Journalist Claims he has lived in the Dark End of the Spectrum

I recently received this intriguing comment from Vic Livingston, a journalist from Philadelphia regarding my thriller/mystery, DARK END OF THE SPECTRUM.

What is intriguing is that he talks about many scary technologies used by the government that I had mentioned in my book, which by the way is fiction.

Take a look and let me know what you think.

"Mr. Policastro: I have been a victim of the real dark end of the spectrum for six years (that I know about). Please react to this posting, from today's Washingtonpost.com/thefix, as well as my articles and first-person victim account linked at the bottom. My telecommunications are subject to interception and spiking so I don't know if you will ever see this. I will check back here daily for the next few days. -- Vic Livingston

SECRET MULTI-AGENCY FED PROGRAM SILENTLY TORTURES, IMPAIRS, PERSECUTES U.S. CITIZENS WITH MICROWAVE/LASER RADIATION AND LOCAL VIGILANTISM, SAYS MAINSTREAM JOURNALIST

* Thousands of Americans, deemed to be "dissidents" or undesirables, targeted by Bush legacy program for debilitating microwave/laser assault, held hostage in their own homes to fed-supported vigilante "community policing" stalking units, equipped with warrantless GPS devices, who vandalize and terrorize as local police look the other way.

* "Directed energy weapons," portable units and a nationwide installation employing cell towers and satellites, induce weakness, exhaustion, head and body aches, physical and neurological impairment, strokes, aneurysms, cancer -- and many victims do not realize what is making them sick.

* Regional Homeland Security- administered "fusion centers" reportedly serve as command centers for covert electromagnetic radiation attacks, pervasive surveillance, financial sabotage of those identified as "dissidents," "trouble-makers" or slandered as threats to society.

* Use of microwave weaponry to torture and impair political opponents recently confirmed by deposed Honduras President Manuel Zelaya.

* Pleas for justice, to local police and FBI, go unanswered -- as do demands for a Department of Justice Civil Rights Division investigation and congressional hearings.

"These are crimes against humanity and the Constitution, being perpetrated under the cover of national security and 'safe streets' by multiple federal and local agencies and commands -- an American genocide hiding in plain sight, enabled by the naivete of those who think 'it can't happen here.'"

-- Victor Livingston, former reporter for WTXF-TV Philadelphia, Phila. Bulletin, N.Y. Daily News, St. Petersburg Times; producer/host, MSG Network Sports Business Report; columnist, NowPublic.com/scrivener.

JOURNO TO FBI: SEIZE CONTROL OF DHS-RUN FUSION CENTERS
TO STOP SILENT MICROWAVE / LASER ATTACKS ON U.S. CITIZENS

http://nowpublic.com/world/govt-tortures-me-silent-microwave-weapons-ousted-s-prez
http://nowpublic.com/world/gestapo-usa-govt-funded-vigilante-network-terrorizes-america OR (if links are corrupted / disabled): http://NowPublic.com/scrivener RE: "GESTAPO USA""

Kindle Numbers: Traditional Publishing Vs. Self Publishing

 I had to post Joe's post confirming the explosion of ebooks. Joe is the best selling author of the Lt. Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels and Jack Kilborn thrillers.

By Joe Konrath
I got quite a shock last week, when I got my bi-annual royalty statement. Hyperion publishes six titles in my Jack Daniels series. They gave me my ebook figures. Authors are usually quite secretive about their sales and their royalties.

Me? I'm spilling the beans. Here are my ebook Kindle numbers from Jan 1 to June 31, 2009.

Click here to read the rest of the story: Kindle Numbers: Traditional Publishing Vs. Self Publishing

A Bookcoach can Better Market Your Book

By Judy Cullins

When authors think of their audience buying books they think of bookstores. This myth sends authors taking the long, arduous road to seeking out an agent, a publisher, hoping their book will become a best seller. It won't. Why?

Because you are not famous, your publishing support amounts only to a three-month book tour, billed against your sales. Your book's shelf life at Barnes and Noble or other brick and mortar bookstores is about three months too. And, you the author must promote it full time to receive less than 50% of the profits.

Another reason bookstores disappoint the author is that most people go into the store to browse. They want fiction, some non-fiction, but they aren't sure what. If your book is shelved among more popular authors, potential buyers will pass it by for the well-known name.

Marketing guru, John Kremer, author of 1001 Ways to Market Your Book, says "I'm glad I don't rely on retail 'brick and mortar' bookstore sales for my income, but it will be nice to add that icing on the cake into my cash flow again."

Before his updated version this year, John has sold 45,000 copies of his book in three years. He is a marketer par excellence. He uses non-traditional marketing strategies; his web site, his ezine which offers tips, products and seminars, specialty stores, foreign markets, libraries, and back of the room sales from speaking engagements.

Because John is a recognized name, he gets a lot of shelf space in the bookstore - cover side out. For your lesser-known book, only your spine will show and after three months of initial placement, your book will fade away unless you put on your promotion hat to get customers to the store.

In one book coaching session, a new client thought he wanted to sell to the bookstores. I asked him who was his particular audience. He said business people. What kind of business people? Do these people go to the "brick and mortar" bookstore for a business book? Or, will they be more likely to subscribe to online business ezines or visit a business Web site for specific kinds of business books?

Your book coach knows that online promotion is the cheapest, easiest, and most profitable way to sell books.

DID YOU KNOW?

• Seventy percent of US adults haven't been in a bookstore for the last 5 years.
• Bookstores sell only 45% of all books sold.
• Bookstores return non-sold books to the author-think of the Starbucks people dripping their coffee and scone on your book.
• Bookstores will take 90 days, even a year or more to pay you for your total book sales.
• Bookstores only order two or three copies at a time because of limited shelf space.
• Bookstores buy only from a distributor or wholesaler.

Why the big push to get a wholesale or distributor and get into the bookstore?

These people represent so many other authors don't you wonder how much attention your book will receive? They exact healthy fees, around 55%. That leaves a small profit for the author, and remember, bookstores, distributors and wholesalers don't promote your book!

After her distributor went belly up and she lost $160,000, one author said she would rather have more control over her priceless products. She distributes them all herself now through various venues that suit her personality.

Authors spend a lot of time and money chasing the improbable, when the "golden egg" of self-publishing and self-promotion is right in front of them. In my opinion, I'd sell my books everywhere except the brick and mortar bookstore!

Book and Internet Marketing Coach Judy Cullins helps businesses get all the clients and sell all the books they want.

Author of 11 business books including How to Write your Book Fast and Advanced Article Marketing, a 3-Book Special.

Judy offers free articles and eBook "Book Writing and Marketing Tips" with monthly ezine subscription at http://www.bookcoaching.com

Get fresh, free, weekly articles on book writing and article marketing on HubPage and Ezine Articles:

http://hubpages.com/profile/Judy+Cullins

http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Judy_Cullins

Network with Judy on...

http://www.linkedin.com/in/judycullins

http://twitter.com/CoachJudy

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Judy-Cullins/40416616854

Women on Writing Blog Event emphasizes Family

Today I'm participating in a mass blogging! WOW!

Women On Writing has gathered a group of blogging buddies to write about family relationships. Why family relationships? We're celebrating the release of Therese Walsh's debut novel today. The Last Will of Moira Leahy, (Random House, October 13, 2009) is about a mysterious journey that helps a woman learn more about herself and her twin, whom she lost when they were teenagers.

My most memorable family relationship was with my father. He was the hero in my life.

He moved through life with bold strokes, never letting other people bend him from the way he wanted to go. He was a pioneer in his family going where his ten siblings would not go. His bold strokes made all of our lives better.

When he returned from World War II, he took on the world – he married my mother and did things his way. He was always himself and didn’t care what other people thought of his thoughts or his actions whether they were laughable or significant.

He taught me to always reach for the stars even if you couldn’t touch them – just keep reaching. He wanted a better life for me and now I have it because of him.

“I want you to do better than I have,” he would often say and when life beat him down many times, he still had a smile, a joke, and a cheerful, contagious presence that no one could resist.

He taught me that keeping one’s word is more important than anything else in life because that is what made the true grit of a man, not his wealth or his position or his looks.

When we were teenagers, we would play cards on the back porch during those lazy, nothing to do summer afternoons and my friends would not play without him. His contagious personality appealed to all generations.

There are many heroes in the world today, but a true hero’s words linger inside of you all your life and guide you when you have to make the tough decisions. That’s what my father did for me – his words and presence are always with me providing a guidepost that I have used all my life. He is my hero.

