I was saddened to learn of the decision to close The Alphabet Garden, a children's bookstore in Cheshire, Connecticut where I had an amazing event for my first book, LOVE, MEG (newly-released as an e-book titled, JENNIFER ANISTON IS MY BEST FRIEND). Back in the summer of 2007, Karlene Rearick, the store's owner, held an event for my friends and family at her small store which was in the Watch Factory Shoppes at the time. We had cupcakes and cake and I read from the book and signed lots of copies. I was incredibly nervous but it was a ton of fun. Not long after I returned to LA, I posted some photos from that signing. It reminds me of a very special time in my life, one that I know not every author has a chance to enjoy.
A book signing for a debut author is really not for the masses, unless you're a celebrity and your first book is a juicy memoir. Typically, the signing event is for the author and her friends and family. They are excited for you and want to share in your book's release and since they were planning to buy the book anyway, they might as well do it as part of an event. It's fun to choose a theme that ties into the book - whether it's food or music or other entertainment - and it can be a great way for a bookstore owner to introduce her store to new customers. So it's win-win-win for everyone.
But not all authors can do this. First of all, the number of indie bookstores is dwindling and there's really only one chain left, B&N. Then too, not all books are released as paper or hardcover so there may not be an actual book to sign. And finally, they don't draw the numbers of people they used to. If you're a friend of the owner, that might be incentive enough to hold a signing. If you're a good customer, that's another reason. But let's be honest: with fewer stores and more e-books, chances are not good that you're a frequent customer at any store. In fact, when I mentioned to my husband that The Alphabet Garden was closing, he said, "When was the last time you were in a bookstore?"
I don't know. I don't have much money to spend on books, frankly, so I rely on free classics and other low-priced books from Amazon for my Kindle. I buy friends' books at their signings, of course, or as a download for my Kindle, but no, I don't go to bookstores often. I used to love Borders but they're all gone and I never did care for B&N because they rarely stocked my books. Truth, okay?
People bemoan the demise of bookstores, and I agree with them to a certain extent. There is a charm to stores and to physical books. I have always loved libraries, even more than bookstores, because I could spend hours in the stacks, uninterrupted by someone asking if they could help me find something ("Yes, help me find an author I've never heard of who I will love instantly"). I discovered more authors that way. And the thrill of seeing my own book on the stacks is indescribable. One of the most amazing things to me in the world was seeing my titles shelved in the local library, and knowing they're available all over the world in other libraries.
A really big part of me wishes I could have continued to publish with Penguin. I had major plans for my books and they did too - until the books didn't sell as fast as they wanted them to. But I still have plans and I still have stories to tell and I want to share them with readers. What am I supposed to do now that publishing isn't what it used to be? Now that bookstores are tanking and the only books published by major publishers are high concept series, am I supposed to simply stop writing?
Here we are: five summers after my first novel was published and I held that awesome signing at The Alphabet Garden, the store is closing - and I ju
When Ray Bradbury passed away last week, the internet poured out its collective heart and soul into beautiful posts about the impact the author had on so many lives. His influence on writers, readers, television watchers, moviegoers, and theater audiences was tremendous.
I loved his "The Illustrated Man," a collection of short stories including the insanely-good "The Veldt" and of course, the amazing "The Illustrated Man." His novels "Something Wicked This Way Comes" and "Dandelion Wine" always spoke to me on a child-like level. Although our upbringings were so very different, I still felt like I could relate to his Iowa-cornfields-on-a-late-summer-night sentiments.
When I think of Bradbury's work, I feel it in my bones. I feel the longing for something beyond us, the playfulness of never-ending childhood, the wonder of the universe. But although he believed in the ultimate good of humanity, he never forgot how razor-thin the line was between good and evil. In his short stories and novels, his villains might have been vanquished - or not. They might have been us. In many instances, such as "Fahrenheit 451" we were our own worst enemy.
I can't overstate his influence on how I write or read. The very first novel I began writing (which remains unfinished) had its beginnings in his work. I have re-read more of his stories than I have of any other author. When I need a strong shot of good stuff to inspire me or comfort me, I'll pick up "The Martian Chronicles."
