Mick Brady's Blog, page 3
April 20, 2019
Good Things, Small Packages
Today I am announcing my campaign, and I'm inviting you to sign up to volunteer. No, I'm not running for president, although it might be one way to get some attention. My campaign is an effort to generate word-of-mouth buzz about my book, The Darkest Eyes. (If anyone asks, you can tell them it's a dizzying adventure down a rabbit hole with a very different twist: "Communion meets Alice in Wonderland meets Indiana Jones.") I know a thing or two about building a grassroots operation. A long time ago, I worked as an organizer on the campaign of an Illinois politician named Dan Walker. In a play on his name, he walked the entire length of Illinois, logging nearly 1,200 miles. Along the way, he met with voters in their living rooms and kitchens. Some of them walked along with him for stretches. You couldn't buy the kind of publicity that walk attracted -- not to mention the goodwill generated by all of those small-town stops along the way. A political maverick, Walker beat the Democratic machine's candidate in the primary, and then defeated the Republican incumbent in the general election. There were murmurs of a presidential future. However, he turned out to be a lousy governor and failed to win re-election for a second term. Some years later, he landed in jail for bank fraud. The guy was a disappointment to his many supporters -- but oh those early days were heady. It was a textbook grassroots campaign. Big money may have a lot of sway over who gets to hold the reins of political power, but there's nothing like a good grassroots effort to neutralize it. In last year's mid-term elections, there were many surprising wins by political candidates who were new to the game, who had no ties to the heavy-hitters and no money in their coffers. What they had were volunteers who who were willing to knock on doors, arrange coffee klatches, and spread their candidate's message any way they could. As an indie author, I don't have the "big money" backing of a major publishing house, so I've decided to take a page out of the politicians' playbooks and mount my own grassroots campaign. I can't walk across the U.S., but with your help, I hope to make myself known in as many parts of it as possible. I took my first small steps by dropping off copies of my book to little libraries in my neighborhood, including the one pictured below. I've received a warm reception -- I'll be making an appearance at a local book club meeting next week. I'd like to give copies of the book to many more little libraries, but like a political unknown, my campaign chest is hollow. So I've come up with a more practical strategy. I'm ordering a large supply of bookmarks that will include a blurb about The Darkest Eyes and an invitation to email me for a free digital download. I'm actively recruiting an army of volunteers to drop off bookmarks in little libraries, leave them in coffee shops or doctors' waiting rooms, tack them onto bulletin boards, or place them in any improbable but eye-catching location imaginable. I hope you'll decide to enlist. To do so, just send an email to thedarkesteyes.mb@gmail.com. Tell me how many bookmarks you're willing to distribute and where I should send them. I'd like you to get creative about where you leave the bookmarks. Take some pictures, post them to your favorite social media accounts -- and be sure to share your posts on my Facebook author page. Every two weeks I'll give away a free signed paperback copy of The Darkest Eyes to the person behind the "best" bookmark post that appears on my page. Selections will be made in an entirely arbitrary fashion, based on effectiveness in reaching the masses, grabbing attention, or making me laugh. Along with launching this grassroots campaign, I'm ramping up for the wide release of The Darkest Eyes. I've decided to end my exclusive contract with Amazon, opening the door to many other channels for e-book sales. I'll also be releasing a new edition of the paperback in a handier size, which I hope to make available in bookstores everywhere. More on those plans next month. I hope you'll join my bookmark brigade and help introduce The Darkest Eyes to receptive readers who otherwise might not find it. Oh, and did I mention I'm working on a prequel? Happy Spring!
March 20, 2019
Out of the Woods: Traveling by Instinct
No 3: March 20, 2019 ~ Painted lady butterflies passed through last week on their way from their desert hatching grounds to the Pacific Northwest. It was quite a spectacle. How do creatures so new to the world know how to reach a destination so far away? As I pondered the marvel of genetics and instinct guiding the painted ladies on their journey, I found a personal allegory.
Like the butterflies, I know where I want to go. Unlike them, I worry about the difficulty of getting there. I want to be a successful novelist, but because I haven't traveled these airways before, I constantly struggle with fear of the unknown. Allowing it to take over would put an end to my ambitions in very short order, so I've decided to rely on my own genetics and instincts instead.
In the elation of having finally published my first novel, The Darkest Eyes, I didn't realize how challenging it would be to find an audience. I was fortunate in attracting some strongly positive responses in the early weeks, including a 5-star review from Readers' Choice.
However, my promotional efforts so far have not delivered. I ran an ad campaign offering the e-book version for free, and hundreds of people downloaded it, but there have been no indications -- yet -- that any of them actually read it. The silence is unsettling.