Samuel Anthony Policastro 1925-1999

Visit The Muffin (http://www.wow-womenonwriting.com/blog.html) to read what Therese has to say about family relationships. And make sure you visit Therese's website (http://www.theresewalsh.com) to find out more about the author."

About the book: The Last Will of Moira Leahy By Therese Walsh A LOST SHADOW Moira Leahy struggled growing up in her prodigious twin's shadow; Maeve was always more talented, more daring, more fun. In the autumn of the girls' sixteenth year, a secret love tempted Moira, allowing her to have her own taste of adventure, but it also damaged the intimate, intuitive relationship she'd always shared with her sister. Though Moira's adolescent struggles came to a tragic end nearly a decade ago, her brief flirtation with independence will haunt her sister for years to come. A LONE WOMAN When Maeve Leahy lost her twin, she left home and buried her fun-loving spirit to become a workaholic professor of languages at a small college in upstate New York. She lives a solitary life now, controlling what she can and ignoring the rest--the recurring nightmares, hallucinations about a child with red hair, the unquiet sounds in her mind, her reflection in the mirror. It doesn't help that her mother avoids her, her best friend questions her sanity, and her not-quite boyfriend has left the country. But at least her life is ordered. Exactly how she wants it. A SHARED PAST Until one night at an auction when Maeve wins a keris, a Javanese dagger that reminds her of her lost youth, and happier days playing pirates with Moira in their father's boat. Days later, a book on weaponry is nailed to her office door, followed by anonymous notes, including one that invites her to Rome to learn more about the blade and its legendary properties. Opening her heart and mind to possibility, Maeve accepts the invitation, and with it, a window into her past. Ultimately she will revisit the tragic November night that shaped her and Moira's destinies, and learn that nothing can be taken at face value, as one sister emerges whole and the other's score is finally settled. Note: To read reviews about The Last Will of Moira Leahy, please visit Therese's website: http://theresewalsh.com/News_Reviews/news_reviews.html ------------------ About the author, Therese Walsh: Therese is the co-founder of Writer Unboxed, a blog for writers about the craft and business of genre fiction. Before turning to fiction, she was a researcher and writer for Prevention magazine, and then a freelance writer. She's had hundreds of articles on nutrition and fitness published in consumer magazines and online. She has a master's degree in psychology. Aside from writing, Therese's favorite things include music, art, crab legs, Whose Line is it Anyway?, dark chocolate, photography, unique movies and novels, people watching, strong Irish tea, and spending time with her husband, two kids and their bouncy Jack Russell. Therese's website: http://theresewalsh.com Therese's blog: http://theresewalsh.com/blog.html Writer Unboxed: http://www.writerunboxed.com Twitter: http://twitter.com/ThereseWalsh Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/therese.walsh

Participating Bloggers! Day By Day Writer: http://daybydaywriter.wordpress.com/ Adventures in the Writing Life: http://adventuresinthewritinglife.blogspot.com/ The Beautification Project: http://thebeautificationproject.wordpress.com/ Reading Frenzy: http://lumorgan.blogspot.com/ A Girl, Her Career, and Life on the Dairy Farm: http://sandhillssequitur.blogspot.com/ The 5th Line Project, Page 56, Line 5: http://the5thlineproject.wordpress.com Read These Books and Use Them!: http://margodill.com/blog/ Julie Bogart's blog: http://juliebogart.com/blog/ A Ponderance of Things: http://rcponders.wordpress.com/ A Woman's Life Stages: http://www.awomanslifestages.com Danielle Buffardi's blog: http://www.daniellebuffardi.com/ Just Another Perfect Day: http://gundiva.blogspot.com/ Stories of life: one writer-mom's odyssey: http://www.kristinemeldrumdenholm.blogspot.com/ Once Written, Twice Shy: http://www.shywriters.blogspot.com/ Writing Cops...It's What I Do: http://melanieatkins.wordpress.com/ Anna Louise Lucia's blog: http://annalouiselucia.com/blog/ Word Wranglers: http://wordwranglers.blogspot.com/ Erin Denver's blog: http://www.erindenver.com/ Writers Inspired: http://writerinspired.wordpress.com/ Romancing the Blog: http://obe-romancingtheblog.blogspot.com MamaBlogga: mom's search for meaning: http://www.mamablogga.com/  About.com's Freelance Writing: http://freelancewrite.about.com/ GardenWall Publications: http://www.gardenwallpublications.com/blog/ Moonlight, Lace and Mayhem: http://moonlightlacemayhem.blogspot.com/ Five Scribes: http://fivescribes.blogspot.com/ R.J. Writes: http://www.ruthjhartman.blogspot.com/ Catch a Star Before It Falls: http://celestialgldfsh.livejournal.com/ Words from the Heart: http://contemplativeed.blogspot.com/ Magical Musings: http://magicalmusings.com/ Fat and then, a journey back to my true self: http://fatandthen.blogspot.com/ Gayle Trent, Cozy Mystery Writer: http://www.gayletrent.com/blog/ Paris Parfait, Tara Bradford writes from the City of Light: http://www.tarabradford.com/ Cathy C.'s Hall of Fame: http://www.cathychall.blogspot.com/ Misadventures with Andi: http://www.misadventureswithandi.com/ Kristin Bair O'Keeffe's blog: http://www.kristinbairokeeffeblog.com/ Awake is Good: http://www.awakeisgood.blogspot.com/ The Writer's Edge: http://writersedgeinfo.blogspot.com/ Writing is About Putting Yourself to Words: http://aspnovelist.blogspot.com/ Squirrel's Treehouse: http://www.scrollsquirrel.blogspot.com/ Gaijin Mama: http://gaijinmama.wordpress.com/ Multi-Tasking Mama: http://www.multitaskingmama.com/ Self Help Daily: http://www.selfhelpdaily.com/ Words and Coffee: http://jonathandanz.wordpress.com Elizabeth Kirschner's blog: http://elizabethkirschner.wordpress.com/ One Woman's Eye: http://onewomanseye.blogspot.com/ Entering the Age of Elegance: http://www.maturingmodernwomen.com/ The Write at Home Mom: http://www.thewriteathomemom.blogspot.com/ Mother Daughter Book Club Blog: http://motherdaughterbookclub.wordpress.com/ Muse: http://erikarobuck.wordpress.com/ the SIMMER blog: http://simmerblog.typepad.com/ Scales and other lies: http://scalesandotherlies.com/wordpress/ Natalia Maldonado's blog: http://www.nmaldonado.com/blog/ writers, dogs, and germans*: http://sdennard.wordpress.com/ Meryl's Notes blog: http://www.meryl.net/section/blog/ Little Miss Information: http://s-frostie.tumblr.com/ Linda Mohr's Blog: http://lindamohr.wordpress.com/ Reconsidering Sanity: http://www.reconsanity.blogspot.com/ So Many Books, So Little Time: http://purplg8r-somanybooks.blogspot.com/ Cynderella's Castle: http://www.cynthiadalba.blogspot.com/ Dianne Sagan, Life as a Ghost(writer): http://diannesagan.wordpress.com/ Janel's Jumble: http://janelsjumble.blogspot.com/ North Side Four (plus Eleanor Roosevelt, the Senator and the President): http://www.northsidefour.blogspot.com/ Teresa Shen Swingler's blog: http://teresashenswingler.com/ Color Your Life Happy-Flora Morris Brown, Ph.D.: http://coloryourlifehappy.com/blog/ a-century-of-thoughts: http://chehrenegar.blogspot.com/ Behind Brown Eyes: http://right2write.blogspot.com/ 'Manda Blogs About...: http://mandablogsabout.blogspot.com/ SFC Blog: Families Matter: http://familiesmatter2us.blogspot.com/

Publish and Sell Helps Writers get Published

Today we have an interview with Henry Hutton, a good friend of mine who is helping revolutionize the publishing industry with his self publishing agency, Publish and Sell Enterprises. Known in publishing circles as The PublishingGuy, Henry has also created an online newspaper called PublishingGuy's News Update offering the latest news in the dynamic publishing industry - Anthony

1. What made you start Publish and Sell?

I’ve always had a passion for helping authors realize their dreams, and the revolution in publishing - especially with sites like Lulu.com and Createspace.com, along with POD - has enabled millions of authors the opportunity to see their book in print. We quickly learn, however, that publishing is not the hard part. Selling is.

Our goal at Lulu was to change the world of publishing and by turning it on its head. With our free publishing tools any author could publish their work into a printed book or ebook and make it available for sale to their buying audience. Although that in itself is a great achievement, it doesn’t get the author to the goal line, and authors quickly realized that publishing their book was the easier first half of the publishing process.

