Amazon Tightens the Screws on POD Publishers

According to The Wall Street Journal, Amazon.com, who is “flexing its muscles as a major book retailer, notified publishers who print books on demand that they will have to use its on-demand printing facilities if they want their books directly sold on Amazon's Web site.”

In other words, if you’re a publisher who uses Print On Demand technology and plan to offer a particular book that way, you’ll have to use Amazon’s BookSurge POD unit – and you’ll have to abide by Amazon’s pricing.

Computerworld called Amazon’s move “a further consolidation of power by Amazon as it continues to vertically integrate its book selling operations.” And said, “Few publishers can afford to not be listed there.”

Computerworld went on to say:

One competitor to BookSurge claims that the print-on-demand business' prices are already higher than those of competitors. ... This carrot and stick approach could allow Amazon to create a captive audience, allowing it to raise prices further for its print-on-demand services. That in turn could lead to higher prices for the books that consumers purchase at Amazon.com and elsewhere.

According to Publishers Weekly,

BookSurge has told [publishers] that unless their titles are printed by BookSurge, the buy buttons on Amazon for their titles will be disabled.

An unnamed head of a POD publisher said in the Publishers Weekly article that:

although the deal with BookSurge will be more expensive, he has no choice but to make the move since most of his authors expect their titles to be for sale on Amazon.

Book Square said that “Amazon is amassing what is essentially a secret army.”

This is definitely something all authors should keep up with.

Book Marketing: Asking for Blurbs

One of the great things about getting an agent or selling your book to an editor is that you're finally through with having to write those aggravating query letters. Wrong!

You still have to write them, but now it's to other writers or experts in your book's field. You need blurbs.

Sometimes your agent or editor can get you humdinger blurbs from other writers in his/her stable. There's a good chance, though, that you'll be expected to solicit endorsements.

The first people to turn to for endorsements are the authors you know on a personal basis. Those are easy. There's a good chance you can ask them in person or via the phone or email. They're friends, and you can, therefore, probably count on a positive, enthusiastic quote. (Or they’ll politely tell you “no.”)

But what if all you know are local or beginning authors like yourself? Not to say there's anything wrong with getting blurbs from less-well-known authors, but it's always nice to have a quote from some big name. Readers who pay attention to blurbs can be swayed by a positive quote from Mr. or Ms. Big Name.

If you don't have best-selling authors in your circle of friends, then move to the next circle. That's people you have an acquaintance or some tie with. Maybe you attended a workshop with, or took a class by, or ate lunch at the convention with, or are good friends with the first cousin of ... some name author.

Now you're in the area where you need to write a query letter asking if they would review your book with an eye toward offering a blurb. Don't send the book unannounced. Query first. Make sure you mention that "tie" you have with them, however tenuous.

Consider querying authors who write in the same genre or on a similar subject, even if you have no tie with them. It's still just a query letter. And you've done tons of those, right?

You can also solicit blurbs from non-writers. Maybe they're an expert on your subject matter; they have a name that readers will recognize.

Of course, now you're moving even farther away from your inner circle of friends. That probably makes it a little more intimidating and perhaps less likely that you'll be able to get an endorsement, but if you never query, you'll never know.

Why query first instead of just taking your chances and sending the book unrequested? First of all, that could get expensive. Books and postage add up. Secondly, a query letter is more professional. And thirdly, you're not making a good impression on that author or expert if your book is one of ten that lands in his or her mailbox that week. That author is liable to feel "spammed" and toss your book in the trash.

Now, you might be wondering how many people you should try to get quotes from. You think, hey, I only need one or two for the cover, so I'll query two at a time. If you do that, by the time you gather two suitable quotes, your book could be dead on the shelves. I'd say, send out five or seven at a time.

From that batch, you might get three who'll agree to read the ARC. Send it to them. In the meantime, query another batch. The original three may not all come through. One may decide it's not a book he could enthusiastically endorse. One or both of the other two could give you a review, but nothing you could really pull from for a cover blurb.

Ah, but you say, what if they all love it and wax poetically about the merits and voice and melodious writing? What then? How would I decide which to put on the cover and which to disappoint by leaving out?

Your publisher can always insert a page(s) that lists all the blurbs and put the biggest endorsements on the cover.

Not every browser in the bookstore pays attention to blurbs. But having an endorsement by another author or expert that the reader recognizes does sway some people. And even if they don't know the person who wrote your blurb, having an endorsement tells them that someone other than you and your family liked the book.

A Writers Blog Worth Checking Out

There are so many great blogs out on the Internet. Seriously. I come across them every day. I have a huge list of bookmarked blogs, but there’s not time in the day to visit each one. I try to list some in the sidebar of the blog, but there’s not room for all of them.


So I thought I’d try once in a while to mention one in a post. The one I chose to be the first is Women In Crime Ink. If you write crime novels, such as true crime, mystery, suspense, police procedurals, etc., you’ll want to bookmark this blog.

The blog is written by a group of experts in the field of criminal justice:
Pat Brown, Criminal Profiler
Andrea Campbell, Forensics Specialist
Kathryn Casey, Mystery Writer
Tina Dirmann, True-Crime Author
Stacy Dittrich, Policewoman/Novelist
Diane Fanning, Crime Author
R. Stephanie Good, Author/Attorney
Cynthia Hunt, Broadcast Journalist
Jenna Jackson, “48 Hours” Producer
Vanessa Leggett, Crime Writer
Michele McPhee, Author/Broadcaster
Connie Park, Cold-Case Detective
Donna Pendergast, Murder Prosecutor
Lucy Puryear, Author/Psychiatrist
Robin Sax, Sex-Crimes Prosecutor
Katherine Scardino, Defense Attorney
Donna Weaver, Private Investigator

They talk about their cases, their work, their unique viewpoints. And they’ll answer questions. So drop by and visit Women in Crime Ink.

