Rude Awakenings from Sleeping Rough

This is a tough blog post to share.

 

It's about a book that was tough for me to read.

 

Especially from the privilege of the warmth, comfort, and security of a home...

 

...where I'm surrounded by books, surrounded by so many of those objects we take comfort in because they can perhaps, allow us to momentarily forget our mortality. 

 

Allow us to forget there's not that much separating us from our having, and not having. From having warmth, security and comfort, to having nothing but the clothes on our backs.

 

This was also a tough book for me to publish. But I wanted to do something. I wanted to share the story of my friend Peter.

 

It's not easy to read about something like this happening to someone I love.

 

It's a story that the charities don’t want you to read.

 

It's about a fate that can strike any of us, at any time, that we don’t want to think about.

 

I met Peter C. Mitchell in the mid 1990s when we were both working as booksellers at the Chapters in Ancaster, Ontario.

 

He was one of the most well-read, intellectual, and witty book nerds I’ve ever had the honor of working alongside.

 

Though he kicked my butt at chess and book trivia board games, I loved hanging out with him, because he challenged me. He made me think. He made me laugh.

 

We worked together over the years, he was a trusted friend who babysat my only son, he was also a first reader and wonderful editor for plenty of my fiction and non-fiction stories.

 

It has been several years since I’ve seen him in person.

 

He returned to London in 2017 to complete his research on a book entitled “A Knight in the Slums” a self-confessed vanity project about his great, great grandfather, Sir John Kirk, and the man’s dedication to bettering the lives of the disabled and the working poor in Victoria-era London.

 

A perfect storm of calamities ironically left Peter penniless and sleeping rough, falling victim to the very same ailments John Kirk fought.

 

 

That nightmare inadvertently gave Peter an inside look at the very systems put in place over a century earlier by his great, great grandfather and those who, like him, were trying to help.

 

That experience frightened him more than the horrors of homelessness itself.

 

And that is the story of Rude Awakenings from Sleeping Rough.

 

This is a book being published independently by my own Stark Publishing imprint in a stealth manner and on a shoestring budget and is being used to help earn Peter his way out of his situation.

 

Unlike most traditional publishing deals, the author is earning 80% of the net profits on sales of the book. (It's typical for a first-time author to earn 8% - and, if they're well established, as much as 20%)

Because I'm not publishing this book to make money. I'm using it to help drive funds towards a friend who does not want charity. He wants to earn his way out of the hole he is in. And he wants his story to be shared

 

Below is a link to the book at the various retailers where it is available. It released December 1, 2020.

 

https://books2read.com/rudeawakenings

 

It can, of course, be special ordered in paperback or hardcover via any local bookshop, as it is distributed via Ingram. (And I encourage folks to consider ordering books via local bookstores whenever and wherever they can. Local businesses serve the local community and culture and allow the revenue to stay local).

 

If you know someone in the media or a book reviewer who might be interested in a review copy of the book, please have them contact me.

 

 

 

Pausing To Reflect and Give Thanks

Last week I went out for lunch with a new friend.

Jan and I had been introduced via a mutual friend, Laurie Blake, who had long insisted me meet, because we were both writers, and, of course, did share a common past working in the Ontario tourism industry.

It took a while between Laurie's initial desire for us to connect and an actual in person meeting.

But when it happened, it was, as I should have known, a delightful experience.

Jan and I hit it off immediately, talking books, and writing, and publishing, and tourism.

And we also, of course, talked a lot about our mutual friend, Laurie, whom we both adore, admire and respect so deeply.

When I left that lunch, pleased with meeting such a wonderful person, I thought I should reach out to thank Laurie for that. But when I started to think about it, I realized that I had never thanked Laurie for all of those previous gifts he had given me over the years.

I also realized that he was likely unaware of just how much he had given me, just how much he had inspired me.

And, since my podcast is about reflecting on things I have learned, I adapted all those thoughts into a special new type of episode that I will roll into the regular feed from time to time.

I call the episodes "Thanks for the Inspiration" - the first one, of course, was: "Thanks for the Inspiration: Laurie Blake."

 

Laurie was a neighbour to me and my parents in the town where I grew up, Levack, Ontario.

He and his wife owned Fox Lake Lodge. I occasionally worked at the lodge, and had the wonderful opportunity to be a protege under Laurie both at the lodge and on some other wonderful experiences, such as being a back-up driver on a quest to Old Town, Maine, to bring back canoes.

