Three Low-Key Tips for Discovery

A lot of writers will dismiss what I'm about to say. Americans are very big about doing something, but that something has to be BIG in and of itself.

Why?

Because the myth is that you have to do something big to get big results.

It doesn't take big actions to get attention for you and your books. A lot of little things add up.

1) Comment on other writers' blogs.

Why? For one thing, you'll get to know folks who are in the same position you are. The camaraderie helps get through the trials and tribulations of the career. For a second, you'll have cross-pollination when your readers and theirs see that you're friends.

2) Interact with your readers.

It's always a thrill getting that first personal contact from a reader, whether it be by e-mail, snail mail, FB or tweet. Always acknowledge the contact. The personal touch will go a lot further than you realize. You've made the reader feel special, and they are more likely to recommend you to friends because you took the time to write back.

Caveat: Don't respond to non-direct communication, i.e. reviews. It makes some readers very uncomfortable, and you may inadvertently launch a flaming on yourself.

3) Keep writing.

This is the one every new writer forgets. If someone likes your first book, they will want to read your next. If you haven't written it, they have nothing to buy. And if they have to wait too long, they will forget about you.

So keep writing!

Videos I've Been Watching Lately

Since ABC cancelled Killer Women, here's some alternates for you.

I Find Your Lack of Faith Disturbing...

Over at The Passive Voice, indie authors discuss trends and data and writing and readers. Normally, we find all sorts of interesting tidbits that help to clarify our career decisions, trigger story ideas in underserved genres and generally give us a better understanding of the exploding universe that is the publishing industry.

But lately, there's been an odd little comment that pops up with great  regularity whenever a new idea is presented.

"What's in this for me?"

Needless to say, Annoyed Writer has said this. But others have that well...I thought they knew better.

What is it with the need for instant gratification in our culture? Why does someone else have give these people a step-by-step instruction manual on how to interpret data that MAY help their individual case? Who do they think they are to demand such things in the first place?

What it really comes down to is these people have no faith in their own talent. Why doesn't someone GIVE them the Magic Formula (TM)? Why work harder when all they have to do is find that blasted Magic Formula (TM)? Because they KNOW people are deliberately hiding it from them!

And even when they don't believe in the Magic Formula (TM), then the reason they aren't raking in the money has to be because other writers are holding them back! They moan that all the other writers and all the other genres should just GO AWAY! If the field was totally clear, then EVERYONE would buy their books!

Um, no, kids. It doesn't work like that. The reason the BHPs have been seeing slow, steady losses over the last decade is because they weren't giving readers the stories that they wanted.

Yes, revenue is dropping, mainly because the middleman is being cut out of the deal which means lower prices for consumers. Reading and unit sales are rising. More of the revenue is going to writer pockets. It's a win-win situation for both readers (more variety) and writers (more money).

However, if you're new to the indie game, it takes time to build a backlist. It takes time to build a fanbase. It takes time to market your stories. Some writers think they were promised a rose garden with 20's and 50's hanging on the thorrny branches.

Please show me who promised y'all this because I sure as hell didn't. And I want one of these magical rose bushes.

I also want a lightsabre and the U.S.S. Enterprise-D while you're at it.

In the meantime, only you can make your career decisions. I can't. No one can, but you.

Have faith in yourself. Have fun. And if something doesn't work, then the lovely thing about indie publishing is that you can change it.

When Will I Be Good Enough?

A friend commented in an e-mail about how intense my blogs were last week. I had to think about my reactions to the subject matter, and I believe I figured out the commonality.

"You're not good enough."

Even though only one particular incident was aimed directly at me, that was the gist for most of the people I mentioned in last weeks' posts. I've heard this refrain my entire life, and it still pisses me off.

I wasn't good enough for my mother. Why couldn't I be athletic like my sister and brother? Why couldn't I be a pretty cheerleader like my cousin Stephanie? Why couldn't I stop embarrassing my mother by speaking my mind?

It continued through school, but now my peers and teachers piled on. Why was I such a nerd getting straight A's? Why couldn't I get a boyfriend? Why couldn't I dress right?

And it carried through my adult years. I wasn't good enough because I refused to sleep with a boss. I wasn't good enough because I wasn't employed at a big law firm. I wasn't good enough because I wouldn't work for free.

When I started writing, the rejections and the angst only added to the miasma of insecurity. Ironically, what helped, really, really helped, was indie publishing. Trusting my voice. Trusting my talent. Trusting myself.

The put-downs haven't gone away.

I had an indie writer bitch me out for congratulating another writer who was ecstatic about signing with a publisher. It's not my life; it's not my career. If this particular person was happy with her decision, then I would support her.

