Platform for Publishing

PLATFORM is currently one of the most confusing words in publishing. It's like POD. Both words refer to two different but related dimensions. The two dimensions of platform are (1) processes for copying and distributing information (electronic and paper media and networks) and (2) extras an author brings to enhance publishing potential. It is this second meaning that so confounds the usually unpublished writers, especially those writing fiction. Rightly so, because it is much easier for a nonfiction writer to enter publishing with a sturdy platform already in place (whether the writer knows it or not).

Try thinking of platform this way: it is all the book buying groups with which you are already connected that are interested in what you have to offer. Notice I did not say "potential" groups. It is the network that exists before you publish, built and cultivated by who you are and/or what you do (not writing a book, but the book must be closely related to this topic you all have in common).

This is why the romance writer who tells a potential agent, "And I belong to the National Association of Ding-Dong Lovers," isn't going to score any points under the "Has Platform" category.

However, the expert in any subject, one who speaks at conferences, holds an office in the top related organizations, writes articles for professional journals and/or popular consumer publications, appears on television and NPR, gets calls from journalists when that subject is newsworthy -- this is the person with a platform.

O.K. that is the extreme, but who is to say when you become an expert? Fake it 'til you make it. Yes, this seems daunting for the fiction writer, and J.D. Salinger, who died yesterday, was no poster-boy for novelists with a platform.

However, also recently deceased John Updike is a good example. He began social networking early in life, even before his career began. He moved in the circles of people who were interested in the topics he wrote about. He participated in American life through church, politics and memberships in organizations.

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Amazon Ups Royalties

Have I a functioning crystal ball? Nah, just blind, dumb luck. Since I joined Amazon to publish material for the Kindle reader, the company is popping out upgrades and new advantages right and left. As soon as a question rises in a Twitter chat, I find Amazon's DTP (publishing program) evolving to address the issue. For example, last week we were kicking around how English residents could use the service. They were stymied by Amazon's requirement for a U.S. bank account and SSN, TIN or EID (for the IRS and Social Security).

On January 15, Amazon announced: Amazon Expands Kindle Digital Text Platform to Enable Authors and Publishers Worldwide to Publish English, German, and French Language Books in the Kindle Store. That is the unwieldy title for a news release that tells my overseas Internet friends they can begin using the service.

Five days later, Amazon probably pre-empted other media producers by announcing a new 70% royalty option for DTP authors and publishers. This begins on June 30, as yet only for U.S. accounts. To qualify for the 70% royalty option, books must satisfy the following set of requirements:

* The author or publisher-supplied list price must be between $2.99 and $9.99
* This list price must be at least 20 percent below the lowest physical list price for the physical book
* The title is made available for sale in all geographies for which the author or publisher has rights
* The title will be included in a broad set of features in the Kindle Store, such as text-to-speech. This list of features will grow over time as Amazon continues to add more functionality to Kindle and the Kindle Store.
* Under this royalty option, books must be offered at or below price parity with competition, including physical book prices. Amazon will provide tools to automate that process, and the 70% royalty will be calculated from the sales price.

A final warning: the 70% royalty option is for in-copyright works and is unavailable for works published before 1923 (a.k.a. public domain books). They need to tack on that kibosh because so many of the get-rich-quick, looking-for-shortcuts, tell-me-the secret writers think they can republish titles now in public domain and make a fast buck, or $.99 anyway.

As with DRM, which I wrote about the other day, I have not read all the nuances of the DTP royalty program.  I may find that it does not apply to my articles. Still, I know many readers are intensely interested in adding their books to this format and venue.

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BookTour Utility

In the course of setting up my Author Page at Amazon , I discovered the Events function which links to a fabulous free service, BookTour: Where Authors and Audiences Meet. There authors can list their itineraries; readers can find out when a favorite author is appearing in any area, their own area, or discover what authors are appearing near their homes; and the listings will sync with any standard calendar application, too.  Did I say it's all *FREE*? The wonders of the Internet never cease to amaze me!

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Twitter Mistakes

Guy Kawasaki does it again with Twitter Cluelessness at OPEN Forum:

Generally, if you’re wondering if you’re about to do something clueless, just don’t do it. This is because people might not know that you’re clueless, but if you do these things, you’ll remove all doubt. However, the last rule, and the most important, is this: Don’t be afraid to break these rules. Like I said, there is no right and wrong on Twitter. There’s only what works for you and what doesn’t.

