Happy Halloween!

Unless it’s Christmas or Easter or a family birthday, I tend to forget about holidays until I’m blog-surfing and discover others are celebrating. (I gotta get out of my office more!)

And…well…that’s what I’m going to do. Not totally voluntarily, though. In this case, I don’t have a choice. For the next two months, I’ll be on federal jury duty.

I won’t know from week to week what my schedule will be. It could be one day, could be all five days. On days I’m in court, I won’t be able to visit other blogs or even comment back to those of you visiting mine. (I have a feeling my iPhone will be confiscated.)

I could, of course, pre-schedule a week of posts on weekends, but that doesn’t seem fair when I won’t be here to participate. So, I’ve been in a quandary as to what to do.

I’ve been pondering this for over a month and have decided to cut back on my posts. I’ve been blogging since 2006 and posting every day for, I believe, over two years now. But now I’m going to post on Saturdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. (I’ve even gone ‘round and ‘round in my mind over which days, trying to guess what days I might be free!)

This is going to be weird and I’m wondering if I’ll go into blog withdrawal. On the other hand, I’m not stopping blogging altogether. I’ll see you here, I hope, same place, same time, this coming Wednesday. (Wonder if I’ll be able to talk about jury duty or if there will be a gag order?)

What Would You Pay for a Book?

Lately, there’s been a rash of rock star books coming out. One of the latest is from Sex Pistols frontman Johnny Rotten (real name John Lydon). The book will be a limited edition, with only 750 copies. According to Philly Blurbs, the book will “tell the story of his life and include many never before seen photos of the punk legend (yes, there will be baby photos). Each book will feature a handwritten note from Lydon as well as a 12-inch vinyl picture disc including spoken word recordings and live Public Image Ltd. recordings from 2009.”

There’s more:

Every book will be numbered and feature a center foldout with Lydon's signature and other doodles….100 of the 750 books will contain a special golden ticket. That ticket will get you a 10 minute live web chat with, you guessed it, Johnny Rotten himself.

So, what would you pay?

You can pre-order the book for a special price of just under $600. After the official release date in December, it will go up to $700.

Are Gamers Also Readers?

Based on my son, who is a gamer, a game designer and a huge reader, I would have to answer that question, Yes. But I’m not sure that’s true for all gamers. Random House is betting that gamers are like my son.

According to MarketWatch in the Wall Street Journal, “THQ Inc. … and the Random House Publishing Group … announced that a novel set in the Homefront universe and co-written by John Milius (Red Dawn and Oscar Award-winning Apocalypse Now) and New York Times bestselling author Raymond Benson (author of two Metal Gear Solid books and multiple James Bond novels) will be published by Random House's Del Rey imprint, and arrive in early 2011 to coincide with the release of the first Homefront game.

All of you gamers out there, would you read a book based on a game you play, if it offered new storylines and scenarios? Or would you rather the storylines were incorporated into the game?

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A side question: Any of you out there know about working with websites? I need to talk to someone about how I can make changes to the structure of a site. This will involve a lot of deleting and I'm worried about totally messing up the site. I called tech support and was told I cannot delete folders nor change the structure. I can delete htm or html files, but nothing more.

Beware The Devil’s Hug

 Today, as part of Marvin Wilson’s Hugs Therapy Tour 2010 to promote his book, Beware the Devil’s Hug, Marvin’s editor at All Things That Matter Press, Deb Harris, has agreed to answer my questions. My goal was to ask her questions that I thought all of you would if you had the chance. Before we get to those, however, here’s a bit about Ms. Harris:

Deb Harris, Editor-in-Chief of All Things That Matter Press, has been in love with words and books since early childhood. She’s also a believer in giving people a chance. All Things That Matter Press was born of the desire to allow promising new authors an opportunity to share their “Self” with the world.

Deb, whose prior career involved many years of work as a paralegal and legal transcriptionist/proofer/editor, and her multi-published author husband, Phil, lived for fifteen years in very upstate New York in a home they built themselves, totally off the grid, relying on solar and wind power. There, they raised vegetables, horses, and dairy goats, canning and preserving much of their own food, as well as making their own cheeses, butter, and soap. Now they raise books.

A Maine native, Deb spends her days at the computer, occasionally taking a moment to look out at the horses in their pasture, and surrounded by indoor critters as well: three dogs, a cat, 4 birds, and a fish.

Welcome Deb Harris.

1. Not only is Marvin one of the authors in your stable, he edits for other authors at All Things That Matter Press. What is he like as an editor and why would an editor need you, another editor, to edit his book?

I trust Marvin’s editing. He’s very meticulous (and being a nit-picker myself, I admire that quality), and able to work simultaneously on all of the necessary levels, not just the “does the comma go here” mechanics.

