Author! Author!

A Piece of Cake and a Walk in the Park
By Joseph Mastroianni

So you wanna write a book? Listen up. It’s a cookie stroll. Notice I didn’t say cake walk. I learned that much. All you need do is, have no passion for writing, not follow the silly rules of creative writing, and most important, not give a flea turd about making money. How? Write a book accidentally, I did. A kindness-enhanced person (that means a nice guy - gotta watch those eponyms) even called it a masterpiece. A few others even paid money to read it!

My journey coincidentally began with an accident. One rush hour day I tried to walk across 3rd avenue in New York, a huge mistake. The flathead who hit me wasn’t insured. Neither was I, making my head even flatter. Lost my house, my truck, my dog, and my wife, all in one lucky stroke of fate. Come to think of it, I could have written a Country Western song. I spent the next eleven years rehabilitating and ─ whining. Oh yeah, started writing about every terrible thing that happened to me since my sister stole my lollipop when I was three. Put it all down on paper.

I then made the mistake of allowing a close friend, who is a passionate writer, read those six hundred pages of woe. He convinced me it could make a good novel. I complained the writing was too personal and painful to go public with. No problem he said, write it as fiction. There are some pitfalls, he said. Whether you’re writing truth or fiction doesn’t make much difference. What ever you write must ring true. Some people won’t believe the truth, or will believe a lie, depending on how it’s written.

There it was, an on-the-job training course in the making. I’d failed high school English twice, but my English teacher was also the football coach, and I could run like hell (mostly for my life). Not being able to string two sentences together proved to be a huge obstacle when attempting to tell the story on paper. The first edit was fairly simple. My friend marked the original with so much red, when I rid the manuscript of it, it was immediately reduced to four hundred pages. The rest of the editing was interesting. I got invited to join a writing group all of them published writers, and editors. That’s where I learned, the real job of editors is to make the story their own and totally unrecognizable as your work.

After being urged countless times not to begin sentences with the words “but” or “and”, I learned to say, that’s how the character talks. That also worked for my use of profanity, clichés, eponyms, and other flaws in my writing. Didn’t help much with the narrating though.

Here’s something I didn’t count on. The book is about a glorious piece of music written by Johan Sebastian Bach, and how it impacts the life of the protagonist. Bach wasn’t famous in his time, and to my dismay, nobody knew why he’d composed it, which placed me in the realm of writing historical fiction. That’s when I learned facts had to be perfect, but the gaps could be created. Boy, that’s writing fun at its best. Bach is considered one of the world’s greatest composers, had two wives, thirteen kids, and a lot of empty space from birth to death. Adding Bach to the book provided an opportunity to have some experts check the accuracy of my work. Fortunately, a professor of music theory happed to love how I filled that vacuum. He gave the book credibility, a great review, and an endorsement for acquiring an editor to have a look. The good luck didn’t last long before I learned about book publishers. The book had taken on a new meaning for me. It was never about money I was working on an art piece.

Before negotiations ever began we were at cross purposes. The publisher didn’t want to hear about art (they think bottom line). They didn’t like my font selection and type size. I wanted to use a font produced from a foundry still in existence from Bach’s time, which had been modernized, and large enough to read without glasses. They said it would increase the cost. They rejected my conceptual cover. It didn’t meet the highly technical blueprint designed specifically to make a books jump out at a potential buyer. I had written the book telling protagonist’s story, and the life of Bach in alternating chapters, they thought it distracting. That was the deal breaker. To be truthful, the publisher was on the mark for his purpose, but to achieve my artistic goal, there was little choice but to self-publish (an education all to its own).

Publish on Demand (P.O.D.) was the rage. There are some legitimate companies, and they will produce just one copy if you want, but it became readily apparent the book wasn’t what was important. It was the dough up front. That left me two choices: publish it or burn it.

The tasks of obtaining an ISBN, final editing and proofing, printing, distributing, promoting, event scheduling - the whole doughnut were my responsibility, physically and fiscally. It was easy from there. I added the costs, factored in the books I’d give away as gifts, and came up with a thousand copies. If I sold four hundred books, I could give away the remainder, and come out even. I found a good printing company, decided to go offset instead of digital, arranged for storage, distribution, and shipping, and printed a thousand copies.
The entire trip was quite a cool and interesting experience. A piece of cake and a walk in the park!

My advice? Go blindly and naively through the process, and you may well end up with a book people actually buy. Make sure to print one more copy than you can sell to family and friends. I absolutely guarantee someone will eventually buy it. But, as for me, I need to sell another hundred books or so to chalk up a financially successful project. I’ve already been rewarded many times over for my folly. Sold one yesterday. Only three hundred ninety-nine to go. Wanna buy a book?

Joseph C. Mastroianni author of Chaconne the Novel, is a former military officer and helicopter pilot. He studied in Spain for almost four years, and the classical guitar is now his avocation. His favorite composer is Johann Sebastian Bach. Presently on staff with the Santa Barbara Daily Sound, Joseph writes a weekly column, the Devils Advocate. The DA and his uniformed sources, which are fictional characters, discuss and spoof local, national, and international issues of the day. He is also contributing editor to Fly Fishing New England, writing about the history of fly fishing. ..Joseph is also known for his work in behalf of the performing arts, and has a dedication to help public libraries, especially his home town library in Woburn Massachusetts.

Chaconne is a tale of two lives intertwined across hundreds of years through music, adversity, and passion. Santa Barbara author Joseph Mastroianni artfully weaves a narrative of fictional protagonist Milo Damiani and Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach, and the tie that ultimately binds them: Bach’s “Chaconne,” widely considered the greatest musical composition of all time.

Chaconne is available in eBook format at the DPPstore 24/7/365 for $16.99.

You Are Your Own Best Marketing Rep!

Are You Wearing Clean Underwear?
By Bonnie Myhrum

Did your mom tell you to be sure to wear clean underwear in case you were in an accident? Mine did. I guess she was afraid that I would be judged by the condition of my underwear. Most of us probably won’t be judged on the condition of our underwear, because under normal conditions no one can see it (this is not taking into consideration the current trend of wearing underwear as outerwear), but there are many things that we mail, e-mail, publish, put on the Web and/or hand out that we want people to see and on which we will be judged.

OK. Here’s the thing. You are a poet--an artist--a writer. For the most part, you represent yourself, not a company. You are your own best marketing tool. You are your own advertisement. You are responsible for creating the impression that your current and potential adoring public has of you. Do you want these folks to think that you don’t care about how you present yourself--that you aren’t a professional?

In the current "all-technology, all the time" world of communication, it has become so easy to be easy. The use of text- and instant-messaging has created a whole new set of abbreviations for many commonly used words and someone we’ve met online might tell us he’s a businessman selling cell phones when she really is a scam artist. To those who know us via e-mail and the Internet, we are only what we appear to be. u can ruin you’re reputation w/1 mistak. If you write e-mails as if you don’t have time to use proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation, you are showing disrespect to your reader (you imply that he or she is not important enough for you to take the time to check your composition) as well as to yourself (you imply that you are not intelligent enough to check your composition).

Writing is not just what you do--it is who you are. You should do your best at all times, so your writing should reflect that you are doing your best, all the time. How can you not have the time to do the best that you can do?

Patricia Fry says she is surprised at how many muddy writers there are out there. Are you one of them? Do you read what you have written? Have you ever looked at your "sent" mailbox and wondered what you were talking about when you read an e-mail that you wrote a couple of months ago?

When you’re e-mailing, it’s important to remember that, because you are not face-to-face, your words and punctuation are the only clues your reader can use to understand what you are trying to say. You can easily be misunderstood in an e-mail--the recipient might think you are angry just because of the exclamation point at the end of your sentence. That person can’t hear your voice or see your body language--clues we constantly use when we are talking with someone.

The next time you send an e-mail, take a minute to proofread it and correct the errors you may have made. You have as much time as everyone else--use it to your advantage. Don’t destroy your professional credibility by being "too busy" to wear clean underwear.

Bonnie Myhrum, Professional Secretary LLC
Virtual Assistance for Virtually All of Your Tedious Tasks

· Transcription Services (mini-cassettes, videotapes, DVDs)
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· Proofreading and 'Final-Pass' Editing
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bmyhrum@wideopenwest.com • 734-455-0987
www.professionalsecretaryllc.com

Hot Off The Press!

Connecting the dots . . .The DPPstore opens a new chapter in eReading with the dotReader

The DPPstore and OSoft debut a revolutionary new eReading system that allows readers to engage with books in previously unimagined ways.

Palm Springs, CA (PRWeb via PR Web Direct) November 29 - DigitalPulp Publishing and OSoft introduce the dotReader (eBook software) and compatible eBooks. Both are now available in the DPPstore.

The DPPstore is the first eCommerce site to support the dotReader with commercial titles now available. Additional titles will be released over the next month.

The dotReader is an open source eBook program designed to run on multiple platforms including Windows, Windows CE, Macs, and Linux and can be used on most desktops, laptops and PDAs. Smartphone capability is planned for early next year.

The dotReader enhances the eBook reading experience in many ways by allowing users to:

SEARCH – not just single books – but every document in your whole library. Finally, multi-book searching.
SHARE – each book in dotReader is its own community, giving readers the opportunity to participate in a dialogue.
SECURE - state of the art, scalable, user-friendly Digital Rights Management (DRM) protects intellectual property without intruding on the reading experience.
UPDATE - keep your book current with automatic updates & timely information!

