RISEN Blog Tour 2017 from WoW

Special thanks to Crystal J. Otto over at Bring on Lemons & WoW (Women on Writing) for organizing yet another wonderful blog tour for my latest release, RISEN, from WiDo Publishing.

Another huge thanks for everyone willing to participate, and especially to those offering professional reads and reviews of RISEN.

Below are the blog stops for the hop. I'll be cross-posting each day and stopping in, so take a look at some of the topics, then drop by and join us.

Monday September 4th (today) @ WOW! Women on Writing

Interview & Giveaway

http://muffin.wow-womenonwriting.com/

Tuesday, September 5th @ Choices with Madeline Sharples

Eric Trant writes today's guest post at Choice "Is a Career in the Arts (writing) Realistic?". Readers can find out more about Trant and his latest book RISEN.

http://madelinesharples.com/

Wednesday, September 6th @ Mari McCarthy’s Create Write Now

"Say YES: Why Taking Chances is Imperative" is today's topic at Mari McCarthy's Create Write Now. Hear from author Eric Trant as he examines this important topic and shares more about his latest novel RISEN.

http://www.createwritenow.com/journal-writing-blog/

Thursday, September 7th @ Writer’s Pay it Forward

Eric Trant pens today's guest post at Writer's Pay It Forward. Today's post is titled: "Breaking In vs. Breaking Out: The Writer's Career Arc". Readers and Writers alike won't want to miss this opportunity to hear from Trant as well as finding out more about his latest novel RISEN.

https://writerspayitforward.com/

Friday, September 8th @ BookWorm

Hear from Anjanette Potter of BookWorm as she reviews Eric Trant's latest novel RISEN- this historical supernatural work of fiction is sure to please readers!

https://bookworm66.wordpress.com/

Friday, September 8th @ Lisa Haselton

Lisa Haselton interviews Eric Trant about his latest novel RISEN. You'll want to learn more about this supernatural tale of fiction as well as the mastermind behind the dynamic writing.

http://lisahaseltonsreviewsandinterviews.blogspot.com/

Friday, September 8th @ Hott Books

"Life Gets Better: An Angel Dad Reports Five Years Later" is today's post title at Hott Books. This touching true life tale is told by guest blogger Eric Trant as part of his WOW! Women on Writing book blog tour of his latest thriller RISEN.

http://www.hottbooks.com/

Monday, September 11th @ Tara Forst at Digging with the Worms

Crunchy Wisconsin Mama and Entrepreneur Tara Forst reviews RISEN by Eric Trant. Don't miss this review and giveaway of Trant's latest thriller!

http://diggingwiththeworms.blogspot.com/

Tuesday, September 12th @ Bring on Lemons with Tess Fallier

Tess Fallier is today's guest blogger with a review and her thoughts on Eric Trant's RISEN. Don't miss this blog stop!

http://bringonlemons.blogspot.com/Tess
http://bringonlemons.blogspot.com/Cathy

Wednesday, September 13th @ Book Santa Fe with Crystal Otto

Reader and book blogger Crystal Otto reviews Eric Trant's RISEN and shares her thoughts with readers at Book Santa Fe.

http://www.booksantafe.info/

Thursday, September 14th @ Memoir Writer’s Journey

Eric Trant visits Memoir Writer's Journey and shares his thoughts with readers of Kathleen Pooler's engaging blog. Today's post title is: "Setting: Its Role in Storytelling". Don't miss this chance to hear from the talented Eric Trant and find out more about his latest book RISEN.

https://krpooler.com/

Friday, September 15th @ Building Bookshelves
Eric Trant interviews the 5 Ws at Building Bookshelves, promoting his new supernatural, historical thriller RISEN.

http://blogs.republicanherald.com/bookshelves/

Friday, September 29th @ Coming Down the Mountain

Eric Trant is today's guest author at Karen Jones Gowen's blog Coming Down the Mountain. Read Eric's guest post titled "Luck: Its Role in Success" and find out more about his latest thriller RISEN.

http://karenjonesgowen.blogspot.com/2017/09/what-part-does-luck-play-in-success.html

Wednesday, October 18 @ Shannon Muir

Don't miss today's author interview at the blog of Author Shannon Muir. Shannon will be interviewing Eric Trant about his latest thriller RISEN.

http://www.shannon-muir.com

---

Eric W. Trant is a published author of several short stories and the novels WINK, STEPS and RISEN from WiDo Publishing, out now! See more of Eric's work here: Publications, or order directly from Amazon, or wherever books are sold.

