Everyone's doing it, Hell I did it last year. Did I stick to last year's resolutions? Er, kind of. I did finish the Thriller/Mystery Series (all 13 books in total with a spin-off zombie book and short stories). I did lose weight. I kept working at the dead-end job till Dec 24 though. I didn't send out query letters to agents or publishers but I did write them. And no, I didn't work to get things done and again coasted through everything. Oops?
This year I'm not going to make a huge self-motivation speech about changing my life. I've tried doing it for years now and it never works. I am going to set some goals though and we'll see what happens. After the list of goals will come the list of what I've written this year. For more details on what I wrote in 2014, check out the "Novel Series" tab at the top there. From there you can get details on every book except the Mists of Time series as I haven't yet posted the summaries for it yet. I will, don't worry.
One goal I kind of accomplished was leaving the dead-end job. It was great working there because I was guaranteed to be working regular shifts and had weekends/evenings off. Why did I leave? I wasn't getting paid. Like, at all, or for a long time and to put it simply: I can't afford to not get paid anymore. It put way too much stress on me and as much as everyone would like to think love makes the world go around, it doesn't. Money is the root of everything and if it's not coming in then you will suffer.
I also spoke to an editor about getting a short edited. When that's done (February by the looks of things) I'll start promoting said short story. I've also re-claimed the rights to Tale of the Twins which means I can control the pricing of it so I can start promoting it as well, if I want. It does suck I have to pay a fee to get usage rights for the edited copy since I've all ready sunk about $10,000 into the book at this point. That's what a vanity press is people: you give them all your money, they do stuff for you that you could get done a lot cheaper, then when you want to get your book back they charge you even more for keeping the (crappy) cover and edited copy.
I also wrote 16 novels. If we want to get technical I wrote 18. No. 17 was all the short stories for the thriller series as well as other random ones. No. 18 was a novel-length piece of fiction for another series. I also started on No. 19 (17 according to the list in "Novel Series") yesterday.
Enough ranting. Here are my goals for this year:
1) Milwordy: Yes, again. I will be trying to write 1,000,000 words from now until Dec 31. This time I made that the timeline in writetrack.com instead of the end of November. Now I'll get a better final word count in the fancy spreadsheet I can download at the end of the year.
2) Market my stuff: Once I get Tale of the Twins back and Best Friends: The Body Fairy edited, I will be trying a bit harder to self-promote. I'll also be re-vamping the anthologies I all ready have out and yes, raising the price. Single short stories (like Best Friends) will be priced at $0.99. Anthologies: $1.99. Novellas: $2.99. Novels: $4.99. Plus sales and regular deals and what not. So, anyone who wants a hardcopy of Tale of the Twins before it comes off the market: go to the "Store" Tab and get it now. Anyone who wants a cheaper version of the anthologies I've all ready got out: Again "Store" Tab.
3) Continue Losing Weight: I started out last year at 210 pounds. I am now 190-ish depending on the scale at the gym. Yes, that's 20lbs in a year. It doesn't seem like much but I can feel it. I'm not as physically worn out and I can fit into pants and skirts I didn't fit into before last year. I know I'll take off more this year than last year because I won't have people giving me chocolate or other treats at work and I don't buy them for home. One of the reasons I didn't lose more weight is because of the old job. Since the gym is a block away from the new job I'll be able to go right after or right before work. My goal? 160-170 lbs. Oh, and before anyone wonders: I'm 5'8" with a larger bone structure. So yes, I would like to be at my ideal sometime this year by eating properly and exercising.
4) Stop working: This is one of those goals that will probably continue into next year. Basically I want to be able to get to the point where all I have to do is write and edit all day, every day. I don't want to work at a call center (the new job, yay?) for my whole life. I don't want to go into a reception position even though I'm qualified to do it. I don't want to go back to the old job as much as I liked working there, liked who I worked with, and believed in the product. I don't need much to live month per month. $2400 would do it and give me spending money and "retirement" money. If I could make $2400 per month off my writing, steadily then I'll be happy. I'm not looking to be Stephen King famous. I don't want to be the next JK Rowling or EL James. I only want to live comfortably knowing I have a roof over my head, food in my fridge, and can spend a bit on frivolous things if I want.
Again, I've only four goals but it's not the amount of goals a person has. It's how much motivation they have to get those goals done and how much work those goals are going to take to get completed.