1. Don’t tell other people how to tweet.
2. Don’t tell the world that you unfollowed someone.
3. Don’t ask people why they unfollowed you
4. Don’t constantly tweet mundane updates and babble.
5. Don’t use a small picture for an avatar.
6. Don’t use an avatar that makes you look too hot.
7. Don’t go crazy with hashtags.
8. Don’t use ALL CAPITAL LETTERS.
9. Don’t use long links.
10. Don’t call yourself a “guru” or an “expert.”
11. Don’t send out automated “welcome” direct messages.

Read his great article for explanations of each item. I'd add another: Don't use any Twitter feature until you are certain what it does. I did and offended someone I've known for years. Of course, if you are only using Twitter to communicate with friends and family, none of the "rules" matter. As always, this post concerns writers who are trying to build businesses or careers.

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Trash Proof News Releases

Save your news release from immediate deposit in the circular file. Most of them drop directly from hand to can, you know. Some publications run them as is, some rewrite, but they are inundated with releases and use only a few.

Want to be sure yours is read by the publication's audience? Paul J. Krupin of Direct Contact PR is testing an offer of a *FREE* copy of the ebook version of his Trash Proof News Releases, available from Smashwords. He says, "The book contains 200 plus pages of strategies, tactics, psychology, and sample news releases and can help people do the right thing better than anything else I've seen in the marketplace to date." Get 'em while they're hot!

And if it's so valuable, why would the king of PR give away his secrets? Because, he explains:

My business model doesn't rely specifically on publishing income. But I will be using my writing as a calling card to drive multiple streams of income.

Now this may not fit for those who simply derive income from published works. But I highly recommend this approach to those who can do it diversify their intellectual property, their skills, abilities and knowledge and contract or package their knowledge in other small bite size service deliverable that people will buy whether it be by the page, by the hour, by the day or whatever.

Here today I offer you a two-fer: a free ebook to help you market whatever and insight into the meaning of "platform" and how self-publishing non-fiction books can work for you.

DISCLAIMER FOR THE FTC: I didn't get anything for publishing this post, and it should not be construed or used as a testimonial. I downloaded, but I did not read...yet.

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Universal Literate Dummies

Publishing prediction: by 2013 we will be a world of literate dummies.

Put together Seed magazine A Writing Revolution, predicting universal authorship in three years, with Publishers Weekly Viral Issue: Creating Your Viral Loop on Twitter, providing plans to create book buzz -- and whadda ya' got? We'll all be authors too busy marketing on social media to read each other's works. No, seriously, one is scary and the other, scary useful.

We'll know everything about friending, following, facing up to spaces, tweeting, buzzing, and the content we create ourselves (maybe) and nothing about anything truly needed in life. Maybe.

I'm hedging my bets here, because I've usually been at the vanguard of more than just the Baby Boomers, and I don't have a cell phone! Can you spell "technology backlash"? Our lives are reaching the point of maximum overload in so many areas, all depending on digital innovations. Will paper-print products be the last to go? Bury me with a book, a magazine and a newspaper, please.

All said, however, as I prepare to shift the availability of my writing products to the digital download gizzies at the beginning of 2010. Why not? New decade, new delivery systems. I'm not no dummy yet. (The grammar is always the first to go.)

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Web 2.0 for Authors

LitMatch is morphing into AuthorAdvance, a new social network. According to the owner, Christopher Hawkins:

AuthorAdvance is a complete social network that lets writers connect, share interests, and find help with their work. Expanded listings allow users to add and edit publishers, markets, contests and resources to help them improve their work and find publication. Enhanced submission tracking helps writers organize their careers and free up more time for writing. Best of all, everything's connected, making it easier than ever to find the information you want and meet people with similar interests and goals.

I was supposed to be getting a scoop on the big reveal and preview access, but that hasn't come through yet, so I can't give my impressions. If indeed it helps free up time to write, it will eliminate one of the greatest complaints working writers have: too little time to write for dealing with the "business" that surrounds a writing career.

I'm a little concerned, however, with the description of AuthorAdvance as a "complete social network" because the existing distractions of Tweety, MyFace and SpaceBook [sic], plus blogs, forums, websites and more already eat up writers' time. I should know!

