John C. Brewer will be signing copies of his book Multiplayer at the Southern Author Expo in Huntsville, Alabama this weekend, April 21, 2012.

More than twenty authors are scheduled to be showcasing their work at the Expo which will run from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM on Saturday. John will be there at a table with books that he will gladly sign. If you already have a copy of Multiplayer and would like to have the author sign it, please bring it by.

More information as well as directions to the library are available on their website: Huntsville Madison County Public Library.

Ever wonder why ebooks from the big, traditional publishers cost so much?  I mean, come on, there are no material costs.  Why does an electronic copy of a new release from one of these publishing houses cost only about a dollar less than a hardcover? If you’ve been reading ebooks for awhile, you may remember that it wasn’t always the case.  In fact, they used to all be less than $10.  What gives?

Well, back then, a publisher would offer the book to retailers, such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble, for a percentage (often 40 – 60%) off the “Suggested Retail Price.”  The retailer could sell the ebook for whatever price it wished and Amazon decided it would not price any eBook over $9.99.  Publishers could set their price higher, and Amazon might push the book as a loss-leader or with a low profit margin, but of course, it was less likely. As a result, publishers didn’t like the fact that Amazon wouldn’t charge the readers more for ebooks.

But then Apple made a deal with several of the big publishers. Apple allowed them to set the prices for the fledgling iBookstore. The big publishers loved the ability to charge the consumer more. According to biographer Walter Isaacson, Steve Jobs said, ”We told the publishers, ‘We’ll go to the agency model, where you set the price, and we get our 30%, and yes, the customer pays a little more, but that’s what you want anyway.”

And then what did the big publishers do?  They demanded the same terms from Amazon or threatened not to list their releases with Amazon. So now, new release ebooks from big publishers cost the reader $12 – $15.

Still, Amazon and readers may have the last laugh on this one. In response, Amazon made the same pricing structure available to self-published and Indie publisher authors. Without the overhead of colossal corporations to bog them down, the indie and self-pubbed books were made available to readers at much lower prices, with the authors seeing the same, or often better, returns per book than if they were signed with a traditional publisher who would charge many times more for the same book. This added significant fuel to the growth of the indie and self-pubbed world, providing the readers with many more options at lower costs – taking market share away from the traditional Big Six publishers.

Plus, the Justice Department has been investigating Apple and the publishing houses for antitrust violations. And this past week, we’ve heard that Justice intends to file suit against Apple and the publishers involved in the collusion.

So, by trying to force readers to pay more for ebooks than the retailer chose to charge, the publishing industry has brought the legal wrath of the government down on itself, lost lost some market share, and given rise to vast consumer choice of alternative products that are outside of its control. Perhaps they were a bit too smug in believing they could control what people want.

So PlotForge’s first published novel Multiplayer, is turning out to be a success, selling ahead of projections and receiving excellent reviews. The reach continues to grow and it seems like that all important word of mouth is beginning to spread. John C. Brewer is scheduling book signings and library events and is excited to see his work finding acceptance in all the major demographic groups.

Our second novel, Foreseen, looks to be on track for a late March release as Terri-Lynne Smiles tweaks here and there and awaits editorial changes. She too is scheduling book reviews and book signings in anticipation of her long-awaited release.

It is with great pleasure then that we’d like to announce the new websites of our first authors, JohnCBrewer.com and TerriLynneSmiles.com. Both have a lot more information than we have here and tell you what the authors are working on, are reading, and even about their thoughts on the state of the industry and their personal journeys as authors. We invite you to take a look at their personal websites and check back often as they will be adding new material. Thanks again for you support of PlotForge, Ltd. We are proud to serve the thinking reader and promise to hold our work to the high standard you’ve come to expect.

JohnCBrewer.com

TerriLynneSmiles.com

This country was founded on some basic, enduring principles that were embedded in both the Declaration of Independence and in our Constitution. Two of these core principles are equality and capitalism. And these two principles have allowed our country to thrive, to develop what has been a healthy economy where wonderful products such as personal computers, and other innovations have been developed.  It is a country in which people are permitted to make their own choices – what to wear, who to hang out with, and even whether to commit a crime. Yes, even that is a choice we have.

The internet is the greatest equalizing force humankind has ever seen. It gives people access to ideas, music, art and books that they may otherwise have never known of. It gives artists the chance to get their work out there, to a exponentially larger audience then they could otherwise reach in their own hometown. And it avoids the censorship of corporate mavens determining what people should be exposed to or what will sell. Let the people decide what they want, and what they will pay for. It is the American way.