Generating sales is the biggest challenge to overcome.

Fortunately, while at Lulu I witnessed two sides of the independent publishing phenomenon:

1. Authors that published their book and waited for sales to happen, and

2. Authors that aggressively marketed their books using free social networking sites. 

Needless to say, the authors in the former group faltered while the authors in the latter group, even through trial and error, achieved moderate - and often surprising - success

My goal is to help authors better position themselves for success by not only making the best publishing choices, but by making smart marketing choices. In today’s Internet world, every author can identify, find, interact with, and sell to their audience much more efficiently and economically.

2. What makes Publish and Sell unique? Are there other companies like Publish and Sell?
I consider Publish and Sell Enterprises as a self-publishing agency. Although you can find many companies that offer author services similar to ours, those companies typically work with specific printing and distribution outlets.

I do things differently. I examine the needs of the author - the genre of their book, the audience that they’re trying to reach - and determine the best path to take in terms of publishing and marketing. Some authors might be best served by Lulu, while others might be served through Booksurge, and still others should go directly into the Kindle. I’ve learned over the years that one size doesn’t fit all when it comes to author services, and forcing an author’s square book into a round publishing and marketing hole is asking for failure. 

3. Do you think there is a large market for your services?
There’s no doubt about it. A large percentage of authors that attempt the free publishing sites - Createspace, Lulu, Wordclay, etc. - never finish the publishing process. Furthermore, an equally large percentage that do publish never sell more than a couple copies. With a little hand-holding I’m convinced that many authors can do better. They just need to be educated and pointed in the right direction.

4. How does Publish and Sell work?
When an author contacts us we walk through their situation - including the “completeness” of their book, the genre, the market - and assess the overall strategy for reaching a successful outcome. This is a completely interactive process with the author.

We then put a plan and timeline together that reflects the publishing and marketing activities that will be required to accomplish our goals.

5. What challenges do you see for Publish and Sell?
There are a few significant challenges we face. First of all, since every author is different it’s hard for me to accurately predict resource needs. Will I need another ghost writer in three months or another cover artist? So far, however, we’ve done a good job managing our resource needs.

Secondly, as you know, the publishing world is rapidly changing. A few weeks ago Lulu changed their retail distribution program, and just last week Createspace began offering author services. It’s imperative that we stay on top of these rapid developments so that we can properly advise our clients regarding their options.


Lastly, it’s critical that authors make the proper choices when it comes to social marketing. Although there’s an abundance of free networking and social media tools, some may not be suited for the book’s genre, its market, or even the author’s personality. Some sites go in and out of favor, so it’s our job to stay on top of these changes and try to anticipate the trends that will work to the author’s advantage.

6. Are authors successful using your services?
You’d have to ask those authors, but I think it’s fair to say that they’re more successful than they would have been without my services. Especially when it comes to marketing, I can only educate and show them the best way to present themselves online, build and interact with their audience, and influence that audience to buy their book. At the end of the day the book must deliver. 

7. What advice would you give to authors considering self-publishing?
Do it, and don’t wait. You’re only harming yourself if you do. I’ve seen too many authors that have waited years to garner a publishing deal, without success. By self-publishing, authors - especially first-time authors - will better understand the process and challenges of publishing. They’ll learn what works and what doesn’t, and actually become better positioned - through the self-publishing success - to get picked up by a traditional publisher. Or, alternatively, they’ll find their niche and remain as a self-publisher to maintain control over their book and income. It can be a win-win, but you won’t know if you don’t try.

Thousands of people are self-publishing every day. Their book is being purchased, it’s being read, and the author is receiving feedback. Yes, sometimes the feedback is negative, and sometimes the book wasn’t as good as it should have been. If that’s the case, it’s better to have a small self-publishing failure (that you can quickly recover from) than a failure with a traditional publisher. That’s almost impossible to recover from.  Take advantage of every learning opportunity that self-publishing provides.
 

8. Do you think self-publishing could be a path to commercial publishing?
Definitely! We saw this happen all the time at Lulu. Publishers would look at our top seller list and contact those authors. It made their job easy, because these authors knew the process of publishing, they knew their target audience, and they knew how to market to that audience successfully. That’s a publisher’s dream come true. 

9. What do you think will be the future of publishing?
The most interesting and immediate dynamic the industry is facing is ebooks. Devices like the Kindle and Sony Reader have made it easy and convenient to purchase and read books. These ebook readers are still a little too expensive for the mainstream market, but I’m confident that in time they’ll achieve critical mass and revolutionize the reading and publishing landscape.

For example, I love printed books, but now that I have a Kindle I very rarely buy a printed book. For one thing, the ebooks are always cheaper. Furthermore, I feel that - in a very small way - I’m saving a few trees every time I opt for an ebook. I don’t need another book sitting on my bookshelf anyway - I’ve got too many already!

Lastly, ebooks provide many advantages to authors. Although it takes a little time and effort, an author can publish their book as a Kindle ebook for free. Just go to http://dtp.amazon.com and follow the instructions.

Talk about removing barriers to entry. Upload and publish today, and your book is being purchased and read by your audience in no time. Oh, and you’re receiving royalties in no time. In tomorrow’s world, ebooks will be an author’s best friend.


10. What do you enjoy the most about Publish and Sell?
I enjoy working with authors, and every author’s situation is different. No two poetry books are alike, nor are any two novels alike. That keeps things fresh, along with the fact that the publishing industry and its associated technologies are changing almost daily.

Also, as much as I dream of being a novelist, I can’t seem to write for the long haul. I am a musician, so I have a lot of songs that I’ve penned - along with some poems and short stories - but after a couple pages I’ve run out of things to say.

So I admire authors. I admire the varied processes by which they write, and I’m envious of the way that an author’s thoughts seem to flow uninhibited from their mind and into their manuscript. This capability - to tell a story, to invoke emotions, and sometimes even change the life of your reader is, frankly, astounding.

For more information on Publish and Sell Enterprises and how Henry can help you publish and market your work visit his site at http://www.publishandsell.com or call him directly at 919 247-1832.

You can also find Henry on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/henry.hutton, on Twitter at @PublishingGuy and on Linkedin at http://www.linkedin.com/in/henryhutton

Self or Commercial Publication - Is There a Difference Anymore?

Editor's Note: We have a guest blog by best selling author Jeremy Robinson, who I refer to as the author's author. I followed Jeremy's career when he started as a self-published author, watched him create ingeniously unique marketing events for his books and finally land a lucrative three-book contract with a traditional publisher, Thomas Dunne Books, an imprint of St. Martin’s Press. He is an inspiration to all aspiring and just-published authors.- Anthony


By Jeremy Robinson

So what is the difference between being a self-published author and an author with a commercial publisher. Being a self-publisher for three years, this was a question I often wondered about. NY publishers and authors are very quiet about the inner workings of publishing and in some ways it felt like this secret society that you had to become a part of to learn the truth. In a way, that's true, because I didn't really know until I was in the club, so to speak.

I should mention that this is MY experience. I am a professional interior and cover designer and have hired editors for my books. Because I tried to treat the process of self-publishing as much like a publisher as I could (going so far as to start a small press), you will not find those typical self-publishing/big gun publishing differences in my perspective.

But I'm happy to talk about it and let YOU in on the secret. First, I'll start with the differences, because there aren't that many and, honestly, they're not nearly as important as the similarities.

1. You get paid an advance. Most of the time. Which is nice. It says, "Hey, we think your book is going to sell X amount of copies and we're so sure of it, we're going to pay you in advance for those copies". Wow! What a shot in the arm. But its not as grand as it sounds. Odds are, as a first time author your advance will be far less than you need to live on for a year, so don't quit your day job. And then there is the pressure to actually sell what was expected of you...which can be a lot harder than you think.

2. This is the big one, distribution. Your books, if the publisher is doing their job, will not only be available to brick and mortar stores, it will also be on the shelf without you having to lift a finger. Deep breath, smile, and sigh. Ahhhh.

3. Royalties. As a self-publisher I was accustomed to making $4.00 per book sold. That's now at $2.50 for hard covers and something like $.65 for mass markets. So to make the same amount of money, I need to sell roughly double the amount of books, which is, again, harder than you think.

And that's about it. There are other obvious differences, like working with an editor that's been in the business for a while, and a team of artists at a publishing house, but that experience is totally different from person to person, and for me, hasn't been too different than what I'm used to in my own self-imposed system of publishing.

As for what has not changed (despite how much I wish it would) is this: marketing. When I got the catalog from the publisher with PULSE in it, I looked at the list of marketing that was going to be done for the book...and you know what I saw? Everything I have always done for my books. Meaning, I would still be doing them...and that was it. There would be no marketing beyond what I could manage on my own.

