The
current issue of Writer’s Digest
identifies the following awards as the major genre ones:
·
Thriller
Awards (Thriller/Suspense) – www.thrillerwriters.org
·
RWA
Awards (Romance) – www.RWA.org
·
Agatha
Awards (Mystery) – www.bouchercon.info
·
The
Edgar Awards (Mystery) – www.TheEdgars.com
·
Macavity
Awards (Mystery) – www.mysteryreaders.org
·
Bram
Stokee Awards (Horror) – www.horror.org
·
Writer’s
Digest Popular Fiction Awards (Fiction) – www.writersdigest.com/popularfictionawards
·
Lambda
Literary Awards (LGBT Fiction) – www.lambdaliterary.org
·
The
Christy Awards (Christian Fiction) – www.christyawards.com
·
Newberry
Medal (Children/YA) – www.ALA.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia
·
Caldecott
Medal (Children/YA) – www.ALA.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia
·
Nebula
Awards (Science Fiction/Fantasy) – www.SFWA.org/nebula-awards
·
Hugo
Awards (Science Fiction/Fantasy) – www.thehugoawards.org
·
Mythopoeic
Awards (Science Fiction/Mystery) – www.mythsoc.org
I would also suggest you apply to the Indie Excellence Awards www.indieexcellence.com
Interview With Author Erik Craddock
What type of books do you write? Primarily humor/satire for teenagers, young
adults, children and early readers. During my run on the Stone Rabbit series
with Random House, I was focusing on children's humor/adventure that was done
in the vein of most Saturday morning cartoons, courtesy of the drawing/writing
style I was employing. But now I'm writing for older teens, and am currently
exploring science fiction, psychological horror, parody/satire, as well as
romantic comedies. So I guess you could say my genre of work is...
"varied?"
What is your newest book about? Well, it's funny you should ask which one is
my "newest", seeing as how I have two brand-new books coming out all
at around the same time.
The
first one, as you and many others already know, is Stone Rabbit
Volume 8: Robot Frenzy. This is the eighth and final book in the Stone
Rabbit book series which (boiled down) is basically about robot teddy bears
running amok in Happy Glades (the hometown of SR and his friends) during the
town's annual Harbor Day parade. As for the reason why the robot teddy bears
went criminally insane, this was the direct result of Henri Tortoise's
meddling. Because he didn't want to lose the first place prize for the float
design contest, he decided to tinker with Judy's Goose's robot helpers in order
to make them build the float, his way. However, doing this ultimately drove the
robot teddy bears mad, which later, causes them to literally rip their own
furry hides off of their robot bodies and start rampaging through town,
wholesale. While there is another major plot twist to the story, I don't want
to give too much away before the book is released. However, the underlying
moral lessons of this book are that winning isn't everything, and friends will
still be your friends, regardless of what you may or may not think about
yourself. Again, I really don't want to give too much away, as the book hasn't
hit the shelves yet and I don't want to spoil the read for the fans. That said,
it should be available for sale on June 25th, in paperback, hardcover, and digital
formats by Random House Young Readers Group.
The
second (and more "newer" of the two) is The Cartoon
Guidebook To Absolute Failure, which I am currently doing alongside of
Boston-based artist Logan Faerber, for SLG Publishing. In a nutshell, it's basically
a series of anti-help books which educate the reader on the best possible ways
to fail in just about every aspect of life, both real and imagined. This ranges
from cake baking, to grizzly bear attacks, to hang gliding and vampire slaying,
and even being a ninja and making summer movie blockbusters. We'll be releasing
this book as a series of digital issues (six in all), followed by three printed
volumes of the work starting later this summer. And once the series run is
over, we'll be collecting all of the issues/volumes into one massive 200+ page
hardcover book in the Spring of 2014.
What inspired you to write it? With regards to SR 8: Robot Frenzy, there were
actually a number of hurdles I needed to hop over in order to get that book
published. Among them, was what was considered to be "popular" at the
time the book was being published. Ultimately, with the help of the sales and
marketing team over at Random House, we narrowed that list down to sharks,
tornadoes, robots, and parades. So I just kind of worked my magic based on that
and out came a book. In terms of what inspired the narrative, there were a
number of references to prior works I liked. While not giving too much away, I
will say that Jaws, Invader Zim, and March of
the Wooden Soldiers certainly played a large role in the shaping of
this book. The rest I'll leave to the readers to figure out...
