how I write

 by Jon F. Merz

Updates on stuff…

We’re just 38 days away from the launch of THE KENSEI and I couldn’t be more pleased with how things are looking. Back in 2002, I was excited about seeing The Fixer eventually come out in mass market paperback, only to have the series dropped by Kensington after four installments. A lot of nastiness went into that decision by the publisher, and I’ve never stopped believing they made a huge mistake in letting it go. That said, I couldn’t be happier than I am knowing that THE KENSEI is being released by St. Martin’s Press. Not only is SMP a far superior publishing house, but I have the editor I’ve always dreamed of having and the in-house support has been extremely gratifying. Additionally, I’d like to say a huge thank you to the good people at Barnes & Noble, who have really stepped up to get behind the book as well. I hope you’ll give them your support in return by purchasing THE KENSEI either at one of their stores or online here (you can preorder it now). In fact, next Friday, Barnes & Noble will be doing a little something special for folks to get them rev’d up for THE KENSEI. Details next week as it approaches, so stay tuned!

Obviously, my goal with THE KENSEI is nothing short of selling hundreds of thousands of copies. Seriously. I want the rebirth of Lawson to be so spectacular, they every person who has grown weary of the sparkly, glitzy vamp angst that has plagued both books and TV/film, to read THE KENSEI and become excited all over again. A groundswell of support from my fans and friends will really help make that a reality. So I’m pulling out all the stops to make sure everyone gets a copy and then tells their friends to get a copy as well. Let’s sell this thing out of its first print run in a week!

To that end, I’ll be doing a lot over the next five weeks or so. Today, I created the Official Facebook Book Launch Event and would love for everyone to click over and attend. It happens everywhere on the 18th of January, so you don’t have to do anything special, except buy a copy of THE KENSEI on that day (or preorder it now). I’d also like to ask that you all invite all of your Facebook friends to attend the event as well. Let’s see if this social media phenomenon can really turn this thing into a bestseller. The more people who attend and make the commitment to buy THE KENSEI, the better. There are instructions on the event page about how to easily invite all your friends without needing to click every single one of them.

I’ll be posting more as the days dwindle toward launch, but please remember that without your support, none of this would be possible. I’m indebted to each of you and can’t thank you enough for your support through the years it took to find Lawson a new home.

Have a great day!

in how I write / lawson / novels / promotion & publicity / publishing / short stories / THE FIXER TV series / vampires / website / writing 0 comments
 by Jon F. Merz

A Unique Gift Idea

So here’s a little experiment I thought I’d try this year. If you’ve got someone hard to shop for on your list, how about giving them the gift of immortality?

Well, it’s immortality as in being featured in the pages of a customized Lawson Vampire short story. Here’s the scoop: I’ll write a custom Lawson Vampire short story featuring the person of your choice (presumably the receiver of the gift) and we’ll correspond so I get their particulars, description, including whether you’d like them to be a good guy or a bad guy and if you have any thoughts on anything else you’d like to see in the story. The story will be about 2,000 words long and I will print it out, bind it with a nice cover, sign and personalize it, and make sure you have it in your hands to give them in time for the holidays.

Obviously, this is a limited offer, since I can only agree to take on a few of these. But I thought it would be fun to see if there’s any interest and also provide you with a unique way to give a fun gift this season.

Just $99 bucks for this fun gift idea. If you’re interested, click the Buy Button below to use Paypal or simply email me at jonfmerz AT verizon DOT net if you’d prefer to pay another way. The sooner, the better since time is ticking away!





in ebooks / gifts / how I write / lawson / novels / promotion & publicity / publishing / short stories / vampires / writing 1 comments
 by Jon F. Merz

Why Fucking with the Internet Can Be Like Feeding Your Genitals to a Hay Baler

So, earlier today as I was cruising around on several blogs I like reading, I wandered to Nick Mamatas’ livejournal. His post on Copyright Follies tells the story of a writer named Monica who had one of her recipes stolen by a regional magazine in western Massachusetts called COOK’S SOURCE. When Monica emailed the managing editor J. R. Griggs, she received a response that read as follows:

“Yes Monica, I have been doing this for 3 decades, having been an editor at The Voice, Housitonic Home and Connecticut Woman Magazine. I do know about copyright laws. It was “my bad” indeed, and, as the magazine is put together in long sessions, tired eyes and minds somethings forget to do these things. But honestly Monica, the web is considered “public domain” and you should be happy we just didn’t “lift” your whole article and put someone else’s name on it! It happens a lot, clearly more than you are aware of, especially on college campuses, and the workplace. If you took offence and are unhappy, I am sorry, but you as a professional should know that the article we used written by you was in very bad need of editing, and is much better now than was originally. Now it will work well for your portfolio. For that reason, I have a bit of a difficult time with your requests for monetary gain, albeit for such a fine (and very wealthy!) institution. We put some time into rewrites, you should compensate me! I never charge young writers for advice or rewriting poorly written pieces, and have many who write for me… ALWAYS for free!”

