E-book? Why an E-book?

Who knew?

I first encountered Smashwords.com about a year ago. At the time, I thought it was an interesting concept. Anyone could submit something they had written to them and the site would publish it electronically, whether it be your effort at the Great American Novel or your non-fiction book about how squirrels are trying to take over the world. No paper was involved. You could charge whatever you wanted or nothing at all and the site would take fifteen percent of your sales if you had any. I looked at it as a big garage sale for literary works, but nothing I was going to attempt seriously. I wouldn't have a problem getting an agent or a publisher. And really, who reads on their computers?

I'll give you a minute to look up the answer. On your Kindle. Or your Nook. Or your netbook. Or your iPhone.

I knew, I just didn't know it

Smashwords hasn't changed their philosophy very much since then. What they have done is expanded the reach of their material. About a dozen formats are available for download and they are affiliated with many e-book publishers such as Barnes & Noble and Amazon. But what really sold me into working with them was a very simple concept that I totally ignored from the beginning.

I don't like most of the stuff on the best seller lists. And I don't read it. Why would anyone at one of those companies whose job it is to populate those lists think that what I was writing was worth their time? They wouldn't, because it's not what sells well for them.

And now that I do....

It occurred to me that selling directly to the people who like what I like was the answer. And Smashwords appears to be an excellent way to do that. With all their different formats and their acceptance of popular payment methods such as Paypal, and print-on-demand possibilities from their affiliate WordClay, this looks like a winner. Of course, I'll have to do all my own marketing and advertising, but I'd have to do a lot of that with a publisher anyway. I'm kind of stoked about it, to tell the truth. Who knew?

Have you bought anything from Smashwords.com? Are you going to? What was your impression of the quality of the work there?

Springpunk?

Yeah, springpunk. I can't take credit for creating that word, but I'll use it. It's got nothing to do with the (looooong overdue) changing of the seasons here in North America. It's also got nothing to do with water. It has everything to do with twisted pieces of metal and the work they can do.

You've probably heard of cyberpunk, in which computers and technology issues substantially impact and/or control peoples' lives, mostly in the future. Many of those works, movies and books, some of them quite extraordinary, are designed to deliver warnings about letting technology take too much control of our lives. Implants and cyborgs and alternate technological universes and highly imaginative violence. Dark. Really, really dark. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy most cyberpunk works because the world-building tends to be exquisite, but I like the sun, too. It can't be dark all the time.

You might have even heard of steampunk. Equipment and vehicles commonly electrically or gasoline powered now are redesigned to be steam-powered. Victorian settings are common. Flight is a popular aspect, either through zeppelins or ornithopters (flapping wing aircraft) or rockets or combinations. And goggles. And leather helmets. I've found much steampunk fiction thematically light: give your all for King and Country and don't swear in front of the ladies or they'll faint. We've been there and done that. The question I ask of the steampunk I read or watch is this: is this steam-powered gadget really necessary? Much of the time the answer is no. And leather helmets are hats, not helmets. No protection at all. Maybe I'm not reading the right stuff. Recommend more if you would. I think the genre has promise, but I'm just not seeing the production.

So, springpunk. A work in which wind-up servants substantially impact peoples' lives. Think of a machine that does the dangerous jobs that people shouldn't do. A toolbox that walks to a job site. A mechanical lumberjack. A mechanical farmhand. A mechanical bartender. Go ahead, make up your own. It can do whatever you want. Now figure out what its existence does to its world and the people in it. And what it might be able to do besides its assigned functions.

That effect on people and on the machines themselves what my e-books are about. I'll let you know when the first one comes out. It should be in a few days.