On Self-Publishing

I love self-publishing, it's such a liberating experience. You become the master of your own destiny. The burden is yours and you succeed or fail on your own merits.

I think in the past, people who might have considered writing a story, novella or novel were discouraged because the effort it took to write with conventional tools and convince a traditional publisher to accept it, was so daunting they never tried.

Thousands and thousands of wonderful stories lay parked in people's brains never to be read.

Not any more, because you don't need to hurdle the publishers gate, you just lengthen your stride and arrive at the finish line. You self-publish. No waiting months for a dreaded rejection letter, no lengthy times from acceptance to publishing, and the work is yours to do with as you wish.

Are all self-published stories good?

No, but not all conventionally published stories are worthy either. They may be spruced up by a good editor, but trash is trash even if polished to a high degree. Readers know and punish both the author and publisher by ignoring the work.

Are many self-published books good?

A resounding yes! Over and over. Wonderful examples abound, actually more works than traditional publishers, and it will only grow larger because more people are self-publishing, truly talented people who write amazingly creative stories. Stories which would have never surfaced if the traditional publishers still guarded the gates.

Today readers have a huge variety to choose from. No longer are they burdened by exorbitant prices, paper books scattered throughout the home taking up space, or suffering from what the traditional publishers think they should read. They are finally free to choose.

Such a liberating feeling.

Many times I have heard that with freedom comes responsibility.

Nowhere is this more true than in the self-publishing world. The self-published author has a responsibility to his or her readers. You must make the work as free from error as you possibly can. The reader should be able to rely upon you, not upon your publisher.

When readers pay for your work they should feel confident that you put forward your best effort, and they will enjoy reading it. Nothing causes more dismay than a promising book riddled with mistakes.

If you write something that people like and you try your absolute best to make it a quality work, people will come.

If you don't, you can expect to fail.

Don't look for excuses. The internet contains ample help. With all the author's groups and informative blogs on the subject of writing, there's no excuse for shoddy work. I know, I belong to a few of them and learn from them. Even if you have limited grammar skills, you can learn. You must learn to use the tools of language before you finish a work and publish it.

Traditional authors and publishers argue that self-publishing is only an electronic form of vanity press. It can be, but so can traditional publishing. Their argument is one of the last barbs of a breed facing true Darwinism.

The readers will decide the issue. As a group they are smarter than all of us.

Fiction, science and strange marriages of the two.

My first book Shadow Games, contains a scene in which a college professor discusses his theories of how my antagonists, the Shadows, are able to accomplish their seemingly impossible abilities.

I created the professor's fictional theories from strange things I had read about existing scientific principles, particularly quantum theory.

Many science fiction books use as a premise, mental telepathy, mind control, and a host of other talents related to the same concept. (Steven King is an example in Fire Starter) Most of the evidence for this is anecdotal.

It's a fact that the brain does not contain the power and external organization that could reach out from the skull and influence the behavior of others, at least at a macro level.

But, I thought, what about the quantum level?

The neurons in the brain contain structures called 'micro-tubules' These structures resemble computer memories in their organization, and they are quite capable of operating at a quantum level. At that level, they could not only influence the brains of others, but could also interact with space-time itself throughout the universe.

As a further argument, follow me in a mental exercise. Keep your eyes open and conjure the image of a childhood friend, family member or teacher from your memory. Can you see it? Notice that the image is not truly an image at all. It's more an impression of an image. It's still there, you can see it, but are you really seeing it? I can do this with memories from more than fifty years ago, and other more recent experiences.

But something else is happening. You can still view a three-dimensional, full-color image of your surroundings. You hear sounds, smell odors, feel the cloth on your skin. You can still move your arms and legs and react to the voices of others in your environment. You can still think of you, and are aware that you exist. All this is occurring simultaneously as you view the image of a significant memory.

The estimates of the number of neurons contained in the human brain vary, but the most often figure quoted is one hundred-billion neurons. Each neuron may have ten thousand connections. But even with all the neurons and all the connections, (a staggering number) it still can't account for the wonderful things that your brain can accomplish.

