Reztap on Publishers Weekly Cover (Spring 2015 Catalog)

The Adventures of Reztap will be one of several covers that get the honor of being on the cover of the Spring 2015 catalog of Publishers Weekly! There were 50 candidates (those who offered the additional funds for the honor), but I believe it's pared down to a dozen or so that make the cover. The others get to be included in the catalog inside at the reduced price of the inside "ad."

What does it mean, though? What kind of impact will this have on the future of my first professionally published book? Publishers Weekly has 26,000 subscribers, so at the very least there's a high probability that 26,000 new people will see my book cover that hadn't originally. That also means there are some booksellers and librarians out there that might order my book, stock my book, or at least take a chance on it that may not have otherwise. So, it's a start.

What it doesn't mean covers a wide variety. The normal Publisher's Weekly magazine has book reviews in it, which can really give a book additional exposure and sales. This is the catalog, though. It's the guide to booksellers about what's new and available, with nothing but a book cover and a brief synopsis to sway them one way or the other towards stocking a book. There is no review. The booksellers have to take a chance and order it. It will be seen by agents and Hollywood producers as well. But I'm taking that with an incredibly large grain of salt; my impression of today's top movie making engines is they're looking for true stories to make compelling films from, not a science fiction comedy. Still, a writing agent could be interested, pick up the book and shoot me an email. I may get other works produced with that kind of contact.

On the side of sales - this is a smaller publisher. These books are typically print on demand. Do they have to give refunds on the books that booksellers stock or is that just considered a sale? OK, these really are questions I should ask my publisher and I will. Right now, to be honest, it's a little gray to me what kind of real impact this will have. Certainly nothing's guaranteed. I could accidentally hit right in the middle of a big upswing in sales of science fiction humor books and suddenly be near the crest of a wave of sales! Just as easily, however, there could be a glut of these kinds of books gathering dust on the bargain table at Barnes & Noble. It's essentially impossible to tell.

One thing I do know - this is not the only marketing aspect of The Adventures of Reztap's journey. There will be blog tours, convention appearances, book signings, etc. all coming down the pike. I'm excited and nervous at the same time. If I suddenly get a flood of book orders the month following the release of the Publishers Weekly Spring 2015 catalog, I will be sure to up date you all.

Regards,
Artemus

Houston Authors Bash 2015 Post-Mortem

I made my first real appearance as Artemus Withers to the public on Saturday, February 28th at the Houston Authors Bash in Katy, TX. I had a book launch party earlier in the week, but my slightly less snazzy alter ego showed up there. As my first event, what did I learn, how did I think it went, and what do I think I (and the organizers) might do better next time?

Probably the biggest category is what did I learn. As I've never been to anything like this as a vendor/presenter/author, there are many behind the scenes things to take into account. I lucked out and had a publisher behind me with this one, so my table fee was taken care of and they helped me out with a large poster of my first book (went on a floor easel they also got for me). I had to provide my own table runner, swag giveaway stuff and two 8x10 posters of my book covers for the table (OK, I sprung for some with a thicker backing - my publisher (Chart House Press!) actually provided a printed 8x10 for my covers in a clear plastic stand-up frame). My short story book was there (I asked for a certain number and those were provided - yes, I will be paying for them so they weren't free.)

The author next to me offered a free ebook if people signed up for his newsletter. I immediately talked to my publisher about doing the same thing. Sure, that means giving Mishaps and Mayhem away for free as an ebook, but that was part of the plan anyway. This would be a great way to introduce readers to the Reztap universe - if they like it, that means future readers, fans and book buyers. I'll be enacting that on my web site as well. I have only to wait for the formatted ebook to be delivered so I can send it to my newsletter subscribers!

I had volunteered to be on a panel. Truth be told is what panel number two I thought I would be the most useful in, but I was placed on panel number one - street teaming. Not only did I not know what street teaming was, I was pretty certain I wouldn't be adding much content to the folks watching from the audience. As it turned out, the panel wasn't exactly as well organized and planned as one would hope for. There was no moderator, the authors weren't notified when the panel was starting and, for the most part, the panel was geared toward authors, not readers and fans, so our target audience was busy in the big room selling books and talking to readers while we did the panel for mostly, well, us! But all was not lost. I'd been to so many writing conferences and attended so many panels that I had no problem stepping in and acting as moderator. I learned so much from the other authors there about street teams and how they work, Facebook parties and other fan engagement tips that would strengthen your fan base and make them a part of the creative and marketing processes. I'd like to think other authors on the panel got some great ideas from each other as well. As for our five audience members, four of them were part of one authors street team!

