To publish or not to publish

Is there any question?

All of these years, decades now, of writing screenplays, tech manuals, songs, novels, notes, etc. Paper piled up in 4 drawer file cabinets.

The question now becomes how to publish. I've tired of the jumping through hoops, playing 'chase the agent'. Need I write my query in blood to convince thee of my will to write?

So, it's to the masses I turn.

Will they find me and if they do...will they read?

Variety is the spice of Life

And trying to decipher what people are doing in Hollywood or any of the other entertainment capitals of the world is a job in itself.

I've been to the Big Apple, tried on Tinsel Town, worked in Europe and came back here to the hills.

Why?

No matter what, your life is only as good or bad as you make it.

I've done a variety of jobs in my life. All to the best of my ability. Why do shoddy work?

When working for companies or even doing odd jobs for local people, I keep one thing in mind.

If we make a deal, then I will keep it. Sure there are times when circumstances intervene and projects are delayed or outright cancelled. These can be adjusted for and arrangements changed to meet the problem.

It's when I do a job, then get short-changed by someone who thinks that they're conning me that I try to politely deal with the situation.

It could be something as simple as finding out why they think like they do or as complex as trying to enforce a written contract.

If you take my time or my work, that's theft.

No matter how you do it.

Mark Twain aka Samuel Clemens on Slavery of all types

It's amazing what is written in some books.
Hidden away to jump out at you.
Literary ambush.

I expect to find a sci-fi tale of time travel into the past (A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court) but discover that Mr. Clemens has hidden discourses on the stock market, employment, social attitudes and military matters in the book.

Would you be surprised that he's spent many pages on the various forms of slavery?

Mr. Clemens would be disappointed to see our current conditions.

In which slavery has been taken to a new level.

Economic bondage for the majority.

Can I get you a loan for that bauble you desire?

You'll just love the arrangements and it'll only leave you indebted for life.

Slavery without the chains is still bondage.

There always is never enough time

So many of my previous posts gave start dates for various projects. Like most people, some got done, others are in limbo and some will never get finished.

I've just gone through a very difficult period of my life. It won't be recounted here. Let it be said that it's given me a new perspective on what I want to do for the rest of the time I have on this planet.

My writing work is getting done.

Now it's time to get it out to readers.

Sweltering at the Ranch Has Stopped

Yeah, been a few months or more. This summer qualifies as 'Hell on Earth, the Un-Cool Version'. Don't know how it's been for you, but the weather has been nuts, either too hot, too much rain or wind or....

Too hot to paint, without a temperature and humidity-controlled paint booth. If the paint doesn't fog, the painter will drip sweat into it. So, it's a no-win situation, until the temp comes down to around 80F. Scuffed the Sable's rear quarter backing it into the barn, so just now getting around to fixing that mistake. Should be ready to paint next week, but I've sung that song before.

Farm work never stops. The baby bull, Rascal, is now almost as big as his momma and his cousin, Spunky, isn't far behind. It's funny how an 800 pound animal can act like a puppy, not realizing that he can bulldoze you like a blade of grass, if he gets upset.

Writing? I'm doing plenty of it. Got a couple of projects going, not including the new video work. Stay tuned.

Other than that, welcome to the wonderful fall weather, hurricanes included. Please keep all hands and feet inside the ark.

All the best,

Tom

Agents, continued

I might have sounded a bit gruff, rough or been tough on agents in my last post.

Didn't mean to upset anyone. Just want some answers to the simple question of using videos as a method to query agents, publishers and for those of us who write screenplays, production companies.

Doing a video isn't easy. Most people have a hard enough time writing a query letter or a pitch for their work. I've been shooting film or video for decades, so it's a something I'm used to.

It's the video age. Everyone was raised on TV. OK, I've got a few gaps there, where I've gone for years at a time without owning one and didn't watch too many hours of programming. That can be explained and no, I wasn't in jail.

Gives me more time to write and shoot photos.

Are Agents REALLY Needed Now?

I'm not going to make any friends with this, but the question must be asked. After all, I've seen how the internet has changed the music business. Why should the publishing biz be immune?

Now that all of us can communicate one on one, who needs a salesperson to tout your wares?

Sure, the agent is 'in place', whether that be NY, LA, London, etc. depending on whether you're selling a screenplay or novel. Yes, they have the contacts which you haven't developed, but did they grow up with these people or just hang out in the right colleges and bars?

Are the proper places to 'hang out' now Facebook, Twitter, or? I ask this, since the internet landscape changes quickly. Does anyone remember Myspace?