Lack of an early takeoff has fueled serious doubts over my marketing ability. I have four college degrees, but none of them are in business. How can I hope to compete? I'm like one fragile, newly hatched butterfly among millions. All of us want the same thing. We want to share our stories. We want to have writing careers instead of hobbies. We're all sailing along on the wind, hoping to be carried to the promised land.
But wait -- the butterflies are not helpless victims being tossed about on the breeze. They know where they're going, and they're putting in a great deal of effort to get there. They're operating on genetics and instinct, and I can work with that.
I can use the same DNA that got me through those university programs to learn what I need to know about the business of being a writer. Certainly I'll make mistakes, but I'll gain insights along the way. I'll get better at it with every passing day, as long as I keep flapping my wings.
There are many things I can do to push toward my goal, but since I have no idea which of them might work best, I'll let my instincts be my guide. In the absence of knowledge, I'll go with my gut.
And then there's persistence -- the drive to carry on until I get there or die trying. That may seem melodramatic, but in this case, failure wouldn't be an inevitable outcome -- it would result only from a decision to give up. Since I have taken that option off the table, success is a matter of when, not if.
In practical terms, I am now working on recategorizing the keywords associated with The Darkest Eyes to align it with terms Amazon readers actually use in their searches. I'm also planning my first e-book sale, a markdown to $0.99. My hope is to reach the people who are actively looking for something to read right now, instead of those who find the book appealing, but may have a few dozen other "want to reads" ahead of it on their lists.
These are small steps, but I feel reassured by my shift in attitude. Confidence and optimism have replaced the fog and the angst. I'm working, but I'm no longer panicking. I'm embracing my state of confusion as a normal part of living the life of an undiscovered author. That realization alone is validation that I'm heading in the right direction. How far I'll go is part of the unfolding mystery.
Not all the butterflies will make it. Some will be eaten by birds, and some will get splattered on windshields. There are no guarantees of success. But there is a 100 percent certainty that the ones who don't embark on the journey will die in the desert.
Like the butterflies, I know where I want to go. Unlike them, I worry about the difficulty of getting there. I want to be a successful novelist, but because I haven't traveled these airways before, I constantly struggle with fear of the unknown. Allowing it to take over would put an end to my ambitions in very short order, so I've decided to rely on my own genetics and instincts instead.
In the elation of having finally published my first novel, The Darkest Eyes, I didn't realize how challenging it would be to find an audience. I was fortunate in attracting some strongly positive responses in the early weeks, including a 5-star review from Readers' Choice.
However, my promotional efforts so far have not delivered. I ran an ad campaign offering the e-book version for free, and hundreds of people downloaded it, but there have been no indications -- yet -- that any of them actually read it. The silence is unsettling.
Lack of an early takeoff has fueled serious doubts over my marketing ability. I have four college degrees, but none of them are in business. How can I hope to compete? I'm like one fragile, newly hatched butterfly among millions. All of us want the same thing. We want to share our stories. We want to have writing careers instead of hobbies. We're all sailing along on the wind, hoping to be carried to the promised land.
But wait -- the butterflies are not helpless victims being tossed about on the breeze. They know where they're going, and they're putting in a great deal of effort to get there. They're operating on genetics and instinct, and I can work with that.
I can use the same DNA that got me through those university programs to learn what I need to know about the business of being a writer. Certainly I'll make mistakes, but I'll gain insights along the way. I'll get better at it with every passing day, as long as I keep flapping my wings.
There are many things I can do to push toward my goal, but since I have no idea which of them might work best, I'll let my instincts be my guide. In the absence of knowledge, I'll go with my gut.
And then there's persistence -- the drive to carry on until I get there or die trying. That may seem melodramatic, but in this case, failure wouldn't be an inevitable outcome -- it would result only from a decision to give up. Since I have taken that option off the table, success is a matter of when, not if.
In practical terms, I am now working on recategorizing the keywords associated with The Darkest Eyes to align it with terms Amazon readers actually use in their searches. I'm also planning my first e-book sale, a markdown to $0.99. My hope is to reach the people who are actively looking for something to read right now, instead of those who find the book appealing, but may have a few dozen other "want to reads" ahead of it on their lists.
These are small steps, but I feel reassured by my shift in attitude. Confidence and optimism have replaced the fog and the angst. I'm working, but I'm no longer panicking. I'm embracing my state of confusion as a normal part of living the life of an undiscovered author. That realization alone is validation that I'm heading in the right direction. How far I'll go is part of the unfolding mystery.