If you're an author, you might be aghast right now. But you shouldn't be. This is life for most newbie authors. Many choose to do nothing and let the book sell from the shelf on its own, but I wouldn't suggest this.

You must act like you're still trying to prove yourself as an author, because you are! Getting a big publisher is just the first step in having a career as an author. What happens after that, once again, largely depends on the author's action or inaction. So, what hasn't changed is that I am still spending insane amounts of hours marketing. I created my video trailer. I hired a narrator to podcast my previous novel, Kronos, an inserted ads for PULSE. I'm active on my blog, website, Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, Youtube and Goodreads. I had multiple contests. Wrote and released press releases. Booked radio shows. Scheduled signings. And a slew of other things I have mentally blocked.

In fact, I would suggest you not think about what is different between self-publishing and commercial publishing. If you get a publishing deal, great, but don't think you've "made it." You're still a long way from that. I'm still a long way from that. So stay focused on what remains the same. Keep your desperation. Your drive. And maybe you'll get a second book deal when the first is done.

For more on me and the novels, please visit www.jeremyrobinsononline.com - Sign up for the newsletter while you're there!

PULSE is now available.

Buy from Barnes&Noble

Buy from Amazon

"Jeremy Robinson's latest novel, PULSE, ratchets his writing to the next level.  Rocket-boosted action, brilliant speculation, and the recreation of a horror out of the mythologic past, all seamlessly blend into a rollercoaster ride of suspense and adventure.  Who knew chess could be this much fun!"
-- James Rollins, New York Times bestselling author of THE LAST ORACLE

Fear Drives My Writing

 By Anthony S. Policastro

This post is part of my September blog tour.

Both of my novels, DARK END OF THE SPECTRUM and ABSENCE OF FAITH, both mystery/thrillers, were written out of fear, universal fears that I believe all of us consider at one time or another.

DARK END OF THE SPECTRUM is about Dan Riker, a computer security expert whose family is kidnapped by digital terrorists who take over the power grid and cell phone network and hold the United States hostage. Dan is the only one with the know-how to stop them, but the hackers have his family and he must decide to save his family or save millions of people.

While I wrote this book the fear of losing my own family pervaded my thoughts and I wrapped a plot around this fear using the latest wireless technologies and a lot of imagination. I still have my family and the thought of losing them is unimaginable. This was the fuel for DARK END OF THE SPECTRUM.

Dan's life is well planned, predicted and uneventful like most of our lives and I wanted to see how Dan would react when all of that is shattered in an instant when his family disappears.

Does Dan have the courage to save his family or will he just give up because he never had to face such insurmountable odds? Will he save millions of people whose lives are threatened by the terrorists or will he save his family? The book is not just about technology.

These are some of the questions I addressed in the book and when or if you read the book you may ask yourself these same questions and maybe better understand your own capabilities.

ABSENCE OF FAITH also addresses universal fears when residents in a highly-religious small town have horrible near-death experiences and wake up with burnt skin.  They believe they went to hell and that God has abandoned them. Matters get worse when a local Satanic cult emerges and wins over many residents.

My fears of losing all hope and all faith in the face of a downturn in life is what spawned ABSENCE OF FAITH. Again, I was interested in how people would react if you stripped them of all hope and faith. Would they pick themselves up and continue their lives? What would they do when this great fear overtakes them.

These are the questions I address in ABSENCE OF FAITH.

Bestselling author and psychic Sylvia Browne writes in her book, Prophecy, that, "...our beliefs are the driving force behind our behavior, our opinions, our actions. Without faith, without our beliefs, we're lost."

I have always been interested in religion and why and how it has such a powerful hold on all of us and what would happen if it were taken away.
 

I not only wanted my books to entertain, but I also wanted them to inspire, educate and leave readers with something to think about after they put the book down for the last time. I wanted the books to be relevant to people's lives today and some of the problems we all face in the journey of life. I hope my books are that and more.

Both DARK END OF THE SPECTRUM and ABSENCE OF FAITH are available as paperbacks from Outer Banks Publishing Group, Amazon.com and as ebooks from Smashwords.com and the Amazon Kindle.
Both books will soon appear on Barnes and Noble's new ebook site.

Visit my other blog for tips on writing, publishing, and books, THE WRITER'S EDGE.

Interviews can be found at

The Lulu Blog
Ask Wendy - The Query Queen
Gather.com


 

Where in the Blogsphere is Anthony S. Policastro?

My blog tour for both of my novels, Dark End of the Spectrum and Absence of Faith has started.

Below is where I will be in the Blogsphere.

Many thanks to all my fellow bloggers and authors who are supporting me in this tour.

September 14, 2009	www.aliceosborn.blogspot.com	Alice Osborn
September 15, 2009	http://elisalorello.blogspot.com/	Elisa Lorello
September 16, 2009	http://sarahweathersby.blogspot.com/	Sarah Weathersby
September 17, 2009	http://midnightwhistler.blogspot.com	Ellen and Jon Batson
September 18, 2009	http://jonbatson.blogspot.com.	Jon Batson
September 19, 2009	The Writer's Edge
September 20, 2009	Writing is about putting yourself to words
September 21, 2009	http://www.susanwhitfield.blogspot.com	Susan Whitfield
September 22, 2009	http://onlinebookreview.org/	Stacey Cochran
September 23, 2009	http://askwendy.wordpress.com/	Wendy Burt
September 24, 2009	Publish and Sell	Henry Hutton

Both DARK END OF THE SPECTRUM and ABSENCE OF FAITH are available as paperbacks from Outer Banks Publishing Group, Amazon.com and as ebooks from Smashwords.com and the Amazon Kindle.

Both books will soon appear on Barnes and Noble's new ebook site.

Interviews can be found at

The Lulu Blog

Ask Wendy - The Query Queen

Gather.com

The eBook Market Just Blew White Hot

By Anthony S. Policastro

If you thought the eBook market was hot before, it just went super nova with Smashwords newest distribution to "major online retailers, the first of which is Barnes & Noble and their various properties including Barnesandnoble.com, Fictionwise, and their eReader app."

Like the other 2,600 authors on Smashwords, I received an email Friday evening from Smashwords owner and creator, Mark Coker announcing the new distribution arrangement.

"To put everything in perspective, we're developing a process that will enable

your books to receive widespread retail distribution within days or weeks of

publishing on Smashwords. Some of what we're doing here has never been done

before, so like I said above, please be patient as we work together to pioneer

the brave new world of ebook distribution," wrote Mark Coker in the email.

In addition, Barnes & Noble just ramped up its eBook efforts and currently has more than 700,000 eBook titles listed on its site and it hopes to surpass one million books within the next year. The book retailer will also be the exclusive eBook provider to Plastic Logic's upcoming eReader device - an eight and a half by eleven inch device with a touch screen and wireless capabilities for downloading content. AT&T will be the wireless carrier for the reader and this means users in Europe and parts of Asia will be able to download content. The Kindle's wireless feature works only the United States.

All of these developments could be a paradigm shift in the eBook market because Barnes and Noble is opening its arms and accepting the work posted on other commercial eBook sites. They are clearly scooping up as much market share as possible to compete against the Amazon Kindle. (See the related article below in The New York Times.) Even their pricing model is similar to Amazon's with major titles selling for $9.99 - the same price as the Kindle. Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol is featured on Barnes and Noble eBook site as a preorder for $9.99.

What's more significant is that you can download a book from Barnes and Noble and read it on your iPhone, iTouch, Blackberry or PC or Macintosh by simply downloading the B&N eReader software for the particular device. And they announced they will be adding additional devices. Kindle books cannot be read on the Blackberry or on a PC or Macintosh. This move could pull market share from the Kindle.

It will be interesting to see how the eBook market evolves in the next few months or years with these two titans battling for the same market share on an equal playing field. If Barnes and Noble keeps its pricing in line or lower than Amazon and stays a step ahead of the technology, they could be the winner.

Smashwords photo is the official logo of Smashwords.com. The photo of Plastic Logic's new eReader is from Plastic Logic's website.

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• Irex partners with Barnes & Noble to challenge Amazon's Kindle (digital.venturebeat.com)
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• EBooks: Sony Announces Wireless Reader and Partnerships with More Booksellers & Libraries (readwriteweb.com)
• Barnes & Noble to Distribute Smashwords Ebooks (smashwords.com)

Think Outside of the Bookstore Box

By Anthony S. Policastro

I recently attended a friend of mine's book launch and signing at a local coffee house here in Raleigh, NC and I found it highly successful.

