16 replies to this topic

[Orren]

Hi all,

This seems to be a pretty small forum, so I figure if I'll be lounging around the couch and asking you to pass the appetizers, I should at the very least introduce myself.

My day job is as an acquisitions editor for a large academic publishing company (Cengage Learning). Specifically, I develop and acquire tutorial titles related to the music business and music technology (I'm a musician as well, you can tell by the hair ).

I've also written and co-written quite a few books over the years on Mac-related music technology (Logic Pro, Guitar Rig, GarageBand, etc).

A few months ago, however, I bought Storyist for my fiction writing. My first novel was finished pre-Storyist and is currently in the process of being rejected by every agent between the Pacific and Atlantic (you'd think being an editor in a technical book pub company would have some pull with fiction agents/editors, but it has exactly none), and will be self-released in early 2010. I am about half-way through my second novel, and I'm very much enjoying Storyist's ability to keep all my notes and images in the same document as my manuscript. This is a great app and I'm looking forward to using it for a long time to come.

I'll be posting every now and again to ask questions of those of you who know what you're doing so as to not continually be writing tech support for mundane questions. I'm sure Steve is already getting used to my semi-regular reports.

Take care,
Orren

[Thoth]

Hi Orren.

Welcome to the forum. Please tell me you didn't write GarageBand Ignite! by Orren Merton (May 4, 2004). And if you did ... sorry. Hey, who am I to criticize. My own tech stuff had miniscule sales.

Better luck with your noveling.
- Thoth.

[Marguerite]

Orren, on Nov 1 2009, 02:53 PM, said:

Hi all,

This seems to be a pretty small forum, so I figure if I'll be lounging around the couch and asking you to pass the appetizers, I should at the very least introduce myself.

A few months ago, however, I bought Storyist for my fiction writing. My first novel was finished pre-Storyist and is currently in the process of being rejected by every agent between the Pacific and Atlantic (you'd think being an editor in a technical book pub company would have some pull with fiction agents/editors, but it has exactly none), and will be self-released in early 2010. I am about half-way through my second novel, and I'm very much enjoying Storyist's ability to keep all my notes and images in the same document as my manuscript. This is a great app and I'm looking forward to using it for a long time to come.
Take care,
Orren

Join the club. I'm an editor, too, also in academic publishing, with one pre-Storyist novel finished and another half-completed in Storyist—and have since discovered that means precisely squat in the fiction world....

Storyist is a great program. Maybe someday it will ship with a pre-approved publishing contract, sort of like those credit card offers that turn up in the mail every other day. Hey, a writer can dream, right?
Welcome to the forums,
Marguerite

[Thoth]

Few authors sell their very first novels. (Margaret Mitchell comes to mind. She wrote hers to have something to do while laid up in bed with a broken ankle. Notably, she never had a second novel.) Some have sold hundreds (Isaac Asimov comes to mind). Which will you be? We never know until we try.

Optimistic,
- Thoth.

[thealtruismsociety]

Orren, on Nov 1 2009, 02:53 PM, said:

Hi all,

This seems to be a pretty small forum, so I figure if I'll be lounging around the couch and asking you to pass the appetizers, I should at the very least introduce myself.

My day job is as an acquisitions editor for a large academic publishing company (Cengage Learning). Specifically, I develop and acquire tutorial titles related to the music business and music technology (I'm a musician as well, you can tell by the hair ).

I've also written and co-written quite a few books over the years on Mac-related music technology (Logic Pro, Guitar Rig, GarageBand, etc).

A few months ago, however, I bought Storyist for my fiction writing. My first novel was finished pre-Storyist and is currently in the process of being rejected by every agent between the Pacific and Atlantic (you'd think being an editor in a technical book pub company would have some pull with fiction agents/editors, but it has exactly none), and will be self-released in early 2010. I am about half-way through my second novel, and I'm very much enjoying Storyist's ability to keep all my notes and images in the same document as my manuscript. This is a great app and I'm looking forward to using it for a long time to come.

I'll be posting every now and again to ask questions of those of you who know what you're doing so as to not continually be writing tech support for mundane questions. I'm sure Steve is already getting used to my semi-regular reports.

Take care,
Orren

Welcome!!!

[Orren]

Thoth, on Nov 1 2009, 12:53 PM, said:

Welcome to the forum. Please tell me you didn't write GarageBand Ignite! by Orren Merton (May 4, 2004). And if you did ... sorry. Hey, who am I to criticize. My own tech stuff had miniscule sales.

