Canister X – A.P. Fuchs: Zombie, Paranormal Romance and Superhero Novelist, Blogger, Artist, Publisher

February 17, 2006

Dear Dave:

There are services offered from POD subsidy outfits for the editing of the books, but this is at the author’s option. Due to the extremely high prices for this service (typically the subsidy outfit has a pool of freelance editors they utilize for it–no doubt the subsidy outfit overcharges so they, too, make a profit on top of whatever the editor is making) most authors neglect this service. Some simply don’t understand the necessity for editing and others, as mentioned, just can’t afford it. A smart author recognizes that no matter how good of a job they’ve done on their book that that book still needs to have a set of eyes that are not theirs to go over it. Editors come in two varieties: the copyeditor (who checks everything from simple punctuation and spelling to the stuff of content–continuity, clichéd sentences, inconsistent character behavior–the deeper stuff) and the proofreader (who only checks for spelling and basic grammatical issues and leaves the deeper stuff alone). Most editors charge either by the word or by the page. For myself, I charge by the word as that method is more accurate in terms of the actual work needed to be done on a particular piece as precise word count does vary from page to page. I think most authors would go for an editor, one they’d have to hire, based on a) the editor’s experience/reputation, b) the price for the service of either copyediting or proofreading. And if one is putting out their own work, affordability is a huge factor. I would ill-advise an author to utilize an editor suggested by a subsidy outfit (if I could not convince them to steer clear of the subsidy/vanity outfit altogether) as I’ve heard horror stories how even the editors these places use are of the sub par variety.

As a point of interest, I maintain a weekly webblog (blog) at http://coscomentertainment.blogspot.com The first chunk of entries deal with self-publishing, the bigger issues. (After all, you can fill a whole book on the topic of self-publishing.) One of them discusses the importance of editing. Consider having Gerhard visit the site for you and print off the articles for your own reading. Perhaps we can get a dialogue going on those items.

Your reply to my question regarding where all this “gray stuff” may have come from is very true. The Civil Rights movement having been indirectly responsible is a good assessment. The summation of your point is applicable to how we as a people (on the whole) often address our mistakes. If we err one way, we tend to overcompensate in the other direction to ensure that we don’t mess up again “just in case.” Race is a good example. We treated blacks poorly so it wound us up in a lot of trouble. Thankfully, we’re past that (unfortunately there are still those out there who hold prejudices against a person’s skin tone–garbage, if you ask me), but so we don’t screw up again, we embrace all things “different” from us (whites and/or people) so as to not “screw up” again. As noble as that intention may have started out, it’s obviously gotten sidetracked and then we’re back on the subject of the absence of absolute black and absolute white in society and are instead stuck with a bunch of gray tones for fear of messing up again. Anyone who maintains a view of “absolutes” are then labeled as extremists or fundamentalists (i.e. like many Christians are labeled as) and then we get scolded for not being “open” or “tolerant.” As mentioned in my previous letter, tolerance and “letting anything go” has been historically proven to send society on a spiral downward. It’s only a matter of time but, like you said, a process we need to go through. I can only help but wonder when we’ll “wake up” and realize that how we’ve been doing things truly isn’t the way to go. How bad will it have to get before we slap ourselves on the forehead and go, “Duh! We’re idiots and we screwed up!”? Only the future will tell, I suppose.

Anyway, I’m enjoying our talks and look forward to further correspondence. Will you be releasing a Collected Letters 2005 or was the 2004 edition a one-off thing?

Sincerely,

In the famous words of Stan Lee, “‘Nuff said.”

(P.S. Though I slightly tweak the order sometimes, this method creates a nice flow of stories for me. Always has.)

Outside the Ring
Originally published on-line February 03, 2006

When a self-published author sells the first copy of his/her book—there’s nothing like it. The sense of accomplishment—of actually getting somewhere—is overwhelming. It is the first reward for many long hours spent at the keyboard, the many hours editing, the many hours turning your manuscript into a series of pages between two glossy covers before finally sharing it with a reader. Those self-publishers who’ve experienced this know exactly what I’m talking about. More often than not, a self-published author’s sales—when they first occur/start out—fall to two groups of people: family and friends. Family’s a give-in, really. They’re family, right? In my mind I usually refer to these as “default sales,” but in the small press/self-publishing arena, a sale’s a sale so why not?