Author Susan Witting Albert – Book Blog Tour Visit Next Week

Next Wednesday, April 2nd, author Susan Wittig Albert is stopping by Straight From Hel on her blog tour for her latest China Bayles book, Nightshade. This is the 16th book in the China Bayles series. There are a lot of reasons to love this series. If you like mysteries, you’re probably already a Susan Wittig Albert fan. If your love of herbs goes beyond searching the grocery store aisle, you’ll want to read every book in the series since the protagonist is an attorney-turned-herbalist and each book centers around an herb. If you like keeping up with a series because the characters begin to feel like family or friends, then this is the series for you. And if you love it when a book’s setting is realistic, informative and vivid, then you’ll really like this latest book, Nightshade.

Susan is planning to visit a lot of herb or herb garden blogs on her tour, but Straight From Hel is one of the few writing blogs she’ll stop at. So you’ll want to, for sure, come back next Wednesday when Susan will talk about setting. Her topic, aimed specifically for writers, will be: “Pecan Springs: Growing a Town.” She’ll have a lot to say, plus you’ll be able to ask her questions in the comments section.

Susan not only writes the China Bayles series, she and her husband Bill wrote the Robin Paige historical mystery series. And, if you were here for her stop in November last year, then you know Susan also writes the Beatrix Potter series. By now you may be thinking Susan is one of those people who do so much it makes YOU tired just reading about it. Well, put your feet up, ‘cause there’s more. Susan used to write young adult – as in, Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Sweet Valley Twins and more. She also writes nonfiction. And she’s the founder of the national organization, Story Circle Network.

As a writer, you may be thinking that you’d like to schedule a blog book tour. Take a look at her schedule. Go and read each post and you’ll get an inkling of what’s involved. And whether you’re a writer or a fan, at each post you’ll be able to throw your name in the pot for a copy of Nightshade. And, if you enter at least eight of the drawings, you’ll be eligible for the grand prize – the audiobook of Bloodroot. So be sure to do that. And be sure to come back here next Wednesday to read her post and sign up for a chance at a free copy of Nightshade -- and maybe an audiobook, if you follow her along on her tour.

Self-Publishing Tales

If you’re thinking about self-publishing your book, you’ll want to read the Austin American-Statesman article, “Author! Author! (And Publisher!).”

It’s a pretty balanced look at self-publishing, neither pro nor con. And you’ll find some first-hand advice from authors on what to research before you take the plunge and what to expect. You’ll also hear from the publisher of Groundbreaking Press, Brad Fregger.

Although a few self-published books have gone on to be huge successes – consider Christopher Paolini’s “Eragon” – most do not. Fregger said:

"You don't make money. If they're trying to get rich, they should take their money to Vegas and put it on the blackjack table. They have a better chance of getting rich that way than publishing a book."

Author Karen Kreps

“has put more work into getting the book printed than she ever imagined. She hired an artist to design the cover, purchased a $900 piece of software to typeset the book, paid her magazine editor to edit a newly written introduction and paid for multiple printed draft copies of the paperback, which she's still not completely satisfied with. But even after all that work, she's having trouble getting her book reviewed or stocked in bookstores.”

Kreps said:

"I've spent $4,000, and I'm discovering it's not nearly enough."

But quite a few authors aren’t intimidated by the odds. Author Holly Hollan said:

"How far I can get with it, marketing-wise, depends on how much work I put into it."

ON ANOTHER NOTE: About a week and a half ago, author Lynda Sappington was our guest here. She’s giving away two copies of her book, “Star Sons – Dawn of the Two,” to Straight From Hel readers. You still have a few days to email her that you’d like a copy to get your name in the drawing.

Publishing’s Environmental Footprints

After last Friday’s post (and a column in my newsletter Doing It Write), I received a few emails. Most wanting to know more about what publishers are doing to “green” up the business. One arguing that the U.S. does enough by replanting trees to offset those harvested and therefore doesn’t have to do more.

For those interested in learning more about how publishers are working to lessen their carbon footprint, I did a bit of research and came up with some sites to start you out.

Environmental Trends and Climate Impacts: Findings from the U.S. Book Industry
Report on the work done by the Book Industry Study Group and Green Press Initiative to establish a baseline for tracking climate impacts and progress by the U.S. book industry in environmental improvements.

Associated Press article
What publishers are doing to go green and which publishers are involved.

Canada’s take on the study results
Canadians are happy to report they’re ahead of the U.S. in forest-friendly book production.

Earth Policy Institute
Global forest resources assessment

EarthTrends
Online database, maintained by the World Resources Institute, that focuses on environmental, social, and economic trends.

Eco-Libris blog
Eco-Libris works with book readers, publishers, writers, bookstores and others.

Thanks to all those who emailed.

Carbon Footprints of the Publishing Industry

This statistic from the Australian newspaper, The Age, was interesting. Actually, the statistic wasn’t from The Age, but from Environmental Trends and Climate Impacts: Findings from the US Book Industry.

