Noble Dead Coffee Talk

: barbhendee; February 4th, 7:37

Oh, my god . . .

Anyone who hasn't read this yet needs to pop over and read this:

http://whatever.scalzi.com/2010/02/03/why-in-fact-publishing-will-not-go-away-anytime-soon-a-deeply-slanted-play-in-three-acts/

He just said everything I've wanted to say for about the past year--well, except for the profanity (smiles). Be warned that John swears a lot.

Speaking of e-books

: barbhendee; February 3rd, 10:24

A small oversight was corrected yesterday--one almost no one noticed, including us.

Somehow, SISTER OF THE DEAD, was never released in e-format. A few fans brought this to our attention, and we contacted our publisher.

So, for those of you who have been waiting, this book is now available on Sony, Amazon, etc, as an e-book. I'm sorry I did not notice this sooner.

"But it costs nothing to publish an e-book!"

: barbhendee; February 3rd, 7:37

This is the much-heard cry that's been bandied about over and over again regarding these "price war" Internet flames since about last Friday.

It seems that many readers truly believe that it costs nothing for a publisher to put an electronic book on the market. I was chatting with a very friendly person below who had some honest questions on why MacMillan might "need" to set a price at $12.99 for a book concurrently being published in hard cover--as they normally would price that same book at $24 in order to remain in business and cover their costs.

Here's the thing: it costs almost as much to publish an e-book as it does to publish a hard copy.

1) I'm going to rank this as #1 because it is important to me. I have house payments. The writer needs at least a small percentage. Most writers only make between 6% and 8%. There are many reasons we make such a small percentage--as you will see below.

Keep in mind that the retailer takes a much, much larger cut.

But back to the publishing house:

2) The publishing "house" is usually a large building or collection of buildings. These need upkeep, cleaning, overhead, power, etc.

3) I have an editor who labors long over my books, and she needs a salary--and she lives in New York.

4) I have a copy-editor (who is different from my editor and extremely necessary).

5) I have a proofreader.

6) The book needs a cover artist (and e-books still need covers to make them attractive to buyers).

6) There is an entire production department necessary for type-setting, maps, layout, etc--whether the book is hard copy or electronic.

7) There is an entire accounting department.

8) There is a legal department.

9) There is a marketing and advertising department.

I could go on for some time here, but this is the gist. Whether the book is published in e-format or hard copy, all of these people are still necessary, and they all have salaries. And trust me here, none of these people (including us) are getting rich. I cannot imagine what an e-book would even look like without some of the people above getting it ready for the consumer. I shudder to think.

The Blogosphere

: barbhendee; February 1st, 9:21

I don't normally pay much attention to the writer's blogosphere (JC and I don't even belong to SFWA), but it was on FIRE this weekend over the dust-up between Amazon and MacMillan.

For those of you who weren't following:

Last Thursday, MacMillan Books met with Amazon, and MacMillan told Amazon that as the publisher, they would set the price for their e-books, and that Amazon needed to sell them at the set price (between $12.99 and $14.99 for a new e-book simultaneously being published in hard cover).

Amazon’s only way of competing with the new Apple iPad (who will be allowing the publishers to set their own price for e-books) is to under-price their electronic books and sell new releases (that would be hard cover in the stores) at $9.99.

MacMillan can’t cover costs at their percentage of that price (keep in mind there are a LOT of costs related to publishing a book besides just paper).

Friday morning, Amazon dropped all new sales of MacMillan books (both hard copy and Kindle) from their websites and now only allow the books to be sold used. This affected an enormous number of books and writers. MacMillan is the umbrella company for both Tor and St Martin’s Press. They publish huge best sellers like Wolf Hall.

So, Kevin J. Anderson’s newest Dune books and all of Robert Jordan’s stuff was dropped. I tried to buy a Kindle version of The Sunne in Splendor, and found that I could not. My friends Jay Lake, Ken Scholes, Brenda Cooper, and Lisa Mantchev’s books are no longer available new in any form on Amazon.

