Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Links of Interest


THE WEAPONS OF EPIC FANTASY:




4 ELEMENTS OF EPIC STORYTELLING:




DIALOGUE INVOLVING MULTIPLE PEOPLE:




CONTRACT TERMS, SUBSIDIARY AND SERIAL RIGHTS:




CONTRACT TERMS, EDITS, ETC.:




MAKING YOUR CHARACTER LESS YOU:




WHAT SELF-PUBLISHED AUTHORS HAVE LEARNED, PART 7:




WHAT CHARACTERS ARC MAKE READERS CARE:




BELIEVING IN YOURSELF AND YOUR VISION:




HORROR TROPES, THE HAUNTED HOUSE, PART 1:




BAD WRITING ADVICE:




WHY NOT TO COPYRIGHT AN UNSOLD WORK:




LOOKING GOOD FOR A WEB CHAT:




GENRE MARKETS, NOVEL AND SHORT STORY:




RESTARTING YOUR CAREER AFTER A LONG BREAK:




SEVEN WAYS TO PACK SUSPENSE IN YOUR STORY:



Monday, February 25, 2013

Guest Panels


Last year, I wrote about being an author on a panel at a science fiction convention, but I didn’t go into detail about what to do if you are asked to moderate that panel so I’ve decided to cover that topic.  


When I'm named a panel moderator, I try to firm up what the panel is about from the usually vague description given by the con organizers.  I do some reading on the subject, make some general notes about it, and make a list of author names or whatever to have on hand in case of brain freeze.  

If I get the topic and the panelists before the con, I try to contact the panelists by email and ask for their impute on the topic and how they want to handle it.

If I can't do this, I talk quietly with the panelists before the panel begins to get some sense of what they want to talk about.  

I usually begin with each panelist giving a brief introduction to themselves and allow them to show their newest book for a bit of promo.

Then, I will ask a general question about the topic, and the panelists will take turns answering it.  

Usually, after a few questions, the panelists will loosen up enough to turn the panel into a general conversation on the subject, and I rarely have to get the subject back on track.

After the panelists loosen up, the audience begins too, as well, and they are ready to join the conversation toward the end of the panel.  

As a long-time guest at a few cons, I am also not above going out in the hall to tell a bunch of raucous fans to take their noise elsewhere or bullying a con worker into getting water for the panelists.  

As a panelist, I try to do the same amount of research as I do as a moderator and, again, I have general notes and examples written.  

On more than one occasion, I've been put onto a panel on a subject I know almost nothing about.  The panel on alternate history with Harry Turtledove comes to mind.  The con organizers assumed because one of my books had the word "time" in the title I wrote it when, in fact, the novel was about reincarnation.  I frankly admitted I didn't write alternate history when I was introduced but said I was more than eager to ask questions of the panel on the subject.  And I did.

It's also good to remember that some panels are really about showcasing the big author, not the other, not so known authors.  When I was on a panel about “The Dresden Files” with Jim Butcher and another author, I realized that the audience wanted to hear Jim Butcher talk about Harry Dresden, not me pontificating on urban fantasy, so I acted like a well-informed fangirl and asked him questions.  


SPEAKING OF SCIENCE FICTION CONVENTIONS:  I’ll be a guest at this year’s Stellarcon held in Greensboro, NC, on March 1-3, 2013.  Be sure to say hi if you’re there.  I’ll be the hobbit matron in mundane clothing.  Stellarcon

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Links of Interest


FIVE TIPS TO IMPROVE YOUR AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE:




WHAT WRITERS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT GOODREADS:




KEY QUESTIONS TO ASK BEFORE YOU WRITE:




AVOIDING A CHEESY WEBSITE DESIGN:




MORE ABOUT ROYALTIES:




MORE ON THE RESALE OF EBOOKS:




PIRACY: PITHY ANSWERS TO THE STUPID REASONS PEOPLE GIVE FOR STEALING DIGITAL CONTENT:




FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO WRITE SCIENCE FICTION OR SF ROMANCE, A WEAPONS PRIMER:




THE STORY ARC:




DIFFERENT KINDS OF EDITORS AND WHAT THEY DO:




PROMOTION, PLATFORM BUILDING: 




FIVE THINGS SELF-PUBLISHED AUTHORS HAVE LEARNED, PART 6:




GROUNDING READERS IN YOUR WORLD:




ESTATE PLANNING FOR WRITERS, WHO WILL HANDLE YOUR COPYRIGHT?




USED EBOOKS APPEAR TO BE CLOSER TO REALITY:




FINDING YOUR CHARACTER’S DREAM:




USING DIALECT IN DIALOGUE:




PROMOTION, IDEAL IMAGE SIZES FOR TWITTER AND FACEBOOK:




HOW NOT TO HATE SELF-PROMOTION:




Monday, February 18, 2013

Making Your Series Stand Out



These days, the book market is glutted with books so it’s hard to make your novel stand out.  

One way to make your book series original is to use your own life experience or location.

Two authors who have done that are Cassie Alexander and Ilona Andrews.

Author Cassie Alexander is a nurse, and her urban fantasy series heroine in NIGHTSHIFTED is nurse Edie Spense, but Edie works in the magical wing of a hospital where vampires, weres, and other magical creatures need medical help.  The details are extremely realistic, and most of the action is in and around the hospital and Edie’s job.  She doesn’t wear leather or carry a sword, but she is a magnificent fighter who protects her charges with her knowledge and courage.  

