David B. Silva

The book business is changing faster than I ever imagined possible. How it all shakes out in the end is anyone’s guess, but in the meantime I’m filled with a mix of excitement and fear.

The newest development, of course, is the closing of Borders (including Borders Express and Waldenbooks).

I bought my first Stephen King novel at an upstairs/downstairs Borders I used to visit during my lunch hour back in the ’70s when I was working in downtown San Jose. The book was the original paperback of ‘Salem’s Lot, with the all black, embossed cover and the single drop of red blood. Best cover ever.

Barnes & Noble drove the first stake into the heart of Borders, much like it did to many independent bookstores throughout the country. It was bigger, cheaper, and friendlier. And I think Borders was caught off guard. They seemed to struggle with their identity after that, not sure exactly where they fit in.

Amazon.com drove the second stake into Borders. Suddenly, readers could buy just about any book imaginable right from home, at a great price, and have delivered to their doorstep in a couple of days. The selection even out did Barnes & Noble, as did the prices.

If that wasn’t enough to sound the death knell for Borders, the digital revolution drove in the final stake.

So what do we have left? Barnes & Noble and those few independent bookstores such as Dark Delicacies that learned to meet the needs of its customers in ways no other booksellers could. And the digital revolution, of course.

There’s no question ebooks are here to stay. They will continue to take a larger and larger share of the marketplace. The reading experience of an ebook is on par with a real book. The prices are cheaper. And you can carry about hundreds, even thousands of books with you wherever you go. (Every move I’ve made in my life has been a nightmare because of all the books in my collection. Even after I’ve culled at least 25% of the titles.)

In the future, I imagine ebooks will become more and more interactive. A child’s picture book, for example, will have moving pictures. It will be tempting to turn stories into audio/visual experiences, requiring readers to do nothing more than listen and watch. But that’s not a particularly good idea in my opinion. The imagination is too important to sit on the sidelines while all the work is done for it. Unfortunately, if something can be done, the human race has a tendency to do it, even when the obvious results may be detrimental to its own survival.

But I’m rambling now.

Will real, hold-in-your-hand, smell-the-paper-and-binding books disappear and therefore the bookstore experience we’ve known for all of our lives?

Most authors will argue that there will always be hard copy editions. I’m not sure if this is wishful thinking or not. I suspect there will be a transition period when readers will be able to go to a bookstore, peruse display books, decide on a title, then either have it instantly downloaded to their reading device or have a hard copy printed on demand. But eventually, it’s going to be harder and harder to argue for “real” books. Even signed, limited editions will transition into the digital age.

Evolution happens whether you want it to or not.

Someday, long after I’ve been dead and buried, digital books will give way to a newer technology. Perhaps entire books will be instantly downloaded directly to your brain, where you’ll have perfect recall of every single word. And it will be a sad day for ebook lovers, just as today is a sad day for hard copy book lovers.

But I believe there is one saving grace in all this and that is … there will always be stories to tell.

How they’re told and how they’re distributed will continue to evolve, but stories will always be told.

I’ve always hated self-promotion. It feels sleazy. Like those authors that tell you, “Hey, I’ll nominate your book for such-and-such award if you’ll nominate mine.” If something I’ve written is worthy of a nomination, it’ll get nominated. If it isn’t, it won’t. Leave it alone.

So I’ve struggled with the idea of pushing my work out to readers. For the most part I’ve left that work to the publishers. Good work will find an audience. Stephen King proved that at the beginning of his career, and he proved it again when he wrote under the pen name, Richard Bachman.

But times are changing.

As the ebook market continued to explode and more and more authors are self-publishing, it’s no longer enough to simply write. You have to find a way to get your writing in front of readers.

You can do this in a number of ways. For instance, you can send out review copies, or give away free PDFs to people who are willing to review your on Amazon. You can go with tradition and do a book signing tour. You can build a relationship with readers through a blog such as this or a Facebook page or a Twitter account (or all three). You can do a press release. Or a book trailer. Or give away free material that’s related to your book. You can get quotes from other authors, develop an online persona, or pass out business for your book.

There’s no shortage of things you can do.

There is a shortage of time and enthusiasm.

