..:: Written .:. Off ::..

I’m still in the midst of organizing my ideas for the sequel to my first book. Since I’ve decided to write a sequel to my first novel, I’m doing a reread/rewrite of the first book.

I’m planning to have the book 100% completed in the next 2-3 months or sooner. I’ve been doing a lot research on both traditional publishing, and self-publishing.

Here are the results of my research:

• I have as much of a chance of getting published, as I have of being struck by lighting twice, while sitting on the toilet reading a copy of “O” magazine.
• If I self-publish, no one will take my book seriously, and it will die a quick death shortly after my friends and family buy up their copies.

Pretty grim, huh?

I swear, if I didn’t love to write, I would have given up a long time ago.

I have to admit that I’m a bit of a hard head when it comes to statistics, and being told that certain things are impossible.

I think that there are a few reasons that most writers fail to get published:

• They send their book out before it is 100% publication-ready
• They become discouraged by the first few rejections
• Their work does not stand out from the crowd
• Their book stands out too much

But even if you do get published, there is no guarantee that your book will sell. Even books that are published by traditional means may not sell more than 2000 copies.

The most important thing that I’ve learned over the past few months is that if you want to sell books, you have to be a salesman, and be willing to promote yourself. Most writers (including myself) cringe at this thought.

Why?

Because we want to sit at our desks and write. We don’t want to be bothered with things like promotion, publicity and marketing. The sad truth is, no matter how you publish your book, you will have to deal these things. The publisher may assign you a publicist, who is more than likely working on 10 other books including yours. And if you are self-publishing, it’s all YOU.

I’m currently working on my plans to promote my book. I want to have a marketing plan in place well in advance. I have some basic ideas, but I’m really trying to think out of the box. Most of the success stories that I’ve read about are about authors who tried new and creative ways to market their books. Once I get my plan together, I will share some of them with you to get your feedback.

I’ve been thinking about violence in art. No doubt, these thoughts are tied into the Virginia Tech massacre that took place earlier this week. My thoughts are centered on the fact that the murder’s English teacher voiced concerns about his writings.  Whether it was the voilent imagery in this plays, or a combination of this writing and his actions, it makes me wonder what will happen going forward when a student turns in a piece of work that contains violence.

I like to watch horror movies. I’ve seen every slasher movie this side of Halloween. Last night, I watched a documentary on the genre. Clips of Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel discussing their thoughts on the genre, were interspersed between the documentary. They assumed that the writers of these films, and those who watched hated women, and were using these films to put “modern” women back in their place.

I think that most people how love to watch these kinds of movies, and who write horror, are attracted to these themes because we like to be scared. I love to be scared. Watching a horror movie, or reading a horror novel, is a good way to safely experience fear. When the movie is over, or the book is closed, we are free to go about our lives.

When something truly horrific happens in real life, the media will scramble to place blame. I’m wondering who will be blamed this time. Horror movies? A rock star (ie. Marilyn Manson with Columbine)? Video games? I think that the media needs to place blame, because the horrific truth is much more complicated. The truth being that there are real monsters out there.

In the next few weeks, I’m sure that stories will pop up all over about how student X was dismissed from school for writing a short story or poem that contained themes. I’m not sure what the answer is, but stifling creativity is probably not the best way to handle things.

What do you think?

Whether you’re a fiction writer working on a novel, or specialist working on a non-fiction book, the decision on how to publish your book will soon crop up. Some authors will take the traditional road by hiring an agent, who will shop their book for them, while others will opt to self-publish.

These days, there are many options out there for the writer looking to self-publish. I caught up with author Deborah Woehr, to discuss her experiences with publishing her book through Lulu.

________________________________________________________________

“You recently self-published a book called 2006 Writer’s Blog Anthology. Tell me a little bit about it.”

It’s a collection of blog posts from various writers I met through the Writer’s Blog Alliance. Books about blogging were starting to gain momentum, and I thought this would we a great way to introduce new writers to the public. Because this collection was so eclectic (fiction, non-fiction and poetry), I couldn’t find a publisher for this anthology. So, I decided to self-publish it through Lulu.

What is it about Lulu that attracted you, as opposed to other similar services?

