The Worlds of Michael J. Parry

Category: Writing

  • Parsec Nominations – Every Photo Tells

    Every Photo Tells, the short story anthology podcast I have written three stories for, has had some major nominations for the Parsec Awards already.

    As well as being nominated for Best Speculative Fiction Magazine or Anthology Podcast, it looks as though a large number of the individual stories have been nominated for the Best Speculative Fiction Story (Short Form) including my three stories. Unfortunately I don’t really think that two of my stories, Dreaming of a different Christmas or One dusty road really qualify, so will have to be withdrawn. Unless you count using snow machines to make snow in summer. The Wayfarers Garden is definitely speculative fiction so I am excited for that one to be staying on the list 🙂

    I still have hope that The Spiral Tattoo will be nominated as well. Hint hint… 😆

  • The Book Is Dead? Long Live The Book!

    Really? Is the book dead? I don’t think so.  If you define “the book” as a physical artefact of words printed on the page then, no the book isn’t dead it is just transforming. If you define “the book” as the knowledge/entertainment traditionally held within the artefact then again, no, as that is also transforming.

    This then is a post that looks at where we are heading, and how that impacts on my twin and intertwined professions of librarianship and authorship. This is why this is posted on a couple of deferent venues.  It all starts with this article: E-book Sales Explode in February as Other Segments Sink. The eBook market has exploded, and time will tell if it maintains its momentum.  I want to prevaricate and say no one can tell the future, but I really believe the future is electronic even when I have no real concept of what it will look like.

    The time of the big chain book store is over. I think we are at a fulcrum point, where the publishing, and by virtue of being so heavily linked, library worlds are going to go though radical paradigm shifts.  What I think will happen is that your mass market publishing will be solely in electronic form, and the dead tree books will be collector’s items for bibliophiles and luddites like myself. This will be a challenge for the big publishers and the library world.

    So in my not so crystal ball I see several problems. The first being for libraries. When eBooks are so cheap why will people want to use libraries? I can see libraries becoming less and less about fiction, and mass market publications and instead really transforming into the mythical information centre, where non-fiction is king, and access to aggregated  electronic sources is their purpose.  This will be coupled with a real focus on the social services (holiday programmes etc) that libraries offer.

    With the demise of the powerhouses in publishing, how am I going to get my books into libraries, and will there be a need for it? I am going to sell my novels through a small publishing house, so how and should we get those works into a library platform is troubling me.

    As an author I also see several other issues arising from this brave new world. One is the seeming disregard for copyright and desire for free content in the coming generation. Will the new media bring about a new concept of delivering content? Will there be a place for the traditional author?

    Maybe a new model will be the author gives there story away for free, and instead asks for donations? This model of mass patronage is already being mooted around the Internet. And if we are dealing in eformat only, will there be a need for expanded products? Will simply having text on the screen be enough or will there be a need for multimedia products?

    I have more questions than answers at the moment, and I thing that may be the shape of living in interesting times!

    [This post is repeated on michaeljparry.com, The Room of Infinite Diligence, Sky Warrior Publishing Forums]  

  • A Call To Arms Creating A Buzz: Help Marketing The Spiral Tattoo

    In three months from now The Spiral Tattoo will be released in ebook format. I will of course want lots and lots of people to buy it, and there is only so much a publishing house can do. So I need a marketing plan to create a buzz.  

    This is a question for all my writer friends and colleagues. I will be doing as much marketing as I can from my desk top down under, and I need help in creating that plan. The question then is what can I do, and what works?

    And readers what works for you? And what turns you off?   

  • The Dribble Effect: More Details on Writing Contract

    Well I think I can say a bit more now, since it’s all out there in some form or another.

    I have signed a contract with Sky Warrior Books, a new publishing venture set up by Maggie Bonham. 

    The Spiral Tattoo, all going to plan, will come out in ebook format on the 1st of July. The Oaks Grove should come out towards the end of the year/early next, but no date is set yet, and The Honey Gardens (tentative title) around this time next year. A dead tree version of each will hopefully follow.  🙂

    Now that I have deadlines I cannot afford to have writers block, so I am upping my writing load with the intention to finish The Oaks Grove as soon as possible!

    O, and there is a forum for discussing me and my work… Neat huh!

  • Every Photo Tells A Story Book Two

    Everyphototells has released their short stories as an anthology on Podiobooks.  You will find two of my stories (episode seven and episode twelve) included. So if you haven’t been listening to the stories as they are relaeased on the home website, subscribe and listen through podiobooks.

  • Risky Business: Decisions Made And A Path Ahead, With A Schedule For Releasing Ebooks

    Things are starting to move forward for me. I am not sure how much I can say, but I have signed contracts for three Fursk and Gurt titles to be released in eBook form. The publishers I have signed with are a start-up, so I will be one of their first releases.