I also had a trad published writer tell me that since I had made a trad sale last year, then maybe now I could get an agent. There's something wonderful in having a little self-confidence. I simply asked her why I needed one if I could make my own sales.

It took me nearly fifty years to learn not to let people make me feel inferior. Sometimes, I think I would have learned that lesson a lot sooner if  had someone in my life had been willing to stick up for me.

So yes, that's why I get passionate when I see someone bullied or put  down. I know what it feels like, and I want the recipient of such treatment to know they're are not alone.

Educating Snow - BAMF Girls Club Ep. 15

Snow White's in for an education when she joins the BAMF Girls House!

Videos I've Been Watching Lately

Sharon Stone should have been #1. Just sayin'.

Lessons Learned - Misbehavior in the Internet Age Can Kill Your Career

The first headline that popped up on my MSNBC news feed yesterday concerned the nasty ass response Kelly Blazek, a woman named "Communicator of the Year", gave to an applicant on a job bank run by Blazek. When Blazek's response went viral, others came forward to say they had been treated the same way by Blazek.

In today's environment, nearly everything you say or do or type is recorded. It's simply the nature of the Information Age. The problems occurring today are no longer those of twenty-somethings posting pictures from the bong party they went to over the weekend. (Though you should watch what photos you post on Facebook.)

Now, we're seeing issues of people not thinking about the consequences of their actions, and those consequences come back to bite them on the ass.

Blazek's response to a young job-seeker was through LinkedIn, a social media site specifically for professionals. It was bad enough that the Cleveland newspaper, The Plain Dealer, picked up the story. Even worse was CNN and NBC. According to CNN, the backlash against Blazek was so bad she apparently deleted her Twitter account and her blog.

The last few weeks seem to be rife with people sticking their feet, or in the case of uber-agent Donald Maass their hoof, into their mouths. (Really, an agent shouldn't refer to writers as cattle to be culled.)

British author Lynn Shepard's first mistake in a Huffington Post UK essay was dissing beloved Harry Potter author, J.K. Rowling. Shepard's second mistake was insulting adults who read the Harry Potter books. You know, adults? The ones with the money to buy Shepard's books?

The backlash was immediate and fierce. Over fifty one-star reviews appeared on Amazon US for Shepard's latest book, The Solitary House. Nor was she spared on the book fan/review site Goodreads.

Last year's negative publicity for self-publishing distributor Autharium had already died down when the director of the company, Matt Bradbeer, stirred it up again by filing a DMCA take down against popular publishing blog The Passive Voice. Now, not only are the new articles at the top of the various search engines, the old articles are back up there, too.

Then there's Sean Fodera, a contracts attorney with publisher Macmillan, who made the mistake of dissing one of Macmillan's authors on a public forum. When the story spread across the internet, Fodera made matters worse when he threatened to sue anyone who linked to the story.

So what can you take from all of this?

1) Watch what you say on the internet. Never post or tweet while angry or upset.

2) Treat others with respect. If you can't, go back to Tip #1.

3) Learn when and how to disengage. Sometimes, it's not worth the fight. There's an old saying, "Never wrestle a pig. You both get dirty and the pig likes it."

4) There are competing opinions and there are trolls. Know the difference.

5) If it's not something you would say to someone in real life, you probably shouldn't say it online.

And most of all, remember the internet is forever!

If you have any additional tips, I'd love to hear them.

More Autharium Drama

I don't like bullies.

To me, using a bad faith DMCA to silence critics is blatant bullying. Even worse is when the attempt to censor is aimed at someone I like and respect, like David Vandagriff, aka The Passive Guy.

Because of my own screw-up, my spew session about Autharium's use of a bad faith DMCA appeared on Blood Lines on Friday, February 21, 2014, at 9:30 p.m. instead of 7:00 a.m. on Monday as I intended.

Before I go farther, I'd also like to point out that Blood Lines has seven followers and roughly seventeen regular readers as opposed to the thirty-two followers and 60-70 regulars that follow Wild, Wicked & Wacky. There's not a lot of crossover viewing between the two blogs.

At 4:35 p.m. on Sunday, February 23, I received an e-mail from Matt Bradbeer.

Matt is the co-founder and director of Autharium, though he failed to identify himself as such in his e-mail to me. Now, I can't repost the e-mail here without Matt getting a bug up his ass about me violating his copyright (which frankly, I find hilarious given the original terms in Autharium's Terms and Conditions from March of 2013). That doesn't mean I can't fisk the generic items of his message.


[First paragraph - statement concerning his knowledge of my blog post followed by snide comment]

One of the first rules of negotiation, kids, is that you never start by pissing off the person you want something from.

The gist of the entire e-mail is that Matt wants me to change my opinion of his company.

