Guest Blogger Maria Victoria: My novels are not for free.

  • Guest Blogger Maria Victoria: My novels are not for free.

    Guest Blogger Maria Victoria: My novels are not for free.

    Give away your stories for free, suggests the book marketing “expert.”

    He insists that if I follow his advice, readers will immediately download my novels on their reading tablets and once they read my work, they will be so enamored with my pen that they will buy everything else I publish from here on out.  His logic reminds me a little of the slogan for Lay’s Potato Chips, “you can’t eat just one.”

    The problem is that I’m not a potato chip. And if I don’t eat now (even a bag of Lay’s) how will I survive to write more novels? Moreover, this guy forgets that I’m paying for his advice and if I give my work away, how am I going to pay him? Of course I understand the marketing strategy of “giving a taste,” like when we get a slice of watermelon at the market. And that is precisely why I write my blog “for free.” Readers can browse through the novels I publish on Amazon – if the reader likes my work they can buy it; otherwise they can keep searching for titles more to their liking. But giving away the whole watermelon?

    There is another reason, perhaps much deeper, which compels me to charge for my work. I am of the opinion that people do not appreciate what they get for free. This is something I learned from my father. When I was young, one of my responsibilities was to help him every Saturday in his clinic. That was the day his assistant rested. My father was an obstetrician in the city of Veracruz, Mexico. With great sacrifice, he had bought a house,which he divided into two, reserving one side for his private clinic. Among the many lessons learned from him, was how to collect fees with humility and respect. He charged the same fee, whether the patient was rich or poor. However, when the situation was appropriate, he would ask for “whatever you can pay, señora.” Even the poorest patient paid “something” – eggs, mangos, chico zapotes, or homemade plum pie, his favorite. Sometimes his patients asked for credit and he always said yes, accepting their “word of honor” as sufficient guarantee for the debt. If any of those women didn’t pay, I wouldn’t know, because he never mentioned it. What happened inside his office never left his office; the sanctity of professional privilege being another of his great teachings. My father’s philosophy was simple: people come here for help, not handouts or charity; even the poorest will pay “something.”

    Last week I went with my grandson to a bookstore in the beautiful little town of Poulsbo. There we were, admiring books for children, when the young man at the cash register casually remarked to a customer, ” I just found out that in the Nordic countries (he did not say which) the government is giving away all the authors’ works that have been registered with their copyright agency.  Isn’t that wonderful?” Before the woman could comment, I had to intervene. “Excuse me, sir, but who is going to pay the authors?” The guy, very surprised, replied, “Well, that’s the only problem … I don’t know…”

    Because I am not only an author, but also a reader, I think it would be wonderful if suddenly our US Copyright Office released all titles to anyone wanting to read them. Access to literature, for rich and poor alike, is something I support wholeheartedly, which is why I love our libraries. The difference with libraries, however, is that they do, ultimately, pay authors for their work; a very small royalty indeed, but at least “something.”
    Perhaps the real reason I am not willing to give my work away is because I seek readers like you. I want readers who appreciate culture and art and are willing to pay for that painting, that song, or that book before buying a hamburger; readers who are very aware that when they buy one of my novels, they are not buying just anything, but a piece of my soul.

    The truth is that although our capitalist system does not promote art as a need for society, artists will continue to pursue their true calling. They will continue to paint their canvases, make their music and write their poems, and will also continue to have a second job to survive. My only hope is that my colleagues stand firm and demand, like I do, to be paid “something” at least, out of respect.

    Selling online does not allow me to decipher if the situation warrants that I accept “whatever you can pay, señores (and señoras).” But let it be known that in exchange for my novels I accept mangoes and chico zapotes. And that my favorite pie is lemon.

    From Veracruz, Mexico, Maria de Lourdes Victoria is an award-winning author whose work has been published internationally in English and Spanish. Her first novel, Los Hijos Del Mar (Children of the Sea), was the finalist for the Mariposa Award (Best First Novel in Spanish) at the 2006 International Latino Book Awards in Washington, D.C. Her second novel, Más allá de la Justicia (Beyond Justice) took third place in Barcelona, Spain, at the prestigious Premio Planeta de Novela book awards (2010), as well as honorary mention as the Best Novel in Spanish and Best Popular Novel at the New York Latino Book Awards (2012). Maria’s short stories have appeared in prominent literary and legal journals and her books for children have received numerous awards. She resides in Seattle and Petaluma and is currently working on her third novel, Los Hijos de las Nubes (Children of the Clouds). Her website is www.mariadelourdesvictoria.com

    Marlene C

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  • When you look for things in life like . . .

