I had a nice surprised this morning – a new review for Chosen:
I’d forgotten that this review was pending, which made it all the nicer to read!
Hopefully in the next few weeks there may be some exciting news about The Veil. I’ll keep you posted.
The Frankfurt Book Fair is under way at the moment and my Twitter feed is awash with Tweets from people who’re attending. It’s only at times like this that I realise how many people in the publishing world I actually follow. It’s also made me think about comparisons between the book industry and others like, say, games (where I earn a living).
Buzzwords like “convergence” get thrown around a lot these days, with the growth of ebooks and other digital formats. In fact later this morning I’m meeting some people to discuss adding audio to children’s digital books. But I think the book industry has a long way to go before it’s really anything likes the games industry. Events like Frankfurt are a stark reminder of why. I’ve been to the London Book Fair twice and both times I was pretty much the only writer there. Yes, an actual author at a book fair. How shocking. I didn’t exactly feel welcome.
Hold on. This isn’t just another one of my rants (note the use of the word ‘just’ there). I know that events like Frankfurt and LBF are where deals are signed and rights are sold. Fair enough. It’s a business after all. But how odd is it that the actual creators of the books –the writers- aren’t supposed to be there?
Compare it to games: okay, so there are conferences that focus purely on the high-end business issues like finance and rights. And there are a few individuals who seem to do nothing but write / blog / talk about the business of game development without ever having made a game. But at the really big events like E3 in Los Angeles or GDC in San Francisco everyone is there. From the studio bosses delivering their huge keynote addresses to the legions of designers, coders, artists, sound designers and producers. They’re all welcome because they’re all part of the industry that makes games and which entertains millions of people around the world.
And similar things happen in other industries. I know of indie film makers who go to the big film festivals to pitch their ideas to studio bosses, hoping to snag a deal. It doesn’t mean they all mix together in one room but it’s like the events run on different levels. It’s not a case of “creators need not apply”.
Funnily enough, the word “creators” was used at a talk I went to a GDC in 2008. The guy behind the music on the hugely successful Halo games, Marty McDonnell said, “There are two types of people in the world. Creators and exploiters. They creators make stuff and the exploiters make money out of it for both groups. It’s actually a good system until the exploiters get too much of the upper hand.”
So if there is going to be convergence between different media industries I hope we end up in a situation where writers (even wannabe blaggers like me) are one day welcome at the big industry events. I may bitch about the games industry (complain – moi?) but it does do some things right. Book industry take note.
I’ve decided to stop being a wuss and to try my hand at getting an agent again. I’ve been doing this on and off since 2006 with zero luck. Being realistic, maybe my pitch letters haven’t been exactly brilliant in the past so I’ve come up with a plan: get other people to help me.
Here are two pitch letters for The Veil, to be sent to literary agents. Which one do you think is better and why?
Which one do you think it most likely to catch an agent’s eye? Or would a mixture of both be a good idea?
All opinions welcome…
I’ve been reading a lot about self-publishing recently, particularly about hugely successful ebook-authors. (Bitter – moi?)
One thing that crops up a lot is how indie authors have to market themselves, using social networking and the like to forge relationships with readers and reviewers. But when is pro-active marketing simply being ‘pushy’?
I’m writing from personal experience. At the end of last year I made contact with a nice guy who’d just started a fantasy book review site. It looked really professional and he was really keen to get hold of a copy of Chosen. More than one in fact – he asked for a couple to give away as prizes along with a review copy. So I duly obliged. A week or so later he emailed to let me know he’d read it and, although he said he didn’t want to give away his views before the review came out, he seemed really positive. He also said “I am looking forward to introducing your book to our viewers and letting them know my thoughts on it – I think it’ll go down well.”
Six months on: no review and no reply to various communication either.
Now this is where it gets tricky. At this point do you, as an indie author, walk away and just leave things alone? Or do send a quick email, along the lines of, “Whatever happened to those books I sent?” with a promise that this will be your last attempt to get hold of him? This was looking so promising, after all.
In the end, I opted for the latter.
