#ROW80 - Health Hurdles

Still sort of in ramping-up mode. There have been some personal hurdles to the start of this year that have forced writing to take a bit of a back seat. My wife's been having some health issues (we don't know a lot right now, which is why I'm being a bit circumspect), so we've been primarily focused on that, as one might expect. I've still been managing to crawl forward, but I suppose I'm glad this has hit me in between projects. Focusing on whole-heartedly on writing right now would be rough. Instead, I'm just doing some casual outlining and research for the next book, and patiently waiting for my editors to finish up. Here's a look at the goals:

• Lesson Learned - Some things are more important than writing. Like your health and the health of your loved ones. As much as I'd like to be pressing forward, it does no one any good to push out crap when your heart is elsewhere.
• Project Progress - I've worked the outline for my next book to the point where I think I'm reading to start writing. I'm going to attempt to do that this week, but I'm going to ratchet down my speed. I was planning to set the goal of one page per day with one day "off" per week. Instead, I'm going to give myself an extra off day, and shoot for just five pages. Even then, if I find I'm not hitting the goal, I may downgrade further next week. The point here is that, while I'm not hard at work, writing is a part of who I am and how I deal with things. It's not going to stop completely... I just have to find the right balance for the current situation (which can and will change weekly).
• Blogging - Writing posts is a bit easier than writing new fiction. It's simply less taxing on the emotions/brain. I can be a little less formal, a little less strict with myself. Thus, I want to keep up with my blogging goals. I may not be as social, but I can still write. It'll keep me practicing. This last week saw me 3/3 on the gaming blog and 3/3 here. I'm going to knock out my personal post when we know what's going on with my wife (since a bunch of my family reads that, and I don't want to scare them unnecessarily). The posts may not all be gems, and my experimental fiction story lines have ground to a halt, but I'm still writing. That's the important part.

Writers write. I've said that here before, and that's really my mantra. People close to me often marvel at the writing output. The concept of putting a novel together baffles them, and I find it hard to shrug off the praise. Yeah, I know it's an achievement, but what only another writer can understand is that... I've always written, and I always will write. I'm not happy unless I'm writing in some form or another. I may not always be fiction. Sometimes it's simply personal journal stuff, or crazy dark poetry, or whatever strikes my fancy. Writers write. It is simply how we relate to the world. To me, being proud of writing is sort of like being proud of breathing. I know that's totally not fair to myself, but it's just hard for me to be confident when someone tells you that "wow, you breathe better than other people." 

On the other hand, I guess people don't really "work" at breathing better (though you could make the case for athletes and training). I definitely work at writing. Most writers do. It's craft as well as an unconscious reflex.

In any case, I wanted to link to Dean Wesley Smith's recent article comparing "Authors" to "Writers." I've always appreciated his definitions of the two. There are subtle differences, but when I say I'm a Writer, to me that's like saying I'm a Catholic Christian, an Athlete, or a Gamer. It's a way of life, an indication of priorities, where I'm happiest. When I say I'm an Author, it's analogous to when I tell people I'm an Engineer. That is the occupation. DWS does a great job of drawing a line in the sand. For now, anyway, I consider myself a writer first and an author second. I hope to remain that way. I think it holds you true to the craft, and will keep you from growing complacent.

And the words keep trickling out...

• Since last check in: 4,586
• New Fiction: 0 (In between projects)
• Round 1 Total: 6,858

Read more

Fates' Motif Magic System

The novel's description starts out with: "A Song for everything, and in everything, a Song." Such is the essence of my magic system, distilled by Renee Swift into a single sentence. Magic users are called muses, and they work melodies in their head in order to have an effect on their surroundings.

Renee also indicates that muses "exist to inspire creation." That is to say, they don't creating something from nothing. Rather, they make use of what already exists - perhaps altering its form or composition - and inspire it to follow the tune the muse plays.

In this first book, we only discover the basics of the magic system. I've taken care that while the system is expansive, it has a rigid set of rules that impose logical limitations. I'm sort of learning from the great Brandon Sanderson here, as I've always admired his magic systems (especially in the Mistborn series). I remember reading a quotation from him concerning magic systems where he was responding to a bit of criticism concerning using magic "rules." Isn't magic, after all, supposed to be about going beyond petty rules? Brandon responded something along the lines that it's his rules that facilitate him in making the magic truly magical. In exploring and pushing the boundaries that he set up, he makes the magic both understandable and amazing. I've attempted to follow the same sort of pattern in my own system.

