Indie News: "Real Authors" and You

What's the difference between an author and a book writer? One HuffPo blogger opines that if you're self-published, you certainly aren't the former. In a post titled "Are Self-published Authors Really Authors or Even Published?" he explores the relative merit of not the books themselves, but the scribblers who create them.

Getting Real

Dr. Jim Taylor (University of San Francisco adjunct faculty) says that self-publishing allows "anyone with a computer and a small amount of money to call themselves authors."

The sentiment isn't far from wrong, but Taylor is certainly wrong when he says "despite their warts" the publishing industry is "an initial arbiter of literary quality," and points to different quality standards in the traditional publishing industry, as compared to indies.

And I pretty much disagree. I've read atrocious books that were traditionally published, stuff that's riddled with grammatical and punctuation errors. In one book I still have, the characters call each other the wrong names for darn near three whole pages. It's outrageous. I've also come across my fair share of wholly predictable, badly-written and just plain unreadable books that were all published traditionally, and some by big names to boot. Taylor waxes poetic about the thoroughly-vetted nature of traditionally-published books, but I think many avid readers would also disagree with him on this point. 

Publishers aren't the literary tastemakers of this world. Nor are the agents. And though she does have influence, neither is Oprah Winfrey. The readers are. 

The great success of self-publishing is obvious: the world wouldn't know about people like Amanda Hocking and EL James otherwise. They've sold more books than many of those "real" authors who cram the virtual bookshelves and make it all the harder to find the really great reads.

If you publish on your blog, if you publish on KDP, if you publish through Simon and Schuster, you are an author. Don't let anyone tell you any different. Anyone who writes a book from beginning to end and then puts it out there for the world, in any sort of way whatsoever, is an author. And to hell with anyone who says they aren't.

Books on Film: Lord of the Flies

It's not your typical horror story, but Lord of the Flies scared the bejesus out of me when I read it. The story was even more horrifying as a movie. If you can't figure out what's scary about a group of young boys marooned together in a remote location, you've never had brothers...and you've also never read this book. It's time to familiarize yourself with this terrifying dystopian tale.

The Book

William Golding published Lord of the Flies in 1954. He was waaayyy ahead of the current dystopian trend.  It was his first novel, it was adapted into a movie and it's still read in schools all over the world. It's so controversial, people are still fighting it's use as a teaching tool today.

To me, this book always meant one thing: get a group of guys together, and the wheels just fall off the cart. But actually, Lord has a lot of deep symbolism and important meaning (so they say).  

Here's how it goes down: there's a nuclear war. Britain is being evacuated, but a plane carrying civilians crashes in the Pacific Ocean. As a result of this event, a group of school children have been marooned on a remote island. One group is a choir, and they have a leader with them, but most of them have never met each other before this. However, they are all pretty well-educated and they're all refined Brits (it's a British book, by the way).

Not for long. The story is about how the boys turn -- rather quickly, as it would happen -- into total barbarians. It gets nasty. In the beginning, two of the boys find a large conch (a type of shell). Blonde Ralph and overweight "Piggy" use the conch as a horn to signal others. In this fashion, Ralph becomes the official leader of the band of survivors. The boys' choir, led by redhead Jack Merridew, does not vote for him. The rules are simple. Ralph will work on a smoke signal for passing ships, and the conch will be used as a symbol. Whoever holds it may speak at formal meetings.

Jack turns the choir into a hunting group that will find food. Ralph is a clear leader for the "biguns" (the older boys) and though Piggy is his right-hand-man (so to speak), he is the outcast of the group. Simon is the third leader, in charge of constructing shelter and of herding the "littluns" (the younger boys).

The structure doesn't last worth a darn, and soon boys are being lazy and telling stories about a monster they believe lives on the island. Jack promises to kill the monster to gain esteem among the boys, because he wants to wrest control away from Ralph.

Soon enough, Jack has developed his own tribe at Castle Rock (a mountain of stone and a source of inspiration for Stephen King) and begins acting strangely. Simon ends up going a little crazy, and he discovers the Lord of the Flies -- a severed pig head.

Things get much, much worse from here. There is violence, there is bloodshed...there's a lot of completely primitive behavior, and this is why the book remains controversial. You'll have to read it to get all the gory details, and drop your jaw at the very surprising twist ending (it shocked the heck out of me, anyway).

The Film

Lord of the Flies had been majorly adapted to film only twice, the first time in 1963. Plotwise, the story is very faithful to the book. However, much of the movie was not even scripted. Most of the boys in the movie had not read the book and were not given much dialogue to memorize. Instead, the director explained each scene to the boys and then allowed them to act it out. Therefore, much of the speech is changed on film. But since the main plot points are depicted, this remains the best version of the story.

But if you're hankering for a newer one, the book was adapted again in 1990. This time around, a lot of the plot was changed. The boys are American and they attend a military school, already a huge change. Only one school is present on the island, but in the film there were two. Ralph isn't mean to Piggy in this version, and the phrases "biguns" and "littluns" are omitted entirely. The movie also has a lot more profanity, perhaps because that's more realistic when the characters are American. Some of the violence of the book is toned down. None of the boys look like they should. But much of the original ending remains intact, though the dialogue is changed.

