Ratings:

What, exactly, constitutes a five star review? How do you tell the difference between a three star and a two star book? What in god’s name do you have to do to earn one measly star?

I don’t know about everyone else, but I like what I like. I’m not editing or breaking down every book I read—I’m enjoying it. I try to read a book for what it is; I try to adopt the mindset of the audience before I read something, so that I’m not comparing adult horror with young adult fantasy. If I like it, I rate it highly; if I don’t like it, I rate it poorly.

Without further ado, here are my criteria for ratings….

5-Star: 

Must Read Again!

“Oh my god, this shit is brilliant! I’m going out and getting this author’s next book and shoving everything else to the side until I’ve gotten so fat and bloated on their work that I just can’t eat any more!”

4-Star: 

Will Read Again.

“I really liked this book. I’m going to shell out cash for more of this author’s work and put it into my queue.”

3-Star:  

Might Read Again.

“It was okay. I may or may not pick up something else this author wrote. Depends on my mood.”

2-Star: 

Won’t Read Again.

“I didn’t like this book. I’m kind of sorry I read it. Someone is going to have to seriously pitch another book by this author for me to give them another shot.”

1-Star:

Will Warn Others.

“This book was so bad that I can’t, in good conscience, allow others to waste their time on. This person was the literary version of the Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, without the cult appeal. ‘DANGER, WILL ROBINSON! DANGER!’”

How do you determine YOUR ratings?

A New Paradigm

What is wrong with publishing today?

The world of publishing has been dominated by a few companies for a long time—the so called “Big Six”. For decades, they have been the gatekeepers for aspiring authors, ensuring that the books we read are the books we love. They have ensured that the marketplace is full of products with professional editing, cover art, pricing, distribution, and advertising, and they have provided countless authors with the means to live their dream as professional storytellers, getting paid to spin their tales to a worldwide audience.

But their services have come at a steep price.

Stories abound about cryptic bookkeeping, late royalty checks, and draconian editing. The conditions and clauses of the contracts offered by the Big Six are said to be so similar that they are often accused of collusion. In the end, the author sacrifices control and profit so that their voice can be heard, and the author is left with little choice but to agree to the terms offered or they will have no audience at all.

Worse than the conditions of the published, however, is the graveyard of the publishing world—the slush pile. An innumerable host of stories have languished in this purgatory of words, waiting for a judgment that may or may not come. Who knows how many brilliant writers’ works have disappeared into the slush piles of the Big Six, only to be dismissed as not quite right for the marketplace or genre? Or are never read at all?

The Big Six ruled their empire with an iron fist, secure in their knowledge that they hold the keys to the gates. Vigilant protectors of an honorable standard, they are the old guard of an ancient regime. But the old empire is crumbling. Changing. Evolving.

E-publishing has changed everything.

Now, anyone can publish anything. Literally. With self publishing, the world of publishing is open to anyone with a computer. The biggest hurdle in an aspiring writer’s career (aside from actually writing books) is finding a platform to distribute their work, and now there are a number of platforms available to anyone. And, for the first time in human history, we are able to publish our own works without investing a small fortune into the publishing process. All we need is a computer, an internet connection, and a little time, and nobody can tell us that we are not authors.            

But with the good has come the bad. With the Big Six, you had some expectation that the books that made it through would have some sort of merit. Were there bad ones in the mix? Sure. But they were usually still well edited. You might not care for a book, but at least you knew that it was the product of professionals. Authors, agents, editors, publishers, advertisers, and artists all worked on these books—and they all got paid for it. They all had a vested interest in making sure that the product was a good, solid, professional product before it went out the door.

With self published books… not so much. There are no guarantees with self published books, simply because anyone can publish them. The cover art speaks for itself—but what about the rest? The only way to find out if a book is competently edited is to read it; and the only way to find out if a story pays off at the end is to get to the end of it. When you buy a book that’s self published, you’re really buying it sight unseen—Caveat Emptor.

So, modern publishing is at a crossroads; the old publishing model is no longer necessary, but it still fulfills a useful function. How can we, as people who are both authors and readers, make sure that we’re stocking the marketplace with products that are just as valuable as the offerings of the Big Six while maintaining the control of self publishing? How do we assure the readers that they’re getting a professionally edited book without having to sign contracts with publishers that set prices and diminish our returns? How do we gain all the benefits of working with a big publishing house without having to pay the steep price?

We form the publishing company.

I have a vision of a publishing company for a new marketplace. It’s a company where authors are given the opportunity to control their own works, from editing to cover art to pricing. It’s a company where the author gets to keep the lion’s share of the proceeds from his or her creations. It’s a company where we, the authors, get respect from the publishers because we ARE the publishers, and we, collectively, own the company. And we run it as a non-profit, so that we can be sure that our artistic integrity is not compromised, that nobody has a financial motive to take advantage of the artists involved, and that we work together to foster other writers in a community dedicated to the success of all the members of that community, rather than working for a company that profits by forcing authors into contracts that see their creative control and profits stripped from them in the name of “promotion”.

It hasn’t been done yet—but now the technology exists to make it possible. We can create a company to publish our own works, collectively rather than individually. We can create a company that produces the quality of work of a publishing house while preserving the profitability and control of self-publishing. We can create a company that is owned by its members, that is run as a non-profit, whose mission is to ensure that the integrity of authors is upheld. We can create a company where editors, artists, and most of all authors are able to profit from the fruits of our labors, where everyone is an entrepreneur and we are all working towards the common good. A company run as a meritocracy. A company of the authors, by the authors, for the authors.

