DON'T HATE ME BECAUSE I AM ECLECTIC

Book publishing in America has changed a lot in the past twenty years plus. Especially in two fundamental ways. 

The first is that the big-time, mainstream publishers are now all gathered together into five multi-national corporate conglomerate tribes (Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin Random House, and Simon & Schuster), huddling together for protection. 

No longer is Book Publishing in America the domain of the 20th-Century “Gentleman Publishers” who cared as much, if not more so, about books than about the profits selling books could gather. The tradition, myth or not, was that publishing houses of old hoped for just enough profit from popular bestsellers, which they were always on the lookout for, to pay their company’s costs and support those other books they wanted to publish—fiction and non-fiction—that they knew would not be huge bestsellers right out of the gate but had literary quality or importance that would keep them in print for years. The long-term goal was to build up enough of a backlist of both their bestsellers and their quality books (not to mention the occasional quality bestseller) that, in aggregate, would provide perennial profits to sustain them. 

Now mainstream publishing seems to be all about big profits NOW! NOW! NOW! Of course, some of the imprints within the Big Five may have individual publishers who think in the gentlemanly or gentlewomanly way. But their accountants probably don’t. This makes it hard for a new author to get the attention of the Big Five unless you have a potential bestselling blockbuster. Or possibly if you come to them with a nice recommendation from your MFA in Creative Writing professor. 

The second change has come about via digital technology, including he invention of print-on-demand (POD) machines that can digitally print and bind a single copy of a book when it has been ordered, saving on the huge costs of warehousing a multitude of copies. And the growth in digital eReaders, such as the Kindle, upon which one can read an eBook.

Oh, and I guess I should add a third way—the distribution of POD hardcopies and eBooks, mainly by Amazon. 

The second has allowed many writers who have not been able to get past the formidable gates of the first to be published and distributed by the third.

These new technologies spurred the growth of many digital indie publishers, often founded by writers who decided to help get other writers into print. And, of course, the new technologies have given birth to thousands of writers who have used them to publish themselves. This used to be called “self-publishing,” and once was a badge of shame. Now it’s called being entrepreneurial—and who wouldn’t want to be called that!

I have had eight books published in the last ten years through three digital indie publishers.

Crossroad Press,

Blüroof Press,

and Third Street Press.

All three were founded by fellow writers who really give a damn about fellow writers. I have truly appreciated that. And they have overseen the creation of print, ebook, and audiobook editions of my work that I’m proud of. And we have had some success, with two of my novels spending at least a little time on some Amazon sites as Science Fiction Bestsellers.

I have been a difficult writer for these publishers. Not a difficult person, of course, I’m a renowned sweetie-pie. But as a writer being published by digital indie publishers, I am not what one would call a marketing dream.

You see, digital indie publishers, not having the massive budgets of the Big Five, especially for publicity and promotion, have found their greatest success in publishing series novels. That is, obviously, a series of novels featuring the same world and characters in each volume. Not unlike a TV series, and various cinematic universes too famous for me to need to mention here. It seems that this is what many readers, especially eBook readers, want—brand name authors. Or rather, authors as brands. It is also something I, as a writer, cannot provide.

Not that I haven’t tried. My first published novel, Blood is Pretty, was followed up by a sequel, Hollywood is an All-Volunteer Army. These novels are satiric Hollywood thrillers. If you can imagine that. And you don’t really have to, because I already did. All you need to do is read them if you would like. They were fun to write and I have a great deal of affection for them. But two were enough for me. I had other stories to tell. Some might be labeled science fiction, some might be called mainstream or literary fiction, some might be strange mash-ups of different fiction genres. And that’s another thing. I don’t stick to one genre, which in some publishing quarters is an offense worthy of being drawn and quartered for.

With all of the above in mind, and with the encouragement of writers I admire, I have decided it was time for me to get entrepreneurial and publish myself under my own imprint. Thus the Magpie Press logo at the top of this blog.

Why Magpie Press? Because magpies are known for being indiscriminate in what attracts them—some of this, some of that. They have, shall we say, eclectic tastes. As I have always had in what I read. And, obviously, as I have in what I write.

But that makes marketing my novels problematic. So I have decided I should unburden my publishers of this problem, and take it on myself. Crossroad, Blüroof, and Third Street have all agreed. Not gleefully and glad to get rid of me, I hope. But in the generous spirit that they all share, of writers helping writers. And, indeed, they have all offered help, advice, and practical knowledge as I move forward.

Eventually, I will be moving all my books from these publishers over to Magpie Press. But, first up, is a new novel, Creature Feature, a Horrid Comedy. It is a historical movie monsters spoof and political satire.

FIND A PIGEONHOLE FOR THAT, YOU CATEGORIZERS!

I hope to have it available by September, just in time for the wrap-up of the 2020 campaign season. Which has had its own monsters and satire making history we have had to contend with.

When I get all my books—including three more to be published after Creature Feature—under the Magpie Press roof, I will put them in groups and see if they are easier to market that way. The groups so far are.