The dotReader is a multi-function eReader created by OSoft and named after Dorothy Thompson. The dotReader honors the memory of this legendary foreign correspondent through its powerful embedded annotation and collaboration tools.

“The dotReader is amazing!” says Pamela Turner, Digital Publishing industry consultant. “It offers advanced options for users and content creators, yet is simple and intuitive for the most inexperienced readers.”

“The DPPstore motto is ‘independent authors and presses for independent readers and thinkers’,” says DigitalPulp Publishing CEO Genene Miller Coté. “The dotReader promotes freedom and creativity in reading and thinking.”

The DPPstore, a division of DigitalPulp Publishing, offers the best in eBooks from new authors and independent presses. eBooks are offered in multiple formats allowing readers the greatest choice of reading devices. The DPPstore – reinventing reading.

OSoft is headquartered outside of Tacoma, Washington. OSoft's vision is to create a documentation standard through which publishers, authors, potential authors, and readers can share, collaborate, and exchange information in one common format. Contact: Mark Carey (253) 848-4758.

Give eThanks

The last marketing tip I posted I suggested making the "e-List". This week, my suggestion is to take the e-List you have now and send out a message of thanks, blessings and/or gratitude…or simply send out good wishes for a happy Thanksgiving.

Keeping in touch and sending out good vibes, good karma – or whatever you want to name it – is a great way to go, whether it be to your family and friends, business associates, acquaintances or networking contacts. It keeps your name out there, it keeps positive channels open and sending out good thoughts manifests goodness for you and your well-being.

Sound a bit airy-fairy? A bit granola-esque? Well, okay: maybe. But truth is – it works.
The more gratitude we have (and express) to and for the people and things we already have, the better off we feel. The better we feel, the better we do. The better we are, the more people we attract. The more people we attract, the longer our e-List grows. And so it is.

So, go on – send out those messages. And then have yourself a terrific Thanksgiving!

Published Just This Week!

Beach Shadows by January Keck
ISBN: 978-1-933746-13-0
Published by PulpBytes, 2006
Price: $8.49


Available for purchase and downloading at the DPPstore.



Beach Shadows is a powerful and intense collection of stories, as full of life as the author, herself. If you want to be moved, if you are a thinker, here's your book. These life depictions resonate with love, hope and everything in between. Each one, a rare gem with a different sparkle.

You Are Your Own Best Marketing Rep!

Making the e-List

We all want to make the “A” List…or at least we want our books to. But to make the “A” List, one of the things we need to do first and foremost is make the e-List. Literally. We have to create one – build one.

“To build a fan base you must build a mailing list,” says Lee Silber, author of Self-Promotion for the Creative Person. And if you are promoting an eBook the best way to get the word out is through email (heck, these days, even if you’re writing a traditional print book, the fastest, least expensive and far-reaching promotion is through email).

How do you make the list, you ask? Well, in the words of Maria in the musical The Sound of Music: “let’s start at the very beginning - a very good place to start”: Begin with what you have - who’s in your email address book right now…Probably friends, family and co-workers. If there’s more – great! That’s the beginning of your “fan base”.

To move on and continue building on what you already have – that’s where the footwork comes in. If you feel at a loss as to how to do this, here are some ideas:

~ Make a list of other people you know whose emails you do not have. Call them up or write them a snail mail letter and ask them for their email address. When you receive their email address, add it to your list.
~ Whenever you meet someone who might be interested in what you’re doing (your book/its subject matter, you as a writer) ask them for their email address. Tell them you’ll keep them posted on the book, upcoming books and any events and updates that are related to you and your book. Add their email address to your list.
~ Encourage the people who are already on your email list to send you email addresses of people they know who might be interested in you and your book. Put those email addresses you receive on your list.
~Research. Check out blogs and websites for writers, readers, publishers, agents, media, etc. and copy their email addresses onto your list.
~If you do any kind of promotional event, make sure you take a guest book or create a guest sign-in sheet and ask for email addresses. All the addresses you collect should go on your list.

Why make the e-List?

Email is the quickest, least expensive and easiest way to reach the largest amount of people possible. The more people you have on your list, the greater advantage you have of garnering interest and support for you and your book(s).

~ You can keep people informed about what you are doing
~ Keep your name/book(s) in the “public” eye
~ Get your name, book, info. out there through word-of-mouth (or by word-of-email, as the case may be)

With email you can send:

~ Announcements
~ Updates
~ Invites
~ Newsletters/eZines
~ Quotes/bon mots/thoughts/questions

These are things that cost next to little or nothing to do. They simply require a little bit of time, a dash of creativity and tenacity.

So get going on making your e-List so that you and your book can make the “A” List!

New - ish release from DPP!

Chemotroph by Ian McKinley

They know that microbes containing the secrets of rejuvenation and indefinite longevity can be found in the bowels of a deep repository for nuclear waste. A team heads for Europe, unaware that they are walking into the cross-hairs of groups who would kill to obtain their knowledge – or to stop others from possessing it. Sampling the microbes acts as a trigger; suddenly staying alive is top priority and the team is on the run, trying to stay invisible to a mega-corporation with all the resources of mid-21st century technology at its command. This hard-hitting sequel to Extremophile does not “sanitise for your protection” and thus is not for the faint-hearted.

Chemotroph by Ian McKinley is published under the PulpBytes Imprint,
ISBN 1-933746-12-2, 2006. It is available for purchase ($8.95) and downloading at the DPPstore, 24/7/365.

Ian McKinley holds Ph. D. in chemistry from Glasgow University. He has a professional background in nuclear waste management. A Scot who has lived in Switzerland for 20 years, he has been involved in an array of work related to nuclear waste management, including archeology, geology, microbiology, engineering and public communication. He has co-authored three technical books, as well as hundreds of articles in a variety of publications.

New Publications...Check 'em out!

The Latest DPP Publications - Now available at the DPPstore

Racing History 2: Quixotic by C.A. Scott

Racing History is an ambitious, five-volume sci-fi series that proudly flaunts its appreciation for pop culture: music, film, comics, television, videogames, and yes literature of all kinds. Author C.A. Scott gave us Volume 1: Meteoric, Episodes 1-7 last spring and now the DPPstore is carrying Volume 2: Quixotic, Episodes 8-14.

What if you could remake yourself over from scratch? Who would you be? Where would you go? Who would you choose as friends, and who would become your enemies? What would you want most out of life, and what would you do to get it?
Diego Lee grew up on Virtuality and role-playing games. Becoming someone else is second nature to him. So when it’s necessary to do so, the man he invents is “Race Allen,” a quixotic adventurer with little regard for the law. He is a romantic science fiction cliché, the very bread and butter of space opera. His way of life is also completely unrealistic and, in the Stellar Union, utterly impossible to sustain. That’s not to say Diego can’t make a go of it: evading shuttlecops and bounty hunters alike, dodging between criminal organizations, and shooting without asking any questions at all.

First to Last (The Tale of a Biker) by Dennis W. Lid

First to Last is the true story of a soldier's life through the motorcycles he has owned and the most prominent action events that have occurred on those bikes and during his lifetime. The manuscript has an international tone with a heavy accent on Asia, is action oriented during peace and war, and spans the generations in its common appeal to motorcyclists, hobbyists, adventurers and romanticists of all ages. It is a factual, first-hand account of the tale of a biker, a warrior and an incurable romantic. The book includes maps and photographs with captions that follow portions of the story line. Its theme combines historical nostalgia with adventure romance to yield an avant-garde, neo-classic novella of the two-wheeled conveyance -- the motorcycle. The weave of motorcycle, man and events is nothing less than a lifelong search for the Holy Grail that culminates in answering the question of where one's treasure lies.

This is Dennis Lid's first book. In December it will be available in print from Capri Publishing.

Whatever. by Matt Lehman

One man's journey to find God, the perfect woman, and himself set in the most unlikely of places, a cruise ship. A ship where sex and alcohol are kings and love is barely an afterthought.

Whatever. is Matt Lehman's first publication under DPP's PulpBytes Imprint. His book Clam Chowder, published by Velcro Crayons Publishing, is also available at the DPPstore.

Thanks for the kudos...

Nicky - I want to thank you for sharing all your creative ideas. No doubt it's your background as actress, director, producer, teacher and writer that adds to the mix.Whatever it is, I for one am glad to know you.

Fran Silverman, publisher of Book Promotion Newsletter, http://www.bookpromotionnewsletter.com, and host of Book Marketing with Fran on Achieve Radio. http://www.achieveradio.com

Hi! Love your blog articles. A passionate fan for years so I started my own blog :-) science-fiction@theblogverse.com

eBooks: A Great Way to Publish!

It’s in the news every day – Sony is touting their new eBook Reader; Dan Brown, best-selling author of The Da Vinici Code and Angels and Demons is heralding the benefits that eBooks have for readers and authors alike; traditional publishers like Random House and big companies like Google are climbing on the band wagon and launching eBook divisions. eBooks and ePublishing are steadily growing businesses.

Mind you, you may find what I have to say here biased or bravado-ist (I just made that word up…I like it) – after all, I work for a digital publishing company. But eBooks aren’t my thing. Or at least they weren’t my thing until a short time ago. I love books -- hardcover, paperback- whatever. I love the way books feel, the way they look, the way they smell. I am a reader. And a writer. And the idea of reading books or writing books that are, well, “out there” in cyberspace, seems, or I should say seemed odd to me. Uncomfortable. Even scary.

