I'm as excited as the next guy or gal about the possibilities of e-publishing, but I have to admit a new fear: e-book theft.
This is not your run-of-the-mill piracy. That I can handle. There are two major camps on this older issue: 1) Anger over lost revenue because people are sharing your book and not paying you for it; 2) Excitement because it means your book is being read by more people. More people = more fans, and thus more readers and potential buyers for future products.
Yeah, I'm more in camp 2 on this point, and I think it's just an inevitable part of the business.
But I'm talking about something else here entirely, and it scares the heebie-jeebies (sp?) out of me. E-book theft is when someone takes your digital book and reposts it online under their name. In other words, they've stolen your book and selling it as their own.
And it's on the rise. Dave Farland in his Daily Kick yesterday talked about one 'author' who had stolen 350 titles and reposted them as his own e-book.
That's so outrageous it makes me more than angry. It makes me highly anxious over what may happen to the budding industry, to new authors with little clout to go after such thieves, especially in lawless lands like China where US copyright law has no power. Remember when the unauthorized Harry Potter book 7 came out before the official release date? The one with Gandalf in it?
Just in case you think I'm overreacting, read this article on "Spam Clogging Amazon's Kindle Self-publishing."
Scary because we might lose control over our own product, our own revenue, and even our own names.
It's also scary because it will impact how Amazon handles self-pubs. It will impact other sales vehicles, like Smashwords and B&N. And it will eventually, but quickly, impact how we as e-authors want to market and sell our books.
Suddenly I'm wondering if the big publishers won't find their own niche in this new world faster than we thought. If they can find a way to fight this kind of piracy successfully, they will have given themselves an edge they so desperately need.
We'll have to stand fast and find a way to beat these new nemeses.
As for me, I'm still working on option 3--the one I told you about a few posts ago. Don't worry, I'll reveal those plans soon!
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Thursday, June 23, 2011
J.K. Rowling on the Future of E-Books
I find this fascinating. Print books will never die, and I think we must continue to use them as part of our marketing strategy, but e-books just keep gaining traction and power. I think more and more we need to consider the e-world and consider following in J.K. Rowling's footsteps, same as others.
She owns the digital rights to her books and stands to make a killing. Consider this: she doesn't have to pay Amazon.com a penny. So while most of us rush to Amazon to sell our books on the Kindle and earn 35% to 70% royalties, she's going to earn 100% royalties minus fees to pay for the site, which, of course, will be hugely interactive and popular.
The rise of e-books means greater control of product and marketing. That means we all stand to gain from sending people to our own websites and imprints. Of course, most of us will want to continue to use Amazon.com, Smashwords, and the other web portals that have marketing power and clout.
But at the same time, sell them from your own website. Find ways to attract readers there. For example, sell them from your website at a slight discount. If you sell a book for a dollar at Amazon, but only 50 cents at your website, you still earn more from your own site based on Amazon's pricing structure, and you will likely garner more sales from your site that way than you would otherwise. The same concepts, with different numbers, work with books at $2.99 at Amazon versus, say, $2.50 at your site.
You have to keep in mind the power of high sales at Amazon and consider what sending sales to your site means. Perhaps your site is interactive, engaging, and interesting, and the sales there are mostly part of your offering to fans--ease of purchase and pricing, etc., while you still promote Amazon.
No one has the clout of J.K. Rowling, the kind of clout where you can sell exclusively through your own site. But that should be a central part of your arsenal.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Story Structure, Character Structure
The past two weeks I've taken off from writing and planning book two in the Lizzie Peterson saga. In part that's because I just needed a break from editing, in part because I was deep into writing several articles for my day job as a writer and editor, and in part because I'm doing some serious research into story structure. Oh, and into publishing, but that's a different post.I've been studying Larry Brooks' book, Story Engineering: Mastering the 6 Core Competencies of Successful Writing. You can see the cover to the right.
