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 49^th 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."

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

Where I talk about Reviews, Self-Publishing, Apple, Amazon, Game Of Thrones, the Department Of Justice, and John Green’s skills at FIFA

The first thing I’d like to talk about today is reviews. Not that I get a ton of them but I’m getting more and more.

Also I consider micro reviews, reviews, nothing wrong with them except when you dive into being critical about the work. You just don’t have enough time for anything besides a star rating on Twitter or in that limit of words. Going for more in that sort of environment leads to- “This sucks.” “Best thing ever” and “I will never get those min/hrs of my life back after reading this.”

 Currently in my thoughts when it comes to reviews, besides the fact that I might stop reading them good or bad, is that I find it interesting that some people get angry that I don’t respond to their bad review of something I wrote.

These people take time to write me an email to say why haven’t I gotten into a pissing contest with them? Sorry you didn’t like the story but writers don’t owe readers an internet duel.

Also I’ve never gotten how reading a story or seeing a movie you didn’t like is somehow a personal issue. Move on.

“If you make art, people will talk about it. Some of the things they say will be nice, some won’t. You’ll already have made that art, and when they’re talking about the last thing you did, you should already be making the next thing.

If bad reviews (of whatever kind) upset you, just don’t read them. It’s not like you’ve signed an agreement with the person buying the book to exchange your book for their opinion.

Do whatever you have to do to keep making art. I know people who love bad reviews, because it means they’ve made something happen and made people talk; I know people who have never read any of their reviews. It’s their call. You get on with making art.” ― Neil Gaiman

And another quote I found today that I like.

"...I know that I suck. I know I suck balls and I know I suck other things. Thank you for being specific about all the things I suck." -- John Green talking about people commenting on him playing FIFA but I think it fits reviews also.

I say as Neil Gaiman has said, “do your art.” I believe the very act of doing so will piss off a lot of people and there is no better reason.

I’m going to say something here that might piss off some people I know who are published with big publishers or work for them, but I think even though you win in sheer volume of good and bad views heading your way, it’s nothing like what self-publishers tend to receive.

I just think the spit and boil towards self-publishers is almost more personal from reviewers but also that might be part of the internet age of trolls and hiding behind a handle? Maybe self-publishers look like easier targets also.

Maybe, I don’t know, just a thought.

I could just be sitting here in my side of the yard thinking the dog shit over here stinks worse than the dog shit over there?

Now to the hot bed topic just about everyone is talking about in publishing- The Department Of Justice suit against a number of publishers. I’ll just throw out some things I said on Twitter about this.

I love that publishers are standing with Apple against the evil Amazon. Now this is a Game of Thrones.

Apples predatory software and operations make Amazon look holy. These enemies we choose to sleep with?

The DOJ/publisher/Amazon mess is that, a mess, but there is no golden army to stand with.

And in other news I’ve decided to stop releasing my monthly free stories and just focus on Tin Universe and Chaos Read. One story a month is enough for me right now to center in on writing, revising, editing, and releasing each month.

Here’s some cool things by others:

Want to read a free Graphic Novel. Here's a good one: Texas Steampunk I Cathedral Child http://www.webcomicsnation.com/divalea/cc/series.php If you like it cash up the creator.

"I think Own Goal is our second leading scorer this year." Pre-Yeti Love Life: The Miracle of Swindon Town #99: http://youtu.be/Tbdsp2hYaEg I liked this discussion of YA Fiction and Love during The Miracle of Swindon Town #100: http://youtu.be/4FfYYZCa61w

And Once again I’ll say it. I would love to do something like what John Green does with this if I had the hardware but focused on me playing Madden.

And that leads me to say that I still haven’t started playing Madden 11 that I recently picked up. Too much writing and other life events going on.

And as always here are some of the places you can find me online:

CHAOS READ: Bimonthly Short Story Series. You Pick The Price!

http://chaosread.blogspot.com/

TIN UNIVERSE: Bimonthly Short Story Series. $0.99USD

http://tinuniverse.blogspot.com/

Facebook

http://www.facebook.com/people/Brian-Williams/100000358371201

Twitter

https://twitter.com/hangofwednesday

Smashwords Store

http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/hangbrian

Where I talk about Reviews, Self-Publishing, Apple, Amazon, Game Of Thrones, the Department Of Justice, and John Green’s skills at FIFA

Thursday: Where I talk about the Department of Justice, Wal-Mart, and a Suicide Forest

I see people’s dislike of Amazon, because they can underprice books lower than anyone else, the same as people going after Wal-Mart. Yes, Wal-Mart has strong armed suppliers in a “We charge what we wish to charge or we’ll just not carry your product.”

