07/06/2012 • 8:42 AM 0
See on Scoop.it – Writing and reading fiction
As regular readers will be aware, I used to post a monthly sales report, sharing my sales numbers, dollars earned, and what I had been up to in terms of promotion or various other projects. I did t…
Good pointers on approaching bookstores and a helpful breakdown of CreateSpace terms that help to determine your book’s price point. ~ Chazz
See on davidgaughran.wordpress.com
Filed under: publishing
07/05/2012 • 2:34 PM 5
There’s a certain sort of critic who really bugs me. As much as I enjoy the Slate Culture Gabfestpodcast, there’s an issue
English: Salvador Dali with ocelot and cane. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
that crops up from time to time which itches like pink insulation on a sweaty naked body in a summer attic. It’s a response that tries to intellectualize the visceral and make a good thing into a bad thing. Here’s the quote that gives me headaches:
So much waste of tuition money is revealed in that reaction. It’s a response to art that tries to detour around the heart and isolate the brain. It’s a dishonest afterthought. It’s snooty and, in trying to sound intelligent, is stupid.
I enjoy the movie Roadhouse, for instance. By some people’s standards, I suppose I shouldn’t. However, turn it on and try not to get sucked in. It’s not in the “So bad, it’s good” category, though some movies overshoot the runway and actually manage that. Roadhouse is fun and ridiculous and has a lot of funny lines, mostly intended. It’s just so watchable. It’s a visceral reaction. Can’t I enjoy it without the self-appointed cultural elite’s disapproval?
Art that achieves what it set out to do and entertains its audience is good art.
So says me, anyway. I could list dozens of silly movies and books that demanded little of me that I still enjoyed. The latest victim of this critical chaos appears to be Abe Lincoln, Vampire Hunter. I just read fellow blogger Jordanna East’s takedown of a bad review here. She’s not the only one to point out misguided reviewers complaining about historical inaccuracy in the movie. Good critics go to action movies with the expectation that it’s not meant to be a historical document. If it’s not a French movie in an art cinema, do not review it as if all movies are French movies in art cinemas!
That said, I’m all for elevating material. It’s a treat to run across sparkling dialogue that mocks expectations. (See the movie The Guard with Don Cheadle, for the best of that phenomenon in movies.) In my book, Bigger Than Jesus, I set out to challenge expectations, too, and not just in terms of plotting and surprises and reversals. I’m talking about getting at real emotion. There are consequences spread amongst all those jokes. The heroine’s fascination with the life of Salvador Dali means something to her, to the story and ultimately to the reader. I set out to make my roller coaster travel through unexpected places without slowing the pace. Elevating material can be done. It doesn’t have to happen all the time for everything, though.
Dalton’s reply to the big bad bouncer in Roadhouse serves equally well for bad reviewers. The bad guy turns up his nose and says, “I thought you’d be taller. You don’t look like much t’me.”
Patrick Swayze, as Dalton, smiles wide and says, “Opinions vary!”
Then bop ’em in the nose if you want to.
Filed under: publishing, Bigger than Jesus, Blog, blogger, blogging, book reviews, Don Cheadle, elevating the material, Film, movie reviews, movies, reviewers, reviews, Robert Chazz Chute, The Guard, Ultimate Blog Challenge, writer, writing
07/04/2012 • 7:36 PM 11
1. Last November I started up my podcast to reach out to new readers. I called the podcast Self-help for Stoners
English: Third generation Amazon Kindle (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
after my book of the same name. The podcast was a good idea, but tying the title to one book when I have dozens in me was a tactical error and I’ll change that soon.
2. This, my main blog, focuses on information, both original and curated, for anyone interested in publishing books. The blog is not geared to readers. That’s what the author site is for. In the future, I think I’ll post to the author site more often than I do, especially as I have more reviews and events to talk about. I don’t regret writing about writing, though. Some people think authors are stupid for doing that, but I went with my passion. If I had tackled something I was less interested in, I wouldn’t be approaching 1,000 blog posts now and I wouldn’t be able to make two books out of it.