Marvin and I agree that no author is capable of completely editing his/her own work. The mind sees what the mind knows the mind meant! And, while a manuscript may be mechanically perfect, or close to, just about every author has little “pet phrases” and/or writing habits that are often, and always unintentionally, overused. For instance, one of our authors (not Marvin, in this particular case) used a certain phrase over 400 times in a less than 300 page manuscript and was astonished that he’d done so. These things are almost always invisible to the author, since they tend to be ingrained writing habits or personal ways of speaking, but they jump out at that other set of eyes.

2. The editing that you do is the last level of editing before publication. If an author feels strongly about something that you recommend cutting or changing, should the author fight for his/her viewpoint, give in and change, or present a compromise? If they refuse to change, would that affect the relationship?

You know what? If I find I need another doormat, I’ll go to Wal-Mart. Absolutely I want my authors to present their viewpoints. I didn’t write the book, s/he did. I try to be as flexible as possible in the editing process, always keeping in mind the ultimate goal: to have the best finished product possible. The vast majority of my editing comments, other than punctuation issues, include “How about if we …,” or “What do you think about ….” If an author feels strongly about something, unless it is so grossly incorrect that there can be no “give,” we let the author decide. This is a partnership, a collaborative effort between publisher and author. We’ve been very fortunate that our authors all tend to be reasonable people who also want their books to be as perfect as we can collectively make them. I can’t think of a single instance where an author and I have disagreed and it’s affected my perception of the relationship. Obviously, I can’t speak for how the author feels on that subject.

3. How did Marvin handle the corrections or changes you recommended?

Like the true professional he is, albeit with a little grumbling and grousing. Marvin’s goal is the same as ours: perfection.

4. How do you choose the books to publish? Are you open to certain genres or is it the writing that matters most, no matter the genre? What was it about Marvin’s book that made you decide to publish it?

We’re open to anything except sex-for-the-sake-of-sex, pornography, racial bigotry, religious bigotry, push-a-particular-religion-down-your-throat, and/or hate-driven books. We’re not particularly into children’s books or YA, although we’ll look at them. Other than that, we’re all across the board, which makes it a lot of fun.

One of us has to like it. That’s the basic decider. Not everyone likes the same genres, so I’m fortunate to have a great crew of submission editors to review things that aren’t my personal cup of tea. Sometimes it’s a decision by committee. And, while the quality of the writing most definitely matters, we strive to look beyond “the edit” to the heart, and are willing to work with promising authors who are willing to work hard with us.

A book has to grab and hold our attention, whatever the genre. Have something to say, and say it from a different angle. Take a fresh approach. Don’t write by formula, and don’t try to write like someone you’re not. Write like you. Make me want to cancel my dentist appointment to finish reading your manuscript.

I decided to publish Marvin’s book because it’s good! Of course, the bribe he sent didn’t hurt, either.

5. What about Marvin makes him stand out as an author? His writing? His willingness to promote his books? His enthusiasm?

 Everything about Marvin stands out, as I’m sure you’ve noticed by now. I love his off-the-wall kind of backdoor approach to getting his messages across by hiding them in his stories. Marvin’s books can be read for pure entertainment or for the thought-provoking insights he provides. It doesn’t hurt that he writes well, either, and his love for his craft shines through in every word.

Thank you very much, Ms. Harris!

To find out more about Deb Harris, visit All Things That Matter Press. And to find out more about Marvin Wilson, visit his blog, The Old Silly’s Free Spirit or catch him on Twitter.

Tomorrow, Marvin will be visiting Lacresha Hayes blog. There are only two days left on Marvin’s tour, so be sure to visit his Contest and Prizes page, too.

But before you do all that, leave a comment or question for Marvin Wilson or Deb Harris.

Author Marvin Wilson

 As part of Marvin Wilson’s Hugs Therapy Virtual Tour 2010, tomorrow we’ll be talking about Marvin’s latest book, Beware the Devil's Hug. If you know Marvin, then you know he rarely does things like the rest of the world. So…instead of him stopping by, his editor will be here to answer my questions. He will, however, be lurking in the comments section, ready to pounce, er, answer questions.

For anyone who doesn’t already know Marvin, he describes himself as: “a non-religious, dogma-free, maverick spiritualist Christian, with a strong bent toward Zen, Taoism, and the Law of Attraction, and who believes in the Oneness of all creation and all paths leading to re-awakening to the One.” He’s also a multi-published author.

To help you prepare some questions to ask Marvin in the comments section, here’s the trailer for Beware the Devil’s Hug.



You’ll want to come back, not just for a session of Stump Marvin with Your Questions, but also to win prizes.

Enhanced Digital Picture Books

Even if you don’t write children’s chapter books, Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg’s article in the Wall Street Journal yesterday was interesting. Barnes and Noble is “launching a digital collection of more than 12,000 books under the name Nook Kids.”

Barnes and Noble is trying to reinvent itself as the leader in digital e-books for kids. To do so, it has “earmarked an estimated $140 million for new digital efforts through April 30, 2011.” Now you may be wondering how a kids’ picture or chapter book would be a big seller on the Nook. The books would be enhanced. Kids could tap a button and have the book read to them. There will be interactive features, like making things drop from the sky onscreen or tap and pop balloons on the screen.

