Welcome Kelly A. Harmon

Kelly A. Harmon is a former newspaper reporter and magazine editor, who has since turned to fiction.  Her short-fiction has been published in several anthologies and has been short-listed for the Aeon Award. Her published novella, Blood Soup, is an award-winning story. 

Ms. Harmon teaches writing at the local community college where the number one question she hears these days is, “How do I publish my book?”

So You Want to Publish Your Novel

It used to be that if you wanted to publish your book, you finished it up, mailed it to an agent in New York and crossed your fingers.  If you were lucky, you got a contract with a large New York publisher and an advance on the product, but then you waited anywhere from a year, to maybe two, to see your book in print.

Today, you can type “The End” at the bottom of your manuscript and self-publish it at Amazon within the hour.

There’s a middle ground, too: a small-press publisher (sometimes called an Indie Press), who acts similarly as the New York publishing house (edits your book, gets an artist to draw a cover, distributes your book), but all on a lesser scale.

Which is right for you or your book?

The answer depends on your goals.  There are pros and cons to each of these choices.

New York – “Big Six” – Publishing

Pros:

·      You get an editor dedicated to your book, to make it (and you) sound great. 

·      A professional artist will do the cover of your book. 

·      You’ll get distribution in brick-and-mortar stores, as well as on-line.

·      You get some marketing money (although sometimes the budget is miniscule, especially for new writers).

·      You might get a publicist who will write copy to send to your local newspaper, and line you up for radio shows or TV interviews.

·      Your book has been “vetted” by an acquisitions editor, a copy editor and possible an agent, making it more desirable in the eyes of some of the buying public.

Cons:

·      It takes about 18 months from acceptance to publication.

·      You earn (on average) 10 – 15% of the cover price of the book for each book sold.

·      You’ll probably need to have an agent to get your book read by a large house, and...

·      You have to pay your agent 15% - 20% of your earnings.

·       

Small Press Publishing

Pros:

·      You don’t need an agent.

·      In most cases, it’s easier to get published (and there are more opportunities for publication, for example, in a short story collection or themed anthology).

·      As with New York houses, your book will be professionally edited, but quality varies.

·      Your artwork will be professionally done by the press, or by an artist hired by the press.   You’ll have more of a say here of what your cover looks like than in a big firm, but, again, the quality still varies.

·      The time frame from acceptance to publication is usually shorter, often less than a year.

·      Your book has been “vetted” by at least one editor.

Cons:

·      Most small presses don’t offer advances (though this is changing).

·      Most small press books cannot be found on the shelves in brick-and-mortar stores (although they can be special ordered), thus,

·      Sales tend to be fewer.

·      Advertising and publicity budges will be slim to none.

·      The author is expected to market as much as possible.

Self-Publishing

Pros:

·      You have total control over your book:  the writing, the editing, what the cover looks like, how much it will sell for, how it will be marketed, etc.

·      You can finish your book in the morning, have it published by lunch, and make sales on it the very same day.

·      You keep all the profit (as much as 70% of the cover price) after paying your distributor(s) for each sale.

·      If your book “takes off,” you stand to earn a lot more money than you ever could with a NY or small press publishing deal.

·      High sales could lead to a NY publishing deal.

Cons:

·      You have total control of your book.  You have to write it, edit it, design a cover (or hire an artist), market it, advertise it, etc.

·      The “average” self-publisher will have fewer sales on a single book, than an author who sells a single book to NY or small publisher.

·      “Self-published” books are considered inferior by some readers.  You will sell few, if any, books to this segment of the buying public (no matter how good your cover looks, how well your book is edited, or how professional your marketing is.)

Another thing to consider is the project you plan on publishing.  Some books – like family histories or recipe books, or niche market stories – are eminently suitable for self-publishing. Taking that route from the start will save all kinds of trouble and heartache.

On the other hand, if you have the credentials, non-fiction can be an easier sell to a NY publisher because their sales outpace fiction. With the right pitch, you could have an acceptance within weeks:  and you don’t even have to write the entire book up front.