Apart from the influence Laurie had on my character and perspectives on life, he also helped shape my skill in oral storytelling. Heck, a story that I've been sharing and have re-adapted countless times over the years, "The Legend of Prospero's Ghost" was derived from a deliciously atmospheric ghost story Laurie shared one night over a campfire and which I can still fondly conjure up each time I am sharing a ghost story.

That tale, which eventually evolved into a short story called "Prospero's Ghost" that I co-wrote with Kimberly Foottit for the anthology Campus Chills, is still one that I continue to play with an re-adapt in new ways when asked to share a ghost story.

I share all of that in my special recent podcast episode, and have made a note to continue to pause to acknowledge and thank those who have had a positive and profound impact on my own life as a person and as a creative.

I think it's important to pause and reflect and give thanks to those who have had a positive difference on your life and who likely never even knew that they did.

Territorial Publishing Rights: Looking At A Ten Year Prediction

Ten years ago I had been asked to make a prediction about something that I didn't think would be around a decade later.

Frustrated with the slow manner by which publishers were reacting to the opportunities that the digital world presented, I speculated (in a wishful-thinking sort of way) that territorial publishing rights might not be a thing.

Turns out it still IS a thing.

For legacy or traditional publishing, that is.

It's not as much of a thing for indie or self-published authors.

In the latest episode of my Stark Reflections podcast, I reflect on an article I had published in the summer of 2009 as well as offering a bit of a background on why and how territorial publishing rights exist.

How they are based on securing the rights to and producing a book within a country, or shipping that book to another country where it can be warehoused for bookstore distribution.

Things that still exist, but aren't much of a concern for indie authors whose world is 95% digital.

Because it was episode 69, and because the reflection was about the summer of 2009, my lyric-infested mind went immediately to the Bryan Adams song "The Summer of '69."

A little Mark Leslie Adams anyone?

You can read the accompanying podcast episode shownotes here. You can also listen to or subscribe to the podcast there too.

Or you can listen to it online here.

Just be warned, there might be a tiny bit of me singing a parody version of the classic awesome Bryan Adams hit song.

Rut-Busting for Writers with Nancy Christie

In the latest episode of my writing and publishing podcast, I interview Nancy Christie about her book Rut-Busting Book for Writers.

You can listen to the episode in the window below or click here to read the full show notes and listen to it from that site (or download the episode to listen)

The timing on this was perfect, because I recently applied a few of the strategies she shared with me (which I talk about in the pre-interview personal update as well as in the post-interview reflections that I share).

Specifically, I talk about getting started back into the "Canadian Werewolf" universe by writing a short story about my nain character, Michael Andrews. I also talk a bit about the revision to the existing cover (to give it a slightly more "urban fantasy" feel than it had before - as well as the forthcoming audiobook of the short story "This Time Around" which was recently completed and should be showing up soon on audio retail and library platforms.

2018 Book Related Sales And Stuff

In the past two episodes of my podcast (Episode 55 and Episode 56), I spent some time looking at where I had earned writing specific income. What formats, what sources.

For example, in looking at just writing income, I broke it down into Self-Publishing, Traditional Publishing, Mixed (a combination where it was difficult to determine or split the source), and business writing. IE, writing I got paid for but didn't get a byline.

I also broke down the format into Print, eBooks, Audio, Mixed (again, where it was difficult to split off the actual source in any meaningful way) and speaking (this would be talking as a writer of fiction or non-fiction paranormal, and not my speaking about the book and publishing industry)

I found it interesting that, within my eBook sales, two collaborative publishing platforms represented my #3 and #4 spots. (With Kindle and Kobo holding the #1 and #2 spots).

I have long suggested that the future of publishing is going to involve more collaboration than ever before. This appears to be happening more in my own writing world.

I find this exercise useful for figuring out my plans and strategy adjustments for the next year.



If you are curious to read more details, you can read/listen to them on the aforementioned episodes:

Episode 55 - Forward Momentum While Looking Back
This is a solo episode where I review my sales - or at least start to. Because I continue some of it into Episode 56.



Episode 56 - Balance and Counterbalance with Katie Cross
This is an interview episode with Katie Cross - awesome and inspiring all on its own. In the opening personal update section, I share a few more of those 2018 sales details

Awesome Reuseable Block Feature in WordPress

Recently, when editing a post on one of my WordPress powered sites, I noticed a feature or option that I hadn't seen before.

It first involves the creation/identification of blocks within a blog post.

But that's where the awesome-ness comes in. In the edit block option, under more options . . .

. . . all you need to do is click on "Add to Reuseable Blocks" and then name it.

Any edits you make get propegated across all posts that use this block.

Create content, and save it for you and other contributors to reuse across your site. Update the block, and the changes apply everywhere it’s used.