Yes, maybe that is a bit pointless, given that no-one likes to be hassled, least of all by some pain in the arse wannabe writer. But sometimes I just get the bit between my teeth. And, given that all the marketing and promotion my work gets comes from me alone, I feel obliged to follow positive leads are far as I think they can go. And maybe a bit further.
In the end, the response I got back was polite if curious. It turns out he didn’t like it after all but didn’t want to publish a negative review. Oh, and he’s happy to return the prize copies.
I can’t decide which is odder: my pursuit of a reluctant reviewer or his slightly baffling response.
##Idea for new novel: disgruntled writer stalks online reviewer for apparent slight.
It’ll sell a shed-load.
From time to time, usually mid-way through a Friday afternoon, I throw out a call on Twitter for any book bloggers or reviewers who might be after a free read. With Chosen now being a Kindle as well as a paperback, it’s easy enough to email someone a file. That’s what I did the other day; sending a nice lady* called Joanna Simm a copy.
And this is what she wrote: http://tinyurl.com/6x9hsfv
Hoorah for Twitter and ebooks and email and stuff……
* I’ve used ‘lady’ twice recently. On my first day as a reporter at BBC Radio Devon in 1990, my producer told me off (quite rightly) for using the word. He pointed out that I’m unlikely to call some a ‘gentleman’, which is the direct male equivalent. Shame on me.
When I gave this site its super shiny new look, I also managed to kill all my old blog posts. But fear not, for I have managed to salvage them and have decided to re-post some of the better bits.
To kick off, here’s the first part of my “Defence of Self Publishing” from May 2010. Basically, a whining rant from me about nasty agents, publishers etc etc. But in amongst all the bile, there are a few interesting points.
Honest.
*******
I keep reading articles and blogs, often linked to from Twitter, knocking self publishing. This isn’t entirely surprising because it’s always had a bit of a bad press (if you’ll pardon the pun). But recently they seem to imply that it’s something that people should stop doing; that authors who self publish are misguided fools who need redirecting onto the proper path. There’s also an increasingly strong whiff of sour grapes; as if some in the book publishing industry view the growing number of self publishers as an affront.
This last point in particular has prompted me to write this.
Oh, by the way, if you’re reading this because I posted it on Twitter or Facebook and have never looked at my blog before I have to apologise and confess. Yes it is the worst blog in the world written (very, very occasionally) by the laziest blogger in existence. Me.
So who am I? I’m a 40 year old who runs his own audio business, working mainly in the video games industry. That’s been going on for ten years. Before that I was a BBC journalist. I only say this because it shows I do understand the principles of good writing and crisp editing and have an understanding of the commercial world. My day job involves dealing with the likes of Sony, Disney, Ubisoft and Sega. I know something has to be sellable to sell.
I also know two key things about a lot of self published books:
1. They are about buses. Or trains.
2. They are crap.
Mine is neither. It’s an urban fantasy that sits on the shelves of Waterstones (and Borders before they went down) and has had some very good reviews. I’ve had readers, complete strangers who’ve parted with their own cash to buy my book, email to say how much they enjoyed it.
But hang on. If it’s so good, why hasn’t it been “properly published”?
Well let me tell you why I self published. It certainly wasn’t on a whim. After spending two years writing and redrafting my novel (called Chosen by the way) I then spent another 18 months sending submissions out to agents.
Three chapters, a synopsis and a covering letter. All stuffed into lovely white envelopes.
The responses I got ranged from a couple of properly written letters, through pro formas and postcards to eight generation faded photocopies. But they all had one thing in common: they were all rejections. Fair enough, that’s an agent’s job. But often the sample chapters came back in such a pristine state that it was obvious they’d not been read. In the end I stopped including an SAE and let them shred the material. One agent even asked if I’d like to buy her book on how to submit. No thanks.
Bitter? Moi? Well yes. But it was as simple as that, then Chosen would still be nothing but a manuscript in a desk drawer. As it is, a suggestion from my wife that I get at least one copy printed, to show my kids, led to me finding York Publishing Services. One thing led to another and I signed them up to print Chosen as a paperback.
This is where I think I did better than some self publishers. Firstly, I handed YPS a couple of “proper” paperbacks and asked them to mirror the typeface and layout style. A shocking number of self published books are laid out by the writer. Big mistake. It’s a hard job to get right and who wants to be faced with a blizzard of text on the page?