... the US publishing industry is responsible for 12.4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide entering our atmosphere each year.... Not surprisingly, the chopping down of trees to provide paper had the biggest impact on the industry's carbon footprint.

Which of course brings e-books to mind. Some people love them; some do not. I’m split. Actually, I’ve never read an e-book. I don’t have an e-reader, and I already do so much reading and research online that I’m not sure I want to start reading books on a screen. But, on the other hand, I do love trees. I do want to protect the environment. And I don’t want to give up books -- I’d rather hate to lose physical, bound books, but books take trees.

Perhaps for now, we'll have to do a combination of both -- at least until die-hards like me get used to reading on a Kindle or e-reader. It'll probably happen. The other day I had to drag out our old typewriter and dust it off -- really dust it off since it'd been in the garage forever. I kept making mistakes. It'd been way too long since I'd used anything other than the computer to type. And the typewriter had been a relic for so long, even the correction tape wouldn't work and the keys kept sticking down.

I don't want to go back to the typewriter.

I love books. I hope there doesn't come a day when I say, "I don't want to go back to bulky print books."

Dos and Don’ts of Writing

An article, Do’s and Don’t of Writing Children’s Books, in last Sunday’s The Southern Illinois newspaper states the obvious.

Here are the Dos:

Learn the market.
Perfect your craft.
Focus your attention on "hot" areas in children's publishing.
Request publisher guidelines and catalogs before submitting your work to a publisher.
Learn to write a crisp, upbeat query letter that will grab the attention of a harried editor.
Be persistent.

Here are the Don’ts:

Assume that today's kids' books are just like the ones you read as a child.
Get bogged down in clichés.
Talking animals aren't completely taboo, it's just that most writers don't do them very well.
Treat kids like babies.
Preach.
Don't waste your time trying to write a children's book and get it published without understanding the rules of the publishing game.

Well, duh. Nothing new there. (I don’t really agree with the Do: Focus on the hot areas of children’s publishing, but I can see where the author’s coming from.)

Basically, every do and don’t they list for writing children’s books could be said for writing any genre or level of novel.

Just because it’s a time-tested truth and it’s been said many times before, doesn’t mean it’s not worth repeating.

Web Rings

Web Rings are not new. They’ve been around for years. They were the precursors to things like clickable widgets, like the one on this blog. But being not new is not the same thing as worthless.

The idea behind a web ring is to connect your site to a circle of similar sites. All the sites on the ring have something in common. As a writer, you might want to join a ring that is composed of other writers of your genre, or maybe if you write about golf, you could join a ring of golfing sites. What you're trying to do is get new "traffic" to visit your site -- people who otherwise wouldn't know your URL. They go to one site and then click on the ring icon and are whisked to you.

How do you find these rings? Check the organizations you belong to and the Internet groups you frequent. Go to author sites, click on the ring icon and see if you'd fit in with the group. Don't forget about niche rings, ones that would fit your subject matter, whether it's medieval weaponry or kangaroos.

Once you find a ring you want to participate in, how do you join? Most rings will have a way of clicking to join. It may be a matter of clicking the logo for the ring, or sometimes you'll click a word like "Join." More than likely, you'll have to not only give the URL to your site, but a justification as to why you would fit in with the group. Then, you'll probably have to be approved.

Once you're invited to join, you'll be given directions how to post the ring html code on your web site. Usually, putting the logo up on your site is easy. The ringmaster will provide the html and instructions. If you don't maintain your site yourself, get your webmaster to do it for you. Sometimes, though, it can be a pain. You may have to manipulate the code. More than likely, though, if you have problems, there'll be a contact email for help.

You're not restricted to one ring. You can join multiple rings. Obviously, the more rings you belong to, the greater the chance that a visitor will circle around to your site. I've seen a few people who've gone overboard, though. Their site is a long page of ring after ring.

Once you've joined a ring, don't just totally ignore that little logo on your page. Check it out.

Make sure it’s working. Make sure the sites participating in the ring are ones you want to be associated with.

Rings are one way to market your site (and thus everything on your site, from books to schedules to services you provide). They get better results than those annoying banners that pop up on some sites. Hopefully, if a visitor "rings" to your site, they'll like what they see and bookmark your page. If not, maybe they'll catch you on the next trip around.

Are Writers Organized?

I know not all writers are organized people. Some are haphazard, writing and living in chaos. They write by the seat of their pants. But it seems to me that the majority of those I know are organized.

It’s difficult to create, maintain, and explore a world without some sort of organization to do that. If you create a whole town, the entire population of that town, their lives, interactions, connections, then you have to keep track of it all. Especially if it’s a series. A lot of series writers create what I call the Book Bible to keep track of everything in their books – the characters’ lives.

Sometimes that organization carries over into the authors’ lives. Sometimes it doesn’t.

It does in mine. I need some sort of structure on my desk – notebooks, folders, stacks. I keep a calendar; I have a PDA; I carry my cell phone. And every so often I have to stop the creeping chaos of disorder.

Recently I looked at this blog and it had gotten out of control. The colors, the junk I had added into my profile. I had to re-do it. It took a whole day because when I changed the scheme, I lost everything in the sidebars, so I had to re-do all the links, the slideshow, the widget, the profile, etc. But it was worth it. I look at it now and like the look.

Now I have to tackle my website. It’s out of date. Bleh. I want to change the colors, change the whole look. But to do what I want to do, I’ve got to learn layering. It’s scary, but I’m trying to figure it out. Gotta take the plunge and go for it. But first I need to make a notebook for a freelance editing project I’m working on. And I need to make a To Do list for the week. And I’m working on a project for a company I’m doing freelance for. I need a notebook for that too.

