Self-publishing ebooks: Sounds easy right?

   A self-published author of various works, I know what its like keeping up with the new age of the craft.  Authors need to stay in touch with their fanbase via:
Facebook     Twitter     Google+     Instagram    and so on...

     But today's social media avenues all point to reading new books with the touch of a button.  Videos, articles, songs and nearly everything else online is but a click away.  Its a great way to connect.  So, it makes sense for self-published authors to convert their paperback and hardcover books into ebooks for venues such as the ipad, kindle, and nook.  Access to your novels for interested readers is immediate, but the process to convert print into epub (format used for some ebook models) is not so immediate--not at all.

    In fact, its really complex.  While published authors have the perk of having their publishing company taking care of this, self-published authors have two choices:
    
     1) Pay professionals to make your book ebook ready, or

     2) Do it yourself

     Either is quite consuming.  But which one is best?  Well, I'm in the process of converting (possibly) two of my novels into Kindle.  Why only two and why only Kindle?  Read on...

1) PAY PROS TO DO IT

    Pros:

    It will be done right
    Distributed to the right sources, for a fee
    Fully compatible to specific platforms
    May retain rights to your book

    Cons:

     Expensive services (cost depends on service provider)
     Costs extra for distribution  
     Book length, pictures, & fonts affect pricing
     Must purchase your own ISBN


2) DO IT YOURSELF

    Pros: 

     Cost effective
     May retain rights to your book
     
     Cons:

     Requires extensive research, or knowledge of programing
     May contain errors in formatting
     May not be compatible to platforms
     Pictures and unique fonts may not be embedded properly
     Must manually include a specific index for each book (very complex)
     Time-consuming
     Must purchase your own ISBN


     As for my experience, I could not format my novels properly on my own.  Don't get me wrong.  I researched, I practiced, I took frequent breaks...and then decided that the professional way was the right way to go.  But, each book has its own price for proper conversion, so I chose two of my most desired books to be converted to Kindle for the time being.  If sales are good, which I predict they will be, then perhaps I will use the same company to convert them to other platforms and maybe include other novels of mine as well. 
     In the end, its what works best for your style and your bank account.  Have pride in your work.  Treat each book conversion like your own hygiene.  As you have your nails done, your hair cut and your suit tailored, have your ebook formatted properly.  You don't want a "rolling stones" or "ice-skate uphill" experience.  Do your own research and don't panic.  All things you really believe in will work out in the end.  As with everything else in the self-publishing world, its your choice.  Happy writing!

-David V. Mammina


    

From Antagonist to Villain

   What makes an antagonist for a story?  Quite simply, the force that opposes the protagonist.  The antagonist could portray that of a person, an animal, a storm, a situation and so on that serves as the conflicting force for the protagonist.  But, a villain is something far different.  A villain is the antagonist, but an antagonist is not always the villain.  Did you get that?  This is similar to a hero vs. a protagonist.  The protagonist is the main character, not necessarily the hero.  Just ask Edgar Allan Poe or William Shakespeare for that matter.  A villain doesn't just oppose the main character, but goes so far to cross that line and become a serious danger to all that can be considered "good."  There is always a villain in a "good vs. evil" archetype story.  The villain is the bad guy.  The hero is the good guy, right?  Well, it depends on perspective.  One hero is another man's villain.

   To make a good villain for a story, you need to find conflict.  Why is the villain bad?  What does he/she/it want and why is it a bad thing?  Like every hero needs a backstory, so does every villain.  These villains serve as the polarizing force to the hero, so they must be dynamic and show some sort of self-righteous that almost mirror's the hero in some way.  A villain should be able to defend their actions and almost convince the reader that they belong--that they are worthy of their title.  In many ways, a villain should outshine the hero.  If the hero is any hero at all, they'd be able to reclaim their audience by displaying their true spirit to do what is right, regardless of their own desires and doubts.  The villain does not have this self-control.  Villains are selfish, calculating, hateful, etc.  To be more clear, they are the urges of humanity that are unchained, unrestricted.  Heroes are selfless, or they are supposed to be.  If you would like to really differentiate them: The hero will make the self-sacrifice.  The villain could give a damn. 