Friends. They may be co-workers, lifelong buddies, new pals or those you only know at a distance. There’s great joy in sharing something you’ve written with those you care about. But there is another arm to the “friends” category for most writers—especially small press and self-published ones who rely heavily on the Internet to market their work—and that is other writers. Before getting into that, I’ll just add that though friends also to a degree fall in the default sales category, these sales are also valuable because this is where your word-of-mouth advertising begins. I can’t tell you how many times a friend has bought a book of mine, enjoyed it then recommended it to someone I didn’t know and that person, in turn, bought the book either from the bookstore or direct from me or online somewhere. When those I don’t know buy my books, I can only assume it’s a result of the marketing I do and on the word-of-mouth generated by those closest to me. I wanted to highlight the importance of the “friend” sale because one of the arguments against self-publishers is that their only customers/readers are friends and family. Though that may be true for some, it is not true for all and I’m pleased to be part of the latter category and have readers whom I don’t know.

Other writers. Thanks to the Net, there’s a million-and-one newsgroups and message boards and online communities dedicated to being places where writers can congregate, talk about the craft, share triumphs and stumbling-blocks and seek encouragement or opinion when needed. A developing trend I’ve been noticing—especially in the small press and self-publishing world (that is fiction self-publishing)—is that a writer’s main customer/reader base is, you guessed it, other writers. Again, a sale’s a sale and one copy sold even to a fellow writer is better than none, but you got to reach beyond this. I’ve shared private correspondence with some writers on this and I’ve seen it in many newsgroups—a writer slowly developing the mentality/falling into the trap of writing for other writers, usually to gain their approval or respect on some level. The small press and self-publishing world (which I’ve mentioned are pretty much interchangeable terms regarding their monetary and fame rewards, as has been my experience) is a very closely knit community. Pick any genre in the small press and most authors know who everyone in that community is, who’s “higher up” on the chain, who’s starting out and so on. Some writers are fine with remaining in the small press and that’s okay, but for the writer who is dead set on making it big in this business (the serious writer and/or self-publisher) they need to truly and honestly realize and understand that the small press—their group of writer pals—are not the be all and end all in their quest for the top. There is only one deciding factor in this industry who decides if you make it or fail and that is the reader. The writers you hang around with represent a small, small fraction of the overall reading community. Your target should be the reader—that is those you don’t know—and sell to them, market to them, make them aware you exist and where they can find your book. Don’t worry about pleasing your fellow writers or, if discussing things online, saying things you know they want to hear or agreeing with them simply because of who they are if you honestly don’t believe or stand by what is being said. If you anger one or two or three of them, so what? That’s three people out of the thousands of potential readers for your book. Which is greater? You might be sacrificing a sale to that individual(s) but isn’t a missed sale better than not being honest with yourself? I remember reading on a thread once at a message board where a few writers admitted they watch what they say or conform what they say to match others because they don’t want to lose the sale/harm their reputation. It’s an easy thing to give in to but to lose yourself bit by bit in the process isn’t worth it. Being a writer/writing is about honesty both on and off the page.

I got an email from somebody recently who was worried that if they got a bad review in the genre they write in that it might hurt the perception of their work within the community of writers they hang out with. The truth is it may, but it also may not. I told this person not to care what their online writing buddies thought and instead see what the reader thinks instead. That is the true test of a work: reader perception/pleasure.

*start of sidebar*

A trap I used to fall in to but don’t anymore was the trap of competing with my fellow writers for where I got published. The more prestigious the place the better. The goal was about the respect of being published by a prestigious publication, not in the money paid for the work itself or even the work itself. The quick perception is—as great as some of these online communities are—is that the writer who gets picked up by the big publishing firm or makes the big magazine sale suddenly becomes the only writer who gets taken seriously in these communities. Offering a congratulations or pat on the back is one thing, but I’ve also seen undertones of butt-kissing in these congratulatory remarks or, as touched on above, when a well-know/established writer kicks in their two cents on a topic, their word is taken as gospel and suddenly everyone agrees with them. There’s the sense that by “agreeing with them” or kissing up that the writer who is doing it is hoping for a payback somewhere down the line. Be yourself, man. Authenticity are what people are interested in. They want an individual not someone who follows the crowd. I’m not saying go and be a butthead now, you got my permission, but rather to just be you.

*end of sidebar*

The point is: don’t write for the approval of other writers or gear your work toward them. Don’t put all the weight in the world on their perception(s) and opinion(s) of you. There’s too wide a readership out there. Like the Bible says, seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you. For publishing, seek ye first the reader and his/her excitement about your story and the success that goes with it will follow. The things that will be added are respect and recognition from other writers, editors, publishers and agents. You’ll get their attention, don’t worry. Just don’t become a sell out in your quest to get a million readers. But that’s another topic.