2014 RELEASE DATE? (7 DAYS LEFT.)

Status: PACKING AND MOVING STUFF INTO OUR NEW 10X10.

Watching: News.

Listening to: "Caanan"--by Mindless Faith; "Sons of Plunder"; "Land of Confusion"--by Disturbed

Reading: Kushiel's Scion. Page 716.

TOPIC: TANKING DOLLAR AFFECTS OVERSEAS EXCHANGE RATES.

Thanks in part to the foreclosure crisis, the credit crunch, and now the government's insistence that American taxpayers shell out an additional $700B to bail out Wall Street and the failing financial system--the dollar is dropping worse than a teenage girl's skirt at the local prom.

That is having an aggravating affect on overseas exchange rates and it's been making it a challenge for me to pay my editor the money required for The Starchild.

By my estimates, I'm either at the halfway point or I'm nearly done--I've left the final amount up to Linda Culshaw as a courtesy.

We never haggled over what was agreed upon. But this book project of mine is the most important thing to me since Leonardo da Vinci invented the flying machine.

A lot of people don't understand why I would pay an editor to edit this gi-normous novel of mine--because the current thinking says: "Money should flow towards you--not away."

Unfortunately, not many writers these days understand the gravity of their current situation; especially when it involves the traditional book publishing industry.

Last year alone, the industry put out almost 412,000 titles--up nearly 30% from 2006 by my calculations--and that number alone is a cause for worry for first-time authors looking to break into the publishing industry.

With 5 million authors who are serious writers--that gives each first-time author a 12.13% chance to get snagged by a mainstream publisher on the first try.

Or a 1.93 million to 1 shot.

Not very good odds, are they?

No. Not when you have 4,000 publishers in North America alone dealing with over 1.5 billion e-mailed and mailed submissions on a yearly basis alone.

This is what you have to go against as the first-time author. But everyone says that you cannot pay an editor to do the work for you. You have to have a professional mainstream editor do it.

'Lends credibility'--or so I am told.

'Increases my chances of being picked up by one of the big gun publishers'--I keep hearing.

Right.

You just keep telling yourself that.

See, most writers whom dream big dreams end up getting burned in the end by something we call REALITY.

Believe me...I was one of them.

But then I realized that my chances of getting published were planted somewhere next to the temperature of absolute zero (-412F) and as some people know..?

I embarked on my own journey towards getting published.

And have had many setbacks as a result.

Even being homeless, I intend on picking up an auxiliary battery generator this coming month and I'll be using it to power my computer for 2 or 3 hours--so I can finish my books.

However, the continued drop in the dollar has put another possible obstacle on my way to getting the book published.

I kept saying it'll be another 4 years before I can get the book done.

Unfortunately, it may be until either 2013 or 2014 before I can finally bring The Starchild to full circle.

This is affecting me after all--you know. And I suspect that Linda may want me to pay just a little more to make up the difference in the rate exchange. Me paying her $50 a month here doesn't translate automatically to $50 in Aussie currency when she gets it.

I know the amount won't be a whole lot. $100 more tops--if I'm short $3-$5 each transaction.

But--as I may remind everyone reading this--I'm investing money in what I believe will be a modest breadwinner for myself and my wife of 7 years.

Like I've told everyone I know: "I'm not just doing this for myself anymore. I'm also doing this for the woman I love."

So I'm making sure that I have the best product out there and the best book written to my given ability.

Not the mainstream's.

Sky

TWILIGHT OVERLOAD

Status: In the middle of a housing crisis and not able to write on my projects currently--even though I'm still wanting to! lol

Doing: Transplanting my peppers into larger pots. (At least--I think those are peppers!)

Watching: The shadows on the wall--as the sun goes by.

Listening to: Nothing at the moment.

Reading: Kushiel's Scion. Page 504.

TOPIC: ONE OVERWHELMED AUTHOR

I don't touch base on this--hell...I try to avoid discussing anything related to Harry Potter or Twilight--because neither book is my cup of tea.

I prefer to set my own course in life as a writer. I don't need to imitate someone else's success--when I have my own to rely on for inspiration and personal guidance.

But this article I found on the internet reminded me that not everything is so cut and dry when it comes to being published in the mainstream industry.

With each passing year, I find myself glad that I'm not going to be a part of it.

I don't need the headaches of becoming famous or finding myself overwhelmed--which I already am--or something that forces me to forget what it means to be a writer; than just being a commercial and literary success to someone else's bottom line.

Fans I can do without, the media attention I can ignore without regret, all the hundreds of thousands of dollars made from an advance...?

Nothing replaces the joy and the relief of having completed something that took a very long time to come to fruition.

Something I can take personal pride in--knowing that no one else will be able to duplicate what I set out to do and been able to do.

The article also served as a pointed reminder just how difficult and bad things have gotten for the publishing industry as a whole.

Things for them aren't getting any easier.

Which is why I avoid becoming so limited in my pursuits of becoming a self-published author under my own specialized imprint. (And that by itself--isn't evil; considering all the immense time, effort, and money I have been putting into this little venture of mine.)

I'm expecting some good to come out of all of this heartache, anguish, and personal pain which I've endured all these years.

Think of me as another Prometheus--pushing that giant boulder up that steep hill; according to the Greek mythos.

***

The Online Fan World of the Twilight Vampire Books

Harry who?

A year after J.K. Rowling wrapped up the blockbuster Harry Potter saga, author Stephenie Meyer has booksellers almost ready to forget the brilliant young wizard.

Her Twilight books, about the tangled relationship between a handsome vampire and an endearingly ordinary teenage girl, have become reliable smash hits.

When Breaking Dawn, the last of the four-book series, comes out on Aug. 2, it's expected to surpass all her previous efforts, with an initial print run of 3.2 million copies.

Meyers success isnt due simply to her vivid imagination for vampire romance. She also figured out before almost anyone in the book industry how to connect with readers over the Internet and inspire them to build on her work. Since Meyer published the first Twilight book in 2005, she has reached out to readers on social networking sites, such as MySpace (NYSE:NWS - News), and participated in online discussion groups.

