1. I didn’t recall contacting them offering them the book (or, if I had contacted them, it had been so long ago I couldn’t remember). Suffice it to say it was ‘out of the blue’.

2. Upon visiting their site, I noted that they did indeed review romance books, and many of them, but that they seemed to concentrate on what I will politely term ’spicy’ (one could also substitute the words, ‘erotic’, ‘exotic’ and ‘explicit’ if you get my drift). Here are a few examples of some of their recently reviewed titles:

• Good Will Ghost Hunting: Demon Seed by Lesli Richardson
• Naughty Fantasies by Jade James
• My Wicked Vampire by Nina Bangs

In short, the majority of their titles contain the words paranormal or erotic (if not both) in their genre descriptions. Not exactly the audience that I expected In the Brief Eternal Silence in particular nor Double Edge Press in general to garner.

However, I had been invited to submit, and I’ve never deemed myself a snob. So off I sent the book to be reviewed. But I do have to confess a certain curiousity as to what the results would be of my submission.

Friday, the results came in. Here is the official Night Owl Romance Reviews review:

Review: In the Brief Eternal Silence by Rebecca Melvin (Double Edge Press) Historical

The Duke of St. James is on a mission–to find the culprits who murdered his parents when he was but a boy of 10 years old. Along the way, he finds that the whole matter goes a lot deeper and contains more conspiracy than he could ever imagine–and might even involve the crown. Falling in love was the very last thing he wanted to do. 

Miss Elizabeth Murdock is as plain as the day is long–and she likes it that way. She doesn’t like attention and prefers to blend into the background. Then the Duke of St. James comes into her life and turns it upside down.

Love creeps up on both of them–but vengeance has to be dealt with first, as now it is not only the life of the Duke that is in danger, but Miss Murdock’s as well.

How can the Duke end his vengeance and get the murderers before anyone else gets killed? Or will the murderers succeed before he and Miss Murdock can find true love? Have to read to find out.

This book took me by surprise. It started out kind of slow but once it picked up I was definitely hooked. This wasn’t the type of book I usually like to read but I have to say I enjoyed it immensely. This kept me reading to the end–and it was a very satisfying ending at that.

Happy reading,
The Night Owl Romance Staff
Night Owl Romance
Stay Up Late With A Great Novel
http://www.NightOwlRomance.com

For a review, I’ll take that one. Considering it’s competition, I’m not complaining in the least.

Everyone have a great Sunday.

There is a common theme that runs among them:

• Writing is easy.
• Editing is easier still.
• And Publishing should only take a week, ten days at the most.
• My book will, of course, be a bestseller.

These are the new writers. They are full of enthusiasm and boundless optimism, and I stare at them with glazed eyes and wonder how I can break the news to them gently.

Here’s the reality check. I dug around on the now defunct PODdy-Mouth Blog in search of it as I recalled finding it there previously some time back (which that blog, if one has the time to read it, is a sobering look at publishing in and of itself. It’s demise was abrupt and telling: writers are a needy bunch, and this particular blogger, who had an incredibly popular review site, succumbed to the virtual limb by limb dismemberment as the pack devoured her).

Here’s the official numbers from Nielson’s Bookscan (on which the Best Seller list is comprised from) for the year 2004:

Regarding Neilsen Bookscan’s tracked sales of books for 2004 (1.2 million), here are the results:

• Of those 1.2 million, 950,000 sold fewer than 99 copies.
• Another 200,000 sold fewer than 1,000 copies.
• Only 25,000 books sold more than 5,000 copies.
• Fewer than 500 sold more than 100,000 copies.
• Only 10 books sold more than a million copies each.
• The average book in the United States sells about 500 copies.

Got that? Here’s a chart with some percentages to help you get that more in to perspective:

Take a close look. Fully 78% of books printed never sell more than a 100 copies (trackable sales — that doesn’t count how many you manage to sell to family and friends in your livingroom). IF you manage to sell more than a 100 copies, you can proudly state that you are in the top 22% of sales. If your book sells more than 5,000 copies, you are in the elite 2%.

Notice that those books in the 100,000 and 1,000,000 categories are so miniscule a number that they don’t even rate a full percentage point.

So, unless you have a fantastic marketing plan (like, say, infomercials) it may be time to lower expectations.

The key to success in writing isn’t a single blockbuster, but a string of 22 percenters (preferably in the high-end of that category) with an occasional 2 percenter in the mix. If you manage to make it into the fraction of a percent category, you can truly look upon it as winning the publishing lottery. Otherwise, be prepared for a long, hard road and a LOT of writing.