Larry has some very inventive ideas about what makes up a story, character, theme, conflict, concept, and structure. It's got me thinking and rethinking and thinking some more. That's the danger with doing too much research into how to craft stories! ;-)
So, combine this with Dan Wells' presentation at BYU's LTUE symposium two years ago, and you have two very nice approaches to the craft of story. Add Katherine Farmer's research on characters (no direct link to her, but a summary at my friend, Matt Tandy's blog), and you have several key concepts to consider when writing.
What I like about Larry's book, especially when I incorporate my own ideas and others' on story, is that it has the potential to make writing much, much more efficient, powerful, and engaging on all levels.
I'm naturally gifted at plot and dialogue, but I struggle a bit with character (except strong female characters, interestingly enough) and theme.
Now, I'm beginning to see how to see, delve into, and craft an entire world story before I even begin to type it. It's a fascinating journey.
So, if you are interested in really improving your craft, I recommend studying (not reading) Larry's book, watching Dan's presentation a few times, and finding someone who can share with you Katherine's methods (I don't want to give too much because she's writing a book on it and that might preempt her. But if you want to get together sometime, I can teach you what I know.)
What you need to understand is that story is structure, as Tracy Hickman and so many have told me. I've blundered my way through enough free writing and enough outlines to story that still lacked something that I've realized there is a deep, compelling need for a story to work on multiple levels.
The master writer, the truly gifted writer, I believe, is gifted not because she just intrinsically knows all this, but because she learns the craft so deeply that she can apply it and exercise it and manipulate it in the creation of the story. And that means fewer revisions, better stories that people want to read, and greater success as a writer.
That's a fantastic goal.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
E-Publish or National Publish? I'll Take Option 3
Two weeks ago, my wife and I spent about 20 minutes in Barnes and Noble, wiling away some time before meeting others for dinner. She had some things to find; I was doing research.
I wanted to find current middle grade and young adult fantasy books that target my current audience. I had two goals: 1. See what is currently competing successfully for market share; 2. Cover analysis.
It took me a while. Things have changed in Barnes and Noble in the last year. I did manage to find a display table toward the back of the store that had plenty to review, but I also noticed that there wasn't quite the selection I had wanted. There were too many nicknacks and doodads.
Still, I didn't think much of it until a conversation with Tracy Hickman this week in which he commented on the same thing. He said that Barnes and Noble, in an attempt to reinvent itself, is becoming a nicknack store as much as anything.
Then there was this interesting post by Kristine Kathryn Rusch: The Business Rusch: Bookstore Observations.
She makes essentially the same observation, only the implications are worse than I had considered. Her conservative estimate is that over the last 10 months (between visits to a B&N) 20% of shelf space has disappeared. But it might be as high as 30%, replaced by the nicknacks, fewer shelves, books placed face out instead of spine out, and much more physical space devoted to Nooks. The result is that there is a lot less room for new authors, older titles by current authors, and even back list by the major hitters.
Sure, more space for Nooks might help sales, despite the irony, but it means less space for physical books.
Woah.
Yeah. Makes me think long and hard about what I want out of a national publisher, or even if I want one. I mean, if I did manage to gain an agent, and then gain a national publisher, and did accept the likely paltry 4 digit advance with no advertising dollars, where would they place the book? Who would find it? How would they sell it?
People aren't browsing in Barnes and Noble like they used to, and the store isn't even catering to that clientele like they did even a year ago.
On the other hand, e-publishing still requires a readership and a target audience of some size. There are some challenges for newbie writers. Even after footing the bill for a professional, market-quality cover (for middle grade fantasy, the market demands art, and that can run $3,000 or more), editing, page layout, and more, I may not have enough e-readers to make a difference or to sell to.
And, my marketing plan needs to get really ramped up to make inroads into buyers.
These are challenges we all face.
So what's the next best option if national publishing isn't going to happen, and e-publishing on its own, even with a POD hard copy available through a source like Createspace.com?
