SO YOU WANT TO BE AN AUTHOR

In addition to being an author, I work in a bookstore. One of my many titles is of Local Author Coordinator. It’s a fancy title for a minor role. In short, I set up Sunday signings for local authors. We set up a table for them and they sell their books on a one-day consignment basis. After that, we do a 60/40 split on the gross sales. Authors get a chance to reach new readers and say they’ve sold their book in a Indie Bookstore that’s been in business for 125 years.

After doing this for awhile, I’ve noticed that many of the authors fall into a couple of categories.

THE VANITY AUTHOR- This author spends lots of money at one of the many vanity presses or maybe bypasses any sort of press and simply hires a company to print their self-edited manuscript. These authors rarely research the markets or bookstores. They wanted to write a book and expect every bookstore to stock it. I have mixed feelings about such authors. It irritates me that they think money can solve anything. However, I feel bad for many senior citizens who fall prey to unscrupulous vanity presses who take their money and give them no follow up help at all.

THE INDIE AUTHOR- When I speak of the Indie Author, I mean the professional kind. They have researched their subject and written a compelling book. They paid money to have their book professionally edited and hired a good cover artist. Most of the time, they’ve researched the market. They hit up their local bookstores, rent tables at fairs and markets, attend conferences, and spend a lot of time on social media, plugging their book and making contacts. Often, their reason for being an Indie author is to have complete creative control.

THE SMALL PRESS AUTHOR- These authors are a part of a growing industry of small presses. Some of the most interesting writing comes out of these areas. They often cover genres that the Big Publishers are too timid to tackle. Some times, these authors make a better living than more traditionally published writers. Since they get small to no advances, they start making money faster off of their work. Some great award winning authors first started out at these small presses and end up winning some prestigious awards.

I empathize with all authors. However, I have a few little pleas to those of you who contact bookstores.

• MAKE SURE YOUR BOOK IS FINISHED AND FULLY EDITED

• MAKE SURE YOUR BOOK LOOKS PROFESSIONAL

• REALIZE BOOKSTORES ARE BUSY. DO YOUR RESEARCH ABOUT THEM BEFORE YOU APPROACH. GIVE THEM TIME. BUGGING THEM ONLY WORKS AGAINST YOU.

• REALIZE BOOKSTORES SURVIVE ON A RAZOR-THIN MARGIN. BE REASONABLE WITH YOUR EXPECTATIONS. ALSO, REALIZE THAT THEY CAN ONLY SELECT BOOKS THAT THEY KNOW THEIR CUSTOMERS WILL BUY. SHELF SPACE COSTS MONEY.

• DON’T MENTION YOUR BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT AMAZON. BEZOS HAS USED BOOK SALES AS A LOSS LEADER FOR A LONG TIME TO LURE CUSTOMERS INTO THEIR SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES. MANY SMALL BOOKSTORES WENT OUT OF BUSINESS BECAUSE OF THEM.

• SHOP AT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE. IF YOU WANT THEM TO SUPPORT YOU AS AN AUTHOR, SUPPORT THEM AND THE AUTHORS THEY BRING INTO THE STORE.

In the end, anyone can be a writer. However, not everyone is an author. For that, you must finish what you start. Write the book. Polish the book. Make the book the best it can be. Don’t try to skip the steps. It’s a job as well as a journey. Once you’ve done all of that, pat yourself on the back. Then, put just as much work into getting that book in front of readers.

Oh, and good luck.

Please Try Again & Get a Discount

So, I received some emails that my site’s payment system wasn’t working during my Halloween Sale. I’ve fixed the link and now things are back on track. To celebrate, I’m offering 20% off for the entire month of November. Just use the code READ20 .

If you like Sherlock Holmes and scary stories, this is the anthology for you!

Thanks for supporting an Indie Writer!

NaNoWriMo or Not?

With the smell of Pumpkin Spice in the air, Autumn means National Novel Writing Month has arrived. For those not in the know, it’s when writers gather across the internet and try to write a 50k word novel during the month of November.

