The Author of the First Book I Ever Read is Now My Facebook Friend

Well it’s official. Today, a very important person accepted my Facebook friend request. It all started with a conversation I had with my wife this weekend. I had mentioned to her some time ago that I could recall the first book I remember reading back in high school (something that wasn’t forced on me as required reading) and I related to her that reading that book launched me on a career path that I am still traveling today. Well this weekend the title of that book came back to me, as well as the name of the author. After I told my wife about it I went online and searched for the book but, alas, it’s out of print, since it was released in August of 1983 (this is why I stress the importance of POD in my blog posts. With the inexpensive method of print-on-demand, nothing has to go out of print anymore).

My search ultimately led to the author’s site, and I quickly whipped up a message that conveyed how important her book was to me and that it helped to shape my life, in that I eventually wrote books of my own, edited other books for a while, and eventually started a book design company and even a publishing company.

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The Era of Big Chain Bookstores is Passing

Today, Borders Group, the direct competitor of Barnes & Noble, is beginning liquidation of its 399 stores, and “everything must go,” folks. And that means $700 million of the company's inventory, which includes books, stationery, CDs, and DVD movies. Even the furnishings and equipment, right down to the shelving will also be sold off. Yikes!

According to one paper, “A liquidation company that is part of the process said late Thursday that the sales will be held starting Friday at all 259 Borders superstores, 114 Borders Express and Waldenbooks, and 26 Borders airport stores.”

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Give Me Stories That Aren’t Bogged Down

I read a lot of feedback dished out in reviews for popular book series and sagas of the day; series and sagas written by big name authors, and put out by large, far-reaching publishers with deep pockets. What I tend to see time and again are complaints that are pretty much summed up in one reviewer’s title: “Good writing, but little forward momentum.” What this means is that, after spending ten years reading a series written by a big name author who takes years to produce one book, when said book comes out (which just happens to fall somewhere in the middle of a planned series), the reader fails to add checkmarks to their list of plot resolutions, character arcs, or basic movement in the overall storyline. Why? Because these big name authors are dragging out the story on purpose at the behest of greedy publishers. They essentially milk their saga for all its worth for the sake of making more boatloads of $$$.

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711 Press Officially Launches

I'm proud to announce that Jaime Vendera and I have officially launched our new publishing venture, 711 Press. The imprint will feature pulse-pounding, edge-of-your-seat entertainment from brash upstarts in the industry. We aim to reinvigorate the publishing world by taking a somewhat new approach to long-established publishing models. For one, we do not publish long fiction, with the idea that reading one of our publications should take you no longer than it does to watch a full-length movie. Essentially, we are presenting "Movies in Book Form."TM And we believe that readers will be thrilled at this new prospect. So join us as we push this agenda forward, and let us continue to celebrate books, and bask in the splendor of the novel form, in all its wonderful variations!

2011 here we come. And a big thank you to all those who have pushed the "Like" button on our new Facebook page, linked below.

www.711press.com
http://www.facebook.com/pages/711-Press/166605780054354 

Becoming a Bestselling eBook Author

There was once a time when Hollywood wielded so much power that studios had near complete control over an actor's career. Those were the "contract" days, when actors had to be loaned out to rival studios if they caught wind of a juicy script and wanted in. This kind of power was only possible due to one very important thing: lack of competition. Without the ability to approach any studio they chose via an agent, and pick and choose scripts regardless of the lot it was being filmed on (something that is rather routine today) actors were often forced to commit to roles that were completely dissatisfying.

Competition is both healthy and destructive. While it makes for competitive pricing (an essential boon to the consumer) in turn it can sweep through an industry and leave companies in shambles. Take the big publishing companies. For a long time, publishing was considered an elite industry, almost exclusive to the literati; the movers and shakers; and writers who were fixtures in the publishing world via close associations with influential editors, or other famous authors, agents, or what have you. It took some time before a regular Joe or Jane could shoot off a query letter to an agent, along with a few sample chapters, and later land a deal on the strength of a novel that forced the publisher to groom them for stardom.

Today, however, with the gigantic strides being made by the self-publishing model, less than average Joes and Janes are able to get in on the action.

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