Suspended Earth

Recently I have been thinking about book titles. I have had people ask how I come up with mine, and have had some titles by other writers pointed out to me. Specifically, I have had it pointed out how common the act of recycling a title has become. I was shown a book by a new self published author, and I read the title and thought it sounded familiar. So I googled it. Not one, but three books existed with the same exact title, in the same exact genre.

Now, it was not a title that is particularly generic. And two of the three were by authors I have read in past decades and enjoyed. One at least would be considered canonical. So there was a fair amount of literary capital attached to the title already. Is it at all acceptable to take a ride on that capital?

The market doesn’t seem to mind, but in my way, I certainly do. Mind, that is. It feels to me, a little insincere. “I write original books. You will like my books. I can’t think of my own title.” This, it would seem to me, is just a mild form of hypocrisy. It has been suggested to me that it is good marketing. But good marketing convinces me to buy a book. This does not.

Now, I have no doubt that a large amount of recycling occurs by accident, or because a title is simply too generic. I am well aware that my own second novel, titled ‘Starlight’, falls victim to this generic title effect. Perhaps I will coin that phrase, GTE. Starlight still receives strong reviews and has garnered a small fandom. I like to consider it genuine success in spite of GTE, primarily because it could not be mistaken for another book – there are something like 50 pages of Starlight titles, ranging from romance to hard core horror, in the Amazon listings. You don’t look at that list and assume the one you are buying is the one you want, based simply on the generic title.

I learned my lesson from that experience, and do a thorough search on all my titles before adding them to the to do list. ‘Suspended Earth’, ‘Dance of Nevermind’, ‘Armada’s Disciple’. None are the same as anything else. Of course, some years ago I came up with the title ‘Shades of Farthrow’, only to have that other shades book burst onto the scene around the time it was being completed. That has had an impact, and not a good one, on sales for what some have called my greatest work. But the integrity of the book demands the title remain. Have you ever bought a book, only to find you already read it under a different title? I have. It annoyed me.

So to my mind it is imperative that we as the creators of original work take whatever steps are necessary to ensure our titles are original, out of respect for our own efforts as well as the efforts of our colleagues. You want your work to be remembered as your own, not as a derivative, or as something written by somebody else. Imagine a miracle occurs and you land in a new canon of your genre. How sad would it be that you share your title with somebody else in that list?

Got a book out? Google your title. See how original it is. And next time, google before you choose. Your books will be more ‘yours’ by this simple practice. It will further be made yours by good selection. Relevance to the story is critical of course. A good title is a tribute to the struggles and victories of the characters contained within the pages of the book. A good title attracts curiosity and generates interest, but it does so without borrowing from any other creator’s legacy.

I only hope I can keep mine coming without drifting away from those ideals.

I am having a June Sale to celebrate the paperback release of Armada’s Disciple!

Up till July 1st (Australian time) I am offering fans (as preferred customers) a discount of 35% on the entire back catalog in paperback format via the CS store.

(This does not include the new release, Armada’s Disciple, and is not available via any other sales outlet, including the cart on Suspendedearth.com – all sales must go through the CS store to receive the discount, via the coupon code being entered correctly. I thank CreateSpace for this discount opportunity. No ebooks are included in this sale.)

In order to claim your discount, click the “CS Paperback” link beneath the book of your choice on the front page of suspendedearth.com, or follow the CreateSpace link on the book’s page, and enter the following discount code into the coupon box of the CreateSpace store page: L5J6YSY4

Please be sure to check the total cost before completing the order, to be certain you have received the correct discount.

Armada’s Disciple is out now on Kindle! Other formats will follow soon.
Buy on Kindle
Buy on Kobo

A stand alone story, Armada’s Disciple is the second book staring Starlight Hodgens. It follows the adventure as Starlight and her friends investigate a mysterious derelict and uncover an insidious plot to start a war. Can they find the culprit in time?

*EDIT*
Now in paperback! See the book page via the site menu above.

Back in January, I posted a warning on facebook about terms of service on apps.
This was in response to my investigations of an author marketing app that was recommended to me. I have recently witnessed many authors promoting and recommending the same app on their blogs, guiding many more people to it.

