A Milestone

First, the obligatory "pimping my stuff" quip - The Midnight Diner, Volume 3 - which contains my story "Lonely Places" - is up on Amazon.  I read it at Horrorfind 12 this year, and people seemed to like it.  Anyway, grab a copy and if you do, let me know what you think.

Second - so today is the day.   A milestone.  It could be nothing but a footnote in an otherwise unremarkable journey, or it could be THE BIG THING.  Anyway, today I send in a pitch for a series I've been working on for the past few months, a series that began as merely an idea that has now grown huge, gotten under my skin and in my head, something I'd LOVE to see come about. 

Regardless of the publisher's response, it's a milestone because I finally learned the value of writing the dreaded synopsis.  That's right.  The "book report about my book."  That thing that authors everywhere groan and gnash their teeth about, and believe you me, there's been a whole ton of groaning and gnashing of teeth these past few weeks.

AND, I have to be totally honest.  I managed pretty well because I'd already turned in a bare-bones synopsis, (which - as usual - bears little resemblance to what I'm turning in today), and was asked "Let me see more.  No worries about page length."  

Golden words, those.  Don't worry about how long your synopsis is.  I just want the whole story, with all the details.  Very freeing, let me tell you.   BUT, I can't say I've mastered the art of "writing a winning one page synopsis of your book."  Just so we're clear on that. I probably will NEVER be able to that.

However, I've really discovered the value of writing a synopsis for myself.  Usually I just write and go, let the story flow on its own.  I DID admittedly do a rough outline for Hiram Grange, but I had a time schedule, and I didn't stick to it totally, regardless.  BUT, I think I've always been a little afraid of writing a synopsis or generating an outline, because I didn't want those to become more important than the story itself.

With this current exercise, I hammered out a nice compromise.  For both books I sat down and banged out the first three or four chapters, didn't bother with the synopsis at all.  THEN, after I'd drafted and revised said chapters, I wrote the synopsis. The interplay was kinda... cool.  Writing the first three chapters off the top of my head REALLY plugged me into the characters, which is always of paramount importance to me. THAT gave me a lot of fuel to write the synopsis for each.

Writing each synopsis then made me rethink certain parts of the plot I'd established in the first few chapters that weren't very believable or sustainable.  So a back and forth ensued between the chapters and synopsis.

Lo and behold, the end product: two novel snyopsis (es?), completely and meticulously planned out to the very END.   Given the go ahead, I could start writing tomorrow and be very confident of finishing a rough draft fairly quickly.  Said rough draft might not stick to the synopsis totally, but I've learned that's not the point.  Not for me, anyway.   

A synopsis and outline is just a safety net against the even more dreaded "writers block".  In the process of writing, if I feel the story pulling itself in a different, stronger direction, I'll go with it (depending on what my editor...if this person becomes my editor...thinks about it.  That would be a new experience, but I think a good one!).  

However, the synopsis gives me landmarks and endpoints, a road map to a decently thought-out destination.  If I find a "better way" or "short cut" along my journey, so be it.  But in this case...I at least know one way to get there.

So, yeah.  Me, a fan of the synopsis.  Woulda thunk it?  

BUT.

It's something I need to get used to.  I've really enjoyed working with an editor from a New York house.  Regardless of whether or not I get the green light for this, I'd like to do it some more, and for the big boys - a synopsis is a must.  And let's be honest, here.

It's the big boys I want to run with.  I might get stomped.  But who cares?  At least I made it there to get stomped in the first place.

Skeptical of Self Publishing and E-Publishing: Why I'm Not Convinced

This is going to be one of those rare opinionated posts.  I don't write many.  Mostly because I'm not a person of strong opinions.  Notice, I didn't say a person not of strong convictions.  I just don't hold strong opinions I feel important enough to share with others.  Also, I know very well who I am.  A guy who's had a few short stories and a novella published in the small press.  That's it.  There's no reason for anyone to listen to what  I have to say or accept my voice as any kind of authority.

