Writer as pavement artist?

It's no good, I tell new writers, to sit back and think your job is over once your work is published.  You have to make it known.  This was so, even in days gone by.  I've recently realised I'm sitting on a harvest of readable fiction, published in the 60s, 70s, 80s.  After scanning to produce Word docs from the hardback editions, then having the files given the OCR treatment, I have been painstakingly re-reading my first seven novels and checking for errors thrown up by the process.  Like a pavement artist, I've spread out three here, hoping to attract passers-by.  They have become social history, all circling around the issues of their time, served up as comedy with serious undercurrents.
These three are on Kindle and all have samples to download: Jam Today http://amazon.com/dp/B006GA47MA ;Noah's Ark http://amazon.com/dp B006FY5T38,; and Rubbish http://amazon.com/dp/B006JO1US2.  Moses is about to join them.     
It would be marvellous if you would like to review and possibly recommend them to others. 

When up to date becomes out of date

How long does it take for contemporary social satire to become social history?
Recently I have been embroiled in the fiddly task of turning my first seven novels into ebook editions.  They were published originally in hardback and paperback in US and UK between 1969 and 1988.  Conversion of work which was written on typewriters, pre-computers, involves scanning of the printed pages, then a process called OCR (Optimal Character Recognition).  The result is a Word doc but one with a lot of less than optimal character recognition.  Each line has to be checked for errors.
I dislike reading what I've written in the past.  It can be squirm-inducing.  But these early novels were written so long ago that they (almost) seem to be written by someone else.  I'm actually fascinated by the way they have become period pieces.  A London house cost £10,000.  One heroine used a threepenny bit to hold up a stocking.  Single parents were a rare species.  The writer of those Swinging Sixties, Serious Seventies novels took a cool, slanted look at what was happening around her and served it up as entertainment.  Many of the issues that puzzled her casts of characters have remained the same.  As the French say, the more it changes, the more it stays the same.   Only the context dates.   When will cell phones become antiques?
By the way, WritersReadersDirect.com is back in business.  Submissions welcome.

quality versus quantity

Epublishing website is still offline as I ponder my way forward.  I want to provide a resource for mid-list writing.  If I read all submissions, it will take me ages which is not economically viable.   Yet I want to maintain quality.   Quantity provides more income. 
If anyone reads this, please comment with your ideas.

Scam or not?

In March I fell into a trap set for heffalumps by an outfit producing a CD with the title World Business Guide.  I mistakenly signed for an insertion, thinking this was free #, like various writers' directories I've had entries in over the years.  The word FREE was in bold and I omitted to read the small print (oh, what stupid trust!) .   I did not understand that by signing I would be billed for 995 euros each year for three years unless I cancelled within two weeks.  Apparently this outfit has appeared in various guises, based in different countries, Nevis in the West Indies and the Netherlands among them.  I'm by no means along in becoming a victim.  I'd like to hear from anyone else who has fallen into their trap. 

chutzpah quota

You know that carved wooden weather vane, probably made in Austria.  A couple take it in turns to trot in and out of a rustic cottage, depending on whether it's sunshine or showers.  That's how I am - going out to be proactive in promotion; then scuttling back inside to recover.  As a writer, I'm naturally reclusive.  But as an epublisher for other writers I need to make my website known.  Lots of chutzpah is necessary for this but it's not always available.
I know I must persevere with this blog.  Is anyone listening?  Probably not, as my last post, oh dear, was in March.
Today I was told by '1millionebooks sold' John Locke about a blogger who had 800 responses to an entry which he described as life-changing.  What ON EARTH did she write about?

FutureBook innovation awards short lists

I wonder whether exam result nerves, like phantom limb syndrome, ever entirely fade from the nervous system.  I've just looked at the short list for the Bookseller's FutureBooks innovation award.  Several writers on WRD showed support by nominating me.  Naturally enough, my name didn't appear.  It was totally unrealistic to think an independent minnow on a shoestring could compete against names put forward by whale-ish companies.  Still, nothing ventured etc.etc. 

