If you want to sell books, you need to find readers. Although there are a lot of ebook vendors out there, Amazon is currently the dominant player and there are a lot of readers who own Amazon Kindles/Fires and who shop on the Amazon store. I am one of them.

There are a few things you can do to market direct to these people, and you don’t need an existing platform to do it. You don’t need a blog or a twitter presence and you can still get thousands of sales or downloads of your book.

Direct Advertising

I believe you need a budget for your business as an independent author.

You need to use some of this budget for professional editing and cover design, and some of it can be used for promotional activity. There are a number of sites that specialize in promoting books to avid Kindle readers. These sites have lists with tens of thousands of readers on them so they can be a powerful way to boost sales and get your book moving on the Amazon charts.

In 2010, I used Kindle Nation Daily to promote Pentecost and it shot me up the charts. Pentecost reached #1 on Movers & Shakers, #4 in Religious Fiction and #93 in Thrillers. This year I decided to use PixelofInk.com as KND had increased in price and also had little availability for the time period I wanted.

Direct Advertising Results

The promo is a 1 day event with lots of other books also promoted that day. I paid US$250 for the promo of Pentecost, again counting on the first in the series dragging Prophecy up with it.

Copies of Pentecost sold: 800 @35c = US$280

Copies of Prophecy sold: 57 @$2 = US$114

Total income: US$394.

Given the cost was US$250, financially, this was worth the promotion.

But the impact on the Rankings was also fantastic. Pentecost reached #5 in the Action Adventure charts and Prophecy reached #88, so both books were ranking together, and Prophecy debuted in the charts above Lee Child. Awesome! Pentecost also reached #82 in the entire Amazon.com Kindle store. We still don’t know how the Amazon algorithm works but rankings, sales and reviews definitely play a part.

Will I do it again? Absolutely. (But remember, every book is different so don’t assume that what works for me will also work for your book. It’s all experimentation!)

My tips for getting the most out of the experience:

• Have a great cover and back blurb
• Have 10+ reviews of 4 stars or more on the sales page already – this social proof will help people to buy
• Use great pricing. 99c will get you into the bargain area which will elicit more sales, although clearly higher pricing will result in more revenue for less sales.
• You can find out more in the Author’s Corner on PixelofInk

KDP Select

If you’re not aware yet, KDP Select is an Amazon Kindle opportunity that allows you to put your book into the Amazon Prime lending program and receive a percentage of lending income from a fixed monthly pot. It also allows authors 5 days in a 3 month period where they can price the book for free. Previously, the only way to do this was to ‘game’ Amazon by setting the price to zero on Smashwords and waiting for their algorithm to pick it up. But now there is control over the period of time so you can coordinate your promotional period.

Free is basically a marketing activity. The aim is to get eyeballs on your book and to pick up data from the Amazon algorithm that may help your book when it goes back to paid. Most authors have experimented with some form of free but it works best when you have multiple books. Here’s NY Times bestselling author CJ Lyons on how free worked for her, and this was before KDP Select.

In order to be in the program, you have to put your book exclusively with Amazon for that 3 month period. You can then choose to renew or opt out again.

There have been some prominent indies in both the For and Against camps for KDP Select but I wanted to try it for myself in order to give a more informed opinion. Obviously the results will be different for every book so this is hardly the last word on the subject, but it is my experience.

How I used KDP Select

As part of the launch for Prophecy which is $2.99, I included Pentecost in KDP Select, hoping that people would get the first in the series for free and then buy the 2nd since the price is also pretty good for that. Given that Pentecost had already sold over 17,000 copies prior to this promotion, I figured I would get new readers.

I initially set the promo for 3 days but increased it to 5 once I got to the top of the Action Adventure charts in order to maximize the impact and downloads. I shared the fact it was free on Twitter and Facebook but that was about it. I know there are a number of sites that promote books as being free and also people who watch the lists, so no extra promo was really needed.

I did have to remove Pentecost from Smashwords in order to do this which meant the book wasn’t available on the other ebook stores.

Results from KDP Select

I started the promo on Sat 5 Feb and very quickly I was on the top free listing for Action Adventure. On Mon 6th Feb Pentecost reached #1 on Free for Action Adventure on Amazon.com and #2 in the UK. It stayed there until the promo finished.

Total downloads of Pentecost over the 5 days: 10,836

Total sales of Prophecy over the 5 days: 294

Was it worth it?

For me, I don’t think so. The uptick in Prophecy sales was quite small and I think a lot of people who get free books just get a lot of free books. They don’t necessarily need to buy books anymore as so many are free. How many of those 10,000 new readers will convert to fans of my fiction? It will certainly be a small percentage but perhaps the same number who would have bought the book over that period anyway, as I have quite consistent sales every month.

On the lending aspect, only 20 copies of my books have been lent in the last month. That’s not significant data at all but it does show that lending doesn’t work for all books as an income or promotional activity.

I also had to remove my books from the other platforms. I now have to republish them so I may have missed out on sales during that period as well. As much as I personally love Amazon as a reader and an author, I actually don’t like being exclusive to their store. Even though I buy there exclusively, it doesn’t mean other people do and I want to be available everywhere.

Will I do it again? Probably not, for fiction anyway. I might experiment with non-fiction. That doesn’t mean it’s not good for your book/s, but it’s my own experience. I have a guest post coming soon from an author who totally loves KDP Select, so we all have different experiences.

Have you tried direct advertising or KDP Select? How has it worked for you?

Want more tips on how to sell more fiction?

I have now been selling my fiction for over a year and I’ve experimented with a lot of different strategies and tactics. I have also changed my mind on a lot of things and believe that selling fiction is quite different to selling non-fiction.

I share my findings in this recent webinar recording: How to promote your novel: 21 ways to sell more books online. It’s just US$21 and has some rave reviews. Click here to read more about it.

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Procrastination has to be one of the top enemies of productivity.

Steven Pressfield, author of “War of Art” would call it one form of resistance.

Today, author and blogger Ali Luke from Aliventures provides some strategies. My personal tools include Write Or Die for first draft writing and diarizing like a crazy person, blocking chunks out for each part of my life.

Admit it, you procrastinate. All writers do. It’s perfectly understandable, too: writing is just plain hard at times, and sometimes you genuinely don’t have the energy to write.

Too much procrastination, though, can be incredibly frustrating. If you’re keen to finish a book – or even a blog post – but just can’t get started, then you need a simple, reliable way to get on with the writing.

And if you’re not sure you have a procrastination problem at all … well, just read on.

Recognising Procrastination

Procrastination doesn’t just mean playing your umpteenth game of Angry Birds. It often looks more like this:

• Reading blogs about writing
• Buying more books about writing
• Tidying your desk so that you’ll be ready to write … really soon …
• Hanging out with other writers (offline or online) and talking about writing

If a lot of your time revolves around thinking about writing or learning about writing without actually writing, chances are, you’re procrastinating.

Here’s how to stop:

Step #1: Break Your Project into Bite-Sized Chunks

However big or small your project is, you can break it down. “Write blog post” might leave you staring at a blank document. “Brainstorm topics for blog post” followed by “Create outline for blog post” is a lot more do-able.

The same applies for huge writing projects. For a non-fiction book, a great place to start is with a chapter outline. For a novel, you could work out who your main characters are and plan your first few scenes. If you still feel overwhelmed about making a start, break down your project even further.

Do it: Work out the first five bite-sized chunks of your project (a good rule of thumb is that each should take no more than an hour).

Step #2: Schedule a Time to Make a Start

It’s so very easy to put off writing until everything else is out the way. Week after week, you promise yourself that as soon as you’re a bit less busy, you’ll get on with the book (or the blog, or the magazine article pitches).

Months – even years – can go by, and you still won’t have stumbled across the “perfect” time to write. Make time by scheduling writing sessions. If you plan ahead, you’ll find you’ve got more time than you realised.

Do it: Look at your diary for the next week. Find one hour for writing, and mark it in as an unbreakable appointment.

Step #3: Set a Timer Going

If you find it hard to focus, then use a timer while you’re writing. (A kitchen timer, or the one on your phone, will do just fine – or you can use an online timer like Tick Tock Timer or e.ggtimer.com.) I find that between 15 and 30 minutes works well.

While that timer’s going, just write. Your emails can wait for half an hour. You can get a cup of coffee in fifteen minutes. Don’t worry whether what you produce is good or bad – keep writing, without going back to edit.

Do it: If you’ve never tried writing with a timer before, give it a go during your next writing session. Most people find it a very effective way to stay on-task and to write faster.

Step #4: Write Like Nobody’s Watching

We put a lot of pressure on ourselves when we write. Often, we’re much too self-critical: this is no good; I can’t write; no-one’s going to read this anyway, why bother?

No-one but you will see what you write – unless you choose to let them. You can write something outrageous or scandalising. You can write something incredible self-indulgent and cliché-ridden. No-one’s watching you, and no-one’s judging you. If you like, you can delete or throw away your writing once you’re done. Hopefully, though, you won’t: you’ll realise that there’s a lot of good material there, and it just need some shaping and editing.

Do it: If you’re feeling intimidated, remind yourself that no-one needs to see your writing until you’re ready. Try writing continuously for just ten minutes (go quickly, and don’t worry about grammar or spelling) – this should help you get into the piece.

Have you got any tips to add for getting over procrastination and getting on with writing? Or have you got a procrastination problem that you’d like some help with? Just leave a comment below!

Ali Luke is a writer and writing coach, living in the UK. If procrastination keeps tripping you up, check out her post How to Overcome Three Common Causes of Writing Procrastination – Today for more help and advice.

You can also watch/listen to my interview with Ali about her novel Lycopolis here.

Click image: Flickr CC CurlyBob

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Sometimes you need to refresh the Muse and deepen your knowledge by learning from professionals.

I am a learning addict and a few weeks ago I went on a Guardian Masterclass on Creative Writing.

The Guardian is a fantastic British newspaper and media company and I have been a dedicated reader for many years. The weekend was taught by some wonderful writers and I learned a great deal.

The notes below are from my diary and are a combination of things people said and my own thoughts. I won’t attribute them specifically as my notes are often re-interpretations of what people say and not direct quotes.

• People over-analyze their reasons for writing. Just write. Stop fretting and get on with it. After a year or two of writing, people generally decide whether they want to be serious about it and commit to a more professional career.

• Most people quite like the idea of writing but most don’t take the risk.