Fired-up fans have championed her books on Amazon.com (NasdaqGS:AMZN - News) and set up their own sites, such as Twilight Lexicon and TwilightMOMS. That has helped propel sales of the series to 7.5 million books. "Other authors have pockets of fans online, but nothing to this extent," says Trevor Dayton, a vice-president at Indigo, Canada's leading bookseller. "Stephenie Meyers Twilight series is the first social networking best seller."

Executives in the book industry have long understood that the Internet can help authors connect with fans, of course. Major releases are usually backed by author videos, a Web site, and interviews with influential book bloggers.

But Meyer, a 34-year-old mother of three from Phoenix, went well beyond standard marketing. She engaged with online readers to answer their most detailed questions about the star-crossed lovers, Edward Cullen and Bella Swan. She put up her own Web site, in addition to the one by her publisher, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, posting her personal e-mail address and family photos. And with Little Brown's help, Meyer threw a real-life prom for her Net fans last year, drawing a huge crowd decked out in flowing vampire capes and fake leg casts in homage to the accident-prone Bella.

Meyer's readers have responded by creating an entire world of Twilight on the Web. Cousins Chris McElvogue and Georgina Tena launched Twilighters.org last year to discuss the books with other readers. Now their site follows every stitch of Twilight news, from plans for book release parties to gossip about the Twilight movie due out in December. The Internet is the best way to connect with other fans, says McElvogue. Twilight has grown into such a sprawling franchise that it has become difficult for Meyer, who declined to comment for this story, to stay as involved online as in the past.

Her success is a rare bright spot in the gloomy book industry. Book publishers have struggled for years as Americans turn to other forms of entertainment, from cable TV to video games. Publishers have responded by cranking out ever more new titles, hitting 411,422 last year, up from 247,777 in 2002, according to researcher R.R. Bowker. Yet industry revenues, at $41 billion, are barely growing.

With hits increasingly rare, many book publishers suffer from boom and bust cycles. Most major houses live and die by the blockbuster, says Michael Norris, analyst with researcher Simba Information. A publisher's revenue may be up 10% one year and down 10% the next, depending on the performance of just one or two books out of thousands. Scholastic pulled in $240 million from its Harry Potter franchise in the first quarter after the release of Deathly Hallows last summer but saw that figure drop to a mere $10 million in the most recent quarter.

Now authors are beginning to imitate the online strategies Meyer pioneered in hopes of creating communities of engaged readers.

The hits Freakonomics, The 4-Hour Workweek, and The Last Lecture have been backed by similar efforts. "Her success has inspired other authors," says Jennifer Northcutt, fiction buyer at Borders Group, the second-largest U.S. bookstore chain. "Theyve learned you have to be active online."

Twilight was born on June 2, 2003. As Meyer explained on her site, she woke up that morning after a dream about a striking teenage vampire in a sunny meadow with an ordinary girl. The youngsters were falling in love, but the vampire was torn between his desire for the girl's affection and for her blood. That day, between making lunch and taking her three young sons -- ages 1, 3, and 5 -- to swimming lessons, Meyer wrote 10 pages. After that, she couldn't stop.

She moved a desk into the middle of her living room so she could work while her kids played nearby.

She wrote late into the night, blasting progressive rock on her headphones.

In those first few weeks, Meyer was exhausted but ecstatic. After graduating from Brigham Young University with an English major in 1995, the stay-at-home mom could never finish the stories she tried writing. Twilight was different. She says she could hear the couple's voices in her head. The writing came easily. The series begins with Bella moving reluctantly to soggy Forks, Wash. She meets Edward on the first day at her new high school. The dangers of their forbidden relationship propel the story. Meyer finished writing in three months.

She soon had a $750,000, three-book deal, a vast sum for a first-time author. (With the millions in royalties since, her husband, an auditor, was able to quit his job recently to look after their kids.)

Marketing for the 2005 book launch started with the standard Net fare. Meyer did interviews with bloggers, and Little Brown created a darkly gothic Web site. But the author thought the site's design didn't fit her personality. So she created the more lighthearted Stepheniemeyer.com.

She plastered it with photos of herself and her fans at readings and provided a wry autobiography, with tales of growing up in a Brady Bunch-size family. She also gave bubbly updates on her book tours and peeks into her home life. One photo showed her sons at Halloween, dressed as a Power Ranger, Napoleon Dynamite, and Captain Hook.

Fans were drawn in primarily by their love of the book. The relationship between Edward and Bella may be the stuff of fantasy, but it mirrors the real-life angst and passion of the teenage years. What set Twilight apart was the way teens tracked down fellow readers immediately after closing the books. Within a month of the first book's release, fan sites began to appear. Brittany Gardener started a MySpace group to discuss the book after reading it in one night in December 2006.

Her group eventually drew 60,000 members.

Meyer eagerly followed her fans online. She'd never heard of MySpace, but once she discovered Gardener's group, she signed up. She started dropping in, answering fans' questions. ("If Bella ever had a pet, would it be hard for Edward to come around?" "What percent of vampires occupy America?")

Meyers involvement inspired her fans. Lori Joffs, a stay-at-home mom in Nashville, fell in love with Twilight in early 2006 and began writing a version of the book from Edward's point of view. In February, Joffs posted her rewrite of four chapters at FanFiction.net.

Two weeks later, Meyer left a review: "I'm having a great time reading your vision of things." Joffs says she was thrilled and e-mailed Meyer explaining that she wanted to start a Web site to organize the book's facts. Meyer replied that she loved the idea and offered to fill in the characters' backstories. That April, Joffs created Twilight Lexicon, now the most popular fan site, drawing 30,000 daily visitors.

In 2006, Meyer used the Net to meet fans in person. On her Web site, she arranged "I Love Edward" parties, gathering with her readers in libraries and bookstores. Fans began traveling thousands of miles to participate.

Meyer kept trying new ways to reach out to readers. During a book signing in the fall of 2006 for New Moon, the second book, college student Kady Weatherford joked that Meyer should throw a Twilight prom. Meyer relayed the idea to Little Brown, which liked it and helped organize the event. In November, Meyer announced the prom online just ahead of the launch of the third book in the series. The 500-guest event sold out in six hours, prompting the committee to add another prom. It also sold out.

