Updates, links and thoughts on publishers vs. self-publishing

Lots of updates lately. To start, Brandon Sanderson's The Way of Kings is out today. You can check out my review of it on my Speculative Fiction Examiner page here, along with a review of The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack, an upcoming release from Pyr. Great reads, both of them.

If you caught my post yesterday about Scott Nicholson's blog tour, you can also check out an interview with him on the Examiner page as well. It includes ostriches.

A friend I met at the same conference as my agent has asked me to talk to her writing group about literary agents and my experiences in getting signed with one. Haven't quite pinned the date down when that will happen, but it's creating an odd mix of fun anticipation and the lingering doubt that people actually want to hear what I have to say. At least speaking in front of groups is something I've always been decent at, versus having to carry a bucket around in case stage fright upsets my delicate stomach. Anyone out there have particular questions about agents? I likely can't answer everything, but I'll do my best with what I've learned and experienced so far.

And on a final note, check out this article (Warning: naughty words) by Paul Carr about the disturbing trend he is seeing in how writers are treating publishers in the face of the rising popularity of eBooks and self-publishing. Then come back here for musings on the topic.

Back? Great.

I agree a lot with what Carr says. Even as eBooks and readers become commonplace, publishers continue to play vital roles in the bookish world. Their specific duties may shift some and the business model must certainly adapt, but I believe there will be a need for publishers to continue to exist for a goodly while.

In my perspective, I've pursued publication with the belief that being self-published comes with a lot of hard-to-overcome stigmas, such as a perceived lack of legitimacy, book stores not being willing to stock any of your novels, and the fact that, yes, anyone can be self-published, so it says nothing about the quality of your work. Now, you might argue that you don't have to care about getting books into stores. Just promote it online and reap bigger profits than you would through advances and royalties. The quality of the work should speak for itself, and all that. Sure. Valid statements in some cases, but there's a big part of me that still feels I'll have a much higher chance of success if I am published through "official" channels. Maybe that's a bias I'll eventually have to let go, but the truth is, I want a publisher to believe in my book and fledgling writing career enough to invest in it. Yes, eBooks hold a lot of potential, and I plan to take full advantage of that, but it's a tool to add to the box, rather than a reason to toss the box away entirely.

The other thing I've noticed is that the folks listed in Carr's article who are turning to self-publishing are authors who are already established and also are skilled at marketing themselves. They know the business well enough to keep the momentum going that previous publications got started for them.

As Carr puts it:

...there are really only two types of person for whom it makes a jot of sense to tear up their book deal and abandon the professionalism, billion-dollar print market, and immeasurable cachet of traditional publishing. The first are highly skilled self-promoters like Godin who have successfully identified their entire (niche) audience and who know they will only ever sell a certain number of copies of their books to that same audience. Marketers like Godin tend to make the bulk of their money with speaking gigs anyway – books are just a throwaway promotional tool, full of ideas that even they admit will be out of date by this time next week.  Might as well take the money and keep running.

The second type of person is more tragic: authors who, for whatever reason, fear they’re about to be dumped by their publisher (or at best paid a tiny advance for their next book) and who want to save face by using innovation as an excuse.

Thoughts?

Kindle Giveaway Blog Tour

I always love seeing authors trying out new ways to make the Internet work for their careers. With eBooks and eReaders on the rise in use and popularity, the channels through which an author can spread word about their writing are constantly expanding.

A recent example of this comes from Scott Nicholson, a writer whose stories tend to revolve around ghosts, supernatural thrillers and dark fantasy. Scott is embarking on a 90-day blog tour to promote his writing which includes 12 novels, 60 short stories, comics and screenplays. To encourage people to take part in the tour, Scott is giving away a Kindle DX and Kindle 3 to some lucky participants.

There are a couple ways you can become eligible to win.
1. Post a comment on participating blogs.
2. Subscribe to the Inner Circle and receive daily tour updates.
3. Follow Scott on Twitter.

Also if during the tour any of Scott's books reaches the Top 100 on either the US or UK Amazon rankings, he'll give away another Kindle 3. Another bonus: Scott is compiling a collection of eBooks which will be given to a random Twitter subscriber.

Here's a video of Scott explaining details about the blog tour:



So with several Kindles up for grabs, a load of free eBooks and a chance to tap into a great blogging community, what do you have to lose? It will be interesting to see the results of this tour and the impact it might make on Scott's books and career. While you're at it, check out Scott's extensive bibliography, including free novel excerpts.

Ponderings on novel structure

Literary agent Nathan Bransford put up a rather weighty post on Tuesday, discussing the various components that go into writing a novel. Considering it's a topic people have devoted encyclopedic volumes to, you might wonder how Nathan could possibly pare even the most basic essentials down to a single blog post. Mainly, he provides brief overviews of the main elements of a novel agents and editors (and readers) look for, such as Structure, Characters, Plot Arc, Setting and otherwise. He also provides numerous Further Reading and Resource links within each mini-topic. One of his notes in particular caught my eye:

I like to think of every novel, whether it's literary fiction or genre fiction, as a quest. Every quest has:

1) a starting place

2) a first step

3) a journey (the biggest chunk of the novel)

4) an ending

Oddly, this falls in line with a little eBook I found through a recommendation by Kay Kenyon. She pointed out Story Structure - Demystified, by Larry Brooks, who also runs the StoryFix website and blog. Highly recommended on my end as well.

