As I sip my coffee this morning, my thoughts go to the controversial subject of 'self-publishing vs. traditional publishing' and I wonder about how it will be twenty years from now.
First of all the eBook is gaining more and more momentum right along with the number of e-readers, the devices that allow you to download the eBook and read on the go. I, for one, love my Kindle device. Friends of mine have Kindles, Nooks, Sony Readers, etc. to use when traveling rather than carry weighty books. Now with the iPad and other tablets, even phones, the eBook device base has broadened and is steadily growing. Downloading eBooks at discount prices on a light-weight device is the wave of the future, whether you want it to be or not.
So, with this influx of eBooks comes the publishing of eBooks. Many authors are asking why is it necessary to spend the time and energy pitching their manuscripts to the traditional publishing company when all they have to do is upload it themselves to the various digital device platforms? And now there are ways to upload only once to an interface for all the devices - for example http://www.smashwords.com .
But doing it this way, going the self-publishing eBook direction, doesn't provide you with a book in hand, a hard copy. You know . . . an actual book for your own personal library shelves.
However, there are self-publishing companies who will see to it that your book is published in hard copy as well as eBook format. Making it quick and simple for you either way, both ways.
But, if you'd rather go the duration, submit your manuscript for acceptance to a traditional publishing company and wait and wait and wait, with the possibility of being rejected time and time again, then by all means go that route.
I'm just being realistic and honest here. Do you know how many manuscripts are submitted each year? Over two million! Do you know how many books are actually published in the U.S.A. each year, including self publications? Around 275,000. So you do the math. It's like the lottery.
But, like you, I still hang on to that dream of being offered a major book deal and becoming a best-seller, selling millions of books and being the next J. K. Rowling - 450 million in sales ... or one of the following best-known writers of all time:
Agatha Christie - 4 billion in sales
Barbara Cartland - 1 billion in sales
Daniele Steele - 600 million in sales
Stephen King - 350 million in sales
Jackie Collins - 400 million in sales
Nora Roberts - 300 million in sales
John Grisham - 250 million in sales
James Patterson - 150 million in sales
Debbie Macomber - 140 million in sales
Catherine Cookson - 120 million in sales
Ken Follett - 100 million in sales
Mary Higgins Clark - 100 million in sales
Just a few of my favorites.
But let's not forget there is the premise that persistence pays ... we've all heard that one. And with the authors above, guess what? It did pay. They persisted in their search for traditional publishers that had faith in their work. Although agents do play an important role in this.
Always, it depends on the route you want to take. It's your choice. Like I said, though, it's like the lottery, with around 200,000 out of 2 million titles a year receiving contracts from traditional publishers.
It's your call, of course, but the world of publishing is changing drastically. Do your research.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Thursday, February 24, 2011
WINTER GARDEN by Kristin Hannah
Early this morning around 3 a.m. I spent the hour crying and crying, couldn't stop. No, it wasn't due to personal or physical pain, it wasn't heartbreak, it wasn't sad news I'd just received ... it was due to the novel WINTER GARDEN.
Kristin Hannah held me to the end in this fabulous bestseller of hers. Two stories in one: a story layered upon a story but ending together at the same point in time. I didn't see what was coming until the last few pages, another reason to applaud Ms. Hannah. The mystery held forth till the last.
The tag line on the back of the book was true to form "How can a woman know herself, if she doesn't really know her mother?" Not knowing what to expect, I bought the book on that line itself. Not the cover, not the blurb, not the author, not the title ... it was that one line that reeled me in. And I am so glad it did. For this book was so different and so moving. Definitely set apart from most novels.
One thing it did do, as I said at the beginning of this post, it evoked emotion. Lots of it.
As a writer, that is a big concern in writing a story. The emotion one can pull from the reader. Whether it is elation, anger, passion, saddness, inspiration ... one of the primary goals should be giving the reader an emotional experience.
In writing my own novels, I have to admit the writing falls a little short of the tears department, but I believe the inspiration is there, inspiring readers to go for it, to follow their dreams no matter how big or little. And I believe in romance. That's there too. And I believe in truth, that's there too.
