What could publishers offer? An interview with T Q Chant

February 5, 2016 by Andrew Leave a Comment

Tim Chant self-published Sam Cane: Hard Setdown and the ebook is now available on Amazon. Tim kindly gave me time to talk about the book, about self-publishing and what he might be missing by not having a publisher.

Tell us about Sam Cane: Hard Setdown

It’s a tense and at times horrifying SF survival adventure (or so I’ve been told…). It follows Sam, a newly minted security specialist with a shady past, as she arrives on a far-flung colony world only to find the settlement deserted. Stranded by a callous corporation lightyears from help, what follows is a desperate struggle to survive, stay sane and work out what happened. These are the opening shots of a saga that will pit Sam against a ruthless enemy and that will range across the early stages of human interstellar colonisation.

Sam Cane is available on Amazon for Kindle. There’s no publisher listed. Why go it alone?

Going straight to self-publication became the plan fairly early on in writing this. The SF market is pretty crowded right now, and there’re also some issues in it that I wanted to keep a handle on. The story
was in my head, though, and writing it gave me a break from redrafting a much larger work, so self-publication made sense. It’s also done me a power of good just to publish something after years of scribbling – I’ve been far more productive since taking the leap.

What do you think a publisher could offer that you or a boutique PR agency couldn’t?

Reach. There’s a lot of good fiction out there and people only have so much time to put into reading, so any help getting noticed would be a massive boost. I’ve been really lucky in knowing some very talented people who have provided editorial input, done the cover art and the proof reading, so yep, marketing is the key thing a publisher could bring.

Talking to authors you’ll sometimes hear Amazon described as the huge villain and sometimes as the saviour of the industry. What are your views on the behemoth?

I don’t do absolutes – I’d hesitate to describe anything as being absolutely good or evil. I think we have to accept that technology has changed the way we shop for and own everything, and you can’t deny Amazon has been very clever in taking ownership of this change. At a time where publishers are (perhaps understandably) focused on hanging on to their big earners, Amazon has made it possible for writers like me to get our work out there and maybe get noticed – and while other companies offer similar services, I don’t think they’ve got the same market as Amazon. I think this has driven a trend for publishers to consider work that’s been self-published, which I think is a healthy thing.

What tips and tricks have you picked up?

In terms of writing? I’ve been given all sorts of good advice, some of which rings true (no such thing as a magic bullet, it’s all about hard work etc). The thing I found most useful when writing Sam was to be transgressive. This started life as a fairly straight-up Mil-SF with a fairly standard main protagonist – what really brought it to life for me was when I decided the main character should be a woman from a multilcultural background (I’m slightly embarrassed to admit that Sam is my first female protagonist) – from there flowed a far more interesting background that has been really helpful in planning out how she reacts to things and what will happen next for her.

Tips for self-publishing? Plan ahead and do your research – I maybe leapt before I’d looked properly, and while I don’t regret it for a second I could have made some steps of the process a little less stressful for myself.

What are writer groups and are they important?

I’d go as far to say absolutely vital, particularly when starting out. Working at its best, a writer’s group is a collection of people who may not be like-minded but are all going through the same process, where everyone puts forward their work for constructive criticism. As long as you’ve got a thick enough skin to take it, rigorous criticism can be very important in tightening and polishing work, getting you to realise that a passage you’re maybe overly proud of doesn’t work, and helping to crystallise your thinking. It’s more than just being critted – reading and commenting on other people’s work and listening to other people comment can be just as helpful in honing your own work, and honestly just chatting over lunch

I’ve been lucky enough to be a member of the Edinburgh Science Fiction and Fantasy writer’s group for years now (big shout out to M Harold Page for the initial invite) and have been critted by both established authors like Caroline Dunford and those like me who are just starting out. It’s been hard, sometimes, and I haven’t always taken on board all the criticism, but it’s been worth it.

Which books from indie or small press authors would you recommend to readers who enjoyed Sam Cane?

With a certain amount of chagrin, I must admit that I don’t really pay much attention to who publishes the books I read. I’ve been enjoying the Daniel Leary series by David Drake (Baen), sort of Patrick O’Brian in space, and I’m currently working through the first volume of James S.A. Corey’s ‘Expanse’ which has a similar slightly lower-tech horror feel to it. I’m a slow reader and alternate factual and non-factual books so my recommendations may be a bit lame…

What can we expect next from Tim Chant?