THE WILD TRIP NOVELS

THE LOVE, SEX, AND PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS NOVELS

THE FIXXER NOVELS

Don't call them genres or sub-genres. Possibly they are sub-brands. Maybe that will help this magpie fly.

Wish me well.

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As always you can check out my books on the MY BOOKS page on this blog or on my Author's Page on Amazon.

FAN LETTERS ARE FUN!

It's always fun to receive fan letters. Although "fun" is a pretty frivolous word for what an author really feels -- at least this author. As has been noted by many, being a novelist is a lonely business. It is only rarely a collaborative art, and then often with only one other. And unlike a playwright, even film artists on occasion, a novelist can never be with an audience when they are responding to his or her work in real time. It fact, there is usually no gathered audience at all, just your words and the characters and situations and thoughts those words in combination create, flowing into individual brains separated by rooms and houses and neighborhoods and cities and countries. A novelist speaks to the far away and to the scattered, never quite sure where they are or even if they exist. Maybe they also are just figments of his imagination. 

So when you get a letter of appreciation for your work, a nice, solid grounding-in-reality takes place. And a little less lonely you become. It's a good feeling. It can even be a deep feeling. And, yet, it's fun!

Here's the fun that arrived the other day from Brooke Jones, a reader from Oregon. It was about my two satiric Hollywood thrillers featuring The Fixxer.

It came via email with the subject line, "I may never sleep again!

Steve

I  suppose I can blame Ray Richmond for my having found your Fixxer.  (I'll deal with him shortly).

   

Gobbled up the first, then dove into the 2nd. While I thoroughly enjoyed the ride, the politics of The Enclave at THIS moment in America's ...what?...crisis?....dismantling??..."trumpified torture???...caused knots in my stomach...and my heart, that may take ages to untie!

It's now nearly midnight.  The bruised and bandaged hero has just followed the lovely Anne to bed.  I would like to believe that I will find sleep awaiting me on my pillow, but I fear visions of a Trumpian Enclave will haunt me til long after dawn.

I thank you for the pleasure of your Fixxex's company, but I am now in need of a Petey Remedy.  Perhaps Fixxer III will ease my savaged soul. (A girl can dream, can't  she?). 

In hopes of a swift and fitting Fixxer end to our national Trumpian nightmare I remain,

(from one writer to another, your most recent fan...

Brooke Jones

The Enclave is the villainous organization The Fixxer goes up against in his second adventure, Hollywood is an All-Volunteer Army and Petey is one of The Fixxer's crew, a rather weird, but wonderful, I hope, character. 

I swiftly responded for you don't let such a fan get away!

Hello, Brooke!

I opened your email this morning -- what a great way to start the week!

I truly do appreciate your enthusiastic words, especially as they come from a fellow writer (you must tell me about that, of course - what you write, etc.)

I’m glad you like the Fixxer & Co. And I would like to say that I’m sorry I gave you those knots in your stomach and heart, but that’s exactly why I created the Enclave. Although Hollywood is an All-Volunteer Army wasn’t published until 2011, I wrote it, I think between 1996 and 1997. But the fact that the “...21st Century is going to be a bitch,” as my villain says, was quite evident as the 20th was winding down. The Haves vs. the Have-nots, Concentrated wealth vs. non-wealthy masses, the North vs. the South, white vs. dark -- it was such an old story here and there, now and then, but with globalization, it’s now everywhere at once. Just thought I would send up a warning flare.

Sad to say, Fixxer 3 will not ease you as there is not, nor will there be. a Fixxer 3. The Fixxer books were written to serve a need I had to write something that might put me in the neighborhood of James Bond (the books, not the movies) and to satirically deal with my experiences in Hollywood. But, being me, I had to include some core, interesting (to me) concept to write about. In Blood is Pretty it’s how our brains work and how they can easily be manipulated. And in Hollywood, of course, it’s what I have discussed above. I’ve done the Bond territory now, and 20 years out of Hollywood now gives me no need to look at it askance. Or at all, for that matter. However, ideas to write about are fresh and forthcoming. I do hope you’ll check out my other novels on Amazon.

In fact, I can offer some possible solace with my latest novel, IMP: A Political Fantasia. It's a very short novel that deals with a president, one not at all like Tronald Dump, but one who might be equally as dangerous. It ends on a hopeful note. Ah, if only I could manipulate reality as easily.

You must thank Ray Richmond for being the persuasive word-of-mouth for the Fixxer.

Very warm regards,

Steven

I'm deeply appreciative that Brooke, in writing her letter, made me aware of how timely my second Fixxer novel is. I may have to go back and read it!

If this has sparked your interest in my two Fixxer novels, please check them out. You can get to them, and all my books, via my Amazon Author's page at:

http://tinyurl.com/leivaonamazon

Cheers to all!