But my perspective has changed. As has my comfort level. And my fear is…gone. Poof! Really. Here’s why: Digital publishing and eBooks are not meant to replace traditional books. Not at all. They’re here as another avenue to read, write, and publish. And that’s cool. You have my personal testimony on this one. You could call me a personal case study (though no one has called me that yet).

I have found eBooks incredibly useful. My venue of choice for reading is my eBook reader. I’ve had up to ten books on it (it holds up to 100) and taken it with me on weekend vacations, and it doesn’t add any extra weight or space to my bag that ten paperbacks normally would.

I love my eBook reader at night when I read in bed because mine has a backlight and I can fall asleep reading it in the dark and it turns itself off. I can use the cool tools it provides like book marking and note making, and it makes for a great conversation piece in coffee houses (if you’re reading your eBook reader, PDA, Smart Phone, etc – probably not if you just walk up to a total stranger and start talking about eBooks…They might not be really interested when they’re in the middle of reading Kierkegaard or having some deep, intense conversation with their significant other).

Because I work for a digital publishing company…Bear with me as I insert a shameless promo here: DigitalPulp Publishing (that’s the company I work for), publishes and promotes new and lesser-known authors. We also have a division called DPPpress, which teams with self and independent publishers to distribute their books in our eBookstore, the DPPstore. Did you get all that?! Shameless promotion complete.

So as I was saying: because I work for a digital publishing company, I have had the opportunity to do a lot of research into eBooks and ePublishing. What I’ve found is that there is no reason not to publish digitally.

Bestselling author, M.J. Rose, published Lip Service as an eBook before it went to traditional print. She was able to test market her book by doing this, garner an audience, and shoot to the top in the book world.

Dan Brown who sold millions of copies of his books Angels and Demons and The Da Vinici Code in traditional print, is now selling them just as readily in eBook format. Along with the above mentioned titles, two more of Brown’s books, The Digital Fortress and Deception Point have made the top ten of the bestseller fiction eBooks list.

And the stats are in: the August, 2006 ABA report found eBooks, with sales of $1.4 million, rose 40.3%, and are up 26.3% for the year to date.

There are eBook readers out there and they’re buying eBooks. It’s about choice. Digital publishing gives readers more options. And it gives authors and publishers lots more options too.
As an author you have a vast amount of creative freedom. You can easily change cover and content with little to no cost. You can publish in installments. And, with most ePublishing companies (such as DigitalPulp Publishing), you bypass the “middle people”, i.e. agents, which means you get a much larger share of your book sale profits.

Because eBooks cost so little to produce, publishers can take greater risks with lesser-known authors and alternative stories.

For both authors and publishers eBooks offer another means of exposure and an additional venue for reaching a greater audience. Some readers like hardcover, others paperback and still others, audio books. eBooks provide readers with another choice. And eBooks give publishers and authors an opportunity to gain new readership, exposure and sales.

Why publish eBooks? Why not?!

Dennis Lid said...

Nicky,This is a good piece; it's straight to the point. Your final line says it all: "Why eBooks? Why not?" I like your blog.

Big Lucy said...

Love this author and love love love the interview questions. Love, Big Lucy

Glenda Wilson said...

There’s More In The Store Than The Store:
“eBooks for Kids”…amazing how time has a way of connecting our little people to so many channels. Now it’s the internet. The speed of growth on the information super highway seems to match our fascination and hunger to feed creative souls – including the souls of our children. I have often wondered how information would be passed along to our children; particularly those great treasures in books. The Arabian Knights, Little Women, Pollyanna, Peter Pan, The Secret Garden…and so many, many more are now at the fingertips of those small fingers as they explore “The Store”. Maybe it’s just up to me to direct my own next generation as to what’s in the store!

Jeannie Sloan said...

Nicky- Thanks for this wonderful Blog. Very informative and there are some terrific responses from your writers. While my personal favs range from Jim Harrison to T. Jefferson Parker to Tom McGuane, I love to venture out and enjoy new worlds. thank you for this, and I look forward to logging onto this site on a more regular basis.

Author! Author!

Innerview
with C.A. Scott

What is your ideal writing environment?

My home office, my own sanctuary, with no one else around and just the right music playing for the scene/story. Solitude is vital; I don’t work well with an audience. I have one of those Ray Bradbury style offices just full of artwork and books and toys and things, and my iMac on this very skiffy corner desk made of metal and black panels. And whether it’s Nine Inch Nails or Morcheeba or Audioslave or Steely Dan, well... I’ve got something like 6000 songs on my hard drive, all different genres, and I was raised on movies and MTV, right? So everything’s got a soundtrack in my head. And music really gets me into the right frame of mind to write.

What authors inspire you most?

Anyone who writes for some reason other than just to entertain. I’m interested in authors who have something to say: George Orwell, for example, and Alan Moore. I don’t necessarily read a lot of other people who are writing in a similar genre to my own -- mainly because if anyone out there were putting out the kind of story I want to read, then I wouldn’t have to write it myself!

That said, I am also a fan of Neil Gaiman and Jonathan Letham, Reinaldo Arenas and Theodore Sturgeon... guys who can do the kind of linguistic acrobatics I feel like I’ll never be able to pull off. You know: people who write in that style you have to read out loud because of how awesome the words feel in your mouth.

I am a huge fan, to this day, of the sci-fi grandmasters: Heinlein, Ellison, Silverberg, Frederick Pohl... Even when they’re bad, they’re good. And when they’re good, watch out!

What do you do when you aren’t feeling inspired or motivated to write?

Music does it almost every time. The right soundtrack will take you where you need to go...

I’ve found that generally writer’s block is my subconscious mind’s way of saying, “Hey, you’re going the wrong direction in this story, here.” So if I back up and listen to the story, the characters, etc. they’ll tell me what’s wrong and we can move on. Or I switch from one story (better yet, one kind of thing entirely) to another for a shot in the arm. I finished two lousy novels in college that way, one fantasy and one science fiction, by jumping back and forth between them. They weren’t any good, but they were complete stories, and that’s something...

I’m a perfectionist (an editor by profession), so I’m not going to put anything out before the world unless I feel like it won’t embarrass me or the characters in it. So when I can’t come up with something new, I’m usually editing (what some authors call “rewriting”). I read over and over, sometimes out loud, and fix what doesn’t work. That’ll often jumpstart me into the next scene.

Talk a bit about Diego Lee – the character that haunted you (and prompted you to write Racing History)?

He’s in many ways my alter ego, I suppose. Here’s this guy who just wanted to live a simple life doing the stuff he loves -- contributing to the world in the way he was born to do. But the civilization he lives in values other things more, things like conformity and following the rules and learning how to be a good salesman. So he’s kinda’ forced by circumstances to become what some people might consider a bad guy. A criminal. But iconoclasts are the only people who really ever change the world for good. And the society he lives in really needs changing.

We have a love/hate relationship, Diego and I. He surely got tired trying to talk to a silly teenage girl who thought he was nothing but a cool Han Solo rip-off, so he went away in disgust for a few years. When he came back, he was so impatient to get his story done that he turned me into an obsessive-compulsive nutcase for several years. I love spending time with him, and I’ve found so do most other people who get to know him. He’s like one of those guys you love to party with, even though you’d be scared to actually live with him.

But over the course of the story, he does work out some of the insanity. Enough at least to function on a more ordinary level. Unfortunately for him, the Universe needs him the way he is, and that’s not necessarily good for the psyche. But it does make for rollicking fun in fiction form. Let’s face it, happy and contented people make really boring characters anyway...

There are 7 episodes in volume I, 5 volumes in the Racing History series. What is the magic that keeps that story going for so long?

I think it’s is the continual change of venue, style, characters, etc. From episode to episode, and especially from volume to volume. Each has its own mood and theme. Diego’s really the only constant in this story. He’s like the car you’re riding in on this long, crazy road trip. And you’re never quite sure whether the car’s going to break down or not. Sometimes it does. And that in itself becomes part of the adventure.

If you want to tell the story of how some apparent nobody can literally change history, it’s inevitably going to be a big one. If Diego were some military dude or something, maybe he could jump right out of officer’s training and into the world-saving business. If he were some freakin’ nobleman, he’d have it all in the palm of his hand to start with. But I have to take this total lowlife and put him in a position of power -- and if you do that with any realism at all, it’s going to take a lot of twists and turns to get him there.

I’ve had friends like him, too. People to whom more seems to happen in just a few years than goes on in most people’s lifetimes. They’re the most interesting folks I’ve ever known. So there ya’ go.

I love this description about Racing History: “space opera with a cyberpunk attitude and a touch of film noir.” Can you speak to that a bit? What is the best definition, in your opinion, of cyberpunk? And explain how the three genres mix.

Well, space opera nowadays almost exclusively means war stories set in space with great generals and things as the main characters. You know the type, they usually start, “Fleet Admiral Goran Xeitgeist strode confidently across the spacious bridge of the Imperial Ship of the Line Interceptor...” Now, I realize there are people who like that sort of thing, but to be honest, my reaction is, “Blyeach!”

