WRITING WITHOUT A NET

Pages written since last post : 28 Books uploaded to Kindle: CAST ADRIFT   She was a marine biologist on a quest to find a dolphin; he was a sailor with no time for sentiment.  But two weeks alone at sea could change everything... When last we met, I was trying to think of all the advantages to being published by a major New York publishing house.  Here they are: 1) The advance.  I think we all can agree that a  $25,000 advance from a publisher is appreciably better than $25 a month for uploading your self-published book to Kindle.  At least, it sounds better.  No, it is better, really--- at least, it would be better, if only publishers would actually pay it in advance.  Here’s the way it breaks down:        1/3 on signing of the contract.  This means approximately 3-4 months after the deal is struck.  If you are writing the book on spec, you’ve probably completed it by now.     ...

pages written since last post: 11 and 1/2 Books uploaded to Amazon Kindle:  For Keeps -- This was my first book featuring a dog as a major character.  It had to be completely rewritten to reflect modern dog-training techniques. Only $1.99 on Kindle! So I ran into my friend the other day-- I'll call him Dave to avoid embarrassment (mine, not his)-- and congratulated him on his recently self-published memoir.  I couldn't help knowing about his recently self-published memoir because everytime I opened an e-mail, visited a shop downtown, or glanced at a newspaper, I saw an announcement.  He was very pleased with the way it was going and reported he had already sold 600 copies.  "That's great!" I told him sincerely because it was great-- for a self-published memoir that had been out less than three months.  Feeling smug, I didn't bother to  mention that, had I failed to sell less than six thousand  copies in the first quarter of m...

pages written since last post : 150 But no... getting a start on a new book is not all I've been doing since February. Like so many of my colleagues of late, I've been re-evaluating the publishing business and my place in it. (I've also been trying to get off sugar and processed foods,lower my resting heart rate and plant an organic garden, but that's another post altogether).  I've also been giving a lot of thought to books in general and the way we read them, and, frankly, how much all of these things have changed.  When I first started buying books, a paperback could be had for 2.99.  When I first started writing books, the average price of a paperback book was 4.99.  When the cost of a paperback book jumped to 7.99, and a hardcover to $20.00, some of the most dedicated readers I know swore they would never buy another book.  Well, now they're paying $35.00 for some titles, but guess what?  They're not doing it very often.  So here's the thing....

Pages written since lost post: 57 Okay, I confess: I’m a complete Winter Olympics junkie. I love downhill, ski-jump, snow boarding, bobsled, luge, skeleton, short track, 1000 meter, cross country, and oh yes, figure skating– men’s women’s, pairs, ice dance. Once every four years, I even love hockey. For two weeks in February, I am glued to the television set for six to eight hours a day, cheering– not for a nation or an individual– but for the best. Because when records are broken, when personal bests are surpassed, when the impossible becomes history, gateways open up for all of us to surge through. This is what I’ve learned from the Olympics this year: You don’t make the podium by accident. Every one of these kids had a dream, and they believed in it enough to be at the rink at four o’clock in the morning to practice, every morning, without fail, for fifteen years, rain, snow, sleet, bad mood, heavy date, flu, birthday, Christmas , New Year’s, whatever ; to move across countr...

Pages written since last post: 267 As you can see from the above statistic, that pesky little thing called writing a book has once again interfered with keeping this blog up-to-date. Here's what you missed: 1) Favorite book of 2009 (only two months late!): The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak. This, friends and neighbors, is why there will always be paper books. This is a book you want to hold in your hands, savoring every word, touching the pages, marveling over the design. It's not only that the book within a book does, in fact, look as though it was painted on a cellar wall by a fugitive in Nazi Germany; it's not only the elegance of the story; it's not only the prose that makes you want to weep from the sheer beauty of it; it is all of those things that come together to make one perfect novel. This is why there will always be paper books. Second Favorite Book : The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Annie Barrows and Mary Ann Shaffer. This b...

This is what I love about my new Kindle e-reader: 1)The coverage map was wrong! I am in a Whispernet coverage area after all, it seems, which means I can have any book or periodical I order delivered to my Kindle within a minute. I know! I couldn't believe it, either! So I kept ordering, and ordering... 2)The price . Much has been said, of course, about the 9.99 best seller, but I am only moderately impressed by this. After all, Amazon.com has been selling 27.95 hardcover bestsellers for $13-$15 for years. What I love are the $2.00-$3.00 mysteries and suspense/thrillers, the $1.49 per month magazine subscriptions, the 75-cent Sunday New York Times. Moreover, many authors are giving away their back list titles for $00.00, presumably to generate interest in their new releases- a terrific promotional idea that I just might try myself! 3)Portability. The Kindle slips into my purse as easily as a day planner and takes up a lot less room, so if I have a few minutes to spare...

pages written since last post : 2 Over the last few days before Christmas, the debate changed from whether or not I would get an e-reader to a much simpler choice: which one. Yes, the nook is too cool for words (it has color! At least of the book covers) , and Barnes and Noble has posted a terrific comparison chart between the nook and the Kindle . The nook claims to have over one million titles (although a cursory search revealed several titles that were available on Kindle were not available on nook), and the pricing between nook and Kindle is pretty much the same for the device and books to read on it. The size, weight and features of both devices are virtually the same (but the nook has color!). My choice: The Amazon Kindle. Here is why, in order of importance: 1)Speedy delivery. I wanted it over the holidays, while I had a little bit of time to play with it. Amazon.com promised 2-day delivery, and by George, I got it. The nook, on the other hand, would be delivered o...