Beem Weeks's Blog - Posts Tagged "publishing"
Indie Publishing
Is it such a terrible thing to self-publish that novel you've spent hundreds of hours perfecting? Some authors think so. There are those who believe self-publishing is selling out the dream for baubles and beads. Others claim it's a shortcut that's not been earned. I beg to differ.
I chose the self-publishing route because of a desire to get my work to readers in a quick and timely fashion. And it worked! Jazz Baby, my first novel, is available all over the world in print as well as in ebook formats. The downside of this form of publishing is the lack of a big-budget advertising campaign. That's where social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, and Goodreads come in handy.
But not all self-publishers are equal. The cheaper you go, the lower the quality you can expect. I'm reading an excellent self-published novel that suffers from poor punctuation. Without a solid editor to comb through your manuscript, you can expect errors to reach your readers. Some readers might not care--or even notice. Others will, and they'll fault the writer. This will cost that author in the long run.
Sure, even the big publishing houses let slip an error here and there. But online publishers who don't offer professional editing really do the industry a serious disservice. These are the ones who take your money and publish your work, warts and all.
Don't shy away from this wonderful medium. If you're tired of rejection letters, try the indie route. It's a growing industry with a bright future. Just take your time when shopping. Beware of hidden fees, make sure they offer professional editing, and be ready to work your tail off to sell your product to the world. Because writing it is no longer the difficult part of the deal. Letting the world know you wrote it is.
Jazz Baby http://www.tinyurl.com/bbj4my7
Slivers of Life http://www.amazon.com/Slivers-Life-Co...
I chose the self-publishing route because of a desire to get my work to readers in a quick and timely fashion. And it worked! Jazz Baby, my first novel, is available all over the world in print as well as in ebook formats. The downside of this form of publishing is the lack of a big-budget advertising campaign. That's where social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, and Goodreads come in handy.
But not all self-publishers are equal. The cheaper you go, the lower the quality you can expect. I'm reading an excellent self-published novel that suffers from poor punctuation. Without a solid editor to comb through your manuscript, you can expect errors to reach your readers. Some readers might not care--or even notice. Others will, and they'll fault the writer. This will cost that author in the long run.
Sure, even the big publishing houses let slip an error here and there. But online publishers who don't offer professional editing really do the industry a serious disservice. These are the ones who take your money and publish your work, warts and all.
Don't shy away from this wonderful medium. If you're tired of rejection letters, try the indie route. It's a growing industry with a bright future. Just take your time when shopping. Beware of hidden fees, make sure they offer professional editing, and be ready to work your tail off to sell your product to the world. Because writing it is no longer the difficult part of the deal. Letting the world know you wrote it is.
Jazz Baby http://www.tinyurl.com/bbj4my7
Slivers of Life http://www.amazon.com/Slivers-Life-Co...
Research Your Story
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.
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.
Indie Is...
Indie. The word saturates the cyber world like blood on a battlefield. Those who claim this name wear it with pride. But what exactly is indie? The Oxford American College Dictionary defines indie as: adj.(of a pop group or record label) not belonging to or affiliated with a major record company;(of a movie) not produced by a major studio.
Since my dictionary saw it's birth a dozen years ago, it fails to mention indie in terms of writers. In 2001, there wasn't the glut of online publishing available that we enjoy today.
Everybody is indie today. It's a badge of courage worn with a fierce streak of, well, independence. That's what indie really is, after all. We are independent of the big companies that tell authors the who, what, where, when, and how-much-we'll-pay-you-for-it old order of business. But is indie really all it's hyped up to be? Or is it, as many would have us believe, just the poor man's route to becoming published?
Since 2001, the publication date on the above-mentioned Oxford American, the world has witnessed a super-explosion in online publishers. There's a million of the little buggers, each promising that you, too, can be just like Stephen King or J. K. Rowling or Stephenie Meyer, selling millions of copies of your story to devoted fans around the globe. Everybody is an author in today's world. "Have an idea? Write it down and we'll get it to eager readers worldwide." It's seriously that easy. "Can't spell? Don't you fret none. We'll still get that book into print--for just a few hundred dollars up front, please."