One of my pitfalls is my inability to market. I know the concepts behind it but I tend to fail miserably as seen with my sad attempt at getting Burnt: The Story of the Fire King published. And yes, if it had succeeded we wouldn't be having this conversation right now. I'd all ready be working on getting it out there and all that.
Anyway. Yes. Goals are an interesting concept. We all make them but rarely does one accomplish all their goals. For me it's better to have goals I know I'll be able to reach. Can I hit Milwordy? Yep. I only need 80K a month (10 months) with 200K in November. Can I market? Not really but I may have found someone to help. Can I lose weight? Sure. I'm not snacking nearly as often on unhealthy stuff and I'll likely be going to the gym 4-5 times a week. Can I stop working? Eventually.
Now the final part of this post: what I wrote last year. You can find this below list in the "Novel Series" tab where links are provided to each summary post. The below list includes stories and other writing adventures not mentioned in the "Novel Series" tab
The 2014 Writing List:
January: 84,755 Dryer, Cara Synopsis, query, pitch; Face Snatcher query, synopsis, pitch, Lies pitch, part of Witches, editing Cara Book 1
February: 142,503 Witches, Car Jacking, VanHelgroves The Children, Alt to Lies
March: 124,571 Daimin meets Lapus, Memories and Times Between, Hunter
April: 145,067 Disease, Memories and Times Between, VanHelgroves Book 3 scene, Trust
May: 125,308: Trust, Child, Daimin meets Lapus
June: 96,563 Bloody X Mas, Memories and Times Between, Daimin meets Lapus
July: 148,522 Pieces, Senses, Best Friends, planning for Tattooed Man, short scene with Tyo VanHelgrove
August: 157,810: Zombies, The Tattooed Man (1,000,000th word: "down")
September: 129,158 Tattooed Man, Burnt: The Story of the Fire King
October: 3299 Planning Mists of Time Trilogy
November: 251,956 Mists of Time Books 1, 2, and 3
December: 25,846 Mists of Time Book 3 final 4 chapters and the first two chapters of book 4
So, what am I planning to write this year? No idea besides Mists of Time Book 4: Adam's Story and possibly a sequel to Zombies: The thriller/mystery alternate universe story. But I am in possession of 36 planned story ideas and 29 prompts. I'll be writing for a long time and I came to the conclusion writing is what I was meant to do.
The other loose goal I have for this year is to re-work the nature of this blog. I want to focus on three things: reviews of books, writing tips/interviews/etc, and summary posts for the novels. I'm in NO WAY promising three posts a week because it would be insane. I am promising a post a week, likely more till the end of this month at least as I've nothing much to do. And my January goal is to clean up the house a bit. Closets have to be re-organized and well, I'm off and likely won't have any better time to do it.
Until next time: thoughts, comments, rage, rants, questions, and out-right insults can be directed to the comments.
Showing posts with label promote. Show all posts
Showing posts with label promote. Show all posts
Thursday, January 1, 2015
Friday, July 26, 2013
Camping - Author Style Part 3
As week four of July CampNaNoWriMo comes to an end I am now at 106,515 words. Yeah, I've hit six digits. I'm just happy to be over 75K because that's still been my least productive word count this year. Also I'm about 200K away from hitting a million words.
I should be happy, right? Well I am and I'm not. I mean: YAY A MILLION WORDS! Urg: I've got to edit all that. Double urg on knowing that it's highly unlikely (at this point) that anyone is going to see those words.
It would be wonderful to say I've written a million words (about eight stories worth) that people will read but, I'm self-published and suck at promoting. So it's highly unlikely that anyone will see those million words.
It's disappointing, yes, but it won't stop me from writing. Why? Well, I'm a writer. I've said it lots of times in this blog, to my friends and to people on the street (ha): writing for me is like breathing. I can't go too long without it or I go crazy.
Anyway, enough with the self-pity "blah blah can't promote blah woe is me" thing. This is CampNaNoWriMo. This is FUN. And it is fun because hey, writing is fun.
At this point in my novel I've killed over 500,000 people. I worried so badly about my plot that I went to the NaNo forums to get help fixing it. It got fixed. I planned out the rest of the novel and now I'm stalling again. Why? Because I'm about to kill off important characters.
I've realized that this thing is kind of like Basilisk (my Anime Freak is showing, shh) in that EVERYONE DIES. Don't get too attached because hey, they're all going to freaking die at the end.
