Don't you hate it when you're telling one of those "I've got this friend" stories or looking for advice, and the person you're talking to is sure it's you you're talking about?  Of course, it probably is you.  So that's only fair.

But with fiction writing, you run into much the same thing.  I write a story.  Someone who knows me reads it.  They think it's about me.  I have conversations something like this:

"Wow, Eric, I never knew your dad chopped off your left hand when you were twelve."

"What?!?"

"In your story.  I read it last night.  God, I was up for hours crying.  I'm so sorry.  I never knew."

"I... have my left hand.  It's right here.  That was just a story."

"Oh, it's OK!  You can tell me!  I understand.  My dad was an ass, too.  I mean, he never cut off my left hand, but, still!"

Or maybe...

"Eric... I'm so sorry to hear about your baby!"

"My what now?"

"Your baby.  The miscarriage."

"Oh....!  No, no.  That was just a story I wrote."

"But it was written in the first person, so I know it was really about you."

"You.... you know I'm not a woman, right?  That story's narrator was a woman."

"Still, to go through a miscarriage--! "

Yeah.  So.

It's either "me" they see, or it's themselves.  You know, the stereotypical writer who does a lurid novel about a small town and everyone in the town is guessing who the characters are?  I mean, I can write a story, have it published, and five years later meet someone.  If that person reads that story that was published five years before I met them, they still might ask if it's about them.

Well.... sure it is.

No, really.  It is.  On a certain level.  And all of my stories are about you and all of my stories are about me.  On a certain level.  On various levels, in fact.  On the deepest levels, that is because even if I have an idea for a story that has nothing to do with any person or event ever encountered in my life, it is still my brain shaped by the life I have lead that has conceived of and that will shape the story.  Unavoidable.  (But any literary critic or psych 101 student could tell you that.)

On a more superficial level, I would never deny how much of myself (and of course the people and events I encounter) go into my stories.  But there is a limit.  Those details sometimes just fill in gaps between the bigger ideas.  They just flesh out a story.  That doesn't mean I am writing "about" myself or anyone else.  It just means the tiniest hints of myself are present to round out the story.

And more often than not, those "recognizable" elements in the stories are not things taken from lives I am familiar with, but sparks that are thrown off by total strangers in passing.  An argument in a restaurant.  A drunk on a bus.

I'm sure the importance of those "tiny" details could be debated, but the point here is that... please don't read a story I wrote and decide that was my childhood trauma/ broken marriage/mid-life crisis I am writing about.  It isn't.

Not always, anyway.

Today is my older brother's birthday.  Or it would be.  He would be 40 today.  But he died far too young, far too long ago.

Long ago, I wasn't a very good brother.  I'm still not a very good friend or brother or nephew or cousin or grandson or whatever.  But for those of you who love me anyway, maybe it will help you to know that I know this, and that I don't do it intentionally.  Thank you for somehow still being there.

But as for Eddie... my brother... I wrote this about him in one of my own favorite stories:

My own brother... died young, and I celebrated his birthday yesterday. I can't not think of him. This year I will be five years older than my older brother will ever be. I miss him like I miss my childhood. He is my memories.

I do miss him.  I dream of him some peaceful nights, and I wake with the warmth of having just been hugged.  I think of him some restless evenings, and I have to retreat somewhere I can cry without being heard.  Someone told me once to just let it go.  Let go of what?  The memory of my brother?  Or maybe the pain?  Well, the pain I cling to, maybe because it's what fuels me as a writer.  And the memories?  I remember only the good -- even the glorious -- of who he was or might have been.  Eddie was no saint.  And I don't remember him without his faults.  But even those have become mythical endowments that endear him to me more.  Achilles' most human characteristic was his single fault, after all.

Years ago, I wrote a short manuscript based roughly on the relationship between Eddie and myself.  I called it, somewhat pompously, "More Than Blood."  In it, neither of the brothers is perfect.  I don't know if I can say either is a "hero," in the sense or performing heroics.  But maybe the character of the older brother, Tony, would be the hero in a literary sense.  He is portrayed with copious flaws.  And I wanted the reader to love him.  Because, as bad a grandson a cousin a nephew a brother or a friend I may be, I can say that those who I love I love as they are.  Eddie would not have believed that when he was alive.  And maybe if you begin to read about "Tony" you might think that the author did not think much of that character, either.  But if I did him any justice, the reader will ultimately see the character beyond the flaws and will empathize with him instead of judging him.  As I should have done more often with my own brother.

