And the Winner Is… January 24, 2012
Posted by bobv451 in awards, business, e-books, movies, science fiction, VIPub, writing.add a comment
The Oscar noms went out this morning. I try to keep up with movies, though I am in a declining segment of the population to do so. Even then, I hadn’t even heard of some of the nominees. The few I had seen were good but, all in all, 2011 was a crummy year.
The award isn’t to the most popular, of course, but to the best. However that is defined in an industry whose representative openly admits to bribing politicians.
I saw Hugo and enjoyed it a lot, but it is strangely paced and the plot changes halfway through the movie. It’s seamless as you watch but don’t think about it or you’ll realize how this goes from a plucky homeless kid with a clockwork automaton story to the destroyed dreams of an old film maker.
A broader question isn’t what is nominated or even if the winner is any good but what additional revenue will this generate? Movie ticket sales were up 10% over Christmas but this is a comparison with 2010. What isn’t mentioned is that twice as many “tent pole” movies were in release, with budgets at least 2x as much. So for twice the expense, Hollywood brought in 10% more revenue. Poor incremental return on your money, if you are a film maker. Will an Oscar significantly boost the winner? I doubt it. In DVD sales? I doubt that, too, since the markets are changing.
Carrying the question to publishing, do awards give a significant boost to book sales? For the Big 6, they’d have to reissue since the shelf life of a book is about 16 days. Hugo (the sf award, not the Scorcesse movie), Nebula and all the other awards simply don’t generate the buzz an Oscar does–and wouldn’t trigger reprints. Do you buy new books with “Hugo Award Winning Author” on the cover simply from that datum? NYT bestseller works better, but there is a proliferation of bestseller lists. One might even say a compost heap of them.
I can’t see any boost in sales on Career Guide to Your Job in Hell, in spite of that hitting #2 on the Kindle anthology bestseller list. Moonlight in the Meg hit #3 in high tech and technothriller.
No significant boost afterward. Would it be different if they weren’t ebooks?
One advantage of VIPub ebooks over Big 6 print is that they can stay in print forever. We might see if a Hugo or Nebula win boosts ebook sales eventually. Time will tell, but I suspect awards will decline as a sales factor in favor of simply good storytelling.
The Perils of Technology January 23, 2012
Posted by bobv451 in business, e-books, education, Free, ideas, iPad, VIPub, web & computers, writing.add a comment
No, I haven’t become a Luddite but just want point out how we are on the frontier and still not sure what’s just beyond that cloud of dust. Mike Stackpole is using the new Apple book creation software, loves it and doesn’t see a problem with the EULA (End User Legal Agreement). The people at PCMagazine do.
Mike is probably right that the EULA will change, but a recent story comes to mind. It has entered the “legendary” position about how Van Halen demanded all brown M&Ms be taken out of the candy bowl. Outrageous diva stuff, right? They claim it was to be sure the venue providers actually read the contract since they sometimes arrived and didn’t have proper power, lighting, facilities necessary to actually putting on a concert. Brown M&Ms told them to check everything else since the promoter hadn’t read (and abided by) their contract.
I don’t doubt that one software contract actually included the clause that the user sell his soul to the devil. They probably had fun showing how many people actually had not read it. Most (almost all?) didn’t. I figure if they aren’t asking for my DNA genome and bank account number, I’m relatively safe since the publishers long ago devoured my soul.
But we need to think about what technology is doing. Long ago I wondered if anyone checked the airport luggage scanners for radiation leakage. This was before the soft x-ray scanners came into use. I suspect the TSA will either be unable to spawn or will produce monstrous mutant offspring (I leave it to the reader to comment about offspring being human because of reversion to the mean). Another thing that occurred to me a long time back when I first heard how some big companies wanted user software to be on their servers (ie, your word processor would be on MS servers, not installed on your computer, and you would access it via the net) My worry was the internet going down when I needed most to work. Let me keep the programs on my own computer to use when I need them, not when you allow me access. But again those cynics at PCMag bring up another thought I had about this. What if the company where you store your data goes bankrupt?
I saw somewhere that Amazon servers are used by most of the S&P 500 companies. A lot of power beyond selling ebooks and survival food.
It seems that Apple is the 100% provider on educational stuff. Or are they? Again from PCMag here are some good resources for the educator (or the one allowed to actually go online–most schools in Abq prohibit this.)
