In the New Media, how are the book sections?

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Oh me, oh my. Things have been feeling apocalyptic of late, haven’t they? Flash mobs burn down London. Flash traders melt down the stock market. And then there’s the book biz–which, as everyone knows, is having its own problems.

In the wake of last week’s news about Borders going under, the LA Times announced that it is laying off a large percentage of its book review staff, including all of its freelancers.

Book reviews will continue to be done by in-house staff, but the trend is clear: In the Old Media world, book sections are becoming a thing of the past.

But what about the New Media? Is it picking up the slack? Over at the Huffington Post, under “Culture,” I did find a book section. It looks very un-LA Times-ish.

Here are some of the recent posts:

“Sexy Book” Editor Offers Her Top Picks (along with, I might add, some very sexy pictures),

Was Albert Camus Killed By The KGB?

Burning Books: The Hottest Scenes in Literature

Gay ‘Archie Comics’ Character Scores Monthly Spin-off

Writers We Loved in the ’90s: Where Are They Now?

Yuppie Lit: Books About The Filthy Rich

And here was one by our buddy Jason Pinter: You Should Date an Illiterate Guy

I’m sure there are serious book reviews tucked in here and there, but the tone of most of the posts is breezy and gossipy. They read a bit like Us Magazine for books.

Do I mind? Hell no, I love this stuff! Who needs stuffy, “serious” book sections? Trust me, authors and publishers need every bit of glitz and glamor we can get. Go to any writer’s conference, and you will be surrounded by MVPs (Middle-aged, Very Pleasant people). Few of us are ever confused with models for the cover of the next “Sexy Book.”

Maybe this new type of media coverage will change our image. Maybe someday we’ll have to duck behind palm trees to hide from paparazzi, or “wear someone” on the red carpet.

Heck, I’m ready. So are my Jacki-O sunglasses. 

How about you? Do you like HuffPo’s book section? Do you lament the decline of book sections in mainstream newspapers?

In Communicado

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Happy anniversary fellow Kill Zoners!

I’m on my way to Tucson as my Dad is having knee surgery so I’m effectively ‘in communicado‘ (assuming it’s spelled that way!) this week. Tune in next week when I will be back online!

Cheers
Clare

Happy Anniversary Kill Zone!

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Three years ago, six talented, good looking and verbally adept authors started up a group blog called Kill Zone. It was to be a place that talked about about writing, books, the book business, and whatever else was living in their heads at any particular time. 

Not much has changed, save for the addition of five more writers. Along the way we have gathered a nice following and have had a rousing good time.There have been heated moments, moments of levity and, I daresay, a whole lot of great writing tips for those who share our passion for storytelling.

So today we are popping the champagne and opening things up to you, our readers, for anything you’d like to tell us. We’d love to hear from you. Know this: we appreciate each and every one of you and thank you for stopping by on a regular basis. 

Here’s to another three years!

Spotify for Books

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I’ve been immersed for the last several days in something called Spotify. It’s a music listening service. You sign up (if you just want the free service, you ask to sign up, and then they send you an email giving you the chance to do so; it’s kind of like standing in line to get a wristband to come back and stand in line to buy a ticket to a concert), download the software, and it gives you streaming access to as much music as you can possibly listen to. Cubed. Everything from new music like Lady Gaga and to musicians like Robert Johnson (not the delta blues singer; the white one) who are so obscure they haven’t heard of themselves. It’s like a giant music listening library on your computer. If you just want to sit and listen to music on a computer — any computer — it’s free, other than for sitting through an occasional commercial. If you want more bells and whistles, there are two subscription platforms which are fairly modest (five dollars and ten dollars per month, respectively) and that let you access Spotify from your Smartphone or whatever and to listen without the occasional commercial.

So I’m curious…is there a market for a subscription service this in the book world, with, of course, some fine tuning? Would you pay five or ten dollars a month for electronic access to three to six books for a limited time (say twenty-eight days)? I’m talking about a selection of books which would be basically unlimited, everything from that long lost volume of The Motor Boat Boys’ Mississippi Cruise published in 1912 to The Woodcutter by Reginald Hill, which dropped this week. You wouldn’t be owning, but renting. The advantage over the library, besides selection, is that you would no longer have to wait for that new soon-to-be bestseller to be returned by the gaggle of unwashed ahead of you in the reserve queue. The advantage over buying the book outright, at least as far as the more popular books are concerned, is that you no longer are in a position of paying more for the e-book than for the physical copy.

