Steven Ramirez's Blog: Glass Highway, page 44

One of the great challenges of being an indie author is laboring over a novel that isn’t anywhere near ready to be published. And I can tell you the temptation to “throw something out there” is like the Sirens’ call to Odysseus and his frightened band of sailors. So here I am now strapped to the mast with my hands free so I can still type. “Publish!” these voices keep telling me. “Publish and all will be fine! We promise!”

Writers, you know exactly what I’m talking about, right? And to be frank this is probably the main reason that self-publishing has gotten such a bad rap. There is a deep fulminating desire to see one’s name in print against all reason. Never mind that the thing hasn’t been copyedited yet or that your cover was made from magazine clippings that you photographed with one of those disposable cameras. It’s me, people! Buy my book! Okay, enough about that.

As I work through yet another draft of my zombie novel I continue to write short stories. This is a wonderful form because you can easily bang out five or six thousand words in a week or two. Then it’s off to the editor. Not to mention that cranking out one of these babies makes a nice break when you are for the life of you stuck on Chapter Twenty-Three. I have a number of stories in the Kindle Store—stories of Horror, Suspense, Magic and Humor. Have a look sometime.

Which brings me to this.

Walker Is Almost Here

Alert the media. Walker is my latest short story. I’m not going to say much about the genesis of this disturbing little piece of horror fiction—I plan to do another post for Halloween when the story launches on Amazon. But I do want to tell you that after reading it you may not think of sleepwalking the same way again. Ever. In fact if you know someone who sleepwalks you will take great pains not to awaken them in mid-stumble.

How did I come up with the idea? Easy. I was having an unrelated conversation with an acquaintance. She told me that whenever she is stressed she sleepwalks. And she’s been doing this a lot lately. Mostly she wanders around the house, muttering to herself. I’m assuming her husband is used to these occasional nighttime forays and gently eases her back into bed where she is once again safe.

So sleepwalking and staying safe for my project? I think not. For horror writers an innocent story like this is pure gold because the first question you must ask is, But what happens if you wake them suddenly? Indeed. And I will tell you that in horror it’s never a good idea to awaken a sleepwalker. In fact you should take special precautions with the person you love to ensure that while sleepwalking they are never accidentally awakened. Cue the “Dies Irae” from Verdi’s Requiem.

Unfortunately sometimes bad things just happen.

Horror—Choose Your Fear

There are many kinds of horror fiction—ghost stories, haunted houses, monsters, aliens, demons and a host of other flesh-crawling mishegoss. By the way for a fantastic survey of all that is horror, read Stephen King’s excellent Danse Macabre.

For me on a moral level these stories can be divided into two general categories. In the first, someone does something bad and is punished. In movies, there is a timeworn plot concerning teenagers at a cabin by the lake engaging in lots of wild, unprotected sex. Then what happens? Why they are murdered of course in ever escalating and interesting ways. The classic is ‘Friday the 13th.’ A good rule of thumb is to stay the hell away from anyone with the last name of Voorhees.

In the second category, shit happens and it wasn’t really anyone’s fault. Your car breaks down in the desert and you are descended upon by a rabid bunch of flesh-eating mutants. Check out ‘The Hills Have Eyes.’ Better yet watch ‘The Exorcist’ or read the novel by William Peter Blatty. I mean honestly was it the little girl’s fault that she is suddenly possessed? You can almost hear yourself asking the devil, “Hey, what did I do?”

This second kind of story is what I was interested in for Walker. And I can’t wait for you to read it. In the meantime check out A Bone in the Throat. This story falls squarely in the first category. What happens to Mercer is a direct result of the life he’s led. The question you should be asking yourself when reading this little shocker though is, How far would you go to right a wrong?

I’ll revisit Walker soon. For now please enjoy this lovely classic horror moment brought to you courtesy of Alfred Hitchcock. And remember—“We all go a little mad sometimes.”

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Photo by Ryan Kelly via Creative Commons

I am not by any stretch of the imagination a mountain climber. I get woozy stepping over concrete bumpers in the Home Depot parking lot. But over the years I have been climbing a fairly steep metaphorical mountain. I’m talking about Screenwriting.

I’ve lived in LA most of my life and I have to tell you it’s true—everyone in this town it seems is writing a screenplay. If not writing, then pitching. It’s a way of life here and I suppose it was inevitable that I join the ranks of the David Mamet wannabes. And I’m pretty sure that guy doesn’t even live here!

I forgot to add, if you’re not writing a screenplay, you are teaching a class on how to write a screenplay. I think Hollywood invented the word workshop. There are writing workshops, acting workshops, casting workshops, how-to-put-on-a-workshop workshops. Everyone is selling something.

Getting in Shape

Before climbing this mountain you need to get in shape. That means reading every book ever written on the subject of screenwriting. And, believe me, that’s a lot. There’s even a store here devoted to us doe-eyed dreamers. It’s called The Writers Store. The place is absolutely addicting. You can hang out there for hours browsing the print books, audio books, DVDs and flyers for workshops. How about a Screenplay-Binding Mallet? You can use it to pound some sense into a clueless development exec who just doesn’t “share your vision.”

