Random Detritus Of Some Actual Worth

Unless you've authored a novel yourself, you don't know that these ideas are often amorphous at first. I was asked where I got the idea for OTHERS, and that's unanswerable in a sound bite.

It began as a simple story on a beach, and elements came in over the years to grow it towards a novel-sized work. the theme of handling violence in a swift and certain and respectful and just way came out of an observation I had about what you may call sweet justice or vigilante justice or a happy accident.

I'll let the manuscript expound on that kind of justice, as that's the theme I finally conjured up to allow the rest of the story to write itself.

************

Another idea--which turns out to be attention-grabbing--came out of my frustration with the recent Penn State story. What could have and should have been done at the earliest moment of this violence to absolutely stop it then and prevent attack on more victims? Too many people steer around that point, and it's totally lost in the overall discussion of this octopus they now view as the Penn State Evil Empire. It was an epiphany, a single line that popped into my head, that sums up the idea behind OTHERS:

Good thing someone assassinated Adolph Hitler back in 1932; imagine the millions of innocent lives that may have saved.

I'm using that line both in the ms. and as a basis for queries. Yeah, a single line that's technically not a logline may crash against the common rules and requirements for a query, but that line is definitely worth toying with for a possible variety of uses.

************

I got some interesting feedback from a reader.

I wrote OTHERS with details and ideas I'd hope readers would latch onto, figuring some may find this or that little tidbit powerful enough to them so they'd give the book an overall thumbs-up.

My reader, however, had other feelings.

She dodged the many callbacks and points I made, and burst into flames because of a few portmanteaus the main character created. She claimed they're fads that need to be purged from the public vocabulary, or something close to those words. I'm willing to bet, though, that's she has at some time stayed at a motel, eaten at Panera, and gets her cable TV from Comcast. The term was invented by Lewis Carroll, and it appeared in two of his most famous books, so that reference was missed... not that I'd count on any reader to be aware of that. True, some portmanteaus stink, but some have wormed into the vernacular without exposing themselves for the hybrids they are.

She was also unable to connect with any of the characters, stating that she felt they were not well-developed. "Interesting concept", she once said, about this form of justice, and I believe she camouflaged her genuine feelings with that statement, an unstated revulsion of the theme that may have therefore failed any connection to any of the characters.

She also said she had a hard time following things here and there, and I believe that was also from this revulsion, an inability to get past something she found unappetizing.

She mentioned that the dialogue was verbose in places, and that "people don't talk that way." I'm a fan of simplicity, but I'm also a fan of leaning away from it a bit at times so as to get points across and make the reader think a little. Some people may talk that way, which is one point, but the better proof of that is a transcript I have of an Oprah show with Jay Leno as guest. The broken sentences, the crashed trains of thought, talking over each other, page-loads of ellipses. What you think people say and what they actually do may be two far different critters.

What may be telling, however, is the line she picked out as an example. For someone who is all for the justice system as it is and is totally against any form of street justice, this line would get in their grille. I strongly suspect that's her mindset.

I realize that when this hits print, I'll have to state up-front and unequivocally that I'm not at all an advocate of what's espoused in the book. It's a story. I wrote it to provoke, and get readers to think. I advocate this no more than Stephen King advocates bleeding at the prom.

Because she couldn't get past a couple of objections and missed many elements I incorporated, she felt the ms. is not commercially viable. Well, maybe not for her. Now she knows not to buy a copy.

***********

Which brings up a point I've mentioned before, and which is the thread common to creations such as books, music, and movies: How do you get someone to assume ahead of time that their purchase will be worth their hard-earned paycheck?

The most common solution is to have some track record, something the consumer is aware of and has adjudged worth applying to the creator's next effort. A safe bet, based upon reliability and confidence, if you will. Reviews and word-of-mouth are huge help, anytime, but for someone trying out the dogfood in the beta stage, it's a colossal risk, but one that has to be analyzed with care and depth if one wants to market their next effort.

