by
Steve Lazarowitz
September 2000
MAKE A STATEMENT -- READ AN E-BOOK
There is no shortage of potential topics for this month’s Shattered Fragments.
Franklin has announced the release of their ebookman (I am not impressed) and RCA announced theirs, with a September release date (I am somewhat more hopeful). And as far as I know, the Saturn (still my favorite, at least on paper) is still slated to debut in December.
The 58th World Science Fiction Convention is being held August 31st through September 3rd in Chicago. Worldcon is the granddaddy of them all. If you’ve never attended one, you can’t know what you’re missing.
Microsoft has released their proprietary e-book format and the reader is available for free download. As always, if there’s money to be made, Microsoft will try to find a way to place their finger in the pie.
EPIC is holding its first conference, where it will hand out it’s e-book Awards called the Eppies. EPIC, by the way, stands for Electronically Published Internet Connection and is an E-author’s organization, dedicated to making e-publishing a household word.
I sat and stared at the screen, while images of conventions and e-book readers danced in my head. It was like going to a great restaurant for dinner, after skipping lunch. I simply couldn’t decide what to order. And then it hit me.
In the face of all this attention, the REAL issues are shunted aside as always. They dangle smelt before us and we jump through hoops, like good trained sea lions, never once realizing we’re only part of an aquarium show. And I’m not sure I see any way to stop it.
Do you know what you need to do to get published by a professional print publishing house today, if you’re a new author? You have to write something just like an established author. Editors today are held accountable for their track record. If you write something new and different there is no way they can possibly be certain it will sell. But if you write an epic fantasy, along the lines of what Robert Jordan is doing, the odds are, they’ll sell enough copies to at least break even.
Where once they were looking for original material to make the reader think, today they are looking for something that will make the reader BUY. And often, the best books won’t do that. Certainly not from a newbie like me. Like brand recognition, we’re trained to buy "names".
Before Stephen King released "Riding the Bullet" almost no one had heard of e-publishing, in spite of the fact that I had two e-published books available. Suddenly, everyone has heard of it. It’s been in the New York Times, Newsweek, Time Magazine...everywhere. Should I feel relieved or insulted?
Stephen King’s venture into what had been my world is both a great favor and a horrible tragedy. Finally, people might take me seriously when I tell them I’m an e-published author! On the other hand, where I had been a big fish in a little pond, suddenly, I’m sitting next to Stephen King. It’s only a matter of time before other big names follow and THEN where will I be? Me with my unique and complex story lines that Madison Avenue wants no part of. I’ve taken to telling people I’m the other "King" of e-publishing. Certainly, I’m a contender for the title, but that still begs the question.
If Madison Avenue takes over the e-publishing world, will anything I do still matter? Or will the trained sea lions that are the reading public follow blindly, happily accepting their daily ration of dead fish, while a more enticing Ocean lingers nearby, totally unseen?
The choice, ultimately is yours. Make a decision. Don’t believe that Madison Avenue has a stranglehold on quality or originality. Read Jeff Strand’s new book, How to Rescue a Dead Princess (Hard Shell Word Factory), or Patrick Welch’s Westchester Station (Crossroadspub.com) or his new anthology The Body Shop (Darkstar Publications). Or maybe Jonathan Fesmire’s Children of Rhatlan or Seeds of Vision Anthology (both from Crossroadspub.com). Of course, you need look no further than Abby the Troll Publications, who recently entered the e-publishing field with a resounding boom with K.G. McAbee’s, A Fine Impersonation. I understand the first fifty people that order the CD-ROM will receive autographed copies.
What do all of these books have in common? They’re all different. Very different. Not the sort of thing you’ll find browsing through a Barnes and Nobles these days. They burst with freshness and originality the likes of which Madison Avenue hasn’t seen in a long time.
Like my own anthology Dream Sequence and my new release Alaric Swifthand (also from Crossroadspub.com), these books are well worth reading and owning. You won’t just read them once. You’ll revisit them again and again in your mind.
Below I’ve listed the URLS to learn more about the aforementioned books, read excerpts and buy. But don’t just flip to the site and look at the covers. Read an excerpt and see if it really is worth your time and money. If you haven’t yet checked out an e-book, I think you’ll find yourself pleasantly surprised.
I’ve also included URLS for Worldcon, articles on the new e-book readers and EPIC for those of you who are interested.
Next month, an inside look at Worldcon. See you all when I get back.
How to Rescue a Dead Princess by Jeff Strand
www.hardshell.com/HowtoR.asp
The Body Shop by Patrick Welch
www.darkstarpublications.com/TBSexcerpt.html
Westchester Station by Patrick Welch
www.crossroadspub.com/Weststan.htm
Children of Rhatlan by Jonathan Fesmire
www.crossroadspub.com/CRhatlan.htm
Seeds of Vision by Jonathan Fesmire
www.crossroadspub.com/SeedsV.htm
A Fine Impersonation by K. G. McAbee
www.thetroll.net/catalog.htm
Dream Sequence by Steve Lazarowitz
www.crossroadspub.com/Dream.htm
Alaric Swifthand by Steve Lazarowitz
www.crossroadspub.com/Alaric.htm
E-book Articles
RCA Previews Successors to Rocket eBook, SoftBook Reader
www.ebooknet.com/story.jsp?id=3351
Thompson Unveils "RCA ebook"
knowbetter.com/ebook/articles/reb1100_details.htm
The 58th Annual Worldcon in Chicago (Chicon ‘00)
www.chicon.org
EPIC Webpage
www.eclectics.com/epic
Electronic Author’s Guild International Webpage
www.eguild.org
Webpage & Graphics by Samandi Adams
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