Writers and Responsibilities

Hi Guys,

New topic from me this time. Partly because I'm at a loose end having just finished the first draft of Guinea Pig and sent it off to be edited. And partly because this has been a question that's been popping up in several of the writing fora which I participate in. So in a nut shell it's simply - what are the responsibilities of a writer? And here of course I'm thinking of novelists particularly.

Now obviously we can all think of a few absolute no no's. For example let's not copy wholesale other people's books - someone is always bound to notice and then start jumping up and down. That however hasn't stopped people trying, and I know of at least one author on Kindle who has been doing this (or I suppose now who was doing this). Those of you on Kindle Boards will know the same example.

Another good one is don't defame people. And this is a question that keeps being asked. - I've written a book about my neighbour / friend / business partner etc and it's not flattering - can I just put up front a standard disclaimer that the work is one of complete fiction? Well unfortunately no. If a person can be identified from your work then the disclaimer won't hold any water. After that your two standard defences would either be that the work is true and you can prove it, or that no reasonable reader could assume that the work is about said person. If you were a comedian and the book is one about a public figure then you can claim that it's satire, but that may still need to be tested in a court.

But probably the one that will matter to most writers is the idea that their work will lead to nothing less than the decline of Western Civilisation (A claim as old as Western Civilisation!). And in particular that it promotes unhealthy values - eg violence, pornography etc. Or it may lead to impressionable people doing unfortunate things.

And against this we have the old arguments of freedom of expression in its various forms. Authors I think are very keen to claim this. Certainly I would be if Western Civilisation sudenly fell over and it was put down to my work. And there is no doubt that it is an important defence. But I do sometimes wonder if some take this right to freedom of expression too far.

In part I think this is because many writers - and again here I'm thinking mostly of novelists - tend to be a little removed from society. It takes days, months and sometimes years of hard work and reflection to write a novel, and you don't generally do it in an office surrounded by other people. Writing can be a very lonely profession. In part I suspect it will also depend on the nature of the writing itself. If you get negative feedback about a jounal article which took you all of an hour to write then it's not going to be as personally traumatic as will be the negative feedback about a novel that took six months of intense creative thought.

Having said this I think that there is a responsibility upon all of us to be mindful of our neighbour's wellbeing. And there are laws put in place in all parts of our lives to reflect this responsibility. These include everything from speed limits so that hopefully we won't run our neighbours over, to the passive smoking legislation. And in the same vein there are laws that limit freedom of speech. For example yelling "Fire" in a crowded theatre will land you in a lot of trouble.

In the end I think it's important for writers to be considerate of what their books glorify, advocate or promote, whether they're works of fiction or not. And the golden rule would surely have to be that if your work promotes harm to others, think twice about how it's written and what it says. I'm not saying don't write it, but I am saying that as a writer you need to recognise that you do have a responsibility to others - your readers in particular.

I think it's also the duty of every writer to mke certain he or she spends plenty of time with friends and family, out in the real world. It may help your writing, but it's probably even more important for your own mental well-being.

Cheers, Greg.

Pleasure and Pain - Publishing

Hi Guys,

As you'll have noticed I've returned to my old ways and not put out a blog for a while. But this time I think you'll agree the wait was worth it since I just published Wildling - my first new traditional fantasy novel in a while. I'm really pleased with it by the way, and with the cover. But that's probably the same with every author and their latest book.

I did think I'd share with you a little of what it's like to publish a book for me. It may be of particular interest to those of you thinking of taking that plunge.

The first thing I'd say is that - Yes - while publishing is I think an essential part of a writer's life and we should all strive for that goal, it is a heady journey. There are highs and lows along the way.

For me publishing begins with the end of the first draft. Up until then I've been writing, tapping away on my keyboard, but for me and me alone. The books I write until that stage are the books I want to write and to read. Even though there's a lot of editing during that process, there is never any real consideration of what other people might think of them. But publishing is when that all changes.

It all begins when I finish the first draft, take a deep breath, and send the completed draft to my editor - who happens to be my wonderful baby sister Lucy. That's a big step for me. For two reasons. The first is that in taking it I have committed myself to the publishing process - a brand new change in focus. And the second is that like all authors I suspect, my work is my baby. So handing it over to someone else to paw through, comment on and criticise is a very hard thing.

