/lit/ - Literature

>>2753586 Everywhere I could think. I threw five hundred flyers and three hundred business cards at HeroesCon in Charlotte, a steampunk con in Chapel Hill and at a whole bunch of local comic book and game stores.

Then digitally I set up a big facebook ad, started up a twitter campaign(didn't work) and hit up deals.woot. Reddit was impenetrable, too. And, well, it seems to be building on itself, now. Pretty exciting.

>>2753587

Really nice, actually. The only problem it has versus the digital version is that the description on the back is a little different and for some reason a couple of words got cut in half and put on the next lines. The inside of the book is pretty much the same, though. It's even the same font, which I thought looked great in both versions.

>>2753590

Yeah, really bad timing on my part. Hadn't even heard of the series until I was working on the second book. Now whenever someone mentions that series I get frustrated.

It's much deeper and has a number of thematic levels, though. Grief is a big one, and while it's subtle there are certain mythological allusions throughout the series. At no point did I ever try to dumb it down for mass market appeal, which is what makes today so surprising.

Bumping so the late afternoon crowd will get a look, but I also have an update on sales.

Over the last twelve hours it's been downloaded over a thousand times and it's #4 in Sci-Fi and #208 in all Free Kindle Books.

Kinda shaking. If I get into the top 100 I might actually break into popular consciousness.

Hoo Boy

Catch 22 is one of my all-time favorites. I was laughing or had a stupid grin on my face for most of the book.

And if you like ridiculous situations, there's a character named Major Major Major Major. I'm smiling thinking about it now.

The Runelords series was fantastic until he kept going after the fourth book. If he had just ended it right there I would have been happy.

Other than that, really liking some Patrick Rothfuss right now.

>>2752661

Thanks a lot. I hope you enjoy it. When I posted it here last time, a few Anon actually read it within the day. They seemed to like it.

And with that I gotta go run some errands (read: drop off the last of my flyers at some comic book shops). I'll be back in an hour or two, though.

>>2752621

Yeah, although I hate comparing the two, Hunger Games beat me by a few years(also Running Man, Battle Royale, etc.). Worst part was that I never even heard of it until I was done with my first book.

I haven't had too many people buy it yet, since I really only promote the free days, but lots of people have been picking it up. In just the first month over a thousand people downloaded it.

Part of me is really excited about it, part of me wishes it was more successful. But that's the problem with self-publishing. I don't have a team of people promoting my book all the time or ads everywhere.

(Cont.)

>>2752614
The lower class thinks that War World is the best thing since the beginning of the universe. All of the soldiers are divided into teams and, in order to maintain rosters, each soldier is cloned prior to the games. When they die, their consciousness and memories are transferred into the new clones and the process begins all over again. What the rest of humanity doesn't realize is that each death and resurrection is incredibly painful and disorienting. In addition, due to the costs of resurrection after their first death each one of these soldiers becomes a slave. Rarely do any of them make it off the asteroid."

Little generic, I admit, but the focus is more on character-development and social commentary. So if that sounds interesting, check it out. It'll be free on Amazon today.

Here's the link to my site : kevinkauffmann.com

Thanks, Anon. I really appreciate being able to post this. And hey, if you don't like genre literature and want to yell at me, that's totally fine. I'll be here all day.

tl;dr Free book

Hey, /lit/, it's been a while.

Besides getting into arguments on here about literature and the occasional foray into the darker parts of 4chan, I'm actually a self-published author. I'm really trying to get off the ground, so every once in a while I sell the book for free.

Last month I put the book up here and Anon was really supportive. I really appreciated that and now that I'm using my last free day, I figured I'd let you guys know. For now I'll stop rambling like a nervous girl and post the description:

"What would you consider freedom? For some, it's choosing their way to die.

