Evan Pickering's Blog, page 10

Five Hundred Words

There’s something I read recently that really stuck with me.

And I’m going to paraphrase here… But finding your dream career isn’t about finding one where you love the good parts– it’s about finding a career where you enjoy the hard work.

Because basically all careers, no matter how greenish the grass looks on the other side of the hill, have hard work. No matter how dreamy they seem.

I’m glad I love the writing, the editing, all the stuff that goes into it. There’s something so satisfying about creating a story.

But it’s hard work. It really is. And the procrastination can be REAL.

I’m in a pretty beautiful place that I find myself writing BOOK 2 this summer as my full-time. THAT doesn’t totally feel real.

But the work is. So there’s something of a transition I’m undergoing, It’s a totally different feel writing with the pressure of a Book 1 behind you and readers clamoring for a sequel!

So I’ve come up with a plan. It’s very much in the spirit of sustainability. It’s pretty simple– 500 words a day. It’s not a lot, I know. but that’s the point. Because on a daily basis, I need to feel the satisfaction of getting writing done. I have to keep it from feeling like a ticking clock–and the best way to sustainable success, is small, rewarding increments.

So let’s say I write 500 words and it’s only 2pm one day. I’m rolling, the writing is flowing. I just keep writing. And I get to feel awesome, like an overachiever xD Maybe i’ll get 3,000 words… maybe 8,000. I’ll be sky high.

And if I have a tough day, and only write 500, then I feel like I did what I need to do. And if I take a day off, I don’t feel like I’m SO far behind.

So basically, set your daily goals as very achievable–so you can feel good, so you can blow them away, and you can average more than your goal. You’ll feel great, you’ll write more, and you’ll shake free of the stress of I need to be writing. Don’t make it harder than it needs to be. And give yourself the leeway to write it the right way.

At the end of the day, it’s about quality, not quantity. I can’t wait to give the readers of HOOD an ever better work to read.

Evan P.

 

BIRTH PANGS: Interpreting Our Post-Apocalyptic Nightmare… a guest blog by Tyler Bumpus

“We need fresh myths like we need fresh air.” Tyler absolutely crushes it with this post. This is the WHY and the HELL YES of Postapoc fiction the way we all feel it inside. Or at least how I feel it. WP sir.

From the Wastes...

I came across Tyler Bumpus early this past winter of 2016 (February, more specifically) when I read the first book in his Swallowed World post-apocalypse series, The Eternal Season.  I was enthralled… I was amazed… this was one seriously kick-ass PA story.  You can read my review here.

There have been two postapoc stories that have captured my attention this year – this is one of ’em.

I recently asked Tyler if he’d like to write a guest blog for me.  I was pleasantly surprised when he said yes.  Writers are often very busy and I feel very lucky when there are those who take their precious time to write for my blog.

So, without further ado… here is Tyler and his thoughts on  the interpretation of our post-apocalyptic nightmares…

BIRTH PANGS: INTERPRETING OUR POST-APOCALYPTIC NIGHTMARE…

by Tyler Bumpus

Now stop me if you’ve heard this one:

The…

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BIRTHDAY POST! With a gift to the readers!

IT’S MY BIRTHDAY!

wooooooooooooooooooooo

Two-nine. Hard to believe I’m nearing the end of my twenties. What a decade of largely awesome things for me (which isn’t completely over) with the occasional huge travesty sprinkled in.

The book has been a huge source of joy for me. Publishing it and having this much success early has been something of a dream, and to have received so much support from readers asking for the next book is a special kind of motivation.

Outside of the book, life is bumping around it’s normal crazy way. Good things and bad things, plenty of shit to learn from. I’m just borderline euphoric that my grad semester is over and I get to enjoy the hell out of my summer and get this next book done.

Speaking of, I have a little gift for y’all! It’s a small excerpt from Chapter 1 of BOOK 2 of the American Rebirth Series.

Enjoy you blood-crazed animals. And by that I mean sweet, kindly people.❤

Evan

The gunshot cracked the air, echoing deep down the roads. The deer darted away in leaping bounds. Whiskey’s heart raced through his chest as he scanned the area, turning to the others.

Vicks’ rifle was against his shoulder, muzzle slightly down as he stared at where the deer had been. Whiskey stormed over and grabbed a handful of Vicks’ shirt, pulling him close.