After that you can head over to The Polo Lounge where you can enjoy a nice cocktail and dream about what you will say when you accept the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. Of course you won’t be saying much because as we all know the Academy Awards show goes on for hours. And what’s the first thing they cut? Yep, the writer’s acceptance speech. Unless you’re David Mamet.

So go do those things. And while you’re at it, sign up for a few workshops. A number of years ago my wife attended a screenwriting workshop here in town. The guy giving it was somewhat known around town. The first thing he said was, “Next week I want all of you to bring me three original ideas and pitch them to the class. Never mind registering them with the Writers Guild. No one here is going to steal them.” To my recollection my wife did not return. Smart girl.

Screenwriting vs. Writing

Over the past several months authors have sent me their “first screenplay” to, you know, get feedback and stuff. And I am always happy to oblige though I must be brutally honest. All I have to read is the first page to know that they haven’t got a clue. Why? Because screenwriting is a precise, mechanical form which demands that the rules are followed. And you may not deviate from the rules which include margins, tab settings, font, amount of dialogue vs. scene description per page, etc. Also you never ever include camera direction. This is known as “directing on paper” and is the sure sign of a novice.

I hope you know that I’ve broken every one of these rules by the way. Hey, I was a novice too once.

Screenwriting is not fun. It’s painful—like a root canal with no anesthesia. I take that back. Writing fiction is like having a root canal with no anesthesia. Screenwriting is like having your arms and legs sawed off with the top of an open Campbell’s Soup can. My point here? If you’re going to write a screenplay, study the form.

I spent years writing screenplays, showing them to friends, agents, strangers—anyone who would take ninety minutes out of their lives and not only read them but promise to give me notes. I’ve been paid to write or rewrite screenplays for others and I was once hired to write an original feature film called ‘Killers.’ But I wasn’t able to make a living at screenwriting and that’s really the key.

The Right Mountain

So what did all this teach me? Simply that I was climbing the wrong mountain. The truth is I love to write. I’ve been writing since I was fifteen and have never stopped—poetry, short stories, novels. Somewhere along the way I got the crazy idea that I could be a screenwriter. I didn’t actually abandon fiction but I did spend a number of years chasing after something that probably a million other people in LA are still chasing.

So am I saying you should quit? Absolutely not! If screenwriting is your dream, then do it. But you will have to be better than everyone else. And you will need to have mastered the form. And even then you may never make a living at it. Again, if that’s your dream, go for it.

What’s my dream? To sell books. And if one day someone reads one of them and decides it would make a great movie, guess what—they should hire a professional screenwriter to adapt it. Because I am truly at peace doing what I do. And trust me, a good review from a satisfied reader is way better than coverage from a studio stamped with the dreaded “Pass.”

I do have one regret though. I was looking forward to having my brilliant acceptance speech cut from the Oscar telecast. Oh, well…

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By Lee Fitzsimmons

Describing himself as a “rogue intellectual,” Lee is a talented writer and musician. In this guest post he discusses the importance of using precise terminology when presenting complex ideas in order to create a heightened reading experience. You can contact Lee at leefitzsimmons.com.

There are many individuals who advocate the use of brevity in writing. While there are certain occasions when such techniques are appropriate, there are many occasions when more complex lexical tools are required (other than the obfuscatory jargon found in political and legal documents). In basic essays and articles that possess the goal of trying to explain something as accurately as possible, it is almost always necessary to use the most precise terminology available. The reason for this is because advanced conceptualizations of more complex ideas and their many related speculations often require advanced terminology that does not allow for any ambiguity within a statement. Also, it is almost always necessary to define key terminology in a very specific manner, so that these conceptualizations are allowed to develop properly. Lexical precision is also required for aesthetic and psychological purposes as well.

First, the correct formulations of the basic ideas expressed in an article or essay are often obscured when simple words are used in attempts to explain more advanced concepts. The reason for this phenomenon is that simple terms can often have a wide array of possible meanings. When a basic statement with few words is employed, there are often a very large number of possible interpretations. Thus, more specificity is required, so that the most precise and accurate renderings of the expressions being given by the author can be perceived in a manner that allows for the writer’s basic ideas to be cognized in the most effective ways possible.

It is also necessary to remember that basic key terms used in any type of written presentation can often be defined in a multitude of ways. This accurate defining of terminology is one of the most important reasons as to why precise lexical techniques must be used in any type of serious written presentation that wishes to convey important knowledge to humanity. Whenever the correct definitions of the fundamental words used in any written presentation are not clearly asserted, then the evil spectre of ambiguity raises its villainous head, and the chaos of sophistic manipulation is given an opportunity to manifest itself. Thus, in order to overcome the evil machinations of diabolical sophists and cunning manipulators, it is more than necessary to explain even the most basic of concepts with words that are precisely defined in ways that allow for as few interpretations as possible to be perceived.

It should also be realized that in order to invoke more poetic flavors with one’s words, a large assortment of terms should be present on one’s artistic palette, so that a more pure and aesthetic rendering of one’s statement may be presented. Most people are far more receptive to something that is written in a well-fashioned and colorful way. In order to heighten the appeal of one’s written presentation, a wide array to lexical colors should be available to the author, so that there are more choices to use when it becomes necessary to flavor one’s prose with beautiful words. Such appeal has a direct effect on the perception of a written presentation.