I believe the answer lies somewhere else. One possible solution is a subscription-based serial version of my product.
But I'm not so sure that would work for this age audience. I think they need the benefit of the entire product. Or rather, that's what they will want, whether as a hard copy or e-version.
Option 3? Well, it's a highly unusual venture, something I'd not thought about at all until talking it over with my guru.
I'm not quite ready to tell you what it is--I need a couple of weeks of research and strategic planning to see how viable it is. But I think I may have just found an opportunity that will change the current field. Revolutionary? Yes, and no, and perhaps not a permanent solution, either. But it might be the silver lining I've been looking for--and if it works for me, it should work for you.
I wanted to find current middle grade and young adult fantasy books that target my current audience. I had two goals: 1. See what is currently competing successfully for market share; 2. Cover analysis.
It took me a while. Things have changed in Barnes and Noble in the last year. I did manage to find a display table toward the back of the store that had plenty to review, but I also noticed that there wasn't quite the selection I had wanted. There were too many nicknacks and doodads.
Still, I didn't think much of it until a conversation with Tracy Hickman this week in which he commented on the same thing. He said that Barnes and Noble, in an attempt to reinvent itself, is becoming a nicknack store as much as anything.
Then there was this interesting post by Kristine Kathryn Rusch: The Business Rusch: Bookstore Observations.
She makes essentially the same observation, only the implications are worse than I had considered. Her conservative estimate is that over the last 10 months (between visits to a B&N) 20% of shelf space has disappeared. But it might be as high as 30%, replaced by the nicknacks, fewer shelves, books placed face out instead of spine out, and much more physical space devoted to Nooks. The result is that there is a lot less room for new authors, older titles by current authors, and even back list by the major hitters.
Sure, more space for Nooks might help sales, despite the irony, but it means less space for physical books.
Woah.
Yeah. Makes me think long and hard about what I want out of a national publisher, or even if I want one. I mean, if I did manage to gain an agent, and then gain a national publisher, and did accept the likely paltry 4 digit advance with no advertising dollars, where would they place the book? Who would find it? How would they sell it?
People aren't browsing in Barnes and Noble like they used to, and the store isn't even catering to that clientele like they did even a year ago.
On the other hand, e-publishing still requires a readership and a target audience of some size. There are some challenges for newbie writers. Even after footing the bill for a professional, market-quality cover (for middle grade fantasy, the market demands art, and that can run $3,000 or more), editing, page layout, and more, I may not have enough e-readers to make a difference or to sell to.
And, my marketing plan needs to get really ramped up to make inroads into buyers.
These are challenges we all face.
So what's the next best option if national publishing isn't going to happen, and e-publishing on its own, even with a POD hard copy available through a source like Createspace.com?
I believe the answer lies somewhere else. One possible solution is a subscription-based serial version of my product.
But I'm not so sure that would work for this age audience. I think they need the benefit of the entire product. Or rather, that's what they will want, whether as a hard copy or e-version.
Option 3? Well, it's a highly unusual venture, something I'd not thought about at all until talking it over with my guru.
I'm not quite ready to tell you what it is--I need a couple of weeks of research and strategic planning to see how viable it is. But I think I may have just found an opportunity that will change the current field. Revolutionary? Yes, and no, and perhaps not a permanent solution, either. But it might be the silver lining I've been looking for--and if it works for me, it should work for you.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
New Post on Publishing Possibilities Coming
Hi Folks,
I've been derailed from posting for a few days due to recovery from the flu last week. Nevertheless, I'll be back with a more detailed post in the next 2 days. I've had a great conversation with Tracy Hickman, which has reinvigorated my thoughts about the Indie publishing world. Still heavily invested in the national scene, but I've made some new in-roads elsewhere I'll share in the upcoming post.