After that comes the waiting. That's hard. Not just because my sister is very thorough and detailed and therefore slow, but because for all that time I'm sitting there waiting for the report. It's like waiting for your exam results. And during this time I find it hard to think about anything else. I barely write at all.

Then comes the return and the piles and piles of red pixels. At once I feel incredible relief to have my book back, and shock and horror at seeing how many mistakes she's found. And a lot of them are mistakes. It's a sad thing to have to admit, but I'm not perfect and neither is my work. It's not the typos and the grammatical errors that trouble me so much - I could never spell so I can live with them. It's the issues with language and plot that cause me consternation. These are the story telling part of the work, and the parts that I do think I do well.

From there the process is methodical and sadly more pain than pleasure. It's about going through the edited draft bit by bit, and seeing what she's found and then arguing with myself about whether they are fair. But of course by then I am committed to the publishing process, so I will work all the hours that I can, sometimes falling asleep in front of the computer, to get things in order.

All the way through as the writer I am torn with doubt. Asking myself the same questions I'm sure every author has at this stage. Is she right? Was there not sufficient narrative before to explain this event? Let the reader understand? Is it really right that I can't use the English language this particular way when it sounds so right in my head? Is this truly my "voice" that she's striking out or just bad English?

Editing for all of you intending to go through the process, is a difficult process. A lengthy conversation between you and your editor that will test you. And the most difficult part - that you have to go through it several times for each book. So my first redraft after the editing, goes back to my sister and then returns in due course for a second run etc.

Eventually - and though it probably only takes a month or so all up - it will come to an end. And at that point a switch is flipped on for me at least. The text is done, now it's about publishing. But that involves more work. There is of course the format edit, setting the text out so that it looks good on a page, chucking in things like chapter numbers and a front end - title, dedication etc. The cover -though usually I will have created that long before - needs to be completed. And then worst of all for me - the blurb. I don't know why but those one to two hundred words are the most difficult to write.

All up here I'm talking three or four days without sleep and most of my supply of coffee and diet coke. But the switch has been turned on and it becomes an all out rush. It has to be done.

And then finally there's the battle with Amazon - which never goes smoothly - not for me. I have never once managed to upload and publish a book within the promised hour. Admittedly I'm on dial up which slows things down. But still sometimes it's days as things fall over, the computer won't upload etc etc. (This time however it was incredibly quick though there were still hiccups. And Amazon a huge thank you to you and the Kindle team for putting those changes in to require automatic saves throughout the process. The number of times before this that I've lost everything and had to start again from scratch is beyond belief.)

Then comes the publish button. The moment where I push it and can finally go to bed.

You'd think this would be a victory - a triumph of sometimes seemingly biblical proportions. And it is. But it's also a moment when everything ends and for me, a huge sadness. The book is finished, my baby has left the nest, an as well as exhausted and relieved there is something incredibly difficult about that moment. So difficult that after having done it I actually feel as though I never want to see that book again. It's over, finished, gone.

Maybe that's just me. But for me the easiest thing to do then is start something new. The hardest thing to do is go back into what's done.

Anyway that's my publishing process. I expect you will all have your own experiences of it.

Cheers, Greg.

The Future Of Self Publishing

Hi Guys,

This time I think it's time for me to apologise for a whole new mistake - posting blogs too often! (Yeah I know - it's never happened before and it probably won't happen again!)

 

However I felt inspired by a number of questions that have been asked on some of the writing fora to which I belong, and I thought I might take a stab at answering them. Or mostly just answering one question - where is self publishing going in the next few years?

Obviously trying to guess what's going to happen in even the next five years in this field is rather like trying to shoot a moving target with a bow and arrow while blind folded, but still it occurs to me that there are some trends that we can see happening already.

1. The first of them is that the age of the free ebooks, and perhaps even the 99c ones is probably going to come to if not an end then a slow down.

The reason for this is simple marketing. For a couple of years now Amazon has been happy to have books sold for nix. To take a minor hit on each sale. And the reason for this is simple. They want to sell their ebook reader, the Kindle. The loss they take on giving away books has been more than offset by the additional kindle sales. However this can't last.