Does all the tweeting, blogging, etc. really get you published? Or is it who you know?

My personal experience with agents hasn't been good. I've driven across country to LA to hear a sales pitch about how my screenplay would be promoted to producers and directors. All I needed to do was come up with $2500. This was in 1992, so things have changed since then. Yet, isn't an agent really just another salesperson?

Now, you have to jump through hoops, apply all your skills to being a good pitch/query writer and hope that they like your blog. Sorry, I'm not here to spend half my time being a lap dog. If you don't like me or my work, OK. Get in line, there' s a long one. There are people who don't like Shakespeare either.

Yes, I know a good agent can help develop your work. They can find you a good editor or the people with special skills to help you.

A relevant story, short and pointed. I moved to Europe ten years ago, was told by a real estate agent that I couldn't buy a house until I rented an apartment for a year. This sounded like they wanted to control the situation and get a year's rent from me.

I hopped in the rental car, drove around town, found houses for sale. Called the listing agent, even though I didn't speak Dutch (still don't). They showed me their houses. I found one I liked and contacted a real estate lawyer. Got the contract written up, reviewed it, signed it and moved into the house.

So, no offense to the agents out there. I would LOVE to give you my business. My catalog of work grows each day. I write, but I don't spend hours on the internet, blogging, tweeting and generally getting nothing done. I leave that to those thrive on it.

Myself? I'm going to videos.

After all, if you get to be a published author, you have to make those personal appearances.

Just as long as they photograph me from my good side.

Agents of Change?

Having fun, sending emails to literary agents. Which seems to take forever.

Please bear with me, the Internet isn't as fast out here as it is in the cities. As I've mentioned before, I had better Internet access in the Netherlands, 10 years ago. Even my neighbors, who just moved here from Nashville, complain about the service. No, they're not on dial-up, cable's not available, so they're using satellite. Which is pretty slow out here.

Yesterday, heard Bob Edwards Weekend's final chapter of "The Future of Publishing" series. Which sounds like it's going to keep changing, now more rapidly then ever.

Wonder how it's going to affect literary agents?

Everyone in the publishing game is now having to deal with the Web. Twitter, blogs, e-books, websites, all things that didn't exist 10 years ago.

Is the best thing to have a daily video of you reading your book? A podcast for those who are driving or otherwise busy? Followed up by a link to your blog/website where a reader can download a PDF file of your lastest chapter? With a 'donate to the starving writer' button for that all important PayPal account?

Will the writer be able to directly access the reader, without the need for publishers, agents and managers?

Stay tuned, it's all changing.

Do You Research or Just Write It?

I spend a lot of time at the local library. A couple of weeks ago, my friend, the librarian, asked me, "Do you do research for your books?"

The question caused me to stop for a moment, "Can't write a book without doing research."

We got into a discussion, since that had been a topic brought up by some other librarians.

Even when I did my memoir-mockumentary (there's a new word for you), "Going Dutch, Trials of a Wage Slave" I did research. I checked on quotes, regulations, business topics and liability. Getting sued is no fun.

The novel I just completed took me almost 5 years to write. It's on a complex topic, cyberwar, and there aren't too many references out there. The subject is so leading edge, most people can't comprehend the topic.

It led to me creating a 4 drawer file cabinet full of background information. This doesn't include the movies, videos, library books, Internet, blogs, etc. that I reviewed to gain an understanding of my subject.

The worst thing a writer can do is put out a book that doesn't have all the latest info on the subject. Sure, it might be wrong in the future, when the technology advances or society overtakes the concept.

But for right now, it better be as good as you can make it.

Faking it will get you burned, every time.

April, Who's Getting Fooled?

Time flies by, when you're working all the time.

I've been doing farm work, started the outline for the follow-up to the novel I just finished. Shouldn't say 'finished' because there will be revisions, edits, etc. when it gets sold to a publishing house. Let's just call it done for now. Doing the 'waiting on the agents' thing.

Dragged the Baja Bug off the trailer the other day. Can't believe it'll be 30 YEARS in June since I bought the beast. It was a typical, simple, red VW Beetle at that time. Got it from the second owner. The car has sat for about 10 years now. Stored while I worked in Europe and haven't had time to do any work on it since I've been back here. Too many other toys and irons in the fire.

May start yet another blog, to follow the rebuild work on the Baja Bug. I'll get some photos up in the next week or so. I started a video the other day to document the rebuild process. I've only built, rebuilt, modified, customized about two dozen VWs in my life, so I should have it looking good in time. Notice I didn't specify how much time...