• People ask about the discipline of writing, but it’s not about discipline, it’s about passion. It’s what you love. It’s engagement and obsession.

• A novel is labor intensive. You have to put the hours in and it takes more time than you think.

• The reader is most important. You need to guide them through your material. It’s not therapy.

• The moment you share your work with someone else, it changes your own perspective. It’s important to find the right people to share your work with.

• Create a character that represents a part of you that needs to speak.

• You need a lot of good material for a book. It’s not just in your head, you need to find it. Life is research.

• There are many good ideas, but what is a good idea for you?

• What is in your range as a writer? This changes over time e.g. The Slap – Christos Tsiolkas is multiple first person viewpoints. It’s a stretch for most people.

• If you bore the reader, you’re dead. There’s no message. It’s entertainment. Readers are demanding. They want a good time. They aren’t reading for you, but for themselves. The book must be more interesting that every day life.

• To make a living out of writing takes a lot of books, over time, consistently. What will you give up for this type of career?

• The publishing industry is deluged in mediocrity. Don’t be one of the masses. It’s boldness you want.

• Without difficulties, the book is nothing. It’s the friction that creates the pearl.

• The book is an X-ray of your psyche at one point in time

• The first draft is awful. It still is for pro-writers. But until you’ve got something to work with, you don’t know what you’re interested in.

• Books love time. They soak it up.

• If you’re a woman writing a man, just write it as a woman and then change the name. We are not so different. People are people. Concentrate on what is shared, rather than what separates.

• “We do not see things as they are, but as we are.” The Talmud.

• Why do people have to explain before they read their writing. Just read it and we will judge what we hear. Don’t justify. Just read.

• Assume intelligence on the reader’s part. Don’t overstate.

• ‘Why write? Why breathe?” Katherine Mansfield

• Memory can be lazy so note-taking is important. One small thing can open up a whole world.

• A reader has a body, so include the whole body in description. Use exact details of all senses.

• Distinguish between plot (how you communicate to the reader) and themes (your own private business). It’s easier to talk about themes, but actually it’s best to tell people about the plot. Theme is nebulous and universal. Plot is specific and (hopefully) unique. The more concrete and rooted the plot is in your pitch, the more likely a publisher will be interested.

• The response of an agent or editor to your writing is instinctual. If they don’t like it, that’s because there isn’t a good fit between you. So move on to another agent. Agents and editors are passionate readers who are always looking for authors who resonate with them.

• To be published these days doesn’t mean you need to have a publisher put a physical book in a physical bookstore.

• With badly written books, it’s obvious that the author doesn’t really read. To improve, you must read. 90% of submissions are poor quality.

• Having a great sentence encapsulating your book will help all the way through the publishing process.

Do any of these statements resonate with you?

Images are my own. Flickr Creative Commons.

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I love to learn from pro-writers who have been deep in the industry and Kate Pullinger is a master of literary fiction as well as transmedia, so she spans technology and beautiful writing, which we discuss in today’s interview.

Kate Pullinger is the award-winning author of 7 novels as well as short story collections. Her novel The Mistress of Nothing won the Governor General’s Literary Award for Fiction in 2009. She’s also created prize-winning digital projects including networked novels, games and software.

• How Kate’s writing career has progressed. Kate’s first book came out more than 20 years ago and she has been writing ever since. In 2001, she started to teach creative writing online and through that process she discovered an affinity with the online world in terms of teaching but also expression. This led to a Fellowship at Nottingham Trent University and Trace, the intersection of creative writing and technology. New ways of telling stories using new technologies. Since then, Kate has continued to write novels and short stories but also collaborations with digital media, images, games, animation, videos and more.

• Her award winning novel, The Mistress of Nothing is a historical novel. It was Kate’s first purely historical fiction piece but it’s also a literary novel. It was published as a literary novel in Canada and UK, but as historical fiction in the US. It took Kate 12 years to write and she wrote 2 other books in that period as well as other digital fiction projects. Part of this was research. Egypt in the 1860s needed a lot of research, she even took Arabic lessons. Then not all of the research needs to go into the book. Assimilating research without overdosing on it.

• On the difference between literary and historical as genres. It’s frustrating and baffling in terms of perception between commercial and literary. Historical particularly can be both. But in the US, they targeted the historical fiction readers so the marketing was ‘easier’ than literary fiction. Because the novel was a prize-winner it’s hard to tell whether the labeling of the genre affected sales.

• On the time it takes to write books. During the 12 years Kate was doing lots of other things and kept returning to the book. Time in writing differs between writers but speed is not a virtue and things generally do improve if you put them to one side and then return to them. You have more objectivity over time. But it is possible to write too slowly.

• On transmedia projects. There are vast opportunities for writers in this space and it’s puzzling why more established writers aren’t moving into it. New technologies give us new ways to connect with readers, new ways to tell stories and find audiences. What happens when you add media to text on a screen? What is lost and what is gained? It doesn’t have to be either-or. There’s room in the world for different kinds of stories. Kate also enjoys collaboration as well as the solitude of her own fiction.

• In transmedia, the technology is definitely a barrier for some people. Kate can do the technical stuff but she isn’t interested in it so she collaborates on the hardcore technical side of this. Writers are used to working by themselves so this can be difficult. Think about collaboration if you’re interested in this space. It’s not just about apps either which seems to be the focus of traditional publishing so far. The most interesting projects are coming out of web design, gaming and individual creative projects. It’s not coming from traditional publishing.

• The traditional publishing challenges in 2012. Publishers have looked at social media so may move into interactive fiction. It will be interesting to observe whether this happens. It’s an overheated world and the whole business around Amazon and who owns what space will continue to play out. The US is obviously a bigger market and is slightly ahead of the UK in terms of digital. What’s happening with libraries is an interesting one, specifically in the digital world. What is a library in the 21st century?

• Tips on getting into traditional publishing. It’s all more difficult these days. If you are indie, one of your primary concerns has to be professionalism of your product. It has to be well edited and formatted. If you haven’t got that right, you’re doing your work a dis-service. The most important thing is for your writing to be as good as possible and interesting to readers. That is impossible to predict, which is why publishing is so hard. It’s about taking a risk on books that may or may not sell. Clearly people are still making money in publishing though. They aren’t going away anytime soon.

• Do you need an MFA to be a proper literary writer? It’s definitely not a requirement but the advantage of a good one is that you spend 1-2 years being serious about your writing. They will also have industry links so you can meet and talk to people. However, it all comes down to whether the writing is good enough and appeals to people. The best way to improve your writing is by writing, trying new things and putting the time in. Reading is critical especially in genre writing. Know what is currently interesting readers. Find a source of constructive criticism to improve your work. A mentor or a freelance editor or a good writer’s group who are serious about good writing.

• On being a professional writer. It’s not really a career as each new book has a new set of problems. Writing doesn’t get easier. You learn more about your own strengths and weaknesses and each book is different. Dedication and putting in the hours is critical to becoming professional. It’s very easy to not write. You can want to write and think about writing but doing it isn’t easy. It requires fortitude. All writers have setbacks and books that go wrong, that don’t sell or are sold in the wrong way. There are bad times as well as good times. You have to be so self-motivated

You can find Kate at her website KatePullinger.com and on twitter @katepullinger

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Making money is one aspect of publishing, but changing people’s lives and the creative process is far more than that. This guest post from the One Week Book Team will challenge your motivations for writing.

“Everything is worth what the buyer will pay for it.” ~ Publilius Syrus

For some reason, people don’t talk about how money is only worth what you can buy with it.

The slips of paper and numbers in my bank account are pretty useless, except for the fact that I can trade them to go places, do things, eat food. The point of money isn’t to have money, it’s to cause things to happen.

When debt was invented, it was a quantification over the mutual ties of obligation that people could already track because we’re primates. Taxes represented the fact that governments would beat up on your village if you didn’t give them the food they needed to stay afloat.

Cash was invented to be able to square off debt in one-off situations.

The definition has changed a bit over time.

Did you know that during the Islamic Golden Age, merchants could write down on a piece of paper that they owed someone something, and then that would be passed around as if it were worth that thing? Like, if I were well-known I could write on a piece of paper that I owed whoever holds this piece of paper a pound of gold, and then that paper would be worth a pound of gold.

If you trade around pieces of debt like that, you can generate a lot of economic activity. It’s pretty awesome, but I digress.

For some reason, nowadays people seem to think that money is actually worth something on its own.

I think that’s kind of sad.

Traditional Publishing seems to mostly be trying to get money. Like, of course they are, but as far as I can tell that’s almost all of their current raison d’être. It’s not about ideas or creation, it’s about maximizing shareholder profits.

Books can be way more than that.

Everyone I know has been changed by a book.

An author thinks thoughts and has ideas that they turn into words. The words are carefully sharpened, honed, and polished into clarity. The words are printed and bound, with only a cover between them in the world.

At their highest, the words convey not only truth, but the processes by which the truth was found. It’s impossible to read a good book, and not be changed by it. A great writer shepherds others out of their shells, and expands their souls.

Thoughts turn into words which are put on pages, moved and then read. In the reading, the words combine with the reader to form new thoughts, and new associations. Readers understand writers through their words, and are moved by them. It’s like broadcast telepathy.

If you tried to explain writing to someone who didn’t know it worked – if you tried to explain that people can transmit thoughts and shape souls through symbols — they would think you were doing magic. If you explained to people in a pre-printing press society that basically anyone in the developed who wants a book can get one now, they’d wonder how everyone became that rich.

The fact that you can get so many books is amazing. The fact that a high-schooler can spend $20 and be moved by the greatest minds in history is staggering. Being able to read Gödel Escher Bach and borrow Hofstadter’s thought processes is staggering. That I can look through time and into the minds of people who lived hundreds or thousands of years ago is staggering.

This is one of the best times to be alive, ever.

And books aren’t even as good as they can be yet!

The current format is based on some considerations from hundreds of years ago that don’t necessarily apply any more. We needed long works because distribution was hard, and updates were pretty much impossible. We needed covers to protect pages.

Now, things are easier, and there are more mediums through which to spread ideas. There are even more ways to make things happen.

Books spread the thought patterns that people have, and makes readers stronger. Writing directly improves people’s lives and minds, and enables them to do and notice more.

Money can move some stuff around, but books can move souls. Ideas move people, and people move the world. Things that neither serve nor help the artistic purpose are really just missing the point.

