jessica-meats

[jessica-meats]

we have GOT to abolish the paperback only being released a year later scheme brother i simply am not purchasing your $40 hardcover book

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If you're okay with darker topics, my book Wolf Unleashed is about the fight for civil rights for werewolves. It deals with people not being treated as people, so there is a heavy content warning for abuse.

@malcolmschmitz Message me about getting a copy if you're interested.

I VANT TO READ YOUR BOOKS

Hey, fellow authors - particularly queer/trans authors- I need your help!

I'm looking for queer indie books to liveblog and review on this blog, and would love to read your stuff! Tragically, I am heinously broke and cannot pay for books right now- but I'd be willing to swap ARCs, leave an Amazon/Smashwords/Goodreads review, or anything else you're okay with.

Already on my list:

@thebibliosphere's Hunger Pangs: True Love Bites, which I started reading and loved but had to stop at the very well drawn depiction of a migraine

@plaguedocboi 's Quest for the Sea's Revenge.

[jessica-meats]

My Eastercon Haul

So, I spent money while I was at Eastercon. I knew going in that I was going to, because there are always new and independent authors there who I want to support. Guardbridge Books generally has a stand and, since they published one of my books, I like to see what new books they're selling. And I went in with the vague notion that I might want to buy something from the art show.

So what did I buy?

The Double-Edged Sword by Ian Whates of New Con Press - an anti-hero novella describing itself as "a novella of sword play, betrayal, and derring-do".

The Devil's Finger by Sandra Bond - a real-world set fantasy novel with a comedian as a main character, so I'm hoping it's going to be funny

All Tomorrow's Futures - a short story collection that was done as a collaboration between writers and scientists, with each story done by a pair of creators, with the scientist consulting on the science within the fictional concept.

Management Lessons from Game of Thrones by Fiona Moore - not actually fiction, but intended as a business management book, using Game of Thrones to explain its points

Saving Hell by Maria Sjostrand - an adventure through the Christian afterlife which sounded amusing when the author described it in a panel

The Marlen of Prague: Christopher Marlowe and the City of Gold by Angeli Primlani - I actually intended to buy this one last Eastercon, but the publisher sold out. It's a gay, fantasy romance about Christopher Marlowe.

Attack of the Moon Cows by Rodney Milton - I got this for free because it was an advanced copy that still has a bunch of typos in but, as the author pointed out, it still has all the jokes

Genefire by James Flanagan - a sci fi novel in which a PhD student's work could hold the secret to saving the world so he really needs to finish it

The Breath by Joel Cornah - a sci-fi short story published by Books on the Hill as one of their Quick Reads series. This is a really interesting idea. They are publishing short fiction in easy-to-read format, aimed at adults with dyslexia, and especially those who got a dyslexia diagnosis later in life. They are working with some big names to publish these books as part of a wider campaign for dyslexia resources and awareness.

So those were the books. I also acquired:

A pair of earrings

A cute little ceramic dragon just hatching out of its egg

A painting of a volcano on another planet with meteors burning up in the sky above it

Now I need to get down to reading. Chances are there will be some of these unread by the time the next Eastercon rolls around.

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Walk me through this?

Can anyone walk me through how self-publishing works?

OR

Can anyone point me to a previously written guide on self-publishing that has helped them to self-publish?

I realize a person/writer may be expected to handle this research on their own. I have looked into it in the past. But data changes and I'm at a low point in both my ability to (executive?) function and my finances.

If I could have something to point to that others could purchase if they want to help, then that might help me. But I don't have a concrete product to point to.

Yet I have decades' worth of manuscripts for a Dark Fantasy series that are in various states of editing and completion.

Maybe what I really need is some kind of organizational coach to suggest "do this specific thing first"?

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That Xiran Jay Zhao video about the amount of time it takes to get paid by the publisher, a couple of time she says "that's just the way it is." Are there actual, legitimate business reasons for holding off paying someone 6 or 8 or more months what they've earned for their book? Or is it the publisher basically going "We'll pay you when we pay you. What are you gonna do about it?" because they're essentially the one in charge?

And is it the same for all authors? Or is there an unofficial "tier" system based on your name? Are they telling people like Stephen King or James Patterson or Neil Gaiman "you'll see your money in 8 months" or are they more likely to be getting monthly checks just because of who they are?

There are some legitimate business reasons, yes.

Okay, so let's look at the way a book is sold to a publisher. I'm going to use very round numbers, because I don't want to do a lot of math right now. So say I sell a book for $15,000 under the traditional three installment contract--signing, delivery/acceptance, and publication. What this means is I sign the contract, I get a $5,000 check! Yay! I will also get checks when the book is turned in and accepted, emphasis because it means I can't just give them a word jumble and claim I turned the book in, and then again when the book comes out. We're ignoring side situations like "book is never turned in" and "book is never published."

But wait! My agent gets 15% off the top of each of those checks, which isn't a whole lot at $5,000--$750--but means I'm receiving effectively a $4,250 check, and then waiting maybe a year for the next one.

In the US, 1/3rd of that check goes automatically to taxes, and I cannot math that very well, but it's about $1,416. So I'm left with $2,834 as my payment for the year. This is why most authors will have day jobs.