   What's the best part of it all?  The best part is when an antagonist becomes the villain.  The final fall from antagonist to major bad guy is a shocking and enjoyable experience for readers.  This is when the opposing force acquires bad ideas that become dangerous to all of us.  Usually the villain makes the hero, but the hero cannot make the villain in the same way.  Basically, if your story has a protagonist (but not necessarily a hero), please don't include a villain (to oppose the hero).  It wont really gel.  An antagonist could be many things, but a villain is a figure.  Here's the difference:

Antagonist                                                             Villain
Hurricane                                                       Darth Vader
Abusive parent                                               Ultron
Bully at school                                               Voldemort
Poverty                                                           Ursula
Corrupt boss                                                   Joker
Opposing team                                               The Devil

Happy writing!

Weather Games

   The most important aspect of a story's setting is its environment.  This means describing the scene surrounding the characters without being over descriptive.  This can be a big mistake for some stories.  Some settings need to be described well, like the first time inside an illustrious castle hall or the frightening characteristics of a haunted house.  But, sometimes, us writers can get caught up in describing new settings too much that the real point of that scene is lost.  Losing the reader into the setting is a disappointing loss of their attention to the true concept of your message.  So, a good way to staple in a setting with its main events is to blend in weather.  This will help the reader pay attention to detail as well as the setting, since the setting affects the characters.
    Weather can be utilized almost effortlessly to move the scene along as well as give the reader a detail to remind them of its importance.  Some examples can include a heated argument under the hard falling rain in the middle of a street.  An epic battle can be fought amid the falling snow.  A baseball game can be played in a relentless heat wave.  A crash of lightening can solidify a desperate scene.  Like how a smell or moving song can recall memories from way back when, so does the mentioning in of weather in a story aid in the impact of your big scene.  Write about it.  Here are some of my examples...

Paltronis: Large battle in open dry land under light falling snow, before a volcano in the distance untimely erupts.

Protector of Children: An emotional rooftop battle to the death between two former friends under falling rain.

The Angels of Resistance: A warlord crosses over into the Shadowland of the Demon Plague, a radial area where the sunlight is blocked out amid dead soil, dry bones and rotting flesh.

Redeem the Knight: Eden: Battle against vampires in a complex where the power has gone out, leaving only some flashing emergency lights.

-Happy Writing

-David V. Mammina

The Outline: Happy Outline - Happy Writing

     Every great writer has done one great thing in common: The Outline.  Da-da-dah!  It's actually the single best thing you could do before actually writing the first page of your best story.  Though you may not use it word for word, it will definitely organize your thoughts, ideas and the overall sequencing of your story.  Often, many writers begin to write their first page before ever structuring their ideas.  This can result in discouragement and an inability to move passed that first page.  The first page, after all, is the most challenging page in creating a masterpiece.  Without an outline, the finished first page could read rusty, rushed and unrealistic. Whether writing a short story, non-fiction or fictional book, the outline offers confidence in planning a smooth and dynamic introduction, middle and conclusion.  How can this outline be employed you ask?  Actually, even a diner's napkin will do.
   Start out by writing in the main idea or theme for your story.  After that, put in the setting, then plot, and then conflict.  Finally, throw in some of your character's names or character types and their place in your book.  From there, you've already established the concept, the conflicts and character design for your story.  Jot down some possible starters for your prologue, intro or first chapter.  What is the setting?  What is the purpose of this chapter?  How would you see this chapter ending?  In some cases, a writer can create the introduction, the middle and then proposed ending to the story on a piece of construction paper, a napkin or a notebook.  Jot down your ideas.  That's an outline--a basic brainstorm that can make your idea tame into a realistic and complex story.  Here's an example:


Proposed Title: The Seven Archers (short story)

Theme/Big Idea: Seven archers become deserters from a state that demands they slay innocent villagers for a corrupt king, making them controversial heroes throughout the land.