I am well aware of the difficulties involved in such an enterprise — rights, the fixing of a subscription price, and, most importantly, how do we divide up the subscription fees among the writers? — but we’ll play with those crayons down the road. For now, I’d like to know if readers find this idea at all appealing. Do you?

Nathan Is Running Again

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By John Gilstrap
As part of our larger plan to carpet bomb the planet with Gilstrap fiction, NATHAN’S RUN, my first novel, originally published in 1996, is once again available–first as an eBook, and then next year as a mass market paperback.

My publisher, Kensington, is trying a few cool marketing gimmicks for this release. Most notable is the fact that it will be exclusive to Barnes and Noble’s Nook for the first five months–through the end of 2011. Then, in January, it will be available on all eBook formats.  I guess this is a way to gain favor with the world’s only remaining behemoth bookstore.

When the Kensington team and I were discussing the plans for the rerelease, we came up with another idea that I thought was exceptionally cool: the alternative ending. My original ending for NATHAN’S RUN was significantly different than the ending in the published book.  Readers of the new version will be directed to a site where they can read my original version. It will be interesting to see what kind of response I get.

Truth be told, I’m not one hundred percent comfortable doing this.  A printed book lives forever locked in the version that was printed and distributed. There is no alternative version, and part of me thinks that’s the way it should be, with the artist’s vision locked down and reflecting his or her world view at the time.

On the other hand, I’ve always been fascinated with the process that produces art. I love, for example, reading the line edited works of the masters to see how their thoughts evolved over time.

What do you think?  Is it intriguing to see what “might have been” in a work of fiction, or would you prefer that the original version stand alone forever?

It was a dark and stormy metaphor…

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by Michelle Gagnon

So I was inspired this week by the recent Bulwer-Lytton prize for bad writing, which went to the brutally mangled metaphor, “Cheryl’s mind turned like the vanes of a wind-powered turbine, chopping her sparrow-like thoughts into bloody pieces that fell onto a growing pile of forgotten memories.”

Wow. Tough to beat. But here’s my challenge: let’s try. American academic Sue Fondrie’s disturbing description of thoughts like mutilated sparrows has been declared the worst sentence of the year.
I think we can top it. This was the shortest sentence to ever win the prize, so extra points will be conferred for brevity.

I’ve certainly had some humdingers in my day, most of which were thankfully edited out of the finished product. But imagine what would transpire if you really let loose?

Some other examples, presented for your enjoyment:

Her face was a perfect oval, like a circle that had its two other sides gently compressed by a Thigh Master.

His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking alliances like underpants in a dryer without Cling Free.

She caught your eye like one of those pointy hook latches that used to dangle from screen doors and would fly up whenever you banged the door open again.

The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn’t.

Her hair glistened in the rain like nose hair after a sneeze.

Her eyes were like two brown circles with big black dots in the center.

He was as tall as a six-foot-three-inch tree.


And here’s my submission:

“He wept, and the tears fell like a thousand tiny lemmings leaping from the precipice into a black void.”

Do you have a truly awful metaphor lurking in the depths of your cranial cavity like a really bad thing hiding in a very dark place, yearning for the light of day? Have at it…similes are also welcome.

Show Me The Body

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This question came up on one of my writer loops: how long do you wait for the body to appear in a mystery? Assume we’re talking about a traditional whodunit. Does it make a difference to you as a reader when the murder occurs? How about when plotting your own books?

Based on my experience, if you’re a new author, it’s best to get the body up front and center. Once you’re established, you have a bit more leeway with the characters. But even if your setting is quaint and the story is more of a crime novel than a whodunit, action engages the reader.