Okay, you don’t have to tell me I’m using organization to avoid doing something scary. Guess I should add “learn layering” to my To Do list. And then prioritize the list. Maybe if I scheduled each project on my calendar. And I’ll need to clear room on my desk for the new notebooks. But first I have to go buy some notebooks. I want the freelance project notebooks to be a different color than my personal notebooks, of course. Oh yeah, I need some tabs to mark pages in my book on layering. Shoot, I need a list of supplies to buy. Should I put “supply list” on my To Do list? Clearly, I am unorganized. I’ll add “get organized” to my list.

Reading Out of Sequence

In the last couple of weeks, I’ve read two books out of sequence. Neither on purpose.

The first was a Martha Grimes book called Dakota. Once I sat down to read it, I discovered it was a sequel and I hadn’t read the first. But I kept on reading. The second was by CJ Box, called Savage Run. I knew this was part of his series, but for some strange reason, I thought I had read the others before this one. Turns out I’d only read the first.

Problem with reading a book out of sequence is that inevitably you find out spoilers for the books you missed. In the case of CJ Box, this is how I figured out I’d missed books number 2 and 3. A couple of times he references something that had already happened and I was flummoxed as to how I couldn’t remember it. So I went and read the back flaps of those books, and sure enough, I hadn’t read them. Since then I’ve read book 2 – the event didn’t happen in this book. So I know it’s going to happen in book 3, which I’ve started reading.

Now, I’m not saying authors shouldn’t reveal major plot points or events from earlier books. As an author, you have to if your characters are to grow as people. What happened to them in the past affects them and how they react in the future. What I’m really saying is that readers – I’m talking me, of course – should pay more attention to the order in which they read a series. On the other hand, writers might be served to once in a while read a series out of order. By reading book 4 and finding out something that happened in an earlier book, I’m now reading those intervening books with a writer’s eye. I know what’s going to happen, so I’m watching how Box set it up. I now know that this event wasn’t something he set up in one book. Either he knew it would happen in book 3 and he laid the groundwork in book 2 or ...

He was as surprised as the reader. Maybe when he outlined or plotted out the next book, he realized this major event had to occur. Or perhaps as he wrote the book, he came to a point where he saw where the characters were headed and it became inevitable. I don’t know whether it was planned and plotted out books ahead of time or whether it happened as he wrote.

Either way, authors character their books, have things happen to those characters, and have them go places that may not have consequences for several books down the road. And I think that’s very interesting.

Sagging Harlequin Book Sales

I hate to end the week on a down note – especially after the wonderful interview yesterday with author Lynda Sappington. (You still have time to throw your name in the hat for one of two copies of her book.) But … you might want to read “Harlequin Sales Decline in 4th Quarter, Profits Also Sag” in Authorlink News.

Here are just a few quotes from the article:

The book publishing unit of Torstar Corporation, which includes Harlequin Enterprises, reported this week that book publishing revenues were down $3.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2007, excluding the impact of foreign exchange.

Book Publishing revenues for the year ending December 31, 2007 were down $1.0 million excluding the impact of foreign exchange.

Harlequin reported a total of 130 million books sold in 2007, down slightly from 131 million in 2006.

There was however some good news:

Book Publishing reported operating profit was $60.6 million in 2007, up $4.3 million or 7.6% from $56.3 million in 2006.

Book Publishing operating profits were up $6.3 million in 2007 excluding the impact of foreign exchange. North America Retail was up $5.8 million, North America Direct-To-Consumer was up $2.2 million and Overseas was down $1.7 million.

Overall, the 2008 Outlook is:

While the book publishing industry has traditionally not been as cyclical, the current economic uncertainty in the US could have a negative impact on Harlequin’s US sales if discretionary consumer spending falls.

NOTE FROM HELEN: There's still time to sign up for Lynda Sappington's drawing for two copies of her book, "Star Sons: Dawn of the Two." Don't miss out on that! Next month, our Featured Author will be Susan Wittig Albert who's stopping by on her blog book tour for the newest in her China Bayles mystery series, Nightshade.

Guest Author: Lynda Sappington

Our March Guest Author, Lynda Sappington, is here today. In addition to a Q&A interview, she’s available for questions. Just comment or ask a question (Click Comments at the end of today’s post), if you’d like. At the end of today’s post, you’ll find instructions on how to send an email to her for a chance to enter the drawing, just for Straight From Hel readers, to win her book. She’s going to be giving away two copies.

Lynda, former editor-in-chief and publisher of the online magazine “ArtVoices,” is a professional sculptor and a writer. She’s the author of “Sculpting 101: A Primer for the Self-Taught Artist,” soon to be available in its second edition. Her first fantasy novel, “Star Sons – Dawn of the Two,” is the beginning of a series and is available on Amazon.com. You can read a sample chapter on the Whimsy Hill site.

Welcome Lynda!

HELEN: “Star Sons – Dawn of the Two” is your first book of fiction. Can you tell us about what inspired you to write it and your writing process?

LYNDA: "Star Sons" isn’t my first novel, but it is the first one I felt was strong enough to be publishable.

