Authors Just Wanna Have Fun

There are times I want to write something truly DEEP.

And then there’s the rest of the time. I just want to write something fun.

Yeah, I know the battle between the four-armed rakshasa and the two-headed dragon isn’t profound soul-wrenching stuff, but it would make for great eye-candy in the film version. Special effects! Explosions! Hot babes in chain-mail bikinis and bare-chested hunks waving swords! Add a kickass soundtrack.

Sometimes I like to write books that would be best watched drunk.

Is that so wrong?

Tara Maya, Intrepid Writer!

Tara Maya, Intrepid Writer!

I wanted to do some xtranormal vids, like Zoe Who? but I haven’t come up with anything yet. While doodling storyboard ideas, I came up with this comic. I have a couple of episodes, but I won’t post them all at once.

(I don’t know why it’s so small. Help?)

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118025891.html?categoryid=1009&cs=1

5 Warnings About Traditional Publishing

In the comments section, this was Scott Nicholson’s Advice to Amanda Hocking:

http://amandahocking.blogspot.com/2010/08/epic-tale-of-how-it-all-happened.html

PART I
Here’s my perspective based on six books in NY and now a handful of indie books (though I am nowhere in the same league as you):

Last year, it may have made sense to do what Boyd Morrison did and sign with an agent, because he had a dream of getting published in NY and seeing his books in stores. Sounds like you had that dream. Is it still your dream? Your primary dream? Or is it to connect with readers, which you can so easily do now?

Would you really want an agent now after they wouldn’t take you before? It’s sort of like the girl who takes off her glasses and gets the makeover and THEN the star quarterback notices her and asks her out. That’s what I call a lazy agent. I’ve worked with five or six agents on different things, and they can be useful if you trust them. But make no mistake, they will always do what’s best for them instead of what’s best for you. That’s just human nature. And they have other clients, friends in the industry to please, and ego and standing to consider–things that likely will be more important than you.

* * *

PART II
From a practical perspective, the minute you sign with an agent, here’s what you get: someone who is likely to get you an advance and MAYBE a movie deal if you are lucky (though most deals are options that will pay you about what you look to be earning this year and you’ll probably lose the whole series).

You will probably get a really good advance and be a full-time writer–for the near future. I know several people who got snazzy deals, but by Book Two the publisher dumped them and their careers were dead. One nice check, a couple of years to write, then back to Walmart or Burger King or house painting, and worst of all they’d lost rights to their own books. They didn’t even own the one thing that was truly theirs (though it used to be you could eventually get your rights back). Your career is living and thriving now.

With a publisher: You will get 25 percent royalty, with luck, on your ebook sales, instead of the 70 percent you now get. It’s possible and maybe even likely that your paper sales will far more than offset that, but only in the short term. Modern publishing clauses basically keep the rights forever, so you will be losing MORE per sale than you are getting, possibly as long as the book is in copyright, past your own life and into the life of your heirs. Hard to think about when you are 26, but you are in a good position to think long term.

If you sell to a publisher, it’s likely you will have to take your books down from Amazon and then have a year or 18 months of waiting for a book to come out from a publisher. That’s lost sales and lost readers–forever.

* * *

PART III
What exactly is a publisher going to bring you at this point that you can’t already get? Only one thing–your books in stores. And I believe bookstores are going to be dying as fast as video stores have done in the last five years. It’s like jumping off your own sound boat that you built yourself and climbing aboard a sinking boat that has someone else at the helm and they tell you to sit in the back and shut up.

Amanda, your industry is Amanda, not the publishing industry. Are you willing to give up control and vision of My Blood Approves to people who will never care as much as you do, no matter how hard they try and how much they say they do?

This is all heavy stuff, and things I’ve been mulling all year. A publisher may promote you if you are already a bestseller or they invest a lot of money. An agent may get you some foreign, audio, and maybe even a film deal, but people are getting that kind of interest without having agents. (At that point you’d probably need an agent or lawyer to handle a specific negotiation, but if they want to control everything, then you need to ask them all these hard questions. Many agents are in total denial about what’s happening–clearly the ebook era is growing rapidly and clearly publishers are no longer necessary for success, as you and others have proven.)

* * *

PART IV (that’s all!)
I’m not one of these people gleeful about the “demise of the publishing industry.” I think it will survive and find its own way, but with painful changes like any other business. You’re already finding your way, and you did it your way, believing in yourself. How much do you want to turn that over to another person now? You can find editing, graphic design, formatting, and other services independently, people without any agenda except making your work the best.

