by john | Jun 20, 2011 | Vampires, Writing
Saturday I sat down at the computer and decided to do something I’d never done before – write, edit and publish a short story all in one day. I had the kernel of an idea for a short story with the Black Knight boys (& Sabrina), and thought I could probably get it into decent short story length, but there wasn’t nearly enough there for a novel.
For those interested in definitions, most people count flash fiction as under 1,000 words, a short story as 1,000-10,000 words. Some folks put the cap at 7,500 words on the high side, but I usually stick with 10K just because it’s easier. Then you get into novellette (10,000-25,000 words) or novella (up to 50K words) and novels (over 50,000 words, but that’s been drifting higher lately). My figures may be low for a lot of people who write 150,000 doorstops, but I write shorter books, so I’m going to skew in that direction. And it’s my blog, get over it.
So I sat down and wrote a short story about a movie night interrupted by catastrophe, because everything in the lives of these characters is interrupted by catastrophe. It took me about 4-5 hours to write, then a couple more hours to create the cover. Yes, I realize the cover looks very simple. Once I got Illustrator running, found a photo I liked on istockphoto.com, set up an account and bought the photo, it only took me about 20 minutes to do the cover. Then I decided I didn’t like it, so I had to go back to searching and find a new photo, buy it and twiddle with it for a little while to get the very elementary cover that you see below.
I never claimed to be a graphics guy, and I know that it’s not a great cover. That wasn’t my intent. My intent was to get a short story from Point A to Point Z (available for purchase) in 24 hours. And I managed the parts that were in my control in about 10 hours. Then I uploaded it to Amazon and Barnes & Noble (except for the cover on BN, which is still goofy – I said I wasn’t a graphics guy) and watched a little TV before bed. When I woke up in the morning the story was available for purchase on Amazon, so mission accomplished!
Click here to buy it.
It’s just a quick little read, about 20-25 print pages or about 6,000 words. It doesn’t reveal any backstory that isn’t in the books, and falls between Back in Black and Knight Moves in the chronology of the world. My hope is that I can knock out about one of these each month (and I have a list of short story ideas, so I’m lined up to do several over the next few months) and keep people happy in between novels. And if it makes a little money, that’s great. Once I have five of them, I’ll collect them at $2.99. Then when I have ten, I’ll collect those for $6.99 or $7.99. All just another way of attracting readers and getting embedded in the social consciousness. 🙂
So if you’ve enjoyed the other Black Knight books, here’s a heads up that more stories are coming. I’ll likely get to editing on Knight Moves this week, and then we’ll see how that goes. I have a long writing weekend planned for 4th of July weekend, so hopefully it’ll finish up by then.
by john | Jun 17, 2011 | Return to Eden, Writing
So I started Return to Eden right after I finished The Chosen. Then I put it aside for a couple of years, and just recently (like this week) got back to work on it. I’ve written three novels and a collection of poetry in the interim, and it’s been an interesting experience to look back on the bits I’d written and see how my writing style has changed in just a couple of years.
Now it might have only been two years since the time I started the project and the time I came back to it, but those have been two really full years. Let’s take a look at what I’ve written since then.
Hard Day’s Knight – 60,000 words +
Back in Black – 60,000 words
Knight Moves – 60,000 words+
Several short stories for various websites and anthologies, all pretty short pieces – 10,000 words
Red Dirt Boy – Collection of a couple dozen poems
Not to mention a few hundred blog posts, but the voice in those hasn’t really changed. Also, I’ve read a lot about story and craft in the past two years, and really studied a lot about how to write a novel and a series. So it’s no surprise that my style is a bit different, and that I see a LOT of things I want to go back and tweak in the early parts of the book. But I’m going to force myself to forge ahead, and get at least the first draft completed before I make any major revisions. Heinlein’s rules have been quoted around the internet for years, and I’ve come across them several times in the past week, and they’ve really helped me keep from going back and tinkering with Return before I get the first draft done.
Heinlein’s Rules for Writing
1) You must write
2) Finish what you start
3) You must refrain from rewriting, except to editorial order
4) You must put your story on the market
5) You must keep it on the market until it has sold
6) Start working on something else
Obviously I don’t agree with all of these, particularly the not rewriting except to editorial order. I’m still a believer in the process of revision, but that’s the great thing about rules – once you know what they are, you can break the ones you don’t like!
So I’m bulldozing through on Return, and it’s an interesting process. This story moves a lot more slowly than the Black Knight books, which worries me a little bit. There’s always that niggling doubt about whether or not the fans of one series will enjoy a series that’s very different. In this I take inspiration from Jim Butcher, who writes The Dresden Files in a very quick style, but also writes the Codex Alera series in a more slow, convoluted style. Both series are excellent, but one moves at a much slower pace than the other, just because that’s how those stories want to be told. The characters in Return want their stories to unfold slowly, so I’m letting them tell the story at their pace. And that pace so far is 20,000 words without any supernatural events or anyone getting killed.