Later this year, I am planning to bring these stories out to be read by a public readership for the first time.  I don't want to get into the mechanics of that now, but I did want to say that these stories represent my love of my brother, in all its imperfection, and that I am excited about publishing the stories.  I know that most of us will never do anything that will be remembered by the world at large.  But if at least one person cherishes our memory when we are gone, it is a testament to the love that existed and still exists between us and them.  So many years after so many people have forgotten, I am taking this moment to say, "Happy Birthday, Eddie!"  Your present is on its way...

Link: http://www.amazon.com/This-Great-Divide-Short-Stories/dp/0977234908/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_1

"Look, ma!  I'm in the top 1.6 million best-selling books on Amazon!"

Gosh, it felt great to break the 2 million mark!  But it only lasted a short time.  I dropped to almost 4 million-th most (least?) popular book on Amazon in no time.  But then a friend bought a copy (told him I'd send him one, but he would have none of that) and suddenly I was back on top!  Well, back in the top 3.1 million, or something like that.

So I toyed with the idea: What would it take to really get up there in the charts -- to break the top 100,000, for example?  Well, I never felt like pissing away the money just to find out, but I wouldn't guess it would take all that much.  I mean... if I bought (or arranged for separate friends to buy) about 6 or 7 copies all on the same day, I figure that would make my sales rank absolutely skyrocket.  After all, aside from a few hundred books that are going to sell dozens or hundreds of copies a day, the bulk of the books on Amazon aren't even searched for most of the time.

So if you want to make yourself feel like a big deal, mobilize your friends and get everyone to buy a copy on the same day!  (And, hey, put the thing on sale through your seller account, too!)  Who knows how far you might rise!  (If anyone does this and sees their rank shoot up, please get the details to me.  Do a screen shot of the "before and after" -- and "after after"? to send to me.)

Sounds silly, but how do you think the BIG best-sellers do it?  They have immense marketing machines to get people excited about their Harry Potter DaVinci Code sequels -- so excited that people will wait in line to be the first (or among the first 2 million) to get the new book.  They have a HUGE sales spike, take over the number 1 spot... and then fade.  Movies do the same thing.  Opening at number 1 isn't a big deal any more, I don't think.  That's just marketing.  It has nothing to do with the quality of the movie.  (In the case of movies, no one believes the critics.  We all think it'll be good, anyway.  And we get in line to see Will Farrell's new comedy --mean it with the love, Will! -- and then get in line to kick ourselves in the ass that we pissed away $8 on Will Farrell's new comedy.  The one the critics TOLD us wasn't all that great.)  ((It's different for books.  Readers are smarter than movie-goers, right?  So we listen to the book critics.  Right...?))

So... OK... don't expect to be #1... but see how high you can go with a single day's worth of concentrated sales action on your book!

In a recent post, I told you to mine your friends for someone to help you with the marketing of your book.  I meant it, too.  But we all know that you have to be careful when misxing friendships and business/projects.  Roles shift, expectations and disappointments come about... it can just get messy.  So let me share with you the story of how I enlisted the help of a friend... and how it didn't really help that much!

Aside: I realize even as typing this up that maybe the title of this post is off-point.  Maybe it's more the problem if doing it yourself that I am discussing.  Whatever the case...

I was living in South Korea when I published This Great Divide in America. I think I am a pretty capable fellow, so I managed the entire project and did nearly everything myself.  That means I only had myself to blame for whatever might go wrong.  But I couldn't do everything.  I needed someone in the states to handle certain parts of the project.  My friend, who I'll refer to as "Betty," was willing to help (as she always was), and I figured that all I really needed her for was legwork, not any expertise in the field, and so "why not?"

The one major project that I needed Betty's help with was marketing.  I needed someone to ship those 200 books (see previous post) to the giveaway program, for example.  Things I just couldn't physically do a few thousand miles from the action.  But the one big, big, big thing I needed Betty's help with was sending out the copies of the book to reviewers.  That was the cornerstone of my marketing plan (just as I have suggested it should be for yours).