As
for the Cartoon Guidebook to Absolute Failure, that was born from many things,
as well. But I think it mainly comes from being bombarded by this kind of
synthetic happiness which seems prevalent in the world today, courtesy of what
TV and society forces us to expect from our lives and ourselves. My feeling, is
that I just wanted to throw marmalade jam at it while laughing as hard and as
loud as I possibly could. And I have to say, this book more than afforded me
the opportunity to do so.
What is the writing process like for you? It really is a strange and winding road, and
is by no means a straight line to the finish like most people think it is. For
me, the writing process is a combination of stream of consciousness, years of
idea collecting and refining, and the right opportunity/angle by which to
strike. Personally, I equate it more to farming than anything else. And just
like farming, you can't just plant seeds in the dirt and expect them to be
fully grown within half-a-week, or less. It takes time, patience, and plenty of
hard work and nurturing in order to harvest your crops properly, and the same
goes for developing ideas. Because I've never heard any publisher say to me,
"You know what? You seem like a really nice guy! So how about we give you
this here book advance and you can just take all the time you want writing
whatever book you feel like writing, okay?"
So
(in essence) this means I must be continually creating, writing, and developing
ideas in order to have them at the ready for when a publisher decidedly walks
by. In other words, my books are already written and/or thought out long before
a publisher ever pays me to write them.
What did you do before you became an author? Before I became an author, I was a freelance
illustrator, cartoonist, and animator. I've worked on TV shows, comic books,
corporate slide shows, political cartoons, small-form animations, and even web
and logo designs. So I was kind of all over the map, professionally speaking.
Although, I don't think you can "become" an author, because being an
author is really just a byproduct of a raging need to share the thoughts that
run wild within your own brain. So really, it has more to do with an evolution
of self than a job title, per se.
How does it feel to be a published author? Believe it or not, being published actually
feels pretty good. I get a real buzz when I see something that was once in my
mind become something that sits in my hands and is a tangible thing I can
touch, feel, see, and smell (and yes, smell, as freshly printed books always
carry a very unique aroma that smells like sheer bliss to me.)
But
in terms of how I feel about being a published author... well...
that's kind of a mixed bag. I do admit that I like having a job where I can
basically take any idea that pops into my mind, crank it to eleven, and then
turn a profit on it. But at the same time, it's a rather isolated lifestyle in
comparison to the average person. I don't "clock in" anywhere, I
don't commute to work, I don't sit around the water cooler and "dish"
to fellow coworkers, and I don't go to bars/clubs after the workday ends to
"chillax" with friends. But at the same time, I have the same
pressures as any other job out there. This means I have to handle deadlines,
team management, and inter-office business politics, all while maintaining
overall quality and workflow. So even though I do work alone, I'm not truly
ever "alone" in my work, if that makes any sense.
However,
I will say that, despite those drawbacks, there are pluses. These are (1) I can
work/live anywhere I want, (2) I can write/work on anything I want, and (3) I
can never be fired or laid off from my job, no matter how hard I try. This is
both beautiful and horrifying all in the same breath, and really, only favors
those who are self-motivated and self-disciplined. Thankfully, I fit into those
categories rather nicely, so this really doesn't bother me all that much. But,
at the same time, I can see how living this can drive some people up the wall.
Any advice for struggling writers? It depends on how you define the word
"struggle." If you're speaking in terms of finances, being a
published author will do little to change that (in the short term, at least.)
So don't expect that getting a book published (or several books, for that matter)
means you automatically become some debonair globe-trotter who's blessed with
infinite wisdom and has unlimited access to an endless sum of money. Because it
just won't. However, what it will do is give you a platform by which you can
voice your ideas and opinions, as well as have the unique opportunity to share
your imagination with more people than you can possibly ever hope to meet
(which is pretty awesome, if you sit down and think about it.)
But
in terms of defining "struggle" with finding book placement among
publishers, this will change very little, no matter where you are on the
professional ladder. It's just the way the industry is and always will be. I've
been doing this for nearly 10 years, and I still have a rough time placing
books with publishers, especially in this economy. But I will say that, as your
skills improve, and as your reputation grows, the process does begin to get a
little bit easier over time. This stems from the combination of you learning
your craft, expanding your professional base, and understanding the process by
which books are selected, approved, and determined. Because every publisher has
specific needs. For example, some publishers only publish children's books,
while others only publish humor. Some even publish sci-fi and horror
exclusively to the YA market. So, the "trick" to finding placement
for your work is to not look for which publisher can
give you the most exposure or money for your work. Instead, you need to look
for where your book can blend in the most with the other books around it in a
particular publisher's catalogue. Because, otherwise, you're just going to
waste everybody's time, especially your own.
