Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Why A Netflix For Books Is WRONG

There has been a lot of talk in both the real world and the internet realms about a supposed "Netflix For Books". I'd like to add my two cents to that idea and explain why I think the entire enterprise is completely wrong.

Netflix is known as the little DVD distribution company that expanded into a streaming service almost exclusively a few years back. I remember being signed up for their disc option before the streaming plan was even in existence. Basically (for those of you who have been living under a rock) people pay a monthly subscription fee to gain access to as many of Netflix's streaming titles as they can stream within thirty days. You have access to two devices at a time so that your account can be used by more than one member of your family and enjoy two programs at the same time.

I will admit that this subscription was one of the best investments I made back in the day. In the beginning, Netflix solved my problem of constantly buying seasons of television programs and movies while running out of shelf space. I could watch a season of television and then forget about the physical product because there wasn't one. It was all about the experience and completely economical for a college student like me.

Looking now to the world of books - many people have been saying that libraries are, and have been, the Netflix for books - which is wrong. See the article by Kelly Jensen at BookRiot for the complete rundown. With that argument blasted out of the water, readers and the media are now turning to Amazon's new KindleUnlimited service and asking if this will be the mythical Netflix for books.

I highly doubt it.

Here's why.

When you, a reader, are searching for a book at a library, you know that you do not own any of the materials that you are borrowing. You are doing simply that: borrowing something for free. There is no risk because you are not paying money for a product, and if you are, it is because you are using a library that is not in your town (which I have done) and the fee is generally very small, splitting the one-time yearly fee into roughly $1.50 per month.

Your brain is already predisposed to the concept that you are borrowing these books, typically physical books for the most part, and have them for a week or two weeks at a time. This is fundamentally different from the Netflix model where you are able to select any single title from thousands of titles at any hour of the day. With the library, you are going into a physical building and planning ahead that the title you are taking home will be yours to read for the following week - not just at that very moment to be discarded in an hour or two for something else.

Books are long-term investments for your mind. They take time to devour, sometimes forty hours for a single title - or more (here's looking at you, Stephen King's It!). You don't simply flit from book to book, sampling bits and pieces as you please when you leave the library. That just isn't possible.

Looking at the idea of a subscription service for books as a purely mental experience, it isn't very realistic that you would need to pay to sample a bunch of eBooks or audio books as KindleUnlimited advertises you will be able to do. Already within Amazon.com, you are able to read the first ten percent of any eBook available via Kindle. You are also able to listen to three-to-five minutes of any audio book available through Audible.com - without paying a dime. Browsing is free, even with you are looking to spend real money on a product.

What about the ability to consume books and audio books each month? Personally, having a time limit severely dampens my ability to focus on a work and enjoy it as I normally would if I owned the book or eBook. Readers with two jobs like myself are only capable of reading maybe three to four books per month if they commute an hour to work and listen to audio books during that time or ride a subway or other form of public transportation. Is it worth it for the $8.99 or so fee in that case? Perhaps. An audio book is generally much more expensive, averaging $25-$45 dollars (here's looking at you, JK Rowling and George RR Martin!).

But, when it comes to books, let me steer you to the key ingredient of the reading experience that most of these articles are leaving out, and that is ownership.

A book is not just a product to be thrown away once you are finished with it. A book is something to own, something to add to your own collection. If this weren't such an integral part of the process when it comes to books, why are so many people clinging to physical books that are threatening to overgrow their personal libraries?

A book, be it an eBook or a paper book, is something that you add to your shelf if you enjoy it. True, I have not loved every book that I purchased in the past, and this led me to get rid of a fair amount of titles in exchange for store credit at BullMoose. But, the ones that I loved - I added those to my collection. Books are a collector's item. Even on my Kindle, I have great joy in knowing that I own the complete Harry Potter series and can read them any time I please without restraint. I also own the complete physical library of JRR Tolkien - among my most prized possessions. They are just beautiful volumes that I had to own.

