Chris Howard's Writing Blog

Amazon's Digital Text Platform

Amazon's Digital Text Platform (DTP) is where you go to manage all of your ebook-selling functions for Kindle, Amazon's eBook Reader--and the "Kindle Store" the place to get all things Kindle, books, newspapers, magazines, and other downloadable content.

DTP follows a simple structure, you have a Shelf with all your ebooks, reports to see what's going on with sales, and your account information--address, identity, and bank account information--who you are, and how you're going to get paid.

I signed up yesterday to include my novel Nanowhere, really just to see how easy it is to get things going with Amazon.  And, yeah, it's very simple.  Some basic account forms to fill out--the same information you need for PayPal--and you're on your way. 

If you're doing this as an "individual" business type, then you may have to get some numbers together first, like a bank account and routing number. I mean, I don't carry this information around with me, but I do have a bank account specifically set up for online stuff--an account separate from our main account.  I recommend this if you're doing business of any sort online--and this is a business arrangement, you're selling books through Amazon.com, and they need to know where to send your money.

You will have to provide one of the following:
Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN)
Social Security Number (SSN)
Employer Identification Number (EIN)

Here's a quick walk-through of the ebook setup (Click any of these images to see the larger versions).

I created a nice readable HTML version of Nanowhere (using simple tagging.  See the link at the end for all the supported tags).  The upload block also has a cool Preview feature to show you what your book's going to look like on a Kindle. 

Then I set a price, and saved the whole thing to my Shelf:

Before you can get your ebooks into the Kindle Store, you need to add your account information:

and--so you can get paid--bank info:

And you're done.  It's free to set up, and anyone with a Kindle can wirelessly download and read your books, articles, stories.

Kindle Stuff:
Supported HTML tags:
http://forums.digitaltextplatform.com/dtpforums/entry.jspa?externalID=30&categoryID=11

http://dtp.amazon.com/mn/signin

Kindle books through Fictionwise?  No problem:
http://www.fictionwise.com/help/kindleFaq.htm

.

Review of Blood Magic by Matthew Cook

Blood Magic 
by Matthew Cook

Paperback: 272 pages
Publisher: Juno Books
ISBN-10: 0809572001
ISBN-13: 978-0809572007

Running from the remorseless Mor, from the doomed battle at Gamth's Pass, Kirin draws on her forbidden powers to protect her love, Jazen Tor--but too late to save him, too late to retract her "sweetlings," the things she has "birthed" of the spirits of the dead. 

The story of Kirin, blood magician, scout, mother, bear-killer, "abomination," starts at a relentless pace and never lets up through skirmishes, political turmoil, prejudice, deadly encounters with the Mor, and the challenges of controlling powers she doesn't understand.   In alternate chapters, Cook skillfully guides the reader through Kirin's past, growing up in the shadow of her demanding twin sister, haunted by a marriage gone bad and her sister's brutal murder, but empowered by the teachings and the hidden books of wise old Edena.   

When Kirin is saved by the beautiful Lia Cho and suspicious Brother Ato, her life takes on a new set of difficulties and hard lessons to learn, mourning her old love, fostering the possibility of something new.  Lia, a runaway student with the extraordinary power to summon lightning, is taken with the mysterious Kirin, in defiance of the priest of Shanira who openly declares Kirin an abomination--damned, someone who manipulates the dead, and draws her power from the blood of the living.

Matthew Cook's Blood Magic is a dark feast of loss and blood and love, a fast paced fantasy in a world reminiscent of Lois McMaster Bujold's Chalion, compelling characters with the ability to draw on otherworldly powers, who push the boundaries of life and death.  I look forward to reading the sequel next year, exploring Cook's world further, and discovering where Kirin's tale takes us.

Links:
http://www.juno-books.com/bloodmagic.html
http://bloodmagicbooks.blogspot.com

Get Blood Magic here:  BookSense | Amazon | Direct

.

Writing tools

A couple questions before I start rambling:  What tools do you use when you write?  Do you pull out different gear for long form and short form, fiction and non-fiction?

I'm more interested in the tools that work rather than which ones don't, but I'd like to hear about the experiences you've had with any writing application or method.

Digital

First, I don't think it matters if you use Windows, Linux, Mac, or any other OS.  I'm not even sure the tools matter as long as they get the job done and you're comfortable using them.  What may matter is the availability of some tools on some operating systems, but even that's up to you.  If you're like me, you'll find those story boarding/crafting/outlining tools interesting but ultimately unnecessary.

Operating Systems

I have been using Ubuntu for months, not just for work, but as my secondary writing machine.  I'm loving the performance--although like all OS's it seems to have slowed down over the months.  I've always run Linux (used to run RedHat and then Fedora) on older machines, but this is the first time I'm on a new fast core duo notebook.  Ubuntu: it's quick, it's easy, it has a very active community that has provided me with a lot of answers and advice, and it's pretty.  It's a good looking, smooth UI, a really comfortable environment.

I have divided my world into Linux and Windows, and there are many tasks I will always have Linux handy to perform.  For now, though, writing isn't it--and I think this is because I move between the two worlds.  I don't know, but I suspect I would have the same issues if I was trying to write on Windows machines and Macs, moving docs back and forth, converting docs into different formats. Just asking for trouble.

Some good discussion on this--and on Microsoft--over on David Louis Edelman's blog.

