Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Links of Interest

ROYALTY REPORTS ON EBOOKS, CONTINUED.  Yes, lots of authors are being screwed in ebooks and paper books by the largest publishers.
PITCHING DON’T:  What not to talk about when you are verbally pitching your book to an agent or editor.
HOW TO RESEARCH YOUR NOVEL:
PUNCTUATING DIALOGUE:
PRIMARY VERSUS SECONDARY CHARACTERS:
WHO’S VERSUS WHOSE: And no, it’s not about the Doctor.
EARNING OUT: What it is and why it’s a good thing.
THE BEST RESOURCES FOR SF:
NEWCOMERS’ MISTAKEN BELIEFS ABOUT PUBLISHING:
FREE TOOLS FOR AUTHORS:

LITERARY AMUSEMENTS:

Christopher Walken reads "The Raven" by Poe with lovely illustrations.


Actors from "The Importance of Being Earnest" read dialogue from "The Jersey Shores" as if it was written by Wilde.




Monday, April 25, 2011

Are Professional Writers an Endangered Species?

Over the years, I’ve used the metaphor of unpublished writers being minnows in a sea of sharks or bunnies surrounded by wolves to describe the dangers of the predators of author dreams.  
I’ve talked about the vanity publishers who scam writers of cash by giving them the illusion of being published although the books are so high-priced that family members won’t buy them, let alone the average reader.  And bookstores won’t stock them because they recognize the vanity publisher’s name so they are leery of the quality. 
I’ve warned about “agents” who ask for reading fees or business fees but never sell any books, or agents who embezzle author funds.
Published authors have had their own dangers and problems to deal with.  
The larger publishers do no promotion for most of their authors but expect the author to do so at their own expense and time.  They ask, “Are you on Facebook and Twitter and post daily?  Do you maintain your blog and website?  Have you attended the major reader and writer conventions?  Have you given interviews?  And, by the way, did you finish those two books in your series in only six months?”
Publishers have cut the number of editors down so much that the editors no longer have  time to edit, and the books show it with glaring mistakes so the smart author must spend her own money on a freelance editor or appear to be an illiterate idiot.
In the last weeks, other news has leaked out about the publishing industry that makes me worried that being a professional writer who can support herself as a writer is fast becoming a dream or a nightmare for those who have been able to support themselves.
In my “Links of Interest” last week, I listed a blog article by Kristine Rusch about how her ebook sales numbers on her royalty statements were much lower than those she saw from her own sources for sales numbers.  
In a followup to this, she has received numerous conformations of the same wide difference in royalty statement to reality comparisons from other professional writers who write for the Big Six publishing conglomerates.  
The authors also see wide variations in sales numbers on paper books.
Discrepancies on such a huge scale where the publishers are padding their bottom line at the expense of their writers is completely disheartening for those struggling to build a career in this business.
Published authors are also being attacked by some readers and those who profit from pirates.  Ebook theft is rampant with numerous pirate download sites.  The owners of these sites make money through advertising because of their high traffic, and some sites go so far as to sell stolen ebooks.  The author doesn’t receive a penny of all this profit.
eBay sellers now offer collections of stolen ebooks on CD, and eBay does nothing to stop it while profiting from it.  Authors who are trying to stop this are ignored.
Often, the publisher will do nothing, and it’s up to the author to find the pirate sites and go through all the legal hoops in an attempt to get the books removed.  If they do so, the book will be uploaded again in a matter of hours so the author must start all over again.  
Is the professional author an endangered species?  
My disheartened answer is yes.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Links of Interest

CREATING GOOD TRANSITIONS BETWEEN SCENES:
SALES RANKINGS:  SF author Tobias Buckell compares his NovelRank sales numbers with his Amazon sales.
ARE EBOOK ROYALTIES BEING ACCURATELY REPORTED?
WRITING THE SHORT SYNOPSIS:
DIALOGUE:  Making characters sound different.
THE BEST AGENT BLOGS:
TRENDS IN MIDDLE GRADE FICTION:
CUTTING DOWN ON DIALOGUE TAGS:
TRAITS YOUR HERO AND VILLAIN SHOULD SHARE:

MAKING YOUR SCENES UNPREDICTABLE AND INTERESTING:
HOW NOT TO USE SPEAKER TAGS:
BLOGS:  What your blog should have.
PATERNITY TESTS AND DNA:
~*~
QUESTIONS, ASK ME QUESTIONS!  

Do you have a question about writing or publishing?  Ask me, and I'll blog the answer.  Contact me via my blog comments section, my Yahoogroups,  or my website.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Links of Interest

RHYTHM IN WRITING:
THE FOUR MOST COMMON MISTAKES EDITORS SEE:
PROMOTION: PODCASTING 101

PUBLISHING TERMS: SELL IN, SELL THROUGH, AND EARN OUT
CAUSE AND EFFECT IN WRITING:
GREAT LIST 'O LINKS:
KURT VONNEGUT STORY GRIDS:
DORCHESTER STRIKES AGAIN:  Authors protest sales of books Dorch has no right to.
TWEETING FOR AUTHORS: Why you should.
USING BOOK BLOGGERS FOR PROMOTION:
MARKETS:  YA and earlier market needs.
MARKETS:  Short story and novel listings.  Mainly sf/f.
IT HURTS SO BAD: Romance writers have known the truth, but now scientists are realizing that the pain of rejected love really hurts as much as an injury.
UPING THE STAKES FOR A CHARACTER:
SCHEDULE NOTE:  Thanks to everyone who send their kind words and condolences on my mom's illness and death.  

With the various legal and bureaucratic issues I've been dealing with, I've had a hard time getting my head back into writing so topics for my writing articles haven't been coming.  My Monday articles may not return to the schedule for a while unless I start getting questions again.  PLEASE ASK QUESTIONS!  You can ask them via my blog, website, or my Yahoogroups list.

I will return, however, to a regular schedule of links.