You asked what inspired me to write it. First, I had Ethan Payne pop into my head nearly fully-formed as a character who needed a story formed around him. His brother, Jake appeared soon thereafter. I thought it would be interesting to play with a two-hero story, with each brother having a chance to be the leader or the more powerful one from time to time, so writing to meet that challenge was the original inspiration for the story. One advantage of writing a two-hero story is that there's always someone for the hero to talk to. It's also fun to see the hero (whichever one's the hero at the moment) through the eyes of someone who knows him so well.

As is true of many fantasies, my story involves the boys learning how to use and control their powers as well as having to face a vicious enemy before they're fully prepared to do so. The readers will see the boys’ journey toward mastery of the awesome power within them, and their coming-of-age. They aren't perfect, they make mistakes, they squabble and act like real brothers. They also love each other, look out for each other, and they face their destiny with courage despite their fear and incomplete training.

I'm a seat-of-the-pants writer. I start out knowing my characters pretty well, as well as knowing the beginning and end of the story. Once my characters are well-formed in my mind, I set them on the rather vague road I've planned for them and just "listen" to them, "watch" them in my mind, writing down what happens as they go on their way. Sort of, anyway! LOL!

My process is a lot of fun for me. I'm not the kind of person who can work from outlines (I've tried and failed spectacularly - couldn't write a thing because the outline stifled me!). I'm much better off creating characters and a situation and watching things evolve (with input from me from time to time when they go too far astray, LOL!).

I write every day, for as many hours a day as there is inspiration. Then I go sculpt and/or ride my horse, getting my mind off the writing as much as possible. When I'm in the "creative zone" sculpting, or concentrating on getting the best performance out of my horse, the novel is still rumbling along in the back of my mind. During those times, I will often get insights into a scene, or a new character will emerge who enriches the scene I'm working on. Some scenes or storylines will appear in my dreams. I get up and note them down as quickly as I can (and lose a lot of sleep in the process during the first-draft phase!). My subconscious seems to be a pretty good writer - those scenes I come up with during the night are usually quite good!

HELEN: Now that the book has been published, you’re in the promotion phase. You still have a life – you’re a professional sculptor; you maintain the website for your bronzes, the website for Whimsy Hill (your publishing company), and your writing blog; you post on the blog for authors of Whimsy Hill; plus you’re well-known for your fan fiction. How will you fit in marketing Star Sons?

LYNDA: I’ve found it to be true that if you want something done, ask a busy person. Somehow, we “busy people” can always find ways to make time for whatever we need to do. So I sculpt a few hours, I work on promotion stuff a few hours, I ride my horse and walk on the treadmill, I connect with the other writers involved with Whimsy Hill and see how their projects are going, fix my websites, etc., all within a loose framework of writing, answering email, answering reviews of my fanfics, etc. I actually have three websites (www.TheSculptedHorse.com for my art, www.WhimsyHill.com for publishing, and www.LyndaSappington.com with links to both of the other sites), and have recently hired someone to help me with them because it’s becoming overwhelming to deal with them when I’m so NOT technically proficient! My art business hours are flexible, and I can write any time I want to.

I do art shows where I have a booth as part of a trade fair in various places in the country. I think since I’m used to showing that way, perhaps being a vendor at sf/f cons will be a good way for me to market my books. I’m looking at a list of shows now, trying to decide which ones I can fit into my schedule. I have one art show a month from April through July, then two more in October and November. I can probably insert a trip to a con in one or more of those free months. Other than that, I think a blog tour sounds like a good use of my time, and I will probably do some book signings in a few places. I have to see how everything fits together with my schedule. And of course I’ll offer my books at the venues where I’m showing my art.

Perhaps I should explain about my publishing company. Back in 2001, I wrote a book on sculpting for beginning sculptors (“Sculpting 101: A Primer for the Self-taught Artist”). I got one of Dan Poynter’s books on how to self-publish and followed the instructions there to do everything properly. I didn’t realize how “properly” I’d done everything until I started working on the second edition of the sculpting book and realized I was actually a real, live publisher, with all the proper stuff in place. I researched publishing quite a bit and pondered the situation while trying to find an agent for “Star Sons.” After six months with no luck at finding an agent, I decided that, at age 58, I don’t have the time to wait for however many months or years to find an agent, then more months or years to find a publisher, and more months or years to see the first published book as a reality. And “Star Sons” is the first of either a trilogy or a series. I was afraid if it took that long to get the first book out, I’d either lose interest in the project or lose track of the characters and storyline.

I like the Judy Garland/Mickey Rooney example: “We have talent, we have a barn, let’s put on a show!” I had a publishing company, I had a finished, polished, professionally edited novel and I was getting older by the second! I also have over 10,000 readers subscribed to the various fanfiction sites where I post my Harry Potter stories. They love my writing, and it would only take a fraction of them actually buying the book to make it sell well! So I published “Star Sons” myself and my HP readers are eagerly buying it! No sales figures yet, but I’m getting a lot of e’s from people who say they’ve ordered the book.

Whimsy Hill Publishing is a member of a large professional organization for independent publishers. Through them, I can have my books in all the big book expos around the world if I want to. The marketing opportunities offered by the group are excellent, and I’m looking forward to pursuing them with both my own books and those of other authors I’m going to publish.

HELEN: Do you see a correlation between how you create a sculpture and how you went about creating a story and characters?

