Saturday, November 24, 2012

11/23/2012 In The Amazon The Evil Of The Red Herring



     Just a quick thought that I expressed on Facebook earlier this week to start things off and see if I have anything more in length to say about the subject.
I find it interesting that so many of the writers and editors, some who I respect a great deal, think Amazon is the core of evil in publishing but don't peep a word when it comes to big publishers combining or becoming part of a large conglomeration. Seems a little weak to me.
     The whole Amazon is going to destroy publishing thing has been pissing me since it started. First as I’ve said many times if the big publishers or big chain bookstores could think outside their own footsteps they would have created an Amazon before Amazon. Any situation they may be in is a product of their own shortsightedness.
     And it’s kind of bullshit for people to go after Amazon in defense of the weak, small, helpless little big publishers. Are you really saying I should feel sorry for them, really? That’s like saying I should feel sorry for the government when the fires that been burning for years with them not caring a bit finally reach their toes.
     Anyways, as I’ve also said before if Amazon is on a course to break the system, then I say let it break because it’s a system with a very narrow line of sight. Break, crumble, all fall down, then hopefully be rebuilt better by the people. And if the people once again allow it to be rebuilt as the same sort of stagnant pile of horseshit then it will be our own fault there.

     Another thought I had on Facebook that I’d like to maybe explore a little further here.
     I like red herrings in stories, and I'm not just talking about mystery story red herrings. I like stories that go in dead end directions at times to keep the reader on their toes thinking or at least play with the reader to keep them sharp.
     Maybe it’s just the writer in me but I lose interest a lot when I can predict the course of things in a story and it leaves a bad taste in my mind after reading something when I knew for a long time what was coming.
     I can enjoy mindless simple stories sometimes but for the most part I believe a writer should duel with the reader, maybe take them to places in thinking they would not have normally gone.

     To update on my NaNoWriMo book.
     Thursday I wrote 6,045 words while watching X-Files all day as a Thanksgiving Day writing sprint. My NaNoWriMo is currently at 66,047 words and marching on. Hope I can at least reach 80,000 before the month is over.
     I took a break on Friday to watch Doctor Who related stuff on the 49th Anniversary and doing more of that today but writing also.

     And I’ll end this short entry with this.
     A friend of mine who is an editor, we were talking about writing and publishing and something got us talking about writers and their little “Ticks” as she called them.
     She said she pictures writers like Alex from Clockwork Orange in a ludovico apparatus.
     I think she was joking?
     I think.
     "You all are droogs."
     I was happy she included me in the "you all" part because she works with some well known writers, that was until she said, "But remember even within droogs there are levels of quality."

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Saturday, November 17, 2012

11/17/2012 Finished The Finish Line But Not Done



     I didn’t write this up last night because I was busy spending a good day and night with the lady I love taking her car in for a recall repair, having breakfast{we don’t eat out that often now}, going to my local comic shop- Famous Faces And Funnies{had several Doctor Who and Saga books in my folder}, visited the Goodwill{found brand new Harry Potter books for the library and a Gimp manual for me}, eating Chinese food, and watching Amazing Spider-Man.
     By the way if you local check out that link to my lcs, they are having a Mini Free Comic Book Day today.
     But late Thursday I did hit the 50,000 word mark on my NaNoWriMo book. I crossed the NaNo finish line but I’m way off from finishing my zero draft. This is the earliest I’ve ever finished NaNo and that’s good because my personal goal this year has been to hit 100,000 words. I probably won’t reach it but it’s a goal worth fighting towards; which is the point of NaNoWriMo I think, it’s about going for something. The going is the thing so to speak.
     But I do want to finish my zero draft in November because in December I’m going to be releasing several year end things.
     I have to re-release three Tin Universe stories because it seems the first time I released them on Smashwords the files were all crazy pants. The good news is all three will have new cover art for each; so that’s a cool thing. I was never much happy with the covers I made for those projects the first time I released them. Everyone knows I’m not a cover photo fan to start with so replacing them with artwork is always a plus to me.

Tin Universe 3: Landmarked To Death 2.0 Backup story KNIGHT BOOK
$0.99USD
12/7/2012

Tin Universe 4: Dhaka 2.0
$0.99USD
12/14/2012

Tin Universe 5: School For The Blind 2.0
$0.99USD
12/14/2012

     I’ll also be releasing two writing collections.

Sushi Writing With Crowd Editing 2012
$1.00USD
12/21/2012
{A collection of all of my one-shot short stories and vignettes from the year. There’s even a pilot TV script in there.}

Under The Training Book 2012
You Pick The Price!
12/28/2012
{A collection of writing from my Blogger, Live Journal, and Twitter accounts}

     I’ve also made a decision while working on my NaNo this month about next year’s releases.
I have several things planned but the monthly releases will stop for now. I had hoped to be able to work on them properly because I had other people lined up to write stories here and there giving everyone plenty of time to work on their individual stories.
     For many different reasons it didn't work out working with other people and I think I need to focus on full size book releases; so starting in January I will start work on Tin Universe #12: Mystery From Bunker Hill and in around six months I hope to present the best thing I've ever written. I will work on my ass off to try and get it there.
     I have other things I want to release next year but Mystery From Bunker Hill will be my main focus. One of the reasons I was releasing so many projects in the past two years was a fear of dying without people getting the chance to see a view of how I see the word, without my stories getting out into the world.
     My health really hasn't improved but I've changed my view a little on getting my writing out into the world. Though I still don’t mind my stuff going out into the world less than prefect so to speak, a little sushi doesn't hurt anyone, what has happen is I've grown to really like the characters I've been writing and I want them to shine as bright as I can shine them with what talent I have.
     And a F.Y.I. reminding to end this. I will be updating Under The Training book every Friday with my thoughts on publishing and book topics and issues, updates on project releases, and photo blogs because this is where everyone expects me to post them, tried doing a separate photo blog blogger but it didn't work.
     F.Y.I. Reminder 2, every Saturday, if you are into political ranting, check out my Live Journal. I’ll be posting a update there tonight.