Not every indie author is a writer. There are plenty out there who need crash courses on sentence construction, character development, proper POV, or all of the above. But for every ten bad ones, there are gems and amazing finds waiting for discovery. What's the difference between indie author Stephen Geez and megastar Stephen King? Geez is a better writer! Don't misunderstand me; King is a fantastic storyteller. But that doesn't make him a great writer. Geez scores well on both accounts. Usually, if you can do one or the other, you'll do well as an author; readers will buy your work and find themselves entertained by your imagination.
Those who aren't skilled in telling stories or constructing sentences are the ones laying that black mark against indie--the mark that says all indie authors suck, the stories are garbage, the quality isn't worth a dime. But that's so far from the truth. Indie writers are some of the absolute best in the trade. I've been privileged to discover many of these bright voices. Lately I'm buying and reading more indie authors than I am the established corporate writers.
Look what indie-produced music has done to the record industry. Big labels are fighting for their survival against the digital revolution. Have a band? Record your song with software on your laptop, mix it with that same computer, and promote it on YouTube. Bands and singers are selling millions of downloads, leaving the once-greedy corporations scrambling for the loose change that slips through an open hand. That will be the world of publishing before too long. More and more readers are discovering great stories at lower prices. And if they like a novel, they can email the author and tell him/her so. Can you email J. K. Rowling or Stephenie Meyer with a realistic expectation of hearing back from them?
Take heart, fellow indies; we're already on board this fast moving train to the future of publishing. Dig in and make names for yourselves, your brand, your work. Great stories outlive their creators. A memorable read has made many a writer immortal.
Since my dictionary saw it's birth a dozen years ago, it fails to mention indie in terms of writers. In 2001, there wasn't the glut of online publishing available that we enjoy today.
Everybody is indie today. It's a badge of courage worn with a fierce streak of, well, independence. That's what indie really is, after all. We are independent of the big companies that tell authors the who, what, where, when, and how-much-we'll-pay-you-for-it old order of business. But is indie really all it's hyped up to be? Or is it, as many would have us believe, just the poor man's route to becoming published?
Since 2001, the publication date on the above-mentioned Oxford American, the world has witnessed a super-explosion in online publishers. There's a million of the little buggers, each promising that you, too, can be just like Stephen King or J. K. Rowling or Stephenie Meyer, selling millions of copies of your story to devoted fans around the globe. Everybody is an author in today's world. "Have an idea? Write it down and we'll get it to eager readers worldwide." It's seriously that easy. "Can't spell? Don't you fret none. We'll still get that book into print--for just a few hundred dollars up front, please."
Not every indie author is a writer. There are plenty out there who need crash courses on sentence construction, character development, proper POV, or all of the above. But for every ten bad ones, there are gems and amazing finds waiting for discovery. What's the difference between indie author Stephen Geez and megastar Stephen King? Geez is a better writer! Don't misunderstand me; King is a fantastic storyteller. But that doesn't make him a great writer. Geez scores well on both accounts. Usually, if you can do one or the other, you'll do well as an author; readers will buy your work and find themselves entertained by your imagination.
Those who aren't skilled in telling stories or constructing sentences are the ones laying that black mark against indie--the mark that says all indie authors suck, the stories are garbage, the quality isn't worth a dime. But that's so far from the truth. Indie writers are some of the absolute best in the trade. I've been privileged to discover many of these bright voices. Lately I'm buying and reading more indie authors than I am the established corporate writers.
Look what indie-produced music has done to the record industry. Big labels are fighting for their survival against the digital revolution. Have a band? Record your song with software on your laptop, mix it with that same computer, and promote it on YouTube. Bands and singers are selling millions of downloads, leaving the once-greedy corporations scrambling for the loose change that slips through an open hand. That will be the world of publishing before too long. More and more readers are discovering great stories at lower prices. And if they like a novel, they can email the author and tell him/her so. Can you email J. K. Rowling or Stephenie Meyer with a realistic expectation of hearing back from them?
Take heart, fellow indies; we're already on board this fast moving train to the future of publishing. Dig in and make names for yourselves, your brand, your work. Great stories outlive their creators. A memorable read has made many a writer immortal.
Proud To Be Indie
What would make a writer forego the traditional road to publication? Why would an author entrust his/her hard-fought creation to the Great Unknown that is the indie publishing industry? The answer, if we’re honest with ourselves, is because indie is the only ones who will have most of us at this point.
The above statement is in no way a reflection on the quality of the works being created by indie authors across the globe. I’ve read many self-published writers that seriously rival traditionally published authors.
