“I hate it, too,” I said. But I then went on to say that as much as I hate transcribing, I still prefer to write by hand. I seem to be more creative when writing by hand. My thoughts flow more freely. My friend Anne put it well: “There’s a different quality to writing by hand.” I’m not sure why that is, but stuff does come out differently when written on a keyboard. (If they haven’t done a study about that, they should.)

And, practically speaking, carrying a notebook around is much easier and more convenient because I do write on the train, on the bench outside at lunch, and in the waiting room at the doctor’s office. My netbook is small, light, and compact, but taking it with me every day, everywhere I go is logistically challenging. Besides, writing outdoors on any laptop is almost impossible because of glare.

Anyway, I thought I’d toss out an old writers’ favorite conversation starter: Do you prefer to write long-hand or on a keyboard, and why?

Sophie Masson, a writer living in Australia, did a cool blog over at Writer Unboxed about book covers, how they’ve changed in the last 150 years or so, how some countries might view them, and what they’re meant to do.

From that blog:
For a writer, that first impression readers get when they see your book is of course vitally important too. But there’s another even more important consideration: what does the cover say about your book? Not just its Pick me, Pick me qualities, but whether it expresses what you feel to be the essence of your lovingly-crafted work. There’s nothing worse than being handed a cover which clearly demonstrates that the designer has no idea what your book’s about, or its emotional tone: and if that’s the case, that’s probably because the publisher has either not briefed them properly, or worse still, has completely missed the point about your book.

and

The cover is the face your book wears to the world, after all. And here’s an interesting conundrum—no cover on earth is going to save a boring book that readers dislike, that’s for sure. But there’s no such opposite guarantee. A boring cover might sink a good book, because not only will readers not pick it up in the shop, reviewers might also not notice it. That’s why emotions run so high over the issue.

So what the heck does this have to do with Andi’s spiel? Read on!

Yes, emotions do run high over the issue. I’ll take a moment right here and own that I have engaged in a few cover battles with publishers and, when I was working in publishing, with authors. I’d also argue that even today, with the rise of ebook sales, that cover images still have the power to make a potential reader look twice. Sadly, some make them look twice for the wrong reasons. Have you come across a cover while browsing, say, Amazon or B&N or some other legitimate ebook site and saw a cover that made you think, “What the *&^&^ IS that?” Or have you read a book and realized that the cover had little, if anything, to do with the story?

I’m in the camp that thinks covers are important. Yes, what’s between them is just as important because ultimately, it’s the strength of your story and how it resonates with people that’s going to get readers coming back for more. But a cover is your curb appeal, and can make or break an opportunity to invite a new reader in.

If you’re an author new to the game or one who hasn’t really thought about covers, go to bookstores (actual bricks n’ mortar) and look at them. Spend a couple hours looking at a variety of genres in fiction and also in nonfiction. See how the different covers in different genres evoke the story. Notice the differences between covers for fiction books and covers for nonfiction. Think about how those covers make you feel, and what they make you think about the potential contents of the book.

Now, for funsies, let’s do what author Sophie Masson did, with a different book. That is, we’ll have a look at different versions of cover images for one book, and see how things have changed over the years and which ones are best at advertising the story to you, the reader. After we look at the images, we’ll read the synopsis.

This is the 2011 reprint cover for K.W. Jeter‘s Infernal Devices, a classic steampunk tale.

source: Goodreads (resized here)

Let’s think about this. Steampunk, for those in the know, is an amalgam of spec fic, Victorian mores, and futuristic gadgetry set within a Victorian/alt-history context. Jeter’s cover (this is Angry Robot Books, based in the UK), attempts to evoke that Victorian flavor with a few things. Notice the title font and the author’s name font and how they’re positioned. Sort of 19th-century looking, like this. The figure is wearing a top hat and necktie. He’s formally dressed, as a Victorian-era (white middle-class) man might be. Beneath him is a mess of clockwork gears and mechanical doo-dads, signalling the technical gadgetry of the steampunk genre. See the border around the image? It’s ornate and busy, another tip of the top hat to Victorian styles, but it’s not so overwhelming that you stare at the border instead of the images within it. Your eyes are drawn to various elements, and you know right away that this is steampunkish, probably involves interesting mechanical things, and things mysterious because not everything in the cover makes complete sense. But it’s pretty, and draws the eye. It’s the sexy glance at you from the next table. You’re intrigued, now. What’s this about?

Now have a look at an earlier edition of this cover.

source: Amazon

At first look, you might think this is some kind of romance/thriller/family drama kind of book. You’d probably be able to tell that it takes place during the 19th century, but you might not know right off that it’s steampunk, alt-history, and time travel-ish.

