Worse Than Pirating

By Robert Swartwood on January 27, 2012

So just about a half hour ago I’m browsing through the top 100 horror Kindle titles on Amazon, as I am wont to do (I don’t check the New York Times bestseller lists anymore, but the Kindle top 100 lists), and I noticed this title was currently free:

It stuck out to me immediately, because my friend Aaron Polson not too long ago published a new book with this cover:

As you can see, a very striking resemblance.

So then I thought, Okay, somebody just stole his cover. That’s ridiculous but not too awful.

Then, on a whim, I clicked on the “look inside” option, and guess what.

It was the same book.

Word for word.

I immediately contacted Aaron and let him know.

The first book — the plagiarized book — according to its pub date, has been available since November.

But that’s not all.

I noticed a few other suspicious-looking e-books and brought them to Aaron’s attention, too.

One of them, he told me, was his as well — a short story published under a different title.

Clearly this is a very fucked up part of digital publishing. Many e-books are published without DRM, which stands for digital rights management. E-books with DRM basically make that title only available on that device. Most authors are encouraged to publish their e-books without DRM to make it easier for the reader.

And while it is easier for the reader to transfer the e-books from different devices (you can even take Kindle titles, download them to your computer, and convert them to epub or anything else using Calibre), it makes it even easier for pirates to take your work and put it up for anyone to download for free.

As I’ve said before, while I don’t agree with pirating, it’s a reality we all need to face. And, to be honest, it doesn’t really bother me. The way I see it, those who download my books from pirate sites wouldn’t have even considered buying the books in the first place. And, who knows, maybe they’ll really enjoy that pirated book and seek out more of my work.

But someone taking my e-books and putting them up on pirated sites is one thing.

Someone taking my e-books and doing like they did to Aaron — republishing them under a different name and cover for profit — is fucking despicable.

How can we fight this sort of injustice?

By being vigilant, for one.

What else?

I’m not so sure.

And that, when it comes down to it, is what I find really scary.

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Can You Say Scam?

By Robert Swartwood on January 27, 2012

From Publishers Weekly:

Red Wheel/Weiser Conari Press, in collaboration with Hampton Roads and Hierophant Publishing, are entering the self-publishing market for spiritual and self-help authors. The companies have formed Turning Stone Press which will be under the director of Red Wheel /Weiser Conari publisher Jan Johnson.

The press will offer editorial and production services including copyediting, book and cover design that will be overseen by Red Wheel/Weiser’s art and production directors. Red Wheel president Michael Kerber noted that the entire publishing process “is managed 100% by us. We do all the work.” Turning Stone will charge a one-time fee of $7,500 and authors will be paid on a royalty basis. “There are no hidden charges,” said Kerber, noting that if a book takes off, the additional printing costs will be covered by Red Wheel. “We’ll treat [Turning Stone] titles like any other Red Wheel book,” he said.

Print and digital editions of each book will be produced and listed on Amazon and BN.com, as well as other retail channels. Both formats will be featured and sold on a dedicated Turning Stone Press Web site in addition to Red Wheel/Weiser’s main site. Turning Stone will also provide a press release and marketing plan for each book and Kerber said Turning Stone will support events the author creates.

Red Wheel/Weiser Conari Press have long focused on the spiritual and self-help market and Johnson said the launch of Turning Stone will “complement our existing publishing programs.” Kerber noted that with publishing undergoing tremendous change “this is a different type of service we can offer.”

How much ridiculousness did you spot in those four paragraphs? Go!

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Barry Napier Guest Post

By Robert Swartwood on January 26, 2012

There was a period of about eight months or so where I thought I was being clever. I thought I was writing this innovative sort of poetry that I wasn’t seeing nearly enough of. It read quickly and almost like really short fiction. At that time, flash fiction, to me, was anything less than 500 words. So I thought these really quick rapid fire poems of about 30 words or so had a chance to be unique.

Of course, I simply hadn’t taken the time to do my research. I found that there are limitless avenues for shorter poetry and fiction out there. This was a fact that slapped me squarely across the face when I saw the submissions call for Hint Fiction, a book that was being edited by some Robert Swartwood guy.

25 words to tell a story. A STORY. It made my little 30-word poems curl up in a minimalist corner and cry. But, finding that I loved to experiment with short forms, I gave it a try. And much to my surprise, my story “Through Tiny Windows” was accepted into the collection. As a result, I was having semi-regular correspondence with Mr. Swartwood. Also, because of Hint Fiction, I can now die happy in the knowledge that my name will forever be linked with Peter Straub, Joe Lansdale and Joyce Carol Oates (even if it is only by circumstance).

So you can imagine my delight when Robert openly welcomed me to stop by for a visit during my blog tour for my new release, Everything Theory: Cold Compass. As the colon and presence of a subtitle suggest, it is part of a series—obviously a far cry from a 25-word short story. Everything Theory is a planned 5-part series that borrows from a variety of genres, but would probably be best suited in the company of horror, thriller, and dark sci-fi.

