Friends -- Do you really want to read my horrible first draft?

Friends,

Some writers post their first drafts of their novels on their blogs. Seems like I've seen a couple lately.

Should I do this? It might be fun. It might be interesting. I'd be interested in what y'all have to say about it, either that you hate some things or want to see more or something.

I'm working on the first draft of the first novel in a series. It's about a woman (Angel Day) who is a sniper for the Phoenix PD. She used to be on the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team as a sniper. She likes to kill people a little too much, but the people she kills desperately deserve it. (In the first chapter, she snipes a big guy who had a shotgun duct-taped to a small woman's neck, and he was counting down to zero.)

What do you guys think?

TK Kenyon

Great Article about Picking A Title (For A TV Show)

There's a great article up at Yahoo TV about picking a title for a TV show.

Everything in there can and should be applied to novel and short story titles. It's a great article.

Some highlights:

THE DO'S AND DON'TS: Nine vital title tips from execs and producers who know you don't get a second chance to make a first impression

DON'T Be Too Witty

A title that gets executives excited may just be too cute for viewers. "We loved Better Off Ted internally," 20th Century Fox Television's Dana Walden says of Victor Fresco's critical darling that was dropped by ABC after two seasons. "We thought it was so smart and funny. We went with the witty, pithy title, and it just didn't work."

DON'T Be Too Generic

If a title feels like it could be slapped on any one of a dozen shows, it's probably the wrong title. "Every year, there are 10 shows that all sound the same," says one studio exec. "You can't distinguish them. You want to avoid those generic titles." If Desperate Housewives had been called, say Housewives, would it have become a zeitgeisty hit? 

DON'T Be too Long

Titles that are too long will get reflexively shortened -- by your onscreen guide and viewers. So save everyone the trouble and stick to a half-dozen words or less. People referred to The New Adventures of Old Christine as Old Christine. Beverly Hills 90210 became 90210. When people write, blog or tweet about How I Met Your Mother, it's HIMYM. For the latter two series‚ one a reboot with high title familiarity and the other an established hit that came into its own in a pre-Twitter era -- it's not a problem. But for a new series finding its footing and in need of constant brand reinforcement, a long title can hurt.

Read the rest at: The Strange Art of Picking a TV Show Title

Ebook Pricing: Yet Another Voice Chimes In

Hi folks,

Before we begin, let me say that personally, I have short stories for sale at 99c, compilations for $1.99, and plan novels for $2.99, $3.99, and $4.99 price points.

Really, perfectly honestly, I understand frustration that a lot of authors have with the "race to the bottom" mentality, but the reality of the situation is that ebooks have a great drawback: you can neither lend nor borrow the great majority of them. And it's kind of difficult to do even if you can.

I remember reading a statistic many years ago that the average mass market paperback book was read 6 times before it went to the dump. (This stat was before recycling was common.) Hardbacks had more reads before dumping.

Ten years ago, I purchased a fraction of dead tree books that I read. My friends and I, when at each others' houses, perused each other's stacks and took home books. There was usually a perfunctory, "You mind if I borrow these?" involved.

Sometimes the books were returned.

Usually, they were passed on.

That number, "6", is interesting.

Many mass market paper backs (mmpbs) are priced around $5.99. $6/6 reads = $1 per read.

The most acceptable price for a non-lendable ebook for a lot of people is 99c.

I think that books that are available as mmpbs should be 99c, and I plan to price that way.

Trade paperbacks, usually priced around $12-15, should be $12/6 reads = $2, or $1.99.

New issues, like hardbacks, should be $23.99/6 reads = $4, or $3.99.

Really excellent, large novels should be $29.99/6 reads = $5, or $4.99.

I think people are subconsciously doing that math, and I think that's why the price points have settled out at those numbers.

For short stories, the math is fuzzier, but possible to discuss.

In The New Yorker, there are usually about 20 pieces, plus or minus a few, and counting "Goings On About Town" as 1 piece, etc. If you have a subscription, that's about $1.50 per issue ($70/47 issues per year = 1.489). So that equals that I pay about 7.5 cents (= $.075) per short story that I read in The New Yorker. And I usually pass my NYer on to one other person.

On the other hand, The New Yorker usually pays a new writer around $10,000 to publish a short story, 1st NA serial rights, plus some other electronic rights. On their advertising page, they say that their average print audience is 3.9 million people. So a writer gets 0.26 cents per print audience member, (that's not a quarter per person, that's zero point twenty-six 100ths of a penny, or 26/100 of a cent, or about 1 penny per 4 reads.)

So that's even less.

Short stories should, really, be 10c, or 25c, or 49c, at most. I wish Amazon, Smashwords, and the other outlets would let us do that.

Anyway, that's my 2 cents,

TK Kenyon

Want to Review a #Free #Ebook about #glutenfree Places to Eat?

Howdy fellow GF-ers,

I'm finishing writing an ebook with information about being GF and eating in US chain restaurants called "What To Eat When You Eat Out, Gluten Free."

I have researched 60 medium and large restaurant chains, plus some smaller joints.

For each restaurant chain, I have listed:

- Name
- Quick notes, esp whether a GF menu is available and where.
- A list of all the safe GF items on their menu you can eat
- Link to their GF information
- Link to their find-a-location page
- More extensive notes including my own experience and reports from the web.

At the front, I have 3 hyperlinked indices: Index of Good GF Restaurants, Index of All Restaurants, and Index of Local GF Restaurants by State.

If you'd like a free advance reading copy and (if you like it) will post a review of it on Amazon or your other favorite ebook retailer, either leave a comment in reply to this post or go to my web page tkkenyon.com and click the "EMAIL TK" button on the left.

For both, make sure to include:

1) the email address to send it to
2) preferred format (epub for Sony, Apple, or Nook; or mobi for Kindle, or something else.)

I'll send you a link when it's published. If you liked it, please review it!

I plan to give away 25 copies, so contact me soon if you'd like a free copy!

Thank you!
TK, the Celiac Maniac

TK Kenyon Reviews Wickedly Charming by Kristine Grayson at SF Signal -- 5/5 Sparkly Hearts!

I gave Wickedly Charming by Kristine Grayson (Kris Rusch) 5 Sparkly Hearts (out of 5) because it's a fun, fluffy, well-written paranormal romance novel. It's a light, fun read!

Review at SF Signal here. 

TK Kenyon

New WWII Ebook Released!

Short stories from WWII! All meticulously researched. All surprising as heck.

Jitterbugging with The Bomb: At Los Alamos, fear can make you do crazy things.
Heart Mountain: At a Japanese internment camp in Wyoming, a teenage boy makes his stand.
Kings: At a German POW camp, a prisoner plays liar's poker for lives.
Hooligan Navy: A rich socialite teenage girl discovers that she can serve her country and finds her own strength.

Amazon/Kindle: http://amzn.to/rVcOtx
All Ereaders: http://bit.ly/ts5uSE


Hope you like them!
TK Kenyon

TK's Amazon Profile: Lots of Reviews of Novels and Gluten-Free Cookbooks! http://www.amazon.com/T.-K.-Kenyon/e/B001JP4HK4

All my musing on Amazon, including lots of book reviews:

http://www.amazon.com/T.-K.-Kenyon/e/B001JP4HK4

Hope to see you there!

TK