And here’s the first edition printing:

source: Amazon

Hmmm. So what might this be about? It looks sort of like what a Jane Austen cover might look like if 1972 called and told her to meet in the parlor of Gunsmoke. Well, thank goodness for the subtitle! “A mad Victorian fantasy”! Well, what exactly does that mean? The Victorian-ish man in the image is fantasizing about something? That there’s a fantasy that will unfold in the Victorian era? This cover tells a reader that the book is “Victorian,” but it doesn’t tell the reader what sort of “Victorian” that might be, or what might actually occur in the book. It doesn’t tell you much of anything except the dude in the image is probably a musician of some sort and the look on his face seems to be suggesting that something is afoot. Keep in mind, this is the first edition, published in 1987.

Now, here’s the synoposis of this book, from Amazon:
HE INHERITED A WATCHMAKER’S STORE – AND A WHOLE HEAP OF TROUBLE. But idle sometime-musician George has little talent for clockwork. And when a shadowy figure tries to steal an old device from the premises, George finds himself embroiled in a mystery of time travel, music and sexual intrigue. A genuine lost classic, a steampunk original whose time has come.

Which one of the above covers best evokes this synopsis? I’ll leave that to you to ponder.

Hopefully, what our little exercise here has demonstrated is not only how important a cover can be at conveying information to a reader, but also how things have changed in publishing not only with regard to growth in certain genres, but in the technology available to create covers, and also in how the public conceptualizes those genres, and expects to see them portrayed. Our tastes do change, friends, but as a reader, if I were offered the choice of all three of those books, I’d go for the Angry Robot edition, hands down. I’d see that and think, “Wow. Cool cover. What’s it about?” And I’d turn it over (if it were in paper form) or scroll down for the synopsis. I would know right away that it’s steampunk, and what that entails as a genre and possible reading experience.

This is why covers are important, from a publishing and author standpoint. They’re advertisements for the story between them. ENTICE a reader. EVOKE the story and genre accurately. INVITE a reader in.

All rightie. Happy Friday, all, and happy reading!

You can check out the software here.

I’m a fan of writer Chuck Wendig, who blogs about writing and publishing over at his site, Terrible Minds. Now, before you go over there, all eager and bright-eyed with your eyes round with the promise of new knowledge and happy unicorns and dancing elves handing out snickerdoodle cookies, be advised that those of you of the…ah…more delicate disposition will probably not like Chuck’s words of wisdom. Which are indeed wisdom-ful, and it’s too bad if your delicate disposition and case of the vapors gets in the way, because you’re missing out.

Why do I say this? Because Chuck swears. And he can be a bit raw. But he’s also irreverent while spot-on about many of the things that go on with writing and publishing. I personally do not have an issue with swearage and I indulge in it myself (horrors!). But I understand that some folks do have a hang-up about it, so just be advised that if you have that issue, Chuck’s probably not the guru for you. If you’re fine with swearage and ribald humor, then continue on.

Chuck does these wonderful 25 Things lists, about a variety of issues. This one, about 25 things to stop doing as a writer, could also be applied to other aspects of your life that don’t have anything to do with writing. Below, a couple of things for writers and a couple more for all of us:

3. Stop writing in someone else’s voice
You have a voice. It’s yours. Nobody else can claim it, and any attempts to mimic it will be fumbling and clumsy like two tweens trying to make out in a darkened broom closet. That’s on you, too — don’t try to write in somebody else’s voice. Yes, okay, maybe you do this in the beginning. But strive past it. Stretch your muscles. Find your voice. This is going to be a big theme at the start of 2012 — discover those elements that comprise your voice, that put the author in your authority. Write in a way that only you can write.

16. Stop doing one thing
Diversification is the name of survival for all creatures: genetics relies on diversification. (Says the guy with no science background and little interest in Googling that idea to see if it holds any water at all.) Things are changing big in these next few years, from the rise of e-books to the collapse of traditional markets to the the galactic threat of Mecha-Gaiman. Diversity of form, format and genre will help ensure you stay alive in the coming entirely-made-up Pubpocalypse.

And something that translates for all of us:

9. Stop treating your body like a dumpster
The mind is the writer’s best weapon. It is equal parts bullwhip, sniper rifle, and stiletto. If you treat your body like it’s the sticky concrete floor in a porno theater (that’s not a spilled milkshake) then all you’re doing is dulling your most powerful weapon. The body fuels the mind. It should be “crap out,” not “crap in.” Stop bloating your body with awfulness. Eat well. Exercise. Elsewise you’ll find your bullwhip’s tied in knots, your stiletto’s so dull it couldn’t cut through a glob of canned pumpkin, and someone left peanut-butter-and-jelly in the barrel of your sniper rifle.

and

10. Stop the moping and the whining
Complaining — like worry, like regret, like that little knob on the toaster that tells you it’ll make the toast darker — does nothing. (Doubly useless: complaining about complaining, which is what I’m doing here.) Blah blah blah, publishing, blah blah blah, Amazon, blah blah blah Hollywood. Stop boo-hooing. Don’t like something? Fix it or forgive it. And move on to the next thing.