The problem is with the middlemen. I’m talking about the agents and publishers who anoint themselves the all-knowing gods of the written word. Agents turn down most manuscripts that cross their desks. They cite this reason or that, making claims that nobody is interested in your sort of story. Maybe if your switch the characters, make them vampires or warlocks, just maybe there might be interest.
An agent is a catch basin for the big publishing houses. The agent will stop any and all garbage from slipping through the cracks. So the agent is the one who holds all the power within the publishing machinery. An author can create a true masterpiece that will never find its audience simply because some agent in a stuffy office has deemed the work unworthy of being sent to a publisher.
Publishers are worse than agents; they won’t even accept your manuscript without agent representation. Why? Well, because these publishers know exactly what readers everywhere want to read (or so they believe). Besides that, they don’t want to be bogged down by piles of pages from hopeful authors looking to be the next big thing, the latest shining discovery of the literary establishment.
But in the words of Bob Dylan: Oh, the times, they are a-changin’. Writers are no longer beholden to the whims of a fickle publishing industry. The need to court the trend setters and decision makers no longer applies to us writers. There are numerous outlets available, each allowing us a reach into the worldwide marketplace. Sure, it may lack the prestige of signing a contract or being able to tell anybody who’ll listen that you’ve got an agent. But keep this in mind: You own your work. You reap the lion’s share of the royalties—which is fantastic if you’re fortunate enough to sell a few thousand copies. Most importantly, you are a published author with a product that’s available to the world, right alongside Stephen King and James Patterson.
Unfortunately, there isn’t a catch basin in the indie world, which means garbage seeps through, tainting the market with its toxic odor. A reader must wade through piles of poorly written tripe in order to discover the gems that most assuredly lie just beneath the surface.
So here’s the question each writer must answer for him- or herself: Are you writing for prestige or are you writing to be read? If the prestige of an agent and a major publisher drives you, then, by all means, hold out for that prize. It might take a while, sure, but there’s also the possibility it may never happen. However, if being read by those who appreciate a good story is your true motivation, then self-publishing in the indie world just might be right for you.
The above statement is in no way a reflection on the quality of the works being created by indie authors across the globe. I’ve read many self-published writers that seriously rival traditionally published authors.
The problem is with the middlemen. I’m talking about the agents and publishers who anoint themselves the all-knowing gods of the written word. Agents turn down most manuscripts that cross their desks. They cite this reason or that, making claims that nobody is interested in your sort of story. Maybe if your switch the characters, make them vampires or warlocks, just maybe there might be interest.
An agent is a catch basin for the big publishing houses. The agent will stop any and all garbage from slipping through the cracks. So the agent is the one who holds all the power within the publishing machinery. An author can create a true masterpiece that will never find its audience simply because some agent in a stuffy office has deemed the work unworthy of being sent to a publisher.
Publishers are worse than agents; they won’t even accept your manuscript without agent representation. Why? Well, because these publishers know exactly what readers everywhere want to read (or so they believe). Besides that, they don’t want to be bogged down by piles of pages from hopeful authors looking to be the next big thing, the latest shining discovery of the literary establishment.
But in the words of Bob Dylan: Oh, the times, they are a-changin’. Writers are no longer beholden to the whims of a fickle publishing industry. The need to court the trend setters and decision makers no longer applies to us writers. There are numerous outlets available, each allowing us a reach into the worldwide marketplace. Sure, it may lack the prestige of signing a contract or being able to tell anybody who’ll listen that you’ve got an agent. But keep this in mind: You own your work. You reap the lion’s share of the royalties—which is fantastic if you’re fortunate enough to sell a few thousand copies. Most importantly, you are a published author with a product that’s available to the world, right alongside Stephen King and James Patterson.
Unfortunately, there isn’t a catch basin in the indie world, which means garbage seeps through, tainting the market with its toxic odor. A reader must wade through piles of poorly written tripe in order to discover the gems that most assuredly lie just beneath the surface.
So here’s the question each writer must answer for him- or herself: Are you writing for prestige or are you writing to be read? If the prestige of an agent and a major publisher drives you, then, by all means, hold out for that prize. It might take a while, sure, but there’s also the possibility it may never happen. However, if being read by those who appreciate a good story is your true motivation, then self-publishing in the indie world just might be right for you.
