The Mystery & the Magic

Plot Device: Short Film

2011-07-23T07:13:00.000-07:00

I stumbled across this whimsical short film called PLOT DEVICE on a fantastic blog here thanks to Agent Kristin, and it reminded me of some of the more radical and creative short films that I've seen in recent years, such as George Lucas in Love and the three-minute, near-airplane-disaster movie, 405.

If you haven't seen those two fun little films, check them out.

Anyway, this is a fantastic little piece of fun and I think you'll like it as much as I did. Have a wonderful Saturday morning! : )

Plot Device from Red Giant on Vimeo.

Book Marketing Thursdays: Partner with Your Local Bookstore

2011-07-21T07:26:00.000-07:00

For those of you who have a favorite bookstore in your area, this idea is for you. Here's a great local-bookstore-supporting marketing approach that I genuinely love—and I think its adaptable to authors of any stripe.

As he readied for the launch of his new graphic novel Sidekicks, author Dan Santat created what he's calling a pre-order experiment. He told fans via blog post that if they pre-ordered his new book through his site, he would buy all the preordered books through his local bookstore, Mrs. Nelson’s Toy & Book Shop, in La Verne California. The author then promised to sign each copy and provide each customer with some exclusive content from the book, including one-of-a-kind artwork. And Mrs. Nelson's Toy & Book Shop would pocket the profits.

Lots of great things here: First, you support your mom and pop bookshop. Second, you garner some customer loyalty and interest because of the method. Third, you provide some unique extras to build lifelong fans and readers of your work.

Clearly, this unique approach is simpler for graphic novelists, who can giveaway some extra artwork more easily than other authors, however, I think this kind of fan-focused, and local bookstore angle could earn great results for any author with the right amount of creative thinking.

*Above: Author Dan Santat.

Check out the story at Publisher's Weekly for details. Or go straight to Dan Santat's web site right now for details, videos, behind the scenes material, and the opportunity to buy his new book.

By the way (and not that you care) but my favorite local bookstore in California, where I lived for most of my life is Bart's Books in Ojai, CA, the self-described World's Greatest Outdoor Bookstore. And yes, much of the book store is actually outside. Crazy, but totally awesome for any book fiend. Bart's also has a number of small rooms displaying rare first editions and signed books for the book collector. My favorite local bookstore here in Colorado is, of course, The Tattered Cover in downtown Denver. I go there far too often even though its a bit of a drive.

What's your favorite local bookstore?

Writing, Publishing, Storytelling: Links of the Day

2011-07-19T07:25:00.000-07:00

Enjoy these Writing, Publishing, and Storytelling (WPS) links for the day.

First, many of you probably saw these new images last week, but I had to post them. I am big fan of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit and these early shots are too cool not to share. The image below is of Dori, Nori, and Ori, three dwarves from the Peter Jackson helmed two-part Hobbit movie (part one of which will release in 2012):

If you want to see more Hobbit news, check out the Hobbit movie web site, where there are more images of some of the other characters, including Bilbo, Gandalf, and a couple behind the scenes videos as well.

In other book news, last week USA Today launched a book dedicated site where you can find book reviews, interviews, bestseller's lists and more in a multitude of genres and categories. The site also allows readers to preview book and buy them through links to online retailers. Great news, considering that print reviews are dwindling.

There's an interesting excerpt from an interview with Lee Goldberg over at GalleyCat where he advises against making a book trailer to advertise your book, generally because the quality is often so bad. I agree that if your book trailer is BAD, you might as well have saved your money (author or publisher). However, should we write off all book trailers, just like that? Can this marketing idea help a book?

Finally, there's a fantastic list called "The Laws of Future Publishing" over at Thad McIlroy's blog The Future of Publishing that is worth checking out for any author, publisher, book editor, or otherwise interested party. This list may be old news to some of you, but it's so-called laws are great fodder for conversation as the digital publishing transition continues.

Enjoy!

A Printer That Can Print Anything

2011-07-16T08:32:00.000-07:00

This fantastic little video has been going around the web for the past couple weeks. It's a totally fascinating technology with massive implications for all sorts of industries - including publishing? I have no idea really there.

You watch this and you want to know, like really, how the heck does it actually work? This looks like something straight out of Star Trek.

The Mystery: The Sounds of a Star

2011-07-15T13:21:00.000-07:00

In today's post on The Mystery, I'm writing about the universe again, and this time because I simply couldn't resist talking about this little fun fact. Did you know that stars, such as Pulsars (or dying stars), make a kind of music?

Maybe I missed this course in college, but it was news to me. As I continue to work on this universe book project having to do with all these mind-bending and utterly fascinating parts of the universe, I came across this strange fact. And even better, I came across the soundtrack to go with it. Note: I will post more details about the book later when it hits shelves.

I also saw this highlighted on a recent episode of that wacky new science show Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman, the other night. That show blows my mind, but it reminded me of this link below.

Click on the link and after you listen to some of these audio files, scroll down and check out the two files at the bottom of the linked page. There's actually some truly fascinating harmony in these "songs" from the Pulsars in 47 Tucanae.

Listen to the stars at this web site.

Alright, so if you've listened to them now, you know that the majority of these stars almost sound more like they are clicking or drumming, rather than singing, but still. Stars make sounds. How entirely radical is that?

Writing Publishing Storytelling: Links of the Day

2011-07-13T07:28:00.000-07:00

Good morning, here are the WPS (Writing, Publishing, Storytelling) Links for today.

This first link here is probably old news to all of you by now, but man Google+ has launched with a bang. Is this really publishing news? I think everything Google does has implications for the future our industry and many others, so decide for yourself.

Anyway, I am seeing Google's answer to Facebook all over the web right now even though it's purportedly only usable at the moment by invitation. I got on pretty quickly, and it's another interesting social media site. Not as visually appealing as Facebook so far, but all the tech heads seem to love it. PC World has an interesting article about it talking about what Google+ needs in order to win the social media game. Here's a link to Google's introduction of the new service complete with videos and explanations. And here's the Google+ homepage for those who haven't found it yet.

In other Google news, the story is out that the tech company is launching a new e-reader device called Story HD, according to this Publishers Weekly article. Cool name but can it compete with the growing market for these e-readers?

Here is a quick and easy post on how to self-publish your book. If you need eight down and dirty steps on how to make this happen, check out this helpful article.

Well, this didn't take long. Casey Anthony, the biggest legal storm since OJ, has already spun off a book—but it isn't her own, not yet—though I'm sure that's coming. Fox News Contributor Keith Ablow is writing a book about the trial if you're interested. Seriously though, I'm over it.

Now take a minute and watch an entire bookstore fill up with books! : )

How the New Art Will Affect Publishing

2011-07-12T12:13:00.000-07:00

The New Art and Publishing. My brother recently introduced me several art projects created through some insanely complicated data-mining technology and also crowd-sourcing.

Crowd-sourcing is essentially the idea of outsourcing a body of work to a crowd of people. I've seen it play out uniquely in business, on creative projects, and even in a marketing application, but I've never seen anything related to crowd-sourcing as cool as The Johnny Cash Project.

The Johnny Cash Project

After seeing this crowd-sourced music video for a song on one of Johnny Cash's posthumous albums, it has me wondering about how this might apply to publishing as well.

Watch the music video, and then check out the behind the scenes video about how it was put together with hundreds of artists/fans each drawing and inking over old archival footage of the man in black, with each artist/fan completing exactly one second of the video.

The result is pretty phenomenal. Here is The Johnny Cash Project behind the scenes video.

The Wilderness Downtown

The same people who created The Johnny Cash Project also displayed more of the same broad technological creativity in a recent music video project for the band The Arcade Fire. This is probably my band of choice at the moment as I cannot get The Suburbs out of my head, so I may be a bit biased here.

However, go to The Wilderness Downtown site and experience this music video for yourself. To begin, you type in your home address, or the address of the home you grew up in.

This video then uses Google Earth's image database to customize a music video for you specifically. Each person who watches the music video gets to view a totally unique experience, which just strikes me as an idea that has legs in other mediums.

And again, because I work in publishing in various capacities, my mind immediately goes to the questions, how could this type of creativity play itself out for books, magazines, or other areas of the publishing and/or journalism worlds?

So I ask you, what do you think? What would a crowd-sourced book look like? With all the benefits of technology, how can publishers customize their products in this way?

The Mystery: Connections Between People

2011-07-08T07:54:00.000-07:00

I heard this story that was too cool not to write about. Driving down the highway last week I listened as NPR's Barbara Bradley Haggerty reported on "The Science of Spirituality" and one specific part of her report was called The Love Study.

Researchers brought a married couple (Teena & JD) into a laboratory at the Institute of Noetic Sciences in the San Francisco area to conduct a test. Apparently, according to all physical signs, the couple were very clearly in love.

So the researchers brought Teena into a isolated, soundproof room, that was electromagnetically shielded, then put electrodes on her hand to track her blood flow, her skin conductance activity (whatever that is), which translates into some sort of measure of her nervous system's activity. Researchers then locked the door and left her alone.

Then they brought JD to another isolated chamber with a closed-circuit TV monitor. The researcher told JD that images of his wife would appear on the TV monitor for 10 seconds at a time at random intervals. He was instructed to focus on the image of his wife when it appeared and use it as an opportunity to think about her and send her love.

The researchers monitored JD's nervous system responses too and whenever his wife's image appeared on the screen his generally even line jumped and went all ragged.

The researchers wanted to know if Teena would be affected in the same way.

And what were the results? After a full hour in separate isolated rooms the results came in. During the times when her husband was not staring at her image and thinking about her, Teena's results showed a flat line of normal activity. But while he was looking at her, her results jumped and showed significant changes within two seconds, every time.

The story on the NPR site said this:

"After running 36 couples through this test, the researchers found that when one person focused his thoughts on his partner, the partner's blood flow and perspiration dramatically changed within two seconds. The odds of this happening by chance were 1 in 11,000. Three dozen double blind, randomized studies by such institutions as the University of Washington and the University of Edinburgh have reported similar results."

So what are the implications of this amazing test finding and why am I writing about it here on a blog about writing, storytelling and publishing?

Well for me, this study brings light to part of the magic of relationships, and the connections between people. These mysterious connections that spouses and siblings, friends and parents and their children feel and sense are at the heart of the stories that I want to tell as a writer, and as a publisher.

A bond like this could even explain the strange and wonderful things that happen when people pray or even think about someone else in a positive way. And how cool is that? Science and spirituality keep finding so much in common - how radical and postmodern!

You can read the whole story here at NPR.org. Also be sure to check out the series by Barbara Bradley Haggerty called The Science of Spirituality. Very cool.

Book Marketing Thursdays - The Lost & Found Project

2011-07-07T07:03:00.000-07:00

Today, dig this insanely cool (and regional) marketing idea for any published or self-published author to use:

The Lost & Found Project, Amy Krouse Rosenthal

Amy Krouse Rosenthal is a novelist and children's book author who published a book several years ago called Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life. In order to market her book while on her book tour, Amy decided to give away 150 copies to complete strangers by hiding the books in strange places. Did it work? Who knows, but I still think the idea is a interesting one.

Amy did some other fun projects with this book, including hiding 100 golden tickets in random places (apparently one guy found one on a bookshelf in a store) that led the finder to her web site and a free prize. I think there is something to this idea, it has a genuine personal link to the author and therefore, the potential to create lifelong readers. The trick with all these ideas would be to put these teasers in places where actual readers are likely to find them. : )

Check out all of this and more at the author's site:
http://www.encyclopediaofanordinarylife.com/

This particular marketing idea might take a lot of work, but I'm impressed by the sheer creativity and passion of the idea in the first place!

And one more thing before you take off, if you have a good book marketing idea, post it below- I would love to hear about it and explore it in a future post!

Writing, Publishing, Storytelling (WPS): Links of the Day

2011-07-05T07:18:00.000-07:00

Good morning, here some of the WPS (Writing, Publishing, Storytelling) Links of the Day:

On this fine Tuesday morning, I wanted to start the updates with a link to story bearing a headline written for any editor or publisher working today. It's a grabby title that will immediately peak any publisher's interest, though the underlying assumption is sure to be questioned.

The story is called: "Cherish the Book Publishers—You'll Miss Them When They're Gone." It's a fascinating article that talks about how with e-books and digital publishing on the rise, the slush pile that once was the problem of the publishers, will now become the problem of readers everywhere. Fascinating premise.

Also, check out this interesting article about a growing trend in comic book publishing: Crowdfunding. Perhaps you've heard of this phenomenon as it has worked in Hollywood. A bunch of fans gather together and raise money to help fund a favorite indie film project. Is this an idea that could gain steam in publishing as well? Publishers Weekly reports on how it's already happening with comic books.

In the midst of an unsure economy and as traditional publishers struggle with the age-old battle of reigning in costs (and advances for hot projects!) while also driving up sales and interest in their books, Amazon continues to build their publishing presence. Their latest entre into the publishing world is a Romance imprint called Montlake Romance. This imprint adds to their growing presence which began with AmazonEncore in 2009.

I don't know about you, but I am eagerly awaiting the release of George R.R. Martin's new book A Dance of Dragons (next week!), which is book five in his already classic series A Song of Ice and Fire. Martin is often called the American Tolkien and fans have been waiting desperately for the book for nearly 6 years now, so this was bound to happen. And Martin is not happy.

As I posted about recently, publishers are making more and more of their catalogs available on the Kindle for a low price and many of those books are being offered for free for a limited time, to promote an author or a series. Here is a helpful link about how to find some of the hundreds of free or discounted books on the Kindle.

Finally, there's a great post from Nathan Bransford about Why You Are Receving Rejections to your query letters. He's always an insightful voice, and this post is no exception!

That's a wrap up of what I've read recently on the WPS scene. Enjoy your Tuesday! : )

Bad Book Covers: 4th of July Edition

2011-07-04T07:38:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since I posted about awful book covers, so I decided to have some fun with it for the Fourth of July.

Now, you may love the following book covers, and if so, please let me know why. I think about this topic quite often as I work with authors and cover designers to figure which book covers are best for which books and why. It's an admittedly subjective topic, but worth reviewing and discussing as I did in my The Purpose of a Book Cover post.

Enjoy!

I read a bunch of Piers Anthony's novels when I was a young fantasy and science fiction reader, but wow, since he left his major publishers in recent years, all his book covers have taken a nosedive. I think this one speaks for itself.

This book cover above is fantastic. Contrary to what you might guess, this book came out in 2006, though clearly they were trying to mimic the early twentieth century movie poster look. For me, even though its a book of humor, the title is so odd and awkward, as a result I don't think it succeeds. Thoughts?

This cover felt oddly appropriate for today, even though its an awful attempt at sci-fi symbolism with a poorly rendered iRobot-looking machine man. Lovely.

Getting better as we go down the list, eh? This one looks like a Ken doll in armor; what's going on here? His self-satisfied smile, his coiffed hair, and his bejeweled, glowing sword make it one of the worst covers I've ever seen.

And I always get a kick out of a book about design that is poorly designed. Yes, it's about menu design, but still. The designer could've spent more than five minutes on this dull collage.

What do you think?

And do you have any other horrible book cover favorites?

The Mystery: Unbelievable Universe

2011-07-01T07:05:00.000-07:00

New feature: I will be posting regularly whenever I come across something that to me hints at The Mystery, those wonderful and inexplicable things in this world that confound and fascinate us all; or as I wrote about in another post, The Mystery is that wandering spark of the transcendent that we all glimpse from time to time.

So this post doesn't have a lot to do with publishing, however, I've been neck-deep in a new and unique (at least for me) book project that has been endlessly fascinating.

This new book, when it's complete, will feature some of the more astounding images of galaxies and nebulae, stars and planets, along with a myriad of phenomena from all over the universe and taken from various earth-bound sources and others including the Hubble Telescope.

In the process of doing the dirty work putting this book together, e-mailing back and forth with a former NASA astronaut, dealing with securing image rights here and there, working with the authors, and then editing some of the content as well, I stopped and looked hard at these images. Somewhere in the middle of it all, I just took it all in and wow is all I can say.

Every time I look at them, I feel very small.

There's a staggering sense of wonder that hits you as you look at what's "out there" and try to figure it all out, or fit the scope of it all in your head. Dig the following images, for example:

*This image looks so sci-fi I can't stand it. This is a dying star is known as NGC 6302, or the Bug Nebula. The gases race away from the center of the nebula at over 600,000 miles per hour. (above)

*This image of a radical-looking mountain of dust and gas rising from the Carina Nebula, is apparently a 3-light-year-tall pillar of hydrogen. How do they know that? (above)

* This picture just doesn't even figure into my world at all, it's just difficult to process. The object is a Red Supergiant Star called V838 Monocerotis, and apparently this image shows "light echoes." Basically, this star flashed back in 2002 and we got these crazy photos to prove it. (above)

Anyway, so I just thought I'd share some of what I'd been working on—and this is just a hint of what it will become. I'll put up a post at some point when this book hits bookstores in six months or so.

And by the way, you can find hundreds and thousands more similar images that are just as mind-blowing (and better) at: www.nasaimages.org or www.hubblesite.org!

Great News for AFLA Author T.C. McCarthy!

2011-06-29T05:15:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I received some fantastic news about one of the authors who is with the Alexander Field Literary Agency (AFLA)! But I suppose I should start at the beginning.

I started working with author T.C. McCarthy a couple years ago, when his manuscript for a future war, military SF novel crossed my desk. I had been poring over stacks and stacks of manuscripts at the time, and while some were interesting and others were pretty well written, the large majority of what I slogged through was poor. Not much rattled me, got inside my head, or hit me at the core - and ultimately, that's what we look for, isn't it?

Then one morning, in the middle of my coffee, the third manuscript in a pile of manuscripts just grabbed hold of me with a bristling intensity and a sharp, often dark, wit. Sometimes this happens for a couple pages and then it subsides, and you must tamper down your excitement and move on. But this time, when I read T.C. McCarthy's first novel, a book called Germline, I tore through the first three chapters in one sitting and found myself hungry for more. The characters got into my head and stayed there; I thought about them the next day and wanted to continue reading.

Turns out, T.C. is a great guy, and a former CIA analyst who has experience working with complex weapons systems and biotechnology - perfect training for writing believable, scary, and rip-roaring military SF.

I asked for the whole manuscript and finished reading the novel a couple days later. Soon after I signed T.C., we took the book to every major SF publisher in New York, landing it finally with Orbit Books (www.orbitbooks.net). Orbit is a bold SF and Fantasy imprint that regularly publishes, not just the big names in this genre (although they publish many of those), but many of the best writers in the genre. I often see Orbit's books on best book lists or getting rave reviews in the trades, and they are breaking out some of the hot young voices in SF & F today. So we signed T.C. up for a three book deal, which required him to write like crazy, but off we went!

You can see the cover launch for Germline at Orbit's web site here.

A month ago the Publisher's Weekly write up came out, and Germline had earned a starred review - an accolade that frankly, is not very common. The review called the book a "compelling debut" that is "impossible to put down," an experience I certainly understood.

And yesterday, I found out that Germline was named one of Publisher's Weekly's Top Ten SF, Fantasy, & Horror Novels of the Fall Season (see the review in the June 27th issue of PW). This is great news, and well-earned praise for one of the best new SF writer's on the scene. Congratulations T.C.!

Germline, which is the first book in The Subterrene War trilogy, hits stores on July 26, 2011. And you can pre-order Germline on Amazon right now. I know you'll enjoy it as much as I did!

Free Short Stories

2011-06-27T18:58:00.000-07:00

Today, after a long absence from the blog, I thought I'd post a few links to some killer (and free!) short stories by some of the great novelists of our time. I've been collecting links here and there as I discover them (and there are many more to come) and I thought I'd share. Happy reading!

If you've digested and enjoyed David Mitchell's work, such as the brilliant novel comprised of a series of looping bookends Cloud Atlas, which is a personal favorite of mine, and his others including Ghostwritten, Black Swan Green, or Number9Dream, then perhaps you'll enjoy this short story as well:

"The Massive Rat" (Published in The Guardian)

Celebrated science fiction novelist and prolific blogger Tobias Buckell has a short story posted on Nature.com called "Toy Planes":

"Toy Planes" (Published on Nature.com)

A short story by Stephen King, who needs no introduction from the likes of me:

"Rest Stop" (Published in Esquire)

And Dave Eggers, author of the memoiresque novels What is the What and Zeitoun, as well as his own personal memoir A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, has a series of short stories (actually it's a serial novel) posted on Salon.com available to read for free.

"The Unforbidden is Compulsory, or Optimism" (Published on Salon.com)

The table of contents for the entire serial novel is here.

Have a great day and enjoy!

The Future of the Book...

2010-09-23T07:54:00.001-07:00

A fantastic new video from the minds at IDEO...

The Future of Publishing...

2010-03-24T11:27:00.001-07:00

As every publisher, editor, author and literary agent ponders the future of publishing, wondering if digital books are going to become any kind of standard anytime soon, well...it's always good to relax and have a bit of fun.

So here's a unique little video about "The Future of Publishing" that's been making the rounds in publishing circles...

Routes to Publication!

2010-03-17T09:54:00.000-07:00

Today I stumbled across some fascinating data pertaining to first time author sales. I thought it might be of interest to those of you working on trying to sell your first book.

Jim C. Hines, fantasy novelist and short story writer, conducted a survey of fiction authors and came up with some fascinating results. On his blog you can find Part One of the results he found, and I'm sure future parts of his survey will be equally fun to review and discuss.

Of particular interest to me, was the information he discovered about the most common routes to publication with a major publisher. There is a rumor out there that many authors buy into that self-publishing your novel (or nonfiction book) will help you get attention from major publishers, and thereby, get you closer to a deal.