It's actually kind of needed that everyone dies though. I mean the ending is not supposed to be happy at all and Earth loses. The funny thing is that when I write these character deaths I don't think I'm going to be too upset with one. This is going to be really weird because I'm always attached to my characters and killing them hurts.
Somehow one of my characters is kind of, well, not flat but I didn't really attach to him for some reason. I haven't had as much fun as I do writing this novel and I'm not sure why. The premise is great, the plot makes sense (now) and well, things are progressing smoothly.
But for some reason my characters haven't grabbed the plot, ripped it apart and done their own thing. None of the other mains have taken over from the biggest main and none of them look to be planning to. It's like they're all "okay, fine, write about us. We're just going to sit here."
It bothers me because this hasn't happened before. I always relate to at least one character but nada. Either I'm losing my touch of I've got a serious case of some form of weird writer's block where I can still write but it's just not the same.
Maybe I'm so disjointed from my characters because I know I'm about to put them all through Hell. Maybe I'll actually shed a tear when I write their deaths. I'm probably going crazy-er.
It likely doesn't help that it's like 9PM and I'm running on five hours (or less) of sleep. Regardless I plan to finish this thing by Sunday. That's two days to write four chapters and an epilogue. I do have to admit, I am looking forward to writing a scene where a character goes completely bonkers. It'll be fun.
As for now, I'm going to look over some drafts, laugh at a few things and fall asleep hugging my laptop because it's nice and warm. Until next time: Aliens are bad. Yes.
I should be happy, right? Well I am and I'm not. I mean: YAY A MILLION WORDS! Urg: I've got to edit all that. Double urg on knowing that it's highly unlikely (at this point) that anyone is going to see those words.
It would be wonderful to say I've written a million words (about eight stories worth) that people will read but, I'm self-published and suck at promoting. So it's highly unlikely that anyone will see those million words.
It's disappointing, yes, but it won't stop me from writing. Why? Well, I'm a writer. I've said it lots of times in this blog, to my friends and to people on the street (ha): writing for me is like breathing. I can't go too long without it or I go crazy.
Anyway, enough with the self-pity "blah blah can't promote blah woe is me" thing. This is CampNaNoWriMo. This is FUN. And it is fun because hey, writing is fun.
At this point in my novel I've killed over 500,000 people. I worried so badly about my plot that I went to the NaNo forums to get help fixing it. It got fixed. I planned out the rest of the novel and now I'm stalling again. Why? Because I'm about to kill off important characters.
I've realized that this thing is kind of like Basilisk (my Anime Freak is showing, shh) in that EVERYONE DIES. Don't get too attached because hey, they're all going to freaking die at the end.
It's actually kind of needed that everyone dies though. I mean the ending is not supposed to be happy at all and Earth loses. The funny thing is that when I write these character deaths I don't think I'm going to be too upset with one. This is going to be really weird because I'm always attached to my characters and killing them hurts.
Somehow one of my characters is kind of, well, not flat but I didn't really attach to him for some reason. I haven't had as much fun as I do writing this novel and I'm not sure why. The premise is great, the plot makes sense (now) and well, things are progressing smoothly.
But for some reason my characters haven't grabbed the plot, ripped it apart and done their own thing. None of the other mains have taken over from the biggest main and none of them look to be planning to. It's like they're all "okay, fine, write about us. We're just going to sit here."
It bothers me because this hasn't happened before. I always relate to at least one character but nada. Either I'm losing my touch of I've got a serious case of some form of weird writer's block where I can still write but it's just not the same.
Maybe I'm so disjointed from my characters because I know I'm about to put them all through Hell. Maybe I'll actually shed a tear when I write their deaths. I'm probably going crazy-er.
It likely doesn't help that it's like 9PM and I'm running on five hours (or less) of sleep. Regardless I plan to finish this thing by Sunday. That's two days to write four chapters and an epilogue. I do have to admit, I am looking forward to writing a scene where a character goes completely bonkers. It'll be fun.
As for now, I'm going to look over some drafts, laugh at a few things and fall asleep hugging my laptop because it's nice and warm. Until next time: Aliens are bad. Yes.
Friday, May 10, 2013
How NOT to promote
Every time I go on Twitter (which is every night) I see multiple tweets about promoting, self-publishing, blog tours, etc, etc, etc. I usually click on the links, read the blog and think: "Okay, you said the same thing so-and-so said. This isn't anything ground-breaking." I sometimes think: "Hm, book promo. Hm, cheap book promo *bookmark* I'll check it out later." I can't begin to tell you the amount of sites I have book-marked for cheap promotions or editing.