Imagine my surprise when I viewed a recent episode of “Through the Worm Tunnel” narrated by Morgan Freeman. (the Science Channel) The program was on life-after-death, the soul, and consciousness. One of the arguments for the existence of the soul and its continuation after death was proposed by Stuart Hameroff (MD) and Sir Roger Penrose (Nobel prize in Physics).

Their theory nearly mirrored the one proposed by the fictional professor in my novel.

Science? Fiction? Or maybe the truth? Who knows? It's a question that we all will answer when we pass this mortal realm. (But not before about a hundred or more novels later!)

So you wanna be an Indie writer?

The road to self-publishing can be a lonely one, bordered on each side by self-doubt, frustration, insecurity, inexperience and lack of a shoulder to cry upon.

Frequently you wonder about your goals. Why are you doing this? There's so much competition. Can you ever find a reader for your work? Will anyone like your writing? Should you just surrender and collect endless rejection slips until someone recognizes your talent and gives you a break?

I often ponder multiple choices after I've completed a project.

OK, you've typed “The End”. Now what? After nearly a year of inspiration, blind alleys, despair, and not-so-good passages followed by blazing insight and blinding speed, you've reached the end. What do you do next?

First, you need to edit this mess but can you trust yourself? After all, you're the one who created it. Do you trust the idiot who made endless mistakes (you) to be the one to correct them? Do you know enough with your limited experience to be able to find the errors? Does someone, someone wiser than you, have the solution to your dilemma? Where can you go to find help? Can you trust him or her?

Maybe if you send it to a publisher your problems will be solved. After all, they employ professional editors. But do you want to see it gathering electronic dust while someone else holds your precious work in their hands, maybe for months or a year at a time, only to receive a mail stating “Dear ___ we are unable to publish your novel ...”.

Should you hire someone, fearing that the work may never sell, or not sell enough to pay for the costs of editing? Who can you turn to? You don't know any editors. Which ones are the good ones and can you afford them?

If you self-publish the book which service do you choose? Do you want to offer it in print? Will anyone ever read it? No one knows you. How can you convince a reader to take a chance on an unknown author?

The list continues, but at some point you need to stop agonizing over the choices. If you felt good writing it and you gave it your best shot, if you did due diligence, went back and corrected as many errors as you could find, then maybe it's the time to get another opinion.

Family and friends frequently lie, fearful of offending you. (Most of my grown, adult children will not read my stuff. They're too busy, they can't read a sex scene that dad wrote without blushing, etc.). However, it's important that your spouse or significant-other support your efforts (mine does, enthusiastically).

Find a stranger, in fact several strangers. Bribe, cajole, coerce, plead, or twist arms. Find a critical person who will be honest with you if you reciprocate. Get several opinions. If the consensus is, it's trash, rewrite it, or put it aside and tackle the next one. Don't give up. (Also remember, one man's trash is another man's treasure.)

Join a writer's group like the Indie Writer's Group on Facebook and become involved. There, you'll learn a lot of skills, gain good information and meet your fellow writers.

If you feel that you've done your best. You've weeded out all of the errors you could find, and most importantly, you love reading it and you're proud of your efforts, then choose a site and publish it. 

I choose Smashwords because it's free and gives you a reasonable presence in a large ocean of books. If you publish it for free or decide to sell it, be patient. It can take six months to a year before people notice you.

Finally, while waiting for reviews (which may never appear), reflect upon the goals you had when you started. Why did you do this? Did you want to make money and become a successful writer or did you do it for the fun and satisfaction? If the answer is the former, then I'm afraid your task has just begun, if the latter, relax. You've done it.

But maybe if I just put a web site up, a blog, a name on Facebook, and logged on to Tweeter, then maybe....

Changes in the publishing business.

You can't be self-published and not keep informed of the huge and often strident debate about the future of the publishing world.

Some authors contend that you're not truly “published” until you're accepted by one of the major publishers and see your book in paper, while others predict the demise of book-store publishing in favor of E-publishing and the importance of the connection between authors and readers.

