Playing with the Web cam

Book of chips

We had a great discussion tonight at the library about how e-books are changing the world--in how content is experienced, in how authors deliver it, and in how various media are going to co-exist and overlap. I believe the e-book model is going to roll in faster than most industry and tech analysts expect, with expectations about six months ago that e-books would comprise 15 percent of the market in five years. Now 50 percent in five years is the general agreement. I think it will happen exponentially faster than that, as various pressure points collide--more and cheaper e-books, more established authors moving over to independent publishing, and cheaper e-readers and tablets that will put them in the reach of most households.

I remember in the late 1990s when people were raving about e-books as the immediate future. I laughed at them. I remember in 2002 when I signed my first book deal and e-books weren't mentioned, or the next year when I gladly gave away half the digital rights because "they were worth nothing." I even had some short stories on FictionWise that earned me a dollar every month or two--I was laughing then. Then I put up my out-of-print title The Red Church in January.

I put it out with a little bit of trepidation, afraid my peers would snub me because I was "vanity publishing." Actually, they didn't notice. They had their own worries, like declining paper sales and the real fear of getting dumped by their publishers. The Red Church went out solid and has stayed steady. Enough that I have put out three original titles this year, something I would have considered unthinkable even a year ago. My mindset has revolutionized itself. I am no longer laughing.

Since I entered this new arena, my creative life has been fulfilled and joyful--there's not enough time in the day to do all the things that should be done. Promotion, blogs, tweets, reading up on my new "industry" (though it is much more like a village than a factory), getting formatting and covers, and making time to write. It's probable that money will follow, because I am now doing what I fully love. But even if money doesn't come, I have won--I have found the right thing to be doing, and the best reason to do it.

Because I work for you. You can fire me if you want. You can buy my next book and encourage me to write another. You can make me drop my price. You can tell me I need to write a different kind of story. You can change the way I deliver content and stories (and it will change in ways we can't even imagine). I'll work for you as long as you will let me. You're the boss. Thank you for giving me the best job in the world.

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The Skull Ring

Ten years ago, anyone publishing a book themselves was either foolish or an unrealistic fanatic. Two years ago, you were still snubbed by the professional writer's organizations and labeled "vanity press." Today, if you don't do it at some level, you're almost assuredly going to be left behind or turning over control of your content to a major corporation. I know, because I was right there laughing at the writers who used Xlibris and Publish America and turned out awful books that lost them hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars. I'm not laughing anymore. I am smiling all the way to a cottage industry.

Inspired by success stories like JA Konrath and Lee Goldberg, and thinking of all the different books I have on submission in traditional routes, and grasping this incredible moment in publishing history, the time has come to try an original ebook release. The Skull Ring will be out March 1 for Kindle at Amazon and in most other ereader formats at Smashwords. Because other writers have inspired me with their honest accounting and war stories, I am encouraged to tell the story of this novel.

I wrote this in 2000, and it actually got me my first agent at William Morris. Long story short, The Red Church sold through the slush, the agent liked The Skull Ring, but we were busy with other titles for Kensington and somehow THE SKULL RING never really came up again, because it was a suspense novel and didn't really fit the brand we were all trying to build. The other issue was it featured a Satanic cult, and Satan isn't exactly a hot topic these days--though in the book, Satan isn't assumed to be real, though the cult is real, just as in "real life" there are people who worship Satan and most of us have never seen much direct evidence that the pointy-tailed red dude exists. I even rewrote the novel several times, updating it because back in 2000 cell phones weren't ubiquitous. The Full Moon Press was supposed to publish it in hardcover but the press dissolved after I waited about three years.

Here we are, 10 years later. I love this character, Julia Stone, and if readers like it, I have other adventures planned. There's no way anyone can dismiss it as a "horror novel," because it's clearly suspense, it has a spiritual theme, romance, and no supernatural elements besides a little psychological mindplay that induces suggestion. Sure, readers can dismiss it because it's crappy, or dated, or any of the thousand wonderful reasons that make us all individual readers with perceptions and opinions.

As for my career, though I have been regularly submitting projects and I'm confident a new direction is ahead, I have felt out of the loop the last couple of years, waiting, waiting, waiting. I have five books finished, three more underway, and plenty of ideas. Even if I got a traditional publishing deal, I doubt if all of those books would ever come out, because editors and publishers rightfully like to shape the direction of their investments.

My ebook sales of The Red Church have not been spectacular, but they have been inspiring. The new ebook story collections ASHES and FLOWERS are finding readers while the print versions languished. With the increasing royalty rate for ebooks, it's now a viable way to a professional career, assuming you connect with readers--which still is and always will be the final payoff. If I had 10 books out right now, doing as well as The Red Church, I would be making more than I do in my day job as a newspaper reporter (health insurance aside).

Lastly, there is something satisfying about developing my own vision for my work. If you've known me for a while, you know I love my organic garden, my laying hens, my wood stove, and my simple, low-cost lifestyle. Today I can imagine a cover (with talented support from Neil Jackson, the incredible force behind Ghostwriter Publications in the UK), categorize the book myself, handle the format, do everything a major publisher would do, and take all the blame! I am not sure what the future looks like, and perhaps it will turn out I should have sat on The Skull Ring (there's an image for you...) for another 10 years. But right now, on March 1, I am stepping out onto the ice. I hope you stand by with a rope and a warm cup of joe.

Because this will require either caffeine or a noose...
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New digital publishing venture

This is really a no-brainer, given the rapid changes in the publishing world. I have launched Haunted Computer Productions as an ebook enterprise, working in collaboration with Ghostwriter Publications in the UK. Our plan right now is to take over the world on each side of the Big Pond. It's a perfect storm of conditions (and I promise we won't use many cliches like "perfect storm") to engage in this--there's a generation of authors who aren't as tech savvy but whose books have already been published, had their day on the shelves, and gone out of print. There is no reason for those books to be gone forever.

Right now we are talking with a couple of genre authors to get their ebooks up on a writer-friendly model. They can pull out at any time. I have been thinking about this a couple of months, having spent the time to learn about ebook formatting and having undergone the frustration of waiting for six months on a submission or two years for a book to hit the shelves. HCP is not about instant gratification by writers who aren't "good enough" to sell in New York. In fact, some of these authors have sold hundreds of thousands of print copies. I am considering a few select original titles, and my standards are as tough as anything in major publishing. The main difference is that I don't have a profit-margin sheet that guides decisions. All I need is passion and a few hours of time.

Personally, I am still pursuing major publishing deals because I still believe that's what authors should do if they want a professional career, and you'll benefit from the nurturing, editing, promotion, and bookstore presence. But there's a growing ebook audience whose needs are not fully met because they are only now realizing their hunger. I hope you will follow us at our new blog and support us if we look interesting.