A few updates

First, I’ve redirected jimetchison.com to my old blog. This blog will still continue for the scant few who are interested only in getting actual updates to my publishing. The other blog will have that as well, and more.

Next, Marlene Winell has agreed to write the afterword to my book of short stories that will be published soon called “Songs of the Deconverted.” This is exciting news! She is who coined the term “Religious Trauma Syndrome” or RTS. RTS is essentially the through-line of my short stories, as it follows the story of Andy. Andy’s story vaguely mimics my own.

“Songs of the Deconverted” should be published within a month!

Something Good about Legacy Publishing

As my novel is with my editor, I’ve been musing over the process I’ve created as a self-publisher, and realized something: the old way was better.

My editor has given every indication that she is very good. But I am paying her, so the ultimate authority is me. With the legacy model, if a publisher deemed my manuscript acceptable, I would be answering to an editor who answers to the publisher. This results in a commitment to quality with the author’s ego safely out of the way.

I still think self-publishing is better, but I’ve been trying to take a less biased viewpoint after reading quite a few comments on Kindle forums from avid readers. They tend to think that independent publishers are terrible. My above-stated reason is probably why. A self-publisher can easily fall into this trap if he’s not careful.

This is what keeps me awake at night.

Second Short Story is Up!

 

 

 

 

Here’s the link.

First Short Story is Up

The first short story of my compilation “Songs of the Deconverted” is now for sale on Amazon.

Wolfpack Publishing

I’ve been working with a group called “WolfPack Publishing” on Reddit. (www.reddit.com/r/wolfpackpublishing).

The idea was to “crowdsource” other writers for editing, design, and marketing assistance with an eye toward helping everyone make more money as self-publishers. No money changes hands. For a guy like me, who gets free editing, design, and marketing, it sounded like a fantastic idea. So I’ve been trying to get a few short stories through the process, which will be compiled into my second book, “Songs of the Deconverted.”

Like all new ideas though, it’s been a little clunky. The process dilemma question was “how can the various publishing imprints (one for each genre) control quality?” In my opinion, that’s the wrong question. The question should be “Should they control quality?” Answer: no. It’s self-publishing. The author is his own champion.

So, for a driven writer like me, it’s been slow, confusing, and frustrating. But the upside is I’ve formed some affiliations with some really good writers who, in turn, serve also as excellent editors.

Win! If the whole thing fails, I will secretly form a virtual cadre of top-notch writers who will provide each other with the high-level editing that every author needs.

I’m still holding out for the Wolfpack to see if they can deliver. Fingers crossed.

Cover thumbnails

Here are two thumbnails from cover designer Brian Sasville.

The obvious one.

 

The subtle one.

Why Genre Won’t Matter

If you’re old enough, you may remember going to a record (CD) store and you’d find three sections: Classical, Jazz, and Rock and Roll. Within those sections, everything would be found alphabetically by the artist’s name. Much later, just before Tower Records went belly-up, you would have found a zillion micro-mini-sections of categories separated out to the Nth degree: Trance was next to house which was next to ambient which was next to industrial. I remember wanting to blow my brains out trying to find where they put “Portis Head.” (It was in Acid Jazz.) Ten years prior it would have just been in good ol’ Rock and Roll.

Record stores did that because they knew their audiences were granularizing. They knew because they were looking at the internet. On the internet, when you bought a Mazzy Star CD they would know that you might also like Portis Head. So Tower Records started granularizing their categories to create this effect. They were trying desperately to “be like the internet.” It didn’t work.

Today musical categories don’t exist for any practical purpose. You go to Pandora and say “I like Boards of Canada” and they will start playing them and then toss in an “Aphex Twin” based on massive amounts of listener behavior. There are no genres or niches in music anymore.

The same exact thing is happening now with books. Borders is already gone. Have you been to Barnes & Noble lately? They are starting to get micro-mini categories on their shelves. The similarities are so exact it’s hilarious. So in my estimation, Barnes & Noble will be gone, or it’s business model will transform into something different. As the last retail book stores effectively go away, so will genres and niches. Amazon has an abysmal categorization scheme. What they do have are tags, and an even more lucrative model that once again utilizes buyer behavior. If you buy Tom Robbins’ “Still Life with Woodpecker,” Amazon will suggest Jennifer Egan’s “A Visit From the Goon Squad.”

So don’t worry from niches. They were tools of the past that helped publishers sell books, but they won’t be in the future.