** BE A SUPER-HERO! BE AN ORGAN DONOR! **

Haunted by visions of a demonic angel and sold into servitude by his father, young Alberto battles to survive the horrors of a nineteenth century Sicilian sulfur mine. Suffering merciless brutality, Alberto must save not only himself but his deformed older brother, both pawns in their father's mad plan to overthrow a group of wealthy landowners.Bound by a death-debt to his hunchback master, Alberto discovers a door the miners call Porta dell'Inferno, the Door to Hell, deep within the sulfur mines. When he learns the demon-angel of his dreams stalks the caverns beyond the door, Alberto realizes a strange fate has lured him and his brother to the gates leading to the underworld.Now Alberto must face the creature from his visions and rise to become the man his father demands him to be, or remain forever trapped in a hellish world where none escape.

What is your ~Why~?

I want you to ask yourself this question: Why am I doing this?

Pick your "this".

For me, I will pick writing. Why do I write? Most writers, when addressed with this question, reach in their back pocket and pull out the Stock Writer's Response to All Questions:

1) What are you writing?
Answer: It's top secret. I'm not allowed to speak of it.

2) Wow, you're a writer. Are you published?
Answer: (Lie) Why yes, yes I am.

3) Where can I get your books?
Answer: Amazon

4) Where do you find the time to write?
Answer: I don't. I make it up as I go.

5) Why do you write, anyway?
Answer: Because I have to.

Now this last one is super-common among writers, but I want you to stop yourself and do me a favor: smack yourself in the forehead. That's right. Smack it good. Make it sting.

Because that's a stupid answer.

You don't "have" to write. You don't have to do anything. Jesus, you make it sound like it's some burden to write, sort of like sex after marriage. "Well, I have to. It's just part of the job."

No, it isn't. It's not part of the job. You don't write because you have to. You write because you ~want~ to.

Figure out what you ~want~ from writing, and maybe you'll be a better writer. Is it money? Is it a career? Is it a little bit of fame, or is this just a hobby for you that will spin and spin and never go anywhere but up and down?

All of those things are fine, but understand ~why~ you are doing whatever it is you are doing. I tell my kids:

Smart people know how to do something. Geniuses understands why. That's the difference.

So try not to just know ~how~ to write, but understand ~why~ you're writing in the first place.

Me, I want to make a career of this. I want to write full-time, and support my family on a sic-six-figure income, maybe seven, and I'll do it not through savvy marketing, but by writing something truly phenomenal that even my writer friends will gawk and and say, Damn, I actually read one of his books, and Eric Trant doesn't suck. Go figure.

That's my goal. That is my ~why~.

What is your why?

 - Eric

---

Eric W. Trant is a published author of several short stories and the novels Out of the Great Black Nothing, Wink and  Steps from WiDo Publishing.See more of Eric's work here: Publications, or order directly from Amazon, or wherever books are sold.

** BE A SUPER-HERO! BE AN ORGAN DONOR! **

And now, back to business. I am an EDITOR!

I am officially an Editor for Open Heart Publishing! Check out my introduction here:

http://anhonestliespeaks.blogspot.com/

I'm looking forward to getting back to work writing. I wrote a short story for An Honest Lie Volume 4: Petulant Parables, and I've been working on a novel, working title of Uncle Cooper's Dead-Eye.

My cousin said he really likes that last part, the title about Uncle Cooper. Gave him the creeps, he said, and he's not the sort to get creeped.

I'll be seeing you all shortly, as I get back into the swing. I can't thank you all enough for the prayers and support.

Thank you thank you.


- Eric

---

Eric W. Trant is a published author of several short stories and the novel Out of the Great Black Nothing. He is currently represented by Debrin Case at Open Heart Publishing. See more of Eric's work here: Publications

** ARE YOU AN ORGAN DONOR? ERIC IS! **

U is for Underwear

I believe every good novel should mention underwear at least once. Why, you ask, to which I answer, Because I like saying and writing the word underwear.

For instance, when people ask me, Are you Eric? I often answer, I hope so. I'm wearing his underwear.

It's just a fun word, like onomatopoeia, which I also used below. Matt, if you're listening, there's your O-word in use.

Excerpt from my debut novel Out of the Great Black Nothing, for the April A-Z Challenge.

I will post excerpts from various writings daily.

And yes, that's a run-on. Find a way to deal.

---

Percy laughed and waved Martha onto the rooftop and pointed to his neck. She paused, but smiled and climbed on the roof anyway. She wore her pajamas, shorts with a tank top, barefoot, all pink with ponytails, and she would be shy getting on the roof in her underwear, especially with an audience of legal professionals at the end of the driveway, but she as always was Percy's trooper and confidant and reliable partner in everything this side of criminal. She padded across the tin and leaned down to her husband and helped him unsnap and twist off the space helmet. He hadn't pressurized the suit tonight, and the helmet lifted off without its normal hiss-woof. Fresh air kissed the wet part of Percy's sweaty forehead.