For those of you with iPads, for which Barnes and Noble will have an app, this will work. For those of you with a Nook? You’ll probably have to buy the new color touch-screen Nook, which is expected to be announced as soon as today at an event where Barnes and Noble plans to unveil the new Nook.

Taxes for Blogging

In Philadelphia, bloggers may be taxed anywhere from $50 per year to $300 for a lifetime for a “business privilege license.”

 If a blog takes money for advertising, or sells photographs or other goods, it's a business and must pay for a license, no matter how little it makes, plus taxes on profits.

A spokesman for Mayor Michael Nutter says the license is nothing new and is required for any moneymaking enterprise, from large corporations to neighborhood pizza joints and all other kinds of mom-and-pop businesses.

In case you’re wondering how the Mayor would know if you made money blogging:

The uproar began after the city Revenue Department recently sent out letters to Philadelphia residents who reported business revenue with the Internal Revenue Service but hadn't gotten a city business license.

The article in the Philadelphia Inquirer about this came out in late August and I found out about it via Sisters In Crime. Has anyone heard any more news on this?

Closing Libraries

We’ve talked here on Straight From Hel about libraries closing around the US. Now it seems they’re worrying about them closing in the UK, according to an article in The Guardian.

Authors, librarians, booksellers and others are coming together to try to avoid the closing of a possible 1,000 libraries.

"Forty per cent of the UK population uses public libraries and millions of people rely on them. We're trying to get out a strong statement about the value of public libraries to key decision-makers in local government who don't necessarily appreciate them and sometimes see them as a soft touch."

Whether you live in the US, the UK, or elsewhere, I think we should all support our libraries. For some, they are the only access people have to books.

Do’s and Don’t’s of Ebooks

The Business Section of the NJ News recently had a good article on how to publish an Ebook. We keep hearing that formatting your book is getting easier and easier. In reality, though, it’s not that easy and there is still no one format that works on all readers. That means you’ll have to format it specific to each eReader’s requirements.

The author of the article recommends you make your eBook available on Amazon’s Kindle.

An Amazon video, available at YouTube (youtu.be/QCc2oN9TFak), provides a useful overview of the process, or you might want to download a free Kindle book, "Publish on Amazon Kindle with the Digital Text Platform." 

He follows that up with 8 tips for formatting. If you’re going to be putting your book on the Kindle, check out this article.

Outskirts’ Best Book Cover

Outskirts Press is holding a book cover contest. They’re featuring 6 book covers and you can go vote on the one you think is best. And the winner will get a Book Teaser from Outskirts Press to help promote the book “on popular video sharing sites such as YouTube, mySpace and MetaCafe.”

The six books are ones chosen by and published through Outskirts Press, which calls the books “self published.” Personally, it’s difficult to believe a company that charges to publish your book is really a “self-publishing leader.”

If you want to vote on the books, the good news, according to the press release, is that “Voting takes only seconds and is completely free.”

Alex J. Cavanaugh

A lot of you already know Alex J. Cavanaugh through his fun and informative blog. But since you may not have checked out the other pages on his blog, you might think of him as just a huge science fiction fan. Let me tell you a bit more about him.

Alex has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and works in web design and graphics. He’s experienced in technical editing and worked with an adult literacy program for several years. And, yes, he loves science fiction. He wants others to love science fiction, too. Especially the science fiction he wrote. To do that, he had to figure out his audience. He’s here today to tell us how he did that.

Welcome Alex.

Don’t Underestimate Your Audience

Never underestimate your audience. This may seem like the Mt. Rushmore of obvious statements, but we can all point to countless movies, TV shows, and other media that have fallen into this trap. During the past year, I’ve learned not to underestimate my book’s audience.

My book’s genre determined the first audience – science fiction readers. Once my book was classified as adventure/space opera, I fine-tuned my audience. My readers wouldn’t be those who loved high tech or gritty military or classic science fiction. They would enjoy more adventurous and accessible science fiction books.

I had to think beyond that genre, though. When submitting my manuscript, I’d considered several angles, including young adult. (As my book could potentially fit in as a coming of age story.) That sparked an idea. I started considering all of the aspects of my book, above and beyond the science fiction. I pondered my focus on characters, the predominantly male cast, and the various life subjects. This expanded my audience considerably.

The final lesson I learned after I began blogging – never underestimate the appeal outside of this audience. Many readers just want a good story. The genre doesn’t matter, especially if they feel a connection to the author. If the comments on my blog are any indication, there’s a far wider audience for my book than I’d anticipated. Had I not networked online and considered all the possibilities, I would’ve missed the bulk of my potential readers.

If you’re an author or writer, have you thought of all the possibilities? How large is your book’s audience?

Thank you, Alex!

If you’d like to know more about Alex, you can check out the many pages on his blog, including all the stops on his virtual blog tour.

 And if you’re interested in buying a copy of CassaStar, you can find it on:
AMAZON
AMAZON UK
BARNES AND NOBLE
BOOKS A MILLION
AMAZON’s KINDLE
Also available for the iPad, Nook, and other eBook formats.

