I apologize for the research I didn’t put into yesterday’s quote-fest. I may have been on cold medication. I may still be.
This is the part where I try to remember what my goals were for this round. I’ll be right back, and then we’ll see how things are going.
*disappears in a poof of smoke*
Treat writing like a business
Hmm… I’ve made a plan for 2014, does that count? One that involves releasing not one but two novels, drafting a third, and starting something new for next year’s NaNoWriMo. I’ve also set up a mailing list for newsletters and bonus content. In fact, there’s a short story (just under 5,000 words) nearly set to go out to my first subscribers (so if you haven’t signed up, click here to get on it!). So I’d say I’m definitely making progress, there.
Other aspects of this, like not being distracted during work hours, are going less well. I was supposed to be working last night, and this happened instead:
Slightly more appropriate than an actual photo of Miley.
NaNoWriMo
Done, as of a few weeks ago. And as of yesterday afternoon, my draft is DONE. And hooooo-leeeeeee carp, the things that happened at the end! People did things. The earth moved. People died. AND THEN THE OTHER THING HAPPENED. I hope it doesn’t piss anyone off. I think it’s delicious, myself.
This book is 20,000 words shorter than the first one in the trilogy… we’ll see how that works out. I believe that the word count should usually fit the story, not the other way around. And it’s still over 80,000 words, placing it squarely in the range I’m aiming for. Still, I’m trying to whittle the first book down a bit.
Reading
Ugh, still bad. I’m a bad beta reader and a bad human being. I finished reading and got big notes out (yay!), but haven’t figured out the rest of my notes yet. Problem is, on the Kobo all I can seem to do is mark pages. This means that I have to go back now and try to remember why I marked those pages. Next time, I keep a notepad handy. *headdesk*
I’m reading The Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss. It’s seems to be the book everyone talks about when it comes to big names/titles in Fantasy. Well, that and The Wheel of Time, but I seriously don’t have the attention span for long series. My brain is broken.
Other Projects
I haven’t done anything with these. My time is limited, my focus even more so. I can only spread myself so thin.
So there we go- the most thorough update I’ve done this round. Some stuff has fallen by the wayside, but I think the things that are on-track are quite exciting, and I’m pleased with that.
Your turn! What are you up to? Are you finding that the holiday season is cramping your style when it comes to the other things you’re trying to accomplish?
Yesterday, I spent an afternoon struggling with getting this thing set up, trying two different services on for size (MailChimp and Mad Mimi), and digging the wrinkle-of-confusion between my eyebrows ever deeper. Technological stuff? Web design? HTML? I might as well be an amoeba trying to understand algebra. I can’t even format a manucript in Word.
Even with templates, MailChimp is beyond me. The site’s just too confusing for my poor, magic-addled brain.
It ain’t happening. We’re going with the more user-friendly Mad Mimi, at least until MailChimp becomes vastly more cost-effective.*
Why a newsletter, you ask, and why would you want to subscribe? Because I have fun stuff to share! Newsletter subscribers will be the first to receive news on upcoming releases, will have access to sneak-peeks not available anywhere else (even here, sorry!), price promotions, invites to cover reveals, contests, bonus content and more.
Newsletters will only come out three or four times a year, plus a bonus mailing a few weeks before a book launch featuring said previews, etc. I don’t want to spam, I just want to connect and offer some extra value to friends, family and everyone else who’s been kind enough to show interest in my work.
So… shall we try this? I promise nothing. This link might not take you to a sign-up form at all.
Did I do it right? More importantly, did I spell my own name correctly?
If you want to find out, and join in on the fun, click here (or up there) and add your name and e-mail address. It’s that simple!
For you, anyway. *grumble grumble*
So tell me: What would you like to see in a newsletter? What would make you excited to open an e-mail? What would make you want to delete one without reading?
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*Cost footnote: This would happen around 10,000 subscribers. I have trouble imagining getting to that number, so it’s not an issue for now.
I usually try to avoid taking “selfies” (and if selfie isn’t the most grating currently-popular word other than “twerk,” I don’t know what is). Why? For the same reason I don’t vlog.
Cameras hate me.