I want to know what you think. If you’re reading this, you’re probably what I’d consider an “interested party”. I have a model in mind—something that I think will work. I want to know what other authors think. I want more ideas, more input, more thoughts. Would you be interested in something like this? Would you be willing to pay in essence what a professional author would pay an agent, instead of what a professional author would pay a publishing house? Would you be interested in paying an editor and artist a percentage of your profits so that you don’t have to pay them up front? Would you be willing to work with other authors to be part of a real, honest community of your peers, where everyone has the opportunity to succeed together?

I have a model. Now I want to know what YOU think.

Thelorin's Bones: Outline

I have set myself deadlines for publishing Thelorin's Bones. I started yesterday, with two weeks to write an outline. Then I'm giving myself a week to write each of sixteen chapters (give or take). After that, I'll spend four weeks doing edits, which will put me ready to publish on July 29th, five months after I started the process. That's my goal--two a year.

I jumped the gun a bit, and in a fit of excitement and inspiration I started writing the first chapter. I know, I know--I hadn't even outlined it--but I had an idea of a scene, so I wrote it down. Got half way through the chapter before my schedule even started.

Then, between yesterday and today, I managed to crank out the entire outline. Thank god for drive time at work! Now I have a direction and a focus. Not sure if the story will end up following the outline, but it's a good start!

So here I am, two days into my "schedule," and I have the outline and half of a chapter done. I'm about two weeks and change ahead of schedule, and I've only been at it for a few days. If things keep up like this, I'll be ready to publish early! And that would be awesome!

Let's see how it goes....

Thelorin's Bones...

I had a semi-productive day. Outlined 4 and a half chapters of Thelorin's Bones, amid tending my little invalid. Would have gotten further, but I got called in to my day job. Yay, work! :p

Book Review: Taming Fire, by Aaron Pogue

I read Taming Fire on a recommendation, and I probably never would have picked it up otherwise. While I'm a HUGE fan of the Fantasy genre, I tend to avoid Young Adult offerings, as they tend to be a bit pedantic. But what I found here was a pleasant surprise.

Make no mistake: this novel is exactly what it sets out to be. My first inclination when I picked it up was that I would have enjoyed it a bit more twenty years ago, but it made for pleasant light reading, so I didn't put it down. And I'm glad I gave it a chance. Half way through the first chapter I was reminded of when I loved fantasy written for the young adult crowd, and by the end of the chapter it was evoking memories of Lloyd Alexander and C S Lewis.

The plot was good, with enough drama to keep it interesting and enough reversals of fortune to keep the story from getting stale. It had the archetypical story arcs and sub-arcs for YA fantasy, with plenty of action to keep the reader engaged. Conflict and resolution come quick on the heels of one another, and the main character is given a number of opportunities to be in emotional crisis. And the author did a solid job of putting the conflicts in place, in a way that kept the story engaging.

The environment was well created, each scene evoking strong imagery. Cities of flowers, imposing wizards academies, and seaside shacks all came alive in my mind's eye. More importantly the author did an excellent job of giving detail without forcing the reader to drown in it, keeping the reader engaged with the progress of the story rather than overdoing the backdrop painting. That's a fine line to walk, but it was done with skill here.

The characters are engaging and easily identifiable. The author drew on solid archetypes in creating his characters (shepherd-turned-hero, strong-but-vulnerable-princess, evil-sorcerer, etc), which gives them a lot of flesh in spare exposition. The characters come alive, and the relationships between them are engaging, entertaining, and emotional.

There were a few things that I wasn't sure that I liked. Some of the situations seemed a bit contrived, the romantic relationship between the hero and the love interest seemed forced, and the hero seemed saved by the Deus ex Machina one too many times. But when I looked at them from a Young Adult perspective, all of those details fell into place. There is a time when you WANT the world to all fall into place, where love should be something magical, when the constant threat of oblivion and saving by grace gives meaning to the struggles in your life. There is a perfect time for these messages, and Taming Fire delivers this in spades. It also has a well-conceived concept of magic, a solid political framework, and a GREAT dragon that makes you want to find out what the dooms-day prophecy of a draconic apocalypse has in store for the young hero.

If you like Young Adult fantasy, infused with a rich and magical world, you'll love Taming Fire. If you're not so much into the Young Adult genre, it's still worth giving it a read. You'll be glad you picked it up.

Six Months.

That's what I'm giving myself. Six months.

80,000 words. 16 chapters. That's 5,000 words a chapter. Two weeks to outline the book, then a chapter a week for 16 weeks. A month to edit. That's 22 weeks. Add in four weeks for slippage. That's six months.

I'm not sure if I can do it--but I sure as hell won't if I don't try.

Back to Basics

So now that my book is published, and the post-coital euphoria is beginning to wear off, it's almost time to start writing again. Thelorin's Bones will be the next book, and will feature the same characters and the same environment as Erosan's Tears. I'm giving myself a year to write it: six months to get it out on paper, plus another six months for editing/schedule slippage. As long as I still have a day job, I can't afford to be too prolific.

Btw, if you haven't read Erosan's Tears yet, please pick up a copy. And if you have read it, please review it! I'd love as much feedback as I can get!