On E-Book Pricing

I wrote recently about the length of novels. At the end of that article, I started in on my thoughts about pricing. Then I realized it was a different topic altogether, lopped it off, and saved it for another day. Well, folks, that day is today. The following are my opinions, as both a reader and a writer, on pricing.

As a writer, I'm not too concerned with length, preferring to let the story dictate how many words I need. As a reader, though, I'd like to know what I'm getting for my money. That's why the length labels will, I think, become increasingly important. Should a novel cost the same as a novella, novelette, or short story? What about a 50k novel compared to a 100k novel? Does it matter if the author is a Big Deal or, like me, a minnow in the great ocean of literature?

I have in mind what I think is fair to pay for stories. This is both what I would look for in other works, and what I try to follow for my own. Now, being a minnow, I don't really get to set pricing trends. To some extent, I have to swim with the stream. Especially if I want to entice new readers.

Zoe Winters wrote an article wherein she philosophizes about her pricing practices. I tend to agree with her underlying theory of "I want solid fans, not random readers." That is, I want to write kick ass stories for people that like the kind of story I'm (hopefully) getting good at writing. I recognize that there's no way I can please all the people all of the time, so I want to shoot for my niche, and niche the hell out of it. It's one of the reasons the whole "dare" things makes a lot of sense to me. While I'm not going to compromise a story, I definitely want to try my best to throw the things in there that my readers have said they want to see. To me, that's all part of the challenge.

A big part of that challenge, though, is getting a critical mass of fans where you can subsist on writing alone, and thus give them your full attention. I'm not there yet, and until I am, I have to go with the popular flow. Doesn't mean I have to agree with it, though.

So, here's how I'd lay out pricing in my ideal world:

•  Novel, >50k words - $3-$5 
•  Novella, 20k-50k words - $1-$3 
•  Everything shorter - free to $1 

I'm not sure what to do right now with huge novels. Think >100k words. Should those really price the same as a 50k novel? There's a lot more buying history to overcome there than with the shorter works. Still, maybe huge epic fantasy novels push the $5 into $6 or $7, but still stay completely reasonable for the "entertainment per hour."

Now, this is all for a non-traditionally published author. We have the flexibility to keep our overhead low, so this pricing can work for us to make a living. For an experienced, professional author, I'd be completely willing to pay upwards of $10. I don't really cringe at a $10 price point right now on a traditionally published book. I am, however, less likely to take a chance at that level.

Some of the higher price points of traditionally published books have made me balk, or at least put off the purchase. I used to save my splurges for my absolute favorite series and get them in hardcover. Now, I don't know. I've certainly been thinking a lot more about prices. I could afford to read a lot more at a lower price point. And I'm a lot less likely to be pissed if a cheaper book isn't exactly what I wanted/expected. For the traditional folks, they better make damn sure the quality is top notch (not true of some traditional books I've read, where typos and the like have leaked through.) I would say a good rule of thumb would be to add about $5 for anything traditionally published. Does a publisher add $5 of value? That's for you to decide. I think they can, but perhaps aren't quite there yet

On the shorter end, I like the concept of offering a short story free at some places, and then perhaps for a $1 on major platforms like the Nook and Kindle. It takes a bit of work to get everything set up nicely on there, and asking for a dollar seems completely fair. The between prices can largely be dependent on the amount of work that went into each story.

I love offering coupons and giveaways, too. I think that should be done early and often. A majority of people are likely willing and able to pay $5 for a story, but not everyone can. And I'd rather those people have a shot at reading than be left out in the rain. Limited time offers and giveaways are perfect for this, allowing people to perhaps do a little extra legwork for a price cut. Seems fair to me.

Also, something I'd like to see (and perhaps do eventually) is authors being able to reward fans. The traditional approach has meant that rabid fans get gouged at the release of a book with the highest price, then things get discounted over time. I think I'd like to offer a cheaper price at the front end. Think of it as a "thank you" for the people who have waited for the next book. Then the price could be raised after the first month. Sort of an intro sale. Since new releases tend to boost the sales of older books, I think this is a completely reasonable way to launch a book, but really flies in the face of tradition.

As readers, as writers, what do you guys think? What is "fair?" When do you feel like you're getting a "good deal?" Or, conversely, a bad one?

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#ROW80 - Finding the Time

Things are still pretty rough around here. Wife isn't feeling great after more procedures last week, and it falls to me to take care of her. It's that whole "in sickness and in health" clause. Obviously, we all prefer the "health" part. Still, we've had great support from family, friends, and - yes - Internet friends. Several of you have left nice comments or stopped by on Facebook or whatever... and that is greatly appreciated. It's pretty cool when people you've never really met face to face can pop in and offer support from a whole variety of different life experiences. Perspective always helps when you're stuck in the doldrums. As do kind words, so thank you.