Cost: The biggest factor was the cost. I didn’t have to shell out $400+ to self-publish this book, unlike the other major POD companies. With Lulu, you can publish your book for almost nothing if you don’t want to bother getting an ISBN number. They’ll make you buy a proof, which cost about $30, including the shipment fee. By the time I was finished with this project, I had spent about $200. I blame this on the production mistakes I had made. The learning curve wasn’t so much as learning how to use the publishing software, but how to design the book so it will print right. I’m confident that my next project will be much easier on my wallet because I’ve been through the process and know what to expect.

Rights and Royalties: Since you are the publisher, you have sole ownership of your rights. That means you can submit your book to a major publisher in the future, if you want to, especially if your book is making the sales that will attract a potential publisher. As for the royalties, you set the percentage amount you want to receive for each sale. Lulu takes a small cut on each sale.

Design: Next to the cost, design was a major pet peeve of mine. I had bought books from POD companies in the past and have been disappointed with their quality every time. The covers were poorly designed, and the manuscript wasn’t edited because the writer couldn’t afford the “editing service” because they had already shelled out their last time for the publishing fee. I can design the covers myself and hire an editor of my choosing to polish my manuscript before I publish it.

Marketing: Lulu will list your book with all the major online booksellers, if you opt for the ISBN number when publishing your book. I don’t know if the other POD companies have followed suit or not. The last time I checked, they required another exorbitant fee to list your books with Amazon, Borders, etc.

Once you publish your book, Lulu offers a variety of free and paid marketing services. Then there is the forum, which is a treasure trove of ideas.

Community: Lulu has a large and very active forum, which covers topics on how to use their software down to how to market and sell your books. If you find yourself stuck at any stage of the publishing process, go to this forum and search for your answer. You’ll find it most of the time.

“I know that you have been working on your novel, Prosperity, for awhile now. Have you decided to self-publish from the outset, or are you going to try the traditional route?”

When I first started writing this novel, I had planned on seeking a traditional publisher. Then a published writer told me that getting published was “akin to winning the Lotto.” After that, I took a look at the market, saw that the horror section consisted mostly of vampire and serial killer novels, and decided to self-publish. That was nine years ago, and it’s taken me a long time to get this story to the point where it is. Lately, I’m seeing more ghost stories on the shelves (Deborah Leblanc, for instance), but they are few and far between

“From what I understand about the publishing industry, most big publishers will do an initial push of your book, but not much more. Promotion seems to be in the hands of the author no matter how you publish. Do you plan on doing much promotion?”

You’re right. Promotion is the author’s responsibility no matter how he/she publishes. I’ve been using my blog to promote Prosperity for the past year or so. The next phase of my marketing plan is to approach established writers in my genre and see if they would like a review copy. I’m hopeful that I can get one of them to read my book and write a review/blurb about it. I have pages of notes of marketing resources that I also plan on implementing.

“Sounds like a good start! The Internet provides us with so many free ways for a writer to get his or her work out there, that it can be overwhelming at times.”

“Since you’ve been through the self-publishing process from start to finish, what advice would you give an author who is ready to publish their work?”

I would tell them to educate themselves first. You’ll have to market your book, regardless of the publishing avenue you take. So, I would start with that first and learn everything I can. Then I would research self-publishing services, such as Lulu, as well as POD companies. There are learning curves in designing and printing a book, so it is not for everyone. As expensive as POD can get, that might be the best option for people who are too intimidated by the process.

If Lulu turns out to be the best option for you, I suggest reading the posts in their forums as well as their online documentation so you can understand the process before you start working.

Thanks Deb!

Deborah Woehr is a writer, editor, and problogger. She began writing ghost stories in 1997. Her short story, Imaginary Friends, is among the collection of the soon-to-be-published Naked Tales: Stories by Writers Who Blog. She also edited, compiled, and self-published the 2006 Writer’s Blog Anthology, available on Lulu and Amazon.com. Her novel, Prosperity, is due to be published in late 2007.

While browsing the forums at Absolute Write, I was amazed to see how many writers hate their own work. Some posters have gone far enough to say that they despise their own work.

I think that it’s a shame that many writers feel this way. We have feelings of inadequacy. We think that no one will like our stories. We even feel that our writing is something to be embarrassed about.

Writing is not easy. It takes loads of patience, sweat and passion. Most people have trouble composing an email consisting of a single paragraph, let alone a short story or a novel.

Writing is a lonely business. When we are writing, we chastise ourselves for what we create. When we are not writing, we chastise ourselves for being lazy procrastinators.