What Got Adapted?

There are more minor differences from the book in both films, but you'll have to read the story to discover them. It's frightening, and that makes it a perfect October read. 

Writing 101: The Hook

You can't fall into a Goodreads group without finding a thread that discusses books and their opening lines. The first line if the hook, and that's why so many people consider it to be so important. That first line is truly the most important of the book. So...do you know how to sharpen your hook? 

Reeling Them In

I don't always read blurbs, and I'm not always interested in covers. When an author or an agent sends me a review request, I only really need one thing from them: the Amazon link. With this, I go straight to the book's sample...and I read the first line. If I don't like it, that's it. 

This is how a lot of readers make their decision about books. That's unfortunate for authors, because books have tens of thousands of words in them...and most of the time, you're getting judged on the first 7 you write. This creates an enormous amount of pressure to start the book off really strong. You want to be funny, touching, compelling, exciting and titillating -- simultaneously, and without creating a run-on sentence that's hard to read. That's pretty darned hard to do if you've got 7 words to work with.

That's why you have to forget about doing all of that. Don't worry about being funny or thought-provoking or anything in particular. Worry about hooking the reader. Write anything that might make them want to keep reading. One word, a single phrase, even a foreign language may be enough of a hook, if it's compelling enough. If I open a book and I see the word Fire! I might keep on reading to see what's on fire. That is how a hook works. 

And yes, it's perfectly okay to resort to any cheap trick you can think of in order to write a great hook. What else is a hook but a clever trick? Ever read the beginning of Gone With the Wind? Here's how it starts: "Scarlett O'Hara was not beautiful, but men seldom realized it when caught by her charm as the Tarleton twins were." This is good stuff, people. Why's she so charming? How not beautiful is she? Who are these Tarleton twins? If the first line of your novel inspires questions, you're looking at a great hook. Curiosity is the strongest motivator, and it will keep your readers engaged in your story for as long as you can maintain it. The hook makes them curious, and that's it's magic. 

Writing 101: Make 'Em Cry

I wrote a post about the importance of humor in books, making your audience laugh, but tears can be just as moving as amusement. In fact, the books that make us cry can be as powerful as the books that make us laugh. Do you know how to make your readers cry? 

A Series of Unfortunate Events

Tragedy happens in life, and books that contain tragedy will feel authentic if it's written well. Tragic events are the best way to make your readers cry, but you have to walk a very fine line. 

Death is a common tragic event in books, and it can inspire tears...but it can also fall flat. It's all about the character who dies. You have to be part writer and part scientist to create the perfect destined-to-die character. 

First, don't make them too obviously good. I read a book, once, where I was absolutely certain the sister was going to die because she was being painted as some sort of perfect saint. Then she died, and I didn't care because I knew all along she wasn't going to live. Don't do this. All people have good and bad in them. You want to create a character that readers really like (the better to pull the tears from them), but it has to be a believable character. Give them flaws and allow them to make mistakes.

Second, give the reader enough time to know the character. Put the character in several pivotal scenes and allow them to play a key role before you brutally kill them in a cruel attempt to make people cry (it's okay, you sadist; everything is allowed in fiction).

Heartbreak is one of the most common tragedies in books as well, but this is even trickier to write than death. First, you must make the main character and the audience fall for the love interest. You must make everyone trust this character implicitly. An heroic act can be a big help. If the love interest saves the main character from something terrible, for example, this can create a sense of trust. Maybe the love interest confesses to something wrong they did, and makes amends for it. Perhaps they stop someone else from doing something wrong. There are lots of ways to do it, but make the reader trust first. 

That will make the subsequent betrayal hurt that much worse. Make the betrayal truly awful and write a wallowing scene where the main character is deep in it, and that should pull some tears out of your audience. 

Find your own way to bring tragedy into your books, and make 'em cry. People like a good cry, every now and then, and crying over fictional characters is perfectly harmless.

Writing 101: Gaps in the Story?

Editing is an essential part of writing, and any author will tell you the same. But don't get bogged down in the details of grammar and punctuation and forget to look at the bigger picture. When you're editing, you always have to check for gaps in the story. 

Plot Holes and Other Errors

You're the author, so you know how the story ends. You know who the characters are and what's going to happen. And when you're writing, it's common to be focused on getting to the end. It's only natural for gaps to appear in any first draft.

But you've got to fill in those gaps when you go back and do the editing. Remember that the reader doesn't understand the characters the way you do, and they don't know how the story is supposed to end. You have to fill in the blanks for them. If your heroine is supposed to be brave and confident, write a scene that shows her acting this way. If the reader is supposed to care about a friendship between two people, write a scene that illustrates their closeness. 

When you're editing, always be looking for the gaps. There's a good way to find them: ask questions. As you're reading, pay attention to any questions that appear in your head (such as, why are the characters in the desert? or do I know this guy Chris who's talking right now?). If you have questions, the readers will definitely have questions. Ask yourself questions as you read along. Do you understand why the character is doing this? Do you know why the character said no to Tom and yes to Jimmy? Are the motives and explanations part of the story...or are they just in your mind? 

