The Hard Part

If only I were two people.

One of me would do all the plotting, writing, editing, rewriting, coming up with new ideas, putting it all in a readable story format.

The other would do all the marketing.

Because goshdarnit, that marketing thing can be a royal pain in the glutes.

It's not that it's so much more work, really. It's just a lot less fun. When I'm writing I can get lost in the story and the flow of the plot and my growing sympathy with the characters. When I'm marketing I have to keep kicking myself, goading myself, telling myself this is NECESSARY AND MUST BE DONE. It's not something with a flow to which I can lose myself. It's a world of hurdles, of new lessons learned, of trial and error and error.

And yes, I said error twice.

That's why dividing the work load between two of me would be nice. The part of me that does all the writing could just work away unimpeded and unflustered by the marketing aspect, letting the other part slave and grumble and puzzle and push.

I saw a Twitter update not long ago that said aspiring writers probably would be better off getting degrees in marketing rather than English or journalism. I suspect that's accurate. It's easier (in my opinion) to teach oneself how to write than to dive headfirst into the marketing world and tread water while hoping the magnum opus you're using as a floatation device doesn't give out.

Thank God for kind folks out there who've been down this road and are willing to show a new guy some of the ropes. If one good thing comes out of my marketing dabblings, I'll have met some great people.

Onward and upward!

Epic Freebie Sales -- Yay?

I should be pretty excited.

Since I made it available on Smashwords a couple of months ago, my fantasy short, "Vessa's Grave" has seen over 50 downloads! Coolness, huh?

Here's the kicker: It's free. So people are downloading it without a moment's hesitation because, if it turns out they don't like it, they aren't out anything. Or it's as simple as liking that they don't have to break out their Visa to obtain it.

As for my short supernatural thriller, "Devil's Creek" -- well, let's just say the vast majority of the downloads at this point are by reviewers. And they get the book free.

Grrr.

Marketing something with any price tag, no matter how low or high the price, is a beast.

I'm sure if I were Stephanie Meyer I would have next to no problem selling my latest OMG-my-boyfriend's-a-vampire story.

So what gives?

Simply, very few people know who Paul Maitrejean is, let alone have read his work. How many people are willing to take a chance on an indie ebook writer when they could click a couple of pages over to buy the latest release from an established author they know and trust? Very few.

A writer needs a reputation to hook readers, but can't build a reputation without readers. Another of the writing career's great Catch-22's.

That's why the freebie is out there. I hope someone eventually likes my writing enough they decide to shell out a couple of bucks for the non-freebie. That's why I'm making my non-freebie available to reviewers. That's why I plug both my freebie and non-freebie. Eventually someone will read it, love it, and rave about it. And gradually more people will love and rave. And from there the numbers could exponentially increase.

And then I'll sell lots and lots of books, and I'll be able to write full time, and everyone will be waiting eagerly for my next great work, and . . . and . . . and . . .

Reality can be a drag, can't it?

Ebooks: Fad Or Future?

When people I talk to finally figure out exactly what ebooks are, they look at me askance.

Given the quick publication time and that ebooks are actually digital files instead of, well, books, they question that publishing an ebook is really publishing at all. One individual even called it "cheating".

Is ebook writing/publishing cheating, or a legitimate venue for authors? Is it just some passing craze, or an actual revolution in the way we read and inform or entertain ourselves?

I've been mulling this over for some time, and here's my thought on the matter.

The goal of publication is to be read and/or make money. Publication is not strictly relegated by definition to paper books with covers and bindings. Publication is a means by which you make your work available to the public. Ebooks accomplish the same thing, only through a different medium. The absence of paper doesn't make ebooks a form of corner-cutting or system-bucking.

Ebooks are here, and they're here to stay. Amazon and Barnes & Noble are recognizing this fact, not only selling ebooks but even devices on which to read them -- the Kindle and the Nook. More and more readers are discovering ebooks and loving that they can carry an entire library in their pocket or purse. Titles that cost $20 to $30 on the shelf can be purchased as an ebook for a fraction of that price. In times of economic pinch, buying a new book to read has become less costly.

Does this mean ebooks will overwhelm paper books to the point of extinction? I highly doubt it. Many people still prefer reading print rather than pixels -- myself included -- and let's face it: Nothing beats the feel and smell of a brand new book fresh off the bookstore shelf. What I see in the future is a happy coexistence between the two media. At this point, people just have to adjust.

And adjust they will. People laughed at Henry Ford's loud, obnoxious horseless carriage. Now everybody owns an automobile. Today, folks sneer at or suspiciously eye the ebook. Soon enough, society will accept it as normal and legitimate.

I intend to hop aboard the ebook train while I can, before the crowds and the long lines. I see a bright, profitable future for ebooks, and I want to be in it.

Maybe I'm cheating by cutting to the front.

Pride and Publishing

I recently read an exchange of emails between a publisher and a hopeful author. Essentially, the author submitted a manuscript, and the publisher responded with a personal (not automated) "thanks for your submission, but as our website says, we're closed to submissions at this time."

At which point the author completely lost it. He responded in an obscene tirade and threatened to report them to Preditors and Editors if they didn't apologize.

Wow.

Anyway, this got me thinking.

Rejection is part of the whole "getting published" thing, right? Most of us writers have reconciled ourselves with that fact. We quickly learn how to take rejection if we're truly serious about our craft. We learn that what we may think is the next Great American Novel may be a horrid piece of drivel to an editor. We learn that doors shut in our faces. A lot of doors. We learn that we don't demand that publishers pick up our manuscripts --we beg and grovel and cajole in as professional a manner as possible.

Those of us who understand this learn humility. Prima donnas don't make it into the publishing world. We only make it if we realize the publishing system is anything but author-centric.

This guy who flipped out at rejection? My bet is he isn't gonna get anywhere. Even if his manuscript does see acceptance someplace, I doubt he'd be able to handle the editorial requests. And any criticism of his book (which he's bound to face)? Ha! I wouldn't want to be anywhere near him.

Writers who make it can be rightfully proud of where they've gotten. But without a huge sense of humility, they couldn't have done it at all.

True writers know exactly what humility is.