Sunday 30 October 2011

Why Wage War on Writers?

The attacks seem to be coming thick and fast, and the propaganda has started.

What am I talking about?  Writers becoming divided by changes in the publishing world, and viewing emerging technologies as threats instead of opportunities.

I saw a comment thread on Facebook started by the Arvon Foundation where a string of established authors bemoaned the fact that more and more authors want to learn about how to get published instead of tirelessly honing their craft.  As someone who has just taught a course about how to get e-published I worry that established authors feel they have to guard the doors to their exclusive club, and to keep out the unwashed masses.

If it were true that all books that make it into print were of an exceptional quality the argument would be stronger.  But any wander around Waterstone’s will turn up mountains of dreadful books that have made it into print, just as any hour spent with a group of unpublished authors will unearth exceptional pieces of writing that may never reach beyond the odd competition win or inclusion in a small press anthology.

Perhaps this is just fear of change? 

But for readers the myriad of emerging technologies offers the chance to select what they want to read, not what has been selected for them.  And from these previously ignored gems hopefully will emerge new authors with new things to say.  No longer will a book have to be deemed suitable for a 10,000 print run before being considered for publication.  Readers will be able to find quirky and unique books, while books with mass appeal will still sell in droves.  And even established authors can benefit from the opportunity to e-publish back catalogues of work that their publishers can’t see the benefit of reprinting. 

So what’s all the fuss about?  The music industry has survived the transition from vinyl and CDs to people downloading tracks.  Once upon a time all books were hand written by monks, but then the printing press was invented.  No doubt there were people then bemoaning the end of literature, but was it really such a bad move, making the written word available to the masses?

The story circulating this week has been that people with e-readers are choosing to read low-brow works as without book covers on view they feel free to read what they want to read and not what they feel they should be reading.  What’s so wrong with that? 

I’ve never been particularly political, but this is one revolution that I’m happy to be a part of.  I will proudly be promoting my e-book tomorrow when I launch it on Halloween evening.  Is it a great tome of significant literary merit?  Probably not.  But do I think readers will enjoy it?  Of course that’s what I hope, and as readers are who I write for, I feel justified in using any means I can of reaching them with my work.


I wish the best of luck to all authors at any stage of their careers, and hope the idiotic skirmishes soon die down as we all move forwards into a brighter future for anyone with talent and determination.




        

Wednesday 26 October 2011

New Book Launch

Back in March I was lucky enough to get my first novel ‘Bitter Roots’ into the top 50 of the Amazon Kindle charts, making it an instant best seller!  But I was only able to do that with the amazing support from all my friends and people I’ve met through various writing and networking activities.  The book sold really well to begin with, but as I was waiting for a publisher to make a decision about producing a print version I stopped promoting it and sales have now dwindled – the publisher is still in the process of making a decision!

So, as I now have a new book all ready to go I have decided to go with indie publishing and to take on the hard task of marketing the book myself.  I will make a print version available in November, but getting the Kindle version into the charts is the first step.  In order to do that I will need as many
people as possible to buy it on the same night, and the date I’ve chosen is Monday 31st October – Halloween!  That’s where you come in.

Every single sale will help push my book up the charts!

But do you want to read it?  Brighton Sucks is an Urban Fantasy with plenty of action, some tongue-in-cheek ideas on vampirism, and a healthy smattering of steamy sex.  Oh, and it only costs £1.71   You can find it by clicking on the link below.


Not convinced yet?  To see if it’s your sort of thing, you can read the first chapter on my website www.jarekadams.com

I’ll update everyone on the sales results on my Facebook page throughout Halloween night, or here on my blog

Why help me?  Getting my book read is my primary goal, but I’ve also been sharing my knowledge about e-publishing by running a course to help other writers get success as Indie Authors.  So I’m trying to support others in return for the support I’ve been given.

Please tell anyone who you think may be interested in a cracking read for the dark winter evenings.  If you don’t have any kind of e-reader you can easily download a free kindle app from Amazon, and then there are loads of books you can buy cheaply or even download for free onto your computer, so it’s worth doing even if you decide not to buy my book.

And finally, if you do buy it and you do like it, please leave feedback on the Amazon site as this can also help to build those all important sales. 