I plan (hope?) to release Sam Cane in 30,000 word or so novellas (in a way, Amazon has allowed a look back at the original SF serial publishing) so keep an eye out for ‘Sam Cane: Hard Lessons’ in four or five months. I’m also finishing a ‘Steamquill’ work which I’m soon going to be sending to agents and publishers, and starting to plot out a turn of the 20th Century naval adventure.

Does The Society of Authors’ open letter to the Publishers Association miss a trick?

January 5, 2016 by Andrew Leave a Comment

Zebra Eclipse, with its extremely infrequent posts, was set up as a vehicle to explore the common evolutionary path agencies and publishers are on. A path that all brands and every member of the public with a digital footprint is on.

Whereas I look at this from the agency point of view and back up with my experience of blogging I’m very interested in other aspects of publishing; games, music and books.

The world of book publishing is in a mess. Each sneak peak I get inside it is a surprise and a bafflement. How could it possibly work like that? The short answer is; it doesn’t work.

Today, along with the Americans, the British organisation The Society of Authors have released an open letter to the members of the publishers association and the independent publishers guild.

The open letter makes some good points but first you have to get over the fact they’ve published it as a PDF. Remember those? This could have been a chance for something to virally whisk through all the author communities on Facebook, be shared by fan groups and supporters and appear throughout Twitter. This opportunity to provoke a discussion, spread awareness and recruit members to the cause has suffered a terrible blow. None of this will happen if just a PDF has been uploaded to a webserver.

In the open letter the society points out that the median annual income of professional authors has dropped to just £11,000. That’s below the £16,850 the Joseph Rowntree Foundation calculates necessary for a living wage. It also points out less than 12% of authors earn their living solely from writing.

It asks that authors should get at least 50% of ebook revenue. It promotes the C.R.E.A.T.O.R principle as best practice.

The C in C.R.E.A.T.O.R. stands for “clear contracts”. Can you imagine a profession of this age that doesn’t yet have clear contracts?

The E stands for “exploitation”, based on the French model, and argues for a “use-it-or-lose-it” clause when it comes to formats and mediums. In other words; if the publisher hasn’t done an audio book then the author should be able to do one. Sound like small fry? I think that all rather depends on how the forthcoming battle between augmented reality and virtual reality entertainment pans out and whether smart messenger systems like Facebook M, Siri and Google Now get into reading.

While the open letter addresses the pain points felt by authors – the lack of cash – I worry that it misses a trick. The money, the success, authors are due is in the act of creating something that appeals to hundreds of thousands of people. Is that addressed here?

The premises of the letter is this; we (authors) create, we write, you (publishers) publish, you promote and then lets fairly divvy up the profit. That’s why the society is asking for a greater chunk of ebook revenue and Ownership (the O in C.R.E.A.T.O.R) appropriately tracked.

Isn’t it true that publishers and authors are increasingly sharing the same roles and responsibilities (they’re on the same evolutionary path)? Authors have to promote their own books; writing blogs, guest posts, running Twitter accounts, making time for fan sites (if they’re lucky enough to have one) and even organising their own events? What promotion do publishers do on Amazon for ebooks that authors don’t do?

As Tim O’Reilly said;

Obscurity is a far greater threat to authors and creative artists than piracy

There’s no money to be made, in the first place, unless there’s an audience willing to buy your book and invest in your work. Contracts need to be structured in a way that it is profitable for all sides to promote the book.

This isn’t just about marketing. Audiences can invest in books in more ways than just buying paper or ebooks. I think this the real problem. Who has the incentive to explore these new monetisation models?

If an author wants to sell mugs with quotes from her book on them today – does the contract allow it and who gets the revenue? If a publisher woos a TV production company looking for their next new drama – are they automatically in-line for a cut of cash if the deal goes ahead? It’s not clear but often when I talk to authors the answers aren’t what you would expect. The author can’t really monetise their creation beyond marketing their book. The publisher has no incentive to turn a book into a franchise.