Secondly, I took the cover seriously. I didn’t ask a ‘friend who’s a really good artist’ to put something together. I asked a friend who happens to be a professional graphic artist and illustrator. And I paid him for his time and skill. Believe me, it was worth it. That cover art is what has drawn people to reach for a book written by an unknown writer, sitting amongst hundreds of other titles on the bookstore shelf.
When the book came out, I asked my local branch of Borders (RIP) if they’d sell it. They said yes, as long as I did a signing. This led to more Borders signings and ultimately to head office ordering copies for every branch. This is turn helped persuade those fine people at Waterstones to take it.
That’s when I hit a snag. Some chains and a fair few webstores will only sell books they can order direct from the big wholesalers. The really big ones. The ones I won’t mention. But They (no names) won’t stock Chosen without proven sales.
Chicken – egg.
Even when I persuaded staff at two of the biggest online retailers to ring Them and explain that they would be taking Chosen, as long as it was stocked. But that fell on deaf ears, so two big retailers were lost to me. The wholesalers I won’t name admitted this was ironic (no stock equals no sales) but just shrugged their shoulders.
So where am I going with my little tale? Well the point is, I certainly didn’t enter into self publishing as a first choice. I would still love to see Chosen taken up with a publishing house. But it really annoys me to read blogs and article that imply that what I am doing is “wrong” or stupid.
Which brings me to the next step: ebooks. As digital publishing grows in popularity, you can see the conventional publishing industry tying itself in knots.
If I don’t have to get hundreds of copies printed and don’t have to rely on a wholesaler to help me reach my customers, it’s going to be brilliant. Chosen is going to be turned into an ebook (thanks again to YPS) and then I’m going to use every weapon at my disposal to get it out there. The industry I work in by day, video game development, is undergoing the same revolution. I recently attended a conference about game self publishing and could see the similarities. If my book is good enough and if I can spread the word (which I’ve been doing for the last 18 months) then it’s a golden opportunity. The stacks of disinterested rejection letters can fade into memory.
There are already ways for a self published ebook author to reach the people who really matter – the readers – and these are going to grow in number over the next few months and years. So instead of wasting time attacking writers who’ve poured their heart and soul into something, why not come up with some ideas that move the whole industry forward?
******
Crikey, you’re still here after all that lot? You deserve a medal.
I’ve just read this article on the Guardian website:
It’s by a small publisher who loses money every time Amazon buys a copy of one of her books. What’s interesting is not just the article, but the way that many people have responded. Many seem to think it’s her fault, not Amazon’s. I think that’s a bit harsh, as they (Amazon) buy books at a 60% discount and demand that you pay for posting your books to them, which all adds up. Then again, as someone who is in a similar position, no-one makes you sell on Amazon. It would be nice if they offered better terms to small publishers but you could always choose not to go with them at all.
I’m sure I’ll revisit this again in the future.
Note: this has been amended, as the link I had original posted took you to the CBBC website. Doh….
I was rather surprised today to find myself on Youtube. Okay, so I have posted the odd video there myself but they mainly consist of me getting model helicopters stuck in trees. But now I’ve turned up in someone else’s posting.
A pristine copy of Chosen has turned up in a charity shop and become part of the haul of books that this young lady* picked up. I know this seems like vanity on my part, getting so excited at being mentioned anywhere on the web, but it is fundamental to why I love writing: to be read by complete strangers. I get a buzz at the thought that my words, stories and ideas are out there in the world.
Yes, yes I know how sad that sounds but it’s true. I just hope she enjoys it! Oh, Chosen only crops up about half way through by the way.
*Good grief, did I really say “young lady”?? To mis-quote Robert Oppenheimer, “I am become my nan.”
…. is half alive. Well, I swear I saw it breathing.
I’ve decided to bin the old site and move lock, stock and barrel, to WordPress. I know it all looks a bit rough and ready at the moment but I’m hoping to knock it into shape pretty quickly.
In the meantime, I can still be contacted (for the sale of film rights or offers of a slap up dinner) at jerry@jerryibbotson.co.uk
Ta ra…