LYNDA: Many of my sculptures are commissioned portraits, so the only correlation with how I come up with my story and characters is that I work hard to capture the horse’s personality in the sculpture, just as I try to capture unique personalities in my characters. For those sculptures where I let my whimsy take flight – such as the one I'm doing right now of Feather, a winged horse who appears later in the Star Sons series – the process is a bit similar to my writing process. I start out thinking about a horse type (a breed – Andalusian, in the case of “Feather”) as the first step in the sculpting process. For characters, I think about the “type” as well. With sculpture, I look for reference photos to help me visualize the pose I’m considering. With characters, I’ll often “cast” the parts with actors whose work I’m familiar with. Once I’ve “cast” the characters, I can see that person move through the story because I’m familiar with that actor’s body language and personality, both of which help me get the character started. Those actors fade away in my mind as I begin writing the character, and the character takes on a life of his own – his own personal quirks and mannerisms, his own personality, etc. -- until only I would recognize any hint of the original actor in that character. With sculpture, I’ll use a lot of photos, often of different horses, to see how the muscles are positioned on every side of the horse during a certain movement or in a certain pose. Eventually, the horse I have in mind emerges and you’d never know what reference photos I used to get him started.

As for the story – most of my sculptures have a story of some kind behind them. Some are real, some I’ve made up, but in every case, they relate closely to the sculpture in some way. The stories in my novels evolve from my initial idea of characters in a certain situation, and the ending I’ve envisioned. Then I follow my characters as they move through their world and watch how their story unfolds.

HELEN: Normally, authors don’t have much say in their cover art. Being an artist yourself, did you have much input on yours?

LYNDA: Yes, I talked to my friend, painter Elin Pendleton (www.elinart.com) about what I wanted, and then turned her loose. Once she had it done in what we could call “first draft” form, she showed it to me and I told her where I wanted things tweaked. For instance, in its early form, the painting showed the older brother as having a very craggy face, much like Clint Eastwood, and the younger brother with a very soft, round face. They looked like father and son rather than brothers who were three years apart in age. So she aged the younger brother by hollowing his cheeks a bit, and softened the cragginess on the older brother’s face, so now they look like brothers, not father and son. I’ve known Elin for several years and we’re good friends. I knew she could do what I wanted for the cover, and she did a spectacular job.

HELEN: What kind of research, if any, did you do for “Star Sons?”

LYNDA: I’ve read fantasy novels all my life. I’m currently on a Mercedes Lackey kick and have read everything I can find by JRR Tolkein, JK Rowling, Orson Scott Card, Lois McMasters Bujold and many other authors. I also enjoy reading “reference” books about magical creatures, the worlds of Faerie, magical plants, spells and lore. I have quite a library of such books of my own, and I also do some research online. Some of my research showed me that mages were a higher order of magical person than wizards, witches or sorcerers, so I made my boys mages and made mages rare, not numerous in the magical population like wizards and witches. I’m fascinated with the idea that someone can have magical power in his or her body and control it without a wand or staff to focus it, so my boys do wandless magic, which I’ve made common to mages in my magical world. I have my boys interact with fairies and elves toward the end of the book, and quite a lot in the second book, as well as with other magical beings. The bird on the cover is a phoenix. I did quite a lot of research on phoenixes to see what powers and abilities are attributed to them so I’d have solid ground under me when I started writing about this particular phoenix.

HELEN: To what extent did you invent your own world?

LYNDA: “Star Sons” takes place mostly in the real, contemporary world. It’s set in London, England, western South Dakota, parts of Colorado, then in the magical world and back to the real world via the Glastonbury Tor in England. All of the “real” locations mentioned are places I’ve been to in person, so I’ve represented them as accurately as possible. I think it’s fun to anchor fantasies in the in the real world, so I keep everything as real as possible.

The magical world in “Star Sons” is entirely my own creation, and it was a lot of fun to create. But I also incorporate some “established” magical worlds in my story, such as Faerie and the world of the Woodland Elves, both of which feature prominently in the second Star Sons book.

HELEN: What’s next for you?

LYNDA: The next book I’m publishing is the second edition of my sculpting book, the first edition of which is nearly sold out. Then by next winter or spring, I hope to have the second Star Sons book published. I’m working with a group of authors who are contributing to an anthology that Whimsy Hill will publish, hopefully sometime this year. Some of those authors also have novels that Whimsy Hill may publish. So I have a lot of reading ahead of me, as well as writing.

HELEN: Thank you Lynda!

You can find out more about Lynda Sappington on her blog, Lynda (AKA Abraxan) On Writing And Art, and on her website.

If you like fantasy, you’ll for sure want to sign up for one of the two books she’s giving away to Straight From Hel readers. Send an email to: Lynda@whimsyhill.com and put “book drawing” in the subject line. Deadline to sign up is March 27th.

Again, thank you Lynda for stopping by Straight From Hel today!

Books, Lies and Duplicity

The talk for about a week now has been about two authors who wrote what they claimed were memoirs, but were actually lies. Remind you of James Frey’s A Million Little Lies, er, Pieces?

Two authors within a week have been exposed.

According to the Baltimore Sun, one book, though not out in the U.S., has already been “disseminated worldwide, translated into 18 languages and made into a feature film in France.” In Misha: A Memoir of the Holocaust Years, author Misha Defonseca claimed to be a Jewish woman “orphaned at age 4 and forced to wander alone through the forests, where she was protected by a pack of wolves.” Turns out she’s not even Jewish.

Then there’s Margaret B. Jones, the protagonist of the memoir Love and Consequences who is “a half-Native American, half-white girl who sold drugs for a gang in Los Angeles.” Not. Her name’s Margaret Seltzer, she didn’t sell drugs and she comes from a privileged background.