Getting paid is fine, but it’s a means to an end, not the end. Some dollars might change hands, but that’s not where the impact comes from. That’s not the part that makes things happen.

Resources:

To rebel is to replace another’s order with one’s own. We believe that books can be more, and so we made Ikigai as part of a stand against traditional publishing.

Aaron Tucker is a blogger and part of The One Week Book Team. Their first book, Ikigai, was produced in 7 days and has received rave reviews on Amazon. Get the book here, and follow the project at www.theoneweekbook.com.

Top picture: Flickr CC My own pic from the Guardian wallpaper, London

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There are a lot of conferences for writers and publishers at the beginning of the year that many of us can’t get to for different reasons. Dan Blank has been to Writer’s Digest, Digital BookWorld and Columbia University Social Media weekend during January 2012. In this interview, he shares some of the information, trends and opinions from the publishing industry.

Dan Blank is the founder of WeGrowMedia.com, which provides writers and publishers the strategy and tactics they need to impact their communities and build their legacies. He has worked with more than 500 writers, a wide range of publishers, and regularly speaks at conferences about branding, content strategy, social media, and marketing.

Here’s the audio if you prefer: DanBlankConferences.mp3

In the video, we discuss:

• Writer’s Digest Conference. Last year platform was just coming into the scene. It was still a controversial topic. This year, because of the rise of self-publishing and ebooks, 50% of the conference was marketing focused and also business focused. This is based on the disruption in the publishing world and the success of indies that is being discussed openly.

• Barry Eisler was the keynote and as a hybrid author, he openly shared his views around the responsibility of writers to take charge of their own career. It shows the shift that is happening. Dan did a session on author-entrepreneur – the author as a business which is critical.

• It is hard to sell books – this was even demonstrated by the fact that the line for Barry’s book signing wasn’t that long. Engaging people and selling books is still difficult, even if you have a platform.

• I used PixelOfInk.com for paid advertising for the Prophecy launch. It was used by Darcie Chan for The Mill River Recluse which sold over 400,000 copies. This targets Kindle readers specifically. Obviously Amazon have an amazing eco-system but it is a closed eco-system, so it’s important to be aware of this and be sure to collect email addresses of your fans. You do need to develop your own platform so if the rules change, you’re not dependent on one channel. Authors, build your list – read this to get started!

• Pitch Slam at Writer’s Digest. It’s always popular and it’s very intense. Dan spoke to writers about this and preparing your book for this is challenging but also rewarding. There’s a  huge value in putting yourself out there and you can get over the emotional stuff. It starts the iteration process to improve your pitch. So definitely try it if you go to these conferences.

• Digital Book World. A huge publishing conference aimed at the publishing industry. Writers are allowed but the price is often prohibitive. It’s business focused on the trends in publishing. We mention Barnes & Noble not stocking Amazon books but this isn’t so much the core of the publishing industry. There’s a lot of smart, passionate people in publishing with lots of ideas. They get the change is there but it’s trying to get the publishing industry to move. It’s not an agile market and it’s hard to know how to move the huge ship.

• There was a great panel on what’s working with romance and how it can apply to others. Romance imprints have been particularly forward thinking and have been into ebooks and direct sales for years before everyone else. Also a great panel on self-publishing with Bob Mayer and Bella Andre which showed an author can be a business.

• Columbia University Social Media weekend. A big focus on return on investment. Marketing teams don’t have any more resources so they have to look at scaling and what works. Looking at process and methodology which is the only way we can effectively scale if we have multiple books to sell, which is what publishing is trying to do.

• With all these conferences, it’s interesting to gauge where people are and where the opportunity is. For example, the ‘apps are dead’ argument means there is clearly an opportunity for other companies. It hasn’t been an immediate hit but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t work. It’s a time of experimentation. What are the trends saying about the opportunities between the trends?

• The supposed “slowdown” in the ebook space. The market is stabilizing. In the self-publishing market, 2011 was a boom time but now it’s stabilizing. The big jump in sales can’t be linked to anything specific, but there are forces at work that are bigger than individual authors. There will be a lot more shifts this year. Any market that changes fast will have difficult times. Just focus on building your platform and your market and weather the storm. You also have to experiment with different tactics as we just don’t know.

• Has the stigma of self-publishing gone away yet? Quality is an issue throughout all publishing at this point. It depends on the type of career you are creating. Do you want ugly, cheap and lots of books sold to make money? Or do you want books that last over time? Increasing quality across the board is important. Investing the time in the process is important to create a great book. Barry Eisler talked about the freedom and control for his own career with the hybrid model. It’s up to the writers about the stigma of self-publishing. Do people really want traditional deals? These different types of deals will the future.

You can find Dan at his very useful site, WeGrowMedia.com and on twitter @DanBlank

Did you go to any of these, or other, conferences? Do you have any lessons to share from them?

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Writing fast is a necessity for most pro writers. Books mean income to pay the bills. But if you’re not a full-time author yet, does it matter how long it takes to write your book? In this guest post, Ollin Morales from Courage to Create explores why longer might just be better.

As I begin my third year of writing my first novel, I’m noticing that some of my friends and family are starting to get antsy.

“So is it finished?” they ask. “How much longer? Can I read it yet? So, what’s next the next step? Can you tell us what it’s about already?”

When I get asked these types of questions, I just smile and answer:

“Relax. Be patient. I’m just taking it a step at a time.”

But I understand their anxiety. Two years is already a lot of time to work on a novel, and those who haven’t written a novel don’t quite understand just how long the process could end up taking a person.

It’s even true that there are some in the writing community who believe that you should be able to churn out a novel after only a few months, or even after only a few weeks.

But I would say that I respectfully disagree with this approach.

In fact, not only do I disagree with the fast-and-hard approach to novel writing, but I also believe that there are several hidden benefits to writing “slowly”—benefits that people might be overlooking.

Benefit #1: You get to enjoy the process

I can’t imagine the stress I’d have to put myself under in order to get a book done in under a few weeks. Or how it would be to have to write with an eye constantly on the bottom line, while another eye is stuck on the increasingly mercurial publishing industry.

Part of the reason I write “slower” than most is because I want to love the writing process.

Oh yeah. I want to have a friggin’ romantic affair with my novel. I want champagne and roses and a stunning vista in Paris whenever my novel and me get together. I don’t want a long, dreary, cumbersome marriage where both me and my novel have resentment and bitterness packed into our hearts–until it all blows up one day in a shocking revelation of infidelity and a speedy divorce.

Call me crazy, but that’s why I opted for Writer and not Lawyer or Doctor or some other career that I didn’t love or am passionate about.

Why sacrifice and risk so much for a dream, if I’m going to be miserable the entire time?
Isn’t the point of a dream the fact that you get to enjoy it, and can avoid having a panic attack every fifteen minutes?

Listen: I know the book will be done when it gets done. Other than that, I don’t have to worry. I will simply allow myself to enjoy the process in the meantime.

And I’m cool with that.

Benefit #2: It sets you up for success

Writing slowly makes it possible for me to make absolutely sure that the book I write is the best it can be before I send it off to be considered for agents and publishers. Rushing through the work, and not being careful, puts me at risk of failure in the end. But by going “slow and steady,” I can make absolutely sure that I’ve covered all my bases, dotted all my “i’s,” crossed all my “t’s,” and did everything I could possibly do to make the work whole before it lands in someone else’s hands.

Writing “slowly” means that I’ll feel very confident and at ease when the book is in someone else’s care. Writing “slowly” also means that I’ll have no regrets that I tried my best to make the book a success.

Benefit #3: It releases some of the pressure

I’m very lucky in that this is my first book–not my second or third. So I don’t feel any pressure to live up to anyone else’s expectations. Nor do I feel the pressure to write a book that will produce the same amount of income a previous book has made.

The downside to this is that the future is much more open and uncertain for me—and that’s already nerve-wracking enough.

So, why add any more pressure to myself by adding a short, speedy deadline when no one else but me is around to give me such a deadline?

No, I’d rather give myself a break by allotting more time to do the work.

Benefit #4: It let’s you make sure that life doesn’t “pass you by” in the process

I could imagine that if you were rushing to get the work done, you would HAVE to make huge sacrifices in your social life. You might even have to cut off yourself from friends and family for long periods of time.

I guess I could see how this approach might be favorable to a writer who’s incredibly impatient, and who doesn’t mind being a loner, but, for me, I’ve found that isolating myself from the outside world for long periods of time affects my mood, my health–and all of that affects my writing negatively.

My writing suffers if I shut myself off from the world for a long time. My life suffers, too. And forgive me for not giving my life over to complete and utter servitude to my novel. (My novel doesn’t deserve that much of me. Nobody does.) I just don’t want life to pass me by while I’m busy trying to rush through the work.

I mean what’s the rush? I’m not dying.

I am a firm believer that you don’t have to choose between living a great life and writing a great novel–you can do both. Simultaneously. Okay, yes, the downside of attempting to do this means that the entire process will last a bit longer.

But, you know, I think it’s worth it. What’s more, I think this balanced, holistic approach to writing ends up being reflected in your work: you may be surprised to find that not writing all the time makes your writing better, not worse.

Benefit #5: It let’s you honor your purpose

The novel I’m working on features a cast of all-Latino characters. The fantasy world these characters inhabit is based on Mexican-American history, culture and mythology. I hope that this story will help fill a void that exists in mainstream literature.

I know that if I don’t make an effort to bring more Latino characters and stories into the mainstream, no one else will. This is why honoring the purpose behind my novel is the prime motivation for me writing the novel—and it’s also the reason I’m taking my “sweet” time with it.

As you can imagine, I feel a great responsibility to do the book justice. I want to make sure I “get it right.” I want the book to be as stellar of a portrait of my community as it can be. Writing “slowly” allows me to honor this purpose.

Fulfilling the purpose of the novel is going to take a lot of time, energy, and patience on my part. But I also think this is exactly what makes sacrificing and working so hard on a dream worth it in the end.

Because, in the end, I would rather work slowly to make a great dream come true than work quickly to make a mediocre come to pass. I’d rather honor the long-term purpose behind my work than sacrifice that purpose for some short-term gain.
Ollin Morales is a writer and a blogger. {Courage 2 Create} chronicles the author’s journey as he writes his first novel. This blog offers writing advice as well as strategies to deal with life’s toughest challenges.

Top image: Flickr CC GC Photography

What do you think? Are there hidden benefits to writing slowly? Or do you disagree with me, and think that writing quickly can create quality work as well?
Please share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

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Between them, blogging and twitter changed my life.

