So My Amazon Profile Bio, Which Hasn’t Changed for Over a Decade, Was Supposedly Written by AI... LOL

I woke up to one of those modern literary accusations that is so dumb it almost deserves an award:

Apparently my Amazon author profile bio was “written by AI.” This one:

https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B001K8IESG/about

Now, I want everyone to stop for a moment and admire the sheer athleticism required to arrive at that conclusion, because my Amazon profile bio has not meaningfully changed in over a decade.

That’s right. Over ten years.

Which means one of the following must be true:

1. I secretly used artificial intelligence before it became the all-purpose boogeyman for people who confuse confidence with evidence.

2. My stale old author bio was so offensively competent that it traveled back through time and became suspicious retroactively.

3. We are now living in an age where any complete sentence longer than seven words is considered “probably AI.”

I am honestly impressed.

There is something very funny about the idea that my ancient, dusty, cobwebbed Amazon profile bio - a thing I likely updated sometime around the era of bad knees, worse algorithms, and people still pretending Facebook was fun - has now been placed on trial as a futuristic machine artifact.

Yes. Of course. Naturally.

Nothing says “cutting-edge AI deception” quite like a profile that has been sitting there untouched long enough to qualify for a museum label.

Exhibit A: An author bio written years ago.

Exhibit B: The internet discovering in 2026 that biographies are sometimes polished.

Conclusion: ROBOTS.

That’s the level of scholarship we’re dealing with.

And this is what kills me about so much online nonsense now: people no longer need proof. They just need a vibe. A hunch. A whiff. A passing breeze of suspicion.

They squint at something and say, “Hmm. This feels generated.”

Generated by what, exactly? Literacy? Revision? The radical act of reading one’s own sentences before posting them?

Because if that’s where we are, then heaven help anyone who uses punctuation correctly. Every semicolon is now probable cause, and apparently any prose that uses an em dash is AI. Which is fascinating, since I was using em dashes by the thousand long before AI became the internet’s favorite explanation for everything.

I can just imagine the forensic process:

“Let’s see... this profile bio is coherent... the thoughts are arranged in order... the wording is not completely feral... yes, this was clearly produced by a machine.”

Terrifying.

I hate to disappoint the amateur detectives, but some of us were writing full paragraphs before Silicon Valley started stuffing chatbots into everything that can blink.

I know, I know. It’s a shocking theory.

But not everything online was made by AI. Some of it was made the old-fashioned way: by a human being sitting at a keyboard, probably tired, probably underpaid, probably irritated, and almost certainly wishing everyone would calm down.

Also, let’s be honest. If I were going to use futuristic super-technology to fabricate my public image, do we really think I would spend that power on an Amazon profile?

Really?

Not on marketing? Not on discoverability? Not on getting actual readers to leave actual reviews? Not on making the algorithm stop acting like my books are contraband?

No. According to this brilliant line of thought, I apparently used advanced machine intelligence to create... a standard author description.

That is some wonderfully small ambition for a criminal mastermind.

And that’s the broader joke here. We’ve reached the point where “AI” is no longer just a tool or a technology. It’s become a lazy accusation people throw at anything they don’t like, don’t understand, or don’t believe a person they’ve already decided to dislike could have written.

It saves time, I suppose. Why wrestle with facts when you can just yell “AI!” and run away feeling clever?

Meanwhile, my allegedly suspicious profile bio continues doing what it has done for years: sitting there. Existing. Being a profile bio. In public. On Amazon. Without fanfare. Without updates. Without, sadly, an army of robot publicists boosting my sales.

If only.

So let the record show: my Amazon profile bio was not “supposedly written by AI.” It was written in that distant, primitive era when human beings were still blamed for their own sentences.

Ancient times. Dark times. A more civilized age.

And if that old profile now seems too polished, too composed, too humanly competent for some people to believe, I will accept that as the funniest compliment I’ve received all year.

LOL.

Thanks for reading!

- Robert

Tomorrow Begins Today...

Dear Friends and Readers, I wanted to take a moment to apologize for my long absences from social media, sporadic communications, and for losing touch with so many of you over the past many years. In 2020, the Department of Justice put an end to the malicious targeting of my books and other work, though many of the negative reviews and ratings caused by these hateful activities remain at Amazon.com and Goodreads.com. As the DOJ stated in their indictments, in exchange for bribes, corrupted Amazon staff facilitated attacks against competitors of those paying the bribes, using their inside access to Amazon's network to suspend competitors' accounts and product listings, remove favorable reviews and commentary, write fictitious negative product reviews designed to hurt sales, post spurious comments to intimidate victims and drive away customers, and much more. All much as I had experienced it and blogged about for many years, including naming names of the competitors responsible.