As a book editor myself, I know that seeing a self-published book hit my desk isn't necessarily an exciting proposition—in fact, many times a manuscript is easier to dismiss if its been self-published first. Why? If an author self-publishes a book, I have to assume that he or she has already exhausted every other publishing option—which makes me as the acquisition editor, their last resort. Perhaps a faulty assumption, I know.

Anyway, so here are the results Jim found: 1 author of the 246 authors he polled, took the self-publishing this route to publication. So it can happen. See the other routes to publication below:

Surprised?

By far, most novelists get published by getting an agent or braving the slush pile. Which makes sense. The other category I'm guessing is probably the catch-all that includes editors reaching out to authors after reading a short story, or friends making the connections with the editor etc. Rare occurrences, but these things do still happen.

Anyway, please check out Jim's blog post on this topic and stay tuned for more of his informative updates! : )

Jim C. Hines Blog Here.

Enjoy!

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter - Book Trailer

2010-03-08T19:15:00.000-08:00

For those of you interested in book marketing, and the strange, apparently popular phenomenon that is the "book trailer," check out Hachette's new book trailer for Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.

This is the new book Seth Grahame-Smith, the New York Times bestselling author of Pride & Prejudice and Zombies.

The publisher is taking it to another level for this book.

Do You Really Want to Self Publish Your Book?

2009-10-15T11:45:00.000-07:00

For those of you looking at Self-Publishing your book, you might want to look into Westbow Press, a new venture announced today by Thomas Nelson on Nelson CEO Mike Hyatt's blog.

Now some of you may be confused. Isn't Westbow Press a fiction imprint from Thomas Nelson? Well, yes, it used to be. They shutdown that brand a couple years ago when they incorporated all their brand names into one. However, now it has been resurrected and rebranded. See the new Westbow Press web site for details.

Hyatt's reasoning, according to his blog, is that there are more authors out there than ever, and in 2008 for the first time in history, the number of print on demand and self published books published outpaced traditionally published books. Is this a good thing? Well, maybe. But Hyatt goes on to say that this will help Thomas Nelson find new talent, and put more power into the hands of the people, the authors who haven't been able to get published so far.

Some of these things might be true. But I pose another reason.

Money. Self-publishing, or some companies call it Co-Publishing, is a no risk business for publishers. When Nelson (or any traditional publisher) pays out a massive advance to an author in a traditional publishing deal, they're betting the farm that the book will hundreds of thousands, perhaps even millions, of copies. And many times, that advance is never earned back. Increasingly, publishers have tried to find other revenue streams to offset the major risks they take every day.

Self-publishing is a way to add a no risk revenue stream by making authors pay to get their book published. The new Westbow venture will "publish" your book through a variety of package deals that range in cost from $999 to $6499. You get your book published, and Thomas Nelson takes zero risk and essentially covers their cost (and makes a small profit).

Over the years, self-publishing has been viewed by the traditional publishing industry as everything from a simple way to get your ideas out there (bestseller Rich Dad, Poor Dad started out that way!), to a scam that preys on authors deep desire to see their work in print, whatever the cost. Today, maybe that perception is changing in some speheres, but I'm not so sure.

Is this a good business move for Nelson? Absolutely. Is it good for writers? Well, I want to know what you think!

Literary agent Rachelle Gardner has posted her thoughts up on her blog here, and she's generally positive about this move.

I'm curious though. Among those of you who are writers, artists, journalists or interested in publishing at some level, how many of you would prefer to work with a traditional publisher, who pays you a royalty for every copy of a book you sell; and how many of you would prefer to work with a self-publishing operation where you pay a fee, and a few whirs and clicks later, BAM! you have a book in your hands. Go do with it what you will.

What would be your preference? And why?

The Power of Fun...

2009-10-13T07:25:00.000-07:00

Here is my favorite little video this week...thanks to Volkswagon....here is a great little experiment to test the power of fun by creating a set of piano stairs. Enjoy!

Top Ten Fictional Characters?

2009-10-01T18:51:00.000-07:00

As reentry into the blog world, I wanted to tackle something fun instead of going for deep and thoughtful. Not in the mood, sorry.

So Which Fictional Character Would You Most Like to Be?

Several months ago I posted on another fun topic, which was "what fictional places would I most like to visit?" Recently, blogger friend Beth posted on which fictional characters she would most like to be ... and I had to follow suit, though yes, quite a bit later.

My list will be pretty straightforward and simple, and most of is all from great geek fiction and film. So if you're not a fan of geek fiction or film, oh well. Suggest your own top ten. : )

So here we go:

1. Han Solo, Star Wars
What kid did'nt want to be Harrison Ford as Han Solo with a cool mid-thigh gun holster and an insane starship? Seriously. No brainer.

2. Mal - "Firefly"/Serenity
One of the coolest science fiction shows ever to hit TV and get canceled in under one season and go on to sell thousands of DVDs. Mal is the best and ever since, I've been a huge fan of Nathan Fillion. I love that his name means "bad" in Spanish. He's like Michael Jackson, he's bad.

3. Gandalf - The Lord of the Rings
He's got a great staff and magic that comes from somewhere (above?). Gandalf is an uber-stud and he's like way past retirement age. How cool is that?

4. Jack - Lost
Who wouldn't want to be the heroic doctor on a gorgeous desert island, where you're trapped with women who love you. Jack is the quintessential hero with a plethora of moral struggles and a host of overly-complex riddles to figure out. Sounds like a vacation man.

5. Joe the Cowboy - A Fistful of Dollars
Clint Eastwood plays the cowboy who makes an amazing comeback in Sergio Leone's classic, sometimes called the Star Wars of Westerns. Such a great ending - classic.

6. Jack Bauer - 24
C'mon, he's the coolest counter-terrorist in the world. And he can't be stopped...by anything, or anyone, or any bomb, bullet or terrorist alive.

7. The Gunslinger - The Dark Tower Series
This guy is another one of those archetypal characters who is so hardcore that he cannot be stopped - he is relentless, amazing with a pair of pistols and strangely, he looks like Clint Eastwood. At least in my head.

8. Steve McQueen - The Great Escape
I loved this movie and though i its based on real events, I think the film took enough liberties to be called fictional-ish. And I have to say that the escape scenes inspired me to no end as a boy. So I want to be Steve McQueen too.

9. Mr. Darcy - Pride & Prejudice
Yeah, I know right? Weird. But hey, I love this book and loved Joe Wright's adaptation on film. So sue me. Revoke my testosterone card. Whatever. Darcy is a stud.

10. Ender - Ender's Game
Best young kid science fiction hero to come along in a long time, and this was years before Harry Potter. Ender was kind of a genuis Huckleberry Finn kind of character who saves the world in the coolest possible way - by playing a video game. Cannot wait for a movie of this book to come out!

So how about for you? Who are you top fictional characters - who would you like to be for a day? Have a great week everyone! : )

Writing Contest, Jeff Bezos and a Sale for the AFLA!

2009-07-22T19:04:00.001-07:00

A couple of fun updates and notes for this Thursday.

First of all, an exciting announcement about one of my friends and literary clients, speaker, nutritionist and weight-loss expert Robert Ferguson. Robert is the creator of the Food Lovers Fat Loss System, which just became the #1 infomercial on TV, airing over 200 times per week. Robert's infomercial started airing in May, he has a number of other TV projects in development and by this time next year, he will be a household name.

I just sold Robert's first official book, titled The Food Lovers Fat Loss Express to Penguin USA for their Perigee imprint and the announcement is just about to go out on Publisher's Lunch. So congratulations to Robert! See his web site here and stay tuned for his book next Fall!

Second, for all you novelists out there who write in the Science Fiction or Fantasy genres, Tor UK just announced a new contest that is open to writers worldwide. The winner of THE WAR OF THE WORDS contest earns him- or herself a publishing contract with Tor UK (20% royalties, but with no advance).

Aidan over at A Dribble of Ink reports on the contest here, and you can see the full rules and regulations over at SciFi Now Magazine here.

Finally, I'll end today with an interesting little video from Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com. He is a seriously quirky dude, but he shares some fantastic rules for entrepreneurs and people running or managing businesses.

And if you're a writer, you are essentially running your own business, so his advice totally applies. For example, Bezos says that one must "obsess over customers," which in a writer's world translates to "obsess over readers."

Enjoy and happy Thursday!

Big Change Is Afoot Today!

2009-07-16T12:24:00.001-07:00

I haven't posted in a week and that's quite out of character (sort of). Although, I have a good reason why. Yesterday we made it official: My wife and I are moving our family to Colorado Springs.

We have been thinking about a transition for some time now, but this decision came on rather suddenly and despite the incredible speed of it, we're feeling total peace about the change.

I accepted a role working with the book line at David C. Cook, and we're excited to make the shift from southern California to Colorado. In the interim, we have a vacation planned for the family, which will include beach time, Disneyland, lots of time to read manuscripts and catch up on answering queries, and of course, simply spending some time with my family.

The Springs itself will be a great place to continue working on my writing and consulting, while also tackling a fun, new challenge at Cook with some wonderful friends there.

In order to make this post about writing, at least a little, here's an update on my reading this week:

I am finishing up George R. R. Martin's A Game of Thrones, which I had put down for a time - but I am now loving every page of it...however then I saw a new book by Dave Eggers on the shelf while I was in Denver...

So I just picked up Zeitoun, Dave Eggers' nonfiction book about Hurricane Katrina through the eyes of a Syrian-born, New Orleans-based Painter and his family. I'm eighty pages in and it's a wonderful read! Go get it!

Next I will be consuming Robin Parrish's new novel Offworld, which I'm actually excited to read. I love me a little science fiction.

So anyway, to all my Southern California friends and family, it's been awesome. We love you, and will miss you greatly... and of course...good luck with the CA budget crisis!

Kidding. : )

The Purpose of a Book Cover

2009-07-08T11:54:00.001-07:00

I stumbled across an interesting post by Seth Godin on The Purpose of a Book Cover. This is a question you may not think about (or maybe you do), however, it's something I discuss with colleagues, authors and agents often.

The conversation usually arises around a particular cover, as in, what is the purpose of this specific book cover? Does this design or image achieve the goal we set out for this book? Will this particularly design style appeal to the primary target audience of this book?

This discussion happens regularly and many different opinions inevitably fly around the room.

But I am interested in your opinion—what is the purpose of a book cover? Godin tackles this question generally, offering three options and singling out one as the key purpose of a book cover. His three options are: (1) to sell books, (2) to accurately describe the book, or (3) to, as he says, "tee up the reader so the book has maximum impact." Of course, he says that the purpose of the book cover is #3.

I would argue, however, that the actual purpose of the book cover is #1, to sell books through intriguing design, imagery or placement of information. My reason? I think #3 is cheating first of all (#3 sounds an awful lot like #1 with better words), but also, I think "maximum impact" is determined more by internal design, endorsements, and ultimately, the content of the book itself. Maximum impact has very little to do with the Book Cover in my mind.

After all, if you picked up a book because you loved the cover, read page one and found the book itself to be horribly dull, you would put the book down immediately.

The Book Cover is only responsible for the initial impact a book will have on a potential reader.

However, as we all know, most of us judge our books by their covers and oftentimes a poor cover can result in far less interest in a work that we might otherwise read (I know we're a shallow lot - unless it's just me!). Apparently, the average book buyer spends about eight seconds looking over a potential book purchase in abook store before putting the book down. The cover certainly is important in the final purchase decision!

So this is a question that is certainly up for debate. What do you think?

Writing Tips from 3 Masters

2009-07-07T08:02:00.000-07:00

I love writing tips, but I pay attention when they come from a master of the craft. So for today we have a selection of links to writing tips from 3 masters of the craft - Stephen King, Ernest Hemingway and George Orwell.

First, paraphrased from his book On Writing, 7 Tips Tips for Becoming a Better Writer from Stephen King. King is of course one of the most disciplined and well-respected writers in American letters. Whether or not you like his work, his attention to the craft of writing is unparalleled today.

Next, a selection of Ernest Hemingway's Top Five Tips for Writing Well. Debate Hemingway's lifestyle and his respect for women, but do not debate his powerful contributions to literature. Ever since reading and rereading The Sun Also Rises in college, I have been a fan of his writing.

Finally, from George Orwell, author of some of the finest novels in American literature (Animal Farm, 1984 etc.) we have 6 Questions and 6 Rules for Writers.

Happy Tuesday!

In Which I Talk About Writing That's Frighteningly Good

2009-07-05T11:08:00.000-07:00

In this post I want to highlight FOUR of my favorite books of the last few years (and maybe a few more). I have NO doubt that I will add to this post in the future (or post another list with some of my favorites in specific genres), but for today, I will highlight only four.

About three years ago I went through an immensely inspiring time in my life when I dove headfirst into a whole shelf of books that blew my mind, one leading me to the next, all in the space of a couple years. This time inspired me to write more and reignited the literary passion I had in college when I studied whole shelves of fiction and poetry.

One of those books was Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. This tour de force of voice, language and downright pen-to-paper ambition blew my mind.

Mitchell is a British born writer who has traveled the world, lived in Japan and written about it, and is fast becoming on the most recognizable voices of his generation. In Cloud Atlas he creates a band of massively diverse characters, hopskotching centuries and cultures with skilled precision and nailing their worlds. He leaps from a voyage across the sea to a new world to a composer in Europe to a modern day investigator to a near future Japan and somehow, acrobatically manages to connect these stories. Since I read and was astounded by Cloud Atlas, I tore through Mitchell's other novels Ghostwritten, Numer9Dream and Black Swan Green, and have thoroughly enjoyed myself each time through. Mitchell has been compared to Salinger and Dickens and others, and I think we'll continue to see amazing works from him in the future.

Perhaps one of the first books I read that opened my mind to the power of the memoir was A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, by Dave Eggers. The ironic style of Eggers voice is charming and fun, but the writing in this memoir propelled the reader through the book, each page peppered with wit and humor even in the midst of such bewildering tragedy. Since taking this journey, I have very much enjoyed Eggers' What is the What, You Shall Know Our Velocity and his book of short stores as well, How We Are Hungry. I am looking forward to his new novel, Zeitoun and The Wild Things, inspired by his screenplay for the upcoming film Where the Wild Things Are.

And a little aside: Eggers' wife Vendela Vida made we wish a plane ride would never end (which rarely happens as I'm 6'3'' and I hate the small seats) with her novel Let the North Northern Lights Erase Your Name, a riveting work that kept me glued to the page until they forced me out. AND ONE MORE ASIDE: I just saw Away We Go, a film written by Eggers and Vida together, and LOVED it. I highly recommend this film for married couples, parents and anyone thinking about a life change of any sort. Or for anyone who can appreciate good movies.

Sometime later I plunked down in my chair and read The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, by Michael Chabon. Chabon had recently been nominated for a Pulitizer Prize when I picked up this book, and I could see why after reading this sweeping comic-book related psuedo-epic. The story concerns a pair who create a comic book character from scratch in the age when comic books were beginning, and Chabon charts the course of their lives from huge successes, to terrible tragedies. Chabon's use of metaphor, his phrasing and the way he combined words rocked me on every other page, and he continued to deploy this skill in The Yiddish Policeman's Union and Gentleman of the Road. I also went back and read his now classic The Mysteries of Pittsburgh and The Final Solution. I think there a few more of his that I still need to pick up.

Finally, I read this book in college: The Brave Cowboy by Edward Abbey. For some reason this book got to me when I read it years ago, relating to the plight of the last cowboy wrestling with the onset of the modern world. I bought a copy of the old movie version starring Kirk Douglas and have often dreamed of seeing this film remade now. The ironic, seemingly inevitable and partially satirical final scene broke my heart and made me sad for a lost profession. I have since started to collect Abbey's other books as well.

I think I know a good book when I put it down and then decide, then and there, to go out and read everything else by that particular author. Anyway, so here are four, and I managed to sneak a few others in there, but my list of favorites could go on.

Do you ever have that experience? What books would make your list?

To Write a Memoir (or Publish One)

2009-07-02T19:10:00.000-07:00

Every other day, a new proposal or manuscript for a “memoir” hits my desk. The problem arises immediately, especially for some of those I work with who sometimes blurt out: Is this a growing category? Do people read memoirs? And finally, what is a memoir, really?

What follows is a very brief exploration of these questions, in no particular order.

Let go to the basics first: At its essence, a Memoir is a form of autobiographical writing, or a story (or series of stories) from a person’s life. Simple, right? Memoirs may appear less structured or encompassing than formal autobiographical works as they are usually about a phase or episode of a life rather than the chronological telling of a life from childhood to adulthood and old age. Most memoirs are written from the first person point of view. The term "memoir" has actually begun to replace "autobiography" in its popular use in some ways.

So that's a quick summary. But it's funny to me when people wonder about the salability of memoirs, so I want to ask YOU a question. Do you read memoirs? If so, what was the last one you read?

In the past few years I've picked up memoirs by David Sedaris, Anne LaMott, Augusten Burroughs, Donald Miller, and of course, Dave Eggers. Who do you read?

In my exploration of this area of the market, there are TWO forces that increase the appeal of a memoir to the marketplace: Dynamite Writing about a unique stories or set of influences in one's life or upbringing (A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, by Dave Eggers, Traveling Mercies by Anne LaMott, Angela’s Ashes, by Frank McCourt, or Running with Scissors, by Augusten Burroughs).

The second force that helps a memoir appeal to a broader audience is a Compelling or Known Personality or Life Story (The Measure of a Man, by Sidney Poitier, Dispatches from the Edge, by Anderson Cooper, My Life by Bill Clinton).

And why is the form so popular these days? Well, after trolling through hundreds and thousands of proposals and queries, I see more books written "about my life" than anything else.

We all want to write about ourselves it seems, which is fantastic, so long as your memoir takes people on a journey worth remembering! : )

Photo from freedigitalphotos.net.

Self Publishing & Other Friday Topics

2009-06-26T22:25:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday all! Today I present a bit of a mishmash.

First up, novelist JA Konrath posted an article called "Should You Self Publish?" and I know many authors ask this question - Should I self publish my book? In fact, just yesterday I met with an aspiring author and did my best to field this very question for her. So check out the blog post, it presents some interesting perspective on the topic. And I'm curious, what is your general response to the idea of self publishing? Is it lame? Would it work for you? Is perspective on self publishing changing?

Konrath begins with the thesis that the answer to the post's titular question is, "It depends." He writes:

"There are no short cuts, no easy paths to success, no matter how you publish. You're going to wind up marketing, promoting, and working hard whatever you decide. Traditional publishing has the advantages of big money and a huge distribution network, though you might not get either even if you are traditionally published. Self-publishing is an alternative, but at the time of this writing it still lacks in too many areas compared to trad pubbing, except in some circumstances. Your job is to figure out what it is you want, and then decide on the best way to get it. Should you self-publish? It depends."

More on his blog.

Next, another video from the wonderful TED speaker's series. Yes, I am in love with the TED presentations, and the one below is no exception. Celebrated novelist Amy Tan speaks on creativity and the helpfulness of childhood trauma....huh? Yeah, she's funny.

Finally, a link to a Michael Jackson-themed bit of interest, at least to me. I remember watching the Jackson's "Smooth Criminal" video over and over and wondering how he was able to lean over so far on the dance floor. I thought it was trick photography, but no!

Apparently Jackson patented a pair of special leaning shoes for that move that he then went on to use on his lives tours. See them here along with a video of Jackson performing the move live. Rest In Peace Michael.

Have a great weekend.

Top Ten Marks of a Bad Query Letter!

2009-06-23T21:15:00.000-07:00

So I thought I would take a moment and list the top ten marks of a poor query letter for authors trying to pitch their books to literary agents or publishers.

Over the past month (since I began moonlighting as a literary agent, see that post here) I've received many queries for representation, and in my time as an acquisition editor, I've been at the receiving end of thousands of queries and book proposals. With that still somewhat limited view, I will list the worst I've seen both from authors, and from other agents. By the way, here are my Literary Agency Query Guidelines again, as a reminder.

So now then: The following ten things will get your query letter tossed into the recycle bin faster than anything else (at least for me):

10. Describing Our Future Relationship. Don't do it. Lines of description such as: "We'll have many years of successful partnership on these books" just come off as looking odd and presumptuous to my eye. Lines like that make me want to delete your e-mail. Sorry.

9. Crazy fonts or colors (or packaging for that matter). I am not especially fond of seeing strange fonts, colors or weird spacing arrangements in either e-mails or hard copies of queries. Times New Roman is my font, but I'm fine with Courier, Arial or Verdana (or other simple fonts). Keep it simple. All I really want to see are the words. I once received a book proposal in a box that had been ducktaped so many times I couldn't see the box itself anymore, someone had hand scrawled the address and the manuscript inside looked worn and used as if it had been sent out before. Point? Take care to present your work with professionalism.

8. Leaving out ALL biographical information. This may be just a pet peeve of mine, but I want to know who is writing the book I am considering. This is particularly important for nonfiction proposals, however, I would like to know about novelists too. Give me a sentence. At best, give me a few lines about yourself, your experience and your writing history.

7. Astounding (dare I say it, ridiculous) claims about your book. "My book will become a bestseller." "This story will leave you breathless." Let the work speak for itself.

6. "I have written a 7 book series, and books 1-4 are complete and ready for review. Book 5 will be ready in a few weeks." To me this kind of statement signals a bit of naivete, and frankly is overwhelming to read for an agent (and a publisher) . Now the red flag is up.