Martin Brossman, the author of Brossman's Social Media and Online Resource Directory for Business definitely thinks outside of the box and the bookstore.

Instead of having his book signing at a local bookstore, he choose the New World Coffee House, a small, cozy spot that worked well with his book.

The event lasted about three hours and more than 50 people came and went, bought signed copies or drank a latte or a mocha and mingled. Several of the book's contributors were also there so it was like an author's fest - you could meet and talk with several authors.

One of the reasons for the success of this event was the atmosphere - people could mingle, talk, ask questions of the authors the entire time unlike a bookstore signing where there is only a short time for questions and the author is gone.

The moral of the story - don't restrict yourself to just bookstore signings. Think of places that compliment the content of your book. Martin's book is about social networking, viral marketing and the best ways to promote your business on the Internet. The coffee house was a perfect setting for his book - people could socialize, network, and indirectly promote their businesses.

And if you want to know how to promote yourself or your business online, definitely pick up Martin's book. I've read it cover to cover and it is an invaluable resource for online marketing.

Should There Always Be a Free Lunch?

Image by gwydionwilliams via Flickr

By Anthony S. Policastro

I recently received a comment from a reader named Pepe on my earlier post Would You Pay $26 for an ebook? about the price of ebooks. I was impressed at what he said because he is a reader in favor of the author.

Here is what Pepe wrote:

"I think that 10$ is too much for having a book with drm, indeed for a book with drm I wouldn't pay more than a dollar.

Otherwise, if a get a book at a small price, provided it's without drm, and provided at least more than 50% of the price goes to the author I would pay for it, gladly, even these 10$ if the book really pleased me and is a long one."

He believes at least fifty percent of the book price should go to the author. And he has good reason.

"But this is even expensive, lot of people paying this amount will consider they have the right to give it away freely, and this is not good for the author, so why not sell them really cheap, let say 2 or 3$ and convince people that they should pay for reading it because that way the author will be able to produce more of these books they really enjoyed?

I think this is really possible, there's money for the author, for the online editor and people will be happy knowing most of the money they pay goes to whom really deserves it."

Like many authors, Pepe believes that Internet users should change their mindset in the belief that digital products on the Internet should be free.

Whether you believe it or not, there is a cost to someone to create the book, upload it to an ebook site and promote it so that readers may buy it. The cost may not always be physical, but it is a cost in time - time the author could be using to write the next great American book or just spend thinking of something new to write.

We need more readers like Pepe.

Never Judge a Book by its Genre

By Anthony S. Policastro

My newest book, Dark End of the Spectrum has received several reviews and they have caused me to nearly fall off my chair when I heard them.

When I finished writing the mystery/thriller, I thought it would appeal mainly to computer geeks, readers interested in technology, and people who knew their way around the Internet.

Not only does it appeal to these audiences, it also appeals to women who are not so computer savvy, women who don’t really care about technology, but simply enjoy the story.

Here's what Sheila Deeth of Oregon said about it on Amazon:

"But the novel isn't just about technology gone wild. Dan has a wife and child and a home life too, and the up-down relationship of a marriage strained by work grounds the tale very realistically. The author writes convincing dialog, and Amelia's sudden anger as Dan leaves to help the CIA saddened me because of its plausibility."

What is even more interesting is that she obtained the ebook version first and read it on her computer. Here is her comment on that:

"Descriptive details and discussions slowed the story down at times, but not enough to distract me from reading on. I stayed hunched over the computer late at night, wishing I had a paperback to carry to bed, but unable to stop reading. This is certainly a thrilling book for anyone who likes technology, conspiracy, action and disaster; one to read when you've plenty of time to spare because you'll not want to put it down."

Several others who are currently reading Dark End of the Spectrum have said the same thing - "It's a page turner and I can't put it down."

I'm lost for words.

Why? Because I didn't expect those reactions. Because I first billed the book as a high-tech thriller. At first, there didn't seem to be much interest. I changed the description to suspense/thriller and there was a bit more interest. When I changed it to mystery/thriller lots of interest.

The family elements in the story - the real struggles with marriage, raising a family, making a living, and just trying to enjoy life - have broadened the book's appeal to a wider audience, primarily women who are not into technology.

What can you learn from this as a writer? Be very careful how you describe your book and the genre you choose for it. Genres tend to pigeon-hole the book into a specific audience and even turn away audiences who may find it interesting enough to buy.

Always include a family element. After all, everyone has a family whether they are blood relatives, cherished friends or a special group.

Never judge a book by its genre. Judge it by its content, the story, and whether you would truly want to read it. Be a cross-genre reader. You will be surprised how it will make you a better writer.

The Future of Publishing is Really the Future of Reading

Cover of Brave New World

By Anthony S. Policastro

I recently came across a very interesting article by Clive Thompson in Wired Magazine about the future of reading.

Here are some of the points that struck me as highly significant:

• People should start thinking about the future of reading rather than being always preoccupied with the future of publishing.
• Every other media that has gone digital has been transformed by its audience with the ability to comment on the content.
• Books need to be set free digitally to improve book discovery. It may also spawn a class of "professional readers" whose commentary is so informative that you would pay to download their take on a particular book.
• Programmers are already working on XML-like markup languages that would link every chapter or significant passage of a book to a unique URL address. Then you can easily examine the contents of a book with a few clicks.
• A few authors have given away digital copies of their books and found they end up selling more print copies. (I'm one of the those - both of my novels are free as digital downloads.)
  

It's a brave new world out there for books, but the publishing industry is moving like a snail to embrace these new technologies. But that's Ok because others will do it before them and reap the benefits along with us readers.

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• Digital books will by transformed by their readers (lib.uiowa.edu)
• Thinking "instead about the future of reading" (jwikert.typepad.com)

Simon & Schuster Doomed to Failure in eBook Venture

By Anthony S. Policastro

Simon & Schuster will now sell its most popular titles as eBooks on Scribd.com. Great news! A major publishing house is going digital.

But they are doomed to failure.

They think readers will pay 20% off the list price of a book's most recent printed version, according to an article in The New York Times on June. 11.

So a printed Simon & Schuster title that lists for $26 will sell for $20.80 as an eBook and a $15 paperback's eBook version will sell for $12.00. Lots of luck Simon & Schuster. You would have better luck selling ice cubes on the North Pole.

Most people won't even pay $10 for an eBook. The reason is that they do not perceive the value the same as the printed version.

With a hardcover or paperback, you can feel and smell the value in the design of the cover, the layout of the type, the feel of the paper, and its ubquitious portability. You don't have to worry about a battery going dead or the sun being too bright to read the book.

An eBook has none of those characteristics and publishers will never convince the public, and they have tried, that eBooks cost as much to produce as their printed cousins.

In my last post, I asked the question, Would you pay $26 for an eBook? about Google competing with Amazon in the eBook market.

What stuck out in my mind was that publishers were embracing the move because they could charge what they wanted for eBooks on Google since they could not set prices on Amazon's Kindle. The article was updated a few days later with new information that Google will also set the price of eBooks similar to Amazon.

So Simon & Schuster, if the two largest forces on the Internet know that eBooks have to be priced much lower than their printed versions, why do you think a 20% discount will work?

Your new venture is doomed to fail unless you lower the price of your eBooks.

Here's my suggestion:

Price your major titles at $8.88 for the eBook version. The price is lower than Kindle's major titles and readers don't have to shell out $359 for the Kindle. In addition, three eights is traditionally lucky and fortunate and that luck and good fortune may come your way.

As long a major best sellers are priced on the Kindle at $9.99 and free and lower-priced eBook sites are popping up like weeds, why would anyone pay $20 for an eBook?

What do you think?

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Are You FAKING IT?

By Elisa Lorello

Thanks so much, Anthony, for giving me the opportunity to post on your blog and for all your support. I’m so excited about this tour and about the journey FAKING IT has taken, from the very first “what-if” to now.

FAKING IT is a romantic comedy set mostly in New York City (think When Harry Met Sally meets Sex and the City). Andi, a thirty-something writing professor, meets Devin, a handsome, charming escort (is there any other kind?), and proposes an unusual arrangement: lessons in writing in exchange for lessons on how to be a better lover. When Andi and Devin break the rules of their contract that forbids them from seeing each other socially and become friends, complications ensue. FAKING IT is witty and fun, yet also has some poignant moments.

I’m often asked what advice I would give an aspiring writer. My response is to never limit yourself. If you believe you have limitations, then your biggest limitation is you.

