Category Archives: Writing

2010 Preview

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Flash Stories

Frequency of #fridayflash posts will depend on time and feedback. Flash fiction is not my strongest area. If readers enjoy them, I’ll post more. Otherwise expect fewer flash stories while I concentrate on other topics. To start the year, the young Sebastian Rhemus will continue his adventure in a short serial. Tags: Flash Fiction, Sebastian Rhemus, Story Category: Stories

My first novel

I’ve been sitting on a completed novel, Raven Memory, for some time now deciding what to do with it. I want to release it on my time and terms. Future posts will include art, video, and sample chapters. Sometime in the next year I will release Raven Memory to the world. Tags: Raven Memory, Draco Torre Category: Novels

What Time? Series

Appearing on 2nd and 4th Tuesday of each month, this series takes a look at the science of time and relation to my novels. We will explore perceptions of time, memory, time travel, paradoxes, and other mysteries. Each post will keep the science basic providing references to more extensive information. Tags: What-Time, science Category: Science

The Usual

Other posts about reading and writing will continue. With all kinds of new reading devices, there should be plenty to discuss for the next few years. New technology allows new forms of storytelling. I’m very interesting in seeing what develops.

Feel free to join the discussion at any time including older posts.

Why I Write

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Dawn, the border between worlds. Photo by David G Shrock.

Dawn, the border between worlds. Photo by David G Shrock.

Dreams during my childhood filled my head with visions of wonder, adventures across the cosmos visiting other worlds, traveling back in time. Ghosts were my companions fighting zombies, trekking across ruined landscapes, and docking my spacecraft to orbital stations. Whenever a difficult question emerged, I worked it out with the ghosts by imagining the strange wonders of the cosmos. I made many friends, memories. I met many ghosts.

I still do.

Ghosts, haunting memories, take me where I never imagined as a child. They show me new ways of viewing life and the cosmos. Even while riding my bike across the bridge, looking at the city in Dawn’s splendor, the ghosts are with me pulling me into their land.

Ghosts whisper secrets. I call them ghosts, but they are not dead. They live, their memories burning into the fabric of the cosmos. Torre is one of them.

Writing is not my trade. A writer is not who I am. Telling stories is not a position or a service. It’s what we do. We share our ghosts. I’m a computer scientist with stories consuming my head.

I write for practice. I write for an audience of one, except maybe for Mom as well. Not for recognition, not for money, I never dream of my name on spines of books. Writing is hard. I enjoy visiting new places. Not writing. I write so I don’t forget. Practice improves my writing so I may tell their story with the honor they deserve. I write for them.

I write for her.

After years of exploring, sharing lives together, information builds into a river threatening banks. They want their story told. She needs her story told before the river floods the land washing away dreams leaving ghosts without a home. They need a place to call their own.

I tell their story so in the end, they have a place to stay, their own piece of cosmic fabric to remember them.

Remember her. I write for one.

I write for Torre.

___________________________________________

Why do you write?

Thanks

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As a hobby writer and a computer programmer, I find this last year interesting. The recession, unavoidable and necessary, looms over us. Traditional publishing finds itself in an awkward position due to changing technology clashing with culture mixed with new expectations. Fighting for survival, the newspaper and magazine industries look at new technology in search of a revenue stream in the midst of consumers expecting freely available stream of information over the web. This is an exciting time watching change.

I am thankful for my job. It is more than employment. I enjoy it. My brain is wired for computer program design, and I take full advantage of it. My employment puts me in a position to lend a helping hand, a very small hand, but even the smallest aid greatly improves the potential of another.

I thank the strangers that read my first (unpublished) novel, Raven Memory, I finished two years ago. And those that read my recent short story, “Memor Mora.” They encourage me to seek publishing. At first I looked into traditional publishing, and two years ago the common feeling among publishers was that self-publishing put authors in a bad place. Not so much now. Publishers consider authors using digital publishing to build a platform first. It sounds good to me as I have my eye on new exciting ideas.

