A Dark Alien Invasion Sherlock Holmes Thriller: Part 2

Post First Appeared On: If:Book Australia and Meanland on the 24th of July 2012

When people harp on to me about the smell of a book I have to say I’m fairly dismissive.  I mean come on, when was the last time you saw someone on the train taking a good whiff of a book as if it were a bunch of pungent flowers? I pick a book up because of the content, the author and yes, the pretty front covers.  I pick it up because I know it’s going to take me somewhere new, and if I’m lucky, the author is going to have a little play with their words and format. Digital will work just as well for this as any musty book that makes you cough if you sniff a little too hard.

The digital era is allowing us to do so many things with the written word, creating new forms and genres. It also has the capacity to bring an old art form back from the literary dead, such as the Choose Your Own Adventure, which I spoke about in my last post.  Let’s face it, we’re never going to see the Choose Your Own Adventure (CYOA) back in print, but digital has allowed us to resurrect this childhood memory, and the writing skills that were lost with it.

It may surprise you to hear me talk about writing skills and CYOA in the same sentence. Perhaps you believe that CYOA is just a form of fan fiction gone mad, requiring no writing skills other than to be able to string words together. However, the truth of the matter is, writing a CYOA? Not as easy as you might think. Creating multiple endings is exceptionally difficult, for as writers we rarely contemplate two or three endings let alone the eight endings I wrote in my Victoria Square Invasion.  And you just can’t make the endings subtly different (what I would term a creative cop-out), because why would your reader bother to choose their own adventure when their choice is no choice at all? Also, when you’re doing a physical CYOA you can’t just make up the location details and props as you would a book; they have to have some basis in the reality that surrounds the participant/reader.

In the end, when our creativity failed us, the locations of Adelaide kick started our brains. We had to start digging into quirks of Adelaide, the locations where interesting features had gone unnoticed by the normal pedestrians. What was it about the location that could set the scene? What might happen in the story to bring the reader’s attention to this feature? Did the location itself have an atmosphere that could be played on? Was it close enough to the previous location to stop our readers wearing holes in their shoes? We also had to consider whether we were going to make the endings wins, loses, or partial wins. Making a person walk from one side of the city to the other and then having them die, may see your project unattended the next year. Like in all writing, reader satisfaction is key.

In a way, these restrictions were a godsend, because they got us out of our writing comfort zone - out of our writing fat pants and into the sweat pants. Elements that I would never have added normally were incorporated because of their unusualness rather than being dismissed as too unwieldy. In the long run it made the whole experience and the adventure itself, unexpected and more interesting, because these things were there, the reader could see them, and it made the science fiction component more believable.

Now, I can apply this skill to my normal novel writing. So rather than ending with the easiest and obvious path, I can contemplate ends that are vastly different and, in many ways, more satisfying. John Cleese, in his wonderful address on creativity would say that I am allowing myself to ‘play’ more. To root around for the right answer rather than the noticeable one. To give a contemporary example, I would point to Suzanne Collins who wrote the Hunger Games. Though I didn’t like the way the series ended, I knew it was the right ending. It’s an invaluable skill to have and one I would never have thought I needed before I embarked on this project. I’ve always been a ‘this idea WILL work’ kind of girl. Now I have a story that involves shrinking aliens in water; four statues and a Post Office façade of a unicorn, coming to life and battling a spaceship; and a choir of rather dirty angels bringing down God’s wrath on alien invaders. Adelaide has never seen so much drama.

My recent novel a comedy set in Facebook, The Grand Adventures of Madeline Cain, is available at http://emilycraven.bkclb.co/the-grand-adventures-of-madeline-cain. You can also purchase E-Book Revolution: The Ultimate Guide to E-Book Success at http://emilycraven.bkclb.co/e-book-revolution-the-ultimate-guide-to-e-book-success.

The Ultimate E-Book Launch

I have been told that the biggest highlight in an author’s career is their first book launch. What says ‘I made it!’ better than a party? It also provides a bit of promotion, some good snapshots (sober and otherwise) and you may even sell a couple of books.  But if you’re an indie author (or even an established author) releasing an e-book, how do you get the word out? How do you launch that sweat soaked manuscript you’ve been slaving over without being able to entice an audience with a wine or two?

Why, you make it an event.

If you haven’t heard of Isobelle Carmody’s launch site for her e-book Greylands, then you better hop over there before it self-destructs at the end of the month (http://greylands.theslipstream.com.au **18/03/13 since the end of the launch the site/debates have been archived to here and here.). This folks, is how it’s done. Isobelle has taken the book launch one step further and made it into a month long forum complete with special guests, book trailers, and prizes.