Let me give you an example. The idea for FAKING IT came to me ten years ago (I can’t believe it!) when I was watching this brand new show called Sex and the City. I was struck by its boldness, yet uncomfortable with its content—I was this Roman Catholic with five overprotective brothers and a mother who never let me watch soap operas when I was a kid, and they’re talking about WHAT??? Suddenly this “what-if” whispered in my ear: what if a woman is so inhibited that she needs someone to teach her to be more like those women on Sex and the City? And what if that person is a man, someone who is an expert on such things? What if he’s an escort? And what if they become friends? And so on.

I put off writing that “what-if” for five years because of the limitation I had established: I am not a fiction writer.

Yes, I actually believed that! I had always been more comfortable with the autobiographical essay, or memoir. But the idea wouldn’t go away, and I finally realized that I could use elements of what I knew (New York, teaching, writing and rhetoric, etc.), yet still tell Andi’s story. After all, it worked for Nora Ephron. Same with Woody Allen. Once I removed that limitation, the dam broke, and lo and behold, FAKING IT poured out of me. Moreover, I quickly discovered that this novel had a potential readership other than me, and that I was indeed a fiction writer.

The other limitation I removed was this idea that there was only one way to publish, that if I didn’t have a literary agent or a traditional publishing deal, then no one was going to take me, or my novel, seriously. All I had heard was how hard it was to get published, how competitive the business was. But I decided not to believe them.

I queried agents and got many rejections, but that didn’t stop me from believing in my work or in myself as a commercial author. Thus, I researched self-publishing and was lucky to ride the wave of social networking as a force in self-publishing and viral marketing. And I have no regrets.

Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t write, can’t publish, can’t sell your book. The only limitation you can ever have is you. Sky’s the limit – get busy writing!

FAKING IT is currently available at Lulu.com, Amazon.com, Quail Ridge Books and Music in Raleigh, NC, and Baker Books in North Dartmouth, MA. Also, be sure to join the group Faking It Fans on Facebook, and follow my blog, formerly known as Kairos Calling.

Would You Pay $26 for an ebook?

By Anthony S. Policastro

The New York Times reported over the weekend that Google has announced that it will sell ebooks to consumers - competing directly with Amazon.

The Times reported,

"In discussions with publishers at the annual BookExpo convention in New
York over the weekend, Google signaled its intent to introduce a program by that
would enable publishers to sell digital versions of their newest books direct to
consumers through Google. The move would pit Google against Amazon.com,
which is seeking to control the e-book market with the versions it sells for its Kindle reading device."

I applaud Google for taking on such a challenge because it is not healthy for anyone when one group or organization monopolizes a given market. And Amazon clearly wants to dominate the ebook market with its ebook reader, The Kindle, as it did with printed books.

However, the Times also reported that publishers were happy about the announcement because publishers,

"...have expressed concerns about Amazon’s aggressive pricing strategy for e-books. Amazon offers Kindle editions of most new best sellers for $9.99, far less than the typical $26 at which publishers sell new hardcovers. In early discussions, Google has said it will allow publishers to set consumer prices."

It seems to me that publishers are happy because they will be able to charge $26 for an eBook through Google - the same price they command for a print version.

Well, they will have another rude awakening because most people who buy ebooks don't believe they should be the near or the same price as a printed version. Just take a look at all the commercial ebook sites whose titles average $15 or more. Their ebooks are not selling.

Part of the success of the Kindle is that the average best seller is priced at $9.99. People who have Kindles feel like a kid in a candy store whose dad just said, "Get anything you want."

The $10 price is the sweet spot of pricing for ebooks. If prices increase significantly, then it is no longer a sweet deal.

What do you think?

Ten Things Every Writer Can Do to Ensure the Success of His/Her Book

By Stacey Cochran

Thanks so much, Anthony, for letting me guest blog at Writing is About... I am currently in the midst of a 45-Day Blog Tour to promote my new novel CLAWS, and I need all of y’all to head over to Amazon, buy a copy, and write a review. That, more than anything else, will support the success of this book.

Which leads me to the topic of my guest blog here today:

Ten Things Every Writer Can Do to Ensure the Success of His/Her Book

1) Edit the Hell out of It. This should be the first step after completing your manuscript. My usual timeline is to spend about 3-6 months after the first draft is done, revising and tinkering to make sure I’ve got it as tight as can be. Then, I put it in front of my critique group.

2) Join or Create a Critique Group. I organize the 1000+ member group Raleigh Write to Publish, which hosts dozens of events for local writers every month. In addition to this large group, I also belong to a small “workshop” group that meets every couple of months to knock around one another’s latest works in progress. Not every writer works well in a group like this, but I’ve found the feedback (and accountability) of having a steadily meeting group for the past two years invaluable to improving my work and keeping me on track as a writer.

3) Create or Hire a Designer to Do Your Book Cover. With CLAWS, I worked with a graphic designer friend whom I’ve worked with on two previous book covers. I went to her with the initial concept, the mountain lion eyes embedded in black, and she came up with the font and design. A book cover should explain to a reader in a split second what the book is about; aim for iconic imagery and plan to use your cover in other forms of promotion like press releases and book trailers.



4) Create a book trailer. I designed a book trailer for CLAWS that has received over 100,000 views on YouTube.





While this alone won’t sell a single copy, the name of the game is exposure and if tens of thousands of people are watching you, buddy, that’s exactly what you want to promote your book. The keys to YouTube trailer success is: a) keep it short (mine’s under twenty-five seconds), b) make it shocking and entertaining, c) avoid slickness and pretension. One of the most successful YouTube marketing campaigns in the past two years involved a blender company that did short “Will It Blend?” videos where they tossed cell phones, chunks of wood, children’s toys, etc., into their blender to see what would get destroyed.

5) Blog Tour. Every writer working today can do a blog tour. It costs nothing, yet it gets your book seen by hundreds of people. All you have to do is ask people, agree to help them in some way, and stay organized. I think 30 or more days is essential to have meaningful exposure, but maybe two weeks is all you’ll need. Find your comfort zone and stick to it.

6) Cover blurbs. No matter where you’re at on the publishing totem pole, I guarantee you can find a handful of writers who are better known than you who will endorse your book. Sure, you’ll get the occasional person who claims for “moral reasons” they can’t blurb your book, but it only takes 2-3 good blurbs to convince readers that your book is worth checking out. For every ten rejections, you’re likely to get at least one positive response. So plan accordingly and don’t be shy about sending folks a copy of your book in the mail. It costs a little money to make a little money.

7) Design a website or blog and make it meaningful. I have two websites: staceycochran.com and howtopublishabook.org - the StaceyCochran.com site is where folks can find out info about me and my personal life. You can also see what book I’m currently promoting. The howtopublishabook.org site is where I give back to the community. This site has been visited by people from more than 120 countries around the world, regularly draws a couple thousand so-called “unique visitors” per month, and it’s the place where I post interviews I’ve done with publishing professionals (agents, editors, authors, publicists, etc.). I designed the site around the phrase “How to Publish a Book” and it currently sits atop the Google page rankings for this phrase. A lot of people search this phrase every day on the Internet.

8) Give back and help others. I have built my career on the notion that what others have to say is more important than what I have to say. Through my TV show and through the more than 200 author events I’ve done the past three years, I have tried to give other people the spotlight. Part of this is by necessity but another part of it is that I truly believe that we are all better off by sharing the floor and giving others a chance to succeed. Many writers think that helping others somehow compromises their own chances at success. By and large, these writers never succeed. The more willing you are to help out folks, the more folks will want to help you out.

9) Start a TV Show. In this day and age, anyone can set up a camera in their house, record themselves, and put it on YouTube. If you’ve got a strong Public Access TV station in your town, you may even have access to multi-million dollar equipment. The first year of my TV show I interviewed mostly local self-published authors, but something happened in year two. Word got out to publishers. Since then I’ve interviewed seven #1 New York Times bestselling authors, and it’s gotten my name circulated around every major publishing house in New York. Without a doubt, starting my own TV show (which began with a point-and-click 100-dollar digital camera) has given me the greatest boost of any one single thing I’ve done in my career.

10) Wash, rinse, repeat. If your current book tanks and you only sell a few dozen copies, don’t worry. Go back to the drawing board, write a new book, and try to repeat all of the things you did well, while improving on the things you didn’t do so well. No single attribute will serve you better as a writer than inner drive and persistence. Personally, I think if you’re doing what you do for a purpose larger than yourself this will help to sustain you through the lean years.

Thanks so much, Anthony, for the opportunity to guest blog here today at The Writers Edge. And thanks so much for all that you do for writers in our community.