Seriously. If you’ve been around here long enough, you know I am an evangelist for both. They have brought me friends and peers, connections and speaking opportunities, customers, income and a regular writing practice that has given me the confidence to pursue a fiction writing career. But I have had to put the work in. Today I’m delighted to have Alexis Grant back on the podcast to talk about making your own luck in social media, which is definitely something I believe in.

At the end, I have added a short interview with me about my latest novel Prophecy which you can also view here. I also talk about the Pro Writer Novelist Academy with NY Times bestselling author CJ Lyons – you can sign up for advance notification here.

Alexis Grant is an entrepreneur, social media strategist, freelance journalist and travel writer who now helps other people with building an effective online presence. She has just released a course on ‘Using social media to make your own luck’. [Video at the end of the post]

• How to put your networks in place and make strategic connections so that opportunities to come to you. People say ‘you’re so lucky’ but actually you can make your own luck. The course is an email a  day for a month so you can put strategies into place to build your networks.

• For writers, it might mean meeting an editor, or a literary agent. Or connecting with other authors for peer support or blurbing books, or writing opportunities.

• Alexis was named as one of the bloggers to watch in 2012 on Problogger. I was on that list a few years ago and being on lists like that make a real difference. We both connected personally with the writer of the piece, Jade Craven.

• How Alexis met her agent, Rachelle Gardner through her connections on Twitter.

• Don’t just target the ‘big names’. Start the process with connecting with anyone who is interesting to you as well as people with lots of followers. But people with smaller and more targeted networks are great too. Alexis and I met on Twitter in early 2009 when we had little blogs and no real audience. We’ve both grown our platforms since then but we connected before it all.

• How long will it take to make an impact? It does take a while. You need to be consistent over time and make it a habit. How can you push your networks to the next level.

• Alexis recommends Rapportive as a Gmail plugin. It gives you all the social media links of the person who has emailed you.  [It's awesome - I now use it too] It means you can connect on multiple channels which keeps you in their mind.

• Who are you connecting with? Readers or other people in your industry. Word of mouth is word of mouth and people do share in their networks. Just connect on a personal level.

• How Alexis moved from her day job as a journalist to full time entrepreneur. She creates online products but also works with clients as a social media strategist building communities for people. She does a lot of blogging with start-ups.

• How Alexis uses her writing to make money. Creating content is a full-time job – blogging and tweeting for companies. She also writes creatively including an essay on Salon.com

• Alexis wrote a travel memoir a few years ago. It’s with her agent but the traditional publishing industry moves so slowly. She has published several ebooks since then, so it’s strange to experience both worlds of fast and slow. How Alexis feels about the control aspect of publishing and what she’s planning for her writing. The difficult of selling memoir as indie published. Non-fiction as more lucrative than fiction. Alexis has changed a lot since she wrote the memoir but it’s not her focus at the moment.

• On the lifestyle of an entrepreneur. Alexis is heading off to Nicaragua and Costa Rica in February. She will do some work while she’s there but it’s an experiment in running her business while traveling. I quit my day job a month after Alexis and so we’re both excited about what will change in the next 2 years

You can find Alexis at her site AlexisGrant.com and on twitter @alexisgrant .

You can check out her course at Make Your Own Luck.

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I used Scrivener for my latest book, Prophecy. It’s been a truly life-changing experience after the dreadful cutting and pasting process in MS Word that plagued my last novel, Pentecost. I am now entirely converted and am also an evangelist for the product.

I used Scrivener happily without reading the Help (because I hate reading the Help) but then I found David Hewson’s ‘Writing a Novel with Scrivener‘ which I highly recommend. It will convert you and make your writing life a whole lot easier, I promise!

Here are 3 reasons you should be using Scrivener (which is on Mac and PC now so you have no excuse.) It’s just US$49 and you can use it for all your books, fiction and non-fiction as well as academic publications and loads more. No, I’m not an affiliate but I truly do believe in the product!

(1) You can write in scenes then drag and drop to re-order.

If this was the only feature of Scrivener, it would still be enough for me!

I write in sporadic scenes, not in a linear fashion so the final scene is often one of the first I write. I’m already plotting novel #3 and have maybe 5 scenes I could set down right now, but I wouldn’t have a clue where they go in the story yet.

So for the Prophecy work in progress I had all these scenes but it was only in the 2nd edit that I decided on the order they needed to go in. Scrivener makes it easy to drag and drop the scenes to re-order the scenes. There’s no cutting and pasting and no huge Word files to manipulate.

I also like the cork-board view of the scenes. If you use index cards, you’ll be at home here!

(2) Auto-create Kindle and ePub files.

This is a game-changer.

Compiling for .mobi

You can now create your own ebooks by compiling and exporting from Scrivener which is under $50, which once paid you can use over and over again. You obviously need to check your created files carefully but for plain text novels with little complications, this is a no-brainer.

I still recommend using professional formatters if you have complicated books or lots of images, but for basic books, you can just use Scrivener. This is also great for providing files to beta-readers and for reviewing your book in the way many will now consume it. You can also export to Doc and other formats including Latex if you want to format in more complicated ways.

The point behind Scrivener is that book length works can be complicated and easier to write in chunks, but when you want to submit them you need it in one document. Scrivener compiles them based on how you have structured your Parts/ Chapters/ Scenes and also by how you define the compile and export settings. There are preset defaults but you can also customize, and there are lots of helpful videos and a forum in case you have trouble.

I have just added a video to my Ebook Publishing mini-course that shows you how to do this if you’re interested in more detail.

(3) Project Binders can also hold notes, research, pictures and more so you have one place for the whole ecosystem of your book

There is one manuscript/draft folder within your Scrivener project and then there are other folders which aren’t compiled into the final document. You can use these for research or for character sketches, for pictures and other associated media as well as pasting scenes you don’t know what to do with (I do that a lot).

You can also split the screen while you are writing so you can reference the notes at the same time as writing text. I use a great deal of art history in my books so having the painting or image in the split screen is useful so I get the details right.

One memorable image is the Escher print of angels and demons (shown right) which is on the wall of a character’s study. It was great to be able to see it on the page as I wrote.

Using Scrivener for my own novel, Prophecy

My own process for Prophecy has been as follows:

* Write first draft scenes in Write Or Die or Pages app on the iPad which I use for writing in the library and out of the house. I have found this the most effective way to write fiction now since my home office is orientated towards podcasts, interviews, videos, product creation and the business of The Creative Penn. I need a different space for making stuff up.

* Paste the scenes into Scrivener and move them around as well as revise scene by scene within the program. It’s easier to revise on bite-size chunks like scenes.

* At the end of every day, compile and export a .doc file which I email to myself on Gmail so I always have a backup of my work. Gmail is online storage so you’ll always be able to find this again. I also back on an external hard-drive and monthly on Amazon S3 cloud storage (paranoid, me??)

* After the first draft is completed, I compile the full .doc and print it out. Read, scribble, self-edit, destroy, rework. Write some more scenes and fill in the blanks.

* Edit full 2nd draft on Scrivener and repeat print and self-edit, then repeat print and self-edit until satisfied

* When I’m finally happy with the draft, I distribute to my editor to review and provide feedback. Then I make changes and send to beta readers.

* Make changes on Scrivener and compile for the final time and output for Kindle and submission to Smashwords.

Once you have the master project saved, you can always go back and make any changes and recompile. It’s a brilliant system and I am definitely going to keep using Scrivener. I can’t imagine writing without it now and in 2012, I will also be revising my non-fiction work using it too.

Are you a Scrivener convert? Do you have any questions about it?

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Today is the official launch of Prophecy, #2 in the ARKANE series of action-adventure thriller novels. It currently has 16 reviews averaging 4.5 stars on Amazon.com and has already made the Amazon bestseller lists in Action Adventure and Religious Fiction. I have a whole lot of launch posts coming which I’ll link to below but here’s the blurb and some reviews.

“I looked, and there before me was a pale horse. Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.” Revelation 6:8

The prophecy in Revelation declares that a quarter of the world must die and now a shadowy organization has the ability to fulfill these words. Can one woman stop the abomination before it’s too late?

From the catacombs of Paris to the skeletal ossuaries of Sicily and the Czech Republic, Morgan and Jake must find the Devil’s Bible and stop the curse being released into the world before one in four are destroyed in the coming holocaust. Because in just seven days, the final curse will be spoken and the prophecy will be fulfilled.

Prophecy is now available on the Amazon Kindle store. Coming soon on other ebook platforms.

Prophecy on Amazon.com

Prophecy on Amazon.co.uk

Praise for Prophecy

“Penn…has a background in theology and she employs this to great effect again in this novel. These books are as intelligent as they are gripping. She has also upped the supernatural ante since Pentecost and created a demonic villain (or two) that rise to the spiritual struggle inherent in the book’s premise. The final showdown between Morgan and the forces of evil will stay with you long after you have finished this compelling, page-turning thriller.” Orna Ross, author of ‘After The Rising’

“The action moves swiftly but the suspense never wanes, as Penn uses her vast knowledge to inform and educate the reader in a seamless unfolding of this fast-moving tale. Exotic locations and supernatural artifacts add to the adventure. Pentecost has been described as Lara Croft meets Indiana Jones and there are certainly elements of both to be found in these thrillers. However, I feel Joanna Penn has managed to establish her own voice in this series delivering strong characters and creative, but believable, plots. I’m already in line for the next one!” Patricia Sands, on Amazon.com

“Penn has a degree in theology and her knowledge and research, of ideas and locations, really shines through in these stories…as rollicking thrillers these books are great – perfect for holiday reading.” Alan Baxter, dark fantasy author of Realmshift & Magesign

“Prophecy is a gripping tale, plunging the reader into a race against a shadowy organization and its doomsday plot. Death lurks around every corner as Morgan Sierra and her partner Jake explore ancient ossuaries and dark catacombs in search of a sinister and deadly artifact. Mystery and adventure that is sure to please readers who love a good religious thriller.” David Wood, action-adventure author of Quest, Dourado and Cibola

“If you’re a fan of Dan Brown, then Joanna Penn is the author for you. Like Brown, Penn weaves information about religious art, icons and history with modern-day fears. The result is a face paced read, one that kept me up past my bedtime because I wanted to know what happens next.” Natalie Wright, who also did a great video review here.