Further reviews and opinions will be the most telling, so I do what I can to generate those, ones of worth--if I can wisely swing it.

Inside Baseball--Amazon Publishing, et al.

As a published nonfiction author and a novelist-to-be, I have experience with research, book publishing, and promotion, both hard-copy and electronic.

I've learned and found inside-baseball facts and observations that are generally not mentioned.

Here are a few to sit you straight up:

Self-publishing and publishing through Amazon's CreateSpace are viable ways to see one's book in print or on ebook readers.

Yes, the established publishers are still trying to figure out exactly how to handle this competition, and get a piece of this for their own profit and survival.

Yes, Amazon is a powerful presence in the world of books.

Consider these few points, however:

There is a difference between printing and publishing, and one or the other may be the route to go, depending on your personal situation, wants, and needs. And experience. Few understand the fine-line difference.

CreateSpace, and other self-publishing systems, offer a buffet of services one pays for up-front, costing anywhere from several hundred to several thousand dollars. They're one of several self-publishing businesses, and the best-known. If you're in a position to pay for whatever you want and need, or provide these yourself, and if your in a position to make educated business decisions about font, format, cover art, distribution, and marketing, this may serve you perfectly. If you're well-established, comfortable financially, and have a book idea you want to get out on the market, you may want to take this route, as Deepak Chopra just did. Or, if you want to get a handful of your books out as gifts or to learn the experience or to take a bet on a possible best-seller, this may work for you, too. The options are usually ebook, and some form of print-on-demand.

Sure, you'll earn money all along (possibly), and that may help you pay for more services and bankroll later projects, and you may make more per copy on a percentage basis, but you should start to notice something creeping into this argument.

Imperfect, crazy, and sometimes dysfunctional as established publishing may be, it does offer a few things that  you may miss when self-publishing.

People who'll lead and not follow.

First, if you have an agent, you have someone on your side, a cheerleader, a market-savvy and business-wise partner and advisor, to run interference and make open-field tackles for you. Sure, they'll cost you a percentage, but a good one will find what you consider your best deal by shopping your manuscript, and watching out for bugs and gremlins that will make the ride smoother. You're hiring someone who generally has their own business best-interest in mind, and they know things about marketing you haven't experienced, and need to know to maximize the benefits of all your hard work. If you have a publisher and an agent, it's the agent who'll be your stronger friend.

I'm not leaving out established publishers. Plodding and scary as they may be, they like not only to survive, but thrive. Partnering with authors who can sell books goes far for both. They also do publishing things generally correctly, out of habit. Things you'll have on your side with skill and efficiency. They, like agents, know how to avoid the little critters that take away from the embodiment of your hard work.

Most books are still sold in hard-copy, and most are sold to people browsing racks, in established bookstores. Yeah, it's cool to have an ebook, but it's generally far tougher to market books when lacking face-to-face word-of-mouth.

Okay, here I am, on a blog, an established electronic way to get the word out and provoke discussions with others who are somewhere else on the planet. So long as you understand electronic and tangible publishing, they're both a potential help toward your goals.

Just understand that a large part of conventional publishing is easy chatter among people with a physical presence. Office buzz, water-cooler talk, conventions, conferences, reading clubs, these are all habits of experienced figures in the world of publishing, and they open avenues to you and your work that are just not there well at all with electronic publishing. They're powerful, they'll go to bat for you if you light a spark, and it's a facet of the business that is rarely mentioned as a way that can make an author's career. Want that on your side?

Ebooks can now be autographed... did you know that? That's new tech, pretty cool, pretty fun, and possible from most anywhere to most anywhere. I've done some in-store book signings, and the personal interaction was a joy and an event for me and those I met. So long as something like that is not cut out of the process, I approve. I'll embrace that electronic personalizing, as it's just one more potentially fun way to connect with readers.

