The secret is out – my book went on sale last weekend, mostly so I could let bloggers know where to link.
Since I’ve gotten ahead of myself, I might as well go all the way.
So:
Mercy on the Kindle
Mercy on the nook
What’s the story about?
When Georgina Fulci’s plane crashes into the Atlantic, her troubles have just begun.
Desperate to get home to her family, Georgina and a handful of survivors must find a way to escape an uncharted island… while fighting off hordes of the living dead.
And here’s what people have been saying about the book:
“Joshua Grover-David Patterson writes in a style that will surely connect with many contemporary zombie fans. His use of tone and narrative structure are miles ahead of most who work in the genre.”
-Scott Kenemore, author of “Zombie, Ohio” and “The Zen of Zombie.”
“You expect a zombie novel to have brains, but you don't expect it to be this smart. You expect a number of internal organs to be on display, but you don't expect this much heart. MERCY is a kicka** zombie novel, but it's also a thoughtful, moving story about the joy and importance of being human and alive.”
-Seamus Cooper, author of “The Mall of Cthulhu”
“Patterson has taken the zombie-pocalypse story in a fresh new direction, infusing hope and heart into a format that normally only thinks of heart in relation to gory attacks.”
-Word Nerd Blog/Bethany K. Warner
Monday, March 28, 2011
Thursday, March 24, 2011
How Did I Get Here?
Here I go, hoping I don’t make a fool of myself on the internet.
So… I’m self-publishing a book. There are other terms for it now: Vanity Publishing. Indie Publishing.
Indie publishing just sounds cool, because it’s got that “I put out my own records, and sell them out of the trunk of my car!” vibe. And it sounds a lot better than, “No one wanted to publish my book, so I did it myself. I’ll show them!”
I’ll be honest, though, I resisted going this route for a long time. Two years. Maybe three.
Why?
I’ve read some self-published stuff that, frankly, wouldn’t have gotten out into the world any other way.
Granted, I’ve read good stuff as well.
But there are other issues with physical self-publishing. Namely, bookstores won’t carry your books. So you can sell them yourself (indie!) or try to sell them through Amazon. But it doesn’t happen very often, because the books are more expensive than traditionally published books, and no one knows who you are.
And anyway, I thought that eventually the whole agent/publisher thing would work out for me, assuming I had something good to sell.
And I really thought I had it. In fact, I knew I did. I just knew that if an agent, nay, the RIGHT agent read it, the book would get picked up and published.
Problem: I spent two years crafting and re-crafting my query letter, trying to get an agent – any agent – to read the thing. And I really did my homework. I looked up agents, I figured out their likes and dislikes, the whole nine yards.
No one wanted to look at it.
So there’s my book, which I couldn’t even get someone to look at.
And there’s the Kindle.
And there are two authors (actually, SEVERAL authors) out there selling books like crazy. One of them, J. A. Konrath, was a traditional author with traditional publishing deals who walked away from it all to sell his books online. He’s on track to make half-a-million dollars this year.
The other one, Amanda Hocking, was just like me – a unknown who thought she may as well get her work out there. Depending on who you ask, she’s pulled in something like a million dollars over the last year.
And I said, “What can it hurt?”
So I’m putting my book out in a little over a week. And since I was drinking the indie publishing Kool-Aid, I went ahead and submitted it to some authors for blurbs:
Here’s what I’ve got so far:
"Joshua Grover-David Patterson writes in a style that will surely connect with many contemporary zombie fans. His use of tone and narrative structure are miles ahead of most who work in the genre."
-Scott Kenemore, author of "Zombie, Ohio" and "The Zen of Zombie."
“You expect a zombie novel to have brains, but you don't expect it to be this smart. You expect a number of internal organs to be on display, but you don't expect this much heart. MERCY is a kicka** zombie novel, but it's also a thoughtful, moving story about the joy and importance of being human and alive.”
-Seamus Cooper, author of “The Mall of Cthulhu”
"Patterson has taken the zombie-pocalypse story in a fresh new direction, infusing hope and heart into a format that normally only thinks of heart in relation to gory attacks."
-Word Nerd Blog/Bethany K. Warner
In all, I have almost 20 (maybe more, by the time I’ve done) writers and/or bloggers who are reading my book, or who are willing to post that my book exists, and are planning on saying what they think of it.
What will happen?
Good question.
I’m pretty sure I’m not on my way to being a Kindle millionaire. Don’t get me wrong, that’d be super-awesome, but if you hope for something like that, anything less than buying your own island at the end of the year will be a letdown.
