by Louis Bertrand Shalako
c2010
All Rights Reserved
As an independent self-published author, my two toughest challenges right now are both big and small.
These are 'Proofreading and Promotion.'
I've been submitting stories all over the place, and in this very tight professional market, it is terribly discouraging to re-read a story and find a missing word or a typo.
While 'writing fast,' has its allure, simply putting the thing away for a day or two might have helped. I have no beta-readers, and in fact had never heard of them before this year.
The dividing line between success and failure can be razor-thin at times. Editors all over the world are looking for any excuse to reject, and to cut down that pile of very professional looking submissions.
***
In her recent blog post, Kristine Kathryn Rusch says, 'The best promotion is getting your work out there.' (I'm paraphrasing, but that's what she said.)
A story in a professional magazine immediately brings you to the attention of thousands of committed readers.
Promotion is hard for one very good reason: as self published authors, we still don't really know if the work is any good. Without any good reviews, and no feedback from beta readers, it really is a tough thing.
We don't want to make unreasonable claims, and we don't want to be perceived as dishonest, or bad writers, or whatever.
In my own case, simple shyness and lack of confidence makes it hard to ask anyone for a guest post slot.
Why would anyone care what I think? I don't have a big name, I don't have big sales numbers to brag about. I don't even have any track record of success in 'a previous life,' as I have been on a very small pension for about fifteen years. The fact that I was sports editor of a small weekly paper years ago, or wrote a couple of magazine articles along the way, is not particularly impressive or helpful.
The one vital element in all of this is time. I do have something of a head start, with three more novels 'in the can,' enough short stories to keep submitting them, and a few more available to produce another collection this year.
I will put out a pretty good poetry book at some point, and the world will become my oyster.
Over time, the trickle of books that I am selling now will become a flood.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Cultivating Trust.
by Louis Bertrand Shalako
c2010
All Rights Reserved
No commerce can take place without some element of trust. Building trustful and fruitful relationships is the key to any successful business.
This is especially true in the virtual world. How does the little old lady from Pasadena know that you can be trusted and you're not just going to grab the cheque, 'perform some work so it isn't legally fraud,' and then bolt?
She doesn't. Building relationships takes time. If facebook and its counterparts are now the new Main Street, then let us go back to that model of 'kinder and gentler times.'
The past really wasn't Mayberry, okay? But the important thing to remember is that in the old village economy, everyone knew everybody else, and quite a bit about their personal business.
They knew who drank, who strayed, and whose kid was sick, and whose grandmother was dying. People don't buy things out of sympathy for your suffering, far from it.
They buy things from people they like, trust, respect or admire. They buy things they need, want or like. If you've ever really felt like you were screwed over by someone you liked, you probably never went back. You might have gone out of your way not to go back--and not out of spite, but sheer self-defense.
There has been some question as to whether 'you' are the product; or if some 'artifact' that can be 'shipped' and then 'billed' is the real product.
Labels are useful for convenience, although they have their limitations.
I am a writer. I write things, things which I then sell or try to sell to editors and publishers and readers around the world. It's what I do.
Whether we write on sheer speculation or sign people up for a monthly newsletter, really doesn't matter. People work hard for their money and they like to know who they are dealing with.
Simply interacting with people helps them to get to know you. Serving them in some way lets them get some idea of who you are.
Twitter is a wonderful medium for social networking.
First and foremost, it is a rich source of relevant posts. I get data and tips for my work.
The 'perfect tweet' would be helpful, informative, relevant, funny, non-threatening, and not cryptic or even enigmatic. It would be targeted at your audience, your followers, who are presumably there for a reason.
If you need to remove a person or entity from the list of people you are 'following, just do it. To tolerate someone is one thing, to take abuse out of politeness is another.
Like facebook, sometimes I just sit there and listen. This is a skill which is highly-underrated in today's virtual economy.
c2010
All Rights Reserved
No commerce can take place without some element of trust. Building trustful and fruitful relationships is the key to any successful business.
This is especially true in the virtual world. How does the little old lady from Pasadena know that you can be trusted and you're not just going to grab the cheque, 'perform some work so it isn't legally fraud,' and then bolt?
She doesn't. Building relationships takes time. If facebook and its counterparts are now the new Main Street, then let us go back to that model of 'kinder and gentler times.'
