Tatteredleaf (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
paragraphs) wrote2011-09-25 02:37 pm
paragraphs) wrote2011-09-25 02:37 pm
Entry tags:
Things to do, Scrivener, FenCon and also, what Borders' bankruptcy means to us
So, went to Fencon yesterday with my friends Cid and Suz. They combined it this year with the steampunkers and WOW talk about crazy costumes.... Just yeah. Some were truly truly amazing. My beloved Anthony aka ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
talekyn was in town for business, so he joined us yesterday for some of the fun. He and I also escaped for The Mothership, also known as the very first and original and HUGE Half-Price Books. Anthony collects 'nostalgia' books and he sure made a killing this weekend at The Mothership plus the two Arlington stores we visited Friday night. It is tradition for us, whenever he is in town we go to a different Half-Price. Going to The Mothership may turn into a must-go every time he is here, which is sadly only about once a year. Pout.
Also at Fencon this weekend was the writer's workshop, with Lou Anders of Pyr Books. Okay, I really like this guy lots (though this will be the last writers workshop that I'll be doing...). He was fun and enthusiastic, but matter of fact and honest. There were some problems with one of those involved -- I called her The Bitch, and if you know me I generally don't refer to people in such a manner, but damn that woman... she was... *fumes*
Anyway. My turn came for the hot seat and it ended up being quite warm and cozy. Bottom line--Stage MUST be finished and I will be sending it to Mr. Anders for consideration. I fairly glowed coming out of my session. Wowzers. I can no longer doubt that this book has a purpose in life. He told me to read one of his other authors, Mark Chadbourn, as his books are also historical fantasy, and others suggested Ellen Kushner. I've got Chadbourn's two books Anders said I should read.
What was kinda fun to me was Stage uh uh Blackthumb (Anders wants me to use that as a title...sure!) was Blackthumb focuses on a boy player (the boys who played the female roles on stage). Their lives could be quite ugly... those in the writer's group who knew about the boy players were super-jazzed about my story but there were several who had no idea (which of course is not surprising at all) and they were horrified by my brain. BUT IT IS HISTORY! I cried, waving my hands in the air... LOL. You think life for those boys was GOOD? Um, hell no? But I am not even going that route (much, it has to be and will be there--Gwion's adventures are pretty ugly at times).
Anders also raved madly about Scrivener...any of you peeps use it? It always has sounded like more trouble than its worth, but I don't know. PageFour is supposed to be similar and I do like that but I always do tend to simply write in Word as that is easiest for me to switch between computers using Dropbox.
I'm waiting to get my crits from him but crack me up - he said he gave me a smiley face. SNORT.(but you know I love it)
So, wow!!! I have so much to DO!!!
1. Am waiting on the proof copy of LWH - hopefully that will be a fast deal, then it is out of here.
2. Rewrite of new book is coming along but still has lots of work - that is top priority as I want this turned in to my editor by end of the month.
3. Begin hard-core fine-tuning of plot for Blackthumb - this is a complicated little fellow, so I'm expecting it to take some good amount of time.
4. Begin next book for Loose-Id, which I want done by...I dunno? February? March? End of February I would think. Eeek.
5. Get an A in this class if it kills me (which it might).
Oops back from breakfast with Anthony. SOB! We get to play once a year, which sure isn't much, but it is always great fun. I have to mail a box of books that he bought, which makes me laugh a bit.
SPN? Whoa! Okay... Wow - will stay tuned...
Anders also talked about what the closing of Borders has done to his authors. He told us about two who had new books coming out just as all the Borders fire sales started to hit. It was very sobering to hear how in the past, Borders would take (for ex.) 5k, B&N would take 5k, and now that outlet is gone. Nowhere for that 5k of Borders to go now, right? Exactly.
And...his one new author, who wrote a stand-alone, sold 600 books right out of the gate. Sounds like a good start, right? Not for the author it wasn't. 23 of those were from B&N, another 19 from Amazon, the rest were sold via BOrders and their fire sales, meaning aaallll that money for those 500+ books, well guess where it went? Not to Pyr, not to the author. Total loss.
Another of their authors, this was his first book in a series. *wince* Same thing, but thankfully it is a series book, the second one will be coming soon, and they are just hoping that allll those people who bought the first will love the series enough to get the next from B&N or Amazon. Amazon is not occupying the same role as Borders though of course... Other big houses have been slapped just as fiercely as Pyr, same with incredibly, million-dollar losses. So while those of us--including me--who bought those bargain books can be thrilled for our money saved, it ultimately absolutely hurt the publishing business hard.
