I’ll share some things I’ve learned and provide some contrarian views on a few things I’ve read from other The IndieView interviewees.
Merrill R. Chapman – 15 October 2015
The Back Flap
The room was quiet as Illarion contemplated the numbers and the schedule. He reached out and pulled the liver’s container in front of him. “Do you mind if I look?”
“Be my guest. Not too long, though. If the liver defrosts, the DNA will begin to degrade.”
“I understand.” He lifted off the cover. For a second, his face was obscured by the cloud of vapor rising off the organ. He reached out gingerly with an expensive-looking pen to lift the plastic wrap protecting the liver, looked at it a long moment, then replaced the lid.
“It is not much to see, is it.”
“When I look at it, I don’t see the organ,” I said. “I see the beauty of Steve Jobs’ DNA and how it enabled him to achieve so many extraordinary things. And that molecule’s work isn’t done yet. Being dead doesn’t have to mean not being productive. When we launch, the world will realize Steve Jobs is not finished changing the world.”
About the book
What is the book about?
Selling Steve Jobs’ Liver: A Story of Startups, Innovation, and Connectivity in the Clouds is about two serial failure “wantrepreneurs”, Nate Pennington and Ignacio Loehman, who are contacted by a modern day ghoul and purchase the late Apple CEO’s original liver, removed from his body during his 2009 transplant operation (the book refers to it as the “1.0 version”). Using the organ to create a compelling value proposition, the pair launch Reliqueree, a cloud startup whose mission is to reposition the market’s current perception of death and dying.
The company’s first product is the uLivv, a device that upon launch contains a sample of Jobs’ DNA extracted from his liver, a complete map of his genome (Jobs was one of the first people in the world to have his genome completely sequenced as part of his cancer treatment), and an interactive Steve Jobs persona, an “iBrain” built on top of his genome that can be trained to advise and guide business dreamers on how to be just like Steve.
When did you start writing the book?
In November of 2014.
How long did it take you to write it?
About four months to the first draft, then two more for revision. Liver came in at 83K words when trimmed and edited.
Where did you get the idea from?
Two places. One was from Jobs’ death in 2011. As you probably remember, there was a great deal of sobbing and carrying on at the time of his passing and I joked to a friend that there was a major business opportunity being missed. I told him if we could get our hands on Jobs’ original liver, we could make a fortune selling pieces of the “True Steve” to all the mourners, in the same fashion as Catholics, Buddhists, Hindus, etc. collect physical mementos of saints, holy men, and seers.
The second idea came when I read in October of 2014 about a fellow named Seth Bannon, who was the CEO and co-founder of a software startup called Amicus. It was very funny reading. He cratered his company by not paying withholding and payroll taxes and claimed the problem was that for three years he’d missed hitting his online service’s “Submit Taxes” button because it was on a different part of the website. He also told people he’d dropped out of Harvard a la Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg. It turned out he dropped out of Harvard’s continuing education school, which is not quite the same thing.
More info on my man Seth if you clink on this link.
When I was reading this story I said to myself that this was the type of guy who could sell Steve Jobs’ Liver. I paused, wrote a few notes to myself, then a few more, and away I went!
Were there any parts of the book where you struggled?
Not really. In my case, before I start writing a novel, I usually have already written the ending. When I start putting virtual pen to imaginary paper, I’ve composed the broad parameters of the story. At that point, it’s a case of connecting the dots of the narrative through to the end. I’m not claiming that’s an ideal method of planning and plotting a story. It’s how I operate.
That’s not to say that the characters don’t evolve and change. When I started writing Liver, I was under the influence of a book I’d just read, Worst. Person. Ever. by Douglas Copland. It’s a very funny and dark satire. But when I began to mimic the vulgar language and profanity used by his main protagonist, I stopped. His character’s attitudes and views didn’t fit the world I was creating. The ”hero” efof Liver, Nate Pennington, is a cheerful monster and interested in changing the world, making a dent in the universe, and creating a successful monetization event. He’d be very hurt if you called him a bad person. He thinks he’s a great human being. One reviewer referred to him as a mix of Candide and Sammy Glick and I think that’s about right.
