LETHAL JOURNEY
Historical Fiction

Noir 1892 Thriller

Article: (Special to Publishing Industry News.) Copyright @ 2011 by John T. Cullen. All Rights Reserved.

Intro     Sections Covered     Print on Demand (POD)     Digital Platforms     Separate…     …or One Shot?     SmashWords (Digital)     Next Week     Disclaimer: Help, not Put-Down

   Introduction. We have covered the notion that publishing is a business, not a mystery. It is inherently simple: you make a product (shoes, plum preserves, poems) and you fashion it into an effective Package, hoping it will sell. 'Effective' means one thing and one thing only: it sells. Effective may or may not include subsets like 'pretty.' There is one thing your Package must have: a finished look. We'll talk about plastic Poser-style figures that scream 'amateur,' and other issues, in later articles. Today, we'll talk about interior text. Every computer is different, every writer has a different technical knowledge base in word processing, and every manuscript therefore tends to discover unique and baffling reasons for not working right. This article can only address text flow and design at a generic level. If you have ongoing problems, you may need to reinstall your word processing software, or learn the nuances of your particular release, or even get your computer fixed (reformatted, defragged, or whatever).

   Sections Covered. I want to cover four main paths over the next several articles, not entirely in this order: (1) Print on Demand or POD; (2) Digital Formatting in general; (3) Digital formatting for specific platforms (Kindle, Nook, Sony, etc.); and especially (4) digital formatting for Smashwords. After reading this article, you will probably agree with me that a one-stop, all-shop solution like SmashWords is your best path. It affords one learning curve to cover much of your future pain, and in one simple upload you provide them one file that they process and output to all major platforms. Since you will have one master file, so to speak, from which you make and modify copies for Print on Demand (POD) and one or more digital formats, it is worth briefly examining the various output types. Think of it as studying your options. We'll talk more specifically about SmashWords next week.

   Print on Demand (POD) This form of physical, print-based publishing refers to one-off, one-on inventory, meaning a book is not printed until an existing copy has sold, and the next copy gets printed after the customer orders it and/or pays for it. This differs from several other models. Production costs on a POD book are twice as much or more than for a Big Six book produced in a single large offset press run that may total 25,000 or 75,000 copies, where the effective cost may be around 99 cents a copy (approximately, depending on specifics; a lot less than POD). Most of us are financial small fry, and we can deal with the manufacturing costs of, say, producing 100 copies of My Fair Novel for $350, at $3.50 per copy at LightningSource International or Amazon Createspace. The 'traditional' publishing has relied on the economies of large-scale press runs to monopolize an entire industry for six cartel companies in New York City. If you invest tens of thousands of dollars on a one-time, planned expenditure in paper, ink, set-up, union labor, blocking, trimming, and related costs, so that the resulting output is in shrink-wrapped pallets carrying thousands of books all at once, that's how offset press publishing works. During the 20th Century, printers and publishers became enirely different businesses. Publishers outsource (there is a good word!) specialities to those who do nothing else, and focus on their own specialty: choosing book projects in which to invest money in hope of making a profit. This is, in fact, the process that vanity publishers pretended to emulate, leaving the gullible customer with a garage full of expensive tomes that no bookseller would stock, and nobody would buy.

   There are exceptions to everything. Over many years, I was inspired by a husband-wife team of expert self-publishers who used their entrepreneurial knowledge to sell specialized books on household and gardening tasks, from how to barbecue to how to raise orchids. They did not shop their books out to vanity or assisted publishing houses with impressive websites, fancy names, and expensive 'packages.' They shopped for a small printer who would make a small but appropriate profit on the job—his specific job, not the entire book. They paid him, and received *profits* for their sales—not fake 'royalties.' Writing and manufacturing were just two waystops on the path to readers and profits for this couple. They sold at both small, independent bookstores and at weekly flea markets, and made a decent living at it. Taking their camera-ready copy to a small, reasonable print shop—that is a prime example of expertly outsourcing rather than flying blind on promises and vague hopes that are dearly paid for, and usually deliver only disappointment.

   Big publishers have also used traditonal 'short runs' for many years. If their massive print run fell short, they might hire the manufacturer (printer; print shop) to use the same plates or masters to print a few hundred or a few thousand more copies. This did not give them the same economies of scale, but it was as economical as possible, and they still hoped to sell them all and make some profit. A similar process has been applied to the Print on Demand (POD) industry more recently. The concept is that the publisher orders some inventory in bulk, for distribution to specific markets. At Clocktower Books, I always have made available inexpensively available cartons of books that the authors can order. By businesslike Ingram rules, they had to go through the publisher). In this mode, the author can resell the books to make whatever profit they want to make, at church sales, flea markets, or other venues; booksellers will take their standard 40% at book signings.

