It's a Wrap! Evermore: Call of the Nocturne is Finally Complete!

After eight years, more than eight drafts, thousands of hours of my life, and three computers later, I have finally finished the manuscript for Evermore: Call of the Nocturne. My god, that took far longer than I ever expected it to. When I started back in 2004 (and this is not considering pre-production planning), I thought that it might take me three or four years. When I finished the first draft by 2007 or 2008, I thought I was nearly done. When I started this blog in 2010, my goal was to publish it that year. Obviously, that was not to be.

That said, the time was not wasted. During that four-year period, I had two professional edits done on my text. A developmental edit by Erin Stropes and a line edit by Amelia Bennett. The suggestions made by those two led to immense improvements in the manuscript. I owe them both a debt of gratitude for their contributions. E:COTN is a much better novel now then it was before their help. Still, it was four years!

Having reached the end of the road, I admit that my feelings are a little bittersweet. On one hand, I feel relief for having finally completed it. One the other hand, I feel a little bit lost. Completing this novel has been one of the driving forces of my life and now that it's over, I feel like I've lost a little bit of the purpose of my life. I have been thinking about this novel constantly for the last eight years, thinking up new plot elements, developing characters, and filling holes and inconsistencies. Now that's it's done, I no longer have to obsess about it. I'm also somewhat overwhelmed but the length of time I've been working on it. I've been working on E:COTN for about a quarter of my life. With its completion, a significant chapter of my life has closed. It will be a time in my life that I will always miss.

In an ironic twist, I started to watch Martin Scorcese's The Aviator to relax after completing the novel. At the beginning, the protagonist Howard Hughes four years and almost every cent who had on a movie called "Hell's Angels". His level of obsession with the project was absurd. He bought or loaned every plan he could find, used no fewer than 26 cameras, and then reshot the film twice: once because he wanted to get clouds into the shots and a second time because he wanted to add sound! It was insane and yet, while I watched, I understood completely. When you commit so much of your life to a project, it can be really difficult to let go. You want to make it perfect, but perfect is impossible. At some point you have to let it go, warts and all.Howard Hughes couldn't let it go and I've difficulty letting go of Evermore. As I came closer and closer to the end, I became more reluctant to finish. I was always finding something that needed to be improved or worked on. But at some point, I came to the conclusion that the novel was about as good as I could ever make. It was time to let it go. I had fixed all the plot holes I could find, I addressed every concern raised by my editors, it was done.There's still more work to do, of course. I still have to get the cover art drawn and arranged, I have to register the copyright and buy an ISBN. I'll need to prepare the epub file, test it and upload it to iBookstore and the Kindle store. I'll probably give the manuscript one more read to be sure but the bulk of the work is done.I'll also have more time to write on my blog. I've been so busy trying to finish E:COTN that I've neglected my blog at a very exciting time for self-publishing. We have new services arising, more direct access to iBookstore and an exciting new tool called iBooks Author that I'm dying to play with. I'll keep all of you posted on all of these developments and keep you appraised of E:COTN's release date as we approach.Thank you again for your patience. I hope that when it is finally published, you will enjoy reading Evermore: Call of the Nocturne as I did writing it. 

Awesome Authors looking for Ottawa's top young writers

The Ottawa Public Library is holding its annual Awesome Authors Youth Writing Contest. Deadline is January 30. See more details below:

Awesome Authors youth writing contestYoung poets and authors - On your mark! Get set! Write!The Ottawa Public Library invites you to participate in the 17th annual Awesome Authors Youth Writing Contest, a contest for aspiring young poets and short story authors. Participants can win lots of Awesome prizes!Contest open to youth between the ages of 9 and 17Participants must have an Ottawa Public Library card.There is a limit of 2 entries per person, per category.Poems and short stories must:o be 1000 words or lesso be submitted electronically or computer-generatedo be one side of an 8½ x 11" page, if submitted at a brancho include the title of the piece on each page of the entryo be entrant's own NEW work (no previously published works)o be in French and/or EnglishEntries that do not follow guidelines will be disqualified.Do not put your name on your work.Include one entry form per poem or story submitted.Entries will not be returned.Submit your work online (form below) or in person at your local branch. Print off this form if you choose to drop off your work in person.DeadlineJanuary 30, 2012

