UPDATE: What Has REALLY Been Going On! and SALE

THROUGH 7/31, DARK DEALINGS IS ON SALE FOR THE KINDLE AND NOOK FOR $1.49. LET'S PUT UP SOME NUMBERS FOR KICK CANCER OVERBOARD!

Have been MIA for two weeks.  My apologies.  But it has been a crazy time, mostly good. I have been on interviewed on the radio and in the newspaper, scheduled another radio interview, held one major and two minor book signings.  On July 17^th I was interviewed by Bert Baron of WCTC.AM radio 1450 which covers central New Jersey. It was a lot of fun and Bert was terrific.  What was even more exciting was when I found out that my interview followed Bert’s interview with Joe Piscopo, of SNL and other fame.

The following day was my first major book signing courtesy of the Draft House in Long Branch New Jersey. If you have never done or attended a book signing in a pub, you are missing out.  It is fun to have readers and supporters stay and hang out to talk to you and each other.  In the case of this event, I was hosting it as a benefit for Kick Cancer Overboard (KCO), a local charity that sends cancer survivors and their families on cruise to help restore the soul and celebrate life.

During the month of July, I am donating 50% of my royalties from ALL sales, print or eBook, to KCO.  

SO THERE IS STILL TIME TO HELP KICK CANCER OVERBOARD. On the 18^th, I also had a wonderful array of donated gifts and gift baskets to raffle off for KCO. And it was a great success despite the thunderstorms that blew through just as we were getting started.  Some thought that the storms were appropriate for a Dark Dealings event.  Many of those who did not come because of power failures or downed trees have reached out to me since to purchase signed books.

I now have at least two other book signings in the works, not including the local Barnes and Noble that has asked me to get the book warehoused by B&N, so he can have a signing for me.  For the writers among my readers, I publish my print edition through Createspace, a division of Amazon.  As a result, Dark Dealings is listed in the Ingram catalog. But because the initial listing shows it as POD (Print On Demand) the store manager cannot stock it or sponsor a signing.  He pointed me to place on the B&N website where I could find the paperwork to get the book warehoused.  It is a 2-4 month process. I hope to have it ready for Halloween (crosses fingers).  I have also been asked to appear closer to Halloween on another radio program that covers the western New Jersey area.

Then there is the deferred graduation party I am having this coming Saturday for my son.  His godfather is an attorney in California and could not make the actual ceremony because of his trial schedule. So we pushed the party put so he could make it. Will be prepping for 50+ people. Hope it doesn’t rain.

On the less than fun side, I have been running back and forth to doctors with my father. In less than two months he developed an egg sized growth on the outside of his ear.  The biopsy did come back for cancer.  Complicating the removal is that he has emphysema (oxygen tanks and all).  So he needed clearance from four different doctors to even have a combination of local and twilight anesthesia.  But it is localized and external, so we are optimistic.

So I move forward on all fronts. I am trying to catch up on reviews that I have promised. Sitting in doctor waiting rooms gives you more time to read.  I also have asked my good friend and guest blogger, John Bermingham to prepare an overview of the fair use/copyright issues of using Pinterest.

Edits are under way of Ogham Court, a novel that takes a closer look at Nora of the Singing Stone and Devlin of the Salmon Run Inn from Dark Dealings and the unusual events on a cobble-stoned street in the Tribeca section of New York City. Expect this before year end.

I also have an outline ready for a prequel that covers some of the events in Micaela’s life around the time of her parents’ deaths.

Just some things to keep you entertained while I work on the next Micaela book. Who shall be by her side? Liam? Ethan? Maybe Parker?

A time to buckle down and get to work.

Chaos or Opportunity?

I am a new writer in the fiction world.  What a time to jump into the deep end.  I’m still struggling with the questions of craft and now I must also figure out Facebook, Twitter, blogosphere and all the options for publishing.  So here in The Grove, there are more questions right now than answers.  Please feel free to share your experiences and help fellow travelers find our way through the forest.

So as I understand it, in the traditional publishing world there are several entities that assist the writer in becoming an author.  The difference between writer and author was once explained in a workshop I attended as (and I paraphrase): you are a writer until you get a contract, then you are an author.

So in the way things used to be, oh say, two months ago before Borders began its downward spiral and the e-books rocketed out of the holiday gate, I, as a writer, would finish a manuscript and then begin the query and pitch cycle.  It being a bad idea to pitch before I have a reasonably finished product.

So let’s say things go according to plan, after all, I write fiction/urban fantasy.  So follow along on my fantasy journey.

Said agent would most likely recommend revisions to increase the likelihood of signing with a publishing house.

Having survived the vetting and debating of a publishing house, I would then be paired with an editor who in all likelihood would ‘suggest’ further revisions to make it even more marketable.

And finally 18 months to two years later, the novel is ready for primetime.  At some point prior to that, I would begin working with a publicist on how to launch your novel to make the bestseller list. But which one?  NYT, Amazon, B&N, in the perfect world (this is my fantasy) ---all of them.

But here I am at the edge of some new world.  E-books are flooding the market.  It is, in some cases, the classic drive to eliminate the middle man by both the writer and the distributor.  Not a new phenomena in general economics.  The writer wants to shorten the distance to launch and the keep more of the revenue and the distributor wants, well, essentially the same thing.

But the agent, editor, and publicist do serve a valuable function in this process.  Let’s face it, few of us are equipped to negotiate a contract, we are often word-blind when it comes to our own work and most have only a rudimentary knowledge of superior marketing strategies.  But, how to rise above the pile, hit a bestseller list and work a day job?  In self-pubing the writer must become agent, editor, and publicist.

Or does the writer find someone with more expertise?  Afterall, I don’t repair my own transmission or do my own dental implants.  Does this mean that the process will become more fragmented with independent editors and publicists, similar to the agent model filling a need? 

Does this create an opportunity or opportunists?  Are you using a specialist to help you navigate the new reality of publishing and bookselling?  Are you happy with them? How did you find them?

Thoughts?