Thanks to Mom for reading everything I write, including the crap. And telling me it’s crap. I, of course, thank my parents for their support in my struggle to reach this point in life.

I thank the #FridayFlash group of writers. For those looking for good short fiction, please take a look at these talented writers offering new short stories every week organized on Mad Utopia. I enjoy reading their stories, and sharing thoughts. As of October, I participate posting my stories. Thanks for all the comments.

Agree or disagree, I appreciate all comments especially tips from other views I may never have considered. Feedback improves my writing and thinking. There’s no concern over hurting my feelings. I approve all civil comments, but readers may flag offensive language.

Thanks for reading.

Never Sell Content

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In a previous post, I argued that “Consumers Pay for Content.” Many publishers try to sell content, but this is not the best marketing strategy. Sell ideas. Sell souvenirs. Sell an escape from reality.

Watch the video of Seth Godin, “10 Bestsellers: Using New Media, New Marketing, and New Thinking to Create 10 Bestselling Books.”

Two important points by Godin:

  1. Conversation sells.
  2. Good books sell themselves.

The first point is a big one: word of mouth (WOM.) If people are talking, tweeting, posting about the book then other people will talk about the book. And some of them will buy the book. Getting the conversation started means giving content away.

The second point helps make the first point happen. Start by writing something worth talking about. Readers are hungry for good stories seeking out conversations to find new morsels. Good content sells itself.

Never sell the content. Sell passion.

Consumers Pay for Content

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In the essay, “Post-Medium Publishing,” Paul Graham claims that consumers never pay for content. He begins with the observation that publishers set prices based on the cost of production and distribution of the format. The essay offers some consideration about the future of book publishing.

Do consumers pay for content?

I have never heard of a consumer paying for unwanted content.

Let us assume the consumer wants the content, and that the essay does not infer that consumers are unwilling to pay for content, simply chasing after the cheapest form of the content, otherwise libraries would have put bookstores out of business years ago. The consumer wants the content and is willing to pay. But does the consumer actually pay for the content?

Consider this question from the essay:

If audiences were willing to pay more for better content, why wasn’t anyone already selling it to them? There was no reason you couldn’t have done that in the era of physical media. So were the print media and the music labels simply overlooking this opportunity?

Art is subjective. Not everyone agrees on what makes good content. Many titles target an audience. Even the experts can’t always explain why a certain title sells as much as it does.

The reason publishers set prices by cost of production is profit. Graham points out that the idea is to sell the content as cheap as possible. Competition forces a publisher to keep the price as low as possible earning profit in number of sales.

Publishers take chances on unknown artists often losing money from sales too few to cover production and distribution. Sales of popular titles cover the losses. This results in poor selling titles priced too high. Consumer are more likely to purchase better content reflected in number of sales.

Some titles are priced too high for the content, and consumers are less willing to pay the asking price.

New release prices are nearly the same for a format, but look at older titles. Prices tend to fall as a title ages, faster for some mediums. Video game prices fall after a few months, the most popular titles remaining at their initial price for over a year. Look at releases from October 2008: Fallout still sells for initial release price (as of today: $50 for the PC download) while Fable 2, Dead Space, and Golden Axe have fallen in price.

Popular content maintains higher value.

Consumers may purchase entire video games without any physical media. Additionally, they may purchase downloadable content (DLC.) While some DLC adds more length to a game, others are there merely for aesthetics such as additional costumes for characters including LittleBigPlanet, or the Horse Armor for Elder Scrolls: Oblivion. Pure content; nothing physical, and consumers pay.

Graham states that free copies online compete with the publisher’s distribution. This is not true given that titles are available online for free. Consider classics available at Project Gutenberg, and many consumers still purchase the physical books. Some authors give away stories for free while selling physical and digital copies on Amazon. Will this change in the future?