Matt wants.

Not me.

Matt.

Matt wants me to do something for him. And he starts his message with a snide comment.

Thereby irritating the shit out of an ex-attorney, born under the sign of Scorpio and who has just started menopause. Nope, he's definitely not the brightest crayon in the box.

P.S. All that information about me that I just stated can easily be found on the internet. ALL of it. Did Matt do his research before engaging someone he perceives as an opponent? Nope. Which leads to rule number two of negotiation--know the person on the other side of the table.


[Second paragraph - claim that Autharium tried to contact PG last March]

According to Matt, someone from Autharium tried to contact PG  after his blog post last March, twice by e-mail and once through social media, and that PG did not respond. PG's original analysis of Matt's company was coming up on the first page of search results when Matt googled his company.

Matt was not pleased by this fact.

In PG's second blog post about Autharium, PG says he never received any communication from Autharium before the DMCA takedown was filed.

For the record, I pretty much doubt everybody's story without proof, and Matt failed to send me any proof of his attempts to contact PG.

But back to the actual notice issue, there are three problems here:

1) Let's assume Matt is telling the truth about his attempts to contact PG. E-mails go awry. People don't always check their social media everyday. Basically, shit can and does happen.

So why did Matt wait eleven months? Why didn't he try to contact PG again? Why not try through other means? Leave a message on the blog? Look up PG's address and phone number?

I know other countries can send certified letters because I've received one from a solicitor in Dublin before.

And the most important question of all, why is it someone from Autharium had no problems whatsoever contacting PG on Monday, February 24th?

2) Other websites have mentioned the March 2013 contract terms, most especially Writer Beware. Victoria Strauss had similar opinions concerning the old contract terms. If you'll note, her addendum concerning the changes wasn't appended to her original post until November 2013. According to Victoria, she was accused of defamatory comments about Autharium.

[Legal note: It's not defamation when the facts are true and accurate at the time they were made. Matt really needs to hire a better class of laywers as you'll see later.]

3) While Google is the most popular search engine in the US, and arguably the world, why didn't Autharium send DMCA takedown notices to Bing? Or Yandex? Or Yahoo?

I'm really trying to give Matt the benefit of the doubt here, but he's making it very, very hard. Especially when he's the co-founder and director of eGurus, Ltd., a management consulting firm. You'd think with a name like eGurus they would know how the internet works and how to use alternate communication devices.

So this all puts me in a weird position. Do I believe the attorney I've known for three years and have referred friends to for legal counsel? Or do I believe a total stranger?


[Third paragraph - claim that Matt was forced to file a DMCA]

Um, sorry, I don't buy it unless you can produce the guy who held the gun to your head. There's always choices in this world, folks. Matt chose a not-so-wise decision given the current Streisand effect he's suffering.


[Fourth paragraph - T&C terms were changed based on PG's dissection; original terms were drafted by publishing industry attorneys]

On the first part, great! I'm really glad Matt read PG's analysis, realized some of his mistakes, and fixed them.

On the second part, egads! *facepalm*

Matt doesn't appear to understand why writers are leaving trad publishers in droves, much less why we find indie publishing attractive. And he hired the same idiots that are helping to drive away the writers from trad publishing. Lack of this kind of knowledge could be death to his company. As Joe Konrath has said many times, indie publishing is a HUGE shadow industry that the trad publishing either fails or refuses to see. Trying to cash in on it without understanding it? *shakes head* Definitely not a good idea.


[Fifth paragaph - acknowledgement of free legal advice from PG; repetition of contact issue; expectation that PG monitors every single website that discusses Autharium]

I'm pleased that Matt recognized PG was right, and Matt fixed the problem.

I think Matt's expectation that PG keep up with every website that talks about Autharium shows a bit of a narcissistic quality. It's a bit unfair when Matt himself seems to have difficulty keeping up with indie publishing as shown by my commentary on the Fourth Paragraph.


[Sixth paragraph - quibble about a legal issue from PG's followup on Autharium on Friday]

I love it when a civilian tries to argue legalese. Again, know who you're talking to, folks. Frankly, if I were still licensed, I would say PG didn't go far enough.

If I were still licensed, that is. Which I'm not.

Unfortunately for Matt, I don't have a lot of respect for some who tries to come off as an expert in something when it's very obvious he's not.


[Seventh paragraph - claims that I lied; that I'm being mean; the soft threat]

Matt never specifies exactly what it is I lied about. If he does ever let me know what FACTS I stated that are incorrect, I'd be happy to correct them.

Then there's the guilt trip. Y'all just know a girl is supposed to be nice, don't you? Sorry, but my mother is much better at that than Matt. It's not going to work.

