2020 sure has been something so far. Outside, the sun beats down on scorched grass and empty bike paths. Kids are out playing en masse while adults watch passersby from their air conditioned cars and teenagers talk on their phones. Summer is here, and boy is it welcome! I think we can all use some sun and escape from our worries.
Though recently things have been a little weird in the writing world. Unlike the wider, normal world, where writers roam, things are always odd. 2020 is no different on that end.
Though recently things have been a little weird in the writing world. Unlike the wider, normal world, where writers roam, things are always odd. 2020 is no different on that end.
You might have heard that a certain infamous genre writer went out of his way to sue the Internet Archive for offering free library books during a worldwide pandemic. A chunk of writers are criticizing this choice, as are all readers, while a certain clique of OldPub acolytes defends their corporate masters with wicked glee. It isn't that I don't understand how piracy can hurt writers, but the Internet Archive is not a piracy site. Everything they have is legal, and it's a library. So the fuss being kicked up is more than bit ridiculous.
This whole snafu is about as stupid as you would expect, especially considering those defending this decision all get checks from multimillion dollar corporations that stand to lose more from the existence of libraries than low paid authors do. Authors working in the OldPub system have royalties that would make 1950s rock n roll artists blanche, but even those musicians never bowed their heads to their corporate overlords. You can't be a rebel while also bowing to the man. For "free-thinkers", many authors speak two directly opposing views from each side of their mouth.
This whole snafu is about as stupid as you would expect, especially considering those defending this decision all get checks from multimillion dollar corporations that stand to lose more from the existence of libraries than low paid authors do. Authors working in the OldPub system have royalties that would make 1950s rock n roll artists blanche, but even those musicians never bowed their heads to their corporate overlords. You can't be a rebel while also bowing to the man. For "free-thinkers", many authors speak two directly opposing views from each side of their mouth.
When I was growing up, all the cool kids in the edgy cool kid's club were all about that piracy. Take whatever you want! Are is for the people, not those stuff-shirts in NYC! I'm not just speaking about things like Napster, but books as well. You had artists like Neil Gaiman delivering rousing tearful speeches about the importance of allowing anyone the chance to read which supersedes any claim a book publisher has at making a dime. It was so counter-cultural and edgy and we all hooted for the rebellious rapscallions to overturn the world. It's all about the people, man! It's not about money! What a noble way to live. The future is so bright we're all gonna wear shades.
And then we learned that our heroes were full of it.
Now the same rebellious forward-thinking artists support their OldPub masters, going back on everything they built their rebel brand on. You're just supposed to forget they said all that, that they created a whole image and career off of their big talk, all while they burn down digital libraries and return to their second job at Starbucks to pay the overinflated rent on their expensive urban ratholes. Meanwhile their superior retires back to her overpriced New York apartment ecstatic with the fact that the thirteen people who borrowed that one online library book will no longer have access to it.
Is that a hill worth burning your entire career over? Apparently, but that's because OldPub is dying. All they can do is rail at people who don't want to pay money for their products instead of offering products said people will want to pay for instead. OldPub wants your money; they just don't want to have to work for it. They deserve your paycheck just for being OldPub.
Suffice to say that world is coming to an end.
Suffice to say that world is coming to an end.
This is one of the reasons NewPub is taking off. We are working for the readers, and only the readers, while we do our best to get the best product we can out in a timely manner. There is no middleman, it's just about storytelling.
Summer might be here, but things certainly haven't changed that much in the writing world. Here we are talking about the year where the world essentially stopped and still we go on about petty things. But writers can't stop.
So while the world burns for many, many, many, other reasons, the rest of us still continue on. What else can we do. Writers write, because that's all a writer is expected to do.
I've been writing, but you probably already knew that, and I haven't any inclination of stopping. It's been awhile since my last update, so let me let you in on what's been happening over in my camp down in the wasteland.