Before you zip away to buy a copy, leave a comment or question for Alex. You might even tell us how you are reaching out to your audience.

CassaStar

 Library Journal said CassaStar, by Alex J. Cavanaugh, called to mind “the excitement of space opera epitomized by the many Star Wars novels.” With its “fast-paced military action and a youthful protagonist,” they recommended it for both young adult and adult readers.

Alex is a fan of all things science fiction, from books to movies to music to games. His passion comes through in his writing.

You can get to know Alex through his blog, where he talks about books, movies, music, games and TV shows, as well as his writing. And you can also follow him on his virtual blog tour. Tomorrow, he’ll stop by Straight From Hel on his tour.

Before you link away to find out more about CassaStar, though, take a look at the trailer.

Come back tomorrow to hear what Alex has to say about the importance of never underestimating your audience. And throw him a few questions. My question for today is: With your background in web design and graphics were you involved in making the book trailer?

My Handwriting Sucks

I used to have beautiful handwriting. Now that I do everything on the computer, my handwriting stinks. So it’s ironic that Carol Kilgore passed on to me the handwriting meme. Clearly, she has not received a handwritten note from me.

For this meme, everything has to be handwritten. Here goes:

1. Full name and Blog name.

2. Right handed, left handed, or both?
3. Favorite letters to write
4. Least favorite letters to write

5. Write "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog."

6. Write these words in all caps: CRAB HUMOR KALEIDOSCOPE PAJAMAS GAZILLION
My handwriting is so bad, I wrote them all lower-case.

7. Write the lyrics to your favorite song.
Okay, this is not my favorite song, but it was the first that came to mind. I think it’s by the Monkees, but I could be wrong. It came out like a million years ago.

8. Tag seven (7) VERY SPECIAL BLOGS with a unique drawing or doodle.
I cheated on this one and named three and instead of doodling, I added my favorite zebra paper clip and a naked Mardi Gras baby. But to try to spice things up, I wrote the names backwards.

Alex at Alex J. Cavanaugh

Stephen at Breakthrough Blogs

Karen at Karen…following the Whispers

I feel certain these three bloggers have beautiful handwriting. I’m afraid they might be rule breakers, like me, though.

Am I the only one whose handwritten has deteriorated since the advent of the computer?

Animals as Characters

 I’ve read books where animals are characters. They help the sleuth solve crimes or save the protagonist by pulling them away from danger. But have you read a book where the animal is the main character? There’s such a book out right now: Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. But it almost didn’t get published.

"It didn't fit any genre – people couldn't decide if it was a romance or a murder mystery," she says. "It had an elephant as a main character – and it was set in the world of circuses. Circuses? No one had any idea what to do with it."

At the last minute, Algonquin Books bought it. It’s now sold 3.7 million copies worldwide and the movie version is just wrapping up. She’s written another one with bonobo apes as the central characters.

Could you write a book with an animal as the main character? If I was thinking about doing that, I’d probably first read the article in The Dallas Morning News, then the book, Water for Elephants.

Self-Publishing and MetaData

If you want readers to find your self-published work, you need to know about Metadata. To help, I’m linking to a very informative post called “A Self-Publisher’s Guide to Metadata for Books.” Wondering what metadata is? It’s keywords that drive searches. When someone is searching for your book, say on Google, they enter phrases or words. It could be your name or book title, but it could also be something like “sci-fi historical romance.” If you know your audience, you can determine what your meta tagwords are. [Be sure to come back this Thursday when Alex J. Cavanaugh will be here to talk about knowing your audience.]

Carla King, the author of this article, takes you through providing the metadata for your book. She covers these topics:
Identifying Your Keywords
Provide Metadata for Your Book on Bowker
Metadata in Documents and Other Media
Metadata on Reseller Sites
Metadata on Social Media Sites
The Future of Metadata

It’s a very interesting article – worth reading and saving for future reference. Using metadata points readers to your book.

How many of you use metadata? Did you know you can create metadata for your Facebook “like” page? Did you know when you upload your book in Kindle format to Amazon, you have an opportunity to create metadata that point to your book?

The Festival is Here

Yikes! The Texas Book Festival starts today.

For me, that means looong days and artists and writers and photographers and their books. Oh my! It also means I won’t be online this weekend.

I want to say thank you to all the volunteers who have signed up for the events at the Austin Museum of Art, where I am. You are amazing.

We’ve made changes this year. We’ve moved AMOA’s Green Room – the authors’ gathering spot. Hopefully, this one will be a bit more convenient for them. We’ve also changed where the authors sign. In the past, the AMOA authors signed there at the Austin Museum of Art. This year, they’ll sign in the gigantic Authors Signing Tent (which has been relocated closer to AMOA, as has the C-SPAN tent).

So, come on down to the Texas Book Festival on and around the capitol grounds. Be sure to check out the Music tent and the Cooking tent and the Exhibitors…and, of course, AMOA.