Before you use such an app, read the terms of service. These are linked from the bottom right of the facebook page for any app you install.

In relation to the one I was recommended, I paid special attention to the part that reads:
You grant to ********** the unrestricted, unconditional, unlimited, worldwide, irrevocable, perpetual fully-paid and royalty-free right and license to host, use, copy, distribute, reproduce, disclose, sell, resell, sublicense, display, perform, transmit, publish, broadcast, modify, make derivative works from, retitle, reformat, translate, archive, store, cache or otherwise exploit in any manner whatsoever, all or any portion of your User Content to which you have contributed, for any purpose whatsoever, in any and all formats; on or through any and all media, software, formula or medium now known or hereafter known; and with any technology or devices now known or hereafter developed and to advertise, market and promote same.

There is no justification for the rights grabs in there. Sure, if things are being displayed, then they need some things in the terms (a right to display and distribute via their app for example) but irrevocable? Sell? Modify? Retitle? Make derivative works from? Unnecessary and unacceptable. This app’s creators encourage you to upload sample chapters or short stories using their service. Anything you upload is covered by that onerous clause. You would be surrendering these rights to them for no recompense.

You may then find difficulties getting published as a result, but worse you could lose the right to defend your own IP at a later date should they enact that clause for their own financial benefit. For example, you have a soldier race called the flarglethwop in a short story or sample you uploaded. This company is then involved in a TV show featuring a soldier race called the flarglethwop. You have no claim to sue on the property, and have lost a lucrative opportunity because you surrendered those rights to the company that developed an obscure facebook app.

You may decide this is no big deal for you, in which case have at it. Use the app, which does function as advertised. Perhaps you have no intention of seeking publisher representation, perhaps you intend to post nothing more than titles and links, but regardless of how you use any app or service, you should ensure you are fully aware of all ramifications of your use.

This is true of all author supports and services, which are a growing industry online. They all have terms attached to your use, and some of them are less than honest, and less than ideal. Sadly, some are making grabs at your content with possible devastating consequence for those sucked into their scams.

This is why I post this blog entry. Many do not read the things that they should, they trust the world to play fair. It often doesn’t. Always read the fine print before you use anything. Always research your other, less onerous options. There are usually ways of achieving the same without putting your intellectual property at risk.

As for the features of the various author apps, similar page features can be achieved using Facebook’s own existing Notes feature.
For an example, see my list of books on my Facebook page HERE.
That page is accessed from a tab on my author page. To make one, you simply create a new note. Add the notes app to your tabs by selecting the + on the top right of an unused tab on your author page.

You should see a list of installed apps, including Notes (which is a default facebook app). Select it, and your most recent note becomes the thumbnail in the tab. Ensure your most recent note is one with the title you want displayed there. This requires some planning when you create your notes, but it is not difficult. Once the tab is there, click on it to get to the notes page. At the top, you will find “Write a Note”

You can make text bold, italic etc using icons at the top of your note editing page, and even insert multiple images using the uploader at the bottom. The tricky bit is placing the images in your post, which you do by placing a tag (listed next to a thumbnail at the bottom of your note while you are still editing it) at the place in the note you wish the image to display. You will see on my example that I have a thumb for each book cover. The indented text for book blurbs on my example is done using the quotation button from the icons at the top of the note editor.

By doing this, you are not limited to the entries allowed by an app. If you want tour dates, write them in. If you want those tour dates as a separate entry on its own page, make a separate note. Just ensure however many notes you put in, make sure the most recent is the one you want to be used for the thumbnail in your page tabs. The note system is fairly simple, and largely undervalued by users of facebook. There are no scary terms of service, your notes are a part of the existing face book tools at your disposal.

Use what you have to the fullest, before you surrender your rights.

Some of you may remember late last year I tweeted a link to a video that I was shown of Neil Gaiman speaking at a youth conference. His wise words and sage advice in that video is something that should not be forgotten, so I decided to make this blog post in reference to it. Please, watch it, and consider his excellent words

The video is here: Neil Gaiman speaking at a youth conference

In the video, Mr Gaiman addresses a question from a young woman who has been discouraged by those around her in pursuing her dreams of becoming a director because “we already have enough artists.” I have put some thought into why people might say that kind of hurtful thing to a vulnerable young talent, and none of the reasons I can think of hold water as anything other than cruel and thoughtless.

