Cheryl Shireman: Summer Book Club

Cheryl's one of the dynamos behind the Summer Book Club, in which nine bestselling writers are selling and giving away a book (free at Smashwords) to raise awareness of the Joplin MO Library Relief Fund.

I BURNED MY BRA FOR THIS? ONE WOMAN’S FANTASY

I’m a Baby Boomer. Which means that I remember bell-bottoms, Happy Days, and having only three channels on the television. I played Donny Osmond albums on a record player. My parents watched Gunsmoke, and on Sunday nights we all watched The Wonderful World of Disney. In the living room. Together. On the only television we owned. Imagine that! I remember the first time I saw Bonanza in color. I remember the first time I heard about remote controls for televisions. The whole idea seemed ridiculous. With three channels, really, how often would it be needed? I remember the Watergate hearings playing on the television when I came home from school.  

I also remember watching feminists (does anyone use that word anymore?) burn their bras and march for equal rights. I grew up believing that a woman deserves equal pay for equal work and that a woman is not defined by the man she marries or by the children she gives birth to. In fact, we were told that both men and children were optional. The idea seemed revolutionary at the time. It still does. Women were mad as hell and they weren’t taking it anymore. We called it Women’s Liberation, and though it was never said, it was certainly implied (and believed in most circles) that a woman who did not work was a bit inferior to a career woman.

That was when such women were called housewives and not “stay at home” moms. Women were divided into two groups – those who worked and those who didn’t. Back then, no one thought that staying home and taking care of a family and home was work. The women of my generation wanted more, demanded more, and believed we were entitled to just that – more. We sometimes looked at our own mothers, most of whom did not have real jobs, as women who simply did not understand that there was more to life than being a mother. If truth be told, we thought they were a bit simple-minded and we secretly vowed to do more with our lives. 

And yet…as this Baby Boomer looks at her life, I realize nothing I have ever done, or will ever do, is as important as being a mother. Not career, volunteer work, graduate school, or any creative pursuit. Nothing else even comes close to being a mother. Period.

One of my children lives half an hour away, another is one state away, and the third is on the other side of the world in Denmark. Yesterday, my husband and I spent the entire day with our two-year-old granddaughter. She then spent the night. As I write this, I hear her gentle breathing in the baby monitor positioned atop the table close to where I sit.

To say that my children, and now my granddaughter, have filled my life with love and joy is an understatement. As children, they expanded my heart in ways I could never have imagined. For the first time in my life, I not only understood, but received unconditional love. As adults, they are three people that I know I can always count on. They will always be there for me. Just as I will always be there for them. Can you say the same about your career?

There used to be a tv show called Fantasy Island. People visited the island and lived out their fantasies – no matter how wild (okay, not that wild – this was primetime family tv in the seventies). Not too long ago, my husband and I had a discussion about that old tv show and asked each other – What would your fantasy be? Mine was easy. If I could have a Fantasy Island day, I would relive one day with my children. My son would be 10, which would make my daughters 4 and 2. We would spend the day doing whatever they wanted. Going to the park, going to the movies, playing games, baking cookies, or just sitting on the floor playing with Legos and Barbies. I would hug them a lot. And kiss the tops of their heads. And take tons of pictures. I wouldn’t cook. I wouldn’t clean. And I wouldn’t worry about my career.

I would watch my son show his younger sisters how to do things, like he always did in his older brother sort of way. I would watch my 2 year-old daughter follow her older 4 year-old sister around the room, shadowing her every move. Just as she did, even through their college years when they shared an apartment near Indiana University. I would watch the older sister taking care of her younger sister, as if she were her baby. Which is what she called her when she was born – my baby.

Bedtime would be later than usual on that fantasy night. I would tuck them into their beds, fresh from baths and smelling of shampoo. The girls smelling like baby lotion. My son would hug me goodnight with his long skinny arms and tell me he loves me. And I would feel the truth in that. I would tuck in my girls and tell them it is time to go to sleep. I would take extra care in covering the older girl’s feet, because she always kicked her blankets off during the night. I would kiss the baby and hold her a little longer, because I would know that, as I type this she is in Denmark which makes visiting tough.

And, as I walk down the hall and turn out the lights, I would call out to all of them, as I always did… “Goodnight. Love you. Sweet dreams. See you in the morning.”

And that would be my fantasy day. Oddly enough, it has nothing to do with my career as a writer. Even though being a writer has always been my dream. My first novel, Life is But a Dream, was published earlier this year. The main character, Grace Adams, is a woman facing an empty nest and the possible demise of her marriage. Grace withdraws to a secluded lake cabin to redefine her life and try to find a reason to continue living. While at the lake, Grace not only finds renewed purpose and hope, but when things take a turn for the worse at the lake, she finds a strength she never knew she possessed. The novel is thought-provoking, sometimes frightening, and often funny (just like life). It is also, very definitely, fiction. 