Main characters: Captain Alexon, six other archers ------, corrupt count, revolutionary leader, ?

Intro: Count orders captain archer to assemble a secret force to destroy a village of "traitors and conspirers," but he knows that the count is corrupt and is trying to eliminate political rivals and a looming revolution.

Middle: His six archers decide to help him and they all leave the state to find better lives in another place in the kingdom, (perhaps lead a revolution against the count?)

Ending: Archers lead a rebellion of others outside of the state to dethrone the count, helping to fuel a revolution and install a new leader.

Beginning--
(In count's court, Captain Alexon comes to kneel before Count Callous, the count reveals the secret mission to him, Alexon knows his corruption and does not want to kill innocent people, agrees to carry out the task, but then assembles other archers who are willing to leave the evil count's service and warn the village, etc.)


-Hey, its a start.  Now I can begin writing my work with some guidelines to help the flow. 

Deserters

The seedy township of Callos had always been quite the popular place for seedy souls.  For hundreds of years, the people in the southwestern realm had lost their will for goodwill.  Yet, one noble man, out of so few, was bred in a rather different light.  Captain Alexon waited in the antechamber for his turn to talk to the count in the throne room.  He was not sure why Count Callus called for him, but he was never optimistic about it.

Captain Alexon was an esteemed leader of one of the archer divisions in Callos.  There was hardly anyone that disrespected him in any way.  Brave and selfless, the captain was an admired veteran in Callos’s army.  Many described him as being of average stature with hazel eyes, a sharp nose, pointed ears, a handsome smile and a face almost always hosting stubble.  Captain Alexon was in his late thirties—a decent age for experienced military leaders. 

The door to the count’s room opened up and a guard met the captain in the antechamber with a reverent grin.  After shaking hands, the captain entered the crowded throne room.  The place was always crowded with the royally bigheaded—all cocky fools who serve the count blindly for their own rewards.  They cared almost nothing for the township at all.  It was always the same.  Alexon walked through the hall and nodded humbly at his superiors, though he really cursed them inside. ...

Happy Outline - Happy Writing!!!

Your friendly neighborhood author,

-David V. Mammina

Don't Judge a Book by its Fame

I was at an independent book store up in Port Washington, admiring some work from talented authors and illustrators, when a woman walked up to the counter with three novels in her arms.  AS she placed them down and took out her money to pay for them, she asked, "So, are these books good?  I heard the first was good, but not sure about the rest."  After recovering from my immediate anxiety, it took nearly all of my strength to bite my tongue and not say, "Uh, why not think for yourself and do your research to see if you like the plot summary?"  Why did she buy them blindly?  They were famous.  Sadly, they were the 50 Shades of Grey books.  It was pretty much a slap in the face for me as a self-published author that this consumer would read work written using the vocabulary and grammar of adapted fan fiction at a 6th grade level.  I must admit, it bothered me. 

No, relax, it wasn't the book choice that rubbed me the wrong way (though it did). It was the fact that she didn't even know what she was buying.  That is judging a book by its fame.  Many books fall into that famous category--but don't fall into the trap of believing its "good."  Everyone has a different way to read books of various genres.  We're all different and have different tastes.  But it is the media that judges our choices, if you haven't noticed.  Fame is the best marketing tool, as a Yogi Berra fan might suggest.  But was it always like that?

Herman Melville, author of Moby Dick, died knowing that his work had not achieved the fame he had hoped.  In fact, the critics hardly saw it as a potential best seller.  Now, its a classic.  Shakespeare's plays were not acknowledged as masterpieces in his time.  In fact, it was only after his death when some of his biggest fans compiled his work that it had finally became recognized as a must read classic.  Imagine people turning the author of Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo & Juliet, etc. away?  Well, it happened...and it is still happening today.  This has been the highly competitive literature field for many years.  It isn't easy to compete with those biographies from reality TV stars who promise to reveal their most shocking secrets!  (Most likely written by ghostwriters.)  Tip them please!