This is extremely handy when updated the Creative Commons Liscence, for example, like in this example of the music I use for my Stark Reflections on Writing & Publishing podcast.

And I'm a big advocate for proper attribution and credit for creative talent. I have been using Creative Commons for this blog almost since its very beginning in the early 2000s.

For Those Who Enjoy Visuals over Audio

In January of this week I started a weekly podcast called Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing. I have released a new episode every Friday every single week since January 5th.

Sometimes the episodes are solo ones with me harping on about something in writing and publishing.

Most times the episodes are interviews with writers, creators, industry folks and other people who inspire me or I want to learn from.

There will likely be 54 episodes by the end of this year. Mostly because I made a math error and accidentally skipped an episode number and so felt obliged to quickly fill in a mini-episode so they all added up. I'll also be posted a special 50th episode post this coming weekend - just because I like that round number.

These two extra episodes in Season One will make it 54 episodes rather than 52.

But there are a lot fewer episodes of the podcast in Video format.

I use ZOOM to record most of the interviews that aren't done in person. And for those, I will ask the person I am interviewing if it's okay to use the video feed for sharing the interview portion on YouTube.

When they are okay with it, and, maybe more critical to the process, when I find/make the time to actually produce a video version, I post the videos to my Stark Reflections Playlist on YouTube.

For the sake of those who enjoy video over audio, here are some of the video interviews from a few different episodes:

Episode 5 - Global Audiobook Opportunities for Authors with Kelly Lytle

Episode 29 - Writing with Authenticy, Humor and Passion with Terry Fallis

Episode 21 - Real Connections in a Digital World with J. Thorn and Zach Bohannon

Episode 15 - The Process of a Writer's Life with Kevin Tumlinson

Episode 35 - Lessons Learned from the Novel Intensive Workshop with Ara Grigorian, Janis Thomas and Julie Strauss

Episode 48 - Publishing Strong with Andrea Pearson

Episode 45 - Co-Authoring with the Writers Behind C.K. Wikes (Kerrie Flanagan and Chuck Harrelson)

I haven't been all that great at capturing/keeping all of the video feeds to post in this format. But I did manage to get some short clips derived from some other episodes.

Like these excerpts, often from my own little post-interview reflections....

Using Digital Reading Analytics for Strategic Planning...

Understanding the Cost of Self-Publishing an eBook

And, for a funny, here's a blooper from Episode 16 with Natasha Bajema . . .

On Flying and Firehoses

In the past week, I flew over Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas at 35 MPH on a zip line.

I also took in a firehose of information at the WMG Publishing, Inc. Business Master Class.

The overwhelming stimulation for each is somewhat similar. In the latest episode of the Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing podcast, I share how I plan on dealing with the information, inspiration, and ideas that can fill your head at the end of such a conference, which include:

• A few key things to remember before setting out to try to implement the ideas gathered
• The importance of first stepping back to take a breath and get perspective
• A list of questions to ask yourself when looking at all of the ideas that you have jotted down or taken in
• The importance not just of deciding on something, but deciding to act on that something
• The concept of EAT, FEED, DRAIN
• The FOUR-D way to update a to-do list
• The importance of taking responsibility for your own career

These are just some ideas, and potentially useful strategies you can adapt in your own way whenever you attend a conference or workshop where you have so much information to process and never enough time to try to do it all.

Two Wrongs That Make A Spite

I recently spent an episode of my Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing podcast reflecting on two of the negative things that writers unnecessarily inflict upon themselves. The episode is entitled "Two Wrongs That Make A Writer Spite."

The two things are COMPARISON and REJECTION.

 

These two seemingly little things can eat up a significant amount of a writer's time and convince them that the good fight of continuing to write and publish might not be worth it.

It's not fair to compare yourself to others; there will be times when the comparison makes you feel less worthy and other times where it'll fill you with a false sense of grandeur. Either way is not a good thing. The only thing you should be comparing yourself to is YOU yesterday.

Also, I pause to think about how a writer friend (Kerrie in Episode 31 of the same podcast) doesn't like to use the word REJECTION when talking about writing. Drawing inspiration from Kerrie's thoughts on that, I reflect on what "rejection" most likely actually means.

You can listen to me ponder these two things in full frontal audio here:

Humor Can Be Really Serious Stuff

I recently interviewed my friend Terry Fallis for an episode of the Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing podcast.

Apart from gushing over how much I adored Terry's novels, I had Terry take a journey through his unique publishing path, from self-publishing and podcasting his novel, to winning awards, landing an agent and a publisher, and then winning more awards and having his book The Best Laid Plans made into a musical stage show and a mini-series for CBC Television.