On May 5, 2007, fans crammed into an Arizona State University gym. They whooped wildly when Meyer, in a burgundy dress with her dark hair up in ringlets, climbed onstage.

After the release of Eclipse in August 2007, thousands of people started showing up at her signings. Meyer took her e-mail address off her site and kept in touch mainly through exchanges on fan sites. In December she visited TwilightMOMS. "Hi, my fellow moms," she wrote. "It's just so cool that I'm not the only 30+ mom and wife in love with fictional underage vampires and werewolves."

Still, the distance between the superstar author and her Internet fan base is widening. Meyer has two books out this year, Breaking Dawn and The Host, her first adult book. She also consulted on the $37 million Twilight movie. While Meyer and her publicist keep fan sites in the loop on key events, she can't maintain the close personal contact with readers she used to have.

On her blog and MySpace page, the chatty, personal reports have given way to more standard marketing.

And in a major shift, Meyer is asking fans to pull back online. On July 7 she asked the top sites to close their forums three weeks before Breaking Dawn's premiere so that early readers couldn't spoil the plot by revealing details. Most fans are complying. But some aren't happy. "This seems so incredibly counterintuitive to me," wrote one on TwilightMOMS.

Meyer may have been far ahead of the book industry in building a fan base online. But she doesnt have all the answers to balancing accessibility and fame. "Stephenie is a total sweetheart," says Michelle Vieira, who started trading e-mails with Meyer in 2005. "She was open for fans to talk to. Now it's impossible. She's hugely busy."

ONCE MORE FOR THE HEARING IMPAIRED...

Status: Writing on A Girl Named Mystery. (2nd draft--2008 version.) Chapter 3.

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

Watching: Nothing at the moment.

Listening to: Disturb's "10,000 Fists"-CD

Reading: Kushiel's Scion. Page 414.

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

STAR TREK-NEW EARTH: BOOK 5 OF 6-THIN AIR. Page 45.

TOPIC: READ MY LIPS: I...AM...NOT...LIM~IT~ING MYSELF!

Some of you on Yahoo! Answers think that I should limit myself in my writing because I'm not published.

Some of you think that I should try to tell a story in about 200 pages or less.

Some of you think that I should cap my word count usage between 70,000 and 80,000 words.

Some of you think that just because I'm not Stephen King, then I'm not good enough for the likes of you.

Well, I have some breaking news that just came in over the wires a short while ago:

I AM NOT A ROBOT!!!

YOU PEOPLE WANT TO DO THESE BOOKS YOUR WAY--?

THEN YOU COME OVER TO MY PLACE ON 112TH STREET IN EVERETT, WASHINGTON--AND I WILL GLADLY TURN OVER MY REBUILT PC; AND LET YOU UNQUALIFIED TURKEYS TAKE A SPIN AT WHAT YOU WOULD CONSIDER "GOOD WRITING"!

GO AHEAD!

TRY TO TACKLE MY MULTIPLE SUBPLOTS AND STORYLINES AND SEE IF YOU CAN SQUEEZE SOMETHING THE SIZE OF THE FUCKING TITANIC INTO THE DIMENSIONAL SPACE OF A COUNTERTOP BREAD BOX EVERY DAY!

I DARE YOU!

IF YOU CAN'T, THEN STOP TRYING TO LIMIT ME!

THESE ARE MY BOOKS AND I WILL WRITE THEM HOWEVER I SEE FIT!

STOP TRYING TO GET ME TO FOLLOW THE CROWD AND ALLOW ME THE LUXURY OF CHARTING MY OWN COURSE IN LIFE WITH MY WRITING!

I PEN LARGE BOOKS ESPECIALLY BECAUSE I LIKE THE CHALLENGE--NOT SO I CAN LIMIT MYSELF.

IF COMPARING ME TO OTHER AUTHORS IN THE PAST IS THE BEST YOU PEOPLE CAN COME UP--THEN I HAVE A NEWS FLASH:

THEY AREN'T ME. I AM NOT THEM! I DID NOT GROW UP IDOLIZING ANYBODY!

I GREW UP ON MY OWN, I WROTE ON MY OWN, AND I AM DAMNED PROUD OF MY OWN ACCOMPLISHMENTS!

AND I DID IT ALL WITHOUT HAVING SOMEONE LOOKING OVER MY SHOULDER, HOLDING MY HAND, MEETING ME HALF-WAY, OR DOING ALL THE WORK THEMSELVES.

THAT IS THE SIGN OF A TRUE AND TRIED WRITER WHO DOESN'T WRITE FOR MONEY, DOESN'T WRITE FOR THE FAME, COULD CARE LESS ABOUT FORTUNE, NAME RECOGNITION, AND ALL THE HOLLYWOOD GLITZ AND GLAMOUR THAT MOST WRITERS THESE DAYS OBSESS THEMSELVES OVER CONSTANTLY ON A DAILY BASIS.

IF YOU CAN'T HANDLE MY BLISTERING WORDS, THEN YOU'RE DEFINITELY IN THE WRONG BUSINESS!

THIS MESSAGE IS JUST A REMINDER THAT WHEN PEOPLE START PUSHING ME AROUND, I PUSH BACK TWICE AS HARD.

I AM NOT AFRAID. I WILL FIGHT FOR WHAT I BELIEVE IN TO MY LAST BREATH IF NEED BE.

THAT IS HOW DEDICATED AND PASSIONATE I AM ABOUT WHAT I DO AS A MUSE AND SCRIBE.

BECAUSE I AM NOT LIKE EVERYONE ELSE. AND I PLAN TO KEEP IT THAT WAY.

IF YOU STILL HAVE ANY FUTURE PROBLEMS WITH ME OR MY BIG BOOKS, PLEASE DROP A NOTE OFF INTO THE SUGGESTIONS BOX AND ME OR MY MANAGEMENT STAFF WILL GET BACK TO YOU AT OUR CONVENIENCE.

THANK YOU AND HAVE A GREAT NIGHT!

Schuyler Rahwn Thorpe

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

EARLY FRIDAY LOOK BACK.

Status: Reading what's next on the Starchild Duel rewrite. Starting Chapter 144. Could last 100-150 pages at the least; seeing how close to the end I really am. If I'm lucky, I could very well start Starchild Ruin in the next couple of weeks.

