James Scott Bell

5 Things Every Author Needs to Understand About Self-Publishing

 amanda hocking, Bob Mayer, James Scott Bell, Joe Konrath, John Locke, Lee Goldberg, self publishing  Comments Off

May 202012

 

James Scott Bell

@jamesscottbell

        

So now you are either self-publishing or thinking about self-publishing.

         Yes, welcome to the world of everybody.

         I have a question for you. Do you actually want to make some money at it?

         Here’s the good news: your ficus can make money self-publishing. Your cat, Jingles, can make money self-publishing.

         Of course, by money we are talking about enough scratch to buy some Bazooka at your local 7-Eleven. Or maybe a Venti White Chocolate Mocha at Starbucks. That’s not bad. It’s something.

         But if you want to make some real dime, and keep it coming, there are a few things you need to understand.

1. You are going into business

         The authors who are making significant money self-publishing operate with sound business principles. Which makes many other authors as nervous as Don Knotts.

         “I’m just not wired that way!” they’ll say. “I want to concentrate on my writing! I haven’t got the time or inclination to think about business decisions.”

         But guess what? Even if you have a traditional publishing contract, you’re going to have to give time and attention to business, namely marketing.

         What if you spent a little of that same time and effort learning the principles of successful self-publishing?

         Of course, a lot of authors now want to go right into digital. Well, don’t do it until you fully understand that it’s a business you’re going to be running. That business is you.

         Learn how. The basics are not that hard. In fact, I’ll have a book out soon that’ll help.

2. Your mileage will vary

No one can replicate another author’s record. Each author and body of work are unique. Innumerable factors play into the results, many of which are totally out of the control of the writer.

If you go into self-publishing expecting to do as well as author X, you’ll be setting yourself up for disappointment.

Instead, concentrate on being the best provider of content you can be. See # 5, below.   

3. This isn’t get rich quick

         In the “early days” of the ebook era, those who jumped in with both feet (Amanda Hocking, Joe Konrath, John Locke) and those who had loads of backlist (Bob Mayer) or caffeinated series ideas (Lee Goldberg) got some nice returns.

         Now, the future for the overwhelming majority of writers is about quality production, consistently and over time. A long time. Which is fine if you love to write. 

4. You can’t just repeat “buy my stuff” and expect to sell any of it

        

         We have left the age of sales and are now in the age of social. The way you market today is not by hard sell but by relationship. Even if you’re putting together sales copy, you have to think about how it offers value to the potential reader.

         What isn’t valuable is a string of tweets that are little more than “buy my stuff” or “please RT this” messages. Some authors think it’s a numbers game and repeating these messages will work over time.

         They won’t. They’ll annoy more people than they’ll attract.

5. It is first, and always, about the book

         I don’t care if you can out promote and out market anyone on the internet.

         I don’t care if you can afford to spend $100,000 to place ads for your books.

         If your book fails to catch on with readers or, worse, turns them off, you’re not going to do well over the long haul.

         Which is how it should be, after all. The quality of the writing itself should be the main thing in this whole crazy process.

         So you should concentrate a good chunk of your time, even more than you do on marketing, on a writing self-improvement program alongside your actual writing output.

         One of the reasons I’m conducting intense, two-day writing workshops this year is to take each and every writer who attends to that next level, where green is earned year after year.

          Now is the best time in history to be a writer. No question about it. The barriers to entry have been destroyed and opportunities to generate income have taken their place. But you have to think strategically. Mark Coker, CEO of Smashwords, puts it this way: "The biggest challenge faced by self-published authors, it’s not marketing, it’s not discoverability, it’s adopting the best practices of the very best publishers. It’s about becoming a professional publisher."

       Of course, if you have trouble with that, you can always partner with your cat Jingles. 

Updates

We’re fast closing in on the Austin, TX 2 day fiction workshop, June 16-17. To get the special room rate, sign up with the hotel before June 1. Details here.

I’ve posted a new writing video on Agents. If you want to know what a pitch session feels like, tune in. 

Jump, and Figure Out What to Do When You’re Up There

 basketball, creativity, James Scott Bell, Jim Caruso, Taft High School  Comments Off

May 132012

 

James Scott Bell

Twitter.com/jamesscottbell

Got an email some time ago from a guy I played high school basketball with. Nice to hear from him. Those were glory days. We had one of the best teams in the city. I wrote back and finished off my email with this: "We had a great team, didn't we? A bunch of hard working, normal guys . . . and Jim Caruso."

Caruso. He was a year ahead of me and clearly not wired the same as I was. I was dedicated to being an athlete. I didn't smoke, drink, party or stay up late. Caruso was the exact opposite. 

To give you a picture, we were once playing in a winter league at another high school. We drove over to Pacific Palisades on Wednesday nights, played, drove home. To get there and back we had to take twisty Sunset Boulevard. 

So I was driving back once after a game. It was a cold night in the canyon, and I carefully guided my Ford Maverick along Sunset. Suddenly, a convertible comes tearing by me. I don't remember who was driving, but I do remember who was in the passenger seat: Caruso, a cigarette in one hand and a beer in the other, his sweaty blond hair blowing in the wind. I remember he was laughing. 