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Women of Religions

Reading Girl Mary by Petru Popescu set me pondering the books I've read in the last few years about significant women in religions. I thought it must be rather difficult to write about them, especially in light of the current tensions among different groups. Would I dare to fictionalize one, or not, because of fear of retaliation?

I asked Popescu that question, and he indicated he had no trepidations at all, but he did offer to tell us about writing this book. He has advice for approaching historical figures as novel subjects. He said to write with "passion" and that:

When you write about the mystical, you believe in it. That is the rule of thumb and the best advice I can give to writers who attempt to write about religion and its formidably puzzling characters and events.

Read all of Popescu's article.

My saga of books on female religious figures began with The Red Tent by Anita Diamont (Jewish). The most recent were Girl Mary (Christian) and Mother of the Believers by Kamran Pasha (Islamic). I'm still reading Hinduism, which has such deep and diverse roots that no single woman or goddess stands out, though I feel drawn to Kali.

In between these book ends, as it were, are the writings based on the figure Mary Magdalene (Christian): Labyrinth by Kate Mosse, The Expected One by Kathleen McGowan and, of course, Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code. These books are part of a larger literary saga I've been on, reading about strong women, many of the books set in Asia.

Now, as promised last week, I have copies of Girl Mary to send to the first five people who comment (US addresses only, please). Comments may be on this post or Popescu's article. Be sure to send me your address by email: writers.edge [AT] gmail.com (Give-away has ended.)

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Dorraine Darden, Author

As promised, the interview with Dorraine Darden, author of Jack Rabbit Moon, a quite good self-published novel. I asked Dorraine to share her experiences in this enterprise and if she'd do it again. She provides important tips for writers who are considering self-publishing, including a list of best resources at the end of the article. Keep in mind that this is only one set of experiences and one author's knowledge. You need to check out everything for yourself.

I especially liked her answer to the question, "What are you doing to market Jack Rabbit Moon?"

I’m a hat-wearing mama. And boots and glittery shawls. These days an author must give it all they’ve got. Besides book signings, book club appearances, library workshops, blogging, writing forums, and writing for my community newsletter, I make wide use of the internet. An author website at Dorraine Darden.com, along with twitter, face book, my space, your space, and the whole Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Right now, though I’m carving out time to write again. This is where it all begins.

Read the whole interview here and in brief at BlogCritics.org.
Still to come: a review of JACK RABBIT MOON.

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Sneak Previews

Coming up: an interview with Dorraine Darden, author of Jack Rabbit Moon (see the nicely done book trailer featured here) about her adventures in self-publishing and plans for her next book. That's Dorraine, to the right, hiding behind, oh, maybe a cottonwood beside the Frio River? I'll be reviewing her lovely novel soon, too.

I'm not quite sure how I pulled this off, but Petru Popescu, author of Girl Mary, will prepare an essay for us on writing about famous female religious figures. About his book, Elie Wiesel said, "In this novel Petru Popescue's literary imagination will stimulate the reader's interest in religious and historical events." We will also have a few copies to give away, thanks to Simon & Schuster. Shall we have a contest? Lottery?

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Twitter Writers Directories

More reasons to join Twitter: A Directory of Authors on Twitter. If you write, you'll want your name in this directory. To be added, a book author must supply three pieces of information: Twitter ID, name, and genre or category. Please see this post for more details on being added to the directory.

If you're looking for a writer for a certain project, you can review the directory by categories, some of which are linked directly to the grouping. It is divided into Nonfiction, Fiction, Children and Poetry.

Also of interest might be Highspot's Directory of Book Trade People on Twitter. Those categories includes:

Book Publishers - Company Accounts | Book Publishers - Individual Accounts | Literary Agents | Bookstores & Booksellers - United States | Bookstores & Booksellers - Canada | Bookstores & Booksellers - Europe & Australia | Bookstores & Booksellers - Online | Libraries | Book Industry Publications | Book Industry Groups & Associations | Book Festivals & Conferences | Book Prizes | Publishing Education Programs | Book Industry Suppliers & Tools | Author & Publisher Services | Book Publicity & Marketing Services | Book Printers & Paper Suppliers | Subsidy Publishers | Book Reviewers | Bloggers on Books & Publishing | Book Discussion 2.0

I see I'll be busy soon signing up in several areas. The lists appear to be frequently updated, but I cannot vouch for validity or comprehensiveness. Twitter users probably come and go like bloggers. Why is knowing someone's Twitter account important? I've found tweeting is the quickest way to make contact, both with individuals and companies. The listings can also lead you to websites and also provide contact through hidden email addresses.

