The Rush to Print

Conventional indie wisdom and some as yet unverified statistics indicate that the more books an author has for sale online, the more money they're going to make. Some writers talk about hitting a kind of critical mass. The actual threshold itself varies from opinion to opinion, but once that magic number is hit, the idea is that sales will start flooding in. I'm oversimplifying of course, but the essence of the argument is there. And contrary to where you think I might be going here, I don't disagree. I think they are right. The more titles the better. For the most part at least.


Part of the reason for that kind of advice is the luck factor. It's pretty strong in this new ebook market, because most writers (and even publishers) aren't really sure why certain books become mega hits and others sit largely unread. Thus the more books one has floating around the Kindleverse or any other ebookverse, the greater your chances of being discovered. I think it's also true that when readers discover and like one of your books, the chances are strong that they'll go on to buy your other titles. Writing a series dramatically increases this.

But I believe that a lot of authors have taken that conventional wisdom and completely turned it on its head. I know of some authors (none I know personally, so don't worry, I'm not talking about you!) who cram as many titles on their author shelves as fast as humanly possible. Many probably even use several pen names to accommodate the onslaught and I know several of them are making good money doing it, at least in the short term. Thus the ends seem to justify the means. If someone is in this business just to make a quick buck and doesn't care about the health of the industry as a whole or building a career that spans decades, then I suppose that approach sort of makes sense.

I've come to realize this first hand by reading reviews. I read a lot of reviews because I like to get an idea of what readers look for in the books they read and what pisses them off. Poor editing (typos and plot/character development) seem to be at the top of this list. And more often than not I noticed the worst offenders have dozens and dozens of books online, repackaged a million different ways. Some I'm told have even taken books they've already released and remade the cover and blurb and thrown them back on Amazon using a pen name.

The most egregious example I've heard of recently is one person (I won't even bother calling him an author) who has over 100,000 books on Amazon. Most of it is crap, probably illegally farmed off the internet and slapped online, but this guy's following the spammers golden rule. The more the merrier. It's the same numbers game I mentioned above but taken to the absolute extreme. Who needs quality when you can just flood the market right? And I'm worried that's the same slippery slope many self-published authors are inching toward (some as I've mentioned are already well on their way). It doesn't feel like spam if it's something you want and a product that's well made. Spammers sell crap in bulk. Authors shouldn't become spammers.

Do Free Giveaways Guarantee Bad Reviews?

John Locke made an interesting observation in his book on epublishing. He said, and I'm paraphrasing, that a bad review only really means someone outside your target audience has read your book. Of course he also said it with the understanding that the book you wrote wasn't a steaming turd. 

It wasn't very long after reading those words that I created a free giveaway for my supernatural thriller MALICE and received a negative review that went something like this: "I gave this book two stars mostly because I don't like horror." It was one of my first such reviews (I was even wetter behind the ears back then if you can believe it) and frankly, I was floored. I mean, it was tantamount to saying: "I gave this Fettuccine Alfredo two stars mostly because I hate pasta." But then Locke's words started echoing in my ears and a lightbulb went off. If they don't like the genre or subject matter, how can you ever expect to get a favourable review?

Now, I've noticed that bad reviews on Amazon in general seem to be on the rise, particularly after the most recent holiday season. At first I wasn't quite sure what was causing it. Why were readers getting crankier? Then I was struck with another epiphany. 

Free giveaways. 

Around the holidays KDP Select was just building steam and it wasn't long after that most of the poor reviews began to appear. No doubt, there's a double edge to giving away your book to thousands of people for free and both sides of it are no less sharp. One the one hand truckloads of free copies can help spread the word about a book that would otherwise wilt and fade into obscurity. 

Another possible benefit is a temporary boost in sales (my own results have ranged from no perceptible boost to staying on the bestseller list for a month and a half after the promotion). But as far as reviews are concerned, this is where that other side of the sharpened blade comes in. People are snatching up free books they would normally never have paid a cent for. People seem to load up on free books even when it's not in their preferred genre. They sample widely (readers taking chances on new authors can be a good thing as I mentioned above), but for an author with a fairly narrow audience, that can also mean real problems. If anyone else has any thoughts or experiences on the connection between free giveaways and reviews I'd love to get your take.  