And, understandably, a flame war broke out. It was interesting. The writers are annoyed at Amazon for “throwing a temper tantrum," and some readers support Amazon because they believe Amazon is working in the best interest of the consumer, but really, this is just a big power struggle--on the part of Amazon.

Of course I believe MacMillan is the creator of the product, and so they should be able to set their own prices for the retailer.

The business elements of this whole move toward e-books really is fascinating.

We live in interesting times.

True Blood

: barbhendee; January 31st, 10:28

I recently read the first Sookie Stackhouse book, Dead Until Dark, and I enjoyed it.

Several people whose taste I trust recommended that I try watching True Blood. Some folks like the TV series much better than the books. So, I ordered the first disk from Netflix and put it in.

Goodness. About fifteen minutes later, I was staring at the TV in mild shock. Yuck. Ick. I wish Jason had just kept his clothes on. The vampire video sex tape was even worse . . . and it just kept going downhill from there. I decided to stick with it, and to give the show a chance. But after an episode and a half, I turned it off and sent the disk back . . . and I wanted to scrub out my brain. Yuck. This just isn't for me.

One other very tiny point (and this is minor) that bothered me was the casting for Bill and Sookie. Now don't get me wrong. Both actors are quite good. However, in the book, Sookie seemed like a "woman." She struck me as about 25 years old, and Bill was turned when he was 30, so this felt fine. In the TV series . . . I know Anna Paquin's character is over 21, but she looks and acts about 17. Again, she's a good actress. She just seems very young. The actor playing Bill is well cast, and he looks like someone who "fought for the south." But he looks over 30, and every time he breathed, "Sookie," in that horny southern accent, it creeped me out. The scenes looked like an early middle-aged guy hitting on a high school girl. This would not have stopped me from enjoying the show.

But Jason having angry sex with women chained to the ceiling was too much. Ick.

E-Readers

: barbhendee; January 29th, 7:01

Hi Gang,

I have come down with one of the worst colds in my memory. I've been pretty sick the past few days.

Thank you to the girls who piped in below on the Apple/PC discussion. Men seem to get a lot more heated or passionate on this debate (smiles).

I was too sick on the 27th to say anything at all about the release of the iPad, but our agent and several friends were apparently emailing me updates about every five minutes. Our agent seems to believe that America will move almost exclusively to e-readers within the next two years. I remain somewhat skeptical that such a huge paradigm shift will happen quite that rapidly.

But several people in my circle also view the iPad and the Kindle as in competition with each other, and I do not. I think this is comparing apples and oranges (no pun intended).

I am not completely alone in this viewpoint. Here an interesting article from CNN Money.

http://money.cnn.com/2010/01/28/technology/ipad_kindle/index.htm?hpt=T2

The iPad is a media center. It is expensive. It has back lighting. It will cost an extra $29.99 a month for a connection through AT&T. For someone like JC, this is a better option than a Kindle because he really doesn't read very much, and he's more into the media elements of such a device. Was he so inclined, he can also afford to spend $500 on a toy. I don't know if he would (we are pretty frugal most of the time), but he could if he wished.

At present, many Americans can barely afford the price of a paperback book. I do not think people who are in danger of losing their homes are going to spend between $500-$700 on a toy--at least I hope not.

For me . . . the Kindle is still a much better device. It is not back-lit, so I can read for hours and hours without hurting my eyes, and the connection to Amazon is free if I wish to buy more books. I just want something to let me read books. I don't care about the other media elements. I do predict that within two months (maybe sooner), Amazon will drop the price of the Kindle down to somewhere between $159 and $199. Then, it will really be in a different category then the iPad.

I do not see these two devices in competition with each other.

The Whole PC versus Mac Debate

: barbhendee; January 26th, 7:28

Until I bought this Apple computer, I had no idea how strongly some people felt about this debate . . . to me, they are all just computers.

But a lot of people feel very strongly--one way or another--about this issue. I thought I'd throw my two cents out there . . . from a very non-passionate point of view. First, I like this MacBook better than any computer I've even worked on.

There are little reasons for this--such as, I can lighten or dim the screen right from the keyboard and I can increase or decrease the sound right from my keyboard--as opposed to going into operating programs to do this. It just makes my life a little easier.