However, this blog has increasingly become a vehicle of self-expression and a pressure relief valve.  When something is boiling inside and needs release; when I see something or remember something and it makes me think about or feel something, I blog about it.  So, this post comes more from a need for release, rather than my desire to convince people to support my position. 

That having been said, read this L. A. Times Article.

Now, I'll be the first to admit I've got a blind spot in general when it comes to e-publishing.  While I'm fan of my work being available in MULTIPLE formats, I'm not a fan of the ebook itself.  I don't plan on ever buying one, or a reader device.  This is not a logical objection; I'm aware of that. 

But as far as I'm concerned, an ebook is not a book.  It's a bundle of electrons. That's all.  Let's not get into it, because you're not gonna convince me otherwise, and I'm well aware I'm not being practical but stubborn.  We'll just let this particular dog lie, and you can shake your head and think me eccentric, and I'll be just fine with that.

Here's the thing that's been digging under my craw lately. For the last year or so, seems like lots of people are making big deals about abandoning traditional publishing - New York in particular - and striking out alone on the self-publishing path, particularly in ebook format.  

And granted, there have been plenty of BIG names doing it, enough to start changing the stigma that comes with self-publishing.  It's become much easier to produce nice graphic arts for a cover, and formatting programs for a book's interior design have become much more user friendly.  In fact, in light of the recent Leisure Fiction Crash and Burn, I'm totally in support of writers like Brian Keene  - who have been screwed - getting the rights to their work back and self-publishing their backlist, even experimenting with a few self-published titles.

The thing that's kinda rubbed me the wrong way, though, is the pronouncement from - again - scores of big names that traditional publishing is dead or on the way out, that they've been screwed by New York, and their assertion that self-publishing is the wave of the future, that it gives writers more options and a greater share of the royalties.    And here's the thing: for them, that may very well be true, but it seems to me as if they're leaving something pretty huge out of the equation.

They're names.  Proven writers.  With fan bases built up through several dozen novels.  Of course self-publishing is a better option for them, because their fans are going to leap to and buy their work and spread the word.  I'm sure they'll get new readers - and, I should point out I've done no research, so maybe I'm completely wrong about this - but my gut tells me there's a big difference between some of these writers announcing to their readerships and the media and their colleagues that they're going to self-publish, and ME or some of my colleagues announcing we're going to self-publishing something. 

If "Insert Name Here" author, former New York Times Bestseller, previously published through a New York House announces their new self-published novel, people will care and buy.

Pardon the strong language, but if I announce MY new self-published novel: who the hell cares?

But it's not like I want people to care.  People shouldn't care.  I haven't proven myself yet.  I've written a few okay things, but I have no reader base because I haven't done anything yet worthy of a reader base.  And I guess here's what I'm getting at:  I don't care that some big names, experienced and skilled writers are pioneering on the self-publishing trail.  More power to them.  As long as their work is affordable - and in print - I'll probably support them with my patronage.

But I'm tired of this repeated drum beating about the future of publishing, by folks who can afford to take these kind of risks.  There should be a note of caution: just because the big boys (and gals, sorry women writers for the gender stereotyping) are quitting traditional publishing, doesn't mean everyone should.  So what if I can release a collection of my short stories on Smashwords? Maybe I'll make a buck or two.

But that doesn't mean I'll have produced anything of worth.  More like I sold some junk at a garage sale, and that's all.  Which is not to say that I need a lot of money to prove I'm a writer.  But this idea that we no longer need publishers and editors as gatekeepers? 

I'm not convinced.  Maybe the big writers who are proven hits don't feel like they need an editor, but I sure as hell do, and not just a PROOF-READER or beta reader to grammar check.  I mean an  editor who knows the market, who challenges story ideas and pushes writers (who are obviously too close to their own work) to new territory.   I sure as hell know I need one of those.

In the next week or so, I'll be sending off my very first New York House pitch.  I feel  really good about the story and it's first three chapters.  So good that if this house passes, I'm totally okay with that.  Why do I have this confidence in my story?

Because in my phone conversation with the senior acquisitions editor, my original story - which sucked, by the way - was challenged.  Torn up a little. Poked and prodded.  Its deficiencies and short comings pointed out. And now, because of the rewriting this caused: it's a damn fine story, all because this editor did THEIR JOB.