I’d suggest you talk to some people in your genre who have agents, and talk to several agents. Don’t forget (though many agents have), the agent works for you and you are basically hiring an employee, though it’s also a bit like a marriage and hopefully a friendship, too.

* * *

And, on the positive side, an agent can be an awesome advocate for you over an entire career (though if you have an older agent it’s likely you’ll have to find another one due to retirement, or get inherited by someone.)A good agent is thinking ahead and is two steps ahead of publishers on the digital issues and the changing environment. A good agent is also not likely to let you get trapped in a never-ending deal. A good agent can remove a lot of the worries and work, though of course you will gain new worries. And a good publisher can get one of those countdown clocks on all the big book blogs, a lot of ARCs into the hands of key decision makers, and build excitement in ways one person, even hiring a publicist, can’t.

A lot of indie authors have a purely anti-NY stance, because of rejection or the difficulty of getting where you are. But there are other possibilities, too-a hybrid indie/NY career, which some authors are now crafting, where you keep some of your books and sell some of your books. I don’t think publishers will like that, but it’s one more bargaining chip or thing to consider. So you can have it both ways and spread the eggs to different baskets. And it will put you in a better position to go one way or the other in the future (or stay like that your entire life).

* * *

Good luck, and most of all, enjoy it!

Scott Nicholson
www.hauntedcomputer.com

My eBook Is Now Available for Sale! Plus, Win a Kindle!

Yay!

This time I’m not messin’ with ya’ll. It’s really, truly for sale. The description is still not showing on the .us Amazon, although it is showing on .uk for some reason. There are no reviews yet, of course. I’ll be eternally grateful to anyone who will post a review.

The print version is still not available yet, but I am working hard to bring that to you.

I also signed in to Amazon Associates, so if you click through to Amazon from the link on my blog or webpage, I will get a referral fee in addition to my royalties. Man, I got three kids. Every little bit helps.

And while we’re on the subject of shameless pandering, if you’ve been on the fence about buying a Kindle and the thought of reading my ebook has, inexplicably tipped you into buying one, then now would also be a good time to click through the link on my site and buy it.

Not yet? Well, I’ll just stick it next to my blog posts in case you change your mind.

* * *

WIN A KINDLE…

Meanwhile, I’m also holding a drawing to win a Kindle as part of my promotion. You can buy one or more “tickets” for the drawing:

1. Mention the book AND this contest with a link to the Amazon page on Facebook, Twitter or your blog = 1 Ticket (for each link)
2: Post a review on your blog, Goodreads or Amazon = 5 tickets (for each review)
3. Make a video about the book and post it = 25 tickets

Then comment here or email me and let me know you’ve done. (Link so I can pass the link on). Once I’ve sold 500 “tickets”, I’ll hold the drawing. The more tickets you’ve earned, the better your chances of winning, but even if you’ve only mentioned it once, you’ll still have at least one chance in 500 of winning.

Someone is raising a hand. Question: “Tara, I already clicked through on your link and bought my own Kindle, yet I really want to make an xtranormal video acting out one of the stories from your anthology. What should I do?!”

My answer: “No problem! For those who want to enter the contest but don’t need or want a Kindle, I will offer the option of giving an Amazon gift card of equivalent value.”

Anyone who wants to read the book for free to do a review, just ask me and I’ll send you the Word.doc. Of course, then you will miss out on my awesome formatting skills. 😉

Someone is raising a hand. Question: “Tara, I want to win a Kindle, but I’m too lazy and cheap to buy and/or read your whole book. Can I cheat and write a review?”

My answer: “No problem! I, too, am lazy and cheap, so I won’t hold it against you. Here’s how!”

On Amazon, you can download Kindle for the Web and read a sample of the book on your computer. It includes two short stories and the beginning of another story. Hey, you could just review those stories! And then assume your words of praise apply to the whole book. Or again, you can email me and I’ll give you the whole thing for free, and you can just pick one or two stories that interest you and review those. I will give out a free copy to anyone who will write a review in any venue.

Another question: “Tara, I read your book, and I want to tell the world it stank like a halloween pumpkin left on the porch until Christmas. If I post a bad review can I still enter the contest?

My answer: “Of course. Until I get my mind-control devise working, I have no way of forcing you to have the good taste to like my book. Be honest.”

Seriously, don’t be afraid to give your honest opinions. I will still link to your review. I’d rather you mention the book than not. There’s no such thing as bad publicity. Do think of the Golden Rule, and review others as you would like to be reviewed, for the sake of your soul and your karma, but that’s between you and God, not between you and me. 😉

You can read a sample RIGHT NOW: Conmergence: An Anthology of Speculative Fiction

Or just buy the book. That would be cool too. 🙂