Indie bookstores and Barnes & Noble are not going away. There will always be readers and buyers who want that tangible product, that interaction, that joy of discovery in a physical bookstore. Real books can be bought and sold and lent and given away as ebooks cannot. Would you want to somehow handicap your presence on bookstore shelves due to your lack of marketing savvy because you went with a system that either cut out those business partners, or made it difficult to maximize a shopper's ability to discover and buy your book? Consider Amazon's CreateSpace route versus those bookstores. Oh, and Amazon doesn't have bathrooms. Or coffee shops. Amazon will naturally do something to make it difficult--if not impossible--for competing booksellers to handle your book. Bookstores generally offer printed books as well as most any ebook available, and you can have them right there and right then and right now.

I know people who published their own books. They're proud of  those books, proud of what they did, and this was the best choice for what they published. I know others who had books published the conventional way, through an agent and then through a publisher. This worked for them, too.

All this comes down to two things:

1. What do you really want to accomplish, and are you confident that you can have in place everything you want and need to accomplish that?

2. Picking one route as opposed to another out of fear or greed or reasons counter to your goals is one stupid and harmful move, so for God's sake, do your homework. Know the business as well as you know your own manuscript. Maybe more. You have to do hard and heavy research just to assemble a competent nonfiction book. Well, you have to take the same mindset if you want to publish and market any book.

Your decision is based on far more than getting some text on pages of an otherwise blank book, or pressing SEND and transmitting a text file to an unseen someone.

There are developments in publishing that are exciting and possible traps, if you are not aware and awake. A knee-jerk reaction may cause harm to you and your goals. If you can say, "I've got a guy" or "I've got a gal", that likely beats "I've got software." Then, again, maybe I'm wrong, but it'll take someone's human judgement to decide. You can naturally assume that a second brain, one that knows the ways of the industry, will likely beat going alone.

And that's where my favorite inside-baseball tip comes in.

These changes are human-powered, human-developed, and human-operated, and there is a whole new style of human who may be the most powerful weapon an author could have.

I found a literary agent who offers--as a business service--advice, counsel, marketing and legal and financial advice to anyone with any interest in publishing, be it conventional or do-it-yourself. Which way do you want to go? What do you want to know? As a one-stop service offering, this agent covers all of it.

No matter how versed you may be in the publishing game, having someone at your side who can answer any question and pull any savvy move--with authority and drive--is the best business partner you could imagine.

You think clicking a mouse to deliver a copy of your book is the greatest development in publishing? You think a Flash-based website or a Twitter feed is the hottest? You think selling personalized copies through Ebay is the hottest?

The hottest development is the appearance of that agent who can do anything for you, and the realization of every author-to-be that part of the approach no longer is sending out queries to any agent who just might be some kind of match, but sending a query to an agent who is encompassing of most any author-in-waiting, no matter what their business goals and needs. Imagine an agent who is not in the rejection business, but one who is in the acceptance business. I found one!

Writers now can choose to reject agents, and reject them by the handful, and select the one who furthers their goals. A total reversal of a basic aspect of the process, an aspect that's traditionally been agony for both writer and agent. This new business model will always exist, so long as some form of books are published.

This is the earth-shaking development that writers and readers and publishers and printers and agents have to appreciate the most. And the one that may be overlooked the most.

It'll potentially make more positive difference in an industry, a career, and a job, than any other.

In this brutally competitive business, this news flash is to your benefit.

See you later... on top of the game!

Love Note To Caylee

You're in heaven, and not with those you loved here on Earth, we know.

There is good news coming, Caylee: Your killer will be leaving this Earth, too.

We don't know when, but it'll happen. Justice will be done.

Finally.

Your killer did not go to jail, and that angers some. Jail means getting a place to stay, however miserable, and food and clothing provided. Resources would have gone to your killer to maintain some sort of life, and that would have been unfair to those outside who really need those things. Innocent people who need and more deserve those things.