Truth is Stanger than Fiction, but now Fiction is Turning into Truth

UPDATE: Stephen Wolfram launched the Wolfram/Alpha this past Saturday, May 16, 2009. Be sure to visit his site and try it.


When I finished my thriller, DARK END OF THE SPECTRUM (DEOS), two years ago I never imagined that some of it would come true!

With the reported release of the Wolfram/Alpha search engine this month (May 2009) by its creator Stephen Wolfram, a significant plot element of DEOS will come true.

Like the chip that I imagined in my novel, the Wolfram/Alpha program “draws on the knowledge on the internet, as well as private databases,” according to a May 3 report in London’s The Independent online edition.



“Instead of searching the web for info, Alpha is built around a vast repository of curated data from public and licensed sources. Alpha then organizes and computes this knowledge with the help of sophisticated Natural Language Processing algorithms. Users can ask Alpha any kind of question, which can be constructed just like a Google search (think: ‘hurricane bob’ or ‘carbon steel strength’),” explained a post on April 25 from the blog ReadWriteWeb.

The imaginary chip/program in my novel runs spiders all over the Internet recording and logging the location of specific information. When you ask the chip a question it locates the relevant information and uses algorithms to produce the most correct answer. Only this imaginary chip becomes sentient as it gains more knowledge and within two weeks of its launch has the IQ of a teenager in the novel.

Much of the technology I mention in my novel is based on existing or developing technology that I stretch a bit with literary license to create a dramatic plot and rich characters. Some of the plot elements are based on actual events and plausible scenarios that I uncovered in my research into the hacker culture and its players.

I wrote the book hoping to raise awareness of the real and looming threats in cyberspace. And now, some of those threats are coming to fruition.

One such event was the Conficker Worm attack in April which is also similar to a plot element in DEOS. (See my press release on the Conficker Worm.) The DEOS plot is about an Internet worm that takes over the US power grid and cell phone network, and it cannot be stopped. Does that sound like the Conficker Worm?

I just hope the rest of DARK END OF THE SPECTRUM never comes true.


(Get a FREE signed printed version of DARK END OF THE SPECTRUM! Download a free ebook version from Smashwords.com and let me know if you will review the novel. Post your review and I'll send you a signed printed version.)

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Will eBooks Fail?

By Anthony S. Policastro

I was intrigued by Evan Schnittman's new blog Black Plastic Glasses and his post "Why ebooks must fail" because it contradicts what is happening all over the Internet - ebook sites are popping up like weeds.The miracle grow for ebooks is the launch of the second generation Kindle, the Stanza book reading application for the iPhone and ebooks being the preferred reading format of the younger generations who grew up on computers.

As print book sales have tanked in the past few years partly because young people don't read books anymore because they are on their cell phones, video games, and computers, the ebook has gained in popularity because it can be read on these devices. So what I see happening is an increase in ebook sales as print book sales dwindle.

I think Evan is right that ebook sales cannot sustain the publishing industry as a stand alone only book version and that will never happen because people - the market - will always want a printed book no matter what their age.But, I don't believe ebooks will fail - they will replace print book sales with real sales, not the virtual sales that publishers have used for the past 100 years. And I say virtual because the bookstores really hadn't purchased the book shipment until they write the check after their 90-day waiting to sell period is over. So the publisher really doesn't know the true sales number until the 90 days are up and as we know it's usually 50% of the original shipment.

So what I see is a paradigm market shift in the format of the content. The older, traditional book market prefers the printed page, while the younger book market prefers the digital version. If anything, the ebook will get the younger generations reading books again - something they do not do because the Internet, video games, and cell phones are more intriguing than the printed word.

I find myself on the computer more than I'm reading a printed book and usually have to remind myself to pick up that novel. I enjoy both digital and printed books.

The challenge facing the publishing industry is to create a business model that will help sustain them in the eBook market. One way could be a combination of print and ebook offerings to capture each market segment. And the eBook segment may just work because its volumes and subsequently its profits will be higher than the print version market.

What do you think?

Dark End of the Spectrum predicted Conficker Worm

When I finished my novel, DARK END OF THE SPECTRUM, I had created a plot involving an Internet worm using botnets that takes over the US power grid and cell phone network. And the worm is unstoppable.

In addition to providing entertainment, I hoped it would raise awareness to the possible threats that confronted the Internet and US infrastructure such as utilities, communications, and transportation. I still hope the book will do that.

My idea for the plot was spawned after Hurricane Fran hit Wilmington, NC in 1996 and left us without power for three days. Then I realized how much we depend on electricity and take it for granted. Think about it - every appliance in your home is useless without electricity. Most people have experienced a blackout for only a few hours, but when it turns into days, it really hits home how critical electricity is in our everyday lives.

I then imagined that if hackers could control the power grid and where electricity is sent it could be a disaster and this is what helped me create Dark End of the Spectrum.

And now in the past few weeks, the Conficker Worm is The Dark End of the Spectrum coming true. The worm is unstoppable. It uses an army of botnets to infect computers and complete its mission(s) and it's purpose is to steal credit card numbers.

What if its creators programmed it to take over the power grid or cell phone network? Would the government and all the computer security organizations be able to stop it?

I predict that the Conficker Worm is just the tip of the iceberg and I see more harmful and more disastrous events happening with the Conficker Worm and its predescessors unless the government, organizations, and corporations heed the warnings of the security professionals and beef up their online security.

Want to know more. Take a look at my press release for more on my statement at PRLOG or download a copy of DARK END OF THE SPECTRUM.





Press Release
Raleigh Novelist and Hacker Researcher says worse to come by Conficker Worm and Other Cyber Threats

HTML Version
PDF Version

Sources for the press release:

CNN - http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/04/01/tech.viruses/index.html
The New York Times - http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2009/04/01/technology/tech-us-security-virus.html?_r=1&hpw
The Wall Street Journal - http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123914805204099085.html#articleTabs%3Darticlarticle/SB123914805204099085.html#articleTabs%3Darticl

Additional resources:

ZDNet - http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=3110&tag=nl.e550
ZDNet on the power grid infiltration - http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=16001&tag=nl.e539
Scientific American - http://www.sciam.com/blog/60-second-science/post.cfm?id=spies-hack-us-electricity-grid-2009-04-09

Hurricane Fran photo courtesy of Wikipedia

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• Conficker Now Instructed To Steal (cbsnews.com)

"Write a Page a Day or You're Not Serious"

My wife and I attended the Virginia Festival of the Book in Charlottesville this past weekend, and one of the highlights was hearing native son, John Grisham participate in a panel discussion with Stephen L. Carter.

Both are prolific writers, John Grisham with twenty two novels published and Stephen L. Carter, a William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law at Yale Law School with nine novels and six books on policy.

During the discussion, moderated by Dahlia Lithwick, there was some valuable advice I garnered from both writers about writing and about being an author.

John Grisham said he never planned to be a writer - his dream was to become a great trial lawyer. He said he started "playing around" with writing fiction later when he was around 35 or so and found it was "fun" and "really gratifying."

His first book, A Time to Kill, had a print run of 5,000 copies of which, "I bought a thousand."
He wrote a second book and that would be the acid test - if it sold well he would continue as a writer; if not, he would continue as a lawyer. "Besides, I was not happy being a small town lawyer and starving." The second book, The Firm, sold well and later became a blockbuster movie.

When he had reached best seller status with the book, his friend, horror writer Stephen King, called him and said, "'Welcome to the big leagues.' That was nice I thought. And then he said if you want to stay on top you have to do a novel a year so that's what I have done."

Stephen L. Carter is so well known in law circles that he has a Wikipedia entry. He said when he started his career there were maybe two college professors who wrote fiction. Now, he said he is seeing a lot more writing fiction as well as professional journals and books.

He said "writing fiction fills a need in my soul and it is fun to do. If you want to be a writer, it has to be a job. You have to make yourself do it."

John Grisham agrees. "Write a page a day or you're not serious."

Click here to hear the entire one hour panel discussion at the VA Festival of the Book site.

What’s a Hook? The Art of the Pitch

New York Times Bestselling mystery/thriller author Joe Finder was gracious enough to let us reprint his blog post here on the art of the pitch.

By Joseph Finder

This is the text of my March Writing Tips newsletter, which just went out. If you'd like to subscribe, you can do so here.

My Hollywood agent brought me out to L.A. not long ago to pitch a couple of Big Shot TV producers on an idea for a show they wanted me to create. I figured, why not? I flew out there and got into the meeting with Big Shot Producer #1, wearing my expensive jeans, and started telling him about my idea, the same way I’d tell my editor or my agent.