3. My two latest books, Bigger Than Jesus and The Dangerous Kind & Other Stories, are both on Amazon and exclusive to KDP Select so they do not appear in retail outlets. That’s fine for now, but eventually I will migrate them to other ebook platforms. Amazon was great at promotion, but with their new algorithms, they aren’t so great for me anymore. (I hope they rectify this and we, collectively, get through the current summer sales slump to see a more energetic autumn.)
4. In the future, I’ll raise the price of my books. They’re all at couch change for $2.99 now. This is the introductory price and will change, which will also make more sense with Amazon’s new price-based (rather than quantity sold) algorithms.
5. I have several books in revisions that reach beyond 120,000 words. If they were shorter they’d be done and available by now. If it makes editorial sense, I may break the longest books up into trilogies.
6. I will write shorter books. As I wrote Bigger Than Jesus, I discovered that I love to write a book with a high momentum. A fast write (and read) energizes me. The paperback will still clock in at 249 pages, so no one will feel I’m shortchanging them.
7. I will write no stand-alones. Bigger than Jesus is the first of The Hit Man Series. The Poeticule Bay Series is in development. The books are meant to stretch out into long series following certain characters. Stand alone novels are a heavy investment of my time that do not develop a following to the same numbers as a series can. To make more art, I have to make that business decision. What will be fun is when I have crossovers, where many of my characters from different books meet.
8. I will write faster. I wrote Bigger Than Jesus in a month. To perfect it, the editorial pipeline was longer than that, but I find I can write effectively and well at speed. My editor and beta team made that possible and, maybe it’s the journalistic training talking, deadlines are my friend.
9. I will have print versions available for all my books going forward. Currently I just have Self-help for Stoners available as a paperback. The other short story collections didn’t have quite the length needed to make for a paperback with heft. Everything I do from now on makes for a great mass market paperback. I just finished all the book design and print formatting on Bigger Than Jesus today so I’ll have the paperbacks on hand pretty soon. (I’m in love with Georgia. She’s a beautiful font.)
10. I will be less shy about contacting other authors for blurbs and book blogger for reviews. This is more of an affirmation than a plan since I have yet to compose those emails. I’ve sent out a few copies for review, but it’s an issue about which I am still an introvert. (I’m only pretending to be an extrovert here so someone will read my books.)
Get Bigger Than Jesus
Filed under: publishing, Amazon, Amazon Kindle, Amazon.com, Author, Bigger than Jesus, Blog, blogger, blogging, book promotion, crime thriller, Dangerous Kind & Other Stories, latest books, novels, Podcast, Robert Chazz Chute, short story collections, Stoners, Top 10 lists, writer, writing
07/03/2012 • 8:07 PM 6
The Senate Committee on Budget (ca.1997-2001). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The common wisdom is that all of us together are smarter than any one of us. Combine a group’s brains and their solutions will overcome that of a genius. That’s not my experience. Here’s why one head is often better than several:
1. The smartest person in a group is not the one who gets to talk in a committee. The loudest person does all the talking and steers the ship, often into the rocks. Stupid people are always the most confident and the less a person knows about a subject, the more certain they are of their opinions. That’s called leadership.
2. Take any group and there’s always one wacko*. Said wacko will espouse insane ideas. The rest of the group will then compromise with the wacko, thus arriving at terrible ideas that only seem more sane within the room in which the committee meets. Half wacko is still wacko.
3. People vote for the lesser of two evils, so they still vote for evil.
4. Committees search for reasons to justify their existence. They don’t complete a task and disband. They say, what can we do next? How can we extend our power, budget and egos? I call this committee creep. It’s for creeps.
5. A committee is a team. It becomes an expression of our genetic gravitation to tribalism. Committees become Us Versus Those Peons over there. (For the Latin derivation of the word “peon”, break it down into syllables.)
6. A committee is a way to spread responsibility around. If an individual says, “I made this decision,” he or she will have to live with it. Put it on a group label and everybody’s hiding behind the responsibility diffusion.
7. When I make a decision about my publishing company, a book cover, a sales platform or an editorial choice, it happens immediately. I may consult my friends with expertise or bat ideas around with my graphic designer, but the decisions come fast. I’ve waited long enough. I’m not waiting anymore and I’m certainly not asking for permission. I can screw up on my own easily without help.
8. I mentioned that, without a committee, the fault gets assigned to me for bad, independent decisions. The rewards come straight back to me, too. Then I dance with naked abandon, so it’s good I’m alone at the time.