Not long after I moved to LA, I was fortunate to meet Bradbury for the first time at a bookstore signing - for someone else's book! It was a collection of his covers, put together by Jerry Wiest, who was there for the signing. Bradbury came too. He did speak but kept his part short; he was gracious about leaving the floor to Wiest since it was his show, not Bradbury's.
I soon learned that Bradbury was - despite his age and increasing inability to get around well without assistance - incredibly generous with his time. He appeared at the same tiny book fair I did when my first novel was published. He spoke - lovingly, passionately - about writing, about doing what you love with little regard for fame or fortune or public acceptance. He was the embodiment of that belief. He wrote what he wanted when he wanted. He did TV and movies and he wrote shorts and novels - and refused to be classified as a science fiction author. He was a fantastist, a writer of fantasy. That he loved space and wondered about our place in the universe was secondary.
The final time I met him was at another book fair, this time in West Hollywood. Lines, lines, lines - everyone wanted to see Ray. I didn't get as much time with him as I did at the previous smaller fair because so many people were waiting but I did tell him what a major influence he was on my books. I told him I was at the fair because of him, because what I'd written had been published. He smiled and told me he was glad he could help me fulfill my dream "in some small way." Small? Hardly. A dream? Definitely. A dream inspired by him and his writing.
Read Bradbury if you haven't already. Find a story, a novel, a play, a movie, an episode of The Twilight Zone. I dare you not to be inspired.
By:
Leigh Purtill,
on 6/1/2012
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First of all, my novel, JENNIFER ANISTON IS MY BEST FRIEND, is now available on Kindle and soon will be on Nook. Yay! It's got a cool cover and everything.
It was originally published as LOVE, MEG back in 2007. It went out of print (OOP in pub-speak) in late 2009 and the rights reverted back to me a few months later when I requested them from the publisher.
So why I am re-releasing it now? And in fact, why would anyone re-release a book that has gone out of print?
Well, for one thing, not many people have seen it. Clearly! Or else the book might not have gone out of print in the first place. Every year, thousands of books are released by the Big Six publishers and thousands more by small and independent presses. It's just a fact of publishing life that not every author will get a share of the marketing pie. There are only so many spots on that Barnes & Noble table, after all. I don't believe MEG got the push it needed to get into readers' hands.
Secondly, more people have e-readers than ever before and they are always hungry for new material to read (I know I am!). Because I am publishing this independently, I have the ability to price the book at a more-than-reasonable 99 cents. How's that for a deal? Seriously, I'm not trying to get over on anyone. I know the book was previously released so I think a buck is a decent price. Anything to get more people reading it.
For a third reason, I never liked the title it came out with. It was okay but it didn't really convey what the book was about. Way too many people commented that it sounded like a romance (and then they were disappointed it wasn't!) or that it was too generic and bland. I understand that. Which is why I wanted to go back to my original title, JENNIFER ANISTON IS MY BEST FRIEND, in much the same way I reverted to FAT GIRLS IN LA for the VEE novel. The titles are eye-catching and thought-provoking and they make you want to pick them up for a look-see.
And finally...yeah, I like this story. I like FAT GIRLS too. I want other people to see them and get to know them. I felt bad for my books when they went OOP. They were like my children who got rejected from a good college. I kept thinking, "No, give them a chance! They're hard workers and funny and sweet. They may be smaller than the other kids but they're just as smart."
You never want to see your kids rejected. So now I have the opportunity to send them off to school in my own way.
I grew up reading everything. As a girl, I loved Laura Ingalls Wilder's "Little House" series and all the Betsy-Tacy books. Not to mention all the Ramona stories. When I was a pre-teen I read whatever I could find on my parents' bookshelf - nothing racy but certainly scary. I can remember Thomas Tryon's books as well as true crime novels like "In Cold Blood." And as a teen, I just took out whatever struck my fancy while I was wandering the stacks.
