It Takes All Kinds

Not all writers are the same.  We have different processes, work at different speeds and certainly write different stories.  We're different in lots of ways, age, sex, political beliefs, and even our nationalities. Yet when we get together either online or in person, we usually find lots of things we have in common.

Promotion, editing, character development, sagging middles, time management, and oh yeah, promotion. We give each other advice, encouragement and help each other promote.  Yet we're all different people engaged in similar struggles.  This Friday, October 14th, lots of us are going to thank some of those who help us by participating in Alex Cavanaugh's Pay-It-Forward blog day.

Perhaps you can join in and thank some people who have helped you.  Even if you don't join in, please visit and perhaps find some new fun blogs to follow. 

Magic: Do You Believe?

I write fantasy so I have to incorporate some magic in there.  Many readers of fantasy want magic to be the center of the story and to some degree it has to play a role large enough to distinguish my created world from this one.  But how much magic?  How powerful should the magic be?

I first fell in love with the fantasy genre in junior high school when one of my teachers lent me her copy of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.  I didn't think about it then, but now that I write my own books, create my own worlds and define the laws of magic, I wonder about that story.  How did the Rings of Power work? Why couldn't the elves and wizards combine their magical powers and take on the Dark Lord? How did the One Ring rule them all?

I can still enjoy the books without knowing these things but I do wonder.  I've read other fantasy novels where the magic of one side seems so powerful it seems they should be able to win with a wave of their hand.  But that would make for a short book.  There must be some limitations to the magic or at least to the person or persons using it.  The author gets to determine those limits. 

Is the magic limited by the strength of the wielder?  Or is the use of magic limited by the damage to the entire existence of life if it's overused?  Is the magic limited by some force on the opposing side? Is the magic limited by the knowledge of the magician?  What is the source of the magic? Can it be used up?  Can its use injure the user?  Are there moral reasons for limiting its use?

I would think writers of science fiction have to ask similar questions about technology in their novels.  There have to be limitations or it's no fun. 

Have you read a novel where the magic or technology was so overwhelming in its power it ruined the novel?  What limitations have you used or seen used in an effective way?

Rain, Snow, Sleet and Hail

One thing I have learned through the terrible weather of the past year, the mail doesn't get delivered during floods or ice storms.  Not that I blame anyone.  Roads were impassable and too dangerous for anyone to be traveling. 

But after our last natural disaster, the flood, we've been enjoying some lovely fall weather.  It's been tough to sit down at the old writing desk and get to work when I want to be outside and soak in the sunshine.  I do love the outdoors but for the sake of my writing, I'm almost looking forward to the gloom of winter.

I don't mind spending hours at the keyboard when it's cold out and the wind is howling around the corners of our country home.  Give me a hot cappuccino and a fire on the hearth and my creative side gets rolling too.  December, January and Febuary are my most productive months.  I usually start a new book around the first of the year.  This year I'll be finishing the one I started last year. My new work has been side-tracked by my venture into self-publishing.  Now that I've navigated the ropes once, I hope to get my next three books in The Futhark Chronicles up and available with fewer headaches and many fewer hours.

The need to rake leaves, bring some wood in for the winter and do late season weeding are going to distract me for a few more weeks, but then the season of writing will move in with a frigid howl. 

When is your best season for writing? What seasonal chores distract you at this time of year?

Out of Touch: Insecure Writer

October already.  There's no end to the subject matter I can pull up to address my insecurities. One thing I've felt a lot of in the past three months is being out of touch with other writers.  Starting in July, I've had on and off computer issues.  Viruses, malware, unidentified issues that have kept me off line or forced me to use the old slow desktop.  Some days I only had time to visit three or four blogs and my posting fell way off from about five times a week to one or two times.  I felt out of touch with the writing community I've come to count on over the past twelve months.   I felt alone.

I don't mind being alone 90% of the time but even when I am, I know other writers are out there, just a few clicks away.  When I didn't have a computer, I was cut off.  I couldn't visit the blogs that make me laugh, the ones that teach me something, the ones I can just totally agree with it and maybe even add something to it in the comments.  It was a temporary situation but there are still moments when I feel I need to do more to keep in touch.

A few of the local members of the statewide group, Pennwriters, meet once a month at a local library and have a critique session.  I've only made it once since I decided I must have some actual face time with other writers but I'm determined to get there more.  By joining this fun blog idea of Alex Cavanaugh's, I'm making more friends and being comforted by learning I share the same problems in my writing career as other authors.  Sign up and share your insecurities.

I have a few friends I know I can email when a specific problem or question arises. Many people gave me advice and pointed me to the information I needed to self-publish my book on Kindle. (Nobody had been able to tell me yet how to get through the logjam on Smashwords any quicker though).

There are ways to keep in touch even if you can't attend meetings in person.  I'm still building an online circle of support and hope I provide a little to others.  So stay in touch.  When you feel frustrated and all alone, check out your bloggy friends or other online groups.  Investigate writers' groups on your area, usually they have notices in the paper or maintain a website, and try to get some face time.  Even attending booksignings can put you in touch with other local writers.

What do you do if the isolation of being a writer starts to get to you? What's your favorite way to stay in touch with fellow authors?

For Better of For Worse

As many of you know, I recently re-released The Keepers of Sulbreth on Kindle after having a falling out with my publisher.  It hurt when my publisher made the decision to break my contract.  With my first book released and doing pretty good in mass market and the next two under contract, I felt my career was really taking off and the next big step with a sale to a major publisher was around the corner. 