The overall event went well enough. I sold seven books, traded one for another author's book (thanks Tom Glover!), and signed up eight people for my newsletter. That's 15 potential future readers (or more) for The Adventures of Reztap when it comes out! I also handed out 50 pieces of homemade swag (outer space themed foam stickers from Oriental Traders with hand cut personalized information on the front about the books and my website), so there's another potential 50 readers for my books! I think this was a success for my first big event.

What could I do better next time? I would've liked to have some better swag available. I'm currently looking into professional bookmarks and probably some business cards. something easy to hand out and preprinted. The foam stickers were fun, but they inadvertently painted my book toward a younger audience than I'd anticipated. My book covers, I've discovered from the foot traffic, are skewing to a lower age bracket than I'd intended also. Many people asked me about my kids' book - on even thought it was a graphic novel! My swag will need to be a little more sophisticated to balance that reastion out for sure. On the other hand, my book is profanity free and really doesn't have any graphic content, per se. There are some adult situations, but I've intentionally not gotten graphic in any of that. There is suggestion and innuendo, but that's certainly nothing a high school age reader or even a great majority of middle school readers wouldn't be shocked by. At the end of the day, some of the jokes may go over the heads of the more naive kids, but there's really not much in there a parent would find highly objectionable or corrupting. I suppose the references to holographic pornography chits is the most risque element in the book, but, as I said before, there are no graphic depictions accompanying them.

What did the organizers of the event take from this year's session? Number one - don't hold it on a Houston Rodeo weekend! We had half the traffic (or less) than last year when it was held the weekend before the rodeo started. On the panels - if the panels are going to be geared toward writers, they should be held after the doors close so the authors themselves can take advantage of the panels if they so choose. As it was, the authors had to choose between selling their books and meeting readers and fans to attend the panels. No readers attended the panels - I'm not sure this is really the venue for reader attended panels anyway. The feel of the HAB was one of people dropping by for perhaps an hour to browse through the offerings, perhaps chat with a few writers, buy a few books and then move on with the rest of their day. A casual book browsing or buying experience. It works out well as designed.

Will I attend this next year? Absolutely! I'll have three or four books available then and perhaps a bigger presence in the book market by then. I hope to engage with more readers and maybe introduce them to fellow authors when they come to see me. I think that's the biggest gift a successful author can give an up and coming author - a little extra traffic by their booth that might catch a new readers eye!

Keep writing my friends and watch for March 9th when The Adventures of Reztap comes out!

Remembering Leonard Nimoy

Leonard Nimoy was an icon not just in science fiction, but in literature and the arts as well. He was a well-balanced individual, inspiring others to heights of greatness.

It was with a small amount of trepidation that I sat behind my first Author's table at the Houston Authors Bash 2015 and dwelled upon the loss of this man. I was celebrating a goal of sorts by becoming a professionally published author. At the same time, I realized that, at half Leonard Nimoy's age (okay, maybe a little more than half), I hadn't accomplished a fraction of what he had in life.

Leonard and the whole cast of Star Trek the original series were my first introduction to the world of science fiction. I watched them before I read my first scifi novel, The Wilk Are Among Us by Isadore Haiblum. A strange book to be sure (at least when I read it at the tender age of 9), and I'm sure there are many others I 'd rather claim as my first, but truth be told, that was it. As good as it was, that book did not inspire me to write. Star Trek did.

In the entertainment world, I got to see Leonard in other TV series, Mission Impossible and In Search Of being the most memorable. Mission Impossible had a cast of top notch actors, Leonard not the least among them. Some of them, Martin Landau and Barbara Bain went on to Space: 1999 to entertain my childhood further. Leonard's work on In Search Of exposed me to more than just science fiction, but real world mysteries. My mind was expanded to other possibilities than just real life and scifi. Mysteries of all kinds were in the world. There was so much to explore.