But the main advice I would give a beginning writer today is to raise your purpose, write to inspire, even in the darkest mystery and crime novels. We write to entertain, but we can still inspire.
And Kristin Hannah's sub-story was about family interaction and relationships, but was as entertaining and emotion provoking as all get out. Terrific novel!
PUBLISHER WEEKLY SEZ:
"Female bonding is always good for a good cry, as Hannah (True Colors ) proves in her latest. Pacific Northwest apple country provides a beautiful, chilly setting for this family drama ignited by the death of a loving father whose two daughters have grown apart from each other and from their acid-tongued, Russian-born mother. After assuming responsibility for the family business, 40-year-old empty-nester Meredith finds it difficult to carry out her father's dying wish that she take care of her mother; Meredith's troubled marriage, her troubled relationship with her mother and her mother's increasingly troubled mind get in the way. Nina, Meredith's younger sister, takes a break from her globe-trotting photojournalism career to return home to do her share for their mother. How these three women find each other and themselves with the help of vodka and a trip to Alaska competes for emotional attention with the story within a story of WWII Leningrad. Readers will find it hard not to laugh a little and cry a little more as mother and daughters reach out to each other just in the nick of time."
Kristin Hannah held me to the end in this fabulous bestseller of hers. Two stories in one: a story layered upon a story but ending together at the same point in time. I didn't see what was coming until the last few pages, another reason to applaud Ms. Hannah. The mystery held forth till the last.
The tag line on the back of the book was true to form "How can a woman know herself, if she doesn't really know her mother?" Not knowing what to expect, I bought the book on that line itself. Not the cover, not the blurb, not the author, not the title ... it was that one line that reeled me in. And I am so glad it did. For this book was so different and so moving. Definitely set apart from most novels.
One thing it did do, as I said at the beginning of this post, it evoked emotion. Lots of it.
As a writer, that is a big concern in writing a story. The emotion one can pull from the reader. Whether it is elation, anger, passion, saddness, inspiration ... one of the primary goals should be giving the reader an emotional experience.
In writing my own novels, I have to admit the writing falls a little short of the tears department, but I believe the inspiration is there, inspiring readers to go for it, to follow their dreams no matter how big or little. And I believe in romance. That's there too. And I believe in truth, that's there too.
But the main advice I would give a beginning writer today is to raise your purpose, write to inspire, even in the darkest mystery and crime novels. We write to entertain, but we can still inspire.
And Kristin Hannah's sub-story was about family interaction and relationships, but was as entertaining and emotion provoking as all get out. Terrific novel!
PUBLISHER WEEKLY SEZ:
"Female bonding is always good for a good cry, as Hannah (True Colors ) proves in her latest. Pacific Northwest apple country provides a beautiful, chilly setting for this family drama ignited by the death of a loving father whose two daughters have grown apart from each other and from their acid-tongued, Russian-born mother. After assuming responsibility for the family business, 40-year-old empty-nester Meredith finds it difficult to carry out her father's dying wish that she take care of her mother; Meredith's troubled marriage, her troubled relationship with her mother and her mother's increasingly troubled mind get in the way. Nina, Meredith's younger sister, takes a break from her globe-trotting photojournalism career to return home to do her share for their mother. How these three women find each other and themselves with the help of vodka and a trip to Alaska competes for emotional attention with the story within a story of WWII Leningrad. Readers will find it hard not to laugh a little and cry a little more as mother and daughters reach out to each other just in the nick of time."
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
FAT TO MUSCLE
Reading "The Fat-To-Muscle Diet - Boost Your Metabolism for Permanent Weight Loss" by Victoria Zak, Cris Carlin, M.S., R.D., and Peter D. Vash, M.D., M.P.H. Published in 1987 by G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York.
So far this appears to be the most logical and doable program I've run across. Makes the most sense. Reducing fat intake and increasing metabolism alone would usually do the trick if you can do it, but I've been searching for a complete new way to approach aging and weight gain.
