Should I Leave Agents on My Blog Wall?

Have you read this blog post by Janet Reid?

Yeesh!  I respect Janet, or at least I did, until that load of self-serving crap was dished out.

I'm sad.  I'm disappointed.

And personally, I'm tired of the anti-indie stance that agents and publishing houses have taken.  Why are they so fucking worried when allegedly, we indies weren't worth taking on as clients to begin with?

*sigh* Is there something in the air this week?  Between Kris Rusch, Passive Guy, Joe Konrath. . . Wait, nevermind, Joe always rants.  But you get my drift.

The dinosaurs are dying, and they're blaming us cute, fuzzy mammals.

Yes, Traditional Publishing!  Zombie Hamsters will have you for lunch!

Robin's Rant

After my blow-up about the stupid censorship-disguised-as-trademark-infringement and waste-of-taxpayer-money lawsuit by TxDOT, fellow paranormal author Robin Badillo added her two cents over at Sealed With a Kiss.

She found even more interesting "trademark infringements."

More on TxDot Versus Christie Craig

TxDOT is lke the dog with a chew toy that just won't let go. Discovery has started in Case No. 1:11-cv-726.  Apparently, Judge Sparks pointing out in his ruling on the TRO and permanent injunction that a romance writer can't really harm the state fell on deaf ears.

Nor did reality sink in when the state's attorney ADMITTED IN OPEN COURT that NONE of the state's trademark registrations APPLIED TO BOOKS.

In the original complaint, TxDOT's biggest objection was that Christie's book "contain numerous graphic references to sexual acts, state of arousal, etc."

Okay, TxDOT, if you're that worried about sex, why do you sell these?

Yes, this thong is available for sale by the great state of Texas.  And people wonder why I think the lawsuit against Christie is really an attack on women's rights.

Is Traditional Publishing the New Vanity Publishing?

If you haven't read it yet, go read Kris Rusch's rant of what constitutes a professional writer.  She warns against her, um, vulgarity.  Really, it's pretty mild.  But then, I can and have made Marines blush during my rants so my POV is a little skewed.

Seriously, go read it now.  I'll wait.

Here's what scares me me:  the way traditional publishers are treating mid-list writers is very reminiscent of how the old vanity model works.

Unfortunately vanity publishing and self-publishing got wrapped up together in the blanket of bad ideas, so let's differentiate.

Self-publishing is exactly what a lot of us are doing right now.  We either subcontract certain jobs or do them ourselves in addition to writing the books.  This includes cover art, back cover blurbs, actual printing of the book, etc.  Any marketing anad retailing is the responsibility of the writer.

Vanity publishing is a scam that preys on naive, uneducated writers.  They present themselves as a legimate publisher and make a lot of promises.  But then they ask for money from the writer to actually publish the book.  These sums can easily hit five figures.  The vanity publisher then often produces a badly formatted, unedited tome.  They sometimes require the writer to buy a minimum number of copies.  They do not market the book to retailers, despite insinuations to the contrary.  By the time, everything's said and done, the writer has blown the kids' college fund or his 401K for a garage full of books he can't give away.

From the incidents I've been reading and hearing about, traditional publishers are starting to act like vanity publishers.  Locking naive writers in unteneable contracts designed so that the publisher get all the money and the writer has nothing.  Threatening legal action if the writer protests the unfair treatment.  Verbally abusing the writer if the writer questions anything regarding the process.

And what does the writer end up with?  Well, this time they don't even get a garageful of books.

I'm not saying all publishers are bad or that all publishing deals are bad.  But seriously, talk to an IP attorney BEFORE you sign on the dotted line.

And if I were you, I sure as hell wouldn't talk to Kris AFTER you've signed one of these atrocious contracts.

Songs I've Been Listening to a Lot Lately

I indie publish 'cause I've been Searchin' My Soul.

Summer is DONE!

Okay, I typed that title and realized today is Mabon, the Autumn Equinox, the first day of Fall.

So, Happy Mabon, everyone!

What I meant was that I'm done with the initial editing of Seasons of Magick: Summer. Finally! And it's been sent to critique partners and a beta reader for review.

In the meantime, the first 2500 words of Seasons of Magick: Autumn have been banged out on Isabella the laptop.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that no other incidents or family traumas will interfere. And I'm doing a pretty good job of saying "No!" lately to a lot of requests for my time.

All-in-all, I think I'm back on track.  Yea, me!

Status Update - September 2011

Currently reading - The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis (MMPB)

Here's the numbers for all four of my books available for the month of August:

Amazon - 16
Barnes & Noble - 6
Smashwords - 15
XinXii - 0

Total books for August: 37
Total books for 2011: 122

Please note that all Smashwords downloads were for Creating a Business Plan for the Indie Writer, a compilation of a series I did for Pitch University.  It was available for free with the coupon code available at Pitch U. 

So for actual books sold, the real number is more like 22.

As I said in the My Big Mistakes post last week, I seriously dropped the ball in several aspects of my business. Bad Suzan!

Can I fix it? Yes, by returning to my original business plan and putting in some elbow grease.

P.S.  If you too want a free copy of Creating a Business Plan for the Indie Writer before the coupon expires on September 30th, go to Smashwords and enter coupon code EW59P at check-out.

I'm Not Here Right Now. . .

Today, I'm guest blogging over at Everybody Needs a Little Romance. [Editor's Note: Oops! Link has been fixed.]

The subject?

Breaking the Mental Cycle: Or Why I'd Rather Be a Bitch in a Lap Pet World.

Songs I've Been Listening to a Lot Lately

I indie publish because there's Room at the Top.

My Big Mistakes

When I started documenting my indie publishing journey, I said I'd share my disasters as well as my triumphs. In that spirit, here's three of the biggest mistakes I've made in the last three months:

1) Not making MY business top priority

Women in our society are socialized to put others' needs before their own. Despite my general bitch-ness, I've found myself helping friends with their projects instead of working on my own this summer. As a result, I'm way behind on the schedule I put together at the beginning of the year.

2)  Underestimating my time

When I was a computer consultant, I could estimate to the hour how long it would take me to complete a project.  As an attorney, I could do it within a half day. Unfortunately, I'm still getting the hang of estimating my time when it comes to writing. The difference is working in an office versus working from home. The only time I may not get interrupted is when I'm writing at one of the survivng local coffee shops.  And even then, I often get interrupted by men who don't have a clue.

(Seriously, guys.  Just because a woman is overweight, middle-age and in front of a goddess-damned computer doesn't mean she's desperate for your attention.)

3) Underestimating the need for marketing

Some marketing of your product must be done at all times.  I really dropped the ball on that one because of Items (1) and (2).  I thought I had plenty of promo work over the summer to drift for a little while, but it apparently wasn't enough from the drop-off in sales since the end of August.

Right now, I struggling to get back on track with my schedule. So if you see a red-head in a coffee shop with a Star Trek t-shirt and a laptop, for your own safety, I wouldn't approach her.