Welcome to my website!
If fantasy, horror, and romance is your thing, check these out:
The Hover, Cedric Book 1
The Meridiem, Cedric Book 2
If fantasy, horror, and romance is your thing, check these out:
The Hover, Cedric Book 1
The Meridiem, Cedric Book 2
|
|
Available at popular e-bookstores such as Barnes&Noble, Apple, Playster, Amazon, Scribd, 24symbols...
Hardcopies available at these fine bookstores:
Flashlight Books
1537 N Main Street
Walnut Creek, CA
https://www.flashlightbooks.com
Pegasus Books Downtown Berkeley
2349 Shattuck Avenue
Berkeley, CA
https://www.pegasusbookstore.com
Copperfield's Books (Sebastopol)
138 North Main Street
Sebastopol, CA
https://www.copperfieldsbooks.com/sebastopol
Borderlands Books
866 Valencia St.
San Francisco, CA
https://www.borderlands-books.com
Dog Eared Books
900 Valencia St.
San Francisco, CA
http://www.dogearedbooks.com/
Green Apple Books on the Park
1231 9th Avenue at Lincoln
San Francisco, CA
https://www.greenapplebooks.com/
Levin & Company Community Booksellers
306 Center Street
Healdsburg, CA
https://www.levinbooks.com
If you would like to see my books in your local bookstore, give me a shout!
1537 N Main Street
Walnut Creek, CA
https://www.flashlightbooks.com
Pegasus Books Downtown Berkeley
2349 Shattuck Avenue
Berkeley, CA
https://www.pegasusbookstore.com
Copperfield's Books (Sebastopol)
138 North Main Street
Sebastopol, CA
https://www.copperfieldsbooks.com/sebastopol
Borderlands Books
866 Valencia St.
San Francisco, CA
https://www.borderlands-books.com
Dog Eared Books
900 Valencia St.
San Francisco, CA
http://www.dogearedbooks.com/
Green Apple Books on the Park
1231 9th Avenue at Lincoln
San Francisco, CA
https://www.greenapplebooks.com/
Levin & Company Community Booksellers
306 Center Street
Healdsburg, CA
https://www.levinbooks.com
If you would like to see my books in your local bookstore, give me a shout!
|
|
|
|
|
|
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
FEAR OF FAILING
by, C. A. Lear
The fear of failing shouldn't overwhelm the fear of never having tried, but sometimes it does. Why? At the instinctual level fear can obviously help us survive and motivate us to be more practical. Fear is also an evolved emotion, molded from individual experiences. There are many benefits to the emotion of fear. However, fear can also mess with us. It can cause us to hesitate, procrastinate, quit, and be less flexible or accepting of change and diversity. As a writer of fiction, my greatest fear is publishing—specifically, the what-if-everything-goes-wrong scenarios. What if I don't sell any books? What if I get bad reviews? What if I get no reviews? Success is obviously the least of my worries, but even a modest amount of success would stoke my fear of that as well. Yet no amount of fear will take away my curiosity, to know how marketable my work really is.
Finding a balance between being hyper-risk averse and cat-curious can be challenging. How do the publishers do it? I learned that successful publishers have a finger on the pulse of market trends. They constantly want to know what's in, what's out, and what's coming back into popular demand. In The New York Times, Sunday Review, Stephen Marche purported that “Three-hundred-thousand books are published in the United States every year. A few hundred, at most, could be called financial or creative successes.” Wow! A 99% failure rate is something to fear. No wonder literary agents and publishers are so selective. They can probably predict annual losses like a grocery store can predict average spoilage. Why would anyone gamble on such dismal odds?
Let's consider the film industry, another risky business. In Forbes, Schuyler Moore contends that most films lose money--about 80% do. Yet, movie producers continue to produce movies, and publishers continue to publish books. Why risk the losses and even bankruptcy? Aside from fame and fortune, what else motivates the decision to make a film or publish a novel?
Experienced publishers probably rely on personal preferences, gut instincts, lessons learned, and apply basic business principals to get to YES or NO. Because I have had no publishing experience or wherewithal to hire someone who does, I decided to find the answers to these questions myself: 1) Is my story marketable, and 2) how can I know it's marketable without publishing it? After some head-scratching, I came up with this simple approach...
I created a survey with insightful information for my new (at the time) horror novel THE HOVER. My trusty assistant and I provided a sample chapter and survey to random people in coffee shops. When they finished reading the sample chapter, we asked them to fill out the survey. The survey provided quantifiable data such as the reader's gender, age, genre preferences, and their like/dislike ratings of the chapter. From a sample of 30 surveyors, I quantified, graphed, and analyzed the data. A bunch of useful info came to bear, indicating a well-liked chapter and potentially marketable novel. But after all that, I was still unwilling to publish!