I know what I look like, and when I look in the mirror, I usually like what I see. I can attempt to take a picture of myself for my facebook profile, and everything looks fine until I press that button. Hair’s good, skin looks decent, nothing too gruesome.
And THEN.
Then I push the button, and my phone destroys my image like it’s not only stolen my soul, but mangled it and spit it out along with the abstract art it shoves at me, laughing.
Okay, I suppose it’s possible that I only think this because my face is asymmetrical (particularly my jaw and that one droopy eyelid), and though I’m used to seeing that in the mirror, a photo reverses these imperfections and makes me notice them. Possible, yes, but that doesn’t explain why dents and wrinkles and moronic expressions show up that weren’t there before. I still lean toward some sort of conspiracy, or a personal vendetta on the part of my phone.
I’M SORRY I DROPPED YOU, OKAY?
Ugh.
Anyway, video’s not much better. I keep a post-it note plastered over the camera on my laptop, just in case anyone can see my writing face, which I assume looks like this:
It’s a public service.
All of this is to say that I did take a picture of myself yesterday after my shower.
Um… there’s a slight possibility that I need a haircut. Annnnd I look a bit like Hagrid, with my full and lustrous beard. And I look like I’m terrified that the hair is eating me alive. And it’s a bit washed out.
But guys, this is the best self-photo I’ve ever taken. I’m gonna use it everywhere. Probably as my author photo for like, books and stuff. THE READERS, THEY SHALL FLOCK TO ME.
*cough*
*crickets*
Dang.
So: Are you a big fan of “selfie” culture? Do you perceive people who take a lot of them as being self-centred (full disclosure: I do think that, but I’m still jealous of people who look good in them)? Do you find selfies taken at funerals and the sites of historical tragedies as asinine as I do? Do you understand why girls think duck lips look sexy, and can you explain it to me? Are you camera shy? Do cameras do horrible things to you, or are you so photogenic that we can’t be friends anymore? Discuss!
Correction: THIS is the best selfie I ever took. But it was 2 years ago, so I don’t think I should use it for anything now.
It’s a long story involving me making fun of selfies and then laughing for about 10 minutes straight. You probably had to be there.
That thing asking for thoughts on piracy? Forget it. Other people have written better posts on the topic, and when I disagree with them it’s all my own opinion, which at this point counts for very little.
So in a way that was a waste of 3,000 words today, but I feel like by drafting the posts, I understand my own feelings on the subject better. And words are words. Experience. Not a total loss. I needed a break from fiction, anyway 🙂
(But seriously, why can’t my fiction output be as efficient as my blog output?)
Melinda Atlas pointed out that it’s a topic that’s everywhere right now, and she’s right. Though I wanted to look at why people do it (and why I agree/disagree, and alternative approaches) rather than why OMG IT’S BAD STOP IT or SOMEBODY DO SOMETHING, there’s already enough of that out there. Instead, I’d like to compile a list of interesting reads on the topic, with your help.
First, Chuck Wendig (a post which Melinda also reminded me about). Why does he get to be first? Because I adore his blog. The man is brilliant. He has turned crass language into an art form, but he’s actually incredibly encouraging and far less of a hard-ass than some people on publishing topics. And HAVE YOU SEEN THAT MAGNIFICENT BEARD?!
Also, he covers a lot of issues I wanted to discuss with y’all, more succinctly and humorously than I could. So go read this. I agree completely that people have reasons for illegally downloading books, though I was going to add a few to the list. I also agree that artists deserve to get paid for their work, consistently, even if that’s a dream that just ain’t gonna come true.
Check out the comments, too, in which people address other arguments like the “it’s no worse than a library/borrowing a book” issue, and his Why I Hope You Don’t Pirate My Book post, which is beautiful.
Joe Konrath has some interesting thoughts on piracy, which basically boil down to “It’s not hurting you, you can’t stop it, quit bitching.” That’s what I mean about Chuck Wendig being less of a hard-ass. Mr Konrath says it better than that, but that’s the message I get. If you get angry when people speak plainly on topics you might disagree with, I’d skip that one. Really interesting if you don’t mind the attitude, though. I like him, myself, even if I disagree on some points. I do completely agree with him on why hard-ass laws and things like DRM do more harm than good, and the fact that piracy would be less of an issue if e-books were affordable* ($5.99 and under seems reasonable to me as both a reader and an author; if I won’t spend that on a book, I probably didn’t want it that badly. More than that, and I feel cheated).