   While the basic product was the individually printed single copy of a book, this short run method would give the author, for example, a few dozen or hundred copies to take along for autographing excursions to booksellers. We'll talk more about formatting text for POD in a later article. Personally, I think POD is just a bandage on a dying industry (print), but POD is somewhat of a reality. The word of caution is: as with vanity pubs of long ago, most book sellers will not stock physical POD titles in stores. The reason? because most look amateurish, are full of typos, and some aren't well written. For several years, I focused on POD (during the lull in digital, after the collapse in the dot-com bubble in 1999-2000, and before the 2008 economic collapse that tipped the scale against print economics). During that time, I learned to produce compelling, effective covers, blurbs, and interior text flow that convinced buyers to stock some trial copies on their shelves. Barnes & Noble's Small Press Department is my favorite example of an author-friendly business. In the early 2000s, even as B&N were promoting their 49% stake in iUniverse (making them, along with Random House, which owned 49% of XLibris, the world's largest vanity presses at that time, today incorporated into AuthorSolutions), Barnes & Noble insiders told me they "would not touch a self-published book with a ten-foot pole." They specifically included iUniverse (largely owned by them and Bertelsmann) in this statement. Even authors who pay hundreds of dollars extra for added consideration are about 98% unlikely to ever see their book on Barnes & Noble's shelves. At the same time, a clear-eyed, real self-publisher and entrepreneur with an effective looking product is likely to be quite warmly considered by B&N's Small Press Department for store placement. If they think it will sell, they are willing to give it a try—though remember, as in all things publishing, the competition is simply overwhelming. All around you towers a tsunami of serious authors trying to achieve what you are after, and that's all the more reason to understand the industry and make your best effort.

   After seeing the success of self-publishers like Chris Paolini (Eragon, Brisingr, et al), James Redfield (The Celestine Prophecy), and numerous others, they changed their tune dramatically. They have lately been very good about seriously considering POD books from small publishers (self-publishers who treat publishing as a business from A to Z). I had a shot with several of my POD titles, once I learned how to create an effective Package. It was a great experience, and in one instance, I for a time experienced what it is like for books to fly off the shelf, and distributors to breathlessly call, asking how soon I can stock them with more. It is a tough business, and for most of us, especially those of us who are weak on marketing or notoriety, success is best measured in smallish, steady sales with good to great ratings. POD is important to mention in the context of formatting, if only because you can repurpose the same file with a few minor tweaks. But that's food for another day.

   For general purposes of text formatting, the e-book presents a different paradigm than that for print (including POD). In print, the publisher lays out (flows) the text in a fixed manner. In digital, your text flows in whatever way the platform chosen by the user takes it. Consequently, your input requirements are actually simpler, since you have little or no control on the final output. The input requirements may be somewhat exacting, as at Smashwords (for excellent reasons), but once you get the hang of it, it becomes child's play. I'll explain more about SmashWords shortly.

   Major Digital Platforms Separately. When we speak of a Package here, we speak of the exterior, the candy wrapper, the thing that sells your product. When all is said and done, what we hope is that the potential customer will be persuaded, often within a less than one-second window, to glimpse your product among many others, and choose to give your offering a closer look. In any retail environment, your product is one of many. If you can convince the browser to stop and choose your product from all others for a second look, that's the first part of the battle. Your hope is that the customer will follow a fairly predictable sequence. With a typical print book in a bookstore, someting attracts the eye; it might be an appropriate cover or a catchy title; those are usually the first, split-second attractors. If your product has received reviews, endorsements, media coverage, or just plain word-of-mouth, the browser may light up and think: "A-hah! That's the book I heard about. Let me take a look for myself." From there, the browser (who is not yet a customer, much less a reader) will typically examine the elements of the Package in hand: title, cover, cover text, and then page one. If you were to film a typical browser, you might see the person moving along in an unfocused, mildly interested manner. They may be off for lunch or after work, and heading home. Here and there, a book catches their attention. Sometimes, they lift it and put it down again just as quickly. Once in a great while, they'll put down their bag or umbrella, hold your product in both hands, and take a look at the front. They'll turn it over and read the back text (or jacket flap if it's a slip-jacketed hardback). If they put it down at that point, they rarely will buy. If they open it and read the first page or two, you have taken it to the ultimate decision point. Here they will either decide not to buy, decide to buy, or decide to look at it once more tomorrow or next week. Sometimes a browser (potential customer) sees a product ten times before overcoming their reasons not to buy.