---

LEAVE YOUR MARK! Put an X in the comments, if you have nothing more to say.

---

Eric W. Trant is a published author of several short stories and the novel Out of the Great Black Nothing. He is currently represented by Debrin Case at Open Heart Publishing. See more of Eric's work here: Publications

T is for Talking Old Mutt

Excerpt from my current WiP, Rash & Scarson, unedited from my ongoing first draft, so don't read it with too hard of an eye. This is the book I'm writing with my kids. Old Tom is an acronym for Talking Old Mutt.

April A-Z Challenge.

I will post excerpts from various writings daily.

---

They were a hodge-podge crew to be sure. Tom, short for Talking Old Mutt, was a scruffy sort of dog with wiry fur the color of dirty socks. He walked upright, like a man, though from time to time he hopped and looked very much like a trick-dog from the circus. His heritage was Egyptian and African, and even though he was as tough as the walnut cane he carried, his left hind leg was a crippling reminder of the hyena he killed in his youth. With his keen sense of direction, Tom was the straight-forward choice for first mate and ship's pilot.

---

Eric W. Trant is a published author of several short stories and the novel Out of the Great Black Nothing. He is currently represented by Debrin Case at Open Heart Publishing. See more of Eric's work here: Publications

P is for Percy Freebottom

Excerpt from my debut novel Out of the Great Black Nothing, for the April A-Z Challenge.

I will post excerpts from various writings daily.

---

William Percival "Percy" Freebottom lay on his rooftop, a tin roof same as the barn, same as the shed, same as all the other rooftops he could see from here, except the tin roof on the house was flat between the raised ridges rather than pringle-shaped like the others. Percy wedged himself into the flat part of the tin roof and looked up at the stars spinning and tried to feel the motion of the Earth beneath him. He sensed the pull of the moon and his blood flowed and ebbed as if with the tide.

Percy couldn't see the moon, not directly, since tonight was a new moon, but he could feel it, and he could see where it blacked out the stars like an eye-patch constellation. "There you are," he said to the moon. He held his hand out and pinched the darkness between his thumb and forefinger. The thick fingers of his gloves pressed together, inaudible through the reinforced glass of his helmet. Like the moon, he sensed more than felt or heard his fingers come together.

Percy adjusted his position and maneuvered onto his side. The hip reinforcement along the back of the spacesuit irritated the lower part of his spine if he pressed his body against it too long. He relieved the pressure by turning slightly onto his right shoulder, enough that the suit was off-center, but he could still see skyward if he cocked his head to the left. He crossed his legs and lay half-corkscrewed and tried to concentrate on the missing moon.

---

LEAVE YOUR MARK! Put an X in the comments, if you have nothing more to say.

---

Eric W. Trant is a published author of several short stories and the novel Out of the Great Black Nothing. He is currently represented by Debrin Case at Open Heart Publishing. See more of Eric's work here: Publications

M-N-O is for MOON!

Excerpt from my debut novel Out of the Great Black Nothing, for the April A-Z Challenge.

Today I cover three letters at once: M-N-O. Put them together, and you get MOON, which is the heart of my debut novel, GBN. It's a little longer than normal, and somewhat surreal, but I hope you take the time to enjoy it, and find it time well-spent.

For my friends new and old, I hope to spend more time this week hopping to your blogs. Last week was a bust! Hope to see you soon.

---

For his part, Gamjen had been sitting on the backside of the moon, away from the Earth where only stars and the sun and other planets could be seen, watching the galaxies spin. The Earth with its remaining moon were both on what Gamjen considered the far-side of the sun, away from Canis Minor and Canis Major. They were angled so that Gemini slept. Capricornus and Aquila and Pavo showed themselves, but over the next few weeks, those would fade as Phoenix and Andromeda scrolled into view.

There had been three moons in the time before, when Gamjen sat spooning with his lover all those thousands of millennia ago, when the Earth bubbled in tumultuous lifeless rage and the sun burned white-hot. One moon spun away with Gamjen's lover. The two leftover moons crashed one into the other, decimating the smaller and sending meteoric shrapnel caterwauling through space and into the Earth's newly-formed oceans.

"Are you sure you do not want to go down there?" Sho said. She wrung her wrists through her hands, and as she twisted her forearms, her feet lowered onto the surface of the dark side of the moon. A puff of white powdered moon-rock spewed up around her ankles and drifted outward in a bellowing mist. Black hair swayed around her head. "Would you like to go down there for a while, dear, to Earth?"

"No," Gamjen said.

"Have you ever been down there, dear?"

"Never thought about it. Never cared."