For now, thank you to all you new followers! And thanks for those leaving comments on Lisa Mangum's interview. She's quite the fantastic author, editor, and person. Good for you to meet her.
Okay, folks, all for now.
I've been derailed from posting for a few days due to recovery from the flu last week. Nevertheless, I'll be back with a more detailed post in the next 2 days. I've had a great conversation with Tracy Hickman, which has reinvigorated my thoughts about the Indie publishing world. Still heavily invested in the national scene, but I've made some new in-roads elsewhere I'll share in the upcoming post.
For now, thank you to all you new followers! And thanks for those leaving comments on Lisa Mangum's interview. She's quite the fantastic author, editor, and person. Good for you to meet her.
Okay, folks, all for now.
Friday, June 10, 2011
Fantastic Author Friday: Lisa Mangum
Hi Folks,
We have an incredible interview for you today: Lisa Mangum, author of the Hourglass Door trilogy. Lisa's books have won ForeWord YA book of the year, and have already established quite a following. Placement alongside Stephanie Meyer books at Wal-Mart can't hurt! Lisa's 3rd book, The Forgotten Locket, is now available.
Joshua: So, Lisa, we're glad to have you here. Please tell us a little bit about yourself.
Lisa: I suppose I could just copy and paste my official author bio that appears on my books, but that seems like cheating. So here are a few things about me that you may or may not already know. I’m a book lover, and I’m an editor for a publishing company. My first paying job was at a library, but I quit at the end of the summer because I couldn’t handle the fact that people kept bringing the books back. I don’t wear high heels. I don’t like seafood. I love using different colored paper clips when I’m working on a project. And, oh, yes one of my back molars is reversed, which my dentist says makes me super cool.Joshua: What was your journey of discovery in becoming a writer?
Lisa: I grew up with books and stories, and so maybe it was natural that I grew up wanting to be a writer. But I’ll be honest, when I was a teenager, I lost that surety that burned so bright when I was a child, and I started believing that I wasn’t good enough to be a writer. But I knew I still loved books, so I turned my attention to editing. I graduated from the University of Utah with a degree in English and started working as an editorial assistant for a publishing company. I wrote—a little—but not seriously. And then, about five years ago or so, my friends and I started a writing group and that reignited my passion for writing. It was like the floodgates opened and I was filled with all kinds of ideas. Before I knew it, I had written (and published) three books in three years, and I’ve never looked back since.
Joshua: Tells us about the Hourglass Door trilogy. [This links to a sweet book trailer]
Lisa: HourglassDoor is a YA love story with a mystery that dates back to Leonardo da Vinci. It has some great drama and suspense, but at the heart, it’s a love story between Abby and Dante.
In book one, TheHourglass Door, Abby is a senior in high school when she meets Dante, a foreign exchange student from Italy. Dante is guarding a secret that dates back to Leonardo da Vinci’s day. And the closer Abby and Dante grow in a relationship—and the closer Abby comes to learning the truth—the more danger her life is in. Dante has been sent through a time machine built by da Vinci, but he’s not the only one who came through the hourglass door, and he’s not the only one with a reason to go back.
Book two, The GoldenSpiral, and book three, The Forgotten Locket, continue the story of Abby and Dante as they work together to stop Zo from destroying the river of time.
Joshua: How did you come up with the idea?
Lisa: I was actually working on an epic fantasy story before I started work on The Hourglass Door. I was on my way to a writing conference for YA authors one evening after work and I thought to myself, What would I write, if I was going to write a young adult book? I knew it would be a love story, and I knew it would have a touch of fantasy, and I knew it would be a trilogy. I was thinking about Dante’s epic poem, The Divine Comedy, which has a great love story woven throughout it, and it was like Abby and Dante just jumped in the car with me. By the time I got to the conference, I knew where book 1 would end, where book 2 would end, where book 3 would start, along with character names and some key scenes and even some plot twists. After that, it was just a matter of getting it all down on paper and writing the story.