And cyberpunk has been defined a dozen different ways by a hundred different people. But I think of it as technology-obsessed dystopian fiction that tends to be rather insular in its venue. In the cyberpunk future, very often people haven’t made it off Earth yet; they’re much more interested in virtual entertainments... And that hits a little too close to home for me; I still believe in the dream, y’know? I was born in the year of the first moon-landing, after all.

Character tends to fall by the wayside in a lot of these things. People are stereotypes or at the very least slaves to their plot devices. I loved Neuromancer (talk about amazing feats of language!), but really when you get to the end, what’s changed? Nothing. The characters haven’t learned a thing from their experience, and they just go back to their crappy little lives.

Film noir is all about character. It’s about psychological weirdness, the dark side of life, and people just trying to get by. It’s gritty and full of fantastic dialog. The people in those stories are seldom “important” in any real way. And they either learn from their mistakes or die.

So I call my work “space-punk.” You got the epic adventure of space opera with cyberpunk style characters who live in a film-noir-ish world. It’s intensely character driven, heavy on thematics, and cool as hell. I think it would make a great comic series, actually. But that’s for later. Right now, it’s prose fiction as addictive drug: Once you try it, you can’t help coming back for a fix over and over again.

Got a favorite quote?

Not sure whether you mean in general or from RH. In general, my favorite of those I’ve come across lately is this thing from Henry David Thoreau: “The greater part of what my neighbors call good I believe in my soul to be bad, and if I repent of anything, it is very likely to be my good behavior. What demon possessed me that I behaved so well?”

An appropriate quote for Racing History might be “People shouldn’t be afraid of their governments; governments should be afraid of their people.” Unfortunately, I didn’t write that.

You can imagine that from a series as hefty as RH is, there’d be quite a few favorite quotes... I enjoy dialog probably more than anything else in writing. That’s part of the film noir thing, I guess. So let’s end on this one:

“Some days I feel like my life is just one big painting full of melting clocks and giraffes on fire.”
—Diego-Alain Lee, 2255

Racing History is an ambitious, sci-fi series that proudly flaunts its appreciation for pop culture: music, film, comics, television, videogames, and yes literature of all kinds. In her episodic series, C.A. Scott dares to challenge many of today’s boundaries in science fiction. This is the full story of a singular moment in history, not Earth history or human history but all of history — the story of everybody — and the how and why that make all the difference. This is epic space-punk: space opera with a cyberpunk attitude and a touch of film noir.

“Scott is an excellent storyteller,” says DPP critic Jacki Buck. “The settings are fascinating –rich and intricate, and the characters are well thought out and completely believable even within their fictitious scope.”

A scientific journalist and editor, C.A. Scott is author of many articles and magazine supplements covering biotechnology. As a technical editor, she has been a guest at several west-coast science fiction conventions. Science fiction is her passion.

You Are Your Own Best Marketing Rep!

My Two Cents on Book Sense

The real purpose of books is to trap the mind into doing its own thinking.
- Christopher Morley

Every two weeks for the last nine months I have written a marketing tip for this newsletter. Most of the tips are based on my own personal experience coupled with information, facts and expertise from marketing experts or from others in the creative fields.

I wanted to seize the opportunity this week to recognize the books and the authors who I have turned to time and again to help me write this column. I also wanted to make available, to all who are interested, information about the books I use the most, in case you are curious about gathering more marketing and promotional ideas.

Different books may tout the same techniques or ideas – but you may find you tend to like one author’s or expert’s style more than another’s. You may also find that you enjoy merging ideas, strategies and styles to create your own. That’s what I have found works best for me. This is also why I tend to draw ideas from so many different books.

I call my reliance on all kinds of books for ideas and techniques “book sense”. I devour books on writing and creativity and draw from many viewpoints, styles and expertise to help me formulate and grow my own. I do the same when it comes to marketing and promotion.

It makes sense to me to draw from as many resources as possible to get the most out of myself for myself. If an idea or method works for one person, I am always game to try it and tweak it to suit my style and my objective(s).

However, that doesn’t mean I get into action right away.

I do believe that some of the same things that hold some of us back as authors are the same things that can hold us back from self-promotion: procrastination, perfectionism and the inner critic.

Back in December, 2005 I wrote a marketing tip called One Small Step and followed it up two weeks later with Steppin’ On. The tips were about taking the first step – just a small step – towards marketing your book, and then, subsequently, adding on another step or two.

Personal experience combined with “book sense” helped me write those two articles. Sometimes, just thinking about promoting myself and my work is overwhelming. Dr. Robert Maurer’s One Small Step Can Change Your Life: The Kaizen Way has helped me learn to break down the bigger picture, including my goals, into small, small steps. Once I was able to practice that technique, I could apply it to any marketing idea I wanted to garner results.

Another book I used for the same articles was The Nine Modern Day Muses (and a Bodyguard): 10 Guides to Creative Inspiration for Artists, Poets, Lovers, and Mortals Wanting to Live a Dazzling Existence, by Jill Badonsky, M.Ed.

For inspiration, support, and tried-and-true ideas, I utilize The Nine Modern Day Muses almost all the time. Badonsky has updated the Muses of Ancient Greece into contemporary Muses who help you get started with things (Marge – who believes in breaking things down into 15-minute increments), try new things (Albert – who believes everything you do is relative to whether you think you can do it), and who help you believe in yourself and what you are doing (Muse Song and Arnold, the Bodyguard).

Badonsky’s book has helped me think out of the box when it comes to marketing. Albert, the Muse of imagination and innovation, has inspired me with humor, encouraged me to merge two old ideas, or two or more completely seemingly unassociated ideas, to create a new one, and to look at things and do things differently.

Because marketing takes time and money (both of which many of us authors have little of), thinking out of the box becomes essential. Lee Silber’s Self-Promotion for the Creative Person is an excellent resource, especially for coming up with and expanding upon off-the-beaten path marketing ideas: Ideas that use more brain than buck.

And speaking of lots and lots of bang for (mostly) less buck or for free, some of the best tips and strategies I have found have come from Guerrilla Marketing for Writers, by Jay Conrad Levinson, Rick Frishman and Michael Larsen. I suppose I should be careful when I say “the best”. It really all amounts to style. I love the way Badonsky, Silber and the Levinson-Frishman-Larsen book are written. They’re fun with a hint of wacky and written in a more conversational spirit than most how-to books.

But how-to books that offer lots of structure help disorganized little-ol’-me, quite a bit!

One of my favorites is Get Clients NOW!: A 28-Day Marketing Program for Professionals and Consultants by C.J. Hayden. Because I am such a procrastinator, the time-frame structure helps me. Deadlines always light a fire under my tush, and because I am also a perfectionist, I don’t want to be late and I don’t want to do a lousy job.

Some people have that built-in determined-to-get-what-I-want button, and others of us need a little bit more nudging. I’m more of the nudging variety, and that’s why Hayden’s book works well for me. I have utilized some of her suggestions in my marketing tips too.

Another book that I use as a regular go-to book is Shameless Marketing for Brazen Hussies. I have worked with the book’s author, Marilyn Ross, personally, and I can tell you the woman knows of what she speaks (or, really I should say, writes). Though the book is not geared towards authors, but entrepreneurs, many of its basic fundamentals apply to authors and book promotion. In a sense, all authors are entrepreneurs, really – so this book makes sense (it can be found in eBook format, by the way, at a very fabulous bookstore. Perhaps you’ve heard of it? The DPPstore, www.dppstore.com).

Ross also has another book that I’d highly recommend: Jump Start Your Book Sales: A Money-Making Guide for Authors, Independent Publishers and Small Presses.

Other books I reference are EBook Marketing Made Easy: 101 Great Ways to Promote and Sell Your eBook, by Rusty Fischer; and Guerrilla Publicity by Jay Conrad Levinson, Rick Frishman, and Jill Lublin.

Of course I also find all kinds of ideas from newsletters, such as Dan Poynter’s, Rick Frishman’s, Judy Cullins, and John Kremer. I also get them by typing key words into Google’s search engine.

I write this bi-weekly column in the hopes that I can share some of my experiences, thoughts and game plans with you- and yes, my style, my humor: me. This issue I am sharing where I find some of those resources that help me help you. But marketing and self-promotion inspiration, ideas and strategies come from everywhere. What I am offering here are but a few. Use them if you like and then go out there and find others that work for you just as well or even better.

That’s my two cents.

Nicky’s Book Sense List:

EBook Marketing Made Easy: 101 Great Ways to Promote and Sell Your eBook
By Rusty Fisher
Bookbooters Press, 2002

“EBooks have opened up a range of new possibilities for authors to get their work published. But how do you make your eBook stand out from the rest? How do you go about promoting your eBook so that it gains the recognition it deserves? Rusty Fischer, book marketing expert and bestselling author, gives you the answers in EBook Marketing Made Easy, a plethora of proven resources and advice that will help you to promote your eBook to the widest possible audience”

Rusty Fisher is a successful freelance writer, former magazine and book editor, and multi-published author.

