SUCCESS SHOULDN'T BE A ONE-SIDED COIN

Status: On vacation till the end of the month due to a lot going on.

Doing: Writing on this blog; answering e-mails; working out, and well...you know the rest! :0)

Watching: Nothing at the moment.

Listening to: Taped music from C-89.5 (Seattle): "Military Fashion Show"--by And One; "Dead Enough For Life"--by Icon of Coil; "Paper Angels"--by Punta Aga

Reading: Kushiel's Scion. Page 404.

STAR TREK-THE NEXT GENERATION: WAR DRUMS. Page 78.

TOPIC: THE FEW THINGS NOT BEING TAUGHT BY THE MAINSTREAM

In a recent debate of minds with a fellow writera and author over the issue of NCP screwing its authors out of their livelihood--hook, line, and bad stinker!--I posted some things about the relationship between the publisher and the author; and what they should do to ensure that success befalls them both--and not become a one-sided love affair that enriches one lover while spurning the other.

True, I'm always preaching to the choir over matters when it comes to things like business, fame, money, and name-recognition.

But it's always good to try and keep engaging the internet community whenever I can. :0)

***

Sara:

I know that. All I’m saying, is I’m going to try something different with what I want to do. There’s nothing wrong with being a dreamer.

At least I can sit here and say: “I have a vision. I have a dream.”

Most people don’t have them anymore. Everybody is seen struggling to make ends meet–and it’s just…disheartening. To say the least. People have stopped dreaming--for the most part--because their lives have left them feeling empty and without a reason to keep reaching for something special.

Myself? I’ve never had a shortage of ideas, dreams, and what have you. But practicality-wise? Things are a bit more challenging in real life than they are on the surface.

But it doesn’t stop me from trying anyway. It’s what has made my endeavors so interesting.

I get a lot of people telling me: “It can’t be done.”

And I say: “Why not?” And that’s where I have them.

Because no one thinks outside the box. We are so consumed with our linear existances, we never stop to imagine if things can be done differently–apart from the conventional and traditional business models.

You know? Mix things up. Add a little spice to our lives. Shake the tree and see what falls.

But given the odds that very few authors make that establishment of money in the long-term, there’s no real harm in trying what I’ve just discussed and shared.

People tell me: “Sky: You’re nuts.”

And I’m like: “Yeah? So tell me something I don’t already know.”

In order to survive, we have to be a little crazy. I’m sure Nora Roberts and authors like her thought along the same way–once or twice–when they started out writing.

Everyone has to start somewhere. We can’t go on being afraid of our shadows or the unknown every time we come across something we know little about.

That’s what I keep trying to impress upon people.

We’re too terrified a nation to even embrace the possibilities–we are always going back to what’s already been a broken-down system which offers little in return.

But seeing how so many people are being taken advantage of by their publishers or agents (even editors), I’m just going to draw up a simple contract that addresses the rights of the author in regards to the company, and make it pointedly clear that if something were to happen to myself or the company falls on hard times–the rights revert back to the author and any royalties earned for that year shall be paid to that author without delay.

No questions asked. NOTHING to hinder or impede the author. I don’t like dealing with courts and I’m certain that the authors don’t either.

I look at what’s happening here and it just infuriates me that there are some publishers whom just don’t give one whit about author rights and contractual obligations.

I want to change that perception. That’s one of my goals as an aspiring publisher. I don’t think that’s so wrong, is it?

But I won’t sit there in my chair, and pull the same crap over and over again–that NCP and others have–because they can, because they have the money and the power, and because (like I’ve read from Ellen Ashe’s blog entries), these “fakes” think that authors don’t have any real authority to challenge them on the matter in question.

I believe that in order for a publisher to be successful, they have to work with their respective clients, address any problems forthwith, and have a good line of communication open.

I’ve seen how divided this nation has become. One side against the other. Neither one wanting to budge because either side stringently believes that they are in the right.

With this…? The publisher and the author each have their respective obligations. Their respective duties. One publishes the book, one writes the book.

But…

They can work together also, they can bridge the gap of any differences or any problems which often pop up–from time to time.

But it can’t be one-sided–as it has been: Where the publisher leaves the author hanging with little or no “tech support” to help them with getting onboard and going strong–once their book is published.

