. Doctor Frankenstein, Count Dracula, Tarzan; these names call to mind familiar characters, well over a century after their stories were first told. Ahab, Ishmael, Gatsby--amazing what a name might conjure.

When writing my stories, I try to craft names that stand out, names that sound interesting, avoiding the plain, steering clear of what's been used by other authors. Case in point: Michael Weston is the name of the lead character on the USA cable network series Burn Notice. Mike Weston is also the name of a lead character on FOX Network's The Following. Hmm. Not much creative thought going on there. When writing my novel Jazz Baby, I chose an old-fashioned name for my lead POV character--the story takes place in 1925, after all. But let's face facts: Some old-school names just aren't pretty-sounding to the ears. When I hear a name like Maude or Bertha or Myrtle, I picture an overweight old woman with cataracts and bad hips.

I decided on Emily Ann "Baby" Teegarten because that name fit my mental image for this creation: young teen, small in stature, emerald-green eyes, hair the color of thick brown honey. Will her name become as familiar as, say, Lolita or Holden Caulfield or Lady Chatterley? Only time and sales will determine that sort of fate. The point of this posting is to shine a little light on that somewhat overlooked aspect of storytelling. Names ought to fit personalities.

I just finished reading the novel Bridge Ices Before Road by Sienna Rose. A wonderful story. One of the main characters, a tough eleven-year-old-girl named Madeline Malone, sports the moniker Mad-Dog Malone. For an adult character, a name like Mad-Dog is kind of ho-hum. But this belongs to a young girl who's not easily intimidated. That's fantastic! And it fits the girl the same way the name "Alfalfa" perfectly fit the Little Rascal.

Names are impotant in the literary world. They offer a reference point, sometimes even transcending the story itself. Just mention the name Holden Caulfield. What comes to mind? A classic novel, sure, but also a horrible December night in 1980, when the world lost a legend. So take your time when choosing names. Nobody will recall a character named Bob Smith or Steve Jones--at least not as quickly as they'll conjure recollections of, say, the quiet Boo Radley. What's in a name? Everything.

Hear that? All that hooting and hollering is coming from ME! Wanna know why? Because I'm finally seeing results. Oh, sure, they're small results, but that's better than no results.

So what are these results I'm going on about? My novel, Jazz Baby, has finally cracked a Top Ten list. The list isn't sales, mind you; it's a list that monitors views of indie books on Amazon and The Indie Tribe sites. Jazz Baby is currently at number seven on the chart. The great hope is that the buzz will eventually result in sales, which will lead to satisfied readers. As I said, it's a small result. But I'm STILL excited about it.

And a great big huge congratulations to fellow Goodreads author Sienna Rose. Her fantastic novel, Bridge Ices Before Road,, clocked in at number nine on that same Indie Tribe chart. If you're interested, I've reviewed Sienna's novel on my My Books section. Click on over and take a look-see. If you're interested in getting a look at the Indie Tribe chart, go to http://www.theindietribe.wordpress.com and click on the Top Ten Indie Books link at the top of the page. Want a look at Jazz Baby? Take a peek at http://www.tinyurl.com/bbj4my7 Get a FREE read of chapter one at http://www.freshinkgroup.com/books/ja....

I am truly thankful to those who have purchased Jazz Baby, and to those who have at least shown an interest in it by pulling it up at Amazon. Thanks a bunch!

I participated in an interview with a website this afternoon. The interview is in support of my novel Jazz Baby. A question arose concerning the era in which I set the story, and why I chose it.

I set Jazz Baby in the year 1925. It takes place in Mississippi and New Orleans. The Roaring Twenties have long fascinated me. I remember vividly the stories my grandparents used to share, regaling my then-young mind with tales of life in the 1920s and 1930s. Over the years, I've done much research on the era--especially when preparing to write Jazz Baby. I've read books and magazines about the era, watched documentaries containing actual flappers and hepcats from those bygone days. Those oldsters sure come alive when discussing that golden decade. The reason? Everything was new.

Those who came up in the twenties witnessed the birth of America as we know it today. Prior to the 1920s, if you wanted to take a trip into town, you likely had to hitch up the horses to the wagon and hope to get back before sundown or rain. If you wanted to hear the latest music, you'd purchase the sheet music at your local music store and play it at home on the family piano. Mom or sis usually knew how to play. A night out for couples might consist of dinner and a walk through the park. Man had saloons in which to drown his sorrows if he'd yet to find that special girl to call on. He'd not likely meet her in said saloon, though, since no self-respecting woman would be caught dead--or alive--in a saloon. Besides, many communities had laws against women entering drinking establishments.