I do have a short story up, and just by telling my friends and family it’s there, and asking them to spread the word, I’ve been selling some copies – even to people I don’t know.
(At least, I don’t think I know them…)
But I have plans. I have at least one short story I need to finish, and a novella I think I need to rewrite (I’m a little afraid to look at it) and a novel I’m about one-third finished with.
Assuming people like Konrath are right, one of the best ways to keep money flowing in is to keep your personal bookshelf expanding.
So that’s the plan. Two months spent filling the bookshelf.
After that, wait and assess.
So… I’m self-publishing a book. There are other terms for it now: Vanity Publishing. Indie Publishing.
Indie publishing just sounds cool, because it’s got that “I put out my own records, and sell them out of the trunk of my car!” vibe. And it sounds a lot better than, “No one wanted to publish my book, so I did it myself. I’ll show them!”
I’ll be honest, though, I resisted going this route for a long time. Two years. Maybe three.
Why?
I’ve read some self-published stuff that, frankly, wouldn’t have gotten out into the world any other way.
Granted, I’ve read good stuff as well.
But there are other issues with physical self-publishing. Namely, bookstores won’t carry your books. So you can sell them yourself (indie!) or try to sell them through Amazon. But it doesn’t happen very often, because the books are more expensive than traditionally published books, and no one knows who you are.
And anyway, I thought that eventually the whole agent/publisher thing would work out for me, assuming I had something good to sell.
And I really thought I had it. In fact, I knew I did. I just knew that if an agent, nay, the RIGHT agent read it, the book would get picked up and published.
Problem: I spent two years crafting and re-crafting my query letter, trying to get an agent – any agent – to read the thing. And I really did my homework. I looked up agents, I figured out their likes and dislikes, the whole nine yards.
No one wanted to look at it.
So there’s my book, which I couldn’t even get someone to look at.
And there’s the Kindle.
And there are two authors (actually, SEVERAL authors) out there selling books like crazy. One of them, J. A. Konrath, was a traditional author with traditional publishing deals who walked away from it all to sell his books online. He’s on track to make half-a-million dollars this year.
The other one, Amanda Hocking, was just like me – a unknown who thought she may as well get her work out there. Depending on who you ask, she’s pulled in something like a million dollars over the last year.
And I said, “What can it hurt?”
So I’m putting my book out in a little over a week. And since I was drinking the indie publishing Kool-Aid, I went ahead and submitted it to some authors for blurbs:
Here’s what I’ve got so far:
"Joshua Grover-David Patterson writes in a style that will surely connect with many contemporary zombie fans. His use of tone and narrative structure are miles ahead of most who work in the genre."
-Scott Kenemore, author of "Zombie, Ohio" and "The Zen of Zombie."
“You expect a zombie novel to have brains, but you don't expect it to be this smart. You expect a number of internal organs to be on display, but you don't expect this much heart. MERCY is a kicka** zombie novel, but it's also a thoughtful, moving story about the joy and importance of being human and alive.”
-Seamus Cooper, author of “The Mall of Cthulhu”
"Patterson has taken the zombie-pocalypse story in a fresh new direction, infusing hope and heart into a format that normally only thinks of heart in relation to gory attacks."
-Word Nerd Blog/Bethany K. Warner
In all, I have almost 20 (maybe more, by the time I’ve done) writers and/or bloggers who are reading my book, or who are willing to post that my book exists, and are planning on saying what they think of it.
What will happen?
Good question.
I’m pretty sure I’m not on my way to being a Kindle millionaire. Don’t get me wrong, that’d be super-awesome, but if you hope for something like that, anything less than buying your own island at the end of the year will be a letdown.
I do have a short story up, and just by telling my friends and family it’s there, and asking them to spread the word, I’ve been selling some copies – even to people I don’t know.
(At least, I don’t think I know them…)
But I have plans. I have at least one short story I need to finish, and a novella I think I need to rewrite (I’m a little afraid to look at it) and a novel I’m about one-third finished with.
Assuming people like Konrath are right, one of the best ways to keep money flowing in is to keep your personal bookshelf expanding.
So that’s the plan. Two months spent filling the bookshelf.
After that, wait and assess.
Idol Talk
Okay, so I posted last night that I thought James was going to win American Idol, and also my wife and I had a long conversation about who is out the door and when.
Because this is the Internet, I thought it would be fun to post my list of who I think is leaving and when, because I’m sure I’ll end up looking stupid, and that’s always good for a laugh.
Top of the list is staying, bottom is leaving. Though I’ll be honest, “worst” is all relative here, as most of these people singer better than… I dunno. 99% of the country, probably.