"I've been down there many times," Sho said. She pointed through the moon toward the Earth hidden on the far side. She touched her wrists as she spoke, wringing her fingers around them.

"Does it hurt?" Gamjen said.

"In ways you can't possibly imagine."

---

LEAVE YOUR MARK! Put an X in the comments, if you have nothing more to say.

---

Eric W. Trant is a published author of several short stories and the novel Out of the Great Black Nothing. He is currently represented by Debrin Case at Open Heart Publishing. See more of Eric's work here: Publications

K is for Kindred

Kindred is a sort of creature in my current WiP, Rash and Scarson, almost like an angel. I am writing the book with my older son and daughter, and modelling the twins after them. My youngest son is only 18 months old, so in the book I am turning him into a raccoon, because if you ask me, a toddler and a coon loose in your house are about the same thing. He is Daz in the below excerpt, which is his name in real-life.

I will post excerpts from various writings daily.

---

"Impossible," Captain said. "Finding the map on Earth would be tantamount to leaving the key inside the lock. How could the map be on Earth?"

"Not map," Tom said. "Map and key, Captain, plural, that's what Old Tom says. There are two halves to it. That's why it took so long to find the keys, or make 'em for that matter. Obog discovered them on Earth. We be listening as always to Old Obog, with the ears about our heads, Captain, and we heard him clear as the gloss of your eye, we did."

There was that name again: Obog. Captain inhaled, sat on his heels, and with a forceful mental exertion, he batted away the fury that name invoked. There were so many memories of that man, that thing, and none of them pleasant.

"Earth," Captain finally said, after the head-buzzing quieted. "The map and key, plural, are on Earth. Inside the genetic code of two of hissss Kindred."

"Yes, Captain," Tom said. Fuzzy and Daz beside him nodded in approval.

They were in collusion, Captain realized. Tom had first told the other two of the crew members, then set the course, and finally notified him of the change. After all, Tom was the ship's pilot and first mate, and he was correct: he was following the order to find the map. He was also disobeying the order to never return to Earth. It was the very definition of a conundrum.

---

LEAVE YOUR MARK! Put an X in the comments, if you have nothing more to say.

---

Eric W. Trant is a published author of several short stories and the novel Out of the Great Black Nothing. He is currently represented by Debrin Case at Open Heart Publishing. See more of Eric's work here: Publications

G is for Gee

Excerpt from my short story Melvin Gee's Short Trip to Hell, for the April A-Z Challenge.

I will post excerpts from various writings daily.

---

"I'm Melvin Gee," Melvin said, holding out his hand, which a few moments ago had been little more than a fleshy sack of shattered bones, crushed along with the rest of his body beneath a mangled Ford F150. "I'm not sure I'm in the right place, but heck, I just followed one of the lights."

"One of the lights? That's unusual." The angel looked at Melvin's offered handshake. Then she checked a clipboard in her left hand, tapped it with a feathery pen in her right hand, nodded, and looked back up at Melvin. "Melvin Michael Gee?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Hmm," the angel said. "Looks right. Whatever, let's go. We have to get you signed in with the big guy."

---

LEAVE YOUR MARK! Put an X in the comments, if you have nothing more to say.

---

Eric W. Trant is a published author of several short stories and the novel Out of the Great Black Nothing. He is currently represented by Debrin Case at Open Heart Publishing. See more of Eric's work here: Publications

F is for Familiars

Excerpt from my debut novel Out of the Great Black Nothing, for the April A-Z Challenge.

I will post excerpts from various writings daily.

---

Anna Marie Freebottom sat on her back porch looking at the trees as her cats around her moved in silent feline stealth. The night consumed their footsteps but echoed their cries, some of them mewing, others purring, two of them fighting and hissing near the back shed.

Anna Marie stroked the cat lying next to her and it craned its head and offered its lower jaw, near the scent glands. Anna Marie indulged the cat for a few heartbeats, and then shooed it away from her. She twisted one of the wooden bracelets dangling from her wrists and the world around her turned darker.

Anna Marie stood and stepped into the growing darkness and twisted the bracelets on the other wrist. The world grew black until nothing was left but the sounds around her of crisp leaves shaking and the cats scuffling at her feet. The hissing stopped near the shed and a waft of air passed near Anna's calves, signaling one cat's retreat and another's victory.

"Be calm, my Ri, my dears," Anna Marie said. "Shh. Let me listen."

---

LEAVE YOUR MARK! Put an X in the comments, if you have nothing more to say.

---

Eric W. Trant is a published author of several short stories and the novel Out of the Great Black Nothing. He is currently represented by Debrin Case at Open Heart Publishing. See more of Eric's work here: Publications

E is for Eternity

Excerpt from my short story Melvin Gee's Short Trip to Hell, for the April A-Z Challenge.