For more information, please consult the website at: http://biblioottawalibrary.ca/en/main/about/comm/contest/all/awesome

Great Moments in Social Media

Social media has been hyped as a new communications, Web 2.0, a new way for people to connect and communicate. For book sellers like myself, it has also been hyped as a way to sell books by giving you a closer relationship with your consumers than had ever before been possible. I always thought that this was overselling it a little bit. However, I ran into an experience that showed me the power of social media.Last week, I finally sat down and watched the first episode of Republic of Doyle, a CBC comedy about a father-son private investigator firm in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador (I have a couple of co-workers from NL so I promised them that I would give it a try). I thought it was pretty good so I posted a tweet about it. Here was the reaction:  Needless to say, my question was "Who is Allan Hawco and why is he contacting me?" After some research, I realized with a shock that this was star of the TV show "Republic of Doyle" mentioning me on Twitter. Neat! So of course, I had to follow him and I felt more encouraged to watch more episodes. This was the power of social media in action. I don't know if it was an automatic response to the hashtag #republicofdoyle but even so it is still brilliant. @allanhawco is using twitter very effectively to build his audience. Of course I have to watch more episodes now, I know the guy.When I release (finally) Evermore: Call of the Nocturne, I will learn from Allan Hawco's example to build me audience. This is the power of social media tools like Facebook and Twitter, it allows you to build your audience through social connections outside of the (very expensive) traditional methods of advertisement.Thank you @allanhawco for a topical lesson. And for the rest of you, check out "Republic of Doyle". It is a pretty good show.

Cover Art - Suicide is a Tax Write-Off

Wow, my apologies. It has been almost too months since my last post. Between editing the final version of E:CotN, going home for a family reunion, taking a camping trip, and the tribulations of life, I have had great difficulty in finding the time to post on this website. With the end of a busy summer, I should be able to write with more frequency from here on in.The big news is that I'm planning to release a short story that I wrote way, way, way back in 1997 for free on Kindle. This will give people a chance to get to know my writing and for me to get some experience with the steps of digital self-publishing before I release E:CotN.One of these steps is to commission cover art for the story. When publishing for Amazon, cover art is essential. It is your firs to opportunity to grab the attention of the reader and get him interested in your story.Since I have no artistic talents whatsoever, my editor Erin Stropes suggested that I work with Jordan Knoll, a graphic designer based out of Toronto. Working with him was great. We were able to pass ideas back and forth until we came up with the concept that you see above. By using a discarded receipt, Jordan was able able to create an interesting image that tells the reader a great deal about the story without revealing the plot. I'm really happy with it. Jordan did some great work on it.Next, I'll have to purchase an ISBN for it and upload it to the Amazon Digital Text Platform. I had also wanted to upload it to iBooks, but to do so I have to charge a minimum price of 99 cents. As I wish to give away the short story for free to promote my upcoming novel, I don't really feel it is appropriate to charge for one platform and not another. So for now, it will be Kindle-exclusive.Anyway, I hope that all of you like it. I'll be spending the next week plowing through Amelia's edits on E:CotN. I look forward to the day when this project is finally completed.

The 99-cent e-book?

As some of you are aware, my original business plan was to sell my self-published short-stories for 99-cents, my novellas, for $2.99 and my novels for $4.99. I thought that these prices were fair, created differential pricing between three quality products, and were cheap enough to encourage buying. It turns out that I may have been wrong. According to David Carnoy, the standard price for an indie e-book is $2.99 and may be dropping to $2.99 99-cents.I had figured that $4.99 would allow me to differentiate myself from the big-box publishers who were overcharging customers. According to Carnoy, the digital revolution in publishing is, like music before it, pushing a race to 99-cents.

