The Business of Books

Don't know if you follow the publishing industry, but if you do, then you know all about the current feud between Amazon and Hachette publishing. To make a long story short, Amazon wants to make certain books loss-leaders by cutting the retail price below wholesale costs thereby attracting customers to those books and then sell them other books at a slightly higher cost to make up the difference. The catch is -- they don't want to cut their profits, they want the publisher and authors to take the loss in revenue.

Hachette Publishing stood up to Amazon, so Amazon decided to retaliate by making it difficult for customers to buy books published by Hachette. Some of the tactics they've imployed include not allowing pre-orders on Hatchett Publishing titles and purposely delaying shipments for weeks at a time, encouraging customers to buy used copies from other locations (thereby insuring that the publisher, and more importantly the author, from receiving any compensation for their work). These tactics affect authors like J.K. Rowling and Stephen Colbert. So, Colbert being Colbert, he uses a segment of his show to let his feelings be known on this topic, while giving his viewers a bit of education on the matter as well.

If you have a few minutes, watch both of the below links, follow their advice, and you'll be helping out a new debut novelist as well.

Colbert's Thoughts on Amazon

Amazon vs Hachette --- Author Sherman Alexie offers up more information

Join the fight against Amazon and their attempt to deprive authors their just compensation for writing the stories we all enjoy.

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Like Netflix, Hulu, or other streaming services? Enjoy checking out books from your local library? Wouldn't it be cool if you could combine the two?

Well, according to the Wall Street Journal, publisher Simon & Schuster and E-Book services Oyster and Scribd have made a deal where, like other streaming video services, readers can pay a monthly fee and have e-reader access to thousands of S&S titles in "Netflix-like" style.

I haven't heard what the cost is yet, but many suspect it'll be somewhere in the $10 per month range, and this will allow you access to as many books as you can read with no limit on the number of books per month.

Of course, this move is being closely watched by other publishers, since the success or failure of this new business model could radically change the book publishing industry once again.

So that's the publishing business news of the moment.

Until Next Time...
Profitably Yours,
Michael

Words of the... Moment III

Rereads always cause a reader to notice something they hadn't the previous time. And now on my second time through "The Shadow Rising" on my trip to the final three novels of the Wheel of Time series, I encountered the word "mellifluous".
 
From the context and from knowing the character, I had a pretty good idea what it meant, and even a simple glance at the word hints at its meaning, but I don't recall encountering it the first time through. I guess that's because I was so caught up in the story and the mounting tension, but I must have flown right by it in the final 200 pages to the end. So the word of the moment is:
 

mellifluous - sweetly or smoothly flowing.

The dictionary even gives the exact same sample as its use in the passage I was reading - "a mellifluous voice".
 
That same paragraph also included the phrase "diaphanous scarf", which as you can imagine isn't the kind of scarf you want to use if you're trying to be modest. But whether it's mellifluous or diaphanous, it just goes to show that just because you're reading genre fiction doesn't mean that you aren't increasing your vocabulary.

Until Next Time...
Mellifluously Yours,
Michael 

An Excuse to Buy an Extra Copy

I've never seen a book fair, used book sale, or box full of used books that I've not been compelled to stop and sort through. That's no secret and I almost feel sorry for those people in my life who must suffer in silence when my compulsion flares up in the presence of any of the above.


My local library and its branches have small spots where used books are sold as fund raisers and where I frequently find some good conditioned books for little more than fifty cents. For instance the most recent discovery...

While scanning the titles, I saw "Nightseer" by St. Louis's own Laurell K. Hamilton. I haven't read a lot of her books, and I could tell by the back desciption it must have been one of her "pre-Anita Blake" stories, so I thought it might be fun to give it a try.

The cover artwork and overall style gave me the impression that this was published in the late 80s or early 90s. It was in real good condition, so I decided it was more than worth the two quarters.

That night, I settled into my chair with this obscure little gem, fully intending to read through a few dozen pages, but when I opened to the title page, I saw that it was autographed!!

Well... This put a twist on the evening. The copyright and date of the inscription clearly showed that I was correct in my assessment of the age of the book, and while I don't know who Erin is, I can't imagine why she'd want to donate it away. Sure, maybe it's not worth a mint or anything, but all things considered, I can't imagine it'd be totally worthless to some of those die-hard Hamilton fans. And it left me wondering why Erin would go through the effort to have Hamilton sign it, but then (probably*) not read it, and finally, donate it to a general book resale effort later. Did she even bother to post it on Ebay to maybe find out what she could get for it?

So what's my problem? Isn't it obvious? I still want to read it, especially once I learned that this was her debut novel**, but I don't want to damage this copy. It's made it this far, why alter its condition now? Which means, that it'll join that special shelf I have dedicated to autographed books that I have multiple copies of. It'll sit next to an Anne Rice novel ("Servant of the Bones"), a couple of Jim Butcher novels, a John Skipp and Craig Spector zombie collection, a first edition paperback of "Sins of the Flesh" by brothers Don and Jay Davis, and at least the first four Brian Hodge novels. The only difference is that this one will be the only one not inscribed to me. :-)

That leaves me no choice but to head over to the local bookstore (Rose's Bookhouse) to purchase a used, non-autographed copy.