I will post excerpts from various writings daily.

---

Halfway up the mountain, Melvin finally asked his question about the trail. "That path down there healed up after you walked through it. You were like following some line I couldn't see, and someone erased it behind you. Why is that?"

"Oh, that," said the angel. She looked down at Melvin from her higher perch on the staircase, then back up to the gate. "We have a path that leads to the gate. If you don't follow it, you fall off, and, well, you don't come back. But don't worry, little fella, I know the way. I've done this for an eternity."

The angel resumed climbing and said under her breath, "Ten eternities."

---

LEAVE YOUR MARK! Put an X in the comments, if you have nothing more to say.

---

Eric W. Trant is a published author of several short stories and the novel Out of the Great Black Nothing. He is currently represented by Debrin Case at Open Heart Publishing. See more of Eric's work here: Publications

D is for Darnell

Excerpt from my debut novel Out of the Great Black Nothing, for the April A-Z Challenge.

I will post excerpts from various writings daily.

---

Darnell heard that last part and looked up from his baton and adjusted his black hat. Now that he had finished the Air Force anthem, Darnell began singing the Marine anthem, monotone and off-pitch with that blank look in his eyes he always seemed to have. "From the halls of Montezuma, to the shores of Tripoli."

"Shut up, Darnell," Jugs said.

"We will fight our country's battles in the air, on land, and sea."

Jugs pressed the brake and checked the rear-view mirror. No traffic appeared in the dark road behind him, nor did any appear in the road ahead of him.

"First to fight for right and freedom and to keep our honor clean!"

The Dodge Charger slowed and Jugs edged it off the road, into the grass of the shoulderless blacktop. The car angled sideways with the slant of the ditch. When the wheels stopped, Darnell became suddenly animated and with one smooth motion unlocked and opened the door and rolled into the ditch. He came to his feet and put the whistle to his mouth and blew, jabbed the baton skyward, and high-stepped through the waist-high grass lining the rural ditch.

Darnell screamed the Marine Anthem into the woods. "WE ARE PROUD TO CLAIM THE TITLE OF UNITED STATES MARINE!"

---

LEAVE YOUR MARK! Put an X in the comments, if you have nothing more to say.

---

Eric W. Trant is a published author of several short stories and the novel Out of the Great Black Nothing. He is currently represented by Debrin Case at Open Heart Publishing. See more of Eric's work here: Publications

C is for Claire

Excerpt from my debut novel Out of the Great Black Nothing, for the April A-Z Challenge.

I will post excerpts from various writings daily.

---

For an hour, Claire tried to put her fouled mood behind her. If she looked in her rearview mirror, she might see everything laying in the middle of the freeway, getting splattered by the passing vehicles, ground into the mid-summer pavement just as casually as the brains of an albino squirrel she might as well be chasing. Eight years of college were being crushed beneath steel-belted radials. Her two years in the Air Force were a fluttering plastic bag, wrapped around an axle and melting in the freeway heat. Eight years at the Pentagon were being ground into a fine dust and sprayed on the passing cars.

None of it mattered.

---

LEAVE YOUR MARK! Put an X in the comments, if you have nothing more to say.

---

Eric W. Trant is a published author of several short stories and the novel Out of the Great Black Nothing. He is currently represented by Debrin Case at Open Heart Publishing. See more of Eric's work here: Publications

B is for Billy Ray & the Babe

Excerpt from my debut novel Out of the Great Black Nothing, for the April A-Z Challenge.

I will post excerpts from various writings daily.

---

Billy Ray wadded up the painting tape and threw it basketball-style over the top of the BMW, into the corner trashcan. He turned and walked down the hallway toward the front office. He ran his fingers over the NASCAR hood hanging on the wall, a dented Dale Earnhardt #3 hood of questionable authenticity, and when he rounded the corner he saw Lopez behind the counter.

The woman who owned the BMW was standing on the other side of the counter, and she looked out-of-place, with her nice shirt and tight ponytail. Billy Ray couldn't tell what she was wearing below the waist, and he wasn't sure it mattered. He could stare at the top half of her until his eyes burned out.

---

LEAVE YOUR MARK! Put an X in the comments, if you have nothing more to say.

---

Eric W. Trant is a published author of several short stories and the novel Out of the Great Black Nothing. He is currently represented by Debrin Case at Open Heart Publishing. See more of Eric's work here: Publications

A is for Anna Marie

Excerpt from my debut novel Out of the Great Black Nothing, for the April A-Z Challenge.

I will post excerpts from various writings daily.

---

What did you do to me? Percy said to Anna Marie. He thought the words and she heard them, even as they both fed on their living mother.

