Why We Write…

July Greetings!

To All Muggle Writers’: 

I’m bringing up this topic. Breaking the barriers of publishing is so frustrating!  It seems traditional publishers are intent on making it harder for yet to be published literary talent to make it into the foals of their limited-by-design industry. In other words, don’t give up your day job cause the odds of reaching a tradtional publisher with news of your talent is now way more than a good bookies long shot. My advice is to buy shares in the shredding businesses who pick up all the discarded, never opened query letters and book proposals sent daily to publishers offices located on both coasts. Unsolicited is the word of the century.

What is going on in this industry? Good question. Under the new rules of Hogwash Guidlines for aspiring writers, the big guys of the publishing world are bashing heads trying to land the next “celebrity” for their book list.  If you’re not a Talk Show Host, a friend of a Talk Show Host, a Movie or Television Star, a Stand Up Comic, a Cooking Show Host or a Politician the sign posted at their mail box is: Please don’t bother us! Celebrity Status ONLY need apply. If you don’t believe me, check out the flood of book titles now on the shelves of your local bookstores. 

And what about getting an agent?  Agents make their living through the bottom line of book sales.  I understand that very well.  I also know that writers are their own worst enemy when it comes to making a judgement call on their writing abilities and what the market will support in the genre they have chosen for their story.  I could add to this list the unbelievable way writers submit their queries, letters, phone calls and emails to agents, but enough said.

Agents at big houses are bombarded to present at writers’ conferences. Agents are enticed with free travel to great locations, a small fee (sometimes), room and meals to work a 20 minute platform, which consists of delivering advice to those in attendence. Sometimes they are put in a position of giving writers a five minute opportunity to pitch their stories directly to them.  Most writers are not prepared for this kind of a quickie presentation. It’s no wonder they fail. And to be honest, agents are not thrilled with this kind of set up either–at least the one’s I have spoken with on this subject.  Most agents don’t want to be a dream crusher.  It’s the business and how it’s set up in today’s market.  Time to develop talent is not on the menu list of services for an agent who wants to succeed in this fast paced and complex traditional publishing world. That’s why agents now work within the confines of mile high barriers constructed to keep out all those “unsolicited” queries from the average Muggle writer.  But, all of us have to keep in mind one thing: agents are completely and grossly outnumbered.

Another peeve: If you are a serious writer, have you ever investigated how Best Sellers are established.  I invite you to look at this process and see the incredible journey a book and it’s publisher must go through to end up in this category. The lists of  The New York Times and USA Today are clones of each other.  Let me know if you spot a book published by a regional publisher.  Fair and balanced?  I wish Fox TV would do a hard news story on this process and that of the distribution process, which has sucked the life out of  independent bookstores.  Only a few are still standing as most simply can’t make a profit after the “mafia required discount” is stamped on the contract for distribution. Trust me when I tell you the profit level for national bookstore chains is an elephant in the room for them as well.  Have you ever looked into who owns these distribution sources?  Do a Google.   It’s not amusing or seemingly ethical.  The scent of monopoly is attached to this subject.  But as writers and publishers do we raise our voices and cry FOUL?  Not a peep.  We suffer in silence and for some, lose the desire to continue writing.  This is criminal to me.

What options do we have? A few. Just a few. With the coming of new, alternative publishing operations such as custom printing and Print On Demand publishing, writers have a crack of fresh air coming in, especially since these operations are for the most part working within the rules of bookstores who have demanded they play by the same distribution rules that fall under the category of the dreaded publisher Return System.  This is fair, but the process is still in need of repair and redevelopment.  These new resources allow many writers the only path to seeing their work come to life in the form of a book.  But the partnership is not perfect and writers still need to better understand the process and how THEY are the principal carrier for the finished product they will pay for in their contract agreement.  The biggest hole in this process is story development and professional editing. These services are indeed extra, but without them, an author could spend the rest of their life embarrased about the final product they approved.  The hope of all these new resources are promising.  The education of how to make them work is still unfolding, shredding through layers of development in the name of publishing partnerships. And that’s exactly what it is, a partnership.  Dollars are involved.

These new resources are not perfect–nothing is in this industry. But it’s a foot in the door and a step to where I believe publishing is going in our lifetime.  The Internet and it’s overwhelming popularity is driving a new market for book sales.  Young readers are hitting the Shopping Cart button of Amazon and other such sites in incredible numbers.  Where will this all lead to?  Perhaps the consolidation of industry giants such as Borders and Barnes & Noble and other like industry’s.  Smaller niche retail outlets that cater to specific genres who deal directly with the publishers, cutting out the discount demands of ”those distributors whose names we never mention…”  Digital printing will replace the need for publishers to pay room and board for large storage sites and empty out space in a lot of writers’ garages.  See a book you like on the Internet or a publishers site, push a button and it will be delivered to your door in a couple of days or in some cases, overnight.  With the price of gasoline today, it might end up be the preferred method of sale.    