5. A letter about something other than the story. Why would you spend most of your query letter talking about things others than the story you want to sell? It defies logic. Don't write about how you wrote the story, or why you wrote it, or the history of naming the characters. Write about the story.

4. Flawed usage or major grammatical problems in the first few sentences. I read most of the query letters I get, but once I get 3, 4, or 5 sentences in and the errors are coming hot and fast, I'm done reading.

3. Incredibly short queries. Incredibly long queries.

2. "I have two previously published books" and then it turns out they're both self-published books. I don't like checking Amazon to find your self-published book with an awful cover that happens to be ranked #6,000,000. Makes me want to delete your e-mail again. Mention that your books are self-published, or don't mention them at all. Self published books might as well just be unpublished manuscripts in the mind of an agent or publisher.

1. "My last agent said my book was amazing!" My response has to be: "Then why are you querying me? If your book is so good, why didn't your last agent sell it?" If I were you and I had previous agents who either dropped you, and moved on to another business, I would consider the implications before I mention such information.

So these are some of my top query issues for today. I'm sure there will be others tomorrow. Until next time.

Photo by freedigitalphotos.net

The Tweet, Mightier Than the Sword?

2009-06-21T14:17:00.000-07:00

This week I've been completely startled by the rapid rise of Twitter in Iran. In some moments, it appears as if the very nature of journalism is shifting before our eyes.

Suddenly this strange little tool, a simple idea that no one had heard of a year or two ago, is helping people in a locked down state communicate words and images instantaneously to everyone else (including news agencies) around the globe. And it's beautiful.

The police in Iran are trying to crack down and take cameras and phones away from people and threaten them for speaking out and it's TOTALLY BACKFIRING.

Something historical is happening in Iran, and communication has forever changed. What are the implications of this?

Three months ago I would meet with authors who asked me with a laugh "What's the deal with Twitter?" Three weeks ago, authors have begun to tell me that they have started to Twittering. Now this free service with no revenue model is being asked by the State Department to stay online and delay updates so that the Iranian people can communicate with the outside world.

Amazing times. So how important is Twitter, this tool that people laughed at only months ago?

Should I Copyright or Protect My Work?

2009-06-15T18:44:00.000-07:00

I get asked this question sometimes about a manuscript or book idea: Should I copyright or protect my work?

And I'm going to go out on a limb here. My honest response? Not really, no.

Most good agents and editors see so many book proposals, book ideas and manuscripts that the danger of someone stealing your idea is quite LOW when you submit your work to an agent or book editor.

In fact, I think a lot of writers ask this question unnecessarily, and perhaps even to a fault. A couple writers I have met worry so much about trying to protect their "amazing idea" that they can neglect the idea or the writing itself. My advice is to worry less about copyright protection and more about writing a great book.

If you write a great book, no one can replicate that. When you partner with an agent/manager/or publisher, you are selling both your book and the promise of your future talent. So it is in their interest to work with YOU, and not steal your work.

However, there are bad agents and editors out there. It's true. And people do steal book ideas, though less often manuscripts, from time to time.

So, now then: If you want to protect your content, mark every manuscript copy you send out with a copyright symbol, and then mail the manuscript to yourself and keep it sealed in your closet just in case. This is a very simple and old school way to officially time and date stamp your work through the postal service.

And if you want to get very aggressive about protecting your work, send your entire manuscript/proposal to the Library of Congress's Copyright Office and register your book. I believe the total cost, other than postage, is around $45. However, your publisher (when you sign that all-important book contract), will do that for you upon publication.

So there it is. Simple. Don't worry about it, unless you believe your million dollar idea is ripe for getting picked off. Chances are that this is not the case. : )

And just in case you noticed that I've been posting a bit less frequently in the last week or two, it's because I am reading a lot of manuscript submissions - from potential clients. Which has been very good. I will post more on that later.

Have a great week!

Photo by freedigitalphotos.net.

The Magic Mystery Box - with J.J. Abrams

2009-06-10T20:29:00.000-07:00

In the clip below, filmmaker and heavyweight TV producer J.J. Abrams talks about his love of "Mystery", and how it is the catalyst for imagination. Of course, we all know that mystery is an essential ingredient in good stories, and can be a useful tool in the craft of storytelling.

With his involvement in the TV Shows Lost, Alias, and Fringe, and the films Cloverfield, Mission Impossible 3 and the recent blockbuster Star Trek, Abrams has mastered the art of creating mysteries, and perhaps more important, the withholding of information. Every week Lost unveils the mysteries behind the island (sometimes in maddening ways that perpetuate the questions!) but in a way that is tantalizing to viewers.

He also talks about something he bought as a child, "Tannen's Magic Mystery Box", a device used in many of the best stories,. So this talk is entirely appropriate for this blog, and for those of you who are storytellers.

Enjoy.

Real Places That Could Inspire Fictional Stories

2009-06-06T09:55:00.001-07:00

I stumbled across a blog post at Alex Carnegie's blog about the "Kowloon Walled City" in Hong Kong, a haunting city that was torn down by Chinese authorities in 1993. If you take a look at the pictures of Kowloon below, I think you'll see just how easily a writer could create a fictional world using these images as inspiration.

Apparently, the Kowloon Walled City (also known as Hak Nam) was built as a Chinese outpost to ward off pirates, and then over time, the small city existed in a location outside of Hong Kong's police district and it was taken over by squatters. The city grew into a rundown residential square with apartments built on top of others, in a tightly knit series of hovels. It became known as a hub for illegal activity and opium dens and poor working families, until authorities tore it down and built a park.

Seeing images of Kowloon got me thinking.

What sorts of real places inspire the stories and the world-building of a novelist? For you, what real places gave you a jumping off point for your novel or short story? Do you post pictures on your computer, or near your regular writing spot to inspire your imagination?

I know for me, there are myriad places that come to mind as I write, but some truly stand out in my mind. Let's begin by looking at Kowloon Walled City, a place that looks like an urban nightmare and the perfect set for a Hong Kong thriller or urban fantasy epic.

What an urban nightmare come to life! Kowloon is a sardine-packed city that stands wonderful and ghastly at the same time. So here are a few other mysterious and beautiful and potentially inspiring places from around the world.

Bora Bora Island - Amazing blue reefs and beaches.

Orkney - North of Scotland there is an archipelago called Orkney (The Orkney Islands), that is comprised of nearly 70 small islands, some of which carry old neolithic sculptures and rock formations some dating back to 6,000 BC.

Racetrack Playa, Death Valley, CA - The home of mysterious running stones, which move periodically leaving tracks behind them. No one has ever seen the stones moves and they move with no human or animal help. It's a mystery (and perhaps a story starter?).

So once again, what real live places inspire your writing?

The City & The City - Mieville

2009-06-05T23:24:00.000-07:00

I am reading China Mieville's The City & The City at the moment, and it is a head trip of a book, though I am enjoying every moment.

I won't talk too much about the book, China does that quite well himself in the video below, but the story does concern a detective on a murder case and two cities located so close together that they are literally cross-hatched, and very nearly sharing space. This twisted border relationship creates major problems as does the illegal "breach" that is crossing the border between the two cities, except at a few points. The border is more than physical too, people are bound by law to "unsee", or not acknowledge, the people of the other city, even if they pass by citizens of the other city on the street. Confused yet? It's a fascinating premise carried out with great skill.

Take a look at the video below and hear about a novel that begins in a way that might seem to be a mystery, thriller or straight on police procedural, then detours into the strange and fantastical. It's a pleasant surprise so far....

Book Expo Update - Trends

2009-06-03T21:45:00.000-07:00

All publishing talk last week at Book Expo centered around the future, around digital options for the books of tomorrow.

I caught a few minutes of a presentation by Michael Terpin on Social Networking. Terpin is a marketing guru who helped create the "Yes We Can" Music Video by Will.I.Am that went totally viral during the Obama campaign and helped propel Obama to mainstream attention.

Some notes from Terpin's Session:

- Create a Great Story - All major movements begin here says Terpin (And I tend to agree, and I think most writers and storytellers probably would too!)
- Control is Not Yours, Give it to the Consumers - This reminds me of the idea of Brand Hijacking (more on Brand Hijack here) which I first read about in the book, but have since seen everywhere.

"I don't believe in press releases anymore" Terpin stated at one point, as I jotted it down with a chuckle. Sounded sort of ridiculous actually, but his point was that all his media now feeds through bloggers. Power to bloggers!

Another guy in a session on Social Media made this strange assertion:
- Facebook is the New Yellow Pages - The presenter posited this idea with some intensity, and I get what he's saying, but the Yellow Pages, Facebook is not. I'd be curious to hear all your thoughts on this. Is this true? Really?

- This same panelist said that ALL authors and publishers MUST be on Facebook and Twitter. This should come as no surprise to most of you.

Later in the show, I had a few minutes and dropped into a session by Mike Shatzkin titled "Stay Ahead of the Shift: Publishing in 20 Years," and he began with two bullet points for publishers:

- You Must Try New Things
- Within a Framework of Understanding

Which sounds very nice. But what the heck does that mean?

He went on to describe the publishing industry 20 years from now. Shatzkin believes that all content will exist in a cloud, on the internet, in which piracy and license control will no longer be a problem (DRM issues will become irrelevant). Shatzkin spoke of how he believes everyone will be licensees and licensors, to and from the cloud. We will access the cloud through multiple gateways / devices / and screens, which we're kind of already doing...

Format specific publishing will give way to format agnostic publishing. So he believes we will publish books in many formats rather than one or two formats alone, which is good, though it drives up publisher costs.

- We will see more crowd-sourced content (content generated and contributed by the crowd)

- More subscription model publishing

- Publishers will own, manage and administer niches, where they can generate, curate and aggregate content.

- In the future, distribution won't be the problem, marketing will be the problem - How do you get noticed in the massive tidal wave of information out there?

Most of his ideas were interesting to me and entirely feasible, so far as I could tell. But even in the midst of all this wizardly talk, the bottom line was this:

No one has any idea. The future is still out there to be discovered.

One panel member disagreed entirely with most of Shatzkin's assumptions saying "who wants to receive an ebook for Christmas? The printed book will always be the primary way we read and consume and purchase books." Another New York publisher from a major publishin house who I spoke to agreed with that sentiment.

But as I've said before, publishing like the music industry, is changing. So is it the cloud or the Kindle or the Apple Tablet Reading Device or the printed book for the rest of my life? I don't know. Not yet.

Photo by freefoto.com

Book Expo America - Sightings

2009-06-02T07:27:00.000-07:00

Last week I flew out to Book Expo in New York and spent some of the week meeting with authors, potential authors, agents and publishing colleagues to talk business, and swap advice and information about the latest trends in publishing.

Later this week I'll post on some of the trends, prognostications and informational seminars I heard, but for today, just a quick list of author and celebrity sightings. I don't do the celebrity sighting thing, and typically, I don't get star struck. But hey, it was a fun week.

First Night: A colleague and I, after a dinner with a designer friend from Random House went for a late night walk in Times Square. After seeing a few sights and crowd watching for a few minutes we turned down a side street. All of a sudden a bright yellow Lamborghini sidles up to a red light not five feet away from us.

I look right and notice that the man driving looks vaguely familiar. A group of guys standing nearby yell out "Hey Tracy!" and point at the car. The driver REVS the engine twice in ackowledgment. So I take a good look. Of course it's Tracy Jordan from the TV Shows 30 Rock and Scare Tactics, taking a young lady for a ride. I think he plays a ego-obsessed celebrity who drives around in a yellow Lamborghini on 30 Rock, and then, there he is, driving around in a yellow Lamborghini just off Times Square. Funny way to start the trip.

Next Morning: The next morning I shared breakfast with an author of ours at an upscale restaurant in Rockefeller Center. On the way to the breakfast spot at about 6:55 a.m. I spy a stage and a bunch of lighting set up on a side street near Rockefeller Center. But it's New York! No big deal, right? Then I hear a voice casting over the cool morning. A man's voice singing the Tear for Fears song "Mad World," very high, pitch-perfect and with incredible range.

If you watched American Idol this season, you might guess the singer's name immediately. Adam Lambert. Apparently Lambert and Kris Allen and others were doing an NYC concert for a pretty sizable morning crowd. I listened for a moment, only to turn away to go into my meeting. I didn't want to be late.

BEA: Walking around BEA from meeting to meeting, and popping into a few of the panels and sessions I saw China Mieville (I am currently reading The City & The City), Brandon Sanderson, Neil Gaiman, James Ellroy (wow, this guy's is a spitfire!), Steven Tyler (yes, the lead singer of Aerosmith is now an author!), Sherman Alexie and Chris Anderson (of The Long Tail, and now Free).

Also, in terms of book news, I learned that Dave Eggers has three books releasing this year including The Wild Things (October), the screenplay for his new film called Away We Go (which I hope to see the moment it goes into wider release) and another one called Zeitoun (July), which is about a man in the aftermath of Hurricaine Katrina.

There was a lot more fun at BEA, but I'm hopping another plane for Texas this week so I must leave it at that for today.

As for you, what celebrities, writers, singers or TV stars would leave you starstruck? If any at all?

How You Can Send A Query to AFLA!

2009-05-29T16:21:00.000-07:00

I'm still in New York for BEA but I wrote this up earlier in the week and wanted to get it on the blog before I jump on a plane for home, tomorrow.

So if you're an author writing a book and you need representation for your work, take a look below so you can be sure your work is right for me (and the Alexander Field Literary Agency). The last thing I want to do is waste your time, and I'm sure you feel the same way about wasting mine (right?).

I am looking for great fiction and nonfiction.

I'm going to tell you what I love to read because that's what I will be most passionate about representing to publishers. In the area of fiction I enjoy well-written Fantasy, Sci Fi, Thrillers, Mystery, Urban Fantasy, Noir, Historical Fiction and Literary Fiction. The last novel I read was The Stranger by Albert Camus, and I'm currently reading through A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin. However, I try to read broadly, and have the following on my shelf: Dave Eggers, Stephen King, Dan Simmons, Ted Dekker, James Ellroy, Michael Chabon, Brandon Sanderson and many others.

In the NONFICTION area I have a particular interest in representing titles in Health & Wellness, Business, Self-Help, Biography, Autobiography and Memoir. In this area I want to see a unique and fresh concept, written by an author who brings expertise or experience to the topic.

If you're not sure that your book is a fit, send the QUERY and I'll let you know.

At this time, I DO NOT represent Romance, Christian Nonfiction of any kind, Comic Books or Graphic Novels, Reference, Academic Texts, Gift Books or Picture Books.

If you think your book and I would get along, go ahead and query me! Send me an e-mail letter with the following information:

-Short synopsis of your book
-Word Count of your manuscript (Fiction should be complete; Nonfiction should have 2 sample chapters ready to review)
-Genre
-Working Title
-Pertinent Author Information (Writing credits, Professional information etc.)

Keep your letter relatively short (3-5 paragraphs) and try to be clear and honest. I will judge every query on its merits (and my unique interests), and if I am interested, I will request a sample of your writing. If I can't represent you, I will let you know promptly.

At this time, I do not accept submissions through the mail. But I will do my best to review every query within 3-4 weeks, barring vacations, business trips and unforeseen natural disasters. Also, be sure to type the word "QUERY" in the subject line of your e-mail. Thank you.

Oh, and you can send your query letter to alexfield1 at gmail dot com.

Photo by freedigitalphotos.net.

Alexander Field Literary Agency?

2009-05-26T21:50:00.000-07:00

Lately, I've been sitting down with some writer friends and helping them to outline, shape and even edit their new book ideas or manuscripts. This became such a regular thing that (not that I was doing it for money, of which there was none!) last year I formed a small side business and opened a bank account for all my personal freelance writing, editing and this regular editorial consulting that I just sort of happened into.

Then I took it a step further and decided to form a small boutique literary agency to give me a way to help my friends go to the publishers. So I drafted my own literary agency contract, set up the home office and set some very clear personal guidelines. I will not agent any book that will compete with the books I might publish for my employer, Regal Books. This means that I will not represent Christian nonfiction in any form. Other than that, I am open for business.

Even though I am wading into this slowly, I am already learning as I negotiate and engage in the back and forth discussions with NY publishing companies, that I am accustomed to having from the other side of the table. Throughout this process, I'm almost learning the business anew.

And because I only do this on the weekends and in the evenings in the wee hours, I have had to become been very selective about the projects on which I spend my time. As of today, I have taken on several official clients, and I'm discussing book projects with two other authors whom I think have good book concepts that could sell to a publisher.

Once some of these deals become public I will list more of the details here, but for today this post is a kind of christening as this new ship leaves port!

Photo by www.freedigitalphotos.net

Book EXPO America Preview

2009-05-23T08:31:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday I fly to New York for BEA - Book Expo Americ a. This is the show at which publishers debut all their new Fall books, trot out their big authors for book signings and interviews, and generally have a good time.

My guess is that this year will be slightly more subdued than last year even though it was in Los Angeles (and the New Yorkers didn't like that so much!), as many publishers are having to make marketing cutbacks due to the recession, which could mean smaller booths, fewer authors and smaller stacks of book giveaways. However, publishers love to promote their new titles, so I will be on the lookout for the hottest new ideas in publishing this year.

The other theme I see in the BEA program of panels and presentations is digital, digital, digital! Every publisher and author on the face of the earth is trying to figure out how books and printed resources will go digital, and how to monetize that very small (at this time) part of their business. There are panels on Print On Demand, discussions of Freemiums and how to create Free content in order to market content for a price, presentations about digital books and more.

I have a slew of wonderful meetings with authors, leaders, potential authors, agents and friends all of which will be very productive. But it's all about the new books. So here are a few of the new books featured for you writers, readers and book lovers:

THE STRAIN
The recently-announced director of New Line Cinema's Peter Jackson-produced The Hobbit film, just wrote a novel. The Strain by Guillermo Del Toro (director of Pan's Labyrinth, and Hellboy) along with co-writer Chuck Hogan will surely be talked about during the show.

In my space of Christian nonfiction publishing, Tyndale's big books this year are Tony Dungy's new release Uncommon, along with Joel Rosenberg's Inside the Revolution. Zondervan will be featuring Rob Bell's new book Drops Like Stars (see below), which I am curious to read, and Philip Yancey's Grace Notes. Thomas Nelson will surely promote their big new Robin McGraw book, and Andy Andrews' The Noticer. Our own Regal Books will feature Josh McDowell's Evidence for the Resurrection and our upcoming Fall release of Shane Claiborne & John Perkins' powerful new book Follow Me to Freedom.

For fans of fantasy & science fiction fiction there are many big releases this Fall, but there is one that will surely hit the NY Times list - even though I hate the cover for this book (see below). The Gathering Storm, by Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson releases this November and will be a huge book as it is the long-awaited Book 12 in the Wheel of Time series.

Anyway, so that's an brief dip into the show. Next weekend I will try to post a recap of what I saw, heard and picked up. Until then, have a great Memorial Weekend!

By the way, here's a fun link regarding BEA from Literary Agent Janet Reid: "How Not to Be a YAHOO" here.

Introducing McSweeneys...

2009-05-21T05:14:00.000-07:00

For your reading pleasure this morning, a few recent and hilarious posts from McSweeney's Internet Tendency, the online edition of Dave Eggers' creative writing magazine, McSweeneys Quarterly Concern. If you haven't heard of McSweeneys, spend some time on their site with some of the finest writers and editors aroud. The writing is clever, funny and totally irreverent.

First, enjoy Dan Liebert, verbal cartoonist.

Second, take in the wisdom of Teddy Wayne's Unpopular Proverbs.

And finally, an E-mail Trail from Your Facitilies Department.

Enjoy!

Stephen Lawhead's TUCK

2009-05-20T18:53:00.001-07:00

This past month I read Tuck, book three in Stephen Lawhead's new Robin Hood series, called The King Raven Trilogy, from Thomas Nelson. Tuck, along with Scarlett and Hood together present a refreshingly original, and wholly re-imagined approach to the Robin Hood myth of old complete with fully drawn characters, realistic situations and thrilling action. Right up front, I want to recommend the trilogy whole-heartedly but be sure to read Hood first and go in order. These books are not meant to stand alone.

Lawhead actually relocates his Robin Hood story from the well-known (and loved) Sherwood Forest to a small obscure kingdom in Wales and creates his "Robin" in the character Rhi Bran, a young teenager named Bran ap Brychan, a young heir to a throne who is forced to retreat to the nearby, and quite spooky, forest when his father the King is murdered (this happens in book one Hood).

Young Bran creates a ragtag rebellion of sorts attacking his enemies almost out of necessity and deeply-felt motivaton but with calculated theatrics that in Lawhead's hands become great fun to read. In Scarlet Lawhead intensifies the journey of Bran's crew with a builing of the group, intense fight scenes (and brutal defeats) and a depth of historical understanding that rivals some of the best epic writing I've seen. Tuck brings the story to its conclusion and finds its "merry men", who are bedraggled and defeated after a rout in book two, at their worst. They rally to find support for their rebellion and help comes when they least expect it. Lawhead's takes his Robin Hood through a hero's trial that is as exciting to read as any version of Robin Hood I've read or seen.

Throughout this series I was impressed by Lawhead's prose, even though passages in all three books sometimes felt overburdened by detailed descriptions or historical nuances that could have been streamlined. With that said, this is one of the most enjoyable fantasyesque series I've read in quite awhile. I would love to see this version of the story of Robin Hood reimagined for the screen someday with a visionary director at the helm to make the visuals (in my head) come to life on the movie screen.