Once it’s finished, I may need to tighten up the pacing somewhat, but there’s been plenty going on in those 20K words. The catalyst for the magic in the story just hasn’t happened yet. But it’s coming. Oh yes, it’s coming soon…
by john | Jun 15, 2011 | Business of publishing
I’m a little tired of them, too. But it’s still a big question. I was reading Nathan Bransford’s blog this morning and he has a poll asking people what they think an ebook should cost. Well, here’s my greedy, whorish, completely money-grubbing response to that question.
An ebook should cost whatever makes the author and publisher the most money. If that means $2.99 maximizes sales without costing profit, then it should cost $2.99. If that means $4.99, then it should cost $4.99. If the most beneficial sales quantity v. revenue per sale price point is $14.99, then a book should cost $14.99. I personally feel like about $5-7 is about right for most ebooks. But that’s my opinion, and means nothing to anyone but me.
But here’s my suggestion to the big publishing houses for a pricing schedule that I think would make most people, if not happy, then at least less whiny than they are now.I have a theory that there should be a sliding scale for ebook prices (and I’m totally stealing this from someone, but I can’t remember who, so forgive me) based on release date. Since it is a lot quicker to get ebooks into stores than hard copies, let’s look at a release calendar like this.
We shall assume a Hardcover release, and a hardcover price of $25.
$30 – 1st Tier – Pre-Release – Sneak Peek – Exclusive Subscriber Release – Whatever you want to call it – This is for the TRUE FANS of an author, the people who stand in line on release day and pay full retail for a book. They pay a premium to be the early adopters, and will happily pay a few bucks extra to know what happens before anyone else.This comes out 1-2 weeks before the hardcover release. Early, but not so early that all the spoilers are out to wreck the HC release.
$20 – 2nd Tier – Timed to coincide with the Hardcover release date. This price is 20% off the HC price, and is for the people who are hungry for the release, but not quite as hungry as the top 1% of fans.This price also won’t hold for long, just for the first few weeks of a book’s life when the biggest marketing push is in effect.
$9.99 – 3rd Tier – As soon as the HC gets remaindered, about 90 days after release. This is where the bulk of sales will land for ebooks, because it’s a significant dip from the HC price, and the mass market paperback isn’t out yet. There may be a $12-15 price in between these Tiers if there is a trade paperback release.
$6.99 – Or whatever matches the Paperback price. This coincides with the paperback release, and matches the paperback price for the first few weeks/months of a paperback release.
$4.99 – Whenever the paperbacks get shipped back to the publisher. Once the bulk of the books are stripped and returned, then the bookstore price is dead for the most part, so make what you can.
$2.99-$3.99 – One year after release, or when the next book in a series comes out. This will feed the series and help the next title.
This is just what I think people might want to look at doing, and just for big releases that are going to get a HC run. If you’re not going to get a HC run, then drop a $10-12 pre-release book a couple weeks before the paperback release, drop the price to match the paperback once it hits, then follow the latter steps. Or don’t.
This is just an idea that big publishers could utilize to mitigate reader angst at ebooks being priced higher than paperbacks, or whatever angst they have about pricing this week. At the end of the day, pricing is a moving target that we’re all playing with – self-pubbed authors, big publishing, Amazon, everyone is still figuring it out. Eventually it’ll all get worked out, but not this week.
by john | Jun 13, 2011 | Writing
Well, partially done, at least. Last night i finished the first draft of Knight Moves, book 3 of The Black Knight Chronicles. There are some spots in this book that are darker than the two that have gone before, but I think there’s still enough humor in there to avoid becoming too gloomy. I introduced a bucketload of new characters this time around, some of whom will be around for several books to come, and some of whom die horrible, grisly deaths by the end of this books.
And in other related news, I have an overwhelming desire to spell whom “whome” today for some reason. I’ve typed it incorrectly every time I’ve used the word so far.
So now I plan to let the book percolate for a week or two, then go back through and start work on my notes. I made some notes to myself as I went along, things I wanted to flesh out in a second draft, a couple of scenes that need to be added in, that kind of thing. So I might give myself tonight off, then work on another project for the rest of the week.
It really should be Return to Eden, but to be honest with you, I’m a little afraid of that book. It started so slow that I’m afraid no one will stick with me for the payoff. And if no one is going to read it, why should I spend the time writing it? I know that I’m 10,000 words into the book and very little has happened as yet. A couple of creepy encounters, but no major fights. No magic, no supernatural occurrences, just people trying to figure out how to live in a world that’s changed pretty dramatically overnight.
