#queryfail > #agentfail > writers self publish

*reposted from the underground press blog

With all the current bad blood between agents and writers, and the belt tightening at publishers, the industry seems to be at a cross roads. Many writers are giving up on the quest for an agent and querying small presses directly. The big houses still demand to work through agents. This is good news for the small presses, great manuscripts with lower advances. Some small presses could break into the best seller list. Perhaps we will see the days of "Breakout Novel"s again, not manufactured best sellers that owe more to marketing than literary excellence.

I'm not going to get involved in the mud slinging. To be honest, I am currently seeking representation. I still think there are good agents out there. There are good agents and bad agents, good publishers and bad publishers, good writers and bad writers. I'm not painting anyone, or any group, with a broad brush. We all have our strengths and weaknesses, our tastes and opinions.

One option for those who are frustrated with the query-go-round is self publishing. It has always been an option, but these times of eBooks and POD it has never been easier. The days of the maligned "Vanity Press" are, for the most part, behind us. The buzz now is Indie and Viral. Put it out there and see if it flies. I can see a day when a breakout novel hits the best seller list from a POD press or when eBooks are as common as paperbacks.

Self publishing has never been easier. With very little computer skill - no more than it takes to learn your favorite word processing program - you can publish a very professional product. With Amazon, and many other outlets, you can market your work to the world. The only drawback of the easy publishing is the huge amount of responsibility placed on the author/publisher.

When you self publish, it is all you. You write the ms, edit, and format. You need cover art, ads for marketing, etc. You are saddled with all of the book's production from start to finish. You don't have an agent to do leg work for you, editors to check your work, designers to make it all look good - you're on your own. Daunting, but liberating. You have complete control. If you sell one copy or a million you have yourself to blame or praise.

There are also a variety of new presses opening their doors that offer very flexible assistance with the process. These buffet presses offer anything from simply POD of your formatted files to complete publishing - editing to marketing. You can get the services you need and still do all the things you are capable of, and/or willing to do. Flexibility is the current trend - do all you can yourself then contract the things you are not comfortable with. This is breaking publishing up into a thousand little parts.

More and more options for getting your work, your art, out into public view is always a good thing. Most writers are more interested in being read than being rich. We write to share our gift with the world. That is why writers have trouble understanding the business of publishing. We just want our work published so people can read it. Agents and Publishers are in the business of making money. It is the same in all of the arts, and artists have always struggled to have their art seen by the masses.

As writers I think we need to take a serious look at ourselves and out aspirations. If all you really want is to be read, maybe get some praise or awards for our work, there are hundreds of options to get your work out there. Publish a website for you novel, offer it free as an eBook, print it with a POD press, enter it in contests or for awards. Marketing, to make money, is where it gets complicated. That's the domain of agents and traditional publishers.

As I said, I'm still on the query-go-round because I think I have a marketable ms, but not the expertise to market it. I want a best seller someday, I want to sit in a bookstore and sign books, and I would love to quit the day job and spend the rest of my life writing and interacting with readers. So I continue to assail the "gatekeepers" for entrance into the halls of commercial publishing.

Top 100 in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards

From Amazon:

One hundred semifinalists have been selected for the next round of the 2009 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. Each entry in the Top 100 has received a full manuscript review from Publishers Weekly, in addition to early customer reviews of excerpts posted during the quarterfinals. We will announce three finalists for the Grand Prize on May 15--begin reading and reviewing excerpts today and see if your favorite reads make it to the Final Three.


The competition tightens as Amazon, and Penguin, sift through the top 100 semifinalists. Several of my friends on Blogger and Facebook are among them. Of course I want them all to win, but now the field will be cut to three finalists. Then readers, reviewers, and anyone with an account on Amazon will be able to vote on their favorite.

I'm not about to pick any front runners, the excerpts I've read are too good to chose between. This contest could go to any of the 100 chosen. Once the field is cut to three I might voice a favorite. Then again I may not. I can see all three very easily being three of my new friends, and if that is the case I will vote in silence and pull for all three.

Good luck to all my friends, and to the others that I haven't had the pleasure to meet yet. 100 wonderful excerpts, now I need to decide which to read. I think I have already read and reviewed the excerpts for everyone I know in the contest. If I missed you let me know and I'll put yours at the top of my list.

Sock Puppets and Trolls

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I visited the ABNA (Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards) message boards today, just to see how things are going. The next cut will come soon (April 15). I noticed a very disturbing trend. “No” votes.

I have posted before about the turbulent nature of some of the threads there. Every forum has its trolls and sock puppets. I compared it before to so many game forums I have been on. I generally find the trolls humorous, and the sock puppets sad, but the recent trend at ABNA struck a nerve.

If you're not familiar with the terms – trolls are posters who lay in wait to post nasty comments. Some can be humorous, some are just mean spirited. Sock puppets are users with multiple accounts who act as if they are non-related, unique users. Trolls often use sock puppet accounts in coordinated attacks on other users.

I've seen this sort of thing before on game forums. They are usually, no offense to younger people intended, teenagers or even pre-teens. It is common on game forums and everyone has learned to spot the sock puppets pretty successfully, and ignore them.