Source: Chuck Wendig, 25 Things Writers Should Stop Doing (Right F***ing Now), Jan. 3, 2012.

Click that linkie right above this to check out the rest of the list, if you haven’t gone over there already.

I’ve said elsewhere that I don’t make New Year’s Resolutions. Instead, I try to set realistic goals for certain things I’m working on, whether it’s a writing project or something about myself that needs some work. That’s why I like lists like these. They help me focus on various aspects of my goals. So here’s hoping they can help you, too.

Happy writing, happy reading!

About ten or so years ago, I began hearing rumblings about the demise of the book. Not just the paper-and-ink kind, but all books. The theory was that with information availability becoming as quick as a blink and coming at us in bytes that could be digested in between sips of coffee, people would lose their ability to focus on anything longer than a celebrity gossip column. People’s attention spans were going to diminish and book-length works would not survive the technology age.

Well, ten years down the road, I’m happy to see that “they” were wrong. End-of-year stats are in (well, some) and books are doing just fine, thank you. Of course, they way we read books has changed drastically, but the important thing is that we are still reading (and writing) them. Here are some really good pieces of news:

Christmas Day “biggest ever” for Kindle (The Bookseller.com)

Strong Finish to a Tough Year (PublishersWeekly.com)

HC Christmas Day Downloads top 100,000 (The Bookseller.com) (for U.K. sales)

Mind you, much of this jump in sales has to do with the holidays, as opposed to year-long growth, but the point is that books—in its various formats—are alive and well. Perhaps not as healthy as they were, say, 20, 40, 60 years ago, but they’re still kicking. And I think that’s a great way for us writers to begin 2012. It’s just the kick in the pants and the boost in confidence that many of us need.

Happy New Year to all, and may 2012 be a successful, prosperous, and healthy year. And for all the times you may feel discouraged, think about these words from Franklin D. Roosevelt:

It’s the perfect time to get your plans in order – I hope to see you there!

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Hope things are groovy with you and yours. So I found some cool links for readers and writers that I thought I’d pass along to you and yours. Some deal with the craft of writing, some with the business of publishing/writing, and some are interesting things for both readers and writers. Okay. Here!

1) The top ten blogs for writers. These were nominated by readers, and Write to Done took over 2100 nominations. Here’s the list of the top 10. I’m a fan of the blog Terrible Minds, which was one of the winners. Chuck Wendig is the wordmaster over there. So I was checking out some of the other blogs (and yes, I signed up for just about all of them because I’m crazy that way) and discovered over at Creative Penn…

2) this great post about websites, and why it’s important for authors to a) have one and b) have a good one. Examples are provided in the post. I can’t stress enough how important it is for authors to have a website that is easy for readers to find and navigate. Posts like this make me go immediately to my own site and look at it critically so I can figure out how to make it better or, possibly, hire someone else to make it better.

3) How about talking pricing? What does the $.99 ebook do for authors and readers? Check it here. I see the pros and cons of pricing an ebook at $.99. But I’m also thinking that pricing a shorter novelette at that price seems okay to me. Here’s a blog about what constitutes “shorter” ebook fiction. And here’s the New York Times on what shorter fiction might or might not do. This article is from last year, but it seems relevant.

4) Darcie Chan, a self-published author, finds some pretty groovy success with a book that several traditional publishers just wouldn’t pick up.

5) Possible trends in publishing. I tend to agree with most of this — authors, pay attention to the “emerging skill set” section. As an author, your job is not just writing the material. It’s also about learning the industry. Those of you who are working on becoming authors (whether published or self-published), read this piece.

6) Something I’ve been noticing is the emergence and “mainstreaming” of Scandinavian crime fiction (Steig Larsson is part of this). And lo and behold, here’s an article about that.

7) Here’s something that kinda sticks in my craw, and it’s pointed out by Sisters in Crime. Book review guy Lev Grossman and the books he’s looking forward to in 2012. Notice something missing from this list? Mmm hmmm. No women. Which is not to suggest I’m quibbling with his choices. I’ve read those authors, and I agree with his assessment (note–Paolo Bacigalupi’s work is super provocative. The guy’s ultra-talented). However, are there no women authors he’s looking forward to? REALLY, Mr. Grossman? REALLY?

There you go. Some food for thought, one hopes.

Thanks to Sisters in Crime for providing a few of these links and setting me on the trail of others.

Happy reading, happy writing, and happy Friday!

And the winner of Women of the Mean Streets, an anthology of lesbian noir is…