Then the phone call came.  My publisher wanted to release my second book, Beyond the Gate, in ebook only.  I was crushed.  My spirits were low for nearly two months as I tried to make the decision.  I made the wrong one.  I allowed them to release my book and they made a real hash of it.  No promotion, no reviews, and they didn't even get it to the retailers on the release date.  So I divorced them.

It's very strange.  I was angry, beyond angry, with the publisher when they told me they would only be doing ebook, but I hid it and held on.  I tried to work with them on promotion and pin them down on what they would be doing.  They did nothing despite their promises.  But once I told them to forget it and give my rights back, I felt free and energized.  I no longer felt my writing future was out of my control.  I no longer felt so helpless before the cold-hearted decisions of a corporation.

Being contracted with a publisher is something like a marriage but it can turn into a bad one.  An abusive one where the party holding the power takes advantage of the other member.  I'm happy with my separation because I decided I didn't have to put up with the 'Worse.' I deserve better.

Have you had a bad experience with a publisher?  Do you know someone who has?

The Keepers of Sulbreth Release

Yesterday I came home from work and powered up my computer.  Couldn't wait to check. And there it was.  Kindle had my book up for sale with its new cover and new price.  Nothing like seeing your book for sale to get you inspired to work on the next one.  I am busy working on the edits for the second book, Beyond the Gate.

The Keepers of Sulbreth introduces the island kingdom of Futhark where a small group of sorceresses called, Keepers, have used their gifts to contain the denizens of hell behind a magical gate.  But something is slowly going wrong and more and more of the demons escape into the human world.  Working with the young king of Futhark, the Keepers find a gifted warrior foretold in prophecies to help them close the magical seals. Cage Stone reluctantly gets pulled into the dangers facing Futhark.  The otherworldly foes force him to reveal his secrets and his heritage.  As he bloodies his sword in demon blood, he slowly realizes the dark mind behind the troubles have been controlling his destiny from his birth.  He vows to take back his life and save Futhark at the same time.

Cover art by Gayle Bower

Keepers recieved many excellent reviews when it was first released, including from Publisher's Weekly and Booklist. Now my goal is to remind readers of this and restart my promotion. 

I have a lot still to learn about self-publishing and the best way to promote the book.  The price is another thing I've had to make decisions on.  I priced the book at $2.99 to start.  I've read JA Konrath's blog many times and absorbed his advice.  It's a tough decision.

The price of ebooks is a controversial issue in and of itself.  I buy lots of ebooks.  Some of the reasonably priced ones written by my friends but I also purchase ebooks from 'famous' authors and I do resent paying the same price as for a mass market paperback.  Why should an ebook cost that much when there is no shipping, no manufacturing or storage costs?

What do you think is a reasonable price for ebooks? What royalty rate should authors receive from ebooks?  The same as print?

Begin Again

A little over a year ago, the publisher of my fantasy series, The Futhark Chronicles, called me to say they were breaking my contract and not releasing my book in mass market paperback.  With my permission they would release my book as an ebook only.  I considered requesting my rights back to all three of my books like many of the other authors contracted with them did.  I believed even then the way to go in the future would be ebook though the disappointment of not having my book in print was huge.  In the end, I stayed with them, mostly because they had already released the first book in my series, The Keepers of Sulbreth, earlier in the year.  I feared I would never find another publisher.

Though uneasy about the company's commitment to making my book a success, I dove into promotion and did everything I could to prepare for the release of my second book, Beyond the Gate on January 1st, 2011.  The big day came, although my first book was available before its due date, and tada....nothing happened.  It was up for sale on Amazon, B&N, or any of the other ebook retailers.  I called my publisher on the very next business day.  My publisher had the nerve to blame it on the booksellers.  Weeks later, Beyond the Gate, finally was available.  Some blips still existed like a few days of bleary cover art.  So many long days after my blog tour and all the online promotion I did, readers could purchase my book.  Was it any wonder word didn't get out? 

I nearly pulled my books right then, but I thought I would wait for my first statement.  You can guess how it looked.  So at the start of the summer, I asked for all my rights back on the three books my publisher had contracted.  It was simple since they had broken my contract.  Now my options were to either find another publisher who would be willing to take on a book series where the first two had already been on the market though not marketed or to take the plunge and publish them myself.

I dove into the self-publishing chaos storm.  I love reading books on my eReader and believe thousands of other people do also.  The first obstacle I face was my lack of computer literacy.  I read the directions on Kindle self-publishing and felt a little overwhelmed.  I lingered over editing, spreading it out over the entire summer months.  I talked to colleagues and friends, gathering information on the steps I needed to know before I could get my books back into the hands of the readers.  I compiled an entire folder with dozens of emails, blogs and printed instructions from Amazon and other retailers to help me find my way. 

So I'm now in restart mode and very hopeful.  I realize I had lost confidence in my publisher long before I pulled my rights from the dark pit of their possession.  I have lots of people to thank for helping me renew my dreams of a successful career as an author.  Let me start with Cate Masters.

Cate answered my call for help.  She answered no less than five emails filled with questions, general and specific.  And she responded every time within a day and she added encouragement each time.  More than a few of her books are in my ebook library.  She's a production machine just not in producing new material but in keeping an up to date blog and promoting her books 'every' where and how.  Her work ethic shames me when I whine about how little time I have to write.  Somehow she gets it all done.  So thanks, Cate.

In the next few weeks, I'll be doing a lot of posts on my experience wading through these new waters including introducing the talented young artist who designed my entirely original cover.  During that time, I'm hoping to not only pass on what I've learned but also to receive even more tips and advice from my followers. 

Has anyone in particular helped you recently in advancing your career or getting over a bump in the road?  Have you helped anyone?