The thing was, Caruso had all this natural athletic talent. He was about six feet tall and built like a bull. And that's how he played basketball. He had one speed, full, and I don't think he ever took a shot that looked the same as any other. He was at his best when driving the lane and jumping in the air...then figuring out what to do once he was up there. Which was usually something very cool that either ended up with the ball going through the hoop or off the wall.

This drove our coach, John Furlong, absolutely crazy. Furlong was a strict disciplinarian and team-oriented coach. He yelled a lot. He got red faced mad at you if you messed up too badly. None of us wanted to be on the wrong side of Coach Furlong.

Except Caruso. He just didn't seem to care. No matter how mad Furlong got at him, Caruso would take it silently, then go out on the floor and pretty soon do the same thing again. Which was why Furlong wouldn't start him. But he couldn't keep him on the bench for long because, despite everything, Caruso was too good not to be in the game, scoring points and grabbing rebounds. 

It was impossible not to like him. He had this infectious smile and he seemed to go through life with a certain damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead kind of joy. In pickup games he'd always be laughing, joking, talking smack and slapping you on the butt when you did something good.  

Jim Caruso graduated in my junior year. The next year we had another great team at Taft High, this one disciplined and predictable, much to the relief of Coach Furlong. Still, I couldn't help feeling our team lacked a certain, what's the word, exuberance? I missed seeing Caruso cutting through the key, doing his thing, a thing uniquely his own.

Then one Saturday I was in the gym shooting around and a fellow teammate came in.

"Hey," he said, "did you hear about Caruso?"

I stopped shooting. "No, what?" I figured maybe he'd been picked up on a DUI or something.

"He's dead," my friend said.

I just stared at him, stunned. 

"Killed in a car accident," he said. 

And I immediately remembered that night I saw Caruso in the convertible, and thought maybe this wasn't such a shock after all. In fact, looking back, it was both sad and oddly predictable. That year, in our high school yearbook, there was one of those "In Memory Of" pages for students who'd died. It was the last any of us would ever see of Caruso, and that was hard to believe.

I don't know what was going on in Jim Caruso's life. The only thing we had in common was basketball. It was enough. I didn't want to emulate his off the court antics. What I did want to do, when the situation was right, was go for the wild shot, the totally improvised move, just to see what happened. I knew you couldn't play a whole game that way, but you at least needed to have that kind of fearlessness in your arsenal. 

I draw an analogy to writing here. Discipline, fundamentals and hard work are still the keys, but you have to be willing to "go for it" sometimes. You have to jump in the air and figure out what to do when you're up there. Fearless.

I still have this indelible picture of Jim Caruso. It was in a pickup game, the first time I'd ever played with him, just before I started at Taft. His name had been whispered to me. Everybody knew about Caruso. I was a little bit intimidated at the prospect of playing with him. But then we started the game and I remember just watching him, marveling at his raw ability. Crunch time came and the game was tied. Caruso did his thing, driving toward the hoop and jumping up with a taller guy all over him. He seemed to hang in the air for a full minute. His legs were splayed and his left elbow (he was a lefty) stuck out like divining rod. And then somehow, some way, he got off a hook shot (it was the only shot available to him) and it banked off the backboard and through the net.

And he came down laughing and turned around and looked at me as if to say, "See? That's how it's done, son."

And sometimes, it is.

The Case of the Thin Man and the Soft Opening

 dialogue, first page critique, openings, The Thin Man  Comments Off

May 062012

 

James Scott Bell

Twitter.com/jamesscottbell

Here is today’s first page:

The thin man bent down and scooped up a handful of burnt red sand from a beach that no longer existed. He let the coarse bits spill from his palm and into a small glass vial, a calm smile spreading across his wrinkled face.

The man crouched in silence as he capped the vial, looking out over the horizon of the Galapagos archipelago as the sun set across them, orange tendrils stretching out between the clouds.

"It's hard to believe that such a magnificent place as this is now virtually wiped off the face of the earth," he said, still looking out into the distance.

He spun around a moment later when no reply came, cocking his head to the side. "Don't you think, Agent Ward?"

Agent Eli Ward turned his attention toward the man and nodded in agreement. "Certainly," he replied, tugging at the neck of his stuffy crimson uniform. Though it was near sunset and the air smelled of oncoming rain, the weather was muggy.

"That it is..." the man pondered, inserting the vial into a round slot in the large metal box beside him. The box held several other vials, all filled with different sorts of minerals. "Things sure are different  in our day and age, aren't they? Not as simple anymore."

Eli withheld his reply and glanced at the device on his wrist, tapping at its glowing display. It was slightly larger than a deck of cards, secured to him with an elastic band. "Dr. Vanderbilt, we’re on a tight schedule, I must insist..."

"Yes, I know, I know," Vanderbilt replied in disappointment. He pushed himself to a stand, closing the lid on his collection of vials. He lugged the box up with a small grunt and came alongside Eli.

Eli tapped the display a couple times more. "Alright," he said. "I think we're ready. Let me see yours."