Time to actually work. Or what passes for it around here.
http://www.wikihow.com/Cat-Proof-Your-Computer
Clutter January 15, 2012
Posted by bobv451 in business, e-books, movies & TV, Time, web & computers, writing.2 comments
Not on my desk, though that is a problem. The cats burrow down and make nests in it, causing dislocations in the strata and making bookkeeping/finding receipts that much harder. No, I am talking about the time nibblers that have consumed the day. Looking back I don’t know where I could have just walked away.
My mail clients refuse to talk to comcast so I can send emails (but I can still receive). It’s worse than I thought. Not a single one of the emails I’ve sent through comcast in the past 8 weeks has actually been delivered. No sign that the email is being rejected–in fact, it comes up saying it has been sent. Only it has not been delivered. I migrated from Thunderbird to Outlook Express, thinking this worked. Nope. Tried another client called Pegasus. It at least gives me an error msg so I know it’s not getting through.
I spent 45 minutes this morning with a comcast tech support guy. Upshot: not our problem, go waste your time with somebody else. Something changed at comcast in December to cause this. I worked a couple hrs and resurrected an old version of Thunderbird (and got my address book and some emails back–the archived email is still lost in the entrails of my ‘puter). It was configured properly but doesn’t work now. Since none of the email clients works, that means something has to be wrong at the funnel, meaning comcast. Help!
That chewed up several hours. Then Scott Phillips asked if I had put Stink of Flesh in ebook on the Kindle. For some reason I hadn’t. Took me a couple hrs prepping it and getting it posted, only to have Amazon come back and ask if I am the author since they assume I have stolen it. The print copy has been for sale on Amazon since August of ’05, but the ebook is suspect with all the same info. This is more time wasted.
Got the website updated late. Need to take out the trash. Been caught in a barrage of schedulings for the coming week. It is 6pm and I haven’t written a single word today (and I kinda wanted to see the season finale on Hell on Wheels–that might get postponed.)
So my life is cluttered and ducks have nibbled away at my time and with little progress on my part. But if you want a real blog, tomorrow I’m guestblogging at Write Well, Sell to Write. How to do dynamite first sentences (that ole hook everyone talks about–what to look for, what to avoid). Check it out. Let me know what you think.
Report from the Frontlines January 13, 2012
Posted by bobv451 in business, e-books, fantasy, Free, science fiction, steampunk, VIPub.1 comment so far
I tried out the Amazon freebie promo route on anthology Career Guide To Your Job in Hell and my standalone sf novel Moonlight in the Meg. The former was put up for three days, Moonlight on January’s full moon for one day. Question was if giving away copies somehow increased visibility and sales.
After almost a week here is how it comes down. But first the number given away and where.
Career Guide:
US(924), UK (28–and one poor soul actually returned a free copy, maybe thinking he could get $4.99 or Brit pound equivalent refund in the confusion?), Germany (21)
Moonlight in the Meg:
US(315), UK(37), Germany (4), Italy (1)
Since then each book has been loaned out once (which is a good thing since the lending pool has been increased to $700k. Prior $500k pool equalled about $1.70 per loaned copy.)
Breaking into the Italy market is good though this is not a sale (and so far I have sold only 1 book, Hot Rail to Hell in Germany)
I have sold 3 copies of books since the end of the promotion. I’d say nothing moved the sales needle with the giveaway, since the books sold were part of the Swords of Raemllyn series and reducing the first book (until Feb 1) to 99cents as a different promotion.
That seems to have worked better, since I saw a slight uptick in sales on that series.
Summary: the free promotion doesn’t work. Possibly reducing the price for a limited time on the first book in a series does. Still to be determined: whether giving Amazon exclusive listing for 90 days into their lending library will be worthwhile compared with combined sales on Nook, iTunes and my own store. That will be reported later, my droogies.
I leave you with a glimpse at a new project.
Empires of Steam & Rust: The First Passage
Is That What I Really Meant? January 11, 2012
Posted by bobv451 in education, history, ideas, science, writing.1 comment so far
My son forwarded a link about a project Bruce McAllister started when he was a high school student in 1963. He wrote 75 authors asking if they intentionally put symbolism into their work
The wide spectrum of authors answering fascinates me. Some were terse like Ayn Rand–but she responded. Others like Ray Bradbury were generous with their time and thoughts (what else would you expect out of a great writer like Ray?) Another revisited the question a year after the initial survey. Interesting to see how long the comments from the sf authors were.