Will I participate? Nope. And let me tell you why. But first, let me state that I wish the best for writers that are participating. I’m not saying anything bad about NaNaWriMo. It’s been a great tool for many writers to place their butts in the chair and finally write the novel they’ve always talked about starting.

I tried it four years ago. There was a novel that I’d been trying to get off the ground for a while. My thought was that the rigid goals for the 50k would give me the structure that I needed to get moving and have the majority of a novel to send to my agent.

The first couple of days were fine. I was energized and felt a kinship with all of the other writers that were sharing a common goal. And then, I made the mistake of reading the social media posts. Along with the useful tips on how to make the most out of your time, as well as discussions about plotting, style, and dialogue, there grew a troubling undercurrent……..WORD COUNT.

I’ve been writing for many years and have varied success at setting word count goals. Working a full-time job dictated the direction and success or failure of most of my word count goals. However, for NaNoWriMo, there was no excuse for not keeping up with the rigid word count goals. There were daily, hourly, and seemingly instant posts about writers knocking out thousands of words in their latest session. Granted, some of those writers may not be working a full-time job, or sleeping 8 hours, or participating in daily life. Also, some might also just be padding their figures to look good. And, I’m sure there were actually writers that were being blessed by the muses and tapping away, feeling the bliss of a writing high.

I don’t write that way.

I found myself more concerned with comparing my word count to all of the other writers. It got to the point that the daily goal became more important than the actual novel. Instead of listening to my characters, I was watching the word count indicator on my Scrivener writing program. At the end of the month, I did not reach 50k. Additionally, the story that created was fractured and in need of a complete start over. In short, it felt like a 30-day failure.

Some writers would advise me that maybe NaNoWriMo allowed me to get the novel out of me and I could use that to either go back and improve it or realize the story did not hold up and that the challenge allowed me to exorcise the bad ink. That’s possible.

However, here’s what participating in NaNoWriMo did for me. It opened my eyes to what works for me.

• I need a daily writing goal.

• That daily goal is not a word count goal. It’s a work on the story goal.

• My style is part “pantser” and part “plotter”. I need sign posts and a destination. However, I’m open to letting my characters take off at an exit to see the World’s Largest Frying Pan and see where it leads the story.

• The only writer I need to compare myself to is the writer I was yesterday.

• As long as I keep moving forward, there is no timer ticking away on when I need to finish the story. If I’m enjoying the ride, it will hopefully be passed along to the eventual reader.

So, NaNaWriMO did help me. However, like many great lessons in my life, I accepted its teaching and moved on. It gave me clarity for my writing style. And for that, I don’t regret trying it.

If you’re participating this year, I wish you much success with your writing. Just please keep it enjoyable.

CHARLIE BROWN MEANS THE HOLIDAYS

Maybe it’s because the holiday episodes first aired in the 60’s in the first five years of my life, the holidays begin for me when the Great Pumpkin rises from the most sincere pumpkin patch.

I’m in my mid fifties now. And yet, thanks to Apple, I watch the holiday episodes of the the Peanuts Gang every year. While most people mark the stages of the holidays by the calendar of events that occur with their family or work, mine are marked by what episode is playing.

“It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” leads the way into my official Fall. The intersecting plot lines are comforting beads that the thumb of my memory click on of the Rosary of my childhood. I root for Linus as he bucks all convention and stubbornly tries to celebrate Halloween in his own unique way. I sympathize with poor Charlie Brown as he suffers the inexplicably mean adults that throw rocks in the Trick-or-Treat bag. I thrill to the wonderful imagination of Snoopy as he battles his way through the WWI trenches, trying to make his way home. And lastly, I still get a little teary when Lucy ventures out late at night to bring home her hyperthermic brother and tuck him away in his warm bed. Where the hell were the parents?

“A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” is next up on my holiday memory advent calendar. Before Beneton ever thought of it’s colors of the world ad campaign, Charlie Brown was gathering up a multicultural Thanksgiving feast. In its own “sly dog” way, this cartoon showed us that family can be made up of who your are with and who means the most to you. And I prefer to overlook that Woodstock was a cannibal.

