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

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04/25/2011 • 6:25 AM 0

Author profile: Saffina Desforges’ Sugar & Spice

When you think the unthinkable, where do you turn?
Sugar & Spice is the groundbreaking debut novel from Saffina Desforges.
Yet to be published on paper, Sugar & Spice has swept up the Amazon UK Kindle charts with sales of more than 18,000 a month despite having neither an agent nor a publishing house behind it.
~
Inspired by a news story of a man who begged a Judge to give him a longer sentence because he knew he would harm another child if released without treatment, Sugar & Spice is meticulously researched, asking questions society prefers not to have answered.
At once disquieting and challenging, this is car-crash reading.
~
It’s every parent’s worst nightmare: A child fails to return home.  Some children never come back.

“An unsettling read with echoes of Mo Hayder.”
Crimetime.co.uk

“A disturbing and cleverly-woven story. Powerful first novel.”
Jake Barton

“Compelling! A very tough subject handled exceptionally well.”
Mel Comley

CW: When did you first know you wanted to be an author?Sugar_and_Spice

SD: I have always known. As a child, I would spend hours scribbling in an exercise book and making up stories in my head. In fact, most would say, I have spent my whole life living in a fantasy world!

CW: Tell us about Sugar & Spice.

SD: As the louder half of a writing team, I cannot personally take credit for the concept for Sugar & Spice, that was Mark’s. (There is a full guest post on the subject here if anyone is interested.)

CW:  Do you have any formal training in writing?

SD: I don’t, only a couple of on-line courses, but (co-author) Mark Williams has written before as a journalist, a teacher and for stage and television.

CW: How did you arrive at the decision to self-publish?

Saffina DesforgesSD: We took the decision to self-publish rather quickly with Sugar & Spice. Agents liked the book, but were uncomfortable with the subject matter. With the growing popularity in the UK with e-readers, it was a no-brainer. We have sold 40,000 plus copies since Christmas and are currently selling just under 20,000 a month in the UK alone. The book is currently out with an agent who has requested to read it fully. We would have to think long and hard about any deal (with traditional publishing.)

CW:  What was the biggest disappointment you experienced through this book?

SD: The biggest disappointment for us with Sugar & Spice is how no one (thus far) has had the balls to see the book for what it is, a great story, and convince a publisher to do the same, but hey, that may change. Another disappointment is how some readers have misread the messages within the book and suggested that we are being sympathetic to criminals, when that certainly isn’t the case.

CW: What was the hardest part of the publishing process? What did you most enjoy?

SD: Self-publishing is relatively easy these days. Getting people to buy your book is the hard part.

CW: What advice would you give unpublished writers?

SD: Forget being a writer, you have to be the complete business person. No matter which route you take, writing is a very small part of the process.

CW: Have changes in the book industry forced you to change how you published or marketed your work?

SD: Yes, and will influence any future decisions we make. We are confident that if time allowed, we could have at least 3, if not 4 books a year published as ebooks and be making money from them. Traditional publishing will not allow that, nor will we have any control over what we write.

CW: What’s your next book project and what can you tell us about it?

SD: We have several projects on the go, but the most imminent, is the first book of The Rose Red Crime Series, Snow White. This is a series of fast-paced, commercial crime thrillers, set in modern day but based on fairy tales. Snow White will be available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble for the end of July 2011.

In October, we will release the first of a dark, urban (adult) fantasy series – Equilibrium: First Blood. At some point before the end of the year, we might even share our experiences in a ‘how to’ book!

 For details of how to purchase Sugar & Spice – the UK bestseller and the recently released US edition, please visit here : www.sugarandspicethenovel.com

Our website:

www.saffinadesforges.com

Twitter: @safficscribe

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04/20/2011 • 5:36 AM 3

How much should fiction cost?

There’s quite a gap between what publishers charge for ebooks and how self-publishers are pricing their work. Many authors (and readers) have a visceral reaction to price. Of course people are sensitive to a price they perceive too high, but many believe that if it’s too cheap, it must be crap. (JA Konrath suggests self-publishers play with price, and experiment to find the right price point.)

However pricing affects you intuitively, there’s no direct correlation between price and quality. Many fine ebooks are often priced low because the author is not well-known. Lower prices encourage timid readers to take a chance on new fiction. When the price is lower, readers buy more. It is freeing to click, click, click and still pay less for fiction than you might for a latte and a croissant.  Self-publishers hope to make it up on volume.

If you are trying to figure out how to price your ebooks, or what a fair price might be, Dean Wesley Smith has a great and useful  summary.

