AletheaKontis.com

I’m mentally composing a nice long blog about comma use in writing…but I just realized it’s now lunchtime and I still have a bunch of errands to run. So, to tide you over until later, here’s a happy gratuitous picture of Lucky & Ginger.

I’m so glad THEY are getting some sleep. *grumble* I swear, by the time I get used to them being here, they’ll be gone. Pooh.

It’s always an adventure in the land where Princess Alethea reigns. This week, The Fairy Godboyfriend and I are dogsitting (and so far haven’t slept through the night, as Ginger and Lucky get used to tenants coming and going from the apartment complex at all hours).

Last week, I had an adventure in self-publishing.

As I’d mentioned earlier, dear friend and fellow author J.T. Ellison took me to task and asked me why the heck I hadn’t gotten any of my substantial backlist of stories out in digital formats. It was certainly something I had considered, and looked into working on in my spare time, maybe on the weekends, between writing and editing and everything else I’m trying to juggle. The number of balls I had in the air was starting to stress me out…at which point FGB sat me down and helped me take stock of my priorities. He reiterated J.T’s points, essentially telling me I was “sitting on a gold mine” by letting all those stories lie dormant. So, I took all of last week, set myself a rigorous schedule, and taught myself how to digitally publish my own stories.

As many of you have asked, here are some tips from my adventures I’d thought I’d share with the world.

After realizing Kindle and Nook uploads needed to be in a certain format, FGB and I discovered that Smashwords was probably the way to go, as it ultimately outputs the story in pretty much every format imaginable. Of course, in order to get started on Smashwords, I had to sit down and go through the 73-page manual on how to format my document in Word.

Tips in a nutshell: Switch view to “Outline” so you can see all your tabs and paragraph breaks and spaces. Set all your formatting to “Normal”, and modify the style to be single-spaced, with a first-line indent of about 0.3″. Remove any and all tabs you have used. Take out all page breaks and never use more than one extra carriage return to separate pages or POV shifts. Just use *–*–* or similar to indicate a page break in your text. (Remember, digital users can change the look of their document to whatever they want–you need to hamper that user experience as little as possible.) Learn how to use bookmarks and hyperlink your Table of Contents to the Chapter Headings. Include Copyright information, and an “About the Author” section at the end.

Learning all of that took me about two solid hours, during which FGB asked me to please think quieter because he was trying to take a nap. Of course, once I learned all THAT, then I had to remember how to use Photoshop and come up with some covers.

I use a lot of my own artwork and photography, but I’m not afraid of snagging the occasional public domain photo here and there, so once I got a decent template for my stories I stuck with it. A reader is going to spend about two seconds looking at the title page–I just want to make sure they can clearly read the title and my name. I wanted the photo i used to reflect the story’s subject matter as best as I could.

Remember, too, that a lot of digital readers are still only in Black and White. Don’t go all color crazy, unless you’re putting one cover in the actual ePub edition and one cover on Amazon and B&N…but I’m getting ahead of myself.

I formatted everything in Word and got covers done for a few stories. I decided upon this strategy: Do one anthology of five stories for $2.99. Then sell a bunch of other stories for $0.99 apiece — and with the single stories, you get a bonus essay on the origin of the idea for the story. Like a DVD bonus, if you will, for those superfans out there (because I know you’re out there). So I’m all ready to go…

…and I still don’t have access to my Smashwords author page.

See, when you’re an author and you have a publisher who sets up a book of yours on Smashwords, they create this kind of dummy page that works as your author page. Once you decide to sign up as an author, you have to petition to have them relinquish control over this phantom page to you. I asked, got permission from the publisher, and never heard back from Smashwords. Great.

But Murphy’s always on my side — while I’m in the middle of all this, Steven Saus (you remember my recent chat with him about digital publishing) advised me to steer clear of Smashwords. He didn’t like some things about the way they ran, or the software they used to churn out all those versions of your book. He said that if I had the ability, I should just try to create the ePub and upload it to Amazon and B&N on my own.

FGB already had this program on his computer called Calibre, a free e-book management program you can download for free. All I had to do was save my document as an html, add it to the library, and convert it into an ePub. Done and done, in about two minutes. After that, it was only a matter of uploading to both Nook and Kindle digital platforms, which they’ve really made quite simple.

Some more tips about Amazon & B&N uploading — if your cover is white (which does look nice on screens), Amazon will not place a border around it (B&N does) to distinuish your book form the background. Obviously it’s a book…but it looks kind of funky. Just go ahead and put a small border around it — it’s easy to do and isn’t THAT distracting from the cover’s aesthetics. Also, you will be asked to write a description of the book/story you are uploading. You need to sell this story in an elevator pitch. One or two lines only, if you can. If you have any extra content, put this in too! How else will the buyers know? I forgot this, and had to add it later. B&N approves their files a lot faster than Amazon, but both are very forgiving if you have to change a description, upload different cover art, or re-upload your entire e-book because you forgot to upload the right format the first time around. (Look, I was tired, okay?)