Already we saw earlier this year the change in the Amazon algorhythms such that every free book 'sale' counted for only one tenth as much of a bump in the sales / author rankings as before. While dearer books gained an increased bump. The reason for this? Amazon makes money from selling books for money, not giving them away. And at some point they clearly decided that the value they were getting from the giveaways in terms of kindle sales was losing out to the losses they were taking in terms of gaining no revenue from the freebies and the hits they were taking when readers chose free books over ones they had to pay for.

My thought is that this trend will continue. Freebies will still exist in some form or another, and certainly on other sites, but the big online retailers will continue to move away from them. In the end there are only so many kindles you can sell, and when Amazon's competition for ebook readers includes not just other ebook readers but pads, laptops and now phones, that limit will be reached.

2. My next prediction is that there will be a rise in the numbers of people and organisations providing services for indie authors. It is inevitable that as more and more people realise that they can write books and publish them, the demand for these services will increase. So that's editors, cover artists, promoters, reviewers etc.

But to balance the good with the bad, as well as these there will also be those rip off artists I mentioned in a previous post - the vanity publishers as they were once known. (And probably still are.) As more and more people discover that they can write a book and then become desperate to publish them, the sharks will find more to feed on.

And I urge you all to remember the golden rule, as an author the money should always flow to you. You should never have to pay to be published. If someone says they will publish your book for x dollars, walk away.

3. The numbers of both authors and books both will increase. This is inevitable as more people decide that they can write a book and publish it, and those already in the business write and publish more, while at the same time everything that's digitally published remains out there for potentially centuries.

So what does this mean for those who want to write? It means more competition. More books out there in the same genre's competing with whatever they put out. It means that average incomes for indie authors (and trade published authors) will sooner or later fall. They have to as readers spend more money across a wider range of books, the amount that goes on each will decrease. There is only so much money to spend after all.

And what does it mean for readers? Greater choice than ever before - which is great. But at the same time greater difficulty finding books worth reading.

The solution for both however is the same. Those authors who want to sell more will have to concentrate on producing better quality books. This means better editing, better cover design, more professional formatting etc. More and more quality will have to become the indie author's byword. And the hope is that those authors who produce works of higher quality will find greater readership and gain a fan base.

The days I think when marketing campaigns, adds in various media etc, dropping prices and dumping huge loads of spam in peoples' in boxes will bring in large jumps in sales are numbered. In the end you can't sell a turd. (Although from Mythbusters we now know that you can polish one!) Already we are seeing that the numbers of pick ups of free books are declining. Readers are starting to realise that even free is sometimes too high a price to pay for a book. Readers are smart and it would be a foolish author who forgets that and tries to publish something that isn't ready.

Anyhow, those are my predictions.

Cheers, Greg.

Another Month - Another Book.

Hi Guys,

As usual an apology for posting so seldom to this blog, but also as usual, another excuse! This time no - the dog did not eat my post. Instead on the 14th of July I felt somewhat inspired and began a new book. A week ago 82,000 words were typed and sent off for editing. Which is I think pretty fast for a first draft. However from the comments already heard back, there may be some extensive rewriting required! Bugger!

However Doorways is at least drafted and I'm grateful for that. While I am able to write very quickly when the muse takes hold, it does come at a cost. Little things like sleep, most tv shows and dvds and fairly much everything else that takes up my normal days have to be drastically cut back.

For those of you who may be interested it's a science fiction novel but contains the one thing that has been severely lacking in sci fi until now - elves! (High tech elves of course! - And they're quite mean too!)

It's a parallel world story which I based in part in the city where I grew up - Wellington. Which for those of you thinking about basing your writing on cities you grew up in, has unexpectedly become a minor headache. It turns out that while I know Wellington of the 1980's and early 1990's quite well, Wellington 2013 is apparently quite different. Updating my knowledge through my family and Google has been a challenge.

Still it has been done and I hope to have it published in another month - which will be a huge relief since I'd like to go back to blobbing out in front of the idiot box for a while! Sleeping would also be a welcome activity.

Cheers, and as always - be good or don't get caught.

Greg.

Does a Serious Writer Have To Publish?

Hi guys,

Busy month for me as I've been writing and turning another ebook into a paperback on CreateSpace. But the finished product looks great I'm pleased to say, and I can't wait until a copy is in my hands.