In addition to this first new writer, a second new writer has come onto my radar screen, one full of ideas for books (in addition to the one he has ready to go). He seems to be perfectly in sync with the vision I have for Double Edge Press, with books ranging from the Chicken Soup for the Soul variety to an in depth look at Revelations and End Times Prophecy. Both of these concepts, and a few others, were enough to intrigue me.

Then something quite unexpected happened. The kind of event that makes you wonder just who you really are and where God really intends you to be in His plans. Tragedy and mystery.

The tragedy is one you are probably all aware of (although not to the degree that Michael Jackson has been dominating the airwaves for nearly two weeks solid now), and that was the death of Billy Mays, pitchman extaordinaire. I was a fan of Billy’s through his recent television show “Pitchmen”. I had been aware of him prior to this through the many commercials he had starred in, but my enjoyment of him as a personality increased tenfold with watching the behind scenes activity of the selection of a product, the perfecting of it, and then the commercial filming. He struck me as a down-to-earth, approachable and extremely decent guy. The episode of his helping out an old friend who was partially paralyzed from a airplane accident seemed to highlight the ‘extremely decent’ aspect. And I well remember the episode which featured his wife and young daughter also.

So it was with sadness and shock that I read of his death about a week ago. My first thought, selfishly, was I really going to miss his show. His marketing ability was stupendous and I felt like I learned something from him everytime I watched. My second thought of was his lovely little girl, and his older son, now without a father. And his wife, without a husband.

Despite these feelings, I had no idea that God was going to draw a line from Billy Mays, to our new writer, to Double Edge Press. And yet, that is exactly what God has done.

Our new writer is from the Pittsburgh area and grew up with Billy. They’ve kept in touch all these years. The passing of Billy for him was quite personal and not the vague feelings of sadness that I felt. When he called me this week and told me these things, I offered my heart-felt sympathy. Billy had been a man in the prime of his life, on the top of his game, and gone too soon. His death, for everyone close to him, was a tragic shock.

I learned more of Billy than I had ever imagined from him. None of it surprised me. My estimation of approachable and extremely decent were only the tip of the ice-berg. He was a faith-filled man, and felt that much of his success was due to God’s guidance in his life. He was a major contributor to charity in the Pittsburgh area. He was planning on building a church.

Would I be interested in a Biography on him? I was asked.

Oh, yes. Definately, yes.

Anyone, obviously, could write a Biography. But one coming from a friend, who had known Billy since he was young, who was friends with the family, who would treat Billy with the respect and insight he deserved, and who would be ‘authorized’ by family to write the story, and write the story including what was most important to the subject: faith and family; these qualities made this book desirable to me. These same qualities will make the book, I’m sure, desirable to his fans.

All this, obviously, is very much in the ‘kick it around’ stages. Much could happen to derail it. But I still, very much, have that feeling of an unexpected line being drawn by the hand of God. It’s quite possible that Billy will still have a large, large impact on the world well after his untimely death. I hope Double Edge Press is able to be a part of that.

May all of our thoughts and prayers be with his family in this, their time of need.

When I was ‘merely’ a writer I had little opportunity to attend such functions, and I viewed those that could attend with envy. Four kids, a corresponding lack of funds, and a full work schedule trying to supplement those meager funds forecluded the expenditure in both time and money to chase after a ‘hobby’. I did, however, have the honor of attending Cynthia (owner of SterlingHouse Publishing) Sterling’s, then annual Christmas Party which was my first introduction to every writer’s dream of champagne, caviar, and a host of delicacies on the buffet that still make my mouth water in remembrance. A guest list that included a host of minor celebrities completed the picture perfect setting.

Cynthia was my first agent and nearly my first publisher, having offered a contract for my third work titled Some Storms You Weather Alone upon her moving from agent to publisher. The title never did make the print list due to various reasons and after writing In the Brief Eternal Silence, I threw it in the garbage along with all my other previous works, a great deal relieved that they had never made the light of day. Which just goes to show that sometimes rejection can be a blessed thing.