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The National Book Foundation

Advice for aspiring fiction authors often includes the direction: read! How about reading the last 77 books to win the annual National Book Award?

The National Book Foundation Fiction Blog begins with the 1950 winner, Nelsen Algren's The Man With the Golden Arm.

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Slanting Topics

If the Cheapskate Mom got together with The Ultimate Cheapskate, can you just imagine the frugal children they would have?
I spotted the Mad Boastings of a Cheapskate Mom in the Blogs of Note on my Blogger Dashboard this morning, took a look, and thought about the difference in approach she takes to the same topic from Jeff Yeager's. They both offer information on saving money and the planet. The Mom's is evident in her blog's title and badges and posts with labels "green" and "planet". Jeff has recorded video segments on the cable channel "Planet Green" and made audio appearances on satellite radio programs.

Jeff started with a book, threw up a sadly neglected blog site, and moved right into big media with his publisher's help. He has an upcoming TV program, while Tamara Niewolny hurled herself into the blog scene and utilizes her status as chick/Mom in the New Media.

Jeff likes to persuade you to spend as little money as possible; Tamara teaches how to spend wisely. She reviews products and makes the most of her Internet connection, passing along tips on making money from home. I love her tag line: "Hugging Trees and Taking Names." Both are on Twitter: Tamara and Jeff, whose best tweet IMHO is from July 22: Am I the only one who wants the recession to end so that - most of all - Suze Orman and Jim Kramer will stop yelling at me on the TV?? See his slant toward financial management?

This technique of slanting material is one of the more difficult learning hurdles for new freelancers. It might help to study how different writers carry it out long term and in a broader spectrum than just a few articles. Starting with these two writers would be a good beginning.

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Scribner Rewrites Hemingway

A bowdlerized version of Hemingway's last novel A Moveable Feast hits bookstores. Hotchner complains in this NYTimes Op-Ed piece: Don’t Touch ‘A Moveable Feast’. I'm complaining, too, as a Hemingway legatee and aficionado, a writer, an editor and a book buyer. This makes me ill!

This is on a par, and perhaps a deeper pain, than the "wife destroyed my poems" post. It affects so many people--past, present and in the future, if it is allowed to continue in existence.

In a nutshell: one of Hemingway's grandchildren objected to his depiction of the child's grandmother (Hemingway's second wife). Need I point out that said child was not extent when the events happened? The greater gaffe here is that, as Hotchner points out:

All publishers, Scribner included, are guardians of the books that authors entrust to them. Someone who inherits an author’s copyright is not entitled to amend his work. There is always the possibility that the inheritor could write his own book offering his own corrections.

A. E. Hotchner is the author of the memoirs Papa Hemingway, a fond remembrance I strongly recommend.

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Writers Eat Absinthe Now

Absinthe Mints

Absinthe is a strong, herb-infused, alcoholic beverage that was extremely popular with artists and authors in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Due to its green color and purported hallucinogenic qualities, it is often referred to as “The Green Fairy.”

Available from the inimitable Archie McPhee website.

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Self-Publishing Success

A self-published book, God's Thunderbolt: The Vigilantes of Montana, won the 2009 Spur Award for Best First Novel from the Western Writers of America, a prestigious national honor. Past Spur winners include Larry McMurtry for Lonesome Dove, Michael Blake for Dances With Wolves, Glendon Swarthout for The Shootist, and Tony Hillerman for Skinwalker. The author, Carol Buchanan, receives her award Saturday night at the group's annual convention.

As promised, I contacted Buchanan about this remarkable phenomenon and learned that she had not even attempted traditional publishing, although she is a traditionally published author of nonfiction books. Her insights into self-publishing will either encourage you or knock your socks off. Either way, she graciously shares valuable information and agreed to answer questions about her experience... Read the rest of the Interview With Carol Buchanan.

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Vanity and Misplaced Values

Australian author Graham Storrs wonders What Price Vanity? He begins, "I've been trying to decide lately at what point being published for no fee counts as vanity publishing."