Fitzgerald's Pat Hobby stories. Joseph Wambaugh. Aldous Huxley. Octavia Butler. Douglas Adams. Ray Bradbury. Stephen King. Peter Benchley. Robert Heinlein. Isaac Asimov. Frank Herbert. And on and on.
When I began writing, of course I started with some of the more fanciful stories because - hello? look at that list of names! Naturally, I loved fantasy and science fiction and horror. It never occurred to me to write in a genre. I only wanted to write what I liked reading.
But people don't like that - publishers, editors, agents. They want to know: what do you write? What kind of stories do you tell?
Um, the kind people like to read?What a silly question. I hate being put in a box. I don't ever want to do/write/be just one thing. Readers want good stories with good writing and good characters.
Good. Fun. Thought-provoking. Entertaining. Heartbreaking. Provocative. Keep-me-up-at-night.
Right now, I'm working on the third book in the Fat Girls in LA trilogy. Next I'll tackle my paranormal thingy again and after that, the steampunk-time-travel thingy. Maybe a detective story in the middle. I don't know. But whatever it is, I want it to be
good.
Take this fun interactive test from Staples...and see how long it will take you to read "Harry Potter" or "War of the Worlds" from start to finish.
To celebrate the release of my new novel, CHASING THE FALLS, I am giving away the Kindle version of my short story, "I Brake For Whales." FREE!!
Starting tonight, Friday April 6 at midnight PST, all through the weekend until Sunday April 8 at midnight PST, you can download my horror short for free at Amazon at its Kindle store! FREE!!
Here's the link but remember, it will be free at midnight and no sooner! Enjoy~
And book number 3 is out - CHASING THE FALLS is my first new release since ALL ABOUT VEE in 2008. Last year I released FAT GIRLS IN LA but that was not new. This is completely brand new material that no one has seen yet. Well, except for editor, agent, manager, and a friend...but other than that, you all will be the first! If you buy it...
It's available as e-book only right now. Here is the l
ink to the Amazon Kindle version. Still waiting for Barnes & Noble to put it up on their Nook store but when I get that link, I'll share it too. It's only $2.99, a reasonable price, I think, for an e-book. I'd love to get feedback so if you have a Goodreads or Amazon account, I hope you'll consider posting a review somewhere.
Thanks and happy reading!
Hey everyone! The release sequence of my novels has gotten a little rearranged due to work commitments and illness but the second e-book (my third published novel) is being released April 2 on Kindle and Nook, for starters. Print editions will come later.
I'll post more in a couple of days but for now, here are a couple of teasers...
--The title is "Chasing the Falls."
--It's a contemporary young adult novel, set in Los Angeles.
Now, a bit of more cool news...
--I'm the April author for Ultimate YA Reading Group! They'll be posting interviews 'n stuff with me throughout the month, including info about the new book. So stay tuned to their tumblr and Facebook page!
I'll reveal the fab cover very soon, along with a blurb of the book, and more links - more, more, more!
And I don't mean dystopian YA fiction (although I do totally dig that and am looking forward to the movie!).
My version of this is the hunger I need to attack my rewrite. When you have a great idea the first go 'round, you have to let it sit in your brain for a while until you are so excited you have to write it. A similar thing exists when you do a rewrite.
What I typically do is outline the first draft of the book so I can see where all the problems are and jot some ideas down about the possible changes I can make. Then I mull it over. I let it sit in my mental passenger seat when I'm out driving or teaching or walking.
With a new outline, I have the advantage of having it all laid out before me. It's like seeing into the future. I can experiment with changes before I actually write it. If I have multiple options I can see how they play out before I commit to them.
Then I wait.
Til I'm really, really hungry.
Then I bite...
Today, I'm guest posting for my friend and fellow author, Carol Tanzman at the writing blog, ADR3NALIN3. She is a regular contributor to the blog, which is a fun and inspiring resource for readers and writers. The authors involved specialize in mysteries and thrillers but their posts address all kinds of issues that most writers face: writer's block, world-building, character development, and so on.