So you say, “What can we do about any of this, Andy?”  Fair question especially since I’m the one who brought it up. I’ve thought about it long enough.  I’m working on a new system of publishing. A fair and balanced system.  What’s it going to take to make it happen?  A million or so writers’ voices backing me up.  Impossible?  Don’t bet against it.

J. Andy Murphy

PS: Check out my latest photo from my new book “Caddy Caddy Ways of Women in the Workplace.”

Giving yourself permission to write

Someone once told me when I asked how did you gain the confidence to write your first novel. And he answered, “when you are hungry you don’t ask permission to eat.”

But the very thing I loved writing was frozen in time due to a trauma that hit me to the core. My brilliant sister in the 60’s was misdiagnosed as a schizophrenic and was sent to a hospital when she was in 11th grade. She read the NYTimes at 2 yrs and at 4th grade was already reading at college level. Today they probably would have said she had Asberger’s Syndrome but in the 60’s there was no such thing.

At 11yrs old I asked to visit her this brilliant, funny, ecentric soul. I brought here a valentine’s card saying I hope you get on the 2nd floor where the doors are not locked. And I was carrying a cheese sandwich that got all melted. I remember the perfect manicured hilles and walking a long walk. And arriving where a nurse with bright orange lipstick brought out my sister Karen and helped her walk as she was a little shakey. She tried to talk but you couldn’t understand a word. And she was wearing this grey dress that she kept in the back of her closet because she hated it. She looked so pale and drugged all the magic and the miracle of who she was as a human being was gone.

At that age I was in 6th grade and my writing began to stand out. The teacher would read them in class nearly every week and then I stopped. Because I thought I would go to one of those places that karen when to because I was different. It wasn’t logic, it was how I felt. And so I wrote in private like a Jewish person hiding from the Nazi’s.

And I want to come out but I lost so much time. But no more I am giving it all I got. And I am expect to fail but that won’t bother me. Its never have tried to persue the one thing I love most in this world.

Melinda Khan

Advice to our Young Voices Winners from Lemony Snicket

Yesterday at the WriteStuff Writers’ Conference in Indianapolis, we presented the top three finalists of the atFishers.com Young Voices Short Story Competition with their plaques. Tara Brugh, Alex Zoumbaris, and Mary O’Leary took home top honors and a signed Lemony Snicket book “A Series of Unfortunate Events”, volume 1. Lemony Snicket gave the winners some advice while signing his book which I captured on video.

Faculty Member Tom Britt Interviewed by WFYI Radio

AuthorHouse’s Director of Author Development and WriteStuff Faculty member Tom Britt was interviewed this week by Sharon Gamble of WFYI Radio in Indianapolis, Indiana. They discussed Tom’s involvement with WriteStuff, who attends these conferences, and what to look for with this year’s 2007 WriteStuff Writers’ Tour.

Tom Britt’s Book Marketing Group Invite

You’re invited to join Tom Britt’s Book Marketing Group on Google.com! Simply enter your email in the form below and you’ll be joining an online discussion group centered on book marketing. Our topics are designed primarily for those of you interested in leveraging the Internet to market, promote, and sell books.

Book Marketing Group

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“If You Believe” by J. Andy Murphy

“If You Believe” is a timeless story that families everywhere can enjoy reading together. Family values, the wonder of imagination, the importance of faith and tradition are at the core of this story. It begins when a special wish is made for a little boy, Zachary, who has lost his belief in the wonder of Santa Claus. He is also experiencing a certain sadness after the loss of his beloved grandmother and the approaching holiday season will be his first without her loving presence.

Zachary finds himself sharing time and space with miniature toy figures that have come to life via Mr. Maple, the carriage driver, who has long been a cherished figure in the family’s Christmas tree village. The story speaks to all the elements of life and the reasons for believing. In a touching reunion, Zachary’s grandmother shares a few moments with her grandson as she gently guides him to a meaningful explanation of Santa Claus and the wonders of believing. The grandmother also shares with her precious grandson a much-needed answer concerning the mystery of death in a gentle explanation that a child can embrace without fear. The ending will give the reader a surprise and a long held secret that connects the boy with his father is revealed. A quick read that will warm your heart and renew your spirit!

A NEW BOOK IS NOW AVAILABLE!

The Catty, Catty Ways of Women in the Workplace ! Written by Marcia Ellett, J. Andy Murphy and Terri LaForest. Catty is a humorous look at a serious subject. Catty explores the way women treat one another in the workplace, focusing on gossip, backstabbing, manipulation and other situations that cause the claws to come out and the fur to fly. MEOW!  Now available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Borders. To order direct: Call Cardinal Publishing Group @ 317-879-0871 or tdoherty@cardinalpub.com - Price: $12.95 - ISBN: 9780790613567. Published by LifePress Publishing

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