The end of the Mayan long calender, Dec. 21, 2012, has believers and non-believers alike wondering about what this event will portend. The History Channel is running twenty-one days of programming leading up to this date which depicts a wide range of end of days prophecies.
The array of prophetic scenarios is broad, from the Book of Revelation, Nostradamos, Edgar Cayce, John Smith, the mysteries of the 13 crystal skulls left on earth by aliens from other planets, or scientific geologic facts of super volcanoes like Yellowstone. Whether or not you give any credence to these possibilites they all are great fodder for a writer, particularly a writer of apocalyptic fiction.
So, get your notebook, set the recorder on your VCR, pop a bowl of popcorn and sit back with the remote control and find that germ of an idea for your next novel. That's what I'm doing until...well, the end of days.
Sunday, December 9, 2012
Sunday, December 2, 2012
E-Publishing: It's a Process
So, I'd been thinking for some time now that I would try my hand at self publishing now that ebooks make it virtually cost free. I hemmed and hawed for a while because technologically savvy I am not. But during all this time I read a lot about the process from various websites and blogs and talked to a veteran of the venue, Kathy Carmichael, and decided that I could do this.
Amazon's KDP program seemed the way to go because, let's face it, Amazon has the lion's share of the ebook market. They also have this free guide titled Building Your Book For Kindle in, of course, an ebook format. I strongly recommend you download this guide and read it through to the end before starting the process of uploading your manuscript. It really is a step by step guide and even I couldn't go wrong when following the instructions.
And so, when I was finally able to stop obsessively editing The Blessing of Hannah, I managed to get it up and running as an ebook in just a matter of a couple of hours. (Okay, so I had a few issues uploading my cover but that had nothing to do with Amazon or their guide.)
The only expense involved has been my cover which tricia pickyme did for me--which I love, love, love. And of course you can find it at http://www.amazon.com/Blessing-Hannah-Rebekahs-Children-ebook/dp/B00AGAZO46/ref=la_B00AGP2XJA_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1354485449&sr=1-1
Amazon's KDP program seemed the way to go because, let's face it, Amazon has the lion's share of the ebook market. They also have this free guide titled Building Your Book For Kindle in, of course, an ebook format. I strongly recommend you download this guide and read it through to the end before starting the process of uploading your manuscript. It really is a step by step guide and even I couldn't go wrong when following the instructions.
And so, when I was finally able to stop obsessively editing The Blessing of Hannah, I managed to get it up and running as an ebook in just a matter of a couple of hours. (Okay, so I had a few issues uploading my cover but that had nothing to do with Amazon or their guide.)
The only expense involved has been my cover which tricia pickyme did for me--which I love, love, love. And of course you can find it at http://www.amazon.com/Blessing-Hannah-Rebekahs-Children-ebook/dp/B00AGAZO46/ref=la_B00AGP2XJA_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1354485449&sr=1-1
Monday, July 30, 2012
Murder by E-Book? Really?
Concerns about the devaluation of books in general by the cheap price of e-books was a heated topic at the Harrogate Crime Writing Festival held earlier this month. The panel, aptly titled Wanted for Murder: The E-Book, turned into something of a verbal brawl between members of the audience and the panelists. Catherine Ryan Howard has a very good response to the concerns voiced rather vehemently by crime writers Mark Billingham and Laura Lippman (catherineryanhoward.com/2012/07/23/low-e-book-pricing-the-compensation-problem/).
I confess it took me a while to embrace the e-book concept. My bookshelves are overloaded with the books I have accumulated over my lifetime and I wouldn't give them up for anything. But I have become enamored with the instant gratification of my Kindle. And I find myself buying more books than before simply because they are more affordable and the fact that such devices as the Kindle promote impulse buying. Surely that is a good thing for authors all across the board.
But back to the argument of the physical book versus the e-book. If you assume that books in the future will only be available in an either/or format, then perhaps there is a reason for concern. But technology is here to stay and publishers aren't stupid. Future contracts will now involve negotiations for various formats in which a book can be made available to readers. Physical books will always be available for readers who cannot or will not embrace the new technology and probably at a less expensive price because of the advances in the publishing process such as print on demand. This requires less warehousing space and should facilitate the eventual elimination of remaindered books and that whole complicated accounting practice resulting therefrom. With more people embracing the e-book format, authors will have a much greater audience and, coupled with a lower price, the opportunity for more sales.
There are factors in this argument of which I have limited knowledge such as Catherine Howard's suggestion that big money authors are no longer receiving the large advances they once did. Perhaps this is true. I know from a number of friends who are mid-list authors that this is a fact. But these same authors are now able to take out-of-print books they have written and offer them as e-books where they will then receive the lion share of the proceeds. This to me seems like a good thing in that it is now and has been for some time the responsibility of the author to promote their works as publishers no longer allow a budget for effective promotion for any except their top selling authors.
This is not an argument that will be easily or quickly resolved but as with all change I feel the market place will resolve these issues over time and those who are so adamantly opposed to the lower price an e-book can demand will come around when they begin to appreciate how many more readers they can reach. And those authors who have found themselves excluded from the marketplace by the gatekeepers to publishing will have an opportunity to prove whether or not they are any good at their craft.
I confess it took me a while to embrace the e-book concept. My bookshelves are overloaded with the books I have accumulated over my lifetime and I wouldn't give them up for anything. But I have become enamored with the instant gratification of my Kindle. And I find myself buying more books than before simply because they are more affordable and the fact that such devices as the Kindle promote impulse buying. Surely that is a good thing for authors all across the board.
But back to the argument of the physical book versus the e-book. If you assume that books in the future will only be available in an either/or format, then perhaps there is a reason for concern. But technology is here to stay and publishers aren't stupid. Future contracts will now involve negotiations for various formats in which a book can be made available to readers. Physical books will always be available for readers who cannot or will not embrace the new technology and probably at a less expensive price because of the advances in the publishing process such as print on demand. This requires less warehousing space and should facilitate the eventual elimination of remaindered books and that whole complicated accounting practice resulting therefrom. With more people embracing the e-book format, authors will have a much greater audience and, coupled with a lower price, the opportunity for more sales.
There are factors in this argument of which I have limited knowledge such as Catherine Howard's suggestion that big money authors are no longer receiving the large advances they once did. Perhaps this is true. I know from a number of friends who are mid-list authors that this is a fact. But these same authors are now able to take out-of-print books they have written and offer them as e-books where they will then receive the lion share of the proceeds. This to me seems like a good thing in that it is now and has been for some time the responsibility of the author to promote their works as publishers no longer allow a budget for effective promotion for any except their top selling authors.
This is not an argument that will be easily or quickly resolved but as with all change I feel the market place will resolve these issues over time and those who are so adamantly opposed to the lower price an e-book can demand will come around when they begin to appreciate how many more readers they can reach. And those authors who have found themselves excluded from the marketplace by the gatekeepers to publishing will have an opportunity to prove whether or not they are any good at their craft.
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