Amazon is nice and sends you an email with everything you’ve uploaded, and the direct links you can use to access them.

Here are the separate links to all the stories I have on Amazon:
The Unicorn Tree | http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004WG4LOY/ref=wwwaletheakon-20
The Witch of Black Mountain | http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004WE7UEO/ref=wwwaletheakon-20
Small Magics and Other Stories | http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004W9C40E/ref=wwwaletheakon-20
The Monster and Mrs. Blake | http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004W8D31Y/ref=wwwaletheakon-20
A Poor Man’s Roses | http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004W82O3W/ref=wwwaletheakon-20
Small Magics | http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004W82LG2/ref=wwwaletheakon-20
The God of Last Moments | http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004W82KBS/ref=wwwaletheakon-20
Blue and Gray & Black and Green | http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004WP3FVK/ref=wwwaletheakon-20
The Way of the Restless | http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004WLOPYA/ref=wwwaletheakon-20

Don’t forget — if you’re part of the Amazon Associates program, stick your reference number at the end of those links so you can also get the kickback if people order them directly from your website. (I’ll leave the links visible here so you can see what ‘m talking about.)

B&N doesn’t send you a snazzy email, but if you go to the site and search by author, it gives you the option of looking at only the NOOK Books for that author. Mine are here. I’m also (slowly) getting all of those links live on my bibliography site as they each go live.

And I still don’t have access to Smashwords.

If you have a buck and a Nook or a Kindle, please click on a story that interests you and check me out. I’d love to hear what you think about both the stories and the essays I’ve written to go along with them.

I have one or two more stories I can upload once I’ve written essays for them — I have to say, after eight of them I did start to get burnt out…but it’s just so much FUN talking abut how I get ideas for things and when I was when I wrote something…because I can always remember. Stories are like little time capsules for me. I can tell you that I have another anthology planned for this October called PRINCESS ALETHEA’S SCARY TALES, for your Halloween enjoyment. I also have something super-super special planned for Christmas…but I don’t want to give that away quite yet. I’m still working on the artwork. Slowly. In my spare time. On the weekends.

Just don’t tell FGB.

So there’s this amazing book coming out in June that you need to know about.

Once Upon A Time…

…in the faraway land of Story, a Hugo-winning Editor realized that no one had collected together the fairy tales of the age, and that doorstop-thick anthologies of modern fairy tales were sorely lacking…

And so the Editor ventured forth, wandering the land of Story from shore to shore, climbing massive mountains of books and delving deep into lush, literary forests, gathering together thirty-three of the best re-tellings of fairy tales he could find. Not just any fairy tales, mind you, but tantalizing tales from some of the biggest names in today’s fantastic fiction, authors like Gregory Maguire, Susanna Clarke, Charles de Lint, Holly Black, Aletha Kontis, Kelly Link, Neil Gaiman, Patricia Briggs, Paul Di Filippo, Gregory Frost, and Nancy Kress. But these stories alone weren’t enough to satisfy the Editor, so the Editor ventured further, into the dangerous cave of the fearsome Bill Willingham, and emerged intact with a magnificent introduction, to tie the collection together.

And the inhabitants of Story, from the Kings and Queens relaxing in their castles to the peasants toiling in the fields; from to the fey folk flitting about the forests to the trolls lurking under bridges and the giants in the hills, read the anthology, and enjoyed it. And they all lived…

…Happily Ever After.

Contents:
Bill Willingham – Introduction
Gregory Maguire – The Seven Stage a Comeback
Genevieve Valentine – And In Their Glad Rags
Howard Waldrop – The Sawing Boys
Michael Cadnum – Bear It Away
Susanna Clarke – Mr. Simonelli or the Fairy Widower
Karen Joy Fowler – The Black Fairy’s Curse
Charles de Lint – My Life As A Bird
Holly Black – The Night Market
Theodora Goss – The Rose in Twelve Petals
Jim C. Hines – The Red Path
Alethea Kontis – Blood and Water
Garth Nix – Hansel’s Eyes
Wil McCarthy – He Died That Day, In Thirty Years
Jane Yolen – Snow In Summer
Michelle West – The Rose Garden
Bruce Sterling – The Little Magic Shop
K. Tempest Bradford – Black Feather
Alan Rodgers – Fifi’s Tail
Kelly Link – The Faery Handbag
Peter Straub – Ashputtle
Leslie What – The Emperor’s New (And Improved) Clothes
Robert J. Howe – Pinocchio’s Diary
Wendy Wheeler – Little Red
Neil Gaiman – The Troll Bridge
Patricia Briggs – The Price
Paul Di Filippo – Ailoura
Jeff VanderMeer – The Farmer’s Cat
Gregory Frost – The Root of The Matter
Susan Wade – Like a Red, Red Rose
Josh Rountree – Chasing America
Nancy Kress – Stalking Beans
Esther Friesner – Big Hair
Robert Coover – The Return of the Dark Children

Trade Paperback
978-1-59780-220-8
496 Pages – $15.99

That’s right — I’m in a ToC with Birthday Boy Jim C. Hines (Happy birthday, Jim!) and, once again, that pesky Neil Gaiman fellow. I’m not complaining at all. I mean, have you seen that cover? It’s GORGEOUS!I am so honored that John asked me to be included.