Vanderbilt held his arm out to Eli, who took it. The device on Vanderbilt's wrist was smaller than that of Eli's, about the size of a digital watch. Since it received commands remotely from Eli’s device . . .

***

We start off without knowing who Vanderbilt is. He is called “The thin man” (a designation that should be reserved only for William Powell). But Vanderbilt’s identity is revealed a few paragraphs in. So why is it kept a mystery for six paragraphs? There’s no need for this.

Unless you want to create an ongoing mystery about who someone is, use their name up front. This is especially crucial for this piece, because we are not in a close POV. We are looking at this scene through objective and distant lenses. It would be much better if we were deep inside either Vanderbilt’s or Eli’s head throughout.

But I’m confused as to who the main character is supposed to be. The first four paragraphs make it seem this scene belongs to “the thin man.” But since he would not think of himself as “the thin man,” we’re either in an omniscient POV or with another character.

The only other character is Eli. But since he was not paying attention to the thin man, he can’t have observed what was going on in the first four paragraphs.

We are therefore in omniscient POV by default. Omniscient POV is not much in style anymore, save for epic length historical or speculative fiction. In what I am assuming is a thriller, it’s virtually non-existent. For good reason: Readers of a thriller get invested in it in direct proportion to their care for a character in trouble.

Every time a reader starts a novel, he’s asking (subconsciously) Who am I supposed to follow? And why?

We don’t get answers to those questions here.

This is also what I call a “Here we are in sunny Spain” opening. That is, it feels as if it’s mainly for set-up. Information is being given to us unnaturally. For example, this bit of dialogue:

“It's hard to believe that such a magnificent place as this is now virtually wiped off the face of the earth”

This doesn’t sound like what the characters would really say to each other. It’s the kind of thing each character already knows. Dialogue such as this is the author feeding information to the reader, and true characterization suffers.

So here are my suggestions:

1. Whoever is the main character in this scene, use close 3d Person POV throughout. Everything from inside that one character’s head.

2. Cut these two lines of dialogue and adjust accordingly:

“It's hard to believe that such a magnificent place as this is now virtually wiped off the face of the earth”

"Things sure are different  in our day and age, aren't they? Not as simple anymore."

  

Other thoughts?

***

(Commercial)

Pretty good is no longer good enough, whether one wants to be published traditionally or make a buck self-publishing. For writers interested in a 2 day intensive workshop designed to get your fiction to the next level and beyond, I’m coming to Austin, Nashville and Cincinnati this year. Details may be found here. 

I Am Going to Let the Readers Decide

 Force of Habit, James Scott Bell, self publishing  Comments Off

Apr 292012

 

James Scott Bell

Twitter.com/jamesscottbell

It’s being said all over the place that the new “gatekeepers” in publishing are the readers. Because of self-publishing, and new initiatives by traditional publishers to go direct to readers via revamped websites, that certainly seems to be the case.

So I have decided to put it to the test by letting readers decide if a new idea of mine will become a series.

About a year ago my son laughingly offered me an idea. He loves to make up titles and concepts, just for fun. "Hey Pop,” he said, “how about a thriller about a nun who is secretly a vigilante? She knows martial arts, and can kick butt when necessary?"

I looked at him quizzically, and then he gave me the (you'll pardon the expression) kicker: "You can call it FORCE OF HABIT."

I cracked up. So did he. But he stopped when I said, "I think I'll do it."

"I was only kidding," he said.

"It’s a great concept," I said. "Original, great title, and I think I can do something with it."

What I did was start to write it. On the side, as I had traditional contracts to fulfill. But as I played with this story, I got pulled more and more into it.

My martial arts nun I named Sister Justicia Marie (or Sister J, as she's known by those close to her). I thought up her backstory. She is a former child star who grew up into a drug-using actress who then hit bottom. That's when she turned her life over to God and entered into the sacred life.

But during her time before the cameras, she studied martial arts (particularly for a Steven Seagal film she was in) and those skills have not left her.

And as I like to dig into themes in my books, I thought this raised a most intriguing question: could a devout nun actually justify violence if it was in the course of doing good, like stopping violent criminals?

When a cop asks her the same question, I heard her say this about the criminal element: “They are the knuckles. I am the ruler.”

I started adding a cast of characters. And then I thought of plotlines, and the idea of a series started to unfold. These would be in novelette form, around 15k words each. I think that’s a good pulp fiction value for the reading dollar.

I even went so far as to commission a talented young artist to do a series logo for me, a nun issuing a flying kick. And then the pitch:

When a nun is viciously attacked, Sister Justicia Marie takes it upon herself to find out what happened. The cops don't like that. Neither does her Mother Superior at St. Cecelia's school. But when a couple of hoods try to stick up a liquor store and Sister J brings them down, something is unleashed inside her, something that will either confirm her calling . . . or destroy it.

So now here it is. For KINDLE and NOOK, the first of the Rogue Nuns series featuring Sister Justicia Marie:

Here is my request: I’m asking you, the, readers to decide if the series will go on. By reading FORCE OF HABIT, and offering reviews, you will help me make the decision whether to continue.  