“The hell do you think you’re doing?” Whiskey grunted at him. Vicks’ face didn’t move, a fake calm in denial of any wrongdoing.

“I had a clear shot. We’re here so I can learn, right?”

“If you had a clear shot, why isn’t it lyin’ in the road?”

“It moved.”

“Yeah, living things tend to do that.” Whiskey released his shirt, taking a step back. “Listen to me kid. I don’t give a shit if you see the devil walkin’ down the road. You don’t shoot a damn thing until I tell you to from now on, understand?”

“Fine.” Vicks said unenthusiastically. “I didn’t think it was a big deal.”

“One, that was dinner. And two, if there was anyone even remotely nearby they know we are here. A Ranger never fires his gun unless he has to. It’s loud, and it’s dangerous and we don’t waste ammunition.”

Vicks stared him down.

“You got something to say?” Whiskey said, his jaw set.

“Half of what we’ve done is wandering around in nowhere. When are you going to teach us to shoot something other than a target? There’s war out there past the borders. There’s death out there. I want to be ready. We need to be able to survive.”

Whiskey leaned in towards him. “I AM teaching you how to survive. You just ain’t listenin’. You survive by being quiet. By never being found. By knowing when to shoot and when not to. By being smart. You think you can do that?”

Edgar moved up next to Vicks, thumping him on the chest. “Come on.”

Whiskey turned away. Taylor’s hair waved around her wry smile in the breeze. Whiskey breathed deep, looking at her. They gotta learn somehow.

“Remember… honey, not vinegar.” She said, pulling stray hairs out of the corner of her mouth.

“I’m all outta honey right about now.”

“We’ll get the next one. These islands are all wildlife now.”

“If these kids keep shootin’ first we’ll starve to death,” Whiskey grumbled.

 

Goodreads Giveaway – 1 Free Copy of HOOD!

You’ve got 8 days.

And then it all ends…

*Ahem* the giveaway. Not the world, or something like that. I see why you would make that mistake. I didn’t visually mislead you or anything.

But anyway. I’M GIVING AWAY A RANDOM-ASS FREE COPY OF HOOD! All yous gots to dooze is put it on your goodreads to-read shelf. Or not, you just gotta click the button. But y’know. Be nice

Writing a Sequel: To the Readers of HOOD

Writing a sequel is very, VERY different than writing the first novel.

Especially when that first novel has had no small amount of debut success.

I’m the first to admit I read all the reviews when they come up. I’m always looking for feedback, for one–and also I just enjoy the positive reinforcement so much when it happens. It’s so interesting seeing what people liked or didn’t like about the book, how they felt about the ending… etc.

It’s easily something you can get lost in. Everyone loves and hates different things, and you can’t please them all. My goal is the same as it always was: to write a story that excites me. To write something I love, and to trust that others will love it too.

One of the things I’m most excited about in writing BOOK 2 are some major events that get me fired up, parts of the story that I just can’t wait to see become real.

I think the readers of HOOD are going to love them too. Regardless of how you felt about the events of the first book.

Just to play teaser here, I think the details are there in the first book that the reader might be able to piece together some of the things that will happen in book 2 and moving forward in the series.

That is, of course, coming from an author’s perspective where I know everything that’s going to happen, lols.

More than anything, I just want to write a continuation of the story that will be even better than the first. I know the stigma sequels can have sometimes as always being second best to intro novels, but I’m pretty sure this one is going slam the pedal down from where HOOD took you.

Really, I can’t wait. This summer shall be the summer of writing. My blood is boiling already, baby.

-Evan

Free Excerpt: Chapter 2 of HOOD

For those looking for Chapter 1, check out this hotness

Though you don’t have to read it to enjoy CH2. You might just not totally know what’s going on

The Weight of What’s to come

I think all people experience this feeling in varying degrees of severity.

The anticipatory cloud of some obligation; responsibility; work; etc. These tend to grow in number and size as we get older; or maybe it just feels that way.

Avalanche of grad school papers due. It’s the proverbial albatross. It’s almost done, though. Summer is going to be AWESOME.

It’s going to be my first foray into full-time writing. I can’t wait. It’s hard for me to get into the emotional and mental place to write right now with all the mire and muck of soul-sucking grad school work haranguing me.

