I am a published author

My writing group, Jordon's Twelve, has published an anthology titled Tales From Half Moon Room.

I have contributed the following short stories for this book: The Lost Relics of Mount Quarantania, Forever Without End, Dogs are People Too, The Others, Attila circa 2525, In My Life, and Union Station Angel.

There are thirty-three separate pieces in this 230 page anthology. If you don't have the time to invest reading a full-length novel yet are looking for an interesting and enjoyable read that you can easily put down when life gets in the way and then return to it when you have the time, then give this book a shot.

In Tales from Half Moon Room, you will find stories about growing up, romance, relationships, travel, adventure, fantasy, comedy, tragedy, and drama. In short, everything that makes up our human experience.

These are stories written from the heart in ways that demonstrate how we as individuals interact with one another in all the many inspiring, heartbreaking, and fascinating ways that people do and how we mature because of our experiences.

If you wish to purchase a copy of this book click on the title of this post and you will be directed to the bookseller's website or you can order a copy directly from me. If you do purchase a copy, I would be happy to autograph it for you.

My Montana Trip

I left Connecticut on September 20th via Amtrak for a trip to Montana. I arrived in Whitefish and then traveled to Thompson Falls, Missoula, Butte, Helena, back to Butte, Bozeman, Billings, Big Timber, Great Falls, and then returning to Whitefish for my trip back home.

I met so many wonderful people and interviewed sheriffs, a coroner, a Montana highway patrolman, a police chief, and an organization that works with Native Americans.

I saw Kootenai Falls, the Swinging Bridge, Ross Creek Cedars, the Continental Divide, the Cathedral of Saint Helena, the Museum of the Rockies, Virginia City (a working ghost town), Pictograph State Park, the Rimrocks, Little Bighorn National Battlefield, the Crazy Mountains, the Missouri Breaks, Marias Pass (elevation 5,216 feet), and Glacier Park.

The picture on the home page of my blog is one that I took while at the eastern portion of Glacier Park. More pictures can be found on my home page in the slide show titled, "My Montana Photos".

I returned to Connecticut on October 14th with over 1,500 photos, dozens of video clips, hundreds of memories, and a lasting impression of the land where my novels take place.

News

Much has happened since I last blogged. My novel Montana Harvest is very close to publishing and I am preparing for a very special adventure that is related to my novels. All will be revealed in due time.

The Jim Buchanan Novels

I've created a website for my writing and will be updating and adding new elements. Click on the title of this post to go directly to the website.

Acaraho Otaktay

One of my recurring characters in the Jim Buchanan Novels is Acaraho. He is part Cherokee and part Crow but I struggled with giving him a last name. Rather than go with his current last name which I won't mention here I have decided to use Otaktay as his last name. Otaktay is a Souix name so Acaraho will now be part Crow and part Souix and a relative of Willie Otaktay, another recurring character in my novels. Acaraho is Alma Twofavors' boyfriend and in Montana Harvest he is instrumental in saving someone's life. Then in The Killing Zone he is falsely accused of murder. In the Crow language the definition of Acaraho is "Mountain" and in the Souix language the definition of Otaktay is "Kills Many".

US Copyright Office

This weekend I received hard copy certificates of registration from the United States Copyright Office signed by Maria A. Pallante, the 12th United States Register of Copyrights, for my three novels, Montana Harvest, Mystery at Little Bitterroot, and The Killing Zone.

The effective date of registration for all three is February 14, 2011. The significance of this date of registration is that twenty-three years ago on February 14, 1988, Valentine's Day, I proposed to my wife whom I credit for nurturing my confidence to write and providing me with the ongoing and unselfish support for my passion.

5 Free E-Books Every Writer Needs

This article is relevant to all authors

It takes a strong spine to be a publisher - appeared in the Willimantic Chronicle of 5/24/2011

By MICHAEL LEVIN Commentary The publishing world gathers next week in Manhattan at BookExpo America, its annual trade show, but the one subject attendees won’t be discussing is the coming collapse of publishing and the inevitable disappearance of books.

It’s not just that books are going to Kindles and iPads. It’s that books are going away, and the publishers have no one but themselves to blame.

The traditional New York publishing busi­ness model — publish a ton of books, fail to market most of them, and hope that somebody buys something — worked well when publish­ers had a hammerlock on the distribution and marketing of books. Publishers essentially faced no competition and enjoyed complete control of what books people could publish and sell.

In today’s world, however, anyone from John Grisham to John Doe can put up a book online with Smashwords, Lulu or Kindle Direct and bypass publishers — and bookstores — all together. Authors can use Google AdWords or social networking strategies to market their books far more effectively than publishers ever could. So who needs New York?