The key is, magic users have to be clever. They can't just wave a wand and have all their problems solved... yet they can use magic to solve their problems. One of the dangers in writing any fantasy story with magic lies in using magic as a crutch to get your characters out of tight spots. Yet, playing with magic is the fun part, in my opinion, so it becomes a delicate balance.

Having a musical base, I think my magic system develops an intuitive feel. You don't have to have been a muse to understand what they're doing. I borrow a bit from my gaming background here, and use one of my favorite games to help me conceptualize. In Ocarina of Time, Link plays on an instrument (the Ocarina) to cast his spells. In Fates' Motif, the instrument isn't corporeal, rather more of a mental visualization. Each muse, therefore, can have his or her own unique instrument (or not, as the situation warrants). Some instruments may find certain songs easier to play than others. Some may have more carry, or more precise notes. A true virtuoso would likely be able to construct just about any song on their visualized instrument. Similarly, it takes practice for a novice to improve.

Simple concepts have simple notes. Singing a tongue of flame, for instance, out of air isn't completely difficult for a beginner. Fire is a pretty simple concept. Trying to sing a tree into existence, on the other hand, is pretty complicated. There's a lot that goes into a tree, and it has to work... that is, live.  Modifying an existing piece of wood (especially not living)? Now that's a bit easier.

Additionally, a melody can only carry a finite distance, depending on the medium, as you might expect. Hurling a fireball is a bit difficult in my system, especially over a great distance. The further you get from the instrument, the softer the noise. Unless, that is, you happen to have an amplifier, or have anchored the tune in something that'll hold the notes. But we're getting a bit advanced now.

The magic system was a lot of fun to play with, and write within. Who doesn't like playing with magic? I believe that enjoyment shows in the novel. There's obviously a lot more to discover in future novels, but I like to think that the basics of this system will seem pretty intuitive to even the the most casual fantasy reader. I didn't want to construct a huge, complicated system that leaves you making diagrams and scratching your head. Rather, I wanted the reader to feel that they could create magic right along with our characters. Hopefully, I succeeded.

Read more

QotD: Your Favorite Love Triangle?

I finished with my rough outline for the second book in the Spirit Binder Series. As you may have guessed from the title, I'm going to attempt a love triangle. Well, okay, it may not be a proper triangle. It's sort of my paranormal twist on the triangle. At least, I think. Stories do have a way of taking on a life of their own. We'll see.

Anyway, I wanted to write a quick Question of the Day here: What is your favorite love triangle? Title and author in comments... go!

A lot of writers read books about writing. Generally, I have a low tolerance for "how to" books. I've always learned better by experience than by reading about it. The cool part about writing is that, um... you learn by, ah... reading. That is to say, while reference books on writing are neat and all, you can learn just as much by exposing yourself to stories, glorious stories! To some extent, you need to know what to look for, but I've found that the more I write, the more I learn, the more I notice. Which only makes sense if you think about it.

The point is just that I don't feel like I need to subject myself to boring writing books. (I'll grant you that there are good ones, and plenty that are non-boring either... it's a personal thing, promise. I've just never been a nonfiction guy.) Instead, if I'm going to write a fantasy fight scene, I go to my buddy who is a big fantasy reader and ask: What's the best fight scene you can remember, top of your head. Then, I go read that book.

So yes, my QotD here has underlying motives. I'm going to be delving into the steamy world of relationship polygons. It's not going to be as cliche as you might think, promise, but I figure learning as much as I can ahead of time doesn't hurt. I mean, you have to at least be aware of the cliches if you're going to avoid them, right?

So, off the top of your head, dear reader, do you have a favorite? Or, conversely, a least favorite? Something that, should I do it, would make you feed the book to your ravenous pet rabbit. (Seriously, public service announcement: don't leave books where rabbits can get them). Let me know. I'd love to learn. Bonus points if you have a short story. You know, for a quicker lesson.