Isobelle is a world renowned fantasy author of over thirty books for adults and children. After taking back the rights for her out-of-print book Greylands, she decided to rerelease the novel in e-book format. It was clear this needed a bit of a fanfare and what better way to do that then to have a debate about the publishing industry’s move into digital? I can already hear you weary Indies crying, “Of course this is working for her. She knows people, she has fans, she can call on big name authors because they’re friends.” Being an established author is of course very helpful, but it is not what makes this launch so successful.

Everything Isobelle has incorporated can easily be replicated by indie authors to great effect. She used the forum to build up the hype for the book several weeks before it was released. In those weeks she announced the prizes (kindles, print books and audio books) for the best comments on the forum, and released a trailer for the book complete with addition video on the making of the trailer (See below).Creating anticipation is key, whether you’re newly published, or an established author whose fans have been fighting over out-of-print copies of your books at their local library. On the day of the e-book’s release she had another fantasy author ‘launch’ the book for her in an online speech, again a brilliant move by getting other people involved and promoting her work.

The major stroke of genius in this launch however, was conducting a month long debate over a contentious subject, in this case the digital vs. print debate.  There are many contentious subjects out there *cough *cough *religion* *cough *cough *politics* *cough *cough *guns *cough *cough, that an indie author can tap into to create a bit of a buzz around their release.  Every day this month a different person has posted their perspective of the topic on the site, taking the debate in a new direction and allowing the general public to join in. While Isobelle did use her connections to well know authors, she also invited opinions from journalists, editors, librarians, readers, teachers, professors, emerging authors such as myself (See my post here), and high school kids who will be the generation leading this revolution.

 So perhaps it’s time to start harassing your contacts on Facebook and include an e-book launch in your marketing plan. Every book has an angle it can launch a debate around; what’s yours?

Note: The Great E-Book Debate will end on August the 3rd (**2012). Why not head on over to the site and make a comment or two. You could win some great prizes.

My recent novel a comedy set in Facebook, The Grand Adventures of Madeline Cain, is available at http://emilycraven.bkclb.co/the-grand-adventures-of-madeline-cain. You can also purchase E-Book Revolution: The Ultimate Guide to E-Book Success at http://emilycraven.bkclb.co/e-book-revolution-the-ultimate-guide-to-e-book-success.

Insert Hope Here

First published in Voiceworks #84 'Pulp', 2011. By Emily Craven

Seeing as I haven't posted in a while I thought I would pull out a little reflective piece I wrote on the e-book revolution last year for Voiceworks. Keep an eye out for my next post where I will be delving into the world of crowd funding and how savvy authors have been using it!

One would think the main lesson to be learnt in a digital publishing seminar is how to self-publish a novel using zero mullah and one internet connection. Or many publishers might say, learning how to satisfy one’s vanity by forcing drivel onto the literary stage. Yet the main lesson I learnt was not how to force a dull book to the top of the bestseller list, or even to rudely extend various dextrous appendages towards the publishing community as my book debuts on Amazon. What I learnt was that young writers have hope. A blind, unyielding faith that their work will be picked up by a publisher, sooner rather than later, and that their words will become famous. This stems from the belief that their work ‘speaks for itself’ and is capable of storming the tightly held gates of the publishing houses with the mere touch of a single word. By ignoring this seductively lofty voice in my head, I discovered that like most of the world’s faithful, young writers were calmly cocking the trigger and shooting themselves in the foot.

My first clue came from the seminar room of the South Australian Writers’ Centre itself. Trickling down the walls like some colourful Matrix code were book covers mounted on plaques, one hundred and ninety-seven in total. Each cover proudly declared the success of a South Australian author. On closer inspection it became clear that many I had never heard of, never seen in a bookstore, never spied in a local library. Only three names jumped out of the covers: Sean Williams of Star Wars, sci-fi and fantasy fame, Gillian Rubinstein (also published under the alias Lian Hearn) and finally Mem Fox, author of the beloved children’s book Possum Magic. These three names had several covers clinging to the beige wall. However the majority of the names appeared only once on the wall and, presumably, only once in the bookstores.

At the time I gave little thought to the limited success of an author. Alone in the large room, the evidence all around me, it should have been clear how few of the lucky get published more than once. Fewer still can afford to drop mundane day jobs and be supported solely by their words.