The trick that the C.R.E.A.T.O.R. model may be missing is the importance of the Intellectual Property. As the open letter points out; writing is cheap, paying someone to write words isn’t expensive. The challenge is finding ideas, telling stories, creating characters that sell. If authors want a long term and robust future they need to argue their way into monetising the worlds they create.

I’m not a lawyer, haven’t studied an author’s contract in detail and this initial reaction may be based on a whole load of false assumptions. You don’t see bands asking for a greater chunk of vinyl sales, though, you see them jockeying for better merchandising deals, gigs and pushing their labels to justify every penny they take from the Spotify earnings. My gut feeling is that there’s plenty more work for the Society of Authors to do here.

An author and marketer: An interview with Gail Z. Martin

June 25, 2015 by Andrew Leave a Comment

Gail Z. Martin’s Wikipedia page is full of awards, positive reception and a busy bibliography. She’s written the Ascendant Kingdoms Saga, The Chronicles of the Necromancer and the Fallen Kings Cycle. The latest book is Iron and Blood from The Jake Desmet Adventures.

How would you describe Iron & Blood if you had to pitch the concept today?

Steampunk inventions and dark magic in a high-thrills adventure set in an alternative history Pittsburgh at the height of the Gilded Era Age of Steam.

BM predicted steampunk would go mainstream by 2014. How important is it for an author to stay ahead of the trends and therefore have books ready just when publishers want them?

While you can’t help being aware of trends and getting a feel as a reader as well as a professional when some subjects have been done to death and the market wants a new twist, I know few if any people who try to write solely for trends. A book takes an average of a year (or more) from the time the author begins to type out the first draft until the book appears in stores. A lot can change in that time. I’d think if anyone could predict trends that accurately, he or she would do much better in hedge funds or commodity futures than in publishing!

What’s the role of the publisher given the trend towards ebooks, print on demand and self publishing?

Traditional publishing was heavy on up-front risk and speculation. A lot of money gets tied up in printing physical books in large quantities, warehousing them, shipping them and incentivizing bookstores to promote them. No one has that kind of crystal ball, and the remainder bins were evident that there were plenty of misses for every big hit. Margins are slim. Publishers were reluctant to move toward ebooks and print on demand, even though it could reduce their costs and risk, even when quality rivaled traditional printing because they had not foreseen the permanence of the new business model and shifted to meet it. They were like Kodak, so sure no one would ever give up film cameras that they got creamed by digital photography when they could have owned the market had they moved more quickly to adopt change. The warning in the Kodak example is potent. Small publishers and independent authors have embraced new technology much faster, not just with ebooks and POD but also with Kickstarter financing and Patreon and other tools.

Traditional publishing said anthologies were dead. I was part of a themed anthology, Athena’s Daughters, which asked for $8.5K and got $44K, becoming the bestselling literary project of all time on Kickstarter. Small presses have proven that anthologies aren’t dead, they just needed to be reimagined. Small entities can be more willing to try new things because they don’t have as much baggage, as many layers to win over for permission, and as much inertia to overcome.

I think publishers will be around forever, but the really successful ones will re-think their roles to see where they can provide the most value. It’s no longer a daunting and risky proposition to format a print book or an ebook and produce it. Now the value-add comes in promotion, visibility, branding and distribution. Those are the pieces that are difficult for authors to do for themselves on the same scale a major publisher can do. I don’t think most publishers see that yet.

Zebra Eclipse believes that marketing and publishing are on a common evolutionary path; both about the use of great content and story telling to engage audiences. You’ve had senior marketing roles in the past so would you agree or disagree with this premises – and why?

I agree. And I believe that the publishers and publishing-based consortiums that find a way to create a strong brand for their authors and style of fiction will cut through the clutter. Readers right now are overwhelmed. They can’t browse physical bookstores anymore to find new books, and thumbnail covers on Amazon don’t do the trick. Most people don’t go to genre conventions to hear authors talk about their work and read from their books. I’d like to see the genre associations begin to behave more like industry trade associations with a focus on consumer-oriented branding and visibility. That would be hugely valuable to authors, because right now, it’s hard for a title to rise above the very cluttered marketplace.

Has the relationship between readers and authors changed at all in recent years? Do readers now expect more direct, social media-centric, access to authors for example?