So what’s going on here? How are publishers to know what is the truth? Should they demand corroborating evidence? In the case of Margaret Seltzer, she had photographs, letters, people pretending to be her foster siblings, a professor. Misha Defonseca had pictures and letters.

Are editors going to have to become more cynical? Are they going to have to do background checks? Are they and the public just going to have to accept that some people lie and will hoodwink readers? Nan A. Talese who published the discredited A Million Little Pieces said, in The First Post, "I don’t think there is any way you can fact-check every single book. It would be very insulting and divisive in the author-editor relationship."

One author you don’t have to worry about is Lynda Sappington. Her latest book is a fantasy fiction – and she’ll be here tomorrow for an interview and to answer your questions. Plus, she’s giving away two copies of Star Sons – Dawn of the Two. See you then!

Books and Movies

Hollywood and publishing are both still in the news (see the post for March 3, 2008). And, once again, it’s the LA Times talking about the marriage.

This time the one talking is ICM agent Ron Bernstein. He’s the agent you turn to if your book is an award winner or a masterpiece – authors like Horton Foote, Carl Hiasson, Patricia Cornwell, or Margaret Atwood. If he believes in your book, he doesn’t give up easily. Either he keeps on searching and selling the book until he finds the producer to take it on.

I knew it would be hard to sell it. I took it out to a list of producers. To a man, everybody turned me down. Then I went to a new list of people. Still no luck.

Or he negotiates what he wants and sells the producer.

But part of what I do in selling people is to educate them as to why I’m doing what I’m doing. Whatever it is I’m negotiating for—money, credit—I explain to the buyer why I’m asking for what I’m asking.

Books to movies. Or, actually, author to agent to book (or before) to agent to producer to movie.

Nightshade by Susan Witting Albert

First off, a few things about Susan Wittig Albert. She’s a phenomenal author who has written an amazing number of books. Okay, enough with the superlatives. Here are some facts: she’s a best-selling author; she writes multiple series; she writes both fiction and nonfiction; she’s the founder of the national organization, Story Circle Network.

Her latest book, Nightshade, is the sixteenth in her China Bayles mystery series. The books are popular with herbalists and those cooks who love using herbs because each book is anchored by an herb that’s related to the theme, the protagonist is an herbalist, and Susan includes lots of information about the featured herb as well as recipes. The books are popular with everyone else because they’re well-written.

I considered myself very lucky to have received an Advance Reading Copy of Nightshade. I have to admit, when I opened the package, one of the first things I did dance to my computer to email my sister to tell her. She’s a great fan of the series. The next thing I did was start reading.

Nightshade does not disappoint. Her characters, China, Ruby, McQuaid, and others, are like old friends. Even if it’s been years since you’ve read a China Bayles book, you can easily slide back into their lives. In addition to believable characters and interesting plots, Albert’s books really make use of their settings. Pecan Springs is totally real to the reader.

Quite a bit of Nightshade also takes place in Austin. I’ve lived in the Austin area for 21 years, and I learned things about my town that I didn’t know. For me, such discoveries were like little treasures.

Nightshade deals with secrets from China’s past. She has no choice but to dig into her father’s life and death. In the process of uncovering the secrets, she and McQuaid take you along on their quest for the truth and answers.

If you’re a fan of Susan Wittig Albert, her books, or her writing skill, you’ll want to come back to Straight From Hel on April 2nd when Susan will be the Featured Author. She’s stopping by on her blog book tour to speak on “Pecan Springs: Growing a Town.” Plus, just for Straight From Hel readers, there will be a drawing for a free book.

And don’t forget to come this Thursday when Lynda Sappington will be our March Featured Author. She’ll be talking about her writing, her art and her fantasy novel “Star Sons – Dawn of the Two.” (And Lynda will also be holding a drawing – for two of her books.)

Author Joe O’Connell – Guest Blogger

I was interested in your comments on book signings. What I heard a long time ago that stuck with me is that book signings aren't about selling books on the spot. They're instead about making sure your book is in the store! That changed my entire attitude.

When my novel EVACUATION PLAN came out in August of last year, I had some good events including speaking to your old employer, the Writers League of Texas. The problem was the event was in a Barnes and Noble and because of some glitch in the way the books from my small, independent (but up-and-coming) publisher were listed they were unable to stock the book! I was allowed instead to sell directly to the people at the meeting. Since my novel is about hospice, I told the crowd that the bookstore's usual cut would be donated to Hospice Austin. I didn't blame the store's folks, and was honored to be there. Because of that, when my publisher solved the problem, I was invited back to speak at the same store. March is Small Press Month and during it because of all the groundwork we did (and because of the wonderful Jo Virgil at the Westlake B&N) my book and others from my publisher will be featured in a special display in ALL of the Austin area B&N's.

The lesson here? No effort on behalf of your book is wasted. Keep plowing forward...

Helen: Thank you Joe.

Joe is the author of Evacuation Plan. I’ve talked before on this blog about loglines. Joe has a great one for Evacuation Plan –

“What if you knew you would die before you reached the end of this sentence? OK, we'll give you a week to pack. EVACUATION PLAN, a novel by Joe O'Connell from Dalton Publishing.”

Now, that makes me want to get that book!

You can find out more about Joe on his website, including how to buy his book. He also does a blog.
And if you really want to know more about this great author, he’ll be Straight From Hel’s Featured Author in May.