But everything changed after the First World War ended, when the dawn of the 1920s rolled in with a great big bang. Horse and wagon? Not anymore. The twenties saw the automobile become a common fixture among families all across the nation. A trip into town could be had simply by climbing into the Model T and driving there. And you could even drive to the next town and still be home before sundown. Dinner and a walk through the park gave way to picture shows on the big screen. Theaters sprouted up in every city, every town, every village. For a dime, a patron might catch the latest Clara Bow film or laugh at Charlie Chaplin. Who needed the park anymore?

The decade witnessed the birth of radio and the mass production of the phonograph player, which allowed common folks the ability to hear the latest popular songs--played by a full band--right there in the parlor of their own home.

Prohibition brought an end to the saloon. But prohibition also gave birth to the speakeasy, that secret place where the young congregated to drink their bootleg hooch, learn all the latest moves out on those makeshift dance floors, and stay out until all hours of the night. Speakeasies didn't belong to men; they were shared adventures.

In 1920, after decades of political denial, beatings, and even jailings, women had finally won the right to vote. They had gained a grip on the taut strings of power.

Flappers dictated the latest fashion trends, taking the hemline higher and the neckline lower. Sexuality slipped into polite company in ways that once scandalized earlier generations. Even Hollywood dared a little more skin in the productions they peddled equally to small towns and big cities. The young ones coming up in that decade knew of no other way. It was a new and exciting time to come of age.

As I pondered the interview question, it struck me that those youngsters coming up in the Roaring Twenties had a lot more in common with young adults growing up in the decade of the 2000s than most might suspect. Today's young, born in the 1990's, can't recall a time when smart phones, x-box, or the internet didn't exist. They've always had social media, iPods, and cable TV with its 500 channels. It's a new age, and they were born into it.

Some of us are old enough to remember television with its three channels, phone calls made from payphones, and a time when Atari's Pong was the only video game on the market. Computers? They were for managing household budgets and little else. When you needed information, you had to go to the library, search the card catalog, find the book or resource material, and turn pages to find the info.

We wrote letters to friends and loved ones--using paper and pencil, full words, and proper sentences. We didn't text short messages filled with letters like LOL and OMG! But we can't fault this younger generation anymore than we could fault those kids of the twenties. This is their time and era. It was technology then as it's technology now that has given these two decades their unique qualities.

So go on, fellow oldsters,don't sit around scratching your head in dismay; embrace the era that now belongs to your children and grandchildren.

A big THANK YOU to all those who have taken an interest in my novel Jazz Baby. Your interest helped put it at number one on this week's Indie Tribe Top Ten. I am stunned and amazed by this news. Thank you all so much.

An extra huge CONGRATULATIONS to Sienna Rose. Her fantastic novel Bridge Ices Before Road is at number five on this week's Indie Tribe Top Ten. Good job, Sienna.

You can see this week's list at http://www.theindietribe.wordpress.com

Greetings, all. I hope everybody is enjoying this day--or evening, morning, or night, depending on your location.

If you're on this site, chances are you've written something of which you're extremely proud. It might be poetry, short stories, essays, or even a book or two. Maybe you just love to read. But if you've written something you're trying to share with the world, well then, this is the place to be.

I've said in previous postings that the difficult part isn't in writing the story, it's in getting word out about this labor of love that is our creation. Check out all that minute-by-minute tweeting, telling anybody who's following you on Twitter to BUY THIS BOOK! It works, sure, to an extent. I've moved a few copies through the use of the Twitterverse. And it's really raised my profile as a writer. One tweet can send a dozen new readers to my homepage for a quick read of a short story I've just posted. We see the increase in traffic at the site. But what about the bigger picture? How do we expand on this notion of moving even more copies of our work? How can we make our name stand out beyond those 140 characters we're limited to on Twitter? Facebook is fine--if you have the friends.

What every good writer needs, though, is reviews. That's what I'm getting at. REVIEWS! Having a site like Goodreads is fantastic for scoring reviews. We writers often trade them like kids trading baseball cards on a hot summer day. These reviews are vital. They give potential readers an educated opinion on whether the book at hand is worth the money or not--if the review is truthful. But what about reviews that aren't bartered? How do we score those?