Carol has a new YA novel, "dancergirl," which is currently out from Harlequin Teen. It's a fast-paced thriller about a dancer whose online life attracts a real-life stalker! Check it out at your local store or here at Amazon: dancergirl. Her next book will be out in July, another YA thriller titled, "Circle of Silence."
My post is about turning off the internet and turning on your focus. Thanks, Carol, for asking me to guest post for you!
So here is it - my post about writing and the internet: I’m not addicted. I can quit anytime I want to.
I'm calling this my Toolbox Post #2 because I recently wrote about a dancer's toolbox on my ballet blog and it made me think about writers and how they have toolboxes too. While most of a dancer's resources come from classes they take and corrections given to them by teachers, how do writers get theirs? I can think of 3 ways:
1. High school and college courses: This is where a writer gets her flashlight and her hammer. You know, the basics of craft, such as -
--Three act structure.
--Grammar.
--Literary devices like metaphor and simile.
2. Writing workshops: This is where a writer will get her needle-nose pliers and snake, items that are more specialized for different uses. It could be during a one-day or week-long course that addresses a specific issue, such as -
--Writing in genre.
--Publishing and agenting.
--Rewriting.
3. Reading: This is where a writer will find her tubing benders and pipe extractors. What are tubing benders and pipe extractors, you say? "I didn't even know they existed!" Exactly! That's the reaction you have when you read books by authors who approach storytelling in new and exciting ways. That's the moment when you say, "I didn't know I could do that!" Such as -
--Unreliable narrators.
--Multiple POVs.
--World-building.
As I said in my ballet post, when you have a leaky faucet, you get out your toolbox and you fix it. And when you have a book that's got plot issues or pacing or structure problems, you do the same thing. Diagnose the problem and fix it. No wringing of hands, no pouting or running away. A plumber doesn't get upset when the pipe is broken and neither should you.
1. Self-publish my entire backlist as e-books across all platforms. Also make them available in print editions.Reason: I need to wipe the slate (i.e. my hard drive) clean of old titles. Whether people read them is not up to me but at least all of them will be out there and available to be enjoyed.
2. Write the books I want to read.Reason: I fell in love with reading when I was a teen and I devoured all genres, including fantasy and science fiction. I have always loved spec fiction too. When I write for others - for the marketplace - I get stuck because I'm not excited to find out more. Then I'm trudging through it rather than racing through it.
3. Write the books I've always wanted to write.Reason: It takes a very long time to write a novel - and to rewrite it and rewrite it until it's ready for others. I am tired of wasting my precious writing time on books that mean nothing to me, that may have a fun premise but are nothing more.
4. Read more of what I love.Reason: As a YA writer, I tend to read what I should read, what's popular among my audience. While it's important to know what sells, those books shouldn't be my sole literary consumption. And now that I have a Kindle, it's easier than ever before to get what I need.
5. Organize my social media more efficiently.Reason: Again, time is a precious resource. I need to streamline what I do and when I do it. Toward that end, I stopped using MySpace altogether and I linked my Facebook and Twitter accounts. I also have to set specific times of when I'm online - it's eating up my day!
That's the strange comment I've read on some reviews of my novel, ALL ABOUT VEE. Perhaps not quite as harsh but certainly I've read comments that express that sentiment.
Why? I always wonder. Why would a reader be upset that my mc, Veronica May, a plus-size actress struggling in Hollywood, has confidence in herself? Plenty of other characters in other books know they are good at something, whether it's acting or painting or sports. So what's the difference between them and Veronica?
Her size.
There's an attitude among a lot of people that overweight women shouldn't be happy with themselves. They should want to look thinner. They should not like who they are. They should feel inferior to others. Many readers who pick up VEE expect that Veronica will be sad or have low self-esteem and that, over the course of the book, she will learn to love her body the way it is (or change it and then be happy and get the guy!). They don't expect that the problems she has in the book are ones that other people impose upon her.
I've often told readers how I came up with my story about Veronica and her friends, Val and Ginny, the original 800 page book that was called FAT GIRLS IN LA. I had been walking on my lunch hour in Beverly Hills and saw a lovely young woman waiting to cross the street. The neighborhood was filled with agencies for film and TV and this girl was overweight. I wondered if she was an actress looking for an agent - or maybe she was a model or a writer. I thought about who she might be, where she might have come from.