Nowadays, the top 1% of published (established) authors get most of the lion’s share of the help and the newbies just get screwed, blued, and tatooed.

How fair is that? Does that do anything for the author–let alone the publisher? We all know that advertising and publishing costs are going to infinity and beyond (to coin a phrase), but should that mean that the publisher deep-sixes their new acquisition because times may be tough; and they can only spare enough time, effort, and money for their more priviledged few clientele?

I don’t think so.

But that’s what is happening, Sara. How many of us first-time authors have made a healthy living from our books in recent years? I can’t remember a single one myself. Every new book comes and goes, and very few fresh faces are tagged for a follow up novel.

The success rates for first-time authors is horrendous. Which is why I’ve been pushing for more cooperation between the author and the publisher. Make it mutually beneficial for both parties, so that the pair can win in the end.

We have to get more involved if we are going to survive.

Both sides have to get creative and start thinking about what they want to do, what they want to accomplish, and find a way to get there together.

That’s what brings in the money! All this yo-yoing around from one author to the next is just creating unneccessary expenditures for the publisher in question.

And not so much profit towards the end. And while the publisher may--more or less--survive the experience, the majority of authors burned by such dealings (or relationships) do not.

Even in economic tough times such as this one, both parties can still find ways to work together–instead of being driven apart solely on one issue or the next.

This is a team effort after all. Or am I wrong on this?

What NCP is doing is taking a page from Douglas Adam’s Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: “So long and thanks for all the fish.”

Sky

GARFIELD TRUISMS IN LIFE

Status: Writing Chapter 25 to Stories of the Dead Earth-Book 3: Jasper

Doing: Writing this blog; surfing the net; answering e-mails; working out

Watching: Nothing at the moment.

Listening to: Taped music from C-89.5FM (Seattle)

Reading: Kushiel's Scion by Jacqueline Carey (Page 173)

TOPIC: FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Somehow...this explains my journey to being a successful writer; no matter what form it takes:

Just hide the food!

EARLY MORNING INTERVIEW RUN (Part 1)

Status: On vacation

Doing: Writing this blog; finished shopping; taking the dogs out; fed the animals

Watching: Tavis Smiley

Listening to: Ian Van Dahl; Icon of Coil; INXS


TOPIC: AUTHOR MARKETING AND ADVERTISING THROUGH INTERVIEWS


Yeah, yeah...

We've heard this one before many of times:

"How do you advertise and market your book?"

>hits the snooze alarm<

Here's a simpler approach to doing it: Take all the guesswork there is to advertising and marketing and pitch what you want about the book and yourself as its author, and creator.

Keep it simple, neat, and clean. You don't want anything more complex than that.

So let's role play an interview on the following book and see how well things turn out, okay?

***

What is the name of your book?

It is called The Starchild.

What is the book about?

The novel is about a 14-year-old girl given the mantle of the legendary Starchild of Ancient Lore.

How many pages is it?

Roughly 1,273 pages. (1,250 after editing--maybe. It depends on what Linda decides.)

What audience are you targeting?

Anyone who likes a good science-fiction and fantasy read. I'm not all that interested in the usual play-by-play demographics. If you like this kind of genre, then the book may interest you. If not, that's fine. I'm not looking to play favorites here.

I'm just the book's author, not a referee.

When will the book be available? And what format?

Hopefully by the middle of 2009. I'm still waiting on the editing process. But it's a slow go, which is okay with me.

Format? E-book first for $7.50. But I am tinkering with a 2 for 1 special idea. I'm most interested to see how many people would be receptive to that marketing pitch.

Until I can get better established, I'm holding off the limited print edition for a couple of years. But for those who are interested, I am planning on breaking the novel into a serial.

Hopefully, that will happen within the first six months after the book's initial release date.

However, a lot what I am planning now depends on how well the e-book sells. So it's important that I keep getting the word out--whichever way possible.

Are you afraid of failing?

If I wasn't afraid, I wouldn't be here--tempting something mighty risqué. (laughs)

Failure for me is something that I am quite used to. I would be more worried about succeeding 90% of the time and having little in the ways of setbacks and of course--failures.

And if your book were to fail? What then?

If my book were to fail, it's only because I didn't put a whole lot of effort into it. That's the only reason why it would fail outright.