This effect on the perception of a set of written words by the employment of more interesting terminology is also psychological in nature. Thus, in order to place the reader in the most receptive state possible that allows for the correct cognition and understanding of a writer’s assertion, the use of the most beautiful and appropriate terms becomes far more important. Not only is ambiguity to be avoided, so is boredom. Thus, in order to place the reader in a heightened state of awareness that will properly allow for the maximum retention of the concepts asserted by writer, the most accurate and aesthetically pleasant words should be used.

Thus, advanced lexical tools are needed for both business and pleasure, so that beauty and logic may reign supreme within the words of the written prose presented by the writer. However, simplicity is sometimes the best alternative. Whenever extremely fundamental ideas that are obviously apparent are expressed by an author, it is often best to present these commonly known notions in a brief and accurate manner, so that the prose being presented has a greater spectrum of artistic colors being presented to the reader. Using short and simple sentences can bring a sense of relief from the more complex notions being presented, so that more the more eloquent lexical tools are complimented with the sheer delight of a profound statement of a few words that boldly asserts itself and provides a much needed bastion of simple fortitude.

Thus, the writer should always have a large number of tricks in the toolkit so that any written presentation can be beautifully presented and accurately perceived. By doing so, the entire exchange of words and ideas between writer and reader is enhanced to a far greater degree. By doing so, the entire exchange of words and ideas between the reader and writer is elevated to a much higher level of intellectual reasoning. By doing so, the entire exchange of words and ideas between the writer and reader becomes a process that elevates both the soul and psyche of everyone involved in this magical transference of knowledge.

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Photo by Bella Motts via Creative Commons

Please don’t take this the wrong way. I love your work. I want to attend your event. I would kill to review your latest book. Team tweeting sounds fantastic. I want to support you! The truth is I stink at time management. There, I said it.

Feeling the Guilt

There are three kinds of guilt in the world—Jewish guilt, Catholic guilt and writer’s guilt. In a previous post I talked about “the living hell of social media.” Honestly it’s like an obsessed controlling boyfriend or girlfriend—take your pick—who demands that you pay attention to it all the time. Why haven’t you tweeted something hilarious in the last five minutes? Didn’t you say you would friend that guy from the other day on Facebook? Hello? Pinterest here! Pin something already! And what happens when you don’t bow to the pressure? Guilt, my friend, one-hundred proof Writer’s Guilt.

As a writer I am used to dealing with an overwhelming sense of guilt. Guilt over not spending more time with my family, over not going to gym more often, over consuming too much salt, drinking too much coffee, wearing sweatpants, making inappropriate observations out loud, answering the front door in my underwear, showering at three in the afternoon, eating Cap’n Crunch cereal out of the box and watching ‘SpongeBob’ marathons while cursing my “stupid writer’s block.”

Everything Is Important

So now add to all that my guilt over not helping you succeed. Look, you’re a wonderful person and a talented writer and all. I’d like nothing better than to see your latest title’s Amazon Bestsellers Rank zoom to one hundred. Really. The reason I don’t do more to make that happen is because I’m a mess. I haven’t learned yet how to compartmentalize all the little things that make up my day. I’m so dumb I leave my email program open while I write. I take calls. I stop in the middle of some really powerful word-bending to reply to a text. Why? Give me a sec while I sop up the last of my Ben & Jerry’s with an Olive Garden breadstick from two weeks ago.

It’s because I think everything is important.

And in some twisted universe of my own creation that may be true. But everything is not important at the same time. Maybe when I actually get away from the computer and spend time with my beautiful, longsuffering family, that’s the most important time in my life. And when I’m writing, that’s the most important time. And when I’m helping you, you are my Number One Priority. Oh but I wish it were that simple. It would mean I am truly organized.

Did you ever meet someone who is organized? With the pretty white Brocade pencil cup and the Hello Kitty sharpener? Don’t they just piss you off? Of course they do because writers are not organized. Fine. Stephen King is probably organized. But look where it got him. Fifty books in twenty-five years. Pish posh. I’ve got hummus stains on my keyboard. Top that, Steve!

Time Is Not Your Friend

We all know time is slipping away. We know it every time we look at the clock and realize we’ve only written five hundred words when we were shooting for a thousand. It comes with being a writer. I think a lot of it has to do with distractions—mostly of our own making by the way.

Here’s a hypothetical. You’re working on your book. You hear a familiar ding that tells you there’s an email. You stop and look to see what came in. It’s a link to a funny video your friend sent.

Do you stop everything and watch the video? Of course you do—you’re a writer. Anything to get away from that desperate, lonely feeling of squirting fresh blood onto a blank white page.

In the old, old days we might have sat at a writing desk and used a quill and bottle of India ink. There were still distractions though. Maybe we looked out our window and noticed a hummingbird. Or a deer. Or two farmers going at it over a pig. It was always something. Meanwhile the old grandfather clock in the foyer was ticking. Sometimes I imagine myself on my deathbed, muttering something about “just one more polish!”