And I thought about being a fat girl in LA. You can never be too thin in this town, no matter what your profession. Even if you're a writer and you're attractive and thin, they can promote you better than if you're not. Everyone, it seems, wants to be thin here. But what if you came from a town where no one cared? What if you were really good at what you did but you also happened to be overweight? Why should that matter?
Behold, the Vees were born. Three plus-size gals from Arizona who were best friends and who wanted to make their lives more exciting so they moved to Hollywood. Veronica was the actress and she got all the best roles in her small town - why shouldn't she be positive about her talent? Why shouldn't she assume she could get roles here in LA? Ginny was the writer and Val was the model. They all suffered discrimination here. Their friendship was tested. Their self-confidence was challenged.
I think a lot of readers who have problems with Veronica's positive self-esteem have struggled with it themselves. They may want her to feel as they do and are disappointed that she likes herself the way she is. They may have had people in their lives tell them they need to lose weight in order to be hired - or loved. Make no mistake: Vee does not think she's the best at everything, that she's beautiful, that she should get every guy she meets. That's the assumption readers place on her just because she's a good actress. She struggles too. She just doesn't struggle with what you expect her to.
She's just like you.
By:
Leigh Purtill,
on 11/15/2011
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1. First of all, the cool kids call it "indie" publishing and as we all know, when you stick the word "indie" in front of anything, its cachet is magnified a thousandfold.
2. Apparently, there was no Chapter 13 in my published novel, ALL ABOUT VEE. Yes, it's true! There's a Chapter 12 and a Chapter 14 but no 13. This was due solely to human error (many humans' errors), not a superstition, although if it had been a superstition, that would have been pretty neat.
As we reformat the book to publish it as FAT GIRLS IN LA, I'm making changes, adding a little material here and there that I always wanted kept in. So there will be a Chapter 13 in the new edition.
3. I only used one ellipsis in the entire novel of ALL ABOUT VEE. Weird, huh? An ellipsis is "..." Which I use all the time in my normal daily writing so it's truly bizarre there's only one in nearly 300 pages of text.
4. LOVE, MEG in Hungarian? Maybe! When you're getting ready to re-launch, you need to regain control over all the material you own that's out there. Ninja Webmaster and I are always on the lookout for websites that have my ebooks listed so we can get them removed so we are constantly Googling, etc. But according to Goodreads, there was (or might have been) a Hungarian language version of MEG as an ebook and as a paperback. They have ISBN numbers and everything!
...and she's bringing her friends!
Finally, we've got a little action going here on the blog. It's been a long time percolating but we've got a brand new cover for the re-release of ALL ABOUT VEE, now titled FAT GIRLS IN LA, as I originally wanted it to be. Check it out (thanks Ninja Webmaster for the redesign!):
We're all Fat Girls in LA - even the boys.
Vee will be released this month followed by...! Nope! Not gonna reveal
that title yet! You'll have to wait til December. Keep up to date with Vee and her friends on her
Facebook page or her
Twitter page and be one of the girls!
By:
Leigh Purtill,
on 10/25/2011
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10, 9, 8, 7...
We're getting ready to launch. Re-launch, that is. My intrepid Ninja Webmaster is designing a brand new website and new book covers for the re-launch of 2 of my books plus several absolutely, never-seen-before new ones, including two sequels in my Fat Girls trilogy. Currently we are tweaking images and such - plus lots of technical stuff I don't know anything about. We'll go to Amazon and other e-tailers online first but will hopefully have the books available for print as well.
6, 5, 4...
And why am I doing this? Well, first of all, I always felt like my novels, LOVE, MEG and ALL ABOUT VEE weren't given the opportunity to reach a wide audience. Part of that was due to the very small marketing budget those books had- not my fault, not the books' faults, not the editor's or agent's fault. It's just the way traditional publishing works: only a select few books get the money spent on them. They are usually the ones whose authors received large advances so the publishers need to spend even more money on them to recoup that original outlay. Those books are the ones which are expected to rake in the big bucks.