There are more. Link away in the comments (I’ll spring you from spam jail if you’re legit), or share your own stories or thoughts on the topic (though you might also want to comment on the original posts, if applicable).
I want to know. I want to learn.
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*Side note: the price-and-availability issue is one of the top reasons I’m self-publishing.
Round four of A Round of Words in 80 Days starts today, which probably means I should have posted goals yesterday, what with it being Sunday and all. Well, better late than never, and I have a lot of goals I need to work on this round, which will take us through December 26th.
Treat Writing Like a Business
I’m aware that this is not a quantifiable or measurable goal, but it works as a heading, and as my personal theme for this round. I’m done dicking around. Want to know how I know that? Because I’ve hired an editor to work on the first novel I plan to release, and for an amount of money that’s definitely out of “hobby” territory, at least for me. Based on recommendations and the sample edit he did for me, he’s going to be worth every penny, but this isn’t something I can do just for fun or personal fulfilment.
Am I insane? Probably. Am I nervous? Well, I almost threw up after I sent the deposit money for work that’s going to happen in February, so I’m going to call that a “yes.” But this is an investment in my education, in myself as a writer, and in what I want to be a business, even if I don’t expect to earn back this particular investment in the first book. I’m getting the ball rolling, and starting out in the most professional way possible. Everything else is outside of my control.
It’s not going to be easy; I’m a notorious procrastinator and my will power is almost nil. So here are the concrete goals:
Get into the work routine. Spend 2 hours every weekday (when both kids are at school, whatever time of day that happens to be) on writing. Minimum goal of 1000 words on new work, but productivity will vary when editing/revising
Look into getting a website set up, probably through WordPress. I’m willing to spend money on things that affect the quality of my work, but I’m still leery of spending money on promotional matters. 🙂
read one craft or business-related book a week for this round.
Set up bank account for business expenses, get a budget working to save money, and look into what I need to do to keep everything running smoothly.
No internet during work time. Use StayFocusd Chrome app to keep temptation at bay.
NaNoWriMo
I almost didn’t participate in ROW80 because it seemed anti-NaNo. Not in its concept, but in the idea that “shyeah, I’d do NaNoWriMo if I didn’t HAVE A LIFE.” In reality, this challenge is flexible enough to include any goals, so I can do both. So during November, my goals will shift a bit:
2,000 words a day, Sundays off
Finish re-drafting book #2
50,000+ words total FTW
Reading and Other Responsibilities
I need to re-think whether I want to offer to write reviews on books, because I’ve run into problems recently that prevented me from doing other projects I’d offered to work on, like a beta read I was looking forward to. I need to make more time to work on projects for the people who support me here, and to read for enjoyment. Reading “Doctor Sleep” (the new Stephen King) helped with that. It was so good that I pretty much neglected the real workd for 22 hours, and it reminded me of why I love reading. I’ve read books recently that were hard to get through, but this one cured me of the blahs.
read one novel a week. If it’s not grabbing me and making me want to finish it in that time-frame, I might have to ditch it. Harsh, but there’s a lot out there that I want to read.
When applicable, finish beta reads within two weeks of agreed-on start date. Detailed critiques would take longer.
Other Projects
I only have one series that I’m looking to publish in the near future, but I have other things begging for my attention.
Post one chapter of “Resurrection” on Wattpad per week, if anyone’s reading. That’s going to become less likely once it gets to its “R” rating, but I doubt it would be huge even without that. It’s just something I’m doing for fun, and to practice sticking to a self-imposed deadline. The problem is that I don’t have time to schmooze over there. I’m reading a few stories and have others on my list to read (especially for people who have already been helpful to me there), but I can’t hang out there and try to collect readers, and I have a whole lot of other reading that takes precedence.
Write one piece of flash fiction per week, even if it’s not posted anywhere. Just for the mental exercise and a change of scenery.