IMHO, Start Trek II: The Wrath of Khan was one of the best science fiction movies, and definitely the best of the classic stars of the original series movies. The first time I ever cried at a movie was seeing Spock pass on - so powerful and moving. I thought it was an incredibly brave decision to have the character you're most known for put to death in such a public manner. The emotion I felt confirmed my decision to be in arts and entertainment in some capacity that I might entertain and effect fans in a similar way.

I felt similarly after seeing Three Men and a Baby (and Star Trek IV), knowing he had directed them. Leonard was just as skilled as a director as he was an actor. Okay, I will forgive him for Star Trek III. They had to bring Spock back somehow, I suppose.

More recently, Leonard revealed his fight with COPD even though he had given up smoking a long time ago. Obviously, the damage had already been done. Rather than simply give in and crawl into a corner to die, Leonard stayed in the public light, warning impressionable fans on the dangers of smoking, and dispensing other wise words via Twitter (and other media). So, even in his last days, Leonard Nimoy tried to make the world a better place.

In short, I hope to emulate him in many ways. I will miss his wisdom, but relish the memories and legacy he left behind which I can revisit again and again. Live Long And Prosper in the great beyond, Mister Nimoy. Thank you for visiting Earth for a little while.

A New Reztap On The Horizon

Busy is the word of the year. From the short story book to book one and two, there were so many activities punched into January and February, it's a little dizzying. March - September are looking crazy too!

First things first - I did get signed by the publishing company (Chart House Press). What does that mean exactly? Here are the nuts and bolts:

1. Small publishing house means no advance. I'm actually very okay with that since my initial intention in summer 2014 was to pay for an editor. Well, I still get to do that. The extra umph in the relationship comes from the marketing connections, expertise and some other services surrounding the publishing of the book. From a financial standpoint, it's a very real investment of time and some money on my part, but there's additional investment from the publishing company in other aspects of this (some of which I'll point out later). In other words, I did NOT get a big advance and can now retire to a South Pacific island and enjoy the fruits of my labors. OK, I was never going to do that anyway, but you get the point.

2. What exactly am I responsible for in this relationship? Web site (www.artemuswithers.com) is one. I'm responsible for setting it up, running it, paying for it, etc. That also means I own it, so there will be no struggle to disengage it from some parent corporation that wants to keep it. I like that as well. Of course, that also means getting my own web designer, handling technical problems, working on content, etc. It's a bit more work than, say, an author page off the publisher's website - but it's completely under my control and I'm a bit of a control freak when it comes to my image and content being out there.

Editing - I pay for editing fees, which I was already going to do. I'm very happy with the editor they selected (they have a stable of contracted editors they farm work out to). How is this a burden off my shoulders? I didn't have to search for an editor that would not just be good, but would also understand and maybe even appreciation a science fiction humor novel. That experience and connection with editing talent is huge! There was no two or three month long search for just the right editor - my publisher nailed it with their expertise and contacts. Believe me, when I got through with the editing process on the first book, I was so happy with the editor and the results.

Marketing - materials, knick knacks, swag, posters, table runners, and banners - all that stuff is on me. Again, I'm very okay with this. It's all under my control - I select what I want and how I want it. I have gotten suggestions from my publisher on what type of things I should be bringing to book signing, conventions, etc. There have been no directives on what I have to bring. I can spend as little or as much as I want on the process. In this aspect, I'm still very much in touch with the independent author feel, but not hanging out there without a safety net.

Cover art - This is actually a bit of a mixed bag. I've privately contracted my own cover artist to provide the art ( hats off to my Reztap cover artist Jerrica Law, a hard working recent college grad!). That gives me ownership of the images and ability to use them freely for my marketing materials, web site, whatever. My publisher does handle the lettering on the covers - title, author name, other info including the back cover blurb, info, etc. The in-house cover artist, Ida, does a fantastic job with not just the creation of the words on the cover, but also blending the front cover art to seamlessly flow to the back, picking out elements from the front to include on the back, etc. She's really a maestro at that. I've seen some of her other covers that involve the whole package, and she's a truly excellent cover artist in her own right. In the end, there's a lot of artistry going on for the covers, and I'm just responsible for paying for a single cover artist.

