Self-publishing Symposium: Darryl Sloan

How does self-publishing differ from traditional publishing?
Self-publishing puts publishing in the hands of individuals rather than corporations. In its highest expression, self-publishing allows "writing with heart" to be heard, which would otherwise go disregarded because it's not perceived "good business" for maximizing profit.

Do self-published book review blogs help to raise the reader awareness of self-published books?
I would say not significantly, but everything counts.

How do you respond to the following statement? Self-publishing is not a serious way to get one's work into print now and never will be.
If your aim is to make a living at at it, I would say that's probably true. But if you have other goals, it's also true that 1900 sales (my current estimate since I began in 2002) means something.

Has the golden age of self-publishing already passed or is it yet to come?
The best is yet to come. Less and less people are buying stuff from bricks & mortar stores, and are relying more on online purchasing, which puts anyone with a website in the running for equal attention with traditionally published authors. I also think the ebook has yet to come of age, but it's getting there, with devices like the Kindle and the iPad. Owning a pocket PC certainly changed my negative perception of ebooks.

What about the challenges posed to the self-published writer by having to promote and edit his or her own book?
Badly edited (or non-edited) books are the downside. There are always going to be horrible self-published books that would never see the light of day under the old publishing model. But for the most part, these books are harmless. They never get good reviews, hardly anyone buys them, and they remain unknown to the general population. I'm prepared to live and let live with this downside, since the system also gives the truly great books a chance to flourish.

Promotion is always difficult, and it's a matter of how much work the author is prepared to put in. In my experience the general public doesn't care whether a book is self-published or not. It's only people involved in publishing who make all the fuss.

Why is it that a self-published author has yet to emerge into national recognition as a self-published author? (As opposed to being given a mainstream publishing contract after a self-published book attracts attention.)
Being picked up by a traditional publisher is too seductive to resist, since it opens doors to a much greater audience and the potential to turn a hobby into a career. Few, if any, self-published authors, when offered the opportunity, would turn it down.

Has the experience of self-publishing changed the way you write?
I love the freedom to write what I want to write, from the heart, without being dictated to by current market trends.

Darryl Sloan is the author of Chion. He has a blog at darrylsloan.wordpress.com

Darryl Sloan's POD experience

Darryl Sloan offers his experience of publishing POD in this video.[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqTM0Zn1fMc]

And the winner is

The 2007 International Print on Demand Book Award winner is...

CHION

by

Darryl Sloan

PODler Book of the Month APRIL

Each month here at the PODler review blog we will pick one book that stands out especially among all others that were reviewed that month.

In April, we reviewed three particularly strong books, Chion by Darryl Sloan, North of Sunset by Henry Baum, and Lucius the Club by Michael Allan. It was a tough call because all the books are very strong. I chose Chion because of its high concept and human drama mix.

May looks to be very interesting as we have very strong contenders in Heart of Mars, A Prayer at Rumayla, The Father, and Storyteller. But the month is not yet at an end and who knows, maybe some entry that is yet to come will blow the others out of the water?

Author Interview: Darryl Sloan

From time to time here at the PODLer we will interview select authors for our featured authors section. The first interview in this section is with Darryl Sloan, author of Chion.

When did you first discover the desire to write?

Not long after I discovered the desire to read, which was around age thirteen. Until then, I thought all books were boring. Then "Z For Zachariah" by Robert O'Brien became the class novel in English lessons. It was an exciting story about a girl surviving a nuclear war. Reading quickly became a hobby for me. As for why I chose to write, I just have an unquenchable creative urge. Whatever hobbies I had in my teens, I couldn't resist dabbling in the creative side of them.

This included drawing, painting, writing, filmmaking, even computer programming. Eventually, you feel more passionate about some than others, and learn to prioritize, rather than being a "jack of all trades." By age sixteen, I was submitting stories to small press science fiction magazines like Interzone, but it would be many years before I was published.

Even now, I still get crazy creative urges in other areas. I've started enjoying comics again, and I have to stop myself from thinking, "Hey, I want to make my own comic!" I have to remind myself that it's better to build on what you're already good at, instead of flying off on tangents.

What are your writing habits?

I never start writing until I have a clear mental picture of a story's structure. I have too many unfinished works lying around from the past, because I didn't know where the stories were going when I started writing them. Plan heavily.