When you put out a product, you're expected to put out your best work. Not something that's half-assed done and skating on thin ice. People are simply not going to give you a second glance at what you have to offer--if you choose the quick and easy path.

Despite all my obstacles and opposition to this novel, I didn't buckle under the pressure. I simply changed the rules.

Changed the rules? What do you mean by that?

Changing the rules by doing things differently. We all learn by doing. But many people are still stuck on the old ways of accomplishing their goals. That's sooo 20th century! (chuckling)

You don't get much done by following everyone else and doing what they do. Believe me, I speak from experience. Once I found a better way, I went and did it--contrary to what others told me not to do.

Yes, it irritated them. Pissed them off even. But I did it because I felt it was the right thing to do.

So with writing my books, I adopted a similar stance. My position garnered a lot of flak--but only because I was still dealing with an obsolete mechanism which had yet to catch up with the rest of the everchanging world.

For example: I had people tell me that first-time writers shouldn't be writing large tomes like The Starchild. But I did it anyways because I couldn't be held back.

My imagination couldn't be held back.

Then I got people telling me that I won't be published because of it.

My response? "It won't stop me from writing them."

Then--as a last ditch attempt--some people suggested that my novel would bankrupt the book industry. (shakes head)

I ask them, "When was the last time an e-book bankrupted a $20B+/year enterprise?"

Seriously, I would like to see that happen! If it does? I'm going to take a bow as being the only author on record to accomplish such a feat!

What would you like to see come out of people reading The Starchild?

I would like people to see the possibilities that exist in their own world--by opening up their minds to ideas and dreams that once existed in the realm of science-fiction and fantasy.

By embracing change, we have less to fear from our fellow man. The Starchild has a lot of what I call 'reality anchors'--which ties the world we live in to the one that my heroine--Isis McGowan--lives in 10,000 years down the road.

Much of it has a lot of bearing on how we have treated ourselves in the past--only to be faced with such a bleak and uncaring future. Is it an omen of things to come?

I don't know. But by giving Isis the power to either save the world or destroy it--as she sees fit--it says a lot about the human equation for unlimited potential.

Why 10,000 years in the future? Why not in the present?

The Starchild was a culmination of 13 years of hard work, blood, sweat, and tears. In all that time, I had to juggle many different draft prototypes. Many of which landed me in the middle of a theological nightmare.

I'm not religious. Not by a long shot. I stopped believing in God and religion because the answers contained in either--didn't hold water in the face of reality. In other words, I was lied to.

Once I saw how fake many of our religions were--based more so on politics and power--than faith and beliefs--I started to ask myself more questions about the origins of our own universe and existance. Putting forth science and hard evidence--rather than attaching some spiritual connotation to the problem at hand.

I think so many people miss out on the awe and wonder of our own world--that they forget one important thing: If god were to truly exist, we wouldn't be such a poor and decrepit society in the first place.

We would be everlasting and in perfect harmony with one another.

But past histories have shown that man was always at war with one another. And where was God--I ask you?

Nowhere to be seen, felt, or heard.

The ugly truth is that god never existed--except in the minds of man. That in turn allowed him to use religion as a weapon against his fellow man--to get what he wants.

But never used for the good of the many.

I stopped using theology heavily in The Starchild's final draft because I wanted to show that both God and religion were the works of men and women who wanted nothing more than to covet power and greed; while using religion as a crutch.

By showing the reader what a future without a base religion looked like--maybe people in the here and now could understand that our own religions are nothing but smoke and mirrors.

Our faiths are born out of something which has been proven time and again to be non-existent.

And while this may seem like an attack on people's individual faiths, it's simply how I've viewed the world's source of religion. And presently, it's being used to wage countless wars against other people and their countries.

That's why I can't subscribe to it. It would put me right in the middle of one big hypocritical quagmire. I do respect people's right to having their own beliefs and religions, but that doesn't mean I have to participate in them.

The timeline choice was a concience one. I didn't want to have to deal with the vulgarities of the present and have to have a superhero mixed up in today's world--especially when she's not ready for it.

So I shunted everything forward about 10,000 years, added a ruined society, and the rest--as they say--is history.

So there is no God or Christianity in The Starchild?