But more importantly, (and I don't want a debate here), this machine is MUCH better built than either of the PC notebooks I have used.

My first notebook was an HP, and I liked it. Again . . . it's just a computer. But it had heating issues and the fans never worked properly, and getting it fixed was a nightmare. While it was still under warranty, I called tech support four times, and the person on the other end was terrified to "okay" having the computer fixed. They kept telling me to try turning it off and on. Finally, on the fifth call, someone gave me an address for a repair establishment that was "covered" by HP. The place was an hour and a half from Denver. I drove the machine out, and they kept it for almost two weeks (I called several times for an ETA and was blown off), and then I drove back to pick it up. The heating problem was not corrected.

I just dealt with it.

My next notebook was a Toshiba. I like it a lot, but it had an internal issue with its wireless modem, and it dropped off the Internet about every ten minutes. To reconnect, I just needed to go open up a program and click on "repair" and wait about thirty seconds and it would reconnect, but this was kind of a hassle.

I went through a similar nightmare trying to get Toshiba to honor the warranty and have it fixed, and after six months, I just gave up and lived with the issue. How many times can you sit through someone from another country at tech support telling you to try turning the machine off and on again? However, I had that computer for a few years, and in all other respects, it was a good machine and I wrote several novels on it.

This Mac is an entirely different experience. For one . . . everything works perfectly. But I bought the three-year extended warranty, and if anything--absolutely anything--goes wrong, I simply take to the store where I bought it (which is less than thirty minutes from my house), speak to someone who is both polite and competent (in person), and they will either fix it or provide me with a new computer. I've been witness to this twice now--not my computer--and it is amazing to me.

So, while I have no great feelings of passion one way or the other, I plan to stay with Apple machines.

The Kindle Report

: barbhendee; January 21st, 13:17

The Kindle arrived last night five minutes before we were scheduled to leave and go have a Chinese dinner with some friends.

I had been so looking forward to the evening out, but once my new toy came, I was like a little kid, thinking "No! I want to stay home and play with this."

I had just enough time to get it out of the box and plugged in--so it could charge up.

Then off to dinner we went, and we had a lovely time. Good food and great company.

We were home by nine, so I was able to start reading the "handbook" and using the Kindle device. It's very easy and well set up.

I purchased the first novel in the Sookie Stackhouse series, and I've been reading that (it's a hoot).

The Kindle is amazingly easy to use and navigate. At first, I honestly wasn't sure what I thought of the screen. It's not like reading a book or a computer screen. It's quite a different experience from either of those things. The complete lack of back-lighting is easy on the eyes, but at first, it almost seemed too dark.

Also, because I have the font set at a larger size, there are fewer words on the screen, and I need to press the "next page" button in fairly quick succession. But after a little while, I got used to both these changes from my normal reading experience, and I think I'm going to love this device. JC is already tired of me playing with it. Hah!

It's funny how these things work out. Last year, we bought our first i-Pod, and it turned into his toy almost immediately. I just wasn't interested, and he adored it.

So far, he's expressed zero interest in the Kindle, so I think it will be all mine (smiles).

The "Apple" Effect

: barbhendee; January 20th, 11:13

Our agent just made a very interesting post on his blog regarding how Amazon is going to change its Kindle policies for writers:

http://graysonagency.com/blog/

The End . . . taaaaa daaaaaa!

: barbhendee; January 18th, 8:06

Okay . . . so, JC and I finished Of Truth and Beasts this weekend, and sent the whole thing off to our poor unsuspecting editor. The draft finished at 650 pages and 168,000 words.

So, that means in revisions we're going to have to cut--as we're supposed to keep these things around 140,000 words to be cost effective for our publisher. But JC and I both feel that at this point, the book needs a third pair of eyes and a fresh perspective, and our editor is brilliant at spotting what might be able to "go" without destroying the story.

The concept that I do not have to work on the book today has not hit me just yet--but it will. Then I will collapse in a fetal position.

Kay's LJ link

: barbhendee; January 16th, 10:04

For some reason, I'm having a hard time getting Kay's LJ link to show up properly.