You can find many more people blogging about Tuck, Stephen Lawhead and The King Raven Trilogy on these fine blogs:

Brandon Barr , Jim Black , Keanan Brand , Rachel Briard , Grace Bridges , Valerie Comer , Amy Cruson , CSFF Blog Tour , Stacey Dale , D. G. D. Davidson , Jeff Draper , April Erwin , Karina Fabian , Beth Goddard , Todd Michael Greene , Ryan Heart , Timothy Hicks , Christopher Hopper , Joleen Howell , Becky Jesse , Cris Jesse , Jason Joyner , Kait , Carol Keen , Krystine Kercher , Dawn King , Terri Main , Margaret , Melissa Meeks , Rebecca LuElla Miller , Caleb Newell , Eve Nielsen , Nissa , John W. Otte , John Ottinger ,Epic Rat , Steve Rice , Crista Richey , Hanna Sandvig , Chawna Schroeder , James Somers , Robert Treskillard , Rachel Starr Thomson , Steve Trower , Speculative Faith , Fred Warren , Phyllis Wheeler , Jill Williamson.

Happy reading!

How to Get Approached by a Book Editor

2009-05-18T21:41:00.000-07:00

I ended a recent post with a question: How does an author get approached by a book editor?

It is a fact that there is someone out there in the world right now who wants to publish a book similar to yours. Is yours that book? That's not the topic of this post. But that person is out there right now, thinking about you, wondering where you are and if you're writing the next great American novel (or whatever)! So how do you make yourself easily accessible to that person? This is the topic of this post.

This question occurred to me as a good one to answer because most big publishers have some variation of the following policy: "We do not accept unsolicited submissions," which usually means that they will only review new book proposals from a literary agent, or from writers that their editors approach specifically. Why is this? Simple. Publishers receive thousands of queries, proposals and manuscripts every month and it would be nearly impossible to sort through that much material without hiring an army of assistants and interns. Assistants and interns with a nose for good books.

So, other than nabbing an agent, how can you get the attention of your editor of choice? Well, most editors have a very clear idea of what they want to publish, and a routine for finding new writers and potential authors. Your job, once you've got your killer book proposal or manuscript ready to be read, is to get noticed!

1. Start by identifying the editors and publishers with whom you want to work. Make a list of the top five publishers, perhaps even the top ten, and do some googling. Find out who their current editors are, get their names and keep track of the books they've acquired. You need to know these names and remember them if you're going to publish with one of the editors on the list.

2. Before you try to contact someone from your dream list of publishers, start up a free blog and get you name out there. Create a place (whether blog or web site) where a book editor can find out about you and your writing, and whenever you write an article online or elsewhere, link it to your blog or web site - and make yourself accessible online. There are stories out there of authors, particularly those writing fiction, who were discovered by their editors simply by posting regularly on their blogs and developing an audience of readers. So blog it up and then polish up your social networking skills on Facebook, Myspace, and elsewhere, and if you can muster the transparency, Twitter your heart out.

3. Once you've got a Fantasy Novel or a Business Book (or whatever) that you'd like to sell, KEEP WRITING. But make sure you write strategically. In other words, write to get published in outlets that are read by those in that particular industry. There are only a handful of good fantasy magazines, journals and online zines. Similarly, there are a handful of key business magazines, journals and online outlets for business writers. If you get a bio space wherever you publish, mention that you happen to be writing a book, then link to your blog and include your e-mail address whenever possible.

4. Most editors travel and hang out at conferences, conventions and events where writers and authors tend to gather in their particular category. Some editors present or hear pitches at writer's conferences or writing-focused gatherings. Find out if any of the editors on your list are making any appearances in your area, and then go sit down and pitch them, or try to get noticed. How? Don't be annoying. Just be yourself, be professional and share your idea.

5. Present something at a conference, convention or event yourself! These events are often organized by fans of the genre itself, so find a topic you can present on, and go for it. Sometimes I will sit in the back of events like this and listen to dozens of presentations from authors, leaders, experts in all sorts of niche areas, and then I'll introduce myself when I see someone who might have a concept, a striking speaking style or an idea that we would publish.

6. Get noticed locally, or by the media. If you are doing something unique and interesting enough to get some kind of recognition by your local media (TV, radio, newspapers, Internet etc) make a mention of your book project if possible.

I once read a Rolling Stone article about a series of very interesting people who happened to be blogging on topics that were relevant to the types of books I wanted to publish. I contacted several of them and wound up with a couple interesting meetings in New York that resulted in a single book proposal that I took to my publishing team for consideration. We didn't sign it, but I was interested enough to set up the meeting! At another time, after setting up a meeting with a leader who I first noticed in a magazine article, I signed him to a book deal and the first book did so well that I quickly signed him up for two more! Get noticed, for anything, and mention your book!

7. Last one. Hands down the best way to get the attention of your editor of choice is to get a recommendation from someone respected in the field, or from someone known by the editor him- or herself. The right endorsement or recommendation will get your manuscript or proposal requested faster than anything else. In fact, just last week I requested a proposal from someone I did not know who mentioned that one of our authors told him to call me.

If none of these methods seem like they will work for you, you can always go to the publishers who WILL read unsolicited proposals and manuscripts. Do it the old fashioned way. Throw you manuscript atop ye ol' slush pile and pray!

Whatever happens with your project, I wish you the best of luck!

Photo by freedigitalphotos.net.

The Future of Newspapers

2009-05-16T16:32:00.000-07:00

Check out this amazing video from a polish newspaper designer who changed the face of his paper (literally) and saved the business.

How did he do it? Did they change the advertising revenue model? Perhaps they make some radical staff changes? Or, maybe just maybe, they changed they way they wrote the stories?

No. One word changed the paper forever. Design. Take a look (6 minutes):

What Kind of Advance Will I Get for My First Book?

2009-05-12T22:58:00.000-07:00

An acquaintance recently asked me what kind of advance he should expect for his first book. It's not an uncommon question. I often wondered about this while I was writing my own first book, and now that I have some experience on the other side, so to speak, I thought it would be interesting to discuss here.

Well, I must report that the answers are NOT what most writers expect, unfortunately. And hey, it's not like it's a big secret, but most writers don't make a living off of publishing books alone. But I will offer a slight caveat: My notes here are based on my experience alone, which includes advances I have personally offered and discussions with agents, authors and other publishing friends. Most of this experience comes from the nonfiction category.

So I will tread carefully into this subject by saying, there is no "going rate" for first books. It's funny how often this question comes with that phrase. "So Alex, what's the going rate for advances for first books?"

There are certainly averages, but not going rates.

The publisher's offer for a first book, or a fortieth book for that matter, depends primarily on how many books they think they can sell. The publisher will arrive at that sales projection after looking at your book proposal (see The Anatomy of a Book Proposal here), Book Concept, Your Platform, Marketing Ideas, Partnerships or Affiliations and Your Writing.

In the nonfiction world, Platform and Book Concept are king, especially with first books. In the fiction world, writing quality is king.

A moment to clarify the word "Platform." Platform is a broad idea used in publishing to describe an author's ability to get exposure for a book, or sell books to large numbers of people. If an author speaks regularly to large groups of people, live from a stage, on TV, on the radio, in print, online or elsewhere, then generally they have a "platform" from which to market and sell books. Platform can also simply convey name recognition, whether famous or infamous, such as former presidents, celebrities, pro athletes etc.

So with that context in mind, once a publisher makes an offer to an author for his or her book that offer could range anywhere from $0.00 to $1 million (or more), though the average advance for a first time author would likely fall between $2,500 and $10,000. Most offers for first-time nonfiction writers that I've seen fall on lower side of that range, though first-time authors with agents generally end up on the higher side of the range.

Some smaller houses may not offer the author an advance at all. And if an author is offered no advance, that publisher is basically saying, "Hey, we're willing to take a risk on this book and hope for the best." For the author who has dreams of selling his or her book for big money, no advance might be a downer, but the good news is that he or she will begin earning royalties as soon as the first book is sold.

With or without an advance, the author contracts with the publisher to participate in a 'back end' royalty deal, so that the author gets a percentage of the 'net sales' (Net Sales is the money left after factoring in discounts to bookstores, returns etc).

Typically, an author's royalty ranges anywhere from 5% to 22% of net sales, some authors might get more if they sell more books. Average royalty rate for first time authors is probably in the 8%-14 range. And one of the benefits of having a literary agent is that he or she can help an author navigate all these issues in the contract.

If you'd like some more good information about advances specifically for novelists, you must check out novelist Tobias Buckell's fantastic post on the topic. Happy writing!

Photo by freedigitalphotos.net.

The Story of the Molekiller

2009-05-11T17:36:00.000-07:00

Sunday morning I came outside to see my front lawn riddled with dirt piles and what looked to be a series of gopher holes.

This had been happening for a week or two and the continuous holes were starting to get on my nerves. I had planned to go to Lowe's or Home Depot and buy something to get rid of the beast, but I decided to try something quicker in the meantime. Little did I know...

So I unrolled the hose, turned it on full blast and proceeded to fill each and every hole in the lawn, hoping to drown the beast responsible, or at least banish it from the yard, be it mole, gopher or other criminal rodent.

After half an hour of filling holes and damning them up with mud, I felt I had covered every hole I could find, except for one.

A few nights before a single brick from a planter in the middle of our lawn had been knocked over and I thought it had been the neighborhood kids (we have a lot of them, including my own). However, the next day I noticed in the planter itself, which is home to a medium-sized palm tree (this is southern California after all), a small series of holes and burrows.

I had filled in every hole in the entire front yard and all that remained was that tree planter. So I proceeded to dive the hose into the dirt of the planter, spraying full blast.

Not a minute after I covered the planter in a thin layer of water, I saw a tiny red snout and a furry eyeless head poke above the muddy water line.

I sprinted back to the house, and grabbed the first thing I could find near the door: a blue toy lightsaber, ala Star Wars. There were no baseball bats or shovels nearby, but the lawn digging had to stop.

So I drew the lightsaber from the floor of the living room and sprinted back out to the tree planter. At one time, the lightsaber had made little "swishing" sounds and lit up, but no such luck today. Out of batteries. Oh well.

The planter was quiet, and I saw no movement.

Slowly, I sprayed around the perimeter of the planter and in seconds found the small rat-sized mole squirelling around in the mud, trying to dodge the spray of water.

Using my son's toy lightsaber I flipped the little guy out the planter and made quick work of him, splashing myself with mud from head to toe in the process.

By the time I had disposed of the mole, I stepped into the house with mud splashed all across my pants and shoes, my shirt soiled totally, a few splashes of mud on my cheeks. And as insensitive as it might seem (sorry PETA), I felt like Luke Skywalker yesterday, if only for an hour or so.

Happy Mother's Day honey, your lawn digger is gone. Unless there's a whole family of moles out there . . .

Photo by freedigitalphotos.net.

A Book Editor's Job

2009-05-09T13:38:00.000-07:00

This is a two-minute video that shows the value that a book editor can add to an author's writing, editing and rewriting process. I hope my authors think of my help in just the same way...by the way, I nabbed this from another blog called First Person Irregular.

Enjoy.

The Anatomy of a Nonfiction Book Proposal

2009-05-07T12:46:00.000-07:00

Dozens of web sites and books claim to teach you how to "sell your book without writing a word!" So what's the million-dollar secret? Create an amazing book proposal - which you have to write by the way - that will whet the publisher's appetite, and entice them to sign your book!

Yes, this is hype, but one part of it is true. 20-30 good proposal pages can land you a book deal.

Ultimately, the purpose of the book proposal is to cast a vision to the publisher for how they can effectively market and sell your book to a broad audience. Think of your book proposal as a business plan that you would present to a potential investor. And of course, the publisher is your potential investor. And what's the benefit of a proposal? Book proposals, particularly in the nonfiction world, save time for both the editor and the author. Your average acquisition editor can't physically read through every manuscript that crosses his or her desk. Similarly, authors do not want to write a dozen books for every one they sell (at least not the authors I know). So the book proposal is a happy compromise for everyone involved.

I have reviewed thousands of book proposals in my time in publishing, and I have acquired, edited and supervised the publication of several hundred of those books. And here's the thing: There isn't one, perfect book proposal format, though some agents or publishers or editors would like to make you think this is the case.

However, your book proposal MUST clearly and professionally present the following important pieces of information:

1. Book Title & Concept (Your concept might be one line or five)
2. Author Name & Biography
3. Overview of your book premise (2-3 paragraphs)
4. Book Details (Length, timeline to complete manuscript, any special features)
5. Marketing Opportunities
6. Competitive Overview (what other books are like yours, and how is yours unique?)
7. Key Connections, Endorsements or Partnerships
8. Table of Contents
9. 2-3 Sample Chapters

Every one of these elements of the nonfiction book proposal is critical, but how you structure your proposal is up to you. I have reviewed exceedingly creative book proposals, some that begin with a hook, compelling premise, key piece of marketing information or beautifully-written overview. However you decide to begin or end your book proposal, I believe it is wise to open with your project's strongest selling point, whatever that might be.

So rather than recommending a particular order or proposal structure, I believe it is more critical that the author focus on developing a salable book concept, and writing good prose (because if the book isn't good, it won't sell no matter what Oprah says!). Of course, it is always important to write clean copy and eliminate run on sentences, errors and misspellings. Also, many publishers have particular guidelines for accepting submissions—follow those guidelines religiously, even if those guidelines are: "We don't accept unsolicited submissions." If that's their policy, don't submit to them, at least not directly.

That policy usually means that the publisher will only review book proposals from a literary agent, or from writers that their editors approach specifically. So how do you get approached by a book editor? That's a topic for another post!

Photo by freedigitalphotos.net.

The Hunt for Gollum - Now Online

2009-05-06T20:21:00.000-07:00

So about a week ago I'm driving down the road, NPR on the radio, and I hear a report on an upcoming fan film called The Hunt for Gollum. I posted a little blip about the upcoming online release of the fan film a few weeks ago here.

Interestingly enough, the story on NPR focused on the high quality of the film's web site and trailer, and whether or not this fan effort was any sort of breach of copyright! The reporter interviewed the filmmaker, who marshaled a volunteer cast and crew of hundreds to complete the 40 minute film and also gathered the thoughts of a lawyer whose professional opinion was that this could be considered a breach of copyright by the Tolkien estate or New Line Cinema(who could then order a cease and desist).

Regardless of the dust up on NPR (though I thought it spectacular that a fan film was getting a bit of national press) the film premiered online on May 3. You can watch it now at their web site.

What do you think? Is the film in breach of copyright, especially if no one got paid to make it, and no one paid money to view it? Also, what do you think of the film itself (if you have 40 minutes to spend on it) Good? Bad? Worth all the effort?

Or click this link to watch The Hunt for Gollum directly.

A Look at a Working Writer's Process!

2009-05-03T06:00:00.000-07:00

Bestselling author Jeffrey Archer has his writing process down to a science. This talk is an interesting look at a writer's daily routine. What do you think, could you write every day for eight hours writing at two hour intervals for two hours at a time?

Romancing the Publisher - How to Hook Your Future Book Editor

2009-05-01T10:21:00.000-07:00

Alright, so here comes an honest post from the slush pile trenches. Everyday I get new proposals, some of which slingshot into my inbox from literary agents, and many others that come straight from authors themselves. So I see dozens of new proposals and manuscripts every week.

I recently posted on the topic of writing to hook the reader, but it struck me that most writers won't get the chance to do that if they don't hook the editor first. So the question I want to tackle briefly here is, how do you hook the book editor?

Whether you're working with an agent or not, before signing that all-important book contract you must nab an editor's attention, and frankly, his or her affections! So let's take a second and put ourselves in your future editor's shoes.

In order to sign a contract with you, the editor - let's call him John - must risk his reputation and his valuable time on you and your book. John will have to pitch your book to his editorial and executive teams, generate marketing ideas for his marketing colleagues who might be skeptical to begin with, write copy about you and your book, help identify cover design ideas and he'll have to "sell" your book to his sales colleagues, giving them smart hooks and amazing sample pieces of writing that will in turn help them win over the book buyer at Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Books-a-Million and Borders.

You can help John to feel confident about this process by arming him with as much good information about your book as possible. And that starts with these three primary issues:

(1) Book Concept or Story,
(2) Writing Quality or Authorial Voice, and finally,
(3) Author Platform, Name Recognition, Endorsements or Marketing Potential.

If the proposal doesn't meet John's needs on at least two (though preferably all three) of these levels, he will probably not review much beyond the proposal and the first five pages of the manuscript.

Book Concept. Your book's concept should be clear, intriguing and unique, and it should come with several accompanying one-liners that set your book apart from your competition. And provide an evaluation the competition for John. Tell him why your book is better than the other three books already sitting on the shelf at the bookstore. If there are 10 bestselling books on your topic, find a new angle for your book or present a distinct hook that will appeal to your reader. Finally, identify your target audience, but make sure that audience is big enough to be a significant market. Please don't write a book for twenty-something basket weavers in Alaska, though I have nothing against basket weaving or the five Alaskans who practice it.

For fiction writers, your book concept is your story, and writing a succinct and compelling summary is where it all begins. Your paragraph or couple of page long summary will determine if editor will even read (or request) your manuscript, or move on.

Writing. Your prose, whether you send John a couple chapters or the entire manuscript, should inspire him to dedicate the next year of his life working on your book! Polish your prose (especially your first few pages and chapters) until it shines. At worst, the writing must clearly present your hot concept so that the reader won't fall asleep along the way. Finally, remove all possible hurdles for the editor and make it hard for him to put your manuscript down: Proofread your proposal and manuscript, get friends to proofread it for you. Print it on clean paper, and format it professionally. If you read it over once more and find an error, take the time correct it before you send it out.

The Author's Marketing Potential. Now that your book's concept or story has made John's heart flutter with excitement and your writing has forced John's breath to catch in his throat, why not make it three for three? Tell the editor how you will help him sell this book.

For nonfiction writers, this is a *critical* piece of the proposal and is as important as the book itself, though for fiction writers this is admittedly more difficult. But these days every writer can build up a community of friends, followers and readers by starting a blog, connecting with others on Twitter, Facebook, Myspace and elsewhere. Mike Hyatt recently posted a few good tips on this topic, as did literary agent Rachelle Gardner. For the record, I highly recommend getting yourself a blog, a Twitter account and a Facebook page as a beginning step. However, platform goes far beyond this. The author who speaks regularly to large groups of people in person or through another medium is an author with "platform". The author with "platform" writes a newspaper column, a syndicated article or short story series, hosts a radio show, TV show or popular Internet site, or speaks far and wide to large audiences. Remember that every time John signs a new book contract, he is taking a risk on that author, and his job is to mitigate that risk by doing his best to ensure that the book will sell in large numbers.

Finally, don't give up. Most rejections aren't personal in the least, or have much of anything to do with the author's talent or potential. Don't get me wrong, some rejections certainly do. But often times, editors are forced to reject a book because they are already publishing another book in that category, their list is full, they simply didn't resonate with the title or the concept, they had a bad day and the list goes on. Recall that many a bestselling book was first rejected by EVERY editor and publisher (but these days editors seem to change jobs constantly), before somehow, the proposal fell into the hands of just the right person who fell in love with the book.

So with that, I wish you best of luck romancing your future editor!

Photo by freedigitalphotos.net

Welcome Back!

2009-04-29T18:41:00.000-07:00

If only we were all welcomed back from long trips with such passion and joy! I love Improv Everywhere's ingenius little pranks, and this is another fantastic example. Enjoy!

Book Marketing Ideas - FREE Books!

2009-04-27T22:52:00.000-07:00

Book Marketing is a topic that should interest every aspiring fiction and nonfiction writer (as well as published authors too!). Since I work in publishing and have done so for years from various vantage points, this is a particularly important issue for me though it can be a sensitive one for some writers.

Anyway, so I've been posting on some Book Marketing ideas here recently, including Neil Gaiman's recent marketing idea, and I will continue to do so.

Lately, I find myself stumbling across another "book-marketing" phenomenon - Free eBooks. And this new method of marketing is taking many forms. It appears to be particularly useful for new authors in order to garner attention for their books.

The idea is simple, but totally antithetical to the idea of selling books. Basically, in order to sell more printed copies of a book, an author will literally, give away his or her ebook for FREE.

The most common avenue that both publishers and self-published authors are trying now, is simply to give away the KINDLE version of their e-book (especially if its the first book in a series) for 2-4 weeks to drum up some interest in the book, or the series overall. The goal is to garner word-of-mouth, and everyone knows you can't get the buzz if no one is reading the book. Every day, when I'm searching for something on Amazon (yes, I'm on there daily), I'll check the rankings in one category or another, and invariably I find free books ranking very high.

So whatever your place in the publishing world, this is an option that you might be able to exploit for some quick buzz-building action.

Recently, fantasy and science fiction author Brandon Sanderson gave away his novel Warbreaker as a word file on his web site (probably for a limited time), even though Tor Books has released the printed edition of the book. You can find a FREE copy of the entire novel Warbreaker here, at the same time you can order the printed version of the book on Amazon.

Does this sound totally crazy to you? Because I can promise you that this concept often sounds nuts to any traditional publisher or editor out there, and not because they're total louts, rather, because this flies in the face of every old publishing rule in the book.

Well, perhaps it's time we throw out the old rule book.

What Sanderson and others seem to be doing is building up the good will of their readers, through the savvy use of social media. Sanderson knows that a word file of his book (or a print out of the book) will not be as easy or enjoyable to read as sitting down with the printed book itself. My own personal guess is that most Sanderson fans will download the book, read a portion of it, enough to spark some curiosity, which will then entice that reader to buy the book when it releases in print.

On the Huffington Post back in October, author M.J. Rose wrote about how she was giving away her novel The Reincarnationist for a ten day limited time. Why'd she do it? She said that simply wanted to give people a chance to sample her writing, and not just the first chapter, but to sample her as an author. So she gave away the entire book.