Fill in all the gaps in the story to create a much smoother read. If you don't catch the gaps while you edit...when will you?

Writing 101: Getting Ahead of Yourself

Which comes first: the cover or the final draft? When I write, sometimes I'll start thinking pretty far ahead -- not just about this story, but maybe even about the next story I'm going to write. I've learned that lots of other authors do the same thing. And like me, they have to stop it from happening. Getting ahead of yourself can be harmful to your writing.

 Fast Track

Don't get too far ahead of yourself when you're writing a book, because it gets overwhelming. If you start thinking about the cover and the marketing and the blurb while you're still writing the first draft, you're doing too much. Focus on the story itself, and get that perfected first.

Take it one chapter, one page, one paragraph at a time -- don't start thinking about the cover and all of that until the first draft is finished. Because if you start getting too far ahead of yourself, you may start to feel pressured. You may start to rush the story, because you're already so far ahead of it already. You can't live in the future, you can only live in the now...so focus on where you are now. 

Get the story perfected and then start filling in the details, because you don't have to get it published right away. Take your time with every aspect of the story and plan it out carefully. Don't be in a rush to go fast, because that results in lower-quality work.

Indie News: Slow Sales? You Aren't the Only One

If your book sales took a dive over the summer months, not to worry: this is often the case with indie authors. Now that the weather is edging ever-so-slowly toward fall, you should see a rise in your profits. 

Summer Reading

People read less in the summer, particularly children (this makes things difficult for YA and children's book authors). Everyone's getting outside and going on vacation, enjoying the interesting summer TV programming and working on their tan lines. It leaves little time for reading. 

Books have natural peak times and slow times, and it's common for sales to become a little lethargic during the summer months. But the holiday season will soon be upon us, and that's the best time to sell books. So use this slow period to work on your marketing strategy, and make up for it.

Books on Film: Sphere

We're entering the month of fear and fright, chills and thrills. What better way to celebrate it than with a scary book? But be careful if you choose to explore the world of Sphere -- the movie adaptation is scary in all the worst ways.

The Book

Michael Crichton published Sphere in 1987, but it's still terrifying today. The book begins with psychologist Norman Johnson, who is just beginning to get a little grumpy as he edges into the outskirts of old age. He's being flown to a classified location by the Navy, and so far they aren't telling him anything. When he reaches a full-scale military operation in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and he's told they've discovered an alien spacecraft...well, Norman pretty much wishes they had decided not to tell him anything at all.

The spacecraft has been there for a while. Judging by the coral, it's been in place for over 300 years. Norman is only one part of an elite task force that has been assembled to investigate. The rest of the team includes mathematician Harry Adams, biologist Beth Halpern and astrophysicist Ted Fielding. Norman soon realizes that this is the exact team that he put together in a report he was asked to write years and years ago by the government. Norman was tasked with creating a plan if and when alien life was discovered on Earth.

When he wrote the report, Norman thought it was a joke. Now, on a Navy vessel with his team and a crew of soldiers he realizes that this is no joke. It's definitely not a joke when they're all put on a submarine and taken to the bottom of the Pacific in order to study and explore the spacecraft.

 During the mission, they learn that the spaceship isn't alien after all...it was built by Americans. It's not a spaceship, not really, but a timeship that was (one assumes) accidentally sent back to the wrong time. But on board the ship, there is definitely something of alien origin. 

It's a sphere.

By the way, there's a storm topside (that means above the water) and the submarine has lost all communication with their support up above. The team of scientists has decided to focus on the sphere. They attempt communication with it, and Harry eventually uses his math skills to find a way inside. 

Very strange things begin to happen, and the sphere begins to exhibit a very distinct personality. It puts all of Norman's skills to the test to manage the truculent sphere and the increasingly stressed-out team of experts.

Things get really scary and really interesting, and the book is definitely worth your time. The movie...is a bit of a different story.

The Film

The book became a film in 1998, with Dustin Hoffman starring as Norman Johnson (Goodman on film), Samuel L. Jackson as Harry and Sharon Stone as Beth. It was an utter flop, and the critics hated it, too.  It earned around $37 million at the box office, far below the $80 million budget.

Yeah, the studio poured a ton of money into the film. They hired the best actors they could get. And they chose an excellent source of material to create a story. So why is this film so very bad? 

The special effects are good, but somehow the roles never quite fit the actors. Hoffman isn't methodical enough to be Norman, Jackson is too angry to be Harry, and Sharon Stone is sort of just...there. Too much quick dialogue pull and push the viewer through the plot, instead of allowing the story to unfold naturally.

And that's only part of the problem.

What Got Adapted?

Sphere as a movie didn't follow the book too well. Where the book exposes many of Norman's inner thoughts, the movie jumps from perspective to perspective to confuse the narrative. Many events are changed or eliminated, and some characters are removed before their time should come. Many, many writers have called this movie one of the worst adaptations ever...so think about that before you take the plunge and watch it.