I am. And no need to feel sorry for me for that book, the content was repurposed for a B&N exclusive and all told I think I've sold about 3,000 GB Ignite-and-iterations. If you want to feel sorry for me, feel sorry for Guitar Rig 2 Power, which I think sold under 1,000!

Actually, no need to feel sorry for any of them. In the "long tail" view, my Logic Pro books do pretty well, and all told I've sold around 16,000 of my music tech books. That's still not enough to live on, but there are other benefits to being considered a "Logic Guru" when you are a musician. I also have a music project called Ember After (http://www.emberafter.com) and I've got a far more expensive collection of hardware and software than I could ever afford thanks to endorsements and NFRs that have come my way thanks to my visibility and tech writing abilities. And the value of that is priceless—far more than the dollar value, it keeps my wife married to me because I don't spend all our money on gear!

Quote

Better luck with your noveling.

Thanks! I'd love to sell that many or more novels. Hopefully lots more! We'll see....

Take care,
Orren

[Orren]

Marguerite, on Nov 1 2009, 01:22 PM, said:

Storyist is a great program. Maybe someday it will ship with a pre-approved publishing contract, sort of like those credit card offers that turn up in the mail every other day. Hey, a writer can dream, right?
Welcome to the forums,
Marguerite

Thanks for the welcome Marguerite. And that would be nice! Luckily, we've reached a point with Print on Demand and eBooks that while a self-published book can't compete with the marketing power of a commercial publisher, it can at least "get out there" and get some notice and sales, whereas 20 years ago if agents weren't interested, few except family or friends would see your novel.

I've already "self-published" my music project's first CD—different field, but same idea. My 100 album sales is not going to knock U2 off the charts any time soon, but it's 100 more than the band I was in 20 years ago! And it's nice to get some fan email and build a mailing list and people who will come to a show, etc.

So I walk into this with open eyes, knowing that even if nobody is a-buyin', thanks to POD and the Internet, I can still go a-sellin'. And if after a few novels, one does sell and spark interest in my past work, all the better!

(the irony is that despite my positive attitude, my music and novels are quite dark... )

Take care,
Orren

[Orren]

thealtruismsociety, on Nov 1 2009, 02:16 PM, said:

Welcome!!!

Thank you Mr. Altruism!

Orren <— feeling sorta selfish now...

[Thoth]

Orren, on Nov 2 2009, 01:30 AM, said:

Actually, no need to feel sorry for any of them. ...

Right! You're building your brand and more power to you all.

Orren, on Nov 2 2009, 01:30 AM, said:

That's still not enough to live on...

It's weird. For every millionaire author, or even billionaire author (I'm thinking J. K. Rowling, the Harry Potter brand is estimated to be worth £15 billion), there must be a million authors who need a secondary (or primary) job to put food on the table. It kind of makes writing feel like playing the lottery. Which makes me think that if you're not loving the process you're just wasting your time. (Have you heard of NaNoWriMo?)

Anyway, here's to the dream. If it's not fame and fortune it should at least be about good times.
- Thoth.

[Steve]

Orren, on Nov 1 2009, 11:53 AM, said:

Hi all,

This seems to be a pretty small forum, so I figure if I'll be lounging around the couch and asking you to pass the appetizers, I should at the very least introduce myself.

Welcome Orren!

We've traded messages in other threads, but I'd like to apologize here for Thoth's reply to your introduction. Normally, we celebrate publishing success, but as you have probably figured out, Thoth is our resident curmudgeon.

Personally, I have to say it's good to have another musician here. In a former life, I worked at a synthesizer/digital workstation company and have a garage full of gear that now goes largely unused.

Good luck with the novel. Glad to have you with us.

-Steve

[Orren]

Thoth, on Nov 1 2009, 11:01 PM, said:

It's weird. For every millionaire author, or even billionaire author (I'm thinking J. K. Rowling, the Harry Potter brand is estimated to be worth £15 billion), there must be a million authors who need a secondary (or primary) job to put food on the table. It kind of makes writing feel like playing the lottery. Which makes me think that if you're not loving the process you're just wasting your time.

So true. I think in any art that's how it is. I know it's that way in music as well. For every U2 or Lady Gaga there are millions of weekend warriors, playing their hearts out in a local bar. If you don't love playing for the sake of it, you'll burn yourself out.

Quote

(Have you heard of NaNoWriMo?)