Services like Google, Wikipedia, Yahoo, Facebook and many others are a necessary feature of an internet that embodies American ideals. Asking them to monitor all of their content and links for possible piracy will be crippling. None of us, especially those of us producing music or books or art, are in favor of piracy. But let’s fact it – it isn’t that big a problem. This is the shoplifting of the internet.

And there is an upside to this shoplifting. Like the kid who steals a candy bar from the grocery store, some of the people who download illegal copies of a book do it for the thrill of thumbing their nose at our laws. Not a good thing, but they wouldn’t have purchased the book anyway. No sale was lost. But unlike the candy bar kid who eats the product and its gone, others download a pirated copy because they are curious about the book. They read some or all of it, and you know what most of these people do if they like what they read? They BUY it!  They understand the need to support the artist or author whose work they hold on their electronic device. Not only that, they tell their friends, maybe even share that illegal copy so their friends can experience it, then buy it for themselves. Again, I am not in favor of piracy, but in a strange way, it actually promotes sales.

PlotForge will always be on the lookout for sites illegally distributing our products and take steps to stop them. That’s our job, not Google’s. The terms of SOPA and PIPA as being currently considered by Congress will crippling the pipelines of the internet through which the people can make their choices, and decide for themselves which products are worthy of their financial support.

Join us in telling Congress to go back and study the founding principles of our country.  Join us in stopping SOPA.

Thank you.

Hi there, Internet. It’s been a while.

“Who is this strange creature?” I hear some of you ask. “Is this some long-lost relative soap opera nonsense? What is the dealio?”

Rest assured, fair readers, that I am not a bad plot device, nor a crazy woman escaped from the attic. I am the long-lost final third of the PlotForge trifecta, returned from a long and perilous journey! There were dragons! Cliffs! Near-death experiences!

Okay, so, actually, it was just my senior thesis.

“Pfft. What does some kid’s thesis have to do with writing and publishing?”

I am so very glad you asked. You see, mine was a primarily creative project — an analysis of antiheroes in short fiction, approached by me studying successful antiheroes in short stories and then writing my own collection, using the patterns I’d learned. At least, that was the original plan.

Things I Learned While Writing My Senior Thesis #1 : Don’t go into a writing project with preconceived notions about what will come out. The muses will backhand you.

This is a lesson the PlotForge team had to learn the hard way. Especially Terri. Gearing herself towards a Young Adult market, she wrote Foreseen for that audience, ignoring her gut instincts where the plot and characters were concerned. I was one of Terri’s primary proof readers in those days, and while Foreseen was still one of the better books I’d read, I found myself groaning with each new pass of revisions. “Kinzie is flattt,” I would whine. “And the plot’s pacing is off!”

Then, an epiphany: Foreseen was never meant to be written for the Young Adult market. Suddenly, characters and plots bloomed. “Haha!” I chortled. “That will never be me! I know enough about literature that I will always be able to successfully write anything! I am Literary Supergirl. I almost have a very expensive piece of paper that says so!”

Things I Learned While Writing My Senior Thesis #2 : Don’t get cocky. The muses will backhand you, and then kick you in the shins.

This is how I spent 90% of last semester.

The long and the short of this is that I learned a lot while writing my thesis. I learned that I can sort of function on no sleep over the span of seventy-two hours, and that I can drink approximately 4.3 cups of coffee per hour before getting a stomach ache. I can evidently write poetry, and prefer writing in spiral bound notebooks to just about anything else. I rock out at imagery, but my plots usually need some work, and the best cure for writer’s block is a quick round of Civilization on my iPod.

But the biggest thing I learned?

Terri and John are a lot smarter than I am. They could have told me about most of the things I tripped over while writing, if I hadn’t been too wrapped up in my own words to listen to them. They’ve been at this a lot longer, and have devoted way more time and energy to the writing process than I have. And it’s made them awesome at what they do. If you don’t believe me, just go look at the reviews Multiplayer is getting.

Fourteen weeks, a hundred and eight pages, and buckets of my blood, sweat, and tears came together to form my completed thesis — a piece that the Powers That Be evidently thought was pretty snazzy. While I am justly proud of myself for this accomplishment, I don’t have quite the sense of fulfillment I was expecting. I don’t have the “done” sensation many of my classmates are experiencing. It’s because I’m not done. Not even close. My writing journey has only just begun and, one hurdle closer to graduation, I return to PlotForge, scrub-faced and ready to learn at the hands of two true masters.