Yes, Kindle and iPad are game-changers. When you read books on a device, a few things change. You’re moving into an envi­ronment where you typically don’t pay for content — almost everything online is free. So publishers won’t be able to charge $10 or $12 for an entire book when people only want a chapter’s worth of information. So much for e-books as a revenue stream for the publishing houses.

Publishers can also blame Amazon for the collapse of their industry. When you went into a bookstore, you typically browsed and bought a handful of books, each from a dif­ferent department. Amazon killed browsing. You go on, you find the book you wanted, you pay and you leave. So instead of buying five books, you buy just one.

But the real reason why books are going to vanish is the remarkably un- businesslike busi­ness model of the publishers. Think of General Motors — decades of inefficiency but without the federal bailouts.

In no other industry do producers actu­ally wait passively to see what products are suggested to them, instead of doing market research to see what people really want to buy. Yet publishers seldom generate book ideas; instead they wait for literary agents to submit proposals. Houses decide which book to publish based on little more than a gut feel­ing that says, “I think we can make money selling this” Yet the books that publishers choose are almost entirely of zero interest to actual bookbuyers. After 9/ 11, there were a ton of books about 9/ 11, which nobody bought. Same thing with the Iraq War, the rise of Obama, the economic meltdown and the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Or the books are rehashed business lessons, religious truths, sports clichés, motivational babble, exercise fads, weight loss techniques or pandering to the political left or the right. Who wants these books? Almost no one.

Most of the major publishers today are owned by international conglomerates who, at some point, will awaken to the realization that English majors in their employ are spending millions of dollars on books that no one wants to read.

As a result, few trade books earn real money for the publisher (and certainly not for the author). That’s because the publisher bears the entire risk of buying, editing, printing, and shipping copies of the book to bookstores all over the country on a 100 percent returnable basis. If your local Barnes & Noble doesn’t sell a particular book, it goes right back to the publisher, at the publisher’s shipping cost, for a full refund. Especially in the Internet era, you can’t make money putting books on trucks and hoping someone buys them.

At the expo next week, the attendees will solemnly discuss the latest trends, discuss how to get 70-year-old authors to use Twitter, and generally party like it’s 1989. But for traditional publishing, the party’s over. They just don’t want to realize that it’s time to turn out the lights.

Levin is a best-selling author and a former member of the Authors Guild Council.

How to Break the Rules and Get Published

I saw this article on Writer's Digest. It seeks to balance writers' efforts to seek publication without compromising their artistic qualities.

Agents

I sent my latest query letter to an agent and received a request for the first chapter of my first novel. Apparently the promise in my novels' synopses did not translate to a favorable evaluation by the agent. I was rejected for not having a good enough hook.

In discussing this with my editor, she said, "Don't be discouraged. It's a good book. I know you'll find a home for it!"

I reworked the first chapter of the first novel and sent it off to another agent.

Writers Workshop

I attended a writers workshop today at the Hartford Public Library. Agent Jan Kardys presented an all-encompassing review of the publishing world from sending a query letter to agents through self-publishing as an option. I learned some new and interesting information and hopefully it will help me in my quest to become a published author.

Query Letter Out

I mailed my query letter to an agent on Monday pitching the three completed novels in the Jim Buchanan Series. Now I have begun working on my fourth novel in the series, Secrets of the Bob Marshall Wilderness.

In this latest novel, the rumor of an abandoned gold and silver mine brings together a group of young friends in search of lost riches. However, greed, misplaced trust, a murder, an early winter storm, and a 19th century legend lead to their downfall. Jim risks his own life to find and save them, sort out the evidence, and pull all the pieces together.

Query Letters

Today I'm mailing my latest query letter. I met with an agent last year at a writers conference hosted by the Connecticut Authors & Publishers Association. She said I selected the right agent and offered positive feedback on 'Mystery at Little Bitterroot' which I used to finalize that novel. With all three novels now professionally edited I am extending the courtesy of letting that agent review my novels before I query other agents.

What I've been up to and future plans

I've written four short stories this year, have a couple in the rough draft stage, and a few more in the planning stages. At least one or two will be entered in writing contests.

I will be preparing query letters to send to agents by the end of this month for the novels 'Montana Harvest' and 'Mystery at Little Bitterroot'.

I am also working on the suggested changes for the professionally edited novel, 'The Killing Zone' and hope to have that completed before the end of May.

