“Discoverability—the problem traditional publishers also face—is only going to get trickier. Huffington Post blogger Julie Gerstenblatt wrote about trying to grab readers’ attention for her book, Lauren Takes Leave, in her series about her experience self-pubbing. With her HuffPo connection, she figured she had the coveted platform that helps writers launch their careers. Instead, she said, “Turns out that platform of mine is less of a high-dive springboard and more of a children’s step-stool.”

The quoted material above is an excerpt from a thoughtful blog post from Kirkus Reviews Senior Indie Editor Karen Schechner. Read the full post here.

In the coming months, we’ll share tips and other interesting perspectives on this frontier topic. The quick answer? Try everything at least once. And remember: Pumpjack Press is shooting for the winner’s circle.

“This sequel to ‘The Cowboy and the Vampire’, which I honestly did not expect to be written ever after such a long time, was truly worth waiting for. Am I glad I was wrong!

The story continues just where C&V ends. Lizzie Vaughan is still the most wanted person in the vampire world, though she has yet to prove her supposed ability to turn humans. While she still struggles to come to terms with her new existence as vampire and the necessity of draining humans, at the same time she has to negotiate the vampiric future with the not too friendly clan leaders. On top of that, Tucker makes a shocking discovery about the origin of the newly available packaged blood. So instead of spending cozy hours in their new trailer and being excited about Lizzie’s pregnancy, she and Tucker again have to face some very evil bloodsuckers.

B&W perfectly continues the story of Lizzie and Tucker with interesting character developments and more fascinating details about the vampire history, further expanding the unique vampire world built by this series. At the same time, it maintains the well-composed mixture of some-but-not-too-much romance, blood-spilling action and unmistakable humor.

After devouring Blood and Whiskey my only concern is how long we will have to be patient for another return of the cowboy and the vampire. I can’t wait!”

Location, location, location; my father’s cautionary advice to me upon purchasing a first home. “Nothing else matters, Kath, location, location, location.” It was good advice, I was glad to have it. The advice, it turns out, is relevant to a novel’s setting too, but since Dad had no similar editorial advice, Clark and I learned this literary lesson — and the ripple effects on everything from post-publishing marketing strategies to taxes — on our own.

Here are four fruits of that experience, interspersed with a running deliberation on a related question: does the literary ball-and-chain “write what you know” meme apply to setting choice too? (For sure, hell no and it depends).  Read more >>

Please send up to four paragraphs describing your book via email to pumpjackpress@yahoo.com; attention Sara Shearer, Editor. Please include the word “Submission” in the subject line.

When you have the loneliest job in the world — writing — it helps to have a partner.

Few professional pursuits are as lonely as writing. A lighthouse keeper comes close. Or a hermit seeking enlightenment. Or possibly a toll booth operator.

It’s not that writers purposefully cut ourselves off from people, it’s just that we tend to live mostly inside our heads — forever spinning out plotlines, testing stories, creating characters, constructing new worlds and constantly, chronically, obsessively observing. And taking notes. It’s not normal behavior, truthfully, and it can make us feel alone, even in crowds.

Most productive writers don’t spend too much time in crowds anyway because we’re generally sequestered away somewhere scribbling in notebooks or pounding a keyboard. So it’s lonely AND boring. Think of the worst tortured artist from some subtitled French black and white film, magnify that by a god complex of biblical proportions and then add years of disappointment and the final product is somewhere near a typical writer. And chances are, that writer is probably single or has a sorely disappointed, long-suffering and very patient partner.

What’s the anti-mating call of the writer? “Not tonight dear, I’m making great progress on my book/short story/screenplay/manifesto.”

Read the rest of this post here >>

“The erratic behaviour of the author mentioned in Where do authors get their validation in an age of self-publishing? is a strong illustration of why we don’t read self-published authors. We don’t have a firewall between us and the writer. Books from publishing houses that don’t have any self-published books give a level of detachment between what we write and the reaction we’ll get. Sure, publishers don’t want negative reviews but they do need to know if they are publishing something that isn’t selling because it’s awful or because it’s good but not reaching the audience.”

Bad reviews are a fact of being a published author. It’s the back and forth discussion about a book that renders it interesting and gives readers confidence in the totality of reviews. No book ever made it to best-seller status with only glowing reviews. Take a look at this essay about the literary elite reaction to The Catcher in the Rye for a cruel reminder. John Updike – among many others – criticized Salinger’s work.

In this spirit, here’s an awful review titled “Painful” posted by “DMc” on Amazon recently about the first book in the series The Cowboy and Vampire. While this book was originally published traditionally (Midnight Ink, 2011), as a growing indie publishing house, we want to help blaze the way. Authors: be confident in what your write. A bad review lends credibility. Even John Updike once weighed in on the talent of one of the authors of this book!

A screen shot memorializing The Cowboy and Vampire breaking The top 100!

It’s an exciting new world of e-books, indie book publishing and, sadly, the demise of many bookstores. The latter self-inflicted and likely mortal wound is wrapped up in the over-dependence on the outdated business model of the Big Houses, now also in the grip of a  slow and painful death spiral. However, bookstores play a vital role in “book discoverability” — what will replace it? Likely it will be a host of mechanisms ranging from book lover websites like Goodreads, the relentless enthusiasm of individual book bloggers and, hopefully, a growing importance of the library system.

Online retailers already play a big role in helping readers discover new authors, and on Friday, January 25, Pumpjack Press was thrilled to see The Cowboy and Vampire featured as Amazon’s Kindle Daily Deal!  The online rank was at one point up to #3 bestselling Kindle book, and the book stayed in the Top 100 nearly all weekend. There are new reviews popping up on Amazon and we’ve received emails asking about the book. Traffic to the authors’ website also spiked.

Thank you Amazon! We appreciate your attention to this book and hope you might consider featuring Blood and Whiskey next!

Hot off the presses! Pumpjack Press is proud to share a new review of Blood and Whiskey from the revered Midwest Book Review. Many thanks. We appreciate your dedication to the publishing and reading world. 

The Cowboy’s Library

At this time of year, “best-of” list mania abounds. They are all interesting, and different.

Here’s one that stands out, at least for those of us interested in literature and publishing: the reading list for 2012 for the authors of The Cowboy and Vampire Thriller Series – the work that inspires them and gets their creative juices flowing.

It’s an interesting topic. What source materials do authors rely on when they are writing? We know some authors that stop reading when writing, not wanting to fall into a trap of becoming literary-tofu, casually absorbing the ambient flavors. Others read voraciously, especially the new releases, wanting to ensure that his or her work is unique. Others (most) simply can’t help but read all the time.

This list from The Cowboy and Vampire authors is a holistic, no holds barred, all-encompassing effort that captures the components, the bits and pieces, the creative juices that fuel the gothic western comedic neo-anarchic big-bang duct-tape wearing love story-for-the-ages aesthetic that is The Cowboy and Vampire. And what a list! From graphic novels to non-fiction books about madness to indie paranormal to anarchy handbooks. Looks like it’s a glorious mess up there, in their brains.

Head on over to the authors’ website to read the full list (www.cowboyandvampire.com).