Production - The writing (and integration of editing notes). The initial writing of a book is a fun thing. I've found even the subsequent second and third drafts are fun in discovering new and better ways of getting my meaning across. As I'm a new author, my publisher (Chart House Press) wanted a small sample f my writing to send to the booksellers they have relationships with to let them know what kind of book they'd be getting if they pre-ordered book one (which isn't quite available yet). I was tasked to write a book of short stories from the Reztap universe. I found myself pressed up against my deadline with only 6,000 words done and I had to deliver 25,000. I managed to push out what I thought was okay work in about the space of a week. I literally wrote over 5,000 words one of those days. It was really impressive, in my humble opinion. But that is that heart of what I do - I'm the writer. No one else will be performing that task for me. Now I have several quality short stories to expand my readers' understanding of the universe I've created. Reviewing the marked up transcripts from the editor was actually refreshing. Instead of hunting through the pages trying to find out what I'd done wrong, a very knowledgeable editor (thank you Erika Wisdom!) painstakingly went through everything and delivered a word document highlighting all my writing sins along with some recommendations on how to repair the damage. Post editor, it's up to me to make changes, incorporate their suggestions and/or correct them as I see fit. My writing has improved tenfold from the experience.

Social media - that's pretty much on me, but the publisher does their share as well. My Twitter feed, Facebook posts and blog content right here are all my responsibility and under my control. Obviously, while I'm busy writing, the social media content gets neglected, so there's an interesting balance going on just with my media foot print.

Personal appearances - well, it's pretty obvious no one else can or should appear as me. Book signings, convention appearances and blog tours are all on me. The appearance part anyway.

3. What does the publisher bring to the table?

A lot more than you might think at first. I did mention some of what they do above (cover art layout, lettering, and selecting an appropriate editor), but there is much more on their plate. Things I really didn't think about before.

Publication - copy editor, book formatting, and all the technical details that go into registering books, listing books, and submitting books to booksellers. With my self-published books I did most of this myself, but not as well as I've seen my publisher do it.

Marketing - identifying marketing opportunities and listing on their own social media. This is all stuff I don't have to do (some of the marketing I should be doing to expand that arm, though). An add for The Adventures of Reztap will be appearing in the Spring edition of Publishers Weekly catalog - you know, that silly little thing all the booksellers look through to decide what they're going to stock on their shelves. Do you know how to get an add in there? Did you even think about the catalog before you read this? 

Events - this is really a big one that I simple don't have the expertise, or time, to setup. I'm attending a small convention here in Katy with about one hundred fellow authors called the Houston Author Bash. It's not the first one, but I'd never heard of it before. That brings to mind how many other chances to press the flesh, so to speak, I haven't been doing as a self-published author? Don't get me wrong, there are self-published authors at this event as well, but I simply had no idea about the event or how to register. All taken care of by my publisher.

That's just one of many events being setup by my publisher. There's a book launch party next week, blog tours and book signings in the upcoming months, all of which my publisher is handling for me. I just have to show up and put in my time, sell books and meet some wonderful readers. Not having to set all of this up frees me up to actually write/edit. I can't even imagine the time it would take for me to figure out what and where to appear, set it up, and pay fees where appropriate. I don't have to do any of that (although, I will be discussing some upcoming conventions that may not be on my publisher's radar and I might indeed have to setup myself).

Social media - My name is on the Chart House Press web site. When they mention their authors and what the authors are doing, what books are coming out and what events they will appear at. This also flows to their Facebook site and Twitter feed.

Reach - this is kind of all encompassing, but it's a true measure of the value of a publisher over self-publishing. They know people (booksellers, fellow writers, other industry people, readers, reviewers, etc.) that I simply don't. Through those connections, my work is spread out across a much broader spectrum than I could initially manage on my own. I don't want to knock self-publishing - there are a great many authors who are very successful at it, but just as many who aren't because they don't know how to expand that reach beyond a small circle of friends and acquaintances.

Validation - someone in the writing business read my book, evaluated it, and decided it was worthwhile to publish. They're not just publishing my book - they're putting their name on it too. I'm humbled, honored and thrilled all at the same time. I get to call myself a published author. That's a gateway not many writers get to pass through.

Mechanics and know-how - there are so many things going on behind the scenes. There are things I haven't even contemplated that are going on in pursuit of my book being a success.