The married couple Ilona Andrews uses the city of Atlanta in a more traditional urban fantasy.  But in the Kate Daniels series,  Atlanta has been changed and destroyed as waves of magic enter the world and destroy technology and buildings.  Famous landmarks are twisted bits of slag and magic where the heroine chases bad guys.  The real world with its familiarity becomes wickedly unfamiliar.  I found it so amusing that I bought a copy of the first novel for my niece who lives there, and she got a great kick out of this altered Atlanta.

The husband half of the Ilona Andrews’s pseudonym is former military, and the spot on battle scenes show this background so the scenes are not generic or ridiculous as so many others are in urban fantasy series.  The werewolf community is essentially paramilitary, as well, which adds a nice addition to the usual pack system.

So, if you want to stand out as an author, you must not only create great characters and a hard-charging plot, employ world-class craft, and careful worldbuilding,  you should also find something different and uniquely your own in your life or interests to create a great series.

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Links of Interest



DISTINGUISHING SECONDARY CHARACTERS FROM EACH OTHER:




SFWA’S STATEMENT ON ORPHAN WORKS IN COPYRIGHT:




HOW AUTHORS CAN USE NEW TWITTER FEATURE FOR PROMOTION:




HOW TO BUDGET A SELF-PUBLISHED BOOK:




CONTRACT TERMS, ROYALTIES:




ALTERNATIVE WAYS TO DESCRIBE CHARACTER REACTIONS:




MAKING YOUR CHARACTER ADMIRABLE:




GOODREADS FOR WRITERS:




SELLING YOUR SHORT STORY, PART 6:




BUY INS, SELL THROUGHS, AND OTHER TERMS AN AUTHOR SHOULD KNOW:




HEROES ACCORDING TO JANE AUSTEN, PART 1:




YET MORE THINGS LEARNED BY SELF-PUBLISHED AUTHORS:




HOW TO SET UP THEME:




HOW WRITING A BOOK DOESN’T CHANGE YOUR LIFE:




THREE DYNAMIC WAYS TO OPEN YOUR STORY:




REDIGI AND PUBLISHING:




BOOK SIGNING NO-NOS:




WHAT AUTHORS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE BUSINESS OF PUBLISHING:


Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Used Kindle eBooks?


Amazon has patented a means to sell used ebooks within the Kindle system.  A book will be branded within the system when it is bought, then when the buyer puts it up for resale at the Kindle store, it will be removed from his account and transferred to the buyer’s account.  Amazon will receive a small fee for each sale.  A limited number of sales of each book may or may not be included in the system.

According to copyright law, specifically “The Doctrine of First Sale,” this is illegal because digital goods aren’t physical things so they can’t be resold.  (See my article on “The First Sale Doctrine and eBooks” for more details.  http://mbyerly.blogspot.com/2009/04/first-sale-doctrine-and-ebooks.html  )

But a legal battle is currently being fought between ReDigi, a used digital music store, and the various groups in the music industry over a similar system.  If ReDigi is able to win this, Amazon will probably move forward with their own system of resale.  

At first glance, it appears Amazon would be cutting into its own Kindle profits with this system, but Amazon isn’t known for its poor business practices.    Here’s what it will gain from the system.  

Buyers go for the cheapest prices.  If a used Kindle ebook is cheaper than any other version of the book, buyers will start using the Kindle system and its hardware.  iTunes, Nook, and other sites won’t be able to match these lower prices unless they start selling new ebooks for next to nothing or they put into place their own reselling system.  Such a complex system would take some time, perhaps years, so Amazon would gain the advantage in the market for many years to come.  

Some in the industry believe that Amazon is intent on killing off publishers so authors will have to go the self-publishing route, and authors as individuals have no real bargaining power when it comes to the terms Amazon will set.  (See “Used eBooks: The Ridiculous Idea that Could Also Destroy Publishing”  http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/used-ebooks-is-a-ridiculous-idea-that-could-ruin-authors-publishers  )

What will all this mean if Amazon’s used ebook system becomes available?  Readers may be happy with this system, but authors and publishers will not.  Publishing has a very low profit margin, as is, and anything that will cut into that profit will hurt, sometimes to the point of putting authors and publishers out of business.  

Authors like me have been busy educating readers on “The First Sale Doctrine” so they will know that ebooks can’t be resold, loaned, or put online for free, but a system like this will make readers believe that, if Amazon can do this, so can they. Piracy will spread.

If Amazon gains total supremacy in the distribution market, then they will be able to dictate the terms in contracts with authors and publishers, and those terms will shift even more of the profit into Amazon’s pockets.

If the other distribution markets fail and Amazon is the only source of ebooks, it can close down the used market place, and readers will have to pay much more for the surviving content.  After all, Amazon is in it for Amazon as they have proven over and over again.  

This system may not be the eBook Zombie Apocalypse as a universal removal of “First Sale Doctrine” on digital goods would be, but it may very well be the beginning of the end of publishing as a profitable venture.  

UPDATE: On March 30, 2013, a federal court ruled in the Capitol Records versus ReDigi case that it is illegal to sell "used" digital files.  No word yet if ReDigi will continue to fight this battle.