Sequence a Science Fiction Writer - a fund drive for Jay Lake

As I type this, the fund drive for Jay Lake's cancer treatment has already exceeded it's initial goal of $20,000.00. Why do I bother to post then? Because that was the bare minimum needed to get Jay's tumor genetically sequenced. This will enable doctors to better target this next round of chemotherapy in one last desperate bid to kill the cancer and save Jay. It's still worth donating because Jay will have a lot of expenses over and above this as he continues his battle with cancer.

Unfortunately, the prognosis isn't good, at all. He's got an 8% chance of survival, and while this treatment might increase the odds, it is still experimental. So money towards this treatment, even if it doesn't save Jay, will further our understanding of cancer treatment and thus improve it in the future.

I don't remember the first time I met Jay Lake. He and I crossed paths at cons many times, though I do remember the year that he announced he'd go for the Campbell Award - which is the award for the best new science fiction author. You are only eligible for this award in the two years after your first professional sale, so it's a tough one to get. Jay's strategy was to write short stories by the truckload and submit them everywhere. At the beginning of this endeavor, I confess I overheard a lot of nay-sayers talking about how absurd this was and that he was clogging up the major markets' slush piles with his endless verbiage. By the time awards season rolled around, "Anyone thinking above their brain stem," as Daniel Abraham put it, would vote for Jay Lake. His intensive writing had gone to plan exactly, and he did win the Campbell Award. He and Frank Wu commemorated the event (Frank also won a Hugo that year) by flipping their long hair.

Right now Jay's got a tattoo on his scalp that says, "If you can read this, I've got cancer again" (or something to this effect). Unfortunately, it's easy to read the text, and his signature beard is gone too. Some filmmakers are making a documentary about a year in Jay's life, and the Kickstarter campaign for this is also funded in full.

The video, however, gives you a little glimpse into Jay's life. Please help support Jay by donating a few dollars to the fundraiser to cover his cancer treatment. He's got a fourteen year old daughter to raise and more books to write. Nobody's read for this to be the end of his time here with us.

Fearful Symmetries, an anthology edited by Ellen Datlow, now on Kickstarter

I just backed Ellen Datlow and Chizine's Kickstarter campaign for Fearful Symmetries, which will be an unthemed horror anthology edited by Ellen. The pitch video is not to be missed, and I include it at the end of this post.

Ellen Datlow was my fifth week instructor at Clarion West, a pressure cooker style workshop that takes roughly seventeen students a year. Mine was the class of 2001, and there are always five author instructors and one editor, and the editor's week is when everyone falls all over themselves to look good in the hopes of selling a piece. Ellen was editing SciFiction back then, one of the highest paying markets in the field. Every instructor spends each morning critiquing the students' work, and Ellen's critiques were blunt and to the point. I certainly didn't have anything sale-worthy, and if I'd doubted that, she set me straight.

But it was never personal. Business is business, and after critiques were done, she'd come hang out with us in our lounge on the top floor of a Seattle University dorm and often stay through dinner. One night she made us all egg creams (she's a New Yorker, after all) and that same evening, someone also broke out a giant Costco jar of Jelly Bellies. I helped Ellen pick through them to find the black licorice ones. She's one of those people who likes black licorice (and I was happy to give her all mine).

Ellen told me both that my writing needed work, but I should go ahead and invest in myself, and in the years since has sent me many short, blunt rejection letters, which for anyone not in the know, are a true kindness. Editors receive reams and reams of submissions, so any editor who takes the time to be personal is telling you that you were worth precious minutes of their time. Through brief notes and the occasional meetup at a convention, Ellen's been a continuous, honest presence in my writing life, and no, I've never managed to sell her anything. Nevertheless, she's always remembered me and has even recalled stories that I subbed years ago. It's been an honor to know Ellen Datlow; she's a big name who knows how to make use of small moments to remain a friend of mine for over a decade.

Now check out her pitch video!

Kickstarter and Kirkus

I know I'm overdue to post about my Kickstarter campaign for a Kirkus Review of Castles on the Sand. The more time passes, the more I have to say, so I'd better do this post before it becomes three. First let me talk about Kickstarter, and then about Kirkus.

Kickstarter enabled me to set up a campaign to raise money in exchange for rewards to the backers who pledged. I offered copies of a special edition of the book and was curious to see how many presales I could get. It seemed that the ideal situation would be to have fans come buy advance copies of the book and I just use their money for the review. I think for a lot of established artists, Kickstarter works this way.

I, obviously, am not all that established. Of my indie novels I've published two, one of which has been a solid hit. Not solid enough to live in luxury for the rest of my life, but in the ten months I've been an indie author, I have out earned my husband for two of them. I've clearly got fans, but not hordes of them. Another strike against Castles is the fact that it isn't connected to my hit, Someone Else's Fairytale, which will soon have a sequel of its own. Castles is also LDS fiction, technically, as one of the main characters is LDS. I don't think much of the divide between LDS vs. mainstream fiction, as I don't tell spiritual/inspirational stories in which conversion to religion solves anyones problems, but people used to the bright line demarkation will still consider my work to be non-mainstream.