Not all the butterflies will make it. Some will be eaten by birds, and some will get splattered on windshields. There are no guarantees of success. But there is a 100 percent certainty that the ones who don't embark on the journey will die in the desert.
February 20, 2019
Out of the Woods: Jumping Spider
No 2: February 20, 2019 ~ My totem animal is the spider. Spiders create beautiful, intricate webs, and that's what I strive to do with my storytelling. So far, I have few reasons to doubt my talent. I've received some very enthusiastic feedback for my first novel, including a handful of thoughtful, positive reviews, so I know there's at least a small audience for my work. I just don't know how much it will scale.
My first free giveaway of The Darkest Eyes, a one-day promotion in January, garnered 61 potential new readers. Another two or more people read pages of the book through the Kindle Unlimited program. However, I've not seen any new reviews or received any other feedback based on those results. Perhaps it is too soon. My second free giveaway, four days in February, resulted in 179 downloads. I advertised differently for the second one, so I've learned a tiny bit on the marketing side that might be useful.
Sales have been few and far between, and I doubt that any can be attributed to readers who simply discovered the book without having any connection to me. My focus is on increasing visibility rather than sales, but for that to happen, the book needs to accumulate more reviews on Amazon. I am hoping that my worry over the paucity of customer reviews can be pinned to author angst and will prove unwarranted at some point. It's a long book, and people have busy lives.
It's a challenge to remain optimistic while trying to break out of the shadows, but I feel quite sure that a pessimistic approach would be doomed, so I'll continue to look for a gleam of light that will show me the way.
Optimism aside, it's disorienting to make the shift from writer to marketer, to say the least. I wouldn't expect great marketers to suddenly be able to shift gears and become novelists, but writers who want their work to be read must become business-minded very quickly. I feel a lot of resistance within me, along with a great deal of doubt that I can do it effectively, but I'm putting one foot in front of another and inching into this bewildering territory.
I have a Facebook author's page, thanks to my sister. I also have a newsletter and a website. I'm registered on Goodreads and Bookbub. I've entered a couple of contests -- both have massive numbers of entries, but the numbers aren't as high as the truly mind-boggling number of books available on Amazon.
I will spend a little time each day furthering my knowledge of what writers do to get noticed, and taking a few more steps forward. (I hope that's the direction I'm going in, at any rate. Never underestimate the power of hope!)
In the meantime, I will also carve out enough time to move ahead with my second book, although that too is tricky. As much as I love writing, I have daily obligations that claim large chunks of my time, and I have to get out of my desk chair and move around from time to time. I need to breathe the air on the other side of the window in order to feed the thing within me that lets me tell stories.
I also need to experience the storytelling of others, whether through books, TV or movies. I'm reading The Gods Themselves right now. I have a long reading list that's populated with classics I somehow never got around to, and books by lesser-known authors that seem interesting, including some by almost complete unknowns like myself. My list grows much faster than I can read. It's probably safe to assume that if my book has made it to other people's reading lists, it has at least as much competition as the books on mine.
As for TV, I'm currently enjoying True Detective and I Am the Night. I'm looking forward to the next seasons of Game of Thrones, The Vikings, Lost in Space and Stranger Things.
I've watched eight of the nine nominees for best picture Oscars, and I intend to see The Favourite before the show. I can't say I'm rooting for any of the films I've seen to win. They're all good in their way, but none has stirred my soul. I want to see something truly exciting on the big screen again -- it's been a long time. I want to see an epic hero's journey -- is that asking too much?
Now that I am a published novelist myself, I find that when I experience the stories of others, I can't avoid daydreaming about mine. I wonder about The Darkest Eyes' destiny. Will it ever be in more than one person's hands on a commuter train, like Harry Potter? Will it ever be a series on TV, like Outlander? Will I see it splashed on the big screen in CGI glory that even I can't imagine, like Lord of the Rings? I wonder and then I hope -- and I hope big.
Although it's the exception, I will confess that I have received some negative feedback on my writing. One prospective reviewer was kind enough to let me know that she had decided not to read it after being turned off by some of the early descriptive passages that "veered on purple prose." I appreciated her candor.
Her reaction led me to a deeper exploration of genre, as I felt that perhaps she had expected the book to follow certain rules, and because it did not, it seemed flawed. Maybe I was rationalizing, but it did lead me to the conclusion that I should present The Darkest Eyes as cross-genre mainstream fiction instead of trying to create a genre-based marketing pitch that would not represent it faithfully.
After reaching that conclusion and feeling I had just made an important shift, I went to the kitchen for a cup of tea. My son was there, watching a tiny creature performing antics on the counter. "Look -- a jumping spider," he said. Just like me, I thought.