Joshua: As I recall, writing the third book in the trilogy was a labor of love. Tell us about that.
Lisa: It’s true. Book three was the hardest book to write in the trilogy. Part of it was because, up until then, I could always so, “Oh, I’ll figure it out later.” Well, now there was no later, and I had to figure it out now. Plus, it was the end of the whole story so I wanted to make sure I stayed true to the characters and provided them (and my readers) with a satisfying ending.
I also felt a lot of pressure to meet my deadlines in writing book, and it took a lot of time to outline the story and make sure the plot was just right. I ended up writing 40,000 words in 10 days. Then chucking most of them out the window and writing another 40,000 words in another 10 days. It was a marathon experience for me, and perhaps the best thing I learned from it is that I can rise to the challenge and succeed. That was a good thing for me to learn about myself.
Joshua: Where are some of your upcoming signings where we can meet you?
Lisa: All my tour information is on LisaMangum.com; I try to keep it up-to-date. This summer, I’ll be all over Utah, as well as spending some weekends in Seattle, Arizona, Idaho, and California. It’ll be a busy few months!
Joshua: Any suggestions for aspiring writers?
Lisa: At the Book Festival on June 4th, my friend and fellow author Rick Walton shared this bit of advice, which I am shamelessly stealing and quoting here: “Give up. And if you can’t, do the work.” I just love that idea. Writing is hard and time consuming and sometimes frustrating. It’s easy to give up when writer’s block hits, or when you get a bad review. But if you can’t give up—if there is something inside you that won’t let you give up—then you have to do the work. And it’s the writers who do the work who are the writers who find success.
Joshua: What do you think about the changing publishing market?
Lisa: I think there will always be stories. How those stories are told, however, might change. It’s true that e-publishing is on the rise and digital is here to stay, but at the same time, I don’t think that means traditional books are going away either. I believe the marketplace is wide enough and strong enough to support both digital books and traditional print books. There are benefits and drawbacks to both, but in the end, they both have the same goal: to transmit the story from the author to the reader. And that is a kind of magic worth preserving.
The Forgotten Locket is available now, and can be purchased online at Deseretbook.com, Amazon.com, BN.com, as well as at in bookstores nationwide. You can find me on Facebook or at LisaMangum.com.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Author Interview: Joseph Vasicek
Hi Friends,
I have another author to introduce to you today. His name is Joseph Vasicek, a young writer minted from BYU. The current book he's promoting is called Genesis Earth.
Ok, some of you may not think BYU is a significant credential. But consider the number of amazingly successful authors, some of them New York Times bestsellers, who either studied or taught at BYU. Here's a few you might know:
Brandon Sanderson, Dan Wells, Stephanie Meyer, David Farland aka Wolverton, and the list goes on. And that's just for genre fiction, too.
Of course, a number of you and I are trying to do get on that list ourselves!
But enough about us and BYU. Let's showcase Joe. He's a very bright, creative, and entrepreneurial fellow. In fact, he's launched heavily into the e-publishing world. In a few weeks we'll have Joe back to talk about those endeavors. But today, I'm hosting Joe as a guest blogger to talk about what's important to him. Take it away, Joe.
Why I Love Science Fiction
When I saw Star Wars: Episode IV for the first time, I promptly fell in love with science fiction. What seven year old boy wouldn't? For hours afterward, I ran around my house and backyard making starfighter sounds and pretending like I was flying an x-wing.
When I read A Wrinkle in Time one year later, however, my infatuation with the genre quickly turned into a lifelong love. It may have been the concept of fifth-dimensional travel, or riding on a centaur to an alien planet, or perhaps the idea of fighting against a hive-mind bent on absorbing and crushing all individuality in the universe, but I either way I knew I'd discovered my passion: science fiction.