Neil Gaiman pointed out on Twitter (here and here) that his novel, The Graveyard Book remains on the New York Times “Best Sellers” (Chapter books, #8) after a year even though a free copy is available online. Take a look at his blog post on this topic.

Graham claims that prices will continue to fall once writers realize they don’t need publishers. This is not entirely true. Publishers need to change since writers will still need marketing, editors, and all the little things that sell stories. Authors may choose between self-publishing and a digital publisher. Prices will fall.

Amazon is already driving prices down by selling many of the big new releases at a loss trying to increase Kindle adoption (read more: Beliefnet.) However, publishers may combat this by delaying eBook release after hardcover much like they do for paperbacks. Since the cost of production and distribution of an eBook is lower than the printed book, we see a greater range in price. An eBook by an unknown author may sell for $1 or $2 while new release eBooks by established authors go for $10 on Amazon. Will the cheaper eBook titles force prices of titles by established authors down?

Graham calls iTunes a “tollbooth”, a gateway to the iPod. Apple’s iTunes is a software product. The iTunes Store is a store. No tollbooth here. The consumer doesn’t need the iTunes Store. Audiophiles and prefer using iTunes as a tool to push uncompressed original CD tracks into their iPods. Consumers may also choose other stores for their music purchases. Apple’s store is popular because it’s a good, convenient store. If it was all about getting content as cheap as possible, everyone would download pirated copies.

Graham implies that businesses pay for software due to laws. This is not true.

Software applications are tools like hammers and wrenches. Tools may include content, but tools are not content. Workers use the best tool for the job. Photoshop CS4 allows the user to edit images. Gimp, an open source product, also edits images for free. A graphic artist may choose to pay for Photoshop CS4 for productivity and special needs not available in Gimp. Commercial software may also come with services. Consumers want to pay for quality tools that help them get the job done. Otherwise everyone would pick free open source software putting Microsoft and Adobe out of business.

Consider this point from the essay:

What happens to publishing if you can’t sell content? You have two choices: give it away and make money from it indirectly, or find ways to embody it in things people will pay for.

The music business struggles in the transition to digital delivery, trying to sell content. They have gone after iTunes Store demanding performance fees for the 30 second samples (read more: cnet.)

Benefits to giving away content:

  1. Piracy is not an issue.
  2. Increase awareness about the artist.
  3. Drive demand for products.

These benefits may convince artists and publishers to give away books and music to make money indirectly from concerts, merchandise, and future distributions of content yet to come.

Some books are overpriced for their content, and consumers choose to pay for better content. Popular content maintains value selling at higher prices. Consumers pay for games without physical media, DLC, and music from iTunes Store. Therefore, consumers pay for content.

The future may bring new forms of storytelling (read more: The Huffington Post,) and the stories we know today may be given away free. Better AI may bring video games and storytelling closer. Imagine the idea behind Storybird blossoming into some new forms of interactive storytelling.

Whatever the future brings, consumers will pay for the content.

More Twitter Fiction

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I began micro-fiction writing earlier this year without any experience in flash fiction after a review of other authors as noted in my previous post. There are many Twitter stories from writers, veterans and beginners, told in their own streams or in Twitter publications. Some stories I don’t understand, and others I might find amusing for subject matter over quality. (See my favorites.) And a tiny few hit the sweet spot: well written lasting impressions with broad appeal, the rare gem. I continue to hone my skill at conciseness.

The editor of @Nanoism, Ben White, searches for the story with “staying power.” See the guidelines for complete details, or try one of the other Twitterzines shown on the right under Microfiction. And read some of their selections to see if your story fits.

This week two of my stories appear in publications: “Lunch Swap” in @Picfic and another school related story in @Seedpodpub.

A selection of my recent attempts from my Twitter feed on the path to the rare gem:


“After erasing the board, Jon took chalk from the mechanical hand. He wrote, “I will not build robots to do my punishment.” #vss ” Posted September 4th, 2009.