The past really wasn't Mayberry, okay? But the important thing to remember is that in the old village economy, everyone knew everybody else, and quite a bit about their personal business.
They knew who drank, who strayed, and whose kid was sick, and whose grandmother was dying. People don't buy things out of sympathy for your suffering, far from it.
They buy things from people they like, trust, respect or admire. They buy things they need, want or like. If you've ever really felt like you were screwed over by someone you liked, you probably never went back. You might have gone out of your way not to go back--and not out of spite, but sheer self-defense.
There has been some question as to whether 'you' are the product; or if some 'artifact' that can be 'shipped' and then 'billed' is the real product.
Labels are useful for convenience, although they have their limitations.
I am a writer. I write things, things which I then sell or try to sell to editors and publishers and readers around the world. It's what I do.
Whether we write on sheer speculation or sign people up for a monthly newsletter, really doesn't matter. People work hard for their money and they like to know who they are dealing with.
Simply interacting with people helps them to get to know you. Serving them in some way lets them get some idea of who you are.
Twitter is a wonderful medium for social networking.
First and foremost, it is a rich source of relevant posts. I get data and tips for my work.
The 'perfect tweet' would be helpful, informative, relevant, funny, non-threatening, and not cryptic or even enigmatic. It would be targeted at your audience, your followers, who are presumably there for a reason.
If you need to remove a person or entity from the list of people you are 'following, just do it. To tolerate someone is one thing, to take abuse out of politeness is another.
Like facebook, sometimes I just sit there and listen. This is a skill which is highly-underrated in today's virtual economy.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
The Art of Writing
by Louis Bertrand Shalako
c2010
All Rights Reserved
He reached with his hand for the doorknob.
He reached for the doorknob.
Inside of his head he was thinking, “What is going on with Fred?”
“What is going on with Fred?” he wondered.
John arrived at the farmhouse, where he found there were no vehicles in the driveway or parked out front, although he couldn’t say for sure if there were any in the barn, so he approached cautiously.
Arriving at the farmhouse, no vehicles were visible. The barn was locked shut. John couldn’t see in the windows. His spine crawled. It was too quiet and there was no guarantee the place was deserted. *
* The obvious conclusion here is that some words are simply unnecessary. It seems clear that more information is being conveyed using the same approximate number of words in the second example. Not so immediately obvious from the third example is ‘pacing.’ Look closely and you will see the story has advanced about the same amount. He arrives at the same place. We're getting a lot more work done.
What is different is the mood of the story. It is more ‘suspenseful.’ The impression is that the speed of the story is 'faster.' It's not--it just feels faster-paced when each and every word advances the story, describes, or sets mood.
‘His spine crawled,’ and ‘it was too quiet,’ are cliches. In the previous sentence there was no room to put ‘extra stuff’ in; because it was too wordy and poorly organized to begin with.
So now we have this:
Arriving at Fred’s place, the barn was locked shut. The half-rotten old plank door rattled in the breeze, despite the new brass padlock. He was almost sure someone was watching from the house.
Reaching with his hand for the doorknob on the door of the house, inside of his head he was thinking the thought, ‘I wonder what the heck is up with old Fred?” (Sorry. –ed.)
Next Time: semi-colons and where you can stick them.
Notes: First, I do edit online when I could simply use the preview feature. If the screen jumps on you, send me an e-mail at louisbshalako@cogeco.ca.
Secondly, there is some method here. It is analytical. Look at the following sentence:
Brendan was angry and didn’t want to take it anymore.
I have a similar sentence in a blurb on Lulu.com and maybe a few other places.
Is 'anymore' a real word? I just typed it into a document file and used Word's 'spelling and grammar check' feature. The word 'didn't' was underlined in green because it is a contraction. The word 'anymore' was not underlined in green or red. Somebody somewhere thinks it is a word.
In a previous blog post I think I noted that Word's spelling and grammar check may become some kind of international standard. No doubt there will still be local variations...in the absence of any other quick help, it will have to do.
Note to Self: 'french fries' should be capitalized, i.e., 'French fries.'
c2010
All Rights Reserved
He reached with his hand for the doorknob.
He reached for the doorknob.
Inside of his head he was thinking, “What is going on with Fred?”
“What is going on with Fred?” he wondered.
