Is #Cockygate Over?

1914 hardcover edition

Yesterday, the internet (or at least the writer circles I frequent) was abuzz with the news that Faleena Hopkins had settled with Jennifer Watson and Tara Crescent over the ill-advised trademarking of the word "cocky".

According to an article last night on the Inquisitr website, part of the settlement includes Hopkins' withdrawal of her trademark. However, the trademark is still listed on the USTPO website as of this writing. Given the speed of the federal government, it may be days or weeks before we know for sure that #cockygate has ended.

Or has it?

1997 mass market paperback edition

Recently, author Michael Scott Earle not only filed for a trademark on the common fantasy term "dragon slayer", but he also filed a trademark for a certain styling of a cover where the title and series name are at the top, the author name is at the bottom, and a human is holding a weapon. This style of cover has been in use for over a century. Boing Boing has a couple of articles about the matter, but my browser wants to hang up every time I try to access them.

An even more interesting question is whether defending the trademark applications are worth it to Earle. Earlier this summer, his books disappeared from Amazon, lock-stock-and-barrel, during the recent purge of authors who allegedly broke the Amazon TOS by using black-hat and gray-hat marketing tricks.

[Edit to add: Earle has apparently abandoned the attempt to trademark the cover style in question.

However, if you want to file a protest on his application to trademark the term "dragon slayer" (which you should do if you ever want to write books about dragon slayers in the future), here's some tips on writing a letter of protest to the US Patent and Trademark Office.]

Description - Love It Or Hate It?

Description.

Some people love long passages talking about landscape and foods and battles. This is the stuff many epic fantasies are made of. Westeros and The Shire are as much characters in their respective books as Jon Snow and Frodo.

On the other hand, thrillers go for the short minimalist approach. If I asked a fan for a description of Jack Reacher, any specifics, other than height, they would give me would come directly from their imaginations. Why? Because the only thing Lee Child says about Jack's physical attributes is that he's unusually tall.

Which is better?

Neither. Both. It totally depends on the purpose of your description. Are you conveying information? Mood? Setting? As a writer, you need to ask yourself, "What is the purpose of this description?"

What brought up this subject?

Alter Ego released her latest book last week. A reader sent her a note the day after the release, saying she loved it. That it made her feel as if she were in the heroine's shoes.

I realized something that had been bugging me for over a year.

The biggest gripe one of Alter Ego's editors had was that there was so little description of the heroine. She thought there should be more details of the heroine's physical appearance. Not just height, hair color and body shape, but those of her snatch and breasts as well. I resisted, though at the time I couldn't say why.

I mean, I had no problem with physical descriptions of secondary characters, and my written picture of the hero could have been used for a police artist's sketch.

But the reader helped me answer the description question. I put so little detail in these types of books because I know, deep down in my heart, that most women reading romance and erotica want to BE the heroine. By only giving a rough idea of the heroine, they could imagine themselves in her shoes, especially since I write these stories either in deep third person or first person POV. And I haven't written one from the hero's POV. (Yet.)

So how do you use description in your stories?

You Can't Fuck Over Your Audience

When it comes to indie writers, there are two major gripes by readers:

1) The story is too short.
2) They are getting ripped off.

Frankly, the readers have valid complaints, but what most writers aren't understanding is that this isn't two different problems. It is the same problem; readers are not getting a COMPLETE story.

Much of the writers' confusion stems from from a couple of misconceptions:

1) Short stories don't sell.
2) Readers love series.

In regards to short stories, a single short is not economical to print. So trad publishers would bundle them into one volume, and then not market the book. It became a self-fulfilling prophecy.

In regards to series, yes, readers go bonkers about them because they enjoy spending time with characters they love. But in a series, each individual tome needs a complete story.

For a story to be complete, it has to have a definitive arc. A beginning, a middle and an end. Stopping in the middle of the story is like stopping in the middle of sex. It's just not satisfying.

Then there's the promise of the genre itself. For example, in erotica, the protagonist's sexual journey changes her. In romance, the heroine and hero find their HEA, or at the very least their HFN. But if an indie writer advertises her story as an erotic romance, she needs to deliver on both promises.

I read a story that was novella length and was advertised as an erotic romance where the heroine was changed by her experience, but she left the hero at the end of the book. The writer received a large number of one-star ratings complaining that the story was too short. The writer believed the readers wanted a novel-length book. What they really wanted was the hero and heroine together at the end.

Our audience is not stupid. As long as you've set up the premise properly and deliver on your promise, they will generally accept your complete story no matter the actual wordcount.