Bird of Prey Free May 4th and 5th!

My horror novella BIRD OF PREY is FREE on Amazon today and tomorrow. Here's a note from yours truly about the book:
BIRD OF PREY was a horror novella that I had an absolute blast writing. I didn't want it to end. An old school monster brouhaha where a motley group of men set out to kill a flying monstrosity that's poised to wipe their tiny Alaskan town off the map for good. "We're going to need help. And guns, lots of guns." I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

A Peek Inside Horror Author Joe Hart's Brain (Yikes!)

Today I'm sitting down with emerging horror author Joe Hart. When I heard he was working on a novel, I knew I needed get the inside scoop. Always the gentleman, Joe was kind enough to spare some time out of his busy schedule to talk with us. 

Griffin: Your awesome collection of dark horror stories, Midnight Paths, has been selling exceptionally well. What can you tell us about it? 
Joe: Midnight Paths is my first collection of short horror that I compiled last summer. The ideas for the stories just started coming to me as I was writing a longer project and I couldn't ignore them so I decided to shelve the other project and focus on them instead. I'm pretty happy with how they turned out. Basically they're an eclectic array of subjects, from a good old-fashioned monster story to the horror of the human mind. I think if someone is a horror lover they'll find something in there that will satisfy them!

Griffin: Describe your journey as a writer. 
Joe: My journey as a writer began when I was about 9 years old. I had always loved to read, my mom really instilled that in me by never missing an opportunity to visit our local library when I was young. I remember sitting down at her electronic typewriter to punch out my first story. It was a scary one with monsters and a knight on a quest. From then on I wrote a lot of poetry and several short stories in high school and college. For awhile after college I was adrift, knowing I should have been writing more but something always seemed to come up. About two years ago I got down to business in earnest and wrote a screenplay which is incidentally in New York as we speak, hopefully being passed around with the right people. After discovering Direct Publishing on Amazon I decided to switch gears and started writing the short stories that eventually became Midnight Paths. Since then I've been writing almost everyday.

Griffin: I see you're working on a novel. Anything you can tell us about it?
Joe: Absolutely!  The novel is a supernatural thriller set in my home state of Minnesota. The better part of it is set on the North Shore of Lake Superior. It's about a writer who had a pretty horrible childhood, and in the middle of a fairly successful career finds himself stuck with terrible writer's block. He's drawn to a house on the North Shore and some strange things start happening to him. I'm almost finished with a first draft and it should be out in digital and paperback late this summer or early fall.


Griffin: Speaking of writer's block, has it ever happened to you and if so how do you deal with it? 
Joe: I've been really fortunate and haven't had to deal with too much writer's block so far. I have had minor bouts of it within a few of my stories and now my novel, but it usually just takes a little introspection and the answer always seems to surface.


Griffin: Do you have a daily writing schedule and if so what is it? 
Joe: I do have a writing schedule.  I actually work a full time job as well as write, so my time during the weekdays is relegated to the evenings. I try to write for at least an hour and lately I've been pushing to get about a thousand words down each session. On the weekends I like to write in the mornings and early afternoons so my evenings are free to be with my family.

Griffin: How much planning, outlining and research goes into each of your books?
Joe: You know my short stories aren't structured at all.  An idea comes to me and I let it stew there for awhile. Slowly it takes shape and when I'm ready I just sit down and knock it out. For my longer works I do an outline which really helps. A bigger work always seems so daunting when looked at in a whole, but if you break it down into sections and sequences, it loses its intimidation factor. As far as research goes, I try to be as realistic as possible without boring the reader with facts and statistics. I think that a story bogs down when the research begins to bleed through into the fiction.

