Kindle self-publishing ... goodbye to agents?

Well guys, here I am at last. Having spent the last fifteen months chasing literary agents I have decided I am doing it no more. I am about to publish THE MESSENGER on Amazon Kindle instead. Publication is instant and worldwide. I will also achieve 70% royalties on sales in the UK and US and 35% elsewhere.

I have come to this decision not least of all because of the somewhat disturbing attitude of literary agents to new writers. I have researched around forty agents and written to twenty-three. Of these, three expressed an interest after receiving the standard opening chapters and asked to see the full manuscript. However, whilst that interest came to nothing I am grateful to those particular agents as it showed that they at least read their slush piles. I realise agents are busy people and understand that they need to advocate certain standards for submissions - double-spaced A4 sheets, synopses that can vary from one paragraph to six pages, enquiry letters with and without personal details, CVs and no CVs, return postage etc. We are also told quite bluntly not to contact an agent to see what is happening to our 'baby' until at least three months has elapsed. And we are warned that agents do not like us making multiple submissions - (which means if we stick to their rules we might have responses from four agents in any one year - if we are lucky). When agents do finally reply it is increasingly the case that the rejection slip is not addressed to us (Dear John) but rather contains a standard "this is not right for us - go away".

BUT ALL THAT IS GOING TO CHANGE! WE NO LONGER NEED AN AGENT TO BECOME MAINSTREAM PUBLISHED ON AMAZON KINDLE.

My wife, Jill, bought me an Amazon Kindle 3G for Christmas. Wonderful machine! It will store 3,500 books - anyone of which can be purchased and downloaded in seconds. But more importantly (to writers, who, like me, may have been chasing agents for years), the Kindle has a self publishing sector - which I have been investigating for the writing groups to which I belong. Briefly anyone can publish on Kindle. Write your book, upload it and put a price on it. Simples! And you get royalties. No printing costs - no waiting for agents to reply - no publishers telling you that your book will be out in two years. As soon as it's finished, critiqued, edited, proof read - in other words the most polished you can make it - you upload it and then it's up to you. Either sit back and hope it gets noticed or do some agressive marketing and make sure it gets noticed.

I hear you asking "If anyone can publish on Kindle doesn't it mean that there will be books which will not be up to scratch - not good value for money on the Kindle system?"

Yes, I suppose that could be the case - some writers will not take the trouble to have their stories critiqued, edited and proof-read and that's where the Amazon reviewers come into their own. They are not afraid to vent their spleen when they read rubbish. So, it's in the writer's own interests to get his /her story polished.

Anyway, enough from me for now. I will try to write regularly on how the process is going for me and my writing friends who are choosing to take the Kindle path.

If anyone out there has used or is considering using the Kindle publishing route and is happy to talk about the experience write to me on white4wordart@aol.com

Book that man ...

It's been a while - but I'm here now.

I was interviewed by BBC radio on Sunday about The Messenger. BBC iPlayer - Michael Chequer and friends: 17/01/2010 I have three reviewers (chosen by the BBC) to whom I have delivered the draft manuscript. They are going to critique it and air their comments live on the show in around three weeks.

This is a precursor to the operation of a proposal, about prepublished books, that I put to the BBC. So watch this space folks!

Gut feelings

Three months? Lots going on - some resolved - some not. I am due to have an exploratory camera thrust down into my gut on Monday afternoon. Hopefully that will sort out what has been plaguing me since I last posted. I am told that I must post the pictures on Facebook - not sure that will be wise.

I've completed some writing, but renovating the smallest room in the house took a considerable time - wouldn't you know it! What writing I have achieved has been mainly on the Jack Chandler sequel. Set in New York, Washington and London (and possibly Slovakia if the Trenchin Castle idea comes up trumps) it has action, assassinations and a secret society to end all secret societies (Dan Brown eat your heart out). Jack realises that the powers pulling the strings behind the scenes of Western Governments have an agenda beyond even his jaundiced imagination - but deciding who he can trust with the information is another matter.

I'll try not to leave posting so long next time - depends how the pictures develop!

As I was saying ...

Two months? Has it really been two months?