Then there are "small" books like mine - "quiet" books that don't have big high-concept hooks - that don't receive big advances, big marketing budgets and are expected to do nothing. Publishers throw these books into the mix and let them flounder on their own. If they make any money, hurrah! If not, they go out-of-print. Well, how many do you think fall into the former category? Not many is right. Mine fell into the latter and they went OOP and now, I have the rights back.
Another reason why I'm putting my e-books out online is that the market has changed an awful lot since I first got published. The books I wrote after MEG and VEE were also "quiet" without high concept hooks and since MEG and VEE did not flourish, no one wanted these. I disagree - I think readers want them. I think people are hungry for good stories, regardless of whether they have a hook or not. As a reader myself, I enjoy good characters and solid stories that entertain me. I have a Kindle and I want to load it up with books. I think there are a lot of people out there like me. And my books are for them.
Sure, I'm also writing books that do have "concepts" that I hope traditional publishing will want to put out but if not, I am creating an avenue directly to readers and I'll get them out there one way or another.
3, 2, 1...
By:
Leigh Purtill,
on 9/14/2011
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Whoo-hoo for Weho! As we say here in West Hollywood. Once again, I'm very proud to be a part of this event, helping to coordinate some really cool things on the Teen Stage. Let's take a look at some of the awesome things going on:
* "It Was a Dark & Stormy Night"--10:45am to 11:05am
YA Authors read AWrinkle in Time
With those words, author Madeline L’Engle begins herextraordinary story of teenager Meg Murry who is about to embark on a journeyto save her scientist father from the cold Universe with the help of threeotherworldy beings. YA writers Amy Koss(The Not-So-Great Depression), Sally Nemeth (The Heights, the Depths andEverything in Between), Leigh Purtill (All About Vee) and Carol Tanzman(Dancergirl) share the first chapter of this classic novel on the Teen Stage. And there's even a very special guest reader, Marg Helgenberger from CSI!
* "Extra, Extra, Blog all about it!"
One of the web's favorite bloggers, Chelsea Swiggett, aka The Page Flipper, who hosts the book blog, Coffee and Cliffhangers, will be interviewing 3 YA authors one-on-one, asking them all the questions you want to know about:
--Cecil Castellucci--11:15am to 11:30am
--Blake Nelson--12:50pm to 1:05pm
--Cherry Cheva--3:35pm to 3:50pm
* "Lights! Camera! Coming Attractions!"--12:20pm to 12:40pm
Live book trailers on the Teen Stage preview new books fromyour favorite authors in Young Adult Lit. Elise Allen (Populazzi), Allen Zadoff (My Life, The Theater and OtherTragedies), Claire LaZebnik (Epic Fail), and Carol Tanzman (Dancergirl) present their new books with the help of someamazing teens. Singing? Dancing? Acting? Puppets? You never know what you’ll get with these writers!
So mark your calendars now for the West Hollywood Book Fair. There's so much to do and see that you'll want to be there all day!
What: 10th Annual West Hollywood Book Fair
When: Sunday, Oct 2nd, 10AM-1PM
Where: San Vicente Blvd, between Melrose and Santa Monica Blvd
Cost: Free!!!
Rachel Olivier's novella, "The G.O.D. Factor," reminds me of some of my very favorite science fiction: a little Ray Bradbury, a little Isaac Asimov, a little Robert Heinlein. It all adds up to a really fun story with a main character you want to spend more time with.
Monica is part of a small crew on a ship in deep space. While she tends to the ship's controls, the rest of the crew (including the captain she crushes on as well as her ex-boyfriend) rests in their stasis chambers. All by herself, enjoying her solace yet a little bit lonely, Monica talks to her plants and to the ship's controls, completely unaware that someone is listening - the ship itself. She's shocked when the Artificial Intelligence that she'd thought had been turned off by the ship's engineer begins communicating with her. It calls itself G.O.D. - Galactic Orbital Dreadnaught - which is a holdover from a long ago war. Monica soon realizes G.O.D. doesn't want to be her friend; it wants to control her and the rest of the crew.