“I particularly like the main character, the strong, intelligent, and attractive Morgan Sierra. Joanna Penn uses her academic training in Theology and Psychology to weave an intriguing page-turner in which Morgan must locate an artifact and prevent the Apocalyptic prophecy. I love learning as I read, and this book did not disappoint me. Through it, I learned about the God Helmet, The Devil’s Bible, the ossuaries, and various art and architecture. Joanna Penn seamlessly interlaces the facts with the story, creating a wonderfully vibrant and compelling story.” Jane V Blanchard, Amazon.com 

My inspiration for Prophecy

Psychology, neuroscience and religion are woven together in Prophecy along with some seriously creepy locations. You can read more about my writing inspiration in these posts over at my personal site, JoannaPenn.com

• The God Helmet – can stimulation of the temporal lobe create visions of God?
• The Devil’s Bible - the largest medieval manuscript in the world reveals its secrets
• The psychology of obedience: Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac and Stanley Milgram studies in obedience to authority
• Ossuaries, catacombs and the bone church of Sedlec – macabre settings

Guest Posts Coming Soon:

• Print Books: The New Vanity Publishing? On TheBookDesigner.com

• Know Thyself: 7 Truths About Writers. On WriteToDone.com

• Writing religion and gender issues in action-adventure. 8 Questions with Joanna Penn – on Ghostwriter Dad

• The smart person’s guide to quitting your day job and following your dreams. On Courage to Create.

• Setting Thesaurus: On Catacombs, ossuaries and crypts. On Bookshelf Muse.

• Interview with Christian site RevTrev.com on inspiration for Prophecy.

• Tuesday Toot with Alan Baxter

• Review by David Wood, Action-Adventure Author

• Interview with Jim Kukral on Publishing

• Interview with Natalie Wright on Prophecy.

Would you like to interview me? 

I’m always interested in interviews so f you have an audience who might like Prophecy or hearing more about indie publishing, book marketing or writing in general, then please do email me: joanna@TheCreativePenn.com

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I have been debating the gender issues in the perception of books for a while now, and I have finally made a decision.

Joanna Penn is now J.F.Penn for thrillers/action-adventure/ anything I write that is in a genre that is dominated by men.

I will use Joanna Penn for my non-fiction and other works I have in the pipeline. Why am I doing this?

Feedback and reviews that I write like a man

Pentecost and Prophecy have some pretty violent scenes. I burn a nun to death on the funeral pyres of Varanasi and disembowel a psychiatric patient in the first few chapters.

It’s not horror but it is thriller with a high body count and I make no apologies for that.

I like action movies. I like Lee Child’s Jack Reacher. I love James Bond. In fact, one day, I’d like to be the first female writer to pen a Bond novel – move over Jeffrey Deaver! But apparently it’s worthy of comment when a woman writes this type of thing.

Here’s a comment I received by email about Pentecost.  ‘It seems funny knowing you – I would definitely have thought the book was written by a man…”

and a lovely review stated:

“…this kind of sprawling, globe trotting, religious themed, action adventure thriller is historically the province of men; retired marines, mercenaries or CIA analysts. Or Dan Brown. It’s what you expect. And Joanna is, self evidently to my well trained eye, a woman. So then my not entirely foolish expectation when perusing her first novel was of something a little more, you know, delicate in character….But wow, beneath her pleasant and chirpy demeanour lurks the black heart of a terrorist interrogator, a fearless adventurer.” [Thanks for the great review Phil!]

Thriller novelists need to know how to shoot!

I don’t mind being compared to a man. It doesn’t offend me. In fact, I find it kind of liberating.

But I don’t want any consideration of my gender to come up when someone reads my books. I want them to have a great fun read and escape the world for a time.

So if changing my name to initials stops any second thoughts, then it’s worth it.

Pentecost at #5 on Action Adventure list

Evidence that the categories I want to rank in are dominated by male names

As I write this, both Pentecost and Prophecy are in the Top 100 Action Adventure titles for the first time. (#5 and #82 respectively but you know it changes every hour!)

I’m excited as this is a category I like to rank in. I also rank consistently in Religious Fiction which is a more varied category.

Action Adventure is certainly male dominated. Stieg Larsson, George R.R. Martin, John Locke, Steve Berry, Clive Cussler, Lee Goldberg, Tom Anthony, J.A. Konrath… these are the names from the Top 20 as I read them right now. There are a few scattered female names but it’s an overwhelmingly male group.

I don’t know whether there are more male readers in this category. I certainly buy these authors but I don’t think women readers are that hung up on the gender of the author. But apparently men are and they are less likely to buy from a female name. Feel free to say otherwise, male blog readers!

Men also get more attention and reviews. But I won’t be changing my gender, for now at least!

Evidence of other female writers who use initials or male names

A number of women writers of successful women writers use initials. The reader doesn’t know who they are until they look behind the curtain which, I think, is how it should be.

• NYT bestselling thriller author C.J. Lyons
• Baroness P.D. James, whose honours come from services to literature and who is still putting books out aged 92. ‘Children of Men’ seriously rocked.
• J.K. Rowling. A woman in a man’s fantasy world.
• Romance author Nora Roberts turned into J.D.Robb for her suspense/crime novels, a more male dominated genre
• Others include M.J.Rose, J.T.Ellison…I could go on…

Using a male name is an option. A now-famous example in the blogging world is James Chartrand who came out as a woman on Copyblogger.com after years of writing as a man. Her business is ‘Men With Pens‘ and writing as a man totally changed her business. I’ll be interviewing James on the podcast and we’ll discuss this further.

Does it matter?

The author doesn’t matter. The reader matters.

The author’s gender shouldn’t impact the way the story is read so it’s best to make it a non-issue. Initials are neutral. They have no gender bias and I like that approach.

I know there will be some people who disagree. But I do consider myself a feminist in the truly inclusive sense of the word. Men and women are different but equal and we should all have the same opportunities. I want to be a bestselling, name brand author. This will clearly take some time but I don’t want my gender to be an issue either way as I write the books I want to write.

What do you think about gender in publishing? Are initials acceptable for women to write under? Are male buyers influenced by a female author name?

 

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I’m always on the lookout for interesting stories to share with you. Adam Croft caught my eye on twitter with the tweet shown left and I just had to ask for more information. Adam is the best-selling author of the Knight & Culverhouse series of crime novels and the Kempston Hardwick mysteries. This is a guest post from him explaining how he did it. 

Publishers will scream and shout from the rooftops that e-publishing is not the way forward and that every writer still needs a publisher. That’s simply not true. I know this for a fact, as I was an unknown author who managed to sell 130,000 books in my first year without a publisher, without a marketing budget, and without any experience. And I’m going to tell you how I did it.

1. Know your audience

It’s the same for any form of art or business (and self-publishing means these two areas unavoidably overlap). A lot of resources will tell you to just write and let the industry decide what genre it is, but so many of my unpublished writer friends keep telling me that their books are rejected by publishers due to not fitting into a pre-conceived genre. Now, I’m all for artistic license and freedom in writing but that’s a story for another day. Even in self-publishing, you need to identify and physically select your genre when publishing, so you need to be sure in your own mind.

2. Be realistic

The fact of the matter is that very few self-published authors become successful. I freely admit that luck played a huge part in my success, but I also openly publicise my goals: originally, it was for someone I didn’t know – a complete stranger – to read my book and tell me what they thought of it. Subsequently, I wanted to top some sort of best-seller chart. My third goal was to make enough money from writing fiction to allow me to do so on a full-time basis. I achieved all of these goals within six months of completing my first book, purely because I had set targets and goals which I knew I wanted to achieve.

3. Utilise your other skills

Self-published authors have to be more than just writers. More often than not, they have to be editors, publishers, PR managers and cover designers. Use your other skills where you can, be it in graphic design or marketing. For me, marketing is not a problem as that’s my professional background. I promoted my books heavily using Twitter and Facebook, both of which are vital tools in the modern day. Free book giveaways are always a great way to attract new interest; one of my most successful avenues was to offer free copies of my book to a set number of new Twitter followers on a given day. Try this, and you’ll find that you get a surprising number of new Twitter followers very quickly.

4. Utilise other people’s skills

If you’ve got a friend who’s a graphic designer, why not ask him or her to design your cover for you? I designed the covers for my first two books (and, looking back, they look pretty amateurish) but by the time I released my third book I’d earned enough money to employ a professional graphic designer for the book cover and a BBC video producer who put together a YouTube trailer. You can only work with what you have, so make sure you utilise it to your full advantage. Friends can also make great proofreaders and editors (providing that they’ve a good standard of English and are keen readers). Send your finished book to a few friends or contacts and ask them to be brutally honest; how can you improve? What needs changing? What works best? Do parts need rewriting? Only by acting on constructive criticism can you improve as a writer.

 5. Choose your outlets

The quickest and best way to get your book available on the mass market is to use Kindle’s direct publishing program. Following that, I’d strongly recommend using Smashwords to get your book into the other major markets as quickly as possible. Initially, I made my books available free of charge in order to generate interest. Now, they sell just as well (if not better) as paid-for books. Amazon’s Createspace program is highly recommended for printing paperback copies of your books at a reasonable price. Once I’d ordered a batch of ‘real’ books, I organised a book signing at one of my local bookshops in order to generate local interest. Local newspapers and radio stations will also more than likely be interested in your story.

6. Tell everyone

Your best (and, let’s face it, only) marketing tool at this point in time is yourself. Tell everyone – your friends, your family, the bloke in the pub – all about your new book and that it has been published. I used to have an annoying habit of accosting people reading Kindles on trains and asking them if they’d read my book. If people have met you, they’ll more than likely download your book. Call your local newspapers and radio stations and let them know that you’ve just written a new book. Often, these local outlets are crying out for some real news and will be more than happy to write an article on you. This helped generate a lot of local interest in my books and was one of my main marketing tools in the early days. There really is no secret, other than effort. Get on the phone and call them!

You can find Adam and his books at his site AdamCroft.net and on twitter @adamcroft

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The indie publishing world continues in constant flux but a new strident voice has recently appeared on the scene. Today David Gaughran shares his story.

David Gaughran is the author of historical novel ‘A Storm Hits Valparaiso’ as well as several short story collections. He has also published ‘Let’s get digital: How to self-publish and why you should‘.  [Video at the end of the post]

• How David got started. He’s been writing for a long time but in 2005 he started seriously writing with the aim of publication. After a few attempts, he started historical novel A Storm Hits Valparaiso. He sent it out to agents and publishers as well as working on it to improve it over a number of years. After 18 months he was feeling quite down about the project and the continued rejection. In Christmas 2010, he heard from a NY agent who was interested, but then he never heard from him again. This is not an unusual story but David felt disappointed and in a negative place.