Giving Back

The truth is that we are part of a community and we need to help others achieve their goals just as we help ourselves. As the community grows, so do we. But what happens when everyone is asking for your time? How do you pick and choose? How do you prioritize?

I am still struggling with that. I would love to hear your thoughts. Maybe there’s still hope before that old grandfather clock in the foyer stops ticking for good.

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I watched a snail crawl along the edge of a straight razor. That’s my dream; that’s my nightmare. Crawling, slithering, along the edge of a straight razor… and surviving.

— Colonel Walter E. Kurtz, ‘Apocalypse Now’

Pretty gruesome stuff but I believe it describes beautifully the hell writers face every time we get ready to publish something. The question lingers. Are we there yet? On the one hand, more revisions. On the other, we publish, dammit, we publish.

The Writing Life

Stepping back, let’s look at the process. Writers write because (a) we have a burning desire to get certain words on paper that we hope will inspire or (b) we’re too lazy to do honest work and we figure we can support ourselves writing what we believe people will pay cash money to read.

If you’re in the latter category, good luck. Though I’d like nothing better than to earn a living at writing, I am currently more interested in publishing stories that get to people. What do I mean? I mean that instead of the polite smile your Aunt Fern gives you when reading your “witty” birthday card, I want the person’s palms to sweat and their heart rate to get dangerously close to myocardial infarction. I want drama, people, pure and simple.

Personally I do this by writing mostly horror and suspense. To be completely frank, sometimes I succeed and sometimes I don’t. Which leads me back to my question—Are we there yet?

Walk Before You Run

When is my story ready to publish? Okay, there are obvious hurdles that have to be overcome—Rubicons to be crossed. First of all the thing has to work as a story. It has to have someone we care about who has one helluva problem and we can’t for the life of us see how they’re going to solve it. It has to have well written dialogue that rings true because we’ve all read the drivel that sounds like some kind of ninth grade English assignment. And it needs a hook.

Say you’ve done all that. Now you have to polish the story and, more importantly, you’ve got to answer in advance all those niggling questions your reader is going to ask. Why did the hero make that choice when his girlfriend already gave him a way out? How can someone kill a guy using nothing more than toenail clippers? Since when do bears ride the subway?

Fine. You’ve answered all the stupid logic questions. Now you send the thing off to the editor and they clean up your less-than-perfect grammar. You end up with—wait for it—a story. But are we there yet?

I don’t know about you but I spend a lot of time agonizing over a comma. True story. My guts churn as I wonder whether I am inventing future clichés. I beat myself up over the fact that everything—I mean everything!—has already been done—and probably better. And guess what. It’s normal—I’m a writer.

But say I dismiss those sweat-stained, paranoid delusions and press ahead. Does that mean my story is ready to publish? I mean, what gives me the right to unleash a malformed, Frankenstein’s monster pile of primordial ooze on an unsuspecting public when there are far better writers out there churning out gold?

The Answer—Screw ‘em

That’s right, you heard me. When I decided to get into this game, I took on the mantle of reluctant hero who goes out into the world and fights the good fight. Of course having said that, this phrase usually means you’re going to lose. Nevertheless I gamble. I pray in fevered dreams where dancing sugar plum fairies are poking me with sharpened No. 2 pencils that the spark of an idea I originally had in the bathroom dealing with a bout of irritable bowel syndrome is actually worth reading. In short I put myself out there.

This isn’t to say that I publish crap. Ask Sue Grafton about that sometime. Sure, she pissed off a lot of indie writers with her comments about self-publishing but you know what? Generally she is right. There is a lot of crap out there. And it’s because there is no gatekeeper, no voice of reason. It’s just me, my laptop and Smashwords, baby!

On the other side of it, you cannot keep editing and agonizing and tweaking forever. At some point you have to say ¡Basta! and publish the damned thing. I haven’t asked a famous writer this but if I did I’m pretty confident they would see things in their early work that maybe kinda could have been said better. Because the more we write, the better we get. It’s that simple.

Which gets us back to the ideas. Most of the indie writers I’ve read recently have amazing imaginations. But in a lot of cases, the execution needs work. Nine out of ten times, it’s the simple fact that they don’t hire an editor. Again, the basics. Other times it’s the amateurish cover. Lastly it’s the formatting itself.

So How Do I Know When It’s Ready?

This is a really tough question. Anthony Bourdain tells a wonderful story about risotto in his highly entertaining book Kitchen Confidential. On the one hand you have the Italian line cook who, when browbeaten by the overbearing, impatient chef, caves and serves up the risotto before it’s ready. On the other, you have the Ecuadoran who patiently nurses the risotto despite the onslaught of vile invectives and thrown utensils until it’s actually ready. This guy knows when the risotto is done because that’s how he was taught.

Like the Ecuadoran line cook, you just have to know.

Also you have to trust that you are talented and have something amazing to say. You need to share your work with friends who will give you the right kind of criticism. I mean, Why don’t you ever write about Unicorns? isn’t very helpful. Finally you need to trust yourself. Somewhere in you, you know the answer and can say proudly, “Yes. We’re here, dammit. Now be quiet and drink your boba tea.”

And now for a little bit of fun courtesy of ‘The Simpsons.’