In some sense, what's happening in the Kindle Store is what's already happened in Apple's iPhone App Store, where developers have been forced to lower their prices to 99 cents to compete (recently, Angry Birds' maker Rovio told fellow developers to get used to pricing their apps at 99 cents). The price erosion isn't that great yet on the Kindle; there are still plenty of $9.99 and higher e-books out there from traditional publishers. And many of them still sell very, very well. But with so many more e-readers and iPads out there, the market has grown large enough--like the iPhone market did--that you can actually make decent money at 99 cents, particularly if you crack the Top 100.

Carnoy highlights the experience of Christopher Smith, whose "Fifth Avenue" became an Amazon best-seller, dropped his price from $2.99 to 99-cents and watched his sales soar into six figures. His strategy seems to periodically drop his price to 99-cents every once in a while to spike sales and maintain his Top 100 ranking on the Kindle Store. Then he returns his price to $2.99 and reaps the higher margin from sales attracted by his high ranking. It seems to be working well for him.On the other hand, Jesse Brown of Macleans believes that the Internet is becoming a 99-cent store where everything music to books to movies to videogames is sold at the magic price of 99-cents.  According to Brown:

One dollar minus one penny seems to be the magic number when selling virtual goods that can otherwise be easily acquired for free. Self-published authors are discovering that when they drop their sticker price from $2.99 to $.99, sales shoot up, and their titles rapidly climb the charts. Rovio, makers of Angry Birds, have built a multimillion dollar business, a buck at a time, and now preach the gospel of that sweet spot price. Kindle Singles are Amazon’s bargain-priced short e-books, which are breathing new life into long-format journalism. Nine of the 10 best selling apps right now on iTunes are priced under a dollar. As different industries experiment with a range of pricing schemes for their wildly divergent products, they are all arriving at the same conclusion: 99 cents.

So this seems to leave me with two possible business models. The first is where I sell Novellas for 99-cents, Novels for $2.99, and drop the periodically to drive sales. The second option would be to sell everything for 99-cents. Personally, I more inclined to the former option as this would allow drop my price periodically, like Smith, to boost readership and give me something interesting to announce on my website (eg. "It's Canada Day. All books for 99-cents"). However, if Brown is right, then we're all going to end up at 99-cents anyway.One change is for certain. I will have to give away short stories for free. While they involve hard work and dedication to craft, they don't simply have the value proposition that a full-length novel would have. Instead, I can use them as a way to attract readers (who doesn't love free?) and build an audience for my full-length novels and novellas. They will also provide valuable experience in navigating the e-book self-publishing environment, even at a modest loss.Regardless of whether or not the ideal price is $2.99 or 99-cents, the goal remains the same: to publish and sell books. However, the pace of change is shocking in the industry. My life's work, once priceless in my eyes, is now probably worth 99-cents. Would you buy that for a dollar? I'm hoping so.