John arrived at the farmhouse, where he found there were no vehicles in the driveway or parked out front, although he couldn’t say for sure if there were any in the barn, so he approached cautiously.
Arriving at the farmhouse, no vehicles were visible. The barn was locked shut. John couldn’t see in the windows. His spine crawled. It was too quiet and there was no guarantee the place was deserted. *
* The obvious conclusion here is that some words are simply unnecessary. It seems clear that more information is being conveyed using the same approximate number of words in the second example. Not so immediately obvious from the third example is ‘pacing.’ Look closely and you will see the story has advanced about the same amount. He arrives at the same place. We're getting a lot more work done.
What is different is the mood of the story. It is more ‘suspenseful.’ The impression is that the speed of the story is 'faster.' It's not--it just feels faster-paced when each and every word advances the story, describes, or sets mood.
‘His spine crawled,’ and ‘it was too quiet,’ are cliches. In the previous sentence there was no room to put ‘extra stuff’ in; because it was too wordy and poorly organized to begin with.
So now we have this:
Arriving at Fred’s place, the barn was locked shut. The half-rotten old plank door rattled in the breeze, despite the new brass padlock. He was almost sure someone was watching from the house.
Reaching with his hand for the doorknob on the door of the house, inside of his head he was thinking the thought, ‘I wonder what the heck is up with old Fred?” (Sorry. –ed.)
Next Time: semi-colons and where you can stick them.
Notes: First, I do edit online when I could simply use the preview feature. If the screen jumps on you, send me an e-mail at louisbshalako@cogeco.ca.
Secondly, there is some method here. It is analytical. Look at the following sentence:
Brendan was angry and didn’t want to take it anymore.
I have a similar sentence in a blurb on Lulu.com and maybe a few other places.
Is 'anymore' a real word? I just typed it into a document file and used Word's 'spelling and grammar check' feature. The word 'didn't' was underlined in green because it is a contraction. The word 'anymore' was not underlined in green or red. Somebody somewhere thinks it is a word.
In a previous blog post I think I noted that Word's spelling and grammar check may become some kind of international standard. No doubt there will still be local variations...in the absence of any other quick help, it will have to do.
Note to Self: 'french fries' should be capitalized, i.e., 'French fries.'
Friday, February 11, 2011
The Future of the Book
by Louis Bertrand Shalako
c2010
All Rights Reserved
The future of the book has never looked healthier. Books are available to more people in more venues and more formats than ever before. This new access to freedom of information will create vast social upheavals. Not just for repressive states, where Egypt immediately springs to mind, but for our own country as well.
Every big media conglomerate will continue to produce paper and ink books in hardcover, paperbacks, limited editions and boxed sets. They will all enter the e-book field, but then they all make audiobooks and produce the things on CD. They have global distribution and they will use it.
These books will tie in to existing media operations, like Oprah's book club and Stephen Colbert's renouwned science fiction books, especially the Tech Hansen series.
It's just merchandising. Several authorities have noted there is no 'morality' in this industry.
That is why they call it 'an industry.'
What will change is that the specialty houses will for the most part disappear or be bought out by the conglomerates. There will be mergers and acquisitions.
It is debt and the inability to repay that killed them. It is lack of leadership and foresight that killed them. In Canada, a dependence on subsidies will kill them.
The recession that never could affect Canada because we're immune according to CTV News Channel is what killed them.
What this means to human freedom and dignity in the long term is still up to us, or at least we the writers might have some input. The better people among us will make sure of that.
To the entry-level author, you either just got the last contract going, or you don't have one at all. In the first case, you got a different deal than someone two or three years ago. In the second case, you do not know the difference, and now are in the same boat as any other author looking at self-publishing. Your other option is to polish your skills and keep submitting. This might take years, or you might get, 'lucky.'
For most, it is not in their best interest to disparage self-publishing no matter who does it, because this is now the normal working environment.
But what is really going to happen in a big way, is that the predators will flourish. That is absolutely, dead-certain in the short term. That's because all the people are still looking for reassurance. They're looking for praise, and they're looking for someone to promote them, and instruct them, and baby them, and they're looking for validation of the dream they hold.
"What a great read! And so beautifully written," one such acceptance letter might read. "Thank God you haven't signed a contract with someone else. All we want is all rights in all media and all languages and all formats for five years with an automatic renewal for four years clause and if we come out with another edition it extends the contract accordingly."
