Why Samuel Adams' Speech Applies Today

The family's been watching the History Channel's Sons of Liberty for the last three nights. Last night was the culmination of the Battle of Bunker Hill and the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. The climax of the episode was Samuel Adams addressing the Second Continental Congress. He speaks of having a fair chance to pursue a livelihood without someone coming along a taking everything just because they can.

Granted, the speech talks about government interference with civilians, but the ideas apply to private parties who do their damnedest to ensure artists cannot pursue their craft with the opportunity to make a living.

Sound familiar?

This is exactly why the publishing industry is in such an uproar. You've got a handful of corporations bestowing their blessings on a small number of writers. Then along comes Amazon, just like the character of Samuel Adams--the Instigator.

Other writers take up the cause of revolution, but of course, the Powers That Be cannot see beyond the Instigator. Cannot see that other writers haven't even approached their not-so-nurturing bosom. Cannot see that they've lost the battle by engaging in it. All they see is that they are surrounded by a bunch of pig farmers shoveling slop into their pristine environment.

As author Joe Konrath has said, this is a revolution. A chance for writers to make a living.

Not a guarantee, but a chance.

I love my chance!




Sons of Liberty adds a little sex, drugs and rock n' roll to the story of the founding of the United States of America, and its accuracy leaves something to be desired. However, if you want something that will get your pre-teens interested in history, I definitely recommend the mini-series. You can see full episodes on the History Channel's website.

And Then the Numbers Flowed Like Manna from Heaven

On Monday, I talked about the recent trashing of indie publishing by some trad published writers.

Well, on Sunday, Jim Hines, a SFF writer I admire, jumped into the fray. The religious mockery he used made me laugh, and he really tried to be neutral in the main post. Unfortunately, his attitude in comments was rather telling. Especially when he jumped on J.R. Tomlin for not being able to produce a study on indie earnings that was not anecdotal, but didn't say a word to Sylvia McIvers for stating that indies spent all their time doing their own shipping. (Needless to say, my respect for Jim dropped a bit for the uneven moderation of his blog.)

Then yesterday, lo, behold, a savior appeared. Nope, not Jesus of Nazareth. Hugh Howey.

Hugh Howey, his mysterious angel, and The Numbers.

The Numbers that showed the Transformation of the Publishing Universe was not only well underway, but past the Point of No Return.

People got so ecstatic that they crashed the server in their reverence. The raw data is available for those who like the crunchiness of fresh numbers.

Joe Konrath, who foretold the revelation by Hugh and his angel years before, immediately posted the report on his website, so that the faithful flock (or herd if you're The Donald) may continue gaze upon The Numbers and be redeemed.

There are already those who claim the Great Revelation is based on heathen propaganda. Absolute Write shut down the thread about The Numbers within three hours because the OP didn't back up her reasoning for the post. (Because the OP was working that day job that everyone says not to give up, maybe?) And the AW moderator cried out in horror, "Numbers? You expect poor dumb writers to understand numbers?"

And the Wave of Knowledge swept across the countryside and the sacred cattle moo'd...

***

All religious snarking aside, comments are welcome. But y'all know the rules here: play nice, play fair, no name-calling. And this is my blog so I'm the final arbiter. If you can't handle that, go cry somewhere else.

Are the breakdowns perfect? No, but already Hugh and his partner are miles ahead of the Digital Book World/Writers Digest poll because 100% of the writers in Hugh's survey are published.

When an Agent Sticks the Cow Hoof into His Mouth

Wednesday was a train wreck writers just couldn't look away from.

Agent Donald Maass wrote a post over at Writer Unboxed. It was controversial. It was contradictory. It was derogatory. And at times, the Donald was out-and-out lying or woefully misinformed.

Initially, the Donald said indie stories weren't worth the electrons, much less the paper, they were written on.

One sentence started the cow bells clanging over at The Passive Voice, particularly, this phrase: "...print publishers have the luxury of culling the prize cattle from the herd." The Donald is referring to indie writers doing all the work, then folks like him swooping in to...

Do y'all have any idea what "culling" is? That's when the farmer/rancher separates the animals not needed for breeding or sale purposes and takes them to the slaughterhouse.

In other words, writers need to be culled for slaughter to keep the publishers fed. *facepalm*

The Donald's diatribe about the worthlessness of writers went downhill from there. Comments from opposing views were often blocked at Writer Unboxed. As writer Marc Cabot, who in his day job is an IP attorney, said, "It’s a rare glimpse of complete honesty as to how authors are usually viewed with a bonus Voltaire moment. Be grateful for it."