*** If you would like to read the first full chapter of my second book -- the story of a desperate struggle to preserve magic from annihilation -- fill out the contact form at the bottom of my home page, with "Send Chapter 1" as the subject.
My first free giveaway of The Darkest Eyes, a one-day promotion in January, garnered 61 potential new readers. Another two or more people read pages of the book through the Kindle Unlimited program. However, I've not seen any new reviews or received any other feedback based on those results. Perhaps it is too soon. My second free giveaway, four days in February, resulted in 179 downloads. I advertised differently for the second one, so I've learned a tiny bit on the marketing side that might be useful.
Sales have been few and far between, and I doubt that any can be attributed to readers who simply discovered the book without having any connection to me. My focus is on increasing visibility rather than sales, but for that to happen, the book needs to accumulate more reviews on Amazon. I am hoping that my worry over the paucity of customer reviews can be pinned to author angst and will prove unwarranted at some point. It's a long book, and people have busy lives.
It's a challenge to remain optimistic while trying to break out of the shadows, but I feel quite sure that a pessimistic approach would be doomed, so I'll continue to look for a gleam of light that will show me the way.
Optimism aside, it's disorienting to make the shift from writer to marketer, to say the least. I wouldn't expect great marketers to suddenly be able to shift gears and become novelists, but writers who want their work to be read must become business-minded very quickly. I feel a lot of resistance within me, along with a great deal of doubt that I can do it effectively, but I'm putting one foot in front of another and inching into this bewildering territory.
I have a Facebook author's page, thanks to my sister. I also have a newsletter and a website. I'm registered on Goodreads and Bookbub. I've entered a couple of contests -- both have massive numbers of entries, but the numbers aren't as high as the truly mind-boggling number of books available on Amazon.
I will spend a little time each day furthering my knowledge of what writers do to get noticed, and taking a few more steps forward. (I hope that's the direction I'm going in, at any rate. Never underestimate the power of hope!)
In the meantime, I will also carve out enough time to move ahead with my second book, although that too is tricky. As much as I love writing, I have daily obligations that claim large chunks of my time, and I have to get out of my desk chair and move around from time to time. I need to breathe the air on the other side of the window in order to feed the thing within me that lets me tell stories.
I also need to experience the storytelling of others, whether through books, TV or movies. I'm reading The Gods Themselves right now. I have a long reading list that's populated with classics I somehow never got around to, and books by lesser-known authors that seem interesting, including some by almost complete unknowns like myself. My list grows much faster than I can read. It's probably safe to assume that if my book has made it to other people's reading lists, it has at least as much competition as the books on mine.
As for TV, I'm currently enjoying True Detective and I Am the Night. I'm looking forward to the next seasons of Game of Thrones, The Vikings, Lost in Space and Stranger Things.
I've watched eight of the nine nominees for best picture Oscars, and I intend to see The Favourite before the show. I can't say I'm rooting for any of the films I've seen to win. They're all good in their way, but none has stirred my soul. I want to see something truly exciting on the big screen again -- it's been a long time. I want to see an epic hero's journey -- is that asking too much?
Now that I am a published novelist myself, I find that when I experience the stories of others, I can't avoid daydreaming about mine. I wonder about The Darkest Eyes' destiny. Will it ever be in more than one person's hands on a commuter train, like Harry Potter? Will it ever be a series on TV, like Outlander? Will I see it splashed on the big screen in CGI glory that even I can't imagine, like Lord of the Rings? I wonder and then I hope -- and I hope big.
Although it's the exception, I will confess that I have received some negative feedback on my writing. One prospective reviewer was kind enough to let me know that she had decided not to read it after being turned off by some of the early descriptive passages that "veered on purple prose." I appreciated her candor.
Her reaction led me to a deeper exploration of genre, as I felt that perhaps she had expected the book to follow certain rules, and because it did not, it seemed flawed. Maybe I was rationalizing, but it did lead me to the conclusion that I should present The Darkest Eyes as cross-genre mainstream fiction instead of trying to create a genre-based marketing pitch that would not represent it faithfully.
After reaching that conclusion and feeling I had just made an important shift, I went to the kitchen for a cup of tea. My son was there, watching a tiny creature performing antics on the counter. "Look -- a jumping spider," he said. Just like me, I thought.
*** If you would like to read the first full chapter of my second book -- the story of a desperate struggle to preserve magic from annihilation -- fill out the contact form at the bottom of my home page, with "Send Chapter 1" as the subject.