Damn! Don't I just hate it when I have to make a trip to the bookstore.

Until Next Time...
Signatorialy Yours,
Michael
                                                                                                 

*based on the overall good condition - no creases, barely any visible shelf-wear, and basic color retention.
** this is even a few months prior to the Star Trek novel "Nightshade" she wrote, and the 1995 TSR Ravenloft novel "Death of a Darklord".

Stony Reading

It's silly of me to post about my favorites from the March/April issue of "The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction" and then not tell you that the May/June issue arrived in my mailbox promptly before I left for vacation. Already had the vacation reading material packed (reread of "The Shadow Rising" by Robert Jordan since I knew a majority of my time would be spent outside adventuring and not inside reading), so while I slipped this in the suitcase at the last moment, didn't figure I'd even open it.

But I'm home now, the issue is here, and ready to be read. I have to say I like this cover more than the previous one, and I'm hoping I enjoy the story that inspired the cover art more than I liked the previous one as well.

Rest assured though that when I'm done, I won't hestitate to offer up my opinion.

Until Next Time...
Greyishly Yours,

Michael

Next Issue Please

Between my vacation and the arrival of the new issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, I forgot to post my thoughts on the previous issue.

Two real standouts in the March/April 2014 issue were "Draft 31" by Michael Libling and "A Stretch of Highway Two Lanes Wide" by Sarah Pinsker. And although Libling's story was mentioned on the cover, Pinsker's story was just as imaginative and deserved a cover mention.

If you get the chance, try to find the March/April issue, or at the very least, keep an eye out for other works by these two authors. I know Pinsker is a musician as well, and her website features music you can sample. I couldn't find an official site for Libling, but his name is all over the web, so it'll simply be a matter of narrowing down where you want to visit.

Until Next Time...
Draftingly Yours,
Michael 

Okay, So Maybe I Like King More Than I Realized

A local woman managed the gauntlet and landed on Jeopardy. As a copy editor for the St. Louis Post Dispatch, she bragged to Alex Trebeck that she landed the job because she learned she was an excellent speller. But as we Jeopardy Faithful know, she misspelled Apollo during Final Jeopardy ("Appolo" is incorrect in every known language), and was sent home after this single appearance. Later when asked about what category she thinks she would have done well, she answered "Stephen King".

That got me thinking. I've read a lot of Stephen King over the years; I think the first book I read was "Cujo". That paperback was passed around the class for months, moving from one eager reader to the next, and by the time I got it back, it was a well-read copy and a prime example of the power of a compelling story. (I do know the first movie I saw was the original made-for-television "'Salem's Lot". But that's another story for another time*)

I thought I'd post here a quick list of all the King books I've read, and quickly discovered that list was a lot longer than I realized. So instead, I created a page on my website (Classics and Cheese) which lists all the Stephen King books I've read over the decades...um...years.

Some were good, some were bad. And if you study the list, you'll notice there are some gaps. Those are periods of time when, quite frankly, I got tired of him. It's "A Thing" with me; I can only read an author's voice for so long before I need a change, and as much as I apparently enjoy reading King, I sometimes need a break -- a long break.

I'm sure eventually I'll catch up, afterall, he can only write so fast, and by his own admission, he's getting slower as he gets older.

I recently finished "Full Dark, No Stars" and I'll be posting that review soon at the usual spots (LibraryThing, GoodReads, and Amazon), so...

Until Next Time...
Prolifically Yours,
Michael 


* The images of Ralphie Glick floating up to the window and later Danny Glick tapping at Mark's window gave me nightmares for years! Even as an adult I still consider those scenes some of the scariest ever filmed.

Screen Capture 3

Okay, this kind of sort of maybe falls into the "classics" category, although this show turned out to be a lot cheesier than the creators intended.

So basically, the Television Gods took a classic detective figure, put him in his own television show during the 1970s, and within one season managed to throw it all down the tubes.

I will buy you a box of macaroni and cheese, if you can name the show, detective, and the actor who portrayed this famous detective. (hint: the son of this actor is a leading character in another television show featuring a classic detective. Although the son is not the title character. Name that actor, show, and the character's name, and I will buy you TWO boxes of mac and cheese).

Until Next Time...
Cheesely Yours,
Michael

Fan Fiction Earns Even More Respect

I'm not a fan of the supernatural romance genre.* I read the first Stephanie Meyers novel back when the series was still young because the industry buzz at the time said it was going to be the next Potter phenomenon. I barely made it through the horrid writing without vomiting, but to be fair, I am not the target audience. What I do find interesting though is the supernatural romance phenomenon and industry. Millions of woman and young girls devour these stories as quickly as the industry can produce them, and while I may not like the particular stories themselves, I appreciate the healthy economics it generates.