The series is centered around twenty-year-old Gabriel Warren, a disenchanted young man that has been dragged down for most of his life by the bizarre legacy his deceased father left behind. His father was viewed by his peers as a mad scientist of sorts, dabbling in controversial projects concerning genetics manipulation, advanced space exploration, time travel, and ESP.

Everything Theory: Cold Compass finds Gabe after he has been approached by government officials, requesting that he assist with the work his father was unable to complete. Unable to resist the paycheck, Gabe is tasked with his first assignment as an unofficial member of a shadow organization known as the Center for Scientific Anomalous Research (CSAR). With the assistance of a CSAR official posing as an FBI agent, Gabe travels to the small town of Hasper, North Carolina where people are being killed by an ancient evil that lurks beneath the town.

Along the way, Gabe must also contend with the fact that he is beginning to see ghosts and is being hunted down by an enigmatic figure that calls himself Garrison Sleet. As he slowly unravels the mysteries of his father, Gabe slowly understands that even the evil lurking beneath Hasper is tied to not only his father’s work, but to some integral part of him as well.

What some kind folks are saying about Everything Theory: Cold Compass:

“Everything Theory is a dark and creepy ride that takes you right into the lair of the things that go bump in the night.”

– Robert Swartwood, author of The Serial Killer’s Wife and Man of Wax

“The Sixth Sense meets The X-Files … Barry Napier does an outstanding job of drawing you into the storyline while teasing you with glimpses of the larger world to come. Everything Theory: Cold Compass is a veritable page turner that will leave you begging for the next book, and has all the qualities of being an epic series.”

– Gabriel Beyers, author of Guarding the Healer

*  *  *

To learn more about Barry, his Everything Theory books and other works, visit him at his online home: www.barrynapierwriting.wordpress.com.

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Two Fun Interviews

By Robert Swartwood on January 25, 2012

Not of me, of course. My interviews are usually pretty lame and boring. But maybe that’s because I don’t have celebrity comedians grilling me, who knows.

The Colbert Report Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Grim Colberty Tales with Maurice Sendak Pt. 1
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog Video Archive

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Newly Edited And Revised

By Robert Swartwood on January 24, 2012

I’ve been seeing that phrase in a lot of self-published e-book product descriptions lately.

Newly Edited And Revised.

Oftentimes there will even be an exclamation point after the phrase, as if it’s something to celebrate. Sometimes there’s even an addition of Now Proofread! or something along those lines.

When I talk about self-publishing, I always start with the same adage:

Just because you can doesn’t necessarily mean you should.

What does that mean, exactly?

Well, believe it or not, self-publishing takes a lot of work.

And, believe it or not, a lot of writers are impatient.

I know I am.

But here’s the thing — you as a writer are a brand. This always has to be in the back of your head, especially when potential readers encounter anything in which you’re involved. I like to think while I take my writing and self-publishing seriously, I don’t take myself too seriously. That’s why you might see some silly things said by me on Twitter and Facebook. But when it comes to my work? You better believe I take it very seriously. As should every other writer out there.

You only get one chance to impress potential readers.

Make sure it counts.

Including phrases like Newly Edited and Revised and Now Proofread! come off as amateur. Even if it is true, why bring it to the attention of new readers?

Well, some might say, because that writer got some poor reviews previously for having a bunch of typos and stuff.

Okay, then let me ask you this: Why were those typos there to begin with?

While it’s nice giving yourself deadlines when it comes to self-publishing, you still are in complete control. So take a breath. Take a step back. Look at your work extremely closely before you release it into the wild. There isn’t any hurry.

That’s why The Man on the Bench hasn’t been released yet. It’s almost ready. But it’s not yet 100%. So I’m putting it off for another week or two. You know why? Because I can. Because that’s what the work deserves.

So respect your work.

In doing so, you’ll also be respecting yourself.

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Thursday Linkage

By Robert Swartwood on January 19, 2012

Today over at Maclean’s there’s a piece called ”The Incredible Shrinking Short Story” which mentions — can you guess? — hint fiction. Here’s the first part:

At some point, if you work them right, words eventually become stories. Fragments and sentences turn into paragraphs, and paragraphs, if you’re lucky, become something whole. But the exact moment that change takes place can be hard to pinpoint. It’s not always clear what’s a narrative and what’s something less. That’s especially true in the field of very short fiction, which is enjoying a moment right now.

Writers have long played with prose forms that are shorter than traditional short stories. Franz Kafka and Jorge Luis Borges wrote slices and sketches that don’t fit the typical model. Hemingway once supposedly penned a story in six words to settle a bet. That piece—“For sale: baby shoes, never worn”—has never been definitively tied to “Papa.” But fans of what’s sometimes known as flash fiction, or very-short prose, often cite it as the ur-text of their form.

Check out the rest of the piece here.