Let me try again.

kenyonsf

A Personal Measure of Success

: barbhendee; January 16th, 10:00

My friend Kay Kenyon has an interesting post up this morning on the various reasons why so many people wish to write novels.

This got me thinking about a conversation I had a few years ago with several writers on the surprisingly varied differences in how we view success.

Most short story writers have no interest in fame or money. But they value awards very much, and they absolutely want to be read. One of my friends who only writes short stories said, "Just seeing my name in that magazine and knowing my story was good enough to be published means I have succeeded.

You certainly can't argue with that.

Novelists are a little more complex. Here a few answers:

1) "I don't even care if the book sells to many readers. I will see myself as a success if I can land an agent and he/she can market my book to a New York publisher. If that happens, I am a success."

2) "I just want to be able to walk into Barnes & Noble and see my book sitting there on the shelf. If that happens, I am a success."

3) "I want to be Stephen King! Until I'm selling in huge numbers to a huge audience, I am a failure. I will not be a success until people are lining up in mass to purchase my books."

There were about seven of us in this group, and no one had the same answer. And I felt that all the answers were "right"--except maybe that last one (smiles). It was interesting.

For me . . . .

I had a good job at the University of Colorado in Denver around the time TRAITOR TO THE BLOOD was published in hard cover. The advance on that book was low and our first royalty check was larger than I expected, and JC and I started wondering about the possibility of quitting our jobs and writing full time.

I wrote down a dollar figure for what we'd need to be earning a year via only our writing income. I told him I wasn't quitting my job until we could earn that figure with absolute certainty.

Another book deal was in the works, and when it was finished, we'd reached the mark, and I quit my job. That was the first time I felt like a success.

So . . . tell me. What would you consider the "mark" for success?

A Whole New World

: barbhendee; January 16th, 7:13

I don't usually share stuff like this, but I have a vision condition that cannot be completely corrected by glasses.

The muscles around my eyes don't work like most peoples (I even do little "exercises" for this), and they most likely never will.

I've worn glasses for distance and astigmatism issues since college, but the "muscle thing" wasn't a huge problem for me until my late thirties when my "up close" vision started going wonky, and I had to switch to bifocals so I could see distance and up close. Suddenly I started having trouble reading mass market paperback novels.

Even with my reading glasses on, I'd have to squint so hard to see the small "squished together" print that I'd have a migraine in a matter of about ten minutes. Finally, I stopped attempting to read mass market paperbacks altogether. I can do hard covers as long as the print is large and there is a decent sized space in-between the lines. I've found the space between the lines is essential to my ability to read the text.

Unfortunately, my vision issues have gotten progressively worse. When we moved here and I had to find a new eye doctor, she sort of stared at my previous prescription, and then stared at me.

I'm 46 years old, and for almost ten years now, I have not been able to read a mass market paperback novel. This bars me from reading many, many books that I would wish to read--including a lot of novels written by my friends.

When I write my own books, I have my computer set up so the font is very large and easy for me to read, but I can only be on the computer for so many hours before my eyes start to burn out.

I've heard that with the better "e-readers," this is not a problem.

Since early November, JC has been trying to get me a Nook with no luck.

Yesterday, I broke down and ordered a Kindle. I have some issues with giving all my money to Amazon, but I talked a few folks who own Kindles, and I am convinced I'll able to read in the "large print" mode quite easily. The device should arrive next Wednesday, and I'm starting to get excited.

I have a long list of novels that are available for Kindle that were only released in mm paperback format. I feel like a whole new world of reading is about to open up for me.

Update

: barbhendee; January 13th, 16:10

Okay . . . I think I'm about four days away from sending the huge, fat manuscript for the next Noble Dead novel off to our editor.

Then . . . I am going to spend the following three days lying on the couch, watching cheesy romance films, and drinking wine from a bottle inside a paper bag.

It's a Book!

: barbhendee; January 5th, 7:37

Happy Book Release Day!

Today, THROUGH STONE AND SEA hits the stands.