As a gatekeeper.

Which....sorry...

I for one am not ready to do without.

My Brush With New York Publishing/Why *Good* Editors Are Worth Gold

A few weeks ago, I spoke with a major  New York publisher.  I won't say which, not to be all vague, but I don't want to talk about something that may never happen.   Anyway, through several mysterious levels of serendipity,  I had the chance to pitch my story to an acquisitions editor there.  Interest was expressed, and a synopsis requested.

Then, a week later, said acquisitions editor emailed me, requesting a phone conference that coming Friday to discuss my synopsis, which he/she said they really enjoyed reading, that they'd love to give me feedback on.

You can imagine my reaction.  Had to peel me off the ceiling.  Good thing I had nothing but vocabulary tests to give at school Friday, because I'm sure NOTHING productive would've gotten done.  Understandably, I was stoked.  Amped.  Totally floored. This was a major house.  I'd be lying if I said dreams of J. K. Rowling success WEREN'T dancing before my eyes.

How'd the call go?

They liked the concept.  Liked certain parts of the story.

They trashed the rest.

And I couldn't be happier. 

See, here's the thing.  THAT'S WHAT GOOD EDITORS DO.

I know there's lots of chatter out there about the evils of New York publishing, how writers of the future are better off self-pubbing or going with small/micro-presses that give them intellectual and creative freedom, that the small press is so much better. 

Problem is, I've heard it so much, it's all become "blah, blah, blah, blah."  

Lots of noise.  

And I'm not saying that the chatter's wrong.  But hardly anything in this world fits into generalized little boxes, and I have to believe New York Publishing is one of those things.  I'm sure there are plenty of bad, heartless editors out there and they probably do screw writers over when it comes to money and ideas and other things.

THIS editor, however - was pure gold.  At least for the duration of this phone call.  

Why?

Because he/she asked me the type of questions that turned my story inside out.  I was SO sure of myself and this story before I got on the phone.  Confident. Maybe even overconfident.  However, when this editor got past all the compliments, he/she got down to the nitty gritty, and it went something like this:

Editor: "Well, this part's been done before.  Pretty Harry Potter. And Sword in the Stone.  Have you thought about how you could avoid that?" 

Me: "Uhh.  Yeah.  Got a point.  I'll look at that..." 

Editor: "And this plot twist seems awfully convenient.  Why does this even happen?  What's the motive for the monsters to attack this guy? What's the point?" 

Me: "Right. Yeah. Hmmm."

Editor: "Also, you need a female character in this desperately.  Have you thought about adding a female character yet?"

Me: "Well, I was thinking about it, obviously...a love interest..." 

Editor: "I do love the smart brother teamed with tough brother angle, though.  Have you thought about having them vie for the female character's affections?"

Me: "Uh....."

Editor: Now, this is a fantasy, right?  Hard sell for teens.  We're really talking tweeners, with this."

Me: "Oh."

Editor: "Other than that....I like the idea.  So what made you want to right teen fiction?"

Me: "Well....."

However. 

The editor asked that after I'd considered these things, I should send them an expanded, more detailed synopsis and novel proposal, and we'd discuss it some more.  You'd think I might be a little depressed at the rather pointed, meticulous deconstruction of my "BABY", but I'm not.

See, I AGREE with everything this editor said.  All those plot points WERE cliched and done before.  And, this whole thing proved to me that I didn't know my story nearly as well as I thought I did.  In fact, these suggestions have almost entirely re-written the story at this point, and I feel SO much better about it, that if in the end this editor decides this story isn't for them...I won't care.

I LOVE this story now.  All because of the questions this editor asked me.  I would NEVER have forced myself to reconsider my story without them. It's not a fantasy now - more suspense/thriller/horror - and the story is MUCH more original than it was.

So I'll be busy the next few weeks with the first three chapters, synopsis and all that.  The best thing? Someone will want this story, eventually. And, regardless of what everyone has to say about New York editors, it'll be because of the questions this one asked me, forced me to consider.

So.  I couldn't be happier.