They could be called SF Romance. Some of them. Joss isn’t, really–though he and Zeke get together in the book, the main relationship is Joss and Paige (not romantic–she’s 12 and he’s gay).

I could probably sell Taro to a publisher that specializes in gay stories–but then I’d have to find another publisher for Eve, Ben, Donte–and back to the first for Rafe, and probably Kolya, and Joss…

Gay is a genre, and that majorly sucks. But it’s still true. Any of my universes that have Teh Gay in them will have to be specially marketed. If I go with a traditional publisher.

And then there’s J.A. Konrath, who is making a killing in ebooks right now, and pointing out that many others are doing the same–without having been a name in traditional publishing first.

There’s the new royalty model at Amazon for Kindle.

And there’s the proof of my book, sitting there on CreateSpace and ready for me to just…let it go.

Apparently formatting for Kindle is not so hard if you have a basic grasp of HTML. Apparently formatting for other ebook apps isn’t much harder.

And, perhaps most important, is the fact that trying this with one book–or one universe–is not the end of my dream of being traditionally published. I have other universes. I have books done in other universes. Fantasy (supposedly) sells better anyway. If this works out well–fantabulous. Maybe I’ll do all the books this way. If it works out moderately, fine. I still have other options. If it fails like a mad faily thing–what am I out? One book I probably won’t be able to traditionally publish unless/until the others sell and do really well.

Why not try this? No reason I can see but complete and utter terror but that alone is not going to stop me.

So here’s where you come in. Do you know a reason I shouldn’t do this? Do you have a suggestion on how to make marketing work? Leads on ways to do this more easily (but still cheaply) than doing it myself?

I’m looking for blogs from people who’ve done it, especially on mistakes they made because they didn’t know better.

I’m looking for forums and blogs and gathering places I can pimp my book when it’s ready. (Don’t worry–I won’t drop in, pimp my book, and vanish. I know this is a LTR kind of thing.)

Ideas on how to handle self-made income (should there be any) and taxes, stuff like that, would be good.

Suggestions and volunteers for starting an army of minions fans to help me spread the word is MOST encouraged.

Help me?

It’s just that the articles I’ve read are missing what I see as a key factor, and I want to put in my two cents.

When I’m not editing, I’ve been reading a lot of articles about the need for “gatekeepers” in publishing. Currently that means agents and editors who keep the unwashed masses of bad writers away from the reading public. The fear is that with the advent of e-publishing, a way has been found to get around the gatekeepers. It’s just a trickle now, but soon it will be a flood. Editors talk of the dangers of reading slush. Writers talk about how hard it will be to find anything worth reading. Nathan Bransford is more optimistic, but it seems most think he’s wrong.

I’m not buying it. I’m with Nathan, and I’ll tell you why.

Just as you are not currently reading the first page of every single book in the library before choosing which to check out, finding e-published books worth reading will not be wading through the swamps of primeval North Carolina. For one, there won’t be killer mosquitoes big enough to carry off your dog. Also, there will be guideposts. Compass directions, if you will, to aid you in your treasure hunt.

For example, some brilliant person invented these amazing things called tags, and someone else recommended lists, and these exist to help you find just exactly what you’re looking for. Their use is already prevalent, and can be expanded pretty simply.

Now, I have to say: I’m not what most would consider an expert. I’m not an agent. I’m not an editor. I’m not even a published writer. But what I am–is a reader of fanfic.

Ever try to find a good fanfic to read? Let’s say you just can’t get enough Firefly, and you’re not okay with it being gone forever.¹ You need MOAR. Simple enough. Probably the easiest way is to start on Twitter or Facebook and type “looking for some good Firefly-fic. No slash please!”² If your friends have similar tastes to yours, I bet you get a rec or three. In the publishing business, this is called word-of-mouth, and it’s invaluable.

Now your friends’ recommendations give you a start, and you don’t have to read any slush (unless your friends are idiots, in which case get new friends). You read what they suggest. Some stories you love, some you don’t–just like with any published book you might be handed.³ But you want MOAR. Very quickly your appetite exceeds that of your friends and you need to find a new supplier.