I have! In fact, I'm signed up: http://www.nanowrimo...eng/user/575079

There's a bit of an irony in my signing up, however. I have some 7800 words on my profile, as those are the words I've written since I signed up. However, I've already got over 140,000 words in this novel!

This novel is going to be a big one. The novel that I'm currently shopping to agents is 92,000+ words in total; this second novel will probably end up being 250,000 words. Hopefully they're good words!

Quote

Anyway, here's to the dream. If it's not fame and fortune it should at least be about good times.

Absolutely! I get a great sense of accomplishment in finishing a full novel. And these days, thanks to POD, Kindle, eBooks, and so on, you don't need a publisher just to put your works out there. You'll just sell onsies and twosies, of course, but so what? If you put in the effort, you might as well share it, and get a little money if it's out there.

Take care,
Orren

[Orren]

Steve, on Nov 6 2009, 11:44 AM, said:

Welcome Orren!

Thanks!

Quote

We've traded messages in other threads, but I'd like to apologize here for Thoth's reply to your introduction. Normally, we celebrate publishing success, but as you have probably figured out, Thoth is our resident curmudgeon.

There's always one... I am an Administrator of the Logic Users Group, Mac OS X Audio, and have participated in fora for a while, so I've got pretty thick skin when it comes to being offended by online comments. Unless you call one of my guitars ugly, then I may have to curl up into a fetal position and rock back and forth for a while...

Quote

Personally, I have to say it's good to have another musician here. In a former life, I worked at a synthesizer/digital workstation company and have a garage full of gear that now goes largely unused.

Oooh, interesting! Was it in the bay area? If so, was it Korg R&D?

Quote

Good luck with the novel. Glad to have you with us.

Thanks and thanks!

Orren

[Steve]

Orren, on Nov 6 2009, 03:23 PM, said:

Oooh, interesting! Was it in the bay area? If so, was it Korg R&D?

No, it was a small company in Vermont called New England Digital. We made the Synclavier.

-Steve

[Thoth]

Steve,
I'm a little tired of being called curmudgeonly.
If you prick us do we not bleed?

Orren,
If I insulted you please accept my heartfelt apology.
I was trying to commiserate and apparently failed miserably.
(Steve took me out to the wood shed, e-mail style.)

Not bad-tempered nor surly, just misunderstood,
- Thoth.

[Orren]

Steve, on Nov 6 2009, 03:28 PM, said:

No, it was a small company in Vermont called New England Digital. We made the Synclavier.

-Steve

I have definitely heard of the Synclavier! Wow! Depeche Mode, Kate Bush, Eurythmics, are some personal icons of mine that used the Synclavier! As I recall, back in the day they were extremely expensive...

<muso geek mode>
I've got lots of softsynths. However, nothing to me beats hardware synths. We can have "analog vs. digital" arguments until the cows come home, but it's a creativity thing to me. I've got some of Dave Smith's recent instruments not just for the "analogness" but because twisting a knob while I'm playing it does a lot more for me than using a MIDI controller or programming an automation lane after the fact...anyway, I'm a guitarist by training, what do I know?
</muso geek mode>

Take care,
Orren

[Orren]

Thoth, on Nov 6 2009, 03:59 PM, said:

Steve,
I'm a little tired of being called curmudgeonly.
If you prick us do we not bleed?

I'm a curmudgeon too. I wear it like a badge of honor. I use a lot of snide humor to make my curmudgeonliness amusing, but I will definitely be an old man with a hat and a cardigan sitting on the bench ranting about "kids these days." In deference to my musician nature, however, the hat and cardigan will be black.

Quote

Orren,
If I insulted you please accept my heartfelt apology.
I was trying to commiserate and apparently failed miserably.
(Steve took me out to the wood shed, e-mail style.)

Not bad-tempered nor surly, just misunderstood,
- Thoth.

Thanks for the apology! Don't worry, after a few days of therapy and copious amounts of lithium I was fine. Okay, seriously, it did come across as a bit competitive and "smirky", but I figured that you weren't being nasty, so it's all good. It's sometimes hard to get subtleties and mood across in an internet post. That is why, BTW, I tend to make copious use of emoticons. If we were sitting around the table, my tone of voice and body language would clue you in as to the tenor of what I am saying. On the Interwebs, I use emoticons to reveal what body language otherwise might.

Take care,
Orren

[Thoth]

Thanks Orren. Be well.

There just isn't an emoticon that properly reflects my emotions over this misunderstanding.

-}{- (Close?)
- Thoth.