To be clear, I do not know specifically the particular individuals indicted and convicted were involved in the malicious targeting of my work, as the DOJ tracked the criminal activities of these individuals for a very specific (and brief) time and prosecuted based on the criminal activities identified in this very specific (and brief) time, and not for the entire period of operation. What I do know for certain is the immediate, chilling effect the multiple arrests and indictments by the Department of Justice had on the malicious targeting of my books and other work. Beyond this, as a very few know, I have been dealing with a stalker for many years. This has all been a terrible, untenable situation that just would not end. The experience has been incredibly traumatic, emotionally draining, and has left my health in tatters. I no longer know where I end and the trauma begins, the me that I was no longer exists. All this has made it impossible for me to communicate openly and freely with anyone, including my friends and family. I felt like I had to constantly watch my back and be cautious about what I shared online or anywhere.

As a result, I wasn't able to maintain the same level of communication with many of you as I would have liked. I wasn't able to participate in social events. I wasn't able to even openly share my thoughts and experiences on social media. I know that this must have been frustrating and confusing for many of you, and for that, I am truly sorry. I want you to know that it wasn't my intention to distance myself or cut ties with anyone. I was simply trying to protect myself from harassment, from my stalker, from a situation that would not end, and did not want to put anyone else at risk by sharing too much information online or in person.

Now that the DOJ has done their work, now that my stalker has been imprisoned, I feel like I finally can breathe a little easier and start to reconnect with the people who have meant so much to me over the years. I know that it won't be easy to pick up where we left off, especially as so many years have passed since this long ordeal began, but I am committed to rebuilding those connections and strengthening the relationships that I've had. I hope that you can forgive me for my absences, miscommunications, whatever, and understand that it wasn't personal. I was just trying to survive an impossible situation.

Please also know that this is going to take a very long time. There is no me that I was left, due to all this and for all the years it went on. Though my past work continues to be released, sometimes as if new, I stopped writing, drawing, and painting nearly a decade ago, and don’t know if I’ll ever be able to go back to any of it.

Some few know I suffered a stroke and a heart attack in 2016 which were caused by the stress and emotional rollercoaster that I went through due to being targeted online. I have previously pointed out those competitors responsible, but have never before been able to talk openly about my stalker. This person’s relentless pursuit of me took a significant, catastrophic toll on my physical and emotional health. I was constantly looking over my shoulder, worrying about what this person might do next. The stress of the situation became so overwhelming that it destroyed my life. After my stroke and a heart attack, I was hospitalized for several weeks, but the torment of this individual didn’t end there. As this person had been unsuccessful in killing me, which was their stated intent, this person then began a campaign of terror to make me attempt suicide and to convince others, including my readers, that I had died, and in particular by connecting obituaries and death announcements to me online and in social media.

It may be a long time for me to feel somewhat like myself again, or I may never get there, but I wanted to let you know. My health issues affected all aspects of my life. I was unable to work for an extended period of time, and I had to rely on the support of others to get through each day. I felt like my life had been turned upside down, and I struggled to find a sense of normalcy. I don’t even know what normal looks like. My stalker's actions caused me to feel afraid, anxious, worse. I felt like I couldn't trust anyone, and I was constantly on edge. Even after my stalker is finally imprisoned, I find it difficult to move on and let go of the fear and anxiety that had taken hold of me. Despite the terrible ordeal, I have learned a lot about myself and the importance of seeking help and support. I also have discovered the resilience and strength that I possess, even in the face of overwhelming adversity.

I want to take a moment to thank all of those who stood by me during all these difficult years. Your support and encouragement were instrumental in helping me get through the toughest moments. To anyone else who may be going through a similar situation, I want you to know that you are not alone. There is help available, and it's okay to ask for it. No one who’s trying to communicate about all this should have their posts hidden by their stalker reporting them. No one seeking help or to talk about what’s happening to them should be driven into silence or made to feel like they can’t talk about what’s happening to them. No one should have to suffer in silence or feel like they are alone in their struggles.

In conclusion, I wanted to share this story with you not only to provide context for my posts over these past many years, but also to raise awareness about the devastating impact that stalking and online harassment can have on a person's life. I hope that by sharing my story, I can help others who may be going through a similar situation feel less alone and more empowered to seek help and support.

Thank you for taking the time to read my story and for your continued support and readership.