This book continues the adventure of Wynn, Chane, and Shade, and it explores the world of the dwarves--who can turn the inside of a mountain into Swiss cheese.

JC and I put soooooooooo much work into this novel, and we are very excited about its birthday.

Avatar

: barbhendee; January 4th, 9:20

So . . . at noon yesterday, JC and I noted that our little local theater was doing a 2D showing of Avatar at 12:30.

I can't do the 3D--or I'll start throwing up.

But even though our theater is close by, we hadn't had lunch yet, and we made this decision on the spur of the moment. The snack bar at our theater only serves candy and popcorn, so I dashed into the kitchen, made us some tuna, lettuce, and tomato sandwiches, put them into Tupperware, and slipped them in my messenger bag.

I know we're not supposed to sneak food in, but . . .

So, we got drinks at the theater and ate lunch during the coming attractions. It was fun, and I felt raaaaaaather "naughty."

Regarding the movie . . . I was expecting absolutely nothing, so I was more than pleasantly surprised. I had a blast! I haven't had that much fun at the movies in a long time. I wished JC would stop making commentary aloud about all the plot holes (as I think he was annoying the people in front of us), but I'm still glad we went.

The New Year

: barbhendee; January 2nd, 7:46

I know I haven't been in here much this past month, and I do miss chatting and posting. JC and I had to contact our editor and ask for a one-month extension for OF TRUTH AND BEASTS.

But we've absolutely "got" this book now, and we're just working from dawn to dark to get it done. We're feeling good about it, and all should be well soon. Our sweet editor gave us until the end of January, and we'll have it to her by then.

Many of my friends here have been posting thoughts on 2009 and hopes for 2010.

I've wanted to as well, but my thoughts are so conflicted. The truth is that 2009 felt like a blink in time to me. It seems as if I was just saying "Happy New Year," to JC last Thursday.

Part of this is because I've signed on to write two books a year (one independent and one with JC), and with the type of books we write, this was more of an undertaking than I expected.

Here a few good things that happened in 2009:

1) JC and I completed the huge brick-bordered garden--taking up a fourth of our back yard--and we lived on our own veggies until early October. We got in three more blueberry bushes, another apple tree, and another pear tree.

2) We got a lot more serious about finances and about creating some kind of more coherent plan for the future.

3) This may sound silly, but I succeeded in growing my bangs down to my chin. I've wanted to for years and years, but they would get to the center of my nose, be uncontrollable, and I'd cut them off again. This year, I pushed through the hideous phase, and I'm so proud of myself (smiles).

Nothing bad happened to us this past year, but I do feel conflicted about one professional/personal element.

In 2008, the reprint of BLOOD MEMORIES hit the market, and I did not expect it to sell well--as it was my first novel, and I wrote it fifteen years ago. It performed respectably, but, of course, nothing like a Noble Dead novel.

But in October of 2009, HUNTING MEMORIES was released, and I am extremely proud of that novel. JC has been very kind and supportive, but he's felt a little weird about why I wanted to write a series on my own so badly . . . why I was not content to just work on the Noble Dead novels with him.

So far, HUNTING MEMORIES is not making any best selling charts. Again, it is respectable, but not even close to the sales figures for a Noble Dead novel.

Due to our different strengths, JC knows that he could not complete a Noble Dead novel without me, but I've gone through some pain and soul-searching about the possibility that I cannot sell a book to the public in large numbers without him. And yes, I realize how self-absorbed this sounds, and I'm not normally a self-absorbed person.

I've been told that if I want to continue writing urban fantasy, I need to make the books a lot uglier and include a LOT more sex. I don't really want to do this, so JC thinks I may have chosen the wrong genre. But he was also slightly relieved when HUNTING MEMORIES did not take off like a rocket. He and I are pretty open with each other, and we've talked about all this. We both know that it would be unusual for a husband/wife team to write nine consecutive complex novels together and not have some ego issues arise.

I guess I just always assumed it would be his ego. Hah!

So, my goals for 2010 are:

1) To continue to write the Vampire Memories books my way, and not worry if they don't sell in huge numbers to the urban fantasy fans.

