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

On this week’s edition of the Cool People Podcast, I talk to author Jessica McHugh about many aspects of writing: Readers’ expectations about sex versus violence, marketing and more. It was a really fun interview. Check it out at the link and enjoy! (Also on video at the YouTube link at CoolPeoplePodcast.com.)

Libbie Hawker rants at traditional publishing at the link. Even if you aren’t open to being convinced, you’ll probably be entertained. Enjoy.

I’ve opted out of this debate and haven’t posted about respecting indies for some time. The SP versus trad thing often gets silly and repetitive. I’m not sure anyone convinces anyone of anything, either. Minds are hard things to change. However, propaganda requires a reply that uses facts. In the anti-SP camp, The Guardian and Salon have, with few exceptions, declared their allegiance with traditional publishing’s party line. That’s why I decided to link to this article today.

There’s a lot to consider here, like how much help the writer recruits in the editorial process. How much help is needed? Are most self-published books crap because the majority of everything is crap? Since Libbie Hawker’s piece is as lengthy as it is thought-provoking, I’ll hold back on that topic today and let you ponder those issues at the link.

~ Chazz

Jonathan Gunson talks about what makes a great book cover at the link below to Bestseller Labs. Learn at the link!

Book covers are much on my mind today as my graphic designer (Kit at KitFosterDesign.com) and I make the final tweaks to Episodes 1 – 5 and the Season 1 covers for This Plague of Days. There will be a different cover for the print version, as well. (Still super secret and amazingly ambitious, but if anyone can pull it off, Kit can.)

Some graphic deisgners welcome less back and forth on covers. Kit isn’t happy until I am, so the covers always arrive at a good place. I don’t know how Kit does what he does. His art is amazing and he’s a multiple award-winner. I trust his skills and sensibility to guide me toward creating covers that grab eyeballs.

I know what I look for in a good cover:
 

1. It has to pop at thumbnail size as well as full-screen.

2. Contrast. Too many covers out there are tough to read.

3. Author branding. The author’s name goes big because there are many titles but the author brand remains as an identifiable anchor to all the books. Ultimately, I want readers to be searching for my name rather than titles. That way, the fans of what I do buy all my stuff.

4. Clean typography that reflects the nature of the work. (If you’ve just written the great American novel, you probably don’t want Comic Sans for a font on your cover.)

5. I want my covers to convey something about the book without trying to tell the whole story on the cover.

For the Hit Man Series, for instance, the covers have the look of the James Bond cover makeovers from the eighties with a saucy tagline that tells you it’s going to be serious fun. My Cuban assassin, Jesus Diaz, is no James Bond, but he falls in love too easily and my heroines are worhth the long drop into doom. (Adding taglines from the 10 commandments was Kit’s brilliant idea. Great tweak!) At a glance, readers have an idea what they’re in for and with titles like Bigger Than Jesus and Higher Than Jesus, I had to give them a heavy clue they’re crime novels.

Jonathan Gunson touches on this issue in the link, too, and it’s crucial. Readers judge books by their covers and the covers for This Plague of Days convey isolation, desolation and civilization’s collapse. This serial is  a serious story about an autistic boy and his family fighting for survival in the face of plagues of zombies that’s taking over the world. When I reveal the covers (soon!) you’ll get instantly that there’s plenty of trouble and a journey ahead. The title elements, blurb, tagline, art, typography and color all say something about what This Plague of Days is about. (There’s even a hint at a big secret that isn’t divulged until a long way down the road.)

The mood, colour and look of the cover for the first episode actually reminds me of a Neil Gaiman book. That’s what we all crave: unique, eye-catching images that evoke the happy familiar and draw readers of similiar books in the genre. Kit’s working on finalizing the covers as I write these words and I can’t wait to see what he comes up with.

Big stories and great covers build exciting times! 

~ Chazz

After promoting books everywhere you can think to do so, it’s especially fun for an author when something nice comes along that you didn’t expect. Book promotion can be a cheerful exercise or it can be a frustrating chore, depending on what you’re doing. Not to get all unicorns and bubble, bubble, toil and trouble on you, but when help arises organically, it feels kind of magical and makes my heart grow three sizes. 

The first time it happened, I stumbled across a conversation about one of my books through Google Alerts. Two readers I didn’t know were talking about a book of mine in a favorable way. When that happens, it’s almost like I don’t need cocaine. It’s such a happy thing, the world has a caramel coating and the spinal columns of my enemies hang decoratively from sentient trees singing Bohemian Rhapsody.