Griffin: What authors inspire you? 
Joe: Oh wow. Well, Stephen King of course. He's basically my hero. As far as I'm concerned no one does characters better than King. He can broad stroke a character in a page so well that you feel like they're almost real.  I really admire that. The others that come to mind are Robert McCammon, Dean Koontz, Richard Matheson, Blake Crouch, Cormac McCarthy, Kealan Patrick Burke, Rick Yancey, Joe Hill, Richard Adams, and Justin Cronin to name a few.

Griffin: What's the best thing about being a writer? 
Joe: The best thing about being a writer is knowing that you've created a world for others to get lost in. If I can write something that lets people imagine a place or scenario that they never would have on their own, then I've done my job. I've been lost in books for hours before and there's nothing like it. That's what I want to create.

Griffin: What's the worst thing about being a writer? 
Joe: The worst thing about being a writer is that inevitable feeling that you get from time to time that you have no talent whatsoever. I think every writer experiences it once in awhile. You'll be reading something you wrote days before and all of a sudden you ask yourself, "Really?  I wrote that?  It's complete drivel." Those are the bad times. But I've found they're only temporary low spots. Usually you can see some good even in the worst of it. I know if you gave in every time you doubted yourself you wouldn't finish too many projects. It's all about continuing on and revising where you need to.

Griffin: If you weren't doing this interview right now, what would you be doing? 
Joe: Probably spending a little time with my family. They're really why I do everything I do and it's their love and encouragement that's kept me going a number of times.

Griffin: Thanks so much for stopping by! Any last words?
Joe: I just want to say thanks for having me as a guest, I really enjoyed all the questions!

No problem Joe! Was really great having you. You'll have to return after your book goes live. 

You can find Midnight Paths on Amazon Kindle and get it for free with a Prime account there also. I'd love for everyone to follow me on Twitter and I update my own blog when I get time over at www.authorjoehart.blogspot.com.

About the author:
Joe Hart grew up on a lonely 91 acres of farmland in Northern Minnesota and without many playmates or company, began writing when he was 10. His first literary love was Stephen King (and still is) but he has expanded his scope to other influential authors. He published his first poems at age 17 and his first collection of short horror stories at 29. He is currently working on a novel and is editing a screenplay. If it's up to him, you'll be seeing a lot more of him on Amazon along with everywhere else that sells books.

Amazon Bestseller Keith C. Blackmore on the Writing Life

I'm thrilled to be hanging with bestselling horror and fantasy writer Keith C. Blackmore. He's probably best known for his Amazon blockbuster--and all-round awesome book--Mountain Man. Keith was nice enough to sit down and share some of what makes him tick as a writer.


Griffin: In December of last year you released a zombie novel called Mountain Man which has been doing quite well. Tell us a bit about it.

I was channeling "I Am Legend" in that one. I wanted to do a zombie story where we have a ordinary guy (Gus is a housepainter) who, by some miracle of fate, managed to survive a zombie apocalypse for two years on nothing more than common sense and not taking any chances. He doesn't have any training in anything, isn't a scientist with a cure, and doesn't have a cache of high tech weapons, but he does manage to get by on instinct and a healthy sense of fear and loathing for the undead.


Griffin: Any plans for a MM sequel?

Just finished the second part. The book was supposed to be one long story, but I realized that I wouldn't have the second part done in time for 2011 Christmas and the rumored rush of sales coming for writers of all genres in the new year. I needed the cash badly, so I took the gamble of releasing the first half just before Christmas. Luckily it worked and the money I've made off the first half has essentially kept me from seeking a day job and delaying the release of the second half.

"MM:Safari" should be on the market around early May with luck.

There is also a third book, which I'm working on now and hope to have ready for a summer release.


Griffin: Describe your journey as a writer?

Long man, long. Been doing this for maybe 22 years+ now and still learning. Gave up on traditional publishing about six months after I learned I could publish the books online and sell them through Amazon. Haven't looked back since (although come close in the last year to giving up and going back to a day job to raise funds once again). Taught overseas for 14 years while trying to put together novels to sell to (at the time) publishers. My goal all along was to work until I could make the transition from teacher to writer.


Griffin: You seem to write in several different genres. Which is your favorite?