What came easily?
The easiest chapter to write was called “Brilliant Advertising” and it’s a send up of the Seth Bannon incident. I cracked myself up while I was recasting the tale, but I didn’t have to work very hard to make that section funny. It was inherently hilarious.
Are your characters entirely fictitious or have you borrowed from real world people you know?
I’ve written two novels, Selling Steve Jobs Liver and Rule-Set: A Novel of a Quantum Future. The two protagonists of Liver, Nate and Ignacio, are obvious take offs of Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. There’s also a homage to Apple Master designer Jony Ive in the person of the book’s packaging impresario, Gruezén. Seth Bannon, lightly disguised, also appears. And Steve Jobs, obviously, was very real and he’s back (virtually) in the form of a kind of app in the book. The part of the Great White Blonde, the book’s main legal predator, is played by my daughter, who is indeed a lawyer.
In Rule-Set, a couple of my friends who helped with some of the technical aspects of the story and as sounding boards were written into the book as characters. I first saw this done by David Gerrold of Star Trek and The Trouble With Tribbles fame, but he required people to donate to favored causes to be incorporated into his novels, particularly the Chtorr series.
I’m more mercantile. If you buy my books in mass quantities, I’ll write you in. Proof of purchase required and I can’t guarantee you won’t die horribly in a sequel.
We all know how important it is for writers to read. Are there any particular authors that have influenced how you write and, if so, how have they influenced you?
I have been a bookworm since my earliest days in grade school. The phrase I heard from my parents most often when I was growing up was “Ricky, get your nose out of that book.” My favorite novel is Pride and Prejudice and I’ve read every word Jane Austen wrote. Great Expectations is probably my second favorite work.
What the writers of these novels have in abundance is a sense of humor. Austen is particularly subversive in her wit. My novels and my published business book, In Search of Stupidity: Over 20 Years of High-Tech Marketing Disasters, all incorporate wit and humor, something I think is often in short supply in fiction these days, particularly Sci-Fi.
In Sci-Fi and fantasy, I’ve been influenced by many writers, but in terms of humor, my favorite is Jack Vance. I think he’s been overlooked by readers and I’m surprised that such books as Big Planet or the Demon Princes series haven’t been developed into films or series. The Brits did a fine job with Gormenghast; I’d like to see them take a crack at The Dying Earth.
Another book I regard as a must read in the fantasy genre is Arthur Rex by Thomas Berger. In my opinion, the best contemporary retelling of the Arthurian Cycle, superior even to The Once and Future King. Poignant, funny and sad.
Do you have a target reader?
For Selling Steve Jobs’ Liver, anyone in high tech, Steve Jobs fans/critics, people interested in the 21st century “cult of the entrepreneur,” and readers interested in some informed speculation about how technology and our implementation of it will change the world and your life (and death). For Rule-Set, it helps if you’re interested in quantum computing, advanced theoretical physics, AI and Japanese manga. All interests of mine.
About Writing
Do you have a writing process? If so, can you please describe it?
As I said, I tend to write the end of my novels first, then plot and compose to that end. In many cases, much of the structure is outlined in my head, so it’s something of a transcription process.
Do you outline? If so, do you do so extensively or just chapter headings and a couple of sentences?
I do use outlines at the beginning of the process to create a preliminary chapter list. For Rule-Set and Liver, I relied heavily on yWriter, but found such things such as its spelling corrector too clunky for my taste. I’ve since moved to Scrivener, which I feel is an excellent tool for creative writing. Scrivener’s “chunk at a time” approach to writing is a form of outlining, in my opinion.
Do you edit as you go or wait until you’ve finished?
I try to write without worrying too much about editing, though I note I’m starting to pay more attention to the overuse of adverbs and trite and overused phrasing. I find that if you take a second to frankly ask yourself do you really need to use that adverb, it will probably speed up the copyediting and rewrite process.