David Meerman Scott tried this for his book World Wide Rave this past March, allowing people to get his book for free for five days, and only the Amazon Kindle. He asked people to blog and tweet about the free book, since he was giving it away, and it worked (though, to be fair, I never heard about it hitting any bestsellers lists). Anyway, you can read about his experiment on his blog, where he writes that while the idea sounds "counter-intuitive, the best online marketing ideas often are."

So here's my question to you:

Would you be more or less likely to buy a book if the author let you download it for free? Would you be motivated to support an author if he or she GAVE you a free book?

*Photo by Freedigitalphotos.net

The Los Angeles Times Book Festival - Mecca for Readers?

2009-04-26T15:20:00.001-07:00

I took the family down the Los Angeles Times Book Festival at UCLA this morning, and had a fantastic day milling amongst many books, and thousand of book lovers too.

We braved spotless skies, eighty-degree weather, hot dog and cotton candy vendors, the traffic, the crowds, music, shows and booths full of books, all of which was a very pleasant surprise.

Does that description sound like a book festival, or Disneyland?

Seriously. Disneyland for book lovers anyway (can you say 450 authors?). The traffic outside UCLA was a bit crazy, but all things considered (try 140,000 in attendance over two days!), the parking was organized and fast, and moments after arriving, we found ourselves walking through campus amongst the crowds looking through book stands and small presses and authors trying to hock their self-published book to the crowds.

First of all, I loved the fact that the festival had multiple personalities: In one corner there was a poetry reading stage littered with birkenstock-wearing, beret-sporting tweed jacket types, complete with racks full of books of poetry. In another area, a diverse crowd of parents wandered in a bit of a daze, all there for the children's books and to let their progeny see DJ Lance from Yo-Gaba-Gaba (don't ask) dance about on stage. On the far end of the festival the latest cookbook authors perched on rented staging in front of an adoring crowd; the multi-cultural stage showed off a diverse range of gifted writers and performers; this year's memoirists and celebrities hocking new biographies showed up in force (Michael J. Fox, apparently made an appearance, along with Valerie Bertinelli and others).

Second, the booths must have been cheap or not limited by organizers in any way because there were vendors of all kinds representing their products or services. The booths included bookstores, book publicists, small presses, nonprofits (for war, against war, etc), foundations, institutes, historical organizations, toys, home products, film companies such as Walden Media and Disney (it is LA after all), author orgs such as The Mystery Writer's of America, and even a service that helps your kid's create and print their own books. This struck me as a hugely positive aspect of the multi-faceted event.

Of the authors I would have loved to have seen (but didn't): Ray Bradbury, T.C. Boyle and Steven Erickson were in attendance, but alas, I was over taking in the sights of Yo Gaba Gaba and Choo Choo Soul instead. Which. The Boys. Loved.

There are several more book fests coming up around the country, including the San Francisco Book Festival, the New York Book Festival, Books In Bloom (Arkansas), Chicago Tribune Book Fair and more. Check out the upcoming book festival list at Publisher's Weekly if you're interested.

Next year I plan to head out to the Los Angeles Times Book Festival again - without a doubt. And I just remembered, I will be going to Publisher's Mecca next month! BEA in New York City. I will post something about that event here in late May.

The Top 10 Future Ways to Read

2009-04-24T22:09:00.000-07:00

After writing a recent post on the future of publishing, I decided to physically list out all the different book formats publishers are exploring for our future reading pleasure, especially for fiction. This is something I've been researching regularly for work anyway, so I thought it would be interesting to explore here, briefly.

So here are the "Top Ten Future Ways to Read"....so far...and yeah, and I may have cheated on a couple of them, oh well (please add to my list if you know of some other burgeoning digital format!):

10. Serial Novels via Blog
I have seen some blogs out there, mostly amateur writer blogs, in which the blogger posts one chapter a week from his or her novel. Honestly, I can't see myself reading an entire book this way, seriously, can you? Though I do read enough blog content that way...hmmm...but people are trying it out. Could you read a book that way? Or should blogs only be reserved for shorter snippets of content?

9. The Podcasted Novel
There is a horror novelist out there who has video and audio podcasted a couple of his novels, essentially offering them for free online to anyone willing to sit through a dozen or so video/audio files, one for each chapter. This guy was unpublished when he began this practice, and this unique device earned him enough "readers" that he landed a traditional publishing deal and an internet audience! I guess, in all brutal openness, I see this as a total novelty idea, but I'm not sure that it will actually catch on in the mainstream. However, it might qualify as a good way for an aspiring author to build up an audience. So I will call this one, more marketing technique, and less a future way to read. What do you think? Free content delivered in this fashion, good thing or bad thing?

8. Blackberry Reader Apps
So far, I have found Blackberry to be moping along, far behind the competition in the app development department, but in good news for Crackberry addicts, there is actually a reader app now available that has been reported to work quite well. I believe it was created by the makers of E-Reader, and is available at www.fictionwise.com, apparently it brings a solid, readable experience to those who love their Blackberries! And now there is FINALLY a Blackberry app store at Blackberry App World. Wow, they're getting with the program! Maybe someday, Blackberry's will offer a reading experience that rivals the iphone....but not any day soon!

7. Downloadable Audio Books
You can buy downloadable audio books now, most notably from Audible.com, but also from various others sources, such as iTunes. Pioneering publisher Thomas Nelson is experimenting with a model (called Nelson Free) in which you buy a printed book and get a free digital version and audio book for the same price. Interesting future publishing model? Or simply an experiment that won't work? I have my own opinions still forming on this one...

6. Sony E-Reader
Technology powerhouse Sony was the first to market a few years ago with a major commitment to an e-reader device. The Sony E-Reader of today is an easy-to-use handheld gadget with an easy to read screen, and the latest versions of it have been much improved over the first generation. There are plenty of places to buy ebooks online now, versus 2-3 years ago when the thing first arrived, including www.ebook.com, www.fictionwise.com and elsewhere. There are also places online to get FREE ebooks (most of which are in the public domain) such as www.netlibrary.com, www.free-ebook.com, and www.gutenberg.org. With that said, however, the e-reader still hasn't become a mainstream device just yet. The reason? How many of you are going to carry around a phone, an iPod, a laptop and an e-Reader? Not I.

5. Digital Book Libraries
Have you heard that Google is determined to scan every book ever published? What kind of power does a company have to have to make a statement of such bravado? But it's true. Google just settled a lawsuit with the Author's Union which was suing them over the practice of scanning every book they could get their hands on and making them available to the public. Though it's still unclear, the recent settlement appears to give Google the right to continue scanning, while paying minimal fees to authors and publishers. At some future point Google is now able to make their entire library of books (can you imagine it? the biggest library ever!) available to readers for a subscription fee. This will happen. I think it's just a matter of when, and how much? See the early version at Google Book Search here.

4. iPhone E-Reading Apps
The iPhone app developer and user craze has finally taken ebooks along for the ride. You can now read your favorite NY Times bestselling book as an ebook on your iPhone through the 'eReader app', the 'Stanza ebook app', the 'Amazon Kindle app', or you can even buy some books as individual apps on the Iceberg Reader. And I believe there are at least another half dozen ways to read books on your iPhone as well. This folks, is the genius of the iPhone apps at work. I don't have an iPhone, though I have been asking all my friends with iPhones to test this and try reading an ebook on their phone. Does it really work? What I have seen so far is fantastic, if a little small on that phone-sized screen. Has anyone tried any of these iphone apps yet?

3. Amazon's Kindle Reader
Amazon has taken the early lead in the e-book category with their sleek new Kindle and Kindle 2 devices. The Kindle 2 looks much better than the Kindle and Amazon has already taken the device up several notches with a ton of new features, including a "read to me" audio option. At the publishing company where I work, we finally loaded all our books up on the Kindle mid-last year and though we're seeing the sales start to come in, they're not huge . . . not yet. Will the Amazon and the Kindle be for books what iTunes and the iPod has been for music? Or will the Kindle lose their early leader position to the iPhone or the massive Google Library? We shall see...

2. Old Fashioned Way
Most of us still read the old fashioned way, and in the future, I have no doubt that this will continue so long as paper remains affordable. However, I heard a statistic recently that a good portion of the country (40% by some polls) can't read, or simply doesn't read books anymore. Yikes. This doesn't compute for me, life without books = Ahhh?

1. A Combination of All of the Above
Here's is my own personal ideal future reading scenario: I will be at home reading my favorite PRINTED hardcover novel, when about halfway through it, I will put it down. It's time for my daily workout, so I go for a jog. So I get my iPhone or Blackberry and select the read to me feature and continue "reading" the book through my headphones as I run. Then I jump on a plane to take a trip for work and I decide to take the book along with me, but I don't want to lug it through airport security, so of course, I have it on my e-reading device (Kindle, Sony E-Reader, whatever), or on my iPhone as a backup reader. I also bring the rest of my library on the device just in case I finish the book mid-flight and need something new to read!

So that's it. The Top Ten Future Ways to Read - but these top ten are shifting fast.

The big 'news' is that Apple may be developing a reading device to rival Kindle's place in the small, growing market. Can you imagine Apple's ultimate device? A reader, ipod, video-capable iphone? This would be culture consumption heaven! And for a glimpse of the FUTURE, check out the insane Microsoft video on Mike Hyatt's blog here. Mike is the CEO of publisher Thomas Nelson.

So how will you be reading in the future, and will you be reading in any of the aforementioned forms? Do you have a different top ten, or a format to add to this list?

Really, Really Bad Book Covers

2009-04-22T22:18:00.000-07:00

James over at the Speculative Horizons has a little series going in which he regularly posts horrible book covers. Anyway, I couldn't resist adding to his list, which by the way, was recently updated with this horrible, strange, and amazingly bad book cover:

What is with that spiky-collared dog, and the smoke/fog curling around her leg?

So I stumbled across a few other covers that (to me) appeared equally bad. The one below appears to be in a similar genre to the cover above, with a horribly posed photograph, strange gloomy looking girl, and a lion this time, instead of a spikey-collared dog...

Maybe I'm just not in the target market for Magic Strikes (what does this title mean?). But I can say this, if I judged these books by their covers I would never, pick either of these up. So the old adage? Don't judge a book...? Well I guess I just did.

Here's another one that is simply shocking in its strangeness. "It Will Come to Me" is probably a great novel, but seriously, this cover is just shocking in its random application of an image of a giant baby.

The cover below just looks so thoroughly depressing and weird, I would veer away on sight. I love myself some good poetry, in fact, that was my major in college - well, creative writing - but I wouldn't pick up Silence Fell based on the cover alone. Sorry.

I think my problem with the book below, has less to do with the design itself, though I can't stand designs like this, and more to do with the title, which is Motive: Secret Baby. Gag me with a spoon.

And my favorite horrible COVER/TITLE combination that seriously misses any mark whatsoever, is this one (even though it is kind of funny):

So, do you have any really horrible covers you can share? Or do you LOVE the book covers above? And if so, I want to hear from you, why?

The Hobbit &The Hunt for Gollum

2009-04-18T15:05:00.001-07:00

For those of you who are fans of The Lord of the Rings, there was a bit of news about the long-awaited movie of The Hobbit reported over at A Dribble of Ink today. It seems as though producer Peter Jackson and director Guillermo Del Toro are forging ahead with plans for two films to release in December of 2011 and December of 2012. This is no April Fool's joke this time.

In the comments of that post, author Mark Charan Newton threw up a link to a fan film being made and released free online on May 3 of this year. Usually, I don't pay all that much attention to fan films, though I can recall two in the past films were very well-produced and fun to watch: Batman: Dead End, and the comedy George Lucas in Love, both of are probably available online somewhere for viewing.

Anyway, this film is called The Hunt for Gollum, and the website, trailers and still images actually look pretty good. If you are a Lord of the Rings fan, this short might be worth your time! Here's the link to The Hunt for Gollum.

Onward.

The Rejection Goal!

2009-04-17T22:34:00.000-07:00

So in this post, I want to set me some personal goals, and sum them up with one in particular.

I've written and published a good amount of nonfiction, but when I write fiction I still enjoy significant insecurity. Fiction and nonfiction writing exercise different muscles and I've used the fiction muscle far less, at least in my adult life. As a result, one of my tendencies is to get a story down on paper, send it out here and there for consideration, or maybe not (if I happen to conveniently forget), then move on and ignore the story or piece of writing entirely. I have ONLY published one story in my fiction writing life (in a college zine), so sending out my fiction is still kind of difficult.

But I do know this: No writer ever published any work by keeping it locked in a cute little hope chest, stuffed in a filing cabinet or filed away on a hard drive somewhere. We write to get our work out there, to have it read by others, and digested or enjoyed.

So I'm going to flip my writing goals around, starting today.

In the past, my goals have always geared toward the writing itself: I WILL finish this story or that chapter, this scene or that article, this screenplay or that novel etc...on down the line...

No, this time I am setting a REJECTION GOAL. You read that right. I want to get rejected. Maybe you've heard of this idea before, I don't recall where I saw it, but I think it's a good one. This concept conveniently flips the whole process around in my head. And yes, I don't really want to get rejected, but it is part of the publishing business, a truism I learned when I became an nonfiction editor several years ago - rejection is what happens, nothing personal, just a reality with which EVERY writer must contend.

So I'm going to send out THREE stories by May 15, earlier if possible, to twenty different publications each. That's sixty publications total. Print publications or online publications, doesn't matter. I just created a little spread sheet to keep track, and the goal is this:

RACK UP 50 Rejections by JULY 15, 2009. The other ten may take longer to reject, who knows?

FINALLY: While I am waiting for rejections to mount up in May and June, I will begin the fourth editing pass on my novel.

So how about a thought for today: Can we all agree on something? Let's each send out that piece of writing that we've been working on . . . you know, the one that's basically finished, but you keep nitpicking the adverbs?

Also, I'd be curious to know, do you have any similar goals for your writing, but more specifically, for getting your writing out there in front of other people?

Innovative Tutoring - Dave Eggers Ted Talk

2009-04-15T12:15:00.000-07:00

Check out bestselling author Dave Eggers talking about his innovative tutoring venture 826 Valencia, which is insanely creative and has now expanded all around the United States.

Eggers' goal was simply to give kids more one-on-one teaching/tutoring time after school. Leave it to the creative mind behind magazines McSweeney's and The Believer, the powerful novel What Is the What, and now the upcoming film Where the Wild Things Are, to come up with a tutoring center fronted by a Pirate Supply Shop, staffed by writers, editors, artists and academics. Wow.

This video is part of the TED series of talks, and you can find many more amazing TED talks at their web site here.

How Can You Hook the Reader?

2009-04-14T22:11:00.000-07:00

How can you hook the reader?

Let's get right into it and begin with page one of your story, manuscript, novel etc.

Most books I've read about writing agree: the writer must begin the work of grabbing the reader's attention in the first sentence. And if the first paragraph has failed to entice the reader to continue, the project does not stand a chance of getting beyond the slush pile in any publisher's office.
In my role at work, I often read and review new project ideas, book proposals and new manuscripts, and seeing so many projects, I want something to tackle me on page one. So I firmly agree that the writer must demonstrate his or her ability right away, or my red flags start to go up fast.

But I am talking about more than simple writing ability or good grammar. How really does one go about crafting a story, a chapter, an entire novel or even just a scene, so that the reader cares enough about the characters, the plot or the fictional world to continue reading? I have heard some say that sharp opening dialogue is the key to getting the reader to relate to the characters and thereby garnering their interest. Some writers use humor. Others will begin with an interesting symbolic metaphor or a particularly poignant bit of internal character commentary.

I don't think there is a single correct way to go about it. But how much grace do you give a book before you decide it's just too dull to be worth your time? Here are some thoughts on hooking an audience that fit this discussion:

In a blog post over at The Swivet about Joss Whedon, a writer ridicules Whedon's new show "Dollhouse" for starting too early in the story and for making fans of the show wait until episode 7 before the show "really gets going".

I haven't seen the show, so I can't comment on Whedon's storytelling in this particular case, but the point of this post is a good one. If you can't hook your TV viewer in the first 60 minutes of a TV show, should you really be making that particular show? Or did you start it in the wrong place? The writer posits the idea that if novelists haven't hooked their reader by page 60 of their novel, then the book won't find an audience.

60 pages? Seriously? If a book bored me to snoring, I don't think I would give it 6 pages!

If literary agent Noah Lukeman is correct, we writers have even less than 6 pages. In his book The First Five Pages, Lukeman writes that he is always looking for reasons to reject a query, proposal or manuscript. Essentially, he can make a decision about a book within the five pages of a manuscript. Wow.

I, for one, don't mind waiting a couple episodes for a show from someone like Joss Whedon. But I'm no Joss Whedon (nor a bestselling author), and so I think it's my responsibility to hook my readers on page one (with which I'm still fumbling a bit).

Here is the simple lesson I've been learning, and relearning lately. Less is more. Writers must create a heightened sense of mystery or wonder or curiosity fast - on page one, if possible. The rest of the story should be all about how that mystery or sense of curiosity is solved or satisfied: one small, tantalizing piece of information at a time. This is what I've got today.

Meanwhile, what kinds of things have you done to HOOK the reader in your writing? Do you agree with Lukeman that writers have five pages, or do you think 60 pages is reasonable?

Top Ten Writing Top Ten Lists!

2009-04-12T19:54:00.000-07:00

How about a TOP TEN LIST for Easter? Here's a quick list for this very special day, in which, I will list not my Top Ten this'es or that'ses, rather, I will list my "Top Ten Writing-Related Top Ten Lists" from around the web. Exceedingly clever? No, just a way to fake-post on a day I want to spend with my family.

Anyway, so I starting collecting these lists a few weeks ago, and they just became their own Top Ten list, so here it is:

ALEX'S TOP TEN WRITING RELATED TOP TENS LISTS

10. The Top 10 Blogs About Writing & Publishing

This is just a quick and very broad list of great blogs about writing and publishing to get us started. I believe some of these may repeat below, but I will endeavor to avoid this as much as possible.

9. The Top 10 Really, Really Smart Literary Blogs

This is an interesting list of good links to great sites for readers such as The Kenyon Review and The Literary Saloon. I particularly like the description of 'A Commonplace Blog', which the header describes as "On Books, Bookmen and other rapidly aging notions." Nice. Thanks a lot.

8. The Top 10 Science Fiction & Fantasy Author Blogs

Ten Science Fiction and Fantasy authors who write good blogs. This one is right down my alley personally (as a reader).

7. The Top 10 Writing Blogs

This list comes to us via Michael Stelzner and is a list of sites that focus on blog writing, freelance writing and general writing tips. Some of these sites such as 'Men With Pens' are quite instructive in all these areas, including fiction writing. Enjoy.

6. Ten Commandments for the Happy Writer

Nathan Bransford is a San Francisco Literary Agent with an interesting and very informative (and well-trafficked) blog, so check out his stuff if you get over there. His list of ten commandments for the happy writer is a good read and a great refresher.

5. The Top 10 Writing Procrastination Devices and How We Justify Them

Guilty? Go down the list and see how you score. Check. Check. Check....

4. The Top 10 Writing-Related Neuroses

A succinct overview of alarming disorders such as Cinematic Impotence, Mini-Depression and OMD (Obsessive Mailbox Disorder).

3. The Top 5 Literary Agent Blogs

Dig this list of Literary Agent blogs, listing some of the top agent hotspots where writers can get their questions answered by agents in the business. Also, someone who isn't on this particular list, but has made a bunch of other top agent lists, is Rachelle Gardener at Wordserve Literary Group and she has a great blog over here.

2. The Ten Hidden Gifts of Rejection Letters

This is an inspired post on the positive things that writers can get out of rejection letters. Yup, we could all use this kind of perspective shift, I think.

1. Joss Whedon's Top 10 Writing Tips

Just in case you are not aware (and if so, I have to feel bad for you now), Joss Whedon was the creator of the short-lived and much loved TV show "Firefly", and the movie that followed, called Serenity. He was also the creative force behind the TV shows "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel", neither of which I followed at all, but "Firefly" was enough for total respect! I stumbled across Whedon's top ten writing tips on a blog some time ago, and he shares some fantastic advice for writers of any medium. Check it out.

BONUS TOP TEN: Surprise!

At some point I will certainly do one of my own Top Ten lists. But not today.

Recession Era Publishing - How Will We Read?

2009-04-10T22:42:00.000-07:00

So we're in a recession, some indie bookstores have closed their doors, the chain bookstores are in trouble (Borders!), publishers are laying off staff and books are selling in different ways everywhere you look.

The publishing industry is changing fast. A friend of mine recently asked me "How come I keep choosing careers that quickly go obsolete?" It's a question a lot of newspaper and magazine writers are asking (perhaps publishers as well).

Anyway, so I help run a small nonfiction book imprint, and right now, in the height of this economic uncertainty ruling the market, it's a difficult time to consider acquiring new projects. But we continue searching for the next important book with hope twinkling in our eyes, and an ever-present, somewhat snarky, cost-cutting attitude.

On blogs here and there, writers and agents seem to bemoan this publisher or that, complaining about their lack of vision, their cheap lowball offers or the way they try to stick it to the writer or agent by rejecting all their projects outright. But these days, and I think we all know it, publishers are just trying to be wise and keep their companies in business.

Most publishers and editors are looking at the market with a very conservative view of the future, hoping for the best, but often planning for the worst. Of course, in our line we have delayed a few of our riskier releases, and we've tried to bring our total release count down to a reasonable level, all the while budgeting for recession and hoping for everything to stabilize. But I still walk into work every morning hoping to find the next amazing book, the next dynamite book idea, author or written voice in the new manuscripts sitting on my desk.