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

Watching: Nothing at the moment. A quiet early Friday morning.

Listening to: Taped C-89.5 music. (Seattle radio station.)

Reading: Nothing at the moment. I still have Kushiel's Scion to finish--but things have been so nuts in the past couple of months, I haven't found the time to read.

TOPIC: THE LAST 80 YEARS IN PUBLISHING: A LOOK BACK

I found this article to be particularly appealing since it has some interesting 'factoids' from the last century on some of the things which now graces the mainstream publishing circuit.

Sky

***

Writing mag's advice through the decades

CINCINNATI - Emma Gary Wallace, professional author, had more than a few notions about the business of writing.

With a resume that included essays in housekeeping and cooking magazines, and a popular Christmas story, "The New Neighbor," she was able and ready to share tips with readers of a new monthly magazine called Successful Writing.

"Writers waste a great deal of postage sending stuff around the country to impossible markets," she observed. "Don't carry coals to Newcastle or offer jewelry in a blacksmith shop. Every magazine has its own policy and makes a definite appeal to a certain clientele. Study these and take them into consideration when offering your wares for any market."

The year was 1921, and advice about writing was —and remains —a market itself.

The timeless cry for help as one makes the great leap from the desire to write to actual writing to published writing has inspired countless books, magazines, classes and Web sites. Successful Writing, now Writer's Digest, is one of the oldest players in the business. Based in Cincinnati at the corporate headquarters of F&W Publications, it still enjoys a circulation of more than 100,000.

"I sincerely believe that we have something to offer a broad spectrum of writers at every stage of their development, from the novice to the veteran writer in every genre," says Writer's Digest editor Maria Schneider.

For anyone who wonders what the emerging writer has faced over the decades, the magazine's files — preserved in bulky, bound volumes — tell a dual history. Evolution is constant, as technologies from airplanes to computers, and historical events from the Great Depression to the sexual revolution, bring on new markets and genres. But at the heart of the game, the riddle remains: How does one write, and write well? How do you get your writing noticed and sold?

Like the best epics, reading through the pages of Writer's Digest is less about finding the answer than enjoying the questions.

"It's like asking if we're any closer to the great mystery of how one paints a portrait or composes a symphony?" says mystery writer Lawrence Block, who for years contributed a column to Writer's Digest. "Most of the arts certainly are extremely difficult, and there are always more people who want to do it than can do it."

Writer's Digest features interviews, market surveys and general advice. The April issue includes a cover story on vampire novelist Laurell K. Hamilton, updates on such "hot" genres as romance and horror and an essay by contributor Bonnie Trenga, who recommends that sentences run no longer than 40 words because "your readers don't have a very long attention span."

When the magazine debuted, "crook stories" were in, dialect was out and the great new draw was "motion pictures," or photoplays, a business barely as old as the century. The Goldwyn Co. ran an advertisement about its hunt for the "screen's own Shakespeare." An article reported that the "penurious playwright who used to peddle manuscripts" was "probably writing his plays for the motion pictures now, and living in ease."

Gertrude Stein, James Joyce and other modernists were already breaking up traditional narrative and grammar, but in the early 1920s, the marketplace belonged to the straight and the simple.

"A readable, lucid style, is far preferable to what is called a `literary style.' ... a complicated method of expression which confuses rather than clarifies thought," one columnist advised. A suggestion for nonfiction writers: "One of the surest ways to please editors is for the writer to prove himself accurate."

The market often danced to the tune of current events. In the '20s, the rise of commercial flights resulted in "airplane fiction," adventure stories set in the skies. The repeal of Prohibition, in 1933, led to new opportunities in beer industry journals.

During World War II, romance writers were urged to forget those Depression-era tales of financial peril and were reminded that if a young man wasn't in uniform, the writer had to explain why. At the end of 1945, after the Japanese had surrendered, correspondent Sgt. Donn Hale Munson reported that the "war market" was "shot" and that it was time to "take your hero out of uniform ... and put him back in civic clothes."

The times could change as surely as snow melts in spring. In January 1981, the cover story centered on authors and their typewriters, and revealed that Gay Talese used dental floss for repairs. By April, the magazine was running a long article on word processors. By the end of the year, one article speculated about an "easily accessible database network."

Cyberspace and electronic publishing seemed like science fiction for much of the 20th century, and it took a science fiction writer to catch the future. A 1971 essay by the editor of Galaxy magazine, Frederick Pohl, an award-winning science fiction writer, uncannily anticipated print-on-demand and electronic books as he imagined the market of 2001.

"Suppose you want to read a novel. You type out the name and byline on the keyboard of your teletype, and `order' a copy of the book. Immediately it starts printing out your personal copy, a page at a time," Pohl writes. "And if you don't care about (having an actual book), you can hang your TV tube over the foot of the bed, have the book displayed to you a page at a time and read it at your ease."

Scandals that seemed new in recent years were around long before. In the 1930s, articles were appearing on plagiarism, ghost writing ("as old as the proverbial hills") and journalistic fakery.

In the 1950s, a new genre — teen fiction — was identified.

If publishing was ever a gentleman's game in tweed, the pages of Writer's Digest were not telling. Books over the decades were compared to breakfast food, chewing gum and oil-burning engines. A columnist in 1930 complained of the "abnormal emphasis being stressed on sex." As early as 1945, the industry was condemned for selling its soul to the gods of publicity.

"Nowadays it is not enough to publish a book; it must be sent skyward like a trial balloon, carrying its banners and famous names," complained Vardis Fisher, an Idaho-based author and newspaper columnist.

Romance and mystery were in demand all along, although trends and publications have come and gone.

In the early '20s, you could try Saucy Stories, which called for "fiction with very rapid action" and a few "clever epigrams" thrown in, or "The Youth's Companion," which "welcomes humor and pathos, but not pessimism." During the Depression, the MacMillan Co. was looking for "realistic, proletarian" novels, while by 1974, in the wake of Watergate, magazines from the National Tattler to The Woman were seeking investigative pieces.

The writer in 1949 looked out on an especially interesting market. Whisper magazine was seeking "sensational material, only with tabloid treatment." Jungle Stories was soliciting stories on "native tribal life or adventures of white men in the jungle."

