Avoiding mainstream publishing.

I made an early choice to avoid mainstream publishing. In fact, the only way I was lured back into writing at all was because I could dodge that whole process. (I had three mainstream mass market books published in the early 80's--but it was such a huge hassle, I decided it wasn't worth it.)

But like many people I talk to, I assumed self-publishing was a vanity thing.

My friend, Jared Folkins came in with a short story starring a drunken spaceship captain named "Duncan McGeary." I thought it was really good.

"Keep writing," I said, "and when you get an agent, hook me up."

Jared then proceeded to explain to me the new world of publishing, which completely opened my eyes.

Nevertheless, when I finished "Led to the Slaughter" and thought it pretty good, I sent sample chapters to over 100 agents, In return, I got 60 form rejections and 40 non-answers.

I was stunned. I'd been published before, I'd had an agent before, and most importantly, I'd told enough people the idea of combining the Donner Party with werewolves to know that it was a pretty good idea,

Here's the thing. I didn't necessarily expect any agents to take me on, but I did expect some interaction. Having the door slammed in my face was the shocker.

Anyway, I thought to myself, "Fine. I'll do it myself like I planned."

Eventually, I did go with smaller publishers, because I simply have no way to promote myself. But I was blissfully ignoring "The Big Five" (five publishers who encompass most of mainstream) until the executive editor of the sixth largest American publisher contacted me, told me he thought "Led to the Slaughter" was a "brilliant premise and beautifully written" and asked if I wanted to try to write something for him.

I ended up selling him a "ghostwritten" book for an author who--and I'm not exaggerating--whose every book makes it into the top ten mass market best sellers (despite the author having been dead for years. Heh,) Got paid pretty well for it, too,

I'd hoped this would be a entry for a book under my own name. I offered him "Deadfall Ridge," which I thought was a good book.

No answer, Not a rejection...just no answer at all. I asked him if he was interested in "anything I've sent" him. Apparently, that was too uppity because I've now not heard back for two years. Meanwhile, the book I sold, which was incredibly timely when I sent it, has been gathering dust.

So that was my current experience with mainstream publishing. Meanwhile, "Deadfall Ridge" went on to do very well for itself.

So that's the end of that.

But now, I think: "Thank God."

1.) The demise of Baker & Taylor is yet another indication that mainstream publishing is struggling.
2.) Barnes and Noble is rickety, and if they go under, it will be another dagger in the heart.
3.) I see authors all the time swallowed up by mainstream publishing, trapped by the slower schedules and lack of promotion on the part of the publishers. I see authors being dropped when they don't hit it big. I figure many of them just give up.
4.) I felt I was treated badly by the mainstream agents and publishers in my first writing career, and this latest experience, if anything, has shown that matters have gotten worse.
5.) The irony is that we'll all--mainstream and indie writers alike--will be dependent on Amazon. So why not cut out the middle man and go directly to Amazon?

But mostly, I love writing the books I want when I want and seeing them in print relatively fast, with at least as good covers and editing as mainstream, and probably no less promotion that I would get from the Big Five, and with immediate communication with my publishers (along with encouragement and respect),

Like running my own business for the last 35 years, I love the independence of it, and I suspect that I'm much happier than I would be dealing with mainstream publishing.

As a writer I have a tendency to tie everything up in a nice, clean storyline, with a beginning a middle and an end. Everyday events, life events, family stories, work history, whatever.

I know in reality is wasn't so neat; and in some ways, consciously and unconsciously, I'm adapting the narrative to suit my needs.

This blog, for instance. They are always written to tie up loose ends; they usual have a consistent theme.

And life doesn't work that way.

Maybe not, but that the way I treat life.

I've plopped down four blog entries that have accumulated while I was narrating my life. Heh.

In and Out of the Writing Zone

The difference between me now and five years ago is that back then nothing could distract me from writing and now just about anything can distract me.

I knew at the time that I was in a zone. Starting with "Freedy Filkins," which I wrote as a lark but which I still like, it seemed like the stories just kept coming. There were difficulties here and there, but mostly I was in a zone.

I was amazed. I thought with every book that the creative energy would dry up, but I just kept going. I'd spent 30 years convincing myself that the world didn't need another writer--but apparently, my creative energies were just being stored up.

I knew that it wouldn't last forever because of my previous career. Once I wrote the final draft of "Star Axe" (after five years of struggling) I felt inspired, and "Snowcastles" and "Icetowers" quickly followed.

Then I hit a wall. My third and fourth books were bad. I struggled with them. I broke free with "Deviltree," which was not too bad, and then met Linda and we produced "Sometimes a Dragon," which was a chaotic mess but had a lot of good ideas.

Then real life caught up with me--Linda and the boys, Pegasus Books, making a living....and the thirty years whipped by in a fog.

So from the beginning of this renaissance, I knew that it could come to a screeching halt

I wouldn't say that it has, but the urgency has passed. Since finishing "Eden's Return," I've been focusing on previously written material, which needed to be done anyway, but rewriting has never had the same appeal to me.