When I'm in the thick of writing a novel, the rule I try to live by is: write something every day, whether it's two sentences or two thousand words. As long as there's movement, it means that the project gets finished, regardless of how long it takes. Novel-writing is a massive undertaking, and you'll never complete a work on passion alone. That initial burst of enthusiasm that you feel when you begin will usually be gone long before you've finished writing. It takes discipline. I wish I had more of it, because I am not the best at taking my own advice.

Do you keep a journal?

Not a personal for-my-eyes-only journal. I do write a regular blog, where I provide writing tips, talk about my publishing experiences, and occasionally natter about my personal life.

What obstacles to writing do you face in your everyday life?

If I could better myself, I would like to get up at 6.00 a.m. every day and write for an hour before going to my day job. But I'm such a lazybones. Consequently, I write in the evening, after a taxing day at work, when I'm in no condition to be doing it. So, my great enemies are sloth and fatigue.

I used to have a slight problem with self-doubt as a writer - wondering if I'm good enough to be putting my books in print. But I've managed to put those feelings to bed by taking the time to learn correct grammar and punctuation, so that I know all the the nuts and bolts of the craft, just like the professionals. Also, I've had too much positive feedback from readers not to gain some confidence at what I'm doing.

There's one obstacle that I imagine many others have to contend with, but I don't: the responsibilities of married life. I'm single. I can do what I want when I want. So, I have a lot more time on my hands to write, and if I want to let those dishes pile up in the sink, well, that's my choice. I can't offer a solution to this problem except divorce, and that's going a bit far!

What writing books, if any, have you read and would recommend?

For a light-hearted, easy-going read, I thoroughly recommend Stephen King's "On Writing." It gave me the get-up-and-go to write my first novel, "Ulterior." King continually recommends Strunk & White's "The Elements of Style" in his volume, and so do I. In fact, it's essential. It's a tiny, one-hundred-page reference book that is jam-packed with important information on grammar and punctuation.

My biggest criticism of self-published novelists is that they generally refuse to learn the craft. Too many of them assume they know everything they need to know. They do themselves, and their readers, a disservice.

What books inspire you?

My favourite novels would be Orson Scott Card's "Ender's Game" and "The Folk of the Fringe." John Christopher's "The Tripods" and "The Death of Grass." John Wyndham's "The Day of the Triffids" and "The Chrysalids."

What is your inspiration in writing?

I have a fascination with post-apocalyptic survival that is probably born out of a dissatisfaction with modern life. I find myself standing opposed to all the moral permissiveness around us; especially the "aren't we living in a wonderful, tolerant world" attitude that is nothing but a cloak for decadance and selfishness. I loathe consumerism and materialism (even though I'd be very happy if everyone bought my books!). I hate the every-man-for-himself attitude we're all steeped in. Part of me would just love to shake the world upside down and force everyone to reevalute *everything*, because I would love to live in a very different world - one where "love your neighbour" has a chance at actually meaning something. Writing about the theme of survival is my opportunity for a little wish-fulfillment.
Christian life is another inspiration. My fiction is strongly character driven, and I'm fascinated by moral dilemmas and inner demons. I've never been one to shirk away from the harder questions of life. Instead of trying to project some high-and-mighty, know-it-all attitude, what you'll read is my failure to have all the anwers as well as my insights.

Who are your favorite authors?

In no particular order: John Wynhdam, John Christopher, Orson Scott Card, Ray Bradbury, Stephen King, Dean Koontz.

What tips or techniques would you suggest for writers?

Plan heavily before writing, so that whatever you start, you know you can finish. Learn the nuts and bolts of the craft so that you can stand out from the crowd. Periodically, I post advice on writing and self-publishing on my blog.

How did you come up with the idea for Chion?

The central idea for "Chion" (the notion of glue-like snow) came to me out of a vague desire to write about sinister weather, something akin to John Carpenter's "The Fog," only I wanted to be totally original. There aren't that many common weather phenomena to choose from, so it was just a matter of thinking about them and asking myself some crazy "what if" questions.

When I first tried to construct a story around the idea, I thought of a science fiction scenario. The future; mankind reaching out into the stars, finding an earthlike world suitable for colonisation. The aliens on the planet are gentle and docile. Although intelligent, they choose to live in very basic accomodation; they've never built towns and cities. Why is this? The colonists discover the answer when it happens: on this planet, every ten years a fall of glue-like snow descends, rendering everything immobile. The aliens have always known to retreat into subterranean caverns. Man is not so lucky.