Among the many great things we spoke about, here's a clip of Terry talking about the use of humor to address a serious subject matter (while speaking about his novel Poles Apart)

You can watch the full video interview here.

Or you can listen to the entire audio of Episode 29 of the Stark Reflections Podcast here.

“Terry Fallis has written a delightful book about a young man inspired by feminism to contribute to the cause. . . . Funny and engaging, Poles Apart is a thoroughly enjoyable and enlightening read.”

Judy Rebick, founding publisher, rabble.ca, and former president of the National Action Committee on the Status of Women

Going Your Own Way

"If I could, maybe I'd give you my world
How can I when you won't take it from me?"

These lyrics, near the opening of the Fleetwood Mac song "Go Your Own Way" might be familiar to authors who are trying to share their words, their worlds with an audience.

Sometimes the desire to give and to share is there, but perhaps the audience isn't, or isn't receptive to it.

But elements of the song, particularly the main words of the chorus also related to an interview I recently did with author T S Paul for my Stark Reflections Podcast.

Scott, like the person being sung to in this classic pop rock song, went his own way.

Specifically, he didn't listen to people who told him that he was crazy or out of his mind with the ideas he had for his own writing plan and the path he was determined to follow.

Better Keep Listening. There Might Be A Bit About Blessed Are The Big Noses

Anyone who knows me knows I'm a big fan of Monty Python and that LIFE OF BRIAN is one of my favorite films.

They might also know that I enjoy quoting lines from the film. Lots of lines. At almost any opportunity I can get.

And, of course, one of my fave characters to quote is Brian's Mom, Mandy.

For example, almost ANY time some says "Speak up!" I usually follow it with this (in the appropriate voices, of course):

Cat Fight Blooper Clip

As I was interviewing Natasha Bajema, the author of BIONIC BUG, for a forthcoming episode of my Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing podcast, two of the cats (Fish and Meredeth) decided it was the perfect time for a little misunderstanding between the two of them.

Podcast: Do You Hear What I Hear?

In my ongoing Stark Reflections on Writing & Publishing podcast series, I recent interviewed Kelly Lytle from Findaway Voices about the amazing opportunities for independent authors and small publishers to help get their books turned into audio and distributed globally.


I started using Findaway Voices in the summer of 2017 to test out their services. I had two shorter "chapbook" sized books converted into audio format.

• Active Reader: And Other Cautionary Tales About The Book World
• This contains three short horror stories where books are central to each tale. One is about an eerie bookstore eager to "take" new customers, the title story is about the macabre misuse of a bookstore loyalty card and the final story is a dark humor look at what might happen if someone takes the advice of a self-help book a little too far.
• Collateral Damage: A Sin-Eater Mis-Adventure
• A short story about an encounter that Peter O'Mallick, the main character in my novel I, Death, has in the midst of attempting to use his death curse to fight crime.

The Findaway system was easy to use and the narrators they hand-selected for me to choose from were great. I'm quite pleased with the production quality of these books and look forward to working with these two narrators again for other projects.

Superstars Writing Seminars 2018

I attended Superstars Writing Seminars this past week as a guest instructor.

Superstars Founding Faculty Members (F) and Guest Instructors. Left to Right: Lisa Mangum, Jonathan Maberry, Kevin J. Anderson (F), Rebecca Moesta (F), James A. Owen (F), David Farland (F), Brandon Sanderson (F), Eric Flint (F)

Even though I was there to teach and share insights about Kobo and Kobo Writing Life and digital publishing, and even though it was my fifth visit to this annual conference, I still walked away with an incredible amount of knowledge. I ALWAYS do.

And that's one of the reasons I keep going back. The industry keeps changing and the learning never stops. And this conference is filled with information about both traditional publishing as well as indie and digital publishing options for writers, always focusing on the BUSINESS of being a writer. (Even though there is an intensive "craft day" now tacked on at the front of the conference)

Pic from VIP Dinner - Photo courtesy of Lauren Lang of Jacobin Photography

Apart from the presentations, panels and discussions I participated in, I also scooted around between sessions and in hallways and did a series of live Facebook videos of chats with various folks, including the founding faculty, guest instructors and other industry pros who were attending. It was part of my wanting to share, via my Stark Reflections/Stark Publishing brand, insights and tidbits of info for writers who couldn't be there.

Podcast: Optimizing Your Author Brand with Robert J. Sawyer

The latest episode of my Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing podcast features an interview with Canadian science fiction author Robert J. Sawyer.