And believe me, I've got all the books ... Atkins, Southbeach, Fit for Life, etc etc ... an entire shelf of them. This one gives you three meals a day (breakfast, lunch, dinner), broken down into five components: starch, fruit, dairy, vegetable, protein . . . and gives you lists of foods that fit into those categories. You choose and create. If you snack you take something from the lunch or dinner groups, but you don't duplicate them, it's one or the other.
This along with exercise of course, it goes without saying. Doesn't work without exercise and drinking lots of water. Simple, simple, simple. Couldn't get any simpler. No fats at all for the first couple of weeks while you're acclimating to the change in your diet. After that you add a tad of fat to the mix. But at a minimum.
Something in the book that jumped out at me ... when you eat sweets and fats, each makes you crave the other till your diet is eventually made up mostly of the two. And I can attest to that as being factual. I've watched what I've been eating and it is so true. One breeds the other until they take over your food intake.
One thing I must do, though, is cultivate a taste for yogurt. Up to now I've never cared for the stuff. But I see it can be a substitute for fats in cooking. It works as a substitute for sour cream on vegetables along with spices although I don't like sour cream anyway, my downfall is butter). And you can use yogurt on baked potato, or as a mix for macaroni salads.
You can eat pasta, by the way, that's one of your starches - 1/2 cup at lunch and dinner. That appeals to me. Served with a half cup of chopped, seasoned, canned tomatoes or fresh tomatoes . . . perfect! I can do that, I do it already. Just need to make a change in proportions, evidently 2 or more cups at a sitting just doesn't hack it. Proportions are very important, I'm seeing. No overeating allowed.
Instead of mayonaise on tuna, use a dash of mustard and a spoon of yogurt with seasonings.
Instead of poaching fish in oil or butter (like I do) use a 1/2 cup dry white wine with seasonings. The alcohol burns off and leaves a well-seasoned protein.
Lots of tips in the book.
Sooooooooooooooooo ... a new me will emerge in a month or two, and I'm lovin' it!
So far this appears to be the most logical and doable program I've run across. Makes the most sense. Reducing fat intake and increasing metabolism alone would usually do the trick if you can do it, but I've been searching for a complete new way to approach aging and weight gain.
And believe me, I've got all the books ... Atkins, Southbeach, Fit for Life, etc etc ... an entire shelf of them. This one gives you three meals a day (breakfast, lunch, dinner), broken down into five components: starch, fruit, dairy, vegetable, protein . . . and gives you lists of foods that fit into those categories. You choose and create. If you snack you take something from the lunch or dinner groups, but you don't duplicate them, it's one or the other.
This along with exercise of course, it goes without saying. Doesn't work without exercise and drinking lots of water. Simple, simple, simple. Couldn't get any simpler. No fats at all for the first couple of weeks while you're acclimating to the change in your diet. After that you add a tad of fat to the mix. But at a minimum.
Something in the book that jumped out at me ... when you eat sweets and fats, each makes you crave the other till your diet is eventually made up mostly of the two. And I can attest to that as being factual. I've watched what I've been eating and it is so true. One breeds the other until they take over your food intake.
One thing I must do, though, is cultivate a taste for yogurt. Up to now I've never cared for the stuff. But I see it can be a substitute for fats in cooking. It works as a substitute for sour cream on vegetables along with spices although I don't like sour cream anyway, my downfall is butter). And you can use yogurt on baked potato, or as a mix for macaroni salads.
You can eat pasta, by the way, that's one of your starches - 1/2 cup at lunch and dinner. That appeals to me. Served with a half cup of chopped, seasoned, canned tomatoes or fresh tomatoes . . . perfect! I can do that, I do it already. Just need to make a change in proportions, evidently 2 or more cups at a sitting just doesn't hack it. Proportions are very important, I'm seeing. No overeating allowed.
Instead of mayonaise on tuna, use a dash of mustard and a spoon of yogurt with seasonings.
Instead of poaching fish in oil or butter (like I do) use a 1/2 cup dry white wine with seasonings. The alcohol burns off and leaves a well-seasoned protein.
Lots of tips in the book.
Sooooooooooooooooo ... a new me will emerge in a month or two, and I'm lovin' it!