Both sides of the Cold War were possible: Personal Liberty Magazine sought examples of "the enslaving spirit of Communism, Nazism and fascism." The Kapustkan Magazine wanted fiction "aimed at the evils of war, greed, hypocrisy, secrecy, poverty, injustice, intolerance, inequality and intimidation."

A caution: "Brevity desired."

The market was a code to crack and self-proclaimed experts came bearing solutions, such as J. Berg Esenwein, whose advice "plucks out the heart of magazine writing" and saves much "eye strain" for young writers. Readers of the '20s and 1930s likely heard much about William Wallace Cook's Plotto, "a new method of plot suggestion." Other options included Grace Porterfield Polk's "Polk-a-Dot Primer for Poets" and the Sherwin Cody School of English, presided over by Cody himself, a bearded man with a stern, professorial gaze.

No one was readier to counsel, and console, than Thomas H. Uzzell, identified as a former editor of Collier's and a market watcher whose ads and essays appeared for more than two decades.

In 1931, as the Depression dragged on, he reminded the idle businessman that the empty hours could be filled writing that long-promised book. "Necessity has launched more literary careers then you'd like to imagine," Uzzell observed.

A decade later, soon after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the U.S. entry into World War II, an Uzzell ad was headlined "WAR! NEW MARKETS! NEW DEMANDS! NEW PROBLEMS! Can you solve them?" Uzzell declared that in "such times only craftsmen, trained writers with editorial insight can survive. Escape and propaganda must be combined."

The famous, too, have prescribed. Somerset Maugham, in a 1942 essay, thought hospital doctors were ideal writers because they have seen human nature "bare" and frightened. Fifty years later, Stephen King urged against writing outlines, even as the magazine itself touted a system of plotting with index cards. Michael Crichton believed that you should get published first, then worry about an agent.

All agreed that the only way to become a writer was to write. The prolific John Updike recommended steady work habits, while Michael Chabon said nothing was possible without "talent," "luck" and "discipline." And in the early 1920s, a promising young short story writer offered a terse formula for success after a less fortunate peer sought help on how to develop a plot.

"Your letter was very vague as to what you wanted to know," the author scolded. "Study Kipling and O. Henry, and work like hell! I had 122 rejections slips before I sold a story."

The author, F. Scott Fitzgerald, was not easily discouraged.

FRIDAY'S MAINSTREAM MUSINGS

Status: On Vacation; sick with bronchitis--may have to extend my time off further to get over this

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

Watching: "Pitch Black"; CBS Evening News

Listening to: Nothing at the moment.

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

TOPIC: WHAT GOOD IS A TRADITIONAL PUBLISHER?

Something that I've been trying to get my points across for the last few years: That traditional publishing isn't as cracked up as it looks. And while the author of this article still vouches for mainstream; I am still strongly advocating that you always keep your options open.

A colleague recently put this question in the bluntest of terms: "If publishers won't promote your book and they take a huge percentage, what exactly do they do for the author?"

I wouldn't say that publishing houses won't promote your book, but first-time authors get a very small piece of the marketing pie-and publishers have smaller marketing budgets than they used to.

They have smaller everything budgets than they used to, which means less personal attention, and that's one reason someone could legitimately ask: "Well, what good are they, then?"

Another reason is the increasing availability of print-on-demand technology and self-publishing resources. No longer does a would-be self publisher have to start a publishing business and spend thousands of dollars to get into print. Authors have more options than they did 20 years ago.

For many non-fiction authors (and even some novelists), self-publishing and POD are valid options. There's no question that authors who use these methods of publishing get to keep more of the book's cover price. And there are still a number of small, independent presses out there who provide more support to their authors because they take on only a few books each year.

But there are still some advantages to getting your book published by one of the giants. They know what sells before you can get your book published, you have to submit a proposal with an outline of your book and a marketing plan. Acquisitions editors at the big houses know what's selling and what isn't.

If you get repeated rejections which all cite the same problems, it's a sign that you need to retool your idea before you go to all the trouble of writing the book. And if they accept your proposal, it's because they believe there's a large enough market for your book to justify their investment in producing it.

They pay in advance.

Admittedly, the advance you get for your first book isn't likely to allow you to quit your day job, since it's likely to be in the low five figures. And it doesn't arrive the minute you sign the contract, either. But that money can cover many of the costs associated with writing and marketing the book, such as travel for research, a local direct mail campaign, or the services of a ghostwriter.

They have more resources.

When you self-publish or use a POD house, you have to locate, and pay for, all kinds of professionals, or spend extra time doing the many jobs of publishing yourself.

You may be the top expert in your field and a good writer on top of it, but creating a book also requires copyediting, book design, typesetting (though no actual type is involved anymore), proof reading, and cover art, among other things.

Large publishers already have all these people either on staff or working for them as contractors, and they've had decades to learn things like which fonts are most readable and how much white space you need on a page.

Many POD houses offer editing, book layout, and cover design services, but they charge you for them. If you're truly self-publishing, you have to find and pay all these people yourself, in addition to your actual printing and shipping costs. (And much as I admire self-publishing guru Dan Poynter, I don't hold with his theory that you can use clip art for your book cover and still look professional.)

They get you into bookstores.

Very few self-published authors can get their books onto the shelves of large chain bookstores like Barnes and Noble and Borders. These companies have strict policies about which distributors they deal with and require return policies which no sane person would stand for.

And, of course, if a chain won't carry your book, it's not likely you'll be able to hold an author event there. What's more, the publisher takes care of shipping extra copies of your book to thestore when you do the signing, so you don't have to drag books around with you. (You do have to notify them that you're doing the event and ask them to send the books.)

Publishers also have booths at major publishing conventions like Book Expo America. Your book might not get star billing, but they'll be pushing all their new titles.

So yes, traditional publishers do still provide their authors with valuable services. And the "huge percentage" they take rarely amounts to a huge profit: It goes to covering their very considerable costs in preparing, printing, and distributing your book (not to mention offering those killer return policies to thebookstores).

Despite the increasing ease and respectability of self-publishing, pitching your book to Random House or HarperCollins may still be your best option.