That being said, let's look at the goals:

• Lesson Learned - Not related to writing, but I learned a lot about procedures that involve spinal intrusion  in the last week. Apparently this whole "blood patch for spinal fluid headache" business is more common than I thought, especially when you consider women getting epidurals. Also, the silver lining of facing adversity and being a writer is that I'm filing a lot of these emotions and experiences away for later. My fantasy characters may not be having Lumbar Punctures anytime soon, but there are always touching scenes to write when one half of a romantic pairing is sick or injured.
• WIP Progress - Still working on the novelette. I've been finding the time, though sometimes it seems to take a whole search party. When it's turned up, though, I've made the most of it. The fraction has been stuck at 2/3 because really, I wasn't at 2/3 before. It turned out a little longer than anticipated (I was thinking short story, and ended up with novelette). I'm still plugging away and got my 6 pages in this week.
• Blogging - This makes 1 here, and I had 2 on my gaming site. I did make an additional personal post (there's a lot going on there, which explains the lack in other areas). I'm not modifying the goal, because I want to keep shooting for 3, I just wasn't able to hit it last week. I have several post ideas started, just need to find the time to write them. I prioritize my WIP over my blogging when they come in direct conflict, and such was the case for most of the last seven days. Fortunately, things should start looking up in this department.

That's really all I have. Let's do a quick word count and get back to work:

• Since last check in (two weeks): 3,208
• New Fiction: 1,727
• Round 1 Total: 34,522

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#ROW80 - Only Mildly Angsty

Last week was the emotional roller coaster that I thought it would be. I got done both more than I thought I would and less that I would have liked. Figure that one out. Work has been busy, too (hence the late posting today), so I'll keep this short. Here are the goals:

• Lesson Learned - The length of different works. See the post I made yesterday. My short story was getting long and I wondered what, exactly, I was supposed to be calling it. Wikipedia to the rescue!
• WIP Progress - I decided the length is going to make my dare story into a novelette. I hacked out another 5 pages, so on target here, though I wanted to have more done.
• Blogging - I did all my blogging early last week in anticipation of being busy the rest of the time. I was only able to squeeze out one post on each blog, two here if you include this. I knocked out my personal post as well, so not bad. A little short, but that was to be expected.

Blogging may continue to be rough it work keeps up the pressure. Home has also been busy. For the long version, feel free to check out my personal blog, but basically my wife had a spinal tap (lumbar puncture) this week. That basically laid her up for a day and I was in manservant mode. I put my WIP ahead of my blogging (for obvious reasons), and it shows. Still, I feel that my priorities are in the right place, so I'm not really angsty about it.

A quick link today before I leave you with the word count. There's a self-publishing survey out there. The point is to collect some "real" data on the current state of self-publishing. From an academic standpoint, I'm always interested in numbers and trends and such, though they don't always tell the full story. Still, I wanted to pass along the link for the survey and a description of what the study is about for any and all that are interested.

That's it from me!

• Since last check in (two weeks): 3,351
• New Fiction: 1,690
• Round 1 Total: 31,314

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What Am I Buying?

Chalk this up under the "Public Service Announcement" heading. In the rapidly changing world of commercial ebooks, there are a whole lot of "new" terms being bandied about. I quotationalize (Yeah, that's not a real word. But it should be) "new" because the terms may only be new to me. Even so, as a long time, avid reader, I suspect I'm not the only one scratching my head a bit when I hear these labels.

What am I talking about? The classification of a story's length, of course.

At top, we have novels. Easy so far. Then, the novella. Okay, got that. Then, the novelette... is this like a cutesy novel? And, finally, the short story (eschewing the "novel" theme we had going). Every once in a while, you may even see flash fiction, too. Frankly, these are all just terms for story, long story, longer story, even longer story, and so on. But which falls where on the spectrum? Or, more importantly, I'm about to plunk down $5 straight cash for this bundle of words... is it worth it?

If you claim to know the exact length parameters for each of these works, I'll assume you're either a publishing insider, agent, or professional writer. As a reader, I never really had a reason to care. Before now, 99.9% of what I consumed were novels. In more recent digital days, however, shorter works seem to be gaining a lot of popularity, and it's easy to understand why. Now that things aren't so expensive to produce and easy for readers to find/download, why not check out shorter works? No two readers are exactly alike, and some may prefer quicker stories over the time-investment of novels. What's more, this preference may vary minute-by-minute, hour-by-hour.

As a learning writer, I've struggled to understand the distinctions. Maybe I'm breaking every rule known to writerly man, but I'm pretty sure you don't have to know exactly how long a story is going to be before you tell it. In fact, I've experienced some stories (especially verbal ones) where I'm pretty sure the teller didn't consider length before starting at all. (Also, quite frankly, I'm probably guilty of this one often.)

Now, I've known from the outset that a novel is basically anything over 50k words. Even that is debatable, but it seems a good rule of thumb. What I wanted to do here, then, for both myself and anyone else who may read this, is to write a quick-and-dirty guide to help all of us understand just what exactly am we're getting if we buy a story type we have little experience with.

This is by no means definitive, but I think it'll suffice for most readers and probably most writers as well. The "validity" of your length may vary widely on genre, so this is more specifically targeting science fiction and fantasy writers (I'm using mostly the SFWA definitions here).

• Novel - Anything larger than 40k (so 50k is a safe assumption, it seems).
• Novella - 17,500 and 40,000 words.
• Novelette - 7,500 and 17,499 words.
• Short Story - Up to 7,500 words. Anything under 1,000 can also be referred to as Flash Fiction, which is a subset of the Short Story.