Word Processing and Editing

One solution to this--pushed by my colleague and fellow author Skott Klebe (http://textiplication.com)--is Google Docs, which I admit is a very compelling service.  It's entirely online, auto-backed-up, usable from any machine, and with most of the editing/word processing functions needed by writers.  Not all, however.

I primarily use Microsoft Word, XP, 2003 and 2007, different version on different machines, but they all work well together.

I know there are plenty of writers who use Open Office--and have used it for years.  And there are many reasons to use it exclusively. 

I've tried to use Open Office for my documents, and as impressed as I am with the app suite on its own, I'm moving docs between MS Office and Open Office and have encountered all kinds of weirdness, wiped out styles, inserted multiple carriage returns between paragraphs. I'm not going to argue about which app is doing it wrong, MS Office or Open Office. I just need consistency across machines. I need to be able to copy a DOC or an RTF file from my desktop machine to my notebook, edit it, save it, copy it back, and have it appear the same on both machines. I can't seem to do that outside of Windows and Microsoft Office.

One feature I wish Open Office Writer and Google Docs had is the Doc Map, a feature in Microsoft Word I never seemed to need until I started writing 30 chapter books.  The Doc Map allows me to one-click-jump to any chapter.  You can probably get around this by using chapter length docs and opening them individually, but that's not going be as convenient as the Doc Map.

Ultimately, I don't think the word processing software matters as long as you can type, search within the doc, operate quickly inside five hundred page documents (very important), and print out standard manuscript format.  There's at least one of these on every OS.

Story Crafting and Structure Utilities

There are a lot of them out there, but I can't say much because I've only used Writer's DreamKit 4--and that's off and on, and it's been at least a year since I last used it.  I have repeatedly tried to get into the Dramatica story structure theory.  I find the process fascinating, but it's effectiveness is still up in the air.  The two times I dug in really used DreamKit, it forced me to build a summary for the stories, and I later used some of that material for creating synopses. 

So, perhaps it does lead writers down the good habit path with summarization exercises, making it easier to see the whole, character development, adding depth, establishing general motivations for their type as well as individual needs that can drive the character.   

Analog

I've already posted on journaling.  Read about how important I think that is.

I love big paper.  There's something about a thick stack of 11x17 paper that gives me a creative edge.  I want to make big plans, plot farther, develop characters that push the edge.  You can mind map, link ideas, draw characters, connections, conclusions easier on big paper.  I recommend 11x17 or 13x19 and a good pen anytime you need to spill ideas.

It really works.

So, what do you use and what do you recommend for writing tools and methods?

.

WWI Memorial

My dad and I spent an hour Saturday morning walking up the hill from the Crown Center in Kansas City to the Liberty Memorial, a big neo-classical structure with a 217 foot tower.  There's a wonderful World War One museum inside, full of stories and uniforms, land and sea weapons, interactive touch boards that explain political events, how machine guns work, and a lot more.  If you're ever in the area, I definitely recommend taking the time to walk through the museum.

http://www.libertymemorialmuseum.org/
Google Map

See the full set on Flickr (56 photos)

What'd you get?

Just walked in from NYC after a long train ride.  Feeling a bit better today, but still under the weather.

But it's time...time to make a list of the books I picked up at BEA.  I lugged a bag full of ARCs out of Javits Center, to the hotel where they sat in a corner unopened because I was too weak to open them  (Chloe dug through a couple, and Alice is halfway through another and loving it). 

Here's the tally in the order I pick them out of the bag:

The Castle Corona, Sharon Creech
Snakehead, Anthony Horowitz
Extras, Scott Westerfeld ("Uncorrected Sample Chapters")
The Blade Itself, Joe Abercrombie
Spud, John van de Ruit
Little (Grrl) Lost, Charles de Lint
The Battle over the Meaning of Everything, Gordy Slack
Seeing Redd, Frank Beddor
The Humble Little Condom, A History, Aine Collier
Interred with their Bones, Jennifer Lee Carrell
Money, Sex and Kids, Tina B. Tessina Ph.D.
Finding Iris Chang, Paula Kaman
The Very Ordered Existence of Merilee Marvelous, Suzanne Crowley
The Book of Joby, Mark J. Ferrari
Foundling, D.M. Cornish

Custom library art

Cool librarians at Wicomico Public Library in Maryland left me a great comment on MySpace:

Got the posters, and they are GORGEOUS!!! We are psyched to add them to our Teen Zone! Thanks so much for the art & for being our friend!

Here are the posters I sent to the library:

Links:

http://www.wicomicolibrary.org/
Wicomico Public Library MySpace

Signed limited edition prints of "R&R" --Reading and Relaxtion (in freefall) are available at Withywindle Books.

LibraryThing

I signed up a year ago or so, but I've just started using it again, hitting the "Add to LibraryThing" whenever I'm at Amazon.com.

I've put in 150 books so far, and it's relatively painless with some LibraryThing's add tools.

http://www.librarything.com

Library Art

I just packed up two posters for the Wicomico Public Library in Maryland, one of the Time to Read posters (a.k.a. Attack of the 50-foot Librarian) and a custom "R&R"--Reading and Relaxation poster.  Both are 19x13 inches, printed on durable/scratch-resistant satin finish paper.  (Click to see the full images).

Links:

http://www.wicomicolibrary.org/
Wicomico Public Library MySpace