Sometimes, when you get a story idea like this, it develops in your mind, and eventually you end up with the tapestry of a novel. This one just sat there and stagnated. It wasn't until a couple of years later, when I was out for a walk during a snowfall, that I asked myself, "What if it didn't happen in the future? What if it happened right here and now in my hometown? What if there were no fancy futuristic technologies to get us out of the 'sticky situation'?" And, curiously, that scenario was far more interesting to me. I took all the elaborate sci-fi elements away from the initial premise and wound up with a proper story to tell, containing all kinds of thrills and spills.

What inspired you to write it?

In summer 2005 I had watched my mother die of cancer, and not long after her death, I felt the strong urge to write another novel. It had been four years since I had written my first. There were at least four fully fleshed-out synopses for three entirely different novels or novellas, ready and waiting in my mind. "Chion," I knew, was not only the grand story of a gluey apocalypse, it was the more intimate story of a boy coping with a terminal illness. I'm not sure whether what I had gone through with my mother had any conscious impact on my choice to pick "Chion" ahead of the other stories, but I've a feeling it had.

And, of course, "Chion" was an opportunity to tell an intimate, character-driven story amidst a catalclysm, which is the kind of story I love.

And any other items of interest to your potential readers.

Autographed copies of "Chion" are available directly from me, worldwide. A new edition of my out-of-print first novel, "Ulterior," is coming soon. Some of my fiction is available for download in MP3 format from my website http://www.darrylsloan.com/

Chion by Darryl Sloan (A+)

Chion is a magical story that's a must have. Perfect as a gift for a YA reader. The book is available at http://www.darrylsloan.com/

First Impression: The cover is dramatic and arouses curiosity but it does not really evoke the content of the book in some thematic way.

Chion starts with a brief, one page, exchange that gives us a hit of some unimaginable disaster having struck the world. In cinematic fashion, we enter the action of chapter one as Jamie Metcalfe and other kids of Clounagh Junior High School hear screams coming from outside, where a few of their mates have been struck to the ground by what appears to be ordinary snow. When Alex Vennard touches a flake, however, he learns that whatever this stuff is, it is definitely not snow. In fact, it is something that grips his hand and won't let go. In desperate attempt, inspired by mounting panic, his teacher pours hot water on it, hoping to melt it, but the stuff will not. In a fit of panic, Alex frees himself by tearing off a bit of his skin. How can you NOT keep on reading?

Like all great stories, Chion opens in the middle of things, dispensing with the long, boring expository passages. We are plunged into action and carried along by the torrent of narrative. What is this deadly stuff? Who is responsible for it? How will the children and their teachers cope with being trapped inside the school? Such questions dangle over the action. Unlike some thrillers, here there is genuine interest created as to the resolution of the questions posed. I found myself really wanting to know the answers to the questions that have been posed by the story. I think the reason for this lays in the high concept: adhesive snow-this is the stuff of Hollywood blockbusters:

"The snow that fell this morning is ... well, it's not normal snow; it's adhesive. Foolish as that sounds, anything that comes in contact with the snow sticks to it. The effect is quick and strong. If you've ever had your fingers stuck together with Super Glue, let me tell you, this is much worse. If any part of your body makes contact with the snow, the only way to pull you off is to ... to leave a layer of your skin behind."

Many writers do not consider this crucial element—the high concept—before they begin to write their stories. But a concept is the heart of any good story, and without a storing, innovative concept a story, no matter how well written, will be ultimately unsatisfying. The question that a writer should always ask himself is-why should the reader read this book? And what's different, unique, and creative about it? I don't recall ever reading a story about this kind of a situation, and so my interest and curiosity is aroused.

Another thing that contributes to the quality of this novel is the quality of the editing. Unlike many print on demand offerings, the writer of this novel had taken the time to polish his stuff and this shows that he is serious about the reader's experience of his work.

But there is more to this novel than just a high concept. Inside the school, trapped by the weird snow, a genuine, beautifully evoked, human drama unfolds between Jamie and his love, Tara, and the other characters, forcing him to think of a daring plan for saving himself and Tara. But just when they think that they have found a way out they realize that they are in danger.

Thought the story appears to be just another science fiction fest, it pleasantly turns out to be a different kind of thriller. I really appreciate how the author masterfully pulls us along into a theme that we might not expect-the adhesive snow may be God's plague. Unlike much of Christian fiction, there is no heavy proselytizing here, no dogma being pushed on the reader. Instead the focus is on the timeless themes of love, sacrifice, and faith that any human being appreciates and believes in.

I think this is a book that exemplifies the very best of POD-something that would be overlooked by the mainstream but is, nevertheless, important and necessary to read.