I had already sent galleys to those reviewers who needed advance materials.  But for the reviewers who wanted the book itself, I relied on Betty. And Betty performed wonderfully, too!  Except... she sent the wrong materials in the packages to the reviewers.

Oh! Argh! No! Doh! How could this happen?!?

Well, it was a simple case of bad communication -- and for that I alone am to blame, not Betty.  (So am I writing about using friends and families... or about poor project management... hmmmm....) You see, aside from the books themselves, I also had some promotional previews printed up.  These previews contained two of the stories from the book and were to be given away at the counters of indy bookstores (yeah, because they have been saving a place on their front counter for that!).  Well, long story short, the previews got sent to reviewers instead of the books.  Hey... guess how many reviewers will write a review of a promotional piece in lieu of the actual book, which they require?

No, really, think about it for a moment....

Thinking...?

...

OK!  Pencils down!  Answer time: Not a one!  (No, not a single one!)

So my marketing plan was torpedoed just like that! (And you were wondering why you never heard of my book before, right?)  Well, that wasn't the end of everything, but I feel it was a fatal blow to whatever chance I stood of ever breaking to top 1.5 million mark on Amazon.  (More on that later...?)

There were other efforts in place, and these met with limited success.  But without reviews to support the other marketing efforts there was no concentrated effort to get my book "out there."  Do I think I would have sold an extra 1,000 copies if the reviewers had gotten the right materials?  No.  I'm not that stupid.  And maybe I wouldn't have landed any reviews at all.  Maybe the net sum would be the same.  But you hate thinking you shot yourself in the foot and ruined your own chances of putting your book into the hands of a few more readers.

OK... to sum up... you should use your friends!  But be damned sure you spell everything out.  A mistake that I wouldn't have made was made by someone else.  Simple as that.  But it only happened because of a lapse in communication, which falls on me.  If you're going to be a project manager on top of being the writer, you'd better do a good job at it!  Otherwise, maybe you'll be posting your own self-sabotage post in your blog not too long from now...

Yeah, so, I have a couple of books on Amazon.  One fiction, one non.  And the fiction collection (This Great Divide -- I haven't plugged it for a while now) has been on Alibris and other sites, too.  In fact, here is a snapshot of the listing from Alibris a while back.  Take a look at those prices!!!

You might think I'd be rich now, based on the prices the book was fetching.  Yeah, right.  There are two reasons that just isn't true.  First, I doubt ANYone was dumb enough to buy my book at those outrageous prices.  (I apologize to anyone who really may have purchased TGD at those prices.  And I would refund your money, except for...) Second, it sure as hell wasn't ME trying to pawn my book at that price!

So here's where I get to the marketing piece of this post.  WHO, then, was trying to sell those books?  Well, I participated in a marketing program in which I sent off a couple hundred copies of the book to independent bookstores around the region.  The bookstore managers/owners were supposed to look the book over, read it maybe even, and help me sell it to their customers by telling people about the book.  That's how it's supposed to work.

In truth, here's what happens.  Those people probably never even LOOK at your book.  They simply use the ISBN to make an easy listing on their Amazon (or Alibris) store and sell the book you gave them for free.  Yep, they're capitalists, all rightie.

And you know what?  That sucks.  Those people suck.  Think about it... they may get hundreds or thousands of FREE books per year that they just turn around and sell -- INSTEAD of trying to help YOU sell more copies of your book.  But, hey... it is what it is.  You want your book out there, so you PAY hundreds of dollars to get it out there -- on top of the cost of the books that you send with the program.  You can't honestly believe that everyone who gets your book is going to read it, love it, and sell two dozen copies of it.  Hell, I don't think you can seriously believe that more than... ten percent?... of the people who get the book are even going to read the title.

The bottom line is this: If you are a first-time author, you are no one.  Your name and your book title and the cover art are not going to make people read your book (for the most part).  Instead of wasting money on promotions like this one, work much much harder on getting your book reviewed in a few places.  Think of the return on investment.  If you send out two dozen copies of your book to newspapers, etc., where you honestly feel you have a shot at getting reviewed (and two dozen might be a high number) and you actually get reviewed in 2 or 4 of them... THAT's a GREAT investment!  It sure beats sending out 200 copies of your book and not getting any tangible results.  Plus, if you are focusing on those two dozen potential venues for reviews, you can actually FOCUS on them.  You can prepare a letter and galleys/book package that really could get the reviewers' attention.  You can make the reviewer feel special by customizing every submission letter/package.  You really can give yourself a legitimate shot and getting some published reviews.  And even ONE published review is going to do more to market your book than any of those giveaway book promos.

