Tuesday, November 20, 2012

I was asked by my nephew what made my writing different from all the other black writers out there. My answer was both simple and complex at the same time.

I told him that my writing was a fusion of Literary Urban Fiction. He looked at me like I was speaking a foreign language. He knew what Urban Fiction was, but literary sounded kind of white to him.

So I broke it down even further. I write Urban Fiction stories about black folks with jobs. He looked at me like I was talking crazy. You see, my nephew is a street dude. His life is filled with the stuff that most Urban Fiction writers and gangster rappers talk about.

"Life in the hood ain't about dudes with jobs," he said.

I laughed and looked him in the eye. "Where do I live?" I asked him.

He laughed and said you live right here in the hood, so you should know better..."

He started to laugh. The realization came to him that not only did I live in the hood, but I had been on the same job for over twenty years. And like most people in the hood I wasn't born with the job.

What I was trying to make him understand was that when many people think hood or Urban Fiction they think of a certain lifestyle of certain people. They tend to forget about the majority of people who live in the hood. We may break some of the drug, gambling and vice laws; but for the most part we are law abiding citizens who go to work. Well I tell those stories.

My first book, "God Helps Those...by Alan Cramer was written seven years ago. I called my self the New Voice of Urban Fiction back then. Not realizing at the time that I was starting something new. Something I now call Literary Urban Fiction.

Monday, March 26, 2012

The Stalker by Alan Cramer

Brutal, horrifying and shocking.

That’s what they’re saying about Alan Cramer’s newest story. The Stalker is about a woman being stalked and attacked by a vicious psychopath. Nikita Jones first day as a school teacher ends with her being stalked and tormented by a sexual predator of the worst kind. Worse than your worse nightmare. This story will make you scared of strangers and want to sleep with the lights on.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Why your books won't sell

This post is a copy of a post I put up on amazon. it was in response to a couple of authors who complained that their ebooks weren't selling.

Like any other business, if you didn't get in on the ground floor, you are going to find it hard. Many of the best selling authors have many books. No one should expect to write one book and sell millions. It's not going to happen like that any more.

All the indie people who have sold a million on kindle have many books.

And this is a business. If your books are only for sale on kindle that might be another problem. Word of mouth sells books. Amazon is crowded, you might have to go some place else to get noticed and read by strangers who are the best promoters of your books. i say books because you have to write more than one.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Are you a writer or an author?

I recently read a post on Dean Wesley Smith's blog. It was about the difference between being a writer and being an author. To put it simply he states; a writer is one who is writing, but an author is one who finished the book and is trying to sell it.

I kind of hate writing, but I love being an author. In other words I hate writing, but I love having wrote.

As my number of finished books pile up, I feel a sense of pride. I like those monthly royalty checks from amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com. The author in me feels quite proud.

But author's tend to rest on their laurels. I see other authors trying to sell their books and getting stuck on that book. The book sells or it doesn't sell, but they just keep on pushing that ONE book. In other words they stop writing.

This seems to be a bigger problem for independent writers and authors. I guess people with publishing contracts are forced to keep on writing. But us self published types often loose motivation after one or two books if they don't sell a million copies or downloads.

But when I look at the independent success storeis like Amanda Hockins or John Locke one thing remains clear. They wrote. They had more than two books written before they made it big.

I was going to write some more on this subject but I'm reminded that I have another book I really need to be working on right now...

Keep writing.

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Self Published African American Authors: Has Equality Finally Come?

Amazon.com’ has forever changed the publishing game. Their kindle format allows African American author’s inexpensively to publish their own books and distribute them world wide. It used to cost thousands of dollars to print books, now independent books like “God Helps Those” by Alan Cramer have the same access as the big publishing houses.

Amazon.com’s  kindle format allows books like “God Helps Those” to be read on personel computers, Ipads/Ipods, BlackBerry and Android smart phones. Not only is distribution world wide, but books like “God Helps Those” can now be held in the palm of your hand.