I have a Kindle, I tend to buy ebooks now (my eyes thank me) but honestly? For those non-kindle books, I will be sure to buy from B&N. We need them to stay open. We do.
Ouch.
He then shared the numbers that have been coming in regarding the ebooks business, which is, not surprisngly, showing encouraging numbers. Darn those ebooks! People love 'em, crazily enough. I know I do (bought one just last night). They are more expensive, yes, but where it takes 1.50 to print a book, at least at Pyr they put their ebook creation through a separate rigmarole to ensure quality and readibility for whatever device you so choose. I downloaded my first Pyr book last night, and it definitely is a lovely, lovely well-done ebook. I am impressed.
We also discussed self-publishing. For me, for now at least, I will not be going that avenue. I am changing my pursuit slightly for my fantasy to publishers who also epublish - Pyr is my #1 at least at this time. There are others, but yeah...hmmm... Time will tell, right? Because by the time this book is finished, everything could change yet again! But it will definitely be changing, of that there is no doubt.
Stay tuned to the world of publishing!
talekyn was in town for business, so he joined us yesterday for some of the fun. He and I also escaped for The Mothership, also known as the very first and original and HUGE Half-Price Books. Anthony collects 'nostalgia' books and he sure made a killing this weekend at The Mothership plus the two Arlington stores we visited Friday night. It is tradition for us, whenever he is in town we go to a different Half-Price. Going to The Mothership may turn into a must-go every time he is here, which is sadly only about once a year. Pout.Also at Fencon this weekend was the writer's workshop, with Lou Anders of Pyr Books. Okay, I really like this guy lots (though this will be the last writers workshop that I'll be doing...). He was fun and enthusiastic, but matter of fact and honest. There were some problems with one of those involved -- I called her The Bitch, and if you know me I generally don't refer to people in such a manner, but damn that woman... she was... *fumes*
Anyway. My turn came for the hot seat and it ended up being quite warm and cozy. Bottom line--Stage MUST be finished and I will be sending it to Mr. Anders for consideration. I fairly glowed coming out of my session. Wowzers. I can no longer doubt that this book has a purpose in life. He told me to read one of his other authors, Mark Chadbourn, as his books are also historical fantasy, and others suggested Ellen Kushner. I've got Chadbourn's two books Anders said I should read.
What was kinda fun to me was Stage uh uh Blackthumb (Anders wants me to use that as a title...sure!) was Blackthumb focuses on a boy player (the boys who played the female roles on stage). Their lives could be quite ugly... those in the writer's group who knew about the boy players were super-jazzed about my story but there were several who had no idea (which of course is not surprising at all) and they were horrified by my brain. BUT IT IS HISTORY! I cried, waving my hands in the air... LOL. You think life for those boys was GOOD? Um, hell no? But I am not even going that route (much, it has to be and will be there--Gwion's adventures are pretty ugly at times).
Anders also raved madly about Scrivener...any of you peeps use it? It always has sounded like more trouble than its worth, but I don't know. PageFour is supposed to be similar and I do like that but I always do tend to simply write in Word as that is easiest for me to switch between computers using Dropbox.
I'm waiting to get my crits from him but crack me up - he said he gave me a smiley face. SNORT.(but you know I love it)
So, wow!!! I have so much to DO!!!
1. Am waiting on the proof copy of LWH - hopefully that will be a fast deal, then it is out of here.
2. Rewrite of new book is coming along but still has lots of work - that is top priority as I want this turned in to my editor by end of the month.
3. Begin hard-core fine-tuning of plot for Blackthumb - this is a complicated little fellow, so I'm expecting it to take some good amount of time.
4. Begin next book for Loose-Id, which I want done by...I dunno? February? March? End of February I would think. Eeek.
5. Get an A in this class if it kills me (which it might).
Oops back from breakfast with Anthony. SOB! We get to play once a year, which sure isn't much, but it is always great fun. I have to mail a box of books that he bought, which makes me laugh a bit.
SPN? Whoa! Okay... Wow - will stay tuned...
Anders also talked about what the closing of Borders has done to his authors. He told us about two who had new books coming out just as all the Borders fire sales started to hit. It was very sobering to hear how in the past, Borders would take (for ex.) 5k, B&N would take 5k, and now that outlet is gone. Nowhere for that 5k of Borders to go now, right? Exactly.
And...his one new author, who wrote a stand-alone, sold 600 books right out of the gate. Sounds like a good start, right? Not for the author it wasn't. 23 of those were from B&N, another 19 from Amazon, the rest were sold via BOrders and their fire sales, meaning aaallll that money for those 500+ books, well guess where it went? Not to Pyr, not to the author. Total loss.