About five minutes into my spiel he cut me off and said, “Excuse me. No offense, but you’ve never pitched before, have you?”

I confessed I hadn’t, as if I had to say anything. I don’t pitch. I write.

He said, “I can tell. That’s not how you do it. Why don’t you come back in after you meet with the other producers and pitch it again?”

You might think that I’d be embarrassed or annoyed, but the truth is, I appreciated his honesty and respected the guy all the more for it.

Pitching is a specialized skill that has very little to do with whether you can write. But in Hollywood, the pitch is the currency. If you can’t pitch your idea, no one’s buying.

Why should novelists care about the art of the pitch in Hollywood? Because being able to pitch a movie, or a TV show, is the same skill as being able to come up with the “hook,” the “what-if,” the premise of that novel you’re writing. Or that script.

Put it another way: you’re in an elevator with one of the most powerful book agents in New York (or wherever), and you have ten seconds to pitch your novel to her so that she’ll actually want to read it. Can you do it?

Bet you can’t.

Maybe you’re thinking, “Who cares? I’m not going to ever get into an elevator with a powerful agent, and if I did, I’d probably freeze up anyway.” Maybe. But odds are, at some point you will have to e-mail or snail-mail a pitch in the form of a letter or a note.

“So what’s it about?” a friend asks you. You say, um, er, well . . .

Summarizing your story in a sentence or two is one of the hardest things to do, whether you’ve published ten books or none. Don’t forget, we established writers have to pitch our books too, when we’re interviewed on TV or radio. It’s not easy. But it’s essential, and not just to sell a book. I’m convinced that if you can’t “pitch” it in a sentence, you don’t have the story figured out yet. Simple as that.

Years ago, when I was struggling through the first draft of The Moscow Club, I had lunch with an editor. “What’s your ‘What If?’” he asked.

I had no idea. My “What If”? I’d never thought in those terms. But he was right; every book starts with a question that, in the end, it answers. Call it a Hook, call it a donnée, call it a premise. It’s the thing that sucks the reader in and makes him or her want to know what happens next.

Now, a confession: I’ve been writing thrillers for over 20 years, and I still get confused about the difference between a “hook” and a premise. Is a hook the thing that starts the book and grabs you by the lapel and makes you want keep reading? Or is it the concept of the entire book — a definition that veers dangerously into the Hollywood notion of “high concept”?

I’ve done some thinking, and here’s my answer. “High concept” is an unjustly maligned term meaning a story idea that can be easily grasped both by studio execs and by audiences. But a warning: just because you can pitch it in a sentence doesn’t make it High Concept. No — it has to be extremely appealing and commercial, not just succinct. It’s got to have wide, instant commercial appeal.

Yet if a story is all high concept with no follow-through, it’s little more than a gimmick. Take “Snakes On a Plane” — you get what it’s about instantly. You may even want to watch it. But it’s not a good movie. It’s all wind-up, little delivery.

Don’t get me wrong; there’s nothing wrong with a “high concept” thriller. In fact, if you have a high concept, that makes it even easier to sell. Take The Bourne Identity, for example. What if a man with amnesia has forgotten he’s the world’s most dangerous assassin? That concept boosted Bob Ludlum’s already large readership hugely, based on the premise alone. And it’s a great one. A couple more great high-concept thrillers: Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park: “What if scientists could clone dinosaurs from prehistoric mosquito blood trapped in amber?” Or John Grisham’s The Firm: “What if a high-end law firm turned out to be a Mafia front?

High concept isn’t necessarily cheesy at all — Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, anyone? It’s all about how well it’s executed. Scott Turow’s Presumed Innocent (prosecutor is accused of the murder of his lover, and he’s the first-person narrator) is high-concept to be sure, but beautifully written and brilliantly plotted.

A hook, on the other hand, is the opening gambit that reels you in -- like a fish-hook. Harlan Coben is a master of the hook. (Dan Brown says so.) Tell No One, for instance — a guy gets an e-mail message from his dead girlfriend, who may or may not be dead. I’m there. The book spirals on from there, but that’s the set-up, the premise that grabs you at the outset.

A fishing hook needs bait and a fisherman, though, and a writing hook needs a story. An unusual situation, however intriguing, is not a story. “A family digs a swimming pool in the backyard, and finds a buried time capsule” is a great premise for a novel – but what happens next? “A family’s discovery of a time capsule buried in their backyard makes them the targets of government agents from every country in the world” — that’s a story hook, because now we know that the time capsule sets a chain of events in motion. (Hey, I just made that up, but I like it!)

So, the moral of the story: if you have a high concept for a novel, great. But you don’t need one. At the very least you want a great “what if,” a hook that grabs the reader in the beginning and makes him or her want to keep reading.

In any case, you do want your story to have a simple, easily expressible premise, and until you know how to articulate it, the odds are you haven’t figured it out yourself.

The Dog is Chasing Ghosts

I started a new blog about what every author should know about online marketing and then some called THE DOG IS CHASING GHOSTS. Take a look. I think you will find it entertaining and useful.

Every so often, our labradoodle, Nickie, will confidently stare into a corner of a room with no windows and bark repeately for several minutes."What is the dog barking at?" my wife would ask.

"Ghosts. I think the dog is chasing ghosts." I say.

She raises her eyebrows and her face says, "maybe," and the dog stops barking and we go about doing whatever it was we were doing.

Whether my dog is barking at ghosts or not, something is there, something triggered the keen senses of the my pet whether it was a sound, a smell or a noise.

The Internet is similar in that of all the millions of users out there, you can't see them or touch them, but you know they are there.

Anthony S. Policastro, The Dog is Chasing Ghosts, Mar 2009

Have You Ever Read an Ebook?

Now's your chance.

With the explosion of ebooks and electronic book readers, Read an E-Book kicks off the international literary event Read an Ebook Week (http://www.ebookweek.com) this Sunday (March 8) to raise awareness of ebook reading.

During the week-long event, ebook authors around the world will offer their ebooks at deep discounts, or even free, to generate excitement about ebooks.

Read an E-Book Week is a not-for-profit week set aside to inform the public about the pleasures and advantages of reading electronically.

Authors, publishers, vendors, the media and readers world-wide have joined the effort and promote ebooks. The organization welcomes anyone to help in this worthy event. For more information on how you can help visit their website at http://www.ebookweek.com/ebook_promotions.html

And by the way, both of my mystery thrillers, ABSENCE OF FAITH and DARK END OF THE SPECTRUM are FREE this week to support ebook week. Click here for your free download(s).

Post Your Book on the Kindle, but Make Sure You Promote It

By Anthony S. Policastro

If you have written a book, you can now post it on Amazon's Kindle eBook reader for free. A simple four-step process is all it takes and within 12 to 72 hours your book will be on the Kindle right next to James Patterson, John Grisham, and other literary luminaries.

Amazon's Digital Text Platform allows anyone to post a book if you have never published before with or without an ISBN number. Amazon will assign your book its own tracking number called an ASIN number.

The best part of listing your book with the Kindle is that you are free to set your own price and Amazon will give you 35 percent of your sale price even if they discount the price on their site. I listed my thriller, Dark End of the Spectrum, for $5.99 and Amazon discounted it to $4.79. Amazon will still pay me 35 percent of the $5.99.

The other great feature is that your book can be found globally on Amazon.com. Just put in your name or title in the search field and your book will come up just as if you searched for Nicholas Sparks or War and Peace.

While Amazon has not released the number of Kindle owners, another advantage to listing is that people who purchased the $359 Kindle are avid readers so you have a devoted, captive audience. But don't get excited yet, the hard part is promoting your book.

With more than 240,000 titles on the Kindle and growing every hour, your book might as well be a grain of sand on the California coast. The Kindle does not list new releases as a separate category and ranks books by their sales on Kindle. When you go to the book list the current best sellers come up first. I listed my book in the suspense and thrillers category and soon learned my title was among 2,420 listed there. The other disadvantage is that you cannot go to the last page of the listing on the Kindle nor can you see titles listed by publication date.

You can search Kindle books on Amazon.com by category, price, publication date, customer reviews and bestsellers, but you will not find your book easily. I searched my title by category and publication date – the most common search metrics among readers looking for a new book and found the dates out of sequence and a large number of advanced releases in front of my publication date.

The other search method is by the search tags you assign your book, but this too is daunting since the search will pull up thousands of titles with the same tags. The best thing to do is put your name in as a search tag. This will filter out just your books.

Despite these drawbacks, it is better to list your book on the Kindle format. I've had some sales with little or not promotion. So get the word out.