    “The problem, often not discovered until late in life, is that when you look for things in life like love, meaning, motivation, it implies they are sitting behind a tree or under a rock. The most successful people in life recognize, that in life they create their own love, they manufacture their own meaning, they generate their own motivation. For me, I am driven by two main philosophies, know more today about the world than I knew yesterday. And lessen the suffering of others. You’d be surprised how far that gets you. ” — Neil deGrasse Tyson.

     Neil deGrasse Tyson is an American astrophysicist, cosmologist, author, and science communicator. He is currently the Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the Rose Center for Earth and Space and a research associate in the department of astrophysics at the American Museum of Natural History.
     

    Marlene C

  • A strong feeling . . . Prompt #39

    Today’s writing prompt:  Write about a strong feeling or attachment you had when you were young.

    Marlene C

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  • Take a risk and go long.

    In the January 2014 issue of Writer’s Digest magazine, Elizabeth Sims writes about “Miscalculations and Missteps.”  One is, “take a risk and go long.”

    “The value of a relatively long description is that it draws your readers deeper into the scene. The worry is that you’ll bore them. But if you do a good job you’ll engross them. Really getting into a description is one of the most fun things you can do as an author. Here’s the trick: Get going on a description with the attitude of discovering, not informing. In this zone, you’re not writing to tell readers stuff you already know—rather, you are writing to discover and experience the scene right alongside them.”

    Sims continues with “Go below the surface.”

    “A gateway to describing a person, place or thing in depth is to assign mood or emotion to him/her/it.  . . . The Bay Bridge was somber today, its gray girders melding with the fog.”

    Alla Crone expertly illustrates what Sims is talking about in her historical novel, Winds Over Manchuria.

    Here’s an excerpt from Alla’s book:

    “On the cold Sunday of January 9, 1905, the pallid sun hung over the rooftops of St. Petersburg trying to burn its way through a thin layer of clouds. By two o’clock in the afternoon the dull light had done little to warm the thousands of people milling the streets.”

    More about Alla Crone-Hayden and her book’s journey in Chris Smith‘s January 21 article in The Press Democrat.

    Your turn.  Make a list of inanimate objects, perhaps landmarks in your town. Write a few sentences, giving them moods and emotions.  Or, use weather to describe and mirror your characters’ emotions.  Write a scene and, as Sims says, “take a risk and go long.”

    Note:  Check back here for Sunday’s book review of Alla Crone’s riveting novel, Captive of Silence.

    Marlene C

  • Play with anaphoras. Prompt #38

    Anaphora: Repetition of a word or expression at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, sentences, or verses especially for rhetorical or poetic effect. For example: Abraham Lincoln’s speech, “We cannot dedicate—we cannot consecrate—we cannot hallow—this ground.” — Merriam-Webster online dictionary.

    When Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous 1963 March on Washington speech, he repeated the phrase “I have a dream” at the beginning of his sentences.

    Prompt:  Using Lincoln’s speech or King’s speech as inspiration, incorporate anaphora in your next story, poem or essay.

    Repeat a statement or idea that drives home the core message of your narrative. — except from January 2014, The Writer magazine.

     

    Marlene C

  • Every Day Fiction

    Every Day Fiction is a magazine that specializes in fine fiction in bite-sized doses. Every day, they publish a new short story that can be read during lunch hour, on transit, or over breakfast.

     Every Day Fiction is looking for very short (flash) fiction, of up to 1,000 words. “There’s no such thing as too short — if you can do the job in 50 words, have at it! — but our readers prefer pieces that tell or at least hint at a complete story.”

    Marlene C

  • Guest Blogger Susan Hagen: What I want to tell you…

    Guest Blogger Susan Hagen wants to tell you something…

    After a long weekend together, I wrote this to honor the courage and heart of the students at my fall writing retreat. I offer it again here to all of you:

    What I want to tell you is that you are not like most people.

    Most people would not be awakened at dawn by the beating of a drum and feel happy about it. Most people would not hurry through their yogurt and bacon to climb a hill and sit all day on a threadbare couch. Most people would not spend four days putting words in a notebook or listening deeply to the words other people spent four days putting in a notebook – and pay for the privilege.

    They would not weep in front of strangers, or talk about their sex lives, or say truth be told, I’m glad my parents are dead. They would not slow down enough to imagine rivers running beneath their skin, or their outbreath a ribbon of air that gives lift to the raven, or their bones redwood trees, or their heartbeats the container for love.