It's a great conversation where we talk about how Rob was the first science fiction writer to ever have a website and how he made sure to generously apply the keywords Science, Fiction and Writer throughout the site (aptly named SFWriter.com) in order to appear at the top of most keyword search results for people looking for a science fiction writer. (IE, when someone from the media wants to talk to a sci-fi writer about a recent scientific news item)

This (among other author brand exercises) has helped Rob land more than 400 radio and more than 400 television interviews over the years.

Podcast: Stark Reflections on Capturing Reading Data via eBooks

In the third episode of the Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing podcast, Mark interviews Sinead McElhinney, PR Coordinator on the Communications team from Rakuten Kobo in Toronto, Ontario about some interesting reading data that Kobo released near the end of 2017. They discuss the analysis of reading data, understanding core eBook readers better, as well as some of Sinead’s favorite things about her role in the book industry.

Sinead and Mark at RT (Romantic Times) in Atlanta in May 2017 (May the 4th, if you catch the subtle hint from Mark's t-shirt)

During their conversation, Sinead and Mark discuss:

Podcast: Stark Reflections on Writing & Publishing Episode 2: Living the Healthy Writer's Life with Joanna Penn

In Episode 2 of the Stark Reflections on Writing & Publishing podcast, Mark interviews Joanna Penn of The Creative Penn about her latest book The Healthy Writer: Reduce Your Pain, Improve Your Health, And Build A Writing Career For The Long Term (co-authored with Dr. Euan Lawson) and they also have a discussion about trends in publishing and speculation about the opportunities that are likely to be on the horizon for writers.

 

In his introduction to the episode, Mark announces that Findaway Voices is now an official sponsor. He shares his own experience with using Findaway Voices to create audiobooks and also his plans for some forthcoming projects.

 

In Mark's interview with Joanna, they talk about:

Podcast: Stark Reflections on Writing & Publishing Episode 1: New Year, New Reflections

I have launched a new podcast and am copying the show-notes from the main website for this (Stark Reflections) below....


Welcome to the first episode of the Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing Podcast.

If you have questions or topics you’d love me to cover, please feel free to comment or email me at mark@markleslie.ca or reach out to me on Twitter @MarkLeslie.

The start of a new year is always a time for reflection. It’s often a look back at the previous year and the goals accomplished during that period. And it usually also involves setting some goals or targets for the year ahead.

I have continued to do that each year. But if you’re like me, then perhaps you also fall prey to one of those other pesky little side effects of that can come when reflecting on your goals – you end up focusing ONLY on the things that you didn’t get to strike off your annual writing “to do” list.

We tend to always do that to ourselves. For example, I didn’t achieve three of the writing goals I had laid out in 2017. Let’s walk through all three so I can illustrate how I manage to make the most out of goals NOT fully achieved.

Those three goals were:

1. Creating and launching a short story collection
2. Writing the sequel to A CANADIAN WEREWOLF IN NEW YORK (entitled FEAR AND LONGING IN LOS ANGELES)
3. Publishing the audiobook version of A CANADIAN WEREWOLF IN NEW YORK

I didn’t get any of those three things done.

And I could focus on that – OR, I could applaud myself for coming close in achieving each of those tasks, or the work that I have been able to do on them. I walk through each of those and outline what I DID achieve in relation to those goals, demonstrating that while I didn’t hit my targets, I did end up further ahead in each one than when I started off the year.

I also share some information about how my audiobooks sold in 2017, including some unexpected income sources for those audiobooks.

Two main things that I try to illustrate in going through these examples are:

• You don’t always fully achieve the goals you set out to, but sometimes you make progress, which is good; and other times you end up achieving other things in parallel that you didn’t originally plan. DON’T LOSE SIGHT of those achievements in the process of beating yourself up about the things you didn’t hit.
• I shared my modest earnings because one of the things that frustrates me to no end is the fact that it seems only the authors earning 6 and 7 figure incomes are publicly sharing their earnings, leading to a significant amount of comparisonitis which can be a truly demoralizing experience.

I also discuss several intriguing collaborative elements of publishing that I have been following, and call out a few specific elements I have been following (Authors on a Train, BundleRabbit, and One More Story Games alog with my belief that there will be even more great collaboration opportunities on the horizon for writers.

Links of Interest:

• The Writing Show – Getting Published with Mark Leslie
• Public Lending Rights Program (Canada)
• Authors on a Train – J. Thorn & Zach Bohannon
• Bundlerabbit.com
• One More Story Games
• Findaway Voices
• ListenUp IndiePub
• Mark Leslie’s Author Website

The music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

RSS options for this podcast:  Mark Leslie at Libsyn or Feedburner