Bare minutes was all it took for the second clue to turn disinterest into curiosity and finally to understanding. Patrons began slowly to fill the room. The term ‘slowly’ is not used to denote time, but rather to denote age. I was surrounded by a sea of salt and pepper, bowling ball shine and meticulously dyed, shoulder-length locks. Every person who entered that room – short, tall, stout or rake thin – was over forty. Later I would find that at twenty-three I had been the youngest person to attend the seminars (twelve in total around Australia), beating the pants off the next youngest in his early thirties. The audience had been doing the publisher dance for years and by the looks of it they were willing to try something, anything else. This was also my first inkling that as a young writer, if I kept following the norm, I might be in a spot of bother.

Few of the participants knew each other, though muttered hellos passed several lips. A lot of faces looked weary, eyebrows slightly bunched, eyes watchful. Uncertain what to expect but determined to move forward. Others took stock of the young presenters, Kate Eltham, a petite curly-haired brunette and director of the Queensland Writers Centre, and Mark Coker, from the free e-publishing website Smashwords, a tall middle aged American with compelling blue eyes and a small smile continually pulling on the left side of his mouth.

As soon as the call to arms was made the room became silent. Studying the faces around me I found a mood I had missed a moment ago, one of intense anticipation, pens poised so as not to miss a word uttered. Eyes flicked between PowerPoint and speaker, their posture slowly straightening as they became part of the broader conversation. The crowd, individual writers every single one, mulled over the facts and figures presented before them.

Numbers and phrases swirled through my head as my fingers tried to keep up. Ten percent of book sales in the US (2010) were ebook purchases, up from 3% (2009) and 1% (2008). Smashword authors receive 85% of sale price for an ebook rather than 40 cents per book in royalties from publisher. To be successful write a great book, then write another. Readers decide what’s worth reading. When you ship in bits and bytes worldwide distribution is achievable. Book in digital realm, opportunity to change reader’s experience.  Podcasts. Embedded video. Twitter. Facebook. Free tools. Publishing gates shut. Quick and easily applied methods for success flowed.

Slightly behind and to my left I heard dissatisfied noises just under someone’s breath and felt a small breeze shift my hair. A woman, a black storm in an otherwise blue ocean, sported a look of disbelief and sarcasm. The only one present from a publisher she responded to every point, every suggested alternate path, with a low volume mutter and an impatient rap of fingers upon knees. As Mark took over from Kate as speaker the publisher’s face seemed to redden and collapse in on itself. It was odd, for Mark spoke of similar issues to Kate and yet I could see each word he spoke seemed to increase the speed of her tapping fingers, and deepen the lines on her pursed lips. Had the mere sound of his voice incensed her in a way that Kate’s had not? Perhaps it was the broad American twang which had caused the reaction from the woman, for surely the interference of a Yank would not be welcome to some in the Australian publishing industry. The small act of opening one’s mouth is sometimes all it takes for a message not to be heard.

Typically, questions ranged from exploring the best way to be successful in e-publishing to concerns over file sharing and free ebook strategies. It was entertaining seeing the ‘light bulb moment’ expressions appear on the face of each questioner as the answer was carefully considered and delivered eloquently. Delight would infuse their features as their mental hurdle was lowered to trivial heights.

‘What about picture books?’ The aggravated voice snapped out from behind me. ‘Ebooks can’t replace printed children’s books. They do not have the ability to support the rich layout that is possible with print.’

Mark paused for several seconds and studied her, as we all did. The lone publisher’s head was thrust forward aggressively, her expression righteous.

‘This is somewhat true, paper holds its own for some picture books, but we’re still in the early days–’

‘I have had books costed, thousands of dollars to have the format of a print book as an ebook. It’s not feasible. Ebooks cannot replace illustrated, printedbooks.’

And so it continued, Mark sliding in a sentence here or there as the same sentiment was repeated time and again by the publisher. It was fascinating to see the immovable stance, the closure to possibility, the absolute certainly in the quality of one’s product. 

I have seen many instances where new technology arrives on the scene, full of promise, and full of bugs. It’s easy to identify the shortcomings of a product in its teething stage. As I watched the publisher and presenter grapple with the argument I came to the conclusion that the danger for authors is that if you wait for everything to evolve to utter perfection, the world is going to pass you by. Just as future possibilities had passed this publisher by. Technology is always evolving, whether it’s from my first two-ton computer that took ten minutes to boot, to a small tablet that I can carry in my bag to keep my latest piece of writing on. In my mind, authors should take advantage of what’s out there now and evolve their books over time as the technology and tools evolve. There is no sense simply sitting on your hands waiting for perfection.

‘These presentations have been ridiculously lopsided, and not at all the view of publishing held by Australians.’ The publisher sat back, arms crossed, satisfied with her observation.