Sincerely,

William Robert Stanek www.williamrstanek.com

Letter from RP Books & Media Publisher, Jeannie Kim Addressing the Malicious Targeting of Robert Stanek

Dear Readers, We are aware of the false information and fake negative reviews that have been circulating about Mr. Stanek and his books, especially on Amazon.com and Goodreads.com. We want to assure our customers and the general public that we've identified the sources of this misinformation and malicious targeting, and have taken appropriate steps to correct and prosecute as permitted by law, both within the U.S. and the U.K.

It's easy for large competitors to crush something small and use their platforms to cause incredible, lasting harm. Not only can larger competitors spread lies about a smaller competitor faster than the smaller competitor can keep up with, it's nearly impossible for a smaller competitor to get out from under the targeting without help and in this respect, we need you, dear readers. Your support and continued readership is essential.

As for Amazon.com and Goodreads.com involvement, the U.S. Department of Justice has identified Amazon staff accepting bribes, writing fake negative reviews and targeting products like Robert's for take downs in its indictments of September 2020.

Specifically, the US DOJ prosecuted four cases involving Amazon employees:

* Targeting people like Robert with fake negative reviews

* Using their inside access to Amazon's network to suspend accounts and product listings

* Using their inside access to Amazon's network to remove favorable reviews and commentary

* Posting spurious comments to intimidate victims and drive away customers

All four cases were successful and proved by the Department of Justice in 2022. The following contains complete details, links and the press release from the US Attorney’s Office Western District of Washington state, dated Sept 18, 2020:
https://robertstanek.blogspot.com/2020/09/doj-ids-corrupt-amazon-employees.html.

Mr. Stanek has been a professionally published, bestselling author since 1995 when his first book was published by Macmillan and his books have since been published and or distributed by nearly every major publisher in the United States. He does, of course, write as William Stanek and Robert Stanek. His books have been praised and featured in Publisher's Weekly, including a cover story on popular fantasy series, Library Journal, Children's Bookshelf, Foreword Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, Parenting Magazine, The Journal of Electronic Defense, Voice of Youth Advocates Magazine for YA Librarians, Popular Children's Fiction Selections for Librarians, and more.

We have been in business since 1994, nearly 30 years, and have always strived to provide excellent products and services to our customers. We value their satisfaction and take any complaints or issues very seriously. We apologize for any confusion or concern that this may have caused and appreciate the support of our loyal customers.

We hope that you had a great experience with our products. If you are satisfied with your purchase, we would appreciate it if you could leave a positive review on your favorite book or library review site. Your feedback helps us to improve and grow our business, and it also helps other potential customers to learn about the excellent products that we provide. Thank you for your support.

 

Jeannie Kim
Sr. Publisher, RP Books & Media

 

Connecting with My Friend Walter Dean Myers, Talking Dysfunction & Diversity in America

The first time I met, Walter, aka Walter Dean Myers, we connected, and this led to an odd friendship of a sorts. The thing that bonded us was our similar childhoods, though decades apart. Walter was born in August 1937, my mamma was born in April 1937. Walter lost his mother when he was 2, and my mamma and her sister Dolores lost their daddy even earlier. Walter was given to Florence and Herbert Dean after his mother’s death, my mother, her sister and her mamma moved in with their gramma who raised them for the next few years until their mamma married again.

Walter saw me and knew who I was the moment he laid eyes upon me, never asked why I had a copy of Hoops in my hand. He just understood. As a child, I grew up in a predominantly black neighborhood in Racine, Wisconsin, which I write about here. It was rough and tumble, which I also write about, and that was something Walter understood too as he and I both had to use our fists to defend ourselves at an early age.

His family became dysfunctional with alcohol and grief when his uncle was killed, mine when my step-father and sister died because of an explosion. The library and its books became my refuge, as books were a refuge and a solace for Walter.

Reading pushed us both to discover new worlds. For me, the classics. Treasure Island. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Robinson Crusoe. The Time Machine. The Invisible Man. Journey to the Center of the Earth. The Last of the Mohicans. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Around the World in Eighty Days. A Christmas Carol. Frankenstein. Dracula. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The Lost World. And on and on.

Though never an apt pupil, Walter wrote well in high school and his English teacher recognized this, encouraging him to never stop writing no matter what happened to him. My English teacher in the 4^th grade recognized my writing skill and encouraged me to write for and edit the school newspaper, as did my Uncle Wally and both of whom told me to never stop writing, never stop challenging myself.

Walter dropped out of high school and joined the army at 17. I joined the air force at 17 after finishing high school because I was homeless and had no other options.