If I borrowed these items through a subscription program, I would have to return them. Furthermore, I would have to pay the fee once my month was up in order to enjoy them again. This is part of the process of reading that negatively affects my experience. I don't want to return the items that I love. I want to own them.

As far as Netflix is concerned, the media that is being offered up by them is cold media. That is, media that takes very little mental involvement to enjoy. Have I been tempted to purchase the television shows that I watched on Netflix in order to add them to my personal collection? Personally, no. That medium is not one that I am devoted to rewatching over and over again, except in very rare cases (LOST, Smallville, and certain anime series).

Have I been tempted to buy books that I loved from the library after I read them? Absolutely. My reasoning for this is that books are something that can be read over and over and new discoveries can be made upon second readings. True, watching an episode of LOST a second or third time may yield discoveries that I hadn't picked up the first time, but reading a book a second time is an entirely rewarding and mentally stimulating experience. Books can be referenced over and over and not lose their relevance. Why would Dickens be collected on shelves today if not for the timelessness of his work?

Books can be analyzed, and the rewards are great. Books are food for thought. Books are not meant to be read and thrown away. Furthermore, KindleUnlimited and other various subscription services have access to only a limited number of titles, narrowing down your selection as a reader. This is the same as Netflix having a constant rollover of titles, which is frustrating to me when a title I have in my queue suddenly expires because of a licensing expiration. A subscription service is not the ideal way to discover new literature.

As someone who took five years worth of Honors Writing and Literature Courses, I can tell you that the words in a book are worth more than any television program or movie that I have watched. Even when a movie was exceptionally moving to me, I have to go back and realize that the movie in question started out as words on a page - a screenplay, a book of scenes for the filmmakers to visualize on screen. Without these words, we would have no voice in the future - nothing to leave behind for future generations.

Will future generations still collect Dickens on their shelves, or Rowling, or JRR Tolkien? I believe so. When the choice to get rid of a book or some other piece of property came up in my move to the big city, I always chose to keep the book over the other property because of the mental and emotional connection I have with the book. Will people in the future hesitate on whether or not to keep their DVD volume of Keeping Up With The Kardashians or some other piece of property?

I highly doubt it.

Books are meant to be owned for a lifetime. This is why a Netflix for books is entirely wrong.

Monday, July 21, 2014

Finding Your Inspiration

Most of the time when people ask authors - and even me, a newbie - where they get their ideas and inspiration, the answers are always stock phrases, like, "I go for a walk and the ideas just come to me," or, "I don't know. They're floating out in the ether until they end up in my head."

These answers aren't very helpful to budding authors who generally view the process of storytelling as some mythological, magical experience. (However, the tip about walking is great to help the writing brain!)

So, I thought I would write about what inspires me to write the often eccentric, undead-filled stories that I've been publishing as of late. Keep in mind that everyone is inspired in different ways, so some of these techniques may work for you, and the ones that don't can just be discarded.

The first step for me becoming inspired is to see or read a story that resonates with me deeply. What makes me hooked on something? Currently I am hooked on horror. To take that a step further, I am hooked and fascinated by supernatural horror.

What fascinates me about that particular genre?

I now go through and mentally come up with reasons for my addiction to the genre.


  • I'm interested in the unknown and what happens to people when they refuse to pass on after death.
  • I'm interested in the struggles of a family dealing with an entity that they cannot see.
  • I'm interested in the process of figuring out how to battle an invisible foe - if they can be battled at all.
  • What do you do when your house is no longer your home?
  • Where do these ghosts come from?
  • What is the history of an old home? How many life stories has it been witness to?
The list can go on for a while, but it's great to get those hooks into the front of my creative brain because those are exactly the hooks that I'm going to be using in my piece of fiction. Hopefully these hooks will also captivate a new reader.