The old saw about “write what you know” is true in the sense that a writer can’t put something into a story if it isn’t already in the brain–or the pieces that are put together to form the story. You are a prisoner of your own experience. Worse, you are in solitary confinement, only getting brief glimpses outside (and then this becomes part of your experience).
I have always said that a writer is responsible for 75% of the story. The reader brings the other 25% and this is entirely beyond the writer’s control. Those that hate a story not only don’t find their 25% engaged, things in the 75% go awry, also. But those that click, those that have their full 25% firing on all rockets, see things the writer possibly never intended–or ever could. A synergy, if you please, makes for the best books.
In a way, finding symbolism is a matter for the academics. I doubt it matters much to writers (unless they are academics and think this is necessary). Delivering a powerful story, an entertaining one, is (or ought to be) what drives a writer.
So what do you see?
Visit from a Bear January 10, 2012
Posted by bobv451 in business, sci-fi, science fiction, serial fiction, writing.1 comment so far
Greg Bear, that is. Last night he held a talk/autographing at Page One. In spite of a top of the article mention in the Arts section in the Sunday Journal using words such as “legend” and “master” the turnout was not all that great. Perhaps 30 people?
Anyone not there missed a pleasant, insightful presentation. I’d met Greg once about 20 years ago and was interested in hearing his adventures writing in the Halo universe. Comparing how God of War works viz a vis Halo was an eye-opener for me. Greg is pushing the 2nd novel in his trilogy of the Forerunners, Primoridum, with the third cleverly hinted at.
I was especially taken by his attitude toward writing. If it entertains, it’s worth doing. Crossovers (he mentioned vampire ranch romances, somewhat jokingly, but I am sure there are a lot out there) and tie-ins and sf and…it’s all worthwhile. He pointed out the immense popularity of video games, saying the industry revenue passed that of Hollywood movies back in the ‘90s. I can’t address that but the reports on the recent Call to Duty said it pulled in almost a billion dollars in 16 days. (Eat your heart out, Avatar).
Halo isn’t a series I follow, though I did read Eric Nylund’s First Strike back in the day. Halo sounds like an interesting idea, especially for novels.
In a day or two I’ll have a report on the Kindle promo for both A Career Guide to Your Job in Hell and Moonlight in the Meg.
Greg Bear
Sentenced to a Blogging January 8, 2012
Posted by bobv451 in business, e-books, fantasy, hobby, science fiction, VIPub, web & computers, writing.add a comment
I’ve agreed to do a guest blog over at Write Well, Write to Sell Fancy that. The very title speaks to everything I say about writing here. Give it a look and I’ll let you know when my guest blog goes up.
Blogging in general is sort of like taking a razor blade to the arteries running into your brain. At lot of years ago I published a fanzine, Sandworm, about books and happenings in fandom. I stopped pubbing it when I got into grad school and found myself working fulltime (up to 60 hrs a week) and taking a couple courses. The semester with the differential equations class followed by nucleation (where the prof gave tests over material just covered in class) was killer. So, in a way, coming to blogging is like going home to Sandworm.
Only it’s not. I can do hyperlinks to things you ought to know about and be far more timely, though this is less about publishing news than it is publishing trends and fun stuff seen through my myopic eyeballs.
My intent has also changed from hobby to profession. I want you to enjoy this so you’ll take a chance on reading some of my fiction. But like the old Twiltone paper days, I can mention stuff I’ve read and enjoyed. Scott Phillips is running a Kindle promo on his Tales of Misery and Imagination. If you haven’t read the stories here, you’re missing out. Grab it while it’s free, give him a review. Nathan Long delivered what might be the best ever blurb: Triangulate funny, creepy and melancholy, and you’ll find Scott S. Phillips, waiting for a bus.
I want to also alert you to one of my other Kindle promotions on Amazon. January 9, in celebration of the full moon, you can get Moonlight in the Meg for free.
Moonlight in the Meg
Workin’ It on the Kindle January 7, 2012
Posted by bobv451 in business, e-books, Free, VIPub, writing.add a comment
A Career Guide to Your Job is Hell is #4 on the Kindle anthology bestseller list right now. You can score a free copy here.