Walter was one of the most prolific writers, with more than 110 books to his credit, and is the recipient of a lifetime achievement award in writing for young adults, as well as many other awards. I also became one of the most prolific writers, with more than 250 books to my credit and counting, and have been nominated several times for lifetime achievement awards in writing.

After Walter passed away in 2014, I blogged about one of his last essays decrying a lack of diversity in writing, saying that diversity existed in writing it just wasn’t always plain to see. Diversity in my books has led to controversy. I haven’t let controversy change my views or my writing, nor have I kowtowed to White publishing, nor to the conscientious objectors who worship at the altar of George RR Martin and abhor veterans.

How odd that even after decades and decades, books must still be thought of as white or black, or for whites or for blacks. It was, after all, an interracial award for children’s books that put my friend Walter Dean Myers in the spotlight in 1969. We humans excel at putting up fences, we just don’t know how to take them down.

Thanks for reading, I’m William Robert Stanek, Microsoft’s #1 author for nearly 20 years, and author of over 250 topselling books.

Dream Job... Writer, Not Marvel Superhero.

Honored to have been nominated once again for an award for Distinguished Contributions in Writing & American Letters for my body of work encompassing more than 20 million words spread across tens of thousands of pages in the 250 full-length works I've written. Since my breakout bestseller in 1995, my work has been published and/or distributed by every major publishing house in the U.S. from Time Warner to Simon & Schuster to Random House as well as Hachette, Pearson, Macmillan, McGraw Hill, and Microsoft--not to mention more than 100 other publishers globally.

I've said it before and I'll say it again the success I've had is the stuff of Willy Wonka's wildest dreams. Still, as I wrote about in “How I Made This Crazy Thing Called Writing a Career”, wild success doesn’t necessarily mean riches for the writer. For sure, me and "80's" Stan Lee could stand in line next to each other and trade stories. Bookstores, publishers, agents, publicists, Uncle Sam and many others got the Lion’s share of the wealth, but I got to live the dream and living the dream was as good as being Spider Man.

I will forever remain grateful to my publishers and everyone else in the business who made the dream possible. In my career one of the things I’m most proud of is my work to give back, to support my fellow writers, to support veterans, to support the disabled--and especially disabled veterans. I've fought the good fight for disabled veterans for many years, but if I had to pick one achievement I'm most proud of, it is this: Giving away the millionth-dollar book to schools, libraries and communities in 2015, after 20 years of working toward the goal. Nothing ever felt so right. Schools and libraries are after all where I developed a lifelong passion for the written word.

My books often ended up in places where schools and communities had no other books. In classrooms in Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines. In libraries in rural India, Spain and Portugal. In communities throughout South Africa, Brazil and Argentina.

As I look back at my career, I’m also very glad that from the beginning I did something for myself by starting a publishing company. That company began operations in 1995 and I used it to learn about the publishing side of the industry, which is very different from the writing side. By 2004, I knew enough about the industry and was ready to spread my wings and go into publishing on my own. I hired a great team and put them to work running my business.

In the beginning, we had quite a large team, that team has whittled down to a few core members, but remains in the business of bringing my works, and the works of a select group of other writers, to the world. They've helped get hundreds of translations for my works, which are now available in nearly every country around the globe. Over the coming years, this publishing company will transition to the William Robert Stanek Foundation. For readers this means that although William Stanek the writer put away his pen and paper, my work will continue to be available long into the future.

Capes and costumes for superheroes come in all sizes and colors except for writers. If you're a writer, the best you can hope for is to be acknowledged by those in your field and I am sincerely honored to have been nominated once again for an award for Distinguished Contributions in Writing & American Letters for my body of work.

Thanks for reading,

William Robert Stanek

Remembering My Long-Time Friend Brian Jacques on His 80th Birthday

As I write this, today June 15, 2019, my friend, Brian Jacques, creator of Redwall, would have been 80. Of all the writers I’ve corresponded with over the years, from Raymond Feist to CJ Cherryh to Mercedes Lackey in the hey days of CompuServe, Brian was the wittiest and most fun. It was the highest of honors to host Brian when his fall 2005 book tour of the Western USA brought him to my adopted home town of Olympia, Washington. At the time, I wrote about Brian’s visit on a tribute page to him and his books, which I posted to share with my readers @ http://themagiclands.com/brianjacques.htm. The page is still there, hasn’t changed in 15 years.

One of the best things about Brian’s visit was that my son, Will, who was 13 at the time, got to meet Brian and get all of his Redwall books signed. Will was, and remains, a Redwall fan, having read all of Brian’s books multiple times. My two youngest were also at the signing and they enjoyed getting their pictures taken with my friend Brian. 