What's also exciting about the horror genre is that I am free to create anything that I want. What terrifies me? As I said, I am afraid of the unknown. This allows me to write plots where unexpected and often times unexplainable phenomena will happen to my characters and they will react in ways that are human and realistic. When they were just coming to terms with their everyday problems, a supernatural problem will take the cake in their lives. This can be a zombie infestation, a rogue virus, or even a home invasion haunting.

Next in my journey of inspiration I will look for research and odd bits of information to fuel my imagination. Typically I will follow a thread on Wikipedia and follow the links deeper and deeper until I find something I've never read or heard of before. This is great practice because it will give you a well of information and anecdotes to sprinkle through your story. It also helps to read about real events that have happened to real people in order to ground your story somewhat in the real world. Even horror needs to be grounded for the audience to extend their disbelief, otherwise it becomes a farce.

Then from there I craft characters and their backstories and come up with the beginning of my plot outline.

This exercise is so rewarding. I highly recommend any new writers give it a shot and see how much more enriched their imagineering time becomes - and how quickly their notebook fills up with bits of information that can sometimes be too crazy to be real. But, you know the old saying that truth is stranger than fiction.

It's definitely spot on.

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Port Plague Is Now Available!



After a few months of hard work, my newest entry in the Can You Survive? series is now available on Kindle!

With plenty of new ways to meet your doom, be sure to check out Port Plague on Kindle. As with the first book, this one is also the low price of $0.99, which is cheaper than Starbucks.

If you're looking for a great beach read, or are camping (which I just was) then try this book out and see how far you can get before you run into a dead end.

Sunday, July 13, 2014

At The Publisher...

Port Plague is at the publisher - Amazon KDP - at the moment. I will also be publishing a Kobo edition later on, as well as a paperback edition. If you liked the first Can You Survive? book, stay tuned for info on how you can enter to win a paperback edition of Port Plague in the coming weeks. It should be pretty exciting.

Now I wait in anticipation as this newest volume is let loose on the world. I think I like it better than The Zombie Apocalypse! But, how can you choose favorites between your own children? ;)

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Port Plague Synopsis Reveal!

Some of you have been waiting to see what the new Can You Survive book will be about, and today is your lucky day. Here is the official reveal of the synopsis for Port Plague:

Are you tough enough to survive the port plague?

The book you are holding in your hands is all about you. As you click to the first page, you will find that you are the central character and the choices that you make will alter the path of the story dramatically. It’s spring break, and you are doing what every college student has always dreamed of doing: going on a cruise! The Megantic is everything you hoped it would be. There are casinos to lose money in, laser tag arenas to challenge your friends in, and even…mysterious viruses you can catch?

In the blink of an eye, your cruise goes from paradise to a disaster. Are you smart enough to avoid contamination? Or will you be taken down by the invisible virus - or worse, be attacked by those who are infected?

Beware! Under no circumstances are you to read this book in order!

At the bottom of each section you will find a set of choices. Click on the hyperlink you desire and the book will take you to the next section of your journey. For those who like to keep track of their choices, they have been labeled with page numbers to aid you in your meticulous note keeping.

Are you ready?

One last note: This book is filled with many ways to die. If you are afraid of being lost at sea, drowning, and yes, zombies, you may want to read something else. Some of the sights you see may terrifying.

Still on board?

Great.


With all that said, good luck. Don't say I didn't warn you.

*  *  *

Progress on adding all the pages and hyperlinks is still ongoing this week, but I should have a publication date announced soon.

Also, if you have read the first Can You Survive book, The Zombie Apocalypse, stay tuned to find out how you can win a copy of the second book. I'm mulling over a sweepstakes for a copy of Port Plague, but I haven't ironed out all the details yet. Lots of exciting things to come!

Sunday, July 6, 2014

Port Plague Is Complete!

I am excited to announce that Book 2 in my Can You Survive series is complete! Port Plague is completely written and I am very pleased with all the plot threads to choose from. This week will be devoted to typing all the lingering handwritten pages and adding the hyperlinks. Once I have fixed all the formatting, this one should be ready to release upon the world. Stay tuned for more exciting updates this week, including the publication date!