IWSG: Being an Aspiring Writer and a Bookstore Employee

Hello all!  Here's another IWSG post--where we talk about our achievements and insecurities on the first Wed of every month!  I want to thank Alex J. Cavanaugh and her co-hosts for managing this most amazing (and inspiring group)-- you all kept me writing at least a post a month when writing and living was hard--so, I am amazingly thankful for this group and all of the hard work that is poured into it.  That said, the group is about to get even more awesome-- check out the news here, and all the wonderful participants here.

Being an Aspiring Writer--

I, like anyone hoping to publish at some vague point in time, pile through the blogs and books on writing and publishing.  I sort through all the information and make up my own mind about just what I should do in order to start my career on the right foot.

I'm obsessed with the "right foot." But the proper tactic seems so be mired in an over abundance of information and choice.  Wheedling through the options can be exhausting, and yet with the goal of eventual publication in mind...I can't stay away from reading news about the industry or the options available, down the road.

Working  at a Bookstore--

Then there's the whole aspect to publishing you learn selling books to readers.  That is enough to intimidate even the most  determined self-marketer.

Readers by what they hear about on radio, tv, or from a friend, or what is assigned by their book group. That is sort of where traditional publishing comes in.  But the authors who sell already have a presence (more often than not). Cheryl Strayed's "Wild" was a good example of this.

Her travel narrative was supposed to have been a "debut" but when it was wildly successful suddenly a novel and a self-help book she had previously published were reissued and the self-help hadn't previously had her name on it, as it derived from her "Dear Sugar" column in a paper.  So a debut wasn't really a debut after all...

So what does that mean?

Then there's the fact that new authors are increasingly having a particular statement plastered on their mass market paperbacks (in the SFF section): "First time in print!" Which seems to indicate that there is a rising list of successful books selling only as e-book and that, perhaps, an author needs to sell successfully as an e-book before a publisher considers a print run?  Could that be the case?  And if so, what does that mean for the royalties?

It starts to make me wonder, looking at my bank account, if, for a writer starting out now traditional publishing is a (fiscally) viable first step, or if it is more important to prove oneself through self-publishing and a successful promotional effort?

Successful promotional effort--

Most self-published authors who do readings/meet & greets at my work have tiny audiences.  They may or may not have FB pages, or author pages, or websites.  They may or may not have had a professional artist or designer assist with the cover design.  They may or may not attend events regularly, have community connections, or get their event listed in local papers.

I have been doing all I can to gain interest for the events, but internet-based marketing is (unfortunately) only one aspect to my job, rather than the whole of it.  So I'm limited, and the authors' promotional efforts need to be top notch.

So it seems to me that I can piece together from these experiences what I *think* could amount to a successful promotional effort, but seeing the authors in the store--some of whom are blatantly brilliant--but also make a subtle splash in the only remaining bookstore selling exclusively new books in the vicinity of the downtown area of our city, makes that seem daunting.

I hover here, writing, revising, and watching.  And doubting that even as I learn more about the book industry that my knowledge will lead me to make any greater a splash in an Amazon-dominated industry.


 

Growing Phase and Accompanying Pains

It's the first Wednesday of the month!  Time to share goals, progress and insecurities about writing as part of Insecure Writer's Support Group. There's a lot of really awesome and inspiring entries, so go check out the list at Alex Cavanaugh's blog here.

So what's getting me this month? Well, there are a few things.  They can be boiled down to Growth.  Yes, I'm capitalizing it.  It shall be personified--just for right now.

The aspects of Growth are personal-writing related and related to the industry at a large--my opinions here being formed as the lone 20-something working in Sacramento's only exclusively new book Independent Bookstore.  Isn't that something?  That there's only one of us in a state capitol?

Personal Growth

It has me in it's grasp.  Growth has come to be welcome on some days and pulling me heels-dragging-screaming at other days.  It has overturned long held assumptions and now it has oozed into my writing.  I spotted it awhile ago, and was thankful for the depth and improvement in my writing.

Now Growth has altered my reading habits, which can only serve to hone my writing further.  I have been obsessed with non-fiction.  I have read two books (at least) possibly three in the past month.  It has been a long time since I managed these rates of completion.  And I owe a device to half of the reason.  I was given a Paperwhite, which was the only e-reader that had ever peaked my interest sufficiently.

Yes, I devoured a ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) called Foodist, by Darya Pina Rose--now available in hardback, followed by Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food, and Gary Taub's Good Calories, Bad Calories-- all in book form.  But then, on the Paperwhite, I (started) "Fast Food Nation", read "Omnivore's Dilemma," and am most of the way through "Cooked."  I will switch back to fiction and complete "American Gods" next. But I also can't wait to get my hands (or eyes) on Lisa See's "Snow Flower and the Secret fan," and "Dragonbones."