Read more

Fates' Motif Description

I mentioned yesterday that I've been finalizing the blurb for Fates' Motif. I wanted to share what I've got today. It's short and simple, which seems to be a trend among fantasy books. I find that funny given the average length of such works, but I now understand why. Fantasy can be complicated, and it's as much about discovery and world building as plot (sometimes)... you don't want to give away too much. It made me feel like I was being all mysterious and such, but there are worse ways to feel about a blurb. I also end it with a question, which I think of as a somewhat "cheap trick," but I suppose I'm not above such conventions. Okay, okay, enough hedging. Here it is:

“A Song for everything, and in everything, a Song. Muses exist to inspire creation, Sharee. It's what we do.” – Renee Swift

Werim and Sharee Swift, teenage siblings living in an idyllic mountain village, have known nothing but the sweet song of peace. When that melody is destroyed and their mother slain by an invading dark Warlord, they discover that growing up can be a discordant tune. Escaping to find a nation steeped in turmoil, the two must learn to play their own song as counterpoint to the clangor of war. Will they grow to embrace their inner power, or be silently swept away by the savage horde?

~ + ~ 

Fates’ Motif is a full-length fantasy adventure, the first installment of a new series from author Matt Hofferth.

What do you think? Enough? Too much? Would you read this book?

Read more

#ROW80 - Just Starting Off

I'll be super-brief today, since this is only really "day two" for me. I just got my goals together yesterday (after coming out of Christmas semi-hibernation), so there's not really progress to report. I'll set up the format and pop this in the Linky for grins. If you're interested in stopping by, look for me on Wednesdays. I'm a weekly checker-inner. Here's where my goals stand in the last day:

• Lesson Learned - I missed the comforting presence of ROW80 while we took our end-of-the-year week off. Having something long-term that you're working toward (and tracking) is a good feeling. Without that, I spaz a bit and feel lost.
• Project Progress - I started outlining my next project and also worked on the description for the manuscript that is with my editors right now. I'll share that tomorrow and start doing character closeups for it soon.
• Blogging - Getting back in the swing. Since it's not really a full week, there's nothing to track here, but I did have 1 post on each blog yesterday, and one on each today. Go me.

That's it. Short, as promised. Oh, and we'll end with the word count (even though it's for just the day), as usual:

• Since last check in: 2,272
• New Fiction: 0 (In between projects)
• Round 1 Total: 2,272

Read more

#ROW80 - Round 1 Goals

Ahhh! I missed the start date. Sorry, was afk. Back now. Joining up as I write this. Linkies to go in the Linky upon hitting the publish button. I will be here! I will lurk and comment as much as I can. Definitely excited to be a part of this and... WOW look at all those entries. So. Many. Writers. Good luck to all! Want more info on the challenge? Check out Kait Nolan's Round 1 kick-off post here. I love her description of the "Test Mile" and it is a concept I regularly abuse when setting my own goals.

That in mind, here are my Round 1 goals:

• Publish Fates' Motif - That means an editing gauntlet at some point. It's out in my editors' and betas' hands right now. It'll be back when it gets back. I'd love to have this out by the end of the month, but I refuse to rush it just for the sake of rushing it.
• Begin my next project - Tentatively titled "The Binder's Husband," it is the second in my Spirit Binder Series. I need to get an outline going, and that's my goal for this week, to start (and maybe finish) that endeavor.
• Keep learning - I always try to publish one lesson learned each week. Could be a writing lesson or a publishing lesson, or maybe even a life lesson. Just as long as I'm learning and improving. That's the over-riding goal around here. Even if I muck up the smaller goals, so long as I'm learning something from the experience, it isn't a loss.
• When editing, outlining, and generally not "writing," the goal will be to spend at least an hour each day, with one day off per week. When in writing mode, the goal is to write at least a page per day, with one day off per week. This pace has typically served me well in the past.
• With blogging, the goal is to write three posts per week here, and three on my gaming blog, per week. I'll try to throw some experimental fiction in here as well. Also, I have a personal blog that I want to check in at once per month.
• At the end of it all, I'll throw in a cumulative word count just for grins. I'm not a big word count guy, prioritizing quality over quantity, but it's good to know if your methods are paying off, if you're sticking with it, and a word count is a good (if arbitrary) measure of that. After all, the essence of being a writer is putting thoughts into words. I won't have a goal of x words per day or whatever, but I like to look back and realize how many words I did type. I think its proven encouraging. Last year, in two rounds of 80, I racked up 130,472 words. Good times.
• I'll be checking in on Wednesdays. Sundays tend to be my day off, and, having weekly goals, it makes sense for me. So don't look for me so much on the weekends, but rather count on Hump Day for me to poke my head up and ROW a bit.

