Category: Writing

Let’s sic the zombies on Amazon

I haven’t been very ranty on this blog, but now’s the time. A good friend of mine, James Crawford, recently self-published his first novel (read my interview with him) and decided to put it on Amazon. A HUGE accomplishment. So imagine his surprise when he checked Amazon (heh, I’m still obsessively checking my book on Amazon) and discovered that his book had been reduced in price—to free! He had no say in this and some sleuthing revealed that Amazon has a contract clause allowing them to match prices. More sleuthing revealed that apparently Amazon had discovered a teaser of the book he’d posted on Barnes & Noble for free, with a different cover and file size, and decided the teaser and the full book must be one and the same. More than 5,000 copies of his book were downloaded—for free. As of today, he’s yet to receive any resolution from Amazon. I won’t go into all the details because he can share them much better on his blog (http://www.bloodsoakedandwriting.com/2011/10/09/two-things-you-need-to-see-for-the-following-saga-to-make-sense/).

Bottom line, I’m outraged on his behalf. He may look into a lawyer, and I hope he can fight it, but is it worth the time and effort? I know other people who are self-published and others who are considering going that route. The internet and places like Amazon have opened the door wide for independent authors and put some fear into the big publishers. But there’s no reason to treat your customers this way. I’m sharing Jim’s story as a cautionary tale for anyone considering self-publishing. Not to say don’t use Amazon, but just to consider all your options and be careful as a little author in a sea of big sharks.

On the plus side, Jim has discovered that a number of people who downloaded the book for free are now fans and want more of Blood Soaked and Contagious. And that’s the best compliment an author can get! If you’re a zombie fan, please check out his blog at http://www.bloodsoakedandwriting.com/.

Writing without a net

I’m the kind of person who writes without an outline. I’ve tried to use one. It ends up feeling too constrictive and then I never follow it anyway. Usually I have a general sense of where the story is going and a few plot points along the way, but I have no idea how I’m going to get there. This can be a little scary. For Thief of Hope, which I’d initially written a long time ago, I had to throw out most of the book and start over because I realized it needed a major overhaul. So I basically knew how I wanted it to end (even that changed a bit by the time I was done), but the path to that end was a question. I would start with an idea for a chapter and I’d have to write to see where it would take me. Sometimes I’d think a chapter needed some action and throw in an obstacle or something to make it more exciting. That resulted in the story taking some odd twists and turns I never expected. Luckily I didn’t write myself into any corners that I couldn’t figure my way out of.

The sequel, Thief of Destiny, is taking shape in much the same way. I think I know one piece of the ending, but everything else is up in the air. Before I started, I wrote down a bunch of notes and ideas. I’ve used some of them and may use a few more before I’m finished. I didn’t even try to write an outline. Writing to find out what’s going to happen to my characters is part of the fun.

It seems like there are two kinds of writers: those who use detailed outlines (I think these would be helpful for things like mysteries, actually), and those who wing it and write without a net. In the end, it’s the finished product that matters, but as a writer, I’m always curious about how others approach their craft. At least I don’t have to worry about giving away the end of a work in progress if I don’t know it yet!

Mommy is an author

My three-year-old daughter loves books. She’s been learning about books at school and has come home saying, “this is the cover, this is the title page, this is the spine, we don’t break the spine.” Recently she said, “Who is the author? The author is the person who writes the book.” Well, this time mommy is the author. I told her that and she just looked at me with a curious expression. My print books arrived this week (yay!!), so when I show her the book now she says “that’s mommy’s book.” What an amazing feeling. And in about ten years, maybe she’ll be old enough to read it.

And yes, the print version is now available: http://www.amazon.com/Thief-Hope-Cindy-Young-Turner/dp/0982820070/ref=tmm_pap_title_0

I blogged on my critique group sites this week. Read about the effect of real world events on my writing at the Maryland Dream Weavers, and read about the advantages of a small publisher at the Write Workshop.