Cynthia was probably the single most inspirational person I had the pleasure of being associated with on my journey from writer to publisher. She took my early work seriously, agenting two out of three of my first manuscripts. Her staff taught me a great deal about editing, and she provided me with my first job in the writing/publishing industry, a part-time position transcribing previously self-published titles onto a computer to enable the files to be uploaded to a printer. I still remember the first book I transcribed, a memoir by a WWII vet as a POW on the Baatan Death March. I did some proof-reading and other odds and ends also, but what I remember most is putting in an eight hour shift at the glass factory I worked at as a blue-collar worker, then jumping in the car and driving an hour to Pittsburgh and then putting in another four hours in the office.

Ah, if I had only known the journey ahead of me. Twelve hour work days and a two hour commute were the easy parts.

But what I learned from Cynthia was invaluable: the tangibles of transcribing, editing, proofing, and the intangibles of a woman owning and operating a publishing house, going independent publisher without the benefits of print-on-demand. In other words, back in the day when taking a chance on a book meant about ten grand or more in investment in each one.

But what I really wanted to blog about, before taking a trip down memory lane, was the Florida Writers Conference, and what I’m finding most fascinating about their blog. I never imagined that the first real writers conference I would be attending would be as a work-shop presenter teaching, and not as a paying writer eagerly wanting to learn.

I read with interest their 6/16/09 post on Pitching with the nearly unique view of being the one being pitched to rather than the one doing the pitch. I appreciate the call to the writer to be considerate, appreciate the time I’m investing, etc, and the sound advice they give their writers on what to be prepared to answer. Simultaneously, I know that what they are advising could be augmented, in my case anyways, with information on being prepared to answer questions about themselves and their writing process.

Things I’m probably going to ask are:

• How long have you been writing?
• Is this your first manuscript?
• What motivated you to write in general and this in particular?
• What other ideas do you have for further books?
• What does getting your book published mean to you?

I ask these questions because if I accept a submission for publication, I’m investing in the author as much as in the work. Normally, I’m also trying to suss out the writers that are serious from those that knock together a single manuscript and think they are done. That question, at least, I can feel fairly certain to be already answered. No one pays conference fees to attend and an additional sum for the privilege of a face to face unless they are either, a) serious, b) have way too much time and money on their hands.

So if you are a writer looking to be published, and you have the opportunity to talk to someone who you think may be interested in your work, be prepared to talk a little about yourself and your creative process also.

Everyone have a great day.

Most of these posts you may find under the Rebecca’s Rules for Writing section of this blog.

Well, here’s another hard nose for you: Kerlak Publishing writes on his Kerlak blog:

Here is the terrible truth about publishing, most books, no matter how great, will never sell more than 500 copies in its life.  An extremely small number of books actually make money and an even smaller number become well known.  With the economy changing in ways that defy prediction and the core industry functions behind publishing and book selling in a state of disarray, let me tell you, good isn’t good enough any more.  It isn’t even close.  Your work has to be stunning to have any chance, no matter how small, to survive.  All the advertising in the world can’t fix substandard work.

I remember back a couple of decades ago to a bit of advice that stuck with me.  If you show someone your work and the first thing they say is that “it is good” or that you are “such a good writer” – you have failed.  I know, that sounded really harsh.  Sadly, it is true.  If your reader noticed your typing skills and clever word choices then you failed to suspend disbelief and truly draw them into your work.  If you wrote a piece about growing strawberries and the reader doesn’t first say something about their experience with their own strawberries, you have failed.  They can tell you how great a writer you are later.  First, they had better playing in the dirt with you enjoying a strawberry, then they can talk about your writing.  The words have to fade behind the content.  Reading is not about words; it is a personal experience of imagination.  If you don’t deliver, it’s not good enough.

And you thought I was tough.

Everyone have a good day and a great weekend. 

I’m aware of a poetry group in the area, Pigeon Creek (yes, that is the illustrious name of the main tributary waterway in our area which meanders its way through our end of the county and finally meets with the Monongahela, which in turn joins with the Allegheny at Pittsburgh to form the Ohio, which in turn, many miles from here, contributes to the mighty Mississippi) Poetry Society. But, as their name indicates, they concentrate on poetry, and at this point, I’m not certain if they are still active.

Besides, I want a local writers’ resource that encompasses more than poetry. I want a group where writers of all ilks can come and find commeraderie, net-working, education and support. As usual, when my mind wanders in this direction, I’m faced with asking myself why I don’t start the ball rolling.

I imagine it would be good for me on several levels: one, it would get me more comfortable with public speaking. Two, it would remind me of the writers pov of the process whereas I have been forced to take the publisher pov and sometimes forget what it is like to have your cherished, hard-worked at writing be picked apart like a corpse beneath a carrion  vulture. Three, it would further raise awareness of Double Edge Press in our area.