As I had promised Brian, I also gave him copies of the children's editions of my books, The Kingdoms & the Elves of the Reaches, which are set in my fantasy world of Ruin Mist. Brian and I enjoyed swapping stories of our created worlds, having bonded over our similar experiences with Catholic school teachers beating us with rulers.  

Brian was a hoot to listen to at author events and book signings. He loved his characters and got into the role of his characters actively in the telling. Brian loved a good feast as well, as any attentive Redwall fan knows.

Brian also challenged me to give back to readers and the writing community, to share my personal skills and experiences with others. Brian always spoke fondly of his days working with blind children and how he got his start. Early conversations with Brian were key in inspiring me to dedicate many hours and years to give away one million books to schools, libraries, community centers and others, though especially to teachers in classrooms who needed books for their students who otherwise would have no books at all as well as to schools for the blind, like the one in rural Scotland where students had access for many years to my entire catalog of books, including many educational and learning titles in the Bugville Critters, at no cost.

To say Brian Jacques loved the written word is an understatement. Brian lived for the written word and I think the only thing he loved more was bringing his stories and ideas to life with spoken word. Brian and I had running conversations about digital audio and in particular Audible, where my books had been runaway bestsellers--#1 Fiction, #1 Fantasy, #1 YA/Childrens for many weeks in spring and summer 2005. Brian was more familiar with traditional audio on tape and hesitant about the digital world--ebooks, kindle, audible, and such. I don't know if my words on the subject swayed his thoughts on the subject, but I'd like to think so, as his books did start to become available for both kindle and audible.

In the fall of 2005, none of us could have known that Brian would be taken from the world just a few years later. I was, in fact, looking forward to his promised next West coast USA tour and another visit with my long-time friend. For me, Brian Jacques will forever remain one of the true few who could paint pictures with words.

We all miss you, Brian, though it is perhaps fitting that the final Redwall book is about rogues. As a rogue scoundrel who worked many odd jobs in his life, this was perhaps Brian’s last wink and nod to the world.

Goodnight, Brian. Goodnight, Redwall.

Thanks for reading, I’m William Robert Stanek, Microsoft’s #1 author for nearly 20 years, and author of over 250 topselling books.

It’s Giving Tuesday! A Goal Finally Reached After 20 Years… A Time for Change

Giving Tuesday is a time to show support for favorite causes and charities. Most people who know me know that I’m a vocal advocate of veterans and people with disabilities. As a veteran with disabilities, related causes and charities are something I support unabashedly whether it’s the Wounded Warrior Project (www.woundedwarriorproject.org) or Special Olympics (www.specialolympics.org). 

My daughter Sapphire has Downs, so it’s another reason that giving back, supporting related causes and charities for people with disabilities, is so important to me personally and my family. One of my daughter's favorite causes is Day of Champions. She's participated in every Day of Champions from the first to the most recent one, the 13th, in May 2015 and my family has been there as well. This year the Kiwanis Club stepped in to help and provide assistance, making the event an even better one for the nearly 600 kids with special needs who participated.

Another cause that I support are books for schools, libraries and families. Anyone who knows me probably knows this too. 

What you may not know is that every year since my first book was published in 1995, I’ve quietly been giving away books to schools, libraries, communities, charities and other organizations. It started with the publication of my first book Electronic Publishing Unleashed, which was quickly followed by Web Publishing Unleashed.

As part of my contracts and payment, I received 25 copies of each book from my publisher. This was written into my contracts. So a few days before publication I suddenly had box after box of these big, doorstopper books. Weighing in at around 1000 pages, there were 5 or 6 books to a box and I had no idea what to do with all those boxes of books.

Each book had a cover price of $49.95 so 25 books was $1250 at retail. Selling them probably would have been a great way to generate cash and pay my bills, especially as these boxes of books were quickly followed by other boxes of books, like my books FrontPage Unleashed and Windows NT Pocket Consultant.

I didn’t want to sell the books, however. I kept two copies for my library, gave away 2 or 3 copies to readers, and donated the rest to organizations where the books would be put to good use whether these were schools, libraries, learning centers or whatever.

Over the years, I expanded the book giving to include my fiction works and other works by RP Media authors. As I have about 100 or so professionally published books and even more published through RP Media, this has meant giving away thousands and thousands of copies of my books to schools, libraries, learning centers and other places where the books could be used to help others. As year by year RP Media matches my giveaways with the books of other RP Media authors and has a library of over 1,500 titles, the total reach is even greater.

I’ve received lots of heartfelt thanks from those I donated books to but none more so than from students in classrooms in Puerto Rico who never before had books of their own. Entire classes wrote their individual Thank Yous and it made all the hard work worthwhile.