If there's one thing I know, it is this:

While the future of publishing will look vastly different than it looks today, people will always want to read books, in some form. The greatest ideas in the history of the world, the ideas that have transformed countries and have grown into world-changing movements traveled the globe via books. And whether those books were hand-scrawled on parchment or blitzed across a screen and RSS fed to the world via blog or podcast, it doesn't seem to matter all that much. We will always use words, and books in some form, to communicate new ideas, to fuel new moves of humanity, and to communicate to the masses. The formats will change. The revenues models will evolve. But we'll always need words to communicate our ideas.

And don't get me started on stories. We will always need story to tell those next to us on the journey just how we see the world, and for those who come after us to learn about what mattered in our time.

But despite all these lofty thoughts, I go into work in the morning and think about how blogs, digital books, e-books, e-readers, cell phone book apps, serially-podcasted novels, Kindle readers and books in a format that do not exist yet, will change our business and our art form.

I contend, at least for today, that we will forever want to read books in a physical form of some kind, while books in other digital and hand held formats will certainly flourish. I believe that books will grow and reach new audiences through dozens of new channels, and this to me, can only be a good thing.

I do not believe that physically bound books will disappear, but do you agree? In the future, how do you want your books? How do you want to read?

Blog Design Updates

2009-04-10T15:38:00.000-07:00

Obviously you can see, if you've been here before, that I'm making some blog design changes. I have been steadily blogging now for only about 2-3 months, and very quickly I felt myself straining at the bonds of old template. So today I built up a new template to give the blog a little more freedom than is given by the very limited blogger default templates.

I should have this one fully updated and running this weekend, so I can get back to posting thoughts and updates on writing and publishing. If I can get the blog back up to speed later tonight, maybe I'll even post something I've been working on first thing tomorrow. Until Then!

A Million Horrible Words - FREE Book on Writing

2009-04-09T07:11:00.000-07:00

Science Fiction and Fantasy author Tobias Buckell (Crystal Rain, Sly Mongoose) is currently live posting a book on writing fiction, and for now, the book is free and available for general consumption.

I found one particular post/chapter of the 'book' intriguing (though I haven't read through very much of it yet). Buckell cites a couple authors when discussing the idea that every writer needs an apprenticeship period in their writing career (which makes sense), during which said writer will have to write at least a million words of horrible copy before they write anything market worthy. He goes on to discuss a concept posed to him by author Charles Coleman Finlay, which was that it takes "about 10,000 hours to become an expert at anything".

Both ideas confirm the old adage that, yeah, writing takes practice. Well, it takes a lot of practice. Though I wonder what happens to those writers who hit their millionth word and still write horrible fiction? Check out the: FREE book by Tobias Buckell here.

For Whom Do I Write?

2009-04-08T07:28:00.000-07:00

So I sit down to write, day after day, pounding that keyboard, writing, editing, refining, and all for what? And in this post, for whom? I have written briefly on why and how I write in these posts, Why I Write Part One and Part Two, and How I Write.

So naturally, this question follows those, but this question also brings some interesting ideas to mind. Initially, the question struck me as an odd one, but after I read a post by David B. Coe on the topic, I decided to explore it for myself. One thing is sure, this question is a bit more personal and surely the answer is different for every writer.

I believe that, consciously or subconsciously, we all have that person, or group of people that somehow keep us writing those stories, novels, articles or blog posts. So why do we keep writing, and who is it that is driving us onward?

Some writers write for an "ideal reader", a device or construct in their minds, which helps them to focus on how the story will be read. If the author writes with that 'person' in mind, every scene, every sentence and every bit of dialogue is checked against that reader in the author's mind. What will he think? How will he react to this conclusion? Will he think this dialogue is wooden?

Perhaps your "ideal reader" is someone you respect, or a writer whose opinion you value (but who may never actually read your story/article/blog post). Who knows, maybe your ideal reader is pure fiction in your mind.

My ideal reader is that: He would probably be a smart, well-read and published author, sitting in a study or library smoking a pipe or even a rare Cigar. Let's call him Michael. Michael reads with his glasses sitting low on his nose below slightly overgrown eyebrows, his eyes scrunched up and unsatisfied. He has a discerning eye for good writing and sharp characterization, and he calls me on everything - so my daily question becomes how can I impress such a person with this word, or this line of description?

Clearly, we don't want our ideal readers to paralyze our writing! So it is important to find the right balance between creating a healthy drive to write and the unhealthy pressure that can kill your daily writing time. However, if you're under assignment with a magazine, newspaper, weekly, creative e-journal or publisher, I suppose your "ideal reader" is simply your editor.

Others write for a spouse or significant other who loves to read or has a knack for writing or editing.

Perhaps we write for a best friend, a group of other writers or a doting mother. It is important I think, always to have our end readers in mind to spur us on in our work and to keep us motivated to hit deadlines, whether they are self-imposed or given to us by a third party.

I have readers, friends and editors who will read my work in its rawest form, and they will flit into my mind for a moment here or there. But I don't write for them, in particular. More likely, I write for the myself-of-days-past, when I was a teenager locked in my room with the stereo on and laying down with a long, engrossing novel. I recall reading books and reaching the end and feeling elated. I distinctly remember feeling that I would love to write a story that would create that feeling in another person. So maybe I write for that kid out there right now who may someday read my novel or short stories and feel inspired to create his own universe of characters. I do hope others have the same wondrous experience with reading that I've had, and that I continue to have through the books I read.

Finally, I probably write for myself. And if I write for myself, I do so only to lessen the pressure in my head to create, to get stories on paper and create characters. I am driven to hit goals, and it's thrilling for me to achieve that self-imposed deadline to finish a manuscript or get my work in print in some form for others to read.

So, the question goes to you. For whom do you write? Do you have an "ideal reader" in your mind as you're putting your story down on paper, or is there someone else? If so, who?

Why "The Mystery & the Magic?"

2009-04-04T12:35:00.000-07:00

Why is my blog called The Mystery & the Magic?

Here's the short answer. These are the things I seek. Whether I am writing or reading, or creating or consuming some other form of popular culture, my hope and deepest desire is to witness a spark of the transcendent. I want to see between the drapes separating the mysteries of our world and the answers beyond. Great writing, and great art in general, has this unique ability to wonder openly at the mysteries of our lives, to put shape to our shuddering spirituality, and to attempt to grasp those deeper resonant heart pangs we all feel. This for me is the mystery, and the magic.

Here's the longer answer:

I recall a scene in the indie film Waking the Dead starring Billy Crudup and Jennifer Connelly. I put on the movie a few years ago during a season in which I watched everything, like everything I could lay my hands on. Indie films, mainstream movies, and oddball documentaries and features produced in obscure corners of the world. Every so often I stumbled across something that blew my mind. Waking the Dead was one of those movies for me. In the film, Billy Crudup (amazing actor!) loses his girlfriend (Connelly) in a fatal accident but years later as he moves on with his life and goes into politics he has all but forgotten about her.

Then he starts to see her again.

Or he thinks he sees her. Is he seeing a ghost, something from the afterlife? Is he just experiencing a deep grief that he never resolved? There is a scene, near the end of this movie, after a major political triumph, in which Crudup breaks DOWN. He is at dinner with his family, and he tells them that he has something to say, and his emotions have reached that point and the floodgates explode, he's completely overcome, crying, telling his family how badly he is losing it, how he is seeing his old girlfriend but she's not really there, and how much he doesn't know what is happening to him, how he cannot stop freaking out and the moment is so honest and intense and wonderful. We should all be so honest with our families. And when its done, his family smiles hugs him, totally accepting. He wipes his eyes and they eat.

For me, it was a profound moment that spoke to something about the human experience and condition that we all long to express even when it's difficult. This story brings light to the mystery of human grief, the need for family and how we grapple with death even when it's so difficult and raw, that somehow beauty surfaces in our own vulnerability. There is a magic in this kind of story. And it's amazing when that spark appears out of nowhere in a place where it shouldn't appear at all. It's when our world rubs up against the supernatural one, which is all around us and oh boy, I know it inside when I see it.

When I first started to read fiction, I began with a fantasy novel. I read a book called The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks, published in 1977 (the same year Star Wars came out, and the year I was born). Before The Sword of Shannara I hadn't really read any proper "books" of that length - the edition I read was over 700 pages long. It looked massive in my hands. I was young, 12 years old.

I was home sick from school that day and my dad handed me the book, and after everyone else went to school and work, I opened it without any idea what it was and began to read, and proceeded to tear through the book from morning to night, stopping briefly for meals, my eyes to the page ALL day. I stayed home from school again the next day and finished the 700-page book the second night. I have never read a book that length so fast since. It was a whirlwind reading experience, first of its kind, and the beginning for me of a whole new world. Reading. Stories. Magic.

What was it that propelled me forward at such a pace? Obviously, the characters and the story, which I found out later, were in large part based on The Lord of the Rings. But also, the magic used in the story, and the mystery of how that magic worked and where it came from; the mystery of the supernatural. It was the draw of that thing beyond what I knew, what I know. And to this day, I know there is a world beyond our own and I am ever-fascinated by the flickers of it that I see ever-so-rarely in my life. I was inspired by the magic and mystery of this book, the wondrous things the author explored through this strange and new idea that I hadn't seen explored in this way. It captivated my imagination.

This blog is all about writing, publishing and fantastical stories, my own and those of others authors, creators and filmmakers. So when I distill down the ideas that I am most drawn to in my favorite stories, the mysteries, and the magic of life are what's left. And there it is.

The Book Picture Tour

2009-04-02T19:10:00.000-07:00

Today, I thought I would try something different, something more visual. Here are some amazing bookish pictures I've been collecting for no particular reason. I suppose this is a symptom of how bad the book obsession is with me. Oh well. Up top here, we begin two shots of my favorite bookstore, Bart's Books, in lovely Ojai, CA.

Bart's Books is an open air bookshop with shelves on the outside of the building, and no roof inside, though it has some special first edition collections in small, temperature controlled enclosed rooms. Gorgeous. I could lose myself there for days.

The Tubshelf. Bookshelves in your bathtub; not entirely practical, but it certainly boasts a degree of cool, or something. Found this one on BoingBoing.net.

Below: I wish my office looked more like these offices:

I'm going to build something like this in my office someday. Love the Ikea shelves.

This shot of the store, with the bike leaning against the wall, captures some feeling for me. I recall as a very young teenager, riding to the used bookstore on weekends and perusing the racks for another worn paperback to snuggle up with. Long time ago.

An Amazon supplier warehouse in UK was recently abandoned and all the books were left behind. Crowds of people came and picked over the leavings. Wow.

And below: A few more book shots.

So we'll end the photo tour with a shot of the infinity shelf, also from boingboing.net. Nice idea, even though it doesn't really house an infinite number of books (but how cool would that be?). ; )

The Hobbit...Trilogy?

2009-04-01T07:02:00.000-07:00

We've probably all heard by now that Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings) and Guillermo Del Toro (Hellboy) are working on The Hobbit movie (check out that news here) which was anounced in early 2008. It is reported that Del Toro, who has some crazy impressive fantasy movies behind him (including Pan's Labyrinth) will be directing. Yesterday those rumors got a jolt of activity when theonering.net reported that a potential Hobbit Trilogy could be in the works. A Hobbit trilogy?

I'm trying to imagine that small children's book that I loved as a child being blown up into a full LOtR-style trilogy and I cannot imagine it. For all you Tolkien scholars, can you shed any light or insights on this development? How could this beloved little book become a trilogy? There are some hints at theonering.net, but for those of us who haven't read enough of The Silmarillion or the other bits of Unfinished Tolkien stories, it doesn't make sense.

Check out the news here.

Anyway, have a great Wednesday!

Book Marketing - The Book Trailer

2009-03-30T19:33:00.000-07:00

Here's another in the series of posts I've been doing about Book Marketing, and this one was triggered by a post over at Janet's The Walrus Said blog. Check it out.

Quick recap: First I posted about Gaiman's marketing idea for The Graveyard Book, then I posted about some creative but insane book marketing ideas from Amy Krouse Rosenthal, and now I'm looking into a trend I'm starting to see more and more.

The Book Trailer.

We all watch movie trailers at the theater before the movies we watch. These trailers were created to tease the audience into anticipating the next big movie release by sharing a bit about the story, and I would say, as someone who watches a good number of movies every year, that this sort of tease works.

Now there are book publishers out there creating book trailers for their latest books, especially in the fiction realm. And my question is this, does a book trailer actually help market the book? Does it hurt a book's marketing?

First, I think there is big a difference between a "commercial for a book," which is a slick, 15-to-30 second highly polished pitch (see the link to "Duma Key" below), and a "book trailer". I would think that the proper "book trailer" will attempt to present a compelling, yet accurate, snapshot of the story of the book, for fiction, or the ideas contained within the book, if its a nonfiction book. Check out the following book trailers. Would any of these encourage you to pick up the book?

Atmospheric Disturbances, by Rivka Galchen

19 Minutes, by Jodi Picoult

Gone, by Michael Grant

Dark Tower Comic, by Stephen King

The Year of Living Biblically, by A.J. Jacobs

Airhead, by Meg Cabot

Duma Key, By Stephen King

After watching some of these trailers and more, here are my thoughts: Book trailers can both help and hurt a book's overall marketing.

If the book trailer is poorly produced or hard to watch, this could easily dampen excitement for the book's story (at least in those who see the trailer) and it could lessen that author's general appeal. Cases in point: I found the trailers for 19 minutes and A Year of Living Biblically, to be overlong and laborious to watch. Particularly for A Year of Living Biblically, a book I might actually have picked up. The trailer ran long and got boring fast.

Also, I, like many others out there, I am skeptical of any pitch that's too slick and lacks actual content, hence, Stephen King's Duma Key trailer didn't appeal to me. It felt like a commercial.

A few notes on the book trailers that worked, for me.

The trailer for Atmospheric Disturbances was well crafted and creative. It felt nuanced and intriguing for a certain audience, and best of all, it was short. It also seemed to tell a visual story, each of the sketched elements resolved into the cover of the book.

The Dark Tower comic trailer leveraged the highly visual content, and even though it ran a bit longer than some of the others, it was intriguing enough to capture and hold my interest. Very creative and well done, using the content and giving a snapshot of the story.

Airhead's trailer worked for me in conveying the concept of the book, and it was short.

Finally, the intense trailer for Gone actually looked a bit like a movie trailer, and it began with a question, moving quickly to an intriguing premise. I might actually pick up this book and read it after having watched this trailer, so I consider this one a big success.

Book Trailer Takeaways:

1. Keep the trailer under 1:00 minute in length, shorter is better!
2. Hook the audience, what is the story about?
3. Use visuals carefully, even sparingly; and be sure to use imagery that relates to the book
4. Don't produce a pitch, create a story

These are my thoughts on this Monday evening. What do you think?

Hugo Nominated Short Stories - 2009

2009-03-29T08:50:00.000-07:00

So I always see the Hugo Awards slapped all across great science fiction covers, but I never really pay attention to the actual awards process (probably because I've never been to the con and I'm not a Hugo voter!). Stumbling across the nominees this year however, I decided that I would read through some of the work up for the award. And seeing that the awards aren't far off and that I'm too far behind and far too deep in other novels (writing and reading) to start in on those novels on the list (especially Neal Stephenson's Anatham - which I will read at some point - but have you seen the size of that book!), I thought I would read some of the nominated short stories, which are:

*Picture from "Article of Faith" on Baen's Universe

Hugo Nominees for Best Short Story

"26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss" by Kij Johnson - Asimov's, July 2008
"Article of Faith" by Mike Resnick - Baen's Universe, October 2008
"Exhalation" by Ted Chiang - Eclipse Two
"From Babel's Fall'n Glory We Fled" by Michael Swanwick - Asimov's, February 2008
"Evil Robot Monkey" by Mary Robinette Kowal - Solaris Book of New Science Fiction V2

Thankfully three of these stories are linked online for your reading pleasure (if you find the other two stories out there, let me know!). Click the titles of the stories above for links and read along with me.

As I am writing several short stories at the moment (even though I am psyching myself up to dive into the 4th Draft of my novel as well!), I am going to read through a few of these stories as a little primer and post my thoughts here.

So, let me know what you think. What is your favorite short story on the above list? Or link to another dynamite story from last year that the Hugos missed!

***UPDATE: I just read the first linked story on the list, "Article of Faith" by Mike Resnick at Baen's Universe. It was a very interesting, and surprising exploration of the faith of a robot named Jackson, whose job is to clean a church. While cleaning the church Jackson hears the pastor practicing his sermon, which sparks the robot's curiosity about God. I like the ideas opened up by the story, but I felt that Resnick could have gone farther, or done more with the concept of a robot exploring his faith. With that said, it was a sharp commentary on humanity and our reactions toward those who are different from us. Worth the read!

***UPDATE: I finished "Evil Robot Monkey", which was a lightning fast read, and a fascinating and very short portrait of a robot monkey in captivity with a penchant for working with clay. I enjoyed this story, though it was quite strange following a monkey's narrative voice, no strike that, a robot monkey's narrative voice. Take it for a test drive, let me know what you think. Robots seem to be a theme for the Hugos this year, coincidence?

Stooges, Wild Things Trailer and WOT - Culture Updates

2009-03-26T22:10:00.000-07:00

Alright, sometimes little bits o' news float past that are ripe for discussion, and today I just couldn't resist.

First, the news that had me laughing in my car on the way home from work: Perhaps you've heard that a new Three Stooges movie is in the works. The Farrelly Brothers (who directed Dumb and Dumber and There's Something About Mary) are apparently working on a new Three Stooges movie with Jim Carrey named as their choice to play Curly the rotund and hairless third stooge. But the real head-scratcher here is who they want to tap to play the other two idiots. The word according to Variety and The Hollywood Reporter is that Sean Penn (who recently won his second Oscar for the uber-serious biopic Milk) is who they are considering to play Larry, and Benicio Del Toro (who most recently played Che Guevarra in Steven Soderberg's two film biopic Che) would play Moe. The film would not be a biopic of the actors as many have guessed, but actually a Stooges story in the modern world. Wow.

Second bit of news: The Spike Jonze directed and Dave Eggers penned film Where the Wild Things Are, debuted its trailer on Wednesday on the Ellen show of all places. The trailer is edited to a song by Canadian rockers The Arcade Fire, which was a pleasant surprise, and it was filled with dark imagery and some big hulking Wild Things that looked spot on to the children's book. I think this film could be amazing, but we'll see. Check out the trailer:

Last bit of news: The soon-to-be-posthumously-released book 12 in Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time epic fantasy series currently titled A Memory of Light, got a surge of news yesterday. A web site for The American Book Center came out claiming to have the cover for the new book, and an announcement from the publisher that the book would come out in three volumes (Brandon Sanderson, who is writing the book, has reported that it is approaching almost half a million words). The blogosphere lit up almost immediately with most WOT fans disbelieving the story in its entirety, and other WOT fans just stating how much they hated the purported cover. See the cover they are passing around for a book called The Gathering Storm, book one of A Memory of Light. Though Brandon Sanderson didn't confirm the report, he did not entirely deny it either, so it seems the WOT saga will not actually be over when Book 12 releases after all.

Publisher Tor has already said that they will make an announcement on Monday to clarify their plans for the multi-volume final book. All you WOT-ers out there, what do you think of this cover? I'll reserve my opinion until later...

On Recognizing the Need to Rewrite...Again!

2009-03-24T21:53:00.000-07:00

READING
I read three more chapters of my behemoth of a fantasy novel during lunch today (making notes on each chapter after I finished it). As I mentioned in a previous post, I am reading through the entire book, having set it aside for over a month, making notes that will guide my next editing pass through the book. Some of my thinking is already quite drastic, but I'll get to that later.

In between reading my book and working on a short story in the mornings, I've also been reading an incredible fantasy novel, and the gulf between the writing quality in my fantasy novel and the novel I'm reading is vast. But I use it as a goad, something to kick me into gear. So I must slog on. And thanks to Keanan Brand's wonderful post yesterday for an encouraging lift.

Anyway, as I read today, every page screamed at me to pick up my pen and slash, edit, cut and rewrite, but I willed my hand not to move. This is a constant wrestling, I don't know if you've experienced it, but it's almost as if fighting against an involuntary reaction of some kind.

In truth, I feel like I have cut a block of granite from the site of some middle eastern archeological dig, hauled the giant block of stone into my workshop, and now I have chiseled the rock down until I can see the faint outlines of an ancient dinosaur skeleton hidden within. I can see the skeleton's shape and lines. I can see where the beast's head meets its body, and perhaps I can even catch a glimpse of a row of jagged teeth. I know that it's all in there and it's fierce! It's amazing to behold. But at this moment, tucked within the granite block, it can only wait to be carefully parted from the stone. Most apparent to me today (today being one of those days), is the mammoth amount of work it will take to shave away every spec of dirty granite in the way. Tomorrow, I believe I will once again see the masterpiece inside the stone and get to work with a renewed sense of inspiration.

So anyway, I am continuing on with chisel in hand. Best of luck with your own chiseling, whatever it may look like!

Discovering Speechlessness: Exploring the Virtues of Complete Silence

2009-03-22T22:09:00.000-07:00

Here's an article I published in The Relevant Leader several years ago featuring my son Ari. I just recently stumbled across it again, and thought I would post it here for fun:

First of all, my starting place: Speechlessness is not for the meek.

