December 7, 2007

Today was another day of good writing. Some days the new book moves forward in leaps and bounds, and other days, like today, it's the small changes and reorganizing of events that gives satisfaction. Today I reworked the outline of the second half of the story, which will help me to move forward from this point with a greater sense of clarity -- not only of what has to happen, but when it has to happen. Because so much of the story is character-driven, there's a subtle but crucial character unfolding that has to happen in order for the story to be credible.

December 6, 2007

With all the volatility over The P'Town Murders in the last couple of weeks, I sometimes feel as though I'm not getting enough writing done on the new book, Lake on the Mountain. Today, however, I managed to get in some real, solid work, despite having only half a day in which to write. It progresses, more slowly now than before, but still surely. I could have a first draft done by Christmas, in which case I might even enjoy the holidays.

December 5, 2007

With the return of my rights to The P'Town Murders, the question of a reprint looms. My agent wants to find a new publisher who will fly with the success. While I'm hopeful such a publisher can be found (one who will agree to reprint immediately, while demand is still strong), I'm also considering other possibilities. There are viable ways to cut out the middleman and recoup a larger profit for myself, but the spectre of self-publishing is raised. Is self-reprinting (taking the opportunity to make a buck on my own work -- something a writer seldom gets to do) the same as self-publishing, if the book has already been published? And is self publishing even still a blemish on the part of a writer in this age of print-on-demand, or is it simply a smart business decision on the writer's part? (Not that writers have ever been accused of that!)

A quick look through the history of publishing shows that some of our best have been self-pubished, at least initially. Walt Whitman not only self-published Leaves of Grass, he also self-reviewed it under a pseudonym. Artistic cheating or good business sense? Now that the book is a classic we don't think twice about its origins. Similarly, Virginia Woolf's work was published by her husband, Stephen. Isn't that still self-publishing when your spouse does it for you? So why the stigma? A glance at the recent nomination lists for the Lambda Awards reveals titles from such print-on-demand publishers as I-Universe and Lulu Books. I think Walt Whitman would approve.

December 4, 2007

In the aftermath of the past few months, I can safely say it's easier to get published now more than ever before. The question is whether a writer can be any kind of real success. My book was published and sold well, but then, as it was topping amazon lists, the publisher not to reprint. My screenplay was about to go into production when the producer demanded we renegotiate the contract (to write me out of it, essentially--and that on the eve of the biggest writers strike in recent years.) Last night I watched a documentary on James Joyce, one of the greatest writers ever. Weighed down with a massive ego and a sense of entitlement, even Joyce was shocked to find that he wasn't the instant success he thought he'd be. While writing his greatest works, he still struggled before a mentor began to pay his bills. Is it the strong who survive, or simply the stubborn and deluded?

December 3, 2007

Today is one of those unavoidable writing days, where I don't like anything I write or much of what I've already written. The analogy I've come up with is water: on these days I feel as though I'm sitting on the surface and can't get into the water. I read the words, but they don't make sense and they don't sink in. I can't get inside them, which is where I want to be, and where the good writing happens. On days like this it's best to go bake a loaf of bread or vacuum. I rearranged my office.

December 2, 2007

The reality of what it means to have my rights back for The P'Town Murders continues to sink in. Do I try to find a publisher who will republish asap to cash in on the book's continuing demand or simply go to a printer, cutting out the middleman here? Or do I let the book go out of print without trying to do anything about it?

In the first case, it may be a golden opportunity to get in with a publisher I want. If I go print-on-demand, however, I've got to take a crash course in business admin. (Taxes, customs, postage fees, ugh!) The other problem is that some POD print houses really want to be ersatz publishers. They want to determine your price and whether or not the book is returnable by distributors, which will make it unattractive to many buyers. In return, they simply give you a percentage of sales, which is pretty much what a publisher does. In reality, this is a monopoly mentality so that their partners (e.g. Amazon) can have the guaranteed best price (this is subtly written into their contracts with you.) There are others (like Lightning Source and ArtBindery) that give more flexibility, if you're looking into this yourself. The thing you've got to make sure of is whether or not you can get the books into a good distributor.

One thing I am sure of: now that I have the rights back, I don't want to let them go again. To lose control of the first book in a series potentially endangers the entire series, as I've seen. In this case, I was lucky. Next time, I might not be. That's why the print-on-demand option seems so tempting. Otherwise, I need to find a publisher who will reprint now and let me keep the rights in my name. Does such a creature exist?

December 1, 2007

So today I schlepped downtown and offered my last copies of The P'Town Murders to Glad Day Books and This Ain't The Rosedale Library, two of my staunch supporters over the years. I was also able to provide them with copies of my first book, A Cage of Bones, having just received a batch from the UK distributor. I'd been complaining to Aaron Hamburger (author of The View From Stalin's Head, a terrific book of short fiction published by Random House) how hard it was to get copies of my book, thinking it must be nice to be published by a large publisher, but Aaron said "unless you're Norman Mailer" even Random House isn't always great at providing books. And now not even Mailer will get to appreciate that fact.