In this case, you are indeed the gatekeepers and the decision makers. So let me hear from you. Thanks!

Limit the Exposition in Your Opening Pages

 disturbance, exposition, First page critiques, openings, zombie fiction  Comments Off

Apr 222012

 

James Scott Bell
Twitter.com/jamesscottbell

Since I am the resident zombie fiction guy, the first page I’ve been given for critique is, not surprisingly:

Z.O.M.B.I.E. Squad:  Hot ZOMBIE Nights

Jaz surveyed the semi-dark alley after escaping from her BMW. Drat. ZOMBIES. Not what she needed at the moment. How would she explain this to her new boyfriend?  Not the ZOMBIES per se, but the fact that this would be the third time this week that she'd bailed on dinner with him. Well, if he was a quality catch, he'd let her make it up to him, if not, there were other non-ZOMBIES out there in the world. Right?

There was a screech of metal on metal, as one of the ZOMBIEs dragged something along the side of her M3, and it would definitely leave a mark.  Ok, “drat” just officially became “double-damn” the minute both her love life and her car became casualties. Being undercover with ZOMBIE International Technologies was never easy. Often it downright stunk, just like this alley. It always seemed to be us or them and just a street away from normal. Whoever thought that all aliens were smarter and more techno-savvy, never met a pod-ZOMBIE.

The pod-Zs looked almost as unearthly as they were. Jaz could see their sallow, waxy faces as they stepped out of the shadows and into the moonlight. Light-colored images of the humans they might have been. Ok, maybe she could see why someone who didn’t know better might think they were just the walking. Jaz’s chest heaved a bit as she took in one, deep, cleansing breath. It was warm, wet, and tasted a bit like the Cuban carne asada she’d planned on having for dinner. She sighed as she pulled the transonic pen-dart from her bra: her $100 Dior Du jour, lace alternative, super-sexy, continental blue bra, with matching underwear. Yes, they did match her Beemer perfectly. That should say something about the level of clothing perfection and date desirability she had worked so hard for as she prepared to meet up with 3DP-vid god, Wylie Taylor.

It pained her to risk her Dior bra by using it as a weapon holder, but without stockings, there were few choices to secure a pen-sized super weapon and keep it accessible.

****

Paranormal fiction. Zombies. You have to build a world, and that’s what the writer is attempting to do here, plus give us exposition to boot. And the instincts are good: weave the exposition within the action.

However, this opening is weighted too heavily on the informational (notice how “blocky” the text is on the page). It’s a common mistake made because the writer feels the reader has to be clued in to a lot of background before he can understand what’s going on.

Almost always a wrong choice. Because readers will wait a long timefor explanations so long as something is happening that is disturbing.

This first page delivers a great opening disturbance. To make it even more effective, let the action be primary and drop exposition in later, a bit at a time.

To show you what I mean, here is the opening rendered with just the action sentences:

Jaz surveyed the semi-dark alley after escaping from her BMW. There was a screech of metal on metal, as one of the ZOMBIEs dragged something along the side of the M3.

She could see their sallow, waxy faces as they stepped out of the shadows and into the moonlight. Light-colored images of the humans they might have been. 

She sighed as she pulled the transonic pen-dart from her bra.

***

I am much more in this scene now. I want to keep reading. I want to know what that thing in her bra does.

The author has me hooked, and can begin to drop in exposition as needed. But keep it brief. The next lines might be:

Being undercover with ZOMBIE International Technologies was never easy. Often it downright stunk, just like this alley.  

Then get back to the action. Then later the stuff about the boyfriend. More action. And so on.

Also, I’d cut: The pod-Zs looked almost as unearthly as they were. This is a “tell” just before the “show” of the next sentence. The latter creates a picture for the reader, who can then draw his own conclusion.

I like the voice that is “lurking” here. But it sounds “once removed,” e.g. in this line: That should say something about the level of clothing perfection and date desirability she had worked so hard for as she prepared to meet up with 3DP-vid god, Wylie Taylor.

This is the author commenting on Jaz, not something from Jaz herself. I wonder if the author might consider turning this into a First Person narration. Then the fun aspects of the voice could come out more naturally, e.g.:

I pulled the transonic pen-dart from my $100 Dior Du jour, lace alternative, super-sexy, continental blue bra, with matching underwear. Matched my Beemer, too. But this was about date desirability. Hard work, but then again it was 3DP-vid god Wylie Taylor I was going to meet up with.

If I ever got away from these Zs.

That’s just a suggestion, something to consider. You can achieve pretty much the same effect in Third Person, but you should make sure the narration sounds like thoughts your character would actually think, and keep author commentary out of it.

I like this concept. Hey, fun zombie thrillers are my bag. So hook me with action in this first chapter and drop in only the exposition that is absolutely, positively necessary for the understanding of the scene.

It is much less than you think. And a much better start without it.