No. Not in the religious sense. And my characters don't seem to miss that fact. They live their lives how they see fit--which does disturb Keron Sogi'kiagta. She can't understand how people can live without a source of faith or religion.

Bayen Yelou remarked on how it almost destroyed the planet in the past. Once the God of Insanity came, religion and God basically had no basis in their reality.

Are you afraid that people will call you out on your beliefs?

The way I see it, we can either be afraid of something that has no basis in our reality, or we can be afraid of ourselves, and each other.

People can call me what they will, but it won't change me or my own beliefs in life.

So you aren't a religious person by choice. But what about spiritually?

Spiritually, I have a higher sense of awareness. Of the world around me and the universe in general. That's what I use to guide me. It doesn't have a name, it doesn't have a religion, it doesn't have anything which mankind has pinned itself down with.

And I am comfortable with that.

What about your book do you think readers will like the most?

How much the storyline ties in with their own lives growing up.

Like what?

Being a teenager. Growing up without one parent or both. But in Isis's case, it was her father. Kelin was jailed for something which wasn't entirely his fault.

Other things which cropped up was Isis's fierce streak of independence and cavalier attitude towards things. It reminded me of the days when I acted out in such a fashion.

And of course, Isis's perchance for not being a morning person. This tied in nicely with me--because I never liked getting up earlier either.

I'm sure that most of my readers will agree with that.

If you could, what book would The Starchild be comparable to?

Unfortunately, my exhaustive research over the last decade has pointed to the fact that there is not one single book out there upon which my book could be related to.

I realize that this is critical to good book placement with the mainstream--but if your book (like mine) doesn't have a home, what chance will it have being sold successfully at the chain stores?

So are you saying that you're hosting a lost cause then?

No.

The problem with the mainstream is that they are too rigid and inflexible with their views of what a book should be and what it shouldn't. It used to be that a lot of new books popped up which defied description--and many found homes within the industry itself.

The problem is that even though The Starchild is primarily science-fiction/fantasy, the novel itself is completely alien to the mainstream. It does not fit anything that is--or was--on the market today.

So in other words, this book is so far outside the mainstream, the chances of it being picked up is extremely remote.

Have you tried to write other novels?

(chuckling)

Yes. I've written my fair share of books. But the majority still fall outside the mainstream.

Why is that? Is following the crowd not important? How else are you expecting to become successful?

To answer your first question: I don't write mainstream. I read it. To me, mainstream novels are my source of personal escape. But that's all. I have no desire to copy or emulate them.

The only thing I did was study some earlier published novels for pointers--grammar, spelling, punctuation. But I did not actively seek to follow in their footsteps.

It just wasn't my style.

Second question: Following the crowd is like seeking others' approval for what you are about to do in life. You need their permission before embarking on a new venture.

What's wrong with going at it alone? Find out what works best for you? I certainly found more joy in my writings, then I did if I were to try and emulate someone else by doing it their way.

And--as I found out--doing it their way didn't spell immediate success or instant gratification.

And that left me quite stymied. I was like, Why isn't this working?

Then I realized, "Because agents and publishers have been expecting this."

It's easy to copy and emulate something else without having a full understanding of it. But these agents and publishers are professionals. They are going to see right through your charade like it were nothing.

So I went back to what worked best for me. Does it matter if it will bring me a ton of money and such?

Not anymore. I've looked past the innate desire for money, wealth, and name recognition. It's not important.

As for your third question, success can't be measured by how much money you make or how well known you are. It's primarily by how much of an impact you have on people's lives--both directly and indirectly.

If you like helping people out like I do--than you're a success. If you can write and finish a book, then you are a success.

But writers will be writers. And they will always tie their books to how successful they will eventually become.

Sadly, not many make it. A lot of them burn out trying to be so successful--that they become more of a liability than anything else.

Success for me is measured by the fruits of my labor. Not by how much money I plan on making, how many people I can get to buy my books and so forth.

I've lived an impoverished lifestyle growing up. I still do--despite my best efforts to change it. But everything I've done points to the varying degrees of success I've tallied up.

Despite all the disabilities I have, I was known to never quit--no matter what the circumstances. The mainstream may have shut me out of a promising career as a published author, but it doesn't mean I have to give up my career as a promising writer.

That's success in my book. That's what success means to me.