   Digital Platforms, Separately. Today, self-publishers are encouraged to upload their product to as many major platforms as possible. Notice it's 'upload,' not 'submit.' Since you are the the publisher, at that point your book is already 'accepted' (by you). You have created the best manuscript you possibly can, and hopefully, before you 'go to press' either in POD or digital, you will have had friends or trusted readers go over it for gaffes, typos, and if possible, their opinion. From experience, I know that even then, some whoppers get missed. Once you have your manuscript in publishable shape, you are ready to publish. As far as interior text goes, you can obtain workable designs from established publishers. Generally speaking, it's easy to get from a properly formatted, designed text file to an upload file that can be converted for end-use. In this article, my assumption will be that you're using a DOC (Microsoft Word) file, one that has either a DOC or RTF extension.

   Nook prefers you upload a DOC file after opening their upload gizmo at Pubit at the Barnes and Noble Nook publishing website.

   Sony prefers you submit the same file as a PDF (Adobe's Portable Document Format). Using Adobe's application (available from their website; do not use the Adobe Reader, which is designed for receiving and reading files, only, not for outputting your own), you can print that same DOC file you use for Nook, not to print on paper, but to print (the more technical term is 'to spool') to a digital PDF end-user file.

   Amazon.com's Kindle takes a similarly easy path, requiring an HTML (hypertext markup language) file with a few formatting tweaks specified at Amazon.com's Direct Publishing website. You can either hand-craft your own HTML, as I tend to do, or you can simply Save As your DOC file as a .HTM or .HTML file. [The part after the dot in any digital file (document, graphic, or whatever) tells the receiving server what type of file is incoming, so that it can un-code it for that specific file type, and display it as appropriate on the asking (user) computer.]

    In each case, the file itself is entirely interior text, from the title page on the front end to the final page at end. You will be clever to open with pages of endorsements and positive critiques, if you have any, and to close with a page or two of advertising for yourself, your other books, and a website where the reader can find more information.

   Choices: Separate or One Shot? I have found that there are currently two paths to take. One is to format all your files separately, one by one, for all the major platforms. This is doable, though I will advise a better way. Starting with a DOC file for Nook, you can easily create a PDF for Sony, and an HTML file for Kindle. However, this requires having separate contractual, direct relationships with each platform (company). I'd mention iPad and more, but some markets are not that easy to enter unless you are Random House or another of the Big Six. Worse yet, imagine if you find an error. You have to change all those files at different upload websites belonging to different companies. Every time you touch a file or files, the possibility of more errors creeping in multiplies. Each of the platforms has its own annoying requirements different from all others. For example, Sony requires a special Excel file for all your metadata.

    NOTE on Metadata: There is often a confusing blend of terms, specific to certain purposes, and different in their meaning. In an HTML file, Metadata may refer (inaccurately) to certain predefined C++like containers, called metatags, in the Head section. Examples include

in the Head division of a typical HTML file. Don't worry about this unless you are formatting HTML for some reason. When publishers and platforms refer to metadata, they mean more loosely the text (literal text strings) that go into various input fields in their software. Here, we refer to author data in the manner that platforms demand. Here's anotehr article on the subject of metadata.

   During the 2000s, the leading publishing platform for digital fiction was Fictionwise.com (still in existence, but now owned by Barnes & Noble, and its future unclear). During the 2000s, people tended to read digital files either on their computer (PC, laptop) or on small, portable, phone-like devices. The great thing was that they had snappy customer service, published within less than two weeks of your upload, and paid faithfully (as they still do).

   After the economic collapse of 2008, when the already doomed house of cards of the Big Six went into its fatal tailspin, a number of digital platforms emerged. There are two general styles today: the smaller, dedicated e-reader (of which the Rocket eBook of 1998 is the esteemed and wonderful ancestor, now sold under another name by Fictionwise). Kindle and Nook Easy-Reader as well as Kobo are prime examples. Another path is the larger pad-platform, exemplified by Apple iPad, Motorola Xoom, and many others.

   One of the wonderful innovations of Fictionwise, a decade ago, was to accept a single input file (originally a modified markup file called FW-HTML, and later simply an RTF which is a lighter and more universal variant on Microsoft Word's DOC format. I would upload a short story and its marketing image (jpg or gif). Fictionwise's engine (which appears to have been one of the main reasons why Len Riggio of B&N acquired Fictionwise) would then convert your incredibly simple RTF file into at least eight major formats, from MOBI to PALM, from PDF to telephone-readable, and more. The drawback was that there were severe limitations on graphics, given the low-end limits on phone screens. Today, you can bank on a universally acceptable 600x800px (pixel) screen size on a Nook and larger on most pads. That said, there is a new Fictionwise on the block, and its name is SmashWords.