4. The last two months have been a whirlwind of activity. I written a short story book (Mishaps and Mayhem), incorporated edits for book one (The Adventures of Reztap), worked with my web designer on clearing technical hurdles to get my web site up and running, and juggled social media and event planning duties (planning my attendance and all the marketing pieces that go with that). I just got done approving the proof for Mishaps and Mayhem and ordered a bunch of them to have for next week's Houston Authors Bash (please come if you can - Mishaps and Mayhem only available at in-person events, you can't order it online or buy it from a bookstore).

The next four months will be incredibly busy too. Book one comes out March 9th, 2015 (I still have to approve the proof for that). Book two (Reztap and the Quest for the Insane Moth) will come out in early May 2015. I'll have to incorporate the edits, approve the cover art, and then approve the proof of book two. I have to WRITE book three. It is convention season - there are so many conventions to attend, Book signings, blog book tours, etc. I anticipate being busy each weekend through the end of September!

So, the real crazy time begins. I will do my best to keep things updated on the blog, but visiting my web site once it's fully operational will be the best way to keep up on events and appearances.

Keep writing and reading!

Regards,

Artemus

The Future of Reztap is at Hand!

A little update on the recent happenings with The Adventures of Reztap and subsequent books:

I was looking for an actual editor (other than myself, who didn't do such a great job) to edit my first self-published novel, The Adventures of Reztap. Several people enjoyed reading it, but a few of my writer friends mentioned there were some bad editing errors. Lesson learned - don't edit your own stuff. There are multiple benefits from getting an editor, the primary ones are your work is 99% free of editing errors and the books are then eligible to be covered by large book reviewers (who will not review a book unless it has been professionally edited).

I had self-published my first book mostly to learn the ins and outs of self-publishing. I think I've learned many valuable lessons and felt ready to get book one professionally edited as well as book two (which I finished at the beginning of October). So, I contacted a person I knew thru my wife who was a freelance editor. My reason for going local was to get someone close who I could meet with if needed. I also had a good feeling knowing what this editor had done in the past, so I was pretty comfortable going with her. I thought it was good to try to hire locally as well.

I contacted the editor. She talked to me for about twenty minutes about the book before I sent it to her. Turns out, she was no longer doing freelance editing. She was now Director of Publishing at a small press here locally and their company would be interested in looking at my book and possibly publishing it. My initial thoughts on a traditional publisher were that it was a shot in the foot financially for a writer. Traditional publishers offer a 15% royalty on average for writers on book sales. She mentioned they did higher royalties and I was immediately interested. I haven't seen a contract offer yet, but it's still much better at first glance than a traditional publisher. It may be she's referring to ebook royalties and not print, but the royalties she mentioned sounded inline with the ones you get from Amazon and the ebook aggregators who publish to Apple and Barnes & Noble. I knew this since I'd already self published to both and those were the rates.

Now, they're not one of the big six traditional publishing houses, so it stands to reason they've got their eye on how to compete in today's market and offer an attractive package to savvy writers. Honestly, a 50% run on a print book is worth the investment if they're going to edit my book as well. I don't know how they would manage a 70% royalty to the writer on a printed title, though. There's more overhead with printing, even on a print on demand (POD) basis that would make that a very tight margin for a publisher, so I'm kind of guessing I won't quite be getting that. With a typical POD basis, I was looking at getting maybe 30% of the cover price. CreateSpace (a division of Amazon) gives a 37% royalty on books purchased thru Amazon (where most sales would likely come from) and a 57% royalty on print titles thru the CreateSpace estore. I'm thinking for a smaller publisher than CreateSpace, a 50-70% royalty would be a little high. Then again, maybe I'm wrong and they've really been able to bring down the actual physical costs of printing a hard copy of a book. But really, I think she meant ebook rates and not print rates. I need to see a contract to be sure, but if nothing else, something better than 15% is going to peak my interest.