Perhaps these people are genuine in their belief, and for some reason have an (undeserved) low opinion of creative people. In that case, they deserve to be ignored, no matter if they are your parent, spouse or the president of a small nation. We need culture, we need artists, we need the light of creativity to blossom in our industrial and bleak modern capitalism. Without it, things would get worse, not better.

Alternatively, and quite often the sad truth in my observations of people in the real world, these discouraging types have had creative dreams of their own that were similarly crushed, which has left a gaping hole in their perceived value to the world. Tall poppy syndrome kicks in, and they will say and do whatever they can to discourage others, so they do not have to live with the knowledge that perhaps they could have been just as great as that kid next door if only they had the courage.

The third possibility is somebody doing creative things hoping to stem the tide of competition, and this is also something I have observed. It is not so common, but sadly it happens. Ignore these people completely.

If one of these is the case with your personal example of the Negative Nancy, you should pity them, then ignore their cruel words and do what is right for you. To be creative takes courage. It takes hard work, and it takes time. However, it has the potential to become the single most rewarding activity in your entire life. Neil Gaiman talks of the idea that only you can change the world in the way you can change it. Why deny yourself that opportunity? Why deny the world the chance to see something that makes it a little better?

It may not be tomorrow, it may not be until your five hundredth project, but down the track, somewhere, you could make a tiny but important contribution to changing the world. Or even better, you might change it all on your own. But if you never try, you will never know. Sure, remain ‘responsible’ in order to pay the bills, but never forget your dreams, and never let go of the artist inside you.

Now some of my fellow writers have probably groaned at this post, and will be muttering about the size of slush piles or the flood of inadequate ebooks. This may be a problem, in business terms. It is a bonus in artistic terms as it releases the the unknown potential of millions who would never have had the chance to grow otherwise. Without the slush piles, you might never find that next grand master. It is a matter of mentoring and genuine artistic spirit within the writing community. Not one of too many people writing. Writing is a gift to all who wish to try it, and it is never our right to remove that gift, because only you get to be you.

Keep your dream alive.
Martin.

Hello everyone! Time for a ramble. Feel free to ignore it.

It has been a couple of weeks, and what a couple of weeks for so many people – in terms of the ups and downs happening in a number of fields. There have been a number of things going on that people want to comment on, and that many have rather heated emotions connected to. Some of these things are things that should be shouted about, such that the world hears and some wrong is righted. Others are things that you are best off leaving well alone. I have recently had my silence on some and my statements on others questioned, so I write this as a kind of explanation of my reasons.

What some people forget is that their Internet presence is incredibly visible. It is a primary creator of their reputation in the 21st century, and if they are attempting to secure some fantastic new opportunity, that reputation may have an impact on their success.

On the one hand you have the recent exposure of the attempts of Games Workshop to bully an independent author over her use of the term Space Marine in the title of her book. The attempt by a large gaming corporation to lay claim to one of the oldest standard tropes of a genre, one that predates the company’s existence by some fifty plus years and is a regular item across decades of the genre, is the ultimate of hubris that must be shouted about. This company, I need to add, held no trademark, patent or copyright on the term at all for the purposes of literature in the US where they were trying to make the claim. Their spurious claim to the term in some trademarks registered in Europe must be challenged.

Awareness of these tactics is important, thus this is something to talk about. Talking about it shows you are interested in what is right, and in matters surrounding suitable protections for IP holders and the rights of creators. Whether you agree with GW or despise their actions. Even saying all that, if you choose to speak, do so even handedly, and focus on the facts. Try not to allow your comments to be tainted by excessive emotion. Opinion is fine, but opinion is not simply emotion.

On the other hand, in other circles, there are some people posting complaints. Some are quite strident. These are regarding predicted, informed, and expected delays in the processes of their various submissions. These things always take time. It is the applicants role to wait, and it must be done. When a business is considering working with you, how you behave is an important consideration. Complaining or abusing those you have applied to is not going to help you secure a contract, whatever your goal. If done on the Internet, those complaints will hang around, visible to future businesses you seek to work with.

