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Recording the adventure of being an indie authour. |
| Still trying to get my book into paperback. The person I hired for the formatting failed miserably. So, learning how to format it myself. Lesson learned. Never use anyone on Fivver who isn't a Level 1 or 2. |
| I'm trying out a new story writing method. I use the "Golden Triangle" of James Scott Bell, and the 5 Point Plot by Rob Parnell. Those two methods work seamlessly together. The GT helps me dig a bit deeper into my characters. The 5 Point keeps me on track. With my Fink the Mink short story, the GT opened up a whole new world to the characters I already thought I knew quite well. After all, I've been writing about them off and on for years. But suddenly, the characters took over their diary entries and I discovered new fears, new motivations, a good part of the story completely changed. Another thing I've found really helpful came from Parnell - writing a three sentence story pitch before writing. 1. First sentence: What the story is about. 2. Next sentence begins with "When." 3. Last sentence begins with "Now." I wrote the first one from Falloden's POV. It would have been an ok story, but not that interesting. I wrote the second one from Fink's. That proved to be an interesting story. That's the one we go with. :) I'd never thought about looking through the eyes of my other characters. I simply go with the character that first popped into my head. But looking at the story through various POV's can open up a whole new world to the story. And, now I know a really fast trick I can do in about 5 minutes to do that. :) |
| WOOT! What a feeling! Pickles and Piper Mystery draft is completed 8 days early! My goal was between 10,000 - 12,000 words for it. Right now, it's under 10,000, so I've got my work cut out for me next Thursday when I begin working on the first edit. Now, it's time to get on to our local Writers' Guild challenge. The challenge is: Rite of Spring. Plus, I have the booklet of ghost stories to finish. I've got a couple articles I'm working on that goes with each of the stories. Then, it's off to the editing stage and it'll be ready to print. :) I love exciting days like this. :) |
| Wow! What a day! I've started using the Panda Planner and it's really working. My focus is improving and I've made a lot of progress this week with my writing goals: 1. 500 words a day on Pickles and Piper 2. Local Writers' Guild challenge topic: Rite of Spring. Got a really good story going. 3. Ghost stories booklet with articles that go with the topics in each is coming along nicely. I've also been reading and applying Rob Parnell's book, "The Easy Way to Write Short Stories That Sell." The meditation tip really helped get me over a slump that I've had with Pickles and Piper. Made a lot of headway today as a result. So, is juggling 3 stories too much at one time? Possibly, but for right now, I'm finding it exciting and challenging. And one last thing! A promotion tip to remember! I asked those who have read my book if they'd take a pic of themselves with it so I can pin it. One of my readers went all out and has promoted the pic herself on FB a couple times and on Instagram. I was looking at comments and she's drumming up interest and folks are checking my book out! :) Super cool! Word of mouth is still the best way. |
| Of course, on my last day of Prime, I get the idea to do a search on "writing" in the videos. Just finished watching, "Put Your Heart On the Page: An Introduction to Writing" by Anne Perry. It's brilliant! I'm now on to "The Easy Way to Write Short Stories That Sell" by Rob Parnell. :) |
| Started to take a walk through the hayfield to clear my mind, refocus, and work on my story while I walked. Stepped past the shed into the field and there was around 30 wild turkey feeding in the field. I didn't have the heart to disturb them, so I went up on the hill instead. It was a really productive walk. I focused on themes/topics in my paranormal stories and came up with a number of articles to write. I also just enjoyed getting to be outdoors in the warm sun, soaking in the 73 F weather. It's been so freaking cold with sub-zero temps that today has been divine. :) Now if only my silly cat wasn't in heat and would stop calling the boys to visit. LOL I swear she's meowed since 4 this morning. |
| Booklets! I've been reading Nina Amir's book on being an Authorprenuer. In it she talks about having booklets to sell, or give away. So, today I'm working on a booklet with a couple of stories and articles on paranormal experiences I left out of my published book. They're pretty wild, but one that I shared with a fan of my book said I have to write it up. I'm thinking about making them available in a number of formats: PDF, print, ebook. The question is - how to make them available. |
| WOOT!!! The paperback version of my book is LIVE!!!! I ordered some authour copies to sell locally. Can't wait to have a physical copy of my book in my hands! It was exciting enough when I held my Kindle with my book on it. :) https://www.amazon.com/dp/1793020477 Off to celebrate! :) |
| Woot! Look at my little bad self! Met my publishing goals this month! :) I was really sweating it out when I uploaded my book for paperback at Amazon. I just knew there were going to be errors, and it would be rejected (like when I hired someone from Fivver to format). It was error free! Which just goes to show - listen to the age-old saying, "If you want something done right, do it yourself." What an adventure though. And now for bed. (Like I'll seriously be able to sleep.) |
| They always say a book lasts forever. Apparently, so do poems written to a newspaper nearly 30 years ago! Back when I was in my late 20's to early 30's, I was really into writing poetry. Some of it was serious, and some, like: The Outhouse of Doom and We the Knights of the Loft, were fun. I sent them off to the local rag, and various books to have them published. I had two big hits at the local rag: The Outhouse of Doom and Millie's. The outhouse poem brought back lots of fond memories of trips to the outhouse in the middle of the night by a lot of people and they wrote in sharing their own experiences. Millie's caught on like wildfire! You see, Millie's is a local restaurant on a farm and everything is made from scratch. The homemade pies are a treat, but you have to get there early or they'll be gone. You walk through the door thinking you'll have her famous coconut pie, only to find a waitress erasing it from the chalkboard. So, the poem was all about the Millie's experience. On it's first release to the press, someone cut it out, framed it, and took it to Millie's with roses. It hung on the wall for years. Fast forward nearly 30 years, and I run into our local printer at Tractor Supply. He said someone had come in the day before and asked to have a copy made of my poem. I knew it had to be the one on Millie's and it was! Yesterday, my mom called me. She was all excited, and said, "Someone's typed up your poem, put it in a lovely frame and it's hanging on the wall at Millie's again!" How on earth they came across it after all these years I'll never know. But it's a super cool feeling to see it's still around and still bringing smiles. |
| Awoke thinking about kids books. I miss the days when a kids book was just about the story. The sheer fun of slipping into a make-believe world and escape everything around me. Now I see socialist propaganda being stuck in and it annoys the crap out of me. Let kids be kids, and let stories be simply stories. Adults need to leave their political views out. If they want to share their political views - create a blog! Write adult books. Write for magazines that fit your agenda, but leave kids alone. I'm with Tolkien. He hated stories being used to spread propaganda. He hated stories being used for anything but the sheer enjoyment of a story. That's what he focused on, and that's why his books will live on till the end of time itself. The same with Agatha Christie. She didn't write to spread propaganda. She wrote for the sheer enjoyment of the story. And what is she? The greatest mystery novelist of all time. Why? Because we love stories. Because we love to escape. Because we love the sheer mystery and adventure of it all. Write for the sheer love of stories, and leave your agendas behind. |
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