I know, 10K words isn’t that much in this world of 100,000-word behemoths, but that’s a long time for me to go without a fight scene, or at least something going horribly wrong. The tone of the book is also very different – it’s a very serious book, and given my long-cemented status as a raging smartass, it’s hard to write serious stuff. But I like the overall concept of the book and series, and everyone I’ve told about the book seems to think it’s a neat idea, so I feel like I owe it to myself to at least write the thing. And hey, if it sucks I don’t have to publish it.
Okay, Mission Talk Myself Into Writing the Hard Parts accomplished. Wish me luck! And for the writers out there – is there a book or story that you want to write but it scares you? What scares you about it? What are you going to do about it?
by john | Jun 10, 2011 | Writing
Or more to the point, this marks the final stop on my blog tour by The Bookish Snob. I don’t have enough thanks for all the great people who’ve hosted me over the past several weeks, it’s been a lot of fun posting all over the internet, answering interview questions and meeting some new folks (virtually). Hopefully some of you will make it out to a signing or a con someday and we’ll be able to meet face to face.
I know, destroys the whole concept of the internet, this real life meeting thing. But since I moved out of my mom’s basement last week I’m feeling much more confident about myself. 🙂
For this last post let’s talk briefly about process. My process is constantly evolving, as I read more books and blogs by other writers, go to more workshops and talk with other writers and generally try to grow my craft. So don’t hold me to any of this, because I may not do it this way six months from now.
I try to write every workday, and my goal is at least 1,000 words each night. I have a day job, so I have to write in the evenings. Typically I’ll come home, eat dinner with my wife, we’ll watch an episode of something on Netflix (currently Trauma, but almost done with that), then once we’ve spent a couple hours together I’ll retire to the office to write. This is usually around 9:30-10PM. That leaves me with an hour or two to write each night, and I can easily crank out 1,000 words in an hour.
But of course there’s more to it than that. I write using a program called Scrivener, which has been Mac only up til now, but the Windows version is in beta for the rest of you. I like the way it lays out chapters for me, plus it exports directly to ebooks, which saves me $150 per book on formatting. That can be substantial over time, and since I have a lot of stories to tell, those savings will add up quickly.
I always write to music, and I tailor the music to fit what I’m writing. I usually go with singer/songwriter stuff when I’m writing normal scenes, but go heavier when I get to a fight scene. If you hear Rage Against the Machine or Rob Zombie coming from the office, you know I’m working on a fight scene. If you hear instrumental, please stay out – that’s what I use to work on problem scenes. Last night was a lot of Joe Satriani, because I needed to work out a few things plot-wise that were hanging up the continuity of the book, and I had to find a place to put another break in the action, no matter how much I hated it.
That’s one tough thing about writing vampires – there’s only so much dark time. At least in the spring and summer you’ve got to cram a lot of action into not a ton of hours. So I had to rewrite a few things, move a building across town and put in another daytime break because I just had too much going on in one night.And since my vampires can’t stand the touch of sunlight, I can’t cheat.
So I write to music, and I outline to music. I started outlining with Back in Black, and I find that it really does help me stay on track and write faster. Yeah, I know, it’s faster to get somewhere when you know where you’re going, right? And yes, that does mean that I wrote my first two novels completely by the seat of my pants, counting on my witty dialogue to cover any huge plot holes. Not the best strategy, but those books turned into The Chosen and Hard Day’s Knight, which are pretty good in my opinion. So now I outline religiously, and refer back to it all the time. I’m starting to put more detail in my outlines, too, in an effort to boost my word count. Rachel Aaron had a great blog post about this earlier this week, so I’m trying out her method to see if I can be more productive.
The goal is to generate 3-4 novels each year, so that I can keep more than one series going at a time. Maybe if I someday land a fat publishing contract (or two) I can cut that down to 1-2 novels per year, but that seems unlikely, since I’m not actively chasing traditional contracts right now. For now I’m pretty happy with the way things are going, and if the traditional publishing world wants to find me, I’m pretty easy to locate. I wouldn’t turn down a traditional contract if a good one dropped in my lap, but I’m focusing on writing for now and letting everything else sort itself out.
So thanks for stopping by, and thanks for hanging out on the tour with me! It’s been a lot of fun, but now you want to know how to win the contest!That’s right, all you have to do to get your name used for one of the villains in Knight Moves (and there are male and female villains, so you can win either way) is to comment on this blog post. Just leave a comment, make sure to fill out the email address field, and I’ll notify the winner next week. The contest will run until June 17th, so go ahead and drop your name in the hat now!