Anger towards your murderer is the wrong emotion. Love for you and the needs of innocents is the more noble one, the best one.

Your killer is outside, among millions, many who remember, many who will watch, many who will think about this, and at least one who will plan. And act.

All it will take will be one. And your killer will be as dead as you.

Life outside is scary and upsetting and torturous for your killer, thanks to the mystery of who will administer justice, and how, and when, and where. There's some noble and fitting justice. Your killer is not at all free.

So how will your killer's final moments be? Will they involve pain and torture? Will your killer's life fade towards nothing while knowing that death is taking over? We don't know. No one does. But that may be the purest form of justice for you.

Maybe this will give more juries an idea: The worst punishment could be a "not guilty" verdict. After all, you see the resources and imperfect justice administered by imprisonment. Done well, it won't be punishment, so much as appropriate. No more, no better, than your killer gave you. And no less. The least that's deserved. Exactly what is earned.

The free world would be a far worse prison. And it is, for your killer.

After the event, your killer's body may show evidence of agony and resistance, and then the news will spread to others who may consider killing. And those killers-to-be may think enough of the consequences about to be laid upon them by persons unknown, and they will not kill. The killer's end will be public, and for those who understand, and accept, and approve of justice in its purest form, this will be fitting.

For those who will kill anyway, why should we waste time and resources valuable to the innocent to imprison them according to rules and regulations and habits and politics of the so-called justice system? Where is the hope for correction? There is none. So why attempt it? Why maintain a life that no longer needs to continue? That should not continue?

Swift and certain delivery of justice has gone on since the birth of civilization, but it's been little-spoken and rarely discussed. Which is too bad. And unfair to every innocent being.

That kind of justice respects and demonstrates love for the innocent, for the victims. Our legal ways, our legal structures, fail to address that. Isn't that the most important part of working to keep the peace? Isn't that the most civilized, and heartfelt way to handle murder of innocents?

Thousands of innocents are murdered each year. Why are thousands of murderers not disposed of? Where is the respect for the life of innocents? Where is the respect for civilization? Why the delay, the avoidance, of the kind of justice that should be applied, out of fairness to the victims?

What is right and proper, what is the noblest act, is to dispose of those who have exercised the ultimate violence upon the innocent. No anger shown, no punishment meant. Just an even and certain delivery of death to the killer, a chore that is distasteful yet necessary, with no bureaucratic delay.

Some approve of the system as it is. But, it's odd how there is regret on some side of the issue, no matter how justice acts. There is no real end to the wheezing, puffing machine operation of the system as it now works; only when the killer dies, likely of a natural cause, many years in the future. As long as there is no end of the murderer, there is much picking at the scab, there is much high-minded yet misplaced unfeeling chanting of concepts such as, "we are not that way", or "we value life in all forms". Where is the teardrop for victims such as you? Is your life valued equally, or less, than that of your killer?

Imagine a quick finality, an ending of the warped story.

No cyclone of police and investigators and lawyers and judges and clucking bystanders and witnesses and cable TV and social buzz clogged with scandal and drama, as they did with your death.

Sounds a lot like many people want to get in on the pornographic self-pleasure of a murder story, doesn't it? Well, they did.

How low. How shameful. How pitifully wrong.

Don't they understand, don't they accept, it's about the victim, not self-pleasure of outsiders? Justice should minimize that, not fertilize it. Justice should take away the violent in quiet, in the shadows, wasting no time, using few people and human materials and processes and little exposure.

Done.

Gone.

And mortal life can continue, lived free, by those who survive. By the billions who have a necessary job to perform, then go on with their own lives, little-threatened by those who would harm.

Every time justice is served as it will be to your killer, justice and peace will be all the more pure.

It won't do you any good, true, but maybe the world will be happier and safer and more secure for other children like you were.

That's the best we remaining mortals can do.

If we so decide.

And it appears we will.

At least in your memory.

Out of love and respect for your innocent life.