FELLOW WRITER HITS THE NAIL ON THE HEAD

Status: Writing Chapter 27 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. (It's 2AM...what'd you expect?)

Listening to: "Prisoner" by Kevorkian Deathcycle; "Six Feet Underground" by Division

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

TOPIC: CAN OF WHOOP-ASS ANYONE?

Whether you like him or hate him, this guy (Christopher Rivan) is starting to become one of my personal fan favorites. (And I don't even know him! lol)

But what he said in a group I belong to had me in stitches. :0)

Please note: The group e-mail posted is the same; only the name of the respondee has been changed for privacy reasons.

***

The problem, *****, is that publishers don't DO that.

A publisher is going to accept and print what he thinks he can get someone to buy. You're right about that. What you're missing is what it MEANS.

We've all read, or even written, the dystopian drama about the future society where only the "right" sort of news makes it to press. Basically, that's precisely what publishers today do. If your book doesn't fit into some narrow little mold they think they know about the consumer, then they kick it back to you.We're all getting the pablum writing that the big publishing houses think we want to read. I'll bet Baen rejected ten books TODAY that would make it on your "read until it falls apart" list. You will NEVER see them.

I find that a lot more saddening than personally getting a rejection letter, because I really don't CARE if someone likes or hates my writing. (You pump out 75,000 words a month and you soon stop getting overly attached to your stuff.)

I point out JK Rowling's "paltry" nine rejection letters because I think we can agree that Harry Potter was the most groundbreaking and effective piece of fantasy fiction published in the last decade. Certainly it was a commercial success; Rowling is the first billionaire in HISTORY made purely through book sales. Yet some dumb-ass editors thought THEY knew better than anyone else. Some utter buffoons sat there on their high horses and rejected her.

A few of them even took the time to write scathing letters of rejection to her. I hope they get a paper cut in a really unfortunate location every day for the rest of their damn careers for that. You lose credibility when you complain about not having the time to read all the manuscripts you're sent every day, but then you take an hour and a half to write a letter whose only purpose is to make someone feel bad.I think you missed my point about Dan Brown and Kevin Anderson.

My point was simply this: it irks me to be told by someone that I don't pay the proper attention to details in my query letter, when the same industry allows such colossal blundering from their "established" writers simply because they are established. Writing a bad book is one thing, screwing up major details and releasing press notices that are complete fabrications is something else, something the publishing industry as a whole refuses to accept responsibility for.They make YOU, the person that spent most of your life working on this piece, jump through hoops, beg, plead, and cry, and when they finally deign to accept your work they pay you PENNIES on the dollar. Why?

Two reasons: 1) The publishing industry is NOTORIOUS for being inefficient. Books are destroyed at EVERY bookseller in the THOUSANDS every week. Talk to the employees at the local Barnes and Noble sometimes. At least one day per week they destroy books. What's worse is that on the next shipment there will be another case of the same damn titles!The publishing industry has massive overhead in storage and copyediting. These things cost money, and like any industry, the publisher passes the costs in two directions: to the reader and two the writer.

(When paperbacks were first printed, by the way, they had an estimated lifetime of twenty-three years. Now, with all our advanced technology, new glues, and fibers, that lifetime has been cut to FIVE years. Think about WHY the publisher might want to sell you a book that falls apart in months. Hardcover books published in 1650 are still in libraries, yet my frickin' copy of Terry Pratchett's "The Wintersmith" is already showing cracks in the binding and I got it for CHRISTMAS.)

and 2) It's always been done that way. Some shmucks are so happy to see their name in print that they'll tolerate being paid like they work at McDonalds. I'm not terribly mercenary, BUT, if I write it, then I need to get paid for it. No editor will EVER spend more time working on my writing than I have.The problems with self-publishing are NOT in the costs; you'll easily make more money per book through a vanity publisher than through the most generous traditional house. The problems lie in DISTRIBUTION and MARKETING.

Because you're self-publishing, YOU have to get on the phone and talk to the agents at the commercial buying houses and booksellers. YOU have to talk people into SELLING your book.Do the math, if you spend six months collecting rejection slips, you still haven't gotten paid-- and no one has read your book. If you self-published and spent the same six months marketing your fiction and just TWO booksellers picked it up, you're going to get a check.

Probably not a very large one, but at least you're making SOMETHING besides heartbreak.Now, I'll freely admit that most of my experience and opinion comes from non-fiction. I had a publisher seek me out for my NF. I was considering a vanity publisher at the time, and had the contract in front of me when I opened the email from the "traditional" publisher. Let's see. THEY were going to take copyright and distribution rights away from me.

They were going to pay me a whopping 7% (NF is about twice what Fiction royalties are.) per book, and they were going to lock me into a contract so even if I hated their guts, the rest of the four-book series had to be published through them until 2012. The book would be released in 18 months at an estimated 1% buyback (meaning I'd lose 1% of my royalties to buybacks.) THEY were going to assume all editing-by-proxy- - meaning that once I sent the book in, any changes they made were up to them, and I had no rights or legal say in the matter. (See Piers Anthony and "But What of Earth?" for an example of editor-by-proxy gone completely berserk.)Vanity publisher: I paid them $550 for the initial printing of a 420 page book. POD, so no buybacks and no warehousing. The book was released eight weeks after I sent it in.I market my book myself. I don't even BOTHER talking to booksellers or I could probably triple my royalties, but I don't need to.

I sell primarily through my website, which links to the publisher's ordering form. In the first quarter I made $1700 profit after repaying myself the initial $550 outlay. I also make 50% on books sold through them, and 10% on books sold through other retailers. I also retain all copyrights and publication rights. I can call my publisher right now and tell them I've found a better deal somewhere else.

That's MY book, and I get to decide what happens with it and where it goes. If you're willing to do the legwork yourself then self-publishing is the way to go. If you're not, or you can't get your head round the idea, then go the traditional route. There's no shame in it, in fact there's a lot of pride, but you WILL be part of a process that flatly doesn't give a rat's ass about you or your work. There isn't a single person in a major publishing house that would piss on your manuscript if it were on fire. There are thousands piled up at the door. Yours is just one more, and frankly, if they can get out of reading it somehow, then they certainly will.

Brace yourself, I'm going to get political here.