Still this process, not to mention the pile of paperbacks I just received in the post all written by my favourite author - ME!!!, got me thinking. Why go to all this trouble? Do I really need to in order to be a writer? And then a related question came up on one of my writing forums and so this blog was born.

So I thought that this time I'd turn my attention to the role of publishing in a writer's life. And here I'm not just talking about the transition from writer to author here, I'm talking about the advancement of the writer in his craft.

First let me say that I agree that there is a time for publishing and you can do it too early. And self publishing is not something that should be just an automatic reflex. Whether you self publish, put your work out in blogs, or go the trde publishing route, as an author you have to constantly strive to produce the best work you can before publishing. I think too many people see self publishing as an easy road. It's not. It's far harder than having an agent and a trade publication deal. There are so many skills to master for the self publisher that the traditionally published author never learns.

So to those of you thinking of taking this road, do not think of it as quick and easy. To quote Dogma (one of my favourite movies) "Prepare Thyself."

But I think everyone who considers themselves a serious writer needs to be aiming always at getting his writing out there to be judged by an audience. And when I say aiming, I mean more than just dreaming, wishing and hoping. I mean that you as a writer you have a plan and you have resolved to complete it. Writing is in the end a communicative art, and if you don't get your work out there somehow you're not communicating. It's like a painter sitting in his room painting only for himself. Or an actor practicing his craft eternally by himself, but never going on stage. Until you do that, until you put your work out there for others to read, you're not just not an author, you're also not really a full writer. There is something missing.

So my advice to all serious authors is that you have to commit yourself to publishing, however you can. And for many of us that will be by self publishing. But for those of you who decry the self publishing route, I say never say never. Every author needs to have an audience and spending year after year amassing piles of "Dear Sir, Thank you but -" letters is not getting yourself an audience. It's not helping you to advance your craft.

Then once you've published "Prepare Thyself" all over again for the roller coaster that will follow.

Once you've got your work out there, in whatever manner you can, then your entire world changes. Before you even published, but after you'd truly committed yourself to the journey, there were all the things you probably as a writer writing a story didn't think so seriously about. Editing, covers, formating, marketing. Knowing that you're going to take that step pushes you to master these things. And do not underestimate the amount of work that that will take. For some of us, me again, learning to create a cover was like a fish learning to fly. Still is actually, and though I'm pleased with what I can produce these days, I can't wait to see what I'll be able to create in say - ten years.

But that's only the begining. Then come's the feedback. Sure it's not all good and I've had my fair share of hit and runs, but in the end it's what you need. The good the bad and the strange. That feedback even when it rubs you the wrong way and leaves you bleeding on the floor, will help you to lift your game in a way that nothing else can.

Sitting at home sending out query letter after query letter, most of which will never be answered, and working on your next book can't do the same thing for you. In fact it can even become disabling. There is a certain comfort in being able to send out letters and have them come back 'no' or not at all with no explanation. It's safe. It's a rut which you can get stuck in. It's never nice getting a 'Dear Sir thank you but' letter, but after a while you get used to it and you can return to your dreaming about when one day you will be published instead of biting the bullet and actually putting your work out there.

So yes, my advice is that if you want to be a serious writer you have to always know it will be published and will see an audience. You need a plan, and one with achievable goals that you know you will achieve. You can't allow yourself the luxury of simply writing whatever you feel like forever and dreaming about 'one day'. That is a certain road to never becoming a serious writer.

Cheers, Greg.

Why Self Publish? Who benefits?

Hi Guys,

This time I thought I'd turn my attention to one of the never ending questions that seems to plague the world of self publishing - Why?

This week we've all heard the news about Jasinda Wild, a husband and wife writing team who have sold a million books in a year through self publishing, and somehow written twenty books in six months - to my mind an even more impressive achievement. My hat is off to them for that.

And in terms of the question why well it's easy enough to see that in their case. A year ago they were in desperate financial straights and self publishing gave them a way out for them and their family. That's not to say that they couldn't have achieved similar success through trade publishing - I'm sure they could have. But I'm equally sure that they could not have achieved that success in the same short period of time.