Simple, right? Not really, since all of this is completely subject to personal/group opinions. Different writing groups may define things with different slices. At the very least, though, we can get a general idea of what the length of the work will be. This puts us in the proverbial ballpark.

For instance, I say I'm writing a short story dare, but what I really should be saying is "novelette" dare. I've just crossed the 7,500 word threshold and have a bit of story left. I anticipate being around the 15k mark. That's totally "short" for me, but almost double a typical short story. If I'm going to be fair to my reader, I should be sure to call it a novelette. (To be double sure, I'll also list the word count, though most readers will end up asking for pages. The problem with pages is that they vary widely based on the consumption medium. Printed pages can be very different from ereader pages. Word count is really the only consistent measurement.)

Anyway, I hope this helps a bit. At the very least, I'll feel more comfortable when I see these terms slung about. In an ideal world, ebook descriptions will contain this information. After all, if you can physically see the book, how do you have any clue how long it is? I think classifications like these will only increase in importance as the consumption of digital books rises.

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#ROW80 - The Calm Before

Services for my Aunt are scheduled for tomorrow and Friday. I'm taking the next two days off and I expect them to be a whirlwind of emotions and familiar faces. It's highly likely I'll squeeze in some writing (emotional times tend to be fertile soil for writing, plus it's a release for me), but it won't be online. As such, I buckled down and knocked posts out early this week, so I'm in good shape. My short story is nearly complete, and I'm hoping to finish the first draft this weekend. I'm still staying productive despite life's speed bumps.

Let's look at the goals:

• Lesson Learned - I wrote some on what Voice means to me yesterday. I'll point to that as my lesson for the week: a deeper understanding of Voice and its importance to my writing.
• WIP - I've made some more progress on my short story to the tune of 6 pages. That's right on target. I think I'd officially setting the pace at 1 page/day with two days off, so I'm technically one page ahead, but short story writing is quicker than when I'm working on a novel.
• Blogging - 4/3 on the gaming blog and this will make 4/3 here. I threw up a personal post as well, just in time for the month to flip. I've got another one in the hopper for Feb, too, so I'm good there.

Goals are good. Progress is good. Weekend is going to be rough, but at least I've gotten all my work in order so that I can focus on the important thing: family. If you're like me, then this is important. Despite my best intentions, I would angst about my writing progress all weekend even with completely valid excuses. It's better, then, to work with my nature instead of against. Get the work done early; get it out of the way.

That's all for now. Let's check out the word count:

• Since last check in (two weeks): 5,057
• New Fiction: 1,711
• Round 1 Total: 27,963

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My Favorite Compliment

Even as a learning author, I get a lot of compliments on my writing. Generally from family and friends - so nothing that's going to make me an overnight sensation - but appreciated nonetheless. Part of my love affair with writing is couched firmly in the realm of "daddy issues." My father, before he passed away, was a typical man when it came to feelings. Men of his generation generally didn't sit you down and ask what was going on, even if you were teary-eyed. Especially if you were teary-eyed. (They'd be more likely to scream for their wife, amirite fellas?)

Yet, for all of his seeming emotional stonewalling, my father was a deeply caring man. I learned this not through the sometimes awkward coming of age tales, or the shoulder pats and head-rubs (of which there were enough, if not "many.") No, what my father did, when there was something particularly emotional to share, was write me notes.

Typically, I think he did these in the wee hours of the morning, when everyone else was still asleep and he was consuming his traditional bowl of cereal. (Cereal, every morning, for years.) Neither my father nor I are very good "morning people." Our mannerisms are best compared to a bear whose winter slumber has just been cut short by an unwary traveler. We respond to any and all overtures in unintelligible growls, and our visage was plainly taken from the Will Maw Your Face aisle of the Expression Store.

Morning was like a sanctuary for my father, I believe. There was a short span of my life where I also had a job that required early waking and lived at home. In those days, we both snagged food (cereal for him, a pop tart and glass of OJ for me), and sat across from each other at the table. There were few - if any - words. We prepared ourselves mentally for the day to come, and that was that.

I suspect now that it was during these AM reflection periods (the ones without me, that is) that he wrote me. He only wrote on special occasions. My birthday. The day I took my driver's test. Before exams or the Big Game. The day I graduated from high school. Or just when he knew I'd been having a particularly rough week.

The paper was yellow, likely from a run-of-the-mill legal pad (though my father was not a lawyer). The writing rarely filled more than half of the page. It was always in ink, most often black, though occasionally blue or red. Never green. Or pink. The note would turn up hidden in my lunch, or taped to the computer monitor (I was obsessive about checking my email even then), or near the pop tarts. A place I would be sure to find the words before school. And with those words, I heard his voice. It was as clear as if he were standing next to me, passing along his support or wisdom, whatever the case required. It was a helluva lot more effective and comfortable, too. For both of us.

As I've studied the craft of writing, Voice is something that keeps popping up. I read another good article about it just a few minutes ago. It seems to be one of the most difficult things to describe or learn, yet one of the most important tools in a writer's toolbox. My favorite compliment from the readers that know me, then, is one I actually get often: "I have to admit, it's a little freaky because I could hear your voice the whole time I was reading." Sometimes I'm not sure if its meant entirely as a compliment. From a relative, it may be more like: "Well the romance scenes were sort of awkward because I kept hearing you.... but good." Which, let me say, is likely the right response. It would probably be weird if it wasn't awkward.