I have pretty eclectic tastes. I like fantasy just because I grew up reading a lot of pulp fiction from Robert E Howard. Also grew up reading a lot of Stephen King. There were other writers in there as well of course, which all led to me dabbling in the two genres now. I like the world building of fantasy, as well as the sword on sword action, while with horror, I'm a sucker for well told monster/ghost stories. Science Fiction is in there too because of the world building and action.


Griffin: Do you have a daily writing schedule and if so what is it?

Get up at around 7am, go through the morning routine, take a walk, get at the PC around 9 and try to hammer out at least 1500 words by 4 or 5 pm. On good days I get around 4000. On great days, I reach 5000. Weekends are off.


Griffin: How much planning, outlining and research goes into each of your books?

Research can take up a lot of my work during the day--just finding stuff on the net, in reference books, or talking to professionals and taking notes. It can be a chore and really slows down actually producing. On really heavy days, I'm lucky to get 1500. Planning and outlining doesn't usually take so much time as I do it in my head most times--getting things straight on what I want to do and where the story is heading during my morning walk.


Griffin: How do you deal with writer's block?

Walk. Mountain Bike in the summertime. Works for me.


Griffin: Which of all your characters have you enjoyed writing the most?

Characterization is my weak point and I try really hard to get it right. I'm closing in on it, but it's still hard to get the voice right. I can still read dialogue (without seeing the names of who is saying the lines) and wonder, "okay who is that?" Very difficult.

Having said that, the latest one "Gus" is probably my favourite cuz he's the most recent attempt.


Griffin: Finish this sentence. If I wasn't a writer I'd be...

...teaching until I could afford writing full time.


Griffin: How do you come up with your ideas?

Everywhere, although I try not to read genres if I'm working on something in that genre--zombie books were out while I wrote MM. I did watch AMC's "The Walking Dead" though. My first horror novel "The Missing Boatman"  is derived from a Greek myth about immortality that I came across while taking a course in university.


Griffin: What's the best thing about being a writer?

It's the job I've always wanted (cliche I know but *shrugs*). Always. Every job I've had up to this point was just paying the bills and supplying life lessons until I could make the final transition.


Griffin: What's the worst thing about being a writer?

Writer's block. Missing Boatman had a 3 year block once. And the fear of one day not having a good idea.


Griffin: What's your favorite flavor of Hot Pockets?

Never had one. Them's pizza thingys?


Griffin: If you weren't doing this interview right now, what would you be doing?

Working on a gunfight scene with one guy and a mess of zombies. And keeping an eye on the stove fire (still winter here in Newfoundland).


Griffin: Where can people go to satisfy their Keith C. Blackmore itch?

My blog is at www.keithcblackmore.com and other than that, my work's on sale at Amazon.

Thanks for having me here :)

Thanks for dropping by Keith! Can't wait for MM:Safari. 

Malice now on 3 Amazon bestseller lists!

So the promotion over the weekend has yielded fantastic results. Malice is now sitting on Amazon's bestseller lists for Horror, Occult and Ghosts. With a little help, I'm hoping it might stay there a while.

For any of you who are scratching your heads and asking, "What is this Malice your people speak of," here's a bit about it...


When a series of shocking suicides rock the small town of Millingham, Massachusetts, the authorities are left with a single, chilling question. Why are all the victims gouging their eyes out?

Only seventeen-year-old Lysander Shore knows these aren't suicides at all. There's a serial killer stalking the people of Millingham. One that murders at will and never leaves a trace.

Before long, the trail of bodies leads Lysander to a dark secret that traces back to a witch's trial and execution 350 years ago. The deeper he digs, the more he realizes the victims aren't nearly as random as they seem. In fact, the killer has a list and Lysander is next.


Click here to visit Malice on Amazon.

My supernatural thriller Malice is FREE on Amazon March 23&24!

My supernatural thriller Malice is FREE on Amazon today and tomorrow (March 23&24), so grab a copy while you can! And remember, it's not my fault if you sleep with the lights on after reading it.

Enjoy,
Griffin