Then yesterday I noticed my Twitter stream blew up with Cover Wars from over at the Masquerade Crew. A couple of my covers from the Hit Man Series were doing battle to the death in a poll over which was the better cover. Cue the Kirk versus Spock combat music and click the link below to cast your vote.

Both were created by Kit Foster of KitFosterDesign.com, so no matter which one comes out on top in the poll, he wins. The Hit Man covers are an ode to James Bond paperbacks from the ’80s and I love them both. (A later version of Bigger Than Jesus added the tagline: "Thou shalt not steal" and I got a nice cover blurb from Claude Bouchard, author of Vigilante.) 

Many thanks to the Masquerade Crew for this pleasant surprise and promotional bump. I love it when things like this come out of the blue…and when singing, sentient trees rip out the spinal columns of my many enemies. I’m so happy, the pine tree by front step just burst forth with a medley of Queen’s songs from Highlander. It’s an awesome feeling. Later I’ll go shovel what’s left of my rude mail carrier into a mailbox.

Follow the Masquerade Crew, go to KitFosterDesign.com and have a happy and surreal day!

~ Chazz

Randy Susan Meyers imparts great advice about doing a reading at Huffpo at the link below. Enjoy!

I must point out that if I wasn’t in love with myself, I couldn’t do a reading at all. (I do alternate between raging narcissism and self-loathing, so it balances out.)

A couple of persnickety podcasters who shall go unnamed once complained that they don’t like it when an author looks like he’s enjoying himself too much at the podium. If a writer got too much into acting out the reading, they shuddered with too-cool-for-schoolness.

This is blatant hipster posing. If the author acted miserable, said podcasters surely would have said the reading was too flat. They were a couple of poos who shouldn’t go to readings if they’re just there to bag on people to make themselves feel better.

I say a reading is a performance. People expect to be entertained. If you can’t act, be funny. If you can’t be funny, read something really good poorly or get someone else to read it for you and just answer questions afterward.

I agree with Ms. Meyers about this: Your audience doesn’t care about your stagefright (unless you can make that funny, of course.)

Most people go to readings to meet the author, get a signed book, enjoy themselves and drink red wine in an atmosphere where no one calls you on your raging alcoholism.

Now get out there withyour book and kick ass.

Thanks to cool author (and soon-to-be-guest on the Cool People Podcast) Jessica McHugh for the tip on this link.

~ Chazz

This post by India Drummond at The Writer’s Guide to E-publishing is funny and sad.

I sent the link to my graphic designer immediately. He’ll enjoy it, I think, but I told him that if I was guilty of any of the above, I didn’t want to know. 

Learn what not to do at the link.

~ Chazz

As I write this, "erotica" is still available on Amazon US but, as reported by The Telegraph at the link below, it’s deleted as a category from Amazon UK. If readers want it, they have to go searching by book title instead of by category. No word if this will happen elsewhere on Amazon. Perhaps this is a trial balloon to gauge reader reaction. Policy formation at the mighty Zon is an opaque thing, so if it happens, it happens to you without warning, polling or discussion. 

That’s their right, but this is an odd choice on several levels, and hypocritical at that, since Fifty Shades is still for sale loud and proud. I’m confounded. Amazon generally gives people what they want. That’s why they are so much more successful than other players. The move is a blow to reader choice, author free expression and zaps my backup plan for the fall if This Plague of Days doesn’t take off.

B&N has had issues with erotica, too, limiting an erotic book’s ability to rise past a rank of 126, as Wool author Hugh Howey discussed on his blog recently. I’ve never understood this conundrum: all kinds of violence is fine but get sexy and we have to put a leash on you.

(Thanks to loyal blog reader M.L. Sexton for the tip about Amazon UK!)

~ Chazz

At the link you’ll find an interesting list by Jeff Bullas of jeffbullas.com. I was pleased to see I’ve read four of the books he recommends. (4-hour Workweek; On Writing by Stephen King; Rework; and the War of Art. You’ve probably read those ones, too. If not, hearty recommendations!)

One thing that caught my eye in particular was e-junkie. An evolutionary step I believe we must take as authors is selling more of our stuff straight from our websites. Mr. Bullas notes that e-junkie is for downloadable content. I’ve heard good things about e-junkie. However, I’m planning on selling t-shirts, print books and some e-content, so perhaps I need something a little more comprehensive.

Are any of you selling stuff from your sites and what’s your experience? I’m considering Shopify. (I want to source the shirts myself, so I’m avoiding the usual suspects. For instance, my experience with CafePress was underwhelming. Also, someone in the know told me they didn’t care for CafePress shirts’ graphic reproduction. Someone else informed me that Zazzle raised their rates recently so they take a deeper cut.)

Any thoughts on which e-store tool is best for authors?