Monica is a clever and funny protagonist who would rather sleep in her flannel pjs on a sofa with a crocheted pillow than in her high tech stasis chamber. There is a sweetness to this story that much SF misses: even in the midst of the crisis, Monica can't help but admire the nude physique of the captain when she awakens him from deep sleep - and then she admonishes herself for doing so! I love the oh-so-low-tech methods she and the crew use to outsmart G.O.D.
The author told me she was thinking about fleshing the novella out more, perhaps examining the earlier relationship between Monica and her ex. I think this would be a great adventure in a larger story and would definitely enjoy reading more about the ship, the past war, and Monica herself.
The slim and easily portable paperback of "The G.O.D. Factor" can be purchased online at Sam's Dot Publishing.
Donate and win me!
Over at TLC Auctions, Lauren of the blog
Shooting Stars Mag and Kristi of the blog
The Story Siren have combined forces to put together the ultimate book auction. All money raised through donations will go to help young
Kaylea, who has leukemia, and
Daniel, who lost his arm and has gone through over a dozen surgeries (very expensive!).
Read about it all here at their combined site,
TLC Auctions. My book is up for auction now - donate between today and Sunday, 7/24, and you could win a signed copy of my novel, ALL ABOUT VEE. I will sign it to you personally (or to whomever you want to give it) and send it out with my very own hands.
My book auction here.Thank you Lauren and Kristi for asking me to participate! I hope you raise all that you need and more!
By:
Leigh Purtill,
on 7/8/2011
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It's been a long time since I've seen the inside of my Blogger account! LOL! For those of you who have stuck with it, thank you kindly for your patience. You probably saw an update of my blog in your feed and did a double-take: "Leigh is posting something new? Have pigs begun to fly?"
The reason for my neglect of this blog has been twofold:
1. I'm prepping books for self-publication. 2. I'm writing a new book for traditional publication.
Both at the same time!
First, let's start with self-pubbing. This, contrary to a lot of opinions, is not a bad thing necessarily. So long as you follow a series of logical steps:
--Write. --Rewrite. --Take a break. --Rewrite. --Get honest feedback. --Rewrite. --Hire an editor. --Rewrite.
In the meantime, you have to perform all the tasks publishers normally handle for you. Design the cover, plan the marketing, contact readers for blurbs, "typeset" the manuscript, and so on. If you have a particularly skilled person in your life, consider asking for their help in the design of the cover, etc. Take advantage of just about anyone you can. LOL!
I also recommend reading great blogs like Konrath's A Newbie's Guide, where he lays it out as it is. He and Amanda Hocking are the great exceptions to the rule but that doesn't mean you can't glean insight from their process. Plus it's good to read the comments for Konrath's posts because his readers have a lot of practical guidance themselves.
In fact, read everything you can about self-pubbing. You need to know what you're up against, not just the good stuff. It's also a good idea to buy a Kindle or a Nook or whatever format you plan to publish in. I have a Kindle and I love it. I love reading on it, loading new books to it, and perusing what's hot on the Kindle lists. Also good research.
I'm not up to marketing yet but I'm starting to think about how I will do this, how I want to create my brand, the C. Leigh Purtill brand. This is big picture thinking and right now I'm mired in writing and rewriting. I want to have all the books in place before I start pubbing.
I'll report more on this as it progresses.
Oh yeah, I'm also writing a ghost story that I want to publish traditionally. Yup. Ghosts.
For the past week, the YA world has been aflutter with essays and tweets about the Wall Street Journal opinion article by book reviewer Meghan Cox Gurdon. Here it is for your reading pleasure but I can sum it up briefly: she spoke to a mother who walked into a B&N store and couldn't find a book for her 13 year old daughter that wasn't filled with vampires and werewolves or dealt with issues like cutting, suicide, etc. Where are all the fun books for teens?
