mystery

one bad twelve available in print!

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I’m excited to announce that my crime fiction short story collection one bad twelve is now available in print at both my CreateSpace store and Amazon.com for $11.99. (If you’re interested in buying it, I’d appreciate it if you did so at my CreateSpace store…Amazon takes 50% more royalties when selling from their site!)

The volume is 226 pages and consists of 13 original stories as well as a Story Notes section where I talk about the inspiration and background for the stories. There’s also an excerpt from my forth-coming debut detective novel, A Reason to Live.

The process to go from ebook to print was much easier than I’d anticipated. CreateSpace–a division of Amazon–has the process down pat and guides the would-be print author through every step of the way. If you’re interested, I talk about my experiences and provide some tips and expected pitfalls here (Part I) and here (Part II). I’ll be posting a Part III of the experience soon.

Quick FAQ

Why did you go with CreateSpace?
CS is owned by Amazon and the seamless connection between creating an ebook and a print book–and linking the two in their sales channels–was too good to pass up. Also, like their system for uploading ebooks, the interface for creating a print book is exceedingly easy to use and the help they provide through the process is thorough.

Is it safe to order from CreateSpace?
Yep. CreateSpace is a wholly owned division of Amazon, although your credit card statement will show CREATESPACE as the merchant.

What’s the difference in ordering from CreateSpace vs. Amazon?
For the buyer, very little. The price is exactly the same. However, because CS is the printer rather than the distributor, they take less in royalties…50% less. So, the author (that’s me) makes much more from orders through CS than Amazon without any increase in price to the buyer.

The one consideration for a buyer is that CS does not offer free shipping for Prime members. Amazon does.

Why $11.99? The ebook is only $2.99!
There are overhead costs–salaries, printing, warehousing, and paying for the electronic costs of the store–that drive the cost of a print version up. Also, I elected to go through an “expanded distribution” network that allows me to place one bad twelve in libraries and independent bookstores, who take much deeper cuts of the overall price.

Because of that deeper cut, I make just $1 per copy sold in those channels; $11.99 is the lowest price I could set and still make any money on my book. 🙂 I make correspondingly more through Amazon.com and even more if you buy through my CreateSpace store.

one bad twelve – $11.99
CreateSpace  – https://www.createspace.com/3826415
Amazon – http://www.amazon.com/one-bad-twelve-Matthew-Iden/dp/147504500X/ref=tmm_pap_title_0

Compassion Play: Treating Your Victims With Respect

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A few years ago I attended the renowned Boucheron convention, a fan-based convention for mystery and crime fiction. UK comedian-turned-crime fiction-novelist Mark Billingham was one of the many panelists that I listened to that day, but he said something that stuck with me when the words of many other bright lights at the conference faded away. Something I’d never heard a mystery or crime fiction author talk about before.

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Where’s the Party? Crime fiction, thrillers, and mysteries

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There’s a Crime Fiction Writers group on LinkedIn that I belong to. Recently, this question was posed: what’s the difference between crime fiction, thrillers, and mysteries? I thought about it and responded:

Crime fiction: the party’s going to happen
Thrillers: the party’s happening
Mystery: the party’s over. Who drank all the beer?

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I ain’t no Superman

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For my own pleasure and education, I write personal critiques of popular books, books I admire, and books I think would be better used to level a wobbly table. I record my thoughts on voice, style, and especially great passages. I also write down weaknesses and issues I find grating. Recently, while reading through a critique I’d written on a well-known crime writer’s novel, I came across this note I wrote to myself:

The lead character is a former Army Recon sniper, now a forensic expert despite a career spent only as a beat cop. He’s sexy, willing to sacrifice anything for a friend, a former friend, or a loved one without complaint. Children and animals like him. In short, he’s phony as a $3 bill.

Please…I want my heroes to be tough, sophisticated, and softies at heart. But when the protagonist can’t be beat at anything, is morally superior than everyone around him, has the answers and the experience to respond to any situation, the air goes out of the balloon.

Inner turmoil, self-doubts, shady pasts (that actually affect him or her…not token problems) are not contradictory to having a compelling lead character and, in fact—as story-tellers have known for several thousand years—actually the key to creating a powerful, memorable protagonist and a moving story.

The Flawed Protagonist is nothing new or groundbreaking. Where is Samson without his vanity? King Arthur without his bad judgment and wounded pride? Would we care as much about Philip Marlowe if he didn’t have a shaky set of ethics? Robert Parker’s Spenser stopped being interesting once he became bullet-proof and unquestioning. When his self-doubts vanished, so did our deeper interest…the later Spenser for Hire books are worth reading only to see what new crooks get their asses kicked by the Boston PI and Hawk.

Broken lives need a less-than-perfect protagonist. Anything else becomes a cartoon and at that point we’re just killing time until the hero is admitted into the Justice League. Subsequent novels become conflicts not with antagonists (because they aren’t true challenges to our hero), but with abstract elements, like time (defuse the bomb) or a natural crisis (a volcano!). And these are fine forces to array yourself against. But they aren’t interesting characters and they don’t allow the protagonist to mature or grow.

Keep your Superman. I’ll take a flawed Philip Marlowe any day.