   SmashWords: One Shot, All Platforms. In 2010, on my learning curve, signed contracts with several major platforms and proceeded to format over 160 files in all, including about thirty novels in about four formats, plus articles and short stories. Today, I have withdrawn most or all of these. Instead, I put my faith and trust in SmashWords. It's a one-stop, one-shop method to input your files in a relatively simple DOC format. There is a small learning curve. You can download CEO Mark Coker's extensive style guide, and consult their FAQ page. The best parts are (a) it's free, as opposed to middlemen sucking your money away for stuff you can do yourself and (b) it's a single learning curve; once you get it, that's all there is for your digital publishing needs in today's market place.

   Next Week: Formatting a SmashWords file, with easy templates.

   Disclaimer: Help, Not Put-Down. An avid fan of this magazine wrote to me to express her opinion that I was talking down to those who use third parties to self-publish. Nothing could be further from the case.

   With decades of experience, I have made every mistake in the book. I've learned most of what I know the hard way. If there's anyone I'd like to kick, it's myself for missing opportunities at the early days of the digital revolution when I got in (1996). I'd been active as a writer for decades, but I did not have a nuts and bolts undersatanding of production and marketing. My goal here is to help starry-eyed newcomers avoid the same traps I fell into. Relevant education often helps, but sometimes it actually hinders. I have three relevant degrees—a BA in English (University of Connecticut, Storrs), a BBA in Computer Information Systems (National University), and a Master's in Business Administration (Boston University). Each of those degrees has positively impacted my theoretical understanding, in addition to the hard practical learning curve in years of hands and hearts-on sweat equity. With my youthful exposure to Literature, however, came the sense—common to many English majors, drunk on poetry and fine language—that books appear in bookstores through some divine mechanism.

   Publishing is a business, not a sacred mystery. Whether you are selling shoes, umbrellas, or poems, the process is inherently the same. I am not disparaging anyone from using qualified, expert third-party help to accomplish specific tasks, like create an effective cover. Effective and pretty are two entirely different things. An effective cover sells books. A pretty cover often does not. Big publishers hire expensive cover artists who are often designers and understand the nuances of their craft. Publishers often change covers (or digital marketing images) on a book, for various reasons, including the creation of a unique edition (Package) that will be effective in selling.

   People who publish their own work tend to fall into two camps. In Camp A (Assisted) are those who close their eyes and rely entirely on sales people who promise a complete package for hundreds or even thousands of dollars. To the experienced eye, no matter how sad the news, this seems like more of the old vanity or its cousin, subsidy publishing. Since few, if any, such books have tended to succeed, they are not a good role model. The Camp H (home-made) are those who want to do everything, either to save money, or, like those who got into the game. Neither of these extremes is a viable option for most people. Option A is a bad idea, starting because by implication the author doesn't understand the industry. Option B is a terrible idea for most people, given that very few people can master writing, word processing, cover art, cover design, and blurb-writing effectively on all fronts. Inbetween is Option E (Entrepreneur), where the author gains a clear, business-like understanding of the industry, and makes informed choices in paying for specific areas of *effective* help. That is the path I advocate. As an added note: sometimes, effective covers are simple to create. I lean toward using at least one prominent, central person, usually an attractive young man or woman (sex sells, even in its subtler forms). You can buy ineffective stock photography at companies like iStockphoto, and then blend them using a good graphics editing application like Adobe Photoshop. That's the DIY approach, but hiring effective artisans can be just as much effective and just as DIY, when done by an informed business person-author. In the end, all that counts is that your book sells.

Publishing is an investment. Publishers are investors who sink money into the creation of a title, in hope of making money (profit) on their investment. Their goal is to sell product. Even before you finish writing the best text you can, my advice is to think from the beginning about who your reader is, and what they really want to read. With the answer firmly in hand, you can then dolly it all up for sale in an effective Package, and hope people will buy. If they buy, you have readers. If not, you should revisit the basics and see what you can tweak to improve the result. None of this is magic or sacerdotal—a lot of it is common sense.

   Here's the critical fork in the road: the smart entrepreneur, having produced a great product, and understanding the rather simple rudiments of the business, will decide what he or she can do (Do It Yourself, DIY) and, conversely, what will be best farmed out to specialists.