Get Clients NOW!: A 28-Day Marketing Program for Professionals and Consultants
by C.J. Hayden
Amacom, 1999

“C.J. Hayden's best-selling book is packed with road-tested tools and strategies to help you design an effective marketing plan, boost your enthusiasm for sales and marketing, and begin to dramatically increase your client base in just 28 days. Using C.J.'s reader-friendly cookbook approach, straightforward tips, and specific techniques, you will:
- Break out of "analysis paralysis" and determine exactly what you need to do first -- and every step of the way
- Find out what really works to market your own professional services... and what doesn't
- Overcome the fear, resistance, and procrastination that block effective action
- Create a customized, affordable, reusable, and realistic marketing plan”


Guerrilla Marketing for Writers: 100 Weapons for Selling Your Work
by Jay Conrad Levinson, Rick Frishman & Michael Larsen
Writer’s Digest Books, 2001

“The war begins before your book even hits the shelves, and you need every weapon you can get to beat back the competition. Guerilla Marketing for Writers puts an entire arsenal at your disposal. Packed with proven insights and advice, it details 100 ways to sell your work before and after it’s published. This wide range of “weapons”—practical low-cost and no-cost marketing techniques—will help you design a powerful strategy for strengthening your proposals, promoting your books, and maximizing your sales.”

Jay Conrad Levinson, the father of guerrilla marketing, has sold more than one million guerrilla marketing books since 1984.
Rick Frishman is the president of Planned Television Arts, one of the top publicity firms in the book publishing industry.
Michael Larsen is a successful literary agent and the author of Literacy Agents and How to Write a Book Proposal.

Guerrilla Publicity: Hundreds of Sure-Fire Tactics to Get Maximum Sales for Minimum Dollars
By Jay Conrad Levinson, Rick Frishman, and Jill Lublin
Adams Media, an F + W Publications Company, 2002
“Publicity is one of the most overlooked marketing tools. With a little information and training, it can be one of the most powerful marketing tools for any company, large or small.Guerrilla Publicity builds on the potential and wisdom of the best-selling Guerrilla Marketing Series with simple to use and easy to understand tips, tactics and resources to increase the effectiveness and profit potential of your business.”
Jay Conrad Levinson, the father of guerrilla marketing, has sold more than one million guerrilla marketing books since 1984.
Rick Frishman is the president of Planned Television Arts, one of the top publicity firms in the book publishing industry.
Jill Lublin is an internationally acclaimed speaker on public relations and marketing topics. As CEO of the public relations strategic consulting firm Promising Promotion and founder of Good News Media, Inc. Jill hosts the nationally syndicated radio show, “Do the Dream.”

Jump Start Your Book Sales: A Money-Making Guide for Authors, Independent Publishers and Small Presses
By Marilyn & Tom Ross
Communication Creativity, 1999

“Turn yourself into a book marketing master and make tens of thousands of extra dollars with the ideas in this one-of-a-kind resource. Get your books into catalogs, rack up lucrative bulk premium sales, and do author signings and radio interviews that get outrageous results. Find the secret to book promotion and generating tons of free publicity, then discover how to capitalize on it.”

Marilyn and Tom Ross -- authors, speakers, consultants, coaches -- are the champions of self publishing service. This internationally acclaimed team has helped thousands of authors sell millions of books. Marilyn also works as a publishing consultant. She accepts a limited number of ongoing coaching and hourly phone consulting clients. So, if you need help shaping a manuscript, advice on book printing issues, or assistance with a profit-making national book marketing campaign, contact her today!

The Nine Modern Day Muses (and a Bodyguard): 10 Guides to Creative Inspiration for Artists, Poets, Lovers, and Other Mortals Wanting to Live a Dazzling Existence
by Jill Badonsky, M.Ed.
The Penguin Group, 2001

“Jill Badonsky takes the nine classical Greek Muses and updates them for our time, personifying ten principles designed to overcome creative blocks and embrace the wonders of self-expression. Each Muse will take you on a journey and share with you:
- Empowering exercises to awaken creativity
- Brainstorming
- Muse rituals to inspire faith and confidence
- Muse Walks
- Spiritual affirmations
- Quotes from mortals who’ve been inspired by the Muses
- Journaling, and much more”

Jill Badonsky, M.Ed., is a creativity coach, workshop leader, artist, and marketing consultant who is the founder and director of the Muse Is In, an organization devoted to coaching, teaching, facilitating, and marketing workshops and retreats to awaken creativity.

One Small Step Can Change Your Life: The Kaizen Way
by Robert Maurer, Ph.D.
Workman Publishing, 2004

“Unleash the potent force of kaizen, the Japanese technique of achieving great and lasting success through small, steady steps…Kaizen works because it melts away resistance – in particular, the ‘fight-or-flight’ brain chemistry behind people’s underlying fear of change.
An expert on the art of success, Dr. Robert Maurer has helped countless people and businesses use kaizen to reach their objectives and maintain excellence. Distilling its secrets, Dr. Maurer shows not only how and why kaizen works, but how to make it work for you…how to realize ambitions by sidestepping any impediments…As one client succinctly put it, ‘the steps [are] so small I couldn’t fail.’”

Robert Maurer, Ph.D. is an Associate Clinical Professor at the UCLA School of Medicine, a behavioral health instructor at the Canyon Ranch Health Spa in Tucson, Arizona, and runs The Science of Excellence, a consulting firm.

Self-Promotion for the Creative Person: Get the Word Out About Who You Are and What You Do
by Lee Silber
Three Rivers Press, 2001

“Everything you need to know about marketing yourself is included in this book. Self-Promotion for the Creative Person is packed with proven techniques that will work for you whether you are an author, actor, artist, or accordion player who wants fresh, off-beat, and cost-effective ways to build a business or develop a successful and fulfilling career…
- How to market without money
- How to create marketing materials that will sell you even when you’re not around
- How to build a buzz using word of mouth
- How to use the internet in ways you never thought of to promote yourself
- How to get the leaders in your field to endorse and help you”

Lee Silber, author of Time Management for the Creative Person and Career Management for the Creative Person, is an accomplished graphic artist, drummer, workshop leader, and radio talk-show host and is the founder of five companies, including CreativeLee Speaking.

Shameless Marketing for Brazen Hussies: 307 Awesome Money-Making Strategies for Savvy Entrepreneurs
By Marilyn Ross
Communication Creativity, 2000
“With Shameless Marketing for Brazen Hussies you'll learn how to combine estrogen with entrepreneurship for revolutionary success (even if you’re a man)!
The material covers everything from generating free publicity (then truly profiting from it) to advertising on the cheap—from forming strategic alliances to capitalizing on nontraditional sales channels.”

Marilyn Ross, who has been called a "trend tracker" by Entrepreneur magazine, has written or co-authored 13 books. Her Big Ideas for Small Service Businesses was selected as one of the 30 best business books of the year by Soundview Executive Book Summaries. In Shameless Marketing for Brazen Hussies she again preaches about what she practices.

Nicky’s Newsletter/Tips Sense List:

Judy Cullins
http://www.bookcoaching.com/ezine.shtml

Rick Frishman
http://www.rickfrishman.com/newsletter.html

John Kremer
http://www.bookmarket.com/tips.html

Dan Poynter
http://www.parapublishing.com/sites/para/

Author! Author!

A Bad Case of Novelism
by C.A. Scott

I am a novelist. To put it another way, I suffer from novelism, a peculiar form of obsessive-compulsive disorder that has driven many to drink, to drugs, to all kinds of self-abuse and even suicide. If you can possibly manage to live without writing, I say, then by all means do so! It is misery, it is insanity, it is not a talent but a malady. Novelists are barely functional manic-depressives for whom writing very often takes the place of prescription psychoactives. And that’s if they’re lucky.

All humans are creative to some extent. The most popular past-times these days are gardening, crafting, and scrapbooking — all arguably creative pursuits. There’s a whole entertainment industry based on exploiting the work of artists. And you can dabble in just about anything, especially if you have a new iMac on your desk. Welcome to YouTube Nation.

But novelism... Well, that’s a special kind of crazy. No other supposedly legitimate endeavor is so easily expressed in the terms of a psychological disorder. Only method actors are almost as bad. A novelist makes up imaginary people and obsesses over them for months, even years on end. She has conversations with them, even arguments, and struggles to control them but never really can. She sees the world as a reflection of her own inner landscape, spends hours and hours doing the same thing over and over again: tap-tap-tapping at the computer. Sometimes she laughs out loud or shouts “Yes, that’s it!” for no apparent reason while driving down the highway. When you’re talking to her, and her eyes go all glassy, you can be sure she’s off in that other world again, wherever it is.

This. Is not. Normal. Behavior.

I finished my first novel around age 18, and it was terrible. I actually (cringe) had some people read it, and they all said nice things like people always do. I’m embarrassed to think about it now — more for the characters than for myself (another sad symptom of novelism, putting imaginary people ahead of yourself). I even sent it out — I so hope no one who saw it then remembers it now! — and got an invitation from TSR to write for hire. But I didn’t want to write in someone else’s universe, I had a perfectly good one all my own!

Eventually I gave up and set that first one aside. After all, it was really bad. But the characters didn’t go away. They just waited... for years... until the right moment came along. Meanwhile, I went to college, played in a couple rock bands, wrote other things, toyed with acting, and started a career in journalism. Then one day, about a decade after that first novel, I went to the local moviehouse and sat down to watch Dark City for the first time.

Those eyes… I was entranced. Where had I seen them before? And that voice… Where had I heard it before?

“Oh no.”

Out of the darkened theater, he appeared, took a seat next to me, looked over and gave me that infernal smirk. “Hey, long time no see.”

“Urk,” I said, very quietly, a vain attempt to stifle my insanity.

“Honey, have I got some things to tell you…”

“Oh crap.”