    What it means is that, all going well, The Spiral Tattoo will be available in eBook form around July/August. The second title The Oaks Grove probably around November/December, and the third title The Honey Garden (very tentative title) around March/April next year.

    I will still be podcasting them, but I will probably release the podcasts either just before the print versions are made available or at the same time. I think I will also be re-releasing The Spiral Tattoo so that it will match the final edited print version. What I haven’t decided is whether I will simply run right over the old podcast, replacing the episodes, or release a new podcast as an “updated re-mastered” version.

    So it is very exciting all and all.

  • The Self Published eBook: Convince Me Please

    Recently I have started to give serious consideration to the idea of publishing The Spiral Tattoo and other tales of Gurt and Fursk in eBook form myself. Yes I am considering self publishing.

    Now most of my experience of self publishing has been in the form of having terrible vanity works, printed at the local copy-printers, being hawked in libraries by people impressed with their own non-talent. Yes that is harsh, but so true. As such I have been really reluctant to self-publish my own works in fear that I too will turn out to be a no-talent self deluded ninny.

    However, with the growing success of eBooks, and the large number of self published, and quality self published at that, Ebooks within that market, I have been coming to the view that I should give that fear a good boot, and concentrate on being one of the best kick-arse self published eBook authors out there! Cos that’s how I roll!

    Sorry, momentary self delusion grandiose vision there. 🙂

    So, at the moment I am letting some queries run their course, but there is coming a point where I will need to make a decision. Do I do it myself? Do I try and hook up with one of those burgeoning companies that specializing in helping folks like me, for a cut of course.

    I have a cover, which I think would work for the eBook format. I would need to pay for a good editor. That is one thing that is holding me back, I would need an editor I could both afford and trust enough to help me polish my book into something really salable!

    So any thoughts most welcome. Which path is best? Convince me off the edge!

  • I Really Wish I Was A Creative Genius

    Last week Nathan Lowell over at Trader’s Diary: News & Views from the creator of the Golden Age of the Solar Clipper tagged me with this award.  Thanks Nate 🙂

    I think I have mentioned many a time already that the Solar Clipper books and Nathan Lowell have acted as an inspiration for me to get off my duff and actually pursue this thing called writing, so I am very flattered that he would tag me.  It’s the first time the words creative genius have come anywhere close to me, and while I really wish I was a creative genius, I suspect that will be the last 😆

    The Creative Genius Blog Award was started by Deanna Schrayer at The Other Side of Deanna in January and, like other pay-it-forward efforts, it comes with the expectation of finding suitable candidates to pass the award on to, which has taken some thought.

    So first on my hit list:

    A fellow going by the tagline Odin1eye. Odin dwells over on his site the View from Valhalla where he reviews various podcast novels. Including mine. 🙂

    The reviews from Odin have become a must read for me.

    Second on my list:

    Is an author who has made it, Philippa Ballantine, a kiwi author who has made it:  Pip is another podiobook author who has inspired me to say, if she can do then maybe I can to.

  • The Spiral Tattoo Reviewed By Odin On View From Valhalla

    Odin over at View From Valhalla has reviewed The Spiral Tattoo.  Thank you Odin for the review.

    While not a glowing review (everyone wants their book to be given A+ across the board), I am not unhappy, as a good solid B for the first one of the rank is pleasing to me. Odin seemed to have enjoyed it and that is what is important. 🙂

  • The Great Agent Quest: Plodding Through The Mire Of Despair

    It’s February 1st, well it will be when this post goes live. And as of now, or then, or when, or whatever, I have been unsuccessful in my quest to get an agent or a publisher. Hopes are hanging on a publisher who have said they are interested but don’t have a spot at this time.

    I am mentally gearing up for another round of blind queries. So what have I learned about the publishing business so far:

    Agents will say write a query like this, others like that, and even then you have a less than %5 chance of getting anywhere. Some agents say follow instructions to the letter, others say always send the first 10 pages even told not to. I have seen recommendations that you should pay someone to edit your work, while others say the last thing you should do is that.

    If you get an agent, lucky you, it seems to increase your likelihood of securing a publishing contract, but nothing is guaranteed. And after spending months shopping your piece to them, it may take months for them to shop it to a publisher. And even on signing a contract books get stuck in the pipeline and may never get published.

     Why continue slogging through this murky mire of despair?  Editing and reach: Yes you can pay someone to edit your work, and pop it up on Amazon as a ebook. If your lucky you have a good artist friend who will knock you out a cover.  You may even sell a few books or two.

    But I still think a publishing house editor is what you want, and the added reach that publishers bring will give you more sales.

    So I am going to keep slogging. Anybody know a short cut? 🙂