Major NY publishers are like IBM back in the eighties when they ignored the importance of their own invention (the PC) and allowed an up-start company like Microsoft to retain the rights to the operating software. IBM was monolithic, cast in stone, convinced of its superiority, and unable to change.

I have a suspicion that the major publishers face the same challenge.

Three years ago if you had asked me if I would ever read a book on a computer or hand-held device I would have said “Hell no! I like the smell and feel of a book in my hands!”.

Today I will not buy a paper book. I've found that reading on my computer, Android, or Kindle is easier, more convenient, and fits with the fact that I am a reading baby-boomer. Publishers should take heed. We baby-boomers are in the market for good reading material, but our eyesight is failing, some of use cannot hold a paper book for long in comfort, and we are technologically aware. A Kindle or Nook is much easier to use than a cumbersome novel or paperback that clutters up the house. (I gave mine to the library.)

Major publishers are making another mistake. Numerous posts on Amazon have railed against the high cost of E-books and for good reason. If you buy a title in paper, expect to pay between $10.00 (paperback) to $30.00 (hardback) or more. Part of the high cost is the dead tree and its aftermath, and the horrendous expense of the equipment required to print it. A small fraction goes to the publisher. An even smaller fraction goes to the author. Add it all up and it results in high cost.

The cost of producing a E-book is nearly invisible in comparison. Just a computer and a site to display it on. So why do the major publishers charge nearly as much for an E-book as they do for a paper book? Well, greed for one thing. An E-book is nearly all profit. But a bigger reason is that they know that if the cost of the E-book is substantially less than the printed copy, they won't sell paper books, and book stores will go out of business at a faster rate.

It's gratifying to see the wide variety of quality authors that self-publish E-books. Major works as good as any block-buster touted by NY publishers are for sale, or free for the downloading. (I can prove it.) Most of these authors would never have passed through the screening process of major publishers.

Large publishers “think” they know what the reading audience wants, they supposedly have legions of marketing people helping to make those decisions, so part of the process is to choose works that fit that mold regardless of the merit of the book in question.

Yeah, Right! So I title like “Harry Potter” gets rejected by the big boys 72 times, and is picked up by a minor niche publisher who was willing to ignore the conventional wisdom and give a new author a chance!

If the petrified, fossilized, major book publishers want to save their industry, I have a few suggestions. I will list them.

1. Stop killing trees. If some of your customers want paper, do print-on-demand. Control the costs of your brick and mortar book stores by shrinking them in size and making browsing catalogs and samples available to your customers in the store. Let other customers call the store, submit an order, and have the title ready for the customer to pick up or FedEx it to them. For other print copies, make them available in the Nation's libraries. It will give a good boost to them and the titles can also be available in online E-format on their computers.
2. Find new authors on the net. Look for an author with a good book that has a huge following, good ratings, and who exhibits talent, and offer to represent him or her. (You can still take submissions.) This will encourage self-published authors because they always have chance of being noticed by major publishers while they are selling their works. (While you're at it, promote self-publishing as a viable alternative.)
3. Work with on-line publishing houses. Give them a market, and take a cut.
4. Include self-published authors in the main-stream world of publishing. Give them a chance to win awards, be highly rated, and in general, remove the imaginary divisions between you (the publishers) and us (the independents).

In my opinion, it's the only way you can survive. If you can't beat them, you need to join them.

Upcoming Novels and Novellas

Shadow Games

Shadow Spies

The Reality Plague

For those of you who have asked about a sequel to Shadow Games, my new book in the series Shadow Spies, should be published at the end of June, 2011. I will be a full-length novel with a new character, new twists, and (hopefully) more suspense, depth, and action. The problem is that as I learn more I keep revising and it seems to never end.

Add to the delay, the fact that I keep getting distracted by new ideas, and the resulting new novellas, and you get a picture of an author who struggles to keep on track.

The good news is that you soon will be the recipients of at least three new books. They are shorter, less than 40,000 words but I am polishing them to get them ready. The new novellas are: The Reality Plague, To Sail Beyond Tomorrow-Nate's Story, and To Sail Beyond Tomorrow-Susan's Story. At least two of these will be 'for sale' titles, and most likely published on Amazon and Smashwords.