So there we go. My goals, organized into four sections that should be easy to refer back to when I’m posting updates. If you’ve read this far, you’re either a very good friend or completely bonkers. Either way, thanks for listening.
If you’re participating in this round, let me know below so I can stop by and say hello! If not, what are your goals for the near future, whether writing-related or not?
Want to see what everyone else’s goals look like, or join in the fun? Click here!
Here’s an interesting quote I happened upon in yesterday’s newspaper in an article about how Marianas Trench is doing a concert in St. John’s tonight and I’m not going. Okay, so the article says nothing about me not going, I’m just bitter (come on, I was just there!). It does, however, feature guitarist Matt Webb saying something that sounds exactly what you hear from authors all over the place these days:
“Everyone thinks that once you have that elusive record deal that you just coast,” he said, “but in today’s world, it’s when the real hard work begins. There’s no huge budgets anymore, so you really have to do a lot of the work yourself, whether that’s online through social media, promoting your work or whatever.”
Take out the word “record” and replace it with “publishing,” and how many times have we heard that? Seriously, tell me. I’ve lost count. Once a day, at least, on various blogs or news articles.
Sucks for many of us, who would be happy to just write and hand off the marketing stuff to someone else. This seems to be our reality, though.
So, what thinkest youse guys? How do you find out about new music or books? Do you ever try to connect with favourite artists via facebook or twitter, or have fans connected with you that way? How much promotion of this sort do you think is necessary? How much does it suck that I’m stuck in the armpit of the province right now and not in St. John’s, waiting for a concert and a possible holiday on Wednesday?*
Feel free to post any links to helpful promotional sites/tools/whatever, anything you’re using and having success with. Or if you think that self-promotion is a crock and completely useless, feel free to tell me that, too.
(I’m a fan of Kristen Lamb’s blog, myself. I’m waiting for her revised books to come out so I can read ’em up)
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Bonus thingy: CreateSpace posted this on faebook yesterday, and it was too perfect not to share. I’m totally doing the guitar hero thing. *ahem*
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*Regatta Day is a floating holiday, entirely dependent on the weather. It’s a bit weird, to be honest, but I like it.
I’ve never really thought about using a pen name. I can see the benefit if you want to keep your personal and writing life separate (I know I wouldn’t want my grandparents to know I wrote smut, if I did that. NEVER happens. *cough*), but I want my own name on my work when it goes out into the world.
Well, kind of my real name… in real life, I’m not Kate. I’m Kathleen. I know, SHOCKING. The weird thing is, I spend so much time on this blog and commenting on others, with critique partners and at write-ins on Twitter that I now think of myself as “Kate” and have to stop to think when I introduce myself to people in real life. Do you know how awkward it is when someone asks your name and you have to stop to think about it? So much worse than forgetting your own phone number…
Anyway. I’ve wanted my own name on my books for a long time. Definitely since I started thinking about publishing anything. There’s just one teeny-tiny problem.
Quick, how do you spell my last name?
Did you have to look? That’s OK, everyone does. Please don’t feel badly if you’re someone who does/has done it in the past, because it’s not just you. Everyone writes my name as “Kate Sparks.”
It’s a fine name, if you ignore the fact that the name “Sparks” in writing leads you to thinking of sappy, tear-jerker romances. But it’s not my name. I’m Sparkes with an “ES,” and like it. It’s not the name I was born with, but it’s actually a pretty cool name. It’s a shortened form of the word “Sparrowhawk,” for one thing, which is a tiny little badass bird. Fine by me!
So what’s the problem? If readers can’t remember how to spell my name, they can’t find me. If someone tells a friend, “I read this amazing book by Kate Sparkes” and their friend is all “AWESOME, I’m gonna look for that” and they search for “Kate Sparks”…
See the problem? Especially for someone just starting out, I mean. If Stephen King changed the spelling of his last name to “Kyngge,” we’d still find him. For me, someone not finding my work on their first Amazon search could equal them saying “screw it, I’m reading the Hunger Games again.” And who could blame them? Fantastic book.
I’m getting off track again, aren’t I?
