C h a z z W r i t e s . c o m

See all my books at AllThatChazz.com.

05/24/2012 • 9:34 PM 4

Elvis has left Linked In

English: Graph of social media activities (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I thought I was a social media gadfly with unlimited capacity and patience. I was wrong. I thought more was always better. Usually more is better unless we’re talking gunshot wounds. However, as the reminders and posts from Linked In piled up, I found Linked In had the least to offer me of the social media options I’ve explored. Linking with friends or old acquaintances was fun. Finding out what horrible job afflicted an old enemy filled me with inappropriate glee. However, the rewards were brief. Most friends, readers and dreamers are on Facebook or Twitter anyway, so Linked In quickly became redundant. After the bottom dropped out of Facebook’s IPO this week, some pundits are saying the big FB has past its peak and will tank to become the next MySpace. Facebook still looks plenty active to me.

The primary reason for my ennui has nothing to do with Linked In: I’m not looking for a job. Publishing keeps me very busy. If I were looking for a job, I might feel differently.

However, I had thought the groups related to my interests could be useful. Theoretically, they could have been, but that’s where the corpse floated up. I’m not going to name any names, but I can tell you that far too many posts seemed to fall into one of two camps:

1. I know nothing about X and could someone explain all the basics to me so I won’t have to do a pesky Google search or look at Wikipedia or read a blog or a book on the subject?

or, far worse,

2. Everybody sucks but me and I know everything and I’ve been in this business for 40 years and you all know that because I start every snarky post with, “After 40 years in this business…”

Ugh. No, thanks. I’ve had quite enough of that attitude, thank you. I really have to protect my time, especially from big green meanies. I hadn’t encountered that much rudeness in one place in other branches of social media and my policy is I give rude people no time.

If you were trying to connect with me, there are still plenty of fun and friendly ways to do so (Twitter, Facebook, email, puppetry and interpretive dance or possibly even G+.) I don’t think Linked In is a great communications opportunity for indie authors or at least it isn’t for me. Joining was an experiment. Staying with it too long was my mistake. Leaving means one less thing to track.

(Hm? Pinterest? What’s that? Never mind what it is! Quick! Sign me up!)

Filed under: publishing, Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, Pinterest, snark, social media, Time management, Twitter, Wikipedia

05/24/2012 • 9:18 AM 0

Half of self-published authors earn less than $500?!

See on Scoop.it – Writing and reading fiction

Comprehensive survey of DIY writers suggests that despite a few high-profile successes most authors struggle to sell…

The way is uphill.

See on www.guardian.co.uk

Filed under: publishing

05/23/2012 • 3:55 PM 1

Thought, Word & Deed: To win, we have to reach

This is how I felt when I found out a college friend is dead.

This is what I said about it.

Here’s something we can do to punch back at cancer.

Filed under: publishing, Cancer, college reunion, indiesuniteforjoshua, leukemia, Regret

05/22/2012 • 7:51 PM 1

DAVENPORT DIALOGUES: MARRIED TO THE HIT MAN

See on Scoop.it – Writing and reading fiction

A theme is emerging today: Another remarkable story from the trenches. When Kiana Davenport dared to publish a couple of stories on Kindle, things got ugly and Penguin demanded the advance on her novel back. Fascinating post at the link, and frankly, the author comes out the end of the feces storm smelling of roses and lavender. Read on at the link below.

See on kianadavenportdialogues.blogspot.ca

(Tomorrow we’ll go back to being our usual, happy and positive selves in a dimension without conflict, sadness or anxiety. It’s going to be awesome. Of course, we’ll all be on mushrooms, but still…)

Filed under: publishing, Amazon Kindle, fiction, Kiana Davenport, Kindle, Penguin

05/22/2012 • 7:17 PM 0

Top of the Pack

See on Scoop.it – Writing and reading fiction

I said I would write a bit about my experiences with literary agents. Here is the first one that is worth noting: A few years ago a friend who is in the publishing industry allowed me to use her name…

This post, among others, got into some interesting discussion of trad vs self-pub vitriol across blogs (Nathan Bransford’s blog, Sarah LaPolla scolding us for calling ourselves indie authors and The Passive Voice‘s wry take). I report Laura Novak’s link here as a tale of endurance ending in success. For the record, I don’t think Ms. Novak’s post is vitriol at all. It’s reportage on dealings with a specific agent. I replied in the comments thread on the Passive Voice blog because I felt the crowd was a tad more evenhanded in the discussion there. As for the whole, don’t call yourselves indie thing, please don’t tell me what to call myself. I don’t wear a collar and you’re not holding my leash so I call myself an indie author proudly, even if you scream at me in all caps. As someone pointed out in one of the comment threads, self-publishing connotes less than all that I do to publish and arguments over semantics might get somebody riled up but it’s doubtful anyone will be moved to change.

If you read across the blogs, you’ll also notice a recurring theme: Some folks in traditional publishing seem to resent indies and don’t like it if we complain in a similar fashion. Then you’ll see stories of agents and editors who gushed about how great a manuscript was just before they rejected it. Gee, why is this model not working? Of course, there doesn’t have to be an enemy. We could tend to our own businesses and respect each other’s choices. We could be happy for each other’s success. We could, but sometimes we choose otherwise.