My Favorite Movies About Writers

 Bullets Over Broadway, Midnight in Paris, Movies, Old Acquaintance, sunset boulevard, Teacher's Pet, The Whole Wide World  Comments Off

Apr 152012

 

James Scott Bell
Twitter.com/jamesscottbell

1. Sunset Boulevard (1950, dir. Billy Wilder)

One of the best American films of any kind. You know the story. Down on his luck screenwriter Joe Gillis (William Holden) avoids the repo men by pulling into the driveway of a decaying mansion, wherein resides the aging silent screen star Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson). Gillis hatches a plan to make a little money off her, but who is actually controlling whom? Great support from Eric Von Stroheim as Max the butler, and Fred Clark as the producer who holds a pitch meeting from hell (not all that much has changed in Hollywood).

In any other year Swanson would have walked away with an Oscar. She was up against Bette Davis in All About Eve (another iconic performance) but they both lost to newcomer Judy Holliday in Born Yesterday.

2. The Whole Wide World (1996, dir. Dan Ireland)

A moving biopic of pulp writer Robert E. Howard (creator of Conan the Barbarian). Vincent D'Onofrio and Renée Zellweger deliver powerhouse performances as the doomed writer and the teacher who befriended him. Based on the memoir of Novalyne Price Ellis, played by Zellweger in the film.

Howard was one of the most prolific writers of the Depression era. He died by his own hand at the age of 30.

3. Old Acquaintance (1943, dir. Vincent Sherman)

A tale of art vs. commerce, of the real literary talent ignored by the public and the hack scribe who lucks into all the fame and money. Bette Davis plays the former and Miriam Hopkins the latter. It's worth it just to watch these two divas (who intensely disliked each other) vie for attention (there's a scene where Davis shakes Hopkins a bit too energetically). For my money, Davis steals it because she does not attempt to chew the scenery, the way Hopkins tends to. Makes you appreciate what a great actress Davis was.

BTW, Bette Davis was the greatest smoker in film history. If you watch her carefully, she never puffs the same way in any scene. She always works her cigarette in keeping with the mood of the moment.  

4. Teacher's Pet (1958, dir. George Seaton)

This one's about old school journalism vs. trendy classroom theory. Clark Gable is the crusty newspaper editor trying to get the best of college journalism teacher Doris Day. Gig Young is hilarious in support (he picked up an Oscar nod). The best scene is in a night club where Gable tries to drink Young under the table while Gable's too-young-for-him squeeze, Mamie Van Doren, bumps and grinds a song that embarrasses everybody. Day is a monster talent: she could sing, dance and act in both comedy and drama.

BTW, did you know Doris Day was offered the role of Mrs. Robinson in The Graduate? She turned it down because she thought it too much against her image, but she would have killed that role, just like Anne Bancroft did.

5. Bullets Over Broadway (1994, dir. Woody Allen)

What do you do when a cheap thug is a literary genius, and you, the writer who wants to be great at all costs, don't have that touch? 

It's a movie full of great moments (Woody Allen is never funnier than when puncturing pretensions) and solid performances, most prominently Chazz Palminteri as the thug-genius and Jennifer Tilley as a mobster's gal who, naturally, wants to be an actress (Oscar nods for both). Dianne Wiest won the Supporting Actress statuette as an over-dramatic Broadway star.

6. Midnight in Paris (2011, dir. Woody Allen)

Owen Wilson is perfectly cast as the Hollywood screenwriter who is transported back in time to meet some of his writing heroes. He's hilarious as he relates to everyone in 1920s Paris in his laid-back, Southern California style (like when he offers a Valium to a wigged out Zelda Fitzgerald).

Corey Stoll as Ernest Hemingway (above) gives my favorite performance. He manages to capture both the bluster and genius of Hemingway, and neither he nor the script make him out to be a buffoon, which in our politically correct days would have been the easy choice. I also cracked up at Adrian Brody's rendition of Salvador Dali.

So what about you? Any favorite films about writers or the artist's life you'd like to put on the list? I've got plenty of microwave popcorn and am ready for some recommendations.   

Writers, Awards and The Journey

 awards, International Thriller Writers, James Scott Bell, John Gilstrap, John Wooden, One More Lie, the writing life, Threat Warning  Comments Off

Apr 082012

 

James Scott Bell

Twitter.com/jamesscottbell

This past week TKZ blogmate John Gilstrap and I received the lovely news that we are finalists for a 2012 International Thriller Writers Award. Even lovelier, we are not in the same category, so we can root for each other without tight smiles. John’s novel, Threat Warning, is up for the Best Paperback Original. I’m up in the short story category for One More Lie.

Which prompted a few thoughts on awards, kudos and the writing journey.

Of course, every writer––indeed, anybody who does anything––likes awards and recognition. That’s our nature, and there’s nothing wrong with it. Used rightly, it can be a motivation to good work and striving to get better.

But it should never be a dominating drive, in my view, or it might become a snare and a distraction.

One of my heroes is the late UCLA basketball coach, John Wooden. When I was in high school I got to attend his basketball camp, and talk to him a bit. Coach Wooden gave all of us a copy of his Pyramid of Successand taught us more than just the fundamentals of the game.

“Individual recognition, praise, can be a dangerous commodity,” Coach Wooden once wrote. “It’s best not to drink too deeply from a cup full of fame. It can be very intoxicating, and intoxicated people often do foolish things.”