Perhaps Australia has a different definition of "vanity publishing?" At any rate, Storrs muddles getting published without pay and paying to be published, which puts the "vanity" in the type of publishing wherein authors pay someone else to publish their works. I don't care what you call it: participatory, POD, subsidized, vanity, self...

Actually, "self" is a good place to stop and a good word to substitute for "vanity". No matter what the arrangement between you, the author, and anybody else who participates in your work being offered to the public, if you fund any part of the project, you're self-publishing.

Storrs, however, continues to confound the notion of works being published for free with publishing the work yourself:

Presumably, because it is better to have your story published, even for free, than to have it sitting forever on your hard drive. In other words, it's a kind of vanity publishing.

Only if the process is totally automated, as I sometimes suspect it is with those "article marketing" sites. Not only does no one edit the product, possibly they aren't even aware of what their software is doing. Let's all try uploading some severe erotica and see what happens. Or hate lit. Never mind, back to the question of what is vanity publishing.

Storrs plunges on to uploading properly formatted material as eBooks for sale on services like Lulu and Kindle. He notes the lack of editorial support or control, but suggests that if the author pays nothing for the services, it is still not vanity publishing. That's only if you don't consider self-publishing as vanity publishing and place no value on the time and skill to prepare the mss, manage the process, and promote the published work--all jobs undertaken by traditional publishers.

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James Ellroy's Los Angeles

Playboy Walkabout - James Ellroy's Los Angeles --Warning: Adult Material XXX:

James Ellroy is the critically acclaimed author of My Dark Places, American Tabloid, The Black Dahlia and L.A. Confidential. In The Hilliker Curse—Ellroy's four-part memoir running in the April, June, September and November 2009 issues of Playboy—the modern dean of noir delves into his tangled sexual and romantic history. In the first installment of Playboy's new writers series Walkabout, Ellroy invites our readers to visit the places in Los Angeles that haunt him and to meet the ghosts that possess him still.

*****

In Los Angeles, you can take tours of the haunts of dead writers and their characters, but Ellroy is a living legend and conducts his own tour. A unique opportunity.

Books on Amazon by James Ellroy

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Author Bites Reviewer

Sometimes miffed authors take umbrage with New York Times reviewers. Finding a response to a review on BlogCritics.org was a surprise. Take a look at the review of Book Review: Let Me Eat Cake by Leslie F. Miller and see if the first comment seems justified. I'll wait while you read ... Hmmm. Hm, hm, hmmmm, hm, hm. I sound like a locust tree, the mock oranges, or my lavender bush. These days in SoCal, the bees are sooooo busy. You know what they say about a humming tree, don't you?

Back from Blog Critics? Well? How about my response. I did reread the review--hardly one of my finest. Any mix of scholarly research with gossip and college days memoirs is bound to be hard to characterize. It is quite difficult to get a handle on what might better be two or three creative projects, one of them attempted on a stage late at night. Mee Yow!

I just hopped over to the Amazon page for this book and scanned the customer reviews. I see that my response was pretty mild! When I dutifully checked in with the author's handler at the publisher, she was surprised and thanked me for "graciously handling" Miller's little snit. We are amused, but scarcely moved toward any effort to accomplish a print version. I only mentioned it here to proffer a sweet insider tidbit for my cupcakes readers.

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Writers Born on May 12

• Nonsense poet Edward Lear (1812; d.1888)
• Pre-Raphaelite poet and painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti nee Gabriel Charles Dante Rossetti (1828; 1882)
• Singapore-born mystery writer, creator of Simon Templar (The Saint), Leslie Charteris nee Leslie Charles Bowyer Yin (1907)
• Alabama native, African American novelist and essayist Albert L. Murray (1916), who incorporated a blues aesthetic into his novels
• writer of animal stories Farley Mowat (1921)
• Philadelphia-born novelist and poet Rosellen Brown (1939)

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Writers Born on May Day

• English essayist and politician Joseph Addison (1672; d.1719)


• African-American poet, folklorist, and critic Sterling A. Brown (1901; d. 1989), born Washington D.C.