Some forums and message boards are trying a new strategy to curb rampant trolling. They allow users to vote on whether posts are helpful or not. The trollish posts get voted down by more mature users and after so many “no” votes the post disappears. Troll defeated. At least in theory.

Trolls can use sock puppet accounts to effectively censor those the puppeteer doesn't like. Click enough “no” votes and the victim's posts start fading off the board. Trolls go after a user and multiple no vote everything the user posts, censoring them.

That's what I saw on the ABNA boards today. Some users are having everything they post censored by a cadre of sock puppeteers. These trolls are effectively trying to control the boards and push those they don't like off.

This isn't a game forum, with a bunch of competitive kids arguing about nerfs and game mechanics. This is a writing contest where thousands of very talented writers compete for a chance to be published. These “no” votes are not just happening on the message boards, but on reviews of the semi-finalist's excerpts.

I find it appalling that Amazon is allowing this to go on and potentially effect the contest. Some contestants are being targeted, as well as some people who are spending hours reading and reviewing. I went on the ABNA message board and saw post after post hidden from view with the tag “unhelpful” attached.

Thankfully Amazon doesn't delete posts, only hide them. You can choose to show the “unhelpful” posts, or the “unhelpful” reviews, which I did. Amazon, however, has done nothing to stop this obvious misuse of the voting system.

Using the “no” button to harass fellow customers, and effectively censor them, is a blatant breach of the user agreement. That censorship is what struck me the hardest. As I said, this is a writing contest. Thousands of writers, together in one place. This should be a celebration of free speech.

To me this is very disappointing and disheartening. I would expect, I did expect, a much higher level of maturity among my fellow writers. I'm not naive, I know this is the work of a handful of trolls controlling their precious sock puppets, but it reflects badly on writers in general. The “one bad apple” sort of thing.

In the beginning we all bemoaned the lack of press coverage for this contest. Now, perhaps, we should be thankful for that. These few narrow minded, self absorbed, trolls, with their childish vendettas, are a black eye to serious writers everywhere.

I will continue to cover the contest to the end, as I have said, but the drama on the ABNA boards has left a bad taste in my mouth. In a way I am glad my entry didn't make the last cut. I can simple stand back and shake my head at this point.

Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards : Review of my Excerpt

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The reviews finally came out in the Amazon Breakhrough Novel Awards. Looks like I got trashed by a reviewer who thought my protagonist, Ezekiel Strong, has a “chauvinistic streak”.
Okay, Zeke is a bit snarky, a bit of a smart ass, he comes across as a Hardboiled PI from pulp fiction. I wrote him that way. Underneath he is a lovable, sensitive man who absolutely worships women. Agreed, Zeke's mouth can come off as a brash player but his actions show his true nature.

The reviewer, IMHO, has some issues with gender bias and has a personal ax to grind. My submission, unfortunately was targeted by the reviewers own bias. Perhaps the short submission was not enough of the ms to get a real feel for the main characters, but the reviewer jumped to his/her biased conclusion pretty easily.

The other review was very encouraging. I can't help but think that without the “chauvinistic” tag I might have had a chance in the competition. With it, my manuscript didn't have a prayer. It ways struck down as politically incorrect.
Both of my reviews are posted below.

Amazon Expert Reviewer

Wow, I am impressed with this excerpt. First, I love the Supernatural, so the story is right up my alley. I thought the idea of one person and two worlds was great. The author does not waste time with useless information, but instead gets right into the story by telling us a lot of background details that may come in handy later. The erotic overtones also bring another aspect to the story, making it something more than your average ghost or haunting story. I really liked the idea that kids in the "Underworld" would use "pixie dust", an actual drug to visit our world. The fact that it could explain something that actually happens in our world makes it almost believable. The story has gotten off to a great start, and has grabbed my interest quickly. All of which are good signs of a really great story. The excerpt was very enjoyable, and to be honest I really hope I will be able to read the entire story someday soon. Ezekial Strong: Haunted has captured my imagination and made me feel a part of super secret World. Bottom Line: Great Job!

Amazon Expert Reviewer

This excerpt starts off very strong - it's an interesting concept and the Introduction is seems fairly well written. It does need some work on basic conventions/grammar: commas, "your's" vs. "yours".
"Babe" as said by Zeke is condescending. So is the "A man's gotta do..." and the "sacrifice" nonsense. The story could be quite good, but as it stands is belittled by the main character's chauvinistic streak.
Most women would not immediately strip for a stranger, particularly if they were already on edge and thinking that someone was watching them.
The excerpt seems like it could be similar to The Dresden Files, but it unfortunately falls a bit short.
There is a bit too much going on - the pacing is quick, but it's one thing right after another, and everything seems to be convenient. The damsel in distress willingly strips for the man, a stranger, two nights in a row. Then she happily goes to spend the night at his place. Yet another damsel in distress offers herself up to him - not once, but twice. And all this happens within the short excerpt. It's almost written like the men's version of a detective bodice-ripper.
Again, the story could be much stronger than it currently is. It's got an interesting premise and the writing itself is not terrible. The main character, however, could use some work so that he comes across a bit more professional/realistic.