His suggestions have influenced my thinking greatly. As a result, my first book (that will be available digitally) will be a short story collection. I still plan to roll out my big novel in November, but the collection, including some award winners, will come this summer!

It’s all happening very quickly. It has to. And most glorious of all, now it can happen.

Time and me?

We wait for no one.

Not anymore. 

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04/18/2011 • 2:03 PM 7

Publishers: What do I need you for?

Over at The Ranting Crone, my friend Pam Brierley has a great post about an encounter she had with a panel of publishers at last year’s Canadian Authors Association conference.

If they aren’t editing and they aren’t marketing, what are they doing (and is it worth it?)

These very sorts of questions are what’s pushed me to self-publishing.

Go visit Pam! 

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04/15/2011 • 11:58 AM 8

Write. Commit. Do.

Last Saturday night I went for a long walk with She Who Must be Obeyed. We talked about the future.  I’d analyzed the finances. I’d considered my options. Now I have  a plan. I’ve been on both sides of the argument for and against self-publishing (and a lot of those arguments against were good objections when they were true not so long ago.)

It’s time for some grown-up decisions since I’ve been a kid in long pants for some time now. I have a manuscript to publish. Well, several, actually (and plans for more.) What to do with them though?

I’ve read Seth Godin, JA Konrath, Dean Wesley Smith, Barry Eisler and Cory Doctorow. I’ve read multiple defences of the status quo from legacy publishing. In the end, the latter were not convincing. I’ve spoken to Rebecca Senese about her experience with Smashwords and Jeff Bennington blogged in this space about Lightning Source. I kept an open mind as long as I could and decided I have to jump. Now.

Inspired by Kevin Smith, I see where the puck is going and I will not chase after where the puck has been. I’ve decided to pick myself, go big, go indie and publish my books myself. I’ll be using Smashwords and Lightning Source.

What are the main reasons I’m committing to indie? I’m looking forward to having the first book out by November. Traditional publishing would take much, much longer than that even if I struck a deal tomorrow (and the royalty rates are not favorable.)

I have had mainstream interest in the first book. I was concerned that self-publishing is seen by some as cheating the system, an evasion of gatekeepers who ensure quality. As I’ve explained in previous posts, I reject that premise.

JA Konrath ran the numbers. Ross Laird was very persuasive. Barry Eisler really got my attention when he said opting for self-publishing came down to a business decision versus an ego decision. That rang true for me personally.

Self-publishing is not the quick route to publication some people think it is. I won’t be skipping lightly over editing. I’ll be doing most everything a traditional publisher would do. I’m a tad intimidated by the tech side of things, but I’m a smart guy. I can generally figure most things out or ask for help. And I worked inside traditional publishing for five years so I’m not intimidated by a lot of things that would worry others. I’ve written and published a lot already so I’m not going in starry-eyed. But I am optimistic and excited. Much of the time, this is going to be fun!

I’m not saying that you shouldn’t go with a New York publisher, a Canadian press, a university press, a small press or a micro press. I am saying this is the right choice for me because it suits my temperament and it suits the material (cross-genre, late YA with humor and sex, drugs and school bullying wrapped up with some literary pretensions.) Books coming later fall into horror (a plague’s coming so buckle up) and two fantasies (one with a vampire cannibal cult, the other is angels in the End of Days). Also, there’s a sexy and occasionally horror-oriented short story collection. Down the road I can see two non-fiction books, as well. Lots to do.

This is my time (before it’s too late…I hope.) I’ve started up several businesses to  employ myself. I haven’t had a “real” job working for someone else since 1991! I’m used to living on the edge of the real world. Self-publishing is for me. It might not be for you. I need choice and independence. I need to be a control freak about some things. (Okay, a lot of things.)

So, thank you to everyone who responded to my Twitter announcement last week with such kind wishes.

And before anybody tries jumping on my head about my decision,

let’s try this:

I’ll be me. You be you.

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04/15/2011 • 5:41 AM 3

Support authors. Buy books.

FYI: I promised the big announcement today.

That post drops here

at 12:01 pm EST.

Now, to business:

Author Jeff Bennington from The Writing Bomb wrote a very helpful post for Chazz Writes comparing his publishing experience with Lightning Source vs CreateSpace. 

Besides helping self-publishers out with some great information, Jeff’s written a great book. The early reviews are very exciting, so I’m not just asking that you help out an author. I’m asking that you enjoy a good book.

http://www.amazon.ca/Reunion-Jeff-P-Bennington/dp/0615450865/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1302828982&sr=1-1Jeff is trying to climb high in Amazon‘s rankings today so readers can find his novel. Get in on the ground floor and help kickstart Jeff’s career. He’s encouraging fans and future fans to buy Reunion today. The novel has received great reviews, so why not? It’s not expensive.