Digital has opened up entirely new ways to ensure everyone has access to books. Through Ripple Reader, Epic and others, I’ve been able to participate in programs to provide free access to books for classrooms and teachers, but one of the most unique efforts I support is Project eShelf, which provides free access to hearing and speech impaired children in Scotland including St. Columba's Girls National School in Douglas, Cork.

My goal when I began this work was basic: simply to give back in a meaningful way. Over the past 20 years, these efforts have meant giving away over $1,000,000 in books to schools, libraries, communities, charities and other organizations worldwide. 

When I started this work all those years ago, a $1,000,000 goal was unfathomable. It seemed a great reach, but it was accomplished one step at a time. Baby steps at first, then larger steps and new paths opened. The goal reached and with less means to provide support, I will quietly step away from the effort now, though my books will remain available in specialized free access programs for schools and libraries.

My hope though is that I’ve inspired you who are reading this to pick up where I leave off. Want to give back and support books and reading? There are many ways you can do this right now:

First Book (www.firstbook.org)

Books for Kids (www.booksforkids.org)

Reading is Fundamental (www.rif.org) 

These organizations are nonprofits that provide books to children. There are many others as well, and much you can do if you want to forge your own path as well.

I also encourage you to support Wounded Warrior Project (www.woundedwarriorproject.org) and Special Olympics (www.specialolympics.org).

Thanks for reading,

Robert Stanek

Big Books, Big Contracts: The Road to Success is Paved With Potholes (Or Alternately What It’s Like to Write 150 Books & Still Have to Give 150% Every Single Day.)

I'm Robert Stanek. Last year, I signed an 8-book six-figure contract with my long-time publisher. In the past, I’ve had contracts for $70,000 and up for 3 or 4 books, but nothing so substantial. It was a wonderful confirmation of my commitment to the written word and it felt great to have a publisher back my work so strongly, especially in the uncertain landscape of today’s publishing reality.

Since I’ve been talking about the contract and the books lately, I often hear from people who congratulate me on “my quick success” and “my rapid rise to acclaim.” I am, of course, a critically and commercially acclaimed author of more than 150 books. I also am one of the world’s leading authorities in the subjects I write about. I am, however, anything but an overnight success. I’ve been a writer for 30 years and only 20 as a published professional.

I earned my stripes in this crazy business when I wrote for many years for the simple pleasure of writing itself. It wasn’t until 1994 that I signed my first contract. It wasn’t until 1995 that my first book was published. It wasn’t until 1996 that I was able to write full-time.

My full-time work as a writer is as a technology journalist and nonfiction writer. In those early days, I wrote articles for leading publications like PC Magazine and Dr. Dobbs. I also wrote books for leading publishers like Macmillan, Pearson, McGraw Hill, Microsoft, and O’Reilly Media. For articles, I often received $1 or more a word. For books, I often received solid five-figure advances. That was, of course, success, and I did in fact rise quickly, becoming a recognized world leader in my field in only a few short years.

Success, however, can be short lived. In publishing, a writer’s last success doesn’t necessarily pave the road to the future. A writer’s future is determined by his or her next book and often also by factors the writer cannot control. The world changes every day. Trends and tastes shift. Yesterday’s media darling can be tomorrow’s nobody.

I’ve lived the change firsthand. Between 1995 and 1998, I signed more than a dozen contracts, wrote books as fast as I could write them for readers who couldn’t get my books fast enough. I was on fire. In those few short years, my books caught on. I thought the ride would never end, until it did.

The market changed. Trends and tastes shifted. The hot topics of the day were flooded with a smorgasbord of offerings. There weren’t just 10 or 20 books on that hot topic, there were a hundred. Eventually, this oversaturation cannibalized sales of all similar books. Thus, even as my success and career were hitting new highs, I was left scrambling.

But unlike many of my contemporaries at the time, I saw the light of that oncoming freight train. I knew my options. I knew what I had to do.

I could continue to write books in an oversaturated market, try to live with sales that were a tiny fraction of what they had been, or I could look to new opportunities. I chose plan b—the new opportunities. I risked everything, left my old publishers who weren’t interested in my new ideas, and went out looking for publishers who were interested in my new ideas.

The change meant I had to rejoin the working world. I took a job with a tech company in Seattle and joined the ranks of the marathon commuters, driving 140 miles round trip every working day. I continued writing in the evenings and on weekends. I continued to pitch my new ideas to new publishers.

Days and weeks passed. Months too. By the sixth month, my wife and I were seriously considering our options and wishing we’d sold the family home and moved to Seattle months ago.