I'll try to get more into this later, but be wary -- be very wary (heh heh) -- of ANY paid promotional services.  Most if not all of the time, they are preying on your ignorance and desire to become famous.  They get paid no matter what the results.  Their business is in making you think your book is being presented to people who will help sell your book.  My advice is this: If you can't handle the job of preparing and sending out some book packages to reviewers, then mine your friends very carefully for someone who can and will help you.  Don't expect miracles, though.  But in the end, it's going to work out for the best to have someone who CARES about your book helping you as well they can.

(That said... I have a cautionary tale about using friends/family in your publishing/marketing plan.  Stay tuned...)

So a month has gone by and I keep meaning to post more about marketing.  (Working on it, trust me ;> )

But in the meantime, let me post something else.  Something you've heard before.  But, if you're reading this, maybe you could stand to hear again.

Rejection sucks.  Always.  Whether it's when you get turned down for a date, your idea is shot down, or "THEY" (read "NASA") refuse to let you go into space.  Whatever.  The only way to avoid rejection is to stop trying.  That's a guarantee!  But for those of us for whom quitting is not an option... if you are tired of rejection letters... well.... who really fucking cares?

Seriously.  Man, you think you have something to say and you think people are going to want to read it?  And you're going to get upset that one narrow-minded editor (or three... or eleven...) doesn't think your piece is right for their mag right at this time?  Well, guess what?  They're RIGHT!  They know their mag and readers better than you.  And... ultimately... they are the editors.  So deal with it.

Oh, but THAT's the key!  Dealing with it.  Do you send the story to another editor right away? ("THIS one will publish it, and then YOU'LL know you were wrong to reject ME!"  Yeah.  Likely.)  Do you at least RE-READ your own story to see if you still think it is perfect in every way?  And then maybe revise before sending it out again?  Do you do more market research -- read more stories from more mags where you think your writing would be a nice fit?

Look, I've done all of the above.  I've sent the same crappy story in the same form to various mags (ruining the chance that the revised version would be read, much less accepted) without even considering a revision.  Guess what I got?  More rejection!  I have also sent out the same story time and time again... practically given up... knuckled down and did some revisions... sent it out one last time... and the darned thing got published!  (Maybe that editor would have published the original version.  But I am glad that version wasn't published!  It needed work!  I like the published version so much more!)

You know what else?  I have also sent off a handful of stories that were not ready to be published that got published anyway.  Accepted the first time out.  Yoo-hoo!  But, in retrospect, I wish I had worked them out more and produced a better story.  (How many of us are motivated to work on a story that has been published?  Personally, I prefer to move on to the next story.)

OK... rejection sucks.  But a writer isn't just someone with a cute story they want to see in print and mail out in their Christmas cards... I hope!  A writer is driven, determined, disciplined.  A writer needs rejection.  Ultimately, rejection either makes us give up or forces us to become a better writer.  If you have grown tired of rejection letters, you have two choices: quit submitting your writing or start submitting writing that won't get rejected.  If you choose the former, have a nice life.  The latter?  Do your research to make sure your story has a reasonable chance of being included in the 'zine's contents.  Pay attention to rejection -- even if the rejection letter doesn't specify why your writing was rejected -- and try to address the shortcomings in your writing.  (If you don't have a trusted reader, maybe you need one!  And if you are too attached to your own writing to know when it stinks... well, we all do that sometimes.) And, finally, be prepared to admit that your story could be better with revisions, and be tough enough to do the very hard work of making those revision.

Man... writing isn't easy.  Getting published is even harder.  But, really, we all beat our heads against the walls sometimes, sending out stories that have little chance of being published -- or no business being published.  Sometimes, we invite the rejection.  I hope that if you take some of my advice above to heart that you'll find the submission process a lot more friendly!

OK, I promised weeks and weeks ago to post more about self-publishing fiction.  So here is another installment for anyone thinking about publishing their own fiction.