Don’t be so hard on yourself, or on your work. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t strive for improvement; we all should. What I am saying is that you should be proud that you try. Most people who fail at writing, never even gave it an honest to goodness try. I can’t tell you how many people tell me that they would love to write but they just don’t have the time. These same people have 5-10 hours a week to spend watching TV.

If you hate your writing, but feel the drive to keep doing it, then maybe you should take a hard look at what you hate about it.

Is it your story?

Is it your style?

Is it your grammar?

Find the problem and either fix it, or read more about it. Whenever I get down on my writing, I try to figure out what’s wrong that’s making me so miserable. Sometimes it means trashing a story idea. Other times, it means hitting the books. I’m resigned to the fact that I’m not going to quit, so if I’m stuck being a writer, I might as well love doing.

Remember, even the smallest accomplishment in writing, is something to be proud of.

Kurt Vonnegut died at the age of 84, due to injuries from a fall. Vonnegut was a favorite author of mine, and I’m sorry to hear that he has passed. You can read the news article here.

(Disclaimer: If you are new to this blog, please click the tab labeled Read Me First! at the top of the page.)

It took me a great while to drum up the courage to dive back into writing a novel. I don’t care what any book tells you; novel writing is a long and arduous process. You can write a first draft in 30 days, but not a ready-to-be-published novel. Taking your idea out of your head and through the entire process can take months, and in most cases, years.

After typing the end of my first novel, I put it away for a long time. When I decided to look at it again, the reality that there was still a lot of work to be done set in. I knew then that it was going to be a while before I was ready to start writing another novel.

In the interim between novels, I kept myself busy by editing, writing flash fiction and blogging (a great way to keep yourself writing everyday).

Now that I’m ready to start again, there are a few things that I have to take into consideration, and sorted out. Right now, the new novel (tentatively entitled The Octagon) is a big blob in my head. I have new ideas almost daily, and some have even come to me in my dreams. In order to get my ideas organized, I have to consider the following:

* The Brain Dump: All of my ideas are swirling around my head. My first step will be to take a blank journal and write down everything that I know about the story. Every little detail, no matter how insignificant, will make it into the journal, even incomplete or thoroughly stupid ideas. Once it’s all out of my head, I can begin to organize between the usable and unusable.
* Summary: Once I finish my brain dump, I will write a quick summary of the novel. The summary will be only a few paragraphs, but enough for me to know what direction the story will head in.
* Theme: Each story that I write has an overriding theme. When I started my first novel, the theme was revenge. As I got further into the story, I realized that the theme of the story was not revenge, but the quest for internal peace. I’m still figuring out the overall theme of the sequel.
* Characters: Which characters from the first novel will appear in the second novel? The main character from the first novel is a woman named Syl. She will remain the main character for the sequel. I have an idea of who will be returning, and three or four new characters that I need to flesh out.
* POV Characters: Since I like to have the reader see the “big picture”, I will want to have a few different points of view. Decided on which characters will be the POV characters, is bit more difficult. I will have to look hard at each character and decide who has the most to say in a given situation.
* Outline: I will probably use a bare-bones outline, but only as a way organizing my thoughts, and plot out events. I will certainly not write the entire outline before starting. My writing style is organic, and too many new ideas will present themselves during the writing. I am not the kind of writer that thinks too far ahead. I tend to use mini-outlines that only go out a chapter or three.
* The End: As I stated above, I don’t rely too much on outlines. So how to I stay focused? I have to know the ending of the story. I need to have something to write toward.  Once I have the ending figured out, everything in the middle usually sorts itself out.
* The Opening: The opening chapter is most important because it hooks the reader and sets the tone. As I write this, I have two potential openings. The first opening is more subtle and foreboding, while the second is jarring and violent. Both scenes will appear in the book, so I will probably write both to see how they turn out.

(Disclaimer: If you are new to this blog, please read the section entitled Read Me First before continuing)

I’ve decided to write the sequel to my first novel as the project for this blog. I think I have enough ideas to get started soon, but first, I have the the clean up of the first novel still hanging out there in the wind.

