The truth about modern book publishing

I wrote a post over at another blog a while back that I liked enough to want to repeat it on several other blogs. Then I thought, "Heck, it's not even on my own blog." It's not much, but in response to the constant sea of whining and snipping about the current state of indie publishers vs. the big NY publishers, here are my basic thoughts:

Big publisher.
Little publisher.
Self publisher.
New York publisher.
Digital publisher.
Indie publisher.

What I'm coming to realize is none of that makes any difference anymore. Each writer sets his or her own goals as a writer, and if one's goal is to be published by one of the big shots in NY then that's what they should shoot for. The rest of us can be satisfied simply making a living writing. 

And just to clear up: I have nothing against the big NY publishers. Yes, I'd work with them in a heartbeat. I'd take the money and run. But I do get sick and tired of those within the industry who cannot adapt to the changing business and technology, and instead of doing something about it they go on the attack. I'm a former newspaper journalist. I've already been through this once before. Not this time.

Demons is alive! ALIVE I tell you!

For those of you who love Sword & Sorcery and action-oriented fantasy, there's a new collection of stories from Rogue Blades Entertainment. I present to you Demons: A Clash of Steel Anthology.

Inside this collection you will find 28 tales of fantasy adventure with a focus upon the demonic in one form or another. You'll find some fine writing here by the likes of Steve Goble, Rob Mancebo, Bill Ward and many others.

And guess what? You'll find one of my own stories there as well. Yes, my tale "Kron Darkbow" is among the many other fine tales.

So get to buying and get to reading!

E-book prices are a funny thing

Last year when I first began uploading e-books up to Amazon for sale on the Kindle, I had no clue as what kind of prices to place on my e-books. As I would be an unknown author for nearly everyone who might purchase my e-books, my thinking was that I should go as cheap as possible. I fudged around with some pricing for a while, but eventually I settled on a price of about a dollar.

Now my e-books are beginning to sell somewhat. No, I'm not rich, but the sales are mounting and I'm bringing home enough money to help pay the bills.

The funny thing is I keep running across comments online from people who have read my first fantasy novel, City of Rogues, or I keep getting e-mails from first-time readers who say the same thing: They almost skipped reading my e-books because they believed the cheap price meant the books weren't any good, but they were happy they took a chance on my material.

This is flattering, of course. But there's also a part of me that has to wonder how many readers were turned off from my e-books because of the low prices.

Right now Amazon is running a sale on my e-books (as well as those of other writers), and most of my available e-books are going for the low, low price of 79 cents. I'm glad the readers are getting a deal while I still make the same amount of money from sales.

But if the cheap price is a turn-off for some readers, should I consider raising my prices?

I have several short story collections and a couple of screenplays available for the Kindle, and those I'll keep at about a dollar. Those were short projects and don't offer potential readers the depth and reading experience of a novel.

But I have to wonder if I should raise the prices of my novels?

Another issue is earnings. Amazon now pays a higher percentage of earnings to authors who charge at least $2.99 for their e-books. So, since I'm not charging that rate, my percentage of earnings for each book is lower.

So, should I raise my prices? Maybe to $2.99 per novel? Or maybe keep the cheap rate for the first novel in my fantasy trilogy, but $2.99 for the second and third books?

I'd really like to hear others' opinions, so don't be afraid to speak up, especially if you've read any of my e-books or even my other writings.

Non-fiction writers should read fiction, and vice versa

Not all writing is created equal. Some writers are good. Some are not. What makes a good writer, and good writing, is somewhat debatable, but most of us have our opinions on it. Especially if you happen to be a writer.

Too often, however, writers and even readers do ourselves a disservice by being snobbish about what we read. Some of us only read romance novels, or fantasy fiction or newspapers. Some of us stick to literary magazines or military publications or housekeeping books. While there's nothing wrong with having a favorite type of literature, we miss out on a lot when we don't allow ourselves to branch out and step outside our safety net.

Believe it or not there is good writing out there, even enjoyable and entertaining writing, beyond the scope of what most of us stick with.