And that’s been my challenge with the ebook release of Through Shattered Glass. I love this collection. I believe at its heart, it is who I am as a writer. But getting it into the hands of readers has been a challenge.

I did gave away copies to a handful of readers who agreed to post reviews on Amazon.

And I do plan to do a press release and see what that stirs up.

But of all the other options, most of them simply aren’t my cup of tea. I don’t have a Twitter account. And while I am on Facebook, I rarely pop in over there. Certainly not as often as I should. I think I’m afraid I’ll gradually find myself spending more time promoting my work on Facebook than I do on writing.

Writing is a wonderfully creative process that I thoroughly enjoy when I’m buried in a story. Posting updates on Facebook just seems like a chore (yeah, I know, I’m an old foogie who just doesn’t get it).

But there’s another form of promotion that I do enjoy. I’m not convinced that it has much lasting value, but I find the process creative and involving and often satisfying.

The book trailer.

I’ve done a few of them. I’m still learning. Definitely a neophyte. My first efforts were long for book trailers. I had this need to try to explain everything so viewers would know what they’re getting. But I started to look at other trailers and quickly realized that the real goal of a trailer is to engage the emotions and create curiosity. I’m not sure how good I am at this yet, but I’m gradually getting better.

I bring up all this to steer you to my book trailer for Through Shattered Glass. It’s posted on YouTube, and if you’ve got a minute or so to spare, I’d love to have you take a look at it. Let me know what you think. Let me know if you feel it succeeds or fails.

Here’s the video:

Here’s the link to Through Shattered Glass on: Amazon

Here’s the link to Through Shattered Glass on: Barnes & Noble

Thanks a million for coming to this blog, and hanging around long to read this. Your time is very much appreciated.

I’ve recently published The Many (my first novel) and Through Shattered Glass (my first short story collection) on the Kindle. Now, I’m looking to bolster the number of Amazon.com reviews for the two books. To accomplish this, I’m offering a free pdf copy of each book to the first ten people who agree to review the book on Amazon.com

Interested?

Drop me an email (David B. Silva), let me know which book you’d like to review, and I’ll send you a free pdf copy of the book.

And for those who just want to read the books, you can purchase a copy on the Kindle or the Nook:

• Through Shattered Glass – Kindle
• Through Shattered Glass – Nook
• The Many – Kindle
• The Many – Nook

Thanks to all the readers who took the time out of their busy schedules to read The Many online while it was available. The book is no longer available on this website, though you can still read the opening to the novel here: The Many Excerpt

The Many, however, is now available as an ebook on the Kindle and The Nook for only $4.99. Interested readers can pick up a copy here:

The Many on The Kindle
The Many on The Nook

I hope you enjoy it.

[Note From Dave: this is a guest post by Robert Swartwood as part of his blog tour for his new novel, The Calling.]

Nowadays self-publishing is becoming almost commonplace thanks to the swiftness and distribution of e-book technology, but nearly a decade ago it just didn’t make much sense. Sure, you could self-publish your novel, but it would cost a lot of money and there was very little chance that you could find a readership – after all, most major bookstores wouldn’t stock those kinds of books, and the only way for readers to find your book was at a bookstore. So when I wrote my first novel in college, I knew the next step was to try to find an agent. But before that, I thought maybe I could contact some established writers and see if they would read my book and, if they liked it enough, possibly blurb it. So that when I did begin querying agents, those blurbs would help my submission stand out.

At least, that was the plan.

One of the writers I contacted was David B. Silva. I had of course heard of The Horror Show but had never actually seen an issue, as the magazine’s existence was way before my time – I only started writing in high school in the late ’90′s and The Horror Show had shuttered its doors in 1991. But that didn’t matter anyway, because the real reason I had contacted Dave was because of his short fiction. I would always come across one of his stories in a magazine that would blow me away. I managed to track down a copy of his collection Through Shattered Glass and thought it was great. So that’s why I contacted him. I asked him if he would be willing to read my novel and he was kind enough to say sure, send it along. And so I sent it along, and waited a few weeks until I received an email from Dave saying he had finished reading my novel and here was my blurb:

“Dark and disturbing, The Calling is a relentless nightmare. An eerie tale of the inevitably of fate.”