Many thanks, Jarek Adams

Monday 24 October 2011

Supporting Other Writers

OK, I’m not exactly a millionaire author just yet, but over the past few years I have been lucky enough to learn a lot about writing, and publishing, and especially e-publishing.  Which is why, along with my husband Andrew Thorn, I ran a course last Saturday called ‘e-Publishing Know-how’.

A group of eager students gathered with us in the historic Gloucester Guildhall where we spent the day whizzing through everything from setting yourself up on Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), to formatting your work, as well as writing blurbs and designing book covers.  We also looked at some of the marketing techniques I’ve picked up from the many other generous Kindle authors out there.

As an added bit of excitement we also we also e-published my latest novel ‘Brighton Sucks’ during the day as a demonstration of how easy it is for writers to get their work out to readers via KDP.  I’ll be launching it in the UK on Halloween, and will keep the people who attended the course informed about this as an ongoing part of sharing my experience. 

The most gratifying piece of feedback I’ve received so far about the course is this:  ‘You did exactly what it said on the box:  I feel excited, informed and confident about moving forward into my venture in epublishing.  Today I am working on a new blogspot, and have already prepared stuff for my new website.  I have chosen a name to write under, got two new ideas for stories, planned a press release and planned a marketing initiative that I'm really excited about - and only 24 hours have passed.  Thank you both so much for having enabled me in this way.  I'll finish with just three words - FAN-BLOODY-TASTIC!’

As ever when a group of writers come together I am always pleased to see how helpful and supportive they are.  Email addresses were swapped so that people could continue the writing friendships they made on the day, and so I’m sure the knowledge and experience we all shared will pass on to other writers out there.

It’s an incredibly difficult time for writers at all stages of their career, but it’s also an amazingly exciting time, with new technologies offering writers access to readers that they’ve never had before.  The whiff of snobbery about self-published authors is being gradually replaced with amazing success stories of Indie Authors who are sidestepping the gatekeepers and building their own publishing empires.

Good luck to all of you!

Saturday 8 October 2011

My First Love

Apologies if you’ve come expecting torrid tales of teenage romance.  But trust me, that would be a very dull tale about several duds who I thought I loved followed by one truly perfect fit who makes me very happy – a simple tale that would never be a best seller!

No, the first love I’m talking about is writing, and specifically writing plays.  I was lucky enough to go to a primary school that encouraged us to use our imaginations, and as it was in Wales we had an eisteddfod every year where we were awarded prizes for writing stories and poems.  But I do remember also being allowed to put on short plays that were written and directed by me, and usually also starred me in the leading role.  They were probably excruciatingly awful, but the seeds were sewn at an early age for a career of writing for theatre.
My secondary school did all they could to crush the creativity out of their students, but I was lucky enough to discover a youth arts centre where I was able to rise through the ranks in the youth theatre, and eventually ended up running one of their groups.  It also gave me the opportunity to put on a few of my own plays, but I still had no idea how to make a career from writing.  So I went to drama school where I quickly realised I didn’t want to be an actor, but I was lucky enough to be given an altered course, which enabled me to write for my fellow students.  The play I wrote for my final project was a piece of Theatre-in-education about pregnancy and sexual responsibility, which toured schools and youth clubs for several years and brought in a nice income for a while.  But as the first half was based around a pregnancy test, which in the 1980s took half and hour, the introduction of the five minute test eventually made the play obsolete.
Then twenty years ago I started writing science theatre for schools, and it sort of stuck.  And although the work I’ve produced has been extremely well received, I think that making a comfortable living meant the death of that little spark of creativity that made me so excited about the possibilities of each new day.  So when earlier this year the government cut all the funding to the organisations that booked our work into schools I had a huge panic about money, but creatively I haven’t had such a good year for ages.
Now here’s the teaser.  I have some really exciting things in the pipeline, and promise faithfully to blog regularly as each project unfolds.  But for starters I can announce that I have two short plays going on at the Everyman Theatre in Cheltenham during November, and I’ll be teaching a course at the Guildhall Gloucester on play writing for beginners on 5th November. 
Does this mean I’ve given up on the novels?  Absolutely not!  But I am thoroughly enjoying this torrid affair with my first love.