 

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When Halley’s Comet appears, there is nothing like it. We are filled with wonder and amazement. We want to be Halley’s Comet. This is the writer’s dilemma, wanting to be something spectacular. The only problem—that celestial body is a one-of-a-kind phenomenon that appears every seventy-five years or so. No matter how we struggle, we can try to be like it but we will never be it.

What am I talking about? Fame, money, mutual admiration, all that.

Years ago writers would write, submit their double-spaced pages to traditional publishers and collect a nice pile of rejection slips. It was a cruel world but at least you knew where you stood. In those days you didn’t hear much about “successful writers” unless you read something in the newspaper. Maybe the Society Page? How about that Arthur Miller marrying Marilyn Monroe, huh?

But with social media we can’t stop hearing about the successes and the big sales and the million Twitter followers. And for all that, we seethe instead of write. It’s maddening, let me tell you.

We need to stop ourselves for five seconds and ask this simple question. Why do I write? Here are some potential answers:

I want to be rich and famous like (fill in your nemesis’ name)
I’m sick and tired of working for a living
I have a burning desire to tell my story and tell it I shall
None of the above

Okay, for those of you who picked d, I think you might be on the wrong site. As for the rest of you, I really hope you picked c. In the end nothing else should matter.

Work-Life Balance is a Myth

The other day I took my family to the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica. If you’ve ever been there, you know what a wonderful circus it is—musicians, performers, exotic dogs. There was a guy in the street whose act consisted of stacking plates and bowls on his head, flinging them in the air and attempting to catch them again perfectly using only his head. For me, that is the definition of work-life balance. And am here to tell you it’s a myth.

Why? Because three out of four times, he dropped some of his props. Admittedly, he did eventually accomplish the trick and we were all astonished. The point is, when a writer tries to balance writing with work and family—not to mention sleep—something is going to suffer. It always does. And when it does, you feel kind of crummy about it. But there it is. It’s one of those things you must accept if you’re going to turn this into a career.

The Sinkhole

Writer’s block? Ha! That’s nothing compared to the living hell of social media. We’re constantly blogging and tweeting and hanging out on Facebook and writing reviews on Goodreads and leaving comments on other writer’s blogs because, you know, we need to get our names out there to get our PageRank up. That’s right. There’s nothing worse than Googling your own name and gawping in horror at the search results showing you below the fold.

Now social media is important but it has to be managed. And most of us are frankly not very good at that. It manages us. Just like email. Maybe we struggle with the technology itself. Maybe we aren’t sure of the rules so we blunder forth spewing anything that pops into our little heads. Or maybe we’re really good at it—so good in fact that we spend more time tweeting than writing. Sound familiar?

The Silence is Deafening

Despite the drenching from the Twitter firehose and the hashtags and the posts and the comments and the Likes, at some point we need to face what writers since that guy who wrote Gilgamesh faced—total and utter silence as we put words to paper. It’s something we need to be comfortable with.

Ask yourself this. When you are writing—really writing—and there’s an interruption, are you secretly relieved? Hey, an email just came in, I need to handle it. What’s that honey? Clean the rain gutters? Sure! Yeah, I thought so.

Hey, we’re human. We’re also social animals who don’t like to be locked up in a room banging out labyrinthine strings of words we needed to look up that in our heart of hearts we are convinced no one in their right mind will ever read. Any distraction is better than this.

The Writer’s Shed

I am not one of those fabled writers who labor away on an old Remington typewriter in my writer’s shed on an idyllic farm in Connecticut. I am however lucky enough to have a small office that has a door. But you know where the real writer’s shed is? In your head. Because the secret of writing is that it isn’t about putting words on paper.

For a writer, writing is always going on. Sure, at some point you must record it. But the ideas and the emotions and the wacky characters and the drama and the heartbreak and the sidesplitting comedy never stop. They are always there, churning away in your little brain cells like honeybees in a hive with a queen who won’t take no for an answer, waiting for the moment when they can spill out onto the printed page in a way that makes people want to experience them.

There will always be comets—famous ones. Maybe you will become one someday. But don’t spend your life chasing them. Keep writing. Keep getting better. Oh yeah, and keep reading. Because for all its brilliance it isn’t the comet that’s interesting. It’s the dust it leaves behind. That’s where the truth lies.

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By Neal Hock (@HocksEditing)

Neal is the owner of Hock’s Editing Services. I hired Neal for several of my projects and can attest to his integrity and work ethic. In this post he talks about the essential tools that serious writers and editors should have at their disposal.

One of the questions I’m frequently asked by authors is, what are some of the resources I should have? There are numerous resources available for writers, editors, and everyday people who write. The following resources are the ones I use most frequently during my editing process, and they would be helpful additions to any writer’s library.