At the city library, I read every Star Wars book I could get my hand on. Timothy Zahn, Kevin J. Anderson, Dave Wolverton, Roger Allen McBride--I read them all. When Jurassic Park came out, I read the book six times before I started middle school. I spent a summer obsessed with the Tripod series, and when I discovered Ender's Game, I finished it at a breathless sprint at 3:00 am the morning after checking it out from the library.
It wasn't just science fiction that entranced me. After finishing Jurassic Park for the sixth time, I devoured every Michael Crichton thriller I could get my hands on. The Chronicles of Prydain hold a special place in my heart, as do J.R.R. Tolkien and David Gemmell. To this day, The Neverending Story is my favorite work of fiction, and probably will be to the day I die. I even enjoyed Jayne Eyre, Pride and Prejudice, and Emma, though I was much older when I discovered them.
But no matter where I wander, I always come back to science fiction. Why?
Part of it probably has to do with the fantastic, otherworldly nature of the genre. C.J. Cherryh makes me wish I had my own spaceship, while Alastair Reynolds freaks me out with alien ruins and cyborg melding plagues. In that sense, escapism has something to do with it, but not entirely. Fantasy takes us away from reality, whereas science fiction presents us a world of possibilities. I loved Xenocide precisely because the philotic web makes so much sense, I still believe that it could be real.
More than anything, though, I keep coming back to science fiction because of its deep capacity for thoughtfulness. I considered myself a free market capitalist, until Ursula K. Le Guin's The Dispossessed nearly convinced me to become an anarchist. A Canticle for Leibowitz gave me a deeper respect for Catholicism and a stronger sense of brotherhood with my fellow Christians than any other book I've read. Ender's Shadow taught me what it means to be a leader, while Robert Charles Wilson's Spin and Arthur C. Clarke's 2001: A Space Odyssey made me spend hours pondering the fate of the universe.
The most thoughtful science fiction always explores what it means to be human. Consequently, the best works focus on character, perhaps more than in any other genre. When the universe itself is so strange as to be unrecognizable, the only things that can keep a reader grounded are fleshed out, believable characters. Whether it's Jane from Speaker for the Dead, Angelo Osic from On My Way to Paradise, Shevek from The Dispossessed, or Tyler Dupree from Spin, I know I've read a good book when I feel like I've come to know someone deeper than I know my own friends.
I love science fiction, not just as a reader, but also as a writer. When I read A Wrinkle in Time all those years ago, I fell in love with the genre because I knew that that was my destiny. I can't explain how or why, but I just knew it, and I've been writing ever since. And if I can write books that inspire my readers just as the best of these books have inspired me, I'd consider myself a success.
Because the best science fiction doesn't just take us somewhere new and alien--it helps us better understand and love the people in the world around us. And as a writer, that is a worthy goal to shoot for.
Josh: Thanks, Joe! Great post, and great to know you a little better. We look forward to your advice on the e-Publishing world. In case you missed it, Joe's website is One Thousand and One Parsecs, and his e-book, Genesis Earth, is available at Amazon.com. Take a peek and let us know what you think.
I have another author to introduce to you today. His name is Joseph Vasicek, a young writer minted from BYU. The current book he's promoting is called Genesis Earth.
Brandon Sanderson, Dan Wells, Stephanie Meyer, David Farland aka Wolverton, and the list goes on. And that's just for genre fiction, too.
Of course, a number of you and I are trying to do get on that list ourselves!
But enough about us and BYU. Let's showcase Joe. He's a very bright, creative, and entrepreneurial fellow. In fact, he's launched heavily into the e-publishing world. In a few weeks we'll have Joe back to talk about those endeavors. But today, I'm hosting Joe as a guest blogger to talk about what's important to him. Take it away, Joe.
Why I Love Science Fiction
When I saw Star Wars: Episode IV for the first time, I promptly fell in love with science fiction. What seven year old boy wouldn't? For hours afterward, I ran around my house and backyard making starfighter sounds and pretending like I was flying an x-wing.