But I didn’t give up. Instead, I polished my ideas yet again and sent them out via my agent to a new publisher who I heard was looking to do something different. I just hoped that the “something different” they wanted would be my radical idea for a new series of books.

The wait to hear back from the publisher was agony because at this point it was make or break. If I heard back from the publisher and it wasn’t good news, my writing career likely was over. If I heard back from the publisher and it was good news, there was hope, but no certainty.

Thankfully, I heard back from my agent within a few days and the news was good. The publisher wanted to meet with me. The publisher wanted to discuss my ideas.

During the meeting, it was clear that the publisher liked my ideas but I’d need to provide sample chapters, expand the series details, have more face-to-face meetings, and generally do more to convince them. The hard part that followed required a leap of faith. I couldn’t do all that was required of me, in the time that was required of me, and keep working full-time elsewhere. I had to quit the day job and proceed, or keep the day job and let the dream die.

I chose the dream. I gave notice, worked my last two weeks while I continued developing the materials needed. A few weeks in, I learned the publisher had one idea for the series and I had another. Worse, the concepts were radically different.

I thought for sure disaster was ahead. Thankfully, the publisher did eventually sign me to a two-book contract. A contract to do things their way—and not my way. 

However, the sample chapters I’d written over the past weeks were for my series concept and not theirs, so I kept writing the books my way. For this publisher, it was something unheard of for any writer to go outside the standard or to deviate from fixed standards. But my editors loved the final chapters I submitted, and I completed the work in its entirety ahead of schedule—so many weeks ahead of schedule they didn't quite know what to do, and this also was something else that was unheard of.

In fact, I was so far ahead of schedule, that the book’s publication dates were moved back several months. Those several months proved critical, as they allowed the publisher to showcase the books at a major industry event when the publisher otherwise would not have been able to. And the books done my way were smash hits at the event. 

The rest as they say is history. Those contracts were followed by two other contracts from other publishers that I’d contacted previously. Suddenly, I was back in the publishing business.

That little series I started? That series would eventually go on to become one of the biggest blockbuster series for the publisher.

Those first books I wrote in that series? They set the foundation for the entire series and became critically-acclaimed, award-winning bestsellers.

Not too shabby for ideas nobody wanted and no one but me believed in. Sometimes in life you must take that leap of faith. Sometimes you must believe in yourself when no one else does. Sometimes you must follow the wrong path to find the right one.

Thanks for reading,

Robert Stanek

Holiday Shopping, Dragons, Independents, Oh My!

I write as William Stanek and Robert Stanek. My story may help you understand writers and independents a little better. As a technology journalist, I've written for PC Magazine, Dr. Dobbs, TechNet Magazine and a variety of other leading magazines. As a technology writer, I've written for Simon & Schuster, Random House, Macmillan, Pearson, Microsoft, O'Reilly and other publishers. My many technical articles and technical books have helped millions of readers learn essential job skills and stay competitive. That's important, especially in these troubling economic times.

While working on the William Stanek books, I also worked on my Robert Stanek books, including the Ruin Mist books, the Magic Lands books, and the Bugville Critters books. The Ruin Mist books have been fairly popular. In the spring of 2002, Keeper Martin's Tale and Elf Queen's Quest became instant bestsellers, spending a combined 26 weeks on the Amazon.com Sci-Fi/Fantasy Top 50 list. The name "Ruin Mist" is the common language translation of an elvish word, which means "the lost ages" which is what ruinmistmovie.com is all about. The stories of Ruin Mist are set in a fictional past of our world.

Ruin Mist has three distinct realms of existence: Over-Earth, Under-Earth, and Middle-Earth. Over-Earth is the home of dragons, titans, and eagle lords, the great peoples of the past. Under-Earth is an otherworldly realm that has blood-red skies, and no sun or moon. Middle-Earth is the home of elves of the reaches and the men of the kingdoms. The history of Ruin Mist is divided into four ages: The First Age - The Age of Titans; The Second Age - The Age of Men, Elves, and Dwarves; The Third Age - The Age of Men and Elves; and The Fourth Age - The Age of Men.

The popularity of the Ruin Mist books built up through the release of the subsequent Ruin Mist books. Readers enjoyed the magical realms, the grand adventures, and the combination of classic fantasy elements with a fresh, highly imaginative approach. In the spring of 2005, the Ruin Mist books were first published in audio and became instant audio bestsellers, spending more than 52 weeks on Audible.com's bestseller lists. The Kingdoms and the Elves of the Reaches eventually became one of the Top 100 all-time fiction bestsellers on Audible.com and was so popular, it was featured on the Audible.com home page throughout July and August 2005.