Both Bransford's post and the Story Structure eBook point to a 4-part structure inherent to novels (especially successful ones). And for clarification, "structure" does not equal "formulaic." As Bransford notes:

There are millions of variations on this quest, whether it's a journey through the mind, battling personal demons, or flying through outer space, but every single novel is about a character or characters who start in one place and end up somewhere else. That journey, physical or emotional or hopefully both, is the heart of the novel.

For me, it's encouraging to see this, because it's similar to the process I've followed when planning out a novel. For most of the plots I've developed (including the one we're getting ready to send out to publishers), part of my initial structuring involves breaking down the book into four parts:

1. Opening Crisis/Revelation

2. Escalating crisis/revelation

3. Climactic crisis/revelation

4. Resolution

Another way of looking at this is "3 disasters and an ending." The purpose of this structure is to give your book a satisfying flow of events which continue to top each other until you reach the big end fight/confrontation, followed by an equally satisfying ending that wraps everything up as neat as you can. This 4-part outline helps me in numerous ways. I can attach character arcs to it. I can maintain a sense of where I am within the story, and how far I might need to go before the next big crisis hits. I have a better sense of when foreshadowing needs to happen, or when I might have space for more character development. Without it--and yes, I have tried writing without any sort of plot outline before--I flounder. I lose my writing momentum, and the first draft becomes such an incredible mess, lacking tension in the right spots, lacking raised stakes and a sense of progress, that the novel I tried the structureless experiment on shall never be spoken of again.

Some writers argue against structure, saying that it limits the possibilities of their story, or perhaps makes their plot feel stilted. They point out writers who are "pantsers," writing by train-of-thought alone and making it up as they go.

My response? Maybe pantsers are writers who naturally, and even unconsciously, fall into this structure. Perhaps they have an instinctual feel for the flow of events that other writers have to train themselves to work within. Or maybe they just throw everything onto the page at first and then impose the structure through numerous revisions. Who knows? But I would argue that many major and successful novels do follow this 4-part outline, and if you take the time to analyze a couple of your favorite books, you'll likely discover they do as well. Yes, there are probably exceptions out there, but we're looking at the majority here. If you want to base your writing career on the hope of becoming another exception, nothing is stopping you, and we'll all cheer whenever you succeed.

Do you bring any sort of structure to your novels, whether in the planning, writing or revision phases? What's it look like? Do you agree that a novel needs structure to succeed?

A post on the journey

WeBook has posted a blog post from me, with details on my journey to finding a literary agent. Read it here:http://tinyurl.com/2c24k3f.

Mexico - the Land of Unending Sweat

Okay, so maybe that's not the first thing most folks think about when considering Mexico. Especially for vacation purposes. You think about the beaches, cheap tequila, sunbathing, and the ever-important question: Donde esta el banyo?

I just spent the last week in Mexico with my immediate family, including my wife, and all those usual aspects came into play at some point or another. However, even though I did live in Florida for eight years of my life, since coming to Colorado, I've fully forgotten how much a bit of humidity can kick the body out of whack. It's the kind of sweating that causes you to wonder whether your body might be failing in a significant way. The kind of copious perspiration that

makes you wonder, "Am I about to die?" or, "Am I a wicked witch, and someone hit me with a bucket of water when I wasn't looking?"

That kind of sweat.

Now that I've driven off everyone with either a weak stomach or an aversion to in-depth exposition of bodily fluids, let's talk about some other things about Mexico that I truly enjoyed.

Free food, drinks and shows ranked up pretty high at the resort we went to. My parents had been there a couple years ago and decided to round up the family for a summer vacation, the likes of which I've not experienced for...oh, at least 8 years, at least. Sweat aside, it was a marvelous time, full of snorkeling, exploring Mayan ruins, kayaking, jet-skiing and whatever other activities could pry us off our beach-side lounge chairs. Other notable experiences included the chance to eat fish at every meal, such as here:

And here's a particular favorite photo from my trip to the Mayan ruins at Chichen Itza:

Whups. Wrong one. Hang on a second.

There we go.

Swimming was another main activity, be it in the surf,

The pool,

Or a local sinkhole.

Notice my mirror-like ability to reflect sunlight, thanks to many years of refusing to go outside. I consider it a superpower at this point, alongside my ability to broil within thirty seconds of exposure to said sunlight.

It was also not uncommon to see these poolside:

Overall, it proved a grand time. Lots of rest, Vitamin D, and fun with the family. Now it's time to get settled back in, regain a bit of writing momentum and otherwise let reality reassert itself.

What's been going on since I've been gone? Anything fun?

Double winner!

Wow. I didn't expect this, but I'm certainly not going to turn it down.

Turns out my entry to the Clarity of Night flash fiction contest not only got First Place from the main judges, but it also got First Place as a Readers' Vote award. I'm thrilled by this, and beyond excited.

This CoN contest was an interesting one because it seems the top three placers from the main judges also ended up being the same top three placers according to the Readers' Votes.

Ever since getting involved in the Clarity of Night contests, I've loved the challenge they present and the way they force folks to stretch their creativity to new lengths, while keeping within the boundaries of flash fiction. It's an awesome experience, and seeing the community grow around it with each new photo and contest is so much fun.

Congratulations to all the winners, and thanks to everyone for your wonderful support!

I've actually been down in Mexico since the beginning of the week, on vacation with my family, so I was a little behind in learning the news about the contest results. But I hope everyone takes the chance to go to CoN and review all the folks who placed. And I'll be seeing everyone after I get back to the States--but some Mayan ruins, dolphins, monkeys and iguanas continue to lure me away.