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I’ve had several rejections over the years to mystery proposals wherein the criticism essentially said to move up the dead body. In my latest project, the initial first chapter had the heroine enter the scene, play mah jong with her friends, go to lunch, and then the person dies. I’ve changed it so that she meets her friends for lunch first, and in the midst of their meal, the murder occurs. Later, they gather to talk about it and automatically play out the motions of their mah jong game. As this is the first book in a proposed new series, I have to get the action moving as quickly as possible.
I should have seen this when writing the first draft, but often we need some distance from our work before we can see it clearly. Or we need someone else to point out what is blind to us in our closeness to the material. Also keep in mind that readers can download the beginning of your book nowadays and so you want it to be an attention grabber.

Yes, there are books I read where the characters and setting are so appealing that I just read on for pleasure, and it may be 100 pages or so before someone is killed. But I do find myself saying, “All right, where’s the dead body already? This is supposed to be a mystery.” So genre conventions come into play as well.
What’s your take on the subject: murder them now, or introduce your characters gradually and slide into the crime after the story is in motion?
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to The Kill Zone Blog! I am proud to be part of this illustrious group!

Reading, Writing and Radio: Can you hear me now?

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By: Kathleen Pickering http://www.kathleenpickering.com/

radio_announcerMy marketing plan has taken me to interesting places. Conferences. Book signings. Post Offices. Restaurants. Bars. Beaches. Office supply stores. Publishers. Printers. YouTube, Facebook and all paths deep into the Internet.

That last one, friends, is my favorite. And, as of last week, I discovered my most favorite place on the Internet is radio talk shows.

I’m hooked.

Looking for another outlet for MYTHOLOGICAL SAM-THE CALL, I submitted a request for an interview to SPIRITUALLY RAW, a radio show where no topic on religion or spirituality is taboo. It’s a fascinating site. You have to be pretty open minded. You’d like to know that I found a forensic investigator, and a few mystery writers there. My biggest surprise was to find movie producer, James Cameron (AVATAR) and actor, Timothy Dalton, among the friends list.

Since MythSam contains strong spiritual undertones, my request was accepted, but I had to go through a process. First, I was slotted for a 15 minute interview where I presented myself, Mythological Sam-The Call and my thoughts. That Friday I was invited to return to see if I would be voted back. Once again, I had the chance to chat with the radio hosts on the air.

It was a close call (I’m sure it’s because my story sounds well . . . unbelievable), but to my delight, I was voted back. And, guess what? I can completely confirm that I am a sucker for a microphone! Holy guacamole. I loved being on the airwaves.

I’m convinced it’s because I’m one of eight kids and I never really got the proper attention I needed as a child. Not only that. For someone who has a hankering to know as many people on this planet as she can possibly meet, nothing beats sending your story out into the ether. Who knows who might call me back! (I just hope they speak English or Spanish.)

I’d love to share last Thursday’s interview. Just let me warn you. I don’t come on until 13 minutes into the broadcast.Speaking before me is an interesting woman who wrote a book on orgasms as spiritual experiences. (Really. Makes sense. Don’t you think? I’ll have to buy a copy. My husband will be thrilled.) Unfortunately, that woman was not invited back. You can listen to her as well, or move the line on the radio dashboard into the 13 minute mark. Here’s the link to the first podcast. Be sure to click on the return arrow in the top left to get back to this page when you are finished.

http://spirituallyraw.podomatic.com/entry/2011-07-28T08_40_09-07_00
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April and Ajay MattaAjay and April Matta have invited me back to talk more about my strange religious experience and how it relates to the Mythological Sam trilogy. The show will air on August 18th at 10 a.m. Mark you calendars. If you are available, I would love to have you listened in. Here’s the link for the information:

http://www.spirituallyraw.com/forum/topics/mythological-sam-the-call

The Spiritually Raw website has a fun chat room while listening and a phone number so you can call in to heckle me. Wouldn’t that be fun?! If you do call, be sure to tell me you’re from The Kill Zone. I want them to know about everyone here, too!

So, I ask you. If someone offered you a microphone as a marketing tool, would you take it? And if you have already, how did it work for you?