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Friday, November 9, 2012

NaNoWriMo 11/9/2012 Update

     
     Not going to reach my goal for today tonight because my stomach is hurting way too much for leaning over a laptop anymore than I've already done today. Was also planning to write a publishing related blog entry tonight but don't really have it in me right now, but that will be the plan from now on for Fridays to be blog entries on writing, publishing, or related topics.
     I'll also continue to put my photoblog entries here just because that's where everyone is use to coming to find them, post news releases on projects, and reviews when I find the time to do them{which isn't often.} And if politics are something you like discussing, check out my Saturday political writing on my Live Journal. Link found on the right by scrolling down a little.
     To update things on how my NaNoWriMo is going. This has been the most enjoyable year I've ever had taking part in my November Holiday. My second favorite holiday overall just below Halloween.
     This year I've averaged Per Day 4,262 words. That's the best I've ever done and I'm going to end up hitting 50,000 way ahead of any point I've hit it in the past. I've always finished a little early but never this early. I went in this year wanting to hit 100,000, you know because all the cool kids have to hit at least 100,000 for all of their books or its not really a book, and that's realistically possible now and I was being a bit sarcastic there too.
     Today I've written 3,350 and me being disappointed in that number shows how well I've been charging ahead so far this month on this story and how much fun I've had torturing these characters.
     My total Words Written is 38,361. Good but I would have really liked to have hit 40,000 tonight but I'm writing this laying in the floor and that's fine for a quick blog entry, not so good for writing a book.
     I have Remaining 11,639 words. Still seems like so much but that's a tired mind saying that.
     Target NaNoWriMo Word Count 50,000 but as I said my Personal Word Count Target is 100,000 words. I think my sanity can hold out but there might not be anyone alive by the end of the month. That is any characters still living.
Now to bed to watch some TV with the lady I love.


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Sunday, November 4, 2012

NaNoWriMo 11/4/2012


     Only wrote 3,202 words today. Wanted to hit 5000 but still not feeling that good. My total NaNoWriMo sits at 15,099 words. I have a goal this year were I really want to hit 100,000 words. The most I've written in a month is 60+ and my longest published work is 49,430. Speaking of which, go to link and, buy things, then I can buy teeth. That's called begging. I ant too proud.
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Friday, November 2, 2012

11/2/2012 MY LOCAL BOOKSTORE DIDN’T KICK DOWN MY DOOR AND TAKE MY BOOKS AWAY



     Just read an article about someone having their Kindle wiped and their account canceled randomly by Amazon and not being able to talk to Amazon about the issue because they don’t discuss these things besides a vague statement of why they did what they did. The crazy thing is this goes on all the time and is just one example of what you have to accept in being an ereader user with one of the bigger companies.
     These types of situations are holding back digital publishing as a whole. And this is one of the reasons I only read ebooks on my computer or on Mar’s nook. I’m not buying one until the ereader manufactures back off this stance were we don’t really own the things we buy and they can delete at well. I know there are lesser known ereaders that are better in this regard but again, you are buying a lesser known piece of technology and that can always be a risky choice to make.
     But why do we accept this sort of thing? Part of it is because we care more about the status of owning a name brand device more than the quality and user friendliness of said device. That type of thing is good enough for people who are ready to toss around good money for bad tech, but for the rest of us it just puts you in a bad position, leaves you buying something you know is flawed and purposely so or you can choose something that maybe total crap with not much course for troubleshooting when issues come up.
     These examples as well as with a lot of others are what comes into the conversation whenever I talk to people about buying and reading more ebooks. As a publisher of ebook projects it’s really frustrating to see this stuff day in and day out. In a lot of ways this type of thing frustrates me more than piracy. The main things that get up my ass about piracy are that most people just won’t admit that it’s stealing.
      What companies like Amazon are doing I think hurts the epublishing industry just as much a what pirates do because it shines negative lights on the platform overall. It pushes away people who might be thinking about making ereaders part of their reading experiences.
     Whenever I release a new project people always ask me what format, what devices can they read the materials on; which is the main reason, besides ease of publishing, that I moved from LuLu to Smashwords. Smashwords allows me and my readers so many more ways to find and read my work. They can read it on a computer or an ereader. I also enjoy the fact that when someone downloads something from Smashwords to their device they don’t have to worry about it being deleted later for some reason.
     It might be really stupid, Hell it is really stupid but I don’t give a shit if my work is ever sold in any Nook or Kindle or Apple store until they start treating their customers with a little respect. As a publisher and a writer that disrespect of the reader is also a disrespect of me and doing so is saying fuck you to the reader and my message back is fuck you Amazon.
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Thursday, November 1, 2012

NaNoWriMo 2012 Day One

Salem keeps jumping in my lap trying to keep me from reaching my personal goal of 5000 words for the first day of NaNoWriMo

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