9. Without a committee, I am in control of my destiny as much as any human is. Sure, there are a lot of whims and variables beyond my control. One of those variables isn’t a pinhead named Mort from Middle Management who’s telling me what to do. Screw Mort.
10. Committees are cooperative ventures that require a lot of socializing, neckties and appropriate office behaviour. I do not share toys. I do not play well with others. I’m writing this in my underwear. There might even be a naked abandon dance party later.
I AM INDIE AND PROUD
*If your group has no wacko, the wacko is you.
And yes, I am qualified to diagnose under the It Takes One to Know One Rule.
Get Bigger Than Jesus
Filed under: publishing, Audiobook, Bigger than Jesus, Blog, blogger, blogging, Committee, ebook, group think, indie author, indie spirit, Middle Management, Podcast, Publish, Robert Chazz Chute, writer, writing
07/02/2012 • 11:13 PM 11
After reading the book descriptions, someone sent me a question:
“What are your books like?”
“Suspense that’s often funny with lots of twists,” I said.
“Yeah, but what are they like?”
Um…what? I wasn’t sure what they were getting at, so I replied via email.
If you like:
the twists of William (The Princess Bride) Goldman’s plots;
the fast pace of a Blake (Run) Crouch;
the worldview of Chuck (Fight Club) Palahniuk;
the punchy, funny dialogue of Elmore (Get Shorty) Leonard;
and the disappointed humanism of Kurt (I shouldn’t have to name any Kurt Vonnegut books! Read them all!) Vonnegut,
then you’ll love my crime novel Bigger Than Jesus. Enjoy!
My potential reader/interrogator then wrote, “I’m not familiar with any of those books so don’t tell me about them. Tell me what your book is like!”
I sighed and then I fired off another helpful email:
Best chocolate chip cookies I’ve made in decades. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
“Don’t you love chocolate chip cookies when they’re straight out of the oven? The chocolate is melting a bit and you risk burning your tongue because you can hardly wait. These are the best-tasting chocolate chip cookies ever. You force yourself to slow down and put one in your mouth. It’s really soft and you just hold it there as long as you can to savour it while you pour a tall, cold glass of milk? Then the kitchen floor falls out from under you and you’re sucked down into quicksand and you’re trying not to die and you can’t figure out why God hates you and all you want is to get away and make the woman of your dreams love you. You only have seconds before the suffocating sludge is over your head and you’re about to find out if what follows this tortured life is hell or oblivion. Your heart is full of regret and if you can just live, you swear you’ll turn your life around. Kind of like that, but with more jokes.”
No reply yet, but I’m guessing he’s not a reader, anyway.
If they do email again, I’ll suggest they consider breaking down and read a sample chapter.
Filed under: publishing, Author, best chocolate chip cookies, Bigger than Jesus, Blog, blogger, books, Chocolate chip, Chocolate chip cookie, chocolate chip cookies, cookie, Kurt Vonnegut, Literature, Princess Bride, readers, Robert Chazz Chute, writer, writing
07/02/2012 • 8:55 PM 0
See on Scoop.it – Writing and reading fiction
Here’s a nice summary of things to consider for increased sales. I like the term “Authorpreneur”, too. Learn at the link! ~ Chazz
See on www.wiseinkblog.com
Filed under: publishing
07/02/2012 • 8:40 AM 1
See on Scoop.it – Writing and reading fiction
There are certain tech-oriented things I should be doing with my blogs that I just haven’t gotten around to. Here’s a good one for all of us to consider. ~ Chazz
See on www.betterbusinessbetterlife.com.au
Filed under: publishing
07/02/2012 • 8:17 AM 13
A special welcome to new readers from the Ultimate Blog Challenge! Today, since there are so many new readers pouring in, I should give a little introduction and make an announcement, just to spice things up.
Ancient History: My first blog, way back when, was mostly about politics. My second blog was devoted to writing (back when I thought I wanted someone else to publish my fiction.) I dumped that blog because someone else was managing it poorly and I needed to get my own sites: ChazzWrites.com and AllThatChazz.com. That was two and a half years ago. Now I blog about writing and self-publishing daily here and keep the political rants confined to my podcast when the spirit (and rage) move me.