That's all for now. Wednesday is already threatening at the door. I'd better get started!

Read more

Happy Holidays

Not sure how much I'll be around this week, but wanted to pass along a (belated for one) Happy Holidays to you and yours from us here at OTJW. It's been a great year here, one which saw me embark on this whole writing journey, and I want to thank those of you that have already hopped on for the ride. Here's hoping 2012 is a good one. I've been playing a lot of Star Wars (The Old Republic) lately and I posted this picture on my other site, but thought it was still appropriate here. Some fireworks from the end of Return of the Jedi (my favorite of the movies, and I <3 fireworks):

Don't celebrate too hard and, like, topple statues of emperors or anything.

 (Edit: Fixed the image. Apparently the old one was removed.)

Read more

#ROW80 - Final 2011 Round Wrap-up

Ironically, today is also my last day at the Day Job for the year. There's going to be a big, drunken celebration tonight, let me tell ya. It'll probably just be me, my wife and video games. Crazy, I know. But our Christmas shopping is done, we both have tomorrow off, we don't have to travel until the evening, and my latest project is in editors' hands. It really is vacation time for me. Which, as a writer, means thinking about your next project, maybe a little light outlining, and, my personal favorite, blurb writing. Gah, I hate writing blurbs.

Anyway, today wraps up the second round of ROW80 that I've participated in, and the fourth round in this inaugural year. It's been a great ride, and I've met some other great people (and great writers!) through the challenge. I don't have as much time as I'd like to be social, click around, comment, etc, but I still feel like I get a lot out of ROW. I may not be the most worldly writer, but I have to believe that for the time spent, you get more back through ROW in terms of connections, advice, and inspiration (not to mention support of "the lifestyle") than any other challenge. It's just a great group of folks, really doing it right.

So yeah, I'll be here next year, ROWing along. Let's take a quick look at what ROW has helped me accomplish both in this round and this year:

• Lessons Learned - Once a week, for 160 days, I've posted a lesson I've learned. Some are writer oriented, some personal, but the big takeaway here is that I'm constantly improving, one week at a time. Slow and steady wins the race.
• WIP Progress - I published my first book, started a second project, and finished it this year. ROW chronicled the words as they ticked off. More on this in a bit, but this goal has always been the meat of my involvement in the challenge. The aim is to make writing a daily thing. I would call it a job, but I hate that word. I'm certainly approaching it that way, with daily objectives, and a long term plan, but it's something I enjoy doing. Thus, it doesn't feel like a "real job"  most to the time, though I have started to tell people that it is "like a second job." Self-publishing is a legit endeavor, and people are starting to recognize it, at least in my life.
• Blogging - Really, this is my social media of choice. I try to do Facebook and Twitter as I can, but I'm a blogger at heart. I've consistently posted on two blogs this year (including this one), keep a monthly online journal, and started a third blog for the football program I volunteer for. That's a lot of writing. It's not always as formal as my projects, but I maintain that anything that forces you to squeeze big ideas into written language is going to you improve as a writer.
• Those were my three big goals that I tracked each week. Some ancillary things that happened: I got my book reviewed by two book bloggers. Hardly a tour, I know, but a big step for me as I wasn't sure what to expect. I anticipate contacting a lot more book bloggers (salt of the earth, these folks!), but I want to get a few more books out first.
• I formed a partnership program with a fellow author. This wasn't really through ROW, but I'm not sure I would have had the confidence to do it without the weekly support here.
• I participated in a giveaway. Two if you count one of my book blogger reviews. But huge thanks to Nadja for her 12 Days of Christmas giveaway. It was fun and exciting to be a part of.
• Oh yeah, I formed my own small business. Sometimes I think we indies overlook that. To start out, we have to get tax IDs (and I'm a bit anxious about filing this year) and a whole bunch of other junk that legit businesses have to do. We even got my first book officially recognized by the Federal Copyright Office. I never anticipated being a small business owner, but, well, I guess I am now. We're totally small potatoes, but its definitely something I think is cool.

So yeah, it was a pretty good year. Sometimes it's hard for me to be patient; I wish I were doing all this as my Day Job now. Still, this was my first year going down this indie road, and it's been a productive one. ROW80 played no small part in all of this. Setting goals, working toward them weekly... well the achievements start to rack up without you even realizing it. I see great things in the future for this group of writers, and I'm proud to be a part of it.