Margin-of-error-wise, I’d guess that at best I’m off by a week or two of each of these. (Meaning, say, Naima might go this week… but then Thia will go the next. And so on.)
James – I seriously think this guy is going to win because he has yet to screw up, even a little bit. The guy can, apparently, sing anything, and he’s got charisma to burn. Maybe I’m just being easy on him because I thought he was going to spend the whole season screaming…
Jacob – Great voice, and it seemed like this week he learned that being screechy shouldn’t happen through an entire song. He could probably win, but sooner or later I think he’ll fall victim to a bad song choice or three.
Pia – The girl can’t sing a wrong note, but she doesn’t move very much. Could have a career as a Celine Dion impersonator.
Lauren – Honestly, I think Lauren is a little too young to go this high, but if she gets cut early, the judges will save her, because they looove her. Frankly, I think she’s sixteen, and lacks any kind of emotional backdrop the draw from, so she’s all timid. I think if she came back in a few years, she could take it.
Casey – Casey is my favorite. Mega-talented, can do just about no wrong. But I think he’s a little too “different” to win against the prettier people. No matter. Dude’ll have a career, and I would TOTALLY see him in concert.
Scotty – Scotty can only sing country, and good for him. Post-Idol, he’ll get a record deal and be a solid gold-record-maker, year in and year out. But his one talent will only take him so far on Idol.
Paul – Apparently, Paul is the “vote for the worst” guy. Which is sad, because he just seems really, really, really nice. And he has a really cool voice. Whenever he gets cut, he’ll walk with a record deal. Or spend the rest of his life as a Rod Stewart impersonator. Either way, he’ll be fine.
Stefano – Great voice, generic singer, can’t open his eyes and sing at the same time.
Haley – She keeps falling to the bottom three, and I’m not much of a fan of her performances in general.
Naima – I’ve actually seen her dance, live. She’s awesome. But her singing is good, not great, and she’s almost been cut a few times. I suspect she’ll be gone soon. I shall miss her dancing.
Thia – Belongs on Miss Teen America, not American Idol. She’s got a great voice, but is generally boring, and I won’t be sad to see her go.
Because this is the Internet, I thought it would be fun to post my list of who I think is leaving and when, because I’m sure I’ll end up looking stupid, and that’s always good for a laugh.
Top of the list is staying, bottom is leaving. Though I’ll be honest, “worst” is all relative here, as most of these people singer better than… I dunno. 99% of the country, probably.
Margin-of-error-wise, I’d guess that at best I’m off by a week or two of each of these. (Meaning, say, Naima might go this week… but then Thia will go the next. And so on.)
James – I seriously think this guy is going to win because he has yet to screw up, even a little bit. The guy can, apparently, sing anything, and he’s got charisma to burn. Maybe I’m just being easy on him because I thought he was going to spend the whole season screaming…
Jacob – Great voice, and it seemed like this week he learned that being screechy shouldn’t happen through an entire song. He could probably win, but sooner or later I think he’ll fall victim to a bad song choice or three.
Pia – The girl can’t sing a wrong note, but she doesn’t move very much. Could have a career as a Celine Dion impersonator.
Lauren – Honestly, I think Lauren is a little too young to go this high, but if she gets cut early, the judges will save her, because they looove her. Frankly, I think she’s sixteen, and lacks any kind of emotional backdrop the draw from, so she’s all timid. I think if she came back in a few years, she could take it.
Casey – Casey is my favorite. Mega-talented, can do just about no wrong. But I think he’s a little too “different” to win against the prettier people. No matter. Dude’ll have a career, and I would TOTALLY see him in concert.
Scotty – Scotty can only sing country, and good for him. Post-Idol, he’ll get a record deal and be a solid gold-record-maker, year in and year out. But his one talent will only take him so far on Idol.
Paul – Apparently, Paul is the “vote for the worst” guy. Which is sad, because he just seems really, really, really nice. And he has a really cool voice. Whenever he gets cut, he’ll walk with a record deal. Or spend the rest of his life as a Rod Stewart impersonator. Either way, he’ll be fine.
Stefano – Great voice, generic singer, can’t open his eyes and sing at the same time.
Haley – She keeps falling to the bottom three, and I’m not much of a fan of her performances in general.
Naima – I’ve actually seen her dance, live. She’s awesome. But her singing is good, not great, and she’s almost been cut a few times. I suspect she’ll be gone soon. I shall miss her dancing.
Thia – Belongs on Miss Teen America, not American Idol. She’s got a great voice, but is generally boring, and I won’t be sad to see her go.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Sunday, February 20, 2011
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