In 2005, the Ruin Mist books also were featured in several printed books, including The Ancient Art of Faery Magick, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Elves and Fairies, and Popular Series Fiction for Middle School and Teen Readers (Children's and Young Adult Literature Reference). In 2007, the books were featured and highly recommended by VOYA, the top library journal for youth librarians.

"[A] complex tale...sure to attract fans of graphic novels and classic Tolkien alike....Stanek will likely draw a cult following....This cliffhanger guarantees fans, and those fans will be ready to wield their swords against the Dark Lord in Stanek's next installment." (VOYA)

I've also written an account of my experiences in the Persian Gulf War. That book, Stormjammers, was featured in the Journal of Electronic Defense and highly recommended. 

"Hard to put down....It is impossible not to share the relief and pride of the individual crew members when the attack missions they protect exit Iraq safely....Another side of the book lets the reader ride along when Stanek's EC-130H has two engines quit in the war zone." (The Journal of Electronic Defense)

The Bugville Critters have always had a special place in my life. For 15 years, I was satisfied with only the gleeful cheers, laughs and giggles of my children who delighted to hear my tales of Bugville and a little bug called Buster. My children urged me for years to get the books published so other children could read the stories too. Since I started that long journey in 2004, the Bugville Critters books have been featured by Parenting Magazine, written about by the Wall Street Journal, and welcomed by teachers around the U.S. These stories are about life and our world. I wrote the stories to instruct and entertain.

Because the books are independently published, you won't always find them in print in the Big Box stores. Big Box stores don't understand independent books or independent authors (and sadly, you can say the same about most independent bookstores). Sure, Big Box stores may stock "The Elf on the Shelf" at Christmas time, they may stock a few local indies from time to time, but they normally don't otherwise. Fortunately, there are many places you can find my books and the books of other independents, especially online. Further, you have only to ask at the Big Box stores to order my books or any other book that's independently published and they will order the books.

Thank you for reading! When you're out shopping this year, I hope you'll support independents, along with the big boys, too. You can learn more about me at robertstanek.com or at reagentpress.com.

The Internet isn’t the new West but Patrick Rothfuss and some other competitors sure seem to think it is.

In the old West, the new gunfighter would call out the old gunfighter and one or the other would end in a pine box. In the new West of the Internet, a guy like Patrick Rothfuss does much the same except he uses friends and family to do the dirty deed. In 2007 when Patrick Rothfuss got up on his soapbox and ranted to stir up a mob, I had 100 published books to my credit, translations in over 20 countries and over 5 million books sold -- something Patrick Rothfuss likely knew when he came out swinging after his first book was published and publicly enlisted friends and family to do his dirty work.

And do his dirty work they did. My books were flooded with spiteful reviews. Hateful discussions were started in forums. Hateful posts were made on blogs. My fiction readers, who are mostly children, were harassed and intimidated. I received threatening emails, phone calls, letters. Who knew writing children’s fiction could be so fraught? I sure didn’t and I’d been a professionally published author since 1995.

Apparently, Patrick Rothfuss hadn’t done enough damage because he came out swinging again in 2009. Stirring to action, not only friends and family this time, but also his expanding fan base. Hateful discussions and blog posts became darker. Harassment of my readers turned to stalking. If the threats I had been received weren’t already bad enough, they became even worse.

Patrick Rothfuss’s motivation was likely the same as those who had gone before him: $$$$. Big franchises are big business, just ask Susan Collins, Rick Riordan, or J K Rowling.

But big franchises also are few and far between. There can only be so many big franchises. Something I’m sure Patrick Rothfuss absolutely knows. After all, he’s a guy who believes he has a major franchise and he may, but I also think he wasn’t about to let someone he believed he could quietly take out behind the barn, dig a hole, and put in the ground get there before him.

But Patrick Rothfuss was by no means the first who thought he could quietly take me out behind the barn, dig a hole, and put me in the ground. Why? Because the Internet makes it all too easy for unethical competitors to do and say just about anything they want to. They can do it anonymously, with pen names, with sock puppet accounts. They can do it through friends and family. They can do it through fans, others.

It doesn’t take much really. Just ask Patrick Rothfuss. A few public rants. A few quiet whispers. A few anonymous posts.

Dare to defend yourself? They howl even louder. Isn’t that right Patrick Rothfuss, David Louis Edelman, Jim C. Hines, Stephen Leigh, Victoria Strauss, Maureen Johnson, Tim Spalding?