Do I use them? If I did I wouldn't be working a 9AM-5PM job still. I'd be sitting at home writing all day with a following and loyal readers. I know you're wondering why I don't use these sites if I have so many.
There are lots of reasons but the main reason is: I'm not a promoter. I'm not an editor. I don't have money to afford quality of either.
What this means is that I'm a writer through and through. The best thing for me to do is sit in front of my computer and whack out stories. I've spent countless hours (that I could have been writing) on trying to figure out how to promote but for some reason I just don't get it.
I've read John Locke's book, Russell Blake's book, hard copy books on marketing and probably every blog out there about promoting. I'm not good at it. Unfortunately, I'm one of those writers that would benefit from big box printing houses so they could do their marketing magic and I can sit at home and write.
So, why this blog? Well, because in trying to promote I've learned a lot of things you SHOULD NOT do when attempting to get your name out there. And because I enjoy talking about these things I've complied them into a list:
1) Don't pay someone to make your social media sites. Seriously: don't. I'm with a self-publishing company (that's being sued right now) and when they said they would get me on social media I figured they'd show me what it was about. They didn't. They made up my usernames, emails and passwords, all of which I've changed and half of which I don't even use. Then they told me to have fun. This cost I believe $500. Anyway, if you want to be on Facebook or Twitter as an author, go to both sites, put in your info and go for it. Giving someone money for ten minutes of your time isn't worth it.
2) Don't sign up for EVERY social media site out there. This breaks up your focus and will confuse the heck out of you. All you really need is Twitter, Facebook and maybe Goodreads. There might be a forum or two you can join (I suggest the National Novel Writing Month forums just cuz) but you don't need an account with MySpace, Reddit, Instagram, DiggIt, and every other social media outlit under the sun. Focus on the three above because 1) they're the most popular and 2) Why do you need a second reason?
3) Don't take long breaks from social media. I'm HORRIBLE for this. I can't remember the last time I logged into Facebook and I should really sync my tweets to my Facebook statuses. Seriously, if you take breaks, you lose fans, friends and people who might be that one really good connection.
4) Don't forget to thank people for mentioning you. I kind of suck at this too but I'm getting better. It's just common courtesy to say "Thanks" after someone does something nice.
5) Don't think you're going to be popular overnight. That doesn't happen no matter what anyone tells you. I've been working at this off and on since March 2010 (more off than on but hey) and I haven't made much from it.
6) Don't worry or take it personally if you lose followers. Yeah it bites when people decide not to follow you anymore. It's like knowing the complete stranger at the table beside you isn't interested in what you have to say. See what I did there? I hope so. So what if someone stops listening to you? Big whoop. You're guaranteed to lose a few people because everyone does.
7) Don't spend EVERY update promoting. I absolutely HATE seeing people promoting their blog, their book and everything else in EVERY SINGLE TWEET. It's why I like my "screw promotion I'm just going to say what I want to say" approach. If you want to promote, keep it at a minimum that works for the people following you. Constant promotion is what will get you unfollowed in a hurry. I'm pretty sure I read that somewhere.
8) Don't make every tweet a repeat of the last. There's this account I follow (I don't know why actually) that repeats the same 10-15 tweets every day. Are they interesting? The first time yes. Will they keep being interesting the next ten times I read them? Nope. I'm not sure how this person has the amount of followers they have because their entire stream is the same few tweets.
9) Don't make an online persona for yourself. Be you, be the REAL you and don't worry what others think. I tried to come across as sane but it doesn't work so well. I'm not normal, I'm not a promoter and I'm not going to force myself to be something I'm not to make a few sales. If people don't like me for me, they won't like my books for being my books.
10) Don't worry about bad reviews. I nearly died when I got my first review back from a reputable reviewing company. The first half was great and the last half made me depressed for a week. I still cringe when I see some reviews on Have a Bloody Christmas. It helps to read the reviews and comments from beta readers that loved it though. You have to remember: you're an author. You're putting your work out there and people will criticize it. Not everyone will love it or you. Read it, decide whether it's constructive (most of mine are a matter of opinion I think, it's been a while), and go from there. Ignore the "this sucks" and pay attention to "this could have had more of this." If that last one is repeated constantly, fix it. Look at a bad review as helping not hindering.