• Swiss autobiographical fiction writer Niccolo Tucci (1908; d.1999)


• novelist and Brooklyn native Joseph Heller (1923; d.1999), famous for his novel Catch-22


• Texan Terry Southern, novelist and scriptwriter (1924; d.1995), who collaborated on screenplays for Dr. Strangelove and Easy Rider, among others


• Kentucky-born Bobbie Ann Mason (1940), author of In Country and Midnight Magic

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Mini-Review: 2666 by Roberto Bolaño

Roberto Bolaño was a genius at weaving an intricate tale spanning almost a century and the globe with a complicated cast of characters.

OTOH, I could have done without all the digressions into minute details of slightest physical movement to riffs on art, architecture, Greek mythology, and so many other subjects. The only advice I have is to read slowly and carefully. You never know when something in the first half will link to a later reference, usually without narrative explanation or reminder. My memory is not what it used to be or else I would have understood the significance of a detective smelling of "lavender and tobacco". I remembered that fragrance combination was mentioned earlier in the book, but couldn't dredge up the exact context.

This is a monumental oeuvre, one about which "a murder mystery" as the response to "What is it about?" is such an understatement as to be hideously ridiculous. Like a vicious clown. The book pleased me with insights on the book publishing industry and one of the many varieties of life that lead to becoming a novelist. But it is not about those subjects, either. According to Bolaño's literary executor's end note, the author said that the book has a "hidden center." What is it about? It is literary--that's the best I can do. 2666 also sent me to the dictionary at least four times.

Kudos to the translator, Natasha Wimmer, who also translated this book's supposed precursor, The Savage Detectives, which I could not force myself to finish. While I'm no prude, it seemed as if every sentence contained some version of the "f" word. Very tiring to read.

Yes, 2666 contains rough language, too, and rough sex, and a lot of violence. It's worth tolerating for the opportunity to observe a master's masterpiece, published posthumously. One wonders what would have been next if the author had lived past age 50. The National Book Critics Circle awarded 2666 the award for fiction of 2008.

Amazon lists quite a few books by Bolaño. I wish I could read Spanish well enough to appreciate his works as he wrote them. Oh, and I found another typo, this on on p. 790: "...but thanks God I was living a new life." Only two in 895 pages? I must admit I had to rush to finish before the library began racking up overdue charges, so my eyes did skip over some sections.

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Endorsements for Books

My first book endorsement appears with ones by David Brin and Mark Ellis, celebrity sci-fi authors. It's on the back cover of the newly released Gray Apocalypse. I'm not sure how to feel, especially with the creative misspelling of my first name. No one has ever left out the "r" and got the back end right. (It reads "Geoganna".)

Decades ago I developed immunity to seeing my name in a byline, but this is different. It's on the dust cover of a hardbound published book. Is that almost as good as having my own book published? Does it mean I've arrived? If so, the train was really late!

The quote is actually from the BlogCritics review I wrote last December. I remember a frisson of presentiment skittering through my body as I wrote the words. "That's a good quote," I thought. Apparently the publisher agreed.

But how do you get a testimonial or endorsement for your book?

• Sign up at WhoRepresents.com or PublishersMarketPlace.com to find agents, publishers and generally who is representing the person you'd like to contact.
• Too simple-sounding, but it works: Google them.
• Use an online phone book like Verizon's WhitePages.comAsk your friends. It's surprising how many know people who know people.
• Join LinkedIn and you'll undoubtedly discover how to get to the people you want to reach.

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Cox on Self-Publishing

From the latest newsletter by the founder and director of the Midwest Book Review, MBR: Jim Cox Report, March 2009, contemplating causes for the rising tide of self-published books submitted:

Most people write and publish books for a profit, for a cause, or for the simple fun of it. Then there are we who are driven to write and/or publish by irresistible compulsions and by the demands of our own egos to share with the world what we think about this or that subject or issue, concern or conceit.

You can find Cox's monthly reports at MBR: Jim Cox Reports Index and subscribe by email to: mbr[AT]execpc.com.

And, oh, this happens to be my debut month as a reviewer at MBR. See MBR: Reviewer's Bookwatch, March 2009 for my first clumsy attempt on the Reviewer's Choice page. Search with your browser on "The Book of Chameleons" to find my contribution.