I have had my head down - doing a rewrite. The Messenger intentionally crossed set genres (thriller and supernatural) and it was suggested that it could pose a selling challenge to an interested agent. So, I decided to see how the story may fare from being purely a thriller without its 'other world' subplot. The exercise has been fascinating. Whilst the concept of the original story - (are war dead free from the pain of death?), poses a threat (the more we kill, the more likely we are to kill ourselves) and brings a message (those who profit from war will destroy us - so believe nothing - question everything) when the supernatural subplot is removed it creates a totally new focus. Iran and the Middle East dilemma are still the object of the story, as is the US invasion, but the 'new' story (for which there is no working title as yet) drops the wordage from 144,000 to 115,000 and reduces the characters. The pace, however, is increased and becomes more story led than character led. Both allow me to provide a sequel. So, there we have it - that's where I have been for two months.

Oh, yes, and I met up with Camilla Bolton (Darley Anderson) at the Crimefest event in Bristol and she has requested the first ten chapters of the revised story when it is finished (in around two weeks).

The local bicycles. Red of course ...

On Good Friday the journey from Calais to the Dutch hotel was tiring, but the food and accommodation more than made up for that. On Saturday we had a restful couple of hours on a boat travelling along the canals just outside Keukenhof - then visited the bulb fields and gardens - which are beautiful and have many hoardings extolling the Dutch connection with the USA. I didn't realise that the expression 'Yankees' comes from the Dutch, Jan (John) Kees (baboon). Not a terribly nice term I guess.
Travelling to Vollendam proved interesting if not a little eerie. We journeyed along a 19 mile length of roadway constructed from reclaimed land. The road was around 20 feet wide and only a couple of feet above the water on either side of us. The eerie part came in when we stopped halfway across and took in the view - water in every direction! God help the Dutch if sea levels rise.
In Amsterdam, on Sunday, the canals were atmospheric as were the buildings - the Venice illusion was strong. Back on dry land, I could not believe how many bicycles were parked up around the city - thousands of the things, in all shades of colour and age. Interestingly, despite the free use of Cannabis, the riders appear to obey the traffic signals - unlike some of the cyclists in this country. Again, I didn't realise that the title Coffee House (with an English spelling) signified where the drug is available - as opposed to Cafes where it apparently isn't. Anyway, we gave the spliffs and 'space' cake a miss, but not so the red light area. The streets are narrow and, behind the glass panelled doors, women, and I gather men, too, ply their trade. A range of bodily shapes and sizes are in evidence, but all are licensed, have regular health checks every six months and pay tax on their earnings. My wife, Jill, was shouted at by one woman for having her video camera open. Whether the lady concerned thought Jill was going to film her I don't know. Maybe she hadn't told her family what her real occupation was and didn't want it revealed on Utube.
Easter Monday saw us in Brugge, but not for long as Calais beckoned.

It's JFK, with clogs on ...

Well, after a month of editing, a hard drive crashing and flu, the 20 chapters have been sent off. I really hope Camilla enjoys reading them.

This last edit was a very good exercise - especially on the scenes where Leyla and her people appear. Jack's reaction to her, and them, has escalated from bemused confusion to doubting his sanity. The fact that he's on a collision course with General Falcon and FLAG means little to him at the moment, but it will. FLAG kills those who get in its way, not even Presidents are safe, so, a British Army Sergeant will be easy meat - or will he?

In Holland for the next five days. Catch you guys when I return.

Only eighteen to go!

On Thursday, writing buddy Rita and I spent five hours going through a hard edit of the next two chapters of the Messenger. On Saturday, when I managed to put the sixteen pages of alterations together in print, my laptop crashed and I lost it all. The machine crashed badly once before and I had the hard drive replaced, but I guess in the back of my mind, I knew there was still a problem. So, on Sunday, I bought a new laptop and transferred the story across - then spent until today rewriting and trying to remember what I had altered and how I had written it. Whoever is up there looking down on me is determined I will remain grounded and have to work my ba**s off for any success - which, I suppose, is the way it should be - and what I will do.

Does anybody else have a cat who won't pee unless it's done over a drain? I suppose we should be grateful it isn't on the carpet, but, in the middle of the night, it's a little disconcerting to find the cat in the bath using the plughole!

Say goodnight to the folks, Gracie.