First off, you need to plan your marketing MONTHS ahead of the publication date.  You want everything in place when the book is available.  Think of publishing and marketing this way:

You are going to throw a fancy dinner party for a dozen friends.  Lavish.  Dinner.  Party.  No Doritos and chili in front of the game.  So how do you begin?  Step one is certainly NOT "throw the veal in the oven"!!  (Sorry... was your party vegan?  My bad!)

If you think about the simple act of COOKING the meal, it needs to be broken down into discrete steps: pre-heat the oven, tenderize the meat, etc.  You might think this is overkill -- after all, you KNOW how to cook dinner!  Sure, but how many first-time self-publishers already know how to develop and implement a book marketing plan?

OK, yes, I heard that.  You say you're thinking about hiring one of the many marketing services you've seen advertising their products to self-publishers.  My advice?  Don't.  Yeah, yeah, YOUR book is the one that's going to break all the rules.  YOU're that unheard of self-publishing fiction write who is going to MAKE money.  (Excuse the laughter.  Sorry.)  OK... let me throw this out there: If you're so good, why hasn't an established publisher picked up your book?  Don't get defensive.  You need to hear this.  You are NOT going to make money by publishing your own fiction.  No, you're not.  So don't throw away money in the process.  Spend as little as necessary.  (If you really do end up being the exception to the rule, let me know about it.  If not, thank me for saving you some money!)  Now... back to our metaphor:

So, OK, you need to plan in detail.  You need to plan the steps involved in each step of your marketing plan.  And you need to do it well in advance.  The most important component of your marketing plan is going to be getting some reviews!!!  (I'll add some more !!!s if you didn't catch the importance of that point.)  This is like sending out the invitations.  Why go through all the trouble of preparing this feast if no one is going to come?

And, moreover, reviews are the best advertising you can hope for.  Look, I took out an ad in a MAJOR industry pub.  Cost me hundreds!  Return on investment?  Null.  Just because I made a pretty ad and said my book was grea... well, who the hell cares?  You need real reviewers to say your book is great.  Reviews get read.  Reviews are how many readers learn about new writers and books.  You NEED reviews.  And, guess what?  You need to get galleys to many reviewers BEFORE your book is published.  You can't just send it in one week and expect a review to be printed the next.  (In fact... don't expect any reviews, at all.  Lots of writers are vying for that reviewer's time!)  If you don't tend to this ONE part of your marketing plan, I can virtually guarantee your book will flop.  Before you ever set the table, you need to send out invitations.  Sending materials to reviewers, this is the invitation step.

OK, so my metaphor wandering around and got lost.  The point still stands.  Reviews are KEY.  There are great resources out there to help you locate where you can get reviewed and how to try to draw attention to your submission so you have a better chance of getting reviewed.

Before I conclude this topic, there is another preliminary step in marketing that cannot be overlooked.  Set up a website!  EVERYone has a website!  (Isn't it annoying when you find a business with no website, or with a "static" one-page presence that is completely useless?)  Your website is yoru press agent.  It is the most versatile instrument imaginable!  You can put contact information, cover proofs, a sample chapter, the text of an interview... or anything else, on a website.  And, guess what?  Once all of that info is on there, you can also POINT people TO your website (if they haven't already found it).  Take a website one step further and promote it on sites like Facebook...?  Yeah, now you have the potential to have a juggernaut in motion before the book goes to press!

And if you are not one of those socialite types who has 379 friends on Facebook?  So what?!?  You KNOW a few of those people, don't you?  THEY are resources.  These are people who LIKE telling other people about new things!  Approach them (in email is fine) and ask them to help you promote your book.  Now, don't think you are going to sell to most of their contacts.  You might not make a single sale through any website or contact list.  So what?  Now hundreds of people know you are a writer.  That's worth something, isn't it?

So get your website underway, and start planning where you can get some reviews.  That's two BIG projects that cannot be ignored if you are serious about marketing your book!

More to come!  --I promise!

So I am loving the website Wikiquote.  Love it.  And I love a few authors, too.  Ray Bradbury, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., William Faulkner, among others.  I saw this quote today by Faulkner.  It reminded me of a story in This Great Divide (unabashed plug!) called "Interred with the Bones."

"Some folks wouldn't even speak when they passed me on the street. Then MGM came to town to film Intruder in the Dust, and that made some difference because I'd brought money into Oxford. But it wasn’t until the Nobel Prize that they really thawed out. They couldn’t understand my books, but they could understand thirty thousand dollars."