These are my thoughts as I toy with the idea and find it more compelling. A full plate of ‘things to do’, not the least of which is to get a book out which is already past my target date being one of them, forces me to delay action. So for now, I’m placing it on the ‘things to consider once the publishing schedule is met’ list, but I have at least thought that the name could possibly be WashPA, or WashPaw, which is the oft-used short hand in our area for Washington, Pennsylvania.

Everyone have a good Wednesday (How can it possibly be Wednesday already?)

This year, I am happy to report, the sales were moving briskly. In fact, I ‘escaped’ my public speaking slot because, I’m sure, every time our coordinator glanced my way, I was busy talking to customers, and hence he would move to the next and the next until the day was at an end.

Yes, sales were very good. It was quite gratifying.

Part of this success was due to the advertising being ran in the local newspaper. As I had hoped for, I had many comments from people exclaiming, “Oh, I saw your ad in the paper and was meaning to call for a catalog, and here you are.”

Catalogs moved quite briskly also.

Another consequence of the ad is the connection with local authors that knew nothing of me, nor I of them. I’ve had several contact me, and as of yesterday was invited to an impromptu meeting with a local business man who has a few works cooking on his creative stove. The first is of the “Chicken Soup for the Soul” variety, which instantly interested me as I know the Chicken Soup market is enourmous.

The meeting was so impromptu that I am ashamed to say I met him in sweat pants and a t-shirt. The reason behind this is I had spent the entire morning in two different meetings, complete in full suited skirt and heels, makeup hair, the whole regalia, which I utterly hate. Upon arriving home, I instantly tore off the dreaded formal wear and contrarily and thankfully changed into my oldest most comfy gear. When I returned the inviters’ call, my first thought was, Oh, no, I am not putting on the business clothes again!

I agreed to meet him at a local establishment and, after apologizing for my appearance, had a pleasant afternoon conversing on the rapidly changing publishing industry, where we are in God’s time-table, politics, the expresso book machine, and his work.

As I found on Sunday at Art in the Park, nothing beats being out amongst people and making personal connections. That’s true with customers, and I think it is also true with writers. You can gain more from a fifteen minute (well, in this particular case it was more like an hour and a half) face to face with someone than a month’s worth of emails.

I walked away with a very positive impression that this writer would fit my vision for Double Edge Press. Now it was just a matter of whether his writing would. He had given me a sample, and not long after I returned home, I sat down to take a quick glance, and found myself hard pressed to put his work down in order to do the things I was supposed to be doing. He had humbly disclaimed his writing ability, but from my quick taste of his work, I think he may have somewhat underrated himself.

As a result of several things, James Spurr’s work that I’m currently editing and am very excited about, the recent development of a writer with fantastic work that may be coming aboard this fall, encouraging sales at Art in the Park, and yesterday’s meeting with a talented local author (how nice to have another author in the immediate area!) I’m feeling as though the future of DEP is very bright indeed.

Everyone have a good, good day.

Don’t believe me? Here’s the definition, courtesy of http://thesaurus.reference.com/browse/literature

To get a more comprehensive definition, you can go to the accompanying Dictionary and read through the definitions listed for the word ‘literature’. The first one is the one I will be referencing:

In my own crazy world of defintions, I differentiate this definition from the general ‘writing’ one in this way:

literature = writing, any writing.

Literature = writing with a universal and permanent interest

Which brings us to one final definition in my own personal dictionary, one that you won’t find in any other dictionary:’

LITERATURE = writing with a universal and permanent interest that also encompasses a parable, or an allegory: a parallel story line within the obvious surface story line. This hidden story line is represented and told through symbolism and tells a universal truth.

Got that?

So of the books currently with Double Edge Press, here’s the count (in my own mind):

literature: two titles

Literature: eight titles

LITERATURE: one title

I’ll allow you to decide what titles go in each category.

If you were to draw conclusions from my above sorting and assigning of works to categories, you might conclude, erroneously, that the majority of books must be Literature. For our pub house, that’s true. For the publishing industry in general, it’s false. The publishing industry in general puts out far more literature (writing, any writing) than they do Literature (writing with a universal and permanent interest). I credit my own discernment for making our pub house heavy on the Literature side.