    Who would say I dropped acid and galloped around the neighborhood as a horse spirit?  Who would say I asked the ocean to make love to me and she did? Who thinks about collagen as peach juice, or allows talkback from a spider, or cares about a certain tree only because it’s important to an owl? Who loves water so much it falls from her eyes when she speaks of it?

    Most people would not cry because they feel sorry for a character they’ve just made up. They would not care so much about a pretend Indian on a pretend horse that they cannot move them forward for fear of what might befall them.

    Who loves like that over what most would perceive as nothing? Who loves over nothing so much it hurts?

    Writers do. Writers love like that.

    So this is what I want to tell you. You are not like most people. No one speaks the ceremony of life the way you do. It’s the way you see things, the way you turn them over in your hand, that one silky line that comes with the afternoon rain: “A drop falls, and I am born.”

    I know you are no stranger to this. The stories are in your bones and your blood and your breath. This is who you are. It’s the gift you have been given and the gift you give away. You are not like most people. You are the living story coming through.

    Susan Hagen is an award-winning nonfiction writer, writing teacher, and co-author of Women at Ground Zero: Stories of Courage and Compassion. Her writing programs are inspired by the vision quest, an annual journey into the wilderness that informs her life and work. As a writing guide, Susan combines meditation and nature-based practices to help clear a path to the deeper writing life. She offers writing retreats for women twice a year, and Saturday writing circles at her cottage in Occidental. Upcoming dates are January 18, February 22, March 15, and April 26. Contact Susan at suzhagen@sonic.net or 707-874-9223

    Marlene C

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  • Your story is buried treasure.

    Writing is therapeutic. It saves lives. Your truths are eager to come out. Let them spill onto the page, and see what doors writing opens for you. Your story is buried treasure. — B. Lynn Goodwin:

    B. Lynn Goodwin is the owner of Writer Advice, and the author of You Want Me to Do WHAT? Journaling for Caregivers, available on Amazon. A former teacher, she conducts workshops and writes reviews for Story Circle Network, www.storycircle.org and InspireMeToday, www.inspiremetoday.com/. She’s working on a YA novel and brainstorming a memoir.

    Note from Marlene: Today’s post is dedicated to Don Riley. A brilliant man, loving husband, devoted father, and adoring grandfather . . . family man and wonderful friend to many.  His writing was deep, powerful, insightful and inspiring. His truth did indeed spill onto the page. He will be missed.

    Marlene C

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  • Focusing the camera. . . Prompt #37

    Write about an incident that happened between you and another person from your point of view. Write for about 20 minutes.

    Move the camera lens, focusing on the other person, write about this same incident from the other person’s point of view.

    Marlene C

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  • POV is like a photographer’s lens

    POV – choosing a point of view is one of the first things to decide when writing your story. In “Fiction in Focus,” January 2014 issue of Writer’s Digest magazine, Tanya Egan Gibson compares pov with how photographers frame their subjects.  She writes, “frame your story, focusing readers’ attention and leading them through the storytelling picture you’ve created, scene by scene.”

    Gibson writes that using pov as a lens allows you to you to go deep in describing your characters and their actions, making your manuscript stronger.  For example, “the way a character sees the world tells the reader a great deal about them. If your protagonist sees rainbows, puppies and waterfalls as gloomy, menacing and boring, your reader will come to the conclusion that the character is  depressed, without you having to come out and say so. This follows the old adage of showing, rather than telling.”

    You have probably heard what Gibson says about scene, “Every scene in your novel needs to be moving the story forward. Characterization and description can take you only so far before your reader will grow restless, it’s how your character’s observations and interactions cause her to act that will propel the reader through your scenes.”

    Here’s a part of the article I especially like, “. . . your character should be doing more than reacting. . . once your protagonist has stumbled onto the coven of vampires in her basement, we want to see her scanning the room and figuring out what to do next instead of just idly thinking about how sparkly their capes are.”

    Gibson’s article ends with, “Using pov as a lens through which to craft your scenes makes your resulting novel draft tight, coherent and engaging. . . . the sensory details in a scene function as far more than decoration. Your readers will be engaged because they will assume, correctly, that every component of your literary ‘photo’ has been included in the frame for a reason.”

    Tanya Egan Gibson is the author of How to Buy a Love of Reading.  Visit Tanya’s interactive website, and discover how reading has inspired folks to write their “reading love stories.” You can send Tanya your response to the question, “How has reading saved you?”

    Your turn:  Write  a scene in first person point of view. Something simple like a picnic in the park.  Then step back, frame the picture with a wider lens. Write the same scene from a third person point of view.

    Marlene C