Book Recommendations/ Newsletter/ Other News

I've nearly finished my first Authour's Newsletter, which I will send out at the end of this week. When I was putting the newsletter together, there were a number of things that I originally thought I would include (like a column on sports news, maybe a political corner, etc...) but in the end, what I really wanted was to create something for you, the reader. Something short and interactive.

Now, this may change in the future, but for now, the newsletter will be divided into three sections.

BOOK NEWS: This section will up date you on my books, news or updates anything related to my work that's been published. I'll also update you on current projects and take you inside a bit on what it means to be a writer.

RECOMMENDATIONS: Every newsletter (bi-monthly) I'll recommend one non-fiction book and one novel that I've enjoyed the past two months. The catch is that these recommendations are going to come from you, the reader. Email me your own book recommendations (it can be your own work) and if I choose your recommendation for the next newsletter, I'll send you a free signed copy of THE LAST ANGEL (Due out on December 21, 2015). As time passes, I'll include different prizes, like gift cards. The idea is to expose good authours to other readers and establish a community of sharing. As a reader, there's nothing more exciting than discovering a new authour, right? So here's our chance to help one another find new favourites!

INSPIRATION: In this last section, I'll choose one inspirational story, perhaps even just a quote, something to motivate and encourage you or just make you smile. Again, this is an interactive segment. Send me quotes or stories or something that inspired you recently. If I use what you send me, I'll send you a free signed copy of THE LAST ANGEL. 

By the way, if you'd like to sign up for my newsletter, you can click the icon on the top of my page or just email me. And if you'd like an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) of THE LAST ANGEL, shoot me an email and include (ARC, THE LAST ANGEL) in the subject line.

A MOUNTAIN TO CLIMB

Even if you publish traditionally, every artist now needs to learn a number of skills outside their chosen field. Most of the marketing must be done by the artist, and as Seth Godin says, "we must find our tribe." This creates problems, because while someone like my friend Caitlin Galway is as talented an artist as she is a writer, I have problems drawing stick people. So creating a website (this site is pretty much just a blog, I mean a website where I'll be able to sell my books) in the next month feels like I'm about to climb a mountain. (Seriously, I have no idea what I'm doing. Hell, just figuring out the newsletter was tough.)

But it only looks like a mountain right now because I've never done it. This is true of most things. And so, I'm committing myself to forty-five minutes a day to learning a new skill. The same is true for formatting the book. Again, I have no idea what I'm doing. But the publishing world has changed, and artists need to change with it.

I've never taken a writing course. I studied theology and adolescent psychology (and business and wildlife biology) at the variety of post-secondary institutions I attended. (Yes, I'm a geek, I love school) But writing? Nope. For me, it's been twenty years at the Desk, putting my time in, reading how-to books, and gradually getting better. I'm a big believer in the law of persistence, that if we put in enough time and really work at it, we become water over rock. What that means for this year, though, is that my website, like my skills, will be a work in progress.

Wherever you're at, why not join me in learning a new skill these next two months. Start today, and when I publish my second newsletter (On the day I publish THE LAST ANGEL) send me an email and tell me about it. If I mention it on this blog or in my newsletter, I'll send you a free copy of THE LAST ANGEL.

THANK YOU

By the way, thank you to everyone who has shown interest in my work, and to the many people who are now reading an ARC of THE LAST ANGEL. After two decades, things are finally moving, and it's exciting. But I couldn't do it without the help and encouragement of so many people. So thank you all. And thank you for your patience in regards to this blog. As you can see, there are a number of plates in the air right now. Eventually I'll get a better grasp on how to handle them all.

Steve

Second Blood, Fear and Indie Publishing

I still remember that phone call. The first literary agent to call me back and tell me they were interested in representing me. I was thirty-two years old, and after three novels and a decade of hard work trying to make it, I was finally on the cusp. I'm not ashamed to say that I spent the next hour on my balcony in tears, so grateful to be validated after all those years of getting up early or going home early or staying up late to write.

Writing is such a solitary profession that when someone, especially someone representing The Industry, calls you and tells you that you're good enough, well, that's the response you get. Buckets. Disorientation. That feeling like your diving off the cliff into an unknown paradise. It's magical and joyous and terrifying all at once.

Six months later, the agent stopped calling me. Just... stopped. No messages. No explanation. Suddenly I wasn't good enough. It was falling in love with that perfect person, having them tell you how much they love you, and watch them pack up their bags six months later without ever telling you why.

I was, to put it mildly, shattered. I had no experience in the publishing world, no understanding of whether that was a common or unusual, and it took me years to get back on track. In 2008, when I started writing Second Blood, I was determined not to skim, not to cut corners. I would write as long as it took to produce my very best work. Hadn't it taken Patrick Rothfuss ten years to write The Name of the Wind? And what about Chad Harbach?

But over the past six years, the publishing world has changed. Dramatically. Independent Publishing, what was once called Vanity Publishing, now accounts for nearly 30-40% of all book sales, depending on which stats you use. And with the ability to publish your own work AND retain the rights to it completely AND to do it with minimal cost convinced me that after years of hoping for another phone call, I've decided to publish Second Blood myself.

Why Do It Yourself

1. Hugh Howey and JA Konrath are the experts here. Go to their website and just start reading to get a basic feel for the changes in the industry, and the horror stories that abound with mid-list writers whose books are taken off the shelf and never seen again. All that work, and you'll never see another penny from it.

2. I'm going to have to do the marketing and publicity myself, anyway. Unless my book was auctioned for 6 digits, I'd be doing the exact same thing. I'll take my chances, thanks.