I give in to the temptation to speak time and again, whether in the name of honesty or absurdity, and I let loose my words and inadvertently knock people over, destroy things, decimate cities. I have been pondering lately a particular passage of the Bible:

"When words are many, sin is not absent ... The tongue of the righteous is choice silver, but the heart of the wicked is of little value. The lips of the righteous nourish many, but fools die for lack of judgment." (Proverbs 10:19-21)

I've heard this before. Maybe you've heard this before too.

We all know that there is nothing in life that can be more destructive than someone's words loosed on another person. In Scripture, it is a refrain so common as to become less than meaningful, like the chorus of some generation-defining '80s rock anthem.

But let's reread a piece of it again: "When words are many, sin is not absent." The equation is this: many words = the arrival of sin. So mankind cannot avoid sinning if it speaks often. My first impulse upon reading this, I have to admit, is, "Hey, great! All those people I know who talk too much are sinners. I can rebuke 'em and shut 'em up for good!" But then the sentence sinks in, and I sink down and ask God for some kind of speechlessness to replace my words.

But it hasn't even begun: To second this notion, the Proverbs passage is echoed in Matthew 6, a portion of which I'll highlight here: "And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words."

What are we to do with this? My words are fraught with danger. My speech is a sharp and sinister weapon. We need some more shading from the Psalms. There is an incredible passage that Eugene Peterson poetically paraphrased in The Message. It goes like this:

"God's glory is on tour in the skies, God—craft on exhibit across the horizon. Madame Day holds classes every morning, Professor Night lectures each evening. Their words aren't heard, their voices aren't recorded, but their silence fills the earth: unspoken truth is spoken everywhere." (Psalm 19:1-4)

When I read this, I think about many things, but two specific thoughts bubble up in this context. First, God's creation transcends speech absolutely, which tells me that we don't need any language to worship God. Second, the sentence, "Their silence fills the earth, unspoken truth is spoken everywhere," tells me that God's glory speaks volumes without words. It communicates to us without verbalizing.

Thinking on this, I resolve to burn up an hour of my time by keeping my mouth shut, my mind attuned to God, not focused on my desires, my worries or my annoyances. This will be holy time. This will be amazing. It will be transcendent.

Actually, a good half hour is better than a distracted hour, right? I could probably get much more out of this time if I was intensely focused on God for half an hour. I can do that much.

I have to take baby steps, set out a reasonable goal, something attainable. After all, I'm not sequestered at Gethsemani like Merton was. I've got a wife, two boys, a job. It's difficult to be silent—dangerous even. This is what I tell myself.

No, today, I will begin with 15 minutes after dinner, outside, in a fading sunlit summer evening. The wind light. Trees groaning softly. Me in my own backyard.

So I eat. Then I step outside. I am alone, and I decide to start by thinking about God, His craftsmanship in the trees, in the grass, in my fence. It's so faded and needs to be painted, even rebuilt. No. Wait. God and the trees and unspoken truth everywhere. Holding my tongue is making me break a sweat.

I hear other things around me—people talking in the distance, cars, a freeway a long way off, birds twittering. A feeling of peace flits in and around me as I ponder what the heck I'm doing in the middle of my backyard staring out into nothing.

My son barrels out the back door, energy incarnate.

"Daddy!" he says. I realize that I haven't properly defined the rules for my temporarily imposed silence. I've got at least another five to seven minutes left in my little contract with myself.

I smile at him. He smiles back for a second, then moves away, talks to himself, then sings a little song.

I watch him as he sprints across the yard, just to get to the other side, then sprints back. I run my hand through his hair when he gets close, but he keeps on moving. I watch him, maintaining my deal with myself, keeping my mouth shut.

He finds a stick, picks it up and starts whacking everything in sight. Then he sings into it as though he were onstage, in front of thousands. He jabbers on and on in a nonsensical singsong that gets increasingly loud until he's screaming at the top of his lungs. He knows how to articulate his words now when he speaks. But when he sings, its nonsense and melody, as if his words aren't enough.

I think about this, that these songs, these wordless melodies, are unspoken truth being spoken before my very eyes. I see this as God's glory on tour.

And maybe I'm just projecting my own little moment onto him. I dunno. Then, I guess that my time is up, so I jog over and grab him, tickle him and jabber along with him stupidly.

Top 10 Fictional Places I'd Like to Visit

2009-03-21T11:52:00.000-07:00

Alright, so yes, I stole this idea from a post I saw somewhere a few weeks ago (I can't recall where). But it's a cool idea. So I am posting a list of the top ten fictional places I'd like to visit. And I wanted to go big and try to think up all the places I've visited in my literary journeys, but I'm sure that I'm going to miss something good, so help me out. What did I miss?

The Top Ten Fictional Places I'd Like to Visit:

Here we go from 10 to 1, ten fictional places I would pay money to travel and see.

10. U.S.S. Enterprise, Star Trek
I am not necessarily a trekkie, but this new Star Trek flick from J.J. Abrams looks amazing, and it helps that Abrams (the co-creator of Lost and Alias) is directing the film. It looks like so much fun in the recent trailers that what the heck, why not hang out on the ship, beam up to the bridge and just check out all the gadgets. Maybe fly somewhere cool.

9. Gotham City, The Bat Cave, Batman
For any Batman fan, whether you're into the comic books, the movies or some other form of the Batman stories (the bedsheets), Gotham City looks like an interesting place to visit, what with all the masked homicidal maniacs running around. Other than that last bit, it might as well be New York City, so I think I will narrow the pick of location to the Bat Cave itself. You don't need to ask me why. That place looks like a virtual toy shop full of gadgetry and techno toys that only a billionaire can afford. And I would love to spend some time messing around with that batmobile too...

8. The Island, Lost.
This is a newer edition into the pantheon of geek literature, but Lost has made its mark, crazy or not. This show has put a whole new spin on getting stuck on a desert island and that's what makes it so much fun, well that and wacky others, bloodthirsty strangers, beyond unpredictable plot twists and a backpack full of insane paradoxes that just sort of hang around with you even as you continue watching the show. So I don't care what you say, I would love to spend a few weeks exploring the time-traveling, hatch-hiding, others-ridden, black-smoke infested island. It wouldn't really be a vacation, but I'm downright sure it would be a trip.

7. Narnia, The Chronicles of Narnia
Now I have to admit right up front that I have long been a fan of the Narnia series, but not a HUGE fan; I loved these books as kids, but I moved on to Tolkien fairly quickly. And for me, after that, I didn't look back all that much. With that said, the stories of Narnia and the land itself, has always inspired my imagination. Even in the recent movies the land was intriguing and fun, and the films weren't altogether horrible.

6. Minas Tirith, The Lord of the Rings
In the Lord of the Rings, the city that stands out to me as one with the most grandeur and staggering size, especially in the films by Peter Jackson, is Minas Tirith. While the other cities of LOtR are quite cool, each one for its own reason, this city holds a special place in my imagination as it's built into the sheer rock of the mountainside, it stands tall over the plains looking out toward the dark lord, and the way it's defensive series of ringed sections are constructed is simply ingenious.

5. Atlantis
The mythical culture of Atlantis, the island city which was supposed to be located somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic ocean, has inspired creatives and confounded explorers for centuries. I would love to visit the fictional place of the stories, the one in which Atlantis is submerged under the ocean; the one in which Atlantis is home to aliens, or exotic races of people, or strange animals, magics and other things that sound equally irrational. It is one of the great myths of history, who wouldn't love to explore its mysterious shores?

4. Endor, Star Wars
In all of the Star Wars universe, nothing captivated my imagination more as a kid than Endor and the Ewoks. I think I would love to go there now just to take my own kids and show them the world of the furry little, spear-carrying teddy bears. Who would've thought that idea pitch would've made sense?

3. Tar Valon, The Wheel of Time Series
If you're a Robert Jordan fan, and I know, its take a certain kind of fantasy lover, maybe you will agree with me that the city of Tar Valon sounds amazing! The White Tower standing tall over the city's island constructed of polished white stone, and a city built by the mysterious and monstrous Ogiers (some of you are like what the heck is he talking about...?). Fantastic!

2. The Shire, The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit
So if I had to pick one place in Middle Earth to visit, even beyond Minas Tirith, I don't think I would want to vacation anywhere hardcore or war torn. Though I was a huge fan of the layout and battles that take place at Helm's Deep, it doesn't seem like a nice place to go visit. It's a nice place to go defend against an army of 10,000. However, the Shire sounds nice at all times of the year. Peaceful hobbits, nice houses nestled in the hills and green rolling hills, it sounds like Utopia. I'm in. Vacation!

1. Camelot of Arthurian Legend
Camelot is the classic king's castle and court, with a round table featuring the legendary knights that included Lancelot. I have to say that seeing the image of Camelot (right, from Idylls of the King) is one of the things that inspired me as a young writer and I think that's why this is number one. Camelot for me, is one of the earliest and most inspiring tales of heroism and fantastical adventure that I have read about, and that inspires me to write today. Thus, it is my number one fictional place!

Alright so this is my list of fictional places, but I am positive there are hundreds of other good options. What amazing fictional place would you like to visit on your next vacation? Open up your library and recall the journeys you've taken. Where would you visit?

Reading & Writing - Novel Update

2009-03-19T06:40:00.000-07:00

READING
So I picked up my fantasy novel again. But this time was different. Starting yesterday, I began reading through the book without a pen in hand, and I am forcing myself simply to read it, to go through the entire book as if I were a reader (confession: I do make notes after I finish each chapter, on a separate piece of paper) who just stumbled across the book.

I love what I've read so far, though already, I see room for great improvement (when do I not see that?), but a recent agent's blog post that I read gave me some doubts about my book's overlong word count! At 196,000 words this book is a beast just to carry around. It's like lugging a pair of dictionaries - I may as well use my novel to work out. Anyway, I saw this blog post in which an agent was whining about how novels (especially first novels!) should come in under 100K words, and epic fantasy novels (which are known to run long) should come in under 150K, preferably under 120K words.

Now I stare at my stack of pages and I wonder if it's, as Simon Cowell said the other night to Adam Lambert, "self indulgent rubbish"? Have you been in this position?

My first instinct on reading this blog post was to scoff at the comment and come up with some artistic argument, don't give me those rules, blah, blah, blah. My second instinct was holy cow! Am I way off base here with this behemoth of a book? Yes, I can easily edit the book down by 20 or 30 thousand words, but hold on. I'm forcing myself to push this out of my mind and continue on with the read through. I think the changes that are necessary will naturally present themselves.

What are your thoughts on word counts?

WRITING
So I've been writing short stories recently. I revised a short 5K-word science fiction story I wrote a couple years ago, and sent it out to a half dozen magazines recently. We'll see what happens with that piece. I really enjoyed writing it but set it aside and forgot about it. I polished it up, tried to refine it and jazz up the language, then whipped it out there again, and I hope to find a nice place for it to see the light of day in print. If not, I will probably shoot it out to a dozen or so online mags and see what happens.

Also, last week, in an effort to get my mind off the novel, ironically, I began a new short story using one of my main characters from the novel. Perhaps this is a bad strategy. But I am still so deep in that milieu that I found it very easy to create a new story for this character, almost a prequel to her story in the book itself. It's 1300 words today, and I hope to knock out the rest of the story by week's end.

What are you writing these days? What kinds of things are keeping your mind buzzing with inspiration? Have a great day! : )

10 Tips for Freelance Writing - Getting Your Work Published

2009-03-18T21:18:00.000-07:00

I have received a number of questions from friends and acquaintances about freelance writing for magazines and newspapers, in print or online. So I thought I would post some general thoughts here in response, for those who are interested. If you have zero interest in this, I'll post something more fun tomorrow.

First things first, the freelance writing business is hard. You've got to be prolific, persistent and very detailed. Freelance writing takes an immense amount of work to actually make a living doing it full time. But if you're doing it as a side job or to supplement another stream of income, the experience can be quite rewarding. That's not to say that full-time freelance writing can't be rewarding, it's just that I've never done that, so I don't know.

10 Freelance Writing Tips

1 - Always begin by sending the editor a short, professional query letter by mail or e-mail. There are dozens of query letter formats out there, but the best I've seen are short and to the point, with an added dash of flavorful language or a sharp turn of phrase in the brief lines included. However, don't go over the top or get too flowery as this is usually the sign of an inexperienced writer. Generally, the first query should be a note requesting information on writer's guidelines, style sheets, upcoming seasonal issues, specific assignments or tips for freelance writers who want to submit a story.

2 - It is easier to get your foot in the door at new magazines, online publications or periodicals. Contact those magazines you want to work for early in their lives and regularly (and its surprising how many magazines pop up and quickly go defunct, especially these days, so keep an eye out for new publications - it's an easy way to get a first byline). Be persistent, kind and show a little spirit in your conversations with the editor and if your work is any good, you're likely to get a shot.

3 - Persistence is the key: Send your queries out there, to as many applicable publications as you want to approach. I recommend starting with three target publications, so you can focus on doing great work for these three outlets. Don't get upset or distracted by rejection. It's going to happen regularly in the life of a freelance writer. But once a publication rejects one idea, always have another idea ready to pitch. Once you have a foot in the door with your target publications, feel free to broaden your target, but in order to get into a regular, paid freelancing job with a publication, make sure you stay consistent, responsive and available.

4 - Get to know your editor. Call or e-mail the specific editor for whom you want to work, and keep in touch, get to know his or her likes and dislikes and use that information once you have an idea of what the editor likes. Pitch more story ideas in the area where the editor expressed interest. Note: Different editors like different types of stories, and different types of writing too. Every editor is different, so don't let one rejection get you down.

5 - Research the publication and read it before you query the editors; you need to be sure that the editors publish the kind of stories, articles, interviews, reviews or columns you want to write.

6 - Pitch regularly, and specifically. Once you've made initial contact, pitch story ideas regularly - though not annoyingly - editors are always looking for new stories and one of your ideas may strike a nerve. And remember to pitch specific, unique story ideas rather than more general story ideas. For example: An editor isn't looking for a story on the best movies of the last year. He or she would be more likely publish your critical review of the difference between comic book films and films based on graphic graphic novels, comparing Watchmen, Sin City and The Dark Knight, featuring an interview with Alan Moore or someone similar. Even that story is a bit too broad, but you get the idea. Make you pitches specific, unique and suggest handles that the editor can see in a headline.

7 - Always have at least one writing sample ready to send, just in case the editor requests a sample piece of your writing to review.

8- When you start pitching story ideas, be sure to choose an article topic that you know well or have researched in the past. You should at least have some minimal experience of the area about which you want to write. If you don't have that experience, knowledge or information, go get it before you pitch the idea. As the article writer, you must become an expert in the topic, if only for a short period of time.

9 - Once you get the assignment, make sure you hit your deadline or turn in your piece early. If you ever want to get hired by that editor again, it is important that you give him or her a favorable impression of your work. This one is simple, make the editor's life easier and don't be late on deadlines!

10 - Finally, proofread your piece and go over above the assignment. If you want to stand out you have do more than is required. Reread your article until you are confident it is the best that it can be. Never send in the first draft, and never send it in without proofreading it 3, 4 times or more if necessary. Also, if your editor requests a sidebar on a related topic, or a list of web sites readers would be interested in, go over and above the request. Write a long sidebar, maybe even two, and give your editor all the material he or she will need. The editor will remember you as someone who goes above and beyond the assignment and he or she will want to work with you again. And this is precisely what you want.

One postscript: I have written for magazines, newspapers, online publications and other outlets, but the large majority of my writing has been nonfiction, almost exclusively. I've published one piece of fiction, in a now defunct magazine, and two pieces of poetry in obscure reviews. So I am speaking about this from the perspective of nonfiction writing primarily. Also, in my publishing job, I hire from a small, select pool of freelance writers and so I have seen it from both sides (but don't send me any queries!). ; )

These thoughts only scratch the surface of the process, but there it is. Best of luck with your writing!

Walking in the Woods with Bryson

2009-03-14T21:38:00.000-07:00

So while I was flying out to Tennessee on Wednesday for meetings, I took along a copy of Bill Bryson's book A Walk in the Woods. It was actually a gift from a publishing friend a year or two ago and it has been on my to-be-read stack for awhile. Actually, like some of you, I have many, many books I'd like to read and sometimes I'll snatch one up on the way out the door and bring it along.

Anyway, I peeled open the book a few minutes into the flight, and joined Bryson on his wild adventure on the Appalachian Trail (the pictures here are all from the AT). The trip along the Appalachian Trail appears as though it could last at least 3 months, though apparently it could go on for upwards of 5 months or more, depending on conditions and hiking speed. The Appalachian Trail (I never realized) stretches from Georgia all the way up the East Coast through the mountains and valleys and forests all the way to Maine. To Maine! The trail is roughly 2,175 miles in length and is populated by thousands of hikers, bears, salamanders, rats, snakes and flora of all kinds.

Bryson takes to the trail with idealism, gusto and his friend Katz, who is a strange and bumbling companion who cracks wise and generally says funny or ridiculous things. Together, Bryson and Katz march on and on, beginning on a cold March day, through days of rain and snow, days of beautiful sunshine, stretches plagued by appalling hiking partners, and the journey is alternately hellish and heavenly.

The hiking life sounds miserable at first. Like anything, you have get started, accustom your body to the brutal weight of the hiker's pack and to the long days of hiking monotonously through dense forest and up steep mountains. It takes time to move beyond the sheer physical agony that begins right from the start, at least, according to Bryson. However, it appears as though Bryson gets used to it eventually and finds himself in a mindset in which he loves the monotony, he loves being in nature and hiking onward day after day. After a while, hiking is simply what you do. I wonder if there is a small sense of achievement day after day.

I must say, the idea of hiking for 3-5 months straight, camping in the wilderness and working very hard to survive, is an attractive proposition for those of us who stare at screens in small offices for much of the day. I feel drawn to try this one day, whether on a smaller scale or on the AT itself. Either way, I would love to make it out onto a trail such as this one for an extended amount of time.
Anyway, this is a fantastic book if you've not read it, (though I'm only about 100 pages into it today) and I was loving it on the plane out to Nashville last week. My advice to you. Check out the book and dream a little about hiking along the Appalchian Trail some day.

Have a great rest of the weekend!

How Do You Write...?

2009-03-13T08:14:00.000-07:00

I was out of town (freezing cold, raining ice in Nashville!) for a couple days and I had no chance to post anything new to the blog. So here's something new for today. More tomorrow!

I have a writing routine. So I guess this would fall under the "how I write" area of my posting. I have a full time publishing job, so the only time I get to spend actually writing is early in the morning. The equation is quite simple actually. The earlier I get up, the more time I can write before work, and therefore, the earlier I go to sleep the night before the easier it is to get up early, and thus, the more I write in total.

So there's that.

I have four key spots that I go in the morning. All four are coffee shops and I kind of rotate between them depending on mood and other varying factors such as gift cards, availability of favorite seat etc. But basically I camp out in one of my three spots, in a back corner somewhere, turn on my laptop take a few sips of coffee, read the headlines in the day's Los Angeles Times, and then I ditch the paper quickly and open up my writing files.

Sometimes I will recall immediately where I was at in the story/novel/screenplay and get going, while other times, it takes me 30 minutes just to reread the previous day's work and draw myself back to the spot where I left off. But usually at some point in the morning, I get back to that spot and get into a rhythm which lasts between an hour and two hours. Then I check my e-mail, check my blog and head into work.

I end up doing this roughly 3-4 days a week during a regular week. During a travel week that all gets shot and my routine is thrown for days.

One of my fears is that I will get into this habit of writing in short bursts, so much so that when I want to write on the weekends or on off days that I won't be able to write for 6, 7 or 8 hours at a time. It hasn't happened yet, but those longer days can be hard and somewhat grueling, when I have them.

But once you get your butt in the writing chair,wherever it may be, and you start to write, how do you get going? How do you sit down, get started and just get the work done? What is it that gets you through a page of copy?

How I Write...Part One

2009-03-06T09:49:00.000-08:00

Today, I have been thinking about the way in which I write, or the way in which any of us writes. Is it better to begin with a detailed thirty page outline or is it better to just start right in with a snappy title, a couple lines of text and then see what happens?

A post over at Magical Words in which writer CE Murhey discusses detailed plotting, versus outlining by the seat of your pants (otherwise known as not outlining), got me thinking about this topic. I have heard authors write or talk about this from a whole range of positions, including fantasy novelist Terry Brooks, who meticulously sculpts the direction of every chapter long before he begins to write the book. But I also recall reading an interview with prolific author Dean Koontz a long time ago about one of his books which began for him with two lines of dialogue. From there he simply began free writing, creating an entire novel from two lines of intriguing dialogue that eventually became the opening lines of his book.

I have written stories or novels or screenplays both ways, and I don't necessarily think that one way is better than another. However, each type of preparation (or lack thereof) produces widely different results. With Terry Brooks for example, his novels can be fast-paced and fun to read, but sometimes they can also feel formulaic or predictable. On the flip side Stephen King's novels (though I've only read two) often meander around exploring interesting alleys with random twists, though sometimes it can take much longer to work through one of his books (Stephen King is famous for not outlining in detail).

I've also found that there are several drawbacks to not outlining your story or novel. When the thing is done, there is often a lot of work left to do to the structure of the story, and sometimes the author must reshape the entire book to get it right. And as a result the entire revision process can take a lot longer. However, if you outline in detail and stick to that outline, you might miss the fun or unexpected avenues your novel could have gone down.

There are valid pros and cons for both positions. And for those who write or create, I think there are good reasons to try both methods, though we all have our natural predilections.