Murder of Crows is based in a not-so-far-flung universe where humanity did not reach the stars but instead found itself mired in corporate takeovers and local politics. In order to deal with overpopulation and pollution the governments of the world decide to tow asteroids from the Kuiper Belt into orbit around Earth, add atmospheres and transform them into miniature planets. While most of the asteroids were designed for colonization, Eris was destined for constant commercial warfare. Most people just call it "War World" after their favorite television show.

-Cont.

>>2742835

I focus on the characters and the way they live in their world, the themes just add another layer to the work. To be honest the themes are so subtle that I'm not sure people will get it, but it doesn't really matter. As long as people can connect to the characters I've done my job. And as far as beautiful moments, well, I think I have that covered, but I don't expect you to believe me.

But all this is besides the point. I just think it's a silly thing to have such a stigma for genre lit. I've found beautiful moments and style in both genre and literary fiction. I've seen terrible examples of both, as well. To me it's a case-by-case basis.

>>2742730

Hah, ok. I never said I was a paragon of intellectualism. Just saying that genre fiction isn't necessarily a medium that strays from having an actual message.

From a writer's perspective, it's incredibly frustrating to be labeled as genre fiction when it's not entirely intended and, really, not the point of the work. I'm writing sci-fi right now, and from what I've seen there's a huge stigma against it. Most people assume that it's laserz and aliens and other tropes, but all of the genre fiction I've ever enjoyed spent little time trying to cling to the rules set by other authors and instead went off and created their own worlds. It's a trait I try to emulate in my own work.

Science fiction is an incredibly easy way to do away with constraints that "normal" life has to offer and gives a freedom to explore certain issues with the characters. For example, my books deal with grief and the value of life, finding and creating messiah figures, and truth and perception. I would not have been able to explore these themes like I have unless I had the ability to effectively suspend the rules of reality (characters come back from the dead). The kicker is I'm not even that big a fan of sci-fi. It just happened to be the best way to explore these issues.

So I guess the point I'm trying to make is that while there's this stigma over genre fiction and how it's "limited," I think it's actually an easier way to explore concepts and thoughts and allows the writer a freedom he/she would not have otherwise.

But then again, dragons, pew pew, sparkly vampires, etc. Some people have to spoil the fun for everyone.

I read it/heard it (audiobook) and found that the most interesting parts had relatively nothing to do with vampires. And if that's the selling point...

>>2741325 So much better

First off, OP, don't write when you're drunk, you don't seem to have the talent for it. At the very least edit it before showing anybody. I've thought up some good scenes on different substances, but usually I just keep it around so I can read it and then completely rewrite it later.

Second, it kinda seems like you don't care about what you're writing. If you did, you wouldn't get lost in the description, which honestly doesn't mean anything. There's something to be said for just experimenting and working through an idea, but if you don't care it ends up ...hollow, essentially. And that's a sure-fire way to make the reader not care.

Also, learn to spell, use grammar and how to get to the point. Reading your "turdagraph" made my brain twitch.

Past: Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
Present: Endymion by Dan Simmons (read it before in middle school, but I have a better appreciation for Keats and quantum mechanics now)
Future: Don't quite know. I have nine books staring at me from the bookshelf. Either the Book of Cthulhu, Slaughterhouse Five or Everything is Illuminated.

I really didn't want to enjoy Rand because of what I've read about her/about her philosophies, but I actually did like The Fountainhead. I think that had more to do with the artistic integrity than anything, though.

Plus, her thoughts of individualism/egotism being completely opposed to altruism is reprehensible to me. She did a good job making me hate the character that represented altruism, but it felt more like manipulation than anything.

Also, bitch coulda cut that book in half and still kept the general idea.

Oh, and I probably should have mentioned that there's a print option available as well. Best way to get it is on Createspace (Amazon's publishing company). This code (SY35YFN6) will get you $4 off (all I could take from my royalties), but even then it's $6 plus shipping.

Wanted to let you know in case Kindle was not acceptable. If I could I would offer that for free, too, but it doesn't really play like that.