Unicorn Writers Conference

I attended the Unicorn Writers Conference where Carol Higgins Clark was the keynote speaker. I also met with an agent who provided me with feedback on my work. He complimented me on my dialogue saying that I present it in a natural and believable manner. Unfortunately, the conference planners did not hook me up with an agent who specializes in mystery/suspense novels. I met some very interesting people and listened to some terrific speakers and presenters.

The Killing Zone

With the professional edits of 'Montana Harvest' and 'Mystery at Little Bitterroot' completed and both novels ready for publishing, I will begin completing the suggested professional edit on 'The Killing Zone.' This novel, the third in the series, currently stands at 104,180 words encompassing 400 pages. Again, like the first two novels, the size of this novel will be whittled down to a manageable level without sacrificing plot or style. What will go will be scenes, dialogue, and prose that either does nothing for the story, slows the action down, or is redundant. The professional edit will result in a tighter and more dramatic novel.

Mystery at Little Bitterroot

I have completed making the professional edit changes to 'Mystery at Little Bitterroot'. This novel topped out at 73,882 words and 301 pages.

Here is a recap of the statistics for the fully completed novels in the Jim Buchanan Series:

Montana Harvest - 58,558 words, 247 pages

Mystery at Little Bitterroot - 73,882 words, 301 pages

I will now prepare Mystery at Little Bitterroot for presentation at the Unicorn Writers Conference in April and will bring along manuscripts for both novels.

Now I will work on final edits for my two short stories for my writing group's book project. Once that is completed in early April, I will begin work on the editoral changes for 'The Killing Zone.'

Mystery at Little Bitterroot

My editing progress on 'Mystery at Little Bitterroot' has resulted in reductions of total word count to 76,535 and total page count to 311. I have approximately 47 remaining pages to edit. I should have this novel completed and ready for publishing by the end of this week.

Editing progress on 'Mystery at Little Bitterroot'

I've completed the editorial suggestions on 162 pages of 'Mystery at Little Bitterroot.' This weekend I will make an extra effort to complete the remaining suggested corrections. The total pages of this novel currently stand at 331 and the word count is 83,449. Expect these totals to decrease as I near the finished product.

Mystery at Little Bitterroot

I've begun making my editor's suggested changes to 'Mystery at Little Bitterroot'. I'm on page 95 of 342 pages. The total number of pages will shrink as I go forward with the edit as will the word count. It was originally over 92,000 words but now stands at 87,299. My aim is to finish this edit by the end of this month so that I can bring two completed manuscripts to the Unicorn Writers Conference in April.

Mystery at Little Bitterroot

Today I will begin the process of making my editor's suggested changes to my manuscript of 'Mystery at Little Bitterroot'.

Final Edit Completed

I've finished making the changes to 'Montana Harvest' as suggested by my editor. The novel topped out at 58,559 words covering 248 pages. I've submitted the first 48 pages to the Unicorn Writers Conference for a one-to-one session with an agent. I will also begin the process of mailing query letters to agents.

Progress on 'Montana Harvest'

I've completed my editor's suggested corrections on 187 of the 259 submitted pages of my final edit for 'Montana Harvest'. I plan to finish the remainder today and then will submit the first 40 pages by Saturday to the Unicorn Writers Conference for review by an agent. This writers conference is in April and if it proves not to be fruitful then I will send query letters to other agents. One way or another this first novel will be published this year and available for purchase.

New Short Story

I've completed a new short story for the book project with my writing group. The title of the story is 'In My Life' and it is a story of lost love with a Beatles twist. I still need to complete a final edit on this story as well as the prior story that I have written.

Copyrighted Novels

I've registered 'Montana Harvest', 'Mystery at Little Bitterroot', and 'The Killing Zone' with the US Copyright Office. It was an easy process and for you fledgling authors out there it only costs $35 per novel.

The Lost Relics of Mount Quarantania

The title of this post is a short story that I wrote for my writing group. We plan to collect short stories from our members and submit them in book form for publication. Although I will not divulge my short story or describe what it is about in this blog, what I will say is that it is a story in the 'Dan Brown' mold (The da Vinci Code).

This group book will be an assortment of short stories and poems some of which I have read as a member of the writing group. I can honestly say that these stories will be both exceptional and entertaining. The individual members of the group are all talented writers. I expect that this group book will be published around mid-year. It will be available on Amazon.com and through bookstores as an on-demand order.

Progress

I have sent 'Montana Harvest' to my editor and I've finished my short story which will be included in our writing group's book compilation. The title of my short story is 'The Lost Relics of Mount Quarantania'. I also plan to submit a few poems for consideration as well.