That the Wal-Mart way.

But here’s the thing. Wal-Mart isn’t breaking the law doing that. It’s a shitty thing to do and hell knows Wal-Mart has broken enough laws when it comes to how they treat their employees but basically they’ve just built a better business from the ground up than a lot of others.

When it comes to the publishers/Department of Justice fight- if publishers are actually colluding, that’s illegal. You can’t say, “You’re hurting us by going after us for doing something illegal.”

Now all of this is if they did do anything illegal.

Here’s another thought. I’ve worked for several printing companies, big and small, and I have seen many publishers, big and small, pressure printers to not work with their competitors or lose their business.

I mentioned that to end this thought because it’s a Who Is The Enemy thing. Small bookstores hate chain stores, chain stores hate Amazon, small publishers are pushed around by big publishers, big publishers claim to be bullied by Amazon.

Publisher have laid a bad situation at the feet of modern publishers and creators. If they hadn’t been so resident to new technology one of them could have launched ebooks in CDRom age, they could have been Amazon.

But in the end when I talk about this with people who don’t care and just want to read they all say around the same thing in response to big publisher and ebooks. “The same price for a ebook that I don’t physically own?”

My finally line is always is that publishers, like record companies have drowned themselves in a mess of piracy and pricing because they have lagged so far behind the demand for digital media that now it’s a snow ball and people are going to get hurt in this snow fall because of a lack of creative business thinking.

Here’s some things by smarter people than me on the subject:

maureenjohnson ‏ @maureenjohnson “In which I (foolishly) attempt to explain what it going on with ebooks and end up with more questions than answers” http://maureenjohnsonbooks.tumblr.com/

Maureen Johnson always has good thoughts on subjects. Follow her on Twitter and her Tumblr. Always interesting things from her.

John Green ‏ @realjohngreen “Publishing nerds only: It's important to note that the publishers who settled WON'T have to abandon agency pricing” http://lunch.publishersmarketplace.com/2012/04/settling-publishers-are-allowed-modified-agency-for-two-years-that-could-limit-predatory-pricing/ “(But more generally, if publishers were any good at colluding, how could we explain the insane advances they pay at auction?) But the DOJ's pursuit of this is very unfortunate, as it only strengthens Amazon's near-monopolistic grip on the ebook side of the business.”

On the subject of Advances paid. The same could be said about baseball teams over paying players. You hear ever couple years a ton of clubs saying no more over paying then  some small and large clubs dish out stupid levels of money for not so great players. But again, that’s what the courts are for to prove if something illegal did happen.

And to the unfortunate nature of this all it’s like I said earlier. If publishers are colluding they can’t say- we can’t compete with Amazon so don’t get angry if we are breaking the law. If they are breaking the law then, they are breaking law.

And some more links without comment because I’ve run my mouth enough:

16 States Join in on Publishers Antitrust Action — The Digital Shift http://ow.ly/adxqi

Macmillan Publishing John Sargent responds to Department of Justice lawsuit claiming "collusion" by ibook publishers. http://www.tor.com/blogs/2012/04/a-message-from-john-sargent

Lets end this entry with this.

Ben Templesmith & Squid Friends The suicide forest of Japan: Mount Fuji beauty spot where up to 100 bodies are found every year: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2127414/The-suicide-forest-Japan-Mystery-Mount-Fuji-beauty-spot-100-bodies-year.html?ICO=most_read_module

And as always here are some of the places you can find me online:

CHAOS READ: Bimonthly Short Story Series

http://chaosread.blogspot.com/

TIN UNIVERSE: Bimonthly Short Story Series

http://tinuniverse.blogspot.com/

Facebook

http://www.facebook.com/people/Brian-Williams/100000358371201

Twitter

https://twitter.com/hangofwednesday

Smashwords Store:

http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/hangbrian

Thursday: Where I talk about the Department of Justice, Wal-Mart, and a Suicide Forest