I am surely not an "outliner" by nature. When I start working on an idea, for instance, the new novel I recently started writing, usually that work is the result of weeks of simple notes and thinking about it on the side. But I don't put down a detailed outline. I like to know the ending of the book, and I look to set up a few signposts in the ground along the way. That's it. And these signposts, can be moved, if necessary. Perhaps I will write some more about how I do this in another post (How I Write...Part Two), so I can explore some of these ideas.

And so, a few questions: How do you write? Are you a Plotter or a Trailblazer? (I know one sounds cooler than the other, perhaps due to my bias). Also, which type of book do you prefer to read?

Why I Write...Part Two

2009-03-03T22:30:00.000-08:00

What follows is the first half of my college creative writing piece, written in response to the Orwell essay assignment, which I mentioned in a previous post. I've made some edits to it so it wouldn't be too long for the blog. And even though some of it is clearly stemming from an angsty phase of my college life, I think there are some fun phrases and interesting references in this piece:

"Why I Write"

"I'm walking down Telegraph Road . . . it's sunset.

A deep red sun is setting brilliantly on the horizon and I recall the U2 album entitled: "Under a Blood Red Sky." At this moment I realize that I've never truly witnessed a blood red sky. But I'm seeing one now, entirely, deeply, blood red. The idea settles into me, along with the thought that maybe I have seen one before, but I didn't take hold of it enough to remember it.

This time though, after my longest class of the day, on the busiest road in my small hometown, I stop and stare at it. It is captivating, it is the sunset cliché, dancing about in front of me like a painting or a poem, and there is no cover charge to watch.

People drive by next to me on Telegraph Road speeding and oblivious, and I want to stop them, drag them out of their cars by their shirt collars and point out what I see. I would say to them: "Now this, this is a blood red sky, this is what people talk about sometimes. You’ve heard about this before..." This is one of those certain feelings, people get on those certain days, I think everyone has them.

...I sense that I had better write now and then tell you why or give you a reason much later because often times I get the feeling that when things, go upside, down goes my heart, and my head, pounding, so I must start by stuttering in this place or I will probably stop too soon . . .

When the day is deep (rarely)

blue and I sense my own false yet exhilarating immortality in the air, I write
(those are the days that are so spontaneous and new that feelings like wistfullness are rushed past, and almost discarded)

I write here to understand thoughts; no clarify them, to reread them,
inky paragraphs...that trail off down the
page, part of my driving effort to get somewhere, to create something. And then, of course, I seek something in my writing, always something:

God, my family, my wife, understanding, a new idea, or the reasons for my odd fascinations

And I see the moon [she sees it in slivers]
her eyes closed to slits
the bright lights and the brisk winds that smell of fires in the winter
stark, cold, the first of the winds to smell that way,
the smell of fire though there is no burning. And there is
time, this sliver, and I disregard this so I can breath in the night air when I'm with her
there and I'm very emotional that day and she says:
"What do you want to do with your writing?"

I see her eyes then, her dark eyes that are so full, only slivers of light to me...live rippling waves of light a sliver at a time and I think then what do we have in life but these kinds of moments? and I hold her tighter,

the night hollowing itself out in
semi-closure of the day and
she says: "Time to stop

(beat)

...is good." With my silence I agree.

...my progress proygress progress palpitating in my chest and I am crying up and down the chords of Lorca's guitar strings, his dashing prows of silver and I want to make his guitar sing but it won't do anything but wail to me about writing to dispel all doubts. Or was it to confirm them, and this is my dilemma presently so I write really because I want to confess, really because I want to see the shapes and fashionings of sculpted figures on paper that look rather nice, really because we all want be loved, to be recognized, really I write, I write, I write, I stutter and here I go and I have to tell you, I really have to tell you that it hurts just to sit here because I want to cry so bad and I can't, and the reality of Elliot's dark presumption is looming over us even still and everybody knows they're full, just chalk full of simple betrayals and so that's the
down
right
simmering
true life reality harsh cold blue never isn't it? Yes.

Yes, and I know that I'm the Holden Caulfield of my day, or I was once,
and indeed, so were you.

Perhaps writers shouldn’t be so presumptuous, but time ought to be written somehow it seems to me and so I do and so I don't. I want to be a rock star journalist, a hairy headbanger dreaming of purple sunsets over black skies, maybe this is a video game set piece, the background for a loopy dream, a place in which I am the super simplistic hero and I have some truly valid quest, or purpose, how refreshing, forcing me to shout my words as if they had some meaningsss....

....words...as if they had some meannsss...wrds as if theihav sum meenins'''....wirds as theave meanancin....wirss ass thoughttweer wurds...thinking in words and...so...I think in words in phrases.

I am I am I aam amity I wham bam ma'am.

Such simplistic free thought now, but it has to be now, because I can't edit these ideas as they are all just as valid as the assumption that writing consists of words on a page....or perhaps that a certain kind of artistic writing...or poetic writing...or isn't all writing artistic, in a sense? Is it? No, no, no...

...and so I begin to realize that I just want to go away for awhile with my own spontaneity in search of something deeper, something that will come of changing the ways things have been done...insanity is doing the same thing again...and again...expecting different results...The unpredictability of the future is frightening now but in some future hence it is going to be bright and new. illusion? trees pinned with splintery wooden beams in front of dropping sun and silhouettes of men hanging now drifting into dusk as though screams were being silenced. allusion. Life, time, overwhelming amounts of information, and now writing amidst all of this only seems to allow for simple interpretations. Anything else is unwieldy, not so easy to carry around, let alone live with. But go read a porsche, deconstruct a dictionary. Meaning might appear on the way uselessness. It just might. Perhaps it already has and we missed it.

And some of us wonder why people write...is it truly for the torture of it? Is it truly for the love of creating, is it a need, is it an urge, an instinct? Is it a desire to figure out life, to mark it, destroy or somehow create it anew? Perhaps, for the diseases we all have and are infected with whether we test positive or not and whether you care or not I write for you.

I write for all the silence
that I share with you.

I write for my rage
sometimes.
I write for the racking sobs
of delirious pain that pound
at my chest so fervently
sometimes that I scream and choke and try to cry and rip open my eyes when they are dry again in seconds...
I write for my love, for my jealousy.
I write for my languid heart, for my lack of emotion, for what I sense to be a deficiency inside myself that drives for the truth, for the answers to all those questions.
You know the ones.

. . . and so I conjure up and discover the figures of my humanity that I am and I am not . . . The helpless idiot, castrated, useless, undone in time . . . like Benji Compson furious with the sound...sleep dream flutter...this happens during that time before I wake when I have already woken but feeling desperate and anonymous isn't quite as devastating . . .

Some days writing is not an escape . . . it is a dungeon to wander into, an ambush of trite non-statements blindsiding without tact, taking the writer on an unintended journey, scaring him, discovering the giant cracks in his dainty armor. . .

I think that reality, harsh and cold as we often describe it, could probably be worse, because the world didn't do anything to betray us, we did it to ourselves, right? And reality is a mirror, a device, a clever usage . . . and I'm groping with it past all these billboards more and towering restaurant signs and movies lies and the evening news and traffic lights with cameras that worry me and time zone metrics inches systems calculus especially riddles and music pounding louder pressurized techno jams sports talk radios and I simply, finally, want to write light.

Sure I write up little journalistic manifestos, miniature rebel yells, calling for better this and more accurate that . . . but then isn't that just writing to rewrite? We should seek orginality, to be original...ly special...ly new...ly born and pulled out from toes to pelvis to throat again.

I can't rest. I can never get too much sleep. Simple ideals are so pointeddad deda dead . . . when you can actually hear the day itself crackling out loud in your ears like burning brush. Rain is falling allthe time, falling afalinga alalllfainga fall all in time it will be all right all soilljust, so allright, al right rite....I'll write."

This piece for me, at the time, certainly answered the question.

Letterpress Process

2009-02-28T09:22:00.000-08:00

I stumbled across this video about the old letterpress typesetting process. Fascinating. I wonder if our current offline book printing presses, and even the newer Print On Demand presses will soon go the way of this ancient press process? Especially with digital books going mainstream, which I wrote about a few days ago.

Either way, check out this video about letterpress typesetting. Such a cool process with a truly beautiful product that is all too rare today:

Why I Write...Part One

2009-02-25T19:19:00.000-08:00

Every so often I ponder the question that all writers must ask themselves at some point along in their journey to getting words on paper. Why do I write?

I remember 'studying' this question in a creative writing class in college with a charming bespectacled teacher (minus the beret), a class in which we studied the George Orwell's essay "Why I Write." After going through the essay together, the teacher then turned around and gave us the somewhat contrived assignment to write a 2-page narrative piece with the same title. I ended up writing like a 4-5 page narrative poem of sorts which didn't really answer the question, at least not directly. I think I'll put it up on this blog later in another post (as 'Why I Write Part Two'). I recall filling it full of crazy sentence construction, literary references and wannabe literary devices, but I'll dig it up anyway.

But here I want to review some of what Orwell said, since he's so widely quoted on this subject.

Orwell wrote this line early in the essay: "When I was about sixteen I suddenly discovered the joy of mere words, i.e. the sounds and associations of words." There is an inexplicable joy found in the sequencing of words and sounds, especially in the writing of poetry. I think this is, in addition to one of the reasons I write, one of the reasons I read. Something special hits me when a writer puts together a sentence that loops and spins and sails over the tongue like a loosed frisbee; similarly, a metaphor that brings life to a section of prose can give me goosebumps. So I agree with this reason, but its not quite enough by itself.

Orwell then goes on to list his serious reasons for why he writes from a kind of critical, philosophical perspective, leaving out "for money": "Sheer Egoism" is Orwell's first reason, which I have to say, every writer should raise their hands and say "yes" to, at least in some way. Seeing a byline in print or online is a rewarding, if selfish experience. The second reason Orwell gives is 'Aesthetic Enthusiasm". In other words, he wrote to appreciate the beauty in the world, and at the same time, to appreciate the beauty in the arrangement of the words (the aforementioned "joy of mere words" would probably fit in this category). He follows that with "Historial Impulse," which is the desire to document what is happening today so there will be record of this time, this place or these people. "Political Purpose" is his final reason: To illuminate some greater message or goal. And perhaps I am oversimplifying a little bit.

I tend to agree with most of Orwell's reasons for writing, depending on the type of writing one is attempting, though I think I could posit several others good reasons. For example, I often find myself wondering about the question in the Westminster Shorter Catechism, what is the chief end of man? If the chief end of man is to give glory to our creator, how does writing serve that end? And how can one give glory to God through a novel or a piece of seemingly non-spiritual genre fiction? Is that possible?

I will contend that the answer is "yes", in two ways: First, I think the act of creating in itself, can be a worshipful act, as it mimics the creator's far grander act of creation (in the same way that a child mimicking his parents demonstrates love). Second, I think one can attempt to illuminate some aspect of the divine, or the mysterious part of God through fictional stories, particularly in the speculative genres. This attempt at illumination is surely a way of giving glory to God. So I guess I will say here, that I write to give glory to God.

Jumping off of that, are there other reasons you write? And is escapism or entertainment a worthy goal in writing? Trying to show the beautiful in the world, or hoping to provide others a momentary respite? So why do you write or create?

Going "Book-Less"

2009-02-23T18:02:00.000-08:00

Driving in to work this morning, I heard a report on NPR about a university (I can't recall which one) that is taking the entire school "book-less." Apparently, the university officials have decided to take the entire school, and all its classes, to online sources and e-books, rather than require the purchase of textbooks in the traditional form.

As I think about college and all the money I spent on textbooks, this sounds like a dream, right? But as I sit in the chair at work, and think about it from the publisher's perspective, I realize that books are changing faster than anyone anticipated. Though it's not like this is a surprise. Newspapers have been in jeopardy for years now, which I recall from my days at the Los Angeles Times, and with the ipod (and itunes) taking over the music industry, everyone has been on notice for a long time. When Amazon's Kindle came out everyone waited to see if anyone would actually buy the thing. At work, we loaded up a couple hundred of our backlist and frontlist titles to see what would happen, and they aren't selling like crazy yet, but they are selling (and Amazon just released Kindle 2!).

Now there are Sony e-readers, a half-dozen other readers, the mobipocket HTML book format which allows one to read books on a cell phone, and of course, now there are several reading apps for the ever popular iPhone. You can also find a dozen viable online e-book retailers as well, other than Amazon.com. So the e-book is about to go mainstream.

With all this mind, will books in their traditional form, ever disappear? I contend that "no" they will not. The difference between a song played on an ipod, and a song played on a CD-spinning walkman is very slight, when measured in the end user's total experience. However, the reading experience is fundamentally unique on an e-reader when compared to a printed and bound book. So I think that while many will adopt the e-readers in one way or another to increase efficiency, or reduce cost, or save the planet, the traditional book will never disappear.

But what do you think?

A Scary Night

2009-02-20T07:32:00.000-08:00

Last night was extremely scary. A parent hates to see his child in pain and scared for his life.

Ari and I were sitting on our couches in our living room, talking. At one point he was fine, listening to me, and talking without problem, and the next moment his face screwed up tight, almost as if he were making an growling face. At first I genuinely thought he was just making a funny face. Ari can be a prankster, and he loves to try to make people laugh with silly faces, jokes or weird voices, or whatever. But apparently I wasn't in the mood for it at that moment.

I asked him: "Why are you making that face Ari?" in a stern voice. Now I feel like crap about that comment, but there it is.

His face stayed in that growling expression, his mouth jagged and pulled back on one side, but not the other, his eye and nose dropping slightly on the right side of his face. His other eye was wide open. His eyes showed worry and shock, and he was starting to cry because he had no idea what was going on. "Daddy," he mumbled in a halting voice through one side of his mouth. "I can't blink."

Then he heard himself say that, and he started to freak out, crying. I immediately laid him down on the couch and said,"It's okay, let me see your face."

He was crying now and he stammered, "Dad...now I'm talking funny!"

I asked Colie to get a washcloth, and she ran and grabbed a paper towel, wet it, and I laid it on Ari's forehead trying to calm him down. He started breathing very fast, getting very scared. So first, we worked on just breathing deeply and calming down. I told him he was going to be fine, not really knowing if that was true. I told him that these things happened all the time and we just wanted to see what he was feeling.

I asked Ari to smile, and he did, his mouth responding only on one side of his face, the left side staying frozen. I looked at his nose, and saw it was physicially lower on the right side of his face. His eyelid drooped on the right side and he couldn't move or blink his eye at all on the left side. His entire face looked split down the middle, one expression on one side, another totally different expression on the other. Breathing slower now, Ari started asking me questions "Am I gonna be okay," as Nicole was dialing the doctor. "Of course, you will be," I said in the most even voice I could call up.

The first thought through my head, was "stroke." I had no idea if stroke happened in seven-year old kids or what would cause it, but with that in mind, I had Ari flex his arms, his fingers. "Move your legs for me buddy," I said. He moved his legs and wiggled his toes, and everything else seemed okay. I don't even know anything about "stroke" but I kept asking questions. "Do you feel a buzzing or tingling anywhere else in your body, Ari?"

"No, just on my face," he said, mumbling through one side of his mouth. So I began to gently massage his face. "How does it feel here?" I ask him touching his cheek on one side very softly, then gently touching the other side. He seemed to be able to feel his face, more or less, but his left side remained paralyzed, unmoving, and he couldn't lift his left eyebrow at all. The right side of his face still sagged, though it moved awkwardly when he concentrated.

I have to say, that seeing this transformation take place right in front of me was one of the scariest moments of my life. Seeing my son's face like this didn't make sense to me at all. It just felt wrong and a king of vertigo rolled through my stomach.

Nicole got off the phone with the doctor, who told her "Get him to the ER now," with no further explanation. So we moved into emergency mode. We still had two other kids in the house, and it was bed time so I stayed and Nicole threw on a jacket. I got Ari dressed, put his shoes on, his jacket on and gave him a hug. He actually didn't seem to be in much pain.

Once they left for the hospital, I put the baby to bed and jumped online and started to read up on "Facial Paralysis in Children." This only made it scarier. However, I did discover that headaches and sensitivity to light are some of the precursors to Bell's Palsy, something that can happen to anyone after a specific virus or infection.

In the past week Ari had complained of headaches, and had been very sensitive to light, which I remembered distinctly. He had routinely gone around the house turning off lights complaining of pain in his eyes. And he had been very sick recently as well. Bell's Palsy episodes usually last about 2 weeks and most children affected by this usually return to normal after that.

I breathed a sigh of half-relief, sending Nicole a text message about it, hoping that this was what it was. Then I skipped through most of the articles about tumors, permanent facial paralysis and Lyme's Disease and all the other more horrible potential causes of this condition. Nicole called me after seeing the doctor and he confirmed, that it seemed to be Bell's Palsy and that we should see the doctor in the morning.

So Ari is going to the doctor this morning to get it checked again - but what a deeply scary moment last night. These are the moments when you appreciate just how much your family means to you. And if you're reading this, I would appreciate your prayers!

Thoughts on the Economy...

2009-02-19T07:37:00.000-08:00

Today I am thinking about the extremely high cost of the last ten years.

I remember when Nicole and I bought our first condo in the late part of the last century, just after getting out of college, and just before the birth of our son Ari, who is now 7. Only two years later, we sold the condo for almost double what we bought it for. Colie and I thought, this is crazy! Shouldn't it take more time for the price of one's house to double? But it sold and we had great equity to put into our next home, so we weren't complaining. We bought a small house, and again, we sold it two years later for nearly double the price we paid originally. Again, I recall having discussions with Nicole where were asking each other, is this kind of price increase normal? When is this bubble going to burst?

Well, here we are today in a market struggling to revert to a place of sanity, saving and smart lending. The bubble has burst. In some ways, I think we all knew this had to happen. That kind of growth, at least in the housing market, was simply not sustainable. Not while wages and prices in other markets grew relatively slowly. I'm not saying that I'm glad for the financial mess that the country is in, but much of this is directly due to the pure market aggression of the last ten years. I for one am trying to put away any cash I can lay my hands on, including whatever tax return we expect this year. Every little bit extra, not that there's much, is going in savings while we wait for the roller coaster to hit the bottom of the dip and start to rise up the other side again. Even then, I'd rather be known as a country able to save, than a country living on credit. I found these two lines somewhere, they are apparently Chinese proverbs:

"Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid of standing still."

We are certainly not standing still. And sure, our current house hasn't doubled yet, and its been five years now, but in the previous four years I argue that we grew too quickly. So here's to growing slowly, and saving all our little pennies.

Anyway, best of luck to you in whatever financial place you find yourself today.

Book Marketing - Gaiman Reading

2009-02-15T18:55:00.001-08:00

Okay, a friend sent this over to me recently and I just thought it was too cool not to post. Neil Gaiman, celebrated author, graphic novelist and super multi-hyphenate, has written a new book for young readers. He also wrote the book on which the new movie 'Coraline' is based. I am a big fan of his novels 'Stardust', 'American Gods' and the Sandman Graphic Novel. To promote his new book Gaiman has gone and done something exceedingly simple, but certainly cool. He posted videos on his web site featuring himself reading every single chapter of the book. Dig it:

http://www.mousecircus.com/videotour.aspx

A Small, Profound Moment

2009-02-15T13:18:00.000-08:00

Last night we're watching a movie on TV. Actually, let me clarify: my wife was watching a movie on like Lifetime, or some similar channel, called "Celine: The Celine Dion Story." Not a movie I wanted to see, believe me. So I was cleaning up the dishes in kitchen while she's watching the movie.

Anyway, my sons were playing in the Living Room, and Ari, our seven year old starts to watch this movie as Nicole is watching, and he's actually paying attention. At the end of the film, Celine sings her song from the movie Titanic, a heart-string tugger called "My Heart Will Go On" that you've probably heard before. Whenever I hear this song now, I kind of cringe and shudder inside, because I recall hearing it SO many times after Titanic came out, and it got worse once everyone realized the film was an international phenomenon. I suppose the song wasn't bad, at least the first time I heard it, but months later, I hated it deeply. In the Lifetime movie "Celine", even Dion herself, when she's deciding whether or not to perform the song, says something to effect of "I don't really like this song, I'm not sure if I should do this."

Anyway, the song comes on, Celine is singing it, I'm just sort of listening to it as background music while rinsing dishes in the kitchen, and as the song builds, and Celine belts it out with all the weepy passion and gusto that a Lifetime movie brings to stories like this, and Ari starts to cry. Not just tearing up and blinking it away, he's bawling.

I walk over and Nicole steps over to him too and we ask him, "What's wrong?" We're looking for a head wound or blood trickling out of his nose. But he's speechless. He just cries and I'm about ready to make a crack about this horrible song, and then I see his face. He looks at me and he says, "It's just so sad."

Now the lyrics to the song are a bit sad, but the melody itself has that tone as well, one of longing and even loss. My wife and I recall in that moment (after discussing it later), seeing Ari as an infant, singing aloud to music he heard on the stereo system. Even when he was a toddler, he was always very sensitive to music he heard, even on commercials or on the radio. He is sometimes profoundly affected by the songs he hears. But it had been awhile since I'd seen it affect him this way.

What proceeded last night was a short, simple conversation with my son about music, and melody, and how it plays on something deep within us and makes us feel. We talked about the mystery of that interplay, between musicians and those who appreciate music. How the mystery of music can help us to feel something that is impossible to explain, and how one can also create music to transmit a specific feeling to others.

Who knew Celine would take us there? Now of course, he's seven, and I'm sure he didn't entirely understand what he was feeling in that moment. But that's part of it, isn't it? Neither do we understand that mystery in the music we hear (especially the mystery of that particular song! Where'd that come from?).

And let's just say, I would like to expose Ari to more music and music lessons in the very near future.