I forgot last week, but generally I end with word counts. I stick them at the end because I don't use them to measure my progress, as you can see from above. However, after focusing on your real goals, it can be exciting to see how that translates into actual words written. Most challenges are fueled by word counts (not ROW), but I suppose I hope by showing the underlying count, that I'm proving how well this challenge actually works. Anyway, I'll end, as usual, with the counts:

• Since last check in (two weeks): 8,657
• Round 4: 61,097
• Grand Total (two rounds):  130,472

It all adds up.

Read more

Another Cheater Post

Tomorrow is the last day of #ROW80 Round 4. Thus, the check-in is delayed for a day, leaving me this Wednesday open. I'm going to cheat again though, and link a post I wrote elsewhere. This time, it was on the blog I run for the football team that I volunteer for. I think it's worth a read, as I'm giving a bit of a holiday history lesson to our players. It is also one of my favorite Christmas stories: the 1914 Christmas Truces. A poignant conjunction of sports, holiday spirit, and war. Check it out here.

Read more

On KDP Select

One of the more interesting announcements recently in the world of both writing and reading was the whole KDP Select program. I caught it via The Passive Guy. The gist here is that Amazon is setting aside a chunk of money to pay to authors who take part in their premium lending program. It strikes me as sort of a private library. That is, people who pay to be Amazon Prime members have access to free books through Amazon that they can "check out" and read. Amazon then tallies the number of downloads and divvies up the cash accordingly.

Sounds great, right? Free books for readers, money for authors. All our bases are covered. But what's the catch? There's always a catch, am I right?

In this case, Amazon is requiring exclusive rights to the book for 90 days (or more). Yep, that means in order to participate in this program, one would need to take down the book from any other competing sites (Barnes and Noble, Apple's iBookstore, Smashwords, you name it). So great for Kindle owners and those that use the MOBI format... EPUBers are out of luck.

I could see where this could be a nice program, but it just doesn't seem worth it from where I'm sitting. Let's be honest, my book isn't going to be compete with the Pattersons of the world in terms of lending power. My slice of the pie would be very small indeed. The exposure would be nice, certainly, but I have to believe there are going to be enough takers (a lot of people are already exclusive with Amazon) that the slices are going to be pretty small to begin with, and I'm just not that popular.

There's also the little side note that I like other retailers. I have a Nook myself. I feel like part of my job as a self-publisher is to make sure my readers have access to my book on any platform they choose to read it on. This exclusivity thing flies in the face of all that. Makes sense for Amazon, but for me? I just don't see it.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for lending. I say so in the front of my books. Sharing is encouraged. I've talked about how I have no problem giving away free copies as well. I simply ask that you consider supporting the authors you like so that we can devote more time to the endeavor. I wish the devices that were out there today made it easier to lend books, but I understand why that scares publishers. It's the same fear they have with "piracy." Personally, I'm just happy folks are reading my book. If I've done my job well enough, asking for $5 shouldn't be that much. I don't care whether you read the book for free first and then buy a copy out of appreciation later or something. The only concern I have is using retailers that facilitate a relatively simply transaction and allow me to track my sales.

If I were designing a Reader's Best Friend E-reading Device, I think it'd be neat if you could "friend" other readers. Like how we do on Facebook or Google+. You could have a friend's list on your e-reader (think of chatting possibilities!) and have reading groups. Books could be passed between friends (just like we all used to do with physical copies). Copies don't scare me, but perhaps to make it fair for authors, it could move the digital copy from one device to the next (via wifi, of course) so that, in reality, only one person is reading the book at a time. That would put it on par with a paperback, right?

Until we have such a device, though, I'll try to use what is out there in the best, most reader-friendly ways I can. E-readers are still young. They have some changes to go through, I think, before they become staples in the literary world. I'm willing to be patient, but what I'm not willing to do is get "exclusive" with one retailer unless I'm assured that my readers aren't hurt. I don't think I can confidently claim that about the current iteration of the KDP Select program. If you would like to "borrow" my book, shoot me an email. No need to pay for Amazon Prime. (Unless you want the free shipping and that other junk, of course. :-p)

Read more

Cheating Monday Post

I'm going to cheat today and link my own post on my other blog. I wrote it with gaming in mind, but anyone who has ever been to a car dealership can probably relate and find a smile in the anecdote. It was pretty much the Worst Quest Ever, making it great Monday post fodder.