I don't think I've hit a wall, but I've perhaps drifted from the zone.

I've rewritten "Takeover" up to page 60, or about 20% of the way. But it was by far the hardest 20%. It should be much easier from now on. Almost all the chapters that don't include Nicole or Hart will be fine as they are. The relationship between Nicole and Hart is what has to be changed, In the original version, they don't know each other. In this version, they are already an estranged couple with a history.

It's a tricky thing to change. First solution is just to throw out anything that doesn't fit. If the passage contains information needed for the plot, then find another way.

Second solution is to write new material that is more in line with the new story.

I'm not sure how hard this is going to be. Anywhere from easy to impossible. Just need to start in and see what happens.

Tried reading the first three or four chapters of Takeover and immediately got bogged down.

So I broke two of them in half, making them shorter.

I don't know, maybe this book isn't readable. Not because of the story or the writing, but because of the format I chose. I looked at turning into a 3rd person account, but it simply doesn't work. There is too much 1st person specific in it.

I'm going to just keep on trying until I can't think of anything more to do. Then, if it still isn't up to snuff, I'll set it aside and start in on Eden's Return, which at least is readable.

I'm going to go for my walk to clear my head, and give it another try. And I'm going to stay away from the first few chapters for awhile. Go to the end of the book before coming back and trying again. Otherwise I'm in danger of causing the old Wordjumble, the point of no return when I can't just the value of wor

Avengers Endgame, no spoilers.

Finally saw "Avengers: Endgame". Good movie. Kudos for handling so many characters, while at the same time focusing on the main Avengers group. It helped that all these characters were familiar to us from previous movies.

It reminds me of what my Mom--who was anything but a SF fan--said about the Star Trek Whale movie. "It was like visiting old friends."

So now I don't have to worry about spoilers. I did catch a whiff of some things that would happen, though I was only half right in my guesses.

So I'm caught up on Game of Thrones and Avengers, thus fulfilling my nerd duties.

Still blows my mind that a movie about Avengers could earn 1.5 billion in the first week, while we sell maybe 15 copies of Avengers in our store. I can't even guess what minuscule percentage of local movies goers that covers. But that is something I came to terms with as far back as the first Spider-man movie.

I do believe there is an overall halo effect from the movies, but they probably help graphic novels more than monthly comics, and that's perfectly all right. We probably sold 40% more graphic novels than comics last month.

We're beating last year almost every month--except February, and the crazy snow makes that kind of an exception.

Meanwhile, I've decided from now on to make all my new book orders from Ingrams because I need to keep up my discount levels, and perhaps even increase them slightly. I really wish B & T would hang in there--they were doing a good job right up to the announcement, which is unusual for a business that is having trouble.

I'm not quite ready to open accounts with individual publishers.

Just have to keep adjusting. Amazing the amount of change in the last few years.

Oh, oh. That's not good.

Got an email yesterday from my main new book supplier--Baker & Taylor--that they are getting out of the wholesale to bookstore business. This leaves Ingrams, which is the biggest wholesaler.

This is like Ford giving up the field, leaving it to General Motors. In a way, Ingrams will have a monopoly, which is always worrisome.

I've been dealing with a monopoly in comics for 25 years now. Diamond Comics is a benevolent dictatorship, if you will, but the potential for disaster is always there. All the eggs in one basket, so to speak.

It's been Diamond or nobody ever since the boom and bust of the mid-90s in comics. As it happens, they've been a positive force, helping keep the industry afloat right after the bust, and then never really taking predatory advantage of their monopoly.

But I'd always prefer to have alternatives--just in case. What happens if ownership of Diamond changes? What if they get into trouble?

Anyway, over the last fifteen years of so I've slowly but surely moved into selling new books. When I first approached the book wholesalers, the biggest Ingrams, wouldn't give me the time of day. But the second biggest, Baker & Taylor, was welcoming.

After a few years, Ingrams came to their senses and started welcoming "comic" shops. For one thing, there are a ton of graphic novels, and some of them sell very well, especially the young adult ones.

I've always been about 2/3rd B & T, and 1/3 Ingrams, even today. B & T's search engine is much easier for me to navigate, and they give me 4% better discount. They are two days shipping versus the one day shipping from Ingrams, but that didn't seem much of hurdle.

Even more importantly, neither distributor has all the books I want. I figure I can usually get about 70% of the books I want from B & T, and if they are out of stock, I can pick up 80% of what's left from Ingrams, so that overall, I get like 90% of the books I want.

Now I'll probably have to settle for about 80% of what I want. The hit on the discount isn't great either. But mostly, I'm just worried about the power a monopoly gives to Ingrams.

I can order direct from publishers, but all of them have minimums and shipping, and it complicates ordering quite a bit. I'd much rather deal with one or two companies.

Anyway, I guess it shows how competitive the business is, probably due to Amazon. If Ingrams falls, that might mean the end of most indie bookstores, just as if Diamond falls, that would almost certainly be the end of most comics stores.

There will always be survivors, people who are willing to take an extra measure. But damn, as if it wasn't already hard enough.