As far as I know, my father never trained or studied writing. Perhaps the clarity of the voice in his notes was because of that, rather than in spite of it. Traditionally trained writers can sometimes get mired in the mechanics of the craft, and forget about the art. In any case, I seem to have inherited the ability, and it is perhaps one of the qualities I'm most protective and proud of in my writing. I may not be the most polished in other areas, but I want you, the reader, to be able to hear my voice in everything I write. My father wrote to his son; I'm writing to readers. (I suspect if/when I eventually have a son of my own, I'll find the former more difficult.)

Voice is very important to me, and the more I learn, the more I believe that importance to be well-founded, but it would be a lie to claim that I'd recognized that from the start. Really, I just wanted to relate to people in the same way my father had related to me. It is one of the reasons I dedicated my first book to him. What you read in my books is pretty much how I tell stories in real life - as many of my friends and relatives can attest - and I plan to keep it that way. I guess not all "daddy issues" are bad.

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My Aunt Linda

Posting may be sporadic from me this week. My Aunt lost her battle with cancer over the weekend. My other Aunt already put up a nice little post with some pictures, so I'll link there. She was someone I was close to, so obviously that's the focus this week. She's been called home, and we need to be there to see her off properly.

I'm going to write a proper piece on my personal blog at some point after I've processed my feelings, but it felt right to put something up on here. My Aunt Linda was, after all, very supportive of my writing. She'd begged me on several occasions to "next time write something without vampires." They were too scary for her. Unfortunately, it seems like I was too slow.

Once I get this next book out (Fates' Motif: the first one without vampires, mind you), it's going to be dedicated to her with the tag line: "Hopefully there's a good techie with wings up there to help convert this to an h-book. You know, for her Angel Reader." Because I'm silly like that. Also, there has to be books in heaven, right? It just wouldn't be heaven for me without books...

For the record: heavenly formatted books have no typos, no plot holes, and no horrible cliches. It is known.

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Page 1 of The Dare

I'm feeling a bit lazy today and since I've been talking about my short story, I figured I'd put up the first page for free perusal. It seemed to fit well into a post and I was editing it anyway, so here you go. Feel free to point out anything egregious. I'll probably end up posting the whole thing on here for free. At least, I want to. The hurdle from my perspective is to be able to post it in easily digestible chunks that aren't completely esoteric. As an avid blog-reader myself, I don't much care for giant walls of story or cryptic excerpts. So we'll see how this sharing goes. If you like/don't like the format, let me know. I've been looking into something like Wattpad too: a place where I could release free versions of my stories in a nice, serial format. One that is friendly to the form.

I'm just calling this "The Dare" for now, but I'll settle on a proper title when it's finished. Anyway, here we go...

Mark

The bell above the door rang, signifying a new customer.

"How about this guy?" Sally asked.

Mark sized up the man. He wore a colorful ski jacket, open at the neck despite the chill. As he entered, he pulled off his stocking cap and swiped at some snow that had already begun to melt. His brown hair was matted to his forehead and his blue eyes swept swiftly to Action/Adventure section. He walked toward the aisle with a purposeful stride.

"Easy. Spy thriller," Mark answered. "And he'll go to your counter."

They waited for a moment. The man perused the racks of rental movies, eventually snatching one. He flipped it and scanned the back. Looking for more images of the female lead. She would be in a bathing suit, Mark knew.

The man tapped the case twice, turned on the balls of his feet, and made for the checkout counter. He paused after exiting the cinematic canyons--as Mark thought of the racks--and glanced from Sally, to him, and then back at Sally. Mark made it easier on the man; he turned and busied himself with rearranging the stand holding microwave popcorn.

Sally pursed her pouty lips as the man approached. She recited the litany of policies and dates, scanned the movie and the man's card, then removed the plastic security flap.

"Due back next Tuesday," she said with a friendly smile.

The man licked his lips and swallowed before thanking her, trying--but failing--to keep his eyes from sliding to Sally's breasts. A daub of red rose to Sally's cheeks as she noticed, but she said nothing. Mark chuckled to himself. You think she'd be used to that by now.

She led the man around to the exit door and handed him his purchase in a plastic bag. As soon as he was gone, she turned and stuck her tongue out at Mark. He laughed out loud this time.

"I don't like this game," Sally said.

"That's because I always win," Mark pointed out.

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#ROW80 - A Seedling Bursts Through

Life has not relented. In fact, I rather suspect that it has decided to press its advantage. We still have the health issues, and then the Day Job decided that they wanted to take this opportunity to shift my position around. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, as I welcome the new challenge. Just... change is stressful, and I wasn't really looking for more stress. When it rains, it pours, right?