Yep, we writers are cattle to be culled for slaughter.

The fabulous commenters at TPV started having fun with it. The cow jokes flew.

The Donald also said, "...print publishers instead are now gratefully relieved of the money-losing burden of the mid-list."

Wait a minute. Publishers are glad to get rid of us, but they still plan to cull us?

Now, I could go over the entire list, but Joe Konrath and Barry Eisler stepped in and royally fisked the Don. I needed a box of tissues when I was done reading because of the proverbial tears from laughing so hard.

One of the few opposing comments that got through at Writer Unboxed mentioned Dean Wesley Smith and Kris Rusch and their support and entrance to the indie world. The Donald claimed in the Writer Unboxed comments that he's buds with them, and that he'd have to talk to them. DWS had an interesting response. Make sure you read his comments as well. Later on Thursday, DWS made a point of updating one of his posts on agents.

Here's the kicker: if someone asked me for a recommendation on the basic elements of storytelling, I would, and have, recommended the Donald's book, Writing the Break-Out Novel. I've changed my mind about the re-writing until your fingers bleed section though. I don't think that really helps a writer to learn and grow. YMMV.

As for the rest, I think the Donald's statement is endemic of the state of traditional publishers. In other words, they are starting to panic. I'm hearing from more and more writers with the micro-press and smaller publishers that submissions are down, and what the editors are seeing is of lesser quality than before. These people are talking to me because they are looking to switch to indie publishing.

If this is the case (and I have no reason to doubt the veracity of the people I spoken with), then agents and the Big 5 are going to have the same problem soon, if not already.

When people start flinging insults and use fear-based marketing for their services, it is usually coming from their own internal fear. And that's what I'm hearing from the Donald.

No route to publishing is easy. Success isn't guaranteed on any path. But I'll be damned if I'll be a cow led to slaughter.

Because I'm an Angry Sheep.

Baaaaa!

The Initial Results of the Joe Konrath/KDP Select Experiment

Midnight PDT last night ended the free period for Love, War and a Bulldog, the short story I wrote for Joe Konrath's eight-hour challenge. The giveaways are as follows:

U.S. - 198
Canada - 3
Mexico - 0
U.K. - 19
Germany - 9
Spain - 0
France - 1
Italy - 2
Japan - 0
India - 0
Brazil - 0

Total - 232

OMG, you didn't giveaways thousands of books! Your experiment was a total failure!

No, it wasn't by my standards. Granted, my standards are a lot different that other writers. My ultimate goal is SUSTAINED GROWTH. I'm (hopefully) building a long-term audience. My purposes (outside of seeing if I could write a decent, entertaining 4.5K short story within eight hours) were the following:

1) Give potential new readers a taste of my style. I'm not going to please everyone. I can't because I write in a very niche market. But a free book coupled with a holiday weekend brought the expected number of giveaways.

2) Penetrate new markets. So far I've only sold in the U.S. and the U.K. on Amazon, except for one fluke in Germany back in 2011. As shown above, I've got books on people's readers in France, Italy and Canada now.

3) Spur interest in the Bloodlines series.My perma-free novella, Zombie Confidential, giveaways are up 20% over this weekend, and a couple of copies of Blood Magick have sold.

4) Spur interest in my other books. Spring, from the Seasons of Magick series, sold a copy in Germany over the weekend.

The one drawback was some of my readers are a little miffed that Love, War and a Bulldog isn't available on the NOOK or iBookstore yet. It will be available on or about December 1, which ironically was when I planned to released it originally before Joe threw his gauntlet on the floor.

What I may do for the next Bloodlines short story is make it exclusive on B&N for three months. Just to see what happens.

What I WON'T DO is make any of the novels exclusive to any retailer. That's a guaranteed way to alienate my readers. I view the novels as the main feature and the shorts as the DVD extras.

So what's the final analysis? With the rapid changes in the publishing industry, no one method is guaranteed anymore. What works for you may not work for me, and vice-versa. Don't be afraid to experiment.

Why I Don't Talk About My Writing Process

In case you don't follow Dean Wesley Smith or Joe Konrath (and frankly, if you're indie publishing or want to indie publish, you should be), both of them are talking about their writing process.

In Dean's case, he's been doing a writing in public series for August. He's a true panster, and for a hybrid like me, it's interesting watching him go through his day.

Yesterday, Joe came clean on four humor books he published under a pseudonym. In his case, he was trying to find the fun in writing again by doing doing something crazy and off-the-wall. He claims he blew his own rules of indie publishing out of the water, but is still making money on these books. (Personally, I don't think he did break his rules, but that's a post for another day.)