And thus was Diego Lee reborn. I hear Rice had the same problem with that Lestat fellow. And Doyle too, with Sherlock Holmes. There are some characters who just won’t let you go. But look here, I’m the writer, I’m supposed to be god to this guy! I tried to tell him that the original book had been a great big pile of unsalvageable dreck, tried to explain that I had a career and a husband so there was no time to write some dang novel (series), tried to tell him I wasn’t good enough at the whole fiction thing anyway... tried everything I could think of to get him to leave me alone.

“Not gonna’ happen, ma cher. You better just sit back and enjoy the ride.”

Enjoy. Ha. You should see what the MRI of my spine looked like after five years of weeknights and weekends at the computer… You should see the weight I put on when I should’ve been out hiking the Cascades… You should see what happened to my finances when I stopped paying attention to them... Ay... Diego. That bastard.

Sometimes, I tried to work on other ideas. I had lots of them, still do. But he was brutal, kicking them aside and forcing them to the back of my mind, one after the other. Some weren’t strong enough to survive.

Diego changed my taste in music, taught me some very bad words in several languages. He whispered to me in the night, lurked through crowds and on my TV, sometimes even spoke through me or my friends. Some people who have never read the book feel that they know him already. An artist I know has found herself drawing him even when she doesn’t intend to. He’s insidious that way.

But the final version is finished, and in a year’s time the whole thing will be out in the world on its own. Guess I was finally ready to write the story he wanted me to write, the one he deserved. The real story. I learned a lot in the process of hacking it out, too — about myself, about the world around me, and about writing. And I rode it all like a carnival ride — sometimes dizzyingly fast, sometimes nauseatingly slow, sometimes euphoric, sometimes agonizing — often felt as though I had little to do with what was happening beyond merely serving as transcriptionist.

And I loved every bit of it. I never feel better, more alive, or more truly me than when I’m working on this stuff. It was hell trying to market such a huge, bloated, Dickensian nightmare of a 5-volume novel series… but now finally, I get to go back and spend quality time with it again. I get to come up with cool cover imagery and fun extras for my readers… I want to podcast and find an artist for a comic series... There’s not enough time for everything I want to do. But I need to share the madness. That’s the only way it’ll ever let go of me.

Oh, there are other stories, some about characters who live in the same alternate universe as Diego, and they’re already tugging at my attention — albeit none so obnoxiously impossible to ignore as him. There are even other worlds entirely, other people with totally unrelated stories to tell. They wait patiently on each successive hard-drive every time I upgrade to a new computer, some cowering in fear whenever his name is invoked. How I’ll ever find time to write about them in the midst of all this Racing History, I have no idea.

You gotta’ be crazy to do this. You gotta’ be crazy to love it.

My name is Cheryl, and I am a novelist. A very special kind of crazy.

RACING HISTORY

"Every WayFarer has a story. Every traveler tells a tale.
And in this life… you have to make a name for yourself."

Racing History is an ambitious, five-volume sci-fi series that proudly flaunts its appreciation for pop culture: music, film, comics, television, videogames, and yes literature of all kinds. In her episodic series, the author dares to challenge many of today’s boundaries in science fiction. This is the full story of a singular moment in history, not Earth history or human history but all of history — the story of everybody — and the how and why that make all the difference. One person can change the world, and the right people can make history. Sometimes silly, sometimes scary, alternately tragic and triumphant, but never boring, this is epic space-punk: space opera with a cyberpunk attitude and a touch of film noir.

Volume 1 (Episodes 1-7) is METEORIC, a dark and gritty story of life at the bottom of the glorious star-spanning civilization futurists are always raving about. This book introduces a man who will one day change the face of the galaxy. His early years are a trial by fire, preparing him for great challenges to come. People often talk of a “meteoric rise to fame,” but meteors are really just glowing brilliantly as they burn to nothing in the atmosphere. They never rise, only fall spectacularly... And Diego Lee lives both sides of that expression.

A scientific journalist and editor (with a few "skiffy" projects on the side), C.A. Scott is author of many articles and magazine supplements covering biotechnology. As a technical editor, she has been a guest at several west-coast science fiction conventions — and will do so again. Traveling extensively for work, she has visited nearly a dozen countries (so far) and once met a real live clone. She is also an alumna of Long Island University’s "SEAmester" program and Eugene, OR’s infamous "Wordos" professional writing group. Science fiction is her passion. She lives in Springfield, Oregon, with her husband and her mother, who retired from the working world in 2003 to devote full-time to her art,after raising three successful kids on her own. C.A. Scott drives a Jeep, misses her horse terribly, and loves to hike and spend time with her black Labrador retriever and her iMac computer.

Author! Author!

Innerview
with A.J. Alise

What is your ideal writing environment?

Although I can write anywhere—on planes, in restaurants, in the library—my favorite spot is at my cabin in the Poconos sitting at my desk overlooking an expanse of wild overgrown “garden” consisting of rocks, weeds, mountain laurel, rhododendron, lilac bushes and cattails. My six bird feeders just outside my windows lure blue jays, cardinals, sparrows, chickadees, (and squirrels) and while I’m engaged by their antics a line of dialogue, an image, or exactly the right word suddenly comes to me.

What authors inspire you most?

Too many to list, really, but I’ll mention a few who come to mind. I love different authors for different types of inspiration—Tennessee Williams, Lajos Egri, Adrienne Rich, and Shakespeare for playwriting--Colette and Anne Sexton for poetry--Jane Austen, Truman Capote, Vladimir Nabokov, the Bronte sisters, Edith Wharton and Gustav Flaubert for novels-- Annie Dillard, Anne Lamott, Natalie Goldberg and Julia Cameron for writing advice and finally-- for a good escape into mystery I love Niki French, Patricia Highsmith, and Ruth Rendell.

What do you do when you aren’t feeling inspired or motivated to write?

I walk my dog, or go horseback riding. I sculpt. I find pounding and shaping clay amazingly therapeutic. Sometimes I get up early and drive on the back roads of Pennsylvania listening to music or a book on tape. I sit in my sky swing and read. In New York I enjoy a night at the theater or dinner out with my husband—sushi or Indian food preferably. Or I fly to California to play with people I love—Eric, Heather, and their two-year-old twins—Gwyneth and Sydney Anne.



What inspired you to write CRIMSON ICE?

When I began I thought that I wanted to write a good mystery merely as a challenge to myself and a diversion but as I got deeper into the writing I found that many of my real life obsessions were seeping into the story. I had long been concerned with the catastrophic consequences of unrestrained temper and male violence toward women and children, also how the lack of love and the damage caused by alcoholism can filter down to affect several generations. I also suffered over the loss of a sister I loved and the illusion that I could have somehow prevented her death. These concerns became somehow submerged in and threaded through the novel.


Did you know how the story would end when you began writing it?

Absolutely not! When Rocky’s body was found I was as surprised and saddened as any reader might be. It seemed that when I sat down to write this book a separate part of my brain often took over and dictated incidents and characters to me, almost against my intentions and the outline I had written. On the other hand I struggled with the final twists and turns and wrote several versions before the final one and even though it’s finally out there, I still find myself rethinking the ending and figuring out how I can take it up in the sequel.

“I was hooked with the first page.”; “Wow!! This book had me from the first paragraph.” ; “I was pulled into CRIMSON ICE…”; “This book is hands down in the top five as one of the best books I have ever read.” These are all direct quotes from professional reviewers and avid mystery readers. Besides being a great confidence-booster do you think you’ve got a sequel in you?

As for the fine quotes—of course they are encouraging. It’s terrific to know that people read and enjoy my work. On the other hand I try to keep in mind that I’m writing out of my own passion and for my own pleasure and I would keep at it even if no one recognized it or encourage me. It’s my life sentence, my escape, and my salvation.

As for a sequel, I guess I already answered that question. I’ve outlined and written part of the sequel BONE MOON already. I’m determined to stick to my outline this time, but then again I’ve said that before and then found myself exploring unexpected pathways. I’ve just completed a totally unrelated novel—a coming of age novel called SWEET WILLIAM AND ROSEMARY that I plan to market under my own name Joanne Weck rather than my mystery nome de plume (A. J. Alise) and even though I was certain I knew the ending when I started, I found that the pathway to that end took many unexpected turns.

You are also an actor and a playwright…Can you speak a bit about how those talents have played into your work as a novelist? Do you think it has helped your writing when it comes to dialogue?

I’m sure that my theater background affects my fiction. I had the opportunity to hone my skills (via a Geraldine R. Dodge Playwriting grant) with theater notable such as Adrienne Kennedy, Anne Bogart, N. Richard Nash, and I was greatly impressed by the relentless focus on the importance of the physicality and dialogue of the actors as characters. I visualize my characters movements and expressions and I hear their conversations almost as though I’m watching them on stage or in a film.

Got a favorite quote?

Yes. It’s hard to select just one but here’s something by William Trevor that keeps me going:

“I believe in not quite knowing.
A writer needs to be doubtful, questioning.
I write our of curiosity and bewilderment.”

Crimson Ice By A.J. Alise (ISBN # 0-9763083-2-0, published by PulpBytes, 2005) is available in eBook format for purchase ($8.95) and downloading at the DPPstore.

Following the disappearance of her sister, Rocky is hurled into a life changing adventure. The responsibility of caring for her own son, and her sister’s two children complicates everything and raises the stakes of this already tension-filled story.