Well, LOTS of well-known writers jumped into the fray, providing cogent arguments refuting her claims. Among the best that I read were by Laurie Halse Anderson, Cecil Castellucci, and Sherman Alexie. There are plenty more plus the Twitter hashtag #YASaves that asked people to talk about their own experiences with books and how they helped them in rough times.
My reaction? It's all overreaction. The woman at the store, Ms. Gordon, and many of these writers. First of all, that woman at the store didn't try very hard because there are hundreds of books on the shelves that don't have black covers and "blood" in their titles. And if she bothered to look online, thousands of bloggers would gladly direct her to their favorite contemporary novels. Second, I don't think Gordon was condemning the entire YA lit world but she was making lots of incorrect assumptions. The idea that YA writers and publishers should somehow be held responsible, more so than their adult lit counterparts, is ridiculous. We write stories because we want to tell stories. We don't write stories because we want to be role models or teach lessons. If lessons are gleaned, well, hurrah.
When I worked in network standards, there would be periodic uprisings from Parents Television Council, a very vocal conservative watch group that would freak out about blood on the show "Angel" or sex on just about any other show on television. Language, nudity, sexual innuendo - they would lump it all together and shout, "Enough!" Some show runners might tone down things for a little while in response; some would dig in the heels, but eventually, it all worked out.
In the world of TV, you vote with your remote control. You don't like a show, you don't watch. The numbers get to the networks and they cancel shows that no one likes. It's that simple. The book world is the exact same thing. Vote with your dollars: you don't like a book, don't buy it. Will they go away? Yup, they will. Will this argument- and the one on television - come up again? No doubt about it.
What can I say about my Kindle that doesn't make me sound like I'm shilling for Amazon? I've had it for about a month so far and I love it. I think I've read more books since owning this thing than I did before I got it. Anyone who knows me knows I am neither a technophobe nor a technophile; I don't glom onto the latest of anything. And if you do know me, you know I'm a traditionally published writer and I want to continue to be a traditionally published writer, as well as a self-published one. So that's why you should listen to me.
Let me state first, though, that the version I have is the cheapest one they make, the so-called "ad-supported" version. I don't honestly know what that means since I never see ads on my Kindle.
So far I have read a manuscript written in Word, a script written in Final Draft, 6 free Kindle books, 4 free public domain books, 1 short story I wrote and published for Kindle, and 1 purchased Kindle novel. All of them were incredibly easy to download and read. Before I begin to buy books (many of which are very reasonably priced especially if the author is self-pubbing or the publisher wants you to sample the author's work), I will exhaust the free lists, which are numerous!
Reasons I love my Kindle more than my computer:
1. Battery lasts a month (or longer).
2. Lightweight, easy to carry.
3. It's way cool.
4. I'm not distracted by the internet.
Reasons I love my Kindle more than books:
1. I can change the font size.
2. I can load just about any book I want at any time I want.
3. It's way cool.
4. I can carry 3500 books at once.
My version of Kindle also has some neat things like a limited web browser, text-to-speech mode, and the ability to listen to music. Basically anything you can send to yourself in an email, you can load to your Kindle.
No, it's not color. No, it doesn't have email. No, it doesn't have a touch screen. It's designed to read things. Books, magazines, blogs, Word documents, and so on. And it does that, very very well. I don't want it to do much more than that. Just like I want my phone to make perfect calls to other people - and not take lousy videos or photos - I want my e-reader for...reading. I'm tired of having wi-fi where I drink coffee and coffee where I buy books.
I don't think every store/cafe/thing needs to be all things to all people (yeah, Starbucks, I'm talking to you: you don't need to sell CDs and books and sandwiches and oatmeal and have wi-fi in the bathrooms...you just need to make a good cup of coffee). What's so wrong with doing one thing really well?
That's what the Kindle is for: it does reading really well. And that's why I love it.
And it's way cool.
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Hey! YOu've updated your blog! Cool! And I can't WAIT!!!!!! I'm so excited. YOu inspire me as I still have to continue my Canto Sybilla girls stories.
Rachel, it's so easy to get caught up in characters' lives when you love them. Keep moving forward!