Book Review: Scar Tissue

Scar Tissue: Seven Stories of Love and Wounds by Marcus Sakey is a short e-book of stories. Sakey includes not only 7 stories but also excerpts from four of his books.

The seven stories are:
The Days When You Were Anything Else
The Desert Here and the Desert Far Away
Gravity and Need
No One
As Breathing
The Time Before the Last
Cobalt

The excerpts are from:
The Blade Itself
At The City’s Edge
Good People
The Amateur

 My favorite story was the first one: The Days When You Were Anything Else. It’s about a man who has gone straight – a man who used to be very crooked. He’s surviving in this new life, not prospering, but he’s out of the game and will never go back. That’s what he thinks, anyway. Until he has no choice. As a reader, you have to ask yourself, What would make me go back into a life I’ve turned my back on? Who or what would I kill for? Would I take a life? Would I give up my own life?

Sakey’s stories pull at your gut and some make you want to turn away. Not all have happy endings, but then a lot of things in our lives don’t have happy endings, do they? Even when you think, I don’t want to read this, or this is too personal and makes my stomach clench, you’ll keep reading. With each protagonist (and each story has its own lead character), you live in that man’s mind and you’ll wish hard for a happy ending. It won’t matter whether you approve of the guy or what he’s doing, you’ll keep reading.

Each story is different and compelling, even The Time Before the Last, which is only 25 words long.

I’m giving Scar Tissue: Seven Stories of Love and Wounds by Marcus Sakey a Straight From Hel rating of Hel-of-a-Writer. (This is a new rating level suggested by Karen from Mentor and it fits this book.)
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FTC Disclaimer: This book was sent to me by Dana Kaye, of Kaye Publicity, who suggested I might want to review it, but this did not influence my review. And I almost didn’t review Scar Tissue. Not because I didn’t like it, ‘cause I did, but because I don’t have an eReader. So Ms. Kaye sent me a printed-out copy. Printed on both sides. With no page numbers. I took it with me on a trip to Colorado and read it on the plane and in the hotel room and in the restaurant and in Starbucks. And got the pages mixed up. Did I mention there were no page numbers? I had to stop twice and figure out the pages and put things back in order. When they’re out of order, they tend not to make sense. It works better to have the pages in order, even with my brain. But you won’t have to worry about that since it comes in eForm.

Research, Research

Today, I’m over on The Blood-Red Pencil talking about Research.

We’d all like to zip here and there, doing research in the exotic or fun settings, like France or New Zealand or Lockhart, Texas…but it’s not always possible to do first-hand research. On the other hand, you have to get it right or readers will catch your mistakes.

So zip over to The Blood-Red Pencil and contribute your ideas for second-hand research when you just can’t do it first-hand. (‘Course, I’m not talking to you Romance writers. We all know you do only first hand research.)

Telling Mermaid Tales

Story Circle Network invited me to read something of mine as one of their monthly podcasts. I didn’t think anyone would be terribly interested in a chapter from TechCareers: Automotive Technicians … so I chose three Mermaid Tales that I’ve posted here on Straight From Hel (y’all can thank me later for not choosing the Automotive Technicians book).

So, if you’d like to hear some Mermaid Tales, you can click over to the Story Circle Network podcast site and hear Pigs and Piglets, The Great Flood, and Swimming with the Swans. I believe the podcast will be up all this month.

Celebrating Words

Jan Morrison gave me the I’m A Literacy Builder Blog Award. Thank you ever so much.

The rules for the award are:
1. Thank and link back to the person who gave you this award.
2. Display the award logo on your blog site.
3. Tell us five of your favorite words and why you like them, (add as many as you like).
4. Pass the award on to three bloggers you feel are excellent literacy builders, and link to their sites.
5. Contact the bloggers you’ve chosen and let them know about the award.

Jan called herself a “word freak.” Don’t know that I’m a word freak, but I do like words, especially ones that tickle the tongue and mouth. So, here are my five choices:

Onomatopoeia
(The formation or use of words that imitate the sound associated with something, e.g. "hiss" and "buzz")

Saskatchewan

(River in Canada flowing into Lake Winnipeg)

Titillate

(Excite somebody)

Yonder

(Over there, as in: Get yourself over yonder and play with your little sister.)

Babble

(To say something rapidly and incoherently without pausing)

Three bloggers whom I think have at least five words they secretly love are:

Lou Blecher of the Writer’s Creative Studio
Sarah Lynne at Sarah’s Blog of Fun
Dave at Above the Clouds

You can pass this along – or not. It’s up to you. It’s just a way to have a bit of fun and perhaps titillate someone over yonder.

Never Too Young to Read

According to Hometown Life, it’s never too young to introduce your kids to books. At the Livonia Public Library, “Babies attend with their moms or other caregivers for a 20-minute program that includes a short story, lap bounces, rhymes and music.” Moms and caregivers are given a copy of the book to read to the 12 to 23 month-old babies.

The staff has been thinking about designing a storytime for even younger children, Novak said. One of the babies in Baby Storytime is just 6 months old. “He's our little experiment.”