Hey, that author of the best fic you read has an LJ. And on that LJ, you click the tag “Firefly” and find more stories she wrote. And then you find her rec list.

You read everything she recommended. You need MOAR.

Join a support group. Not a “get off the fic” group, a “find a fic” group. They exist. For every fandom, pretty much, there are fans out there talking about it and about good stories and everything they love. At this point in our hypothetical journey, you’ve probably already stumbled across a few in your search for good stuff. Think that won’t/doesn’t happen for books? I think you’re wrong. Check out LibraryThing.⁴

Fanfic is a mixed bag, of course, but I say so is publishing. You have to watch your step in fandom, but not any more than you do on say, Powells.com. A book being published does not guarantee it being right for you, for heaven’s sake. Do you just go and buy whatever book happens to pop up when you land on their homepage?

I’m betting no. I’m thinking you’re like me, with good friends and trusted critics already packed sardine-like into your compass. We, as readers, already have our gatekeepers.⁵

¹ Who is?

² Can’t say I blame you. I love slash, but I never want to read Mal tossing over Inara to sex up Jayne. Just…NO.

³ I mean, a friend tried to get me to read Twilight. Knowing that I don’t do vampires, don’t care for ‘romantic’ romance, can’t stand decorative females, and have high standards regarding basic use of language. Meyer can’t decide what tense she’s in. Uh…NO. Her anime recommendations are dead on. Same with fanfic. Book recs? Not so much. This is important to know about a friend.

⁴ That’s my profile. Say hi!

⁵ As writers, on the other hand…we really need those agents and editors as keymasters. But that is a whole other post.

Two years ago today, in my quest to avoid whatever I was working on, I added up what I’ve written over the years. Talking about Ray Bradbury’s million words, it went like this:

295,000 words for Eve
60,000 in Donte’s book
83,000 Taro
113,000 Rafe
64,000 Keen
51,000 Damsel
61,000 Joss
37,000 Xmas
17,000 on miscellaneous stories

780,000 words in Eve’s galaxy. Not counting notes or false starts or cut scenes. But don’t be disappointed yet. Flame is 38,000 words. Fidelis is 6,000. Melissa…I dunno, forty some pages not in the computer. And somewhere back there is Natalia (I will find her again!) and Shelly (thankfully buried.) Both at least a hundred pages long (Shelly more probably two hundred…) Manes, complete at sixty pages and so good, but sadly lost…

But let’s forget those. If I don’t have the words in my computer, they don’t count. How about that.

Think that will keep me from my million words? Than let’s go ahead and add in my fanfiction. All 186,000 words of it.

780,000
186,000
038,000
006,000

1,010,000

Oddly enough, here I am avoiding work again. So let’s see how many new words I have since then, shall we? Not counting the (zomg endless!) editing yet.

Hiro Book I:               78,622
Hiro Book II:              53,651
Embrace the Beast:  12,641
Not Gay:                          5,017
Fidelis (minus 6K) :  32,295
Barefoot Assassin:       1,853
Ben (new scenes):      10,961
Various bits:                   6,071

201,111

100,000 words a year? That’s not too bad, especially when you consider that yes, there was a lot of jumping around, but also: I finished (meaning, got to the end of the first draft) four works-in-progress in that two years. That’s two novels begun and finished, one short story, and Fidelis’ wordcount increased 8x to do it. Sure, I could do better–but remember, much of that time I spent editing. In the last two years I’ve edited:

Ben twice
Hiro Book I
Fidelis
Taro
Joss twice

Seven novels. While working full time, raising a kid on my own, and submitting at least a few queries.

Damn. That’s…not too bad?

I pray God keeps you safe. I look forward to the astonishing things you will do. Remember that I believe in you.

We are overwhelmed by sexual images in commercials, art, and pornography, and you might think that the increasing number of images would indicate that we’re moving away from puritanism and towards more positive attitudes towards sex. But in reality, the great mass of those images in all three realms tell us one thing: ‘Sex feels good, but it’s not for you. You’re too fat, too skinny, too old, too poor, your tits or cock aren’t big enough, you don’t stay hard long enough. Sex is for the elite.’

From here.