When I read A Wrinkle in Time one year later, however, my infatuation with the genre quickly turned into a lifelong love. It may have been the concept of fifth-dimensional travel, or riding on a centaur to an alien planet, or perhaps the idea of fighting against a hive-mind bent on absorbing and crushing all individuality in the universe, but I either way I knew I'd discovered my passion: science fiction.
At the city library, I read every Star Wars book I could get my hand on. Timothy Zahn, Kevin J. Anderson, Dave Wolverton, Roger Allen McBride--I read them all. When Jurassic Park came out, I read the book six times before I started middle school. I spent a summer obsessed with the Tripod series, and when I discovered Ender's Game, I finished it at a breathless sprint at 3:00 am the morning after checking it out from the library.
It wasn't just science fiction that entranced me. After finishing Jurassic Park for the sixth time, I devoured every Michael Crichton thriller I could get my hands on. The Chronicles of Prydain hold a special place in my heart, as do J.R.R. Tolkien and David Gemmell. To this day, The Neverending Story is my favorite work of fiction, and probably will be to the day I die. I even enjoyed Jayne Eyre, Pride and Prejudice, and Emma, though I was much older when I discovered them.
But no matter where I wander, I always come back to science fiction. Why?
Part of it probably has to do with the fantastic, otherworldly nature of the genre. C.J. Cherryh makes me wish I had my own spaceship, while Alastair Reynolds freaks me out with alien ruins and cyborg melding plagues. In that sense, escapism has something to do with it, but not entirely. Fantasy takes us away from reality, whereas science fiction presents us a world of possibilities. I loved Xenocide precisely because the philotic web makes so much sense, I still believe that it could be real.
More than anything, though, I keep coming back to science fiction because of its deep capacity for thoughtfulness. I considered myself a free market capitalist, until Ursula K. Le Guin's The Dispossessed nearly convinced me to become an anarchist. A Canticle for Leibowitz gave me a deeper respect for Catholicism and a stronger sense of brotherhood with my fellow Christians than any other book I've read. Ender's Shadow taught me what it means to be a leader, while Robert Charles Wilson's Spin and Arthur C. Clarke's 2001: A Space Odyssey made me spend hours pondering the fate of the universe.
The most thoughtful science fiction always explores what it means to be human. Consequently, the best works focus on character, perhaps more than in any other genre. When the universe itself is so strange as to be unrecognizable, the only things that can keep a reader grounded are fleshed out, believable characters. Whether it's Jane from Speaker for the Dead, Angelo Osic from On My Way to Paradise, Shevek from The Dispossessed, or Tyler Dupree from Spin, I know I've read a good book when I feel like I've come to know someone deeper than I know my own friends.
I love science fiction, not just as a reader, but also as a writer. When I read A Wrinkle in Time all those years ago, I fell in love with the genre because I knew that that was my destiny. I can't explain how or why, but I just knew it, and I've been writing ever since. And if I can write books that inspire my readers just as the best of these books have inspired me, I'd consider myself a success.
Because the best science fiction doesn't just take us somewhere new and alien--it helps us better understand and love the people in the world around us. And as a writer, that is a worthy goal to shoot for.
Josh: Thanks, Joe! Great post, and great to know you a little better. We look forward to your advice on the e-Publishing world. In case you missed it, Joe's website is One Thousand and One Parsecs, and his e-book, Genesis Earth, is available at Amazon.com. Take a peek and let us know what you think.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
I Was Interviewed by the Mormon Channel Radio Station
I was interviewed by the folks on the Mormon Channel about writing for the Church magazines. It's an amazing experience interviewing people around the world about their most personal feelings, their trials, challenges, and faith. Hope you enjoy!
Mormon Identities: Writing about Saints around the World
Here's me in the studio.
Here's one of my favorite interviews: A blue-footed booby from the Galapagos Islands.
Mormon Identities: Writing about Saints around the World
Here's me in the studio.
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