I'll be back for reals tomorrow. Hopefully my calves will loosen up. Did a bunch of moving for my mother over the weekend... stairs are my new arch enemy. I feel motivated to write a story where stairs somehow factor in as a villain are and subsequently destroyed in Michael Bay-ian fashion. You know, with giant explosions and debris.

Have a great Monday.

Read more

#ROW80 - Price Experiment

Sales were pretty "blah" again last month.  Yesterday I wrote about being patient, and I'm terrible at taking my own advice.  Like I said in that post, I believe my monthly average of sales is just fine, and probably will be for another six months (even if I sell nothing).  The real next step, then, is to simply get another book out.  There have been a lot of experiments out there, but one general rule of thumb has held: the best promotion for a new writer is to get more books up.  Unless you hit it really lucky, one book is not going to carry you.  I think a good goal is to aim for five or six before you really contemplate any effects on your day job.

Speaking of goals, let's take a quick look at mine before I detail my experiment...

• Lesson Learned - Average sales of ~12 books per month for the first 5 months of a career, doing minimal promotion, and having only one book up... is really not bad at all (though it feels like it some days).  It can be hard to be patient at times, since obviously I wish I had the sales to support leaving a day job behind, but the thing that separates "real" writers from fad chasers is going to be what you do in the long haul.  It's pretty simple for writers: writers write. Five years from now, I'll still be writing. I enjoy sharing stories too much to quit.  Maybe I'll always have a day job, but I'll also always be writing in one way or another. It's not a matter of "if" I'll succeed.  In sharing my first story, I already have.  It's just a matter of when the rest of the cosmic balance wants to acknowledge that.
• WIP Editing - I knocked off 8/10 chapters this week. I only have two left to finish by the end of the week, so I'm in good shape.  Everything runs slow (including me) around the holidays, so I've already decided to give myself a bit of a pass.  The book will likely be launched shortly after the first of the year. Not a bad time to be launching.  I'm missing Christmas, but it'll take people a few weeks to figure out where the power button their new Kindles are anyway, right? :-)
• Blogging - Since I'm in editing mode (and thus not writing new fiction), it's more important than ever to keep up with the blogging goal.  After all, this is my only writing practice each day now.  I was 4/3 on the gaming blog, and this will make 4/3 here.  I also have a personal post ready to go (I just need to throw it up)... so this has been the bright spot.  Most of my writing has been a bit "writer-centric," but I'm not sure I can help it while wearing my editing hat.  I'll get back to fiction and character close-ups once I can don the creative cap again, though I may start with the close-ups sooner.

Okay, so I'm good on the goals.  Short on some, ahead on others, but generally still progressing to where I want to be.  Patience, Matt, Patience.

Which brings us back to the pricing experiment.  I recently read an article regarding pricing on JA Konrath's blog.  The gist of it was that there may perhaps be a bit of a stigma at both the 99 cent price mark, and the $2.99 price mark.  Basically, some jokers with poor quality have ruined it for the rest of us.  Readers, when they get burned, generally don't put their hand back on the stove, it seems.  Can't blame them for that (though different tolerances for heat abound).

Point being, some people have reported seeing sales increases by raising prices.  Yes, raising.  Seems counter-intuitive, but to a psychology hobbyist, it makes sense.  I completely understand the "Starbucks theory" as laid out in the article.  As such, it seemed a good idea for me to raise the price on my book from $2.99 to $4.99.

Sounds crazy, and maybe it is, but I had this rationalization in mind: I've spent $5 (or more) on a couple of candy bars in order to support things before.  And I can promise you, those candy bars brought me a whole lot less entertainment and enjoyment than a novel.  Perhaps I'm biased, because I love books (plus they're better for me than candy bars), but I don't think $5 is a ridiculous price.  The writing may be from a learning author, but the formatting and copy-editing is on par with any professional book out there right now, even the >$10 ones (some of which I've found a plethora of errors in).  In other words, this is still a steal, as I see it, and I certainly didn't want to give the impression of a low quality book.  You can say what you want about the writing, but I'm supremely confident about the formatting.  These tools are right up my engineering alley.