Even though my “nest” is empty, I am enjoying this time and this new focus on my career. I am not suicidal or lacking in purpose. My husband and I both work from home (he designs websites), we live on a lake, and our schedule is our own. It is truly a wonderful time in our lives. Sometimes I have popcorn for dinner. Enough said. 

But, would my current life be as wonderful if I had not pursued career and graduate school and developed the skills I am using now? Probably not. I managed to combine work and school and motherhood. I believed I could have it all, and do it all, but to be honest – the kids always came first. And being a mother is the strongest and best part of my identity. It is the thing I am most proud of. My greatest achievement. And, once in a while, I miss those days when toys where scattered across the floor, the washer was always running, and we bought eight gallons of milk a week.

If you have children at home, cherish those simple every-day moments with them. They really will be gone in the blink of an eye – sooner than you can possibly imagine. Get off of your computer. Now. Go sit on the floor and play a game. Pop some popcorn, put on one of their favorite movies, and cuddle up on the couch. Live that “fantasy” right now. You will never be able to recapture these moments again. Enjoy them now. There is no greater gift than the love of your children. Spend the rest of your day letting it pour over you. And pour your love right back over them.

As I type this, I can hear my granddaughter waking up. I am shutting my computer off, too. Right now, I am going to go upstairs and scoop her up from her crib. She will probably wrap her little arms around my neck and ask, “Play blocks, Bomb Bomb?”

And we will play blocks.

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Cheryl Shireman is the author of Life is But a Dream which can be purchased as an ebook for 99 cents at Amazon US  Amazon UK  Barnes&Noble  or as a paperback for 11.99 at the Amazon locations. Learn more about Cheryl at her website and blog at http://www.cherylshireman.com or by following her on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/cherylshireman or on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/cherylshireman or her books page http://www.facebook.com/cherylshiremanbooks
 
She will be doing a live Facebook chat on Saturday July 9^th at 4:30 p.m. Eastern time at http://www.facebook.com/summerbookclub  Please join us with your questions for Cheryl!
 (thanks for stopping by, Cheryl!)

Self-Publishing Agents: Unnecessary Evils

Two prominent names in self-publishing (Barry Eisler and J.A. Konrath) are presenting the case that agents have a desirable role as facilitators for authors who choose to self-publish. Barry makes a rational argument at Joe's blog, and Joe himself is trying it with his existing agent. The basic premise is the agent handles the cover, the formatting, and the uploading and derives a 15 percent commission (the same commission the agent would make selling a book to a U.S. publisher). Joe calls them "estributors" but they are not distributing the book to readers, they are distributing them to distributors, which puts them more in a wholesale role, except of course they aren't selling anything.

I respect their experience (Barry is married to an agent, and he'd probably BE a good agent if he so chose), and Joe is probably the most educated self-pubber on the planet, but I just don't see why agents should be considered ideal candidates for this task. What is an agent's current job and experience? To assess a manuscript and find a market.

In self-publishing, they do neither. Their assessment skills have zero value in self-publishing. Right now they assess with one measure: can I sell this to one of the few dozen editors in New York? Self-publishing requires no assessment, unless the agent says, "Whoa, this is crap, you can't publish this!" And who is going to lose their 15 percent to be that blunt? The agent's second role and experience is also rendered useless. The market is already there, and it's the millions of readers owning electronic devices or ordering print-on-demand books.

Presumably they aren't editing the manuscript (which is a different skill that an agent may or may not be qualified for), but it's certainly not a task the facilitator is handling. Let's assume the facilitator knows cover artists. You still have to describe the book, send suggestions, approve the cover file, and basically DO EVERYTHING you would have done on your own except make the first contact (find your own designer) and the last (upload the final file). And you're paying for it, I assume, unless the facilitator is footing some risk and cost.

Okay, the agent can format your file, or have that service arranged. Ted Risk at Dellaster Design will do a very clean epub and mobi for $89. A one-time fee with a fast turnaround time. The "facilitated" author still has to email the MS Word file to the agent/self-pub facilitator, who then sends it to a formatter or has one in-house. The author has merely saved two steps: (1) receiving the formatted file back from the formatting service and (2) uploading it to the markets.

Even if the agent/self-pub facilitator is writing the product description, that won't be written in a vacuum. The author will still have to outline it,  proof it, and suggest keywords, because even IF the agent reads the book, the agent will never understand it as well as the author (this is actually true of the cover design, too). Time saved: not much. It actually sounds like more work to me.