So, two different experiments, two experienced writers. But it's the comments that are most educational.

Basically, writers are afraid to let their freak flag fly. "Oh, my god, what would people think of me?" "I'll ruin my career!" "You can't write that fast! The book won't be any good!"

*sigh*

I give both Dean and Joe a lot of credit for growing a damn thick skin over the years. They don't let the stupid comments from people get to them. And I really do admire them for that.

I, on the other hand, am so fucking sick of confrontation. After the kerfluffle when I announced I was going indie, I've been actively avoiding most writers.

In the year since I quit the day job and started writing full-time, I've been working pretty damn hard to improve my craft. Writing faster. Trying new forms such as short stories. Experimenting with styles and techniques. And I'm getting the same comments from writers as Dean and Joe. "Oh, my god, what would people think of you?" "You'll ruin your career!" "You can't write that fast! The book won't be any good!"

Which means I'm down to a handful of people I can talk writing with. And it isn't anything I've actually done "wrong." It all comes down to the other people's fear.

So if you ask me for advice, you might only get a platitude from me until I get to know you better. Nothing personal, but I don't want your fear.

Now, if you can let go of the fear-monster and want to try something new, Joe's running a challenge at his blog. Write a short story, edit it, format it, create a cover, and upload it to Amazon within eight hours. Once it goes live, e-mail Joe the link and he'll mention you on his blog. I did it in seven hours and thirty-four minutes, but I got side-tracked looking at cute bulldog pictures. A lot of people did it much faster.

Try it. I dare you. In fact, I double-bulldog dare you.

The Writer's Declaration of Independence

If you didn't see it last Sunday, I strongly suggest that you read Joe Konrath's Declaration of Independence for Writers. It's below the bit about Melinda DuChamp's commentary.

The signers of the original Declaration of Independence knew they were essentially signing their death warrants if the Original Thirteen Colonies had lost their war of independance against Great Britain. The penalty for treason back in the 1700's was death by torture, specifically the traitor was hung (with no drop to break the neck but to slowly suffocate) before his gentials were cut off, and then his entrails removed and burned followed by other organs. Finally, he would have been decapitated, drawn and quartered before the body parts were put on public display.

For the folks who think they'll piss off the traditional publishers by self-publishing, what are you really worried about? Seriously?

Let Them Eat Cake

I took today's title from a quote attributed to Marie Antoinette, the Queen of France. Supposedly, it was her response when told the peasants had no bread and were starving.  While the quote isn't real, it is endemic of the disconnect between those in power and the general public.

Over two hundred years later, leaders are making the same mistakes. Look at how the Occupy Wall Street protests are spreading across the country.

What the PTBs don't get is that the loss of one leader isn't going to stop the revolution. Nowhere was the more prevelent than Publishers Weekly's gleeful headline last Friday: 'Konrath to Take Hiatus From Telling Authors To Abandon Publishers.'

Just because Joe stops blogging for a while (and frankly, I'll be surprised if he lasts more than two weeks) doesn't mean writers will accept bad contracts and crappy deals. Not to mention, there are plenty of other bloggers like Bob Mayer, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Dean Wesley Smith, and Passive Guy who are trying to educate the writing public.  And these folks aren't going away any time soon.

Last week I talked to two friends, both whom had books with a certain publisher.  In both cases, these ladies were now self-publishing.  Apparently, their former publisher is sending out e-mails to their authors or former authors asking for submissions. At least for one publisher, it's sinking in that they do need writers.

The real question is will the publishing industry as a whole get a clue before the guillotine is sharpened.

When Great Ideas Go Bad

Currently reading - Pale Demon by Kim Harrison (HC)

DH thought it'd be a great idea to switch to AT&T's U-verse for phones and internet.  We both work from home (except for the Day Job).  Four times the speed?  Couldn't argue that, especially when it was taking for-e-vah to load WWII battle maps.  (Guess what unit GK is on?)

Except--today is the second time in a week a tech's been at the house.  Today, not only do we not have U-verse, we no longer have our DSL connection.  ARGH!

Do these people realize how much I depend on the freakin' internet for EVERYTHING?!

I'm at Barnes & Noble for a few minutes between dental appointments and car registration just so I can get my freakin' e-mail.  (Because now would be when I get a 'Yes' from an agent with my luck.)

*sigh*  So if the there's no posts for the next few days (except for those I managed to schedule earlier this week), don't fret!  I'll be back with more info on the indie publishing scene as soon as I can.

In the meantime if you have an Internet connection, go read Jon F. Merz's guest post on Joe Konrath's blog.  Interesting take on a convert to the cause.