I’m not changing the spelling of my name to make it more searchable. I’m not changing it to Tallulah Fandongola, even if that is the name I give when I call the pizza place and it might be more recognizable (and is spelled phonetically). Most people probably search for books by title, so I’ll be OK as long as those are easy to remember (not like these ones), but still…
Questions! Will you publish/are you published under your own name? If not, why not? Do you recommend authors to people, or just books? Do you think Kate Sparrowhawk would be a good pen name HOLY CRAP THAT WOULD BE THE BEST PEN NAME EVER! What was I saying? Oh, any other thoughts on pen names, weird spellings, searchability on Google or Amazon? Anything, really. Tell me all of the things. ALL OF THEM! I’m not so much looking for advice or reassurances, since I already know what I’m doing. I just want know what you think.
(Also, if the day ever comes when someone searches on Google for “Kate Sparks” and it says, “Did you mean Kate Sparkes?” I will throw a huge party. Just saying.)
(Also also, have you ever read your own name so many times that it stops making sense and you begin to wonder whether you’re spelling it right? That’s me, right now, editing this post.)
An interesting interpretation of the “coverflipping” thing that I agree with, and which is written with more intelligence and self-awareness than I could ever contribute.
“…how about teaching our boys that there’s no shame in female or feminine things?”
I’m using an uncharacteristically large amount of exclamation points!!!
Really, though, things are good. My husband is back safe from an overnight trip, and he gets to keep his gun for another year. I told him that if he failed his qualifications he’d have to arm himself with a bicycle bell to startle bad guys with, and that I’d have to call him Bicycle Bill.
I don’t know why. I was very tired at the time, don’t judge me.
In any case, AJ will not be going by the name Bicycle Bill, or Penny-Farthing William on fancy days. I’m almost completely happy about this.
And I had a good day while he was away. A 6,000 word day is unheard of for me, but it happened. It’s been such a long time since I could just let my muse have his way with me, since I could write whatever the hell I wanted without worrying about keeping things consistent in an established world. It was super fun, and it did wonders for my mood. We really need these Storymoons more often.
You know, Storymoon. Like a honeymoon, but with wild and crazy who-cares-about-the-consequences-let’s-try-something-new storytelling instead of sex.
It got a little weird, though. Remember that one scene I shared on WIPpet Wednesday with the blood and the cutting and the burning blood on hot rocks? I wrote something far gorier and more horrifying than that. It had to be that way, but it scares me a little that it came out of my head. Other people have written far more disturbing things, but still. There may have been a chunk of human flesh in a bowl on a counter. I say “may” because I don’t feel like reading it over yet. Nasty stuff. Necessary, but nasty.
I do like where this is going, though, and I’ve discovered another thing I really like: not having a minimum word count goal.
WHEEEEEE!
I’m never sending this out to try for traditional publication. If it works out and people want it, maybe self-published as an e-book, but then it doesn’t matter so much whether it’s a solid 80,000 words, does it? Novellas are totally kosher, as long as you warn people and price appropriately. And I don’t know whether it’ll even go that far. Maybe I’ll write it and lock it away forever and ever and ever. The possibilities are mind-boggling when you have fewer rules to worry about. That said, subplots are already trying to sneak in and there’s a lot of story to go, so who knows?
I can write my own story in a genre where people can already pretty much get whatever they want. I can set it in a place I love, but that’s not exactly glamorous and popular with readers.* I can mix comedy with the horror and romance with the mystery and say “screw you, genre divisions!”
It’s a good thing. There’s no guarantee that it’s going to keep going well, but that’s OK, too.
It’s a vacation. If everything that happens in Vegas needs to stay in Vegas, I’m fine with that, too.
Hope you’re all having a great weekend, wherever you are!
Some of you will disagree with everything I say here, and that’s okay. I hope this doesn’t get too depressing for anyone. It’s not meant to be. This is what happens when reality gently taps me on the shoulder and reminds me of what’s important. (I’ve re-written this post four times already, I’m done.)
Let’s start with this, because it’s amazing:
Damn, I love me some Flynn Rider.
