Volunteer Work

Since I write about older characters in my mystery novels, I have an interest in the subject of aging. Consequently, I volunteered to be a member of the Boulder County Aging Advisory Council. I’m currently co-chair, and our duties include giving feedback to the Boulder County Area Agency on Aging and reviewing and approving funding requests from organizations providing services to seniors. Today, we had our monthly meeting in Allenspark in the mountains above Boulder. Here’s the group hard at work.

E-books

I’ve been doing researching and brainstorming on where I want to go with different publishing alternatives. Right now I have three books in my Paul Jacobson Geezer-lit Mystery series published through Five Star (an imprint of Cengage Learning). These are also available in large print and two of them have been released as direct to book club paperbacks through Worldwide Mysteries (an imprint of Harlequin) and as audio books through Books in Motion. I’ve also put the first two out as e-books through Amazon, B&N and Smashwords. In August I can release my third book as an e-book (I’ve had to wait because although I retain e-book rights, my publisher has a one year moratorium before I can publish as an e-book). I’m exploring two directions for this release. Should I release through all e-book channels as I have for my first two novels or should I go one of the exclusive routes through KDP Select or Nook First? One school of thought is to go for the greatest market reach through all channels. The other is to get the advantage of one of the exclusive channels that provide enhanced promotional opportunities. But the exclusive channels disallow publishing through other e-book channels, so there is a tradeoff on potential benefit for foregoing the other channels. I also have a number of completed manuscripts that I’m trying to decide if I’ll go traditional publishing or self-publish so that I can earn full royalties and control when it’s published as an e-book. The advantage of the traditional published route is professional editing, established distribution and not having to manage as many tasks myself. But since my publisher has a one year moratorium on e-book releases, I have to wait. The advantage of the current publishing world is that as authors we have more choices. The disadvantage is that it requires good analysis to sort through the various alternatives. I look forward to seeing what I decide.

Finishing Manuscript

I'm getting close to finishing the manuscript for my sixth Paul Jacobson Geezer-lit Mystery. I'm in the editing process now. For me I go through numerous edit passes. First, I reread and check the story flow and consistency. Then I go through to make sure the grammar works. Next, I go through numerous passes to eliminate pet words and filler words. When this is all completed, I reread again to make sure it still makes sense with any word changes. And the final pass that I’m on now, I read it out loud. 

Malice Domestic Conference

I returned last night from the Malice Domestic Conference in Bethesda, MD. This is a conference for fans of the cozy type of mystery novels. The guest of honor was Jan Burke shown below being interviewed by Dan Stashower.

Elizabeth Peters received the Amelia Award and is shown here signing.

Parnell Hall dressed up as one of Elizabeth Peters’s characters and is here with fellow Rocky Mountain Mystery Writers of America author Beth Groundwater and me.

A few snippets from speakers:

- Dana Cameron stated that she “gives herself a chance to try something new.”

- Lee Goldberg is an advocate of e-publishing but warns that it can be too easy for unedited books to become a “Tsunami of swill.”

- Donna Andrews advocates “research by wandering around.”

- Margaret Maron stated that “needed killing was a very good defense in North Carolina.”

- One speaker said, “The difference between a writer and an author is perseverance.”

- In describing the interest in paranormal mysteries, one author indicated, “Everyone wants a little magic in their lives.”

- Luci Zahray, know as the Poison Lady, gave a talk on alcohol poisoning.  A chronic alcoholic if cut off from alcohol will die and needs about four days to go through a detoxification process to avoid death.

Library Event

Last Friday I participated in the Longmont Library Festival Authors Open House. It was a terrific gathering of Colorado authors, including fiction, nonfiction and poetry writers. I had an opportunity to visit with old friends, meet new people and sell a few books. Two attached pictures. The first picture is of members of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of Mystery Writers of America: Mario Acevedo, Bob Spiller, Chris Jorgensen, Michelle Black, Barbara Steiner and me. The second picture shows authors Linda Berry and Ann Ripley, both excellent mystery writers.

Break from Writing

I took a break from writing for an extended weekend to visit two of our grandkids. I had four days of playing with trucks, cars and trains; taking walks; hunting for feathers and shells; pitching baseballs; reading stories; and telling stories. Come to think about it, all good things to inspire me now that I’m back home and returning to my writing schedule.

Left Coast Crime Conference

I had the pleasure of attending the Left Coast Crime Conference in Sacramento last week. In addition to being on two panels, I had the opportunity to introduce twenty-four new mystery writers whose first mystery novel was published in 2011. Award winners included Donna Andrews, The Real Macaw, for the Lefty Award for best humorous mystery; Ann Parker, Mercury’s Rise for best historical mystery; Kelli Stanley, City of Secrets, for best novel set in California; and Darrell James, Nazareth Child, for best first mystery novel. A few sound bites: Jacqueline Winspear, guest of honor – a first draft is clay on the wheel; during a panel on forensics one of the panelists called the CSI effect “tricknology;” Elle Lothlorien described the publishing cycle through Amazon as four weeks compared to the over one year for traditional publishing; one panelist described receiving, “rave rejections;” one reader gave me a geezer line: “I may be over the hill, but I’m not under it.” Next year's conference will be in Colorado Springs.