11) Don't go with a self-publishing firm. Or any firm that expects YOU to shell out exuberant amounts of money to get your book out there. You don't need it. A good cover can cost $500, a good edit depends on a editor and self-publishing companies will only ask for more money to bring you to an event that in the end won't help you. Trust me, I know from experience. Putting out almost $10,000 on Tale of the Twins has gotten me nothing in return. Yeah, it's because I don't promote but I don't know how and figured out I'm virtually incapable of finding that secret. If you're going to spend money, spend it on someone else promoting your work. Heck, My Sweet Valentine and Have a Bloody Christmas have had more exposure Tale of the Twins and neither of them are through a self-publishing firm. I don't even like the cover of Twins.
12) Don't publish something you hate or aren't comfortable with. If you don't like it, you're not going to promote it, people won't see it, you won't make money off it and you'll hate yourself. Then you'll stop writing because of self-doubt and you'll question why you thought you were an author in the first place. It's a whole big downward spiral that's tough to come out of.
13) Don't worry. That's right, I said it: Hakuna Matata (shush, I'm showing my age ;) ). Don't worry that people aren't responding to you right away. Don't worry that even though you're promoting people aren't listening (for this try something new). Don't worry about bad reviews (go back and read number 10). Don't worry that you're not an over night (or even a four month) success that some of those other people have promised you'll be if you follow their steps. Trust me, they're NOT telling you all their secrets. If they did, I'd be up there with them. Proper promotion is all about timing and word of mouth. It takes time to get people to talk about your work and it takes time for people to begin to like you. The best thing you can do is keep plugging along and write.
I hope this list finds a happy little home in the cyber world. In the end, that's all we have: Hope. So good night, good day (or whatever it is where you are at the time of your reading) and Hakuna Matata.
Do I use them? If I did I wouldn't be working a 9AM-5PM job still. I'd be sitting at home writing all day with a following and loyal readers. I know you're wondering why I don't use these sites if I have so many.
There are lots of reasons but the main reason is: I'm not a promoter. I'm not an editor. I don't have money to afford quality of either.
What this means is that I'm a writer through and through. The best thing for me to do is sit in front of my computer and whack out stories. I've spent countless hours (that I could have been writing) on trying to figure out how to promote but for some reason I just don't get it.
I've read John Locke's book, Russell Blake's book, hard copy books on marketing and probably every blog out there about promoting. I'm not good at it. Unfortunately, I'm one of those writers that would benefit from big box printing houses so they could do their marketing magic and I can sit at home and write.
So, why this blog? Well, because in trying to promote I've learned a lot of things you SHOULD NOT do when attempting to get your name out there. And because I enjoy talking about these things I've complied them into a list:
1) Don't pay someone to make your social media sites. Seriously: don't. I'm with a self-publishing company (that's being sued right now) and when they said they would get me on social media I figured they'd show me what it was about. They didn't. They made up my usernames, emails and passwords, all of which I've changed and half of which I don't even use. Then they told me to have fun. This cost I believe $500. Anyway, if you want to be on Facebook or Twitter as an author, go to both sites, put in your info and go for it. Giving someone money for ten minutes of your time isn't worth it.
2) Don't sign up for EVERY social media site out there. This breaks up your focus and will confuse the heck out of you. All you really need is Twitter, Facebook and maybe Goodreads. There might be a forum or two you can join (I suggest the National Novel Writing Month forums just cuz) but you don't need an account with MySpace, Reddit, Instagram, DiggIt, and every other social media outlit under the sun. Focus on the three above because 1) they're the most popular and 2) Why do you need a second reason?
3) Don't take long breaks from social media. I'm HORRIBLE for this. I can't remember the last time I logged into Facebook and I should really sync my tweets to my Facebook statuses. Seriously, if you take breaks, you lose fans, friends and people who might be that one really good connection.
4) Don't forget to thank people for mentioning you. I kind of suck at this too but I'm getting better. It's just common courtesy to say "Thanks" after someone does something nice.
5) Don't think you're going to be popular overnight. That doesn't happen no matter what anyone tells you. I've been working at this off and on since March 2010 (more off than on but hey) and I haven't made much from it.
6) Don't worry or take it personally if you lose followers. Yeah it bites when people decide not to follow you anymore. It's like knowing the complete stranger at the table beside you isn't interested in what you have to say. See what I did there? I hope so. So what if someone stops listening to you? Big whoop. You're guaranteed to lose a few people because everyone does.