This structure makes sense. They pay you to call dibs on your book: they pay you when the dibs pan out: they pay you when they can start making money. Now, recently, some publishers have started going to a four stage advance payment, and I can't see any real justification for that. Maybe someone will give me one. I'd be fascinated to know what it is.

So here's the thing: until the book is out, there is no more money. You've been paid for the book, but it's not making money for the publisher yet, and so of course you're not getting more money. It used to be the expectation that your advance would pay your bills while you wrote the next book; that is clearly no longer the case. I live in Seattle. A single check from a three-stage advance isn't paying my mortgage for a month. But.

Once the book is out, it can start making money, and that's when things get complicated. Say a bookstore places an order for 10 copies of AWESOME NEW BESTSELLER. Yay! That should be ten sales, and ten units of whatever your royalty is, right? Only these are physical items, and bookstores can return them, so your publisher marks it down as "ten sales, five reserve against returns," meaning you're only getting credit for five sales until the return window (usually a year) runs out. Where it gets a little hinky is when the bookstore sells all ten and orders ten more, and the publisher still has it marked as "five (now ten) reserve against returns." Basically, you're only getting credit for half your sales until that reserve window closes.

Sadly, thanks to certain retailer policies, this has been grandfathered into applying to electronic sales as well.

TL,DR: The delay in royalty payments is to give bookstores time to sell the books, and mean that your publisher doesn't pay you for a hundred sales, only to ask for the money from fifty to be given back when books are returned. This could happen faster in the modern world, but that would involve publishers paying us faster, and they like to keep the money in their hands as long as possible.

To the best of my knowledge, no one is A Big Enough Author that they can demand their money now, right now. And this is why trad publishing continues to self-select for the wealthy and the young.

[jessica-meats]

I was a little unsure about blazing my books post because I wasn't sure how putting that in front of a load of completely random people would work. I was nervous that some people might get annoyed to see that post or complain that it was taking up space on their dash. Thankfully, only one person was vocally annoyed about it. The people who interacted with the post were generally the people who thought the books looked interesting, and the people who didn't care seem to have largely ignored it - which is the best that could be hoped for really. 

The one complainer said that they were blocking me for "basically spamming" them - not sure why they felt the need to tell me, but their choice. It's quite likely that other people blocked me for doing this without telling me they were doing so but no one seemed aggressive or hateful over it, so I'll consider that a win.

I have gathered a few new followers from doing this. Welcome. I will point out that this is a side blog I created to specifically talk about my writing and to keep my professional book-related posts separate from the eclectic mix of fandom rambles, political complaints, real-life stuff, and random other bits and pieces that fills up my main blog. So don't be surprised if this blog only has posts very occasionally.

I hope anyone who does decide to try my books based on this post enjoys them and, if you do, please remember that reviews are the lifeblood of small authors.

[jessica-meats]

My books

Since Tumblr is apparently struggling for money, it seemed like a good excuse to blaze a post letting people know about my books.

Child of the Hive - near-future sci-fi adventure about a group of teenagers who get caught in the middle of the conflict between two secret organisations. My first published novel, released back in 2009.

Shadows of Tomorrow trilogy - sci-fi series about parallel worlds, time travel, alternate timelines, creatures breaking through from another universe, and a man who can remember his future.

Wolf Unleashed - a modern-day fantasy novel about the fight for civil rights for werewolves. Please note that this book deals with the subject of people not being treated like people, so it has some dark parts of the plot.

Codename Omega Series - Modern day, alien invasion conspiracy series of novellas set in York. Currently four books in the series, but there will be more.

A Monster's Kindness - gay fantasy romance novella with hints of Beauty and Beast. A young man is offered as a sacrifice to a monster, only to find the monster nicer than his former neighbours.

The Adventures of Technicality Man - a very silly superhero parody following Technicality Man, Continuity Leopard, and their team trying to save the world from a villain aiming to control stories themselves. Lots of fourth wall breaking, absurd powers, and puns.

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Book signing

I will be doing a book signing of Wolf Unleashed, a modern fantasy about the fight for civil rights for werewolves, at the Guardbridge Books table in the Dealer’s Room at Eastercon, 3pm Sunday.

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Writer Beware makes posts on which publishing houses to avoid at all costs, which words to look for and which words to watch out for in contracts, and several other things that will keep you in control and knowledgeable about the publishing process.  I’d suggest reading through the website if you want to avoid getting ripped off, cheated, or scammed.

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This just in from an acquaintance: Thought your followers would like to know of a new sci-fi/Fantasy workshop with 100% scholarships. GM’s Future Fiction Collective aims to decolonize the sci-fi/fantasy genre by increasing the diversity of authors. They provide scholarships for all 10 students (including airfare and hotel) with the goal of including underrepresented groups. The workshop, taught by Alaya Dawn Johnson, will be held during the Aspen Word’s summer literary festival and there will be opportunities for students to network with publishing industry professionals.

For more info:

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New sideblog URL

I’ve created this as a new sideblog for posts about my books and other writing news, to keep that separate from my main Tumblr blog