Well, I've played enough STALKER and it's time to get something done. One of the key mantra's of any writer, or other artist who wants to get anywhere, has to be "Production, production, production." You got to get those stories out there, if you ever want to get your name out there.
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Currently I'm working on the first of two Christmas stories I'm writing at the request of a friend. They will be for an anthology not due to be released until sometime late in 2011. They will be an interesting challenge for me, as it's a completely different genre for me.
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After those two, I'm going to have to think about some things. I've been reading a blog by J.A.Konrath, and it's got me wondering about some things. This guy is very successful, self publishing on the kindle. And while I'm not in a huge hurry to get into self publishing, it's something that might be worthwhile to educate myself about. Perhaps write a few short stories for that purpose, just as an experiment. I'll have to think about it. He makes some good points.
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Oh well, time to put some Christmas music on youtube and get back to writing. I want to try and get at least one first draft done this week.
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Production! Production! Production!
Thanks for this link- it got me exploring and reading and thinking :)
ReplyDeleteI published my near-miss (much requested by agents, never signed) book from a few years ago on Kindle at the request of a friend with a Kindle- it was mostly for her :). It has been read by others, which is exciting. The link is here: http://www.amazon.com/The-Goblin-Queen-ebook/dp/B001GCURIG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1271913154&sr=8-1 (not sure the link will work in a comment). Uploading it was super easy, almost too easy because I probably could have used another edit.
A couple of comments stood out- one was the cover. I threw something up quick (since it was an experiment) then found it tricky to change, never made a 'real' cover, so invest some time in that.
Also, the marketing. That's my weak place. I'm good at creation, not so great at marketing. She said an hour a day for six months. Phew!
I love the idea, though. I would love to be Queen of my Empire and make my own deadlines :).
Have you thought of smashwords (iPad, Nook, ereader publisher)? That's my next investigation . . .
I'm not in it for the pride-factor, just want to get my stories out there, and since I'm too tired most of the time to get the whole process going, maybe it's a great opportunity.
Thanks for the link! Best wishes, Lenka
Glad to help! I don't know if I will ever self publish, because then I would have to hire an editor. Publishers, even small independents, come with their benefits. On the other hand, marketing is something writers have to do whether they have publishers or not...unless you're a New York author, of course...grumble,grumble. Still, one of these days when I've got stories that I have slated for certain destinations out of the way, I will write some just for Amazon and see what happens. It will be an interesting experiment.
ReplyDeletebtw, I enjoyed your podcast on autism.
Hiring an editor would be a good idea- I always miss things. I worked as a reader of high school essays for awhile so I'm pretty good at catching errors, but stuff always slips past. The small independents sound like a good middle ground. I can't wait to buy your book!
ReplyDeleteWe can be those fancy authors one day :)
And you're right, marketing is for everyone. That isn't going to change anytime soon.
Thanks for listening to the podcast! It was an awesome series of workshops. I learned a lot.