As a personal example, one of the best non-fiction books I've read is "Education of a Wandering Man" by Louis L'Amour. L'Amour is generally known for his fictional Western novels, a genre I rarely read. If I had not taken a chance on his non-fiction writing, even though I'm not the biggest fan of Western novels, I would not have discovered the delights of "Education of a Wandering Man," basically the tale of L'Amour young days before he became a writer. In the book he writes about various misadventures, including walking out of Death Valley on foot.

Stretching, and sometimes even tearing down or jumping over, our boundaries is even more important for writers than for readers. Readers generally read to educate themselves or for entertainment purposes, while writers read not only for those reasons but also to study writing. To study writing properly, to learn new ways of using language for writing, we as writers should be as well read as feasibly possible. Reading widely will actually improve our writing.

Another example is "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote. "In Cold Blood" is a non-fiction true crime book about the murder of a Kansas family back in the 1950s and the trial and executions of the family's killers. While unnerving, these actual events sound fairly tame to many of the true crime book published today, most of which involve serial killers and all kids of downright freaky and awful murderers. Still, by far, "In Cold Blood" is the best of the many true crime books I've ever read. Capote doesn't present the story in the typical, news-like narrative form common to many true crime books, but he uses a narrative that reads like the best of fiction writing. "In Cold Blood" is written so well it can tear your emotions apart, on one page having you appalled at the murders while on another page having you feel sorry for the actual murderers. Fiction writers need to read this book to witness a story told at its finest.

Also, for fiction writers, reading non-fiction can give one all kinds of story ideas. Today's science magazines can offer information that's far beyond anything science fiction novelists could have dreamed up even a couple of decades ago.

For non-fiction writers, study the art of fiction can help to improve one's craft. Fiction writers tend to use stronger verbs and adjectives than their non-fiction counterparts, thus non-fiction writers can learn a thing or two here, as well as possibly picking up some plotting ideas. Because believe it or not, even non-fiction can be plotted out, and well.

So spread your writing and reading wings and try something new. Not only could you possibly pick up some hints and tips for your craft, but you might even enjoy reading something different. And discovering something new is always one of the finest moments of being a reader or writer.

Trend I'd like to see continue

Last month, June, I had the most e-book sales I've ever had on the Amazon Kiindle.

But wait! The news gets better ...

So far, in the first week of July, I've already topped last month. That's right, my first week of sales is better than my entire last month's sales, and that was the best month I've ever had!

So buy those e-books! Poppa needs a new pair o' shoes!

Assassins: A Clash of Steel anthology

If you like writing and reading dark fantasy tales of assassins on the prowl, there's some good news.

The publisher Rogue Blades Entertainment is now accepting submissions for the  "Assassins: A Clash of Steel Anthology." I've had the pleasure of being published by this company before, and I've always enjoyed working with publisher/editor Jason M. Waltz. So if you think you've got what it takes, check out the submission guidelines and get to writing.

And if you're not a writer? Check out Rogue Blades Entertainment anyway. They provide plenty of action-oriented fantasy tales to read. You find something you'll enjoy!

Quotes from War and Peace by Tolstoy

From time to time I post some favorite quotes or song lyrics here on the Logical Misanthropy blog, and since I've been reading the Constance Garnett translation of War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy, I thought I'd put up a few of my favorites quotes from this massive novel. Here goes:

"He suffered from an unlucky faculty ... the faculty of seeing and believing in the possibility of good and truth, and at the same time seeing too clearly the evil and falsity of life to be capable of taking serious part in it. Every sphere of activity was in his eyes connected with evil and deception. Whatever he tried to be, whatever he took up, evil and falsity drove him back again and cut him off from every field of energy. And meanwhile he had to live, he had to be occupied. It was too awful to lie under the burden of those insoluble problems of life, and he abandoned himself to the first distraction that offered, simply to forget them."

"Sometimes Pierre remembered what he had been told of soldiers under fire in ambuscade when they have nothing to do, how they try hard to find occupation so as to bear their danger more easily. And Pierre pictured all men as such soldiers trying to find a refuge from life: some in ambition, some in cards, some in framing laws, some in women, some in playthings, some in horses, some in politics, some in sport, some in wine, some in the government service."