Why Everyone Should Consider Going Indie!

Few industries have changed in the past decade more than the publishing industry. There are some real, viable alternatives to spending your entire career begging for book contracts from mainstream publishers. If you’re lucky enough to get a contract, then you’ll turn to begging for marketing, attention, the next contract…

Not necessary anymore, as this article from Ryan Doughan demonstrates. Great job Ryan.  Check it out: http://bit.ly/2wx3bFh

 

Harry James Denton Goes Live On Eclipse Day!

Today is August 21st, the day of the Great American Solar Eclipse. We watched it from the deck and it was amazing. Coincidentally (as if the eclipse excitement wasn’t enough), this is the day the Spearhead Press Ebook editions of the second three Harry James Denton novels went live for pre-order on all major outlets!

Murder Manual has been republished under it’s original title Nobody’s Chain Lays Straight.  Murder Manual has also been retitled, now called A Manual Of Murder. And the last installment in the series, Dirty Money, has retained it’s original title.

Here are the covers. Look for them on all the major Ebook distribution sites:

While I don’t mean to favor one distributor over another, I will note that there’s a series page on Amazon.com, where all six books are on the same page. Nothing like making it easy!

Harry James Denton’s Amazon.com page

 

SEMWA Online Interview/Podcast Is Now Available!

On Thursday, June 1st, I had a new adventure. I was the guest of a monthly gathering of the Southeast Chapter of the Mystery Writers of America. Only it wasn’t an in-person meeting. We all checked into a website and it was all done over that new-fangled Internet thingy.

My thanks to the wonderful Beth Terrell for putting it together and my thanks to SEMWA for letting me put a link up so everyone can listen. It was a fun time and let’s all go support MWA!

https://recordings.join.me/ZKyd_G5G-0eXPFe4FvHu-w

On The Beauty of Indie Publishing…

I’ve been very quiet on the blog and news front lately, but only because I’ve been so busy on other fronts. The fourth, fifth, and sixth Harry James Denton novels are in the publication pipeline. The fourth, Chain Of Fools, is ready to go. The fifth, Murder Manual, is with the copy editor, and I’m putting together the files for Dirty Money.

My wonderful book cover designer, Dawn Charles at BookGraphics.net, is working on the covers as we speak.

And here’s the beauty of the independent publishing movement–twenty years or so ago, when the Harry James Denton novels were originally published by Ballantine Books, I lost two different battles over titles. My editor didn’t like my original title for the fourth novel, so he vetoed it and called the book Chain Of Fools. I think he was trying to maintain some kind of music riff after Dead Folks’ Blues and Torch Town Boogie.

But when I hear that title, all I can think of is the Aretha Franklin hit from 1968. In fact, if you Google Chain Of Fools, that’s what you get: All Aretha/All The Time…

So since I’m now the publisher as well as the author, I’m reverting back to the original title for that novel, Nobody’s Chain Lays Straight.

Hope everyone likes it. Same with the title to the fifth novel, Murder Manual. The original title for that one was Life’s Little Murder Manual.

So that’s what it’s going back to.

Enjoy…

So What’s A “Shopping Agreement?”

A very good friend of mine, actor-writer Sam Dalton, has co-developed a possible episodic TV series with his collaborator. They’ve got a producer interested, but rather than a traditional option, the producer wants what is become increasingly common in the film business, a “shopping agreement.”

So what is a shopping agreement? In an industry that is as complicated and as laden with legal minefields as film and publishing, a shopping agreement is an attempt to move a project forward without the time, expense and hassle of engaging a crew of lawyers.

But as this article from FilmmakerMagazine.com reveals, it’s really difficult to get past all that:

Not an Option: The Ins and Outs of Shopping Agreements

Edgar and Shamus Award-Winning Author