This seems to be sparking interest in Scott Phillips’ Rum, Sodomy and False Eyelashes and Axel Howerton’s Living Dead at Zigfreidt & Roy’s as well as my second Weapons of Chaos book. That’s the idea behind such a promotion–and it will last through Jan 9. Look for a similar freebie promo on my Moonlight in the Meg during, what else?, full moon on the 9th. And subsequent full moons in Feb and March.
Career Guide was a fun anthology to do, hat tip to EDP Scott Phillips for getting the ball rolling. Brandie Tarvin has a blog on her experiences with this anthology which provides good reading about working as a writer under the lash of terrible taskmasters.
Let me know if you scarf up a free copy. Shoot me a picture of you with it on your Kindle and I’ll run it either here or on Facebook or both. Most of all get that freebie and do a review for us. Got some good comments on Amazon already. More can’t hurt!
Be sure to check out all our stuff, even that which isn’t free. You’ll like it. Really.
http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&keywords=career%20guide%20job%20hell%20vardeman&tag=roberevardesc-20&Go.x=3&index=blended&Go=Go&Go.y=8&link_code=qs
Time Efficiency January 3, 2012
Posted by bobv451 in business, e-books, ideas, inventions, iPad, iPhone, Time, VIPub, web & computers, writing.add a comment
All a writer has is time. I suppose this is a subset of time being all anyone has in life. How do you fill it? With stuff you enjoy or stuff you hate? This economy makes it likely a job, any job that pays, whether you like it or not, is a precious commodity.
But writers may not be working but are never out of work. We might not get paid, but a lot of people are unemployed. Which would you rather do, write something you don’t get paid for but enjoyed writing or mope around looking for jobs you don’t want on Craig’s List? If the end result is zero money in both cases, I’d prefer the former. In addition to enjoying your time, you have a product that can go up on Kindle/Nook, and all the other usual suspects, and maybe pull in a few dollars that being turned down for interviews won’t get you.
Who knows? Lightning may strike and you’re the new Amanda Hocking. Chances are really good you’re not going to be offered that CEO position at Goldman-Sachs listed in the classifieds.
More than 4 million Kindles were sold over Xmas. That means 4 million more potential markets you can reach with an ebook. Will you? Good luck, but don’t count on it. But that’s a growing market, which is more than you can say about most markets in the US. Better yet, your reach is worldwide. IBM made the prediction (mentioned earlier in this blog) that 80% of everyone *in the world* will have a cell phone in 5 years. That’s almost 6 billion potential readers. Most won’t have any interest, but if a couple dozen out of that audience do, you’re still ahead with your writing rather than futilely looking for a job you will hate.
If you can find a job you love, good on you. But that job might just be writing, and if it is, write. (A nice thing about writing is that you can still hunt for the mind-numbing job and continue to write).
Edward George Bulwer-Lytton
Are You Being Undercheesed? January 1, 2012
Posted by bobv451 in business, e-books, End of the World, movies & TV, sci-fi, serial fiction, steampunk, VIPub, westerns, writing.add a comment
That’s what an ad for a pizza joint asked me. I had never considered life in those terms, perhaps because I drop in on Cheese Magnet regularly. But “undercheesed?” If so, I need to watch more cheesy sf movies. (I did watch This Island Earth last night and no, it is not a cheesy movie. It’s pretty decent and one year Santa will bring me an interocitor.)
I doubt the world will end, but watching Dick Clark’s Rockin’ NY last night made me think it is possible. Poor ole Dick looked like a zombie. Any year that begins with Lady Gaga and Michael Bloomberg co-pressing the lever to drop the ball already has 2 strikes against it. My option was watching “Hair Removal at Home” on Ch 2. Or watching metaluna monsters menace Faith Domergue.
The year is already filling with projects. Have 2 westerns under contract, have agreed to take part in a Western Fictioneers project of a story collection set in Dogleg, Kansas and have lots of other projects begging to be done. No lack of work. Now all I need are sales, so pitch in, everyone, do your part, feed those e-readers you got for Christmas.
I have a small window of opportunity to work on the first of the Empires of Steam and Rust stories so will cut this short. Already up to 15k words in the “First Passage” and just getting into the plot after introducing the situation, the bad guy and the two good guys. And the compressed-air powered dog, Fulton.
Off to see if yet another brick and mortar bookstore has bitten the dust. I leave you with this snarky cartoon hope for 2012.
F-Minus by Tony Carrillo