The climax of the holiday season is, “A Charlie Brown Christmas”. Yes, it’s heavy in the religious theme. However, it was 1965 and America as a whole hadn’t gotten comfortable with the fact that many people celebrated non-Christian holidays. That being said, it still has a great message that the Christmas spirit should be one of inclusion and thankfulness. The whole quest for Charlie Brown to find a perfect Christmas tree while his dog wins a best decoration contest is a blatant dig in the commercialization of the holidays. And that’s a good lesson.

So, there it is, my holiday trinity. Each episode is another milestone for my holiday season. Each viewing brings back memories of family and friends. Even through difficult times, I could rely on these familiar friends.
I’m not a Pollyanna. I know that the holidays for some are a time where their loneliness is intensified, where sadness is most acute. Dickens touched upon it and so did Charlie Brown when he discussed his depression with Linus. So, that’s why this time of year should remind us above all to be kind. Everyone is fighting their own battle. Kindness doesn’t cost anything and doesn’t need wrapping.
I hope this holiday season finds you well.
Please share your holiday “go to” shows.

WHAT SCARES YOU?

Ask a dozen people what scares them and you’ll get a dozen different answers. For our little discussion, let’s put aside the “Real World” terrors such as cancer, job loss, Covid-19, or speaking in public. Instead, let’s dip our toes into the murky waters of supernatural horrors.

For me, it’s a tie between ghosts and demons. Ghosts in general don’t scare me as much as the idea of them popping out unexpectedly. If I was on a ghost investigation, I’d expect a ghost to show up when asked to appear. However, the thought of that ghost showing up in my bedroom uninvited, sends chill bumps down my arm.

Although, I’ve been in situations that were ripe for the opportunity to encounter ghosts, I’ve never seen anything. I’ve been to the notoriously haunted Whaley House, spent the night four different times on the Queesn Mary, and have visited graveyards all around the Deep South, nothing. Sure, there were creepy vibes. However, I didn’t see or hear anything supernatural.

Having been raised in a Southern Baptist background, demons are another subject that will give me the creeps. Unlike ghosts, demons are supposed to be intentionally malevolent. What makes it worse is that religion teaches that even discussing or studying about them can call in all sorts of bad things into your life. When I was in elementary school, I made the mistake of sneaking out to the family room to watch a late-night screening of The Exorcist. When the image of a demon flashed for an instant on the screen, I was terrified that it wasn’t a part of the film. Instead, I was scared that the image was just for me. I stayed that way until I found another kid who saw the movie and confirmed what I saw.

What adds to my fears is my near-sightedness. So, things in the dark are even harder to define. Add to that a vivid imagination, and the shadow of a lamp becomes a wraith hovering in the corner. Oh, and don’t get me started about the latest reality ghost shows that purport to show videos of little “shadow people” skittering along darkened hallways. And the demon that appears in the darkened corner of the opening episode of the new show, Evil? Good God, that creeped me out.

My biggest fear is a darkened window. I avoid looking into darkened windows for fear I will see a ghostly or evil face staring back at me. Even since I can remember, I’ve had to have the curtains drawn at night. Without knowing it, my mother fed into this fear one night long ago. I was sitting at my desk, doing my homework. The night before, I lay in my bed, listening to the CBS Radio Mystery Theater (this was in the 70’s). The story had a ghost that would appear along with a sweet perfumed scent on the night air. This particular night, the Jasmine outside of my window was in full fragrant bloom. My mom thought it would be funny to scratch at the screen of my window. According to her, I slowly stood up and backed out of the room without ever looking towards the window.

So what supernatural thing scares you? Do you fear monsters? Do zombies haunt your dreams? Leave a comment below with your fears or stories of terror. And please stay away from my window at night.

ANGELS AND DEMONS

As well as being a writer, I’m also a bookseller. More specifically, I’m a bookseller at an Indie Bookstore. As such, I abhor what Amazon has done to small businesses, particularly small bookstores. Profit margins are razor-thin for any small business. For bookstores, that margin runs the average of 30-45 % on a good day. Since Amazon has little overhead and can afford to slash book prices in order to gather more Prime customers, they can dominate the market. There’s hardly a day goes by that a customer doesn’t ask if we will match an Amazon price.

