Author Archives: shannon

Books as a Service

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An interesting thing has happened as I have started buying ebooks instead of paper books. I no longer think of a book as a product, but as a service. When I compare two companies selling the same ebook, the level of service is more important to me. The content is, of course, the same.

Owning a book gives me a feeling of ownership, and I am old enough to appreciate the value of a physical object. However, when I look around my house at the number of books I own, and I think about how many I get around to reading in a year, I have to admit that I am using my paper books more for insulation than reading material. And I have enough insulation.

“Buying” an e-book is a different experience. In many ways it is more primitive. I don’t buy a piece of pulped wood to put on a shelf, I’m buying the story and the way it makes me feel, like emotion is being transmitted to my electronically. However, I find I get really picky about how that feeling is transmitted.

Plus, I like the ability to take my entire library wherever I go.

On the other hand, I’ve had to give up the illusion of permanency that paper books provide. Sure, any ebook provider might go away in 5 years, have the servers seized by the FBI, get shut down by PayPal, or just decide to close down their ebook division. But then again, I could have a pipe burst and destroy all my paper books as well.

There are many pluses and minuses to the services provided by different book providers, but at the end of the day, they are all every similar. Personally, I chose a Kindle, because I like Amazon’s online store better than Barnes and Noble’s, and I like the ability to wirelessly send books to my device. However, now that the bulk of my ebooks are Kindle books, I’d just as soon keep buying them there and keeping my book in the Kindle cloud.

Oh, that’s the other thing. Every Kindle book I “own” is stored on Amazon’s servers. I could buy an ebook from Google, Apple, Smashwords, or Barnes and Noble, and that book would be put in my cloud for those services, but as my technology is very Amazon-centric, I’d just as soon just use Amazon’s cloud.

An anecdotal statement:
I bought a book from Smashwords once with the intention of “side-loading” it on my Kindle. To this day, I haven’t loaded it. It’s like an electronic orphan. When I’m looking for a new book, I look at what I have on the Kindle. It’s about workflow as much as anything else.

In many ways, I think buying a Kindle is a lot like supporting for the New York Giants*. Even if they do some things you don’t like, you already have so much merchandise. You have Giants hats and Giants jerseys. You just bought that leather sofa with the Giants logo on the back. Sure, lately you’ve been thinking of supporting Green Bay–you like the romance of the underdog, and they’ve been having a good season. But at the end of the day, you just have too much money tied up in the Giants.

* I know nothing about sports, but that will become evident in a moment.

Aimless fun

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A while ago, I plugged a few of my pieces into the “I Write Like” analyzer.

One of the pieces I put in was Panic No More a story of goat gods and computer programmers. At the time, the analyzer compared my writing to Dan Brown, which made me sad. Since then, I’ve been working on a new revision.

I’ll more than happily accept this rating:

I write like
Cory Doctorow

I Write Like by Mémoires, journal software. Analyze your writing!

 

Running off the cliff

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Every once in a while, I actually finish a project. It’s always an odd feeling for me, running full tilt, working hard every day, carving out little bits of time to inch forward, and then nothing. I’m running through open air. I’ve built up the momentum, but there’s no longer earth under my feet. I always feel disoriented until I remember all the other things I need to work on.

Not sure if just did something smart or something very stupid

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I just sent a strongly-worded note to my editor about my dissatisfaction with the back-cover blurb of my novel.

I always said that when I got a book deal, I would not be a prima donna, and so far, my experience has been smooth sailing. However, I honestly didn’t think the blurb was representative of the contents of the book. It was inaccurate, which would have been forgivable, but I had to use Google twice just to understand it.

Part of me is painfully aware that I am working with a small company, and that author of the blurb is probably my editor or a close colleague. Ouch.

I know it’s not my place to complain. I sold them the rights to publish my book however they see fit. Then again, I’ve never been good at keeping my mouth shut.

I figure this complaint with either usher in a new era of trust and understanding from my editor, or guarantee that he will never want to publish anything of mine again. Either way, I guess I will get what I want.

Then again, maybe he’s already sent it to the printers.

Good News

It turns out that he is open to my suggestions and there is time to change!

Minor disappointment

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Why'd you have to tell me that Mick?

The cover artist for Minion of Evil, Kris Phillipe  is unavailable for Fangs for Nothing.

I’m sure they’ll find a great artist and I’ll end up with a good cover, but it would have been nice to have the consistency of having the same artists.

I can’t even be mad, because I know that Kris is a professional. If she says she is too busy to take a job, it’s because of all the work she puts in to make sure her art is perfect.

Another sale

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Fangs for Nothing my novel about a loser vampire that lives in his parents’ basement, has sold. The publisher is going to try to rush the book out so it can be available for Convergence.

Self Promotion

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Photo by Allan Warren

Liberace in the year I was born. He was not a shy man.

I am coming to a point in my writing career that I have been dreading. I am going to have to interact with the public. I am going to have to be sociable and nice.

“But Shannon,” everyone tells me, “you’re so even keel, so personable and you always have something interesting to say. Why are you so hard on yourself.”

The problem is that I can be outgoing and talkative with people I know, but the thought of talking to strangers terrifies me.

So far, I have volunteered to be on panels for two conventions this year, and I’m planning on volunteering for ICON in November. Despite what Jim C. Hines’ advice that he had never seen a bump in sales from attending a con, I don’t have sales yet, and I like cons (which is why Jim keeps doing them.)

Part of the problem is that I have trouble presenting myself as any sort of expert.  Sure, I’ve run a writing group, I do paranormal investigations, I know a reasonable amount about computers, and I have a book coming out. But why would anyone want to listen to me? Sometimes I wonder if I suffer from Impostor Syndrome. Other times, I just feel like an impostor.