GIVE STEVEN PAUL LEIVA A GOOD SWIFT KICK IN HIS BOOKS WEEK

HEAR ME INTERVIEWED ABOUT GIVING MY BOOKS A GOOD SWIFT KICK!

You’ve all heard of Kickstarter. This is where people with admirable projects -- a film, a new organic baby food, a portrait of President Obama created using only thumbtacks and used contact lenses -- and who need a little financial kick to get going, put their proposal online and ask friends and relatives and relative strangers to send them anywhere from a dollar or two or ten, to thousands of the digital greenbacks. And what do people get for doing so? Well, depending on the level of your contribution, you might get a “shout out” on a Facebook page, your name on the wall of a micro brewery, two tickets to a film yet to be made and maybe a character named after you, or the actual product (a neat tee shirt?) when it is finished. Kickstarter has become quite popular and newsworthy, and now it seems that everybody is doing it.

I was musing on this the other day and it occurred to me that I, the author of novels, don’t really need a kickstart -- novels are not expensive products to create. And I’ve never really had a problem in starting (or finishing) them. But having three novels I’m very proud of available for sale in various formats (print; e-book; audiobook) at that great supermarket in the Cloud, Amazon, what I need is not a kickstart. I need a bloody kick forward. You might even say I need a good swift kick in the books.

Why? Because it would be great to get boku sales of my books in a concentrated period of time in order to send up a flag of triumph to Amazon thereby possibly spurring them on to feature and market my work, which would, it is hoped, lead to more sales. Wouldn’t that be lovely?

So I drop all pretensions to decorum and audaciously presume upon all your good natures to help.

I’ve decided to declare the week of February 17 to 23 GIVE STEVEN PAUL LEIVA A GOOD SWIFT KICK IN HIS BOOKS WEEK. If you want to help that week -- buy one (or more, he hastened to add) of my books.

And just what is that going to cost me, Leiva?

Well, my e-books are priced at $2.99 and $3.99 -- cheaper than a Latte at Starbucks.
I have one book at the moment in print (more to come), and it’s only $14.99 -- cheaper than red lobster at the Red Lobster. And my one audiobook is under 20 bucks -- cheaper than a new pair of jeans at a discount fashion store.

(You can check out all my books, read reviews from people of distinction and readers of taste, see videos and listen to an audiobook excerpt at my new MY BOOKS page on my blog http://stevenpaulleivasthisnthat.blogspot.com/p/my-books.html.)

And for your “donation” what do you get? Well -- you get one of my books!! Hey, it’s like old-fashion 20th Century commerce, you give me money I give you the product. It’s very simple. Not a lot of cool, post-modern bells and whistles, but what the hell?

But I don’t have a Kindle, Leiva.

No Problem. You can download Free Kindle Reading Apps at Amazon. With these apt apps you can read my books in the Amazon Cloud Reader, on your smartphone, computer or tablet.

But I don’t want to read your books, Leiva.

Fine, I’m not asking you to read them, just buy them. That’s what’s so audacious about this proposal. Just buy it, download it, then trash it if you wish. You won’t even be wasting paper. Just think of it as buying me a discounted Latte at Starbucks so we can sit down and snicker at all the wannabe screenwriters sweating over their laptops.

But -- should you choose to read one of my books I’m pretty confident you’ll enjoy it. Others have. My Hollywood friends would enjoy my Hollywood satiric thrillers, "Blood is Pretty" and "Hollywood is an All-Volunteer Army." Although my Hollywood enemies might not. For those of you not employed in Hollywood, don’t let that put you off. I know you know enough about Hollywood to get it. Plus, who doesn’t like thrills? As to my sci-fi satire, "Traveling in Space," a sometimes comic look at humankind’s place in the universe: Are you a human? Are you in the Universe? Enough said.

Or buy me the equivalent of a cheap dinner and purchase the print edition of "Traveling in Space." You’ll get to hold a “real” book in your hands and get high smelling the ink. Or the audiobook of "Blood is Pretty." Take it on a long drive. You’ll enjoy Jonah Cummings’ fine reading.

If you ever wanted to give me a good swift kick in the butt -- and I’m sure several of you have -- now you can do it metaphorically by giving my books a good swift kick forward. So run (with your key-clicking digits) don’t walk to the MY BOOKS section of my blog (http://stevenpaulleivasthisnthat.blogspot.com/p/my-books.html) and check out my books. Then click on the Amazon links provided and -- check out my books. You will get the deep satisfaction of helping an author under six foot, but who tries to stand tall nonetheless, you will get literary value for your dollar, and you will get my undying gratitude.

And if this decorum-less and audacious invasion into your consciousness works and my books do indeed get kicked forward, I will be happy to tell each and everyone of you individually that you -- and you alone -- made me the success I will be tomorrow.

P.S. And go ahead, forward this on to friends and family; share this on Facebook; put up a billboard in the town square. Just how many people will you really alienate?

GIVE STEVEN PAUL LEIVA A GOOD SWIFT KICK IN HIS BOOKS WEEK FEBRUARY 17 TO 23