Example 1
Brie's First Day of Submissive Training by Red Phoenix, 47 pages, first book in a nine-book series.

Red's best-selling series is a perfect example of short works combining into a cohesive whole. In the first volume, Brie makes a decision to attend a submissive training school, follows through on that decision, and learns something about herself in the process. This story is perma-free with sexually explicit content, but I strongly suggest downloading it to study Brie's character arc.

Example 2
A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin, 720 pages, first book in a seven-book series.

Another best seller at the opposite end of the spectrum--the epic fantasy. Reader complaints about George don't include the "It's too short" wail. While the character arcs for the other POV characters are just as complete, Daenerys Targaryen deserves special mention. Her storyline was sliced out of the main book and put together as a Hugo-award-winning novella, Blood of a Dragon.

Example 3
Se7en, (1995) starring Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman and Kevin Spacey, directed by David Fincher, written by Andrew Kevin Walker.

I include this because Andrew's story and script is so gut-wrenching, yet makes perfect sense. Pitt, Fincher and Walker battled the studio to keep the original ending, and they did the right thing. When the detectives are chasing a serial killer so perverse that sadism should be renamed to "doe-ism," giving the movie a Mary Sunshine ending would have pissed the audience off more. This is a prime example of a not-so-happy ending completing the story. Spacey's Doe, who has been pulling the strings from the first minute of the film, manipulates Pitt's Detective Mills into committing his final murder.

Example 4
The shortest story ever has been attributed to Ernest Hemingway: "Baby shoes for sale. Never worn."

Is this a complete story? You betcha. The entire arc, beginning-middle-end, is there.

The Final Take
Your story can be any length. One of the great things about e-publishing is that writers don't have to worry about the physical limitations or expenses of print. Your story can be as short or as long as it needs to be. Just make sure your story is COMPLETE, the full story arc without any filler.

And don't insult your audience's intelligence by selling them one incomplete snippet at a time. They will know and they will not be pleased.

I'm Such a Dumbass

I decided to re-read George R. R. Martin's Songs of Fire and Ice series. I finally got DH to try A Games of Thrones after he finished Jim Butcher's Cold Days last winter and he needed something new. He wanted to discuss aspects of the books, but it had been sixteen years since I originally read the first book. I didn't remember some of the little things.

So I'm bebopping along a couple of nights ago, and it hits me. I realize who Jon Snow's mother is.

I wanted to smack myself for not realizing it back in 1996. Martin did such a delicate and delicious job of laying down the clues. It's actually been an interesting study as I wrap up Blood Sacrifice.

And this is why writing teachers say you need to read in order to write. By studying the masters, you can figure out their strengths and practice your own version in your manuscripts.

I just hope that George lives long enough to finish the series because I can't wait to find out how Jon and his half-sister kick ass!

Patience, My Writers, for Winter Is Coming...

Seventeen years ago, I was at a family wedding reception. My cousin Frank shoved a hardcover in my hands and said, "You have got to read this! You'll love it!"

Now, Frank and I were born literally sixty days apart. He's one of the very few people I trust when it comes to literature. Hell, he was the one who introduced me to the Uncanny X-Men when we were ten. If Frank says to read something, I read it.

The book Frank shoved into my hands at his brother's wedding reception? George R.R. Martin's A Game of Thrones.

While the orginal novel received excellent critical reviews, much love from the fantasy fanboys/girls and a Hugo award for Blood of the Dragon (Dany's chapters excised to form a novella), the rest of the world passed by this excellent book with nary a gasp.

With the success of Peter Jackson's movie adaptation of Lord of the Rings, rumors flew about a film version of A Game of Thrones. However, HBO required the rights in 2007 and decided to turn A Game of Thrones and its sequels into a series. The long-awaited series finally debuted in April 2011. Now, you can't avoid Game of Thrones merchandise everywhere you look.

What does the history of A Game of Thrones have to do with writers?

So many of us expect instant fame and fortune. However, Martin is a perfect example of an overnight success--one that was nearly twenty years in the making.

Don't go into this business wanting silver and gold dropped in your lap. Do it for the love of story.

George R.R. Martin has been a professional writer for forty-three years. A Game of Thrones wasn't a story that George slammed out because someone shoved a shitload of cash in his face. This was the project of his heart, the one he walked away from a successful Hollywood career to write.

One of my favorite sayings is from Marsha Sinetar. It's the title of one of her books. Do what you love and the money will follow.

Write the best book you can and make it available to readers. Don't fret because you're not an instant success. Just keep writing.

And remember! You're nobody's bitch.

This same process worked for George. It can work for you, too.