And if you like, you can preorder it now straight from Nightshade books.

Episode 11: “Fitcher’s Bird” (8:07)

Known also as “Fitcher’s Brides” and “Bluebeard,” this is the infamous fairy tale about a serial killer. Fair warning: the story does contain scenes where maidens are hacked to bloody pieces. But worry not, for everything turns out okay in the end…if mass-murderous revenge is your idea of “okay.”

What lessons do we take from this story? Well, if a strange man tells you not to go into a locked room and then gives you the key anyway, IT’S A TRAP. Also, eggshells are incredibly porous.

Happy Easter!

"Fitcher's Bird" by the Brothers Grimm, read by Alethea Kontis [ 8:09 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

For only $2.99! Small Magics and Other Stories contains:
“Small Magics”
“Unicorn Gold”
“The Giant and the Unicorn”
“The Scientist’s Daughter”
“The Monster & Mrs. Blake”

“Unicorn Gold” and “The Scientist’s Daughter” are original to this collection and have never before appeared in print.

These stories are all YA appropriate and would be fun for middle-grade readers and above.

Also, the covers on all the stories and books are artwork or photography all my own. (Except for The Nightmare, of course, but that’s public domain.)

Let’s see if this Amazon widget works, and you can go check it out straight from here!

This week, I’m working on making some of my stories available in digital format (for only $0.99 each). I understood that there would be a decently steep learning curve since I’m a bit of a technoidiot, but I still wanted to soak up as much about this thing that is digital publishing as I could. I’m learning all about formatting and refreshing my memory on Photoshop… Ultimately, it’s been far more fun than it has been frustrating, which is a good thing.

My dear friend J.T. Ellison (on Twitter as @thrillerchick) took me to task over breakfast a couple of weekends ago and forced me to get my royal butt in gear on this particular subject. She told me she’d been waiting for a digital anthology from me for far too long, and was willing to make one happen by force, if needs be. J.T. may look all sweet and tall and blonde and awesome, but she kills people for a living, so I try not to cross her if at all possible.

I explained that the bulk of my short story fodder (and there is quite the bulk, it seems) was either not available for me yet, or did not adhere to a certain theme. J.T. agreed with the first point, but argued the second. She also offered up the suggestion that I make novella-size anthologies of a certain theme, if I was so inclined to stick with that particular hangup. It was a good idea.

What I’ve decided to do is this: I’m going to begin by putting up the short stories I have available for sale on Amazon/Kindle and B&N/Nook at $0.99 apiece. You will get not only the story, but also an essay on the origin of that particular tale (I always love reading that sort of thing). I will then periodically put up mini-collections of my work–4 or 5 thematic story collections with possibly some original stories thrown in–for only $2.99. While it will be cheaper than buying each story separately, I will not include the origin essays in the anthology.

Does this sound good to you guys? Let me know what you think.

And now, apparently, I need to go write some more origin essays. For some reason I thought I had a lot more of these already done. Not that it matters, really…you know how much we authors *hate* going on and on about our stories.

If a writer plans to include a significant other in her life, this person needs to understand a LOT. It helps if this person is an avid reader. It helps if this person already has friends who are crazy, emotional, melodramatic, workaholic writers. It helps if this person is internet or technologically savvy. It helps if this person is perfectly okay being in the same room while the person they love is on a completely different planet. It helps if this person is realistic and sane and patient, if only when you need them to be.

The Fairy GodBoyfriend is all these things. He is my Touchstone.

Last night, after the Fairy Gooddaughters went to bed, I told FGB that we needed to talk. He was probably scared to death. Which he really shouldn’t be, because by now he should know that my very serious discussion are usually about things like “Which pancake recipe would go best with blueberries?” or “Should I put the plants outside before we go to your parents’ for the weekend?” But last night I had a dilemma, and I needed his help.

You guys know I have this huge list of things to do. I love my lists. I always have a list. If I ever find myself idle, I just go back and refer to the list. There is *always* something to do. I am never bored. But the list I’m working on now seems to have 5 or 6 things on it that all seem like Very Important Things to Do. The problem with all of those Very Important Things to Do is that one is not quite sure where to start digging first. So I laid them all out for him and asked him his thoughts on what my priorities should be.