Now, with the explosion of online publishing, anyone and their grandpa can publish a book and sell it a dozen different ways. Granted, that means there’s a lot of crap out there. Agents, editors, and publishers have always acted like a filter. True, crap still got published. However, there was some level of professionalism. Also, there was a lot of cookie cutter stories and an industry that didn’t pay much attention to writers that wanted to experiment with the written word. For that matter, they also didn’t pay much attention to when readers wanted to read something fresh and different. If it didn’t meet the established mold, it wasn’t going to hit the big box bookshelves.

A lot of those types of writers and readers flocked to places like Amazon when it started it’s publishing division. Here, they found a place that would print just about anything. Additionally, writers were actually making some money. A lucky few were even making good money.

But there’s a catch.

There’s an ocean of content out there now. Writers have to spend as much time promoting themselves as they do actually creating. Gathering followers and garnering “likes” has become a part of the whole writing process. We’ll do anything to get the reader’s attention.

That’s where I come to my dilemma. As a bookseller, I hate Amazon. As a writer, I want readers. I have an agent. I’ve been published in two anthologies and they are on sale in the bookstore where I work. I’m working on a novel that I hope will be picked up by a traditional publisher. However, I also want to reach more readers. There are so many stories and characters that I want to get out there.

So, I went down to the crossroads and did a little deal with the devil. The crossroads is called Kindle Vella. It’s a place where I can submit a serialized story. It allows me to experiment with a character and hopefully get some reader feedback. I try to sooth my conscience by telling myself that such a work wouldn’t be carried by a bookstore anyway.

Still, I feel a little dirty.

BTW, you can find the story here: https://www.amazon.com/kindle-vella/episode/B09J38Q784

Thanks for reading.

SOCIAL MEDIA: NECESSARY EVIL?

Once a month, a group of fellow writers attend a group meeting called The Writers Coffeehouse. First created by NYT Bestselling author, Jonathan Maberry, there are several Coffeehouses across the states and I believe in the UK. Since Covid, the meetings have been over Zoom. We talk about some of the latest publishing trends as well as discuss best writing practices and celebrate recent successes.

Recently, there’s been a lot of talk about social media. Most authors these days know they have to have some sort of social media presence. However, some authors are saying agents and publishers aren’t even interested in your pitches don’t include your social media tags. At the very least, you need to be on Facebook and Twitter to reach readers. LinkedIn is expected if you want to network with other writers , agents, and publishers. Some adventurous writers are even attempting to crack the code of how to use TikTok.

One piece of advice about social media that I’ve taken to heart - keep politics and religion off of your author sites. Take a tour through my author Twitter or author Facebook and you’d never know where my thoughts on those subjects reside. I don’t even click like or comment on other writer’s posts on those subjects.

Many writers have no problem using their author pages to espouse their views. Most of them are well established with loads of fans and enough royalties coming in to not worry about fallout too much. Since I’m still trying to break into the business, I don’t have that luxury. To be honest, even if I did have the following of Stephen King, Don Winslow, or Chuck Wendig, I’m not sure if I would have the nerve.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m quite opinionated. My personal Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram are fair game for my personal views. For my political soapbox, I have an anonymous Twitter account. I take a perverse pleasure in poking fun at people drunk with power or spouting nonsense.

So writers, how do you handle social media? Comment below.

WIP - A Florida man....

I’ve written two short stories involving Sherlock Holmes and one novel based on the twin brother of Hercule Poirot. A novel based on Edgar Allen Poe’s Auguste Dupin currently sits at 40k. However, the photo above represents my current project.

As you can imagine, my present work is not my usual historical mystery. In fact, it takes place in contemporary Northwest Florida. Why there? Well, aside from the fact that I was born there, like Carl Hiaasen, I know that Florida is ripe with colorful, crazy characters.

My private detective lives aboard a converted tugboat, much like the one above. That’s only one thing that makes him unusual. Most notable, he’s 4’6”. Having a detective with dwarfism is not unknown. George Chesbro had a detective named, Dr Robert Frederickson (known from his circus days as Mongo). Mongo is a professor of criminology as well as a black belt in martial arts.