Sometimes reviewers come looking for us, as has happened to me twice in the previous few weeks. (A couple of reviews and interviews can be found at http://www.tinyurl.com/cd7ptt4 and http://www.prideseries.com/blog.html )

However, as indie authors, we can't sit around waiting for the emails to fill our in-boxes. I can't afford a publicist to do the footwork for me, so I have to solicit these reviews myself. And this is the tough part, tracking down reviewers that possess a strong following and a good reputation. There aren't any trades involved this way, which means the review will certainly be honest, maybe even negative. But don't be afraid of a bad review--those WILL come, no doubt about it. Nobody has written that perfect novel, a work that's enjoyed by every soul who's read it. Even the greats get bad ink from time to time.

What we must do is take those reviews and pay attention to what's been pointed out as a fault in the story. If the reviewer found the lead character lacking credibility, make the protagonist in your next story more human. Add flaws and irritations. Learn from these criticisms. Don't just scan for the superlatives and disregard the rest. How will you ever become a better writer? Be proud of the good reviews, though. Post those links on Twitter, your blogs, Facebook, and your website. Let the world know what other people are saying about your work.

So, then, where do we find these reviewers? How do we convince them to give our work a chance? We could beg, I suppose. If that worked, I'd be a begging fool. But there's an easier way. My publisher sent me a link to a site that lists dozens of review blogs. I've only just started using this list so I can't give a progress report yet. I'm not a professional at this publicity stuff, either. I'm learning as I go along. What have I learned so far? If you're self-published or working with a small publisher, don't waste the time, money, or effort on getting your work to mainstream newspapers. I sent 35 copies to newspapers around the United States and have yet to hear a word back--not even a rejection. Besides, the internet is where the real action is these days.

I've also learned patience. If the work being promoted is good, a few readers is all it takes to get the publicity ball rolling. Word of mouth these days utilizes the internet, reaches worldwide, and remains out there long after it's been posted.

One last thing on the idea of trading reviews: This is a GREAT way to get your work in front of potential readers. I highly recommend this route. You'll discover some really amazing writers who'll quickly become favorites. However, if you agree to trade reviews with a fellow author, hold up your end of the deal. There's nothing as rude and inconsiderate as one writer stiffing another. I speak from experience. I took the time to BUY a writer's novel, read it, posted reviews on a couple of sites, and I haven't heard a peep from the other guy in over a month. (He promised to have my book finished and reviews posted by the end of February.) I won't remove those reviews; he earned them. But I won't buy his work again, either. So now I give to you a link. Use it to it's fullest potential. Chase those reviewers down and ask for some recognition. Have fun with the process, because if it's not fun, it's not worth doing!
http://www.stepbystepselfpublishing.net/

Okay, so here's a fun little game that hopefully will spread the indie word. Being “IT” means that you share information about your “work in progress” also known as “WIP” The Rules 1.) Give credit (including a link) to the Author who tagged you. 2.)Play by the rules, therefore you must post the rules! 3.)You MUST answer all 10 questions (below) some are quite hard but do your best. 4.)List five other Authors with links at the end that you have “tagged” so that the game can continue.


Link Back
The indie writer who tagged me is Dawn Husted. She is the author of a WIP called Safe, as well as published works like Nicova, Silently Screaming, and Windor Series. Her blog address is http://dawnhusted.weebly.com/1/post/2...

Q1.) What is the title or working title of your WIP?
The Secret Collector.


Q2.) What genres does your novel fall under?
Historical fiction/coming-of-age (Same as my first novel, Jazz Baby, though a decade earlier.)

Q3.) What actors (Dream Cast) would you choose to play the characters in a film version?
I haven't really given that angle any thought. I could see a cast of up-and-comers, the ones who would make their names on a piece like this, the way so many eighties actors became names after filming The Outsiders. If I had to choose one, Chloe Grace Moretz as lead character Violet Glass.

Q4.) What is the main outline for your book?
15-year-old Violet collects secrets of those family and friends around her. Some are benign secrets, little things that are more embarrassing than serious. But then there are those secrets that could destroy friendships and family ties. And she has her own secrets to protect, as well. It's 1910 and slavery only ended a generation earlier. Emotions are still quite raw on both sides of the issue. Woman are a full ten years from the right to vote. These things mold and shape Violet, who she is, who she'll become.