• It was around this time that Barry Eisler walked away from $0.5 million and then Amanda Hocking got her $2.5 million deal. This made David notice indie publishing and so he investigated further. On KindleBoards he found authors who weren’t household names but they were making a living from their books. Most of these authors were unpublished and unknown before going indie. Realizing one book is not enough, he started writing short stories and put them up on Kindle. He found the joy of writing again and decided that indie was the most empowering way.

• How David’s blog Let’s Get Digital has been his journey into indie and self-publishing. He started it at a time when self-publishing was going mainstream but his regular posts and strong opinions have made it a must read blog for those interested in the industry.

• On Amazon KDP Select. David personally doesn’t think it’s a good idea but for some writers, it is clearly a good thing.
  
• On subscription based reading. Readers will be offered a system for a monthly fee and they get a certain number of books for free. This will become a dominant model. It’s important to keep control of pricing as this is a key competitive advantage for indies. When we compete for the same amount in a pot we lose control of pricing and this is the bad side of KDP Select.

• Is anyone challenging Amazon at this point? Nook is up for sale but it may be bought by a company that can aggressively roll it out worldwide. Kobo was bought by a large Japanese company which is strong in places Amazon is weak. In the US, Amazon are pretty entrenched. But e-reading is bring a renaissance in reading as it’s so much easier to experience and generally cheaper.

Since David and I talked, Apple has come out with the iBooks Author program. It has excited some people but others have been upset about its terms and conditions.

• Europe and ebooks. There’s a huge difference between countries with a Kindle store and those that don’t. Also holding back the dominance of ebooks is VAT or sales tax. There isn’t tax on print books in many countries (UK included) but there is on ebooks. This means print can be cheaper. There’s also an additional cost if you don’t have a Kindle store for your country. But the ebook market is still growing at a phenomenal rate so the revolution will happen, it’s just a bit slower. I mention India again – Amazon are opening a distribution warehouseand often the next step is a Kindle store. We shall see! But Brazil will likely be before that. Back on the subscription model, David thinks there will be free devices if people sign up for the subscription, as we already see in cell phone packages.

  Cheap print books mean slower uptake of ebooks

• What are indie publishers still getting wrong? They are getting better but the basics are still wrong. People need to spend more money on editing and cover design. The blurb has to be good. The front matter needs to be in the back of the book. The reader needs to be grabbed in the sample. Don’t wait. People say they can’t afford $1000 for the professionals but you have to do it in order to have a quality product. Or barter or find some way to get the money. Don’t go into debt but you have to make sacrifices. You need a pro editor and a pro designer. You need fantastic blurb. It has to be perfect. Skimping on these things is the worst thing you can do. You’ll end up spending more later otherwise. You will lose readers unless you produce a professional product. Your competition is every other book on Amazon. It’s about reading time – why should they give it to you?

• On marketing. It’s the old saying, 50% of marketing works, but you don’t know which 50%. You have to try a bit of everything and see what happens. Look at what others are doing. You don’t have to do everything and nothing guarantees success. See what works for you and your readers. Pricing is different in the genres. One thing is important – set up Google Alerts on your name, book title and more. Using free is a great marketing tool so definitely have that in your arsenal. It’s gives you more exposure.

• In 2012, David sees the traditional publishers following suit with indie tactics e.g. pricing cheap or free. They are now getting to grips with pricing as a tool rather than the emotional value vs price. Subscription models and e-readers priced at zero if they include ads. Everything will get cheaper but the average price of self-published work is now going up, so we’ll see what happens. Indie is a bit like day trading now with calculations on free and when to enter price points and leave them again. It’s an exciting time, there are new people entering the market all the time.

• ‘A Storm Hits Valparaiso’ has now been indie published and is available on Kindle. Yeah! David has no interest in a traditional publishing deal for digital as he wants to see what he can achieve on his own. However, we are both interested in a print deal or a foreign rights deal, but for ebooks, it’s worth trying alone

You can find David at his site Let’s Get Digital and on twitter @davidgaughran

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Author 2.0 encapsulates the spirit of empowerment to create, publish, sell and promote with the amazing online tools available today.

I wrote the original Author 2.0 Blueprint over 2 years ago and things have changed a lot since then.

I have sporadically updated it but now I have rewritten 95% of it to create a 52 page ebook packed with useful information on writing, publishing and book marketing.

The Blueprint is entirely free so please download and use whatever part of it resonates with you.

It’s based on articles on the blog as well as information from other blogs. I link to many of the sites I personally find useful and I recommend further resources, some free and some paid, if you want to continue your research further.

Since The Creative Penn is a business these days, there are links to my own courses and affiliate links to others, but all of it is based on what I have found useful myself. I still aim to save you time, money and heartache on the writer’s journey, so I hope you find it useful.

You can download the new version here => Author 2.0 Blueprint 2012 Edition

It’s a PDF and if you’re having problems, please use Adobe Reader which is freely downloadable here.

You can also read on Scribd.com here or have a look below.

Author 2.0 Blueprint: Writing, Publishing and Book Marketing using online tools (2012 version)//

It is Creative Commons licensed so please email it to people who might find it useful, embed it on your own site or use excerpts of it – as long as you don’t use it commercially and you cite TheCreativePenn.com as the source.

This has been emailed to everyone already on my list and anyone who signs up to the newsletter on the right will get the new Blueprint.

Please do let me know what you think in the comments below, or by email: joanna AT TheCreativePenn.com

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The Creative Penn is all about authenticity and sharing the truth behind the writer’s journey as well as our results. It’s important to me that what you learn about here comes from people’s own experience. So I’m delighted to share with you an interview with Barbara Techel on how she has managed to use physical appearance in schools and libraries to sell her books and spread a message that she’s passionate about. Barbara Techel is the author of Frankie the Walk’n'Roll dog book series for children. Since 2008 she has done over 300 author appearances at schools, libraries and organizations which has helped her to sell over 5,000 copies of my series, which are self-published. She has written Class Act: Sell More Books Through School and Library Author Appearances to help other authors do the same.
Tell us a bit more about you and the story behind Frankie

I’ve been on an amazing journey for the last ten years thanks to observing and paying attention to the lessons my dogs have taught me. I didn’t become a writer until my early 40′s which was brought on when my chocolate lab, Cassie was diagnosed with terminal bone cancer.  I guess you could say it was my own “awakening” and it made me pause to think about what I wanted for my life. It lead me to becoming a writer and writing about what I love most, which is animals.

Nine months after Cassie passed away, Frankie, my dachshund suffered a fall and ruptured a disc in her back which caused paralysis. She was custom-fitted for a doggie wheelchair and through that experience with her I realized the beautiful opportunity I had to not only bring more positive awareness to pets with special needs, but to also help children see their challenges in a positive way through Frankie’s example.  My book series, Frankie the Walk ‘N Roll Dog was born because of all of this. It was, and continues to be some of my greatest and blessed work.

Can you briefly explain your process for speaking in schools and libraries and how others can go about doing that?

I knew writing my first children’s book in my series that I wanted to share Frankie in-person with children. I knew I could make a positive impact on children and was so passionate about doing just that. I think the most important quality to have when promoting your children’s book (or any other book for that matter) is to be passionate about your book and your message. This goes far in opening doors for authors.

What I did next was study other children’s authors websites and how they went about planning for author visits. Then I began networking with everyone I knew sharing with them what I was doing. I spoke with my local school in my city and asked for the opportunity to share Frankie with the students. I also visited all the public libraries within about a 20-mile radius of my home and donated a copy of my book to their library. It was the perfect ticket into sharing with them that I do presentations, and to ask if I could do one for their patrons.  I also gathered together a mailing list of all the public libraries in my state of Wisconsin, as well as elementary schools and did a postcard mailing to all of them.

I’d have to say the biggest thing that has worked for me is word of mouth. I did a few presentations at the beginning at no charge in exchange for a testimonial. By doing that and doing a good job with presenting teachers and librarians began telling other teachers and librarians. I truly believe word of mouth is your best marketing tool. To date, I’ve done over 325 appearances with Frankie, as well as many via Skype.

What are the pros and cons of live events like this and do the sales justify the costs of time & travel involved?

One of the pro’s of doing live events is being able to connect directly with your target audience. For me personally, because Frankie is in a wheelchair, I don’t travel outside of my home state of Wisconsin with her. So I can’t speak to traveling outside of your local area. I realize this does limit my in-person appearances, but I’ve not let that deter me. Using Skype has been another great option and has paid off nicely as well.

I have seen more book sales from my in-person visits (averaging 20-40% per school visit) than I have in the beginning when I first started using Skype. But I’ve also seen an increase in schools using Skype due to more budget contraints, so I’ve noticed book sales increasing now with Skype visits (average about 20%).

Each author will need to determine their goals for their own book, as well as the time and expense involved in travel to decide if this is the avenue they wish to pursue. Combining both in-person and Skype I truly think is a great option for so many. I’m glad I’ve embraced both. And you never know where one live event or Skype event is going to lead, so being open to both is only going to help get your name out into the world.

Also, as I said, my first few appearances I did for gratis, but then after that I began charging for them as I got more calls from schools/libraries. There is somewhat of a formula in which you determine how to set a fee which I go over in detail in my book, Class Act. But it has to do with how many books you’ve written, credibility, experience, popularity of your subject, and what other authors in your area charge. At the beginning it was difficult to know for me what to charge- and besides I was so eager to get out there I was willing to do them for free!  But we all need to make a living, so feeling comfortable with determining a fee and asking for it, at least for me, took a bit of practice.  Now that I’ve had over 325 appearances under my belt I’m quite comfortable in asking and getting my fee. Though at times I am also flexible depending on the school, their budget, etc.

You’ve also used Skype to appear remotely, can you explain how you approached schools/libraries with that idea?

I began learning more about Skype in mid 2008. I got very excited when I did the research and learned about all its possibilities. Around the same time, I found out about a network that connects schools/libraries with authors who offer Skype visits. It is called, Skype an Author. You can create a profile for free on this website. Teachers and librarians can then peruse this site to find authors who offer this service.