Employing someone in this role means giving up 15 percent for the entire life of copyright, for a book remaining on sale forever, for a job not only saving the author hardly any time at all, but possibly even CREATING MORE WORK FOR THE AUTHOR!

Yes, now you have an employee/partner to manage, and account for, and play email and phone tag with, and the money that could flow straight to your bank account every month will now be held by someone else who MAY, if you're lucky, dispense it quarterly, removing their share first. In my experience in the publishing world, the biggest risk in the entire venture is letting ANYONE handle your money when you don't have to. Too many things can go wrong. I am not saying fraud is likely, but imagine how hard it would be to audit Amazon if you thought your sales figures weren't adding up. And then imagine how hard it would be to audit an Agent/ Self-Pub Facilitator when sales figures don't add up from multiple revenue streams.

No, I am not suggesting all agents are shady and that 15 percent may magically expand to 50 percent under the table. But what would you do if it did? How are you going to audit six or 10 different distributor payments every month or three? Personally, I'd rather have my money shoot straight into my bank account. And in three years, when all the agent does is trim 15 percent before sending the rest on its way, and is not adding any new value at all, an author may just get a little bit resentful, even if everyone kept their word.

(Okay, I forgot the third role and experience of an agent: handling your money. Don't forget, agents are have no certification, degree, membership association, regulatory oversight, or even uniform code of ethics. Most are self-selecting English grads who moved to New York and hung out a shingle. There aren't a lot of accountants and MBAs on the agency rosters. But you're willing to give them your money just because they once were necessary evils?)

Okay, that being said, IF I thought such a service was valuable (and I clearly don't because my overhead on Liquid Fear was exactly $6 and a few hours of time, and it's earned me more than any book I've ever written, including ones that had dozens of fingerprints on them, and I get paid regularly, and heck, sounds like I'd be a better estributor than almost every agent on the planet, except I don't want to handle your money), I would prefer to have an experienced and downsized New York editor handle the task.

While an agent has never picked out a book cover, editors have. While an agent has never handled promotion, editors have. While an agent has never assessed a manuscript's value in the true marketplace of readers, editors have. While an agent has rarely handled layout or formatting, most editors are at least aware of the process, if not having hands-on experience. Agents handle the very front end of a book, an abstract idea with no intrinsic value. Editors are solidly on both edges of the middle of book production.

But the real question is, why would you assume anyone with experience in traditional publishing knows ANYTHING about what is happening right now? Indeed, it's the outliers who seem to be the most successful, not those who are most closely imitating the old model. I am not relishing the fact that a once-respected profession may soon be on the ropes, but I don't need my blood on the canvas to keep agents in the ring.

There's a great Harlan Ellison line in his story Mephisto in Onyx: "Don't confuse a thousand years of experience with the same year of experience a thousand times." If you want to be the monkey, you'll climb higher if you don't have a gang of carnivorous dinosaurs sinking their teeth into your back.

(Update: I talked with Joe a few days ago and under his deal, the agent pays for cover and formatting, so those costs are included in the 15 percent. Makes the deal SLIGHTLY better, but I still believe it doesn't save any work at all and adds risk and complication. Joe also foresees marketing clout one day but I have to ask, where is the agent suddenly going to learn book marketing in the digital era? Picking up a primer on social media? Writers already know more than agents. We've been forced to do so.)

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If you want more of this type of insight imbued with passion and scars and joy, why not try The Indie Journey: Secrets to Writing Success, on sale in July for $2.99 at
Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/58806
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Indie-Journey-.../dp/B0050I5TXA
BN.com: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/indie-journey-scott-nicholson/1101046538
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Kindle Summer Book Club

Nine bestselling authors and one free book.

The Summer Book Club features stories, articles, and novel excerpts from thriller writers in the United States and United Kingdom, all for free at Smashwords and BN.com. The book will be 99 cents at Amazon, with all proceeds going to disaster recovery in Joplin, Mo.

Features H.P. Mallory, Cheryl Shireman, Victorine Lieske, Dan Holloway, Sibel Hodge, Mark Edwards, Louise Voss, Saffina Desforges, and J. Carson Black, as well as my own contributions. We'll have a summer of events and giveaways as well, so be sure to follow our Facebook page for the event. Mystery, paranormal, thrills, chills, and romance all in one tight little package.

Stay tuned for more!
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Think "#27" If You Like

I was just telling my friend and collaborator JR Rain about how James Patterson used to make mock charts of the bestseller list for his sales and publishing meetings. He'd put his book (not yet published) at #1 and show the sales staff. It made success easy for them to visualize.