I've been writing, but you probably already knew that, and I haven't any inclination of stopping. It's been awhile since my last update, so let me let you in on what's been happening over in my camp down in the wasteland.
The year's half over (or will be in a few weeks) so it's time to see if my promise of delivering three books this year is still on track.
In January I released Someone is Aiming for You & Other Adventures, which has done even better than my last self-released book, and the feedback on it has been strong. In these seven tales that traverse an overarching story, we follow a varied cast of heroes, vagrants, and vigilantes, as they search for justice in a dark world or magic and monsters. This one took me several years of stories, so the positive reception has been fantastic to see. But that was where the year started.
Just recently I put out a free novelette for readers that you can get by signing up to my newsletter. It's a western horror mecha story with plenty of action and wonder to keep you going. It was also edited by Dragon Award Winner Brian Niemeier! Read it today.
The second book I'm working on is Gemini Outsider, the third book in the Gemini Man series. I'm a bit over a third of the way through the first draft. It's coming along quite well and should be done before you know it. This one is a good deal darker than the first two, though not bleak--as you'd expect from me. You're going to hate the villain in this one, I can say that much.
As for book two, Gemini Drifter, it is still in editing. Silver Empire has a lot on their plate right now for reasons I'm sure everyone reading would understand, so I'm not certain exactly when it will be finished up. Nonetheless, it is written and it is on the way. One of the books in the Heroes Unleashed series will be part of an upcoming bundle that I will share here soon enough. Either way, expect more superhero content soon!
The last book, Brutal Dreams, still needs a heavy edit before I send it to my editor. I'm going to get to this once I finish up writing Gemini Outsider and getting my very first non-fiction book out. Brutal Dreams will most likely be out by year's end, at this rate. But either way it will be out for you to enjoy!
My non-fiction book is ready to be looked at by my editor, I am just waiting for them to have a spare moment to send it in. As stated before, it's short, less than 30,000 words, and is about the blossoming NewPub climate and how to adjust to it. I wrote it to get new writers in the right mindset for this burgeoning world, and to warn them away from the traps of OldPub that still cling to fresh writers like rusty barnacles. This isn't a How-To book, but a book to push new writers in the right direction with a attitude adjustment. I'll reveal more about it when it's closer to release. That said, I'm going to get it out in July as long as all goes according to plan. A cover and title reveal will be in an upcoming newsletter. Keep an eye out!
So instead of three books, I might instead get five in a best case scenario situation. I would say that things are going well. In other words, I am on track to meet my promise.
Short fiction has taken a backseat for now. I still have a story coming out in Planetary Anthology Sol this November, and I have several other stories written and ready to be polished off. If I can just find some open markets to sell to I could get them out to you ASAP. But they are all closed right now, and I have other priorities. Until the opportunity arrives, they sit awaiting release. That said, there is much more to come!
I have plenty of other ideas, outlines, and fragments, in the back of the line, but those will have to wait. Focusing on the right project needs to come first. If I'm going to double my output this year then I want to double my success, too.
I also wanted to mention that I'm tinkering with an idea for next year that would require a crowdfund to get off the ground, but that's a ways off. There's plenty to work on in the meantime. I just wanted to let you know that there are future plans beyond 2020, assuming the world doesn't end. NewPub writers only stop when we're dead.
So while the dinosaurs continue to fight over table scraps, pointing fingers at libraries and the small number of pirates who won't buy their books, the rest of us are out there constantly working and doing our best to give you everything we can. Writers write--it's what we do best. It's a constant machine of activity behind the scenes, and that is the case with most everyone in NewPub, I can assure you of that.
Summer's here, and while things might not be great across the world there are still those of us delivering something to give you a boost out of that dark mood. That's the job of artists and authors, after all. Storytelling is meant to lift you up, and that's what we're going to do. Pick up your chin, and a book while you're at it!
We might be in a wasteland now, but that won't be forever. Blue skies still await even behind black clouds. Here's hoping for a great summer ahead.
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