There will be a book, called OTHERS, that will show a world of peace, and how it may not be as beautiful and perfect as everyone would like it. OTHERS will not be a textbook, a cookbook, a how-to manual of bringing a better peace to the mortal world.

What it will do, Caylee, is at least make people think, and consider perhaps a more loving and respectful kind of justice.

For those remaining.

For others.

Others who most deserve love and respect.

Sword With Two Razor Edges

Judging by two writer's websites, there is a marketing problem going on that can only be corrected by authors-to-be.

The racks are jammed with dystopian/dragon/vampire/romance novels, which isn't a problem in itself. Those books are selling.

Maybe.

Authors-in-training are writing ever more of these. There's something to be said for writing to the market, except for two things.

How would yours not get lost among all those others?

How could you write one so it would stand out, say something new or appealing above and beyond all the rest? Can you do that so the manuscript is not so far-away from the marketable, it won't see birth?

Oh... and how do you you jump into a hot area when this industry is so glacial?

I've been pitching a complex outside-the-rabble eminently marketable (I assume) novel. The query rejections seem to run in an odd direction. Nobody wants to take a risk on anything that's not like the others. And the others are clogging the racks, making others like them unmarketable.

You want to know what it takes me to read an unknown book by an unknown author? Plenty. I need to keep hearing buzz that makes me want to take the shot on a reading. I don't have the time or ambition to read every book that swoops by; I'm trying to be purposeful and efficient in my reading.

I don't know what it would take to get more agents to just read the whole thing, except through the insufficient nibble that is your typical query letter. I sympathize with them, because if I rarely have the time for a full read (I think three this year), then how is an agent going to read several dozen fulls a week?

I know one who is melting her slush pile by hiring several interns to just freakin' read the fulls she already requested, which really can't be many. But they gobble that time away, and this is her way to mine that potential gold.

Not that I'm playing whiny author, here.

I make a living out of solving other people's problems. I'm a white knight, chief mechanic, white hat hacker, home handyman, impromptu traffic cop, self-reliant self-starting gung-ho mercenary soldier.

Surely, a hard-wired personality like that should be a net plus to any agent and publisher. I understand the whole marketing idea behind pushing book buyer's hot buttons, and I await my cue.

I'm showing some frustration, here, but this is actually for your benefit.

You see, I have a slogan I'm living by:

The Lord will provide.

You just don't know how.

Or when.

This is the kind of "getting religion" I'll gladly share. 

Hi, Kate!

I just discovered an exciting magic secret about Facebook that doesn't involve Farmville.

Doing research for an idea for a novel I have, I tracked down a few high school classmates. The class numbered over 150, and I connected with less than a dozen, but friending just exploded into a chatty little get-together that we could not have had by phone email, or in-person.

Ah, to meet with those you know and chat amiably, no matter how you're dressed. And, the best part is, you don't have to bring the 19th casserole on the picnic table. Nothing approaching the Royal Wedding Gift Failure: 1700 guests, 1700 toasters.

It's the kind of wide-open get-together not possible at a reunion or house party.

One thing that really illuminates the very best of Facebook, however, is a heartening check-in by one of the class wallflowers.

She's able to jump in, reply at will, share in a conversation among a small clot of people. She's awake, alive, and obviously smiling, as I never saw her in class.

No cliques, no factions, everyone has time to deliberate on their message and at least get that the best way they can, without a comedian's sense of high-gear brain processing.

Not a sitcom... just chat among friends who maybe never realized what kind of friends they could be.

--Dave

Craigslist: The World's #1 Slush Pile

This will be brief.

After goofing with Craigslist for a few months, I'm seeing what literary agents go through, and how--in the process of hunting for the diamonds--they could skip right by a few.

By my estimate, approximately 19 out of 20 of those who post something for sale on Craigslist don't know what they're doing. (I could be estimating low.)

They don't know how to market. their material or themselves.