I'm too lazy for that, but I do believe in the power of creative visualization. When Liquid Fear started its run, my family picked #27. We committed to thinking #27, and while I don't want to feel greedy, focusing on ebooks when so many people need prayers, food, and shelter, I generally try to share my success and spread my resources where people benefit. (My daughter wants #4, but first things first). If you care to think "#27, Scott Nicholson," in a positive way, for the highest good for all, then I'd appreciate it.

I am also re-doing some of the covers on the less-successful books because it feels like a fun time to take chances. I hope your life is as fun and crazy and free as mine.

Time to kill? Go to Tina's Book Reviews where I am giving away an e-copy of Duncan the Punkin and waxing on "The 200."
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Where I've Been This Week

Thanks everyone for your Liquid Fear love--we hit #130-something on Amazon US, around 2,700 on Amazon UK, around 36,000 on BN com, and now it's hanging around in that weird land of #150 at Amazon, teetering on the edge. It could go one of two ways, but I doubt it will hang right there, because it's a volatile territory for rankings and algorithms. I will be raising the price to $2.99 as soon as it finds its plateau, so if you know any mystery/thriller lovers, please encourage them to jump in. And the Fool's Gold Rush is going on all week, so you still have time to enter at the participating blogs for the $10 gift cards and hopefully the $100 bonus booty!

Here are some blogs I've been at recently, apart from the Fool's Gold Rush blogs:
Indie Good Cop/Bad Cop at Joe Konrath's Newbie's Guide
One For the Money, Two for the Show at Indiereader
Liquid Fear and bioethics at Seduced By Books
Writing talk at Character Happens

Thanks for all your support! Currently working on a secret dark fantasy project, of which nothing will be revealed...and a few options for the next "Scott Nicholson" book...

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Colin Leslie inflicts The Inquisition on me at The Dark Abyss. The British Invasion is working backwards as I assault the Amazon UK charts, with Creative Spirit currently ranked #336 in the UK (and #6 in the horror category). I don't go nuts about rank since it is relative and sounds like bragging, but I think it's notable because (a) it was my worstselling book in US paperback and (B) no US ebook version is available.

If you're in the UK, why not give it a boost at 70 pence?
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Scotty on the knob

Simon Royle gave me a kind interview on The Skull Ring: http://bit.ly/hcjGtW

Red Adept gave a rather astute review of As I Die Lying: http://redadeptreviews.com/?p=3911 (I know I need to revise that later-middle section)

And Joanna of Creative Penn has a video she's releasing next week:

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Day #90: Just a Guy with a Keyboard...and You

Ninety days.

An idea, a little typing, a lot of generous book bloggers, and many, many friends.
I started the blog tour with a simple goal of promoting e-books and the Kindle, celebrating the new era of literature, and meeting people who love books. Not just books, but words and stories, since we’re not even sure what a book is anymore.

I’ve changed over the course of this blog tour. It went from “90 Days of Nightmares” to a three-month dream. I put myself out there, my real self, in a way I never have before, and you guys put up with it. I talked about this amazing journey, from my early rejection slips to where I am today, with more readers than I’ve ever had and more books available, and a bright future that’s poised to grow and glow. You guys made me a #1 bestselling writer during this tour. I’ll never forget that, because I know who did it. I wrote the words, but you created the synergy.

My daughter said, “Once you’re a bestselling writer, you’re one forever.” That’s true. Sales will slide because we all move on to new things, but Disintegration happened. The Red Church happened again and again. Cursed! and October Girls were born. Some screenplays and collections came out.

But I feel very much the same, despite everything warming to a boil and my sales and connections growing organically and beautifully. It all feels right. But I’m still just a guy with a keyboard, telling stories, not much different than a year ago when I wasn’t sure I’d ever publish another book and that maybe six paperbacks were going to be the only thing the obscure genre magazines would report in my obligatory three-line obituary.

The book I never intended to publish, Disintegration, was written for my survival, during a dark time in my life. Maybe because it wasn’t written for a theoretical market, it told some sort of truth. And it’s fitting that novel became a breakthrough success. It’s so ironic it seems inevitable.

But the books are just part of the story. The fun comments, the new friendships, the blog discoveries, the expanding platform of people talking about books, reading, words, publishing, and just ideas are all wrapped up in this blog tour. It took a life of its own and I’m a little sentimental right now, but I look forward to going back and re-reading all the comments and spending more time getting to know you.

We still have a few days, since the Kindle winners won’t be selected for a week and you still have chances to comment at the recent blogs. And I am cooking up one final idea to make another run for Top 100 so I can give away one more Kindle, but, hey, we have at least three new Kindle owners in the world. And I know 90 percent of you are going to buy a Kindle anyway if you don’t win, because you were interested enough to care.