He was just as clear about losses. Never measure yourself by what you lost, but by how you prepared. That’s the only thing within your control and the only thing you can change.

“I never mentioned winning or victory to my players,” Wooden said. “Instead I constantly urged them to strive for the self-satisfaction that always comes from knowing you did the best you could do to become the best of which you are capable.”

That’s his famous definition of success, and it’s rock solid. When we work hard and know we’ve taken whatever talents we have and pushed them further along, that’s achievement. It’s one of the reasons I teach writing classes and workshops. I love helping writers get to their own next level, whatever it may be for them.

So regardless of what happens at this year’s ITW Awards, I will be happy for the trip to New York with my wife, for hanging out with John and other writers I admire, and appreciating the privilege of being included in such august company.

But then it will be time to come back to L.A. and hit the keyboard again, working hard to be the best I can be. It makes each day its own challenge and, in striving, its own reward. Don’t miss that by letting an inordinate desire for recognition mess with your head.

“I derived my greatest satisfaction out of the preparation, the journey,” Wooden wrote. “Day after day, week after week, year after year. It was the journey I prized above all else.”

*Quotations are from Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Courtby John Wooden and Steve Jamison (Contemporary Books, 1997)

How Many Brands Can an Author Have?

 branding, City of Angels, John Locke, Kit Shannon, Robert B. Parker, Robert E. Howard  Comments Off

Apr 012012

 

James Scott Bell
Twitter.com/jamesscottbell

Last week I wrote about the re-launch of my first series, co-authored with Tracie Peterson. City of Angels, Book 1 in the Trials of Kit Shannon series, is now available for the intro price of $2.99 on both Kindle and Nook.

Which raises (not begs!) the question: can an author today have several brands?

Back in the “old days” (like, before August, 2010) branding was a key concept in the traditional publishing world. Still is, actually. That’s because a publisher trying to make money with an author has to build a repeat readership, and that’s done over time, book by book. 

Take a hypothetical author. Let’s call him Gil Johnstrap. He comes out with a terrific first novel, a thriller about a boy on the run from the law. A fan base starts to form and they eagerly await his next book. If that book were to be about a horticulture competition in Surrey, England, circa 1849, they would tend to be confused and frustrated. They might decide to skip the next Johnstrap because they’re not sure what it contains.

So Gil and his publisher come out with another thriller, this one about a family on the run from the FBI. Fans buy it and are happy. They start spreading the word to other thriller fans about this Johnstrap fellow. The growing base looks forward to the next thriller. And so it goes.

Now, if an author becomes overwhelmingly popular, like a King, Grisham or Patterson, they earn the right to try, on occasion, something “off brand.” King might write about a girl lost in the woods. Grisham about a painted house. Patterson about whatever the heck he wants—I have a feeling his parking tickets would sell a million copies.

But the publishers will insist on getting “back on brand” with the next book, because that is the bread and butter for them, the guaranteed sales.  

Cut to: today. And e-publishing. What is the state of branding now? Let me start with my own experience.

I have been writing contemporary suspense, like the Ty Buchanan series for Hachette and Deceived for Zondervan. I’ve now augmented those books with novella/short story collections I’ve self-published. These all fall into the suspense category, so they are complementary. They make new readers for the traditional work. Everybody wins. 

I’ve self-published a couple of boxing stories, because I like writing them. These make me new readers for the rest of my work, too. They do absolutely no harm to the print brands. Plus they bring in nice-dinner-with-my-wife money each month.

I write zombie legal thrillers under the pen name K. Bennett for Kensington. I plan to augment these with short, paranormal stories. These stories will make new readers for the novels. Once again, both publisher and author win.

As mentioned up top, I’m re-launching the historical romance series featuring Kit Shannon, six books in all. I daresay the readers of the Kit Shannon books may find the Mallory Caine, Zombie-at-Law books a tad “off brand.” But that’s okay. Two different audiences, but with potential cross-over. And no harm, no foul to either brand.

I do non-fiction for Writer’s Digest Books. I support those books with articles for Writer's Digest magazine, my regular Sunday column here at TKZ and on Twitter (where I've also developed a strategic brand). Again, everything working together.

So: Can an author today juggle several brands?

My answer: Not only can, but should.

Branding in the days of print-only was partially determined by physical shelf space and seasonal purchases. An author could not come out with several different titles at roughly the same time. Bookstores wouldn’t buy. And they’d be a bit confused. If Gil Johnstrap did write that horticulture novel, A Garden in My Heart,would it be placed on the thriller shelf next to his other titles, where fans would look? Or on the romance shelf? Or in “Gardening”?

But there are no such limitations in the digital world. All books are “shelved” cover out. Digitized books are given, via algorithm, space next to similar books. A reader can find new authors in a genre this way. Quite easily.

An author can distinguish between his brands via cover art, book description, tagging, and even a pseudonym.

John Locke, poster boy for self-publishing success, writes contemporary thrillers and Westerns. Just like Robert B. Parker did after he became a household name with Spenser.