Spelling and grammar and punctuation are way off the beam. Few come close, or nail those little devilish details.

Don't get me started on replies. Same thing. In equal proportion.

I wish it were not so. I feel for those who are giving it a try and wonder why their transaction dies in the ditch.

Now imagine whole pages of this stuff, herds of it, in your inbox.

These agents have to somehow spot something professional and enticing and throat-grabbing out of all that text and whatever else got thrown at them. I see many actually asking not to send checks, cash, money orders, lovely parting gifts, and consolation prizes. Wow. They do not sound like they're kidding.

I'm glad I'm not an agent.I'm only a published author who wants to do it again, and make a wildly commercial success out of all his future jottings, this time in the fray.

I don't think I have the harder of the two jobs.

--Dave

Restate Of The Union Address

I've been asked to restate my opinion on the current state of affairs between agents and prospective authors. As a bonus, I'll expand my comments, for the reason you'll read, shortly.

If there were some way to enhance the current wheezy and mechanical system of connecting agents and authors, I'm not only in favor, I'd be one to dive right in. Actually, I am.

As much as I don't want to come off as some desperate clinging author wanna-be (as so easily happens) I do not doubt the agents who face the daily slush avalanche would prefer to find a way to reply in some sensitive and human way, if they only had the time or could see through the surface of a less-than-stellar query.

Time does not allow much room for agents to appear as people to those they reject. Panic and anxiety and trying-too-hard rookie game play prevents authors from coming across as the next best-selling savvy and personable book club personality, so the hurly-burly comes from both sides.

Recently I swapped communications with an agent I'll call the Divine Miss M, who had a spam email disaster. I composed a brief note, with a suggestion of a preventative. We've connected, at least a little, maybe only to find some sympathy from each other for a few moments. I don't know if she'll wind up as my agent, but considering the many rejections I received and the horrific query letters that provoked them, those few very human messages stand out as just a little taste of how those who need each other in this industry will connect and form a superhero team to attack that bestseller list and conquer the summit. (I'm starting to see why I may have been rejected all those times. Maybe I should author comic books?) 

Could the answer be in the world of writer conferences, where people meet people, instead of text versus text? I know some agents do their shopping there exclusively, and they get the chance to see if the face behind the hot elevator pitch is as much of a potential media star as the book they present. (Nice package, there.) That's something that rarely has an opportunity to show itself in a query letter.

Maybe authors can post a brief YouTube pitch, and just send the link off to likely agents? Many, however, not only will not open attachments, they don't often state in what form they can use additional material requested, and virtually none will click on a link. There is some form of startled-bunny business model going around, and as a long-time techie, I wish I could allay their concerns. It's really not that bad out there, agents.

This will be worked out, in part, I'm sure. Already, sharp authors are approaching readers in ways never before attempted, forced in large part by the impersonal disconnect of ebooks. The first copy of THE KNUCKLEBOOK was an ebook, in .pdf format, swapped via email between me and my publisher, Ivan R. Dee. Not living in Chicago, I found that convenient, and so did Ivan, I'm sure; the whole book came together and saw publication in a matter of a few months--light speed for the industry.

I find agents who are otherwise respectable, who expressly ask for snail-mail queries. I have a big heart for all humans, even those in a time warp, so I'd be heartened to see those agents at least embrace email in part, if not entirely.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I'm mulling how to hand out copies of my QR code so fans with smartphones can zip right to this blog. I have at least one YouTube video up relating to my knuckleball how-to book, and I've emailed personal notes with a one-of-a-kind autograph to a couple of readers. The all-new concept of electronically signing a page in an ebook is cool. I'm also about to set up video chat, so I can get facetime with readers no matter where I am or where they are. Why not?

The point is: All that's necessary.

People connecting with people.

With imagination, this can be done in exciting ways as never before.

I'm looking forward to hearing your comments, and ideas.

--AOL AIM: schoolzone1331.