“Hearing Jill’s vacation story, Bill crumples his paper. He writes a new story, none of it true. Ms. May has strict rules about plagiarism. ” Posted September 3rd, 2009.


“Quiet, cat-like, ballerinas surround Gary. Poised like poison, their eyes cut into him. Tossing his wallet, Gary runs. ” Posted September 1st, 2009.


“Beauty rests in a glass casket. Silence is bliss. Yearning to hold her, he opens the casket. She rises. The chatter never ends. ” Posted August 16th, 2009.


“Gracefully, the ballerinas twirl at him. Ducking and weaving, he dodges until they surround him. The slashing blades cut like a blender. ” Posted August 14th, 2009.

Writing for Torre

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Nulan

Nulan

She tells me her name is Draco Torre. I ask her about the masculinity, and she says it’s backward, given name last. Draco, taken later in life, she likes to think of it as more of a title. Names are titles we earn, often early in life, but sometimes later. Torre is her name, Draco her position.

Imprisoned in darkness, chased by a nightmare, lost to time, her story is cold and dark. She is the last of her kind. Nulan, the moon, is her eternal companion. The stars, her enemy, slip across the sky leaving holes in her memory. She tells me her tale is old, some of it recorded in a lost language within the pages of a withering journal she gave away. Much of the rest might be lost with her memory struggling to find the light. She does not want her story told, she tells me. It needs to be told. Somewhere buried within her struggle, among the ghosts, resides the meaning of time itself.

I ask her about time.

“I had to die,” Torre says, “more than once, it seems. To realize. Time is a myth, an ever changing beast.”

Within Torre’s tale resides the history of her lost people, the sacrifices, the struggles, the knowledge. Pulling me in, she shows me her world, memories imprinted on the fabric of the universe. And I recognize it, familiarity growing with each visit. She never found me. In my search for time, I found her within the twisting of her world and mine. Apparently I was there all along, caught in the myth of time.

I write for Torre.

Short Fiction Needs a Platform

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In an earlier post, “Short Fiction Decline“, I point out Neil Clarke’s post on the decline of short fiction publication readership. He remains optimistic due to some new online publications showing promise. A recent post, “More Crappy News for Short Story Writers” by Seth Fischer starts a discussion on short story collections including a response by one story blog, and a post by Larry Dark. Please take a look at these posts including the informative comments on Fischer’s post.

Some points brought up in the discussion:

  1. Novels get more promotion.
  2. Book publishers avoid short fiction.
  3. Some short fiction sells.
  4. Competition with instant access media.
  5. Consumers today have shorter attention spans (??)
  6. Some readers want immersion with long stories.
  7. Traditional books may not be the best place for short fiction.

I noted #5 as a question because of the debate in the comments under Fischer’s post: Does short fiction benefit? One comment points out that short stories may require more dedication by the reader. Do readers have short attention spans? Not avid readers.

For the average consumer, finding short fiction is a challenge. Large book chains no longer carry literary magazines leaving a consumer searching through small independent book stores gazing at a limited supply. Publishers and retail stores promote novels. Dark points out that some story collections sell very well. Short fiction sells when promoted.

Perhaps consumers have grown a taste for novels finding short stories more difficult to enjoy. They want immersion.  Reading short fiction is not the same as reading a novel. And when curious consumers try a few short stories, they find boring literary prose, some incomplete stories without a beginning or ending. Or the reader finds a genre magazine full of poorly written stories. Searching for online publications may results in ugly websites with bizarre text colors making reading a chore. So, many readers stick to short stories written by familiar authors like Stephen King. And big book publishers cringe at the idea of a short story collection.

Short fiction needs a platform. If publications want to survive in this world full of noise they need to be part of the community with their readers. Help readers find the stories they want to read. Share knowledge by taking part in other communities. Design beautiful websites with easy navigation. And promote good writers.

Writers need to join the community, work with publications, improve their skills. Write fantastic short stories.