Did you hire a professional editor?
No. I do rely on a circle of friends to read my books and comment on what they like and don’t. For Selling Steve Jobs’ Liver, I owe my wife a great deal for her comments and suggestions. When I was done with the first draft, I was at about 105K words. Then it was time for a great deal of chopping.
I strongly suggest a line by line read through of your book once you’re done. Listening to your book being narrated is very valuable. But if you’re working with a significant other, make sure your relationship is strong or you may find yourself heading to divorce court or having your personal belongings piled up on a street somewhere.
Something else I learned. Like many writers, I find the process of cutting out chunks of my books painful and resisted at the beginning. In Liver, some of the jokes and observations I pulled were good, but there were too many of them. My wife would give me her “you’re riffing away, Rick” look and I’d reach for the blue pencil. To make myself feel better, I created a file called “good stuff you can use for a later book.” It helped make the trim process less psychologically traumatic.
Do you listen to music while you write?
Many times.
If yes, what gets the fingers tapping?
I go to YouTube and dial up epic music mixes. Sort of Muzak for Conan the Barbarian. Sets the mood for me. And there’s something about listening to the trumpets blare and snare drums rattle accompanied by a picture of a hot woman in armor that’s very uplifting.
About Publishing
Did you submit your work to Agents?
Yes. Didn’t hear a thing. Not even a “get lost” reply. And I’m a formally published business author, but in terms of the creative side of the industry, that means bupkus. That’s typical of agents and always has been. I’ve worked in publishing and attracting an agent was almost always a question of working your contacts. Yes, I know, we’ve all read about J.K. Rowling and all the rejections and Steven King retrieving Carrie from the wastebasket. But Rowling had connections in British TV which enabled her to find an agent before the first Harry Potter book was released. Carrie was lightning in a bottle, the book publishing equivalent of winning the lottery.
My business book, In Search of Stupidity: Over 20 Years of High-Tech Marketing Disasters, is an excellent case in point. When released, ISOS hit 64 on Amazon and was in the top 1000 book list for almost two years. It’s been released in two editions and seven languages. I sent the manuscript to a publisher on Thursday of the preceding week and was notified on Monday of the following they’d take the book. I’m a hot writer, right?
But the truth is the person who agreed to write the book’s foreword, Joel Spolsky, already had several of his books brought to market by this publisher and had a close personal relationship with the company’s president. Without that connection, I suspect finding a formal publisher for ISOS would have been much harder.
The only way to reliably attract an agent is to successfully self-publish a book and grow its sales. If you do that, the agents will appear. At that point, will you want them? Maybe. Hugh Howey is a self- published icon but he now has an agent.
What made you decide to go Indie, whether self-publishing or with an indie publisher? Was it a particular event or a gradual process?
I decided I’d rather write and learn to market my fiction rather than write and waste years attempting to find an agent and go through the endless submission/rejection/approval/production process.
Did you get your book cover professionally done or did you do it yourself?
The book was professionally copyedited and the cover was done by a graphics professional. When I create a print version of Selling Steve Jobs’ Liver, the layout will be done by a professional. I can’t draw and don’t want to learn layout.
Do you have a marketing plan for the book or are you just winging it?
I do have a plan and of course I’m learning as I go along. I’ll share some things I’ve learned and provide some contrarian views on a few things I’ve read from other The IndieView interviewees.
First, I’m going to begin by assuming that as an independent, you’re going to be dealing with Amazon as your primary distributor or “channel.” Please note I didn’t call Amazon a “publisher.” You are the publisher and you must never lose sight of that.
Amazon’s review system is important in helping you build early credibility when your book is launched. People don’t want to buy your book unless they see some reviews. Plan on generating at least 20 reviews within 60 days of release. The more the better.