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Self-Published Book Reviewed

Stop the presses! A major newspaper reviews a self-published book. The San Diego Union-Tribune staff writer Caroline Dipping today interviews David Nuffer, author of The Best Friend I Ever Had, yet another book about Ernest Hemingway. Well, O.K., to be honest, the article in the Currents/Passages (obits) section is not really a book review, although Dipping writes,

...Nuffer reveals Hemingway in a personal light that even early reviews by scholars grudgingly admit they never knew....

and mentions the publisher, Xlibris, on the front page. Towards the end of the article she mentions Nuffer's decision to self-publish after shopping his manuscript to only five agents, and she quotes him, "They all came back and said 'No.' I knew I had to self publish."

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Fun with Books in San Diego

Last night the San Diego Public Library held the 43rd Annual Local Authors Exhibit. Yes, some of the authors were on exhibit, as well as the books they'd published in 2008. This was the first time I'd attended (having never published a book, I was never eligible) thanks to my friend, Betsy Chamberlin. Here she is, near her murder mystery, Death in the Shadow.

I connected with many authors I know, but I'd forgotten that one of my website clients, Ralph Cates' Black October also came out last year. That's us below.


Joseph Wambaugh's newest, Hollywood Crows: A Novel was on display, but I didn't spot our famous ex-cop author. Nor were my eyes sharp enough to read all the name tags to see if attendees included Ken Blanchard, Sylvia Browne, Lee Silber, Thomas Larsen, Ken Kuhlken, Chet Cunningham, or Robert Griswold, although a large turnout enjoyed the event, especially the scrumptious canapes. Warm crab spread on baguette and toasty brie with broccoli en croute were to die for! Kudos to the Friends of the Central Library for their hospitality and hard work.

Residents and visitors to San Diego will be able to view the collection of local authors' books on display in the main library downtown until February 28.

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Umberto Eco -- Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to Umberto Eco, who was born in 1932 in the Piedmont region of Italy. I love his mystery, The Name of the Rose, which sold two million copies, but found Foucault's Pendulum tedious going. He was only a prodigious scholarly nonfiction writer in the field of semiotics (pop culture) until a publisher asked him to contribute to a collection of detective stories written by academics. He used his knowledge of popular culture to create The Name of the Rose, a mystery set in a middle-ages monastery.

Eco once said, "I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a harmless enigma that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret it as though it had an underlying truth."

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Against Author Websites

A good journalist presents a balanced picture of an issue. Here's the flip side about authors and writers having websites: a few reasons not to do it.

Don't start a website with the intention of making money, especially if you're beginning from scratch on the Internet. That means, just starting out with no existing presence or platform by which you are known in the electronic media. In order to make money with a website, you need to be able to attract visitors in the thousands from Day One. Why? So that you can quickly justify charging advertisers enough to cover your expenses and make a profit. Don't think that you will make such an income with click-for-pay ad services or affiliate links. Only straight out ad sales bring in that kind of dough.

Another common mistake authors and writers make is desiring a website to stroke enlarged (or depleted) self-images. Yep, I'm talkin' EGO, just like John Edwards getting a big head and thinking he could do whatever he wished and people would still adore him. Putting up a site in praise of yourself with loads of personal photos, tons of testimonials, and TMI about yourself eventually gags even the most ardent fans. They want to know facts about your life, not adulations from other admirers.

Finally, the last faulty reasoning for establishing a writer's or author's website is to sell a book or books. You won't make diddly-squat trying to sell your book only from a website. People don't often buy at top dollar from an author's site, unless they can obtain the (very desirable) material nowhere else. This is mostly because anywhere else is probably cheaper. Visitors will love learning all about your production, right down to the ISBN, which they can plug into a major online retailer's database, usually finding remaindered editions or even new copies a cost considerably less than you think you can charge. Don't forget the time, effort and expenses of fulfillment, too. You either have to pay someone else to ship the orders or do it yourself.

In case you've forgotten, here are some good reasons for authors and writers to establish websites.

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Author's Book Video

Last week I suggested trying your hand at designing a book trailer or other type of video to help market your writerly services or book. One reader, Melissa Carrigee, chose to be my "crash test dummy" and prepared a slide show with music to help attract customers to her book, Adventures in Home Building. See the results (with music!) at the bottom of the home page of her blog, Melissa's Manic Musings. I've suggested that she see if she can shrink the size of the whole widget and put it at the top of the right column, maybe just above the image of her book.

Read the original post that sparked this madness.

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Too Soon for an Author Website?