Oh, absolutely. Writers today can’t get away with being Harper Lee or JD Salinger and hiding away in seclusion. Readers want to get to know you through Facebook, through live events like genre conventions, through podcasts and signings and YouTube. Authors have always been entertainers, but until now we’ve been introverted entertainers. We didn’t have to be on stage. I think that like it or not, successful authors now need to figure out how to add some showmanship or at least graceful public presentation skills to their repertoire. We live in a time that hungers for disclosure, so we need to use our storytelling skills to make our own personal stories interesting and entertaining.

How important is it for authors and creators to attend conventions?

Conventions are a huge opportunity for authors and creators to gain visibility with the most hard-core component of fandom. People who attend conventions are active and prolific consumers of fan-oriented content and products. They read hundreds of books a year, see all the genre movies, watch the sci-fi/fantasy/supernatural/paranormal TV shows, buy CDs of filk music, purchase geek lifestyle accessories and clothing. We largely know each other. Pro authors usually know some if not many or most of the other pros even at a new convention. Often, we all know each other and we share a lot of information. Fans are the same way–they not only know the pros and have built friendships over the years, but they also know each other, so the whole thing is like a big family reunion. Going to conventions builds those relationships with fans and pros, it taps you into the grapevine of important industry information, and is the place many pros pick up new publishing contracts, editing projects, anthology invitations and more. It’s the lifeblood of the genre. I’d love to see more publishers take the conventions seriously and make an effort to do more branding through convention presence. A few publishers are doing it and it pays off for them. I wish more would follow suit.

How do you see the industry evolving over the next couple of years?

If I knew that for sure, I’d invest in whatever technology or trend is going to emerge and retire wealthy. But while my crystal ball is more like a broken Magic 8 ball, here’s what I think….

I believe it will be the norm for all but perhaps the most entrenched pinnacle authors (the likes of Stephen King and JK Rowling) to pursue hybrid careers, simultaneously and/or sequentially bringing out projects with Big 5 publishers, medium-sized houses and small presses, while also keeping some story franchises for themselves via self-published ebooks and POD. I suspect organizations of some kind will emerge to create at least some degree of counterweight to the power Amazon now holds in the marketplace. Ideally, those organizations would better represent the interests of authors, without whom there isn’t a publishing business. I’d like to see reinvented business models for publishing that focus less on hitting a one-in-a-million home run with a superstar than discovering a way to create long-term profitability out of experienced and dependable writers who can be counted on to produce consistent quality and have loyal audiences. And I think readers will embrace–and reward–efforts to ‘brand’ books in a way that helps readers better find titles that suit their interests. Then again, it’s like the ancient Chinese curse. We live in interesting times.

The Hawthorn Moon Sneak Peek Event includes book giveaways, free excerpts and readings, all-new guest blog posts and author Q&A on 28 awesome partner sites around the globe. For a full list of where to go to get the goodies, visit www.AscendantKingdoms.com.

Gail Z. Martin writes epic fantasy, urban fantasy and steampunk for Solaris Books and Orbit Books. In addition to Iron and Blood, she is the author of Deadly Curiosities and the upcoming Vendetta in her urban fantasy series;The Chronicles of The Necromancer series (The Summoner, The Blood King, Dark Haven, Dark Lady’s Chosen) from Solaris Books and The Fallen Kings Cycle (The Sworn, The Dread) as well as Ice Forged, Reign of Ash, and War of Shadows in The Ascendant Kingdoms Saga from Orbit Books. Gail writes two series of ebook short stories: The Jonmarc Vahanian Adventures and the Deadly Curiosities Adventures and her work has appeared in over 20 US/UK anthologies.

Larry N. Martin fell in love with fantasy and science fiction when he was a teenager. After a twenty-five year career in Corporate America, Larry started working full-time with his wife, author Gail Z. Martin and discovered that he had a knack for storytelling, plotting and character development, as well as being a darn fine editor. Iron and Blood is their first official collaboration. On the rare occasions when Larry isn’t working on book-related things, he enjoys pottery, cooking and reading.

Find them at www.JakeDesmet.com, on Twitter @GailZMartin or @LNMartinauthor, on Facebook.com/WinterKingdoms, at DisquietingVisions.com blog and GhostInTheMachinePodcast.com, on Goodreads free excerpts and Wattpad.