Do us self-published, independent authors a service and read the back of the book.  You just might find a concept so exciting, so bold, so original that you just might pick it up and never want to put it down until the ending.    Don't fall into the hype, though its challenging not to.  Book clubs and reading circles are exempt.  That's a bit different.  But, as an individual, search for books that peek your interest, and not just something you HAVE to read because EVERYONE is reading it.  Hey, you might like what everyone else is reading, but I'll bet you were handed a book from a friend once who said, "You'll like this one. Its you."  Word of mouth is true networking of interests--unless the media knows you better.  Now, to finish this excellent novel The Hunger Games. (A kid version of The Running Man)  Yeah, I said it. 

Opinions are fun.  I'd love to hear yours!

Protagonists: When weaknesses are strengths

When writing in a protagonist or hero for your story, make sure you focus on their weaknesses just as much as their strengths.  This is really key to depth of character.  No one likes a flawless hero, just as much as no one likes a flawless villain.  The reason for this is that no one can relate to those types of character attributes.  A true character should have a mixture of three things: A strength, a weakness and a struggle to balance the two.  This weakness will bring out your character's true strengths.  Such examples of these weaknesses could be ego, a disability, stuttering, muteness, a phobia of something, lack of faith, addiction, etc.  A weakness can be overcome in the story to exhibit growth in the character, though it is just as strong to write about a protagonist who cannot over come the weakness, but somehow steers around it.  Try a free write using this strategy.  You may have noticed some of these characters in my stories.  A few examples:

Karlus Rite - Muteness
Vincent Putnam - Alleged schizophrenia
Prince Eric - Pain from betrayal
Gatlin Aquinas - Facial scar
Predella - False reputation of terrorism
Lai Gakuin - Blindness
Lana - Memory loss
Ores Paltronis - Loss of family
Mary Dire - Alcoholism

The list can go on and on...Can you recall some weaknesses in your favorite characters from your favorite novels and films?

Merry Christmas: "Marty's Santa Thesis"

   Merry Christmas, indeed.  May I encourage, this Christmas season, that we look to the sentiments of love greater than the urges of hate.  Lots of heart-splitting news everyday out there, especially this fall and winter.  So, when you do pick a side--make it love, not hate.  Those are the only two sides in any fight, really.  Never easy for us to do, but the trying is better than the ignoring.  Anyway, to thank you for such a lovely year, may I present to you an awesome short story about three pages long about a young boy, Marty, who sternly believes that there is a Santa Clause, but definitely NOT in the way you would suspect.  Enjoy it and I hope it makes you laugh.  Happy Holiday!

Marty’s Santa Thesis

 

Allow me to introduce myself.  My name is Marty and I believe in Christmas—that is to say the holiday when we celebrate the birth of baby Jesus.  The Christmas imposter known as Santa Clause, on the other hand, I loathe with all my being.  How can anyone else not see the facts?  He is an evil, evil sorcerer.  Don’t believe me, eh?  I’ve compiled a list of ten grievances against him that I would like the pope to read.  Please take this real seriously.  You are the pope!  You need to stay on top of these things.

 

 1. The new Santa killed the original Santa Clause

It’s true.  There was a real Santa a long time ago.  He was a saint named Saint Nick—travelled to America with Columbus and all that.  But, does anyone call him that anymore? Does even Santa call himself that anymore?  No, because he is not a saint.  He is an imposter in Santa’s clothing.  He took his identity and moved right in.  Who is this traitor to Christmas you ask?  I’ve done my research on Google.  He’s the Krampus.  It’s for sure.  Look it up!  He now has this world right where he wants it, too.  Read on and you’ll see.

 

2. The new ‘Santa’ is the cause of the Commercial Christmas

He doesn’t need to force his ‘elves’ to make thousands of toys made of wood and plastic.  He used to, many years ago.  But today, he made a deal with the business world, like Macy’s, Walmart, Amazon, you name it!  They all bow to him.  JCPenny, Target, and even all of Wall Street—Santa controls them all.  He is the greed that binds them.  He created Black Friday!  He is the Christmas rush to buy, buy, buy presents, presents and more presents!  Santa brainwashed millions to believe that material things were more important than Jesus Christ’s birthday! 