Since I skipped it last week, let's take a proper look at the goals this week:

• Lesson Learned - Short Stories are fun to write. May seem like a silly lesson, but I've never been a big short story reader and never anticipated writing them. My brain just works better with novel-sized plots, which may be odd. Still, my current work on the dare has been quite enjoyable. And with the whole Book Revolution, short story popularity has skyrocketed; there is totally a market for these (where there wasn't as much of one before). This was an unanticipated path in my plan, but consider me pleasantly surprised by my feelings.
• Project Writing - Working on the short story, in the last two weeks I've hammered out 13 pages. I also wrote the first two pages of my next novel (just to get started). Normally, I'm pretty evenly paced in my writing, but the short story has come out in concentrated bursts. With 15 total pages, I blew right by my goal of a page a day with two days off (by 5 pages!). This surprises me because I wasn't really keeping track, just writing when the mood hit me and I had time. On the other hand, I guess it shouldn't because I generally write more when I'm stressed (it's always been a release).
• Blogging - 6/6 in two weeks on the gaming blog. This'll be 7/6 on here in two weeks. I need to make a personal post, but I've been waiting for the health issues to shake out.

So, really, despite my moaning last week, I've destroyed these goals. Now, generally I expect to meet and exceed the goals each week. That is to say, I didn't make "stretching" goals this round because I recognize my stress is already way up there. When life calms, then I'll try to stretch, but until then, it's just about keeping on keeping on. 

I think the decision to go outside my box and do this short story thing is really the key to my success early on this year. The relaxing thing about short stories is that, well, they're short. That is, it's not expect to have a ton of world-building or back-story or whatever. You don't have time for all that. The focus is on setting up characters, roping in the reader, and finishing off the plot before you get too wordy. It's sort of like paring a novel down to its bare bones, shrinking the plot, and then just writing. This isn't to say I'm "half assing" it or anything, just that, uh, short stories are not as much work as a novel. I guess that's sort of a "no duh" statement, but its been a refreshing realization for me. One that has bumped my output in a time where I would likely struggle to focus on a larger project.

I guess that's a bonus lesson for today: for all you writers out there, if you find yourself in a situation where you're having trouble focusing on larger projects (that you've convinced yourself you need to do), don't be afraid to "take a break" on a smaller project. It can really serve to smooth out the shakes of writing withdrawal.

Before I leave, I want to give to shout outs. First, to fellow ROWer Gene Lempp, for what I thought was a wonderfully written article this Monday. That's exactly how I feel, especially right now. In a way, the short story thing is part of the regenerative process of my creative soil. (Not to be confused with creative soiling, which is a different thing entirely). Poop jokes aside, the point is that this article hit at the perfect time for me, where I'm feeling like a somewhat functional example.

Second, my Aunt Annie has just begun a blog. I wanted to throw her some link love because it's her first blog, and I'd like to think I was at least a little bit inspirational in her starting it. (She's been one of my biggest supports of this whole writing adventure, and writing is something we've discussed at length at many a family gathering). Today she was sharing her latest cooking adventure. She'll also be writing about scrapbooking and does a fair bit of genealogy for our family. If any of that interests you, dear reader, feel encouraged to pop in and say "hi." She's a big reader and wants to hone her writing skills in hopes of someday attempting a book. I think I may try to convince her to join the ROW challenge next, but I'll save that for a future family gathering.

One of my favorite side effects of this whole Internet thing (specifically: how it has impacted writers) is that it seems like more people than ever are braving the world of public writing for the very first time. To me, that's just awesome. Twenty years ago, none of this was possible. None of use would have been online, sharing ideas and encouragement. Support groups and writing in general was a lot harder to get into. We all did it in secret notebooks that we swore we'd never share with anyone, or whatever.

After I completed my first book, my cousin was reading it and her young daughter asked her what she was reading. She explained about the book and who wrote it. Her daughter, in the way of children, immediately decided that she wanted to be a writer someday, too. Just existing, putting our words out there can be an inspiration (even for someone that didn't actually read a word I wrote). What an awesome feeling.

There are a lot of days where I wish someone had told me when I was little that I could be a writer. For so long, writer was firmly ensconced in my mind right next to "penniless vagrant." It wasn't a real job. It was just something I did for fun in secret. There wasn't a real career path, a real future. You couldn't hope to support a family on writing unless you got really really lucky (or knew someone, or were famous already). Pick something with promise, with opportunity, they'd say.

Now, opportunity is knocking. It still takes a lot of work and probably some luck along the way, but I think it's a lot easier to dare to dream the dream. Even if you don't make it a career, even if it is only ever just a side passion, you can find an audience. You can share ideas with complete strangers, and form bonds through words. I'm excited both for myself and for future generations. What a cool time to be a writer!

See what I mean about writing bursts? Sheesh. It's time to end this lengthy check-in. Here's the word count:

• Since last check in (two weeks): 16,048
• New Fiction: 4,713
• Round 1 Total: 22,906

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Character Closeup: Sharee Swift

Back to the characters of Fates' Motif for a day. I'm hoping to get the edits for the books back within the next week or so. As such, I'm expecting to be able to publish it within the first couple weeks of February. The first novel I published took me years to stumble through and work up the courage to share. This second book is better and quicker for the meanderings of the first, and I'm redefining my process with each release. It's been a great learning experience, and I need to remember to focus on the lessons in times when I'm impatient (which, let's face it, is pretty much always).

But this is about Sharee, the female lead in the novel. I mentioned in Werim's closeup that not only is Sharee his sister, but she serves as co-protagonist for the story. Basically, I took this brother/sister team and attempted to have them walk the same route from opposing viewpoints. Where Werim's path of self-discovery would resemble a stair-step, Sharee is more of a smooth ramp.