7) Don't spend EVERY update promoting. I absolutely HATE seeing people promoting their blog, their book and everything else in EVERY SINGLE TWEET. It's why I like my "screw promotion I'm just going to say what I want to say" approach. If you want to promote, keep it at a minimum that works for the people following you. Constant promotion is what will get you unfollowed in a hurry. I'm pretty sure I read that somewhere.
8) Don't make every tweet a repeat of the last. There's this account I follow (I don't know why actually) that repeats the same 10-15 tweets every day. Are they interesting? The first time yes. Will they keep being interesting the next ten times I read them? Nope. I'm not sure how this person has the amount of followers they have because their entire stream is the same few tweets.
9) Don't make an online persona for yourself. Be you, be the REAL you and don't worry what others think. I tried to come across as sane but it doesn't work so well. I'm not normal, I'm not a promoter and I'm not going to force myself to be something I'm not to make a few sales. If people don't like me for me, they won't like my books for being my books.
10) Don't worry about bad reviews. I nearly died when I got my first review back from a reputable reviewing company. The first half was great and the last half made me depressed for a week. I still cringe when I see some reviews on Have a Bloody Christmas. It helps to read the reviews and comments from beta readers that loved it though. You have to remember: you're an author. You're putting your work out there and people will criticize it. Not everyone will love it or you. Read it, decide whether it's constructive (most of mine are a matter of opinion I think, it's been a while), and go from there. Ignore the "this sucks" and pay attention to "this could have had more of this." If that last one is repeated constantly, fix it. Look at a bad review as helping not hindering.
11) Don't go with a self-publishing firm. Or any firm that expects YOU to shell out exuberant amounts of money to get your book out there. You don't need it. A good cover can cost $500, a good edit depends on a editor and self-publishing companies will only ask for more money to bring you to an event that in the end won't help you. Trust me, I know from experience. Putting out almost $10,000 on Tale of the Twins has gotten me nothing in return. Yeah, it's because I don't promote but I don't know how and figured out I'm virtually incapable of finding that secret. If you're going to spend money, spend it on someone else promoting your work. Heck, My Sweet Valentine and Have a Bloody Christmas have had more exposure Tale of the Twins and neither of them are through a self-publishing firm. I don't even like the cover of Twins.
12) Don't publish something you hate or aren't comfortable with. If you don't like it, you're not going to promote it, people won't see it, you won't make money off it and you'll hate yourself. Then you'll stop writing because of self-doubt and you'll question why you thought you were an author in the first place. It's a whole big downward spiral that's tough to come out of.
13) Don't worry. That's right, I said it: Hakuna Matata (shush, I'm showing my age ;) ). Don't worry that people aren't responding to you right away. Don't worry that even though you're promoting people aren't listening (for this try something new). Don't worry about bad reviews (go back and read number 10). Don't worry that you're not an over night (or even a four month) success that some of those other people have promised you'll be if you follow their steps. Trust me, they're NOT telling you all their secrets. If they did, I'd be up there with them. Proper promotion is all about timing and word of mouth. It takes time to get people to talk about your work and it takes time for people to begin to like you. The best thing you can do is keep plugging along and write.
I hope this list finds a happy little home in the cyber world. In the end, that's all we have: Hope. So good night, good day (or whatever it is where you are at the time of your reading) and Hakuna Matata.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
So I'm back....mostly
In case you haven't noticed, I dropped off the face of the Earth for quite some time. My last post here was March 28th which is about the same for Twitter and Facebook. This is really horrible for promoting which is funny because one of my goals for 2012 was to promote more. I suck with goals, really I do.
Anyway, I'm back in a sense. I never really left to be honest. I simply did not have the motivation to promote. There I said it: I did not have the motivation to post.
Why? Well, there's a few reasons and I'm going to be completely honest, bording on blunt if you will:
1) I have no idea how to properly promote and the whole thing scares the crap out of me.
2) I'm honestly afraid of what people will say about my work.
3) I kind of became really obsessed with the 12 novels in 12 months challenge and forgot everything else.
4) I've been exceptionally depressed.
Let me explain those a bit.
1) I don't know how to promote. Sure I've read Locke's book on how to sell a million ebooks in five months. Yeah, I've read other marketing books on how to use social media to your advantage. I've never really understood it. No, that's not right. I tried and failed a few times and can't seem to pick myself back up. I'll eventually keep trying though. Plus I always feel like I'm spamming people when I talk about my stuff and I don't like spamming people.