I’ve built a good following on Facebook and Twitter, as well as have two blogs, so I offered ten free Skype visits to the first ten schools and/or libraries that contacted me. It worked beautifully and within a week I had booked ten Skype events. Schools are really beginning to embrace Skype more and more, though libraries are still a bit slow about getting on board. Though I think in time, this will also be an avenue libraries embrace more.

I also have google alerts set up in regards to schools that use skype, skype in classrooms, etc. I then send a postcard introducing myself as an author who does Skype visits.

Do you cold call libraries and schools? or do you have recommendations for others (as I hate doing that!)

I did cold call on my local libraries when I first started. It’s not my favorite thing to do either. But I was passionate about wanting to share my books and Frankie, so that absolutely was in my favor.  I would highly recommend at least touching base with all your local libraries, whether you do that in-person or with an introduction letter or phone call asking if you could stop by with a book to donate to their library. Once there you can then share with them that you offer presentations and ask for an opportunity to do one.

How do you get over the self-published aspect of the book with schools and libraries? Do you find there is still a stigma?

I haven’t encountered this as a problem. I’ve had people ask me who published my book and I simply say, “Joyful Paw Prints Press.” That is the name of my publishing company. Sometimes they will say, “Oh, I’ve never heard of them.” I say, “It’s my publishing company.” Most everyone I’ve encountered and have this conversation with seems more impressed than looks at it as a negative. I’d say the last year or two also has really changed the stigma factor and I don’t find that anymore.

Is the role of a library changing in the US now and has that affected your strategy?

I’ve focused more on schools than libraries to this point. But I’ve done about 25 library visits and all have welcomed me with open arms. I see libraries eventually embracing Skype and ebooks more and more. I also think they will see this as new opportunities for them to grow and expand their patrons. Maybe it’s the optimistic in me, but I truly believe all the changes happening are only going to benefit the publishing industry, the self publisher, the schools and libraries.  There has never been a better time to be an author with so many options and ways in which we can reach our audiences!

How have you blended online activities with your live events and which has been more successful for you?

Yes, I have done both. I’ve had a good amount of success with buidling a blog from my main character, Frankie, who I blog as. I’ve also created a twitter and facebook page for her and she has a nice following. I offer special sales now and then and see a nice increase in my sales when I do that. Social media and a blog is also a great way to share information about your live events and that helps spread via word of mouth.  I think these days an author has to to work all these avenues into their marketing plan in reaching their audience.

Where can people find you and your books online?

I can be found at:

www.joyfulpaws.com and from there you can link to both my blogs.

www.promoteyourbooktoschools.com

www.facebook.com/barbaratechel

www.facebook.com/sellmorebookstoschoolsandlibraries

www.twitter.com/barbaratechel where I tweet more about helping authors with markeing and doing in person and Skype visits

www.twitter.com/joyfulpaws

Do you have any questions about speaking to schools and libraries? Have you found this effective yourself?

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February is already in sight and perhaps you set ambitious goals for 2012 as I did. Are they feeling a little too much right now? Today’s guest post from novelist and writing coach C. S. Lakin will help you break it down.

Sometimes the writing journey feels overwhelming.

There aren’t enough hours in the day to accomplish the mind-boggling amount of things we writers feel must get done in order to grow not just as writers but in order to establish our place in the publishing world.

Years ago, all an author had to do was write a book and send it off to a publisher (one handwritten copy at a time!), and if her manuscript was accepted, the publisher did all the work of publishing and promoting. Now, authors have to be writer, marketer, publicist—and sometimes publisher—in order to make strides to become known and to have their books sold and distributed.

And still, after long hours each week applying ourselves to so many career-promoting tasks, we may feel frustrated and unsure whether we’ve accomplished anything at all. And our books? Well, sometimes we don’t even have time to write, it seems.

We also set huge goals at new year and sometimes these can also add to the overwhelm. So I’d like to recommend a few helpful writing related goals that will help you achieve your broader goals.

(1) Try some new plotting and structuring techniques on your WIP or next project

I am always trying to stretch myself with each new novel, trying out new techniques, new ways to plot, structure, and organize my ideas. For many of my novels I used index cards for scenes. I’ve created character flow charts, character arc charts. For my last novel, Intended for Harm, I used six large pieces of poster board and used Post-It notes for the scenes. These are all ideas I got from other writers—either from their workshops or from books on the writing craft. If it’s in your plans to write a new book this year, think about stretching yourself and forging into new territory.

(2) Try to attend at least one writers’ conference

I was given the advice to attend a writers’ conference seven years ago. I had attended a few here and there over the years, but this time I planned carefully which one to attend. I couldn’t afford to go to many, so picked the one where I knew I could learn a lot on the writing craft. To my surprise, the author who made this suggestion said that not only did she receive an offer of a publishing contract at a conference, but that’s how all her author friends got published. Really?

Well, six years later and after having contracted eight of my novels with mainstream publishers by attending writers’ conferences and pitching there, I can also say that nearly all my writer friends who have gotten contracts or signed with an agent did so through pitching at a writers’ conference. I wish someone had told me this twenty years ago when I started out.

This is the best piece of advice I can give you for the New Year, for it has twofold benefits—giving you the opportunity to hone your writing by taking classes and the chance to pitch your book (either idea or finished novel) to agents and publishers. Even if you’re not ready to submit, chatting about your story and perfecting your pitch is extremely helpful.

(3) Pick one weak point in your writing and focus on that

We can become overwhelmed when we think of all the weak aspects of our writing. Surely there is room for improvement on so many fronts, and with lots of rejections we can become disheartened and feel like quitting. Make it a point to focus on just one element of your writing that you are weakest in and see how you can improve that this year. Athletes will spend 80% of their time working on the 10% or 20% areas they are weakest in. We should do the same. And when you see improvement, you will feel encouraged.

(4) Find (or keep and appreciate!) at least one good critique partner

If you have someone who really gives you honest, helpful feedback, that’s a great joy and aid to your writing. You can set them up as an accountability partner, too, if you tend to procrastinate. One author friend agreed to do this with me, and each week we sent one new chapter for the other to edit and critique. This keeps you writing and on target for finishing a manuscript. You can find critique partners through online writers’ groups and organizations, and again, by attending a writers’ conference and hooking up with someone you feel a good connection with. I treasure my critique partners.

(5) Apply yourself to becoming a better master of your language

As a professional copyeditor and writing coach, it stands to reason that I’m going to suggest this. I can’t overemphasize how much your writing will improve if you learn some good grammar and editing techniques. So many published authors aren’t great with grammar, spelling, and punctuation. They may feel that’s not their concern—trusting the proofreader at their publishing house will catch and fix all the errors. But my feeling is that when you work hard to write better and more accurately—learning just where commas must go, when to use hyphens or italics, and how to properly punctuate dialogue—your writing will improve. When you’re not hindered by these things you don’t know how to do, you can focus on writing beautiful sentences and creating powerful imagery. It’s not a waste of time to learn to master the handling of the English language.

Challenge yourself to improve your writing chops. It will show in your writing, and the agents and editors who read your work will see you in a better light. Editors love seeing their authors prepare error-free manuscripts. I wish you all a joyful and productive (and hopefully stress-free) New Year full of writing!

 

C. S. Lakin is a novelist and professional copyeditor and writing coach. She specializes in editing and manuscript critiques for book publishers, literary agents, and individuals. She has a seven-book fantasy series for adults with AMG/Living Ink and her novel Someone to Blame, a psychological drama/mystery, was published by Zondervan last fall. You can read about her at her website: www.cslakin.com. Connect with Susanne on Twitter (@cslakin)

Top image: iStockphoto

 

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I love to learn from professional authors who are making a great income from their books, so today’s interview is a treat!

Michael J. Sullivan is an award-winning epic fantasy author. Michael has experienced publishing in all its forms and is currently signed by Orbit Books with his latest book Heir of Novron out this month. [Video at the end]

• How Michael got started writing. He tried to be a writer years ago while being a stay-at-home Dad (while wife Robin was the breadwinner). After 10 years of trying to be get published, he gave up because he was repeatedly rejected. He went back into mainstream work with a publishing agency. Harry Potter inspired him. It was fun to read and kids and adults loved it. He got excited about reading genre fiction again and then started writing again. I get excited about my own story where I was blocked by literary fiction for years and now find genre fiction is (at least currently) my niche. Michael re-frames those years as learning the craft.

• On epic fantasy as a genre. Fantasy has elements that really can’t exist. Science fiction is things that could happen vs. fantasy. They fall under speculative fiction which also contains horror. Epic fantasy is about scope and in most fantasy books, there are political aspects, history, religion described for whole new worlds. Fantasy is doing well because of the popular films of The Lord of the Rings and also the Harry Potter books. George RR Martin was also put onto TV so people who didn’t use to read fantasy are now reading it.

• Is fantasy a male dominated market? In general, yes. But a lot of epic fantasy written by women might not be classified as such because of the perception. I’m still considering changing my writing name for my thrillers to see if it makes a difference.

• Tips for writing fantasy. Mine history and use it in your books. Mix and match e.g. take Chinese history and bring it into the present. What would have happened if the US had taken over England instead of the other way around? It gives a certain sense of place and legitimacy if you base it on history. Writers have a tendency to create a lot but you don’t need to include all the detail in your book. You need the backstory for yourself but the reader will get a sense of depth even if you don’t include it all.

• On fantasy word count. It just seems to be genre rule that books are long. Michael’s are only 100 – 160,000 words and actually his publisher has put them together to make them longer.

• On what an author needs to know if they want to make a living as a writer. Don’t write in a vacuum. Learn from other writers and understand the craft. Write a good book, something that you want to read. Don’t write like someone else. Break down the aspects of what you like and write to that. Writing in a genre is also good as it is popular/ commercial. If you want to sell, then you have a market ready for you. Write a series as well because you pick up readers over time. If you want to make a living, you need to be prolific and have a number of books. You also have to market, that’s the reality of the writer’s life these days! If you want people to read it, you need to let people know it’s available.

• Being prolific and writing fast doesn’t mean the quality is bad. Even traditional publishers expect more than one book per year. The number of books you have out there is a huge marketing tool. Self-publishers can do things faster than traditional as you can bypass the overheads. Quality is not reflected in speed. A lot of people are not just writing, people have day jobs so it takes longer. If you’re writing full-time, you can get the words down and out there. Some writers are also polishing forever and never getting the books out there. Quality should be judged on how many people are buying it.