With nods to the genre-gumshoe beset by insurmountable challenges, really bad bad guys, and great cliché bits that never get old-this maintains the good old detective form, while adding a new dimension - a strong, maternal woman as the hero.

A.J. Alise grew up in rural Pennsylvania. She spends much of her time at her cabin in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains, where Crimson Ice is set. She is a novelist, actor, teacher, and playwright. Her plays have been produced in various New Jersey theatres. Alise’s other writing credits include the video productions: “World Hunger Project” and “Looking at Union, New Jersey.”

You Are Your Own Best Marketing Rep!

MARKETING MADNESS
by Kathryn Jordan

Question: What is the single most important thing you can do to promote your book?

Please resist the urge to scroll down for the answer.

Here’s the good news: if you decided to become a writer, as you probably already know, you’re crazy. And crazy is exactly what it takes to tackle the immense, many-headed beast of today’s book marketing. Most of us go in blind, swinging whatever makeshift weapons we scavenge along the way, like Don Quixote. But isn’t that how you tackled your first blank page?

Tip # 1 - Trust the process, follow wherever it takes you, and keep swinging.

Hopefully my story will at least point you in the right direction, and give you an idea what to expect.

In November, 2004, I got the phone call writers dream of - my agent, B.J. Robbins, saying we had an offer from a major New York publisher (Berkley / Penguin). My fourth novel, but first sale. B.J. was as excited as I was. For several ecstatic minutes I danced around my kitchen, clutching the phone, savoring each morsel of what my “editor” said about why she wanted the book. Editor! My God, I would have my very own editor!

Then - I will never forget this - B.J. said, “You know, you have to do everything you can to make this work. Think of it as a job, an investment in yourself and your new career.” The words hit the pit of my stomach like the proverbial chunk of lead. Five months earlier, I had retired from years of teaching high school English, years gleaning early morning hours to write before school. I retired to write full time. Now my new job was book promotion? Days later B.J. emailed info about a workshop in L.A. I went and soaked up everything.

Tip # 2 - Attend Bella Stander’s Book Promotion 101 (www.bookpromotion101.com) offered twice a year in L.A. and New York. And read everything you can find on the subject.

On a gruelling Saturday eight workshop participants refined and practiced our “elevator pitches,” learned how to give good readings, how to make a “Marketing Plan,” get media attention and much more. What struck me most was the power of “niche marketing” and this harrowing truth: If you rely on your publisher’s publicity department or on book store signings, you’ll most likely be very disappointed, i.e. paltry book sales. Premature remaindering.

Tip # 3 - Find a niche (or several) for promoting your book.

My novel, HOT WATER, takes place in one weekend at a lush spa resort near Palm Springs. Sexy, fun, full of female empowerment - perfect for spa-ing. So... why not market it as “The Ultimate Spa Novel.”

Put gold stickers on the cover. All my Adobe PageMaker practice with students paid off. I made flyers using the book cover, a Q & A, author bio, endorsements and excerpt, and sent a mailer to 100 spa resorts around the southwest. Then followed up with phone calls and advance copies of the book to those interested, and started scheduling events.

When HOT WATER was released last January, we held the launch party at Two Bunch Palms, the resort where it’s set. What a dream! Since then I’ve done book events at a dozen spa resorts, including La Costa in Carlsbad, The Oaks at Ojai, Ojo Caliente and La Posada in Santa Fe and the Aladdin and Paris Hotel Spas in Las Vegas. The first novelist to tour spa resorts. Crazy. Who woulda thought!?!

I also do book store and library signings, book club events and my second niche idea - the HOT WATER House Party, like Tupperware or lingerie parties only with me and my novel. Oh, and fun door prizes. Turquoise t-shirts and thongs that say, “Get Into HOT WATER.” Mugs with the Eleanor Roosevelt quote that starts the book: “Women are like tea bags. They don’t know how strong they are until they get into hot water.” Some fifteen parties so far. Amy Murphy, a teacher in Escondido, was so moved by the story, she compiled a CD of HOT WATER music and registered it on iTunes. More door prizes.

Tip # 4 - Use the internet as well as your personal network, colleagues, clubs, organizations, friends, relatives.

Email, make calls. Be polite and confident. (It gets easier). Explain your idea for an event or media appearance. You’re an author, remember. They admire your accomplishment. If your book fits the niche, they want you. It may take four, five, ten calls, one will bite.Brainstorm, think outside the box. Ask yourself where your book would fit. Is there a scene in a beauty salon or art gallery, a dog kennel, a museum, car dealership?

Two HOT WATER parties were held in Mexican restaurants because of scenes late in the book. An unusual event stirs interest and sales for the business too. Often they’ll do the advertising, especially in smaller towns. My best sales per time spent were in Grand Junction and Montrose, Colorado. Also Bisbee, Arizona. People said they’d never met an author in person.

Tip # 5 - Never under estimate the power of grassroots word-of-mouth.

Be a big fish in a little pond. An event with 6 or 8 people can lead to more events. You can’t track the sales from people telling people. Just do the work. Knock on every door, follow every lead, every “crazy” idea and dream, just as you do when you sit down to write. And trust those dreams enough to spend the time and money to make them happen.

Believe me, with each step, part of my mind said, this is crazy! It’ll never work. Touring spa resorts? HOT WATER House Parties? Who would have them? What if I end up with stacks of t-shirts and credit card bills? Instead, I keep running out and ordering more. Especially the thongs. (How women love an excuse to throw a hot party!)

It is working. HOT WATER keeps selling. Hey, it was #2 on a local best seller list in the San Luis Obispo Tribune! DA VINCI CODE was #4. There’s a framer! On two of my tours I never stayed a single night in a hotel, and my life is enriched beyond measure getting to know the fascinating people who set up events and opened their homes to me. Still, even with such kindness and the financial help B.J. negotiated from Berkley, it’s expensive.

In Book Promotion 101 we learned it is not at all unusual for an author to spend her entire advance on book promotion. At the time I thought, not me! Right.

Tip # 6 - Let’s get practical.

All this is extremely difficult while working and / or raising children. Save money and hire a publicist. Negotiate with your spouse to hold down the fort while you take a leave of absence. Sell something. Weigh what you want and believe in most. If it’s your book / writing career, go for it. (As long as the children still get raised).

In July I start work on a sequel. Readers keep asking what happens next. What better way to keep HOT WATER afloat? And I’ll be writing again!Here are the latest additions to my schedule:

Girlfriend Weekend with the Pulpwood Queens Book Clubs www.pulpwoodqueens.com
Marshall, Texas, January 19-21, 2007.
Check it out. They expect 10,000 girlfriends. Saturday night is the “Hair Ball.” (As in big hair). Know where I can find a glam gown and a wig?

Bloggers: July 20. Join me in some HOT HOT WATER blogging at Romance: By the Blog! With romance columnist, Michelle Buonfiglio.
*(See her fab June 21 review at www.WNBC.com/romance)

And don’t miss the Southern California Writers’ Conference in Palm Springs, Sept. 29 - Oct. 1st. www.WritersConference.com.
Author, Sherry Halperin (RESCUE ME, HE’S WEARING A MOOSE HAT) and I will share a workshop, "Promoting Your Book: What the Author Should and Must Do." I’ll also do a workshop on, “Erotic Encounters: Writing Sex Scenes that Satisfy."

Me? Crazy!But no crazier than that night at The Hot Licks BBQ & Saloon in Bisbee, Arizona, complete with belly dancers and a sexy lingerie fashion show. A book signing in a bar!? Hey, I have photos to prove it.

Tip # 7 - Stay crazy.

You started this “impossible” dream. Make it happen! And get ready for the time of your life!

Answer: Write a good book.

References: PUBLICIZE YOUR BOOK, Jacqueline Deval, A Perigee Book, Berkley PublishingNAKED AT THE PODIUM, The Writer’s Guide To Successful Readings, Peter V.T. Kahle and Melanie Workhoven, Seventy Fourth Street Productions, LLC

Kathryn Jordan can be reached at katejor@earthlink.net. Web site: www.kathrynjordan.com or hotwaterthenovel.com. Her column, “Women Changing The World,” is published monthly in THE DESERT WOMAN.

Author! Author!

Crimson Ice by A.J. Alise
ISBN: 0-9763083-2-0
Publisher: PulpBytes
Year Published: 2005
$8.95

Following the disappearance of her sister, Rocky is hurled into a life changing adventure. The responsibility of caring for her own son, and her sister’s two children complicates everything and raises the stakes of this already tension-filled story.

With nods to the genre-gumshoe beset by insurmountable challenges, really bad bad guys, and great cliché bits that never get old-this maintains the good old detective form, while adding a new dimension - a strong, maternal woman as the hero.

ON WRITING
By A.J. Alise

I got an email from a stranger the other day, and for just a moment, I felt like a real, genuine, honest-to-God author. The correspondent had seen my interview in a small Pocono Mountain newspaper, ordered my suspense novel CRIMSON ICE, (published under my pen name A. J. Alise) read it, chased down my email address and sent me an effusive, highly complimentary letter. My euphoria lasted all day. The next day, however, my inner critic had already returned, asking me where were all of the other letters and emails, and why was this writer the only one who had responded to tell me about her enjoyment of my novel.