Finally,
if we define the word "struggle" as being one of creativity, then
there is a very simple solution for that. You're only struggling because you're
fighting against yourself. This is usually the result of the writer trying to
forcibly (and artificially) adjust their idea to suit a business model or IP
(Intellectual Property) that they want to emulate, and in doing so, are
creatively destroying their work. The solution? Stop doing that. Because
you're only going to anger yourself and make the work read like a stilted piece
of garbage, anyway. The best thing to do is to always remember the first rule of
writing, which is to "have fun." If you don't do that, then
everything else is meaningless.
Where do you see book publishing heading? Good question. This is really a
measure of many factors and variables. Among them are the impacts of
globalization, publisher consolidations, rising overseas manufacturing costs,
greater shareholder influence over company decision making, continued inflation
in the financial/currency markets, rising demand for digital media, and failing
store fronts across the board. All of those factors combined create a
meandering road to the book industry eventually going digital. Why? Because
doing so means (1) they (the publishers/vendors) can determine (and
artificially maintain) their pricing, instead of the market, (2) it offers a far greater
profit margin versus traditional models of sale, print/manufacture, and
distribution, (3) all sales made digitally are final, and are non-transferable
due to DRM (Digital Rights Management) and being tied to a personal account. By
going down this route, publishers will be able to effectively maximize sales
while efficiently minimizing overall production costs, due to no
mass-manufacturing of a physical end product. So this model will only continue
to grow in the future, as the old ways slowly diminish due to their perceived
inefficiency to compete.
How do I know this will happen? Because it's already happened before. Look at
the film and music industry. For example, when was the last time you listened
to your music on a record player? Or when was the last time you actually saw a
film on film? So, yes, both the delivery and the distribution models of books
will change. This is inevitable. But just because the way we access our media
will change, it doesn't mean that the media we're accessing will be vastly
different from the kind we currently (or have previously) enjoyed. Also, this
is not to say that book publishers will do away with the printed form
altogether. There are still sales to be made on that side of the market, and if
there's a demand, then they will be more than happy to supply that demand, for
a fee.
So,
until e-books become the new standard of publishing, and books themselves are
done away with and thrown into the collective garbage piles and landfills of
the world, publishers will most likely use e-books as an effective means of
offsetting short term loss/risk. This means that they will make their primary
business model be that of digital distribution first, and print second,
provided that the previous venture was successful. This way, they can secure
sales while minimizing their costs (again, due to no physical manufacturing of
product), and then use the funds gained from digital sales in order to fund the
printed runs, all without dipping into their own personal funds. However,
should the books not sell well, then they know that
it's a bad idea to take it to print, and will leave it in the electronic form,
only. So they win, either way, seeing as how they'll experience no loss (other
than the creative costs, if that), should it not extend beyond the digital
format.
We
can see this already happening in the comic world, and most of the major book
publishers have recently set up digital-only branches of their own publishing
imprints. So this is not something that will go away, and will only grow in
time. How much time depends on how much public outcry or acceptance there is of
this new delivery method. But what I will say is that there is far too much
money to be made and opportunity to be had from having this paradigm shift happening.
So really, this is not a question of if it happens, but rather, a question of
when.
Book Excerpt & Quote
“Life
cannot wait until the scientists have explained the universe. We cannot put off living until we are
ready. The most silent characteristic of
life is its coerciveness; it is always urgent, here and now, without any
possible postponement. Life is fired at
us point blank.”
--Jose Ortega y Casset, Writers & Philosophers
“Free
will is given to every human being. If
we wish to incline ourselves toward goodness and righteousness, we are free to do
so: and if we wish to incline ourselves toward evil, we are also free to do
that. From Scripture (Genesis 3.22) we learn that the human species, with its
knowledge of good and evil, is unique among all earth’s creatures. Of our own accord, by our own faculty of
intelligence and understanding, we can distinguish between good and evil, doing
as we choose. Nothing holds us back from
making this choice between good and evil – the power is in our hands.”
--Maimonides, 12th
century
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Brian Feinblum’s
views, opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog are his alone and not that of
his employer, the nation’s largest book promoter. You can follow him on Twitter
@theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels more important when discussed in the third-person. This
is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog © 2013
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