Traditional publishing reminds me of the media. A lot of people sit there in front of the boob tube and believe what the idjits on CNN tell them. They ignore spins and specific verbiage designed to get them to think a certain way (Ever wonder why our president is RARELY called anything but "Bush" while Hillary Clinton is ALWAYS referred to by title and her husband is ALWAYS called "Former President?" Why are the terrorists and murderers in Iraq placing IEDs in schoolyards called "insurgents? "

Why is it that the Council on American-Islamic Relations released a statement to the press in 2002 demanding that major media outlets stop linking the words "Muslim" "Islamic" and "Terrorism" together in articles and stories?) However, if you're willing to do the work yourself, to seek out first or even second source materials, you're connected right now to the largest repository of knowledge and information in mankind's HISTORY.

In three minutes I can tell you whether the main headline on Yahoo! news is accurate or inaccurate, just by running some basic search routines and cross checking my sources. Most people don't do it. They don't take the time to be informed. I don't care whether you're left or right as long as you make the choice for YOURSELF. Most people don't bother, and the media makes it for them.

Which brings me back to the publishing houses. Once you're in, its easy. After you finally scale the wall, the publisher does EVERYTHING for you: marketing, scheduling, printing, release, distribution, promotion, intermedia discussion, etc. You just sit there and collect your (paltry) checks.

You have to do all the work up front. Write the novel, proof the novel, and then submit, submit, submit. It may take years of heartbreak and rejection, but eventually you might break through to the promised land. How about doing that work over a sustained period of time instead of up front? Put the same amount of effort into promoting a book you self-published that you would put into trying to get some jackass from Laser Media to read it.

Work as hard at marketing your writing to the booksellers as you were willing to work to market it to an agent.

I'll bet you make more in the long run.

SUNDAY'S MUSINGS ON SELF-PUBLISHING. (Part 4)

Status: Writing Chapter 24 to Stories of the Dead Earth-Book 3: Jasper

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

Watching: "Twister"; "Full Metal Alchemist: Conqueror of Shamballa".

Listening to: Nothing at the moment.

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

TOPIC: WHAT SELF-PUBLISHING REALLY MEANS

I know I've had this argument before...many, many, times over with people across the writing spectrum.

"Yes, world! Schuyler Thorpe intends to self-publish his own books! Hurray for me!" (Please note my underlying sarcasm in this sentence.)

But you know what? It's something that I have to do. It's the only option left open to me.

Why?

Because I've grown tired of the long-assed waits by the mainstream--in their decisions to decide who is good enough and who isn't; by a set of publishing standards that are more obsolete than a Model T Ford is these days.

My beef with them is quite obvious: They've forgotten the Golden Rule of Publishing--and they are more content to sit on their laurals; and dictate what can be taken and what can't--based on what I see as a lottery.

Just so their bottom line is protected.

But I've also come across articles in the recent months which point to a staggering trend of rejections by the industry--simply because the books written today do not follow the same path of illustrious commercialism as their previously published counterparts.

There is simply no chance these days for the new writer to show the industry what they can do--based on guidelines that are more restrictive than they are flexible.

But the usual attacks on me for pointing that out is that I am not "good enough for the mainstream", "your writing sucks", "I'm so naive"--and the usual put-downs that I've had to weather for years now--just so that others can illustrate how easy it is to belittle other writers' talents; simply because they refuse to conform to a set standard written by an industry that doesn't give a rat's ass about what being a writer really means!

I have nothing against self-publishing. But so many people do. They erroneously assume that self-publishing means vanity-press.

It's just so sad that so many people are blindly misinformed on what these two distinctive methods of publishing are.

Self-publishing means that you (the author) assumes all risks of publishing your own books, taking care of your own editing, and the covers which will later be incorporated into the target book in question. You also assume all the risks of the promoting yourself and marketing your own book.

THAT'S WHAT SELF-PUBLISHING IS! THIS IS WHAT I WANT TO DO! AND AM DOING RIGHT NOW!

Vanity-press publishing is where you (the author), pays a printing mill money to publish your book and has your rights stolen from you in the process. These outfits have a terrible publishing record, along with their nightmarish editing resumes, and the extremely crappy cover art which graces these poorly written pieces of literature.

Companies like:

• Publish America
• Trafford
• Xlibris
• Author House (and its various surname entities)
• Red Dog Publishing
• Dorrance Publishing
• IUniverse
• Lulu.com

These companies come off saying that they are usually traditional or are a respected subsidy publisher--but in all honesty? They lie or deliberately mislead the prospective public in order to get their money's worth from that same unsuspecting author or writer. That's what we call a scam.

And surprisingly, they've all worked rather well. People still publish through these same "mills"--believing that they are really published!

How sad for them.

And this is what people think I'm doing? I admit free and clear, I'm paying an indie editor and a book cover artist money to complete the work on The Starchild, but that is a far cry from going into vanity-press publishing.

The ignoramuses still believe that what I am doing (self-publishing), is still vanity-press; and they say that it will kill any chances of me being mainstream published.

Seeing what I see in that, knowing what I know about the whole backwards enterprise, I would rather take my chances doing this on my own--than rather have the mainstream take what I have and butcher it.

Self-publishing isn't the evil alternate that so many paint it be as "unreliable", "umarketable", and irrevocably a "blight" on our publishing careers.

So many people dream of being traditionally published, but the odds against them are greater and more tougher than they realize.

I know I did. I wanted to become traditionally published. But once I started looking into what it entailed, I didn't run away from the idea. I wanted to look at a different way of getting there on my own.

But as the days turned into weeks, the weeks turned to months, and then years, I started to become disenchanted with the idea that this is where my work was meant to be.

People may not fully understand my methods of execution, but this is what I want to do.

I don't want be contained, caged in, or restricted. I want to be free.

Money is something that I seek to use for my own benefit and those that I hardly know. Driving to be rich, to be famous, and well-known--? Is something that I have been shunning for quite some time.

It's not me. It never has been. I've lived with extreme poverty all of my life. Subsisting on what people and the government have given me to just barely make ends meet.

Having money, saving it, is something that I can only have in my dreams. Because reality--for me--is an ugly truth that I have to face each and every day.