 

3. He is always watching

That song!  Have you ever really listened to it, word for word?  His minions made it as a secret warning to us all!  You all know it.  ‘You better watch out, you better not cry.  You better not pout, I’m telling you why.  Santa Clause is coming to town!”  He’s watching us, always!  He can see your children.  He can see you reading this right now!  Just hear the words!  “He sees you when you’re sleeping!  He knows when you’re awake!  He knows if you’ve been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake!”  Those who stand against him, disappear. 

 

4. He bribes us kids to obey him

So, how easier to keep us under control as a society?  Start with the kids.  Presents don’t have anything to do with celebrating baby Jesus.  It’s not in the bible to exchange expensive gifts!  It’s all just a big scheme to keep us believing in this new Santa Clause, instead of focusing on the real meaning of the holiday.  He made us all greedy!  That’s for sure.  Krampus used to steal ‘bad’ kids away and kill them.  He has changed his very hostile ways into a much more cunning scheme to control us, not kill us.

 

5. He runs a sweatshop

Elves?  Seriously?  I know elves and those things look more like tiny people than elves.  They’re actually people who spoke out against him and now must do his bidding.  They all work in a sweatshop in a secret location known as the ‘North Pole.’  Probably somewhere in Greenland. Now, he forces them to assemble all our stupid things.  Ipods, laptops, DVDs, even Christmas ornaments.  ‘You better watch out,’ as they say.  You could be next!  I could be next!

 

6. He is a sorcerer

How does a man fit into a chimney to break into our houses?  I don’t even have a chimney, but he made it in somehow!  A sorcerer!  He flies and can be at any one place at any given time?  Teleportation!  Also, he is like a ghost.  No one has ever really seen him.  Invisibility!  He never ages anymore, either!  He’s, like, a thousand years old!  Still fat?  Same old outfit?  Does he wear that everywhere, even in Pakistan?  Shape shifter!  Sorcerer, for sure.

 

7. He is also a propaganda expert

Every Christmas season, it’s the same thing.  Go sit on Santa’s lap.  No way!  I am sitting on no stranger’s lap, let alone a thug in a ‘Santa’ costume sent by the sorcerer himself: the Krampus!  He likes to be in posters and in songs and kiss little children on his lap.  That’s crazy!  And parents just allow this?  Who knows where that lap has been!  Who’s to say they’re not pedophiles? He thinks he can fool people into believing that he is cute and will give toys to whatever us kids will ask for?  Clever trick, right?  Well, he didn’t pull one on ol’ Marty!  I’m the top in my class!  I don’t get fooled easy. 

 

8. He stole Christmas from baby Jesus

People are so afraid to recognize that Christmas is for Jesus.  It’s sad enough for the Krampus to take advantage of everyone’s ignorance and make it a taboo.  I know that little Jesus wasn’t born on Christmas all the way back when.  I get it.  But ‘we choose this day to honor him,’ as my religious teacher says.  At least educate the fools about the real Saint Nick!  Then, maybe they’ll all see the truth in it!  ‘Keep Christ in Christmas,’ as my step-twin likes to say.

 

9. He convinced the world that he does not exist

They say that the devil’s greatest trick was convincing the world that he did not exist.  Well, that’s what ‘Santa’ did, right?  He convinced everyone that he’s just a myth, except for us dumb kids on Christmas.  Thanks to all you adults for playing right into that imposter’s hand!

 

10. Santa is a code name for the devil

      The Krampus has taken Santa for a simple reason: ‘Santa’ is jumbled for ‘Satan.’  Go ahead, mix the letters around.  I rest my case.  Help us, Your Excellency.  You’re our only hope.

 

-From Marty

 

p.s. Do I get a reward for telling you all this?  Just asking, because my Christmas stocking might not be so full this year.  I’m just too smart.  I know too much.  I guess ignorance really is bliss.