--William Faulkner, on the opinion of his neighbors of his writing profession, as quoted in "Faulkner Without Fanfare" in Esquire (July 1963), later publised in Conversations with William Faulkner (1999) by M. Thomas Inge, p. 102

Quoted from Wikiquote. URL: http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Faulkner

If you've read "Interred..." I think you get the connection.  If not... well, why not?!?

(And, obviously, no, I did not write a story about Faulkner.  But the resemblance is uncanny~)

Ha ha!  I knew I was going to get slack about posting on my blog ;>  Well, just so folks know I am still breathing...

Thanks for all the hits coming from Blue Print Review.  Wow!  I hope this means you liked "Keepsake," and are looking for more.  If so, feel free to drop me a line and I can point you to more stories online.  I am doing a bit of writing these days (yea!) so maybe I'll even manage to submit some stories someday~!

A few copies of my book (This Great Divide) went out to new readers recently and I was blessed with kind readers and enthusiastic feedback.  Thanks!!  It's great to "feel" a sense of audience and to hear what people think about certain stories.  You know what else, I'm continually surprised at the stories people tell me are their favorites.  I mean, hey, I like them all, right?  because I wrote them!  But, to be honest, out of the 13 stories in This Great Divide, I really favor a handful of them.  And there is even a story I wish weren't in the book!  When the stories were published individually, I received feedback on some by readers.  Based on that, and my own bias, I thought "This Great Divide," "Nothing But Infinity," and "His Two Hearts" were the "best" stories in the collection.  Still, as the writer (=proud parent), I also have a tremendous fondness for "Thunder on a Clear Day," "Exhale," "My Garden Which Never Grows," "Study in Darkness," "Interred with the Bones," and... well, a few others, too!  So recently I received some praise for many of these and other stories in the collection.  Thanks for that, because it reaffirms that each of those stories has its own merits and that different readers are going to find different beauty to appreciate in them.

I have also been considering the possibility of compiling some of my other stories, published and not, into a new anthology -- or maybe even smaller anthologies -- available online.  If anyone out there read and remembers stories like "Sharing the Load," "Among the Beatitudes," "Scrounging for Change," or "Holding Out" (online at Morpo.com!), these are some of the material that might end up in a new volume.  (We'll just see whether I ever do anything with THAT idea!)

First of all, Happy Birthday, Keli!

"Keepsake" is one of my personal favorites among my published short stories.  I am proud and excited to have it reprinted in Blue Print Review this month, and wanted to share a bit about the story.

I had the idea for the story as I was considering the value of an oral  tradition within generations of families.  The story took a life of its own  and only glanced on that topic indirectly, but focused instead on the keepsake the narrator received from her grandmother -- her grandmother's own  memory.  (Yes, the narrator was envisioned as a girl.  It doesn't really matter, but it's curious how everyone who reads a story by a male author assumes the narrator is also male.) The narration itself takes turns between the now and then, fusing  the two memories into something new.

"Keepsake" was originally published in The Sidewalk's End in February of 2001.  That e-zine unfortunately closed a while later.  When I saw Blue Print Review's theme issue submission guidelines, I instantly thought "Keepsake" would be a good fit.  And the editor, dorothee, agreed.  So now new readers can enjoy the story in a new online showcase (have I mentioned that BPR has an elegant simplicty to its layout?).

I think the story gained an accidental further significance later in 2001 with the 9-11 attacks.  When I look at a certain passage about firemen, and  the overall theme of hope vs. fear, I see how a larger public may soon have  come to share some of the views of the narrator in "Keepsake".  In certain ways, the arts, perhaps especially in the United States, have changed since 9-11.  The simplistic nature of good and evil popularized for generations demanded reconsideration.  The image of America held by its own citizens -- not to mention the rest of the world -- invited scrutiny.  Some works of fiction that espouse the more simplistic vision of our world suddenly seem naive.

But some works retained their significance.  I hope that "Keepsake" -- while not a monumental work at all -- was able to convey both pre- and post- views and balance them each for what they are worth.

Here is the direct link to "Keepsake" in the new issue of BPR:

http://www.blueprintreview.de/22keepsake.htm