• Life as a pro-writer. Michael writes in the morning as many authors do. Then in the afternoon, he does the admin side/ interviews/chores/blogging/errands etc. A lot of the work is also thinking and that can happen all the time. You do work a lot of hours but people only give you credit for the time typing!

• On publishing. Michael has done self-publishing, small press and mainstream publishing. It depends on what you want for you and your book. Most authors don’t really know what they want. Do you want money and fame? Yes. Do you want absolute control over your book? Yes. Well, you can’t have everything. So decide what you want and go from there. There are pros and cons each way. Michael has to sell a lot more books to make comparatively little money with traditional publishing. But he had already sold a lot through indie so this is a new way to reach people and new goals for the books. He’s getting repeated buzz and access to new opportunities. Michael got his deal through an agent who was able to leverage the existing sales. Showing sales figures meant that the publishers were more interested. I’m interested in this from my own point of view with a series that is selling already.

• I previously interviewed Michael’s wife, Robin Sullivan on 6 figure indie publishing which is another great interview

You can find Michael at his site Riyria.com and his books on Amazon and other online bookstores.

They are fun adventure fantasy books. Two thieves are hired to steal a sword and instead they find the murdered body of the King. The books are their adventures as they find a conspiracy that extends over the course of 6 books.

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Do you write every day? Do you obsess about word count?

Personally, I have word counts for the days I have planned to write fiction and I achieve that word count when I set it. I don’t have word counts on business days. We all have our ways of working and in today’s guest post, author Curtis Hox talks about his.

Here’s a scenario: you’ve finally decided to start a writing project. A novel, of course. Maybe even the great American novel. You sit down and stare at that blank screen. Then what?

Even for many seasoned writers, the fear of starting can cause anxiety. Getting over that anxiety then presents a whole series of obstacles. One, in particular, comes up again and again in writing workshops: how do I find my groove and keep it?

Professionals have been telling us how to write since Aristotle’s Poetics.

A quick look through any fiction writing monograph and you’ll see a plethora of advice . You’ll often hear the ambiguous “Write what you know,” which must seem odd for fantasists, down to Elmore Leonard’s supremely practical ten rules for writing (my favorite: “10. Try to leave out the parts that readers tend to skip”).

I’ll add one more pebble to the mountain of advice. The technique that always, no matter what, helped me was to set a very simple writing schedule for myself and stick to it. No matter what.

I used to use a large paper desk calendar, the type with the big squares (I now use Google calendar). I always gave myself a small word count (i.e. five hundred words) in the beginning.  I would write immediately after I breakfast. I would then sit at my computer until the words came. No internet. No books. Just the blank screen. And the hardest part? You have to stare at it.

I believe there’s something enthralling about this process. Literally. Of course you will often fiddle, play with your keys, toss something up in the air, sing a song, or talk to your dog. But at some point you find yourself staring … and thinking. Then the mind clicks over and an image pops in your head, maybe a scene, some dialog. Something comes and the narrative starts to flow.

Now you’re in it.

Of course, the staring is just a metaphor. My first novel, I spent half the time on the floor tossing a ball up and down. It functioned the same way as staring: it was a mechanism to set my mind right.

When I’m done with the daily session, I write in my calendar how many words I completed for that session. I find that for the first two weeks, it’s rough going. Then, I suddenly am writing for longer than expected. And the word count increases. Of course, if you’re limited to only an hour of writing a session, you’re limited.

I find that if I have the time I can easily hit 2K words a session (usually two words for me). Of course, we all write different types of prose. Some writers have diarrhea mouth and must excise material during revisions. Other like me tend to leave things out and fill in the end.

Bottom line: get your word count in, whatever that number is.

Now, there are plenty of philosophical romantics out there who say this technique is much too machine-like, that true inspiration comes when it comes and you can’t force it. I’d like to hear an Olympic athlete say this on those cold morning when he or she has to get up and go run in the rain. It will sound like the excuse it is.

Writing is exercising the brain. It’s a habit. And it needs to be used. The words you put down may not always be your best. In those instances the writing session is like a free-writing exercise, which does wonders for the subconscious. Amazing insights often bubble up, even if the prose is crap.

Of course, this is a technique to get your butt in a chair and words on a page. I admit it’s a very blue-collar approach. But, hey, if you don’t like sitting in a room by yourself, spinning stories, find something else to do because this gig can, often, is a labor of love.

I scribble contemporary science fantasy novels. I’m interested in the process of indie publishing and writing, plus a whole bunch of technoscience stuff. This article was written for the Creative Penn as part of the 2012 blog tour launch of Bleedover, my debut novel as an indie author. For more information visit www.curtishox.com.

 

In addition to Curtis’ post, here’s some additional information people keep asking me about word count.

How many words is a book?

It’s a terrible answer, but it varies by genre and increasingly by means of publishing. At the top end, fantasy books can weight in at 120,000 – 150,000. Fast paced thrillers like James Patterson can be 70,000 – 90,000. Romance can be 50,000.

Then there’s a novella at 25,000 – 40,000 which is becoming more popular with ebooks.

Remember that your first draft will need editing. Stephen King recommends cutting 10% every edit, so if you want a book of 90,000 words, write 100,000.

What’s the best word count tool for my blog?

I’ve been using this word count tool. It’s easy to use. You just put in your current number and your goal and it gives you some HTML to post on your blog. I use this on the sidebar at my fiction blog JoannaPenn.com (which I am in the middle of a WIP anyway)

What do you think about word count goals and targets?

Top Image: Flickr Creative Commons

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One of the reasons I moved back to London from Australia was the density of cultural treasures in this area of the world.

My muse is European and I find my inspiration in art, architecture and culture. They feature heavily in my novels Pentecost and Prophecy.

London’s National Gallery is currently hosting a Leonardo Da Vinci exhibition; Painter at the Court of Milan and last night I went to see it. As I walked around and read his own words, the similarities between visual art and writing became more apparent.

1) Creation of a idealized world.

Leonardo’s finished paintings were often not direct pictures of the real world. They were improvements or allegories or portrayal of myth and story. Our writing is often the same. We take aspects of the world and knit them together to create hyper-reality, or we twist things, enhance aspects or disguise them. From the words of Leonardo himself, “If the painter wishes to see beauties that would enrapture him, he is master of their production; and if he wishes to see monstrous things…he is their Lord and God…in fact, therefore, whatever there is in the Universe through essence, presence or imagination, he has it first in his mind and then in his hands.”

2) Practice is critical.

I found the practice and study sketches to be the most fascinating part of the exhibition. Leonardo studied anatomy in great detail and sketched parts of the body he was trying to perfect for the finished product. The folded hands, the intricate pattern of the skull, the ermine’s paw – all these are sketched for practice and understanding before the finished work is made. In turn, we must practice aspects of the craft – dialogue, character description, setting, point of view. We practice and then later refine our work for the finished product.

3) Character creation

This quote from Leonardo’s diaries caught my eye. “When you make a figure, think well about what it is and what you want it do and see that the work is in keeping with the figure’s aim and character.” In painting as much as in writing, you have to decide what you want, decide on the way the character will be and then create to that description.

The sketch of the man taken in by gypsies contains five individual characters perfectly portrayed (left). The exhibition also has Leonardo’s tiny diaries there where he wrote out ideas for his designs, he often used words instead of images at the first stages of creation.

4) Use of archetypes

The Last Supper is a triumph of archetypes with Judas in particular being dark-skinned, hook-nosed and clutching a bag of money as the racist stereotype of a betrayer. But archetypes appeal to the human mind, we can instantly hang our thoughts on a pre-existing idea and it helps us understand the depths being portrayed. The saints are often pictured with the instruments of their martyrdom, Sebastian with the arrows for example. I love this language of symbolism and try to weave it into my own writing.

5) Multiple drafts

Drafting for the paintings of Leonardo started with the individual sketches and then culminated in a cartoon. The word is used here to describe a technique where a drawing was covered with pinprick size holes and black chalk then used over the surface in order to create a template on the wall or ceiling or wherever the finished piece would go. The gallery featured the Virgin and Child with St Anne pictured right. This is similar to the drafting and editing process all writers go through to create their own masterpieces, with the cartoon as the almost completed final draft before the finished product.

6) Editing

There’s a lovely sketch of a kneeling angel where Leonardo has drawn the hand in two places, the same arm raised and lowered, in an attempt to see what the picture would look like with either option. This is an aspect of pentimento, an alteration where the painter has changed his mind during composition. This reminded me of the editing process where we change our work to improve it, either by something we see ourselves or what others help us with. The editing process is crucial to create a fantastic finished product.

7) Artist-entrepreneur

Leonardo's academy of artists

Leonardo was famous being a creative polymath – a painter, sculptor, engineer, but he was also an entrepreneur. He was paid for his works and if he didn’t get paid, he sold them elsewhere. The 30 year wait for the payment due for the Virgin of the Rocks is a classic example.

He also had a workshop of artists who did the bulk work for him in order, presumably, to produce more work at a faster pace. I see this in the James Patterson model of writing where he is creative director and has co-writers working with him in order to produce almost a novel a month. Patterson has said “If I’m working with a co-writer, they’ll usually write the first draft. And then I write subsequent drafts”. We may criticize his writing but he is one of the highest earning writers in the world and millions buy his books. All artists must consider money in order to survive and then thrive.

If you enjoyed this, you might also enjoy these posts inspired by art:

• Writing as an emerging sculpture: Inspiration from Michelangelo’s slaves

• 15 ways modern art galleries can inspire writers

Do you find art inspiring?

 

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One day I will go to Burning Man festival, a place where you can be whoever you want to be.

It’s a time of self-expression, self-reliance and art in its myriad forms. Travel and creativity excite me and this is a place where seemingly anything can happen. It inspires the mind and the spirit.

I also feel that this week in January is difficult.

We have had the ecstasy of the holiday period, the over-indulgence. Then we had the exuberance of the new year, the resolutions, the new diet, the goal setting. The first days of the new habits and everything went well. Then something happened and we slipped. We missed a daily writing session, we ate pudding and cheese, we didn’t go to the gym. But we have to keep picking ourselves up and starting again. Each day is a new start.

So I hope this video inspires you. It’s a Burning Man rendition of Dr Seuss’ Oh, the places you’ll go, and has the ups and the downs of the journey as well as some interesting characters.

Does this inspire you again?

Image: Flickr Creative Commons Carnivillain

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