Another of their authors, this was his first book in a series. *wince* Same thing, but thankfully it is a series book, the second one will be coming soon, and they are just hoping that allll those people who bought the first will love the series enough to get the next from B&N or Amazon. Amazon is not occupying the same role as Borders though of course... Other big houses have been slapped just as fiercely as Pyr, same with incredibly, million-dollar losses. So while those of us--including me--who bought those bargain books can be thrilled for our money saved, it ultimately absolutely hurt the publishing business hard.
I have a Kindle, I tend to buy ebooks now (my eyes thank me) but honestly? For those non-kindle books, I will be sure to buy from B&N. We need them to stay open. We do.
Ouch.
He then shared the numbers that have been coming in regarding the ebooks business, which is, not surprisngly, showing encouraging numbers. Darn those ebooks! People love 'em, crazily enough. I know I do (bought one just last night). They are more expensive, yes, but where it takes 1.50 to print a book, at least at Pyr they put their ebook creation through a separate rigmarole to ensure quality and readibility for whatever device you so choose. I downloaded my first Pyr book last night, and it definitely is a lovely, lovely well-done ebook. I am impressed.
We also discussed self-publishing. For me, for now at least, I will not be going that avenue. I am changing my pursuit slightly for my fantasy to publishers who also epublish - Pyr is my #1 at least at this time. There are others, but yeah...hmmm... Time will tell, right? Because by the time this book is finished, everything could change yet again! But it will definitely be changing, of that there is no doubt.
Stay tuned to the world of publishing!
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At this point, I prefer e over print, but I still spend quite a bit of money on print, too, because I don't want to see B&N fold. We get at least two shopping trips a month to our local store.
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Oh wow on the royalties, that sucks. Hiss.
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About not getting any money from firesales--I felt bad about the books I bought for 90% off, but honestly I wouldn't try f/f otherwise. Now I have 5 books which I am enjoying and I'll probably continue to buy directly from the publisher from here.
Scrivener vs. pg4: scrivener is for mac's, unless they have PC version out I don't know about. I used it to write my thesis and most of my major papers last year. Right now I'm using it to arrange scenes in Building Arcadia. For large works that you want to organize easily and for non-fiction that you want to keep track of your notes and research, it's wonderful. You can get a trial period of 30 days on the website. That's 30 days you use it, not 30 days in a row. I'm currently on day 14 and I downloaded it over a year ago. It takes some getting used to. At first I was frustrated with it. It wasn't until I started using it for school that I really made sense of what it could do in terms of organization and time management.
spn: LOVE IT. Watched it 3 times.
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Scrivener does indeed have a PC version now. It's been in beta for awhile, a year or so - I think they introduced it durign Nano? That's when I first heard about it and those reasons you give is why this editor encourages his peeps to use it.
I need to read my homework but keep getting distracted. LOL SPN was something! I probably will watch it again later. But have to be good for a little while right? Yes? A bit?
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I did not finish my reading yet.
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I had to giggle - one of the women who was in the workshop is who suggested it - "Do you have a problem with gay characters?" she asked.
tee hee uh you know my answer!
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how you doing????
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I try very, very hard not to keep myself awake worrying about e-books or the business in general. My store suffers, but perhaps that is simply a hint that I need a career change.
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We are so at the mercy of others, argh!!!!
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Re Scrivener, I haven't used it because when I was exploring writing software it wasn't available for PC and I bought Writers' Cafe instead (which is very similar). Having tried it a few times, it doesn't work for me for fiction because I already have ways of making notes that involve scrappy bits of paper and notebooks. If I want to plan and brainstorm, I have a couple of simple mindmapping programs that I use. If I want to write, I use Word. Basically, I felt Writers' Cafe was overkill for fiction and I suspect I'd feel the same about Scrivener. I did, however, use it for collecting and organising material for my dissertation and it worked well for that.
I'm currently exploring YWriter (http://www.spacejock.com/yWriter5.html), which seems to be much more useful and less cumbersome. Basically it allows you to write a story scene by scene and make notes about characters, what happens etc. I'm going to try using it to sort out the mess that is the first draft of one of my current novels.
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So I may just not change. LOL.
I have not been able to make mindmappers work for me any better than ol' outlining but what one do you like best?
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Mindmapping doesn't work for everyone, but it's brilliant for visual thinkers like me. I just wish I'd known about the technique much earlier in life because it really helps me plan essays. I've even used it for long, complicated blog posts and for short stories.
I actually plan novels using a spreadsheet, but you could use Freemind for novel planning too. But it's better for early brainstorming rather than detailed planning. Or at least that's what I find.