I gave you life, Anna Marie thought back to him.

I had life. I had happiness. I was fine living in the moon's shadow.

You were alone, Anna Marie said.

And what does that matter, being alone? I am Gamjen the Watcher. All I need are the stars.

You'll forget about all that.

Forget about the stars? Never.

I mean you'll forget about who you are. That's part of it. You are Percy Freebottom, now. You forget everything when you come down. You remember it now, but soon you'll un-learn it all, and learn to speak like they do, with their mouths and faces.

---

LEAVE YOUR MARK! Put an X in the comments, if you have nothing more to say.

---

Eric W. Trant is a published author of several short stories and the novel Out of the Great Black Nothing. He is currently represented by Debrin Case at Open Heart Publishing. See more of Eric's work here: Publications

Big Screen - Little Screen v. Paperback - E-Book: A Comparison

Let us compare and contrast how the movie industry coped with the advent of home theater, and how that same logic might apply to traditional paperback publishing, and the forthcoming e-book publishing wave.

It's all about revenue
Let me say it again: REVENUE. That's cashflow into a company's coffers. For a movie studio, they initiate that cashflow by printing out reels of their movies, and shipping said reels to local movie theaters around the world. Money exchanges hands.

Book publishers initiate revenue the same way. They print books, and ship them to retailers all over the world. Again, money exchanges hands.

In this way, the revenue stream is brought forward in time, well in advance of the first movie ticket or book purchase. Note that a large amount of cash flowed between companies, without one customer purchase.

This is the inventory model on which capitalism is founded, folks. This is how our global economy works.

It's all about distribution
Movie studios don't distribute movies -- theaters do. Each theater licenses and presents the titles they think will be popular, locally, and pitch them in local advertising venues such as billboards, radio stations, and television ads.

Likewise with printed books sent to local bookstores and national chains. They know their customers, and can react quickly to local mood swings.

The point is this: Movie studios and publishers do not interact directly with the customer! They send their product to local distributors who do this for them.

Again, this is how our economy is designed.

It's all about going big first
Movies first go to the big screen. That's where they generate up-front revenue (from the inventory sales), and gain the most market exposure. They also enjoy rich ticket sales from the licensing. A family of four might spend $45 to see a theater movie, while if they wait, an entire houseful of guests can watch the same movie for $1 out of Redbox.

Books are no different. They go first to hardback. Hardbacks display well on the shelves, are more likely to be placed cover-up and cover-forward, and are often accompanied by additional marketing material such as posters, billboards, and book signings. They also have a higher profit margin for the publisher.

Then, after the initial market response is gauged, they move onto paperback, with a wider and more voluminous distribution. There isn't a good correlation to movies here.

This is where the money is truly made. The distributors enjoy their cut, while the publishing houses and studios enjoy theirs.

Again and again, our economy at work.

Now we get to the cheap stuff
After the movie release, after the hardback-paperback release, we move onto the next phase of distribution.

For movies, it is the DVD sales. There isn't a literary correlation to this. The DVDs generate up-front revenue, because they are still based on the inventory model of distribution, but they are not a significant source of revenue.

After that, movies go to On-Demand, followed later by Netflix. With each step down, there is a decrease in revenue, less up-front profit, and the studio becomes less engaged with generating sales.

For books, after paperback, we are seeing the e-books come up. It used to be there was nothing left after paperbacks.

Now we get to the problem of e-books!
And here's the problem: The publisher has no distributor for the e-books. There is no up-front revenue for the publisher. Nobody buys the rights (e.g. No Cable company will license them for On-Demand).

Nobody buys 10,000 copies to stock their shelves.

Nobody handles local marketing, or keeps track of the accounting for each individual sell.

For an e-book, the publisher is directly responsible for not only distributing the books via electronic media, but must now WAIT for the revenue to be generated by each individual sell, and account for each sell. Don't discount the accounting effort it takes when you adjust your business model from hundreds of huge sells per month, to hundreds of thousands of tiny sells per month.

This is not how our economy works. Producers and manufacturers, such as publishers, cannot wait for each individual sell. They cannot manage each sells, or the marketing, or absorb the cost that is traditionally split among thousands of distribution centers. Their model simply is not the same as the distributor. They rely on that up-front capital provided by inventory distribution, and cannot wait a year to be paid for their book sales.

There's the crux, folks.

So what about e-books?
Until we see e-book distributors pop up, which I am sure they will, same as Redbox and Netflix and On-Demand popped up for movie studios, we will continue to see publishers place little if any emphasis on their e-book sales. They will offer the e-book later, after the bulk of their inventory sells are depleted, but will not offer it with a great deal of zest and vigor.

There simply isn't any profit for them in it, and their model is not based on customer service. They are a manufacturer, not a distributor.