But since I don't follow it too closely, I was quite surprised to read the cover story on the Wall Street Journal Arena section: "A Vampire Writer Bites Back" (April 18, 2014). I had no idea that the initial author of "Vampire Diaries" was essentially fired from the series she wrote. Lost in the confusion of publishing contracts, buy-outs, etc., it turns out that the idea of the "Vampire Diaries" belonged to the publishing company and that L.J. Smith was a "work for hire" writer.

The author is slowly taking her creation back, though, through the use of fan fiction avenues, and the WSJ (being a business-oriented paper) article focuses on how fan fiction has (and is) changing the publishing industry. As everyone knows by now, the S&M porn of "50 Shades of Grey" was initially Bella and Edward fan fiction with name changes. Plus many other now-popular paranormal romance stories were born from the same Twilight DNA (which again, got its DNA from Buffy's romances with Angel and Spike, which can be traced back to Vlad and Nina).

The question is: How long will this sort of impact last? Will it bleed over into other genres?

I can remember writing Star Wars fan fiction when I was a young teenager, but that was pre-Internet days, before even "Return of the Jedi" had been released, and it was something I didn't feel comfortable sharing with friends. I do know there is some sci-fi fan fiction floating around out there, most of it centers around the gaming industry (Michael Stackpole has some interesting stories), so it'll be interesting as I delve into some research as to how much is out there, and if it is publishable.

One company that has the spare seed money to experiment is Amazon. As you'll read in the WSJ article, Amazon is taking a chance that fan fiction can be profitable and, at the very least, bring some attention to talented writers who would normally get lost in the publishing slush pile.

So don't be afraid, sit down at your keyboard with you favorite characters or universe, and tell a story or two. You never know, you may make a name for yourself.

Until Next Time...
Fictionally Yours,
Michael


*I am a huge fan of all things "Buffy", and while it can be credited with giving that category a huge boost, "Buffy" was not a supernatural romance.
** I included the above picture, because if I was writing Twilight fan fiction, that truly is how I would have ended the first book. No, I wouldn't have waited that long -- I would have had Blade show up before page 50. But that wouldn't have been very profitable, and I doubt the publisher would have ever printed my version.

Avoid cliches Like The Plague I

I used to believe that clichés were a sign of lazy writing. What am I saying... I still believe clichés are a sign of lazy writing. But recently, I was reading a wonderful short story, nearly perfectly crafted except for one cliché that slipped into the prose. Unfortunately, it was the one cliché I hate the most, and while it jolted me out of the story, I forgave this particular writer this one time because it was such a well done story, I figure it had to be that one slip that happened to make it past the writer and the editors (although I don't know how). So with that being said, here's a few clichés that just drive me insane...

• "head over heels" - yep, this was the one that slipped through into the story I was reading. Unless you are lying down or hanging upside down, you are always head over heels. I bet you're head over heels at this very moment. In fact, if you fall, then you want to fall head over heels, because that means you haven't fallen at all.
• "heart of hearts" - what the hell does that even mean? Seriously? Does the heart have a heart? Is one particular heart the personification of all hearts. I have no idea. But people who use that phrase should be kicked in the butt of butts.
• "all of a sudden there was a gunshot/explosion/etc" - do I really have to explain this one? or can I simply say that if you're able to give me an example of a gunshot or explosion that is not sudden, then I will retract this statement.
• "disappeared into thin air" -- so in other words, whatever disappeared, it happened at a high attitude, because the air is thick at sea level. Or maybe whatever it was, it wouldn't have disappeared if the air had been thinner.

So I give you those four for now. I know I will follow up with more at some later date because I hate clichés and could go on for hours about them. Until then unless you are a doctor, nurse, or missionary in some third-world country, you should avoid the above clichés, like....well.... avoid them like the plague.

Until Next Time...
Lazily Yours,
Michael

National Library Week

Right smack in the middle of National Poetry Month, we find ourselves celebrating National Library Week.

When you walk into the library these days, they have all sorts of posters showing all sorts of celebrities holding books, usually with a simple tagline promoting reading. In its own right, this is probably one of the better approaches for kids of this generation, especially considering the more immediate media connections kids have to their favorite celebrities that didn't exist twenty years ago .

Back when I was growing up, though, the approach was different. Instead of trying to get kids to read by celebrity endorsement, libraries hung posters that promoted the magic that could be found in books. Many had quotes about the benefits of reading or of the doors of imagination the library and books could open. Sometimes they said nothing more elaborate than "Reading is Fun".

There's always been a part of me that would love to have a room or at least a wall dedicated to some of the posters of my time - a nostalgic display of my childhood when I used to leave the library with stacks of books, about to discover new worlds of fantasy or science fiction or just plain, simple stories that were fun to read.

The Boss and I not only use our local library, but we also donate time and money to the local library foundation to make sure this most magic of places continues to find relevance in this quickly changing, information-heavy society. You should find the time as well, you'll quickly discover that it's well worth your efforts.

"Amid the hectic pace of our lives, a library is like a comfy chair in front of a cozy fireplace on a wintry day, where people of every age and status can sit down and feel like they've come home... to a world without boundaries, to the world of books." - author C. J. Carr

Until Next Time...
Cozily Yours,
Michael