Learn more about Ms. Harmon at her Web site:  http://kellyaharmon.com.  She can also be found on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/kelly.a.harmon1) and occasionally on Twitter: @kellyaharmon.com.

Her latest short, “On the Path,”--  originally published in the anthology, Triangulation: Dark Glass -- is now available on Amazon Kindle. (http://www.amazon.com/On-the-Path-ebook/dp/B005XOAT9A/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1323136315&sr=1-1)

About On the Path

Tan is just another farmer, following the path, when the seal on his soul-powered plow bursts, causing a mass exodus of ghosts from the reincarnation engine. Instead of being carried off by the wind, these ghosts flee to Tan's tangerine groves, reveling in their freedom.

Tan confronts them only to learn that one of the souls is his deceased uncle, Lau Weng, and he's forced to offer hospitality.

Souls laboring in the reincarnation engines grow more solid as they work off their past live's debts and prepare to be born again. But without the work to sustain them, Lau Weng and his ghostly compatriots rely on Tan and his wife Heng to support them.

Lau Weng was never a favored Uncle, and even less favored as a ghost. Caught between death and re-birth, he'll do anything to remain alive. Tan is honor-bound to abide by the laws of hospitality, yet honor-bound to feed his family, too, and he can do nothing to stop Lau Weng.

But everything changes, once Lau Weng decides he's had enough of his ghostly half-life and takes over Heng's body.

Choosing the Right Word - Kelly Harmon

Many thanks to Ginger for having me here at Dishin’ It Out.  

Sometimes, I’ll be typing along and halt, at a total loss for words.  The word is there, it’s right on the tip of my tongue, but I can’t think of it...what do I do?

I usually reach down to the floor (that tells you the state of my desk, doesn’t it?) and grab my trusty Roget’s thesaurus.  It weighs about three-and-a-half pounds.

A personal aside: and then we’ll get back to Roget...  One year for Christmas, my Mom bought a “pocket” thesaurus for me and my siblings and stuffed one each into our stockings.  I was thrilled. (My siblings: not so much.)  I used it through middle school, high school and college.  I kept having to tape the cover back on.  I scoffed at other versions.

A few years ago my Husband of Awesome™ purchased for me, at great cost, an Official Roget’s Thesaurus (the one mentioned above) which was quite heavy and contained nearly 1300 pages. I didn’t want it. And I felt horrible because, after all, I had my trusty pocket thesaurus which had served me well for all these years. It remained, unused, for as long as possible, because I had it in my mind to return it. 

And then one day I needed a word which my trusty little tome couldn’t help me with. So I tried Roget...and, well...I looked for my trusty little tome while I wrote this essay, and couldn’t find it...so that ought to tell you what happened.  I carry Roget, as heavy as he is, whenever I travel, because I can’t seem to do without.]

So...I reach for Roget, and I look up a word that my mind is telling me is close to the word I need...and I’m offered several choices.  Now what?

Well...if you’re writing in English, and I do, because that’s the language I natively speak, I’ll pick the word which doesn’t have a Latin root. More to the point, I’ll choose something with a Germanic (or Anglo-Saxon) root.

The fact is, English is a mutt of other languages. It’s primarily Anglo-Saxon, but in 1,100 AD during the Norman Conquest, a large amount of French finagled it’s way into the vernacular. French was the official language of the English Court. Anglo-Saxon was relegated to the common folk.  During the Renaissance, thousands of Latin words entered into English. This is where synonyms come from, sometimes resulting in three (or more!) words which mean nearly the same thing:

kingly (Germanic)

royal (from French roi)

regal (from Latin rex, regis)

But, since English, at its roots, is a Germanic language, the words in English which resonate, which punch, which emphasize the situation you’re talking about are going to be Germanic. This is because (generally) words from our Germanic ancestors are shorter and more direct (some would say more harsh) than the Latin, whose words are longer, flowery, and often regarded as more elegant or educated.

