I’ve opted out

Talk about last minute, but then in all honesty I was undecided. So what swung it for me to opt out of Google Book’s settlement?
Well, lack of control really. A lack of control of what is digitized from my works. After all, come July the rights to my first two books will revert back to me and technically it will mean I will be out of print and Google will be allowed to digitize my books without my say-so.

Now I’ve heard the arguments, especially from the Society of Authors, about this being the best deal for the author. But that assumes we have no choice, and we do. We have a choice about not being digitized without agreement or arrangement. And I’ve agreed not to. Google says the author receives 64% of whatever profit is earned from their digitization and they think that’s fair. Most e-book publishers give the author up to 85% of the profits and you just know that Google will do anything to make sure the author gets as little as possible probably using net rather than gross profits.
They aren’t doing this for art, for the author, or for the reader – to think otherwise is quite naïve. Google are doing this for themselves.

So I’ve opted out and retained control.
Time will tell if that was a good thing or not…

Twits and New Years resolutions

Eagle-eyed visitors to this blog will notice there is a new resident on the toolbar to the right...

A few weeks ago I started twittering/tweeting/twitting as a means to fire news-bites across the electronic highways quickly, kinda like shouting from the top of a very tall building in a city busy with tall buildings. There is so much traffic on Twitter that it really is like trying to stand out in a very big and very noisy crowd. So no, I wouldn’t say that Twitter is the most effective means of communication (what exactly can you communicate substantially in 170 characters or less?) but it is the most immediate.

One of my New Years resolutions was to keep an internet presence going as long as possible for 2010 and thus enhance my publicity skills (books don’t sell themselves; authors do). So in December I dived into the 21st century by purchasing an i-phone as a means to increase my profile on t’internet. I must say that the i-phone is quickly becoming indispensable to me and my writing (but rather than ramble on about it here, I’ll leave that for a later blog entry).
Now, we were talking about twits weren’t we?
For the uninitiated, Twitter and the i-phone is a marriage made in pixel-heaven. The low character count means you don’t get the dreaded “mobile-phone-claw” due to texter’s cramp. It’s also instantaneous and while you can’t get away with writing any old shit all the time, you can get away with it some of the time. There is so much you can do with it, it’s no wonder so many people are twittering away.
Now I won’t twit as much as my peers, only for as long as I have something meaningful to say, but it will replace some of the more random and brief blog entries found here. And you don’t need to be part of Twitter to read my “twits” either. Each time I twit, it will be replicated on the right.
It’s that simple.
I hope.


New Years Revolutions

Other than keeping this blog, the website and the twitting going through 2010, another New Years resolution is to embrace any writing-related opportunity that comes my way and last week I signed up for a programme item at the World Horror Convention 2010 in Brighton. Having never done one of these before, I’ll be interested to see what it entails. It’s got me excited and admittedly a little nervous as all steps into the unknown are, but it will enhance something that I’m already looking forward to (I can’t wait for March to come around). So if any of you are attending WHC2010 and you see some bearded guy in a shirt and jeans looking (probably) a little tipsy with a stack of books under his arm, don’t hesitate to accost/berate/heckle/have-a-natter with me.
As Austin Powers says, “I won’t bite. Hard.”

(Note: I’ll post more details about the event on the blog when I get them…)


More New Years Postulations

And as we’re on the subject of resolutions, here are two more: to write one short story a month and to read one more book than I did the previous year (a resolution I’ve kept going for the past two years now). The reading is self-explanatory; the writing is all down to learning the craft. In the main I’ll be writing non-generic short stories from wherever I find inspiration, from different POVs to unfamiliar voices. Ultimately it’s about keeping on top of my game and experimenting. Some of the stories will work. Some won’t, but a writer who does not train is a writer who succumbs to parody/boredom/writers-block and then creative seizure/death.

I’ve already drafted January’s short story, “Regarding Mr Prittier”, and may well look to publish it somewhere once I’m 90% happy with it (I’d like to say 100%, but a writer who is 100% happy with anything is probably deluded). “Regarding Mr Pritter” is the first bit of original fiction I’ve written since September and the first original fiction of this year. And this decade. While it isn’t a genre piece, I think there is a little magic in there somewhere. Hopefully it will mark a successful start to 2010.


Finally, happy new year to you all…
May the writers among you find inspiration and may the words keep flowing…
And may the readers among you find magic and wonder in the pages freely bought or hard earned…

MFWC
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