A further consideration is that if you continuously discuss the results, or process of your application to a business in a location that they might watch, you cast doubt on your ability to maintain your silence during negotiations. This might not seem important at first, but if you consider that there may be at some point the need to sign a non-disclosure agreement, your ability to keep quiet is something that would stand in your favour for the business considering taking you on. It certainly might be an important consideration if you were seen to be unusually vocal about your progress with them.

I guess my point in writing this blog entry, is to say I feel we should choose our fights wisely and speak only when necessary. Your reputation is a valuable resource whatever your business. Protect it by thinking twice, three times, or four before stating your opinions on line. Will it say something good about you to speak up? Or will it show you in a negative light?

The Internet is not anonymous. Treat it like you are speaking to your bosses face. Or your spouses. Whichever. Saying the wrong thing in both cases has consequences. Be prepared to accept them online just as you would otherwise.

Neil Gaiman has an excellent blog post about the issues surrounding creative works on the creator’s death. This sometimes uncomfortable subject is an important one, and Neil has asked for people to share this information around as his “crusade”. So below, I provide the link. If you have written anything, or made beautiful music, or created a few paintings, whatever, it is worth having a read and a think.

His post is old, being from 2006, but visitors to his site will still find it linked on the right of his blog site. I think it is as important today as it was when he wrote it.

Neil Gaiman’s blog post about wills

Hi everyone, sorry this is not going to be a witty or interesting post about science or any wonderful new developments in our world, but just another ramble about what has been happening and what I am up to with my work.

We may be only a month in, but already 2013 feels like it’s flying by. Here in Australia, it’s been a month of madness, with heat waves, fires, cyclones and floods. My thoughts and best wishes are with everybody whose lives were effected by these events over the last few weeks.

Obviously a lot of people have had a lot of stress. I have been lucky, although I could have done without the heat. My home spent the better part of a week hitting over 49 degrees celsius(120.2F) and a lot more besides in the high 40’s. During that period, the fire danger here reached the newer “catastrophic” rating. This is the highest fire danger rating in Australia. The smoke of several fires was visible from the house, and we did evacuate for one day at the height of it all.

Even so, I still have a home to return to, and I lost nothing to the ravages of the Australian summer so far. Many of my country men have suffered recently, and to them I offer my thoughts and prayers.

When the heat was at its worst, we gave in and erected a two foot deep wading pool in the living room. We sat there half submerged in the icy water, while the AC vent cast its spell across us and the TV, watching marathons of various TV shows from the DVD library. It was actually too hot to write as my study/office has no AC – something that I intend to rectify before next summer! That room was rocketing well up into the fifties with it’s flat tin roof and poor ventilation. One day I went in there, turned on my PC, and the thermometer display on it’s front immediately gave an ambient room temperature of 65Celsius! It screamed its little heat alarm sound like a banshee, so like I said, too hot to write. Even if I could handle those conditions, imagine what that poor old AMD Athlon X2 7850 CPU would have done after an hour or so…

Even given that, I can still report that Armada’s Disciple is approaching the first major edit cycle reasonably quickly. I hope to get this one done soon and be able to give an idea of release times soon. I think that the rearrangement of this book’s schedule to allow last year’s release of Shades of Farthrow and of When History Fractures, Heroes Rise was the correct move, and Armada’s Disciple is now shaping up to be a better book than I feel it would have been had I written it sooner after completing Starlight.

Of course we have the return of some characters many readers have expressed their affection for, including Haark Junli, who seems a much more popular fuzzy alien gentleman than I could have imagined. Also, we have the introduction of more characters who I hope will be as loved as he is. Only time will tell, and I hope you continue to follow along for the ride. I think some of these new characters, as always, have enjoyed introducing themselves to me as much as I have enjoyed writing them. From the sparky and strong FIU agent and Chancellor’s assistant Shae Jarzi, to the drunken larrikin bounty hunter George. I hope you enjoy getting to know them as much as I have.

Till next time,
Martin.