A good dictionary. Many people will say a thesaurus is a writer’s best friend. I respectfully disagree. I believe it’s important to master what words truly mean before trying to use a large variety of them. The dictionary I prefer is The American Heritage College Dictionary, a trustworthy resource that is well respected. Other dictionaries that are dependable include Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Webster’s New World College Dictionary, New Oxford American Dictionary, and Random House Webster’s College Dictionary. Since the English language is constantly changing, make sure you have the most recent edition of your dictionary of choice.
A good thesaurus. As with dictionaries, there are a number of good thesauruses available. Roget’s International Thesaurus is widely considered the industry standard. Others include Synonym Finder by J. I. Rodale, Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Thesaurus, and The American Heritage College Thesaurus.
A good style guide. A style guide helps a writer sort through the ins and outs of what recommended manuscript style is for things like capitalization, use of italics, and when to use quotation marks. The Chicago Manual of Style is considered by many as the industry standard, and it’s my guide of choice. There are other reliable style guides available, such as Words into Type, The Elements of Style by Strunk and White, and Merriam-Webster’s Guide to Punctuation and Style.
A good usage guide. Usage guides are very helpful when deciding things like when to use awhile and a while, should it be alright or all right, and what the proper use of comprise is. My two favorite guides are Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of English Usage and Garner’s Modern American Usage by Bryan A. Garner. Other useful ones include The Careful Writer by Theodore M. Bernstein, Modern American Usage by Wilson Follett, and A Dictionary of Modern English Usage by H. W. Fowler. Having one good usage guide will suffice, but I recommend owning at least two, as there are conflicting opinions about what is good usage. The more guides you are able to consult, the better idea you will have about the varying opinions for a topic.
General grammar books. This category covers a wide range of books, but I’m referring to the ones that make grammar topics approachable rather than daunting. Some of my favorites include The Handbook of Good English by Edward D. Johnson, Woe Is I by Patricia T. O’Conner, and The Elements of Grammar by Margaret Shertzer.
A large TBR pile. There’s nothing better than reading other authors’ works to learn firsthand what good writing looks like.

These recommendations are not exhaustive, but if you’re serious about your writing, these resources will serve you well. Whether you’re self-publishing, trying to land a deal with a traditional publisher, or just wanting to add to your writing toolbox, these references are valuable tools to have at your disposal.

Related articles

Thesaurus or Dictionary ? (nolanparker.wordpress.com)
Three Books to Take to College (smartcollegevisit.com)
Turns out it is acceptable to end a sentence with a preposition (respublica.typepad.com)


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When I started researching this post I was pretty much okay with DRM, at least from a consumer point of view. Except for an annoying incident a few years ago involving a song I had purchased from the Zune Marketplace—I know, I know—DRM has pretty much been invisible and painless for me. I just never really thought about it.

The Reality of DRM

Here’s the thing though. As an author, I want my work to be available to the widest possible audience. On the other hand I don’t want it to be stolen. And this is the fundamental principle that drove the creation of Digital Rights Management or DRM. But guess what, that principle doesn’t hold water because DRM is so easy to crack, all it succeeds in doing is inconveniencing honest consumers.

As I explained, the problem with DRM is that it does absolutely nothing to stop piracy—the very thing it was created for. People can happily search for DRM-cracking software all over the Internet. They can run their eBooks through these programs and end up with nice, DRM-free files that can be shared everywhere and with anyone. The music industry learned this painful lesson quite a long time ago but big publishing is still getting its head around it.

Hurting Honest People

What DRM does though is prevent honest people from taking the content they’ve purchased legally and doing things like, oh I don’t know, making backup copies for protection and converting it for other devices they own. Here’s an example.

Let’s say I purchased an eBook in the Kindle Store and I decide I want to read it on a different device. Now I could download the free Amazon Kindle app for the device. But what if I just bought the Kablooey 3000 and Amazon hasn’t written an app for that? I search and discover that the book is available in the Kablooey Store. But in order to download it to my device, I must repurchase the book.

Okay, that’s a little farfetched. Let’s say I would like to share the eBook I purchased in the Kindle store with a friend. If sharing has been enabled I can absolutely do that—once. What if I also want to share it with my wife, my children, the dog and that weird guy who’s been living in my kid’s tree house for the past six months? I cannot.

Hurting Authors

And this, for authors, is the fundamental problem with DRM. Consumers can purchase hardcover books and lend them to anyone they want as many times as they want. Not so with DRM-enabled eBooks. This is bad from a marketing perspective because what is it I wanted? All together now—to make my work available to the widest possible audience. And what is a great tactic for making that happen? Word of Mouth. And how do I get word of mouth? By granting a bunch of people I’ve never met access to my work so they can sing its praises.

There are two things I live by—right or wrong. First, most people are honest. Second, there will always be bad guys who want to steal my work. So why in the world would I encumber my work with something that doesn’t stop the bad guys from taking my work but does inconvenience the majority of consumers who happen to be honest? Well, I wouldn’t.

Tor Figures It Out

Take a look at the article “Tor Listens To Authors And Readers And Ditches DRM.” This quote in particular makes a lot of sense to me:

Our authors and readers have been asking for this for a long time. They’re a technically sophisticated bunch, and DRM is a constant annoyance to them. It prevents them from using legitimately-purchased e-books in perfectly legal ways, like moving them from one kind of e-reader to another.

So now, like Cory Doctorow, I believe that DRM needs to go. There, I said it. Take a look at what he said in the article “Why the death of DRM would be good news for readers, writers and publishers.”