2) I'm afraid of what people will say. There are people who have read my work and loved it. They are the reason I started this crazy journey. Then there are the people who comment with "I had to force myself to finish it." For me, that's a pretty big blow. I'll admit, I don't have a tough skin, well, not yet anyway. I mean yes, the accompanying stars on that comment was a 2 and the book does have a 3.5 star rating which is good for something that was written in one month and edited too quickly for my liking. On the same book I get the comment of "I respect this book and the way it was written. It caught my attention and had the perfect amounts of realism that made the ending all the more tragic. I loved this book that was filled with the best memories we could possibly have during the holidays.....and the most horrible..." which makes me feel great. But there's still that nagging fear of what if people don't like it. I have to work on it.
3) Ah, ha, yes. I've become obsessed with the 12 novels in 12 months challenge to the point where I've written 6 novels this year. Let me reiterate that: I've written 6 120,000 word (or more) novels this year. Actually, since March. Oddly, none of them were book 3 of Tale of the Twins which I planned to finish this year.
4) I've been depressed. Life has been horrible this year and I can't shake it at all. I'm trying to get out of the funk, really I am. But the only way I can is by writing and staying in my fantasy worlds. This does not help with promoting because it seems like everything I've done in the past two years (going on three in March) has failed and that makes me more upset. I'm kind of half happy and half sad right now reading the reviews on 'Have a Bloody Christmas' on the Nook website.
With all that being said, well, I'm kind of here. I make no promises on how often I will post but I see a scheduler for post settings so that might help. Did I mention I'm forgetful and quite unmotivated when it comes to promoting? Ha.
Anyway, I decided to come back because of the one goal for this year that I refuse to fail: National Novel Writing Month 2012. I will get 200,000 words. I will not let anything stop me.
I will also write about my insane attempts and more of what I've been doing this year in the next month. I'll also put together some blogs (probably tonight then schedule them off) on character design, plot, setting and tone.
I leave you with this quote (varied from person to person over the years): "A good author has written 1,000,000 words." Yeah? I'm 30,000 away from 2,000,000. Am I a 'good author' yet? ;) More on that later. Till then, Happy Halloween, good night and don't let the demons from Hell steal your soul.
Anyway, I'm back in a sense. I never really left to be honest. I simply did not have the motivation to promote. There I said it: I did not have the motivation to post.
Why? Well, there's a few reasons and I'm going to be completely honest, bording on blunt if you will:
1) I have no idea how to properly promote and the whole thing scares the crap out of me.
2) I'm honestly afraid of what people will say about my work.
3) I kind of became really obsessed with the 12 novels in 12 months challenge and forgot everything else.
4) I've been exceptionally depressed.
Let me explain those a bit.
1) I don't know how to promote. Sure I've read Locke's book on how to sell a million ebooks in five months. Yeah, I've read other marketing books on how to use social media to your advantage. I've never really understood it. No, that's not right. I tried and failed a few times and can't seem to pick myself back up. I'll eventually keep trying though. Plus I always feel like I'm spamming people when I talk about my stuff and I don't like spamming people.
2) I'm afraid of what people will say. There are people who have read my work and loved it. They are the reason I started this crazy journey. Then there are the people who comment with "I had to force myself to finish it." For me, that's a pretty big blow. I'll admit, I don't have a tough skin, well, not yet anyway. I mean yes, the accompanying stars on that comment was a 2 and the book does have a 3.5 star rating which is good for something that was written in one month and edited too quickly for my liking. On the same book I get the comment of "I respect this book and the way it was written. It caught my attention and had the perfect amounts of realism that made the ending all the more tragic. I loved this book that was filled with the best memories we could possibly have during the holidays.....and the most horrible..." which makes me feel great. But there's still that nagging fear of what if people don't like it. I have to work on it.
3) Ah, ha, yes. I've become obsessed with the 12 novels in 12 months challenge to the point where I've written 6 novels this year. Let me reiterate that: I've written 6 120,000 word (or more) novels this year. Actually, since March. Oddly, none of them were book 3 of Tale of the Twins which I planned to finish this year.
4) I've been depressed. Life has been horrible this year and I can't shake it at all. I'm trying to get out of the funk, really I am. But the only way I can is by writing and staying in my fantasy worlds. This does not help with promoting because it seems like everything I've done in the past two years (going on three in March) has failed and that makes me more upset. I'm kind of half happy and half sad right now reading the reviews on 'Have a Bloody Christmas' on the Nook website.