Q5.) Will your book be Indie published/self published, or represented by an agency and sold to a traditional publisher?
It's going to be the indie route again. I'll go with The Fresh Ink Group for this book, same as I did for my first novel Jazz Baby. They do phenomenal work. Yeah, I'd love to have that big publisher budget for publicity, but that's not likely to happen anytime soon. Besides, indie is the wave of the future. We'll have to wait and see how far this format can go.

Q6.) How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?
The first draft isn't even completed yet. I'm just at five chapters in. That's taken about two months to write. I'm notoriously slow when it comes to writing. Jazz Baby took nearly a decade from start to publication. But that's due to many re-writes (I believe strongly in the re-write process) and my giving up on the story a time or two. I had to be talked into finishing the story by a good friend.

Q7.) What other books in this genre would you compare your book to?
I guess I haven't thought about that. There's one novel I read about ten years ago, The Midwife's Advice by Gay Courter. That story isn't so much an inspiration as it is a thought. Same era, different region of the United States. Maybe there are elements from a film like, say, Paris Trout, starring Dennis Hopper.

Q8.) Who or what inspired you to write this book?
The era inspired me. Early 1900s America is an interesting time. And the idea of a girl, a young woman, who is able to keep secrets that could destroy lives is very intresting to me.

Q9.) What else about the book might pique readers attention?
Sexuality. Betrayal. Dark voodoo overtones. Zombie-vampires who fall in love with werewolves--JUST KIDDING!

Q10.) Five other Indie Authors you have tagged

Sienna Rose http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/...
Richard Van Holst http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/...
Christoph Fischer http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/...
Liam Perrin http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/...
Carol Traulsen http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/18...

Interesting work, the book review. Some readers base their next purchase on the words of those who read books for a living.

A good reviewer can help a good writer sell few more copies of their hard work. Conversely, a good reviewer can steer the reader away from a book that may not be up to snuff. But the reviewer is not the final word on whether a book is worthy of a reader's fistful of dollars.

Reviewers are human, known to get it wrong every so often. I've read some books that received high praise, only to personally find them to be quite awful. (I won't name titles or authors here.) And of course, there are novels I've found to be amazing and entertaining despite the poor showing among those we trust to lead us to gold.

I'm certainly not a professional reviewer. I don't even play one on TV. I've reviewed about forty books here on my Goodreads page. They are, if nothing else, my honest opinion concerning a story that I've taken the time to read. Most of my reviews here tend to be positive--though I have read some truly terrible books in my time. The bad ones usually go ignored once I'm finished with them. No sense in wasting my time posting negativity. If asked, though, I'll gladly give the dirty lowdown on any particular piece of work that ripped me off.

I'm a writer, first and foremost. I write short stories, a novel, and once upon a time I even wrote record and concert reviews. If something moves me, I'll share this.

So now we come to my point in this posting. I read the novel Bridge Ices Before Road by Sienna Rose. I reviewed this book right here on Goodreads. I sincerely enjoyed this well-written story. If I didn't, I promise you I wouldn't have posted a review. Sienna is a talented writer, and I was thrilled to have the opportunity to read and comment on her work. So it shocked me when I found a review posted on the IndieReader.com site claiming this novel failed to tie up loose ends, leaving readers hanging. This is simply not a correct portrayal of Ms. Rose's work.

This story pulled all those strands together, and matters were resolved in ways that left me both fulfilled and sad. Sad on two accounts: First, I didn't want this story to end. Second, well, I can't tell you without spoiling a key part of the book.

It just amazed me that two people reading the same book could come to such differing conclusions. I've seen it elsewhere, as well. That's the literary world we inhabit. We're going to have differences of opinion on whether a story is good or it sucks. That's not the issue here. This revolves around whether it ended one way or the other. That's like reporting Dorothy never found her way home in The Wizard Of Oz. Critique the story, don't rewrite it.

Anyway, that's my two cents on the subject. I felt the need to speak up because Bridge Ices Before Road is a read worth discovering. There are no issues with the way the story concludes--just a hint of sadness. I understand reviewers have a job to do, but get it right, good review or bad. And just for the record, I seriously LOVE the IndieReader.com site. I use it regularly to find good reads. They've never let me down--until this particular review. Peace.