Those guys have dreams. Perhaps not realistic dreams, but they’ve got ’em. Don’t we all? I know I do, and I know (because I’m a little psychic because I read your wonderful blogs) that many of you share my dream. Not for me– for yourselves.
We want to write. We want other people to read and love what we write, and we’d really like to get recognition and at least a wee bit of money for that. We want to see our books on a shelf and go, “Yes, that’s mine. I did that.” And then if you’re me, dissolve into a puddle of tears because this is what you’ve always wanted.
Doesn’t sound like so much to ask, does it? Some of you are laughing right now because you know that it IS a lot to ask, and it’s a hard dream to have. And it’s a dream that an unbelievable number of people share, all of them caring as much about their work and believing in it as hard as I do mine. I find this very humbling.
It’s a great dream, don’t get me wrong. When you love what you’re doing and there are examples in front of you every day of people just like you making it, getting their books published and turning into massive bestsellers, you think, why not me? When you get to the part where you’re collecting rejections, there are stories of those very same authors and books getting just as many rejections. You think, “it’s part of the process.” Well, I assume you do. I don’t have much experience with this part yet, but I will, one way or another. We all do, if we put our stuff out there.
We maintain hope, but at the same time, we understand that for most of us, it’s not going to happen. Whether because we’re deluding ourselves when we think our work is good enough (not you guys, your work is the cat’s pajamas. I’m saying me and those shady-looking writers over there), or because of a variety of factors beyond our control*, we’ll be lucky to see our beloved words in print.
Oh, we can skew the odds in our favor, for sure. We can read up on writing craft (and read everything else we can get our grubby mitts on and learn from), we can make our work the best it can be, we can market the heck out of it, we can go to conventions** and meet agents or editors who just might remember us if we make a super-good impression, we can spend hours and days crafting the perfect query letter. We can hire great editors and take their advice, we can find amazing cover artists and devise the perfect pricing strategy. It makes a difference. It doesn’t guarantee success.
Depressed yet? I’m not.
There’s a kind of freedom, for me at least, in knowing that the odds are long and the road hard, in understanding that some things are beyond my control, and that that’s absolutely, perfectly fine. It helps me understand the difference between goals and dreams. Writing the best books you can and doing the best you can for them, that’s a worthwhile goal. Having a bestseller that’s made into a blockbuster movie and then there’s the money and let’s say a super hot actor falls in love with the author behind it all (hey, why not, right?) is a dream. If it keeps you going, it’s a good dream. It’s not a reasonable goal, though, and we’re all going to be mighty disappointed if we make that kind of luck and success a goal we expect to achieve.
Optimism is necessary, and it’s fantastic. Realism is, too, but in a different way. I say we need both.
This brings me to another, tangentially related topic. You know those people who seem to pop up on every agent’s blog asking what the next big thing is going to be, as though they can write it to order and be guaranteed an agent/contract/publication/bestseller? That’s hilarious, isn’t it? Kind of adorable.
There’s a reason they say to write what you love, and to write because you love it, not because you think you could be the next Stephanie Meyer if only you could catch the wave of the next trend in publishing. Odds are you’ll put a lot of work into something you don’t actually care about, and have little to show for it. No matter what you do, books that aren’t as good as yours will probably rise higher. It sucks, but it happens (not mentioning any names). But if you love what you do, believe in your stories and feel passionately that this is what you’re meant to be doing, you’re not wasting your time. Whatever level of commercial or critical success you achieve (or don’t), you’ve done something worthwhile.
I like that idea.
So yes, I’ll polish up this book that I’m working on, wash its face and send it out into the world, telling it to play nice with the other kids (but not too nice) and not to trade its carrot sticks for cookies in the lunch room. And then I’ll get back to work on the next one, because that’s what I do.
Publishing may sometimes seem like an exercise in futility (and I’ve deleted paragraphs outlining why this is so, you’re very welcome), but writing never is. Not if it’s what you love.
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*(that agent just signed someone and doesn’t care to add another just now; your book isn’t on-trend and the publisher doesn’t want to take a chance; you decide to self-publish and through the whims of fate and Amazon your book never gets any exposure)
**If you can do this, I’ll try to only hate you a little for it.
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disregard the prologue 