Book of Negroes Book Review

Over the Christmas holidays, the Vancouver Sun held a promotion that they called the 12 Days of Christmas.  Each day, they would provide free stuff for readers with an iTunes account. Now most of the stuff was pretty disposable, but one of the giveaways was an iBooks version of the Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill.  At the time, I didn't really think too much about it. I put aside and went about my life. About a month ago, I finally found the time to read it.And I couldn't put it down.  Lawrence Hill has crafted an excellent story that pulls the reader forward from beginning to end.  From an idealic childhood in Bayo to the cruelty of the American South to the betrayal of the British in Nova Scotia, Aminata is pulled through a nightmarish life full of pain, loss, and suffering but also love and hope that gives the reader a far better understanding of the true horror of the slave trade.The real strength of Hill's novel is the unforgettable imagery that transports the reader into the time period. When Aminata is transported from Africa to the American South by ship, you can almost smell the disgusting conditions through Hill's obscene yet descriptive prose. It was simply unforgettable and gave me an understanding of the horror that Africans, kidnapped from their homes, separated from their families, and robbed of their freedom, had to endure.  Hill's background in history tracking the Black Canadians of Nova Scotia strengthens the tale by giving the tale historical authenticity.  You don't feel that you're reading a work of fiction but instead are staring into the life of a real person.There are some weaknesses though. While Aminata is an excellent lead, she isn't the most original of characters.  The intelligent, rebellious female hero who beats the odds is a fairly trope character. While Hill uses her well, it was a missed opportunity for a more complicated and thus interesting character, especially when dealing with the omnipresent influence of slavery on everyone’s lives. Throughout the story, she maintains her trust in others, despite the number of times that she has been betrayed. I would have liked to see her wrestle more with issues of trust and cynicism towards humanity as this would have given her something internally to struggle against and eventually overcome. Instead, her conflict is external, focused on the scourge of slavery and the way it destroys so many innocent lives.However, this choice may be more appropriate as it allows Aminata's moral certainty and inner strength to contrast with the poisoned compromises that result from an economic system based on slavery.  For example, see Solomon Lindo, a jewish duty inspector who believes himself to be compassionate and understanding to Aminata yet can not see that by “owning” her, he is still harming her, robbing her of her god-given right to freedom. Despite his redemptive actions later on, I can understand why Mr. Hill does not give Solomon the absolution he craves. By participating in the slave system as an owner, Mr. Lindo has given it personal credibility. The lives that are lost cannot be returned, the atrocities cannot be undone. Redemption and absolution are beyond reach for Mr. Lindo and that is what makes him a somewhat tragic figure. His only hope lies in Aminata’s forgiveness and she understandably, is not in a forgiving mode.A second weakness in the book is the ending. I felt that it strained the novel’s credibility to deliver a happy ending that didn't really fit with the rest of the story.  Over her entire life, slavery had robbed Aminata of her freedom, her family, her lover, and finally her children.  For everything to work out at the end, while emotionally satisfying for the lead character, seems to undermine the tragedy of slavery and its destructive impact on so many lives. Perhaps Mr. Hill is like us. Having watched Aminata overcome so much hardship during her life, we cannot help to cheer when she receives a little piece of happiness. We are only human.However, these weaknesses should not distract from the fact that the Book of Negroes is an outstanding accomplishment.  Lawrence Hill should be proud of his work. He has crafted a story that should not be missed.

The Future Will Not Be Printed

I haven’t had much time to post recently. My job, hot yoga and preparations for an upcoming family reunion have taken up more and more of my time. In the time I’ve been away, the publishing world has continued to undergo rapid change. Most notably, Amazon has announced that ebooks now outsell all printed books on Amazon.com. Amazon now claims that since April 1, for every 100 print books that Amazon has sold, they have sold 105 Kindle ebooks. They also claim that they have already sold more than 3x as many Kindle ebooks in 2011 then they did for all of 2010.However you want to cut it, that is a significant shift in how the public consumes literature. It’s not surprising. Ebooks are cheaper, more convenient, and more portable. But their rapid growth since the introduction of the Kindle and iPad are no less impressive.The growth of the Ebook sales and its growing acceptance by the public through multiple devices such as the Kindle, iPad, and other tablets has begun to challenge the current pricing model. Narasu Rebbapragada from PCWorld has a fascinating article on the subject. I won’t review the entire document, but I would say that the current prices for ebooks are far too high. The strength of app and music sales from iTunes comes from impulse buying where customers instantly buy what they want without stopping to think about their pocketbook. If the customer has to think about the price then you’ve probably lost a sale. Personally, I believe that $4.99 is the most appropriate price point. It’s reasonable high enough to differentiate its higher value in comparison to songs or apps, but it’s low enough that the consumer is not going to worry too much about the price. $5 is an easily digestible sweet spot.That said, I don’t have too much of a problem with the publishing industry’s agency model. Personally, I believe that they can and should be able to set the price to whatever they want. If they believe that they can sell a book at $14.99, then it is their right to set their price. I believe that they’re wrong but I’m not going to begrudge them their right to do so. Besides, with hundreds of thousands of books available now, it’s not  like the customer doesn’t have other choices. For me, it’s an advantage. The high price point creates a opportunity for cheaper, independent books to gain a greater share of the market.It is indeed the Wild West and nobody knows exactly how it will turn out. However, one thing remains true: we are entering an age of complete literary freedom. Anybody can publish a book and anybody can sell a book. The publishing world has become a free market. It will be fascinating to see what it can produce.