See on www.lauranovakauthor.com

Agent Fail (chazzwrites.com)

Filed under: publishing, agents, Literary agent, Nathan Bransford, publishing, self-publishing versus traditional, traditiional publishing, Writers Resources

05/21/2012 • 10:22 PM 1

Carolyn Arnold: #Amazon “Lag Time” – Just the Beginning?

See on Scoop.it – Writing and reading fiction

Carolyn Arnold asks some uncomfortable questions about Amazon sales tracking. Are all your sales getting tracked? Pull out your sales report and follow along as she breaks down her questions at the link.

See on sassy3421.blogspot.ca

Filed under: publishing

05/20/2012 • 9:43 AM 3

I can’t come to the phone right now. I’m dead.

A man speaking on a mobile telephone (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Usually I laugh at the weird stuff that pops up in my spam filter. However, this morning I seem to be inundated with crap and the spam filter isn’t catching it for some reason. It’s not that it isn’t easy to spot: Yoda-like syntax and the fourth or fifth word is always twisted around.

But this one annoyed me very much:

“You are an excellent wrietr even if I have thought your writing seems sad sometimes! I am so glad you are honest! The truth will set you free, is true! I love you and I am so blessed to be your Mom!”

Thanks for the shitty surprise reminder, spambot! My mom’s dead. Lung cancer. When I call my dad and he doesn’t answer, the voice mail kicks in. The recorded voice is my mother, saying just two words: my father’s name. After she died (and a long and terrible decline, it was) I wrote some fairly bad and very dark poetry. I mulled mortality’s cruelty and our shared helplessness. I was crying after the funeral when my wife came into my childhood bedroom. I pretended to be asleep on the bed and when she covered me with a blanket, I pretended it was my mom, covering me one last time. Later, I called to hear my mother’s voice again and again and again.

Maybe I should leave a new voice mail message: “I’m sorry I’m not here. I’m elsewhere, or maybe I’m not, but if I could get back to you, I would. If I can’t, know that I tried. I really wish I could talk to you right now. But whatever we talked about, it would all come down to the same thing: I love you.”

PS I reject helplessness to the end. Go here if you reject helplessness, too. And spread the word for Indies Unite for Joshua.

Filed under: publishing, #IndiesUnite4Joshua, Cancer, death, E-mail filtering, Indies Unite for Joshua, mom, Spam, Voicemail

05/19/2012 • 7:19 PM 1

Are agents still necessary? | TeleRead: News and views on e-books, libraries, publishing and related topics

See on Scoop.it – Writing and reading fiction

Are agents still necessary in the new e-publishing world? I’m running across a number of people who don’t seem to think so.

(Personally, I think there are some specialized situations where I’d still like to have an agent [such as negotiating foreign rights], but there are more situations where an entertainment lawyer would be a better choice for me. Interesting article that encompasses the spectrum of opinion. ~ Chazz)

See on www.teleread.com

Filed under: publishing

05/18/2012 • 9:17 AM 0

VIDEO: Yes, you could be Batman Jesus!

This week I posted about how the Internet rose up in indignation and, with one voice, condemned a small press publisher for his treatment of a writer and her work. The Internet has so much power for good when an idea goes viral. It’s not all about harsh German porn. Okay, a lot of it is, but we could do something really amazing here. You, sitting at your keyboard right now, could do something amazing. Joshua is a young man with leukaemia and he is suffering. I’m asking all of my loyal followers, casual readers and cranky haters to please harness that same fire we used for righteous condemnation to rise up and help ease the financial burdens on Joshua and his family during this terribly trying time. You know cancer sucks. Let’s punch it back in its smug face.

Please spread the word to help the son of author Max Cyn.

Raise the cause and raise the money and raise up this family.

If someone were drowning, you’d throw them a rope. If someone yelled for help, dangling from a cliff, you’d help. You don’t have to be Batman. It’s just tossing a little rope, but that still makes you a hero. This IndieGoGo campaign is about tossing this family a rope. Working together, we can help pull them up and out.

Please donate if you can and if you can’t, then just spread the word. Tweet (Twitter tag: #indiesunite4joshua), share, reblog, tell your boss, tell the woman beside you on the bus, whisper about it to whomever’s in the next bathroom stall. Spreading the word can help immensely. Even small donations pile up. We’re very close to meeting this worthy charity’s goal, but there’s only 13 days left in this campaign so please help out Joshua today! Thanks for this. When you help this young man with leukaemia, not only will you get perks from awesome indie authors, you will feel a little like Batman. Or Jesus. Or both. ~ Chazz

Filed under: publishing, Batman, Cancer, charity, donate, IndieGoGo, Indies Unite for Joshua, Jesus, Joshua, leukemia

05/18/2012 • 8:27 AM 0

The Truth About The Price Of Books

See on Scoop.it – Writing and reading fiction

Over at Moody Writing, mooderino has posted an interesting take on ebook pricing, the competitive market and the value of art. Some stark realities here. Click the Scoopit! link and have a read. See on moodywriting.blogspot.co.uk

Meanwhile, on a related note, Russell Blake has another thought-provoking blog post about Amazon’s changes in how rankings are calculated. Going from tracking unit sales to tracking dollars makes a huge difference to indies. Mr. Blake also predicts the end of free withing the next 30 days! The future is uncertain. On the other hand, same as it ever was. Read that excellent post here.