I do have to give Matt credit for going for the soft threat, an insinuation he might do something though he never comes out and says exactly what. Most men at this point go for the hard threat, a la Sean Fodera, an attorney at Macmillan, threatening to sue over 1200 people who reposted a story about insults he lobbed at a writer.

But still, really, dude? You might do something because some chick on the other side of the pond insulted you?


[Eighth Paragraph - released a writer from a contract when she received a trad deal]

So what? Matt did something out of the goodness of his heart. What would have happened the old Terms and Conditions if she wanted to leave but didn't have a trad deal?

Under contract law, promises, issues, or ANYTHING not specifically stated in the terms of the contract means nothing. However, I'm no longer an attorney, so please double-check with your own legal counsel.

And if you haven't clicked the link for Matt's job history above, he used to work for Waterstone's. For those who don't know, Waterstone's is a UK bookseller chain, similar to Barnes & Noble here in the States.

Which I would use as evidence of his mental state when it comes to writers.

If I were still an attorney.

Which I'm not.


[Ninth Paragraph - another reiteration of I'm mean]


[Tenth Paragraph - request to change my opinion]


After all that, I have re-evaluated my opinion of Autharium, and I'm even more wary of the company for two reasons:

1) The Terms and Conditions

Has Autharium changed their terms and conditions since PG's original post based on his analysis? Yes.

However, there's a couple of things in Autharium's T&C that I still don't like, despite the changes that have been made. There's no guarantee Autharium won't change the T&C back to the way it was in March of 2013. And frankly, while I highly respect PG, it isn't his intellectual property on the line; it would be mine by signing up with Autharium.

Don't get me wrong. PG's a good guy, and I would hire him in a heartbeat. Also, Autharium has used him as free legal counsel (and maybe they should think about hiring him instead of the attorneys they are currently using), which he doesn't have a problem with..

I, on the other hand, am a bitch, and I don't give advice for free to people I don't know. So I won't state the problems with the T&C I see in this blog. If you know me, contact me privately and we'll talk. Informally. Because I'm no longer licensed, and I can't give legal advice. *grin*

2) Professionalism

Matt's thinking seems to be firmly rooted in trad publishing mentality, which is scary in and of itself. I rather get the impression he hoped to intimidate poor, little ole' me.

Because all the trad publishers and agents just know that writers are cattle to be culled. (No, Donald Maass, I will never let you forget that statement. I even have a t-shirt to commemorate it.)

What bothers me more are Matt's social missteps and his tendency to use a tactical nuke when a hug and kiss would have gotten him a lot farther in what he wanted.

Generally speaking, once the contract is signed the kid gloves come off, and you are fucked by whatever is actually written on the contract. Therefore, you are at the mercy of the other parties to the contract. You have to ask yourself, "Is this someone you want to do business with?"

In the case of Autharium, my answer is no. You, the reader of this blog, have to figure out what your own answer is.

While I was drafting this blog post, someone from Autharium did contact PG some time on Monday. The Autharium representative supposedly said the DMCA notice should have been handled differently.

Well, it's good that they figured it out. Hopefully, they learned something about how to deal with negative publicity in the future. Such as, don't piss off a respected blogger who can measure his followers in five digits per day.

For example, I found out last night that Techdirt wrote about Autharium's attempt to white-wash it's past.

And that is exactly the problem with the Streisand effect, kids.

Scam Distributor Autharium Versus The Passive Guy--Somebody's Going to Get Spanked...

...and it ain't going to be The Passive Guy.

About a year ago, The Passive Guy, aka PG, aka contract attorney David Vandagriff with 30+ years experience, talked about a new UK e-publisher/distributor called Autharium.

In Autharium's original Terms and Conditions, the company made an incredibly blatant rights grab that put the NY BPHs to shame. Basically, even if you remove your book from their database, they would still own all licencing and ancillary rights to your IP property.

Well instead of addressing the matter directly with PG, these slimy bottom-feeders filed a bad faith DMCA notice claiming copyright violation in an effort to shut up PG's revelation. Ironic considering their own method for stealing any meaningful copyright from authors, huh?

As PG noted, if you're going to pick a fight, you should know who your up against. Which is frankly what makes the folks running Autharium a bunch of dumbasses.

So PG has done another post on Autharium and their newer, sneakier wording to steal YOUR copyright. In the meantime, PG noted that the incredible Victoria Strauss at Writers Beware brought up the very same issues.

The best we can do as writers is to watch each others backs from slimeball organization like Autharium. If you're a writer, spread this story as far and wide as possible. Information is power, and we need to arm our fellows.

Update the Autharian Drama here.

Videos I've Been Watching Lately

If this doesn't creep you out a little...