Sharee has shoulder-length auburn hair and forest-green eyes, just like her mother. She's thin as a rod, though a lot more graceful than her brother. Growing up, she generally wanted to have shorter hair and wear the same clothes as her brother. All of the other girls in their village are either older or younger than Sharee by several years, which suited her just fine as she'd rather tag along with her brother and his friend on their adventures in the woods.

She often finds herself straddling the world of a child and a young woman. She feels like she needs to keep her brother in line, though part of her always wanted to "be bad" right along with him. She turns 16 early in the novel, and her mother surprises her with some unexpected one-on-one time.

As the story progresses, Sharee displays a passion for learning and an insatiable curiosity, especially with regards to the forest. She's stronger than she gives herself credit for, and every bit as brave as her brother, though she would never cop to it. She's the more introspective of the two, and often gets a bit reflective after the rush of events.

Sharee easily embraces who and what she is. She is equal parts healer and warrior, and will defend those she loves without a second thought. Still, she isn't as completely in control as she would have others believe. Her emotions often get the best of her, especially when tired, though she tries hard not to whine and would prefer that the world not witness any tears.

Though she is capable of leading, Sharee is just as happy following. She's not afraid to question a plan, but respects the knowledge others bring to the table. She is but one instrument among many, and each voice adds value to the greater symphony. (She often feels that her brother is quite loud, though.)

My favorite scene from Sharee isn't until the very end. It sort of snuck up on me as much as it did her. Any time you can have a character blow up half of a building, I think you should, you know, go ahead and write that scene. Just a personal preference.

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The Dare

I mentioned on Friday that a friend had commissioned a story about a pantsless vampire. Today I wanted to share the blurb he gave me and some of our initial brainstorming about it. I'm a little over a third of the way done with story. It'll be short and fun.

Side note: in case you were curious (as I was), pantsless seems to be the popular term over pantless. Neither will earn you points in Scrabble, Words with Friends, or the Chrome spellchecker. Use at your own peril.

The very first incarnation of the blurb is as follows:

The Vampire LeGar terrorizes the city of Houston for months on end. Amateur sleuths Sally and Mark think they've uncovered his one weakness. Is the information credible? Are they intrepid enough to catch a vampire? Can they get him to sit still long enough to put on pants?

 Mind you, he threw this blurb out at me on the spot, off the cuff/wall/pants. Still, we decided that part of the challenge is to try to make the story fit the blurb as closely as possible. In that regard, I feel like I'm reverse engineering a story, and it's kind of a neat way to go about it.

Even so, there were a few changes I suggested that he accepted. First of all, I decided to move the setting further north. I'm not sure I need to nail it down yet, but I have somewhere like the greater Chicagoland area in mind. Not only do I know the area, but they get lots of snow and wind. My friend's dare was to fabricate a believable story based on an absurd premise. I felt it would serve us to make the pantslessness (also not accepted in Scrabble) more profound by sticking our poor vampire in a cold, snowy, winter climate. Sorry Houston, but we have a problem there.

Otherwise, the rough plot I worked out incorporates everything else. I may be stretching "terrorize" a bit. There are only a few deaths. I didn't have the time to build up a long history of mysterious disturbances (this is a short story after all). Also, in conversing with him about the proposed plot, we came up with a twist. It plays on the blurb a bit, but does not invalidate it.

It's been a fun process and now I just need to knock it out. I'm anticipating only around 10k words, so it shouldn't take too long. The chaotic nature of life at the moment has been mucking with my writing time, but I've squeeze in here and there. If I don't wrap it up this week, then I'm shooting for the next. I think I like this whole short story thing...

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A Story Dare

Officially, I'm currently stuck in this "in between" area of writing. I have one project out with editors, extremely close to release. I have another that I've outlined and research and am ready to write, but I find myself reluctant to get in too deep until the other is finished. Thus, I was just sort of dabbling around, trying not to waste time, when I got into a fruitful conversation with a friend.

We were talking about art and the whole patron system of the Renaissance. You know, when people with money used to throw it at starving artists to support the arts and perhaps get a painting or two out of it. Or a symphony. Point being, I was opining that (apart from treating everything with leeches) "those were the days."

In a way, the Internet is bringing the patron system up to date. It's getting easier and easier for an artist to get online and advertise specific products. People can very easily commission custom artwork (whether it be impressionist art, or a hand-painted My Little Pony) with nothing but a mouse and a credit card. And it supports the artist. It's a win-win.

I told my friend that it would be neat if we could do the same thing with writers. That is, what if your favorite author was open to creating a story just for you and all you had to do was pay them X amount of money? Sort of a commission system for authors, though I think of it more as a retainer. For giggles, I threw out a $5 starting point.

Backstory: My friend and I have an inside joke. He's not very fond of vampire stories, and I've tried like hell to sell him mine. He's a traditional fantasy reader, so he views urban fantasy sort of how "manly" men view a Nora Roberts novel. Because of my clumsy salesmanship, he finally told me that the only way he'd read a vampire novel is if the vampire's power was based on being pantsless. Yes, you read that right: he is only interested in a vampire without pants on. By his reckoning, such a silly premise would make a vampire story worth reading.