Obviously, this editor is a complete and total moron about copyright law and infringement. So, Monica, curious as to where she could turn for help in dealing with this, contacted Nick who then posted it on his livejournal, which is read by a great many folks, myself included.

I hate hearing about crap like this. Writing is tough enough as it is without outright acknowledged thievery going on. We work hard for our money and do our best to improve our craft. Hearing about Monica’s trial with this magazine led many of us – actually a WHOLE LOT of us – to repost, Tweet, and then assault Cook’s Source’s Facebook Page, call the editor (who has her voicemail on). I then spent some time calling various advertisers to let them know what was happening. Other people have retweeted this thing all over the world. And Cook’s Source is reaping a wild shitstorm for their complete and total douchebaggery in this instance.

And all Monica wanted was an apology and a measly $130 donation to Columbia.

I’m sure that there will be a lawyer looking into this, and most monetary damages for this sort of thing usually net about $20,000. That’s costly for a small mag like this.

But wait – now comes word that Cook’s Source may also have lifted stuff from The Food Network, of all places?

Yep, this is a perfect illustration of why you don’t get all smarmy when it comes to dicking people over. The power of the Internet is real and lasting. I’ll be surprised if Griggs has a job and if the magazine lives after this debacle.

But that’s justice for ya!

in common sense / how I write / publishing / writing 1 comments
 by Jon F. Merz

Updates…

I am extremely happy to report that my YA adventure series, The Ninja Apprentice is now out with editors at major publishing houses. This has been a project I’ve been working on for a number of years and I am thrilled to have it fully realized at long last. My agent, Joe, has been utterly fantastic in helping me improve the book and making sure it was ready to be read by editors. He has now taken the manuscript and sent it forth into the great unknown of editorial acquisitions. I am incredibly excited about this project finding a home – it’s a 9-book series that tells the story of a 14-year old orphan who discovers he is the last descendant of a ninjutsu family that has been battling an evil warlord for centuries. In order to fully realize his place as head of the family, he must recover nine sacred relics that have been stolen and endeavor to attain mastery in the teachings of his martial art as taught to him by the ghost of his great-great-grandfather. It’s going to be interesting to see how this hits!

Also, the ninjutsu training group I started in my town now has a website located HERE!. It’s a simple sort of thing, which is fine. This past Sunday we had a great time working on knife defenses in the dark, cool drizzly night.

The Tour 2011 continues to roll ever forward. I’m booked on roughly 80 blogs between January – the end of April. Exposure for THE KENSEI should be huge. I’ve also got a few other surprises lined up. More on that later on.

in ebooks / general / how I write / martial arts / self protection / ninjutsu / novels / promotion & publicity / publishing / Tour 2011 / website / writing 0 comments
 by Jon F. Merz

Tour 2011 – Sponsored by…

The advance reading copies of THE KENSEI arrived on my doorstep today, which is very cool indeed.

Nice lookin’ books, yeah?

Along with the three boxes of books that showed up on my front stoop, came news today that I can now release details of the first corporate sponsor for my 2011 Tour.

“Sponsor?” some of you may ask. “Authors don’t have sponsors for tours. That’s crazy.”

Why is it crazy?

“Because no one else gets sponsors for their tours.”

To which I will happily say, “Yep, you’re right: authors don’t usually have sponsors.”

But y’know what? Life is too short to play by someone else’s rules. And when I started planning this tour over the summer, I knew I wanted to invite a select group of companies I respect to be a part of it. So I reached out to a few…

With that said, I am exceptionally pleased to announce that Blue Sky Factory has agreed to be one of the sponsors of my 2011 Tour to promote THE KENSEI. Over 700 corporations, like Harvard Medical School, Long John Silver Restaurants, Seiko, Johns Hopkins University, and many others use email marketing with Blue Sky Factory to maximize their email impact. Blue Sky Factory’s solutions are top-notch and I’m using them for all of my email list maintenance and marketing needs – something any author mindful of their career should also be doing.

I look forward to a long relationship with Blue Sky Factory. I’m just beginning to implement a few of their many, many techniques and strategies, but I’ve been blown away so far. So, a warm welcome to the friendly email marketing experts at Blue Sky Factory – my first official corporate sponsor for Tour 2011.

in how I write / lawson / ninjutsu / novels / promotion & publicity / publishing / Tour 2011 / Uncategorized / writing 1 comments