As I said a couple of years ago, this new e-publishing era is a lot like the old pulp fiction days. I look back at a Depression-era writer like Robert E. Howard. He wrote stories in the fantasy, horror, detective, western and boxing genres. All of ‘em. And made a living. That can be done again, now, in today’s e-world. It’s a great time to be a writer who loves to write.

There is only one fly in this ointment: a traditional publishing contract with a boilerplate non-compete clause the publisher is determined to enforce. I know some writers in this predicament. And while I understand that publishers are undergoing paradigm shock right now, this is not the best reaction. Publishers should be willing to re-negotiate these clauses so their writers can earn extra income and make new readers without harming the brand they are creating together.


Publishers who make an investment in an author do deserve consideration and protection. They deserve the author's best work (non-diluted by overwriting). And they are entitled not to wake up one morning to find their author selling a novel in the same genre for 99¢. Authors need to appreciate the harsh business reality of traditional publishing. 

All that said, I see no reason why writers cannot be strategically developing different brands for their digital platform, and have fun doing it. Nor do I see a reason for publishers to resist sitting down with author and agent and hammering out contractual language that is fair to both sides on this matter.


Now I'm going to run a warm bath, put on some Yanni and relax with A Garden in My Heart.

How to Develop an Enduring Series Character

 Bethany House, CBA, Kit Shannon, Los Angeles, The Trials of Kit Shannon  Comments Off

Mar 252012

 

James Scott Bell
Twitter.com/jamesscottbell


Today, through the wonder of digital publishing, Iam announcing the re-birth of my first series character. City of Angels, Book 1 in the Trials of Kit Shannon series, is nowavailable for an introductory price of $2.99 on both Kindle and Nook.


Let me give you the background.

I was writing stand alone legal thrillers for theCBA (Christian Booksellers Association) market, and was trying to think of aseries idea. I noticed (it’s not hard to notice!) that the majority of readersin this market are women (even more than in the ABA market), and that the mostpopular genre of the time was “prairie romance.” This genre was set in the1800s (think Little House on the Prairie).The usual lead character was a young woman of marriageable age, pluckily usingher faith and grit to overcome challenges and find true love.

As I pondered that, it seemed to me that genre couldmove forward, historically speaking. One slice of history that has not beengiven its due is the story of my own home town, Los Angeles. It’s a great, richtapestry, fascinating and colorful. Especially when it comes to courtrooms andthe law.

So I came up with this concept: a young womancomes to turn-of-the-century Los Angeles with a determination to practice law. Itwas a perfect historical moment, rife with conflict, because at that time womenwere barely getting into the legalprofession. There was a lot of male resistance to the idea. And Los Angeles in1903 had all sorts of fascinating cross currents. It was moving from western boomlet toward urbanadolescence. There was high society and low criminality. It was then (and stillis) a city for dreamers and charlatans alike.

My idea, then, was to follow this young woman fromher arrival in L.A. through the growing pains of the city. This would mirrorher own growth and quest to practice law. I would include real, historicalfigures in the plots (e.g., William Randolph Hearst, Earl Rogers, TeddyRoosevelt, Houdini, John Barrymore).


Those are two key components for an enduring series character: setting and vocation. You need to know the nooks and crannies of your setting so it can take on the feeling of being another character in the story. And readers love to see authentic details about a character's work life.


Research, friends.  

I began to picture this woman in my mind. I wantedher to be of Irish descent, so she had some fire in her. I wanted her to haveauburn hair and green eyes. And I wanted to name her Kit Shannon.

When I could see and hear Kit,that’s when I really started getting juiced about the project. Which is another secret of an enduring series character: you, the author, have to be truly anddeeply excited about her. You ought to be thinking about her even when you're not writing. She must be someone you  haveto write about. If she’s not, that lack of zest will be evident in yourpages.

So I created a proposal and pitched it to aneditor I knew who worked at the leading publisher of prairie romances, BethanyHouse.

Well, they liked the concept. But they saw achallenge. I was a male author entering a primarily female genre. So they askedme if I would consider co-writing the series with one of their popular femaleauthors. She could, they explained, help me develop a voice for the genre andalso introduce me to a good-sized readership.

I was a bit skeptical, but they offered to fly meand the other author to their home offices for a meet-and-see.

Which is how I met the wonderful, marvelous,humorous, generous Tracie Peterson. We hit it off immediately, and I mean rightfrom the get-go. We signed a three book contract and off we went.

Tracie and I worked exceedingly well together. Webrainstormed plot ideas, then I wrote a “lean” first draft. Tracie added her“layers,” a lot of which were descriptions of the era's dress and etiquette, and more generally awoman’s point of view and voice. I then did a final going over the manuscript,cleared up any questions, and submitted to our editor. (What was nice was, bythe time the third book came out, I’d gotten the hang of the voice myself. Sowhen it came time to contract for another three books, Tracie handed the seriesover to me to do on my own).

When Bethany House showed me the cover art for City of Angels I was absolutelygobsmacked. Because the model looked exactlythe way I’d pictured her.

And when Cityof Angels came out, it hit the CBA bestseller list. Women readers told methey loved this updating of the prairie romance heroine. Which is another secretof an enduring series character: make them fresh. Give them some nuance ortrait or drive that is original, not just a repeat of what we’ve seen before. 