Not only did he have an answer, he had a very good reason for that answer, and I went to bed with a plan of attack for the next day. I like having plans. Almost as much as I like having lists.

Thanks, sweetie, for being my tether back down to earth.

Now if you all will excuse me, I have a shower and a load of work to do today. FGB’s going to be checking in on me soon expecting a progress report. Have a good Monday!

Episode 10: “The Crumbs on the Table” (1:18)

This tale is far more like one of Aesop’s Fables than a traditional fairy tale…if Aesop’s Fables were about jerks who hated puppies and played tricks on innocents. PETA would have had a field day with this guy.

Moral of the story? Be smart. And trust no one.

"The Crumbs on the Table" by the Brothers Grimm, read by Alethea Kontis [ 1:18 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

A few weeks ago, Joe and I took two rowdy Canadians to see the Adam Ezra Group…a couple of times. By the second event, we were exchanging hugs with the band like we’d known them for years and getting on each other’s Christmas Card lists. Their tour took them from DC down to Florida and Georgia. They swung back up north during their final leg on their way home to Boston, so Joe and I saw them again last night at 8×10 in Baltimore.

It was just like catching up with old buddies–we magically found a parking space and got to the venue early, so we shared hugs with Adam and caught up with Turtle on how Spring Break was and what had been going on in our lives since we’d last (and technically first) met. The news on my part was relatively mundane…I was in the middle of scribbling down my acknowledgments for Sunday, and I’d recently found out that somehow my dear friend Sherri also liked AEG, having discovered them completely separate from me. It’s always fun when that happens.

The set was fabulous, as usual…and though I was disappointed by how few people had shown up on a Thursday night, in a way it was like getting my own private showing. I chatted with complete strangers (they were at my private party, after all) and danced my heart out. The floor at 8×10 apparently has some kind of funky springs underneath it that my knees enjoyed. I sweated my butt off and totally didn’t care.

After their set (and after I stepped outside to cool off and let my hair dry a bit), Joe and I went down to the basement (just like the Basement Song) where the swag table was to chat with Adam and Josh and pick up a CD for Adam to sign to Sherri. I handed Adam the CD and the Sharpie and we talked about my friend who’s this big paranormal romance author, and I spelled her name out, and he signed the cover…and then as soon as he finishes, something in his brain clicked. “Who is this for again? Her full name?”

“Sherrilyn Kenyon,” I said.

“Holy shit! How do you know her?”

“I lived in Nashville for almost 12 years. She’s one of my best friends. I wrote the Companion for her Dark-Hunter series. Wait…how do you know her?”

“Last year we got a call from our publicist telling us she was going to use our song ‘Kill Like This’ for one of her book trailers. Was it…Infinity?”

“Yes! Infinity! The young adult book! Holy crap, I had no idea! When I see her at the end of the month, I’m  going to ask her exactly how she and I both fell in love with the same band at the same time. Crazy, right?”

Adam took the CD he had just signed and threw it away. He grabbed another one off the table, opened the shrink wrap, and began to write a small novel that included at least as many expletives as it did exclamation points. I laughed as I read over his shoulder. “Okay, here,” he said when he was done, “and give her this too.” He gave me a huge hug. “Maybe we’ll get to meet her in person some day.”

“I’m sure you will,” I said.

Adam looked at me for a long moment and shook his head. “God, it’s a small world, isn’t it?”

I agreed. “I guess we were all just destined to meet each other at some point.”

* * *

If you haven’t discovered The Adam Ezra Group yet, now’s your chance. They have quite a few more tour dates on their schedule, and since they’re still sort of “underground” at the moment, the venues are still intimate.

If you’re looking up songs to check out on YouTube, I recommend “Half a Hero” because it’s fun to dance to (and should have been on the Kickass soundtrack), “Another Sunshine” because of it’s brilliantly connected lyrics, “Vision” (also fun to dance to), and “Scandal”, which totally belongs on the TV show “Justified.”

Also, if you have five free seconds and are so inclined, click over to the FedEx Underground Music Series site and “become a fan” of Adam Ezra Group — they’re in the running to win a trip to Memphis and a recording contract…and they actually have a shot. Do your part — support indie artists!

And for the Dark-Hunter fans who might have missed it (like me), here’s the Infinity trailer from last May, featuring AEG’s song “Kill Like This.” This is a great example of a successful book trailer — makes me want to go right out and buy the book again. It also holds a special place in my heart for the guy who shows up 19 seconds in. Some of you know him as Bubba, or Evyl Ed. I know him as the only man with a will strong enough to constantly challenge me on Words With Friends, even if I do win 98% of the time. (Love you, Eddie! xox)

I passed this sight coming home from the gym this morning…then backed up and took the picture.

This tree looks exceptionally important.