Characters as Movie Stars

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A few weeks ago the news broke that Tom Cruise had signed on to play Jack Reacher in the movie version of Lee Child’s 9th Reacher novel, One Shot. The furor that followed demonstrated just how wedded readers had become to their own image of Jack Reacher (and their belief that Tom Cruise, who is a ‘tad’ shorter that Jack Reacher, couldn’t possibly play the character they knew and loved so well). Not since Katherine Heigl was announced to play Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum has there been such reader angst over casting of a beloved mystery character.

The business of movie making requires ‘star power’ and I think it’s safe to say that Tom Cruise will certainly bring that to any Jack Reacher movie. Though we could all spend many an hour speculating and debating over casting of our favourite book, none of us can help but feel a sense of ownership over the particular image we have formed in our own heads (which may, or may not, bear any resemblance to the image inside the writer’s head when he/she created the character).

As writers I wonder how many of us have pinned up photographs of people who inspire or look like our characters? I know I have copies of historical photos that I used when creating Ursula Marlow (even though many readers, having seen the paperback cover, have asked me if I posed as the model for Ursula!). I also love nothing better than indulging in the fantasy of casting movies of my own books (note to Richard Armitage, you can play any one of my leading men!).

Still it is inevitable that when a book character is developed into a movie, fans are up in arms over the choice. So, here are my questions to you: Do you think the physical attributes are really that important when casting? Have you been disappointed with the casting choice of one of your favourite book characters? Have you ever found the movie (or TV) version to be much better, because the actors chosen to play the parts bring new meaning and depth to the written characters? And finally – are fans ever really satisfied with movie casting for their beloved books?

A Legal Thriller to Die For

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James Scott Bell
Twitter.com/jamesscottbell



Last week I explained why my next book will bear a pseudonym. It’s really about brand distinction. Man, is it about brand distinction! Here’s why:

About a year and a half ago my agent, Donald Maass, and I are discussing ideas, and I say, “The whole zombie thing is hot now, but it’s all the same, zombies as slobbering, mindless monsters. What if the zombie was the hero? In fact, what if it was a lawyer practicing law in L.A.?”
Don laughed. I went with it. “I mean, how can you tell the difference between zombies and defense attorneys anyway? Most people think there IS no difference. And what if this lawyer specialized in defending outcasts like vampires, who never get a break?”
Don told me to write up a proposal. As with all my ideas for fiction, I had to see if I could get into the characters and the heart of the story. I can’t just write to a market. I know some can. But even with short stories, I have to connect to the material in some essential and emotional way.
So I started doing my pre-writing. I knew I wanted to write in the hard boiled tradition I love. I wanted it to be an actual legal thriller, where I would use my experiences in court (with a paranormal twist. Let me tell you, I’ve been in front of a few judges who I thought came from other planets). I wanted a first person narrator, and then I decided I wanted it to be a woman with a strong voice and attitude and wit.
All that started to emerge. Finally, I came up this concept:
TAGLINE:
In L.A., practicing law can be hell. Especially if you’re dead.
PITCH:
In an increasingly hellacious L.A., zombie lawyer Mallory Caine defends a vampire hooker accused of the crime Mallory herself committed, even as a zombie-killer closes in and the love of her former life comes back as the Deputy DA she must oppose. And as Lucifer himself begins setting up L.A. as his headquarters for a new attack on heaven and earth, Mallory slowly discovers she may be the one who has to stop him.
Well, doggone if Don didn’t go out and sell it to Kensington, in a deal that was everything I hoped it would be. I wanted the books to come out in mass market, with great cover art and the know-how of a terrific company behind it. I also wanted it priced right for you, the reader, both print and e-book.
It is all these things.
And as far as I know, this is the first zombie legal thriller series on the market. It’s not everyday you get to start a genre. Which, to my mind, makes it imperative that you jump on the bandwagon while it’s hot!
And so here it is, the first in the Mallory Caine, Zombie-at-Law series, PAY ME IN FLESH by the mysterious yet roguishly handsome K. Bennett.
Find it at your local bookstore or online. Official pub date is on Tuesday . . . just in time to deal with the debt ceiling blues!
You can also check with:
K. Bennett has a dedicated website that will post things from time to time. But right now, it’s all about the launch.
So there is really nothing left to say but Bon Appetit!