2) To appreciate the brilliance of my partner and be glad that we have different writing strengths and that joining those strengths has truly created something special to which a lot of people have responded.

The Nook Debacle

: barbhendee; December 21st, 2009

I've been wanting an e-reader for some time, and the B&N Nook looks pretty spiffy--and I mentioned this to JC. Apparently, he ordered me one in early November, and the "expected shipping date" has been pushed forward and pushed forward until he started getting worried. I guess last week, they upped the shipping date to December 21st, but promised him that it would arrive by Christmas. This morning, he checked in to make sure it had shipped, and he found a message in red asking him to choose between canceling the order or waiting another thirty days. The new shipping date would be January 20th. Frustrated, he canceled the order and then told me that he was pretty stressed out because . . . well, now he wasn't sure what to get me for Christmas and he's a bit on the late side. I told him not to worry. I'm don't care about presents. But I'm wondering if other people are having similar issues with the Nook?

Romantic Times

: barbhendee; December 8th, 2009

Okay, so we had a rough weekend--including some snapping at each other and me having a few fantasies about punching JC in the face--but we sat in the living room all day Sunday (my notebook in my lap and my fingers flying on the keyboard) and we hashed through the step-by-step sequences of the huge and complicated final conflict for OF TRUTH AND BEASTS.

I think we've got it.

JC is doing some final detail work before I break it all into a chapter-by-chapter, scene-by-scene structure, but I think we've finally got it, and the knot in my stomach is starting to unwind.

Anyone who's read CHILD OF A DEAD GOD knows we set the bar pretty high for the final conflict of a book that ends a series within the saga. So, this has been stressful. But . . . between the two of us, we've come up with some pretty cool stuff (smiles).

I'm going to go back to drafting chapter eighteen while he gets the final details incorporated.

But in "fun and happy" news, anyone who subscribes to Romantic Times must turn to page 67. The entire glossy page is dedicated to THROUGH STONE AND SEA! The magazine is giving away five free copies (in a contest), so they did an interview with us. It looks great! We've never been in such a fancy, glossy magazine before.

Soup Day!

: barbhendee; December 3rd, 2009

I know I have been shamelessly neglectful of my Live Journal, but I've been shamelessly neglectful in many areas of my life lately.

This third Noble Dead novel in the Wynn/Chane series is kicking my ass.

However, in the past two days, JC and I had a few break throughs, and yesterday, I zoned in on the outline, and I've got a connecting line drawn between where are now, and the end of the book. He's going to jump in and go over what I came up with . . . and we'll see what he thinks. But a lot of what I did is based on mutual ideas we've been tossing back and forth, so we think we are almost "there." If not quite "there," we are really, really close, maybe a few more days of outlining. Once we get that outline settled, I will start drafting like a maniac, and we'll get control of this puppy again.

But . . . another area of my life that has been put on the back burner seems to be our food situation. I've been working such long hours that instead of going to the grocery store, I've been digging though the chest freezer and pulling out whatever looks quick: marinara for spaghetti or a couple of chicken breasts to bread--mainly with a fast chopped salad. Dinners have been quick and easy, and lunches have been . . . sort of embarrassing as my best hours for writing are between mid-morning and afternoon.

We're completely out of home made soup, and I can't stand the canned stuff.

So, yesterday in the late afternoon, I went shopping, and I bought a bunch of fresh food. I made JC a whole roasted chicken with Mediterranean potato salad for dinner and then I used the carcass to make soup stock.

This morning, I cut up the rest of the chicken and put it in the stock along with onions, carrots, celery, diced organic tomatoes, oregano, basil, and brown rice. It's simmering on the stove. This one is pretty quick and should be done in about 45 minutes. I'll divide this up and freeze it for lunches.

But I've also got some split pea soup going in the slow cooker. This is a veggie recipe: dried split peas, eight cups of water, diced red potatoes, carrots, onions, and celery. As the potatoes cook down, they work to sort of hold everything together, and this is one of our faves.

But this will cook all day. We'll have some of that for dinner--with a lot leftover to freeze.

I feel more like myself, and a bit more industrious.

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