Check out the awesome reviews and blurbs here.

Why not buy two? I will.

For this strategy to work best, it would be great if you bought the book today, April 15, if you please. It’s tax day in the States, so console yourself and forget about that horror by reading Jeff’s cool horror story.

Please support the arts and chill with a good book. Thank you.

UPDATE: Just bought two copies of Reunion.

Can’t wait!

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04/13/2011 • 5:58 AM 5

Author Profile: India Drummond’s Ordinary Angels

India Drummond knew from age nine that writing would be her passion. Since thenordinary_angels she’s discovered many more, but none quite so fulfilling as creating a world, a character, or a moment and watching them evolve into something complex and compelling. She has lived in three countries and four American states, is a dual British and American citizen, and currently lives at the base of the Scottish Highlands in a village so small its main attraction is a red phone box. In other words: paradise.

india_drummondOrdinary Angels (Lyrical Press) is an urban fantasy/paranormal romance novel in which Zoë Pendergraft falls in love with an angel, frees a soul from necromancers, releases a ghost trapped in the Void and saves his living grandson from demons. Most of Zoë’s friends are dead, but she doesn’t mind because they died long before she met them. Then one Tuesday night an angel takes her salsa dancing and turns her world upside down. Grim reality closes in when she discovers a body in her company’s boiler room and Higher Angels accuse her best ghost friend of murder.

CW: When did you first know you wanted to be an author?

ID: I’ve always written stories. I started my first book at 21 but didn’t seriously consider trying to make it a profession until the past couple of years. The coming of eReaders, in particular, has changed publishing so much. It’s a fantastic time to be an author.

CW: How did you get the idea for your book?

ID: My husband said to me one day, “I’m a perfect angel.” Of course, I laughed, because he only says things like that when he’s doing something troublesome. I proceeded to tell him what sort of hideous, fallen angel he would make. It got me thinking about what angels would be like if they were real and the storyline spun from that.

CW: What research was involved in your book’s development?

ID: The novel is set in San Francisco, a city I love to visit. I wanted the place to feel real in the book, so I had a couple of San Francisco natives on hand and shot them emails incessantly during the polish process, making sure I got details right about trains, the library, streets, parking, etc. Even suggestions on where my protagonist lived and the setting for my ghost town came from helpful locals.

CW: What is your writing process? Do you have any formal training in writing?

ID: I studied creative writing at university, but honestly, 95% of what I learned there wasn’t much help in the real world of publishing. I was taught how to write literary fiction, but not told that literary fiction is a teeny-tiny fraction of the market. (I wasn’t very good at it anyway… it isn’t what I like to read, so it showed in my writing.) My professors looked down on genre fiction, and I came out of it with a very clouded idea of publishing reality. What I did learn was how to take criticism: what to listen to, what to discard and how to use that feedback best to improve my stories. That was worth gold.

CW: How long did it take you to write the book and find an agent and publisher?

ID: The book I had accepted by a publisher, Ordinary Angels, was actually my second attempt. The first one took me years to write and was rejected countless times. Ordinary Angels, however, only took me six weeks to write (and a few months after that to polish and rework the rough bits). I looked for an agent for a few months, but after a while realized that getting a publisher amongst the small, indie publishers might not only be easier, but might be better for me as a new novelist. Once I decided that, I sent it to three publishers at once. One of them accepted it.

CW: What was the hardest part of the publishing process? What did you most enjoy?

ID: I think the waiting and not knowing during submissions is horribly hard. I felt I was going a bit mental, hitting send/receive over and over, hoping they would reply, but being afraid the reply would be negative. Even after acceptance, there is a lot of sitting around and waiting during the editing and even post-editing process. What I enjoyed most is crafting the story—I love the beginning when anything is possible and the characters surprise me at every turn.

CW: What advice would you give unpublished writers?

ID: Don’t give up and realize there is more than one good way to do publishing these days. Don’t just set your sights on the big six publishers in New York City. There are many small, indie publishers out there that might love your book and give you a much more personal, helpful experience. Remember, the biggest publishers are like Hollywood. They’re really only interested in blockbusters, so it’s a huge mountain to climb for an unpublished author to get noticed in that shark tank. So don’t dismiss those small publishers. Also, I am a big believer in indie publishing. I’ve read some fabulous indie books and am going to release my next book, Blood Faerie, as an indie book. Just remember that you have to do it like a pro if you’re going the indie route. Do your homework, and for the love of all that is holy, hire an editor. I do freelance editing and even I hire an editor because no one can see their own mistakes. Do it. Really.