(Similar letter and contract on file. -ed.)
Just what a new author wants to hear, isn't it? A little too good to be true, isn't it? Kind of like all those self-published books with the five-star ratings three days after they appear online.
We heard that 'everyone has at least one good book in them,' and it's true, isn't it?
If you sign that, they will own your book or a piece of it for the rest of your life.
Check with a lawyer, all right? Someone sends you a contract, call a lawyer. It is a fact of life. Just do it.
Vanity publishing will flourish for those who cannot handle the truth. This is a job. You have to get training and you have to work at it. When I tell people I am training as an editor they think I am the one that is crazy? Hah!
Good writing will flourish for those with the patience to pursue it and the work ethic to continue on when everyone else thinks you have already failed, and is ashamed of your stubbornly holding on to what is not just a goal, but a higher aspiration.
Realistically, the enthusiastic amateurs will publish some books, make no money, find they are unable to take the heat or the kidding, and drop by the wayside. They will cherish the dream, and maybe come back to it when they are older and more mature.
The future of the book is healthier than ever. The industry will somehow adapt, improvise and overcome.
What is really new is that guys like me now stand a chance. That's new. That's different.
It is not social mobility that is the big threat to the established order.
It's debt, and some new ideas.
c2010
All Rights Reserved
The future of the book has never looked healthier. Books are available to more people in more venues and more formats than ever before. This new access to freedom of information will create vast social upheavals. Not just for repressive states, where Egypt immediately springs to mind, but for our own country as well.
Every big media conglomerate will continue to produce paper and ink books in hardcover, paperbacks, limited editions and boxed sets. They will all enter the e-book field, but then they all make audiobooks and produce the things on CD. They have global distribution and they will use it.
These books will tie in to existing media operations, like Oprah's book club and Stephen Colbert's renouwned science fiction books, especially the Tech Hansen series.
It's just merchandising. Several authorities have noted there is no 'morality' in this industry.
That is why they call it 'an industry.'
What will change is that the specialty houses will for the most part disappear or be bought out by the conglomerates. There will be mergers and acquisitions.
It is debt and the inability to repay that killed them. It is lack of leadership and foresight that killed them. In Canada, a dependence on subsidies will kill them.
The recession that never could affect Canada because we're immune according to CTV News Channel is what killed them.
What this means to human freedom and dignity in the long term is still up to us, or at least we the writers might have some input. The better people among us will make sure of that.
To the entry-level author, you either just got the last contract going, or you don't have one at all. In the first case, you got a different deal than someone two or three years ago. In the second case, you do not know the difference, and now are in the same boat as any other author looking at self-publishing. Your other option is to polish your skills and keep submitting. This might take years, or you might get, 'lucky.'
For most, it is not in their best interest to disparage self-publishing no matter who does it, because this is now the normal working environment.
But what is really going to happen in a big way, is that the predators will flourish. That is absolutely, dead-certain in the short term. That's because all the people are still looking for reassurance. They're looking for praise, and they're looking for someone to promote them, and instruct them, and baby them, and they're looking for validation of the dream they hold.
"What a great read! And so beautifully written," one such acceptance letter might read. "Thank God you haven't signed a contract with someone else. All we want is all rights in all media and all languages and all formats for five years with an automatic renewal for four years clause and if we come out with another edition it extends the contract accordingly."
(Similar letter and contract on file. -ed.)
Just what a new author wants to hear, isn't it? A little too good to be true, isn't it? Kind of like all those self-published books with the five-star ratings three days after they appear online.
We heard that 'everyone has at least one good book in them,' and it's true, isn't it?
If you sign that, they will own your book or a piece of it for the rest of your life.
Check with a lawyer, all right? Someone sends you a contract, call a lawyer. It is a fact of life. Just do it.
Vanity publishing will flourish for those who cannot handle the truth. This is a job. You have to get training and you have to work at it. When I tell people I am training as an editor they think I am the one that is crazy? Hah!
Good writing will flourish for those with the patience to pursue it and the work ethic to continue on when everyone else thinks you have already failed, and is ashamed of your stubbornly holding on to what is not just a goal, but a higher aspiration.
Realistically, the enthusiastic amateurs will publish some books, make no money, find they are unable to take the heat or the kidding, and drop by the wayside. They will cherish the dream, and maybe come back to it when they are older and more mature.