My creation, Butch Larson, known to his friends as Fix, is full of surprises as well. Although not a black belt, he learned self defense from his Navy Seal stepfather and is quite adept with using a tactical baton. This talent comes in handy since he’s a terrible shot and doesn't like guns.

Like the best detectives, he has his flaws. He’s currently separated from his wife and has a habit forgetting to attend their daughter’s school activities. Although he’s a loving father and husband, his intensity and habit of getting obsessed with his investigations have taken a toll on his family. Like many people with his form of dwarfism, chronic pain with his joints and bones causes him to suffer with bouts of insomnia.

His current case has him searching for a missing young boy at a Civil War re-enactment campground. Throw in homicidal twins, reptile smugglers, and a cross-dressing unfaithful husband, and the stage is set for some crazy times from the pine tree lined farms to the sugar white sands of a 19th century fort.

It’s time for me to get back to it. I left him ducking bullets.

Least Favorite Word

As writers, we love words. When I was a kid, one of my favorite things to do at my grandmother’s house was break out the dictionary and encyclopedias. In elementary school,, vocabulary quizzes were my jam. To this day, I still just like looking up new words.

However, we all have words that leave an awful taste in our mouths. Words that are either used wrong or just plain gross can ruin our reading or discussion with someone you thought you respected.

I asked several writers what were their least favorite words. Here are some answers:

Kira Jane Buxton (author of Hollow Kingdom and Feral Creatures ) - chafe or giblets.

Jonathan Maberry (author of the Joe Ledger series) - decimate.”People us it wrong all the time”

Christopher Moore (author of Noir) - “If it’s for misuse, unique”

Joanne Harris (author of Chocolat) - Gravy

S A Cosby (author of Razorblade Tears) - mucous

Ok, and mine? Literally. Like Jonathan and Christopher say, people use it incorrectly all of the time. I’m sure that I could come up with more. However, that’s at the top of the list.

Post your least favorite words in the comments.

In the meantime, go out and buy the books mentioned above.

See you next week.

Writer's Companion

It’s said that writing is a lonely craft. We sit and try to pull the images from our mind’s theater and imprint them on the page. We often do this at a quiet desk, away from the intrusive world, alone. Even if we’re forced to walk among the living and write in cafes, libraries, or park benches, we’re still alone. We tune out the noise, the reality.

Yet, for many of us, we lucky few, there are writing companions. Mine sits in my lap as I my fingers brush over my other laptop. His name is Jeeves and he’s pictured above. No matter if I’m working on an edit at my desk, or pecking away at a story on the porch, he’s there by my side. He cocks his head as I try out how sentences sound when they enter the air. But he doesn't criticize.

Stephen King

It seems that most writers prefer dogs or cats. There’s much to be admired about both. For the most part, the cat is a silent partner, content to share a warm spot with you and not be bothered by your pecking at the keyboard or scribbling on a pad. Although, they do have a tendency to think of your computer as their personal heating pad.

Dogs are just content to be around you. They’ll take whatever space that you give them without too much fuss. They’re just happy to be part of the pack. Although, if someone knocks on your door, your concentration might be tested.

Earnest Hemingway

They’re our closest friend. They listen to our confessions without judgement. You can tell them your deepest fears and they’ll keep your secrets. Read them your worst prose and they’ll still stare with adoration. They’re our biggest fan.

Mark Twain

Virginia Woolf

We’ll most likely outlive them. It’s a cruel rule of nature that animal’s lives are short like the seasons. Yet, we’re writers and they are our companions. As such, their memory will live on in our words. Even if their name is not mentioned, their life essence will still permeate our prose. Our knowledge of love and loss will be earned through their passage in our lives.

George R R Martin

If you have a writing companion, please feel free to share how they enrich your life. If you don’t have one, consider heading down to your local animal shelter and adopting a new friend. I guarantee it will help your writing. If it doesn’t, well, you still win.

Take care and be kind.

Jeeves