Therefore, the people who turned out for my Campaign were friends and family. When I announced the campaign on Twitter, I got some backers. When I put it in Facebook, people poured in and funded it in full in a couple of days. Many reached deep into their pockets, pledging amounts that would clearly be a one time occurrence. Because this was my donor pool, this will be my last Kickstarter campaign for a while, simply because I'm not going to go back to the same people who gave so much and ask for another red cent. They've been more than supportive. Maybe, someday, if I get a broader fanbase, I'll try again, but who knows?

Now let's talk about the Kirkus Review. Kirkus provided a review with a fantastic quote that I plastered everywhere, on Goodreads, Amazon, etc. How many sales did the review generate? None that I can tell. My sales this first month that Castles has been out have been roughly on par with Fairytale's, though it's hard to say that absolutely. Fairytale started out at $.99 and free on Smashwords, so its sales on Amazon were only a small fraction of the downloads. Castles, I launched at $2.99, the price point I intend to occupy until I can build up a bigger fan base and revenue stream for myself.

Was the Kirkus Review worth it? Yes. It was essential to take that next step and invest a little more, even if the investment didn't earn immediate returns financially. It was important for me to prove to myself that I could get reviewed by the same Kirkus that reviews traditionally published books and walk away with a good review, on par with someone who's gone the traditional route. The review also opens the door to publicity services offered by Kirkus that I'll consider, but am not investing in these first few months.

More to the point, the Kirkus Review was exactly the right thing to finance with a Kickstarter Campaign. I'd like to think I rewarded my backers' faith in me by landing a good review. This book isn't in negative earnings, because I didn't spend my own money in the review. Also, from this experience I've gathered still more data on the world of publishing 2.0, which will only help me going forward.

All in all, a positive experience all around. But now I'm back to my old marketing tricks to build up a readership for Castles.

Castles on the Sand is out!

Just a quick note to say that my young adult/women's fiction novel, Castles on the Sand, was released today. Kirkus Reviews calls it, "A fast-paced blend of high-stakes drama and average teenage concerns (sex, appearance, friends), capped with a welcome message of hope."

The back cover blurb:

Madison Lukas knows her place in the world. She’s not pretty, not interesting, and therefore easy to forget.

John Britton is serving his mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and has been praying for fifteen years to find the sister he lost in his parents’ divorce. She is beautiful, talented, and makes kindness a fine art.

And for good measure, here's the book trailer: 

Last of all, buy links for the US and UK ;-)

The Indie Experiment: Kickstarter, Help Me Raise $600.00 in 30 Days

I'm asking for fan help to buy a Kirkus Indie review for my next novel. More to the point, I'm offering my fans the chance to be involved, to share with me the fun and excitement of indie publishing. I'm asking people to get invested, to own a part of the success I've seen so far and help me step it up a little.

Kirkus are one of the big names in book reviews. If you are traditionally published, your publisher should submit your novels to them and Publisher's Weekly as a matter of course. People in the publishing industry read Kirkus and get their first impression of books that are released soon thereafter. For us indie writers, we can get a Kirkus review if we're willing to pay a hefty price for it. This makes good sense. This is how Kirkus avoids getting inundated with every self published book out there. It's how they screen for writers who are serious about what they are doing.

Fans have made my last book, Someone Else's Fairtyale, a solid success. It continues to sell well through Amazon, making enough for us to pay for groceries and part of utilities every month. For the next step in my career, I'd like to see if I could make some inroads into markets outside of Amazon. I'd like to see if I could move more copies on Barnes and Noble and iBookstore, and I'll put some serious research into print distributors. In order to stand myself in good stead, it would help immensely to have a Kirkus review.

But, you surely ask, what if Kirkus hates the book? The quick answer is to say this is a risk you take with any endeavor. The more considered one is to point out that while Kirkus don't just write sales pitches, they are very even handed with all the different styles and genres of books they receive. I don't assume I'll get a starred review from them (anyone who goes in with that assumption either has a track record of getting them or an ego that is about to get deflated). I do think the book will hold its own in the genre. I've put all my life experience with writing into this one, building on the lessons I've learned from the previous three novels. I didn't try anything too edgy or experimental. I didn't decide to suddenly switch gears and tell a completely different kind of story. I may not be a literary genius, but I think I'm to the point in my career that I'm good enough to advance a couple steps further.

And so I invite my fans to take these steps with me. Pledge as little or as much as you'd like, and while you're at it, you can preorder the book. Backers who choose to preorder will have their books ship at least one week in advance of the release date - at the same time the reviewers receive their copies. Below is a widget with what I've earned so far. Click it to go to Kickstarter where you can contribute as well.