Other than that, just enjoying the July weather in April. This can't be good, no matter how much we all love it. If it stays this way, will it be 130 in July?

I got a nice start on a sunburn yesterday, rototilling the garden with the tractor, before I realized that I was turning into a TOMato.

Enough of the bad puns, later.

Your Efforts May Be In Vain

OK, few hours since the last blog.

Agent Query email results?

No change.

Send the test email. Reformats itself to look as if I am unable to insert page breaks, etc.

Which I did, but they get stripped out when sent through the ISP server or maybe the virus hunter?

I am not having fun now.

Decided to go ahead, send the email to an agent. May she be merciful on my efforts.

After all, life out here in the 'rural areas' of America doesn't include the wonders of cable, DSL or high-speed internet of any type. Unless you want to spend the big bucks on satellite, which works at a less than satisfactory level. Just ask my neighbors, who have used it and then quit it.

Ah, but the views are sublime and the wonders of nature abound.

Yes, I LOVE NY and LA.

But it's hard to take this old boy out of the country.

So, dear agent, please be gentle
If rejection be thy choice
I shall suffer no remorse
For I have done my best

For My Next Act...

Yeah, a couple of weeks, I'll be back.

How about just shy of a year, by a couple of weeks?

That's the thrills, chills and headaches of writing, researching, editing and rewriting a novel.

It doesn't help when the agents/publishers decide that anything over 125,000 words is too long. I was at 136,000 words when I got the news by reading the blogosphere.

Back to cutting, rewriting, restructuring the book. I'm not complaining, because I'm convinced it improved the book, immensely.

Now it's time to find an agent. Which, from what I've heard, is much harder work than writing the book.

Yes, I've started writing the next book.

It's what I do.

Literary Agents Search

If you write and want to be published or produced (in the case of film), then you know the biggest job is getting representation.

Believe it or not, over 100 years ago, agents didn't really exist. Writers contacted newspaper, magazine or book publishers about publication. You might get a deal to do an article or a contract, if there was a series involved.

Now you have agents who specialize. Some won't touch poetry, others screenplays. I can understand this, as the literary world is now much more complex than in the days of Mark Twain.

Which is OK, if you're a writer who only works in a specific format or genre.

I like to work in all forms of word and story construction. Whether it's Haiku, poetry, short stories, novellas, screenplays or novels, I've written them all. Blogs, websites and tech manuals can now be added to the resume.

No matter what you write, finding an agent you can work with is of supreme importance. I've never pushed myself to get an agent, until now. It's a time consuming process, but one which, if done right, can result in a long-term relationship.

Actually, it's more of a team than a one-on-one relationship. After all, you have the writer, the agent, the editor and the publisher/producer.

Having a Muse is optional.

I'm ready to find and work with an 'A-Team'.

Have Muse, will travel.

Cut to the Chase...Agents and Rewrites

There won't be a follow-up post about the fire down the road. It would take too much space. The 'blog post' I wrote about it came in around 3,000 words. More a short story than a blog post.

Too much to do, getting ready for Spring planting. Already have some things done, but need to get more seed beds started and the garden ready. Plan on putting in a new orchard, mainly plum trees, but may try to add a few pear trees.

The 'to do' list at the shop is more a 'to do catalogue'. I'm still engineering the dump truck tailgate. This is not your usual tailgate. It's going to both tilt and swing open. It's a real workout to move the 40x92 inch tailgate around to make things fit and work correctly. Who needs time in the gym?

The novel rewrite is progressing, if that's a proper term for my slogging through mud pace. I'm now at the same spot I was back in January, before I lost the file. Time to put my foot down and increase speed.

Agents? Still reading blogs and doing research. If you're interested in representing me, don't hesitate to contact me.

Like any good gambler will tell you, "You can't win, if you don't play."

Place your bets!

2008, Goodbye!

What a year!

Big gap between this and my last blog post. Didn't mean to be gone so long. A few unexpected incidents, some dealt with, others avoided.

Was cranking along on my novel rewrite, about 25% done and the file became corrupted. Usually, I back these up, this time, I was in a hurry, going to come back to it...when I did...nothing.

My own fault, got out of my routine and paid for it. The good thing about this? I found a book that I should have read about 6 months ago, have been reading it and it will help my novel a great deal. Which means that I would have been doing another rewrite anyway, IF I found this book. The reason I found it was because I was angry and depressed about losing the novel draft file, so went to the library. IF I hadn't gotten angry and stopped working on the rewrite, I might never have found this book. The rewrite is coming along great now.

Farm work? It never stops. I'm cutting fire wood for the new wood stove and it eats it like there is no tomorrow. The other farm projects never end. I could write a book about that alone.