*   *   *

Over at PandoDaily, Sarah Lacy shares an email from a publishing insider who wishes to go unnamed … which is smart, as this person basically admits he/she will soon be out of a job:

Long-term there’s no future in printed books. They’ll be like vinyl: pricey and for collectors only. 95% of people will read digitally. Everybody in publishing knows this but most are in denial about it because moving to becoming a digital company means laying off like 40% of our staffs. And the barriers to entry fall, too. We simply don’t want to think about it.

Amazon is thinking about it, though, and they’re targeting the publishers directly.

*   *   *

On the heels of reading this, I then read all about Apple’s big announcement where they talk about getting into the textbook business. Great! I also read about how they are finally opening a platform for writers to publish directly through them. Great? Well, not really. You see, in the app’s license agreement, you find this:

Now understand I have no problems granting exclusivity. In fact, I have enrolled several of my e-books in the Kindle Select program, which allows Amazon Prime members to download those e-books for free via their “lending” program, plus I’m able to make my e-books free for up to five days during the ninety day exclusivity period. I tried it out with a few e-books to see how I liked it, and I actually like it quite a bit, so much so that I might enroll all of my books … which means they would no longer be available via Nook or Sony or iBooks. On the one hand, I don’t really like the idea of exclusivity — I obviously want as many readers to be able to read my work as possible — but on the other hand I benefit tremendously from it. The bulk of my sales are through Amazon; my sales with every other platform is so minimal it’s almost laughable. That’s the thing — Amazon knows how to market and sell e-books (after all, they make apps that can be used on practically any device, so granting exclusivity isn’t really a big deal when you think about it). Apple? Well, if they do, they sure haven’t proven it yet. Me thinks this is a case of too little, too late. Their app is no doubt nice — I must admit I do love Apple products — but if you’re looking for a program to create e-books, I highly recommend Scrivener.

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The Worst Board Game Ever

By Robert Swartwood on January 18, 2012

So there’s this board game called Quelf, whose name unfortunately sounds very similar to a certain type of flatulence, and I’m going to make the bold statement right here and now that it is probably one of the worst board games ever.

Why?

Well because, no thanks to Hulu Plus, I have been subjected several times to this commercial:

YouTube Preview Image

Now, as you can see from the commercial, Quelf appears to be the craziest and most super fun game every created. Like, super super super crazy fun. Like, so friggin fun it makes you want to tear your eyes out. I mean, honestly, even if a group of people are drunk (notice how there are no beer bottles strewn around the room, or even random drugs), how can they possibly have that level of excitement for a stupid board game? And not only that, did you notice the people standing in the background, apparently so entranced and amused by the Quelf players? Seriously, who goes to a party and just stands around and watches other people have the time of their life playing a board game? Or is this apparently a thing now? Do people really go crazy over board games? If that’s the case, please oh please never invite me over to your party. I might just end up tearing my eyes out. Then again, that’s probably more appealing then playing Quelf.

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And The Nano Winners Are …

By Robert Swartwood on January 16, 2012

From Ben White at Nanoism:

This year we converted $50 in prize money into $400 of charitable donations to wonderful organizations working from animal health to global health, clean water to fighting hunger. Thanks to everyone who donated! Without further ado, here are Robert Swartwood’s selections for this year:

  1. Johnna Talbot
  2. Pat Tompkins
  3. Sarah Stanton

Honorable mention: Jackie Bateman

Winners will be published beginning this week, starting with our honorable mention and running through Monday the 23rd, when our big (but equally small) winner will go live. Thank you everyone for your generosity.

 *    *    *

Thanks too to everyone who entered the Stripped giveaway contest. I failed to announce a winner on Saturday because I ended up taking a road trip with Brian Keene to Wilkes-Barre to see Nick Mamatas, who had been more or less stranded there due to weather. You can read about some of the trip here and here.

So now, without further ado, the randomly selected winner of the Stripped anthology is …

RichardPF

Congrats, Richard! Email me your mailing address to robert (at) robertswartwood (dot) com when you get a chance, and I’ll ship out a copy of Stripped sometime after the launch party February 4th.

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Yes, Man Of Wax Is Disturbing

By Robert Swartwood on January 12, 2012

So I mentioned before how free e-books welcomed one-star reviews, right? Well, Man of Wax just got its first:

I was excited to begin this book as it sounded like it would be different sort of mystery. I prefer mysteries and do not need to tell you that many are very similar. With that said, I read about 15 percent and stopped abruptly when I came to a disturbingly gruesome part. I could not remove this book from my kindle fast enough!

I have to be honest — I sort of love this review. Yes, Man of Wax is not for all readers. It’s disturbing on many levels. In fact, right now it’s probably my darkest book. However, the one-star review doesn’t play well with Amazon’s algorithm, so if you’ve read Man of Wax and enjoyed it, please considering reviewing it. And if you haven’t picked it up yet, I advise you to do so quickly. Like, really quickly.

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Only A Few Days Left …

By Robert Swartwood on January 11, 2012

To enter the Hint Fiction Film Contest. Hurry!

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