So, it makes a bit more sense then, that he responded to my commission idea with: "Heck, I'd commission a story about a pantsless vampire for $5." I took that as a challenge. I said "commission accepted," and off we went. We went back and forth on what would be a good starting point, and settled on: he would give me a blurb, and my job would be to write a short story from that blurb. Pretty simple, right?

Personally, I've found this idea hugely exciting. It's challenging as a writer to try and take someone else's story idea, and make it work. We agreed that the story had to make sense, had to be cohesive and coherent. While the concept may be ridiculous, the execution shouldn't be. I can definitely use humor, but it's not just going to be slapstick hour.

The cool part is that, if it goes well, after I'm done I can offer it through all my various outlets for 99 cents, forever. In my mind, this makes a commission system completely viable. Though, to be clear, it's less of a commission (where the payer might expect to get the sales rights), that it is a dare or challenge. It still seems win-win, though. The payee gets the story they want, I get a fun idea to play with and sell. Chances are, if one person finds something entertaining, there will be others out there, and even if not, it's good practice.

I suppose things could get crazy if I were, like, George RR Martin. I'd imagine the requests would be overwhelmingly plentiful. How to choose, in that case? My idea there would be to take a page from the Piano Man's book. If you've ever been to a piano bar, you know that they play requests based on the size of the tip (when there's a queue, the minimum if no line). So, while I may have plenty of time to squeeze in my one request, I could imagine a situation where a bidding war for an author's time happens. That'd be fun, right? (And to make it fair, the author would return the unused bids.) It's sort of like an Ebay-style, Crowd Sourced Patronage Program.

Anyway, we'll see how it goes, and more specific info to follow. I've written the first 1/3 of the story, and it's been a lot of fun, at least. There's a great, growing market for short stories right now, and they're rather fun and simple to write. I love novels, don't get me wrong, but I'm finding that weaving in a short story is both a different kind of challenge and a bit relaxing. It's a whole lot easier to "pants" a short story than it is a novel, and requires an efficient storytelling that stretches me as a writer.

I've added the dare to my current projects list. I expect to knock out this short story before I get my edits back from my novel. It's a perfect little side project to squeeze in. If all goes well, I think the $5 dare is something I'd like to offer to any of my readers in the future. I'll share the blurb he gave me on Monday and explain a little more about the process to further illustrate this idea, but what do you think, dear reader? Would you pay $5 for a custom short story from your favorite (or just this random) author?

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#ROW80 - Still Alive

My comments will be protracted today. Not because they were censored by SOPA/PIPA - though that is a future danger that we should all consider - but instead because I'm doing the whole "taking care of more important things" that I mentioned last week. I wanted to at least pop in though.

I wrote some (I'll add it up next week). I blogged some (I think I may have been short). I'm sure I learned something, but I can't really regurgitate it right now. I gained a year (as of yesterday).

But, above all, I'm still alive (if you're a Portal fan, you'll love the link. Otherwise, you'll probably just think I'm weird. Either way: for my birthday, the cake was not a lie. It was ice cream cake. Yum.) Just wanted to go on record with that. See y'all next week!

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To The Birthday Wallers

Ima go a bit off topic today. That is, this is a personal musing, and only tangentially related to writing or my books. Not that I expect anyone will have a problem with this, just figured I'd preface it. As an author, I enjoy a good preface. Not as cool as a preamble, but those are a bit classy for me.

Anyway, today is my birthday. *Confetti*

I've found there are two schools of thought about birthdays. There are the folks that think it should be a special day and want to throw you a party. Then, there are the folks that treat them pretty much like every other other day (with perhaps some well wishes). Unfortunately, I'm a member of the latter, even including my own day.

Maybe it's sad, but I don't really feel any different on my birthday. Perhaps a bit older, but after you gain the ability to legally drink (21 is a big age in the US. Not sure how other folks might feel) there's not a whole lot to look forward to. I passed the "rental car milestone" a couple years ago. Its uphill until 40. Then, what? Senior discount age? Woo boy.

That's really depressing, isn't it? My apologies. Birthdays can be great fun, and I don't mean to to be so blue. I actually wish I were more like the first group, but it's something I never really could convince myself of. Don't get me wrong, when it's your birthday, I'll totally throw a few back with you. I'll even buy the beer. Then again, I'd probably buy you a beer today if you asked nicely. I'm that kind of guy. (Plus, you know, buying beer is still pretty cool... see the aforementioned 21 y/o milestone.)

One of the newer traditions I've noticed is what I'll call the Birthday Wall. It happens on Facebook. People you may not have even met somehow are alerted to your day, and magically show up on your wall, wishing you a swell aging process. Don't ask me how this happens. I'm guessing a lot of these people are of the "special day" group. It's important, then, that they stop by and throw out a greeting. And it does make me smile. Who doesn't like being wished well? So mischief managed, you Birthday Wallers, you. I appreciate the thought, no matter how brief.