Close calls...almost too many to think about. On the way to the store the other night, came around a curve. Bambi and his sister were standing in the road. I slammed on the brakes, put the truck sideways and counter-steered to go between the two deer. Missed the one on the right by about two feet and the one on the left by about the same margin. Good thing there wasn't any oncoming traffic, since I wound up in the left lane, coasting. I had hit the brakes so hard, before shoving in the clutch, that I stalled the engine. Probably rolled about two hundred feet before I realized that the motor was dead and restarted it. You don't even want to hit a deer of any size. You could both wind up dead.

Then I stuck the 4X4 pickup in the pine grove the other day. Bogged down in mud up to it's axles. Which meant towing it out with the tractor. A small tractor, one that's about a third the size of the truck. You ever try to drive a truck and a tractor at the same time? One towing the other backwards? I won't go into how I did it. It might give someone ideas and lead to them getting hurt. When I told a friend of mine about it, all he could say was, "YOU'RE CRAZY!" Yeah, OK, but I lived to tell about it.

So, 2008 was pretty much a strange year, for me and the world in general. Now that it's behind us, time to get on with 2009.

After all, we ain't dead yet, so it's got off to a good start!

Have a great 2009!

Worldwide Information

I follow blogs of many different people.

It's great to get information and views from all over the world, without leaving the comforts of the old farmhouse.

Since I have always had an interest in astronomy, it would follow that I would also look into astrology. Two of the people that I read are Kathryn Cassidy and Jonathan Cainer.

http://collaboratingwithfate.blogspot.com

http://www.kathryncassidy.com/home

http://www.cainer.com

From their recent posts, it looks like we could have an interesting week ahead!

When it comes to the world of publishing, I've been reading Janet Reid.

http://jetreidliterary.blogspot.com

She's funny and will not hesitate to figuratively 'put the knife in', if you deserve being skewered for a bonehead comment or other faux pas. That's a social blunder for those of you non-French speakers. She also gives GREAT advice on how to query literary agents.

Which is still on the list of things to do. I will have to revise my agent list now, since I don't know who's working for who this week, after the great publishing industry bloodbath last week.

I'll be going to AgentQuery to get that update info.

http://www.agentquery.com

It's all out there, you just have to dig it up.

Now, back to my novel rewrite...

Paying For Research

Or the lack thereof.

Back in the Spring, I sold an old rototiller to a neighbor. This being the 'Year of the Rototiller', everyone putting in gardens.

She used it, until it spit it's drive pulley, came off while churning the dirt. Then she borrowed her daughter's rototiller, dragged it down from Nashville. Rototilled the rest of the garden, then decided to do another patch.

While starting it, the engine pull rope didn't retract and got snatched up by the rototiller tines. This snapped the starting rope. Now she had two rototillers, neither one of which worked. She called me.

Did I want to trade work, fix the daughter's rototiller and get my old one back?

No, I don't need any more rototillers, that's why I sold two of them this year. Didn't do any good, my father bought more at an auction. We won't go there.

Would I fix the daughter's rototiller? She wanted to take it back to Nashville. I agreed to this on one condition. The rototillers were not coming to the shop. I would fix them at her farm. Last thing I need is more immovable machinery in the shop.

I went out to her farm one morning, took the daughter's rototiller apart, rewound the spring, attached the rope and put it back together. Then the rototiller wouldn't start. Pulled the spark plug, it was fouled. Cleaned it, started the rototiller. We went over to the one she bought from me.

It was too easy. The drive pulley had come off because a small metal 'key' had come out of the drive shaft. The key rides in grooves in the driveshaft and the pulley, which locks them together. I glance at the driveshaft, pick up the pulley and inspect it. No damage to either one. I think I know what I'm looking at.

I figure that I have a 'woodruff key' for the pulley back at the shop and leave. The only ones at the shop are too big. I'm going to town the next day, so I stop at the hardware store and get two woodruff keys. They are half-moon shaped and come in different lengths, but are the same thickness. I check them in the pulley.

That evening, I'm back at her farm, ready to fix the rototiller. When I spin the driveshaft over, so I can put the key in from the top, I realize my mistake. It's got a straight-cut key, not a woodruff key. I needed a 3/16th square piece of steel key stock, not a half-moon key.

I didn't do my research, so I got to pay for it.

It gets better.

I thought I had the right bar stock at the shop. Close, no cigar. I had a piece of 5/32th stock. So, I call the rototiller lady, ask her if she will stop at the hardware store to get the right material. Sure, no problem she tells me. She goes into town almost every day. I've already called the hardware store, to be sure they have the right key stock. They do and everything should be fine.