I did make new readers from City of Angels, including among theyounger set. In fact, Tracie and I got several letters from high school age girls whosaid Kit Shannon was inspiring to them. One wrote that the book helped her “notto be afraid of what others think if I’m sure of my calling.” Another wrotethat Kit inspired her to pursue a dream of going to law school. 

Which is why it is now my pleasure to re-introduce Kit Shannon to a new generation of readers. I hope to have the entire series out by the end of the year:

The courtrooms of 1903 Los Angeles are a man’sworld––until Kit Shannon arrives

With shoulders squared and dreams set high,Kit Shannon arrives in Los Angeles feeling a special calling to the law. Yetunder the care of her socialite aunt, Kit quickly comes to realize that fewunderstand her burning desire to seek justice and practice a profession known onlyto men. When her aunt adamantly refuses to support her unconventional careeraspirations, Kit questions whether she is truly following God's will. And whenher growing love for a man pledged to another threatens scandal, Kit knows herdays might be numbered in Los Angeles.

A chance meeting with Earl Rogers, thecity's most prominent criminal lawyer, garners Kit an apprentice position. Andwork on a notorious murder case. Someone has been killing prostitutes in LosAngeles, but Kit is certain it is not Rogers’ client. Determined to find thetruth, Kit runs full on into forces that want to stop her, forces that stretchall the way to the citadels of power in the City of Angels.

"...a great story, historical fiction pluslegal thriller in the style of John Grisham." - WorldHistoricalFiction.com

City ofAngels is a full length (90,000 word) novel at the launch price of $2.99.

KINDLE

NOOK

Listen to the Book

 Donald Maass, Dorothea Brande, Eli Wallach, James Scott Bell, K. Bennett, Method Acting, Pay Me in Flesh, zombie legal thrillers  Comments Off

Mar 182012

 

James Scott Bell
Twitter.com/jamesscottbell

TCM, may favorite channel, showed a clip the other day of the great actor Eli Wallach talking about Method acting. This was the movement that took off in the 1940s, inspiring a new generation of actors like Brando, Newman and Dean.

Wallach reflected that as a young actor it was exhilarating to work things out with the Method. It was a like a big gymnasium and the actors were all playing off each other, trying things, letting scenes happen naturally.

But as he grew older, he said, he got more cautious. He would sometimes forget those lessons of youth, that sense of play. To break out of his torpor he would reflect back on his early days.

"The Method tends to put you back on the track to enjoy what you're doing, to listen," he said. "The big secret to acting is listening. A thought on the screen is amazing. And if you really listen, it comes to life."

This hit me as something that applies to writing as well. We don't put our best words on paper unless, in some form or fashion, we listen to the story as it unfolds. Madeleine L'Engle put it this way: "A writer grimly controls his work to his peril.  Slowly, slowly, I am learning to listen to the book, in the same way I listen to prayer.  If the book tells me to do something completely unexpected, I heed it; the book is usually right."

So how do we listen to the book? Here are a few suggestions.

1. Listen in the morning

A valuable literary practice is to write quickly, first thing after you wake up (I will allow you a minute to start the coffee brewing, of course, but sit down ASAP and write, with pen and paper even, in stream of consciousness mode.)

Dorothea Brande recommends this practice in her wonderful little book, Becoming a Writer. It's a way to capture that netherworld we inhabit between sleeping and waking, and therein lies treasure. Also, a lot you'll throw away. But that's the nature of creativity. The idea is to record as much of the mind stuff as possible, and then use whatever you find that's valuable. Like panning for gold, you get a whole bunch of the riverbed in your pan then coax out the gold a bit at a time.

2. Use a novel journal

Sue Grafton does this, and that's good enough for me. She begins each writing stint with her journal (she creates one for each novel). She starts with a diary entry, something about her life at the moment. Then she starts asking herself questions about her WIP. She may want to work on a scene, or a character, or some plot twist, or whatever else is popping up in her mind. Writing freestyle, is a way to open up her mind to hear what the story might be saying. It's a conversation with the book.

3. Go to the place you fear

Going to places we fear is often where the deepest and most vital material is waiting. I never thought I'd write paranormal (abnormal, maybe). But when I came up with an idea that just wouldn't go away, a zombie legal thriller, I went with it. It sold. Then, during the writing, I had to listen to what this new genre was telling me. I had choices, to go horrific or dark humorous or serious, throughout the writing of the first book in the series, Pay Me in Flesh. I listened intently, feeling my way along so the book had its own rhythms.

My agent, colleague and friend, Donald Maass, is a master at helping writers press beyond safe pastures. A question Don likes to ask in his workshops is, "What is something your character would never ever do or say?" Then, find a place for the character do or say that thing. Or at least think it, showing a ferocious inner conflict. Wow. Try that some time and then pick up the pieces of your head.

If you ever get stuck on a project, or the inspiration for it has given way to drudgery, remember what Eli Wallach said. Maybe it's time to listen. Give the book your attention. Allow it to play. It wants to help!

Are you attentive to what your story is trying to tell you?