finding readers

'How does a solitary writer attract attention in the age of mass culture?' asks Robert McCrum on Books in the Observer, 27th February.  It was hard enough for the majority of writers even in the old days when publishers sent out review copies and used their contacts to get mentions in the leading book columns.  After the initial flurry of attention, all went quiet.  It was down to word of mouth: recommendations passed from individual to individual.  Now a potentially vast arena has opened up.  'Word of mouth' has become blogs and tweets to the world.  But who's listening?  It still comes down to finding your audience - readers and followers.  If you have a name and a following to start with - as Margaret Atwood does - then you have a readymade audience.  She doesn't need to sell her wares.  She must just like chatting to fans.   For others without such a following, what's the answer?   Is there anyone out there who will read this and respond?

not so much either/or, as and/and

I've come across so many, often heated, arguments over the rival virtues of print over digital, and vice versa.  It sounds as though many people think there has to be a choice between the two; or that digital will take over and therefore they must shout loudly for or against. 
It seems to me absurd to think it's a matter of either one or the other.  Both are brilliant in their own, distinctive ways. 
What will surely happen is that writers and publishers will hone content more closely to suit the vehicle on which it will be read.
I want to encourage writers to submit to WRD short fiction and nonfiction that can be easily read on handheld readers.  Short-ish novels, essays, true life stories --- new, original, quality writing is what I'm after. 

editors and editing

2011-02-19 There was a very comprehensive article in the Guardian the other day about the continuing demise of publishers' editors and editing.  A writer depends on another pair of eyes and an objective brain on the job, once the completed work is ready.  The impossibility of provding an editing service myself on this digital site as part of the submission fee means that writers have to be responsible for their own editing.  If they can't do it themselves, there are lots of good people who offer this service.  As a general rule, the work is put on the site as submitted.  It pains me if I know I'm uploading work that needs copy-editing. 

PR release

Take Back Control

I found an article published in Canada that echoes all the reasons why I set up WritersReadersDirect. 
http://thetyee.ca/Books2011/02/04/BookNet
If anyone reads my blog, do have a look at this link. 

PR

I'e discovered a site called PRLog which I'm trying out.



New Opportunities for Talented Fiction and Nonfiction Writers

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Copyright issues

A writer's query elicited this reply from me today.
Copyright questions often come up. There is absolutely nothing to stop anyone infringing copyright, copying work and passing it off as their own. It's possible to do this with any work, printed or digital. If the stolen work then becomes a huge success, the original author can be a) extremely proud and b) go into battle. On WRD the downloader's name and address and date of purchase are recorded - unlike bookshop sales - so lawyers can cite dates. However, the b) option is likely to be beyond the budget of the victim. What are the chances of such huge success from a stolen work happening? Pretty infinitesimal, I think. Very few people make their fame and fortune from writing. A thief is not going to succeed where the genuine author hasn't yet succeeded.

There is something called DRM. To quote:

Digital rights management is a generic term for access control technologies that can be used by hardware manufacturers, publishers, copyright holders and individuals to impose limitations on the usage of digital content and devices.

But it's not foolproof and is said to be more trouble than it's worth to impose.

My view is that the more readers a writer has the better for that writer. So I don't want to restrict access in any way.

World Book day in March

There's going to be quite a hullabaloo created by print publishers in honour of World Book Day in March.  This will give a boost to all those writers who have books in print.  WRD is about all those writers, good ones, who don't have books in print at present.  Perhaps I shall encourage WRD writers to find three new readers each and we'll arrange for free downloads on World Book Day. Good idea?  

Ariadne's thread

Exploring ways to publicise WRD is daunting.  I've started creating and running some Facebook ads.  While setting this up I went off in many different directions, led by Help buttons and Like buttons and the videos and photos of Facebook friends.  Somehow I got involved this morning in checking out the website of someone living in South California.  My first Facebook ad delivered him to my doorstep as a follower.  He sounds like an active and experienced worker on the social network self-promotion circuit.   Or did he arrive via the Adwords campaign I'm running?  What kind of thread would Ariadne provide to help an internet maze adventurer?  The Back button helps me re-wind my way to the start but I could do with something more like a visual map to see where I've been and where I want to find again.  Add to Favourites gets quite clogged up.  Spring-cleaning takes time.    Is it worth all this mind-drain?  Should I perhaps get back to the ivory tower with papyrus and reed pencil? 

Quantity/quality

Thanks to Robert McCrum for this quote from the preface to Tom Jones, cited in his Observer book column last Sunday ...
"An author ought to consider himself," wrote Henry Fielding, "not as a gentleman who gives a private treat, but rather as one who keeps a pub, at which all person are welcome for their money."