This phase of the journey is over. Winter is a natural time for going internal. I’ll be back in the spring with another big event, but it’s going to be simpler and shorter. In the meantime, I hope you will continue subscribing to my newsletter even after the winner is selected and announced. I will only use it for major announcements like giveaways or new releases, and I will continue with Wednesday writing chats here at my blog and my Web site is undergoing a redesign to make a multi-functional gathering place. As always I will reward my supporters, because I know where success is born.

I heart you. Thank you.

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Scott Nicholson is author of 12 novels, including the YA paranormal romance October Girls and the thrillers Disintegration, As I Die Lying, Speed Dating with the Dead, Drummer Boy, Forever Never Ends, The Skull Ring, Burial to Follow, and They Hunger. His revised novels for the U.K. Kindle are Creative Spirit, Troubled, and Solom. He’s also written four comic series, six screenplays, and more than 60 short stories. His story collections include Ashes, Curtains, The First, Murdermouth: Zombie Bits, and Flowers.

The Kindle Giveaway is part of Scott’s blog tour. Complete details at http://www.hauntedcomputer.com/blogtour.htm. To be eligible for the Kindle DX or Kindle 3, simply post a comment below with contact info. Feel free to debate and discuss the topic, but you will only be entered once per blog. He’s also giving away a Kindle 3 through the tour newsletter and a Pandora’s Box of free e-books to a follower of “hauntedcomputer” on Twitter. Thanks for playing!

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Pros & Cons of Self-Publishing

(Official Kindle giveaway stop for Nov 13 so comment to enter before Nov 20!)

Today’s little bulleted list of the “Pros and Cons of Self-publishing” comes from someone who has been there. I’ve had agents, not had agents. I’ve been rejected hundreds of times. I’ve published in major, small, and independent presses, and now primarily self-publish. I’ve been a bestseller and had books I couldn’t make someone read at gunpoint. And all of the routes are difficult. If you think it’s hard to write a book, try selling one.

Pros of having agent
1. Most writers can’t arrange lunch with an influential publisher, talk over salad, and leave with book deal.

2. An agent can get you more money, usually more than the 15 percent commission.

3. An agent can guide you for an entire career, point out the landmines, dun publishers for money owed, and stay ahead on trends.

Cons of having an agent

1. The best book in the world won’t matter to them if they can’t sell it.

2. Your book immediately becomes New York-centric, measured by all the other deals, relationships, commodities, industry politics, and corporate bottom lines, as well as the pecking order of your own agency.

3. It’s possible the agent becomes a roadblock or black hole, where your work vanishes for years.

Pros of having a publisher

1. They do most of the work besides the writing.

2. They have a system in place designed to distribute and promote books.

3. They can pay you money immediately.

Cons of having a publisher

1. They take most of the money.

2. They may keep your rights virtually forever.

3. They solely determine the fate of your book, via profit-and-loss statements, print runs, and the amount of the advance, so there’s automatically a ceiling placed on your book.

Pros of doing it yourself

1. You keep all the money.

2. You get to find your own audience.

3. You control everything, and the success and failure are yours alone.

Cons of doing it yourself.

1. You keep all the money and there may not be much.

2. You have to find your own audience.

3. You control everything, and the success and failure are yours alone.

More and more writers are developing hybrid careers, where they have agents or use publishers but also self-publish material that’s either been out of print or has a small audience. This will probably become the standard working model for middle-class writers in the next few years. But to make it work, pay attention to the rights you sign away in contracts—the fairest deals should return the work to you after a certain period of time or when sales drop below a certain level. After all, it’s your work. If you don’t care about it, why should anyone else?

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Scott Nicholson is author of 12 novels, including the thrillers Disintegration, As I Die Lying, Drummer Boy, Forever Never Ends, The Skull Ring, Burial to Follow ,and October Girls. His revised novels for the U.K. Kindle are Creative Spirit, Troubled, The Gorge, and Solom. He’s also written four comic series, six screenplays, and more than 60 short stories. His story collections include Ashes, The First, Murdermouth: Zombie Bits, and Flowers. His web site is www.hauntedcomputer.com.

To be eligible for the Kindle DX, simply post a comment below with contact info. Feel free to debate and discuss the topic, but you will only be entered once per blog. Visit all the blogs on the tour and increase your odds. I’m also giving away a Kindle 3 through the tour newsletter and a Pandora’s Box of free e-books to a follower of “hauntedcomputer” on Twitter. Thanks for playing. Complete details at http://www.hauntedcomputer.com/blogtour.htm

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