The future of the book is healthier than ever. The industry will somehow adapt, improvise and overcome.
What is really new is that guys like me now stand a chance. That's new. That's different.
It is not social mobility that is the big threat to the established order.
It's debt, and some new ideas.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Strategy and Tactics.
by Louis Bertrand Shalako
c2010
All Rights Reserved
I just got a rejection and according to the rules of engagement, the thing to do is to resubmit it immediately.
Checking the preferred market, I noted that their upper word limit is 4,000 words and my story, the best thing that I have available, is over 5,000 words. It would be bad tactics to submit the story to this market.
The simple strategy is to search the listings for another market. It should be a market where the story has not been subbed before, and it should be comparable in terms of pay or the next notch down the totem pole.
***
I have a story which in some ways is kind of lame. Difficult to define, I guess maybe it doesn't belong in Clarkesworld right beside Dr. Peter Watts, who I suspect would not be particularly pleased.
The problem is, to submit it to a fledgling market, or try to take five or ten bucks off some poor schmuck; all the while convinced that I really love the guy like a brother and I'm doing him a favour is bullshit. If it is a lame story, that ain't his fault.
All that being said, I can still take a lame story, and use it in a blog, especially if I had art to go with it, or submit it after some stiff rewriting to a more appropriate market. Here again, I keep coming back to youth markets, Christian markets, or whatever. Just remember, the classic science fiction of the Golden Age created stories and characters that we remembered with little explicit sex, and gore. Even now, it seems that 'language' is a kind of a deal breaker in certain markets. (Even my own blog, for the most part.)
***
Strategy is different than tactics. Tactics are short-term, dealing with a crisis or implementing a plan.
Strategy is long term. My strategy of submitting good stories to good markets, working patiently to earn my entry into the Science Fiction Writers of America, to read every 'bleeping' thing that I can get on the industry, is a good strategy. It holds true for anyone.
The story I just submitted might be crap! The strategy is still good. Assuming a story gets placed, then having my books self-published and out there, all ready to go, in all formats is a good one.
The strategy of teaching myself how to edit is a good one. The strategy of learning how to format my own work is a good one.
Tactics take a certain situational awareness and a flair for the dramatic.
Strategy takes patience, and wisdom, and total comprehension of the operating environment.
c2010
All Rights Reserved
I just got a rejection and according to the rules of engagement, the thing to do is to resubmit it immediately.
Checking the preferred market, I noted that their upper word limit is 4,000 words and my story, the best thing that I have available, is over 5,000 words. It would be bad tactics to submit the story to this market.
The simple strategy is to search the listings for another market. It should be a market where the story has not been subbed before, and it should be comparable in terms of pay or the next notch down the totem pole.
***
I have a story which in some ways is kind of lame. Difficult to define, I guess maybe it doesn't belong in Clarkesworld right beside Dr. Peter Watts, who I suspect would not be particularly pleased.
The problem is, to submit it to a fledgling market, or try to take five or ten bucks off some poor schmuck; all the while convinced that I really love the guy like a brother and I'm doing him a favour is bullshit. If it is a lame story, that ain't his fault.
All that being said, I can still take a lame story, and use it in a blog, especially if I had art to go with it, or submit it after some stiff rewriting to a more appropriate market. Here again, I keep coming back to youth markets, Christian markets, or whatever. Just remember, the classic science fiction of the Golden Age created stories and characters that we remembered with little explicit sex, and gore. Even now, it seems that 'language' is a kind of a deal breaker in certain markets. (Even my own blog, for the most part.)
***
Strategy is different than tactics. Tactics are short-term, dealing with a crisis or implementing a plan.
Strategy is long term. My strategy of submitting good stories to good markets, working patiently to earn my entry into the Science Fiction Writers of America, to read every 'bleeping' thing that I can get on the industry, is a good strategy. It holds true for anyone.
The story I just submitted might be crap! The strategy is still good. Assuming a story gets placed, then having my books self-published and out there, all ready to go, in all formats is a good one.
The strategy of teaching myself how to edit is a good one. The strategy of learning how to format my own work is a good one.
Tactics take a certain situational awareness and a flair for the dramatic.
Strategy takes patience, and wisdom, and total comprehension of the operating environment.
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