So what's the good news?
Just like the hand-held camera and Youtube have allowed independent movie makers to reach new audiences, e-books have opened a new door to readers and independently published authors. Quality will vary, but it already does, even in the print market.

For the print market, we'll see them focus more on non-fiction, educational, and children's books. These have not yet translated well to the e-book market. We'll also see higher-quality print books, since they can now shunt low-quality books directly to e-book distribution.

Traditional publishers may even create sub-departments, where they crank out pulp e-books of moderate quality in the hopes that one or two hit big. It won't cost much to develop the book, and there are plenty of starving writers to prey on.

What's the bad news?
There still isn't a good way of marketing your e-book, other than word-of-mouth. That will be true for independents as well as large publishing houses.

Furthermore, the quality of e-books is already corrupt, as it is rife with unedited, low-quality work. Readers will be challenged to find good books, while healthy authors will face stiff competition to reach said readers. As an e-reader myself, I can say we will be a more and more finicky crowd to please.

What's in the future?
I see independent e-book distributors. I see a shift in what's available in traditional bookstores -- less fiction, more everything else. I see higher quality print, with fewer and bigger superstar authors.

Anyway, what are your thoughts? Do you believe, as I do, that big publishers and paperback distributors will align with the e-market, and find a way to stay in business? What do you see in the future?


- Eric

And finally we release "Out of the Great Black Nothing"

Finally, after a year in draft and edit, and two years in concept, I release my debut novel: Out of the Great Black Nothing

My author interview is here: Eric Trant Interview

I don't know what to say, other than I feel like I lost and gained something special. It's sort of like getting married, having a child, or losing your virginity. It's the end of one and the beginning of another.

I am a published author. How about that.


- Eric

What do you say when people ask?

So I went to a family reunion this weekend and guess what happened? Everyone asked about my writing.

They asked about work and the family, sure, but they wanted to know about my short stories and forthcoming novel.

What's it about? they all asked. Where can I buy it? Do you have business cards? Where is your website? When will it be released?

That's when I went Fudd on them and started stammering. I had no idea what to say!

It embarrassed me. I don't like discussing my work, because when I say it out loud, it sounds (to me) ridiculous.

God love my wife. She started talking me up, and hearing her talk relaxed me. Then I started talking easier about the story lines, and after a while I felt more like I was networking than visiting with family.

It was weird to hand out business cards to my family. But they took them, and I think they are genuinely excited about the book.

The business cards, of course, were for my business, not for my book and writing, and I looked as be-Fudd-led as I felt.

So I give you this as advice, as well as myself, regarding the arting of writing.

Get some business cards

---

There's a thought, eh. I will probably generate a logo for myself. Speaking of which...

Logo?

---

Not sure on this one. For me, yes, I will create a logo. If you do it yourself, keep it simple, with as few colors as possible, and don't go changing it every few weeks. Make sure you can zoom in or out without losing resolution. You will need Photoshop if you are serious about it, or you can find free logo companies online.

Know your long and short

---

Be ready with a one-sentence blurb about your book. My blurb it this: It's about a redneck in a spacesuit who sits in a lawn chair and stares at the moon.

Then you can field questions after that little intro. I need to practice more.

Website and email

---

If you don't already, get a website and an email. I use my business email, and I own the website www.EricTrant.com and redirect it here.

Have a central location for all your work

---

I keep track of my work and publications right here on this blog. I try to make it easy for folks to find and purchase my work.

Be professional on your blog

---

Too late for that one, eh.


Anyway, enough about all that. I need to polish my marketing and conversation skills so I am better prepared in the future.

How about you? Have you been taken off-guard about your current career and dream pursuits? Do you stammer when they ask what it's about and how it's going?

Buh buh buh, buh-da, That's all, folks.


- Eric

An Honest Lie Vol 3: Justifiable Hypocrisy

So the latest Honest Lie short story anthology is on sale. You can't vote for me, but poke around and VOTE for Donna Hole or Stephanie Loree here. The author with the most votes gets a BOOK DEAL! If you buy a book from one of their portals, they get more points. Click their name to see an excerpt and buy, and click mine (but buy from one of their portals) if you want to see a bit about my short story (which is not that short) titled Melvin Gee's Short Trip to Hell.

Read through some of the author interviews here: Life at OHP.

Anyway, now I need to update my links on the side. This publishing crap is a lot of work!

Click the picture. I do believe the kid is GUARDING the playground, not attacking it. This is a common scene in third-world countries.

Also, I should have my full-length novel, Out of the Great Black Nothing, in print this quarter. It's about a redneck in a space suit.