   It's not all or nothing, a possible source of confusion. I recommend learning the business (any business, for that matter, both on the production and retail ends), and seeing how universal is the flow of product from manufacture, through wholesale, to retail. Along the path, jobbing out specific functions (e.g., cover art) is not only businesslike and smart, but may take your Package from 'okay' or 'nice' to 'effective' (the only desired result).

   That's what the Big Six in New York City do. They hire (or employ) specialists in cover art, cover design, jacket text, and so on—each of which is a unique specialty. Self-publishing forces a lot of us to do more than just write. Actually, even a 'get published' Big Six author has to do an enormous amount of submissions, mailing, acquiring an agent, and so on. While these are things the self-publisher does not need to do, the self-publisher's burden is at least as heavy: he or she must, in effect, stop being 'get published,' and start thinking as a publisher, period. There is no inbetween. Flying blind and trusting some smooth-talking sales person to manage your business is a recipe for disaster. If nothing else, the Big Six have some of the best editors, cover artists, and designers in the business. If you can reach one of those artists, you may be able to contract with them on the side. It won't be cheap, but it may mean the difference between 'nice' and 'effective' (the only outcome you want). The middlemen and bottom feeders of Assisted Publishing (you pay, they play) generally cannot come close, and often won't really try. Often they will provide a cookie-cutter look that doesn't really grab potential buyers, and is therefore not *effective*.

   Once you learn how the business operates, you can make informed and effective decisions. When you then use third party services, you really know what you're doing (or are on a path to learn, sometimes still painfully, but we often learn by doing). One way to help yourself is to test market short stories to see what works best for your skill set and your readers. While you learn how to reach the right target audience, to make both yourself and them happy, you'll also be learning how to create an effective Package and how to promote it. Everyone's situation is different on the promo side, though it's safe to say most of us are unknowns. A book by a rock star or controversial politico will sell much more quickly than a book by some quiet middle-class citizen. That's life. As to retail, don't worry about it, if you have reached all the main platforms and markets.

   Nobody loves your book like you do. Nobody will invest as much time and effort in your business as you do. This magazine, aside from its baseline news and information functions, has developed three fascinating and timely slants: (1) focus on digital publishing, while continuing to report highlights from the print world in its final days; (2) focus on self-publishing, which has become enabled like never before, and it's cheap; (3) demonstrating, like perhaps no other publication in history, how such a surprising number of famous authors had to self-publish their own work—the likes of Beatrix Potter, James Joyce, D.H.Lawrence, Virginia Woolf, Walt Whitman, Zane Gray, and many more to be featured in future issues. No publication can give you all the answers. Like writing itself, and many other activities in life, publishing must be learned hands-on and often the hard way. This magazine cannot provide all the answers, but it offers a valuable roadmap those who read and absorb its weekly issues. It's not the only book in town; it's merely indispensible.

Sator Enigma: Ancient Roman Mystery Solved

The so-called Sator Square (also Sator Rebus, Puzzle) refers to a mysterious ancient text found on walls throughout ruins of the Roman Empire. Archeologists have found exemplars in such diverse ancient Roman locations as a government hall (aula) in Cirencester, Britannia; twice in Pompeii, pre-dating the city's volcanic destruction by Mt. Vesuvius in 79 CE; and in the distant frontier fortress of Dura Europos on Rome's Mesopotamian border with Parthia. Something about this strange, cryptic writing must have been so important that the Romans would post it in their government halls, public squares, and top military headquarters.

It is one of the most perfect palindromes ever created. A simple palindrome is a text that reads the same, backwards or forwards; e.g., "Madam I'm Adam" and ".madA m'I madaM". The Sator Square is a perfect four-way palindrome that reads the same left-right, right-left, up-down, and down-up. Nobody had a clue how to translate it, despite thousands of hours of research, hundreds of learned books and articles, and at least one Ph.D. thesis in Classics at Yale University.

John T. Cullen solved the puzzle in the summer of 2007, almost coincidentally, while continuing eight years of scholarly research for his nonfiction/Ancient History virtual tour guide A Walk in Ancient Rome, Revised 2nd Edition (Clocktower Books, Summer 2011). He had been aware of this baffling cryptogram from long ago, which has since become an object of superstitious reverence in certain Christian and Neo-Pagan settings. Suddenly, while taking a break from his Rome research, he looked at the Sator Square in a new way—and was able, within a few weeks, to both translate it and plausibly explain it.

Ironically, at the annual convention of International Thriller Writers, of which he is an Active Member, in New York City in July 2009, he was the only author present who had actually deciphered and explained a cryptic, ancient epigram of world importance—and lived to tell about it.