I’ve been working on the final edit with my editor Michele.  I edit a chapter, and then send it off to her to do the final work. I’m attempting to speed up this process by spending all of my free time on my edits. I’m always amazed at how many things I miss when I get the final back. Unless you are an expert proofreader, you might want to make the investment and have someone else work on your book. It’s always good to have another set of eyes on your work.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the things that inspire my writing, and fuel my creative processes. I think every writer has something that drives their work, or at the very least, keeps them going. Here is a list of a few things that have inspired my creativity through the years:

1. Reading: Reading a good book always gets me in the mood to write. Reading is both inspirational and a learning experience.

2. Bookstores: For some reason, walking through a bookstore gets me in the mood to write. I must have something to do with seeing all of the books that other people were able to get published that fills me with the urge to accomplish my own dreams.

3. Movies: Some movies have had a direct impact on my writing either because of the characters, the story or the visuals. I’ve grouped some of these stories together by similar theme. Some of my favorites are:

• Escape From New York/The Road Warrior:  I love the post apocolyptic theme of these films, coupled with the struggle for survival.
• Alien/The Thing/Darkstar/Cube/George Romero’s Dead series: Character driven movies always inspire me. I like when a group of characters who don’t know each other and don’t get along, are thrown together into a perilous situation. This theme works even better if the characters are somehow cut off from civilization.
• Kill Bill/Sin City/Reservoir Dogs: Cool characters, hard-boiled action, over-the-top action and voilence.
• The Godfather Trilogy/Goodfellas/The Sorpranos: I always enjoy when a movie is from the villain’s perspective. I like to see the human side of bad guy, it makes them more believable.

4. Music: It’s not just listening to music that inspires me, it’s the entire process of creating music. The process of layering tracks, recording and mixing is very similar to rewriting and editing.

5. Talking to Writers: Reading blogs dedicated to writing and visiting forums always gets my juices flowing. It’s a good feeling to know that I’m not the only nut out there struggling with my work.

Coming Soon:

• A summary of my first book, The God Maker
• A list of characters that will be in the sequel.
• An interview with author Deborah Woehr to discuss her experience in self-publishing through Lulu.

(Disclaimer: If you are new to this blog, please read the section entitled Read Me First before continuing)

I’ve decided to write the sequel to my first novel as the project for this blog. I think I have enough ideas to get started soon, but first, I have the the clean up of the first novel still hanging out there in the wind.

I’ve been working on the final edit with my editor Michele.  I edit a chapter, and then send it off to her to do the final work. I’m attempting to speed up this process by spending all of my free time on my edits. I’m always amazed at how many things I miss when I get the final back. Unless you are an expert proofreader, you might want to make the investment and have someone else work on your book. It’s always good to have another set of eyes on your work.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the things that inspire my writing, and fuel my creative processes. I think every writer has something that drives their work, or at the very least, keeps them going. Here is a list of a few things that have inspired my creativity through the years:

1. Reading: Reading a good book always gets me in the mood to write. Reading is both inspirational and a learning experience.

2. Bookstores: For some reason, walking through a bookstore gets me in the mood to write. I must have something to do with seeing all of the books that other people were able to get published that fills me with the urge to accomplish my own dreams.

3. Movies: Some movies have had a direct impact on my writing either because of the characters, the story or the visuals. I’ve grouped some of these stories together by similar theme. Some of my favorites are:

• Escape From New York/The Road Warrior:  I love the post apocolyptic theme of these films, coupled with the struggle for survival.
• Alien/The Thing/Darkstar/Cube/George Romero’s Dead series: Character driven movies always inspire me. I like when a group of characters who don’t know each other and don’t get along, are thrown together into a perilous situation. This theme works even better if the characters are somehow cut off from civilization.
• Kill Bill/Sin City/Reservoir Dogs: Cool characters, hard-boiled action, over-the-top action and voilence.
• The Godfather Trilogy/Goodfellas/The Sorpranos: I always enjoy when a movie is from the villain’s perspective. I like to see the human side of bad guy, it makes them more believable.

4. Music: It’s not just listening to music that inspires me, it’s the entire process of creating music. The process of layering tracks, recording and mixing is very similar to rewriting and editing.

5. Talking to Writers: Reading blogs dedicated to writing and visiting forums always gets my juices flowing. It’s a good feeling to know that I’m not the only nut out there struggling with my work.

Coming Soon:

• A summary of my first book, The God Maker
• A list of characters that will be in the sequel.
• An interview with author Deborah Woehr to discuss her experience in self-publishing through Lulu.