So self-publishing for me isn't about screwing up my writing career in the worst way. It's about investing in a future I hope to one day cultivate through my books.

One small step at a time.

THURSDAY'S MUSINGS. (PART 2)

Status: Writing Chapter 16 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. (News hasn't started.)

Listening to: "Sugar Steps" by Kama Sutra; Visions of Ibiza--Disc 1.

Reading: Kushiel's Scion by Jacqueline Carey (Page 123)


TOPIC: BUCKING THE TREND


As I discussed earlier at the beginning of the last entry, there are people out there who want to either sanitize or severely trim my books so that they read better, sound better, and yadda, yadda, yadda.

I remember coming across someone yesterday in one of my writer groups; telling everyone that her book was 195,000 words, but she managed to get it down to 120,000.

She said that it sounded better, read better, and was more "action-packed".

The sad thing about this example is this writer may not even know her own true potential--if she keeps axing out all the important parts to her novel; if she keeps streamlining her work to fit a standard template for publishing.

I've seen this many times over the years, where writers have novels ranging from 150K to as much as 300K--but in the end...?

They end up taking so much out of it.

And for what? To fit in?

The point of being a writer isn't to destroy what you've gone and created for the sake of money, the premise of being traditionally published, and the potential to become one of those famous authors who can live independently on their own self-absorbed income.

The point is to tell a story. To build a foundation for yourself and your work.

Naturally, I have people tell me that I cannot hold onto everything I write, but I do--because I am telling a story. Not just writing a novel.

The use of words is more than just an illustrious example of going for the Big Cheese and impressing your peeps on the internet.

We use them to express ourselves, to illustrate our creations, and most importantly--to tell a story.

But if we strive to limit ourselves in our pursuits of that, then we limit ourselves in our own potential as a writer.

How do we profess to be published authors, if we continue to take out the most important parts to our novels--by toning down our words, trimming out every bit of prose and replace it with choppy; non-connected sentences and phrases?

It may look good and passable to the untrained eye, but for those of us whom write and weave our tales into telling tomes which enrapture our respective audiences...?

Inside, I'm screaming!

For example?

In my first generation version of The Starchild, there is a scene between Isis and Bayen at a place called Observation Park.

This is the first opening sentence to it:

"...it was the most breathtaking place she had ever been to. The trees in the park gave way to a translucent dome that showed a panorama of stars and a pure white moon..."

To anyone reading this, this would sound okay, right?

Wrong!

This opening paragraph just sucks! Why? Because it doesn't show anything!

It doesn't go into depth, doesn't express the whole feeling of actually being there, and doesn't impart anything important to the reader.

It lacks detail, it lacks depth, and it lacks impact.

But this example is what publishers want for their books! Overall, the majority of the novels we read today are done in this particular format.

This streamlined example is what goes into most writers' exposes when they complete their books.

Here is the updated version to that same scene. And while you may instantly notice that there is no mention of the dome, the trees, or the stars in the opening scene, most of what went into Observation Park's description had been taken out for something more sublime and easier to assimiliate:

"...The very second the doors opened, Isis felt like she was walking into another world. From her point of view, that’s exactly what it was. And this raw sense of feeling left her breathless as a result..."

What's changed between the two examples? Quite a bit!

In the 10 years since this book was completed, the style and voice in which I had been stuck with had suddenly transformed into something which exudes more confidence, more imagination, and more emotion.

The first opening words to the first example: "...it was the most breathtaking place she had ever been in..."--had been replaced with, "...the very second the doors opened, Isis felt like she was walking into another world..."

4-5 years ago--this particular change had taken place because I had started to see things differently about the way I was writing. It wasn't something which I was desperate for, but it was a natural evolution in my abilities and writing.

And I took that opportunity in May of 2003 to reconstruct The Starchild completely from scratch by rewriting the 2nd draft version into something new.

But this new version was much different than the old-version. The old version was more compact, more direct--and didn't offer the reader a chance to do much of anything--except to plow right through the novel at a breakneck pace.

This second example illustrates how my writing style transformed into something else. Something which is lacking in the current media mainstream of novels.

The first example only used 2 short sentences to describe the opening scene (which was on page 105 of the first draft), and didn't use more than one powerword to impact the reader with. (Breathtaking)

The second rough example used three sentences to revamp the opening scene with (which was on page 480 of the third draft). But they aren't short sentences either. They are elaborately spun pieces of prose.

By drawing out the scene into something the reader can picture inside their heads, the reader can get a good, solid grasp of what's really going on.

This isn't what publishers really are after. They want books that are quick and to the point. Namely because readers these days have woefully short attention recall, and the older generation of readers aren't reading as much as they used to. (Not to mention that teens these days are spending more of their reading time on the 'net, on their games, and other techno-distractions--that reading has become something of a lost 'art' these days.)

The second example also uses a revamped version of breathtaking by using the word breathlessly to describe an emotional state.

When was the last time your character freely expressed themselves in one manner or another--rather than just blindly rushing through the whole scene or the process altogether?

Dollars to doughnuts, they haven't. And if they have, the moment in question was much too fleeting to pay it any mind; for both the author and the reader.

Oddly enough, I find that the second example needs some further tweaking--which is yet another clear example of my abilities evolving further still.

But...

The second example has been transformed from what was a bland form of writing into a more emotional core platform which gives Isis McGowan a sense of realism and physical presence.

Which the first example clearly lacked.

This is what is meant by "bucking the trend" in writing.

By doing something which rubs against the grain of conventional thought and due process.

This is what the industry and many of my critics are so dead set against wanting to see happen.

Being traditionally published may be good and all for the aspiring writer whom craves nothing more than their 15 minutes of fame, but what it will always boil down to is whether or not that published plebe has the ability to convey themselves well as a master story-teller.

Doing a rush job on the whole thing won't get any of us any closer to our said goals. Because once you write something and complete it, you really aren't finished with the project in question.

You're just starting a process that only scratches the surface.

If you really want to shine, then you have to really grasp what you've written. Not just how well it reads to you, but every little crack, every little nuance--until (at some point)--you're really certain that this is what you first envisioned when you started out.

Because if it isn't...?

Then you still have a lot of work ahead of you until you do.

And that's the truth.