Modern History: As I researched self-publishing, I found I had a lot to think about. Since I discover what I think about something by writing about it, my blog grew. I curated a bunch of useful information and that’s still an important part of what I do here: helping fellow authors and writers. My posts grew, matured and got tall as I deepened my involvement, made allies and learned and shared more.
The Current Era: Last November I quit my day job and published a strange book of self-help and inspiration expressed through suspense fiction. I know! Crazy! I wish that I had called it Self-help for Surrealists. As it is, every day for the rest of my life I will say to someone, somewhere, “No, you don’t have to be a stoner to love Self-help for Stoners.” I published two short story collections and a bunch of short stories and marketed them like mad, but the best marketing is to put up another book for sale. Last month, after a long trip through the editorial pipe, I published two more.
The Future’s So Bright, I Had to Cut it in Two: As a result of all this blogging, I realized just this weekend (this is the announcement part) that I have not just one book for new indie authors, but two. As the word count climbed toward 100,000 words on my non-fiction book (Crack the Indie Author Code: Aspire to Inspire) I discovered that it would make more sense, and be less overwhelming, to break up the information into two books.
Alternative Futures: Can you blog a book? Absolutely. There are programs devoted to that very thing, though I suggest caution. Go as slow as you dare. You have to go back in and revise carefully. Omit links and images, for instance. Stuff that works for a blog doesn’t necessarily read well as a book. I’m editing it now and it’s coming soon, promise. It’s a tragic time management issue since I’m also working on the follow-up to my first crime novel Bigger Than Jesus. But that’s a separate blog post and different announcement for another day. Happy blogging!
COMING SOON:
CRACK THE INDIE AUTHOR CODE: ASPIRE TO INSPIRE (YEAR ONE)
*2
Filed under: publishing, allthatchazz.com, Bigger than Jesus, Blog, blogger, blogging, Crack the Indie Author Code, Literature, Publish, publishing, Robert Chazz Chute, self-publishing, short story, Stoners, story collections, suspense fiction, writer, writing
07/02/2012 • 12:15 AM 1
See on Scoop.it – Writing and reading fiction
Excellent points on the ever-popular 1o point blog post. (I do lots of Top 10 posts here. Scan down to see those.) For this post, learn at the link! ~ Chazz
See on nopassiveincome.com
Filed under: publishing
07/01/2012 • 4:29 PM 6
Last month I completed the Author Blog Challenge. I blog anyway, so why another blog challenge?
1. Daily writing prompts help me keep posting. I don’t always follow them, but when you’re stuck, it makes blogging easy, or at least easier.
2. A commitment to blogging every day helps Search Engine Optimization so the blog readership grows.
3. Community. I look forward to discovering new bloggers and I’m hoping more new bloggers (and readers) will discover me.
4. Networking. The Ultimate Blog Challenge encourages tweeting links so profiles are raised.
5. Momentum. I just completed a blog a day for all of June written by The Magic That is Me. Why not take a break? Some people take being tired as a reason to ease off. But it’s precisely because I am tired that I should do this challenge. It’s energizing (and commitment is so sexy.) When you blog every day, you get on a streak and it makes you want to continue. As long as the quality stays high, I’m okay with the quantity of the output. I write all the time. Deadlines are my friend.
Most important, I have a writing career and a readership to build.
Now is not the time to rest.
This is just the beginning. This is number 1.
Filed under: publishing, Author Blog Challenge, Bigger than Jesus, Blog, blog readership, blogger, blogging, Robert Chazz Chute, Search engine optimization, Ultimate Blog Challenge, Writers Resources, writing
Winner of Writer's Digest's 2014 Honorable Mention in Self-published Ebook Awards in Genre
The first 81 lessons to get your Buffy on
More lessons to help you survive Armageddon
"You will laugh your ass off!" ~ Maxwell Cynn, author of Cybergrrl
Fast-paced terror, new threats, more twists.
An autistic boy versus our world in free fall
Suspense to melt your face and play with your brain.
Action like a Guy Ritchie film. Funny like Woody Allen when he was funny.
Jesus: Sexier and even more addicted to love.
You can pick this ebook up for free today at this link: http://bit.ly/TheNightMan
See my books, blogs, links and podcasts.
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