Monday, January 10, 2011
James Patterson Takes it to the Limit!
Well, I don't know about you, but I was borderline appalled at the killing spree in James Patterson's SWIMSUIT. I know there are heinous crimes out there, I do know that. So I know it's reality, and I'm not feigning innocence. Every day we're reminded on the tele about the atrocities committed upon our human race - shows like CRIMINAL MINDS, LAW & ORDER: SVU, CSI, depict it all to the hilt. But are you noticing the horrid extent to which novel writers are going to bring that sadistic realism to readers?
It's like the influx of bigger and more extravagant casinos in Vegas, each one doing a one-upmanship. Same is happening with movies, TV shows, and crime novels. It seems the more blood is shed, the more sales are made.
But this time, as I read SWIMSUIT, I couldn't believe the continual vivid descriptions and the number of visual murders this book contains. I understand Patterson's reasoning(unless I'm wrong) of portraying the serial killer from the character's viewpoint making it seem more believable. Yes, I understand that. But you know, I read to be entertained, to relax, to be taken to a place that I can enjoy, and to also learn more about my craft of writing. And I know, I'm not the only reader out there. I'm aware that others read for shock value and excitement, something to feed that inner craving for horror.
And yes, of course I must admit the novel was a page-turner, I read it from cover to cover in a relativly short time in spite of the horrendous visuals, and I do understand why it is a page-turner. Patterson is a genius when it comes to knowing how to end a chapter and begin another: short, clipped, action-filled chapters, one driving you on to the next. So you might say, that's a learning experience for writers who are not aware of the importance of it.
But for entertainment, no. I was not entertained. The book left me feeling frightened, and left horrid pictures in my mind, left me wishing I hadn't read it, made it difficult for me to sleep.
It also made me rethink my recent desire to write a murder mystery or thriller. On second thought, it seems to me there are enough murder mystery writers, thrillers, and so forth out there. I think I'll stick to what I know best. Romantic suspense. Sure I have crime and death in my novels, but that isn't what drives them,there is more good than bad. I write what I like to read and it's going to stay that way. If that means I won't be a best-seller like James Patterson, then so be it.
Just want to add . . . I read THE POET by Michael Connelly just before I read SWIMSUIT. And although THE POET is also a serial-killer page-turner, Connelly's take was much more palpable. I enjoyed the read.
It's like the influx of bigger and more extravagant casinos in Vegas, each one doing a one-upmanship. Same is happening with movies, TV shows, and crime novels. It seems the more blood is shed, the more sales are made.
But this time, as I read SWIMSUIT, I couldn't believe the continual vivid descriptions and the number of visual murders this book contains. I understand Patterson's reasoning(unless I'm wrong) of portraying the serial killer from the character's viewpoint making it seem more believable. Yes, I understand that. But you know, I read to be entertained, to relax, to be taken to a place that I can enjoy, and to also learn more about my craft of writing. And I know, I'm not the only reader out there. I'm aware that others read for shock value and excitement, something to feed that inner craving for horror.
And yes, of course I must admit the novel was a page-turner, I read it from cover to cover in a relativly short time in spite of the horrendous visuals, and I do understand why it is a page-turner. Patterson is a genius when it comes to knowing how to end a chapter and begin another: short, clipped, action-filled chapters, one driving you on to the next. So you might say, that's a learning experience for writers who are not aware of the importance of it.
But for entertainment, no. I was not entertained. The book left me feeling frightened, and left horrid pictures in my mind, left me wishing I hadn't read it, made it difficult for me to sleep.
It also made me rethink my recent desire to write a murder mystery or thriller. On second thought, it seems to me there are enough murder mystery writers, thrillers, and so forth out there. I think I'll stick to what I know best. Romantic suspense. Sure I have crime and death in my novels, but that isn't what drives them,there is more good than bad. I write what I like to read and it's going to stay that way. If that means I won't be a best-seller like James Patterson, then so be it.
Just want to add . . . I read THE POET by Michael Connelly just before I read SWIMSUIT. And although THE POET is also a serial-killer page-turner, Connelly's take was much more palpable. I enjoyed the read.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)