What do you think? Are early readers life-long readers? Or is there an age that’s too early to introduce books?

Kids and Reading

According to The Epoch Times, kids choose gadgets over reading.

A new survey finds that [electronic and digital devices] have contributed not only to a decrease in reading, but also physical activity, ability to concentrate, and time spent with family.

The following tidbit had me rather flummoxed:

The study also reveals that a quarter of the children surveyed believe texting with friends counts as reading.

Seriously? Texting counts as reading?

There was a little bit of promising news:

 …children say that another device could perhaps pique their interest, as many responded that they would read more if they had access to eBooks.

Apparently, “choice” plays a role:

The study reveals that kids are more likely to read when they can select the material, with nine out of ten children responding that they are more apt to finish books they choose themselves.

Even though kids say they would read more if they had eBooks, there is also this:

… the report found that many kids still favored printed books. Two-thirds of respondents ages 9 to 17 said they will continue to seek out books printed on paper even if eBooks were available.

What do you think?

Listen to my Book

Sometimes it feels like all we talk about are e-books, e-readers, and the decline of print book sales. Today, we’re talking about…audio books. Yay! Finally!

The Day (Connecticut paper) had a recent article about the company Tantor Media, which produces audio books. In ten years, they’ve gone from a three-person start-up to a company that employs 75 people, produces 50 titles a month, supports 70 narrators across the country, and can print 15,000 CDs daily. Plus, they don’t just do the recordings. They do the artwork for the audiobook cover and the marketing.

Unabridged books, which represent the narrator reading the full work, not an edited version, make up nearly 85 percent of the audiobook market. That's good news for Tantor, which only publishes unabridged, original works.

If you’re hungry for audio book news, click over to read the full article. Do any of you have out audio versions of your books?

Comics

On Monday, we talked about Top Cow, a publisher of comics, and some of the things they’ve done to stay in the business. Then today I came across this in PR-USA: One In Four Comic Readers Over the Age of 65.

Now that made me stop. I always envisioned comic readers as children up to around age 30. This article said I’m wrong.

"With nearly a quarter of the comic reading audience beyond the age of retirement, there is a misconception that needs to be corrected."

Keeping in mind that “comics” includes comic books, graphic novels, and manga, leave a comment telling us whether you read or have read comics. And include whether you’re over or under the age of 30. (Revealing if you’re over 65 is totally up to you.)

Book-a-Mania

 In June, when author Donna Fletcher Crow visited Straight From Hel, she talked about her book, A Very Private Grave, an ecclesiastical thriller. It debuted in the UK first, then three months later in the US. I asked her at that time to stop by again and tell us how it went and what her experiences were.

She’s back again today – and she has a lot to tell us about what has happened since June. Donna is a multi-published author. She’s written over 35 books, mostly novels of British history, and is still writing more. The award-winning epic Glastonbury, is her best-known work, an Arthurian grail search covering 15 centuries of English history.

For her, the last three months have been about more than just the one book. Or even two. Or three.

Please welcome Donna Fletcher Crow.

Still Schizophrenic

Hi again, Helen, a lot of water has rolled across the Atlantic since I was with you last June talking about my experience working for two publishers on opposite sides of the Atlantic: “Swimming the Pond” so I’m delighted to be back to share an update.

Funny, isn’t it, how life is so much like the rules for writing good fiction. Like the one about when your heroine is stuck in a tight spot— throw in more complications. So, a week after my ecclesiastical thriller A VERY PRIVATE GRAVE, #1, The Monastery Murders, came out in England, my romantic intrigue THE SHADOW OF REALITY, #1, The Elizabeth and Richard mysteries, my tribute to Dorothy L Sayers, launched as an Ebook.

 SHADOW OF REALITY is with a new, young publisher who is “all about embracing technology” so the Epublication is the primary one, to be followed later by a print book after an electronic reader base has been established. It’s all a bit of an experiment, but isn’t everything right now in our volatile market. So far it seems to be working rather well. For one glorious moment, THE SHADOW OF REALITY was listed as #9 for British mysteries in the Kindle store. But that, too is a volatile market, so I had to look quick.

My summer included doing an Ebook push on Amazon (trying to get all my friends to buy on one day to get the ratings up). I think I made it to #28 in my category that day. And my husband continued to fill out more forms for Her Majesty’s Inland Revenue to convince them that I am an American taxpayer so they don’t need to withhold tax for A VERY PRIVATE GRAVE. Last week I received a glorious cheque in Pounds Sterling for which I had to open a new bank account to handle international exchange. It wasn’t all that much money, you understand, but I loved the idea of participating in international banking.

And now, A VERY PRIVATE GRAVE has had its official North American launch, so I have the full blessing of my American publisher for a full steam ahead virtual tour (schedule listed on my website: www.DonnaFletcherCrow.com), doing what I can to help push the Sam’s Club promotion and scheduling booksigning parties. Appropriately enough for a book that comes from both England and America, my first launch party will be in Calgary, Canada, at The Owl’s Nest on October 9. Then I’ll participate in a Book Extravaganza here in the Boise Valley when I get back.