Getting published: An interview with Justin Lee Anderson

June 7, 2015 by Andrew Leave a Comment

Justin Lee Anderson was born in Edinburgh and spend a chunk of his childhood in the US as his family followed his father’s career in pro football. He’s spent time in France, Dundee and finally settled back in the Scottish capital where he works as a Content Editor.

Carpet Diem: Or…How to Save the World by Accident is published by Wild Wolf Publishing and is the story of a man who discovers his ornate living room carpet is the deciding element in the bet between God and Satan.

What would your three top tips for someone approaching getting their first book published?

1. Write the best book you can. That probably seems obvious, but I suppose what I’m saying is don’t rush it. Write your first draft, then put it away for at least a month before you do your first edit. Once you’re happy with it, get some beta-readers; people you trust to give you honest feedback – not just tell you you’re brilliant. False praise is good for your ego but useless for getting your book into the best possible shape. So grow a thick skin and ask people to be completely frank. Only when you are absolutely, totally happy with it should you consider sending it to an agent or publisher. At that point, forget about it and start writing something else, while you wait.

2. Write your book. Write the kind of book you want to read and write it in your own voice. If you try to ape someone else’s style or fit within some rules you read somewhere, it’s going to be very difficult to write and probably feel unnatural in the end. Write for you – there are sure to be other people who will share your tastes.

3. Don’t give up. Try sending it to agents and publishers. You will be rejected. Probably a lot. No, really, you will be rejected. Probably a lot. But here’s the thing: even if you get rejected by everyone, we live in an age where you can take matters into your own hands and self-publish if all else fails. Never despair. Believe in yourself.

What would you do differently given the benefit of hindsight with Carpet Diem?

I would really have liked to have it ready for publication a lot quicker. It took me over ten years from start to finish. However, I’m a better writer now than I was ten years ago, so in at least one way, it’s a good thing that I’m publishing it now and not sooner. But I’ll be a lot more focused with my next book – and if I could just get a clone to do all the other family and work things I need to do, that would help!

What role do agents play in today’s era of self-publishing and Kindle?

Good question. I think their role has historically been as advocates for writers and I think they’ll continue to perform that role, but with publishers being so risk-averse in the current business climate, I think we’ll see fewer agents taking on unknown writers and more of them approaching writers who have made a name for themselves either through self-publishing or publishing with a small indie press. At that stage, they’ve got a proven product to sell and then their role is to get the best possible deal for their client.

How hands on do you expect to be when it comes to marketing and promoting Carpet Diem?

Very. It’s just inevitable now, with social media and word of mouth being the main method of promoting books, unless you’re lucky enough to have the marketing budget of someone like Harper Collins behind you. I’m happy to do it. I’m very social media-friendly and I like talking to people, but I suppose in an ideal world I’d be working on my next book instead, so the idea of having someone just handle it all and let me write is also appealing. But for new writers, we have to be involved, it’s essential if we’re going to have any chance of successfully finding our audience.

Where do you think the publishing industry is heading?

I think we’re seeing a whole new model with publishing splitting into tiers, where it’s going to be uncommon for new writers to come in at the very top. Instead, they’re going to be found through self-publishing and indie publishing before the big publishing houses will take a gamble on them. I’ve been very lucky to find an independent publisher like Wild Wolf to work with and I know I’ll benefit hugely from their experience and support.

I don’t believe print is dead – there are too many people who love the feel and smell of a book, and the experience of reading is enhanced by them. But will that love for the physical product remain through the new digital native generations? I don’t know. Who keeps a physical address book these days?

Ultimately, I can see print books becoming obsolete as all books are delivered electronically. It’s cheaper and easier. However, at the moment, print is still seen as a marker of quality. The ability to self-publish e-books at no expense is a boon to authors, but it also means there’s a huge range of quality being published. A lot of established media won’t even consider reviewing e-books until they’ve been printed. I suppose that’s a vetting issue – they assume that if a publisher has invested in the cost of print, they must have faith in the book, so it will have at least some merit.

Having said all of that, it’s still a great time to be a writer – simply because you can get your book out there under your own steam and if it’s good enough, with a little luck, you can find your audience without having to convince someone else to take a risk on you.

Which brings us back to the beginning. The most important thing is to write the best book you can. Everything else follows.