CW: Have changes in the book industry forced you to change how you published or marketed your work?

ID: These days, authors have to take responsibility for marketing themselves but I don’t mind that. I love social networking so I’d be on Facebook and Twitter even if I weren’t an author. I think e-publishing and indie publishing have forced all of us to change, but in my mind, it all benefits authors. We have more choice and choice means power.

CW: What’s your next book project and what can you tell us about it?

ID: Blood Faerie is set here where I live, in Perth Scotland. It’s a modern-day urban fantasy about an exiled faerie. It’s due to be released in July 2011.

Here’s a short blurb: Eilidh was cast out of the kingdom lands in the forests and forced to live on Perth’s city streets. She survived alone for years, but when a human is killed below the abandoned church where she lived, she recognized it as the work of one of her own kind. To stop the murders, she must tap into the forbidden magic that cost her everything.

Click here for more on India Drummond.

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04/08/2011 • 5:38 AM 7

The publisher’s temperament

Last week a baby video went viral. Two little twin boys babbled at each other. Back andSelfpublishing forth they went with a lively conversation “Da! Da! Da! Da!” Though unintelligible, they both were excited to talk to each other. I couldn’t hep but think of the conversation that goes back and forth about whether you should publish, or self-publish. There’s a lot of energy but not a lot of signal getting through.

The answer to the question of whether you should self-publish depends on the “you”.

Are you prepared to think of yourself as more than a hobbyist? Are you intimidated by new and unknown practices so much that you’re frozen? Do you prefer that others take care of things for you without you hiring them? Do you have any financial cushion? Are you prepared to take a chance? What is your real tolerance for risk? What is your tolerance for some people underestimating your work’s worth because you went your own way. Are you open to learning what you don’t yet know and ready to be a beginner?

There are a plethora of other factors to consider,  but first and foremost, it’s about you. Some people just aren’t interested in entrepreneurship. That’s not a judgment. Starting a business is not for everyone. You have to have a lot of discipline and interest in things beyond simply writing a good book (and god knows there’s nothing simple about that.)

Ask yourself, do you really want to do this?

We’ll have better self-published books when more authors ask themselves this question first. Why? Because they won’t just be self-publishers and the negative things that currently implies. We’ll have more publishers who happen to be publishing themselves.

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04/04/2011 • 5:37 AM 18

Createspace or Lightning Source: Pros & cons breakdown

Jeff_Bennington

Jeff Bennington

I’m trying to decide what company to go with to get my novel out. Smashwords grinds manuscripts into all e-book formats, of course, but what about the paper book issue? Createspace or Lightning Source? I recently asked some authors about their experience with companies that facilitate self-publishers. Some were satisfied with Createspace and others were fine with Lightning Source. Jeff Bennington, author of a paranormal thriller, Reunion as well as the blog The Writing Bomb,  hit me with a great, detailed reply. He has experience with both Createspace and Lightning Source. Rather than pushing me one way or another, he laid out the pros and cons as he sees it from his experience.

“Dude!” I said (because in my mind I’m still seventeen and it’s the ’80s.)  “This isn’t a mere reply to my question. This, sir, is a blog post. How about it?” He graciously said yes.  Here’s his breakdown:

Cons


At Lightning Source, starting an account is a bit cumbersome (much more paperwork than Createspace.) Once the paperwork was complete I had to get my cover just right, but Joleene Naylor, an independent cover artist, helped me do that with ease.
However, I’m not as happy with Lightning Source’s ink/cover quality as I am with Createspace. Lightning Source’s paper is much thinner than Createspace. (Same number of pages and Lightning Source is at least 1/4″ thinner. Very strange.)
The initial work to get a proof copy is somewhat exhausting and cost $39 (overnight, mandatory) for a proof every time!
I can get five proofs for $50 (overnight, not mandatory with Createspace).
I’ll use Createspace the next time if I discover that print copies just aren’t the thing for my books. I used them this time to get advanced reading copies (ARCs) out early. Createspace was fast and easy to work with but I was very limited on the back cover and spine art.
Expect 1 to 2 days for email return. But if you call..they answer.

Pros


The number one reason to use Lightning Source is the distribution: return availability and full industry discount (45-55%). That was enough for me because very few publishers for indies do that and if they say, as Createspace does, that they have full distribution, you better make doubly sure that the wholesale discount is 45+ and that you can have a return policy. Createspace  never told me that. I asked and they said, “We don’t make that decision.” I say “Bull^%$#!” Of course they do. They are the publisher.
With Lightning Source, you are definitely the publisher. I like that.
If you have a newer mac formatting is easy. Lightning Source will upload your sized PDF with no worries.
Once the book was uploaded and passed the tests, things moved rather quickly. Give yourself 2 months to get your account in process and book uploadedReunion
The best thing is you are assigned a customer rep—a real and a very nice and helpful person. My rep at Lightning Source is Carol Egan. She is wonderful!