That was it. It was nice of him – of course it was – but even as a young writer I was able to read between the lines. The blurb was … indifferent. So I replied thanking Dave and asking if he had any comments that could help me make the book better. He was hesitant in his reply, trying to feel me out, because apparently – as he later told me – he had gotten burned from writers who had asked for comments and then became pissy when those comments were given. I assured Dave that I wasn’t like one of those writers and that I seriously wanted to learn and improve as a writer.

Oh good, Dave said, and we began emailing back and forth about the book. He told me what he liked and what he didn’t like, what he thought was the book’s strong points and its weak points. And from those comments I was able to improve the novel. In fact, this particular novel holds such a special place in my heart because it was a very long and in-depth learning experience. It’s my true first novel, and I experimented with different styles and techniques, and yet besides this, I feel it ultimately works.

And so now here we are nearly ten years later. Times have changed. Self-publishing has begun to make more sense for writers. And recently I decided to start releasing some of my earlier novels as e-books and knew The Calling would have to be the first. It’s a novel that has definitely come a long way, and I honestly don’t think it would be the book it is today if not for Dave’s help.

P.S. Since that initial correspondence, Dave and I have become friends. It’s been a pleasure to know him and talk with him about books and publishing. And it’s been an even bigger pleasure to collaborate on a top secret project. But, well, I may have already said too much, so I’ll just leave it at this: coming soon.

* * *

Robert Swartwood’s work has appeared in The Los Angeles Review,The Daily Beast, Postscripts, ChiZine, Space and Time, and PANK. He is the editor of Hint Fiction: An Anthology of Stories in 25 Words or Fewer. Visit him at his personal website: Robert Swartwood

The Calling: A Supernatural Thriller is available for an introductory price of 99 cents at the following places:

• Kindle (US)
• Kindle (UK)
• Nook
• Smashwords

Robert invites you to follow along with the rest of his tour and to join him on Monday, April 18, at 7 pm EST, where he will be doing a live reading at his website.

Until the most dreaded day of the year, April 15th, Tax Day, I’ll be making The Many available for free on this website. You can access the novel (broken down by chapters) under the Pages section on the top left, or get started simply by going to: The Many.

As mentioned in a previous post, The Many was first published as a Leisure paperback under the name Child of Darkness. It was a title that I never particularly cared for, because it sounded hokey and was a bit misleading. So when Delirium wanted to do a special, signed limited edition I renamed the book, The Many.

Here’s a little about the book: Something’s wrong with eleven-year-old Justin Reed. His fourteen-year-old brother, Kiel, has begun to notice the changes. Sometimes Justin doesn’t seem like himself. Sometimes he refers to someone called the pretender. Other times he refers to other kids, kids Kiel has never met.

And now he’s starting to do things.

Dangerous things.

This is the original version. It hasn’t been rewritten to reflect my current style. I’m a firm believer that a writer leaves a history in his wake and it doesn’t do justice to the work or the writer to go back and manipulate that history.

If you prefer, you can download an ebook edition here (please note the modest price):

• The Many on The Kindle – $4.99
• The Many on The Nook – $4.99

However you choose to access the book, I hope you enjoy it.

I recently found myself in a conversation with Robert Swartwood about a story he had written for Tooth and Claw, a pulpy monster horror anthology edited by J. F. Gonzalez and Garrett Peck. The response to the anthology was greater than the editors had at first anticipated, and so they decided to split the anthology into two volumes. Robert’s story, “Through the Guts of a Beggar” got bounced to the second volume. Unfortunately, the publisher folded before the second volume was released.

Somewhere in the course of the discussion, I realized that I had a story that was supposed to appear in that second volume as well. I couldn’t recall the title, but Robert found it on the Internet … “New to the Neighborhood.”

Robert was releasing “Through the Guts of a Beggar” as an ebook, with two bonus short stories and an alternate ending. We thought it might be cool if “New to the Neighborhood” could also be included. So that’s what Robert put together.

For a limited time, until April 1st, readers can pick up a copy of the Kindle ebook edition for only 99 cents. This includes Robert’s novelette, plus the alternate ending, his two short stories and my short story, “New to the Neighborhood.”

If this sounds like a package at a price you can’t beat, you can order directly from Amazon here: Through The Guts of a Beggar