This week I read a plea from a small publisher for help with the Amazon listing for one of his books. Two pieces of information were incorrect, and the author was frantic to get them changed. Getting changes made to an Amazon listing is akin to steering a supertanker. I thought, "This is an excellent reason for the author (and the publisher) to have a website just for that book!" The book or writer's website is the authoritative last word, a place readers can find accuracy about what was written and published, obtain a sample of the writing, learn more about the author, and discover exactly what they need to buy the material. A website can direct buyers to the point of sale that provides the best return for the author.

Another use for a writer's website is to provide interaction among the author and readers. Perhaps this is nothing more than an email address where inquirers can send questions or fans can send praises. The writer controls the amount and rate of personal data released. As it feels more comfortable, add a newsletter, a forum, a chat (escalating to real-time communications). Readers these days expect to find a website address on book covers, a place to learn more about the writer and published works, even works in progress and a meeting point to find other enthusiasts. Think of it as a digital fan club.

Writers' independent websites also help establish credibility. Everyone is expected to have one. For authors, a different site dedicated to each book or series of books is a huge aid for crossing genres, even for those who write under pen names. Seldom are the limited spaces allowed by publishers sufficient (and sometimes, even they are also inaccurate or out of date.)

Although it's never too late to add a website to your marketing repertoire, it is recommended that the site precede publication by at least six months. Add another six months for website construction and content development, and you'll see why it's also seldom too soon to start a site.

See other posts here on websites for writers, or consult Hancock Websites.

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Writing Review Requests

Often the email box for A Writer's Edge contains pleas to accept copies of books which have nothing to do with writing in hopes I'll mention them on my blog. Consider them mentioned. Also the silly requests. Unless I can use the book (or the message) to illustrate a helpful point for writers, these efforts are wasted. Consider this which greeted me this morning:

Dear Georganna,

I noticed you are an excellent reviewer on Amazon.

May I introduce to you an excellent entertaining culture ebook as a gift? The book fosters culture that enriches communities. I am an author in Taiwan.

From this link [...], you could read an entertaining small free PDF eBook*, which is a sample book. Please feel free to send the ebook to friends. This eBook will be beneficial to them for understanding "an ancient art."

What's wrong with this picture?

The poor author makes several mistakes: although he gets cred for digging out my name (most of these messages begin with "Hi!") a business letter, especially one that is a formal request for a favor, addresses an unknown person by their last name. We are not on the chummy first name basis, and probably never will be.

Secondly, if he had bothered to check my Amazon Profile, he would have discovered that I do NOT post reviews to that website. You can find a list of the top reviewers at Amazon easily enough. And see the latest additions to my Amazon Storefront where I'm selling one of my lightly used color printers!

Thirdly, and this is enough, the "sample" eBook is simply an irritating extended ad, perhaps beneficial to himself for selling his paper book.

Fellow writers, this illustrates the dangers of failing to properly research your market targets. Another way in which this fellow's mistakes could have come about is to have purchased a mailing list. One unscrupulous PR flack has hawked my blog's address for a couple of years. He scraped it from a mailing list that I occasionally contribute to. 'Nuff said.

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Questioning Jose Agualusa

You know that saying about giving an urgent job to a busy woman? Well, I've also learned that a winner will come up with a winning question -- even if I don't know who she is at first. The best question submitted in the contest to win a copy of Jose Agualusa's The Book of Chameleons: A Novel is from Emmy Award winner Sonya Chrisman (not pictured at the left). She is a host, producer and writer for the public television station WNMU-TV in northern Michigan. She's already won Emmies for documentaries.

The best question, in my estimation, was this:

If you could be any character in your book, which would it be, and likewise, which would you not want to be?

When I finally tracked down Sonya (my first email went missing), she had this to say about her winning entry:

The question intrigues me with the genre of his novel. A memory is very precious to people. They are not only something very personal, they're free. Then, when we begin to lose our memories due to illness or old age, it's a tragedy. In Mr. Agualusa's book, memories are more than just precious. They are a precious commodity. If his world were a reality, which end of the spectrum would he rather be on character wise, the one that sells the memories or the one who receives them?

Sonya's query, and a few I managed to think up on my own, are currently in translation for the Portuguese-speaking Agualusa. Stay tuned for the interview.

Incidentally, the photo at the top is the only one I could find of the elusive Sonya. To be more precise, I think this is her alter ego, a.k.a. "Kirby".

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