Yet, the cynical part of me wants to be a bit uncouth. Before you judge, though, follow my logic. I dislike my day job. We don't really get along. I'm rapidly discovering I'm not a day job kind of guy. It's part of my drive behind this whole writing gig. 9-5 just rubs me wrong. I work in fits and starts. Creative bursts of energy. Not steadily over 8 hours. (Incidentally, if/when I make it to a point where I can drop the day job, I still plan to try to spend 8 hours a day on my writing career. I already treat it like a second job, logging hours daily... but I'm much better at harnessing my own finicky productive time than any manager could ever hope to be.)

Point being, when it's your birthday, people often ask what you want, sometimes without any intent of actually getting it for you. (Like, if I said I wanted a golden toilet seat, I'd hope no one is going to shell out for that... it's silly, and not worth it.) What I really want, though, is to not do this day job thingy. Actually, I'm taking tomorrow off as a gift to myself (tomorrow worked out better).

So, when I see the Birthday Wall Phenomenon (BWP), what I want to do is say: Okay, all you folks who are stopping by, what you need to do now is take out an envelope, find a dollar bill, and slip it in there. Then, mail it to... but that's not cool, right? How I was raised, it was considered a bit tacky to ask for money. It was okay if someone asked your mother: "What does Matt want for his birthday? Oh, just get him money. He's unimaginative like that." But if you asked for it, that was rude.

Here's the rub: who doesn't like getting money for their birthday? Honestly, now. Please. Stand up. No one?

The richest I ever felt as a kid was always the day after my birthday. I used to make plans all year, and then BAM... birthday money.  As an adult, with a "real" job, people don't really give you money anymore. It's just another perk of getting older (right up there with the rental cars). You can provide for yourself. It should be about the wishes, right? RIGHT? (Don't lie, you'd still take $1 if grandma was sending it in a card... and probably not even read the card! You jerk.)

Is it any surprise that I want to say: thanks, love you too, gimme a dollar? But since that's rude, I decided to be creative. What I should say, instead, is: give me five dollars. Still sounds rude, I know... so I'm going to cloak it: I'll trade you a book for $5.

See what I did there? My book is only $5, and - what's more - you get something out of it, too. To be fair, a lot of the Wallers have probably already bought my book. That's okay, I can be even more creative. If that's your situation... buy the book and then GIVE IT AS A GIFT TO THE NEXT POOR SOD. See? Everyone's a winner! Two birds with one stone!

Okay, okay. I'm just playing around here. I don't want to be rude. You don't have to buy anything. I'm just pleased as punch to have people that care enough to stop by and wall me. But if you want to know what I want this year? Ditch the day job. Write full time. That's what I want. Probably won't happen this year. I've got a ways to go yet, but damn would that be a good gift, and every little bit helps. Is it weird to ask for a career change for your birthday?

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Character Closeup: Werim Swift

I'm going to get back into doing character closeups now that my second release is nearing completion. For the curious, it's looking like I'm not targeting the first week of February to make the book available. The issues I mentioned on Wednesday have made a habit of getting in the way, but I'm hopeful we'll be able to push through. I'm really anxious to share the story.

In the mean time, I'll introduce you to some of the characters. I'll try to do at least one per week. Today we'll start with Werim Swift.

The challenge I made to myself when I started writing this book was to try and have two equally weighted protagonists. Werim is one half of that pair, his sister Sharee being the other. Werim is a 16 year-old boy with curly black hair and hazel eyes. He turned 16 several months before the start of the book. He's tall and lanky, in that awkward, teenage-growth-spurt sense.

The story starts in the mountain village of Kokamongo, where Werim and Sharee live with their parents. Werim starts off on the childish end of the spectrum, having not really had to face any adversity in his life up until this point. For his 16th birthday, he receives a sword. He approaches swordplay the same as he did playing with sticks in the woods as a kid. It's simply something to do for fun, and a challenge to win.

He idolizes his father and torments his sister. When their father leaves for an extended period of time, Werim's taunting gets worse, and he has some clashes with his mother as well. He doesn't really like being the "man of the house," as a lot of the heavier chores fall to him. It is a role he accepts, just not with a great attitude.

Early on, Werim displays a willingness to break the rules. He gets into trouble stealing bread from the local baker, and apologizes when forced by his mother, doing chores at the bakery to compensate. It isn't until the village is razed by invaders that he begins to realize the things he's taken for granted.

As the story progress, we see Werim mature begrudgingly. Where his sister accepts life's lessons with grace, Werim fights every note. He learns in fits and starts. He's a bit of a reluctant hero, though he does take his responsibility to his family seriously. His sister looks up to him, and - while he still may like to tease her - he accepts his role as big brother and protector.

Werim's cleverness begins to assert itself later on, and it becomes apparent that he takes after his father. "More guts than wits," is what his mother says of them both. Werim's not yet met a fight he doesn't think he can win or a situation he can't weasel his way out of. Werim's belief in himself and his abilities is tested throughout the story.

As a kid, he'd dreamed of adventure, but when adventure finds him, he can't help but long for the simplicity he's lost. Unfortunately, there is no turning back. Pressed onward, he has no choice but to grow up and face the future that the Fates have in store for him.

My favorite scene of Werim's involves a stolen cask of rum, shared with a friend under the starry night sky. Mind you, neither of them had tried hard alcohol before. I discovered that I rather like getting my characters drunk. May have to do it more often...

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