Also, a big part of my marketing plan is to offer a lot of ways to get the book for free.  I'm all for giveaways and partnerships.  I'm not concerned at all about piracy.  I see the "pay" feature more as a way of a reader being able to say "yes, I want this guy to keep writing, and here's my $5 vote."  If you're unsure, or didn't think it was worth $5... well I believe Amazon lets you return books for a full refund.  Also, all you really need to do is send me an email and I'll basically give you a book for free to try.  I detail several ways under that Special Offers page linked up there, and one of them is simply: free e-book for an honest review on Amazon/Goodreads/Whatever.  Anyone can take advantage of that.  And it doesn't even have to be particularly insightful (though I'm enormously thankful for those that take the time).

So I don't see the increase as a hurdle or an attempt to gouge anyone (and I hope no one sees it that way, either).  Instead, I see it as a vote of confidence by me in the quality of the offering.  And trust me, that confidence is hard won.  Confidence isn't something that comes naturally to a writer.  

At the end of the day, this is just an experiment.  I'll let you guys know how it goes.  If there are complaints, if sales dry up further (I'm not sure how they can), I can always move it back.  It's yet another perk of Indie Publishing (this flexibility of pricing).  Why not exercise it?  Especially when I plan to offer deals and freebies for just about any reason.

Heck, I'll even throw a new offer up at the bottom of that page of mine.  Merry Christmas: Free e-book if you simply convince me that you love to read.  Could be a picture or an anecdote, whatever.  I think reading is awesome, and want to support that.  I don't want a price tag turn potential readers away, whether it be too much or too little.

Read more

DWS: "Go Have Fun"

Here's a little bit of inspiration from career author Dean Wesley Smith:

And it drives me nuts when a writer who has sold a hundred copies of a novel in a month on Kindle alone thinks that’s bad. Stop comparing yourself to other writers and just do the long-term math on your own sales. Those other writers who sold more aren’t writing, but promoting anyway, and will be gone shortly. You can beat them by simply keeping writing and producing more product and becoming a better storyteller.

And then...

So stop being in such a hurry and focus on writing great stories. If you do that and just keep going, the money will come. And when it does, it will surprise you because all you have been caring about is the writing. Also, not thinking about sales all the time, not checking your numbers all the time, and focusing on only telling stories is a ton more fun. Go have fun.

Like I've said from the start, my goal in this endeavor is to learn and improve as a writer and storyteller.  It's hard sometimes to not be in a hurry, especially when sales drop off to around one (1) book per month.  But there were also better months, and I've really sold 61 books over 5 months.  That's around 12 books per month.  If I'm going by Dean's napkin math (and hes' a pretty smart guy), well then I'm ahead of the game.  I may be no blockbuster, but five years from now, if I keep writing and learning... I should be in good shape.  And that's the point here.  You don't have to be a blockbuster to succeed as a writer.

Every month it's like rolling the dice. Maybe this will be the big one, maybe the book will take off. But even if you don't win the literary lottery, you've still got a book out there, and that's something.  I can't wait to add my second book to the portfolio.  Then a third, and a fourth.  They all buoy each other up, and eventually I'll be able to float.  It's just the waiting that's the hardest part (thanks Tom Petty).

You have to ask yourself: is it worth it?  Writing, creating, self-publishing... it's a lot of work.  But I don't think many of us look at it as work.  It's something I'd be doing anyway (at least he writing part). So, if a 5 year plan sweetens the plot, then so much the better.

I keep numbers because it's smart business.  We need to keep our expenses in line with our expenditures.  Otherwise, I do my best to ignore them.  Some months it's harder than others, some days it's harder than others (like, when you have the inevitable everything-I-touch-is-crap day), but if you believe in the craft and yourself, then you're in this for the long haul.  Dean's right: focusing on telling stories is way more fun than worrying about money.  I mean, I have a day job for that.

Read more

Armchair Publishing: A Small Rant

In the spirit of curmudgeonly-ness (from last week and 'cuz it's Monday)... if anyone wants to know the main reason why I chose to go Indie, read this article from The Passive Guy. In particular, the following quotations are what make the decision simple.

"Just so we’re clear, if the Twilight query had gone to an experienced agent at Writers House instead of a newbie, the experienced agent would have turned it down cold. Stephenie was very lucky a publishing “expert” didn’t review her new product idea."

And then...

"In any field other than publishing, a well-run business that missed a JK or Stephenie idea would have tracked down the people who failed to see the potential in the idea, fired them and completely re-worked the query processing system so an error of that magnitude would never happen again."