You’ll need to work with friends, family, acquaintances, and whoever you can reach out to build your review “stable.” You also have to deal with the very creepy Amazon review bots that are crawling through your social network and trying to identify people it regards as “close” to you so it can pull down your reviews. Ignore claims that having friends post reviews for you “violates” terms of services. Amazon’s language on this issue is completely ambiguous and unclear. For instance, what’s a “family member?” A son? Cousin? Second cousin? Third?
Also, I see nothing wrong with writers agreeing to do reciprocal reviews for one another as long as both agree to write honest reviews.
Think about it. Since your friends and acquaintances are not supposed to post reviews, you shouldn’t ask writers for reciprocal reviews, and you’re not supposed to buy reviews, where are your early reviews going to come from? The people not buying your book because you have no reviews?
Do what you need to do. And don’t feel bad about it. As I said, I worked in publishing. Publishers trade and swap reviews all the time on behalf of their writers. Part of their job. Do you think every writer who’s provided a glowing review to another author’s book always read the book? I can tell you often they didn’t. Horse trading.
I have to say I don’t think much of buying reviews, though Kirkus seems to be doing a good business in this area.
But, ah hah, you exclaim! Why not go to sites such as The IndieView and ask for your book to be reviewed? I’ve done that. I haven’t kept track of the precise number of requests I’ve submitted, but I estimate it’s about 50. You know how many sites accepted Rule-Set or Selling Steve Jobs’ Liver? To date, none, including The IndieView. Pointing out that I also write regular and if I say so myself, fairly extensive reviews of Indie books, hasn’t moved the needle. It’s particularly tough with Selling Steve Jobs’ Liver because many reviewers and sites skew towards Sci-Fi, fantasy, and romance and Liver doesn’t fall into those genres. I’m sure if I keep at it, someone in the database will eventually review the book, but submitting to review sites is a slow and laborious process and can only augment your review generation strategy.
It’s a tough world out there.
Before I forget, I also want to cover the topic of responding to negative reviews. I’ve read several comments that this is a bad idea because it will “discourage” people from buying your book. This is nonsense. Controversy sells books. Book marketing 101. Please note that when you’re reading a review in the NYT Review of Books and the author responds with a stem-winder to a bad review, the publisher always wants that response to be published! That’s because a cat fight attracts attention and sales.
Now, let me qualify the above somewhat. First, if you’re criticized because your book is not properly copyedited, shut up and fix the problem. And if someone doesn’t like the topic or genre of your book, shrug and move on.
But, and I speak from personal and professional experience, if someone misstates facts about what you’ve written and the contents of your book, it’s absolutely appropriate to write and say so. And not only will this not hurt your sales, it will improve them. The important thing is to set the record straight politely and firmly, then move on. Let the reviewer have the last word. No death threats and legal sabre rattling (except in cases of libel). Don’t obsess over every last review. Pic k the most representative and correct the record. The results of this strategy will be that people will be intrigued by the exchange and more inclined to buy or read your book to find out who’s right.
The reason that sites such as Goodreads and Amazon try to discourage authors from responding to bad reviews that misstate facts is that the people writing these reviews don’t like the potential impact an author’s correction has on their reputation. They’ll often whine and complain and promise to never ever buy another thing from Amazon or go to Goodreads unless that mean old statement from the author is taken down. And guess how that turns out.
You can tell this is true by Goodreads stated policy of not taking down reviews with factual mistakes while expunging statements by authors pointing out the review is incorrect. This is ridiculous if open and honest discourse and interaction with readers is the point of a review system. But if the goal is to position the site as a place where author’s need to congregate so as to eventually increase sales of stuff, not so much.
But the bottom line is that judicious engagement with reviewers does not hurt sales but boosts them.
A second piece of advice is focus on building an email list for direct marketing ASAP. I’m not going to go into details as to how you do this, though I’ll be glad to discuss it in the comment section, but this is the strongest tool any new or indie author can have. LinkedIn is a poor direct marketing tool, Facebook has effectively transformed its model so in the event you do have a wide network you now have to pay to reach it, and Twitter is a low impact system. Email remains the most effective way to build and reach an audience.