The next evening I'm back at the rototiller lady's farm, ready to fix this thing after three attempts. She proudly hands me the foot-long bar of metal key stock, little white ID flag flying.

It looks small. I put it in the rototiller pulley. It's way too small. Then I look at the little ID tag. It's 1/8th stock.

She didn't look at the tag when the hardware store lady handed her the key stock.

Which goes back to my previous post about research. If you do it, cross-check it. If you let someone else do it, you still have to check it. Otherwise you both pay for it.

I handed the rototiller lady her pulley, so she can match the key stock with the groove.

At this time, the rototiller still isn't fixed.

You have to have the right key.

Breakfast, Then and Now

What’s your way to start the day?

Years ago, I would gulp a can of cola, grab a donut or four and head out the door. If I had time, stop by the drive-thru grease pit and get a carbo-load of pancakes and fake maple syrup, throw some slabs of fried pig on the side and voila, fatfest.

Great in the old days of 12-16 hour slogs in the shop. Burn those calories like a raging forest fire. The body changes as does the routine.

When I settled into the more sedentary life of writing, burning brain-cells didn’t seem to overcome too many calories. I began to accumulate insulation, slowly layering it up, under my skin. This slowed me down and allowed it to build up faster.

Life in Europe didn’t help the situation. All that fresh bread, scones, crumpets, Dutch pastries…chocolate in everything else, except the beer. I was on my way to becoming a rotund one.

My return to America on the good ship Queen Elizabeth 2 was the crowning touch. I gained about twelve pounds in ten days. Huge breakfast, walk the decks, read, write, lunch, write, nap, tea-time, walk the deck or read, dinner, movie or catch a couple of the Blues groups (it was a "Blues Cruise", 10 days, 18 acts), evening stroll around the deck, then a midnight snack. You get the picture; I was burning about 137 calories and taking in 9,000.

When I got to Tennessee the scale informed me that I was nearly 190 pounds. Which is way too much for my frame. The move to the farm brought that out in a hurry. Out of shape and overweight a doctor put me on a natural diet. It probably saved my life.

Breakfast now is composed of oatmeal and tea. Boring but healthy. OK, I add a few ingredients to the oatmeal. First in is sliced pears or apples. We have pear trees on the farm and I use them fresh when I can, preserved when out of season and frozen in between. Then I throw some peanut butter into the mix, top with dark chocolate chips and add pecans. There are pecan trees here and this year we had a good crop.

The green tea gets raw honey from the local apiary. I haven't used sugar except in an emergency while away from home. There isn't any in the house.

Sounds like I circumvented the doctor, but I’ve lost the weight that I gained and more. I’m now about ten pounds heavier than when I played football in high school.

In my opinion, half the battle is going back to natural foods and getting away from the processed debris sold as food in many fast-fried places.

It’s your body, fill it up any way you want.

Don’t call me when it breaks down.

I only fix cars.

Research, Love It or Pay For It

In my last post I mentioned that the ending for my novel came to me while taking a pecan break from house painting.

Why did it take a couple of weeks from the 'moment of enlightenment' to getting back to the novel?

I spent that time doing research, reading and cross-checking information. When writing a techno-thriller, all the elements should be feasible. Suspension of disbelief can only take place when you present a good argument. Too far out and it becomes fantasy or sci-fiction.

Research is something that I love to do. Finding out about places, things and people help me paint a better picture for my audience. Why pay someone to do it for you? First hand knowledge is the best.

If you don't know the subject, don't try to fake it! It's a sure bet that there will be someone out there who will catch you.

Your agent and publisher might not notice. They're counting on you to have done your homework. If it gets past them and into the hands of the public, it could be a different situation.

You don't want to pay that price.

And Now, THE END as a Beginning

The "Project X" novel has been in the works now for more years than I want to mention. You don't want to get any elements wrong in a techno-thriller. The 'experts' will kill you.

Been gnawing over the ending for the past months, many of them.

A couple of weeks ago, while taking a pecan break during the great house painting escapade of 2008, it struck me. The ending, wrapping up all the elements of my novel, popped into my head as I masticated a pecan. I didn't do a little victory dance, just leaned back against the truck and went, "Whoa, that's it!"

Now I'm rewriting the book, cutting into the 257 pages, slicing the 130,000 plus words, paring it down. Excising fat, leaving meat and bone.

Gotta steal a line here;

"I love it when a plan comes together."*

*("The 'A' Team" TV show)