One day, my wife suggested that I publish THE HOVER. I couldn't believe my ears, and I pushed back at first because I felt that literary agents weren't interested in a vampire story, and they weren't. At the time, zombies were trending. She reminded me that trends come and go, and I didn't need a literary agent to self-publish. Well, I wasn't keen to self-publish because much of the indie stuff I'd read wasn't very good. She reminded me that much of the traditionally published stuff she'd read wasn't very good, either. Hmm…*sigh*
In the end, my survey results and a second opinion quelled my fear to self-publish THE HOVER. What are my thoughts on self-publishing? Why not ask me directly? While you're at it, please buy THE HOVER, Cedric Book 1. Post your review on Goodreads and/or the e-store you bought it from. And don't forget the action packed sequel: THE MERIDIEM, Cedric Book 2.
NOTE: Statistical forecasting with positive results cannot guarantee success.
C. A. Lear
by, C. A. Lear
The fear of failing shouldn't overwhelm the fear of never having tried, but sometimes it does. Why? At the instinctual level fear can obviously help us survive and motivate us to be more practical. Fear is also an evolved emotion, molded from individual experiences. There are many benefits to the emotion of fear. However, fear can also mess with us. It can cause us to hesitate, procrastinate, quit, and be less flexible or accepting of change and diversity. As a writer of fiction, my greatest fear is publishing—specifically, the what-if-everything-goes-wrong scenarios. What if I don't sell any books? What if I get bad reviews? What if I get no reviews? Success is obviously the least of my worries, but even a modest amount of success would stoke my fear of that as well. Yet no amount of fear will take away my curiosity, to know how marketable my work really is.
Finding a balance between being hyper-risk averse and cat-curious can be challenging. How do the publishers do it? I learned that successful publishers have a finger on the pulse of market trends. They constantly want to know what's in, what's out, and what's coming back into popular demand. In The New York Times, Sunday Review, Stephen Marche purported that “Three-hundred-thousand books are published in the United States every year. A few hundred, at most, could be called financial or creative successes.” Wow! A 99% failure rate is something to fear. No wonder literary agents and publishers are so selective. They can probably predict annual losses like a grocery store can predict average spoilage. Why would anyone gamble on such dismal odds?
Let's consider the film industry, another risky business. In Forbes, Schuyler Moore contends that most films lose money--about 80% do. Yet, movie producers continue to produce movies, and publishers continue to publish books. Why risk the losses and even bankruptcy? Aside from fame and fortune, what else motivates the decision to make a film or publish a novel?
Experienced publishers probably rely on personal preferences, gut instincts, lessons learned, and apply basic business principals to get to YES or NO. Because I have had no publishing experience or wherewithal to hire someone who does, I decided to find the answers to these questions myself: 1) Is my story marketable, and 2) how can I know it's marketable without publishing it? After some head-scratching, I came up with this simple approach...
I created a survey with insightful information for my new (at the time) horror novel THE HOVER. My trusty assistant and I provided a sample chapter and survey to random people in coffee shops. When they finished reading the sample chapter, we asked them to fill out the survey. The survey provided quantifiable data such as the reader's gender, age, genre preferences, and their like/dislike ratings of the chapter. From a sample of 30 surveyors, I quantified, graphed, and analyzed the data. A bunch of useful info came to bear, indicating a well-liked chapter and potentially marketable novel. But after all that, I was still unwilling to publish!
One day, my wife suggested that I publish THE HOVER. I couldn't believe my ears, and I pushed back at first because I felt that literary agents weren't interested in a vampire story, and they weren't. At the time, zombies were trending. She reminded me that trends come and go, and I didn't need a literary agent to self-publish. Well, I wasn't keen to self-publish because much of the indie stuff I'd read wasn't very good. She reminded me that much of the traditionally published stuff she'd read wasn't very good, either. Hmm…*sigh*
In the end, my survey results and a second opinion quelled my fear to self-publish THE HOVER. What are my thoughts on self-publishing? Why not ask me directly? While you're at it, please buy THE HOVER, Cedric Book 1. Post your review on Goodreads and/or the e-store you bought it from. And don't forget the action packed sequel: THE MERIDIEM, Cedric Book 2.
NOTE: Statistical forecasting with positive results cannot guarantee success.
C. A. Lear