3. It's a waste of time. Traditional publishing, assuming I don't know someone, wants me to spend months writing query letters and summaries (which I have), and then wait months to see if another agent will like the work, and if they, in turn, can find an editor who likes the work, and so on. I'd rather just write, thanks, because I'm still going to have to do all that marketing and publicity myself.

4. I'm not a literary writer. While I appreciate and enjoy writers like Jeffrey Eugenides and Donna Tartt, I don't live there. Give me Robert B. Parker, Jim Butcher or Robert Jordan any day. I've always been more interested in great stories and great ideas than great prose. I'm not saying they have to be exclusive, but a good fantasy novel is more enjoyable for me than even great literary fiction like Half-Blood Blues.

5. This isn't a short term plan. If you publish independently, you can't produce one work in six years. You're not spending time brushing the same sculpture over and over, but exploring new ideas and new characters, which is a LOT more fun. I have three books in the well, and am nearly done the first draft of The Last Angel, which I started less than a month ago. How? Three thousand words a day and the knowledge that it will come out, even if only a couple of people read it.

6. Inequality. Twenty years ago a trade paperback sold for about $20 here in Canada. They still sell for that price, and its MUCH cheaper to publish a book in the digital age. You can talk about inflation, I suppose, or increased salaries, but the writer's cut, the one who created the work, is the same. A novelist will make about $1 per book. A writer has no guarantees, no salary, and no benefits. So why are they still getting the shaft? Yes, a publishing company incorporates risk, but that doesn't balance the scales. Not when I can have my book printed on demand by Amazon for about $3 per book. Listen, if I were to sell enough copies myself that one of the big five wanted to offer me a six digit contract, I might take it, like Anthony Ryan, authour of Blood Song (very good book) did. And I'm not bad mouthing people who publish traditionally, especially my friends who write so brilliantly and are capable of winning literary awards. Hell, you SHOULD publish traditionally.

7. I'm as scared as I've ever been. Releasing something without getting "Industry Approval" scares the crap out of me. And I LOVE IT! Listen, if nothing you're pursuing scares you, or causes your stomach to dance, than you need to find what does and go after it. Just do it! The world doesn't care if you're happy or not, but people will notice when you find your passion and invest all you have into it. They'll get excited, too! Not just for you, but for themselves, because so much of life can be daily drudgery, the same old routine. Be alive, and let others find some uplift in what you're doing.

My wife tells me that she hasn't seen me this excited in a long time. I'm writing so much that I'm typing this blog with one hand. (The other is sore.) Whatever gifts you have, whatever gets you going, pursue that! DO it! It's nearly impossible to live a Kind Life when we feel like life is nothing but the same old crap. Don't fall into that trap. You can do it.

I've had these moments lately, where I imagine releasing Second Blood and about 15 people buy it. And then nothing. Six years of hard work and it's met with a collective 'meh.' You know what though, that's okay. I have other books coming, I'm having a hell of time writing them, and in the morning, I'm excited about what the day will bring. That's the real juice, my friends. And at the end of the day, if tomorrow sounds like a good idea, you're doing something right.

-Steve

Looking for A Book(Novel)?

The walls of our house are lined with books. Together, Bethany and I probably have something in the neighbourhood of fifteen hundred or so, give or take. And yet, on any given day, I'll walk by the shelves, including the one that we use to hold current library books, and complain about not having anything to read. Sound familiar? 

So what I thought I do is ask you, the blessed and brilliant people who read this blog (see what I did there) for your help. I thought we could help one another find a few surprises this summer. (nothing better than being pleasantly surprised by an awesome novel) This is your chance to promote an authour or novel that you love, or perhaps one more people should know about. And for my fellow independent writer friends, this is a chance to shamelessly promote your own work. Do it!

Two Kinds of Novels

The publishing industry breaks down novels in different categories, but we usually refer to two. Literary books are perceived to be elite, with prose as important a factor as story. Genre books, your thrillers and romances and detective novels, are more interested in story, and the quality of the writing is usually considered to be less than one you find in a literary novel. 

Yeah, well, I hate those categories. They're boring and elitist, so I break novels down this way. 

You have the one written as a KNOCKOUT punch, the one that will change how you perceive the world altogether, the one you'll remember where you were when you read it. You'll never read it again, because it has done its job. 

And then there are your VACATION SPOTS, the novels you visit over and over, the ones that give you safe place to go when your life starts to go off the rails or you're just having a bad day. (This can be a series, too, or a particular author) Some books can cross between the two, The Catcher and The Rye comes to mind, but that seems to be relegated to children's literature. (Go ahead, prove me wrong in the comments!)

Here's my request: list three of your favourite Knockout Books, three of your favourite Vacation Spots, and three Other Favourites. (For my independent friends, this is where you pump your own material. Don't be shy!) Obviously, this is not a whole list, I’ve read numerous Knockout Books in my life, these are just the ones that came to mind.

I'll list mine, and just throw yours in the comments section. Happy hunting, fellow readers!

My Knockout Books      

                 

1.    Fall on Your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald

2.    I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb

3.    The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

My Vacation Spots

1.    Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time Series (I have gone vacationing there a lot over the years. Especially the first one in the series.)

2.    Robert B. Parker’s detective novels, including Spencer and Jesse Stone (I have such an affinity for Parker’s series, that I still go to them quite a bit. Love all his characters.)

3.    Mike Lupica’s sports novels (If you haven’t read these, they’re all quite entertaining. A hilarious look at the bawdy side of professional sports.)

Other Favourites

1.    Second Blood by Stephen Burns (Coming in September, see shameless self-promotion

2.    A Boy in A Leafs Camp by Scott Young (Written in 1968, a kids sports book that I still love)

3.    Ninja by Eric Van Lustbader (Written in 1980, a very cool (and thick) novel about a man, half-Japanese and half-Caucasian, who trains to be a ninja. Fun.)