However, in considering this question it occurred to me that when people ask this question - and then end up arguing (often stridently) about the merits of self publishing versus trade publishing - they overlook the reader. Now here we have an example of a writing team who have achieved huge success and provided for their family etc. And that's as it should be. But here we also have an example of a million people sitting down to read self published fiction.

So lets move past what this impressive achievement means for these writers and their family, and the merits in the wider world of publishing, and consider the reader. Consider a million readers. Self publishing has benefitted them since they get to read books that they might not have been able to read at all before, or if it did finally get published through traditional means, not for probably years to come.

That's something that I think gets lost in the arguments. Self publishing benefits the readers as well as the authors.

The reader gets access to a wider range of books, some dross (not mine of course!) some good. They get to read things that would never have seen the light of day through trade publishing, because agents and publishers acted as gatekeepers, and essentially decided for readers what they wanted to read. And they get to do it at a generally far more reasonable price, partly because it's often digital books we're talking about, but partly because all the monies that were going to publishers, editors, agents, marketers etc, now go straight back to the author, who then doesn't have to charge so much.

So hats off to Jasinda Wild. But hats off also to the million readers who purchased their books and hopefully were entertained as they wanted to be.

Cheers, Greg.

Writing, rip offs and boutique publishing.

Hi Guys,

New topic this time - writing, and more specifically rip offs.

As some of you will know I contribute to a number of writing fora, partly out of interest and partly to learn a little more of my craft. And on these fora I often find myself fascinated by what other writers have come across in their journeys. In particular a week or so ago I came across a post in which a new writer had decided to take his first steps into the world of publishing through a boutique POD publisher, all for the one off price of $2000.

Now this is not a new thing. Prior to the advent of Amazon's Kindle many people used to use vanity publishers as they were called, desperate to get into print any way they could. And it almost never worked. They got a few bound copies of their book, the book never went anywhere near a bookstore, no one ever heard of them, and their pockets got lightened. I have actually heard horror stories of people paying a lot more than this guy.

However, I have to wonder how these companies still operate, and more importantly, why people still use them.

It seems to me that these companies basically prey on the vulnerabilities of people. That they offer services to those who are desperate to see their books in print and too gullible to realise that they can now do everything for themselves for free. In short they prey on the same people they always have. But the question is, why are these people still unaware of self publishing? Or as an alternative, if they are aware of what they can do, why do they feel they need someone else to do the publishing for them? Is it just timidness? Lack of confidence?

My thought is that in the last few years the world of writing has changed significantly. Self publishing has taken hold and an entire new universe of written words has appeared on our computer screens and smart phones. And while many people may pour scorn on the self publisher for not having a traditional deal with an agent etc, it does not change the fact that a great many new books have arrived which would never have been seen without it. Sure some of it may be crap, much of it may not be up to the standards of a trade published work, but there's a trade off. For a long time agents and publishers have been gate keepers to the world of what people read. They decided what people could read, because lets face it, if they thought a work wasn't commercial, they didn't publish it. Those days are gone and I think that's a good thing.

However to return to the topic at hand and boutique POD publishing, I'm guessing that not everyone has caught up with the writing revolution. And I'm also guessing that the world being what it is, there will always be desperate people, aching with every fibre of their being to see their book in print. I understand this, and prior to the self publishing revolution I was one of them, just thankfully a little too smart to fall for the sharks out there. (Though I did get a couple of letters from one such shark early on.)

So my message to all those out there desperate to see their work in print (or on a digital screen) is don't fall for this. The golden rule for all writers when publishing must be that you are the writer. It's your work. The money should always flow to you. It doesn't matter whether its a lot or a little, you don't pay. So if an agent comes back at you with a "reading fee", don't go there. Chances are he's not legit. If a publisher offers to print your book for a few thousand bucks, definitely don't go there.

And if you don't really understand the world of publishing, don't know what to do, and are frightened of taking that plunge half arsed, just keep these words in mind - You Can Do It.

It may require some new skills, editing and cover design being top of the list for any self publisher, but these are things you can do. Skills you can gain for a little effort. Or if you are truly desperate and don't have any friends or family with the ability, skills you can hire as you need them. And usually for a lot less than a POD publisher will charge.

Also, join some writing fora. They are invaluable.

Cheers, Greg.