Now that Tor has dropped DRM – and acquired a valuable halo of virtue among committed ebook readers, who’ll celebrate their bravery – it’s inevitable that the competition will follow. It seems we have reached the beginning of the end of the ebook format wars, which is good news for readers, writers and publishers.

I couldn’t have put it better. DRM is not only flawed but it hurts authors. Do you agree or disagree? Let me know.

If you are interested in this topic and want to learn more, check out these other articles.

Additional Sources

The Pros and Cons of DRM in E-Books

Pros and Cons of DRM

Another Reason Why DRM Is Bad — For Publishers

Hachette Tells Authors And Tor To Use DRM Because It Is Awesome Or Something

Hachette Draws Author’s Ire on DRM Mentality

What Amazon’s ebook strategy means

Why e-book DRM will die, and why this will make no difference to Amazon and Apple

Related articles

Can ebooks beat the piracy threat? (pcpro.co.uk)
For DRM-Free Content, Look for the New FSF Logo (pcworld.com)
Why I Strip the DRM from All My Ebooks (kimwerker.com)


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Recently I ran across the @Mashable article “StoryBundle Brings Indie Authors to Readers,” and the first thing I thought of—don’t ask me why, this is how my brain works—was Billy Mays pitching this thing. Okay, he’s dead but let me explain.

StoryBundle is a company with an interesting business model that borrows from the short story anthology. They package up books into time-sensitive “bundles” and offer those up to readers—without any sort of DRM—for whatever the reader wants to pay. You can’t pay less than a dollar though. This is from their FAQ:

The StoryBundle concept is pretty simple. There are a fixed set of books that we offer in a bundle, and each bundle is available only for a limited time. If you miss out on the bundle, you’ll have to buy the books individually from each author. We only have one bundle on sale at a time, once it’s gone, it’s gone.

Again, one of the central concepts is that you get to decide how much each bundle is worth to you. Think each individual book in a bundle of five books is worth $2? That’s fine! Pay $10 and get five books! Only think they’re worth $1 because you’re not sure if you like a certain genre? That’s fine too. If you want to reward these authors and encourage more independent writers by giving a bit more, that’s fantastic as well. One reason we started StoryBundle is because indie authors need our support, and we want to do our part in showcasing awesome writers.

You Must Act Now!

Because of the artificial time limit placed on these bundles, there’s a little bit of an HSN “You Must Act Now!” feel to it. I’ve often wondered about this sales technique. It’s artificial—unless we’re talking The Mayan Prophecy of 2012—and most customers are wise to it. I mean, who actually believes that whatever it is you’re selling won’t be available in some form or another in the future—maybe even at a reduced price? Can’t wait for that half-yearly sale!

Here’s the point. Because the Internet and social media and smart developers have made it easy to create new channels for almost no money, it’s becoming more difficult for authors like me to keep up—let alone understand—what we should do with our content. And content is indeed what drives these engines. Without it you’ve just got a bunch of cool kids with laptops creating things that serve no useful purpose. foursquare, anyone?

Protecting the Crown Jewels

Let’s say for a moment that as an author I like StoryBundle and actually see a way to incorporate it into my marketing plan. And this assumes that I have lots of published or soon-to-be-published content to choose from. I see one huge weakness with the model out of the gate:

There is no way I am going to permit my premium content to be included in these bundles. Did I mention no DRM? Those are my crown jewels—and I need to maximize revenue.

If every smart author takes this approach, that means readers are left with bundles of so-so to mediocre content all packaged nicely together. It also means that nine out of ten readers will offer a dollar. Which is interesting because ninety-nine cents is the minimum you can charge for your work on both Amazon and Barnes and Noble. And correct me but I think the general consensus among readers is that anything priced at ninety-nine cents is not top of the line. The only thing cheaper is Smashwords, where authors can give away free content.

One way for companies like StoryBundle to acquire premium content is for authors to offer excerpts from their work-in-progress novels. I’m not sure StoryBundle embraces this but it would be interesting. In this case one still might be able to build a following.

Getting back to Billy Mays, StoryBundle does offer bonus content, which is the “Wait, there’s more!” offer right out of the playbook. From what I can see, you do have to pay more in that case. But if my theory is correct, that just means more less-than-premium content.

Am I Dreaming or What?

But what if the content were premium? That’s certainly possible. There might be great as yet undiscovered indie authors out there desperate for an audience. They might figure that they’ll suck it up for now, build a loyal following then offer more good stuff on Amazon and Barnes and Noble later at higher prices. I’m normally a pretty positive guy but I don’t see that happening.

Of course I don’t have access to any of the sales figures for StoryBundle. They could very well be blowing out their number as readers pay three, five and ten dollars for bundles of fantastic content. I’m simply imagining how this would really work given what little I know about self-publishing and reader behavior.

I’d love to hear from authors out there—especially those who see things differently. Don’t get me wrong—I am open to the idea of contributing content to StoryBundle. I just haven’t figured out what to offer.

And now for some fun. Check out this Billy Mays video “Billy Mays Orders Food From A McDonald’s Drive Thru.”

What was great about Billy is that he was always selling. We could all take a lesson in that regard.