This puzzled me, weren’t we all here to soak in the information? The seminars were held to provide information about digital publishing, not to debate the values held by various parties. There was only ever one side the seminar was going to discuss.  Indeed I found out later from Kate that the view solidly held by the Australian Publishers Association was that digital publishers, who allowed any author to publish their ebook, had nothing to say of interest to their members. Twice an offer for a discussion with If:Book Australia – the Australian Institute for the Future of the Book, based in Brisbane - was knocked back. Yet here stood a member of the publishing community lamenting the lack of discussion. Evidently this was a case of the representative body not truly understanding the wishes of its demographic.

An expectant silence fell as questions dried up. Would the publisher bring up another jibe? However none were forthcoming from the now resolutely silent woman. Fortunately the night’s end was upon us and we were released. The room swelled with noise, the restraint at the beginning forgotten and replaced by a feeling of practical optimism. Apart from the small stand-off, the seminar had been far from a forbidding commentary on the encroachment of technology in publishing and our need to convert or perish. The speakers had managed to light an alternative path of possibility. Every few seconds I would hear ‘Australian If:Book’ or ‘Smashwords’ coming from smiling lips. Every person I passed had reached the same point in their career; confidingly they would announce, while swirling milk through their lukewarm tea, that they believed the gates were firmly shut on traditional publishing. Their voices would increase in pitch at the revelation that an author didn’t need to wait for the approval of a publisher for months on end, they could do things to help themselves (even actions as simple as establishing an online platform to promote their work). There are fewer links than ever in the chain between an author and readers, and this could not help but excite us all.

The ideas driving authors to the seminars were simple ones, a desire to reach more readers, to publish in a language other than English, to distribute their work to other countries, to learn how to be more successful at e-publishing then they were at traditional publishing and to learn how technology would impact their strategy.

Others had something more specific in mind. In conversation with a tall man with a snow-white goatee, I discovered that his publisher owned the digital rights to his novel (a common condition in many contracts). He wanted to determine if it was worth negotiating to get the digital rights back before his book was out of print, particularly if the publisher wasn’t going to do anything with them (‘Which they won’t,’ he assured me). His wide smile and incredulous expression told me he had gained more information than he had hoped on the ebook phenomenon.

When I asked another man his story, he glanced from side to side before leaning in furtively. Like others he had tried to land a real publisher for several years ending up with ten solid rejections under his belt. Unusually, his letters were not of the generic ‘thanks but no thanks’ variety, but specifically addressed his manuscript. The novel contained sensitive material and the publishers would not publish the book as it stood. But he was not interested in publishing a censored version of the work. His shining eyes and fervent gestures matched his enthused stance on a quick and anonymous spread of his novel as an ebook.

Interestingly, several months later I met him again in the street. In four months he had released his novel as an ebook under a nom de plume and it had already reached several online bestseller lists. Concerned with being read first and paid later, he is currently giving away his book and has amassed a large number of testimonials which he included on his website (hosted in Panama so as to be untraceable). Because of his slowly developing popularity he has been mentioned on several unrelated sites and has had success in generating readers through his participation in online forums. And though he personally does not like Facebook or Twitter, his alter ego ‘can’t get enough,’ and has been actively trying to create a platform around his work using social networking sites.

When I had first thought of attending these seminars I believed that the other participants were looking for the same information I was, to take advantage of the presence of an online market that a traditional publisher wouldn’t pander to, in my instance a market in gap year travel. It had never occurred to me that some authors would feel the need for secrecy or circumvention of censorship.

Though the specific reasons varied one thing was certain: all the writers present had been battered and ignored by the traditional publishing gatekeepers, they had done the hard slog and gotten nowhere. I don’t want to be that way in ten years, or in twenty. While I still harbour that idiotic, blind arrogance that my writing is worthwhile and publishable (if not this year than in the next five at least, right?) I also want to say that I explored every avenue and platform. Having attended the seminars I think all participants came away with a feeling that ignoring the ebook is pointless. Emerging authors need to use any toe hold they can get. The digital revolution is like a tsunami, you know its coming. Any writer with common sense should be asking themselves: how do I get on this wave?

My recent novel a comedy set in Facebook, The Grand Adventures of Madeline Cain, is available at http://emilycraven.bkclb.co/the-grand-adventures-of-madeline-cain. You can also purchase E-Book Revolution: The Ultimate Guide to E-Book Success at http://emilycraven.bkclb.co/e-book-revolution-the-ultimate-guide-to-e-book-success.