Beyond that, publishers for both series have said they are ready to go ahead with the second book. That means A DARKLY HIDDEN TRUTH, #2, for Monastery Murders, and A MIDSUMMER EVE’S NIGHTMARE, #2 for Elizabeth and Richard, my fling with the Bard. Which, yes, I should be working on right now.

If this all sounds somewhat confusing to you, let me assure you, you’re in good company. The best example was yesterday when a reader said on Facebook that she had downloaded A VERY PRIVATE GRAVE to her Kindle. Well, I had understood that my very traditional English publisher wasn’t doing Ebooks, so you can imagine the excited post I put on Facebook with lots of exclamation marks. Then I realized, no, my reader was confused. She has THE SHADOW OF REALITY on her Kindle and is waiting for Amazon to fill her pre-order for A VERY PRIVATE GRAVE. I just hope Amazon isn’t confused, too.

Well, I said in June that I’d come back and tell you how it’s all working out. The bottom line answer is that I don’t really know, but I’m having a lot of fun. Why have just one personality when you can have two or three?

I often think of the greeting card I saw years ago when, at that time I was overwhelmed with four young children, “Lord, give me strength to endure my blessings.”

Thank you Donna!

If you’d like to see the book video, to order A Very Private Grave, or to see pictures from Donna’s research trips, go to http://www.DonnaFletcherCrow.com

And if you’d like to say hi or ask questions, head to the Comments section.

Sheee’s Back!

Just over three months ago, author Donna Fletcher Crow stopped by Straight From Hel to talk about promoting her book in England and here in the States – or, as she called it, Swimming the Pond. I invited her to come back and talk about how the launch went. She’ll be here tomorrow to tell us how she’s doing.

Back in June, her book, A Very Private Grave, had just been released in the UK, but was not released in the U.S. until September. Donna has not only been working with two release dates, but with two publicists.

Here’s a brief blurb about the book:

Felicity Howard, a wide-eyed, strong-willed, full-steam-ahead young American woman, who found teaching Latin to London school children boring, takes herself off to remotest Yorkshire to study in a theological college run by monks. Well, what else can she do with a classics degree? When her favorite monk is brutally murdered and Felicity finds her church history lecturer with blood all over his hands the fun really begins.

Not only has Donna released A Very Private Grave in the UK and in the US, she’s also had another release during that time – The Shadow of Reality as an Ebook.

Here’s the cover blurb for The Shadow of Reality:

The setting was all her fantasies come true:  an elegant English manor house in the 1930's.

The man was even more than she had dreamed:  Sir Gavin Kendall— sophisticated, brilliant, rich and captivated by her. Lord Peter Wimsey come to life.

Will Elizabeth's lifelong dreams become reality or will she fall prey to the vicious murderer lurking in the shadows at an exotic mystery weekend high in the Rockies?
Will Elizabeth discover the narrow line between fantasy and reality in time to achieve her dreams?

So, come back tomorrow to hear what Donna’s life has been like since June. To give you a hint, she’s titled her post: Still Schizophrenic.

Opportunity for Kids’ Books Writers

I was reading an article in Inc. and thought, hmm, this sounds like an opportunity for those who write childrens books. So, here’s the scoop.

In 2009, Lynette Mattke started PicPocket Books. This is not your ordinary publishing house, though. PicPocket sells books as apps. She publishes books in the form of iPhone apps.

In the past year, Mattke has put out 40 children's book titles, to critical acclaim and modest commercial success. 

So far, no one is getting rich, but they’re a young company.

Mattke splits revenue with the publishers and authors -- and, of course, with Apple, which gets 30 percent. Revenue runs from $2,000 to $6,000 a month. That covers costs and the production of new titles but doesn't yet allow Mattke to draw a salary.

Mattke continues to plow through a growing slush pile of manuscripts. What do you think? Would you query PicPocket Books?

Learning From Other Genres

Because the rise and fall of publishers affects writers, we often discuss publishers here. Mostly, we talk about books. Sometimes, though, we can learn from others, like comics. Publishers Weekly has an article about comic publisher, Top Cow.

For one thing, the covers are usually eye catching. Link over and check out the cover for The Darkness.

Top Cow has two main properties, The Darkness and Witchblade.

Both series have been collected in a variety of formats, from economical paperbacks to deluxe oversized editions, and huge 1000+ page books collecting 50 issues each, called Compendiums.

There’s another thing Top Cow has done: They work in different formats. Their eggs are not all in one basket.

Here’s another: They sell back stock.

When a new fan discovers Witchblade, often within six months they’ve gone back and brought every Compendium and every single issue they can track down."

Even though the characters were introduced long ago, they keep them fresh by bringing in new “talent.” They’re going digital, as well as staying in print. They’re going into movies and games. They’re spinning off into series.

Now, these are comics, probably not what you write. But can you see anything here that you, a book writer, could learn from?