Again, remember that you are the publisher. A channel such as Amazon is not going to tell you who bought your book or provide you contact information on your readers. Channels like to disintermediate service and product providers from customers/readers because it shifts power to the distribution system.
By building your own contact and marketing infrastructure, you regain some of that power. For many Indies, the ability to do this will be the difference between success and failure. Look into supporting this effort with such systems as Weebly and WordPress. I am aware of services that claim to provide websites optimized for marketing and list building for authors, but am not in a position to comment on the quality of their products. If anyone wants to share on the topic, I think everyone would benefit from your insights.
Any advice that you would like to give to other newbies considering becoming Indie authors?
First, write a good book!
That done, one of the most important things you must do is absolutely ignore Amazon’s claim that it’s paying you royalties when you sell a book through its system. And this goes for Smashwords and every other online and physical book reseller. None of them has ever paid a dime in “royalties” (I’m not counting house imprints). None of these channels provide any significant publishing services. Amazon’s misuse of the word royalties has been one of the great marketing coups of the 21st century to date.
That 35% cut of your sale is not a royalty (nor is Amazon’s predatory 65% charge on your international sales). It is an operating expense that comes straight off your bottom line. Now, instead of $1.00 to produce and market your book and pay all the expenses associated with this, you have $.65 or $.35 cents to work with.
As a publisher, it’s your job to create demand for your book. Not Amazon’s, Smashword’s, Barnes and Noble’s, and so on. They are channels. They provide access to a market and charge for it. Their internal ad and keyword selling systems almost never perform well unless your book is already selling. Channels are good at reinforcing demand, but guess who needs to create it.
Calculate everything involving your book around this reality. This is why building your own marketing and demand generation platform is so important.
About You
Where did you grow up?
New York City. The Bronx (Da Brahnx, in local Received Pronunciation).
Where do you live now?
Killingworth, Connecticut. I’m in walking distance of Hugh Lofting’s house. Lofting is the author of the Doctor Doolittle books, which I loved as a child. However, Hugh drifted into modern politically correct mine fields when he wandered off the topic of talking animals and wrote in his first book about an African prince who wants the Doctor to inject him with a drug that will turn him white. As a result, he’s not read much anymore. I don’t think Lofting was trying to be racist; I suspect he was just channeling Michael Jackson decades in the future. I’m sure Eddie Murphy would like Hugh if they could meet.
What would you like readers to know about you?
My full name is Merrill Richard Chapman but my friends call me Rick. I have an extensive background in high tech and have been a programmer, sales engineer, product manager, VP of marketing, etc. I’ve been married to the same women for 35 years, collect vintage stereo (I own 15? turntables, which are turning out to be very good investments), board war games, and vinyl. I am a compulsive reader. The first “microcomputer” I owned was a Trash One. I like owning strange and unreliable cars such as the TR-8. Loyal and ever suffering New York Jets fan. I was once the product manager for WordStar. Since 2007, I’ve hosted 14 conferences on SaaS (Software as a Service). I’ve coded in BASIC, dBase II/III, 6502 assembler and Paradox. Recently, I’ve been poking at PHP because I’ve been working with WordPress. I write reviews on Indie books at Rule-Set. I am the managing editor of Softletter.
What are you working on now?
I am working on three books. The first is the sequel to Rule-Set, Vorpal Sword, to be followed by The Hawking Man. Those two books will comprise volume two of the Rule-Set series. The second is the third edition of In Search of Stupidity: Over 20 Years of High-Tech Marketing Disasters, only now it will be 30 Years. The third is the fifth edition of The Product Marketing Handbook for Software.
End of Interview:
For more from Rick Chapman, visit his website, blog, follow him on Twitter, like his Facebook page, email him, or just give him a call at 860.388.7549. He likes to actually talk to people.
Get your copy of Selling Steve Jobs’ Liver from Amazon US, Amazon UK, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords.