>>2674221

Not so much hate, but more of a stylistic choice. If an author wants to spend an entire paragraph describing a flower or the food on the table, I'm not going to hate on them. Though I will probably sigh and mutter something because I don't see the use for it. If it's a metaphor I'm totally ok with it, but extraneous detail weighs a book down.

I'd be a much bigger fan of Martin if he would get to the point a little faster (Game of Thrones critique, I absolutely LOVE his short stories/work on Wild Cards)

>>2674143 This.

Even if you have a good story it is incredibly important to have a high quality in the prose. It breaks the world if you can't get through an awkward sentence. That said, words for the sake of words is a game for academics and people in love with their own intelligence. As a writer the aim should be to create a world; not force it along or get lost in it.

And semi-colons are the shit. I don't care what Vonnegut or Gaiman say.

>>2673831

I wanted to stay away from the cliches, but I figured I would have to start with some archetypes just because there is so much material I'm introducing at the beginning of the book. It also helps with the characterization for the 5 stages of grief. I don't know if you noticed, but the characters I focus on in those chapters are dominated by those stages. The girl is denial, the bully is anger, etc. But at the same time, I had no idea I was creating an Icarus/Daedalus situation with Jenkins and Carver until I finished the second book. Kinda just fell into it.

In any case I wanted to thank you for reading it. Trying to get the word out on all fronts. Hitting up woot, Reddit and facebook all the time. I know Anon's not my personal army, but ...

>>2673897

I'm a few years out of college. Been creating crazy stories ever since I was a kid, though. Oddly enough writing had nothing to do with my major or minor.

>>2671855

Yeah, I know, but you kinda have to take any science fiction with a grain of salt. Interstellar space travel to me is pretty ludicrous, even though I love space operas and far flung human empires. (Hyperion/Endymion by Dan Simmons is my favorite Sci-fi series)

The biggest problem with mine is gravity. No real way to explain that away. But that's really just setting anyway. The books are really just focused on characters and how they cope with this society.

Thanks guys, I really appreciate the support. If you have any questions over the next couple days just let me know. I'll pretty much have this window open for however long the thread lasts.

And hey, if you end up liking it the second book is pretty much done, too. About to start the third one in a few days (pre-writing's a bitch)

>>2671071

Yeah, I'm not the biggest fan of super-formal prose. Most of the time in these books I'm doing what I can to portray the thoughts and personalities of the characters as best I can. Formal doesn't really work for that.

It's actually pretty cool, about halfway through this first one I was starting to enter into these half-trance states where I was thinking like the characters. I feel like it gives it a more authentic feel. The whole second book is written that way, too.

>>2671077

That's awesome. I really appreciate that. A couple of my friends were starting to give me reviews even though they didn't read it. I was grateful, but I'm all about integrity. One of my favorite reviews so far is the 4-star, just because he was honest and even picked it apart. So, again, thanks.

I'm actually going back to that Con for a few hours(gotta pass out the rest of these flyers), but I'll definitely be back to talk about it as soon as I can.

>>2670996

Editing was all on me(and a couple helpful friends), and I wouldn't be surprised if some mistakes got through. Spent six months really trying to fine-tune it, but there are a couple things some people noticed. Apparently I have a love affair with the word "towards." Fixed that for the sequel, at least.

As far as the publishing process it wasn't hard at all. No cost, either(which is why I'm using it). I set it up to be as free as possible, and for the regular $2.99 I get 70% royalties. I have a print option set up, too, but those are $10 and at most I get 40%.

>>2670999

I get five days every three months to promote it for free, and I figured Memorial Day weekend is a good time for it. That, and it lines up with Animazement, which is a Con in North Carolina. I've been passing out flyers all weekend and figured I'd get the last day of the Con and the day after to be free.

I would link to it, but 4chan keeps thinking it's spam, so best way to find it is go to Amazon and look up Murder of Crows and Kevin Kauffmann.

I'll keep coming back to this thread, so if you have any questions, comments, concerns, insults about my mother or inflammatory statements know that they will not fall on deaf ears.

tl;dr Free book.