Overall, I’m happy so far. I mostly want my print version to be available to local stores for signings (if I have one) and a lot of my friends and family want to buy it at a store. I can’t do that with most other self-pub outlets. Lightning Source is the real thing. Great for a small press…like me!

 

Right about now you’re bubbling over with gratitude for Jeff”s insights. Act on it and check out his book. Reunion just launched and the reviews on Amazon are very good. Plus, you need to own it for research purposes. (See what you think of the binding etc.,…) Buy Reunion.

 

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03/30/2011 • 5:30 AM 0

Writers: Chazz Law versus Masnick’s Law

A cropped photograph depicts singer Elvis Pres...

Image via Wikipedia

Thanks for all the nice feedback and e-mails about Monday’s blog post on Amanda Hocking. There was so much, in fact, that I need to do a follow-up about the mistakes we make when we compare our potential for success with another’s. Some people see another author’s success as a door slamming shut on their own noses. These are people who believe Masnick’s Law (which comes from the music industry.) The idea is that only a certain band at a certain time had certain advantages that can’t be replicated. They came along at the right time or had just the right choice of sound, or the moon was in alignment with the stars etc.,….

In other words, if they make it, you won’t.

Wussies.

You might make it in a different way (Elvis ≠The Beatles) but if you have a great book, success can be yours. Amanda Hocking isn’t stopping you from succeeding. Not writing your book is keeping you from succeeding. (Not revising or hiring an editor, too.) Hocking took a machete and cut a path into the jungle. JA Konrath, Barry Eisler and many other authors who went the self-published way are forging ahead. When you see others succeed, take it as inspiration. Masnick’s Law isn’t a law. It’s a self-defeating fallacy.

CHAZZ LAW:

Art inspires more art.

Read it.

Rock it.

Roll it out.

(And don’t be a wuss.)

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03/28/2011 • 5:32 AM 8

The Amanda Hocking Effect: She didn’t sell out. Trad publishing bought in.

Amazon Kindle e-book reader being held by my g...

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Successful e-book author Amanda Hocking has signed a six-figure deal with a traditional publisher, St. Martin’s Press. No sooner was it announced,  some haters emerged in website comments sections. I’m pleased to say that most people were happy for Ms. Hocking—as they should be—but of course there were some trolls, one of whom said she was a sell-out and a traitor to the digital revolution’s cause.

The haters are wrong about that and here’s why: Ms. Hocking got to be a big-time author because of e-books, but she never signed up to lead a revolution. She just signed up to get readers for her books. Good for her! The traditional publishing model is useful to big-time authors and due to her solitary efforts, she is a big-time author. The larger issue is that publishing often falls down when the author’s success does not qualify as stellar.

I don’t see that this deal speaks to the limits of self-publishing at all. The deal must have been sweet because, as I pointed out not more than a week or so ago, with her 70% cut through Amazon, publishers would have to back up a truck full of money and provide an army of logistical support to justify any deal with that author. St. Martin’s is one of the few publishers big enough to provide that scale of mucho macho mojo. Hocking tried to get published the traditional way first and mainstream publishing turned her down. She proved herself worthy doing it her way. Now she can focus more on writing and less on the business side of publishing. Writers love to write first, and most of us only become entrepreneurs by necessity and circumstance.

Look deeper into the implications of this deal. Amanda Hocking didn’t sell out. Traditional publishing did. Hemorrhaging money fuel due to Wall Street’s global economic destruction spree, publishers cut back on editors and squeezed the mid-list authors. They failed to adapt to the changing digital environment to preserve the old media model as long as possible.  Many of those mid-list authors got squeezed right into self-publishing. For those with some experience and an entrepreneurial bent, the water over in digital publishing can be nice and warm.

Another author, Barry Eisler, recently walked away from a $500,000 deal because he decided he could make more on his own. Also, good for him. One of the joys of self-publishing is maintaining control and choice. Whether you choose to stay outside trad publishing or sign a contract, you’re making the best choices for you.

Amanda Hocking didn’t sell out. She made traditional publishing buy in.

(And she’s consistently more gracious about it than I would be. )

 

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Bestseller with over 1,000 reviews!
Winner of the North Street Book Prize, Reader's Favorite, the
Literary Titan Award, the Hollywood Book Festival, and the
New York Book Festival.

http://mybook.to/OurZombieHours
A NEW ZOMBIE ANTHOLOGY

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

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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

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