- Eric

Your Author BIO: Straight-Talk from my Editor

Have you ever written an author bio? If you haven't yet, you will, eventually, because if and when you get published, the publisher is going to ask for a couple of things.

The first thing is this: Your signature. Sign here. And here. Initial there. Here's your copy of the contract, looking forward to doing business with you.

And it is a business for the publisher -- ain't no art in publishing, you knuckleheads.

Now the next thing they'll ask for is a clean draft. They'll probably do a quick read and ask for long edits and send it back to you. Mind you, I'm with a small publisher, so this leg of the process will vary proportionately with larger publishers, but Open Heart Publishing, local to Dallas, has been professional and by-the-book as far as I'm concerned. I imagine the only difference between drafting with OHP and drafting with Harper-Collins will be length between edit responses, and the depth of the personal and professional relationships.

That's a theory.

So while you're drafting and re-drafting and reading and re-reading your piece, the editor will ask you for a couple more things.

We need a headshot for your bio, says Ms. Editor. (Her name is ME, by the way, and her blog is here: An Honest Lie Speaks.)

Okay, you answer. I got a picture from last spring break, just need to clip out my wife and kids from the pose.

Take a new one, ME says. You alone. It doesn't need to be professional, but you need to be the only one in it.

Okay.

And we need a bio, she says. Between one and two hundred words for your short story in the AHL volume 3 anthology, and another one about three-hundred words for your novel.

Okay.

Can you get this to me tomorrow? she says.

I guess.

I'll take that as a yes, she says. She then promises to share a beer with you once we get the damned things in print, and off you go to write your bio.

The picture is easy. Grab a beer and a clean shirt. Head to the back yard with the wife. Snap. Done.

But that bio, that ever-loving bio, that freaking fracking macking bio...

There's the hard part, folks. Who the hell are you? How do you sum up the complexities of YOU in three-hundred -- or two-hundred, or one-hundred -- words or less?

I won't share my bio with you, but I will share some of ME's invaluable editorial feedback.

And I quote, where I got too flippant and personal about my non-writing activities and family and such:

---

Be careful here – you are shifting too much focus away from your writing. Everything that is “in addition to” or “aside from” takes away from your writing career time. You don’t want to inadvertently sound like your life is so filled with other priorities that writing takes a back seat. Writing has to be and remain primary focus.

---

I ping-ponged ME a bit on the personal aspect (we communicate primarily via email). I wrote that I want to establish a personal connection with the reader in my bio, and that's why I include the personal aspects in it.

ME responded to that point like this:

---

I agree with you on the personal connection being important, but we always have to remember the potential publishers and agents who might come across our work, and be ready with the bio info they'll want to know.

On the personal part of the bio, for the novel, I have made a couple of alterations. Below is the revision. I have taken out "unbelievably beautiful" wife - this is a bit more personal and intimate than should be included in a bio (remember, a bio is a resume, not a personal journal).

---

Here is another response from ME, earlier in the pinging and ponging:

---

That's a good bio, and those are great photos. I think we'll use the photo of you on the chair looking right (yours, not viewer's).

I'd like to see something a little different on your bio. I'd like to take the personal info down to one or two sentences top, include your other writing credits, and talk about your blog and anything else you've been doing in the field of writing. 100-200 words is about the size we need.

Would you mind?

Bios should always focus primarily on credits, even if they were the same credits from the last bio. You want to work towards getting as many credits as you can, and as many writing related projects. After that, when you get new credits or projects, take out those that are less spectacular in order to add new credits/projects.

---

You see what I highlighted, yes? Are you paying attention?

I was, and I do pay attention to ME. She makes sound points and backs them up. I tell her she has hollow-toothed venomous advice that strikes like a bite to the neck.

But it's a good strike. It's a good feeling. She injects you, the author, with a jolt of reality that is meant to make your writing BETTER.

Here's another diddy from ME, when I originally included my email in the bio:

---

Never ever include contact info in your bio. Your bio can and will be seen by the world at large and you don’t want a way for perverts or stalkers or other harassers to be able to contact you. You can refer people to your publisher or agent, but never give your own contact info. Delete next sentence. I have deleted same reference from short story bio.

---

And now, in summary, for those of you knuckers who skim to the bottom and skip all the good stuff I write:

---

 o Focus on your writing activities

 o Your bio is your resume

 o Focus on writing credits (include significant non-writing, such as a patent, which I always include)

 o Do not share personal contact information

---

Listen to ME's advice. When you write your bio, remember what ME says.

Just don't get sour if she leaves a little smidge of a mark just above the shoulder and below the ear.

Do you have bio advice? What does your editor say?


- Eric

PS: If you find this advice helpful, you should thank ME at her blog: An Honest Lie Speaks. All email responses are used with her permission.