For example:

Bodily (Germanic) vs. corporal (Latinate)

Brotherly (Germanic) vs. fraternal (Latinate)

Leave (Germanic) vs. egress/exit/depart  (Latinate)

Dog (Germanic) vs. canine  (Latinate)

Ask (Germanic) enquire  (Latinate)

So, given a choice, I would rather ask my brother and his dog to leave than enquire of my frater and his canine to egress.  It just sounds better, don’t you think?

And now for a bit of shameless self-promotion:

My novella Blood Soup is finally available via Kindle.  You can purchase it here.

(It’s gotten some great reviews on Amazon.)

I’ve put the first two chapters up on Scribd if you’d like to check it out.

My short story The Dragon’s Clause is also now available via Kindle...(and also has gotten some fantastic reviews).  It’s available here. 

You can read the first half here for free.  

Information about other versions (PDF, print, etc.) of these stories are available on my Web page.

And, you can find me on Twitter: @Kellyaharmon

Thanks again, Ginger, for having me.  This has been a lot of fun!

Welcome, Kelly A. Harmon

Thank You, To Those Who've Gone Before

Among the many hats I wear is "Family Genealogist." For many people, this means collecting names and dates and seeing how far back they can trace the family line.

But, I'm a story teller, too. And for me, genealogy isn't just about the names and dates, it's about the people, and their stories.

For instance, it's a fine thing to know my great-grandad on my father's side was mechanically inclined. Is that where my father get's his ability? I could leave it there, but it doesn't really tell me much about the man.

I have a newspaper clipping from 1937 where in it he refused to accept a million dollars for a machine that he built. In 1937. Was he crazy? If he had invested it, do you know the kind of life
I'd be leading now?

Let's just say I'd probably be able to write full time without the added benefit of a full-time job.

(And yes, I think he qualified as crazy: he spent time in Leavenworth Penitentiary for "moonshining," after being told the revenuers were traveling door-to-door in the neighborhood. He offered those suited fellers "...one fine distillation..." and they cuffed him and took him away for his hospitality.)

Old Mirt may not seem like much of a family to be thankful for, but he was good looking, from what I can tell from the newspaper photo, and that's got to be something to feel good about. Any woman will tell you that good genes are always something to be thankful for. His life was another: you can bet bits and pieces of it show up in my writing from time to time.

My great-great grandmother came over on the boat to Baltimore from Russian-Poland in the late 1800s. She nursed hundreds of people in the great flue epidemic in 1918 (called "The Blue Death) before succumbing herself. Her selfless devotion enabled others in my family as well as perfect strangers-- to pull through. She was barely forty.

Every generation of my family has members who joined the military, and it's them I thank most of all. I wish I knew why they joined. Was it a spirit of patriotism? For those whose parents came over on the boat...did they feel a need to prove they were Americans by enlisting? I don't know...but every son in my grandmother's family joined up. My great-uncles were Army and Navy men. My maternal grandad was a Navy man. My paternal grandfather, along with his two
brothers, enlisted in the Army.

Oh, the stories! From a writer's point of view, I've hit the mother lode.

Let me tell you the one where Uncle Walter arrived back in the states on Christmas Eve...with a donkey...and brought it home to his sister in Baltimore City. Grandpa traveled around the world
with my Mom's baby shoes in his pocket.

I'm also thankful for their service: not just because they kept this nation strong and safe, but because they did a job I didn't have to.

Maybe that's why they joined: to provide a better life for their families. After all, they had already left one country for a better life in another. Maybe it was all part of their plan.

And so, I'm thankful. To them, and to all service men and women of today. Thank you for keeping me and mine safe.

Kelly A. Harmon
Blood Soup, Eternal Press


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What They're Saying About Blood Soup:

This is a medieval tale about a kingdom destined for certain dire ruin if the King's heir isn't a girl. The characters in the story work together AND against each other as they secretly manipulate, scheme, hope, and react to the surprising birth of the King's heir.

Filled with murder, mystery, and very dire consequences, this is a fast paced Novella with vivid portrayal of events and characters, pulling you into this harsh world the author has created and no
doubt leaving her with new fans eagerly awaiting her next book.