Coming Next Week: Author Lynda Sappington

Next Thursday, Lynda Sappington will join us here on Straight From Hel as our Featured Author for March. I wanted to take time today to tell you a bit about her so you could do your research and be prepared to ask questions, or even get her book to read ahead of time.

Lynda, an award-winning artist, is known for her amazing bronze sculptures. Be sure to check out Equine Art by Lynda Sappington. The second edition of her non-fiction book, “Sculpting 101: A Primer for the Self-Taught Artist,” will soon be available.

Lynda’s book, “Star Sons – Dawn of the Two,” is her first book of fiction. She blogs about “Star Sons,” a fantasy novel, as well as her fan fiction on “Lynda (AKA) Abraxan On Writing And Art.”

Lynda is an artist in more ways than one (or two now). In addition to sculpting and writing, she’s been a singer, a songwriter, and a photographer. Now, she’s going full speed into the publishing world. She already has the second in the “Star Sons” series ready in first draft form and is plotting the third.

She has events planned that will not only showcase her sculptures, but her books as well. When she exhibits at shows, she’ll bring her books with her. Her next show is April 10 – 13 at the Equine Affaire in Columbus, Ohio. You can check out her complete list of upcoming appearances.
http://www.thesculptedhorse.com/shows.html

Since her book “Star Sons – Dawn of the Two” has two heroes, she’s going to give away two copies! So come back next Thursday to read the interview with author Lynda Sappington and to find out how to enter a drawing for your own copy.

Publishers Weekly

If you’re a writer, you most likely know about Publishers Weekly, THE magazine about the publishing industry. And if you’ve read this blog or my newsletter, then you also know I’ve often recommended unpublished authors keep up with PW. Either by going to the library and reading it, subscribing, or checking out the online newsletter.

You can keep up with where agents are coming and going in the industry and what is selling and to whom, by whom. In my newsletter, Doing It Write, almost each week, I quote from PW to let my readers know when agents are changing agencies.

Now comes news that Publishers Weekly, part of Reed Business Information, is likely to be sold.

This should be of interest to writers because there has been talk that perhaps PW will become an online-only magazine. This would make it more difficult for writers who can’t afford the print subscription, let alone the online subscription.

Whether it continues to come out in print form or not, it may change in another way that affects writers. If you’re familiar with Publishers Marketplace, then you know that it posts deals. You can see what sells, which agent sold the deal and which editor bought it. If the book is in your genre and sounds similar to yours, then you have a clue that perhaps the agent or editor would also be interested in your book. You can compile your list of possible agents and track if they continue to sell your kind of book. Then you can see what other authors they represent and check out if they are authors you admire. You can find out what the books sold for. Then you can decide if you want to query that agent.

Problem is that some writers don’t do their research. They see that an agent sold a book, any book, and they send an email query. Some agents are not happy, reports Media Bistro.

"Everytime I list a deal on Publishers Marketplace, I get a flurry of really stupid queries from people who are clearly just querying anyone with a live email address." (She claims she isn't alone, and that more and more agents have stopped including their email addresses in deal announcements because of all the useless queries.)

If more agents are unhappy because of this, PW may stop the practice of giving out email addresses. Or they may change who has access to the information.

"What PW has is exclusivity," she says. "If they had a deal database available only to the magazine subscribers, it would be a huge success, because to have a PW subscription means you're not a one-horse operation... I'd love to report deals to the trade only."

And then we’re back again to the high cost of the subscription.

Critique Groups

Thinking about starting or joining a critique group?

There are four women in Boston who seemed to have hit on the right combination of people and structure. A little over two years ago, they formed their critique group, meeting every two weeks. Now, two of them have sold books and the other two are poised to follow their path.

During their meetings, they not only critique for each other, they discuss the publishing business. They set out their guidelines and have stuck with them. Meeting every other Monday, they devote the first hour to verbally critiquing 20-page excerpts from two of the four women. The critiques are constructive and the one being critiqued remains silent. The second hour, they discuss business – agents, workshops, and other publishing news.

And they’ve stuck with this – even when one of them left Boston and moved to California. Yep, she’s still part of the group. She attends meetings via speakerphone.

A year and a half ago, they started a blog called The Writers’ Group to share their technique and inspiration.

Four women who wanted to realize their dream of being published joined together, stuck together, and are making it happen together.

New York – Center of the Book Universe

You may have heard that the Los Angeles Times Book Prizes were announced recently. There are nominees in 7 categories, including Biography, Fiction, First Fiction, History, Mystery/Thriller, Poetry, and Young Adult Fiction.

What you may not have noticed is that the Los Angeles Times Book Prizes finalists were announce in … New York. Okay. Los Angeles is movies and New York is books. That makes sense. But isn’t the publishing industry spreading out? Agents are in Los Angeles, Denver, all over the states. Small presses are everywhere. And self-publishing is global. So why wouldn’t the LA Times keep up with the times and hold the ceremony in Los Angeles?

If you’re interested in what the Los Angeles Times had to say about why, read their blog. David Ulin, the LA Times’ blogger said:

After all, despite significant growth in regional imprints, American publishing remains rooted in New York City, much as the movie business is in Hollywood. In fact, I’ve always found significant similarities between the two industries--their clubbiness, their small-town love of gossip--with the exception that in Hollywood, there’s real money to be made….For The Times, then, throwing a book party in New York offers a way of connecting with the industry, of presenting ourselves to a roomful of editors, writers, publishers and journalists all in one place. It’s also a way of celebrating books and book culture--which is, by its nature, national or international in scope.