I've experienced this first hand in my day job.  Sometimes people aren't fired, but the process is re-processed constantly. It actually is somewhat of a joke among engineers because we routinely try to find any way to shirk the cumbersome process (at great risk of getting slapped with a poor performance review, which equals no raise... as if they need an excuse). Point being: the traditional publishing business model is really ineffective.

I don't like to just lobby criticism without offering a possible solution (armchair quarterbacking being what it is), so here's my idea. Ebooks and Indie publishing provide a great avenue for pre-published publishing. That is, if you're a new writer, you can get started sharing and learning right away, without waiting for the ancient process to grind you up in its gears and spit you out.

Traditional publishers need to get out of the query cycle and start being more proactive. Make editors into "talent scouts." I have to believe their experience counts for something. Chase after the small-scale successes. Get rid of the slush and take to the Indie piles. How many ballplayers do baseball scouts look at before they find the next All-star? It still wouldn't be perfect, but I have to believe it'd be better.  Meanwhile, we can be out there honing our game instead of honing our query-ability.

Waiting on writers to come to you is such a passive way of doing business.  I would think everyone would benefit (readers, writers, editors) from being more active.  But, I'm not a seasoned pro or anything, so what do I know?

Read more

Art vs Functionality

I'm not going to pretend that I'm superbly qualified to give writing advice; I'm not. I'm still learning. I fully admit that. But there is one issue I've come across recently that I thought may be worth sharing. It may be a bit unique to my engineering point of view.

Engineers design things. (Derp, I know). In my case, I work in the automotive industry for a day job. I'm not a designer, per see, but rather a tester.  My job is to design tests that break the design. (It sounds more impressive than it really is.  Or maybe doesn't sound impressive at all, I don't know). The point here is simply that it's my job to look critically at designs.

There exists a fundamental disconnect between designs and users. We try really hard to bridge that gap, but it's always there.  The problem is that designers inherently have a deep understanding of whatever they're creating, and the user doesn't.  What may seem simple and elegant to a designer can be completely frustrating to an end user. Were the designer sitting in the passenger seat, he'd be all like: "No, you dolt. Simply push the secret button... here, let me do it. See how that blends in there and looks sharp?" And the user would blink and say: "Well, that was harder than it needed to be."

If you've ever wondered about the pull out drink trays that put a GIANT DRIVE-THRU SODA right smack in front of the temperature control dials... you've seen this phenomenon in action.  That one got through because the designer said: "Awesome, I can make this slide in just so, and save tons of space (thereby saving $$, which got the okay of the higher-ups) and sliding things are cool.  Everyone loves secret compartments.  It looks so slick when closed, and functional when open. What a winner!"

I've come across a similar thing in my writing.  I'll construct this perfect, descriptive sentence. It flows. It works. It's showing and not just telling. It makes me feel like I'm not FailAuthor. And then the betas get a hold of it.

"What is this monstrosity?" they cry. "I'm totally lost here."

Fie! How did this happen? B-but, the sentence is so... beautiful. How can you not marvel at the sheer elegance of it?

"It doesn't work."

Those are the words I dread to hear as a storyteller. As an artist, I could give two flying figs. It's my art. I get it, that's what matters. But as a storyteller, words are your cup holders. They're what you're designing, first and foremost, to perform a function. And when they don't work, even if they're pretty, you're guilty of letting the art get in the way of the function.  Sometimes, we forget that we need to be designers first and artists second. We get so lost in the art of what we're doing, that we fail the functionality check.

As a daytime test engineer, I'm especially sensitive to the testing of my beta readers. That's exactly how I look at it, too. I've painstakingly designed a product over the course of a year or so, and now I'm asking someone else to try and break it. I want them to go through and rip open the plot holes, sending me the story back on blue screen.  In the end, that's what's best for the story and the end user (the reader).  And sadly, sometimes art has to suffer for the sake of functionality.

Perhaps, as I learn and improve my ability, I'll be able to merge art and functionality more fluidly. I would say that's the hallmark of a master. In the meantime, I think it's best to err on the side of functionality. Because every time I slap my medium million ounce beverage (my stars, can you image what a large must look like?) in that annoying cup holder, and THEN try to reach for the temp controls... I want to punch a designer in the face. As an author, I really don't want to be punched by a reader. Honestly, if it ever comes to that, I should probably hang up the pen.

Read more