But even summer will come with pressure. I want to try and write BOOK 2 by the end of summer. I want to have a daily word count to achieve. I want to be very industrious at writing efficiently every day.

It’s worth reminding myself that I love writing because of the joy it brings me; not because it’s a grind. So while I want to be very diligent, I don’t want to turn it into the kind of thing I hate. It’s a delicate balance.

So why by the end of summer? Because I know next semester of grad school will surely bury me again. I hate the feeling that my book/WIP is just stagnating while I do some other crap. Weight of future responsibility hovering nearby once more.

Ya gotta let go. I’ve got to let go. The only life without responsibilities is the loneliest one. Far better to embrace the reality that there always be something ahead of you, and that really, in truth… it is a good thing.

Relax, Evan. Trust yourself that you will do everything needed of you. Stressing out about it is meaningless.

Just a written reminder to myself. A week from now I’ll re-read this and relax again. Now if only I could remember. Or make it a natural response!

#JealousOfAtaraxia

-Evan

 

Review: Hood by Evan Pickering

Thanks to Leticia for reviewing my book! Check it out here.

Genre: Post-Apocalyptic Fiction
Publisher: CreateSpace
Date of Release: January 13, 2016
Pages and Format: 276 pages; .mobi
My Rating: 

I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

“Hood’s life is gone. No more student loans, house parties, video games. The world is now a place of pure survival. Lucky for him, he’s pretty damn good with a gun in his hand. Learning to live with pulling the trigger is something else, though.

Two years after the collapse of American civilization, hidden away in the mid-Atlantic countryside in the small town of Clearwater, a group of survivors led by a young marksman named Hood and an ex-cop by the name of Whiskey have found security in obscurity. Raging through the remnants of the northeast, two kings, the Kaiser and the Crusader, fight a war for control of the land.

Hood, Whiskey and the Clearwater crew survive…

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STOP…Promo time! (dances)

There comes a time in every man’s life when he has to run a promotion for his book.

And my man I mean man or woman. And by man or woman I mean an author.

WE’RE OFF TO A GOOD START.

So anywho, I was pretty excited to run my first stack promo for HOOD. Here’s the lowdown:

I’m selling around 20-22 books a day before all this stuffs. I’m getting around 13,000 pagereads a day.

Day 1  4/21/16, KCD sale, HOOD is $0.99, no promos. This is my control in the scientifical sense. Extra scientifical.

SALES: 53

KU PAGEREADS: 15,190

Day 2, HOOD is still $0.99 with the KCD, Promo sites: ROBINREADS and EbooksForFree

SALES: 118

KU PAGEREADS: 9,231

Day 3, HOOD is still $0.99 with the KCD, Promo sites: BOOKBARBARIAN and EreaderNewsToday

SALES: 242

KU PAGEREADS: 11,473

Total money spent on Promos: $70.00  breakdown: (30 ENT, 20 BookBarbarian, 20 Robinreads)

Total books sold during promos: 360

Took a lil bit of a hit on KU pagreads, but no idea if that was due to the promotions or not.

But I more than doubled my control on day 2, and more than quadrupled it day 3. If I subtract my control from each day (assuming that many people would’ve bought my book on amazon anyway) I still sold 254 books (presumably) in total via the promotions. That means I came out quite a decent bit in the black, in the pure profit sense. My gross profit more than doubled the money I spent on the promos.

As for my ranking? Highest so far:

 

Conclusion? BOOYA. In the words of the Firebat: Slammin’.

Now I’m excited to see what the ‘long tail’ of this is. Let alone the rest of the KCD!

-Evan Pickering

 

HOOD on sale for 0.99$! The Promo begins.

I’m excited. Maybe too much so.

High expectations and whatnot.

Today begins my second-ever Kindle Countdown Deal, and HOOD is on sale for 0.99$ for a few days to begin it! I’m very curious to see how it fares, now that the book has a goodly bit more visibility.

I’m also running an “experiment.”

Today is my “control” if you will. KCD begins, 99c, to test how many sales it gets without any promotions. Au natural, what can you do for me, Amazon?

Tomorrow and the day after, I have some stack promos lined up. Promotions for my book will be on BookBarbarian, RobinReads, Ebooksforfree, and Ereader News Today. Those will be my “variables” which I hope of course fly through the roof.