All are science fiction or paranormal romance stories. I'm finding that romance is my most favorite genre, although I want to branch out to others.

Coming in the next four years will be four novels. Shadow Twins, Shadow Reflections, and two as yet unnamed novels that are parked, waiting for their turn, in the back of my brain. Along the way – who knows?

On writing stories.

Although new at this, I nevertheless learned a very important lesson early on.

Stories are about people.

Without people, there is no story. A good plot, excellent prose, and superior writing skills mean nothing unless the story is about people.

At first I thought I should write realistic stories. Stories about common ordinary people who were thrust into extraordinary situations and battled to find a way to triumph. My efforts were met with a “ho-hum so what” attitude.

I read stories of substandard quality that seemed to resonate with the reader and were consequently more popular than mine, and I started to question myself. What am I missing here? I re-read these stories, all about dysfunctional relationships; women or men who had miserable or abusive childhoods and who, consequently, were unable or unwilling to learn to cope with their adult selves, characters who seemed to be powerless to do the intelligent things or in fact resisted any attempt to learn from their mistakes, and then It came to me.

Readers want to be swept away from their mundane existence. They want to experience the bizarre, swept up by a muscular man with impressive sexual equipment, mesmerized by the antics of a harlot who doesn't have a clue how to live, frightened by the idiot who steps into harm's way, knowing that at any minute the monster that lurks in the dark will sink his or her fangs into their neck and drink blood. Readers want to escape reality and enter new worlds that may frighten them, make them weep, or disgust them. They want to be swept away to exotic places, terrified by violent danger, stimulated buy sudden, passionate romance, captivated by quirky characters who have shaky pasts they never experienced, and intrigued by new ideas and concepts. In the world of books, one can snap back, simply by putting the book down, back to sanity and safety. It's a hard job, but somebody's gotta do it.

I got the message...

A Walk in the Park

At 67 years old, if I set at this damn computer typing for too long, my legs start to lose their ability to support my body. So, my wife convinced me to undertake a daily exercise walk. Here in San Diego there is a park, a wildlife preserve located in the southern part of San Diego Bay. The park has a trail for hikers and bicyclists that meanders through the marshlands. Since it is nearly Spring, the plants are green and flowers are blooming. Water is still flowing from the winter rains so there are streams burbling and connecting with the lagoons. It never fails to bring me peace. I look back over a lifetime, a lifetime I don't regret, and I remember the hectic pace that prevented me from enjoying moments like this. Then I think of all the young people who are flung headlong into the unrelenting demands of today's society and I can't help but pity them. They never have the time to just walk along with nature surrounding them, and enjoy existence.

What's worse, the younger generation is busily engaged in dismantling all the protections that my parents suffered and sometimes died for. Protections from bank failures, protections promised from Social Security, protections from the greedy bastards that manipulate the stock market, and protections from the environmental disasters such as the one that nearly destroyed Lake Erie back in the sixties, are all being threatened by the illiterate, moronic fools that call themselves the Tea Party.

When I was a young father and provider for my family. One income provided for home. Car, food and three children. Since I was an industrial worker, I was protected by a strong union that kept the predations of the companies from intruding upon my life. In fact, I never worked at a job that didn't have a union, including my time spent as a college professor. Never, that is, until just before I retied. It was a retirement job at an aerospace company, and as non-union, the workers were powerless. The pay was substandard, the workers worked seven days a week, sometimes twelve hours a day (I didn't, I refused to.), just like the miserable conditions of the early twentieth century.

As I say, I pity the younger generation. Now it requires two incomes to make ends meet, so the children must be left at a daycare center. Mom and dad may be required by the employer to work long hours so they're too tired to enjoy life or their families. This seems to be escalating, and I fear for the future. People can only take so much misery before they react. The Tea Party fiasco is typical of their reaction, but it is certainly not the right one, that will only make the problems worse.

The hell with it. I'm in my life's twilight. It's not my problem anymore. I think I'll just walk along the trail and enjoy the flowers.