With all that being said, well, I'm kind of here. I make no promises on how often I will post but I see a scheduler for post settings so that might help. Did I mention I'm forgetful and quite unmotivated when it comes to promoting? Ha.
Anyway, I decided to come back because of the one goal for this year that I refuse to fail: National Novel Writing Month 2012. I will get 200,000 words. I will not let anything stop me.
I will also write about my insane attempts and more of what I've been doing this year in the next month. I'll also put together some blogs (probably tonight then schedule them off) on character design, plot, setting and tone.
I leave you with this quote (varied from person to person over the years): "A good author has written 1,000,000 words." Yeah? I'm 30,000 away from 2,000,000. Am I a 'good author' yet? ;) More on that later. Till then, Happy Halloween, good night and don't let the demons from Hell steal your soul.
Monday, March 5, 2012
Return from outer space
Yes, I am somewhat back from my tumble off the world's edge. Where have I been? I'd like to say exploring lost runes and finding new species of mammals but that would be a lie.
I have been utterly and entirely swamped by life. I have to admit, this has been one of the worst years of my life because of finacial issues, death and other such things I don't want to think about right now. Saddly, I'm not quite on track yet and won't be on track in the near future. Don't expect to hear a lot from me for a little while. But let's crawl out of the bad news pit now, shall we?
The good news is that I have managed to stay on track with three of my writing goals for this year. That is, I'm well on my way to hitting 500,000 words for the year, I'm still hanging in there for the 12in12 challenge and I released another novella in February.
All the other goals (especially the one about promoting) are essentually shot to Hell at the moment. And I probably won't be releasing an anthology in March. Why? I'm just not motivated to write the two stories I want to finish the anthology with.
You're probably wondering how I'm on track for the 12in12 if I'm not writing the two stories I need to, right? Well, my brain decided that in February, it wanted to write scenes for the second book of a triolgy I haven't even started the first book for. This month, my brain choose to start another novel length work that I'm much too immersed in to even think about switching over to anything else.
I do really love my current story and because of it, I've got 44,000 words under my belt for this month's 12in12. Last month I hit 48,000. It's like I'm doing mini-NaNo's and I've never had so much fun.
I stumbled out of the block and barely squeaked by the first two months (December and January for me) but am more than making up for it. If I manage to finish off the challange in November with 200,000 words, I'll hit 500,000 words for this year. Yes, that's a heck of a lot.
I don't think I've ever written this much in one year, even counting my two previous NaNos. And you know what? I'm absolutely loving it. Now, if I can only find a little birdie to help me promote, that would be wonderful. But, one can't have it all so I'll have to chug along until things start looking up.
Until then, keep your chin up and flail your arms crazily when a certain four letter word hits the fan.
I have been utterly and entirely swamped by life. I have to admit, this has been one of the worst years of my life because of finacial issues, death and other such things I don't want to think about right now. Saddly, I'm not quite on track yet and won't be on track in the near future. Don't expect to hear a lot from me for a little while. But let's crawl out of the bad news pit now, shall we?
The good news is that I have managed to stay on track with three of my writing goals for this year. That is, I'm well on my way to hitting 500,000 words for the year, I'm still hanging in there for the 12in12 challenge and I released another novella in February.
All the other goals (especially the one about promoting) are essentually shot to Hell at the moment. And I probably won't be releasing an anthology in March. Why? I'm just not motivated to write the two stories I want to finish the anthology with.
You're probably wondering how I'm on track for the 12in12 if I'm not writing the two stories I need to, right? Well, my brain decided that in February, it wanted to write scenes for the second book of a triolgy I haven't even started the first book for. This month, my brain choose to start another novel length work that I'm much too immersed in to even think about switching over to anything else.
I do really love my current story and because of it, I've got 44,000 words under my belt for this month's 12in12. Last month I hit 48,000. It's like I'm doing mini-NaNo's and I've never had so much fun.
I stumbled out of the block and barely squeaked by the first two months (December and January for me) but am more than making up for it. If I manage to finish off the challange in November with 200,000 words, I'll hit 500,000 words for this year. Yes, that's a heck of a lot.
I don't think I've ever written this much in one year, even counting my two previous NaNos. And you know what? I'm absolutely loving it. Now, if I can only find a little birdie to help me promote, that would be wonderful. But, one can't have it all so I'll have to chug along until things start looking up.
Until then, keep your chin up and flail your arms crazily when a certain four letter word hits the fan.
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