This is one constant of the writing life, that nagging voice that says your writing will never measure up, an opinion reinforced on the bad days by the seemingly endless rejections from agents and publishers, the days when the computer screen remains blank, and all of your ideas seem about as exciting as a bowl of cold oatmeal.

So what keeps a “writer” writing? I can’t speak for the others sitting before their blank computer screens, leather-bound notebooks or yellow legal pads, but I can speak for this one.

My mother planted the seed that grew into the belief that “writer” was an honorable, even elevated calling, not unlike the religious life. As the mother of a quickly growing family that finally peaked at ten, she nonetheless dedicated an hour each day to gathering her children around her, rocking the latest baby on her lap, while declaiming in a rich expressive voice all of the poems she had memorized during her own brief education. These ranged from nursery rhymes to Shakespearean sonnets, and this ritual was the highlight of my summer afternoons.

When I was about 6, I announced that I had written my own poem for inclusion in her repertory and presented my creation in my best imitation of her style, six lines of doggerel celebrating my love for a newly acquired kitten. My mother’s reaction made me feel as though I had sprouted wings and taken a swift flight around the room. It hooked me for the rest of my life. “You’re a writer!” she declared, hugging me, her face glowing with joyous awe. “You’ve got the gift!”

From that moment on I knew that writing was my calling. I became the class poet, the class playwright, a contributor and editor of high school and college literary journals. I got a job as writer and editor for several magazines and spent my days writing plays, articles, and stories.

But then I got distracted by the necessity of making a living and abandoned the writing life for a career that allowed me to support my son. Still the itch remained. I wrote in my “spare” time and managed to have my plays performed in local theaters. I kept my “gift” alive and percolating.

Now, finally, I can dedicate my life wholeheartedly to my writing. In the last three years I have written three novels, a bundle of short stories, revived and revised plays and other abandoned projects and perused bundles of saved letters and journals for fresh material. I work in my pajamas if I wish, sitting down at my computer with my morning coffee and going into a trance that may last all day. Some days it is as pleasurable and indulgent as eating chocolate for breakfast. Some days it is as painful as sticking needles into my eyes. But it is a passion, an obsession, an addiction that only grows stronger as it is indulged.

So, if the pain and pleasure is in the process why suffer the rejection, why not just write, why pursue the elusive goal of publication? It is not about being famous or rich (although I believe I could deal with such an unexpected fate) but is, I believe, the pursuit of validation. Yes, you have something to contribute; no, you are not spinning your wheels in a vacuum; yes, someone out there appreciates your unique vision. The spirit demands to express its own vision but also requires some nourishment and some feedback in order to survive and continue to create.

Alise grew up in rural Peennsylvania. She spends much of her time at her cabin in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains, where Crimson Ice is set. She is a novelist, actor, teacher, and playwright. Her plays have been produced in various New Jersey theatres. Alise’s other writing credits include the video productions: “World Hunger Project” and “Looking at Union, New Jersey.”

The DPPstore, http://www.dppstore.com/, a division of DigitalPulp Publishing (http://www.digitalpulppublishing.com/), offers the best in eBooks from new and lesser known authors, just as DPPpress (http://www.dpppress.com/) promotes works by self-publishers and independent presses. Our eBooks are downloadable on an assortment of readers. The DPPstore – reinventing reading.

You Are Your Own Best Marketing Rep!

You Gotta Have a Gimmick!

I know — the word “gimmick” gets your goat. You don’t even wanna go there, right? Gimmicks are flashy. They’re used by the non-artist, the commercial author, the sleazy salesperson. I’m with ya...I get it! But ...For just a few moments I’m going to invite you, encourage you — even beg you — to rearrange your thinking about the word and the image that it conjures up and replace it with the image of possibility — the image of you sitting in a comfy chair on a sound stage of a T.V. talk show, or in a studio booth of a radio station, or sitting on a stool in a coffee house/public library/museum reading aloud from your book for a group of people who came to the event specifically to see/hear you! And what about the image of you receiving a great, big, fat royalty check for the multiple sales of your book?!

‘Cause if you’ve got a gimmick, Gypsy girl, you got it made! – Electra, Gypsy

All of these are definite possibilities - of that I’m sure. But how do you get from the image to the reality?

There are all kinds of things you can do to get noticed...The trick is finding the ones that work for you—that you feel comfortable doing and that you can afford to do. Obviously, it would take some serious bucks and a whole, WHOLE LOT of moxie to rent a theatre and put your name — or your book’s title — up on the marquis.

I would imagine that most of you wouldn’t feel comfortable pulling a “Macy Gray” (I know I definitely wouldn’t) : painting a “sign” on the front of your body saying: ”My new book gets published [on such-and-such date]” and on your rear end painting the words, “Buy it” (for those of you not in the know, Macy Gray actually did that as a self-promo pitch for her then up-coming album at the 2001 Grammy Awards). Truth-be-told, I have no idea if that boosted her record sales, but that was certainly a memorable gimmick!

Walk softly and carry a big shtick! –Lee Silber*

*Shtick: A Yiddish term used to describe a performer’s attention-stealing action or gimmick.

Memorable is what were after – well, it’s what I’m after (for myself and for all of you fellow writers out there). There is shtick and there is shtick. And there are gimmicks and there are gimmicks. They can come in “long-term” or “short-term” form. Example: Elton John’s big, wild and elaborate glasses (long-term); Macy Gray’s album plug (short-term).

Now, many of us may not want to go the route of either Elton John or Macy Gray, for whatever reason – too flashy, or raunchy, or too-too…whatever! But there can be a way to create a shtick or utilize a gimmick that feels right for you.

You just have to be willing to put yourself out there a little bit.

I’m going to throw out a few examples and you can see how they resonate with you:

Example: A book with a medical theme (non-fiction or fiction)

Every time you send an email or snail mail, do it with the theme of a prescription: have the header say: Rx. Play with writing out the ad, announcement, letter, etc. as a prescription would read. *(This idea is great to use as a pitch to T.V. and radio shows as well, i.e. offering them “just the prescription they need for a great show spot”, etc.)

Use empty prescription bottles and affix your very own Rx labels to them that promote your book. Inside place a synopsis about your book, reviews, or fill it with some fun item (i.e. candy) that will also promote your book.

Use [unused] syringes and roll a snippet of your book into it. Call it a “Title of Your Book” shot.

If the book also has a “love story” element to it – Romance – you could use candy hearts: put them in the Rx bottle or syringe with a label or note that says something like, “This book will get your heart pumping”, or “This book is the best medicine for your heart”, or “Take this message to heart: buy the book.”

When sending out reviews, headline them with Diagnosis: 5 Healthy Hearts for “Book Title”…(or whatever terminology comes to mind).

Publicize your book by creating a new “disease”, “flu”, or “fever” around it. Send out email with the name of the [new] strain, a blurb about it (along with reviews if you have them), where it can be purchased and tag-line it with something like, “This is a virus you want to catch!”

[This one’s a little bit bolder than the previous] Dress up as a doctor or nurse and pass out flyers or postcards for your book at street fairs or other public functions. If you can stand/sit/walk around the lobby of a medical conference touting your book – by all means: do it! -or- Have a “Doctor is in” booth (think : Lucy from “Peanuts”)…Tout your book, answer questions, pass out postcards/flyers/brochures; if you have your book in traditional print, do a signing…

[Another bold move] Throw, or have someone throw a “Get [the book out] Well” party. Serve “thematic” food (i.e. jello – you can make a fun mold to go with the book; or serve chicken soup), or serve the food in a “thematic” way (i.e. punch in an I.V. bag – think: M*A*S*H); Read an excerpt you’re your book and then pass out a “medical chart” with all the information about your book included in it and ask people to pass it along to other people – like a “good” virus;Fun stuff: play spin the hot water bottle, or pin the heart on the patient (see if you can round up some gift certificates from stores, restaurants, etc., to use as give-aways). For party favors: Tongue Depressors –remind people NOT to depress their tongue, but to talk up your book instead (see if you can get the title of your book on them on one side, with a catchy phrase on the other, i.e. “Can’t keep anyone quiet about this book”). Invite people to come dressed up sick or injured – in their pajamas, robe, or hospital gown

Come up with your own variations on one, two, or all of the above.

Success is the child of audacity. – Benjamin Disraeli

So, whaddya think? Any of those ideas bode well with you – what you might be willing to do? Of course, you’d have to tailor the ideas to your book – obviously syringes, and prescriptions, and other things medical won’t work if your book is about the wild west, etc.

And if the ideas above completely go against your grain, you don’t have to use them. But perhaps, at the very least, they generated some ideas of your own that suit you better.

The thing about all the ideas I’ve laid out above, is that they are fun – some of them even silly. But people like fun. And the ideas above are memorable. They will make you and your book stick out in people’s minds.

So will ideas and events that are a little bit more serious or formal.

For example, if your story is set in the mid-seventeenth century, then having a dance or a tea or a music recital to background/showcase your book might be an idea for an event. Readings from your book with classical music in the background might set a nice tone. Feather-plumed pens might make great party favors. Hand-written in ink pen, on a scroll, or emailed old-style font notes/flyers might be a way to get announcements out.

Gimmicks work. They don’t have to be cheesy or over-the-top flashy. They just need to be “catchy” – shticking in the mind and the memory of your audience. They might get you a spot on a T.V. show, a book reading at a local coffee house, and best yet: sales of your book!