Homer Simpson- The Man, The Myth, The Cartoon
Pain to the right side
Every time I turn left
I despise stiff necks
This stiff neck hit me out of nowhere yesterday. Guess I stretched the wrong way and the wrong time while in the shower. Ibuprofen seems to have no effect, so I’m working with icy hot and a heating pad. I’m hoping I can work with the heating pad on my shoulder or that my morning shower loosens this up. This has to be one of the most maddening pains in the world.
Join the Allure of the Gypsies Cover Reveal on November 25th and Blog Tour in the month of December!!!
Buy Beginning of a Hero and Prodigy of Rainbow Tower for 99 cents each!!!
There. I feel productive now.
Legends of Windemere 
I can’t say I’ve experienced that, so I don’t have any advice on treatment.
P.S. Any plans on releasing Beginning of a Hero and Prodigy in Barnes & Noble’s e-store?
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My books are currently KDP Select, which means they’re Kindle exclusive. I get put in their library and an occasional push. I used to have my first book on Smashwords and B&N, but after two months they weren’t selling on either site. Even with all of the advertising I was doing, so I went the KDP route. I might do it down the road.
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I’m a bit wary of Amazon due to their antics in the publishing industry, which is why I don’t have a Kindle. I’m glad they can give writers a chance, but the way they spread propaganda about traditional publishing, the Big Six, and distasteful tactics towards small booksellers and other businesses is a huge turn off for me.
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Never heard of the propaganda spreading. I’ve seen traditional authors go after self-published authors by saying they’re all ‘low quality’. Is it Amazon or the indie authors doing it? Because I know Amazon still does business with the Big Six, so it’s strange that they would also be spreading propaganda about them.
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Every time Amazon throws up one of their promotions for a Kindle Author, the sort that shows every time someone access Amazon, it’s always the same story about how said author approached agents, publishers, and was met with nothing but rejection. Sometimes the story claims this goes on for years. Others claim the author ‘got tired’ of the ‘gatekeepers’ (that would be your literary agents, primarily, and publisher house editors). The angle about a successful Kindle author in their marketing is always negative about the traditional system to the point making it sound demonic. It plays on peoples’ ignorance to how it all works as the publishing industry is one of the most complicated industries. The propaganda never names anyone in traditional publishing.
Things these ads do not mention:
1. How many agents did this author try before giving up?
2. How many publishers did this author approach without an agent at all?
3. How many agents did this author research before writing a query letter?
4. Did this author tailor their query letters to the agents they researched at all?
5. Did they follow an agent/literary agency’s submission guidelines for manuscripts as there is not a unified format for these?
6. Did they even submit their manuscript to the right type of literary agents? (One of the major reasons why people are rejected so much is due to the fact they send their manuscript to the wrong type of literary agent. Nonfiction vs. Fiction. Crime mystery vs. Fantasy).
7. Did they make the mistake of calling the agent/literary agency for an ‘update’?
8. Did they even bother researching the fact an agent may see 10,000 potential manuscripts in one year and select at maximum, maybe 3, and use this information as a basis for how to get noticed?
I’m sure there’s more questions that are not addressed. These are things many new writers don’t ever think about. As such, there is not much literature on how to avoid the mistakes that get people rejected. There’s a lot of advice, but a source that comes straight from an experience agent is rare (Noah Lukeman is one such agent that does write about this).
So, when people refer to ‘gatekeepers’ in the negative sense–that is ‘they exist to keep people out’ they ignore the fact the system wants: Those who are serious about this profession, who have done their research, who make a sincere attempt at knowing what they’re getting into. It’s like a filter. Can a writer write? Can they follow guidelines? Can they be quick and send a sample? Can they have something prepared in X time? Can they be professional in X circumstance?
If someone is going to make it traditional, they have to think like an editor and an agent to impress one.
My goal has always been traditional, by the way. I have seen traditional authors go after indies too, and that’s not a tactic I approve. There are very good indie authors.
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I actually have to agree with them to some extent. I did all of that for over 10 years with my first book. I tailored the query letters, researched agents, went through every hoop they put up, and always walked away with rejections. I was rejected once because I wasn’t Stephen King. I was rejected another time because I hadn’t been traditionally published before. While they aren’t Gatekeepers, the system has become a wall that one needs contacts to get into. I even had one agent suggest that I write a book that resembles Harry Potter and to not try for anything else if I wanted to have any success. So, it isn’t even about thinking like the editors and agents any more.
Before Amazon Kindle got big, several traditional publishers changed the system. You couldn’t go anywhere without getting an agent and agents wanted you to have experience. Some companies even got rid of all their low and mid tier authors, keeping only the highly successful ones.
Personally, I think the days of submitting and eventually getting it are over. Kindle Publishing gives people a chance to prove themselves and get the experience that the Big Six are looking for. An indie author can get picked up if they make a big enough impact, but one has to be careful of the deal.
In the end, both sides are trying to paint the other as a ‘bad guy’. The Big Six have their Gatekeepers while Amazon is a world of anarchy where there are no rules. Neither are entirely true, but twisting of flaws in their systems.
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I think, with the way things are going, the attitude may turn around when the larger publishers start seeing what indie authors can do without being told what to write like. Making a name and platform first before query is the route I’m taking.
Though…about Amazon. In 2011 they had a promotion in which they told people if they go to a physical store, report the prices on items, and then buy from Amazon instead they’d get a discount. I don’t approve of that kind of tactic. It’s one thing to compare prices, but to offer an incentive to not buy an item in a physical story for a 5% discount is crass.
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Think I remember that promotion and it had some backfiring. Again, I’m rather jaded because I’ve seen similar happen everywhere. I worked in a store where competing stores would send in price checkers. One person was sent in to rearrange items and switch price tags from the clearance items to higher priced things. All businesses seem to be cutthroat when it comes to these things and will do whatever they can until they’re caught.
The larger publishers are starting to see it and they’re going after the successful indie authors. I’ve met quite a few who have deals now and some even continued their success. The indie author route does provide you with the name and platform, so it’s found a niche.
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And yet, despite how far off topic we are, it is all still a pain in the neck, no?
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Some times. I just focus on the writing. Though, the added difficulty of having either an ice pack or a heating pad on my neck and shoulder is making today a little more challenging.
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Hate neck pain like that – hope it get’s better soon!
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Me too. Using a heating pad right now. I think it’s being caused by the weather. Hot shower helped it a lot, but the moment a cold breeze hit me, it locked up again.
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Neck and back pains are really bad. 😦 Hope it wears off soon.
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Thanks. You know it’s bad if you’re staring at a sewing needle and think ‘Acupuncture can’t be that hard, can it?’
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I hope you feel better soon Charles, neck pain is definitely no fun.
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Thanks. Seems to be getting worse all of a sudden. Not sure why.
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