The thing I'm chomping at the bit about is speed, of course. It's been a little over five weeks since I submitted book one to the publisher. I know, that sounds like a reasonable enough time to get an answer, but consider what route I would go thru with a traditional publisher. First, I would submit the book. The soonest I would get a reply from a large publishing house would be six to eight weeks, although it could reasonably take several months longer...and that's just to get what would likely be a rejection slip on what would be a 15% royalty (max) if they published. I've actually got the ear of the Director of Publishing. She doesn't mind hearing from me once a week and giving me an update on progress. I simply would not get that thru a traditional publisher - in fact, I'd probably be dependent on my agent for all correspondence and negotiations with the publisher. Well, I don't have an agent, so I'm already skipping one piece of the process with a direct line to the publisher. Of course, the biggest factor in all of this is I was just looking to pay someone to edit my book for me; getting an offer to have it published (and hopefully get some kind of advance on it), well, I can only say it sounds like something I've dreamed of since I was in high school. I think I can wait a few weeks to see how this all plays out.

In the mean time, I finished my second book in the series (also submitted that to the editor) and compiled a short list of the future books I have planned in the series also with a short synopsis of each book. One of the things that had interested her in my initial conversation was my intentions to write sequels. I think they're looking for regular writers who produce often. I'm only too happy to oblige! Of course, if they pass on publishing, I'm really not out too much except a little bit of time. I have another local contact I can hire to edit the books and still self publish if it comes to that. The bonafide credentials of being a published writer (as opposed to self published) has its advantages though, so I'm hopefully it will work out.

Have to be honest here. I've also been pursuing a copywriting business venture, but I've been rethinking the whole thing since I've really gotten back into writing. I think I may just have to let it go. It's a shame, especially since I've put quite a bit of money into it, but the more I heard from my copywriting guru, the more it sounded to me like I should be writing novels and screenplays as opposed to doing copywriting. I'm going to take that gamble and run with it for a few months and see if it gets me where I want to go. I'm only a small advance from a publisher away from convincing the family to let me give it a shot! Copywriting business is still an option, but I'm putting it on hold right now. Kind of feel this is my best opportunity to pursue a real future in writing. Best I grab it while I can.

Felling optimistic. Hope you are too.

Artemus

Pro Edit funding campaign starts today!

I've done it. I'm admitting my editing skills leave much to be desired. Check out my fundraising campaign for a professional edit of The Adventures of Reztap here: http://fundanything.com/en/campaigns/pro-edit-of-the-adventures-of-reztap

Really, check it out! I tried to make it as humorous as possible so it would be at least entertaining to anyone who comes across it. I don't want to ruin the surprise, so give it a quick visit.

Been in a bit of a writing funk lately, but that's turning around and I'm resuming work on the sequel even as I type (this line will appear in the sequel). Seriously though, I'm energized, jazzed and altogether optimistic about the next couple of months. Hopefully the fundraising campaign will actually take off and The Adventures of Reztap may get a review by a national reviewer. It can use the exposure, nut only after it's been edited and edited well!

More to come soon.

Regards,
Artemus

Intriguing

Here it is, almost two months after I've pulled the eBook from circulation, and I've received notification of an eBook sale of The Adventures of Reztap. OK, maybe that doesn't sound strange to you, but consider this - it is through Amazon where the eBook isn't even listed on my Dashboard of books! Evidently, it really is difficult to remove a publication from the internet once it's been posted there in one form or another.

For those keeping track (I think there are about five of you, maybe?), I've been writing both the sequel and revising the original. Neither of those very fast, I might add. I have other projects I'm working on as well, and all of them seem to have suffered the same fate. Just not concentrating as well as I used to on writing. Maybe it's the new grandson that is distracting me more than anything else.

So, back to concentration and focus. Would that writing were a full-time occupation for me, it would be easier to justify the number of hours required. As it is, it's still a part-time endeavor. The full-time job still occupies a vast chunk of time - 11.5 hours a day including commute if there is no overtime. Finances being what they are, there is also the part-time job which consumes an additional chunk of time on the weekends. Time left over for writing is very sparse. I have less of it now than I did this same time last year. Not a positive prospect to be sure.

However, now I have an additional array of tools at my disposal. During lunch time, I can easily access my writing documents and add a little here and a little there. That could be another 2.5 hours of writing a week. It's not the best, but it's better than a kick in the pants. Given the circumstances at home with the new grandson, it may actually behoove me to devote a couple of hours away from the house to writing rather than try to cram it in with the distractions there. I'm going to try a four-hour window every weekend and see what I can accomplish away from the home office.

Enough musings! I hope your own personal pursuits are more fruitful than mine have been of late.

Regards,
Artemus