I would like to see more LITERATURE, but alas, they are hard to come by. The amount of skill involved to write a story within a story, and to do it well, is a rare talent. It is often unappreciated when it is found. But when done well (think of John Steinbeck) it can be a treasure.

I’m pleased to say that I have recently come into re-contact with a writer that displayed this talent in his work from four years ago. A contract with a larger pub house withered and died on the vine (not as uncommon as you think — I had a contract with a pub house back in ‘95 or ‘96, signed, sealed and delivered, which came to nothing. The book never made it to the print schedule, and as there was no time frame in which they had to perform there was little I could do about it) and he is allowing me another look at it.

It’s early yet. We have notes to go over as to what could, and whether it should, be changed. But I’m glad that he is considering us, and I am glad to be considering him.

More to come this fall.

One might say that the best course of action is to budget as small amount of time as feasibly possible to a project for the best results.

Maybe. I haven’t been brave enough to try that approach as of yet.

But despite everything, THIS is why I love publishing: the editing.

Editing can be a hard slog, but like writing, it is a process that requires complete and total concentration, and, like reading, it transports you to a different time and place, so that when you pop your head out of the work, you feel a strange sense of refreshment. The real world, with your reacquaintance to it, seems fresher, newer, and more exciting then it did before you left it for awhile.

Now, with the real estate classes over and about a two week lag time before I can take the state exam, I am again deep within the world created by James Spurr. As it is his third book in the series, I enter into the world fully aware of the characters already, and am happy to be introduced to some new ones. It’s nearly like visiting family members that I haven’t seen for a year and catching up on where they are within their lives.

Previously, when editing Jim’s second work, I reported how pleased I was with his progress as a writer. Again, I can see his growth in this third book, mostly in characterization, but also in the mundane details of writing. Where his first edit was intense, his second a little less so, this third is moving along nicely. He has learned much about his craft and has made good use of his knowledge.

In the end, nothing beats the learning curve in writing more than simply writing. And as Jim has been churning out a book a year for the last three years straight, his learning trajectory is clearly visible in his works.

Everyone have a good day!

One of the little perks of being a publisher/author/blogger, I am finding, is being contacted on occassion by other authors to take a look at their work. This phenomenon first began with Souls of Steel by Philip Garrow (submitted not by the author, but by a friend of the author), which should in itself be a cautionary tale that although asked to review and receiving a free copy to do so is not going to sway me on my opinion. It continued with a contact from Andy Sernovitz requesting that I read his upcoming book after discovering my review of his first (and although I took him up on this offer, I have as yet to receive the book. Perhaps he took the cautionary tale of Souls of Steel to heart).

The latest request has come from Jon Wuebben, President and CEO of both Telegent Media, LLC and Custom Copywriting for his book Content Rich: Writing Your Way to Wealth on the Web. As his book appears to be selling well without my review, I was flattered to be contacted with the offer.

The book arrived yesterday (with a nice autograph in it, as I always ask for one in these situations. After all, if nothing else at the end of the day, I should have a nice collection of original autographed titles in my library to impress my grandchildren with — see, kiddies, I once tried to create a family empire for all of you, but, alas, it wasn’t to be. I do however have these nice autographed books! At which point, my grandchildren still to be born at some point in the future will say, “What’s a book?”) and I began reading last night. So far my notes include the words, undeniable enthusiasm, excitement and fun. Although I only read through the introduction and the first chapter, I already have the distinct impression that Mr. Wuebben is utterly sincere. He has found a way to make a profit on what he is passionate about and has no qualms in sharing his knowledge. A rarity, I have found, when it comes to business ‘how-to’ books, the main objective seemingly to be how to give enough information to entice sales without actually creating competition in the field that one is knowledgable in. I know my first thought upon picking up a ‘how-to’ is: if the author’s making so much money doing what they are doing, why do they need to write a book and sell how to do it?

The exception, I’m thinking, may be when it comes to the very field I am in: writing. Writers like to write, and invariably they like to write to the point that they get around to writing about writing, and if that includes how to make money from writing, that will be written about also. Witness my own blog. There is absolutely no earthly reason for me to blog about my failures and successes other than like a person who talks too much and doesn’t know when to shut up, I write too much and don’t know when to take my hands off the keyboard. Diahrea of the fingers, if you will.

But, in regards to Mr. Wuebben’s work, I’m enjoying it very much, and if the practical advice he offers matches his enthusiasm in presenting it, I’m anticipating a great read. And a far from dry one.

Everyone have a great day!