February 4, 2019
Out of the Woods: One Novelist's Mysterious Journey to Being Found
No. 1 : January 20, 2019 ~ I'm going to break a cardinal rule of storytelling and begin in the middle. That's where I am on my journey, after all. As a writer, I'm no beginner -- I've been writing pretty much all my life. Nor am I closing in on the end of my career. Several future novels are already incubating, and unlimited possibilities are floating around in the cosmos, waiting for me to snatch them out of oblivion. I'm in the middle of my life too, although that assertion might provoke some eye-rolling. I don't care. I've decided to embrace the possibility that I have just as much time ahead of me as behind. It's no use throwing a bunch of statistics at me or chiding me to be realistic. I'm a teller of fantastic tales. I believe in magic. And I know that science sometimes seems like magic. So I am in the middle, with plenty of time ahead -- I've decided that's a given. I do not intend to write fast and desperately just to get as much as possible out there before the coffin lid falls down. I want to enjoy writing my stories as much as I want others to enjoy reading them. I am in the middle. I'm in the flow -- I'm not preparing, planning or wishing. I'm not tying up loose ends. I'm doing. It strikes me that this is a great place to be in my life. I used to be forward-thinking, but I've shifted to present-thinking. I'm not dwelling on past pleasures or pain -- I'm carpe diem-ing. There are two things I need to do while I'm here in the middle (which, in case you haven't caught my drift yet, is where I intend to stay). The first is to blast The Darkest Eyes to the world. I haven't quite figured out how to do that, but I've struck a bunch of matches, and I'm randomly lighting fuses, optimistically expecting that one or more of them eventually will burn strong and sure. I would do this methodically and correctly, if I knew how, but since I don't, I'll do it any way I can. That's my marketing strategy: Try everything. Take every suggestion. Go for it. The second is to write my next story. I thought I would have to put that off, because I don't have a lot of free time, and I need to do No. 1 first, right? Well, no. I just realized that I need to do both at the same time, because I'm in the middle, not at the beginning, and I need to spend at least some of this great, rich middle time doing the thing I love best. This is an exciting realization. I've begun many stories, and I intend to begin many more, but the one I will finish next is the story of my witch girl. Orphaned and untrained in her art, she's adopted by a motley group of magical nonhuman creatures who have banded together to fight the forces bent on eradicating all magic from the world. It's not meant for young children, though it seems to start out that way: *** "Long, long ago, before time followed rules, there was a village of rough people. The women were stout and whiskered, and the men had fierce red eyes. They were usually too angry to speak, but when they did, their words came out in guttural grunts like 'gak' and 'frah.' They often misunderstood one another, which only made them angrier. "On the outskirts of the village, quite near the edge of a deep, dark forest, there stood a hovel more ramshackle than the rest. It might once have provided decent shelter for its occupants, but many of the slim branches that formed its walls were brittle and broken, leaving gaping holes that the wind whistled through. Mud had been daubed over some of the gaps, but it had caked and crumbled, giving the cottage a scabby appearance. Still, there was always a cheerful ribbon of smoke curling from its chimney. "Within lived a woman named Maita, who was unlike the other villagers: She was slight and pretty, and she sang. Maita had a small daughter named Breeze. Both had deep blue eyes and creamy skin, but Maita's hair was a cascade of golden curls, while the child's fell in dark, glossy waves. "Each day, a cohort of village men passed near the little shack on their way to the forest. They usually started out in good spirits (for them), as they loved hunting. Maita would hear the men ack-ing and ugh-ing from a distance. Wishing to please, she would burst into song, which always had the effect of enraging them into silence. Maita interpreted their hush as appreciation, and she would trill all the louder, urging little Breeze to join in. When the hunters heard the child's sweet, piping voice, they would invariably cover their ears and run at top speed to the woods, more eager than ever to wield their axes, knives and clubs on the first hapless creatures to cross their path. "Maita kept a poor garden that produced hot radishes and onions in the spring and a few stunted potatoes and turnips in the fall. In fair weather, she took Breeze into the fringe of the forest, where they collected armloads of wood for their fires, filled buckets with juicy berries, or loaded their aprons with nuts that fell from the trees. Despite their poverty, Breeze was always pink-cheeked and warmly dressed, though her clothing was odd and colorful -- not at all like the coarse, dark woolens the other children wore. That was because at night, when the villagers' snores rattled their windows, Maita practiced her magic." *** I will have to live several lives simultaneously to bring my girl's story out of my head and onto the page, but now that I've got one novel to my name, I'm eager to embark on another adventure. I hope you'll come along for the ride. If you'd like to receive monthly updates on my progress, please subscribe. Onward!