How will all of this non-fiction change my fantasy writing?  I have a few ideas.  I think I'll share in a future blog post :)

Book Growth

Devices, Online shopping and bookstores -- a recurrent theme where I work.  Also, the big glaring question of where are the 20something and 30something readers represented in the store's layout and displays?

I have been asked this, point blank.  I did a touch of research and realized book shopping is driven by individuals over 35, and primarily over 65. Amazon had these trends as did websites representing brick and mortar independants.

My customers think that "Young people," -- a term I once thought only applied to teens, but now seems to encapsulate anyone under 40--  read on devices.  And man, that idea is conveyed with a dose of contempt! I protest that "Print isn't going anywhere!  But our reason for buying it is changing."  Growth hit my work-sphere.

But I feel that my voice is small.  The change is starting, but how to be heard?  How to get the store to benefit from this change?  How to pull young people in the store?

You want to see young people's book-buying preferences?  Check out the Book section on Modcloth.com.  funny thing?  Some of their cookbooks are exactly one's I've eyed at work, but which the store, overall, has had trouble moving.  Last I searched the page, driven by curiosity, I was excited by the collections they had of Jules Verne and H.G. Wells.  Classics.

The Bookstore is driven to shelve new releases. But if they aren't on the NYTimes bestseller lists, they have a 1 in 5 chance of selling in any given month. So, in the mix of new books, all of us who work at the store slip in our favorites.  I have sold Eddings' "Pawn of Prophecy," repeatedly, sold Sanderson's "Mistborn," sold Keyes' "Briar King," and on numerous occasions sent mom's home with Wrede's "Dealing with Dragons," --partially because it's one of my all time favorites and partially because I see it as an appropriate counter to the pink-laden Princess Culture.  Hey, it has a princess, she's just a lot more fun than Cinderella.

Timelessness.

Collections.

Gifts.

Books and ownership of physical--non-digital items--as a statement of identity to be shared with the community you permit into your home.  For this reason, I think that buying habits will continue to change.  But declaring the direction I see it going because of how I see people shopping in the store and how I know my community of various aged individuals consumes books, plus the impact of the economy and so forth on "young people"-- I feel that my voice is small.  Ineffectual.

I think I could write more on this topic... another post!

Old Books

About a week ago, my guy finished Sanderson's Warbreaker and comes to me asking "What should I read next?"

Naturally, I have a lot of books. At one point I had read all that I have on my shelves, but a few years ago my collection surpassed my ability to keep up. and I have become very picky about new books. I find myself going to the bookstore and browsing, just browsing. I'm completely indecisive! Some little voice says: But you haven't finished X yet, you really should. And my budget and eye-strain prompt me to hold off...it'll still be there next year, and if not...well, it'll be online.

So I didn't have a new book to share. I puzzled through my bookshelves, thinking: "He likes adventure, the high fantasy stuff...Goodkind, Keyes, Sanderson...and there, I found a book I'd nearly forgotten about. Aurian, by Maggie Furey. Yes, you can find it on Amazon. I read the book in 96/97 when I was 13. I loved it. I remember that I was enrolled in a private Independent Study School that year, and my mother had fits trying to get me to do my homework. I distinctly remember Aurian stashed atop a large bookcase to prevent me from reading rather than studying. I pulled a chair over, snatched the book, and returned it to it's supposed captivity before my parents returned home from work.

But now as my guy mentions snippets of plot I realize I have forgotten so much...I think it might be time to reread my most formative books. My favorite books, most of which were published from 94-2000. Since then, I've just gotten picky...and I think anthro readings have inspired me to look at world building a bit differently :P

Kindle on the PC?

Ok. I think this is big news. Yes,tons of information on e-readers and the like has been floating about the various blogs and articles and such, but this beats all.

Going to work/school, my significant other packs: iPod touch, cell-phone, PSP, netbook, portable hard drive, and four key chain flash drives. Sometimes he takes his camera or camcorder, depending on plans (likely plans for after work/school day). That's a lot of electronics. The next phase we are waiting for is the consolidation of these various electronics into one system. There is a reason girls' fashion has come to amount to a bottom and a top (roughly), much unlike the to the Victorian era. Simplicity. We like simplicity. Our electronics need to become more like our clothes.

As much as I am fascinated by the e-book phenomenon, I would love not to buy yet-another-device that relies on wifi and whatnot when I already have my computer. If I have a laptop and desktop, why do I need specialty devices? Give me a tablet netbook of approximately the size of a hardback book that will run e-books, let me read my blogs, take notes with a stylus and by typing, play flash-based content- in short, condense all my needs into one device so I'm not reliant on twenty when the technology is there for one.

Amazon seems to have taken a step in the right direction. Now if there is e-book software I can install on the computer to imitate the ink-paper ratio I am accustomed to ... well, then you have me.