Related articles

Set Your Own Prices For StoryBundle Ebooks (lifehacker.com.au)
Can ebooks beat the piracy threat? (pcpro.co.uk)
“The DRM Free Movement for eBooks Expands” (economistsview.typepad.com)

[image error]Last week I had an interesting experience. I ran across the site LendInk and discovered that many of my book titles were being offered for lending, which was curious because I never gave them explicit permission to list my books.

After checking with a few authors, I learned that they were struggling with the same issue—namely who are these guys and why are they lending out my books? Immediately I sent the owner of the site an email, asking him to take down my titles. Then I waited. Nothing happened.

In the meantime I contacted Amazon and asked them if they were affiliated with this site. I also asked about their eBook lending policy. They assured me that they were not in business with LendInk. A few days later I discovered that the site had been suspended. As of this writing, it’s still down but not suspended.

Now here’s the really interesting part. I did more research and learned that there are other book lending sites out there. Here are three of them:

Lendle

BookLending.com

eBookFling

It appears that all of these sites are acting as exchanges. Their purpose is to hook up book lenders with book borrowers. They do not charge a fee for this service. They only make money if a potential borrower is unable to find a title in the lending library and clicks on a link to purchase the item from either Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

Lendle

This is from their terms. Note that they are lawyered up pretty good.

Lendle.me users shall indemnify, defend and hold harmless isdlab, llc, its officers, directors, employees, partners, associates, affiliates, joint ventures, agents and representatives, from any and all claims based on allegations which, if true, would constitute a breach of any of the foregoing warranties. The indemnity shall apply to any and all liabilities, losses, damages, expenses (including attorneys’ fees and costs) and damages incurred by isdlab, llc as a result of such breach or breaches. isdlab, llc reserves the right, at its own expense, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter otherwise subject to the foregoing indemnification, without affecting user’s indemnity obligations.

Lendle provides a nice Amazon bookmarklet. They also have an ASIN Bulk Importer on their Tools page, presumably so owners—or authors—can easily upload their titles.

BookLending.com

Now take a look at this from their FAQ.

What is BookLending.com?

BookLending.com is a website that matches lenders and borrowers of Kindle ebooks. To participate in lending and borrowing Kindle books, you must first register as a user on the site or connect with Facebook Connect.

It would be interesting to see how effective the Facebook tie-in is compared to other social media.

eBookFling

Apparently this is the newest entrant in this space. This is from their home page.

With eBookFling, swap unlimited ebooks with thousands of readers nationwide. Just fling an eBook to others and catch the eBook of your choice – choose from the hottest New York Times Bestsellers, timeless classics and even rare, eclectic titles, textbooks and tech manuals!

I’m not sure why that warrants an exclamation point but whatever.

Who’s Making Money Here Anyway?

As of this writing, these sites are all in business. I learned that you must register in order to find books on Lendle and eBookFling. However I was able to find my book titles on BookLending.com. I haven’t contacted any of them yet because I am trying to understand how the model works. Both BookLending.com and eBookFling are Amazon Associates. Does this give them the right to lend my books? Again, I believe the operative word is exchange.

The entire book lending situation is confusing. As a refresher, when you publish a book on Amazon, you have the option to allow lending if you accept the 35% royalty. However if you accept the 70% royalty, you don’t have a choice—you must permit lending.

Per Amazon’s terms, lending means that a single purchaser of your book can lend their book once for a period of fourteen days. You can learn more about the terms and conditions here. I believe that similar terms apply to Barnes and Noble.

As built, these sites are using a business model that doesn’t appear to be sustainable. Once a book is lent, it goes off the list for that particular owner. In the case of books like The Hunger Games trilogy, that’s probably okay because lots of people have purchased those books and could fill the library. Check out the WSJ article “E-Book Lending Takes Off.” I was particularly struck by this:

The lending sites have drawbacks. One is limited selection. Most major book publishers haven’t made their e-books lendable, and the books can be lent only once and for only 14 days. That means that with every successful loan, the sites’ available library shrinks unless new users with books to lend join.

What’s Next?

If you’re interested, check out “The difference between lending, borrowing and pirates” on Bob Mayer’s Blog for a different take on eBook lending. Here’s an excerpt:

So are these sites bad? It’s a gray area, but one that can actually help the author. Consider this. Your book, your name, your brand…is listed on a site readers hang out. They are not selling your book illegally, they are simply lending the book for a short period of time to another user. This is readers’ talking to readers’ and well, readers rule.

Like I said, not sustainable. I suspect that what these sites are really doing is testing the model and, perhaps, even hoping to influence its evolution so it will become more favorable to eBook lending sites in terms of revenue generation.

Last week’s experience has left me a bit disheartened. The net of it is this—each time one of my books is lent, I might get a royalty payment from the lending fund. Is that cool with other authors out there? Maybe the problem is with Amazon and Barnes and Noble for offering such a program in the first place. Let me know your thoughts.

Related articles

Legitimate ebook lending site LendInk taken down by hundreds of C&D orders (digitalmediamachine.com)
The Best Websites for Finding, Downloading, Borrowing, Renting, and Purchasing eBooks (howtogeek.com)
Internet Archive’s Peter Brantley wants librarians to take a more active role in the digital transition (feldmanfile.blogspot.com)