Will You Buy This?

The Unabomber (remember him?) has had his book published here in the States. There’s not been a lot of hoopla about the book, not even from his publisher. According to the Penninsula Daily News, Adam Parfrey, who published Technological Slavery by the now-imprisoned Theodore J. Kaczynski, said: “"He is a murderer, and he is a sociopath." But he also added, "He is a genius and a very good writer who can add to the discussion about technology."

In case you’ve forgotten Kacynski, he “sent 16 package bombs between 1978 and 1995 which exploded, killing three people and injuring 23.”

Even though he’s prevented from receiving book royalties, I don’t think I’ll be reading Kaczynski’s book. How about you?

Long But Interesting

Recently, The Wall Street Journal ran an article called: Authors Feel Pinch in Age of E-Books. It’s long, but well worth reading. Here are some high and low points:

Priced much lower than hardcovers, many e-books generate less income for publishers. And big retailers are buying fewer titles. As a result, the publishers who nurtured generations of America's top literary-fiction writers are approving fewer book deals and signing fewer new writers….

From an e-book sale, an author makes a little more than half what he or she makes from a hardcover sale….

The Authors Guild and some literary agents are urging publishers to raise the author's share of e-books to as high as 50%, arguing that there is less overhead for a digital book. Thus far, publishers are resisting.

But the author received only a $1,000 advance, typical of the advances paid by small independents. "I can't make a living as a writer, but it feels great to have these stories out in the world," says Mr. Lea.… The smaller advance has a ripple effect. Ms. Daniels, who earns a 15% commission, used to make $11,250 on a big publisher advance of $75,000 or so. Her cut on Mr. Lea's $1,000: $150.

If you want more, link over. It’s not all bad news:

Big-name authors and novels that are considered commercial are increasingly in demand as e-book readers gravitate toward best sellers with big plots.

There are a lot of implications in this article. The big one that strikes me is one writers in the trenches already know. More so than ever before, writers have to be out in the cyberworld every day selling their books. What are your thoughts?

Book Review: The Goddess of Fried Okra

Before The Goddess of Fried Okra by Jean Brashear arrived in my mailbox, I knew nothing about it. I opened the package, looked to see what was inside, then added it to my stack of books. Recently, while packing for a trip to Colorado, I took the top two books on the pile and stuck them in my briefcase.

Approaching the book as I do all books, whether I buy them or they’re sent to me, I first checked the cover. It’s beautiful, as you can see. Next, I turned it over and read the cover blurb:

Ex-cocktail waitress and “convenience store professional” Eudora “Pea” O’Brien is filled with grief and regret, low on cash and all alone. Headed down the hot, dusty back roads of central Texas, Pea is convinced she’ll find a sign leading her to the reincarnated soul of the sister who raised her. A sign that she’s found her place in the world of the living again.

At least that’s what the psychic promised.

In an unforgettably funny and poignant journey, Pea collects an unlikely family of strays – a starving kitten, a pregnant teenager, a sexy con man trying to go straight, and a ferocious gun dealer named Glory, who introduces Pea to the amazing, sword-wielding warrior goddesses of Texas author Robert E. Howard – creator of the Conan the Barbarian novels – and celebrated in festival every year. Six foot tall, red-headed Pea looks good with a sword in her hand.

Glory, the goddesses, and a grandmotherly café owner become Pea’s unlikely gurus as she struggles to learn swordplay and the art of perfect fried okra. She’ll have to master both if she’s going to find what matters most – her own lost soul.

I liked that the book was set in central Texas, my stomping ground. But I was stopped by: “Pea is convinced she’ll find a sign leading her to the reincarnated soul of the sister…” I put the book down and walked away. Some of you may remember that my sister died this summer. I wasn’t ready to read this book.

The next day, I picked it back up and began to read.

There were a few times I cried and had to stop reading, but mostly I laughed and smiled and kept turning pages. Pea isn’t really trying to find her dead sister. She’s trying to find herself, to forgive herself for past mistakes, and to become the woman she is destined to be, the woman her sister would be proud of.

Pea is homeless and broke, yet she keeps picking up other souls who are as lost as she is. She pulls them into her life and takes responsibility for them. And when someone reaches out to her, she isn’t quite sure how to accept their help or their love. She’s on a journey that isn’t marked by miles, but by love.

And love is what defines us all.

I loved The Goddess of Fried Okra. I give it a Hel-Yeah!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

FTC Disclaimer: This book was sent to me by Deborah Smith, Editor, VP, of BelleBooks and Bell Bridge Books, who did not ask for a review. Since my sister’s death, I’ve often asked myself, how long does it take a heart to heal? Pea is searching for the answer to that question. It’s often said that time heals all. I don’t think that’s true. Time lessens the grief, but it is love that heals the heart. Pea learns many lessons in this book. And in case you’re wondering about the title, she does indeed become the Goddess of Fried Okra, as well as a sword-wielding warrior. To learn how she manages both while traveling through Texas, you’ll have to read the book.